Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 105: A Short Break by the Roadside

“Did you hear? Zhuang Pengdao died. His whole team was wiped out.”

“Yeah, I heard. There’s a Guishan Sect member on our side too…”

Whispers filled the darkness.

“No way. That guy was a big name. He had four anomalies. Normal evil spirits shouldn’t be able to kill him!”

“Then someone else must’ve done it. Caught him off guard, stabbed him in the back~”

“Why kill him, though? Wasn’t he focused on resolving E’s? Never heard of him causing trouble.”

“Hey, that’s because anyone he couldn’t use… ended up dead.”

“If Master Zhuang’s dead, how did those two slackers survive?”

Yan Yan finally couldn’t hold back. “Who are you calling slackers?!”

Soft laughter echoed from all directions.

Yan Yan rolled his eyes in frustration but no one could see. Right now, they were all inside a private metaphysical gathering.

Only darkness surrounded them, lit by flickering candles of various lengths. The flames stretched endlessly into the shadows, too many to count.

Each candle was like a “vest” representing a metaphysics practitioner. They came in all shapes and sizes, forming a strange sort of landscape.

Voices drifted from the flames, soft yet close, as though someone were whispering right beside the ear regardless of distance.

This was a soul-projection illusion built through arcane means: a VR-style anonymous forum.

While Yan Yan fumed quietly, Jiao Jiao spoke up, swearing loudly. “Surviving to the end is winning! What, you only respect full DPS parties in games and look down on support?”

The two of them did have unorthodox skill sets, which were better suited for investigation than combat.

Jiao Jiao specialized in divination and magical potions. Yan Yan’s offensive strength was somewhere between a fox spirit and a police dog. They’d gotten lucky so far as none of the rituals they’d been in were chaotic battle royales. That’s the only reason they were still alive and whole.

This time, they still weren’t frontline fighters. But so what? Zhuang Pengdao was dead, and they were still breathing!

“Yeah yeah, you two know how to turtle up. You’re soooo amazing.”

A sarcastic voice came from the other end, then changed the subject. “Anyway, no way it was you two who killed him. Those two monks are gone too. Must’ve been that new team?”

“Oh, right. They went for an evaluation. That means it was the new Disaster Resolvers.”

“Has anyone talked to them? There wasn’t a peep beforehand… Fox, say something.”

Yan Yan stayed quiet.

He didn’t really remember. After watching Fang Xiu “destroy” the Yellow Millet E, he’d assumed the paper figure would show up soon. So he and Jiao Jiao had sprawled out and gone to sleep like the dead.

When they returned to the Tower, they found out Zhuang Pengdao was dead. His whole three-person team was gone.

Was it really Fang Xiu’s group who did it…?

Zhuang Pengdao had been brutal, but toward the end, it seemed like all three teams had worked together to break the final puzzle. Why would Fang Xiu’s team strike after it was over?

And succeed in killing Zhuang Pengdao no less!

Yan Yan was now unsure whether Fang Xiu’s claim of being a “normal person” meant anything at all. He didn’t seem remotely “normal”.

“Zhuang Pengdao and his two apprentices were strong. If it came to a real fight, it should’ve made a big scene. Who the hell are those guys?” The conversation continued during Yan Yan’s silence.

“Anyone who could resolve that Mid-Autumn E must be tough. No doubt about it.”

“Whatever. They’re proper Disaster Resolvers now. Someone’s bound to meet them.”

“Heh, with how hard they hit last time, the Underworld will just assign them an even harder ritual. We’ll see then… Fox, can you at least tell us how they look? So we can recognize them.”

After some thought, Yan Yan decided to remain silent.

His family had always emphasized repaying favors. He’d heard every fox-family bedtime story about it.

The feud between Fang Xiu and Zhuang Pengdao was their business. As far as results went, he and Jiao Jiao had contributed the least. They basically got pulled along.

So there was no need to sell out Fang Xiu’s info for a little benefit. Who knew how many grudge-holders lurked among the Disaster Resolvers?

“I don’t remember.”

Yan Yan said slowly, “The Yellow Millet E messes with the mind. My head’s been killing me.”

Jiao Jiao caught on immediately and played along. They both stuck to the story: fuzzy memory, can’t recall the other team at all.

In the distant shadows, a stubby red candle burned quietly. A low sigh emerged from the flame.

The paper figure had said they’d be assigned to the same team as Fang Xiu next time. What a shame. There was no way to get information ahead of time.

Zhuang Pengdao had been mid-tier in the Guishan Sect.

He was Zhuang Chongyue’s blood relative—sharp, charming, and skilled at recruiting followers. Zhuang Chongyue had planned to secure him a nice position, but now he was gone.

Since someone had dared cross Guishan Sect, that strange team no longer had the right to live.

……

“For the next ritual, please don’t use your real names.”

At breakfast, Mei Lan stood and bowed slightly to the other three. “I killed someone very troublesome. There’s a high chance we’ll encounter someone seeking revenge.”

Cheng Songyun and Guan He glanced at each other, then looked toward Fang Xiu.

Fang Xiu, meanwhile, was happily being fed by his seductive ghost. Bai Shuangying, having thoroughly enjoyed eating Fang Xiu earlier, was now graciously returning the favor—preparing a delicious breakfast just for his human.

At the moment, Bai Shuangying was seriously deboning fish, neatly stacking the snow-white fillets on Fang Xiu’s plate.

He watched intently as Fang Xiu chewed and swallowed each bite before calmly processing the next piece.

As for the less perfect scraps, Bai Shuangying would casually flick them off the edge of the table with his chopsticks, where the little black dog waited below to gobble them up.

The other three: “……”

The worst part was that Fang Xiu didn’t seem to find anything strange about this. His gaze toward Bai Shuangying was openly soft.

To put it mildly, the atmosphere refused to stay serious. Combined with those two faces, the whole scene gave off a strangely decadent air. Anyone walking in might think they’d stumbled into some sort of pleasure den.

“You’re talking about Zhuang Pengdao, huh.”

Fang Xiu swallowed a mouthful of fish and popped open a soda. “You don’t have to worry too much. Even if you hadn’t killed him, I would’ve.”

To be honest, he was a little disappointed he hadn’t gotten to do it himself. But seeing how furious Mei Lan had been at the time, clearly fueled by both personal vendetta and righteous fury, he hadn’t had the heart to steal the kill.

Guan He asked in a small voice, “What exactly happened?”

Fang Xiu shrugged. “The guy was part of a cult. I’ve got a personal grudge with them. If I’m not mistaken, Miss Mei’s in the same boat.”

He paused meaningfully but chose not to mention Mei Lan’s past ties to the Guishan Sect.

Mei Lan’s eyes flickered. “You guessed right.”

“Good that it’s out in the open now. In the final three rituals, if we don’t all pull in the same direction, things could get messy.”

Fang Xiu smiled. “Using fake names is no big deal. There’s a good chance we’ll run into more of their people in the next trial.”

With that, he cheerfully bit into another piece of fish, completely at ease. He was clearly ready to move on from the topic.

Mei Lan stood frozen beside her seat, stammering. She had clearly prepared a long explanation, but Fang Xiu had given her no opening to deliver it.

“I’d advise against giving your life story at a time like this. You might not survive the next ritual.”

Fang Xiu said, “See, I never talk about my past.”

Mei Lan: “……”

Guan He: “……???”

“Don’t worry, Xiao Guan. You can talk if you want. You’re underage. You’ve got a built-in immunity clause.” Fang Xiu patted his shoulder with the tone of a serious elder, as if that clause actually existed.

After that string of nonsense, the tension completely fell apart. Everyone seemed on the verge of speaking, only to swallow their words in the end.

Beside Fang Xiu, Bai Shuangying’s hands slowed in preparing the fish.

He pried apart a piece of pale meat, exposing the translucent spine beneath. His gaze drifted from the sharp bones to Fang Xiu.

Here we go again.

No questions. No explanations. No concern. Fang Xiu’s three golden rules for interpersonal relations.

The longer Bai Shuangying observed him, the more clearly he sensed a line in the sand.

Just like in the old theory of intersecting lines, Fang Xiu moved forward on a predetermined path.

His care for Cheng Songyun and Guan He, his attention and leniency toward Mei Lan… even his affection for Bai Shuangying. All these were things along the “side of the road”.

His human might pause to admire the view, slow down to touch a pretty flower, or lean against a tree to rest and bandage a bleeding heel.

But in the end, Fang Xiu would always move forward and eventually leave his field of vision entirely.

He’d said he would remember Fang Xiu, but now he wanted to remember more. Faced with a banquet, it wasn’t enough to only recall the first plate of appetizers.

…Three rituals left.

For the first time in his existence, Bai Shuangying felt that time was moving too quickly.

It rankled. He wanted to collapse right then and there like a tree, pin Fang Xiu in the middle of the road, and make him stay.

As Bai Shuangying paused, Fang Xiu’s fish supply dwindled. So Fang Xiu leaned forward and snatched the fish right out of his ghost’s hand, his tongue grazing Bai Shuangying’s fingertips.

Bai Shuangying muttered something under his breath, then licked the leftover sauce from his fingers.

“I have something else to say.”

Mei Lan raised her voice slightly, her tone laced with fatigue. “About the Immortal E in the next ritual… I know a bit about it…”

Fang Xiu finally looked up and stared at her in silence.

This time, all the ease vanished from his face, replaced by a predatory focus.

……

Three days later, the Underworld officially scheduled the next ritual, calling it a “special privilege for Disaster Resolvers”.

Fang Xiu wasn’t surprised. Clearly, when it came to reliable tools, the Underworld didn’t want to break them too quickly. They were willing to take the time to maintain them.

Another benefit came with it…

“This Immortal E is rather unusual, so the Underworld will be assigning a ghost courier to accompany you.”

Dian’er bowed and scraped. “I wish all of you the best of luck and great success!”

Fang Xiu ignored the paper figure’s empty flattery and walked side by side with his ghost to the second floor.

As soon as they reached the stairs, a strange fish smell hit them like a wave.

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The author has something to say:

A new ritual begins—!!!

Come to think of it, Xiao Fang has been fishing all along… Setting a long line to catch Xiao Bai!

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