If things went as expected, the current President Sarah and Mayor Ryan were likely the same person.
However, it was improbable that Ryan had been disguising himself for over a decade; hence, Zhou Qian suspected that the real Sarah could be someone else. It was likely that Ryan assumed her role after a certain incident.
Despite Ryan potentially being adept at cross-dressing, this wasn’t plastic surgery. To impersonate flawlessly among numerous witches, he and Sarah must have had some resemblances. In addition, Ryan must deeply understand Sarah’s habits and tones to mimic her without any flaws. Upon synthesizing all these factors, there was a high probability that they were relatives, possibly siblings.
Therefore, Zhou Qian tentatively asked whether Ryan had any sisters. The relationship between Ryan and Sarah, who represented seemingly conflicting camps in this instance, must be crucial. As expected, not only did Zhou Qian perceive from Ryan’s expressions that he indeed had a sister or sisters, but he also unexpectedly triggered a side plot.
It seemed that uncovering the relationship between Ryan and Sarah was indeed a pivotal step in resolving the situation.
At this moment, the thick clouds in the afternoon sky blocked the sunlight, making the air absolutely uninhabitable for ordinary people.
Zhou Qian’s group was forced to travel in a commercial vehicle through a forest of bizarrely shaped trees to reach this secluded mountain top. Behind the high wall lay the town’s and Ryan’s deepest secrets.
Before him, Ryan’s emerald green eyes were as profound as a lake yet also as blazing as the sunlight.
Hearing Zhou Qian’s words, Ryan narrowed his eyes, then lowered his golden eyelashes towards Zhou Qian’s hand holding his. He looked up and said, “My sister’s lover… Why haven’t I heard of you? You must be mistaken.”
“Is that so? Alright, let’s assume I was mistaken. However—” Zhou Qian smiled, whispering into his ear, “You are so handsome; your sister must be a beauty. Since I am going to stay in this town, why not introduce me to your sister? We might become relatives. Didn’t you say that I am a gift from God?”
While asking, Zhou Qian wondered—is his sister dead?
According to Zhou Qian’s current speculation, Sarah was Ryan’s sister. For some reason, their relationship wasn’t known to the rest of the town. Subsequently, an explosion occurred on Weir Mountain, and the radioactive dust infected many children. Ryan went to his sister, hoping she would help him conceal everything.
Agreeing to this request would mean harming the lives of many innocent people. Sarah, of course, refused.
Therefore, it was very likely that Ryan might have killed his own sister and then assumed her place.
“Of course, I can introduce you,” Ryan replied with a deep look while holding Zhou Qian’s hand tighter. “Wait until you come out. My sister will welcome you then. But for now, let’s not waste any more time.”
“My gift, please enter this enclosure. You will receive the reward I’ve prepared.”
“Oh yes, there are three ‘Evil Spirit Purging Stations’ inside. If you feel uncomfortable, rest there. I will come to find you guys after a while. Please listen to the broadcast.”
Three minutes later, all seven players entered the high walls. The gate closed silently, and the walls merged seamlessly with the environment.
Zhou Qian walked forward to touch the barrier where the wall had been, feeling an invisible shield. This was probably why the witches have never truly approached the truth—the wall was made of a highly advanced invisible material.
Turning back, Zhou Qian looked ahead—before him was a vast forest of mutated trees and peculiar flowers and grasses. Occasionally, strange creatures resembling long-legged butterflies would momentarily reveal themselves before vanishing.
What monsters might be hiding inside this forest were still unknown.
At this moment, everyone’s mood was rather somber.
Li Buhui was the first to ask, “What should we do now… Should we go in and explore first?”
Ke Yuxiao’s serious voice immediately rang out. “After entering here, our life points are rapidly decreasing.”
Wu Ren’s face had almost turned ashen. He said, “I only have 1 point left. But looking at the speed of this countdown… I can only live for less than 20 minutes.” After saying this, he looked at Zhou Qian.
Zhou Qian looked back at him and asked gravely, “Do you trust me?”
Even though Zhou Qian asked this, he actually knew that Wu Ren’s attitude had changed significantly compared to the beginning. Back when they were in Lily’s study, Wu Ren didn’t have much time left, having drawn only “2” points.
At that time, he had strong murderous intent toward Zhou Qian. But now it was different. He had truly sided with Zhou Qian.
Firstly, Zhou Qian gave him a “6” point card, which had sustained him until now. Secondly, during their first visit to Weir Mountain, if not for Zhou Qian, Wu Ren might have been taken away by the witches.
At this moment, Wu Ren clenched and then released his fists. His small eyes looked tired and lifeless, but there was no murderous intent or doubt within them. “Of course I trust you.”
“Good. Then everyone listens to me now.” Zhou Qian nodded. “The so-called ‘Evil Spirit Cleansing Station’ might be able to replenish our life points. Let’s find it first. Wu Ren, you are still our ‘king’. We will all help you.”
“We will split into three teams and search in three directions.” Zhou Qian turned towards the peculiar forest and continued, “Based on your previous conflicts, Li Buhui and Yin Jiujiu will be in one group, Wu Ren and Situ Qing in another, and I will be with the remaining Sword and Flute duo.”
“I want to remind you all, everyone’s life value will decrease rapidly. The primary task now is to find a place that can replenish life points. Attempting to settle personal scores at this time would undoubtedly be foolish.”
Having said that, Zhou Qian looked forward. “My group will go in the middle. The other two groups will go in the left and right directions. Everyone can contact each other through the system at any time and inform others promptly after finding the target.”
Zhou Qian knew that even though he had reminded everyone to prioritize finding the target station, Yin Jiujiu, who joined this game solely for revenge, would most likely not miss such an excellent opportunity to kill teammates.
Additionally, Zhou Qian had another concern regarding whether the Peach Legion Army really hadn’t done anything.
Given these concerns and the potential dangers in this unknown domain, it was best for everyone to stick together.
However, Wu Ren really didn’t have much time left. Without his strong output at the forefront, not only would the team be extremely unstable internally, but the danger everyone faced when needing to attack NPCs would also increase. Zhou Qian, helping Wu Ren, was essentially helping himself.
Zhou Qian made such a three-way split arrangement in an attempt to prevent internal conflict as much as possible. His first priority was to prevent Yin Jiujiu from attacking Situ Qing, so he separated them.
Wu Ren, although lacking in life points, still had his attack power, so pairing him with Situ Qing was relatively safe for both. Also, by placing himself in the middle, Zhou Qian could relatively reduce the chance of Yin Jiujiu and Situ Qing running into each other.
After saying all this, Zhou Qian observed everyone, seemingly watching their reactions. At this moment, everyone received a message from the system.
[Players trigger main task 1: Explore thoroughly, survive, and uncover the secret that Ryan has hidden here.]
[Task 2: Mayor Ryan is very fond of the number “24”. When the players’ life points total “24”, the experiment ends, and he will come to take everyone away.]
[Hint 1: There are three “Evil Spirit Purification Stations” where life points can be replenished.]
[Hint 2: Some areas are densely infested with “evil spirits”, and the rate of reduction of life points will accelerate; please enter with caution. Some areas have tools that are dropped that can clear “evil spirits”. Using them can also increase life points.]
The system’s hints were undoubtedly aligned with Zhou Qian’s previous speculation.
So, temporarily, no one raised any objections. At least on the surface, it seemed like everyone agreed with Zhou Qian’s suggestion—to prioritize finding the “Evil Spirit Cleansing Station” first. So, they quickly split into three teams and proceeded in three different directions.
The high walls encircle a summit area.
The players were located to the north. Zhou Qian’s group was heading south, while Yin Jiujiu and Li Buhui were heading west.
Upon entering the forest, the light dims considerably. Yin Jiujiu held the card with life points in her hand, and after observing that the countdown speed didn’t continue to accelerate, she moved forward.
Li Buhui, also known as Zhu Qiang, scurried ahead of her and said awkwardly, “Let me go ahead. Just in case these mutant plants and animals attack us!”
Yin Jiujiu didn’t comment and just looked around.
She had always been fearless, but everything she saw still made her frown.
It was simply because everything was too bizarre, like an animal corpse she just stepped over, which surprisingly has the body of a fish and wings of a bird.
However, to Yin Jiujiu’s and Li Buhui’s surprise, their group’s progress was extremely smooth, and within five minutes they saw a bungalow.
Approaching the bungalow, they saw it boldly marked “Evil Spirit Purification Station”.
Li Buhui and Yin Jiujiu looked at each other, both gripping their weapons, and cautiously opened the door.
But there was nothing inside that could attack them. Upon entering, they both felt their breathing become smoother.
Checking the card in hand, Yin Jiujiu discovered the countdown had changed significantly.
Originally, the countdown was reduced from [59:59] by an hour unit, but now the value not only reset but began to rise from [00:00], and very quickly at that.
It almost felt like charging oneself. Once it was fully charged by an hour unit, the player’s points would increase by one.
Li Buhui and Yin Jiujiu both let out a sigh of relief.
Then Li Buhui asked, “Do we… need to tell everyone about this?”
Yin Jiujiu pondered for a while but shook her head.
She scanned the room and walked to a spot.
There was a control desk with a red button marked “Destroy”, and a note beneath—“Press the button to destroy the current ‘Evil Spirit Purification Station’”.
Li Buhui seemed to sense something. He swallowed and asked Yin Jiujiu, “You want to…”
Yin Jiujiu pulled out two pairs of shoes from her bag.
[Item: Thousand Mile A Day* Shoes]
*(日行千里) Idiom from the Book of Wei Tuyuhun Biography. It refers to running a thousand miles in a day, describing traveling at an extremely fast speed. Note: The mile is a Chinese mile (li), which is about 1/3 of an English mile.
[Effect: Experience the feeling of flying; take off, I want to take off, I can’t stop at all]
[Grade: B]
Yin Jiujiu said, “Zhou Qian intentionally separated me and Situ Qing. But I won’t let her go. I have no intention of harming Wu Ren. After finding them, I will tell him the coordinates here alone. But the premise is that he cannot protect Situ Qing by listening to Zhou Qian. This is a deal. To make him have to agree, we have to leave him with no other choices.”
Looking at Li Bu Hui, she continued, “Put on these shoes. Let’s go the way Situ Qing and the others went and destroy the station there first. If necessary, also destroy the station where Zhou Qian and the others are. In this way… Everyone can only beg me.”
……
On the other side.
Zhou Qian, Qi Liuxing, and Ke Yuxiao were taking the route straight south.
About three minutes out, Zhou Qian heard a faint female voice. “Help. Help me.”
The delightful fairy game had come to an end. He knew that Piel couldn’t escape. It was a foregone conclusion.
In this city, people die unnaturally every day. In front of Death, this little boy had no special place—they shouldn’t bother about it.
They specifically went back in time, looking for clues about the Eclipse Shield; not to play god.
[I guess you never thought of saving him. How do you know he ‘can’t be save’?] Nol asked.
‘As sharp as ever,’ Teest thought.
[Because I know he’s dead,] he replied cruelly. [The kid was turned into a Supplement Demon. He died the day the church burned down. I remember those eyes.]
This time, his Lich husband was unusually steady. [So he will be taken to that Immortal Church.]
[Indeed.]
[That means we can sneak in with Piel.] Nol sat on the boy’s shoulder, speaking calmly. [I happen to be curious about the ‘Supplement Demon’. It won’t hinder our main mission, will it?]
It seemed like it wouldn’t hinder—if they were in their adult forms, it would have been more difficult. But now, the two of them could only eat two thick slices of ham in a day and easily pass through cage bars. Whether they go in with Piel or mingle with the ordinary Eternalist in the church, strictly speaking, there wasn’t much difference.
[So you want to meddle in this,] Teest concluded.
Nol: [Don’t you find this so-called ‘destiny’ annoying? I’m a bit displeased and want to mess with it.]
‘Forget it,’ Teest thought.
No one could fool time. It wasn’t a rule set by the gods, but the most basic law of nature. The Mad Monk wanted to know the truth about the world, limited only to the part about “God”. He didn’t want to become the first physicist in Tahe.
Nol looked at him. […And with the Supplement Demon, I can see your past self sooner.]
[Alright, we’ll follow this boy inside,] Teest affirmed seriously.
The drama he carefully prepared would always begin. It didn’t matter which entrance they took.
Teest pulled at Piel’s hair tips, looking at the tiny Nol on the other shoulder.
Nol adjusted his mini hood, seemingly lost in thought. He looked unusually calm without the succubi around him, like a blade tempered over and over again.
This was close to what Teest had guessed. Nol had grown fast through trials and tribulations. Maybe soon he wouldn’t need a mad partner to lean on emotionally.
‘That won’t do,’ he thought with a smile.
……
Clang!
The iron door, inscribed with runes, closed heavily in front of Piel. The little boy huddled in the corner, still holding a small bite of precious butter in his mouth to calm his nerves.
His body had been cleaned multiple times with a cleansing spell, leaving him in a white robe that barely covered him. He had been blindfolded and brought here, only to find himself in a tiny cell of just four square meters when he opened his eyes.
The cell was about three meters high, with one wall made entirely of massive stones so closely packed that not even an ant could crawl through. At the top of the wall floated a palm-sized ball of light—the only source of illumination. It was so dim that normal people could hardly see anything.
Fortunately, among the three people in the cell, two had dark vision and one had the Eye of Truth, so the darkness wasn’t much of an obstacle—
The air was thick with the scent of blood. In the darkness, there were occasional strange moans that didn’t sound human and the soft noises of flesh rubbing against stone.
Nearby, they could see cages not far from them. The creatures in the cages twisted and writhed, making sticky sounds, their shadows bearing no resemblance to humans. Their strange noises echoed in the vast darkness, making it feel as if they were at the bottom of the deep sea, each breath carrying a damp, oppressive weight.
The straw beneath Piel was surprisingly fresh and dry, but the floor underneath emitted a rotten, fishy smell, as if it had once held decaying bodies.
Piel was so frightened that he hardly dared to breathe, fearing that the noise would attract the monsters’ attention.
Thankfully, he had heeded Mr. Fairy’s advice.
Not long ago, when he realized he was surrounded by several adults, Piel panicked. He had intended to kick and bite in despair but was stopped by Nol’s voice.
“You might not be able to escape today,” the beautiful black-haired fairy said. “I suggest you conserve your energy. We’ll think of something else.”
Now Piel understood that those people were indeed the cultists of the Eternal Church. In this world where magic existed, those devils wouldn’t hesitate to break his limbs to make him obedient. If he were thrown into a place like this with broken limbs, he would surely die of fright.
For now, he was alright—it was just a bit dark around him. He had something to eat, he wasn’t injured, and he had the mysterious fairy friends by his side.
He would get through this, Piel thought.
On his shoulder, Nol was still observing the surroundings. Nol now understood Teest’s warning. This Immortal Church was truly hard to infiltrate, even stricter than airport security.
The Eternalists discarded all of Piel’s belongings and repeatedly scanned him for magical fluctuations, ensuring he hadn’t hidden any magical items. But once they were sure Piel had no trace of magic on him, they didn’t check his mouth or body thoroughly, so Piel managed to take a big bite of butter.
“They like it when you hide something on you.” As Piel carefully tasted the butter, Teest casually remarked. “Food is fine. It’ll disappear on its own. But if it’s your treasure, they relish seeing your reaction when you lose it—living here, you’ll lose everything eventually.”
Piel paused, almost biting his tongue.
Unable to hold back, Nol climbed onto Teest’s shoulder and pulled on his face. “Thanks for the encouragement. It’s really helpful.”
“I’m just stating facts,” Teest replied nonchalantly, letting Nol fiddle with him. “Can we act now?”
“Where are you going?” Before Nol could answer, Piel interjected.
In the darkness, the boy quickly swallowed his butter, shivering uncontrollably. “Don’t leave me alone!”
“It’s 1:30 in the afternoon. They won’t come until around seven in the evening,” Teest said indifferently, “At worst, we can return early—”
“Then let’s go together.” Nol gently proposed, extending a hand towards Piel.
Teest’s lips drooped in annoyance. [Honey, we don’t need a child in our family.]
[I want to know if “destiny” has any loopholes.] Nol shrugged. [Besides, as you said, the cultists won’t come until around seven.]
Destiny menacingly warned him that Piel had to be taken by the Eternal Church. But what about after that? Did Piel necessarily have to stay there and suffer? Were there any loopholes… Could fate be overturned?
Nol was curious about so many things. Before resisting, one must know both oneself and one’s adversary, right?
Even if they failed… Even if they failed, he wanted to make the boy’s remaining time a bit better.
Across from him, after pondering for a few seconds, Teest finally nodded in agreement.
Unlocking doors, eliminating traces, hiding their tracks… Nol was surprised to find that he had become incredibly adept at these stealthy actions. Piel was covered in an invisibility spell, walking barefoot in the darkness.
Now they could clearly see the layout of the place.
It was an incredibly vast space, uncertain if it was above or below ground. Countless cages were stacked like dense pillars, reaching from floor to ceiling, leaving only a narrow passage a bit more than a meter wide.
Most cages contained dark figures.
Dozens of pupils inside the cages emitted a faint glow, with slimy tentacles hanging through the gaps. Pale, baby-like hands with arms that were twisted in multiple places reached out.
The Supplement Demons of the Eternal Church.
These creatures were much quieter than Nol had imagined, resembling neglected animals in a poorly managed zoo. But with their terrifying, stiff limbs, they also resembled plants.
Countless deformed eyes watched them silently, showing almost no emotion.
The stench of rotting flesh, the foul odor of excrement, the strange fishy scent of mucus… all these odors mixed together, making Piel almost vomit.
“Will I turn into one of these?”
He looked at the similar cages, vaguely guessing something, and started shivering again. “Will I… become such a monster…”
“I doubt it.” Teest breezily diverted the topic. “Keep moving. I still remember where the exit is.”
Nol looked at the cage closest to them. In the corner of the cage lay a deformed girl. Her body was entirely twisted. Her back faced upwards, and her limbs bent in four different directions, making her appear like a comical four-legged table, or perhaps a spider with only four legs.
Her misshapen head emerged from the center of her spine, and her mismatched eyes gazed out sadly. Those eyes had only pure black pupils, with no whites to be seen.
“Uh… ah…” She let out a deep and hoarse moan.
A few meters out, there were monsters. A dozen meters out, more monsters. An unknown number of meters out, there were mountains of monsters.
This damn place was like a maze made of flesh and iron cages. Even with the company of two “fairies”, Little Piel’s breathing grew more rapid, and his steps quickened—
Suddenly, Piel stopped in his tracks.
Nol also saw what made him stop… No, to be precise, it was someone.
A boy, who looked no older than fourteen or fifteen. Amidst the overwhelming, gloomy flesh around him, the boy seemed almost like a dream.
The boy’s skin was smooth and clean, without any dirt or scars. His snow-white hair was neatly arranged, hanging down to his collarbone. His eyes were closed, and he wore a gentle smile. His features were delicate, and his slender frame made it hard to determine his gender at first glance.
The inside of the cage was spotless, with a heavy white stone placed in the center. The boy wore a white robe, sat with his legs together, and his hands folded atop his thighs. He sat still, in a remarkably well-behaved posture.
He resembled a marble statue displayed in the cage, entirely out of place in this eerie and sticky atmosphere.
Upon a clear view, Nol instinctively held his breath.
…Teest.
The Mad Monk was always flamboyant in his insanity. When Nol saw this place, he imagined countless bloody possibilities, but he never imagined such a bizarre situation.
The face still had traces of youth, and the body hadn’t yet fully grown. But Nol knew it was Teest. It was undoubtedly Teest. Time seemed to rewind twelve years. Teest’s appearance remained striking, and the distortions he brought were equally… memorable.
In such a terrifying place, no one would be naive enough to simply admire. The young Teest looked all the more perfect, making the atmosphere feel even more eerie and out of place.
“Who’s there?” The young Teest asked softly, opening his eyes to reveal a pair of brilliant golden irises. He stared directly in the direction of the trio, but his pupils lacked focus.
[See, this isn’t a place suitable for adolescents to grow up. Those wicked cultists didn’t care about nutritious lunches.] The adult Teest moved next to Nol, looking critically at his younger self, speaking with a hint of regret. [I was so weak back then, haa.]
Nol stared at the boy in the cage, unsure of what to say.
“Who’s there? Hello?” The darkness remained silent. The young Teest asked again, his tone devoid of any tension or fear.
His clear voice echoed between the cages, and the deformity slowly faded away.
After a moment of hesitation, Piel chose to cover his mouth, deliberately breathing softly. Nol noticed the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. It was said that children were sensitive, and it seemed this child wasn’t fooled by the young Teest’s appearance.
“…Let’s not reply for now,” Nol whispered hoarsely.
Little Piel nodded and carefully moved towards the exit.
“So cold-hearted.” The young Teest seemed to hear them and turned his head towards their direction, his voice incredibly soft. “Don’t you want to be friends with me?”
“Let’s be friends.” He pleaded with those golden eyes, almost coyly.
Little Piel shivered, walking even faster. Nol glanced over his shoulder to see the young Teest once again close his eyes, resuming his original posture.
From here, one could see the entire city. Ironically, this city remained oblivious to the towering church that stood among them—the Eternal Church, like the shadow of everything, was shielded by countless dark magic and illusions. Day after day, the people of Grape Collar walked right past it, completely unaware of the grand dark cathedral beside them.
“It’s like this, meeting you is not easy.” Crimson withdrew his gaze from the window, his tone absentminded. “I need to see the records of your Chosen Ones, Mr. Bonds.”
Priest Bonds of Grape Collar’s Immortal Church was said to be very powerful, but he eventually died in the cathedral fire.
In a few days, this guy would be dead—a fact that Crimson occasionally had similar thoughts when selecting targets, which always brought him a pleasing sense of superiority.
Opposite him sat Priest Bonds, a somber-faced middle-aged man. Bonds’s long black hair was braided into several plaits, hanging down his back, emitting the scent of myrrh and resin. His skin had a strange bluish-purple tint, and beneath his thick black eyebrows, his black eyes were as sharp as an eagle’s.
“May everything be eternal.” Bonds made a circle on his chest, his voice deep and resonant. “I’ve seen all the credentials you’ve provided. I provisionally accept your identity. You can stay in this cathedral.”
“I’ll review the records and leave.” Crimson slowed down his speech and made an exaggerated walking motion. “Since you recognize my identity, what are you waiting for?”
Bonds glared at Crimson with his piercing black eyes.
“Personally, I don’t approve of your reason.”
His voice was especially hoarse.
“You came back from the future to check the records of the Chosen Ones? This means either this record was lost by some idiot, or this cathedral was utterly destroyed… or you’re lying and you want something else.”
From Mr. Bonds’ tone, he seemed not to consider the first two possibilities.
…How frustrating!
“Alright, since you put it that way.” Crimson sat down, throwing his leg onto the table. “I can’t go into details, but in general… some idiot messed up with the selection of the Chosen One, so I had to verify it in this era.”
“Polygraphs, contracts, scanning my brain, whatever. I don’t want to clean up your mess anymore. Who knew just looking at a few lines could be so troublesome.”
“The prophecies of the Chosen Ones contain their fates. They are divine oracles, not just ‘a few lines’.” Bonds glared at him for a while. “We have many people to meet soon. The High Priest isn’t in the cathedral. If you truly serve the great Anstis, you should know the rules.”
“Yeah, yeah, the big boss isn’t around, so the little guys need to be extra cautious. Alright, get to the point. What do I need to do to see it?”
Bonds looked down.
“That boy was brought here by my mentor. He has all the qualifications of a Chosen One, and his training has been going very smoothly. He is undoubtedly blessed by God and is destined to become what God expects.” His tone was solemn, with a hint of fanaticism. “If you want to prove we’re wrong, it’s simple… Just kill him. Before the prophecy is fulfilled, the Chosen Ones will not die.”
‘Oh, that’s easy,’ Crimson thought.
According to the records of the Eternal Church, all the Supplement Demons under the cathedral were wiped out. There were strict records for these demons, and people had verified the number of bodies.
If there was an imposter, his days would be numbered anyway. Killing him prematurely wouldn’t interfere with fate. If he was the real deal—ding ding ding—mission accomplished early! At least he would know what the Chosen One looked like.
But when Crimson actually stood before his target, he was rendered completely silent.
“Hello, sir.”
On a white stone, a beautiful young boy greeted with a smile. “Nice to meet you, sir.”
The young boy’s posture was even more obedient than the most obedient student. In this darkness, he seemed to glow slightly.
However, Crimson stood still, drenched in sweat.
Not long ago, Crimson had recklessly attempted to attack an “unassailable” target. If then, his horror was a “gaze from fate”, at this very moment, the instant he harbored an intent to kill, fate pierced his heart, and the world almost crushed him.
Crimson instinctively took a half-step back.
…What exactly was he facing?
The author has something to say:
Here he is!!! The past Teest makes his appearance~
Crimson, wearing a hood, strolled down Cork Street. He had always liked crowded places like this. These ordinary people, like a flock of sheep, were great at hiding him.
The lingering taste of the “Time Reversion” potion still clung to his tongue that not even a strong drink could wash it away.
The Eternal Priest said it was a special edition, and he didn’t know if the regular version was just as bad. According to the old man, the special edition helped him maintain his “original form”, making it a rare item within the Eternal Church.
He just needed to go back to the Immortal Church before it was burned down and check the records for the prophecy of the “Chosen One”. He could choose the time, so Crimson deliberately chose the week before the church’s destruction.
Honestly, how could he miss out on such a big spectacle?
It was said that the burning of this church remains an unsolved mystery. Crimson couldn’t understand why. Couldn’t someone from the higher-ups just drink the “Time Reversion” and take a look? Who knows what those heretics were thinking.
Crimson stopped at a pastry stall and casually threw down some large coins.
The baked pastries had a crisp crust and were generously filled with lean pork and chopped onions, perfect for eating on the go. As he got the hot pastry, Crimson leisurely turned around. Before he could stabilize himself, a dirty child bumped into him. With a soft sound, Crimson’s pastry fell onto the muddy ground.
…Damn little bastard.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, sir. It’s all my fault.”
The frail boy bent over apologizing repeatedly, his voice mixed with an obvious nervousness. “I wasn’t watching where I was going, sir…”
As the boy apologized, he curled up like a scared mouse. He bent so much that his head almost touched the floor. It was hard to say if he was expressing remorse or bracing for a beating.
‘Perhaps I should kill this insignificant beggar and use it to divine today’s weather,’ Crimson thought, adjusting his askew hood.
In that moment, he suddenly felt a sense of weightlessness, as if he had plunged into an icy abyss on a frozen river. The air around him grew cold and heavy, compressing against him. Crimson couldn’t move, struggling even to breathe.
Is this it?
Is this the so-called “untouchable target”?
Crimson lowered his head to get a better look at the boy’s face, but the child had vanished, as had the pastry that had fallen.
Well, eating was still the most important. Shrugging, Crimson ordered another one.
“It worked!” Piel held up his pastry, happily exclaiming. “He didn’t hit me.”
“Good job.” On his left shoulder, the Mad Monk approved.
“I could have suggested other ways…” Nol whispered from his right shoulder.
However, Piel didn’t really hear Nol’s murmurs. They couldn’t accompany him for long, so it was better not to interfere recklessly.
“Stay safe,” was all Nol could finally advise, even though he felt it was cliché.
“Don’t worry, I’ve never seen that man around here… He looks rich. These types don’t like to make a scene. He wouldn’t act out of line,” Piel whispered as he nestled into the alley, taking a careful bite of the hot pastry.
In less than a minute, the pastry was in Piel’s stomach. After savoring every last bit, Piel asked, “Mr. Fairies, can we call it a day with sweet cheese?”
Teest replied, “Yes, your reward is a piece of sweet cheese.”
As he spoke, Teest leisurely sucked on pomegranate seeds. The Mad Monk didn’t have much food in his bag and wasn’t inclined to share. Fortunately, this offer was generous enough.
Given Nol’s understanding of Teest, this was already the utmost kindness the Mad Monk could offer.
“Sweet cheese!” Piel’s face lit up. “I’ll take you all over the market! Are you looking for medicinal herbs for wounds? I know the shop mercenaries frequent the most.”
He firmly believed Teest’s story about “fairy wings being plucked off” and was concerned about their non-existent injuries.
Unfortunately, Piel’s good luck seemed to have run out.
The crowd was bustling, and Little Piel moved through it like a mouse. The pastry had filled his stomach, making him a bit sluggish. As he hurriedly crossed a narrow path, he stepped on the edge of a somewhat clean boot.
“I’m sor—” The boy reflexively stopped to apologize.
The moment Nol sensed malice, Little Piel flew out like a leaf.
His abdomen was brutally kicked, and his back slammed into the wall. Stone debris clattered to the ground. The slender body slid down the wall, violently twitching. Little Piel seemed like he wanted to vomit but forcibly held back. Apparently, he wasn’t willing to throw up the pastry he had just eaten.
I want to heal this child.
Nol glared at the mercenary who had kicked the boy, thinking seriously, ‘I want to stop this atrocity.’
This time, he didn’t feel the terror of looking down from the edge of the abyss.
It seemed that this minor incident was inconsequential in the grand scheme of things—the difference probably lay in Little Piel’s level of pain, a detail fate seemed to not care about.
Nol quickly placed his hands on Piel’s body, quietly casting a healing spell. As the magic flowed into him, Piel’s tense body soon relaxed, but he still lay against the wall, motionless.
“Smart kid.” Teest, having finished eating the pomegranate seed, commented in amusement. “Playing dead is right. Those who bully the weak love tormenting those who resist.”
Nol, on the other hand, glared fiercely at the approaching mercenary—it was hard to say whether the man was muscular or fat. His head was pockmarked, looking like a potato sack with a big beard.
‘I want to beat him up,’ Nol thought. Again, there was no warning from fate. This man’s destiny seemed as inconsequential as his appearance.
“Is he dead?” The mercenary kicked Piel with the tip of his boot, while Nol raised his staff—
Clang!
Someone “coincidentally” walked in front of Piel, taking the mercenary’s kick to the shin. The issue was, this person happened to be a knight—he was elegantly built, his entire body encased in bone-like, silvery white armor with not an inch of skin visible.
Nol hadn’t seen such armor before, but he felt an obvious oppressive aura from it, and he was sure it was of high value.
The white knight, having been kicked, halted. He stood with his back to Piel, turned to face the fat mercenary, and just stood there silently.
“Sir, I apologize.” The fat mercenary swallowed hard. “I was just trying to teach that street rat a lesson. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
The knight remained silent. Standing there, he looked like a breathing statue.
Nol noticed that the knight didn’t carry a sword or shield. Unfortunately, the fat mercenary realized this too. His hand reached for his battle ax and his tone grew increasingly aggressive.
“I’ve already apologized, and I didn’t damage your armor! It’s my right to discipline misbehaving brats!”
The mercenary spat, his voice growing louder. “If you have a problem, say it. Who are you trying to intimidate?”
The white knight certainly stood out. The standoff between the mercenary and the knight was far more interesting than the mercenary kicking a child. A few bystanders stopped to watch with interest.
Piel, no longer lying down, sat up, leaning against the wall, studying the back of the knight.
The knight still said nothing, standing relaxed, unshaken. The fat mercenary’s hand tightened and loosened around his ax, sweat forming on his forehead. A few minutes later, he cursed “lunatic” and grumpily left, pushing through the crowd.
“Wow…” Piel’s eyes nearly shone as he scrambled up. “Thank you, Sir Knight!”
The white knight nodded towards Little Piel and disappeared into the crowd. Nol felt a fleeting sense of oddity. By the time he tried to grasp it, the knight had vanished.
“There’s really all kinds of people that exist in this world.” Teest handed Nol a pomegranate seed. “Tsk, tsk. Such a perfect knight—I wonder what he’s doing in such a shabby place.”
“I want to be a knight.” Piel wiped the dirt from his face, muttering, “He didn’t even carry a sword. Did you see? He didn’t have a sword! But the fat guy was scared away.”
“Knighthood is expensive.” Teest poured cold water on Piel’s enthusiasm without a hint of sympathy. “And you need a lord to swear your loyalty to. That’s a troublesome matter.”
‘Are you the right person to say that, Sir Death Knight?Your sworn lord is right here,’ Nol thought, biting into the pomegranate seed.
Teest’s equipment was indeed shabby… The “Betrayer” was his constant, but apart from it and that wolf fang pendant, his knighthood lacked noteworthy items.
Recently, Nol had been busy reshaping his worldview, while Teest was still wearing rags. Damn, he wasn’t a good boss. The pomegranate juice in Nol’s mouth turned a little sour.
Once he found the Eclipse Shield, he would have to get Teest a full set of armor! As the Master of Paradise, he should also get himself a decent mage robe…
“Regardless of the challenges, I still want to be a knight,” Piel insisted. “He was so cool! So cool—”
“What you admire is ‘chivalry’, Piel,” Nol couldn’t help but interject. “’Chivalry’ doesn’t cost money, and anyone can have it.”
Teest peeked out from the other side of the boy, his face scrunched up obviously disapproving.
‘Except for a murderous Death Knight,’ Nol silently added.
“Really?” Piel turned to Nol.
“Yes, like helping others. It’s about the heart.” Nol couldn’t help but smile. “In doing so, without pledging allegiance to anyone, you are, in essence, a knight.”
“I’ll remember that!” Piel declared earnestly.
“Piel is talking to the air again.” Not far away, several street kids started whispering.
“Crazy Piel, Dirty Piel, grape skins stick to his eyeballs…”
Piel brushed off the dirt on his trousers, seemingly turning a deaf ear. He puffed out his chest proudly, as if he had just been knighted.
……
“So, you can’t take me to the church,” Crimson said.
By his side, an Eternalist had already fallen. His throat was slashed, and blood quickly spread across the floor.
“My Lord, My Lord. We know you are anxious—but-but we need to confirm with the priest. It’s a mandatory procedure.”
In the dim light, the only remaining Eternalist knelt on one knee, his voice trembling.
Twelve years ago, there were no Players in the world, and Player’s earrings couldn’t be used as absolute passes. If he wanted to investigate the data of this Immortal Church, he would have to go through the tedious processes of the Eternal Church.
Crimson clicked his tongue. If not for his intuition constantly alerting him, he would have loved to tell these people, “Idiots, your church is about to be done for.”
Moreover, the only ones who could withstand his killing intent and came to see him were merely inconsequential specks of dust, unlikely to provide any useful information.
“Alright, alright, I’ll wait,” Crimson said, stepping out, leaving a trail of bloody footprints, and sat on the only armchair in the room. “What are you all so busy with? There’s hardly anyone at the base.”
“The most basic hunting, My Lord.”
The only remaining Eternalist glanced at his deceased companion and replied formally, “There have been rumors that someone on Cork Street possesses the ‘Eye of Truth’. This is valuable material.”
The Eye of Truth? Crimson pondered for a while before finally matching it to a skill he knew of.
“With the ‘Eye of Truth’, isn’t there a corresponding oracle?” Crimson frowned.
Being God’s Chosen One, this wasn’t a secret in any major religion.
Whether it was the Temple of Life or the Eternal Church, the highest-ranking individuals were the “Chosen Ones” named by oracles—like the Pope, the archbishops or high priests beneath them, and the leaders of various central knight orders.
They all possessed their own oracles and corresponding prophecies of fate.
Next in rank were the “God’s Servants”.
This group shared a single oracle. They didn’t have specific fate prophecies—only vague identity indications.
These individuals were typically of above-average quality, like bulk purchases by God. They were commonly found in the middle ranks of religions and in the top ranks in remote areas.
The remaining followers were recruited by the major religions themselves, and they could climb to mid-rank positions at most, with almost none reaching higher ranks.
It was said that this oracle system had been in operation for thousands of years without any issues. The only widely known “error” was the apostate former Pope of the Temple of Life, Godfrey Painter.
The [Eye of Truth] was a pretty good skill. In Crimson’s view, it should be considered at the level of God’s Servants.
“Yes, the oracle descended later… We want to be prepared in advance,” the Eternalist said, bowing his head deeply, resembling a black garbage bag filled with a corpse given his black robe.
You’re adding wood to a burning house. Recruiting without giving warnings—your god is really cruel.
“If I help you find this Eye of Truth, can I see the priest sooner?” Crimson asked, eager to witness the spectacle.
“Certainly, My Lord. We are very grateful, My Lord. May everything be eternal—”
“That’s settled then.”
That night, Crimson followed the group of Eternalists out.
It seemed that they were looking for a dark-haired boy nicknamed “Piel”—the [Eye of Truth] had a deep purple hue, making it a very distinct feature. With just one gold wheel, the vagrants on the street would eagerly draw a portrait for them.
The only challenge was that Piel kept to himself, and no one knew where he lived.
Crimson tried using the [Blood Gnome’s Bargain] for divination. This future-predicting spell seemed to conflict with the “past”. Even offering a fresh corpse, the blood gnome didn’t show its face.
How boring.
His current task from the present was to find information, and his task from the past was to find the boy. Couldn’t there be something more thrilling? Crimson stopped in front of a closed-down pawnshop, briefly removed his hood, and impatiently stretched his neck and shoulders.
Separated by a pane of glass.
Nol was trying to make popcorn by roasting corn kernels with a toothpick. When he saw the blood-stained earring of a Player, he almost dropped the kernels into the fire due to shock.
A “Demon” Player from the Eternal Church.
The moment this person took off his hood, Nol immediately recognized the red hair—it was the “Demon” they had fought against in Whitebird City—Burly Jack’s partner, Crimson from Country A, the serial killer.
…But how can there be a Player here?!
“How did this guy get here? He really is like a haunting ghost.”
Teest was spreading butter on the corn kernels, marveling, “He can’t possibly be after the shield too, can he?”
Nol watched Crimson walk away, feeling the letter opener on him. “Hard to say. But he’s not from this era, so attacking him shouldn’t be a problem.”
They accidentally let him go before. They couldn’t let him escape this time.
“Should we follow him?”
Teest sat on a corn cob, continuing to roast his kernels. Through the window, Crimson casually walked towards the street’s end.
Nol glanced at the sleeping Piel inside the store, relaxing a bit. “No. Let Ben follow him. We’ll discuss it after we leave this kid.”
Ever since they found out that the kid had something to do with the world’s situation, Nol had been on edge. If the Eternal Church retaliated and involved Little Piel, that would be bad. Plus, they still couldn’t be sure why Crimson was here. He wasn’t a true believer of the Eternal Son, so he might not go to the Immortal Church—getting trapped by him and missing the quest would be a big problem.
…Speaking of quests, ever since they returned to the past, the system had been unusually quiet. Grape Collar was a big city. They had been here a day and a half and hadn’t triggered even half a system task.
It was as if the system didn’t exist.
Thankfully, all their skills still worked. Nol glanced at the four moons in the night sky. Those weird things hadn’t changed, such a pity.
The next morning, Piel woke up to the delicious aroma of buttered popcorn.
With the appearance of that cockroach Crimson, Teest and Nol spent the whole night by the window. With nothing else to do, they ended up with a mountain of caramel popcorn. Piel tasted one. The sweetness immediately brought a smile to his face.
“It’s so delicious!” he exclaimed genuinely. “It’s even better than yesterday’s sweet cheese.”
“Today’s reward is this, plus a stick of butter, fair and square.” Teest gave a big yawn, leaning against a slightly dehydrated blue rose. He took the promised reward—a whole salted butter stick—from his pocket and put it in the drawer.
“Yay!” Piel cheered.
‘This is an advance payment,’ Nol thought. Perhaps they would say goodbye today.
With Crimson nearby, could the Eternalists be far behind? Once they found a suitable tool from the Eternal Church, they would abandon their base and follow that person into the church.
He hoped that after they left, fate would be kind to this poor child.
Unfortunately, it turned out they wouldn’t be parting soon—before lunchtime, Teest detected the presence of the Eternalists.
Seven Eternalists, plus Crimson, were approaching from different directions amidst the crowd.
‘Strange,’ Nol thought. He and Teest certainly hadn’t exposed themselves. Could it be that these people were here for the Eye of Truth?
‘We need to escape with the child,’ he thought.
The next moment, Nol was once again bitten by the cold darkness.
“You can’t,” it roared.
This is his destiny.
The author has something to say:
Nol: ? I don’t believe you.
Old Mad Monk: Loves explosions and blasts his enemies into the sky with a bang.
New Teest: He likes explosions and uses the “Betrayer” to bake popcorn all night long… Come to think of it, his color scheme is quite popcorn-like (…
“Mayor, my child is already 6 months old, a boy, and I also want to name him Ryan. It is an honor for all of us to have a mayor like you in Beautiful Flower Town!”
Upon seeing Ryan in the production center, the pregnant women all gathered around to speak. It was evident that Ryan was dearly loved by the townspeople.
In the face of everyone’s enthusiasm, Ryan responded with a polite and gentlemanly smile, advising them all to be careful. After kindly shaking hands with everyone, Ryan went to the doctor’s office to inquire about everyone’s conditions.
Upon hearing that all the pregnant women and children were healthy, Ryan showed a very relieved smile. When leaving, he received many bouquets, each with a pink card inside. The female doctors and nurses sent out bouquets with shy smiles, leaving one to wonder about the content on the cards.
Before getting into the elevator, Zhou Qian stopped Ryan. “Wait.”
“What’s the matter?” Ryan asked Zhou Qian.
Zhou Qian asked, “Where are we going next?”
Ryan said, “How about going back to the reception room? If you are hungry, you can also get something to eat. When your friend wakes up and the interrogations of the two girls are over, if they are indeed not witches, I’ll escort you out together.”
“Do you have a place to stay? I would be delighted to welcome you to stay in Beautiful Flower Town; I can arrange houses for you.”
“That sounds great,” Zhou Qian responded naturally. “Can you arrange a house by the mountain and river for me?”
“No problem. I will have someone arrange it,” Ryan said.
“During the waiting period, we have nothing to do… Can we walk around on this floor?” Zhou Qian said, “My sister’s child was killed by a vile witch. Unfortunately, unlike these pregnant women, she hasn’t been able to walk out of the pain. I want to ask some pregnant women about their experiences in adjusting their emotions to help my sister later. Can you give me… one hour?”
Ryan’s beautiful green eyes narrowed for a moment, then he cheerfully responded, “Of course. In an hour, the problems on your friend’s side should also be resolved. I will send someone to pick you up then.”
Ryan left with some soldiers, leaving others to guard Zhou Qian and the rest. Qi Liuxing looked around and noticed that some pregnant women and nurses were curiously looking their way, as if wondering about the identities of these players.
After looking around, Qi Liuxing withdrew his gaze and asked Zhou Qian, “So, why do you want to stay here?”
Zhou Qian walked towards the nurse station with a smile. “Of course, to get the girls’ numbers.”
Qi Liuxing frowned immediately. “They are all pregnant, married women!”
Zhou Qian: “You underage kid, what are you thinking about all day?”
Qi Liuxing: “…”
“I, of course, have other uses. Also—”
Zhou Qian turned back and said to him and Ke Yuxiao, “You should also try to talk to them as much as possible. Let’s find a way to probe Mayor Ryan’s background.”
Following Zhou Qian’s words, Li Buhui also volunteered to join the “probing” action. Thus, the four players quickly split up to initiate their actions—talking to doctors, nurses, and pregnant women. After 30 minutes, everyone gathered in the family waiting area and discussed their findings, gaining a more comprehensive understanding of Beautiful Flower Town and even Mayor Ryan.
The town was located remotely, far from big cities, and development here was once very closed off. In the generations of people here, very few chose to pursue education, and there wasn’t much cultural knowledge.
All in all, it was a relatively backward town. Mayor Ryan chose to be the one to “step out.”
It was said that Ryan studied abroad and earned a Ph.D., learning a lot of knowledge.
He didn’t choose to stay outside but chose to return home to develop the town and give back to the land that nurtured him. He started as an ordinary government employee but was quickly promoted to mayor through his abilities.
The town’s electricity and water projects were planned and built by him, and the computers, TVs, telephones, and the like used by the residents were also technologies he brought from big cities.
In short, the townspeople went from being backward to prosperous, from laborious work to relying on technology for a convenient life, all thanks to Ryan’s efforts.
Thus, Ryan became a “godlike” existence in the hearts of the townspeople. The only group in town that refused to accept Ryan was probably the Witch Association.
Regarding this, doctors, nurses, and even the pregnant women, most of them gave similar comments. “Twenty years ago, the townspeople were all ignorant. Twenty years later, we have today, thanks to Mayor Ryan! It was he who led everyone out of ‘ignorance’.”
“But those witches are still as ‘ignorant’ as ever. No, they are not only ignorant, but they are also evil! The evil spirits they conjure… are terrifying!”
From the information received so far, Mayor Ryan wasn’t only a high-tech talent but truly loved this town and was indeed contributing to it.
Therefore, Zhou Qian could only temporarily attribute the tragedy on Weir Mountain to an accident, rather than something Ryan did intentionally.
However, after that accident, everything Ryan did to cover up the truth and protect his good image in the town was intentional.
Just then, Zhou Qian received a message from Situ Qing.
[We entered a place resembling a cell, and indeed, we saw two witches. They were motionless, most likely already dead.]
Sure enough.
Unsurprisingly, these two witches must have been silenced.
This undoubtedly confirmed Zhou Qian’s suspicion.
On the day of the Strawberry Music Festival, a very coincidental thing happened. Most adults had left the town for a vacation, and only a few stayed at home.
This coincidence gave Mayor Ryan the opportunity to whitewash everything.
That day, most of the town’s children went to Weir Mountain to attend the festival. A few, like Lina, who were unwell, didn’t go and stayed in town.
Afterward, an unknown accident occurred on Weir Mountain—an extremely radioactive power station or laboratory exploded.
Zhou Qian believed that with the high level of technological development in the town, the mayor should have remedied it in time, so the radiation only affected Weir Mountain and the northern town, and the adults who were on vacation that day were temporarily safe.
But not the people in the town.
The children who went to the festival on Weir Mountain were the first victims.
And the few adults and children who stayed in the town that night were likely also hit by radiation, but the adverse reactions in their bodies might be slower as they were exposed to less radiation, and it wasn’t so direct.
To prevent exposure, Mayor Ryan’s decision was to—kill all the people affected by radiation.
So, the few adults and children who stayed in the town that night were all killed, and it was disguised as abnormal phenomena such as hearts being removed, and heads being chopped off.
Ryan did this to blame everything on the “evil spirits”.
As for the children who attended the music festival on Weir Mountain, they weren’t directly killed by Ryan’s people.
Firstly, there were too many of them, and even Ryan couldn’t openly create so much slaughter.
Secondly, Ryan could use others to do the killing.
He deliberately created many murders in the town and blamed all the murders on the “evil spirits”, so naturally, he could let the witches handle the children who were “possessed by evil spirits”.
As for why the witches unanimously believed that many evil spirits appeared that night and then really thought everything was the work of evil spirits after “seeing is believing”?
This must be because they received a message from the Witch Association.
Ryan set up a radiation barrier in the northern town, even preventing mutated animals and plants affected by radiation from passing through. Witch Sarah claimed it was set by her magic.
Ryan let everyone wear protective clothing, saying it was a scientific way to prevent evil spirits, but what the clothes really prevented was radiation; similarly, Witch Sarah distributed special witch robes to everyone, claiming they were enchanted with protective spells, but in fact, they were just radiation-proof clothing.
The only person in the town who really “went out” to learn about technology was the mayor.
The technologically ignorant witches thought the clothes were really enchanted with spells that could protect against evil spirits after finding out they were really safe in them.
Moreover, the guns that Ryan’s military force used are similar to electric stun guns.
The weapons in the witches’ hands were surprisingly similar.
Zhou Qian didn’t ask the witches about this, but he could guess that Sarah must have told the witches that these were weapons enchanted by her, able to drain the strength of those who are cursed.
Finally, the crystal ball in the witches’ hands must also be a lie.
It should just be a device that can detect radiation levels, only made in the shape of a crystal ball.
Looking at it this way, Witch Association President Sarah seemed to be colluding with Mayor Ryan—their cooperation was too tacit.
On the surface, they seemed to be absolutely opposed.
But they were actually jointly maintaining a lie—that this world had evil spirits and magic.
To clear Ryan of his charges, Sarah deceived all the witches. She brainwashed them, telling them that evil spirits had appeared in the town, forcing witches like Eva to act against their own children with a heavy heart.
In order to perpetuate the lie, Sarah constantly performed, attributing “magical” meaning to all “technological” products.
Sarha led patrols every day, all for show. To maintain a good image of working “for the town and its people”, and to comply with the witches’ wishes and avoid suspicion, she had to pretend to be earnestly looking for survivors and exorcizing evil spirits.
Meanwhile, she also responded to everyone’s requests by sending people to investigate the origins of the evil spirits on Weir Mountain. But if any witch found the “power station” on Weir Mountain or any other evidence that might expose Mayor Ryan’s secrets, that witch would immediately be arrested by government forces and subsequently executed.
However, the cooperation between Sarah and Ryan seemed flawless, which raised the question, what was Sarah’s purpose and benefit in this?
She was so skilled with technological products; it seemed she knew everything Ryan did.
Was it possible that she and Ryan were the same person?
After all… it was Sarah’s suggestion to have some players cross-dress from the beginning.
It turned out she was the true master of disguise.
Ryan’s turquoise eyes and Sara’s blue eyes started to interchange in Zhou Qian’s vision. Ryan had blonde hair, and Sarah had blonde eyelashes. This seemed to serve as evidence.
Although they didn’t look very alike… Zhou Qian remembered, when he met Sarah, she was wearing heavy makeup. Makeup, of course, could make a person look very different. The color of the eyes could be solved with colored contact lenses.
Sarah was Ryan. Ryan himself was a man, and he cross-dressed to pose as a witch.
Zhou Qian was becoming more and more certain about this.
However, there was still a doubt. Such impersonation was possible in a short time, but it was highly improbable for Ryan to do this for more than ten years without slipping up. So, the earliest Witch Sarah should indeed have existed.
Where did she go, and how was she replaced by Ryan?
Furthermore, there was another small question in the whole affair.
Ryan couldn’t accomplish such a thing alone. He must have a team that was absolutely loyal to him, helping him manage everything. These people believe in him, probably even more than the witches believe in Sarah.
After all, everything Sarah did in front of the witches was an act. They believed in her disguise. But Ryan’s followers believed in the real Ryan.
They manufactured massacres, disguised crime scenes, and eventually made sure all informants—everyone who might expose the matter—were dead…
They should also be townspeople. Why would they do such things?
……
At this point, the four players present had almost sorted out everything. Qi Liuxing wondered, “So, what should we do next? This time, the system’s hints about the plot are very scarce.”
Ke Yuxiao said, “I think we should find a way to rescue Wu Ren, Situ Qing, and Yin Jiujiu first. Besides, Wu Ren has less than two hours left. I have a bad premonition.”
The two discussed for a moment and then looked at Zhou Qian, seemingly wanting his opinion. Zhou Qian didn’t speak for a while. He was unusually serious, and then also glanced at his watch. The system popped up a message from Li Xuexai—
[The place where life points decrease quickly is where the radiation is severe. I’m very worried you all might be sent back to Weir Mountain.]
Seeing this line, Zhou Qian’s mouth curled, and he whispered, “Unfortunately, I think your worries are correct.”
Zhou Qian guessed right. So did Li Xuehai.
Soon, with a “ding” sound, the elevator door opened. Mayor Ryan walked in, surrounded by soldiers. He seemed like a completely different person.
He used to be gentlemanly and polite; his smile was gentle, and his eyes were always filled with concern. But this time, when he stepped out of the elevator, his eyes seemed to be shining.
When he saw Zhou Qian and the others, his eyes brightened even more. He walked up to Zhou Qian and firmly shook his hand as if holding some precious gift, unwilling to let go. “You are gifts from heaven, gifts for Beautiful Flower Town! Come! Follow me!”
Mayor Ryan seemed to be inviting the players into the elevator on the surface, but in reality, the players were forced to move forward with guns pointed at their heads.
This time, they directly took the elevator to the underground parking garage and then astonishingly entered a commercial vehicle.
When Zhou Qian entered the commercial vehicle, he was quite surprised to find that Situ Qing, Yin Jiujiu, and Wu Ren were already inside.
As for any discoveries each of the three made, Zhou Qian temporarily didn’t have time to ask. Only when everyone was in the vehicle and the car gradually drove away from the government building did he find that this car was indeed heading to Weir Mountain.
At this time, Mayor Ryan was still warmly shaking his hand; his eyes were shining as if a cheetah had seen its prey.
Zhou Qian looked back at him, the corner of his mouth hooking into a smile. “Dear Mayor Ryan, what did you mean by what you said just now?”
Ryan spoke with a laugh, his words somewhat incoherent. “It’s… you are all gifts… Your data has come out. I mean, when you first came to the government building, you went to the testing room. Besides removing the possible radiation, ah no, evil spirits from your body, I had people test you.”
“You are my gifts… There is something in your bodies… that can coexist with them… just like those animals and plants… you are not afraid of it…”
“Of course, there are differences in your constitutions. This person is a bit weaker…” Ryan pointed at Wu Ren and clutched Zhou Qian’s hand even more fervently. “But you are the best among you. You are my gift!”
Zhou Qian: “……”
Zhou Qian didn’t speak; he only frowned, sensing a rather ominous premonition. Although Ryan was somewhat incoherent and still hiding everything, Zhou Qian felt that he probably understood Ryan’s meaning.
In this town, humans undoubtedly fear radiation. After mutating, they would suffer, become ill, and eventually die. But animals and plants were different—especially plants.
They would grow taller and become bizarre in appearance, but they wouldn’t die. Now that Ryan had gotten the test data on the players, he believed that players, like plants, weren’t afraid of radiation.
Perhaps players would mutate and become bizarre in appearance, but they would not die but would survive under radiation.
Zhou Qian allowed Ryan to hold his hand, staring into his eyes and asking, “Do you mean that we can coexist with ‘evil spirits’? But why would you hope for such a thing to happen?”
Perhaps because Ryan was too excited at the moment or because the people in the car were his close associates who knew all his deeds, he didn’t hide much and spoke directly, “Because the development of technology cannot be separated from ‘evil spirits’. Evil spirits can provide the most efficient production… It’s greatly convenient for humans! If humans cannot coexist with it, its utility would be greatly limited!”
“You… You’ve appeared! This is great! If one day we humans are no longer afraid of ‘evil spirits’, how wonderful? Our lives will be full of convenience! We don’t have to worry about excessive deforestation or resource consumption. As long as we vigorously develop ‘evil spirits’, we will have inexhaustible resources!”
“We didn’t dare to easily use these resources before because we feared humans themselves would be backfired, afraid that we couldn’t adapt to such an environment. But your appearance means my thoughts were indeed correct!”
“Indeed… this accident reminded me that humans also need to make all changes to adapt to environmental changes, right?” Ryan’s eyes had become extremely fanatic at this point. He couldn’t help but look out the window at the town.
“This new town has been protected by me. But the humans here are too fragile. They are like flowers in a greenhouse. The pursuit of technological progress brought by a little bit of ‘evil spirit’ would make them fall… They are simply vulnerable.”
“You’ve appeared… I may be able to transform them.”
Returning his gaze, Ryan looked at Zhou Qian with fervent and gentle eyes, holding his hand tightly, and said, “I can feel that you seem to be not from this world. I don’t know if some accidents have affected time and space, causing you to appear… Anyway, you are gifts bestowed by heaven to me. So—”
“Please be my test subjects. You will make a huge contribution to humanity!”
Compared to the fanaticism in Ryan’s eyes, the players’ moods had undoubtedly hit rock bottom.
A moment later, they, as test subjects, without wearing protective suits, had already arrived at the most severely radiated core area—the top of Weir Mountain. Ryan and his soldiers were wearing protective suits, and they brought the players wearing regular clothes off the vehicle.
The air here seemed to be somewhat thin, and the moment Zhou Qian stepped off the car, he already felt a bit breathless.
Looking up, Zhou Qian then saw a high wall appear before him.
The wall was very high and very long, making it impossible to see its end at a glance.
The material seems similar to what he had seen in government buildings, with very smooth lines made of very high-quality materials.
Above the high wall, faintly visible were some strangely shaped plants protruding above. Zhou Qian even thought he saw a huge tail sweeping over the edge of the wall just now.
Hence, whatever was concealed within this wall, whatever kind of bizarre world it was… it really made one afraid to think deeper.
Zhou Qian could only guess that a circular wall had been built here, enclosing all the secrets about Mayor Ryan within.
Next, the players would step into it, learning the deepest secrets behind, but also facing an extremely dangerous world.
After a while, Ryan got out of the car and personally took out a button and pressed it. A door was drawn open on the wall.
Ryan, holding Zhou Qian’s hand, led him and the other players to the door. “Please enter to undergo the experiment. I will come to pick you up afterward! Maybe by then… you will not look the same as you do now. But the you by then will be in the form of an advanced human. You will be a role model for all of us. We will all want to grow up to be like you.”
Zhou Qian didn’t speak; he just inadvertently glanced to the side.
Then he saw a leaf growing out of the back of Wu Ren’s neck.
He actually had a leaf growing out of his neck.
Pulling back his gaze, Zhou Qian acted as if he saw nothing.
When Ryan released his hand, about to let him in, Zhou Qian instead held his hand and gently raised it. “Dear Mayor, for the evolution of humans, I am willing to undergo this experiment. But before that, I want to ask you a question.”
“What do you want to ask?” Ryan said.
“You look very familiar.” Zhou Qian smiled. “Do you have any… sisters?”
The color of Ryan’s face seemed to change slightly, then he countered, “Why do you ask this?”
“No reason. She was my lover.” Zhou Qian’s eyes narrowed. “I am just very concerned about her whereabouts.”
[Player Zhou Qian initiated side plot: The Secrets Behind Ryan.]
Indeed.
He guessed it right.
The secrets behind Ryan must be closely related to the reason why he could disguise himself as Witch Sarah.
Just now, when Ling Xiao was in danger, among the people who intended to help, the red-haired from the duo was one of them. Now that the danger had passed, some people retreated, but these two approached once more.
“If I’m not mistaken, did you just use teleportation? Impressive. I can’t do that at all.”
“Teleportation?” Ling Xiao heard a new term. “Did you acquire a new skill? Is it difficult?”
“Teleportation demands both emotional and mental strength. My instructor said that our emotional strength is sufficient, but my mental strength hasn’t reached the required level, so I can’t activate it.”
Ling Xiao glanced at Ying Feng and thought to himself, if he could blow a paper ball into the sky, even if he couldn’t do it before, it definitely wasn’t due to a lack of mental strength…
The other continued questioning Ying Feng, “With such personal abilities, you must be aiming for the Combat Command Department?”
It was recognized as the most challenging solo examination, and only the best Qizhu would dare to apply.
“No,” Ying Feng denied. “We are applying for the Joint Combat Department.”
The two from Lion Hope looked at Ling Xiao with disbelief evident in their eyes, reflecting their inner turmoil. Ling Xiao, who had just been targeted as the weakest link by the monster, didn’t know how to explain, and could only smile awkwardly.
Fortunately, the Qizhu reacted quickly. “Right, he’s just lost some blood. Once he recovers, he should be fine. A Qizhu is stronger when the Qizi is powerful, so both of you must be exceptional. I’m looking forward to being classmates with you.” He extended his hand politely. “My name is Bing Can, and this is my Qizi Qian Si. Nice to meet you.”
The red-haired Qian Si said to Ling Xiao, “I didn’t expect you to have the skills to apply for the Joint Combat Department. See you in the examination!”
After exchanging names, Bing Can left with Qian Si. In the future, their competitors wouldn’t be the companions from Bikong but elite students from various junior academies. Just like Qian Si, Ling Xiao was also eagerly awaiting the Royal Sky Entrance Exam.
While some were looking to the future, others had no future left. In a dormitory of the 10th grade in Bikong, Zhen He experienced the worst nightmare of his 22 years of life. Before him, the initiator of this nightmare was swiftly using his power to firmly control Zhen He.
The humiliation of his life was underestimating this person. He couldn’t run, couldn’t end his life, and certainly couldn’t attack the Qizhu. Zhu Yue completely severed his connection with the outside world; even the dormitory’s network equipment was destroyed.
Zhen He, who wished to consume him, could only stare at him in this way now. Even though Zhu Yue had complete control, such a gaze still scared him.
He bravely took a step forward, trying not to make his voice tremble. “I need ability and money. I want to make the people who look down on me pay, so I have to do this.”
As he did every day, he bit his thumb and wiped the blood on Zhen He’s lips. The anger in Zhen He’s eyes burned even more intensely.
Zhu Yue swallowed. “But now I still need greater ability. Putting you on top is the only way I can compensate you. When I fully mature, I’ll let you go.”
Zhen He stared at him with red eyes, then roared from the depths of his throat and pounced on him.
……
Two weeks later.
Ling Xiao, who groggily got up from the bed, opened the bathroom door without much thought. Just out of the shower and not even wrapped in a towel, Ying Feng calmly looked at the intruder, seemingly thinking it was an ordinary occurrence, and showed no intention of covering up. Instead, it was Ling Xiao who was startled awake, slamming the bathroom door shut with a bang.
Outside, once he came to his senses, Ling Xiao regretted his overreaction. After all, he had seen it all before, so what was there to be embarrassed about?
But opening the door to go back in now would just seem like he was trying too hard to cover his mistake. As he rued his behavior, he recalled the glimpse of Ying Feng’s matured body, which seemed somewhat different from his own.
He sneakily pulled at the corner of his pants, wondering why, after all this time, he still didn’t have a single hair down there.
“What are you doing?” Ying Feng’s voice suddenly emerged from behind, startling Ling Xiao enough for him to let go.
“Nothing!” He denied stubbornly.
Ying Feng frowned, clearly having seen Ling Xiao looking at his privates, yet he still denied it.
Seeing that Ying Feng had come out, Ling Xiao hurriedly rushed into the bathroom, slamming the door just as heavily as before.
‘What on earth…’ Ying Feng thought.
Today was the scheduled day for a physical examination, and also the most crucial day. The results of today’s exam would determine whether Ling Xiao could participate in the entrance examination for Royal Sky Academy in two days.
At the infirmary, it was business as usual. While Ling Xiao waited outside, Yao Tai was busy inputting some data into the computer. On seeing Ying Feng, she casually greeted him, “You’re here.”
“Mm,” was Ying Feng’s simple reply.
Yao Tai’s hands paused in their motion, and she looked up at Ying Feng in surprise. Such a gaze made Ying Feng feel puzzled.
“What’s wrong?” he asked again.
His voice was now deep, resonating like a church bell or the cello in a symphony, striking a chord deep within the listener. Standing up, Yao Tai realized she now had to look up to see the young man she used to look down upon.
“Let’s start by measuring your height.”
Holding Ying Feng’s examination results, Yao Tai was speechless for a moment, leading Ying Feng to think that there might be an issue with his report.
“Is there a problem?”
“No, there isn’t,” Yao Tai finally said, recovering from her surprise. “You’ve developed very well. One might say too well…” She couldn’t help but ask, “Can Ling Xiao’s body handle being like this?”
Ying Feng didn’t respond, either because he didn’t understand or pretended not to.
“Never mind.” Yao Tai waved the report in her hand. “Your medical checkup shows no problems. But don’t get too excited too soon. Whether you can advance in your studies primarily depends on Ling Xiao’s medical report. Please wait outside for a moment.”
Ling Xiao entered after Ying Feng, anxiously awaiting the verdict. Yao Tai knew what he was most concerned about and started with his psychological evaluation. “Congratulations, your psychological rating reached A-, barely meeting the minimum requirement for Royal Sky Academy.”
“Yay!” Ling Xiao excitedly jumped off the examination table.
Yao Tai was genuinely happy for him, as she initially thought he had no hope of reaching this point.
“Your physical development is also excellent. You’ve grown four centimeters in a month, which is a great progression.”
Feeling smug, Ling Xiao said, “I was already two centimeters taller than Ying Feng. Now I’ve grown another four. Doesn’t that mean I’m six centimeters taller than him now?”
Regrettably, Yao Tai informed him, “Ying Feng grew ten centimeters. He’s now a full 180 centimeters.”
Ling Xiao felt as if he had been struck by thunder. No wonder he always felt that Ying Feng had changed lately. However, seeing him every day, the change had been stretched out by time and wasn’t noticeable. He hadn’t realized that Ying Feng had grown taller than him.
For ten years, the only advantage he prided himself on, the aspect he was most smug about, had been completely crushed in just a month.
“Normally, a Qizhu grows faster than their Qizi.” Yao Tai observed his expression. “But you shouldn’t be discouraged. You still have room for growth.”
“Will I grow taller than Ying Feng?” Ling Xiao eagerly asked.
“Normally, both Qizhu and Qizi either develop simultaneously or not at all. While there have been instances where the Qizi is taller than the Qizhu, given your current growth rates,” Yao Tai tried to soften her voice, “It’s unlikely.”
Ling Xiao was immediately crestfallen and deeply saddened.
Yao Tai cleared her throat. “Even though you can’t surpass him in height, you should still be able to grow another five or six centimeters before you’re fully developed. That would be quite tall among Qizis.”
“Um…” Ling Xiao hesitated. “I have another question.”
“Go on.”
He looked uncertain. “Promise you won’t laugh.”
“I won’t,” Yao Tai assured him, adhering to the professional conduct of not mocking a patient’s privacy.
“Well…” Ling Xiao’s voice grew quieter, so quiet that Yao Tai could hardly hear him.
“What did you say? Speak up.”
“Why don’t I have…”
Yao Tai still couldn’t hear clearly. “Don’t have what?”
With a firm resolve, Ling Xiao voiced the embarrassing question he had. Yao Tai struggled to maintain a neutral face, doing her best to suppress a smirk, but Ling Xiao caught her.
“You promised not to laugh!”
“I’m sorry.” Yao Tai turned her head away briefly, then, having composed herself, faced him again, looking every bit the professional doctor.
“In theory, whether for a Qizhu or Qizi, as they start to mature, secondary sexual characteristics will change, including growing body hair.”
Ling Xiao became anxious. “Then why haven’t I?”
“If it hasn’t grown by now, there’s only one explanation: it’s subtly influenced by the personal preferences of the Qizhu. Ying Feng probably isn’t even aware of this. It’s the subconscious at play.”
Ling Xiao’s face turned numb. “So, you mean I won’t have it now or in the future…”
“You probably won’t grow any.”
Ying Feng watched as Yao Tai personally escorted Ling Xiao out of the room. Ling Xiao, who had entered lively and spirited, emerged looking like a lost soul.
“What happened? Did he not meet the required grade?”
“His psychological grade just reached an A. Congratulations, you both can apply to Royal Sky.”
Ying Feng glanced at Ling Xiao. “I can’t see that at all.”
“He’s just been hit hard in another way.”
Ying Feng couldn’t imagine anything that could devastate Ling Xiao like this. “In what way?”
Yao Tai gave him a meaningful look. “You’ll have to ask yourself.”
Confused, Ying Feng followed Ling Xiao back to their dormitory. Ling Xiao walked ahead, distraught and silent.
Once in their room, Ying Feng forcibly spun him around. “What’s going on?”
Ling Xiao finally glared back at him. “Being your Qizi is already miserable. How could you do this to me?”
Ying Feng was clueless. “What did I do to you?”
“Have you no humanity left?”
“What are you talking about?”
Ling Xiao didn’t want to discuss it. He climbed onto his bed, sulking.
Unsatisfied, Ying Feng wasn’t having it. “Explain yourself.”
There was no way Ling Xiao could voice such a humiliating matter. He frantically kicked with both legs, trying to push Ying Feng away, exclaiming, “Stop it!”
Ying Feng grabbed one of his ankles, attempting to restrain the other leg in the same manner. However, due to Ling Xiao’s intense struggle, Ying Feng inadvertently grabbed the hem of his pants, nearly pulling them down to his knees.
In a panic, Ling Xiao hurriedly yanked up his trousers, using both hands to cover himself.
Such an action only drew Ying Feng’s attention even more. Coupled with Ling Xiao’s behavior earlier in the day, it seemed Ying Feng was getting close to understanding the core of the issue.
He pinned down Ling Xiao’s legs and, without a word, attempted to pull off his trousers. Although the two had been candid with each other many times, such an action under the bright daylight was unprecedented. Ling Xiao’s face turned beet red with embarrassment, and he resisted with all his might. But he couldn’t match Ying Feng’s strength, who managed to yank his trousers down. Ling Xiao, who had been exposed so many times before, felt the sting of humiliation even more sharply this time. Previously unnoticeable details were now glaringly apparent.
Taking advantage of Ying Feng’s momentary shock, Ling Xiao mustered all his strength to push him away, quickly getting up to pull up his trousers, deeply mortified.
“You’re stronger than me, taller than me, and have what I don’t. Are you satisfied now?”
Ying Feng looked down, deep in thought, but that didn’t make Ling Xiao feel any better.
“Feeling guilty now? It’s too late! Dr. Yao said this is how I’ll be for the rest of my life!”
Ying Feng looked even more dejected, raising a fist to his mouth as if to stifle a sob or laughter.
“Regret won’t help now! Crying won’t help! You owe me so much; you can never repay it in this lifetime! …Wait, you aren’t laughing, are you?”
He was stunned. In the ten years they had known each other, it was the first time he saw Ying Feng smile. The change in his expression was so subtle that unless someone was extremely familiar with him, they wouldn’t notice.
Yet to Ling Xiao, who knew Ying Feng better than anyone, the smile was evident. The corners of his eyes, the tips of his eyebrows, and even his mouth, hidden by his clenched fist—all were smiling. The warmth this added to the ordinarily cold Ying Feng was palpable.
Ling Xiao never imagined that the first time he would see Ying Feng smile in a decade would be because of this. But this was absolutely not funny!
Ying Feng turned away, letting out a slight cough. Ling Xiao lost his cool instantly.
“I heard it! I heard you laughing! You’re actually mocking me! You’re mocking me for this?”
In a fit of rage, he hopped around on the bed, grabbed the only pillow within reach, and ferociously pounded Ying Feng’s back with it. For once, Ying Feng neither dodged nor stopped him, just letting Ling Xiao vent out his frustrations.
Meanwhile, the so-called “program” was anxiously making a determination: Was this an attack? Or flirting? Should it intervene or let it be? An attack? Flirting? An attack? Flirting?
Forget it, human emotions are too complicated. The system couldn’t make a correct judgment and decided to crash.
The author has something to say:
There are some details that I couldn’t fit into the story, so I’ll add them here.
The abilities of a Qizhu are controlled by two values: emotional value and mental power.
Spiritual Vision: mental power =>5, detect the position of the Qizi.
Mental Communication: mental power =>10, emotional value =>10.
Teleportation: mental power =>20, emotional value =>20.
Exchange life for life: emotional value = 100.
For a normally bonded couple, their initial emotional value is between 60-80. Primary academies don’t train mental power, so most Qizhu start with a mental power of 0, unable to activate their abilities.
Bing Can and Ling Xiao currently have a mental power of 10, enough to activate a level one soul crystal.
Ying Feng’s mental power is around 30. The instructor thinks he’s very powerful, mainly due to his high mental power, as it’s rare for couples to have an “insufficient emotional value”.
Regarding emotional levels: 10 is a nod and hello when meeting; 20 is a short chat on mutual interests; 30 considering the other as a friend worth keeping; 40 is inviting for a drink; 50 is budding romantic feelings; 60 is gathering courage to confess; 70 is being deeply in love; 80 is missing the other every single day; 90 is a willingness to commit for life; 100 is being willing to give one’s life for the other.
Congratulations to Ying Feng and Ling Xiao for advancing their relationship from a nod and hello to having short conversations. Keep it up!
The Shirou was taken away, and everything returned to normal. At this moment, the morning sun rose completely, birds chirped loudly, and the forest was bathed in radiant spring light.
The stench was replaced by a fresh fragrance, with only a hint of blood lingering in the wind. Shi Jingzhi collapsed weakly onto a wooden chair, his long hair and clothing soaked with the blood gushing from him. He seemed to be breathing less and less, his life hanging by a thread, creating a scene of sorrow.
The senior disciple of the Kushan Sect arrived late. Yin Ci jumped down from the treetop and quickly pressed various acupoints on Shi Jingzhi’s body, frantically trying to stop the bleeding and close the wound. The medicine box was thrown aside, its valuable contents scattered everywhere. Yin Ci poured and applied the medicines heedlessly.
Shi Jingzhi’s eyes were tightly closed, his face paler than winter snow, and his breath faint like a spider’s thread floating in the wind. If it weren’t for Yin Ci desperately trying to save him, he would have been no different from a corpse.
Knowing that Yin Ci had no inner force, Shi Zhongyu rushed forward to infuse her own qi to heal the wounds. Only then did Jin Lan react, calling others to clear a space for a proper treatment.
After witnessing the strange and unsettling scene, everyone was in disarray and shock. But seeing the life-threatening situation, everyone did their part. Some provided medicine, some lent their strength, and they barely managed to save Shi Jingzhi.
Yan Qing stood amidst the chaotic crowd, silent as a wooden stake. He gazed at the blood-covered, unconscious Shi Jingzhi and deeply frowned.
Then he turned to look in the direction where Su Si had fled, still without saying a word.
In the bushes, Su Si moved as fast as he could. Upon escaping Juyi Valley, he quickly mounted a black horse and continued his escape towards the outskirts of Kushan. As he had anticipated, several presences began to converge around him, drawing closer and closer.
“They’re really impatient,” Su Si remarked, urging his horse to go faster.
He had spent all of his sixty-seven taels on this. More than five or six were spent on handy tools, and the rest was used to purchase the horse. Though it wasn’t a top-tier steed, it was young and sturdy, built for long runs.
The “Shirou” was stored in a crystal jar by Su Si, securely tied to his chest, leaving no gaps. Even though it had returned to its enticing form, its torturous fragrance could not escape.
Once outside the mountains, another reddish-brown horse awaited him. A masked woman in martial attire was atop it. “I’ve set up a diversion spell. This way!”
“Good!” Su Si’s mouth curled in a smile.
Riding the horse felt like being hit by a storm. Holding the reins tightly, Su Si’s focus gradually shifted away from the blurred scenery ahead.
He wondered about Shi Jingzhi’s condition.
Memories from a few days ago resurfaced. Every time he recalled that day, Su Si found it utterly absurd.
That day, Shi Jingzhi had specially dismissed Yan Qing and summoned him. Su Si had assumed he was being tasked with another errand and had even planned to negotiate a higher fee. However, upon hearing Shi Jingzhi’s request, Su Si wished he had an extra pair of legs to run away faster.
“Have you lost your mind?!” Su Si exclaimed.
He then turned to Yin Ci, hoping he would intervene. But Yin Ci, though showing a displeased expression, actually agreed with Shi Jingzhi.
“This method is indeed the best. After all, you come from the bloodline of the ‘Red Scorpion Feet’ of Chigou. You know how to skillfully hold back.”
Crazy, these two are insane. Su Si had been fighting in the rivers and lakes for many years, yet he had never seen such a bizarre request. He pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.
“Hold back? The two of you want me to slit the throat of the Sect Master. If you want it to look like a real assassination, you have to consider the subsequent rescue—if the rescue goes wrong, he’s done for!”
Besides, Shi Jingzhi’s health was already compromised. A stab, even if not fatal, would only make things worse. With the ‘Shirou’ right at hand, Su Si couldn’t figure out what these two were up to.
Wouldn’t a swift death be merciful?
“I want to understand clearly.”
Shi Jingzhi’s voice was shaky, but firm.
“With things set up to this extent, even if I’m a replaceable tool, the Immortal Assembly should intervene. Su Si, leave for a few days, and remember to make some mistakes in advance. If someone hinders you, let it be. If not…”
Shi Jingzhi didn’t finish, but Su Si knew what he meant.
He was just a “small player”. If the Immortal Assembly wanted, obstructing him would be easy. But their inaction indicated only one possibility –
They had an unconventional method to ensure Shi Jingzhi “won’t die”.
Moreover, Shi Jingzhi was already suspicious of the ‘Shirou’. Taking it for himself provided Shi Jingzhi an excuse “not to consume” it. This way, he could focus on studying the ‘Shirou’ without revealing his intentions to the Immortal Assembly.
Apart from this being an insane plan, Su Si couldn’t find any other flaws. After pondering for a while, he said, “Why does it have to be me? Shen Zhu can cast spells; she’s not incapable.”
Shi Jingzhi gave a slight smile. “Because you can take over the Chigou Sect.”
Su Si’s relaxed expression vanished instantly. “When did I decide?”
“Because both of us know, Yan Qing is not one to hide. Knowing his character, how long do you think he can hide his tail once he steps into the arena?”
Shi Jingzhi stared intently into Su Si’s eyes.
“You probably understand better than anyone that life is not about licking one’s wounds. To protect friends, you need power… Now, Chigou is a piece of meat right in front of you. If I’m not mistaken, you’ve already discussed this with Protector Hua, right?”
Su Si remained silent, then chuckled after a while. “Sect Master has sharp eyes; nothing can escape your notice.”
This was the perfect opportunity. If he gave up Chigou, he would only travel with his friend as a servant. Faced with the Immortal Assembly targeting the Kushan Sect, they could only expect suppression and anxiety.
And they were just servants of the Kushan Sect, with no say in decisions.
Although Su Si seemed indecisive on the surface, he had made up his mind. He intended to delay this matter and stay with the Kushan Sect for a bit longer. Not to mention his own resentment towards the Chigou Sect; once he took over, their laid-back days would be over.
What a pity.
“So, let’s speak candidly. Sect Master Shi, what’s in it for me?”
Su Si’s aura subtly shifted, his tone no longer that of a servant, but more like the Young Patriarch of the Chigou Sect.
“Chigou has always had a decent relationship with the righteous path. If we kill and steal treasures at the last moment, it’s equivalent to slapping the faces of the righteous. Even if I don’t care about its reputation, it’s still a tool in my hands. I have to get some benefits from it.”
Shi Jingzhi laughed.
He glanced at Yin Ci next to him, his voice softening. “By taking on this task, you get two benefits. First, we won’t pursue the matter of you altering the Bone Sweeping Sword. Second…”
“As far as I know, Yan Zheng is finding ways to shirk responsibilities. You, gaining fame in front of the righteous people by killing for the ‘Shirou’, is the perfect time to take over the Ling Sect… Su Si, do you want to be the first to unify the demonic sects?”
First, they would deceive the Ling Sect disciples. Once they found out the truth, leaving wouldn’t be easy. Once Chigou took over the Ling Sect’s branches everywhere, they would undoubtedly be the rulers of the demonic sects. Then, not to mention protecting Yan Qing, even if the entire Kushan Sect sought refuge, he would be able to protect them.
Su Si bit his thumbnail, silent for a long time, then gradually displayed a bloody grin. However, he suddenly seemed to realize something, and the rising hostile aura vanished, replaced by hesitation.
If everything could be that simple, he wouldn’t be targeted by the Lord of Ignorance on Huilian Mountain. If he fully becomes the leader of the demonic sects, how could he call himself a “hero” in front of San Zi?
Seemingly seeing through his concerns, Yin Ci said calmly, “People in the demonic sect have always been disunited. If you’re not accustomed to it, you can destroy it afterwards. But the martial world can’t be purely righteous. Instead of letting villains run wild, it’s better to take control of the ‘evil path’.”
In principle, this was true. Su Si was torn. Even though Yin Ci had vast abilities, could he really become the leader of the demonic sects? Perhaps this was just empty talk.
Thus, Su Si remained silent for a moment, not continuing the conversation. He took a deep breath and abruptly changed the topic. “What did Sect Master Shi mean by ‘not pursue the matter of altering the Bone Sweeping Sword’? Even if Protector Hua doesn’t care, what does this have to do with the two of you?”
The next moment, he saw the master-disciple pair exchange glances, their faces screaming, “We’ve been waiting for you to ask that.”
……
That day, Su Si left the door floating with two new bumps on his head. The stingy fox said he wouldn’t pursue the matter but still rewarded him with two qi-filled blows. Standing beside the “Old Patriarch” of the Chigou Sect, Su Si stood upright and endured without uttering a sound.
Who would have thought that after a hundred years, he would face the sword’s master again? Recalling his past flaunting in front of Yin Ci, Su Si wished he could travel back in time and slap himself.
What a mess. The Kushan Sect was truly the number one den of thieves in the world. He should’ve taken San Zi and run!
Choosing this time to clarify the shocking news “Yin Ci is Su Zhi” was clearly an intimidation! It was intimidation!
Unfortunately, Su Si had to admit that he was truly intimidated. He had originally intended to flee if things went south, but now he had encountered an immortal debtor—
This debtor could chase him to the ends of the earth, so where could he run? Su Si smashed his own little plans and gave up.
He had to accept his fate.
However, the character of the Old Patriarch of the Chigou Sect seemed much gentler than legends suggest. As Su Si was leaving that day, Yin Ci, seeing him almost stumble, added, “Keep Yan Qing in the dark about this, or it might hurt your relationship. I’ll explain to him later… I’m sorry.”
“Huh?” Dazed by the surprising news, Su Si responded, “What’s the big deal? His acting sucks anyway; he shouldn’t know. As for our feelings… don’t worry, they won’t be hurt.”
Thinking of his friend, Su Si felt a bit relieved.
“He said he trusts me, and he will.”
…Yes.
Su Si pulled himself out of his memories, his smile growing wider. The recent events at the Kushan Sect made him more determined than ever. He felt exhilarated facing challenges head-on.
The woman beside him shot him a displeased look. Su Si laughed heartily and spurred his horse forward.
“How thrilling!”
As Su Si madly escaped, Shi Jingzhi remained unconscious. Yin Ci stayed by his side, constantly feeling his pulse.
It wasn’t a spell that trapped Shi Jingzhi—his health had been deteriorating lately. Being injured in such a state meant he was seriously wounded. Fortunately, his breathing was steady, and there were no signs of “Heaven’s Displeasure”.
Yin Ci surveyed the surroundings. Familiar faces surrounded them, and there was no sign of the Immortal Assembly. After the anomaly, the shock of the Shirou being taken was much weaker. People were still discussing the cause of the anomaly. While Shi Zhongyu was distracted by the incident, Qu Duanyun had disappeared, likely trying to contact Jiang Youyue.
Their speculation was probably correct.
Yin Ci held onto Shi Jingzhi’s cold hand and pressed it against his forehead.
He had deliberately climbed a tree when the anomaly first appeared, coming down when the Shirou was taken. Everyone’s attention was fixed, and the anomaly on him didn’t alarm them. When he descended, he had a clear view:
When Shi Jingzhi was bleeding profusely, seemingly on the brink of death, the bare branches around trembled violently. Their roots entwined in the air, forming a vague shape, seemingly reaching out to Shi Jingzhi. For some reason, Yin Ci felt a familiar sensation, a vague consciousness emerging from his heart.
That consciousness was blurry but assertive. It was as if something whispered in his ear while he was drunk.
[Save him.]
There were no words, but Yin Ci understood.
[Save him.]
This thought kept repeating.
Fortunately, Yin Ci had already intended to save him. As soon as he began to treat the wound, the surrounding branches returned to their original state. With the Shirou too far away, the jade eye became ineffective, and the branches disappeared from their view. As Shi Jingzhi’s condition improved, that vague consciousness also vanished instantly. If Yin Ci hadn’t lived for hundreds of years, he might have mistaken it for his own thoughts.
He checked everything on his own end. Now all that was left was to wait for Shi Jingzhi to wake up and see if he had made any other discoveries.
Shi Jingzhi’s eyes remained closed, but his brows were slightly furrowed, as if he had seen something terribly frightening. Yin Ci didn’t care about the surrounding gazes and held Shi Jingzhi’s hand tightly.
“Wake up,” Yin Ci whispered softly. “We had plans that we haven’t carried out yet. Do you want to back out?”
But a serious injury was still a serious injury. Unlike Yin Ci, Shi Jingzhi didn’t have the terrifying ability to heal instantly, so he couldn’t wake up right away. Yin Ci made some fish soup and crushed some juice for him, straining away the residues, and then fed it to him mouth-to-mouth.
Shi Jingzhi was in a coma for four days.
During his coma, most people came to the conclusion that the visions they had seen were illusions created by Su Si. Though many still had doubts, they couldn’t make sense of it all in this wild, remote place.
It was around this time that rumors spread about Su Si’s connections with the Chigou Sect. The sad reputation of the Kushan Sect intensified, and the unconscious sect leader seemed even more pitiful.
Nobody expected the intense conflict to end in such a bleak way.
“The demonic sect is just that, a demonic sect. We shouldn’t have underestimated them.”
“What a pity about Sect Master Shi…”
“You all should leave,” Yan Qing said with a tired face, giving a formal bow and forcing a smile. “The Sect Master is stable now and can be moved today. You have already expended a lot of effort on our behalf. We really appreciate it.”
After the tumultuous events, nobody wanted to confront the ghost eye Alliance Leader. The caravan arrived in a grand fashion and left in disarray, leaving only tracks stained with the scent of blood. Shi Zhongyu, who held the Reverse Yang Token, also departed with Taiheng.
Throughout the whole incident, no one from the Immortal Assembly approached Shi Jingzhi. The atmosphere in the mountains was peaceful, and it seemed like all plots and schemes were blocked outside, leaving a sanctuary for them.
Shi Jingzhi’s wounds showed signs of healing. Yin Ci carefully carried him into the carriage. His neck wound was critical, so they were the last to leave to avoid jostling him too much.
As the sun set and the moon rose, the stars filled the sky. Only the Kushan Sect’s carriage remained in the tranquil Juyi Valley.
Yin Ci fed Shi Jingzhi some liquid food and then brought over the medicinal soup. However, this time, just as the bowl approached Shi Jingzhi’s lips, there was a little reflection on the edge of the bowl.
A tear glistened.
Shi Jingzhi had opened his eyes at some point. Those amber eyes, once full of life, now only showed profound sadness. Unable to speak because of his throat injury, he just shed tears uncontrollably.
Shi Jingzhi, always so prideful and skillful, now appeared so vulnerable. Tears flowed freely in the dim carriage. He weakly raised his hand, pushing the bowl away, then slowly and firmly hugged Yin Ci, burying his face in Yin Ci’s chest.
After a while, still crying, Shi Jingzhi held Yin Ci tighter, like a drowning man clutching onto a lifeline. In the past, he had always been extravagant and arrogant. Even when faced with Yin Ci’s true form, he hadn’t blinked. Yin Ci couldn’t imagine what had terrified Shi Jingzhi to this extent.
Near death, what did you discover?
Yet Yin Ci didn’t ask, nor did he share what he had seen. He simply held Shi Jingzhi, just as he had comforted a child who had awoken from a nightmare twenty-four years ago in the same place.
“It’s okay to cry,” Yin Ci said softly, caressing Shi Jingzhi’s hair. “What’s the worst I could do, laugh at you? You’ve suffered enough. Don’t hold back. Even if the world collapses, we can stay here, and I’ll be with you until the end.”
Finally, Shi Jingzhi began to sob, albeit silently.
Yidu, the Imperial Preceptor Residence.
Qu Duanyun rushed over after receiving a summons from Jiang Youyue. Even though days had passed since the incident, he was still somewhat dazed. He couldn’t afford any delays.
The Jianchen Temple wasn’t completely sealed off, the Ling Sect hadn’t been uprooted, and the Chigou Sect had announced that they had a new Young Patriarch. Not to mention, a disciple from the Kushan Sect had now assumed the position of Alliance Leader, and even Shi Zhongyu had produced the Reverse Yang Token. If she found solid evidence, his position as Sect Master would be in jeopardy.
The essential “Shirou” was also taken by people from the Chigou Sect. If it was consumed by irrelevant individuals…
Just thinking about it gave Qu Duanyun goosebumps.
It was undeniable that the Immortal Assembly had been planning in the martial world for a long time, but the current situation was full of loopholes. Faced with these “achievements”, Qu Duanyun had nothing to say, and his ambitions had long since dissipated.
“I’ve failed as your student.”
“Mm.” Despite the continuous bad news, Jiang Youyue remained calm and even seemed to be in a good mood. “To hone your mind, you need to experience hardships.”
“What about the Shirou…”
Jiang Youyue smiled faintly. “Given Shi Jingzhi’s character, this is probably part of his plan. If he really didn’t want to let it go, snatching the Shirou might be harder than taking a set of his moves. He probably has reservations about the Shirou and is testing us.”
Relieved to know that the Shirou wouldn’t just be consumed by anyone, Qu Duanyun exhaled.
“Duanyun, do you know why I put you in charge of this?”
Jiang Youyue asked leisurely.
“Ever since you came into this world, you’ve been considered a favored child of heaven. Upon learning of the Hundred-Year Project, you would undoubtedly harbor feelings of discontent and aspire to take Shi Jingzhi’s position… Dead bait makes it hard to catch fish. Your genuine desire to snatch the Shirou is what can dispel that person’s doubts to the fullest extent.”
Qu Duanyun remained silent.
Indeed, with the Immortal Assembly plotting against major sect leaders and his own presence in Taiheng, it seemed as though they were determined to obtain the Shirou.
Regarding the anomaly they witnessed that day, it could be explained that “Yan Budu set a trap to deceive people.”
Although Shi Jingzhi might have doubts about the Shirou, he, like many, would find a myriad of “justifiable” reasons to persuade himself, especially given he was a Child of Desire.
“Remember, if a plan’s conditions are too stringent and intricately linked, it’s akin to seeking destruction. As my student, you should’ve seen through this.”
Jiang Youyue added with a hint of amusement.
Qu Duanyun closed his eyes—it turned out that Jiang Youyue didn’t care about the success or failure of the plan, and he was just a pawn in his hands.
“This student learned his lesson.”
He was genuinely disappointed and regretful.
Seeing the dejected expression on Qu Duanyun’s face, Jiang Youyue laughed heartily and said, “No need for that. I went through the same when I was younger. Duanyun, if you clearly lost to Shi Jingzhi and still tried to forcibly take the Shirou, that would truly disappoint me.”
“Don’t be disheartened. No matter the current state of the martial world, it’s already riddled with wounds and holes, and that’s enough… Come, I believe you must be curious about the unusual phenomenon you witnessed that day. It’s time I told you everything.”
Qu Duanyun, expecting reprimand, instead received an unexpected boon. The conflicting feelings, akin to both ice and fire, were truly unbearable, making him feel a tingle down to his very roots. Before he left the room with Jiang Youyue, he finally mustered the courage to cautiously ask his teacher a question—
“If I had forcibly taken the Shirou then, what would you have done?”
Without pausing or looking back, Jiang Youyue answered in a gentle tone, accompanied by the faint smile from earlier.
“Do you need to ask? …You grew up in Taiheng, so you must have consumed the Tranquil Heart Pill.”
Yan Qing stood helplessly on the stage, eagerly waiting for someone to stand up and shout, “Choosing the Alliance Leader isn’t child’s play.” However, the audience below just whispered among themselves, with no one voicing any objections.
Yan Qing, straightforward as he was, quickly grasped the crux of the matter.
In the eyes of others, as a servant, he could defeat Qu Duanyun, so the senior disciple, Yin Ci, would presumably be even stronger. Since Taiheng lost their qualifications, the outcome of a rematch would likely remain unchanged. The orthodox martial world valued rules, so if Yin Ci, being the senior disciple, became Alliance Leader, the Kushan Sect might have a greater claim to the position. On the other hand, if Yan Qing took the role, he could be easily dismissed at any time.
This scenario would save face for Taiheng while also giving the other sects a way out.
…Yan Qing understood the reasoning, but his dream was simply to lead a normal life, not to become the center of attention.
If the stares from the audience could be transformed into sword qi, he would already be minced meat by now.
Seeing the situation stabilize, the leader of the Jinyu Group swiftly struck the gong on the side of the stage. Clearing his throat and amplifying his voice using inner force, he announced, “Yin Ci of the Kushan Sect has forfeited, and Yan Qing wins by default. Does anyone have any objections?”
Whispers rose from the audience, but as Yan Qing predicted, no one openly voiced any objections.
Seeing this, the leader of the Jinyu Group lit a stick of incense. His gaze swept over the expressionless Qu Duanyun, and he paced at the edge of the stage. When the incense burned halfway, he repeated his query.
“The leader of the martial alliance is set to be Yan Qing from the Kushan Sect. Are there any objections?”
With the head of Taiheng remaining silent, no one in the audience voiced any opposition. However, groups were forming, discussing in hushed voices. Many showed disapproving expressions, but none objected.
Yan Qing, anxiety apparent, picked up the cup he had dropped earlier and quickly moved to the master and disciple side. “Sect Master, Senior Yin, what do we do now?”
“If you’re chosen, then just accept it. Your martial arts skills are top-tier, and you’ve also studied and learned the ways of orthodox sects from Taiheng. In terms of qualifications, how are you lacking?”
Seeing Yan Qing’s bewildered and shocked appearance, Yin Ci couldn’t help but be amused. “Moreover, once you become the Alliance Leader, after this meeting, Taiheng won’t have a stance to chase and kill you.”
Though Yan Qing lacked grand ambitions, whether in terms of courage, intelligence, or perseverance, he was indeed suited for the role. More importantly, both he and Shi Jingzhi were weary of the martial world’s intrigues. With the power of the Alliance Leader in their hands… Neither had the energy to deal with the mess of the responsibilities that came with it.
Yan Qing had the qualifications, and the opportunity was given. Whether he could firmly grasp this chance to integrate into the righteous path would depend entirely on Yan Qing himself.
Yan Qing pondered for a moment, finally calming down. He was about to speak when Yin Ci leisurely added, “The Alliance Leader also receives a monthly salary. By the rules, the leader receives sixteen taels of silver each month. For major sects, this amount is trivial, but…”
Yan Qing’s eyes hardened, and he instantly declared, “I’ll do it!”
Unfortunately, his youthful bravery was short-lived. The next moment, his energy deflated. He looked pleadingly at the Sect Master, doing his best to avoid the countless pairs of eyes below. “…How do I do this?”
“Do as you see fit. You’ve always been adept at handling matters and arranging miscellaneous tasks, haven’t you?” The emotionless Yin Ci didn’t offer an ounce of help. “Figure it out on your own.”
Finally, the incense stick burned out. The leader of the Jinyu Group straightened his collar and stood proudly at the edge of the stage.
“Does anyone have any objections?”
This time, a response came from the audience. An elder of some renown leaped forward, standing at the forefront of the stage. Stroking his beard, he scrutinized Yan Qing from head to toe.
“I wouldn’t say I have objections, but given the unusual circumstances, I’d like to propose a condition on behalf of everyone present. This young man, after all, is but a lowly servant of the Kushan Sect. If aside from his martial skills, he has no other abilities, where would the dignity of our righteous path lie?”
The elder’s tone was stern, and while his words might sound confrontational, they weren’t unreasonable.
In the past, the chosen alliance leaders were usually sect leaders or elders, so no one posed conditions. Now, presenting a young servant, it was natural for the righteous path to have concerns.
Unfortunately, the master and disciple of the Kushan Sect were cold-hearted. The two beasts seemed indifferent, leaving Yan Qing to fend for himself. Yan Qing, looking like a fledgling bird pushed out of its nest, made a quick decision and faced the elder with the proposal.
“What the elder said makes sense; feel free to make any requests.”
The old man nodded in agreement. “This martial arts conference is clearly intended to end the chaos caused by the ‘Shirou’. Young man, first present a plan that convinces everyone, then think about becoming the Alliance Leader.”
After speaking, he stared intently at Yan Qing with his eagle-like eyes, as if he was trying to catch every tiny mistake.
Yan Qing licked his chapped lips.
The master and disciple were almost like spectators, eating melon seeds* and watching the drama. Relying on the Kushan Sect seemed hopeless. As for A’Si… well, having been educated by a sect leader, A’Si should know what to do.
*Slang for onlookers who don’t participate or express their opinions and instead just watch.
The most serious negotiation Yan Qing had ever engaged in was bargaining in the vegetable market.
…Wait, bargaining?
Yan Qing rubbed his temples, suddenly realizing something crucial.
The position of the Alliance Leader was like a hot potato. The small sects truly didn’t want it. But they also didn’t want Yan Qing to gain power and favored the Kushan Sect. They were pressuring him to offer a fair solution.
Just like when haggling with a vendor, they don’t truly want to withhold the goods but just want to earn a few more coins.
Since the logic was the same…
“You are right, elder. The ‘Shirou’ chaos has lasted too long and needs a resolution.”
Imagining the platform below as a marketplace, Yan Qing felt at ease. He was always gentle and would never appear arrogant. If one overlooked his ghost eyes, he exuded righteousness.
“To my knowledge, Taiheng seeks the ‘Shirou’ for the Prince of Rong, while the Kushan Sect seeks it to save their sect leader. The Prince of Rong and the current Emperor are healthy, so they probably want to use it as a tonic. Sect Master Qu, is this true?”
Qu Duanyun remained silent, seemingly acknowledging the claim.
A murmur spread among the crowd below. Most martial artists didn’t have strong allegiances, especially to the imperial court. The idea of presenting the ‘Shirou’ to the royal family felt like shattering a precious antique.
Compared to that, the Kushan Sect wanted it just to save their sect leader’s life. A simple and blunt reason that seemed honorable.
Following this line of reasoning, Yan Qing quickly proposed a solution for the ‘Shirou’: since the Kushan Sect had the key and Taiheng knew its location, their contributions were equal. They could split the ‘Shirou’ or, if not, the Kushan Sect would take it and compensate Taiheng.
“…My sect is indeed impoverished and cannot provide proper compensation. But I, Yan Qing, swear to expose those who have harmed the elders here.”
Yan Qing’s words were sincerely heartfelt.
“After all, the Kushan Sect has also been victimized. We will seek revenge, and everyone need not worry that we will only talk without action. Although this might seem opportunistic, it’s the most realistic guarantee I can offer.”
Everyone in the audience: “……”
So, they’re sharing a common enemy? No need to be so candid.
Yet, this young descendant of the Yan Clan almost exposed everything about the Kushan Sect—
Before anyone could bring up the mystery of the stolen ‘key to the Shirou’, Yan Qing promptly apologized. Mentioning the sect’s dire state, the Kushan Sect’s desperation to save their Sect Master made them take bold actions. To show sincerity, he invited warriors from all walks of life to see the real appearance of the ‘Shirou’.
Yan Qing’s words seemed genuine, making the crowd feel his decisions were justified. They, bearing the title of the righteous sects, didn’t really desire the ‘Shirou’, and thus didn’t blame the Kushan Sect too much.
The resolution was straightforward, leaving no room for the Kushan Sect’s mischief. The old man didn’t say much and left the stage.
“With the Alliance Leader now decided, I present Yan Qing of the Kushan Sect!” The fat leader of Jinyu took a deep breath and struck the huge gong three times.
As the gong sounded, Yan Qing’s wristband grew warm and transformed into a jade bracelet, the symbol of the Martial Alliance Leader. It now rested on his wrist.
It felt like a dream.
Touching the smooth jade bracelet, Yan Qing felt a mix of emotions, and overwhelming fatigue followed. Were it not for the many eyes watching him, he would have loved to collapse and sleep right there.
Several members of the demonic sect seemed satisfied with the outcome and left without any further disputes. A bizarre day passed, and all seemed settled.
That evening, a horse carriage slowly moved eastward.
The night was long and full of dreams. The leader of the Jinyu Group, renowned for his decisiveness and swift actions, had prepared horses and carriages before nightfall. He also selected more than a dozen disciples from the Jinyu Group to accompany him. Apart from members of the Taiheng Sect in the convoy, most of them were well-known figures in the martial world. Every disciple from the Yueshui Pavilion joined without exception, and they were so eager that they might as well have clung to the underside of the carriages.
Only Taiheng knew the location of the “Shirou”. Hence, the caravan was personally led by Qu Duanyun, veering far from the vicinity of Yidu.
First, to guard against villains, and second, out of sheer curiosity, various sects sent their masters to witness the emergence of this legendary item. Once the Martial Alliance Leader had spoken, the general situation was set. If anyone dared to act out of line, they would make an enemy of the entire martial world.
As the new alliance leader, Yan Qing was allotted a carriage. Unfortunately, having always led a simple life, he felt uncomfortable alone in the spacious carriage. So, he invited the master and disciple of the Kushan Sect to join him.
Surrounded by people in the carriage, Shi Jingzhi could only have porridge. Fortunately, the current situation for the Kushan Sect had improved. Yin Ci had specifically prepared pear syrup candies and sheep liver soup, meant for “nourishing the body”, and fed them bit by bit to the almost withered Sect Master Shi.
Sect Master Shi seemed to want to suppress his appetite with other matters. His eyes constantly glanced over Yin Ci’s lips. Sadly, with Yan Qing, the new alliance leader, sitting right there, they couldn’t very well ask him to leave the carriage.
Moreover, Yan Qing seemed to snap out of his daze, his face full of concern.
“Something’s not right. A’Si has never been gone this long. He even took Lord Bai with him,” Yan Qing said, looking lost. “Whenever he left before, he always informed me.”
Shi Jingzhi and Yin Ci exchanged glances. Sect Master Shi took a sip of tea, then some sheep liver soup, and said, “A few days ago, Su Si approached me. He said that Qu Duanyun is crafty and might have discovered his identity. Rather than being caught off guard, he wanted to lay low for a while and return once everything settled.”
Upon hearing this, Yan Qing’s spirits sank even lower. “If that’s the case, why didn’t he tell me? Now that I’m the leader, shouldn’t he return?”
Yin Ci nonchalantly replied, “Su Si has always done as he pleases. Perhaps the Chigou Sect had urgent matters that needed him, and with the martial arts conference taking place, he didn’t have time to say goodbye. You have more pressing matters to attend to tomorrow, stop worrying about this.”
Yan Qing’s worries shifted direction as he caressed the longevity lock on his sword and drifted into his thoughts.
Outside the carriage, another person was deep in thought.
Qu Duanyun rode at the forefront of the caravan. He felt eyes on him from all directions, with Shi Zhongyu closely monitoring his every move. Things had deviated from his plans, and now he was on the defensive. Worse, he couldn’t establish contact with the Immortal Assembly.
One wrong move led to another.
Regarding the “Twin Roots in the Tranquil Heart Pill”, suspicion hadn’t yet fallen on him. However, as one of the orthodox sects, Taiheng definitely needed to provide some explanations. Not to mention, Shi Zhongyu had the Yang Reversal Token, giving her authority akin to a sect leader. Taiheng might not be keen on following Qu Duanyun’s commands.
His situation was dire, and he didn’t even have an opportunity to vent his frustrations.
Shi Zhongyu rode a white horse, staying only half a step behind Qu Duanyun. Seeing his strained expression, she sighed. “Duanyun, we’ve known each other for a long time… If you turned back now, it wouldn’t be too late.”
Qu Duanyun tightened his grip on the reins.
“Turn back?” He asked with a mix of amusement and anger. “I haven’t taken the wrong path. What is there to turn back from?”
Shi Zhongyu frowned slightly, pursing her lips.
Qu Duanyun desperately needed to vent. Faced with an old acquaintance, he couldn’t hold his tongue. “Different paths lead to different destinations. We’ve seen such situations before. If Senior Sister intends to persuade me, you better not.”
“Similar situations?” Shi Zhongyu was puzzled.
“Qi Xundao, despite his old age and declining mental faculties, was respected and held his position due to his revered reputation. Even during his last moments, there were people like Senior Sister who spent time and resources to keep him alive. You and I both know that such actions were at best ‘righteous’, but they brought no benefit to Taiheng.”
Touching on Shi Zhongyu’s pain point, her expression instantly chilled. “Qu Duanyun, even if talking about a deceased elder, it’s not appropriate to mention their name directly.”
“You always focus on these emotional aspects.”
Qu Duanyun didn’t even bother smiling.
“The seasons change, plants thrive and wither. It’s survival of the fittest. Birth, aging, sickness, and death are natural occurrences in the world. To gather a sect’s wealth just to buy empty fame is nothing but a narrow-minded act. If we can’t agree on this point, then we have nothing more to discuss.”
Shi Zhongyu suppressed her raging anger and calmly continued, “Alright, let’s not discuss it. I just want to know, why do you go out of your way to make things difficult for Shi Jingzhi, a man on his deathbed?”
If Qu Duanyun didn’t want the Shirou, based on his past behavior, he would likely have given it to Shi Jingzhi to earn some goodwill. But Shi Zhongyu had observed for a long time, and he hadn’t even pretended to do so.
Now, with Shi Jingzhi not present, Qu Duanyun’s disdain was evident. Shi Zhongyu had known him for many years and had never seen him target someone so pointedly.
Upon hearing these words, Qu Duanyun couldn’t help but laugh coldly. “Senior Sister, do you think Shi Jingzhi was a ‘respectable person’ at that time?”
The topic suddenly shifted, and the question was peculiar. Shi Zhongyu was momentarily stunned.
Shi Jingzhi wasn’t a vile scoundrel. She saw this clearly. But if one were to say that he understood great principles or harbored grand ambitions, he didn’t quite fit the bill. Shi Jingzhi wasn’t the kind-hearted person who’d respond to others’ pleas. He had a sharp, almost ruthless cunningness about him, always preferring to be straightforward about costs, calculating deals with his fox eyes.
Speaking of this martial arts conference’s counteraction, the Kushan Sect had informed her in advance. Knowing the other party’s deep and intricate plans, even as a “co-conspirator”, she couldn’t help but feel a chill for a moment.
Even so, Shi Jingzhi was still a reliable partner. Once he made a promise, he would never break it.
Would that qualify him as a “respectable person”?
“I don’t know,” Shi Zhongyu answered honestly.
“Then let me ask another question.” Qu Duanyun turned his head to look at her. “Would you want such an ‘immortal’?”
‘…Probably not,’ Shi Zhongyu thought. But to be fair…
“What’s the use of an immortal?” she snorted. “If the heavens had eyes, Master wouldn’t have suffered such a painful death. If there really are immortals in this world, I’d like some justice.”
“That’s why I have nothing to say to you.” Qu Duanyun, in a rare moment, looked somewhat dispirited. “You desire so much, but you’re so mundane. I’m not even as good as him…”
Seeing his erratic attitude, Shi Zhongyu didn’t want to continue the argument. She rode her horse forward in silence, heading straight for their destination.
When they arrived, everyone couldn’t help but gasp. It seemed like destiny had chosen the place.
The Shirou was stored in Juyi Valley of Kushan.
It was springtime, and the landscape was covered in fresh green. As the sun was about to set, the convoy stopped outside Juyi Valley and set up a simple camp.
“There are many monsters in Juyi Valley. It’s inconvenient to move around at night,” Jin Lan instructed. “Wait for the sunrise tomorrow. When our energy is at its peak, we’ll retrieve the ‘Shirou’ together.”
Yan Qing, seeing old acquaintances, wanted to chat. But Jin Lan only gave him an awkward smile upon seeing him. “I’m also from Taiheng. I might have been influenced by that villain. Now that you’re the Alliance Leader, you should be more cautious.”
“I…” Yan Qing realized the awkwardness—he had just ousted the head of someone’s sect, so there wasn’t much of an atmosphere for small talk.
Seeing Yan Qing’s hesitation, Jin Lan sighed. “Actually, I’m quite happy you became the Alliance Leader… Yan Qing, you seem to be close to Su Si?”
“Yes.”
“Be careful.” Jin Lan hesitated for a moment, then whispered, “I’ve had someone see him go out alone, buying sharp weapons and magical items. He’s steeped in malevolence; I fear he has ulterior motives.”
Yan Qing felt displeased, but knowing Jin Lan meant no harm, he didn’t lash out. “A’Si isn’t that kind of person. Besides, he doesn’t have money to buy weapons.”
Jin Lan shook his head with a complicated expression and said no more.
Yan Qing’s attempt at conversation was a failure, and he felt downcast. He trudged back to the Kushan Sect’s tent—
“I didn’t expect the ‘Shirou’ to be here,” Shi Jingzhi remarked with mixed feelings. “What is this, fate letting us revisit our old haunts?”
Yin Ci chuckled. “Last time I saw you here, you were shorter than my leg. Little Mute, are you going to pick flowers for me this time?”
Yan Qing was utterly confused. What were they talking about? Why couldn’t he understand anything?
Who would’ve thought that Shi Jingzhi would continue with this seemingly ambiguous talk, speaking in a teasing tone, “Why wouldn’t I? If I see that thing again, watch me pluck it bare. But in exchange, you’ll have to feed me the best tender roasted fish.”
Yin Ci’s laughter became even more hearty, and Yan Qing had never heard him laugh like that before. Shi Jingzhi spoke with a teasing, relaxed tone, as if his life wasn’t in danger and the world had no troubles.
It seemed everyone had their own secrets. And him, having just received the title of Martial Alliance Leader, was alone and at a loss. If only A’Si were here…
Haa…
Yan Qing ultimately didn’t enter the tent. He resorted to his usual method to deal with anxiety—the new Martial Alliance Leader, with a serious face, began to reorganize the belongings of the Kushan Sect. He even rummaged through his own bundle, meticulously reorganizing everything.
When he picked up a small wooden box, Yan Qing’s movements suddenly halted.
Something was amiss.
The cloth around the wooden box was tied differently than he remembered, as if someone had opened it. The weight of the box also felt lighter, as though much of its content was gone.
This was the money box of the Kushan Sect. As the person in charge of the money, Yan Qing broke out in cold sweat instantly. He carefully opened the box and felt a chill in his heart—
Sure enough, one of the silver notes had disappeared. With trembling hands, he counted the remaining amount. All the missing money was his personal savings, neither more nor less, exactly sixty-seven taels of silver.
This package had always been shared between him and Su Si. Su Si never touched his personal belongings, but he was aware of where Yan Qing kept his money… Could it be that the sixty-seven taels were taken by Su Si?
Yan Qing held the wooden box in mid-air, his face slowly tightening.
If Su Si really took the money, his “departure” would not be as simple as avoiding trouble temporarily. Yan Qing packed the money box just as it was, and the bitterness in his heart disappeared in an instant.
At that moment, his heart was filled with concern.
The next morning, everything was as usual. The sky was clear with gentle winds and soft clouds and the ground smelled fresh. Golden morning light filtered through the leaves, illuminating the mist in the woods, and all was peaceful.
Under the guidance of the Taiheng Sect members, everyone geared up and slowly moved deeper into Juyi Valley. Hours later, the group stopped in front of a pile of scattered rocks. Whether it was good luck or not, they hadn’t encountered any monsters during their journey.
Speaking of this rocky area, both Yin Ci and Shi Jingzhi had some memories.
Only thin weeds grew here, leaving most of the area barren. With no food available, no creatures, especially no beasts, would choose to come here. Aside from being excessively desolate, there was nothing unusual about this place.
When they were previously in Juyi Valley, Yin Ci disliked the scenery and didn’t stay long. Shi Jingzhi, as a child, hated this gray and monotonous stone forest and wouldn’t even play hide and seek here.
Who would have thought that after all these years, they would return to this place and stand here again.
“The Shirou is buried underground. My sect has already dug it up. Please continue forward,” Qu Duanyun said in a steady and polite tone, though he looked exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes.
“Guests are here. Disable the formation!”
Following the order of Sect Master Qu, the Taiheng disciples deactivated the blinding technique. The view inside the rocks suddenly revealed itself to everyone—
In the center of the rocks was a half-circular deep pit.
The soil in the pit was fine and damp, reflecting a blood-red hue under the morning sun. At the bottom of the pit was a small room made of clear glass. It had been cleaned thoroughly by the Taiheng Sect, with not a speck of dirt in sight. Many spells and incantations were engraved on it, shimmering under the sunlight.
It looked like a delicate tomb made of glass.
Inside the glass room, the sight was full of life. Lush, vibrant vines filled half of the space, looking as if they were made of jade, bringing a sense of comfort at first glance.
The vines intertwined on a platform, where a peach-shaped fruit rested.
The fruit appeared fresh and delicate, with an enticing color. The fruit’s stem was still attached to the vine, and its skin held a pool of semi-transparent juice. Under the sunlight, it looked exceptionally exquisite, unlike anything from this world.
Even separated by thick glass, the scent of the fruit somehow permeated out. Its indescribable aroma instantly overwhelmed all other senses, making even the finest delicacies in the world pale in comparison. If anyone had doubts because of its appearance, once they smelled it, no one cared about the minor details—this divine entity was undoubtedly the Shirou!
Yin Ci looked at Shi Jingzhi with concern.
Considering Shi Jingzhi’s overwhelming desire to live, even just as a snack, it might be impossible for him to restrain his appetite. The scent alone had many seasoned martial artists, with iron-willed determination, in a daze.
Shi Jingzhi’s face turned flush, and a hint of bloodlust appeared in his eyes. But he just took a few deep breaths, seeming still conscious.
“Don’t worry,” Shi Jingzhi whispered into Yin Ci’s ear, taking advantage of everyone’s distraction with the Shirou. “I’ve endured worse. I’m used to it.”
Seeing that Shi Jingzhi had no intention of hurting himself, Yin Ci felt relieved. He stroked Shi Jingzhi’s hair and teasingly said, “It seems you’ve mastered the ‘Purifying Words’ well. We should find a time to reward you properly.”
Their faces showed relaxed flirting, but their hands under the sleeves were gripping tightly. Only when Yin Ci reassured him did Shi Jingzhi reluctantly let go.
[Go,] Yin Ci conveyed silently. [I’ll protect you.]
Qu Duanyun didn’t notice their actions. He gazed at the Shirou with complex emotions. “This glass room is extremely sturdy, and my sect couldn’t open it. Since Sect Master Shi has the key, perhaps you could retrieve it.”
Shi Jingzhi patted his face, the blood color in his eyes fading slightly. Afflicted with a serious illness, he wasn’t mobile. Yin Ci pushed him all the way on the wooden chair towards the glass room. Upon closer inspection, in addition to the intricate spells, there were also vivid bas-reliefs carved on the glass. All of these bas-reliefs were faces, each with closed eyes and a slight smile.
It was really Yan Budu’s style.
In the center of the group of faces, one face had an eye open. Unfortunately, that eye socket was empty, with just a recess, waiting for someone to complete it with an eyeball.
The aroma emanating from that eye socket was extremely strong. When they got closer, the fragrance was even more intoxicating, making one’s heart restless and mouth salivating. Shi Jingzhi held his breath, his hand holding the jade eye trembling slightly.
With everyone watching, he took a long time to successfully fit the jade eye into the recess.
Let’s see.
Shi Jingzhi stared at the face with the open eye. He tried to ignore the scent that kept drilling into his nose. His hands became as cold as ice, to the point of almost convulsing.
Yan Budu, as your kin, let me take a good look. After a century, what have you left for this world?
Click.
With this soft sound, a sourceless chuckle echoed around, as if in response.
In an instant, the world changed.
The originally enticing fragrance suddenly turned into a pungent, bloody smell, causing many to retch. However, compared to other changes, this was minor—
Just like originally on Zongwu Mountain, countless gray-red “bare branches” rose from the ground, their dark red roots moving like fish. Atop the bare branches, the fleshy wrinkles were extremely clear, shining like living creatures. These branches crowded the forest, stretching and swaying in the morning sun. They were numerous and vigorous, and from a vantage point on the mountain, one couldn’t see the boundary of this eerie “flesh forest”.
Strange things densely surrounded them, bringing a feeling of oppression and suffocation. A breeze carried wave after wave of the foul smell, making people dizzy.
Screams erupted from the crowd. It seemed that many more people than just Shi Jingzhi could see them. Jin Lan sat on the ground, while the masters grouped together in shock. Shi Zhongyu instantly drew her sword, while Qu Duanyun stood among the myriad of bare branches, looking somewhat lost.
Within the branches, Yin Ci lost his immortal appearance, turning back into the eerie “idol” made of blood and roots. However, this time, Yin Ci could see himself clearly.
He stared at his horrifying hands, almost forgetting to breathe. Even without a mirror, he could imagine his abnormal appearance. This time, there was no fear or panic in Yin Ci’s heart; just sheer anger—what had He Cheng’an done to him?
However, at this moment, thanks to the Shirou, no one noticed his change.
The center of attention, the Shirou, had changed in appearance and smell.
The moment the jade eye was installed, the vines inside the glass room changed color, turning into the sticky gray-red similar to the bare branches. They wriggled slowly, occasionally making soft noises of friction.
Surrounded by these “fleshy vines”, the Shirou no longer looked like a tempting celestial fruit. It changed from emerald green to an unsightly purple-red, emitting a slight heat and looking like an organ just taken out of an animal’s body. Amid the purple-red flesh, there were hundreds of tiny eyes without whites. They were all pitch black, occasionally blinking, looking in unknown directions.
This was the “immortal object” that had caused turmoil in the martial world and had been contested for by many.
The sky remained intact, the sunny day was still sunny, and the forest was still lush and green. There was no shaking or loud noise, and the sounds of wind and birds were still present. Against the backdrop of the scene before them, everything seemed eerily quiet.
What is going on?
From shock, people turned to panic, unsure if what they were witnessing was a nightmare, a spell, or a terrifying reality. The surroundings changed drastically, and compared to the gigantic eerie things, people felt as insignificant as ants in a storm. Even though there were many masters present, they were just a few more powerful ants.
The feeling of helplessness was maddening.
Even the disciples of the Yueshui Pavilion, who had seen much, lost their composure, crouching and staring only at the blood-red mud beneath their feet. The people of the Jinyu Group were in even greater panic, fainting left and right. The foul smell of the Shirou was now mixed with the stench of urine.
In this chaos and madness, Yin Ci hesitated for a moment, then leapt up, rushing towards the sky through the branches.
Looking down, the barren mountains, the surrounding towns, and even the horizon in the distance, were all covered with dense, uniquely shaped “bare branches”. Human towns were nestled among them, looking like tiny pebbles beneath grass.
This sight was overwhelming.
Regarding the Shirou as an “immortal object”, its energy was even more abundant than the muyan stones used to forge the Sword of Compassion. Therefore, using the Shirou to power the jade eye meant there was no fear of exhausting its energy, unlike atop Zongwu Mountain, where spells could only be powered momentarily. It was hard to say whether the “clue” left on the Sword of Compassion was the demonic lord’s last sentiment or a hint given out of ostentation.
Or perhaps, it was a bit of both.
Although he didn’t know the origin of the jade eye, Yin Ci was quite certain that this was what Yan Budu truly wanted them to see.
He wanted them to witness the true appearance of this world, the true form of the Shirou. From the start at the Ghost Tomb, this had all been a thorough prank. Even if turned into a handful of bones, that person still wished to mock the mortals blindly chasing after the Shirou and the “immortals” who sent the Shirou into this world without knowing their own whereabouts.
Yin Ci gently descended, stopping on the treetop. He took a deep breath and touched the nearest bare branch. The fine roots on the bare branch immediately wrapped around his hand affectionately, quivering as if they were playing with him.
Yan Budu only expressed malice without providing a definite answer. That guy just kept mocking to his heart’s content, probably without knowing the real truth. He did see another aspect of this world…
But what exactly were these things?
Under the tall tree, Shi Jingzhi didn’t move his jade eye, allowing this vision to persist. Without waiting for Yin Ci to return to his side, he removed the Shirou and held it in his hand. “According to our agreement, I’ll take this thing first.”
It was as if he was unaffected by the terrifying scene before him.
The Shirou wriggled in Shi Jingzhi’s palm, its numerous eyes blinking even faster.
The surroundings were filled with eerie sights, and the crowd was still in shock and daze. Even those who managed to retain some sanity didn’t know how to respond. Only Qu Duanyun’s eyebrows furrowed slightly, seeming to want to say something.
Suddenly, a shadow flashed, and before Qu Duanyun could speak, a burst of blood exploded in front of him.
Shi Jingzhi had been deeply slashed in the throat, with blood gushing out instantly. The Shirou in his hand vanished in a moment, taken by the attacker.
“What righteous sects? Nothing but a bunch of cowards. Just a little scare, and they’re all panicking.”
The man laughed, putting away his dagger. A pendant gleamed on the dagger’s hilt, clearly a mountain ghost coin.
Yan Qing was the first to recover from the vision, staring in disbelief at the scene before him—Su Si was perched like a bird on the back of a wooden chair, having just cleanly slit Shi Jingzhi’s throat.
Su Si didn’t look at the surrounding bare branches, nor at the strange-looking Shirou in his hand. He stared intently at Yan Qing, his eyes as black as ink.
After some negotiations, the military still disagreed with Ying Feng’s direct request to go to the Gene Center. They had no choice but to land Flying Shark at the designated stopover, then the military aircraft would transport the two of them to the destination under complete secrecy, just like last time.
The two arrived at their destination.
This time, Long Yin didn’t make a personal appearance. They were met by a soldier who was very similar to the one they’d seen at the center the last time—the one Ling Xiao suspected to be a robot.
His cold expression made it clear he had no interest in conversing.
On the other hand, Heng He was as friendly as ever when he saw them. Ling Xiao thought he could understand; working every day with such lifeless colleagues must be utterly boring.
“Relax.” Heng He motioned for Ling Xiao to lie down. “The amount of blood drawn today will be more than last time. If you feel discomfort, let me know immediately.” He inserted a needle with a tube into Ling Xiao’s vein, tapped a few times on the equipment, and dark red blood began to flow out through the tube.
Watching his own blood being drained was torturous. To distract himself, Ling Xiao started chatting with Heng He.
“Does the person next to me have a name?”
“According to historical records, his name is Yue Ying, a member of the ancient royal family.”
“Royal family? He’s an ancient?”
“Yes.”
Ling Xiao turned his head in surprise. Apart from being immobile, the man looked as lifelike as anyone else, showing no sign that he was from thousands of years ago.
“Amazing, isn’t it? The Ancient Tianxiu had a highly advanced civilization. Some of their knowledge even surpassed modern times, like this human cryogenic technology that even modern science can’t achieve. Sadly, when a civilization reaches a certain height, it tends to self-destruct. Nobody can explain why, but this seems to be a universal truth across all planets.”
“No wonder you said you want to use him to unlock the core modification privileges. It’s probably a royal privilege, right?”
Ling Xiao then asked, “Can personal data also be modified this way?”
Heng He was puzzled. “What personal data?”
With Ying Feng absent, Ling Xiao whispered, “I think Ying Feng’s code has a bug. Can you help me modify it?”
“A bug?” This was a serious matter, and even Heng He looked concerned. “What bug?”
“He gets irrationally angry and uncontrollable when he can’t find me.”
Heng He couldn’t help but smile. “That’s not a bug; it’s a personality trait. You might have a misunderstanding about our system. We can only upgrade and repair at the population level. Individual data, like abilities, personalities, and appearances, are generated randomly. Even the main system doesn’t have permission to modify. If it was as you said, for some weaker individuals, we could manually adjust data to make them stronger. But reality isn’t that simple.”
“So that’s it.” Ling Xiao was slightly disappointed.
“What you described, when viewed positively, is interpreted as protectiveness, and negatively, as a controlling desire. Either way, it’s a characteristic of a Qizhu. Everyone who becomes a Qizhu exhibits it, though the degree varies from person to person.”
“Would being a Lone Star count as a bug?”
“You know about the Lone Star?” Heng He loved discussing scientific topics. “Simply put, if we are the upgraded version, then the Lone Star is the initial version created due to a system error. With such vast computations, errors are bound to occur once every few hundred years. The Lone Star, compared to us, is like someone who has had their emotional area formatted. Our predecessors tried to fix this problem but found no solution.”
“Formatted emotional area? That sounds a lot like Ying Feng. Are you sure he’s not a Lone Star that slipped through your net?”
Heng He laughed. “He’s way better than a Lone Star. Last time, after you had blood drawn, he looked upset. If he were a Lone Star, even if someone he spent ten years with died in front of him, he wouldn’t even frown.”
Ling Xiao’s voice grew softer. “Are they really that heartless?”
“Yes. A long time ago, before the prohibition on tracking soul reincarnations was issued, researchers did track the Lone Star and found that even after reincarnation, their emotional areas were still lacking. It takes at least three contract exchanges for them to recover like a normal person. Hence the saying, ‘When a Lone Star falls, they’re cold for three lifetimes.'”
After he had spoken for a while, he noticed that Ling Xiao hadn’t reacted. Upon closer inspection, due to excessive blood loss, Ling Xiao was in a semi-comatose state, possibly not having heard anything that was said.
Heng He turned to look at the amount of blood that had been drawn and sighed. This was just the transitional phase. According to the military’s orders, the amount of blood to be drawn a month later must reach two-thirds. If a Tianxiu person lost three-quarters of their blood, they would be in critical condition, and the two numbers were very close.
As soon as the blood reached the set amount, he immediately removed the needle. At this point, Ling Xiao looked pale, breathing weakly, and his overall condition was very poor.
Heng He called in Ying Feng with some trepidation. As expected, when Ying Feng entered, his expression was worse than before. He even glared at Heng He angrily. Even if it was redirected anger, Heng He felt very guilty inside.
“I will apply to my superiors to reduce the blood draw, even if it slows the progress. But you must allow him to recover on his own. Don’t use any medical methods. Any drug could leave residues in the body. The slightest toxicity can be fatal to the test subject.”
Ling Xiao, on the bed, groaned and struggled to open his eyes.
“Is it over?”
“Yes.” Heng He quickly approached. “Rest here for a while before you leave.”
Ling Xiao nodded weakly. No matter how tough he tried to act, he couldn’t get out of bed at the moment. He didn’t want to fall flat on the floor if he tried.
“By the way.” He spoke with a little more strength after a pause. “In two weeks, we’ll be taking the entrance exam for Royal Sky…”
“Royal Sky Military Academy?” Heng He exclaimed joyfully. “Impressive. I wish you success. You want me to avoid that timeframe, right?”
Ling Xiao nodded again.
“No problem,” he began, downloading the Royal Sky school calendar from the internet, then exclaimed, “Ah!”
“What happened?” Ling Xiao struggled to lift his head.
“Today is Royal Sky’s Open Day.”
The Royal Sky Military Academy adopted a fully enclosed management system. It had two open days each year, held on the eve of the entrance exams, to attract candidates and better promote the school culture.
“Ah,” Ling Xiao said eagerly, “I want to go…”
“You’re practically half-dead. Just go back and rest.” Ying Feng refused.
“Yes,” Heng He also advised. “You need rest now.”
“I feel much better. I’ll be fine after resting a while longer.” Ling Xiao didn’t want to miss this rare opportunity.
“No.” Ying Feng was adamant.
“I want to go!”
“I won’t allow it.”
Watching the two confront each other, Heng He regretted bringing it up.
Ling Xiao was frustrated. He realized that direct confrontations with Ying Feng always left him at a disadvantage. Even a beast, after running into a glass wall enough times, would learn to take a different path, let alone an intelligent human.
With that thought, Ling Xiao softened his tone slightly. “Please let me go.”
Given his current weak state, this hint of vulnerability was far more effective than any ordinary person’s plea. In Ying Feng’s eyes, it was almost as if Ling Xiao was saying, “This might be my last wish. Please fulfill it.”
As expected, Ying Feng hesitated, not immediately refusing.
Even Heng He was moved by Ling Xiao’s pitiful appearance. He took off a spatial button from his neck, pressed it, and out popped a stepping board attached to two large wheels and handlebars. Ling Xiao had seen these devices used for transportation at the base.
With another press, the device transformed into a wheeled chair, a thoughtful design for employees to sit and work anytime, anywhere.
“You can borrow this. Just return it next time.”
Ling Xiao’s spirits lifted, and with his primary concern addressed, Ying Feng relented.
“You can only go for two hours.”
“No problem!” Even an hour was fine with Ling Xiao.
After a brief dizzying journey, Ling Xiao transferred to the Flying Shark and arrived at Royal Sky. The shock of reality was even stronger than online. He insisted on walking through the gates, but after just a few steps, he collapsed. Ying Feng quickly pushed him onto the wheelchair in time.
Despite it being only a visit, Ling Xiao was as excited as if he were enrolling. He looked around eagerly, and if not for his physical condition, he might have wanted to run several laps around the campus.
Ying Feng pushed him to the joint combat department, where students had released many S-level simulated creatures and put on a training demonstration for visitors. Unlike the battle robots used by Ling Xiao and others, these creatures realistically mimic real-world beasts. They had a variety of attack moves and were more challenging to deal with.
Due to the spectacle of duo combat, many people had gathered here. Students wearing different primary school uniforms clustered together. Most of them were like Ling Xiao and Ying Feng: mature, but not fully grown, somewhere in between childhood and adulthood.
“Ah!” Suddenly, a redhead noticed them, pointing at Ling Xiao and exclaiming with exaggerated surprise. “So even Tianxiu has disabled people!”
Ling Xiao, realizing he was the subject of the comment, turned puzzledly to Ying Feng. “What does ‘disabled’ mean?”
Dissatisfied with the redhead’s attitude, Ying Feng was about to respond when another person slapped the redhead’s hand away. “Rude.”
Approaching them, Ling Xiao noticed both wore silver-white uniforms with “Lion Hope Academy” badges.
“You look pale,” the man observed, studying Ling Xiao closely. “Are you injured?”
He gripped a crystal in his hand for a moment, which disappeared, leaving a white glow in his palm.
Just as Ying Feng was secretly stunned that the man had mastered abilities taught in higher institutions, he gently placed his palm on Ling Xiao’s forehead. A moment later, he frowned in confusion.
“He’s lost at least half of his blood.” He stood straight and asked Ying Feng. “What happened?”
However, Ling Xiao was even more curious. He marveled at how the man could assess his condition so accurately. “How did you know?”
“My Qizhu is impressive, right?” The redhead popped up again. “He’s the only student in the primary academy who can activate the soul crystal!”
Suppressing his surprise, Ying Feng replied indifferently. “There was a minor incident earlier. He’s fine.”
“I can prescribe something to help him recover faster,” the man offered kindly.
“He can’t take medicines due to his current condition.” Ying Feng paused, then added, “Thank you for your kind offer.”
“That’s fine.” Seeing Ying Feng decline, the man didn’t insist. The redhead chimed in, “You both don’t seem like candidates here. Just visitors, right? We’re preparing to apply to this combined combat department and will soon be students at Royal Sky Academy!”
Ling Xiao’s mouth twitched. The thought of attending the same school as such a person seemed quite unappealing.
Thankfully, his Qizhu stepped in. “Quiet down. Speak less.”
The redhead, heeding his Qizhu’s advice, fell silent. The man then apologized. “Sorry for the disturbance. Please continue your tour.”
Ying Feng nodded, watching the two leave.
“He mentioned ‘Soul Crystal’ earlier? What’s that?” Ling Xiao, not wanting to be mocked for his ignorance, held back until now to ask.
“It’s probably referring to the crystal he had in his hand.”
“The skill activated using mental power, as mentioned by our instructor?” Ling Xiao was amazed at the talents outside Bikong. “I can only move paper balls now, but he’s mastered abilities I don’t have.”
Just as Ying Feng was about to reassure him not to worry, he looked down at Ling Xiao’s pale face. The sparkle in Ling Xiao’s eyes hadn’t dimmed in the slightest. Clearly, the excitement came from encountering a rival. Ying Feng suddenly felt that his concerns about Ling Xiao feeling inferior were somewhat unnecessary.
Though physically weak, Ling Xiao’s spirit was lively. He quickly felt parched, licking his lips for the third time within a minute. If he had an attentive partner, they would have offered him water by now. But clearly, the word “attentive” couldn’t be used to describe Ying Feng, and even referring to him as a “partner” was a stretch.
Unable to move on his own, Ling Xiao had no choice but to turn to Ying Feng for help. “I’m thirsty.”
Ying Feng looked around and spotted a vending machine in a corner. Thinking Ling Xiao would be fine staying put, he left him alone to buy some water.
Upon swiping his card, he reflexively went to select his usual drink but remembered that people in a weakened state shouldn’t consume cold beverages.
Which one should he pick then? This choice stumped Ying Feng.
Just as he was struggling to make a choice, a sudden cry of alarm came from behind him. When he turned around, he saw an S-level simulated creature pouncing fiercely towards Ling Xiao, who was immobile. The military academy students hadn’t anticipated such an event; by the time they thought of rushing to help, it was already too late. Ling Xiao, seated in the wheelchair, was about to be struck by the creature’s sharp claws.
Among the people present, those with quick reactions had already taken a step forward, ready to lend a hand. Some covered their mouths in shock. Just then, a figure—not rushing, not flying—just seemingly ‘refreshed’ right in front of Ling Xiao in full view of everyone, aimed at the S-level creature’s stomach, and kicked it fiercely twice.
After a backflip in the air, the figure landed steadily. The creature that was kicked flew straight towards two students from the junior academy. Seeing the creature flying towards them, they calmly executed a sleek set of moves. The poor little monster lay motionless on the ground.
“I’m so sorry.” A student from the Joint Operations Department ran over to apologize to Ling Xiao and his companion. “When this creature’s health drops to a certain level, it chooses the weakest target to break through and escape. It was our mistake not to stop it in time.”
Ling Xiao, the weakest one on the scene: “…”
“But how did you get here just now? I didn’t see clearly.” Ling Xiao asked Ying Feng. From his perspective, it seemed like Ying Feng had descended from the sky.
“It’s nothing,” Ying Feng nonchalantly replied, hopping over. “What do you want to drink?”
Not far away, two instructors from the Joint Operations Department who had been observing the situation nodded in approval after seeing everyone’s performance.
“That student from Lion Hope can already manipulate the soul crystal. It’s rare among junior academy students.”
“The two students from Chunyang are also good. Their moves are clean and efficient, without any hesitation.”
“But the one that left the biggest impression is from Bikong. To be able to instantly move to the location of his Qizi requires a certain level of emotional connection and mental strength of the Qizhu. It’s surprising that at such a young age, he can master such a difficult skill.”
“This year’s candidates are strong. The results are promising.”
Both instructors nodded in agreement.
After a while, one of them suddenly realized.
“But the Qizi from Bikong has difficulty even standing, right? They probably can’t apply for our department?”
The other showed a look of agreement.
Thinking that such a talented individual might not join them, both instructors fell into deep disappointment.
Upon the command of the small town’s mayor, the squad behind him immediately approached the players. Almost simultaneously, the seven players acted to hide all the crystal balls on them into their bags.
The bags and system watches were assigned to the players by the system; they all belong to something outside the instance logic, and NPCs would directly ignore them. Thus, even though the clothes the players were wearing were very suspicious, no crystal balls or similar witchcraft items were found on them.
Five minutes later, the players were invited into a very spacious commercial vehicle.
The players sat in three rows, with five men at the back and two women arranged in the front row, each held at gunpoint by two individuals.
In front of these three rows of seats, the mayor sat on a solitary, revolving, high-grade leather chair. Facing all the players, he scrutinized them with a discerning gaze.
“Hello, I’m Ryan.” After a long while, the mayor spoke in a deep and pleasant voice. “Hmm… Although all of you are dressed in witches’ clothing, there are five men, so we can temporarily exclude suspicion. As for the two ladies, sorry, we need to interrogate you separately.”
At this moment, Yin Jiujiu felt utterly drained. She never thought that, having just exploited her female identity to outmaneuver her teammates, she would now find herself in a predicament due to this very identity, along with her enemy, Situ Qing.
If she defended herself now, she would inevitably have to defend Situ Qing as well, but she had no choice.
A feeling of the turning of fortune arose in her heart. Yin Jiujiu frowned and said, “The seven of us are tourists who accidentally entered Beautiful Flower Town. We don’t even know what witches are. We were discovered by them in the town and then taken away. These clothes were also forced on us. We are definitely not witches.”
“Don’t worry. Beautiful Flower Town is a quiet, tranquil, and peace-loving town. As long as it’s confirmed that you are not witches, I will, of course, let you go,” Mayor Ryan said to her and glanced out of the window. “You accidentally entered Beautiful Flower Town? I am sorry you had to see such a dreadful town. Fortunately, we have completed the reconstruction work in the south. What you are about to see… will be a completely new town. I hope this will change your impression of this place.”
Hearing this, Zhou Qian also looked out the window. When they were taken away from the magical town by Sarah and the other witches, he had only glimpsed the new southern town from the edge of the forest and hadn’t seen its full view.
The commercial vehicle was now taking another road—a mountain road not obstructed by any tall trees. Hence, from the high terrain of Weir Mountain, Zhou Qian could clearly see the appearance of the new southern town below the mountain.
This town was very different from his initial imagination. Each house was designed in a fluid shape, saving space and looking very technological; every piece of material used in the buildings there seemed to be extraordinary.
In short, the whole town looked quite upscale. Even from a distance, one could see that it was a town with a very advanced level of technology.
Withdrawing his gaze, Zhou Qian looked at both sides of the mountain road.
There were railings on both sides, plastered with signs reading “Warning”, “Research Base”, “Production Base”, “Unauthorized Personnel Keep Out”, and the like.
Seeing this, Zhou Qian couldn’t help recalling his conversation with Eva on the bus. On the way to Weir Mountain, besides showing Eva the diary and receiving a “phone” from her, Zhou Qian had also specifically inquired about Weir Mountain.
He asked Eva, “Is Weir Mountain a famous mountain locally?”
“A long time ago, the town’s electricity all came from Weir Mountain,” Eva said. “There’s a power station there. So… yes, Weir Mountain is famous; the residents of the town have an attachment to it. They worship this mountain.”
“Then… why is there a strawberry field near the power station?” Zhou Qian asked.
Eva said, “The power station—that was a matter of many years ago. Later, with the advent of newer power generation technologies, the power station at Weir Mountain was decommissioned. It once became an open tourist attraction, allowing people to visit and witness this great technology. It was only re-closed last year.”
“In short… many townspeople indeed worship the mayor and also admire the Weir Mountain power station. The mayor is the leader in technology. The townspeople regard him as a godlike figure, believing that he has indeed brought a lot of conveniences to everyone… People like the mayor, like Weir Mountain, so the town has been developing tourism around Weir Mountain, thus the existence of things like strawberry fields.”
Concerning more details, like what technology the power station used, Eva didn’t know.
According to her, many people in the town only knew that the mayor was very smart and powerful and had a background as a scientist. But what field he specialized in and his accomplishments in that field, no one could say.
However, at this point, even though Eva couldn’t provide more information, a very terrifying speculation was slowly forming in Zhou Qian’s mind.
He checked his life points, and the number recorded was “18”.
They hadn’t delayed here for too long, but the value had already sharply decreased by 4 points. It showed that Weir Mountain was indeed a place with substantial problems.
Fortunately, since getting into this luxury commercial vehicle, the countdown on the card had slowed down, almost the same as when they were at the witches’ base. Seeing this, Zhou Qian temporarily put away the card. He didn’t speak all the way, just leaning back in his chair, closing his eyes to rest, and quietly waiting for the commercial vehicle to take them to a new town.
40 minutes later. The players arrived at a place similar to a town hall. The building was built in a circular shape, with semi-transparent material connecting the building to the ground, and from a distance, it seemed like the entire circular building was floating in mid-air, which was quite an awe-inducing sight.
The players, with guns pointed at their heads, had just walked into the hall when the mishap occurred—
Wu Ren, whose one life point card had been cleared and the other card only had “2” left, collapsed unexpectedly. His head hitting the smooth floor made a “bang”, attracting the attention of everyone in the hall.
There were many working staff coming and going here; they all seriously looked at Wu Ren, who was lying on the ground, exchanging extremely frightened glances with each other.
Mayor Ryan was also quite serious; he raised his hand to call over two subordinates and said in a low tone, “Take him to the isolation treatment room. Have the rest undergo a unified examination. Also… take those two women to the interrogation room to see if they are witches.”
By this time, Yin Jiujiu, Situ Qing, and Zhou Qian had all recovered their strength. Hearing this, Yin Jiujiu immediately clenched her wine gourd, seemingly wanting to resist. She knew her actions had offended all her teammates except Li Buhui.
If she were imprisoned, no one would come to her rescue! On the other side, Situ Qing looked at Zhou Qian, seemingly to see his opinion. Soon she received a message from Zhou Qian through the system. “Eva mentioned before that two witch companions disappeared on Weir Mountain; maybe they are also in the interrogation room. Try to find them and talk to them.”
Seeing this, Situ Qing relaxed the hand holding the bell in her bag. Under the indication of the NPC in soldier uniform, she extended her wrists without any intention to resist, and then she was handcuffed and taken away.
Yin Jiujiu raised her gourd, seemingly wanting to fight. But the soldier shot faster, and something like an electric current quickly hit her wrists.
With both hands powerless, Yin Jiujiu almost clenched her teeth with willpower to hold on, so she didn’t let the weapon gourd fall from her hand, but she indeed couldn’t release her skills and could only breathe angrily.
Before being taken away, Yin Jiujiu, as if thinking of something, turned her head and looked at Zhou Qian with very complicated eyes. Zhou Qian looked at her calmly and mouthed to her, “Now you can only cooperate with Situ Qing.”
The implication was that if she refused to cooperate, Zhou Qian would also refuse to help her. Receiving Zhou Qian’s gaze, Yin Jiujiu glared at him fiercely and was taken away with gritted teeth.
The situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable for the players.
Situ Qing and Yin Jiujui, one DPS and one tank, were directly taken away for interrogation. Another powerful DPS, Wu Ren, was unconscious and was also taken away.
Those still present were only Zhou Qian, Qi Liuxing, Ke Yuxiao, and Li Buhui, four people.
These four were quickly taken to a place called the “Isolation Testing Room”.
They each stood on a platform, and soon, two people in white protective suits came in, each holding a large sprayer, gesturing to the players to hold their breath and close their eyes before spraying them intensively.
Finally, those two left, and the room’s door was closed, and white gas sprayed from the ceiling, enveloping and washing over the four people. This was repeated three times.
After about ten minutes, the four were asked to change into regular clothes and then were taken to a reception room. A female staff member came over and poured them water, saying that Mayor Ryan would come to talk to them in a while.
This female staff member was wearing a loose dress, and her abdomen was visibly protruding, seemingly pregnant. She politely greeted everyone and was about to leave after placing the kettle down when Zhou Qian stopped her, his gaze unintentionally lingering on her abdomen before meeting her brown eyes. “Excuse me for asking, your child—”
“Oh… just four months,” the staff member smiled, touching her belly, then her eyes became slightly melancholic.
Zhou Qian caught her melancholy immediately. “My sister lost her child in the disaster. I wish she could, like you, move past the grief and have another child with her husband… Maybe it would comfort her. We have to keep moving forward.”
“Your sister’s child also…” The staff member sighed, wiping a tear from her eye. “What a tragedy… which child could survive such an incident…”
“What exactly happened? Who did this…” Zhou Qian pretended to be angry, slamming his fist on the table. “My niece was the most innocent and adorable. I can’t believe…”
“It seems… you are really not their accomplices.” The staff member frowned, anger in her eyes. “It’s certainly the witches’ doing! They keep harming people! We executed several witches last year. The townspeople hate the witches, and the witches hate the townspeople. This is their revenge on the whole town! Luckily…”
She shook her head, saying with relief, “Luckily, Mayor Ryan had planned the town relocation in advance. Although our old home was destroyed, we were able to move into a new one immediately… Haa…”
The suspicions about the mayor were growing.
Zhou Qian’s hand, placed under the table, slightly tightened as he asked the staff member again, “But where do these witches get such great ability? How did they do it? I heard that fireworks were set off on the night of the music festival. Could the emergence of the evil spirits be related to the fireworks? Do you know what’s the deal with those fireworks?”
“Fireworks? I don’t recall fireworks being set off that night…” The staff member recalled. “After the tragedy occurred, we didn’t immediately go up the mountain. The mayor was afraid that something would happen to us, so he let us stay away from the town first. Until… until the mayor let the research institute develop protective gear capable of resisting evil spirits. With the protective gear, he allowed us to act. Later, we, wearing protective gear, went to Mount Weir for an investigation… Indeed, we found fireworks. Those are the fireworks that are set off every year at the Strawberry Festival. But this year’s fireworks weren’t set off, they were still behind the square halfway up the mountain, all sealed in boxes.”
At this point in the conversation, beeping sounds came from the staff member, as if someone was contacting her. Then she nodded to Zhou Qian and the others and quickly left.
The large meeting room was temporarily left with only four players.
“So… what do you all think about the current situation?” The one who asked this was Li Bu Hui.
Zhou Qian raised his eyelids and glanced at him with profound meaning but did not respond immediately.
Realizing something, Li Buhui hastily said, “Is it because of Yin Jiujiu that you have a bad impression of me? Don’t be like that. Well… I had to cling to her to get the chance to enter this instance. Whatever she asks of me, I listen to her. I am just her follower, so I don’t have a choice. I am merely seeking to survive. I haven’t done anything wrong. Now, good… Both of them are locked up. This…”
Zhou Qian withdrew his gaze and didn’t look at Li Bu Hui anymore. He started to examine the conference room.
There was no visible air conditioning unit in the conference room, yet the walls seemed to breathe, providing ample oxygen and maintaining a very constant temperature, making it very comfortable.
Including the door…from inside this room, one couldn’t distinguish where the door was. It was seamless with the walls. It seemed that the technology of this town had indeed reached an advanced stage.
Then Zhou Qian asked, “What do you think about the ‘fireworks’ at the music festival?”
“The tickets for the Strawberry Music Festival had a background of fireworks… but according to the female staff member we spoke to earlier, there were no fireworks that night.” Qi Liuxing said, “But Lily’s diary explicitly mentioned fireworks blooming like shooting stars… Perhaps the root of the tragedy is related to the fireworks.”
Zhou Qian nodded and continued. “On the way to Weir Mountain, I asked Eva; she said there’s an abandoned power station on Weir Mountain. The power station used some advanced technology that brought much convenience to people’s lives. So, it was turned into a tourist attraction but was closed again last year. We can speculate… maybe it reopened this year, perhaps conducting some secret experiments.”
“I think we can make bold assumptions at this time,” Zhou Qian continued. “If the ‘monsterization’ of children’s bodies and the strange transformations of flora and fauna have nothing to do with magical fantasy, then it can only be explained scientifically. For example—‘genetic’ mutation.
“Based on this, we can also speculate what happened in this town. Look… the mayor and the soldiers he brought were all wearing special protective suits. What are those suits protecting against?”
At this moment, Qi Liuxing and Ke Yuxiao almost simultaneously murmured the word, “Radiation.”
“Right. It’s radiation.” Zhou Qian said, “I suspect that the power station is something like a nuclear power plant. Assuming all our deductions are correct, last year this power station was secretly restarted, but for some reason… the mayor didn’t inform the other townspeople.”
“So, the festival proceeded as usual on the day of the music festival. Everyone sang, ate strawberries… and then a nuclear explosion-like accident occurred. The real fireworks that night hadn’t been set off yet. But the reason the children saw ‘beautiful fireworks like shooting stars’ was merely because some reactor at the power station had a problem, leading to an explosion.”
The power station was built at the highest point of the Weir Mountains.
The festival was held on the hillside of one of the mountains.
An explosion occurred at the mountain-top power station, and “flames” rushed from the experimental laboratory at the top of the mountain towards the night sky, creating fireworks, then turning into rain-like ash falling from the sky.
Unsuspecting children on the hillside plaza saw this scene and thought it was this year’s special edition of fireworks, just like shooting stars.
So, the children ran, laughed, played, and made wishes in the radioactive dust…
But they didn’t know, every particle of this dust had strong radioactivity.
The children went home covered in radioactive dust, and the radiation caused genetic mutations in their bodies, altering their appearances over time.
Then, they were seen as “possessed by evil spirits” by the ignorant witches.
Lily must have suffered immensely during her “mutation” due to radiation.
But she was locked up by her ignorant mother, even had her fingers and palm cut off, and eventually died in endless pain.
However, Lily was just one of countless tragedies.
Many children in the town went through similar experiences.
The explosion that night was already a massive accident.
But Zhou Qian knew that the accident was just the beginning of the tragedy.
Faced with such truth, Qi Liuxing felt suffocated.
He clenched his fists tightly for a long time before loosening them and asking Zhou Qian, “Then…what about Lina’s death? Didn’t we leave the study after answering correctly?”
Zhou Qian said, “That’s only the truth in Lina’s cognition. After all, that night in her memory, all the adults went on vacation to the neighboring town, leaving only Lily by her side.”
“Also, do you remember I asked Eva something about what she saw when she returned home in the early morning the next day?”
Qi Liuxing’s eyes widened involuntarily, muttering, “She said Lily was unconscious. She thought, Lily fainted temporarily because her body couldn’t bear the power of the evil spirit…”
“Eva also said, she took the opportunity to anesthetize Lily, cut off her fingers, and decided to summon her daughter’s soul…”
“Correct,” Zhou Qian said. “So, I suppose there’s no need for me to explain what the real truth is.”
Qi Liuxing’s face turned pale. “No need to explain. I understand. I originally wanted to ask… It’s one thing if it’s just one or two people, but why do all witches similar to Eva uniformly believe that their children are murderers possessed by evil spirits…
“Everyone has been manipulated. This is a shocking conspiracy. This is too, too horrifying…”
“Who the hell did these things—!”
Qi Liuxing couldn’t speak the rest of his words.
Because the doors of the conference room opened on their own, and someone came in.
After the person entered, the door, which separated and merged into the wall like water, slid out again in the same manner. The door then blended with the wall, indistinguishable.
It was Mayor Ryan.
This time, he wasn’t wearing goggles or protective gear and was dressed in just a suit.
He had golden hair, and his blue eyes were as mysterious as a lake.
When he sat down facing the four players, he asked with a smile in his eyes, “I am here to ask you some questions. Why were you all at Weir Mountain?”
Everyone was immersed in the shock of facing the brutal truth.
A moment later, Zhou Qian was the first to speak. “We were forcibly taken by the witches. They had us follow them up the mountain to search. We still don’t know what they wanted us to find.”
After answering, Zhou Qian took the initiative and asked, “What exactly is going on with this town?”
“Why don’t you first tell me what you all have seen?” Ryan asked.
Zhou Qian replied, “Monsters, giant flowers, even faces on the flowers… We also saw bodies, but those bodies weren’t like humans but like monsters. That’s about it. Is all of this caused by some evil magic?”
Ryan had the typical Western appearance, with very fair skin, and pronounced features.
As the mayor, he seemed to have great sympathy for the town’s residents, and he had high empathy. Hearing Zhou Qian’s words, his face showed great pain and anger.
After taking several deep breaths, Ryan calmed himself and said, “Of course, all of this is done by the witches. ‘The horror of the flower of evil… it blooms at the edge of hell…’ all witches are horrifying and malicious flowers of evil!”
The real flower of evil is probably not the witches, but you, the mayor, and the malicious intentions behind all of this.
This was what Zhou Qian thought in his heart, but on the surface, he just maintained an apparently very innocent and sincere smile.
All the doubts and incongruities had explanations.
The only thing Zhou Qian didn’t understand was—what experiments were being conducted in the power station after the restart, or rather, what research was the mayor conducting.
According to Zhou Qian’s understanding, radiation could cause cancer and mutations in unborn children.
Now in this instance, animals and plants had experienced such a degree of genetic mutation, obviously, the actual situation was much more complicated. Like butterflies having grown something similar to human legs—it was as if it copied a part of human genes.
Ryan took a deep breath, looked at Zhou Qian and the others. “Actually, I am willing to believe that you are not in league with the witches. After testing, indeed, there are no evil spirits or anything on you. How about this, I will take you to see a place. Let’s experience the new vitality of the town together.”
After finishing speaking, Ryan really led the four players out of the reception room.
Accompanied by a dozen soldiers, they reached the 11th floor by elevator.
The moment they stepped out of the elevator, the scene the players saw was truly beyond expectation.
It was like a maternity hospital here. The people walking in the corridor, those sitting together talking in the rest area… all were pregnant women.
And the banners hanging around the floor were all encouraging childbirth, saying “For every additional child born, receive a government subsidy of three thousand yuan per month”, “Pregnant women can be properly cared for at the government’s childbirth center”, and so on.
“The witches are hateful flowers of evil. They killed all the children in the town.”
Mayor Ryan’s pleasing voice came again, but it carried a chilling tone.
“Fortunately, people have recovered from the pain. Through some incentive measures, people are still willing to have children again. Beautiful Flower Town will not be destroyed by the witches. The next generation… is coming soon. We humans, still have a future.”
The author has something to say:
The remaining part of the truth will be revealed tomorrow if there is still anything unclear.
One thing that must be clarified is that Epoh, Jiang Yuqing, including the mayor here—their character settings are all part of the instance plot and have nothing to do with Bai Zhou himself. Please do not let the character setting of the mayor affect your perception of Zhouzhou.
As mentioned earlier, Rank God players loading into NPCs can appropriately use the game rules to increase game difficulty and test the “Shepherd” they have chosen, but they cannot change the plot and character settings. In terms of plot and character setup, Bai Zhou is essentially just an observer living inside the NPC.
Kinky Thoughts:
Speaking of Chernobyl reminded me of the miniseries I watch of the same name. It’s quite a good historical drama which I recommend to everyone.
Through the shiny shop window glass, Nol could clearly see the time on the calendar clock. The window also reflected Nol’s current state—Teest had one hand wrapped around his waist and another pulling on a golden thread hung from a nearby branch. Nol gripped Teest’s belt tightly, fearing that he might slip.
The two were about two meters above the ground. A height that previously seemed trivial was now dizzying for Nol.
“Quite impressive. Going back in time? At least you two have done something useful.” Black Candle Kando, with its one eye, curiously looked around. “Now I only have one question—why choose this specific time?”
Nol didn’t argue with the candle this time. He was also curious about the answer.
According to Painter, the Immortal Church in Grape Collar was destroyed at the end of July in 711. They needed to infiltrate the still-intact church to find the document indicating the location of the “Eclipse Shield”.
Teest volunteered to handle the time jump. Ironically, he chose a time just a week before the church’s destruction.
Teest reeled in the golden thread, taking Nol back to the branch. “Anyway, we can only stay here for about seven or eight days. Once the church burns down, we should return. Just think of its destruction as an alarm clock.”
Really? Nol hummed, swearing on his dinner that the Mad Monk had other motives.
“We better get started then,” Nol said, hooking his arm around his staff and clinging to a frail branch like a sloth. “First, we need to find that church…”
“Oh, I know where the Immortal Church is,” Teest admitted without hesitation.
Of course. This kid is, after all, a Supplement Demon. TheEternal Church wouldn’t let him roam freely.
Nol: “So you’ve been to that church.”
“That’s right. You might even see my past self there.”
Teest had returned to his white hair and golden eyes appearance, swaying on a branch like a particularly cocky sparrow. “At this point in time, I should be around sixteen.”
Teest spoke with such calmness, as if he was showing Nol a photo album of his younger days.
Nol looked at Teest for a moment, finding it hard to imagine the Mad Monk’s teenage years. “You lead the way. Let’s get moving.”
“No need. I suggest we stay put and hitch a ride with one of the Eternalists. Like sneaking into their pockets or smuggling in their parcels. There are plenty of them around here,” Teest suggested conservatively.
“Honey, it’s not that I don’t trust your abilities. But the Immortal Church in Grape Collar was once one of the best churches of the congregation,” he whispered softly.
‘Alright,’ Nol thought. ‘One of the best churches, meaning more skilled opponents, more unknowns, and tighter security.’
If a fight breaks out, they’d have to win in their unfortunate form, ensuring their survival without affecting major historical events. The mere thought was exhausting for Nol.
In the end, the two decided to stay on Cork Street.
Teest assured that he could recognize the Eternalists, and on this street, they were as common as rats—
Cork Street was the busiest in the lower district of Grape Collar. Here, one could find delicacies hard to come by in regular streets, interesting storefronts, and, in greater numbers than anywhere else, thieves, low-level mercenaries, and vagrants.
The two turned into an old, closed-down pawnshop at the street corner, deciding to make it their base.
The shop was named “Old Jon’s”. Its door was tightly locked, with worn edges that Nol could easily squeeze through. Even better, the shop’s display window showcased wooden cabinets, one of which had a half-opened drawer, offering them a natural lookout point and temporary shelter.
Nol stepped over a dust layer that was as thick as accumulated snow and struggled to climb into the display window. The sun began to tilt westward, bathing the old wooden boards in warm orange light, which felt smooth and warm to the touch.
“I’ll leave this to you,” Teest said, picking up a spool of twine. “Get some bones and make a ladder. I’ll look around the shop to see if there’s anything else we can use.”
‘The sensation is surreal,’ Nol thought. As he wrapped the twine around mouse bones, he watched Teest hopping around inside the room.
Behind him, separated by the glass, the crowd continued to flow at a leisurely pace. The cries of street vendors and the aroma of food wafted into the shop, making it feel as if time had never changed.
In front of him, the Mad Monk drew the curtain cords, waving a pocket watch hand like a short sword, marveling at piles of antique buttons. The lighting was dim, the air warm, and everything felt like a dream.
……
The sunlight in the display window melted away like accumulated snow, thinning and eventually disappearing. As the four moons rose and the streets lit up, the two had successfully set up their base.
Teest found a decaying toy house. He packed useful plates and utensils, a few clean tea towels, and had Ben fetch some chairs and tables.
Inside the half-open drawer, there was now a double bed with clean tea towels and a toy dining table. The open section held several candle heads. Once lit, they glowed as bright as a bonfire.
Both of them sat breathlessly beside the candles. With some effort, Teest pulled a grape from his pouch and split it in two, offering half to Nol. The refreshing scent of the fruit burst open like an explosive, and the flames flickered continuously over its juicy surface.
Nol decided not to ponder what the knife had cut through before.
“Did you use concealment magic on the candlelight?” Teest handed him a small spoon made of tin foil.
“Of course.”
As the night deepened, Nol and Teest sat on the edge of the drawer. Both had half a grape on their knees, scooping and eating it as if it were a watermelon. A young flower seller leaned against the window outside, her bright flowers almost pressing against the glass. The bouquet shined brilliantly in front of them, with candlelight dancing behind and faint noises blending with the night. Nol had never experienced such a… bizarre yet wonderful evening.
As Nol observed a particularly large blue rose, Teest sneakily glanced at him. This was a skill the Mad Monk had deliberately cultivated. Directly observing others might alert some especially sensitive individuals. But this indirect way ensured he could look as long as he wanted.
His Lich had relaxed eyes and was intently looking at the rose. With his gentle features, slender build, and the scene before him, he looked like a real night fairy—the kind children would see in fairy tale illustrations.
Teest probably looked more like a toy soldier, and a villainous one at that. Fairies always preferred children, and they never appeared in the same story as evil soldiers.
Teest didn’t like this train of thought and quickly cut it off, diverting his attention—
Nol seemed much better than before. The Lich had been resting regularly lately and smiled many times more than before. He no longer had that smoky fragility but became increasingly… real.
Occasionally, Teest almost forgot that Nol was a Lich.
His husband was steadily improving, and Teest wondered if he might lose that captivating madness.
His gaze shifted from Nol’s eyes to his lips, then to the corner of his mouth that curled up. In those brief moments, he realized he no longer wanted to know the answer.
“That flower probably was dyed with a potion. It doesn’t quite look like a magic effect,” Nol said after finishing his observation, scooping up another mouthful of grapes. “What about you? Found any Eternalists?”
“It’s not going to be that quick. It’s like trying to spot a rat’s tail when there are thousands of rats around,” Teest replied. “If the Eternalist were openly running around, Grape Collar would have been doomed long ago.”
“Do we need to keep watch all night?” Nol looked outside again. The flower seller adjusted the flowers left in her basket, seemingly preparing to head home.
Before Teest could reply, Nol turned and noticed the Mad Monk’s figure was gone.
Outside the display window, a small white figure skillfully climbed up to the flower basket. Teest first tossed two copper coins into the basket, then with a flash, the smallest of the blue roses was severed.
Holding a blue rose the size of a ping pong ball, the Mad Monk squeezed back into the shop. He placed the rose beside the bed. A large portion of his clothes was wet from the dew.
After all this, Teest sat back down, still carrying the rich scent of roses.
Nol touched the damp spot with his finger, and a warm blue flame ignited, evaporating the moisture.
“Is this for me?”
“It’s for you.”
“I admit, I’m already drawn to you.” Nol laughed and shook his head. “Given the current situation, you don’t need to be distracted by this. I’m serious.”
“I think this blue looks more like a magical effect,” Teest replied evasively. “Let’s examine it more closely before sleeping.”
“I see,” Nol said, “So, Sir Knight is also paying the price of curiosity… When that girl finds the coins in her basket, she’ll surely think she encountered a night fairy.”
Nol’s voice was full of smiles. “From my angle just now, you only lacked fairy wings.”
“…Is that so?”
Teest looked intently at Nol and responded with a smile.
……
At night, for the first time in his life, Nol lay on a toy double bed.
The candle went out, and the only light source in the drawer was the starry sky. Among the shadows, a blue rose bloomed quietly by his bed. Its beautiful blue hue and fragrance engulfed him.
Teest turned his back to him, his breathing light and even. His silver hair sprawled out on a tea-towel embroidery, giving off a faint glow. Nol turned over, his fingers playing with the ends of his hair.
The shadows in the room were as still as water. Shadow Wolf Ben was frolicking outside, looking for leftover bones and meat in the trash cans. Every now and then, Nol could hear the pattering sound of the shadow wolf’s paws on the street.
Taking all this as an adventure, he began to enjoy his current life…
Before Nol’s thoughts came to an end, Teest’s breathing suddenly stopped. At the same instant, a jolt surrounded Nol. He quickly grabbed the staff beside the bed and cast an invisibility spell.
There was a presence approaching!
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” could even bewitch animals. Relying on its protection, they had let their guard down. But without a doubt, the presence outside the drawer was coming for them.
Teest raised his “Betrayer”, and Nol took up his staff—
Half of a gigantic face appeared outside the drawer, blocking the dazzling starry sky.
It was a child’s face.
A grubby little boy, no more than seven or eight years old. His cheeks were thin, and dark hair messily clung to his scalp.
What color that hair was exactly, Nol couldn’t be sure. Under the cover of night, any darker shade appeared pitch black. Even with night vision, it wasn’t easy to determine.
But he wouldn’t mistake the color of those eyes.
They were deep purple pupils, uncommon and rare. They gave off a faint glow in the dark, staring directly at the two of them.
Neither “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” nor the invisibility spell seemed to affect this child.
[Eyes of Truth], a rare passive skill.
Players couldn’t obtain this skill through normal means. It appeared in NPCs with an extremely low probability as an “innate ability”—the owner of these eyes could see through all illusions and deceptions, reflecting only reality.
Nol lowered his staff and quickly relayed this information to Teest.
“Wow!” The boy exclaimed softly, holding onto the drawer. “Night fairies!”
Teest still held his “Betrayer”, the blade not lowered in the slightest. “It’s bedtime for good little boys now, young sir.”
It was probably around three or four in the morning, with the street vendors long gone. The child seemed to have no one looking after him.
“I’m not a good kid, so it doesn’t matter,” the boy continued, excitedly observing them. “Where are your wings? Were they torn off? That’s sad.”
“Yes, it hurt a lot, so now we particularly dislike being watched.”
Teest took a step forward, shielding Nol slightly. “Could you move? You’re blocking our starlight.”
The little boy, taken aback, quickly stepped back out of their line of sight.
Nol heard the rustling of a candy wrapper, and seconds later, a peeled candy was carefully placed inside the drawer.
It was a cheap candy, giving off a slightly bitter scent. Nol couldn’t identify the flavor.
“Will candy make you feel better?” The boy quickly retracted his hand, asking timidly. “When I eat candy, my wounds don’t hurt as much. It must have some medicinal effect… Don’t be afraid. Not all humans are bad.”
Nol shook his head at Teest, who finally sheathed his sword.
“Thank you, but we don’t like candy,” Nol said softly. “Take it back, kid.”
“I’m not ‘young sir’, and not ‘kid’. Everyone calls me ‘Piel’—probably because I always pick up grape skins to eat*.”
*Clarity: His name is (皮尔) which means “peel” in Chinese. Westernized, it could be Pier/Pierre/Piel/Piele (just depends on context). In this case, grape skin peels.
The boy quickly took back the candy, the wrapper crinkling as he carefully rewrapped it.
This clearly wasn’t enough to sway the stern Mad Monk. “Alright, Piel. You can leave now.”
“But I’ve always lived here…” Piel whispered, “Only I can fit through the hole in the wall behind here. If I sleep outside, monsters will eat me.”
It seemed like sleep was off the table for now. Nol lit the candle and climbed to the edge of the drawer.
From the edge, he could see Piel’s whole body—
Piel’s face was thin, but he still had cute and handsome features. He wore oversized, dirty clothes. It was evident he tried hard to keep himself clean, but there was still a sour smell of garbage on him.
The [Eye of Truth], a precious ability.
If this child were discovered by someone from a great mercenary group, who knows how many people would be willing to provide for his living expenses… But to ordinary people, he probably just looks like a beggar with a slightly unique eye color.
“Eaten by a monster? …What kind of monster?” Nol asked.
Hearing the word ‘monster’, Teest became interested and leaned in, peeking from the edge of the drawer.
“I don’t know. They say that children who get separated will be eaten by monsters,” Piel said while patting his protruding rib cage, his voice growing fainter. “My eyes are sick, and everyone is afraid of catching it, so they don’t want to live with me. That’s why I have to stay here. Please don’t chase me away, okay?”
“They’re all talking nonsense. There’s nothing wrong with your eyes!” Kando spoke up for the first time, still in its usual gruff tone. “Listen, kid, your eyes are very powerful. Those people don’t know anything.”
Nol looked at Kando with surprise and decided to stay out of the conversation.
“Wow!” Realizing that the candle could talk, Piel’s eyes shone even brighter. “Really, Mr. Candle? I-I always see things that shouldn’t exist. Everyone says that only lunatics see such things…”
Kando’s flame flickered vigorously. “Everyone says, everyone says. You’re not living for those idiots. Besides, who says that what lunatics see isn’t real? Do you think we are fake?”
Little Piel stared at Nol for a while and then took a quick glance at Teest.
“No.” The boy shook his head earnestly. “I can’t imagine faces as beautiful as yours.”
“That’s the spirit.” Kando rolled its eyes. “Although I don’t particularly like your reasoning.”
“If this isn’t an illness… Can I stay here?” Piel was evidently concerned about this.
“Show some backbone, kid. You should just go there and say, ‘This is my territory’,” Kando chided, its candle flame swaying. “You’re not sharing a drawer with them to sleep. What are you afraid of?”
Piel, unfamiliar with his own unique eyes, couldn’t see the strangeness of this black candle. Amused by Kando’s exaggerated words, he began to giggle. However, his stomach’s growling almost drowned out his laughter.
Soon after, a whole roast chicken flew out of the drawer, almost hitting Piel’s face.
“Take it.” Teest finally climbed up to the edge of the drawer. “Consider it our rent for staying here. Just remember to keep our secret.”
“Thank you, fairy!” Piel hugged the roast chicken tightly, not minding the mess it made on his clothes. “I promise I won’t tell anyone!”
[You’re quite nice.]
[It’s better to let him take us around than ride on Ben.] Teest shrugged.
[This is at least a win-win situation,] Nol thought.
It would be a good idea to have Piel show them around. Maybe he could guide the child to be discovered by a master sooner…
Just as this thought crossed his mind, an icy chill ran down Nol’s spine.
…You can’t do that. Absolutely not. You’ll die.
Nol’s instincts screamed incessantly, as if he were standing on the edge of a deep abyss, not a floor at some shop.
The author has something to say:
Rounding up, they are a sweet couple who have given roses to each other. Isn’t that sweet? (?
Kinky Thoughts:
Note: the Immortal Church is referring to the physical church of the Eternal Church (religion), like how the Evergreen Church is the physical church of the Temple of Life.
Oh no… Given Nian Zhong’s track record with children, I feel I’m going to be a sobbing mess in this arc.
Kinky Translations 