“In short, the big dragon realized something was wrong. They say twins are ominous and should be checked by the boss with the long name. He was taken away, and the next time I saw him was…the day he died. That’s all I know.”
The dragonling’s voice still sounded confused when it mentioned “death”.
“How do you know about the secret passage? Have you been here for a long time? You…You’re human too, right? Please, can you tell me how to get home?”
It pleaded incoherently, subconsciously moving towards Xu Yue. At this moment, a shadow sprung out of the darkness, standing between them.
“Hey!” The shadow made a loud grunt. “I’m also from Joy Garden! Are you Ye Meng from Unit 1 on the fourth floor? The second year of junior high*? I’m Grandma Li from Unit 3. You helped me carry groceries before, remember?”
*This is equivalent to 8th grade in western schools.
The dragonling stood frozen, only nodding after a long time.
“Weren’t you supposed to stay hidden?!” Another shadow jumped out. “We still don’t know what that fire is!”
“Bah, letting this child take the risk—have you no shame?”
The two shadows squabbled loudly.
With the help of his own firelight, Xu Yue could finally see the two mysterious “roommates”—two blobs of slightly turbid slime bobbing up and down, bubbling inside, with no eyes, nose, ears, or mouth.
They were low-level monsters from “Tahe”, commonly known as slimes.
The day the dragonling was killed, it was probably them chattering in the pile of bones. After that, they never made a sound again. The other party didn’t want to come out on their own, possibly because they must have their own concerns, so Xu Yue didn’t insist on finding them.
Now they had appeared together.
“I’m Ye Meng. Nice to meet you, Granny.” Meeting a neighbor again—even a bizarre one—the young dragonling’s voice was a bit shy. The atmosphere eased a little, and even the creepy Dragon Tomb didn’t seem so scary anymore.
“Hey, good. We woke up like this too after a nap.” The slimes finally stopped arguing, and Grandma Li squeezed the slime next to her. “This is my old man, Lao* Chen. Don’t mind him. He’s a scaredy-cat.”
*Old (老) When used in front of a name conveys feelings of a close relationship.
Elder* Chen grumbled a couple of times, turning towards Xu Yue warily. “Scaredy-cat my ass. I’m telling you that fire—”
*Old Man [laotou] (老头). In this context, it’s used as a familiar but respectful way to address someone (in this case, the narration pointing out that he’s an elderly man).
“My name is Xu Yue, from Unit 701, Building 7 of Yunshang Joy Garden.” Xu Yue interrupted. “I was busy with work before, so you probably haven’t seen me.”
“Oh, oh. That single young man.” Grandma Li thought for a moment, then asked loudly, “How did you know about the secret passage?”
Xu Yue suspected she remembered everyone in the community. He paused for a moment, pretending not to hear the first half. “This place resembles a game developed by our company, so I have some information.”
Given the shocking nature of the content, he rushed through his explanation while the flame within him flickered rapidly.
There was a moment of silence as the bubbling of the two slimes stopped.
“Game?” A few minutes later, the dragonling asked in confusion.
“Tahe World, a virtual reality game.” Xu Yue explained. “I don’t know why we’re all here, but my knowledge can help us survive… First, we need to survive before we have a chance to go home.”
Everyone seemed okay, but their mental states were certainly not as stable as they appeared in this strange place. Instead of beautiful words on the surface, he needed to give a real guarantee.
A guarantee of “survival”.
The silence lingered even longer this time, with only the drip of water echoing in the tomb.
“I’ve never heard of Tahe…” Elder Chen grumbled, breaking the silence.
“As long as there’s a way to survive, it’s better than being in the dark.” Grandma Li interrupted her husband with a bitter smile. “Let’s talk more later. We need to bury that college student first.”
Nobody objected.
No matter what customs the dragon had, humans paid more attention to burial rites. They didn’t dare to move the dragon’s body arbitrarily, so they left it in place, carefully covering it with rubble and vegetation.
A crude tomb was added in the corner.
They hoped that this young neighbor was just “offline”—that he would wake up in reality. However, the swollen and ugly corpse of the young dragon exuded a real stench, and no one wanted to take the risk of dying.
They knew he was once a living person, but facing the body of a different species, it was hard to feel any sadness; only the melancholy resembling the rabbit’s death and the fox’s grief*.
*(兔死狐悲) It’s an idiom referring to the tale where a fox mourns the death of a rabbit after having formed an alliance to fight against the hunter. It’s a metaphor for empathizing with the loss of one’s own kind, but in modern usage, it could also mean empathizing with someone’s misfortune or hardship that you often see, even though you don’t have close relations with them.
The atmosphere was heavy, but whether they were old or young, no one cried or broke down. Just staying “alive” was taking up all of everyone’s mental energy.
There was no choice. Sometimes, people could only hang on to their breath, pretending everything would get better.
……
“Monsters don’t have as many classes and skills as Players, but we can choose our evolution paths.”
After a short period of mourning, Xu Yue seized the time to explain the basics.
It was really inconvenient having no form of physical explanation. It would be nice if he could open the status bar.
As soon as the thought appeared, a blue, translucent pop-up window appeared abruptly in the dark.
[Status: Immune to physical attacks; Fire and light attribute attacks deal 500% damage; Automatically perish in sunlight.]
It was really “Tahe World”. The interactive interface was the same. When speculation became reality, Xu Yue still felt a moment of horror.
“Can you see this? This is the status bar of the monster.”
Xu Yue calmly continued after a few seconds.
“Same kind of monsters have the same initial attributes. Only three actions can change the values—leveling up, evolving, or eating special items.”
“Understood. Level up fast, choose the right evolution path, and eat more heavenly materials and earthly treasures,” Elder Chen summed up.
“How did you make this box come up?” Grandma Li’s attention was elsewhere.
As it turned out, the design of “Tahe World” was very convenient.
To see the status bar, all one had to do was silently think “Open status bar”. By default, the status bar was only visible to oneself. To show it to others, you needed to think about it a little bit, which wasn’t hard to practice.
Soon, three new pop-ups appeared in mid-air.
The properties of the elderly couple were exactly the same—
[Status: Has not undergone a Mana Baptism; temporarily unable to cast spells.]
Although the four of them could only muster a pair of eyes, they all “stared” at Ye Meng’s status bar.
“Well, that’s quite something. Enough for a down payment in our neighborhood,” Grandma Li exclaimed. “Xu Yue, aren’t you from a game company? How…” She politely swallowed the rest of her sentence.
Xu Yue slowly moved his gaze away. His total attributes were only enough for a meal.
“Ye Meng did very well before.” Xu Yue turned his gaze to the dragonling’s face, which was covered in scales and difficult to read. “The dragons are very conservative. If you’re found out, you’re dead.”
Ye Meng shivered. “Can you lead us to escape?”
“It’s more dangerous outside. As long as we don’t expose ourselves, this is the safest place in the world.”
Dragons were full of treasure. For Ye Meng to leave the Dragon’s Lair now, it would be like a piece of fat with wings.
“But…”
“Dragons grow fast. Your range of activity will gradually expand,” Xu Yue comforted her. “The next part is very important. Everyone, listen carefully.”
The old couple didn’t think about their own affairs. The two transparent balls slowly squeezed over.
“Soon, the giant dragon will hold a Mana Baptism, allowing the cubs to choose their own magic system. Ye Meng, you need to choose ‘Water’, and the symbol is this.”
Xu Yue moved his body, drawing a series of trajectories in the dark.
The physical strength of the black dragon was high, but its magical talent wasn’t as good as other dragons. They instinctively chose fire and wind magic to assist in physical combat. In contrast, water magic lacked offensive power, and the only interesting ice branch was also easily restricted by the environment.
A black dragon choosing water was basically considered trash—no matter which group it would be in, trash wouldn’t get too much attention.
Coincidentally, the last thing Ye Meng needed was attention.
“Both of you should choose ‘poison’ as your evolution direction. From now on, you’d better only eat poisonous things. Don’t worry. Slimes won’t be poisoned, and they have no sense of taste.”
“The Dragon Tomb Garden has a poison stage, which is full of poisonous plants and monsters. I will take you there.”
“Can we spray poison outward after practicing? Like bullets?” Elder Chen’s tone finally had a little more expectation.
“Slimes can only gather poison on the surface of their bodies.” Xu Yue shattered the old man’s dream. “But you can cooperate.”
Ye Meng let out a sound of sudden realization.
Xu Yue glanced at her and continued, “Ye Meng, you should go together. You need to eat detoxifying herbs for a long time to increase your tolerance. The toxicity of dragon corpse poison is very strong. Their poison can hurt you.”
“Even if the black dragon’s magic is poor, it is stronger than ordinary monsters. If the corpse poison mixes with water magic, you can use the poisonous fog to ambush or escape.”
Anyway, humans didn’t need the pride of a great dragon. Xu Yue believed that compared to the “glory to the dragon’s blood”, Ye Meng definitely preferred to save her life.
There used to be a powerful boss in the “Dragon Tomb Garden” plan; a bone dragon adept at poison/water compound magic. Its image was too bloody and ghastly that Xu Yue was worried it would affect the reviews, and in the end, it was scrapped.
But Xu Yue clearly remembered its attack moves. Two venomous slimes plus a black dragon could completely make up a young version of the bone dragon.
After listening to the instructions, Ye Meng nodded vigorously. The two elderly people had no objections.
Xu Yue breathed a sigh of relief.
The three were either too young or old enough; they all know the age of eating full meals when they are persuaded*. It would be troublesome if they had someone who thought they were the protagonist.
*An expression referring to people who are sensible and willing to heed advice (like young children or older people).
“What about you?” At the end, Ye Meng asked shyly. “Aren’t you going with us?”
It took a lot of effort to catch someone who knew about this world. Realizing that Xu Yue might leave, the sense of security she just got was shaking again.
“I have to go out and take a look. Maybe there are other people outside,” Xu Yue said. “I’ll leave after I finish leveling up. During this time, I’ll tell you everything you need to know.”
The idea of “having a dragon by your side” was indeed tempting, but the Dragon’s Lair lacked information from the outside world, and the efficiency of leveling undead monsters was also low. If he stayed for a long time, he was destined to only survive.
He had to move forward.
……
Ye Meng stayed in the Dragon’s Lair during the day and sneaked in to listen to the lecture at night; the elderly couple lay in the poison level to eat and drink. Since they could chat, it seemed they were fine. Only Xu Yue floated around in the Dragon Tomb, consciously swallowing other will-o’-wisps.
The whole process was extremely boring, without any sensation of eating, like an old synthetic game. This kind of day lasted for nearly a month before Xu Yue reached the threshold of level 20.
The full-level prompt “ding” sound was as beautiful as heavenly music.
After reaching the full level, the will-o’-wisp had two evolutionary lines—”Nameless Ghost” and “Skeleton Soldier”.
The former specialized in the magic route; the latter would lose the feature of “immune to physical attack”. As compensation, they would have physical form and could wear equipment.
The experience of upgrading was very peculiar. It was like driving to an intersection and choosing to turn left or right. Xu Yue decisively turned to “Skeleton Soldier”—he needed to blend into the crowd to collect information. It was hard for ghost-type monsters without form to do this.
The moment the selection was completed, a green light suddenly lit up around him.
Countless fragments of bone drilled out of the stone cracks, and they merged with each other accompanied by a little glow, gradually forming the shape of a human skeleton. The huge will-o’-wisp scattered, adhering to the skeleton like a liquid, and then was absorbed by the muddy bones.
Two groups of blue flames ignited in the hollow eye sockets of the skeleton, and then all the bones clicked and fell to the ground.
Xu Yue: “……”
How careless. He lost his footing.
After trying hard on the spot for five minutes, Xu Yue managed to piece himself together. He staggered towards a nearby puddle and saw his appearance—
A dirty human skeleton, with grape-sized will-o’-wisps burning in his eye sockets.
Xu Yue held his breath, concentrated for a moment, and summoned the status bar.
[Status: Fire and light attribute attacks deal 500% damage; Automatically perish in sunlight.]
…It was still weak enough to make people cry.
Well, skeleton soldiers usually appear in groups, so a single soldier couldn’t be too strong.
The attributes of a skeleton soldier were slightly inferior to those of the level 20 will-o’-wisp. However, its initial attributes were superior, and its max level was 30. At least he had changed from an “ambient light” to a “scrap used for environmental decoration and occasionally to scare people”.
Everyone had their own destiny. Xu Yue decided not to think about Ye Meng, who was born at level 50.
It was time to embark on a journey.
Since this world was like a game, he hoped that there were real Players here. It was best to let him meet one as soon as possible, so as not to try finding clues like a headless fly. Xu Yue patted the mud off his body and made a silent wish.
At this time, he didn’t realize that the wish would be realized so quickly.
The author has something to say:
“Expert Guide: Step-by-Step Instructions on How to Become a Mean Outlander”
Blue orbs of light wandered in the darkness. They looked like oversized fireflies—phantasmal and intermittent—occasionally sweeping over blurred and ominous silhouettes. The air was damp and cold, mixed with a sour, meaty smell among the scent of dust.
In the center of the darkness, there was an area lit by blue torches.
The carcasses of some enormous beasts were stacked on top of each other; their white bones crisscrossing, radiating a strange order of beauty. Viscous liquid crawled among the gray stones, and dark blue plants filled the skulls and chests of the skeletons, together making up a chilling “garden”.
“State your origin,” A deep voice said from the center of the garden. “Don’t fabricate lies. In the graveyard, no dragon can lie.”
It was a giant dragon.
It had a pair of enormous amber eyes and bat-like wings folded at its sides. Dragon scales shimmered with metallic luster and were covered with a coagulated, brownish-red tint. Not all its sharp teeth were concealed by scales; it looked capable of effortlessly crushing a stallion.
What was most eye-catching were its horns—too many to count at first glance. They twisted and tangled like roots, forming a symmetrical shape akin to a crown. The base of the horns was blackened, while the ends were as red and clear as garnet, with tiny sparks leaping within.
Naturally, it wasn’t perfect. The red dragon was missing the tip of its left wing, and its claws were covered in mud. Many scales bore noticeable absences or cracks. It exuded a unique odor of living beings. Just as cats have their scent and dogs theirs, it also had the scent of a beast—dangerous, heavy, and indescribably bitter, like charred corpses, withered trees, and sulfur.
It lowered its head, looking down at its interrogated subjects—
Two black dragonlings.
They appeared to have hatched only a few days ago; they were smaller than adult humans and covered with clumps of dust hardened by mucus.
One of the dragonlings seemed somewhat at a loss, honestly shrinking in place, making a wary posture. But the other held its head high, its eyes devoid of the confusion of a young cub.
“I’ve never lied!” The head-raised dragonling yelled, its voice as immature as a bird’s chirping. “I possess the memories and knowledge of another world, and I can trade with you…”
“What were you in ‘that world’?” The red dragon cut it off.
“A human, so what?”
“Last question, your sibling—” The red dragon lifted the silent dragonling with its claw, “—is it the same as you?”
“Didn’t I tell you? I’m a special case. I’ve spoken to it and it’s no different from other cubs. It can’t understand language at all.”
“Very well, thank you for your answer,” The red dragon said coldly. “Glory to Subelbot.”
Crack!
Flames flashed, and the previously vibrant dragonling fell to the ground. A sizzling, scorched hole appeared in its chest, and the air immediately filled with the stench of burnt meat. Its frail body was pierced through, and the edge of the wound was black like charcoal. Through that enormous hole, the carcasses behind the dragonling could be seen.
The dragonling struggled to turn its eyeballs, filled with disbelief.
Perhaps due to the innate toughness of the dragon race, its death was a drawn-out process. The red dragon just stood by, silently witnessing, its gaze heavy as grave soil.
“This is a dream… a dream…”
The dragonling convulsed in pain. It was hard to tell if it was mumbling or moaning. It tried to stand up, refusing the approach of death, but its claws only stirred up a layer of dust. The scorched wound was torn, and finally, blood gushed out.
“…It hurts. Damn, why does it hurt so much… cold… Mom…”
Its cries of pain gradually weakened. Its sibling, still clutched in the red dragon’s claw, was trembling.
“Did that dragon say, ‘another world’?”
“Shh! Don’t get noticed!”
From the heap of carcasses not far away, two murmurs broke the solemn atmosphere. They were as light as a gust of wind, sounding more like the squelching noise of squeezed slime. It was the noise of lower beings, which the red dragon couldn’t understand and didn’t care about.
But others seemed to understand.
The dying dragonling on the ground twitched, gasping weakly and hurriedly. The dragonling being held abruptly raised its head to look at the corner, then shrank its body as if trying to hide something, pretending that nothing had happened.
The red dragon didn’t notice anything odd. It confirmed the dragonling on the ground was no longer breathing, raised its head slightly, and the small corpse was flung to the corner of the graveyard. After all this, the red dragon turned around, preparing to leave.
The surviving dragonling was clenched in its claw, its tiny body as tense as a stone.
“About two kilometers to the left of the main entrance of the Dragon Tomb Garden, along the cliff, there is a broken stone sculpture of a one-eyed knight. There’s a secret passage behind the statue. Come and meet me. I can help you.”
In a corner somewhere, a soft “bump bump” sound suddenly emerged.
The dragonling turns its head again. Thousands of will-o’-wisps were floating around the edge of the Dragon Tomb, among which only one was motionless, as if watching it.
…
This was Xu Yue’s fourth day of awakening in this world.
On the first day, the darkness was thick. Xu Yue thought it was just a strange dream, in which he was a will-o’-wisps—one of the lowest-level monsters in the <World of Tahe>, mainly used as an ambient light.
Perhaps because the game was about to launch and he had worked overtime for too long and was really tired, he would have such an absurd dream.
On the second day, the dream seemed unreasonably long. Xu Yue drifted around, confirming the surrounding environment. The place was filled with dragon bones, and there were caves everywhere, with countless paths leading to deeper darkness.
As the producer of the VR game “World of Tahe”, he had seen the concept art and setting documents of this ghostly place. One of the high-level maps in “Tahe” was the Dragon Tomb Garden.
On the third day, dark blue plants poked out from the decaying dragon corpse, curled up at the top, like a fern. Slime flowed down its stem, emitting a faint odor. Xu Yue realized the seriousness of the problem—no dream could be so long and detailed.
He seemed to be trapped in his own game.
Xu Yue never believed in such nonsense as “transmigration”. It was impossible for a person to cross time and space unreasonably. But he couldn’t explain his current situation, which was the first time he had encountered such a big change in his life.
Before this, he was used to making the most sufficient preparations and living strictly according to the plan.
The best high school in the province, the top university in the country, a world-class company—Xu Yue grew up all the way. He wasn’t interested in fame, power, or the glitter of gold and silver—he just wanted to do his best to accumulate wealth, buy a property after saving enough money, maybe develop a stable relationship, and live out the second half of his life by investing in finance.
For a person of ordinary origin, this was like a dream life.
And Xu Yue almost succeeded.
“World of Tahe” was a key project of the company, which had invested a lot of financial and human resources, and the results were very encouraging. Once the operation was stable, he could give up this health-debilitating job and retire with enough wealth.
And then the absurd accident of “transmigrating into his own game” happened.
Until not long ago, he thought he was alone. But according to the game settings, different kinds of monsters didn’t understand each other’s languages. The creature that was whispering just now, and those two dragonlings, might all be “foreigners” similar to him.
This speculation cheered up Xu Yue quite a bit. Making sure the Red Dragon didn’t understand the whisper, he made a decision on the spot and invited the only remaining dragonling.
“…Come, look at me. I can help you.”
He said out loud.
He needed to save this “suspected transmigrator” as much as he could.
The Red Dragon said, “Glory to Subelbot”. In Xu Yue’s impression, Subelbot was the leader of the dragons—a stubborn and proud silver dragon. Under its leadership, the dragons would never tolerate unknown foreigners infiltrating their group, gaining their knowledge and abilities.
Even if the “foreigner” was now a dragon, it wasn’t pure enough. If the young dragon was really a transmigrator, without enough information, it was bound to die.
The secret passage that Xu Yue gave was the entrance to the instance of the Dragon Tomb Garden. It was only big enough for humans to pass through and just right for a dragonling.
As luck would have it, his attempt was successful. A few days later, the dragonling returned as promised.
“Hello? …Hello? Is anyone there?” It didn’t even dare to shout too loud; its voice was shaking terribly. “Help me.”
With its arrival, Xu Yue received one piece of good news and one piece of bad news.
The good news was that the similarities between here and the “World of Tahe” weren’t accidental—his game knowledge could still be used.
As for the bad news—
“I thought it was a dream, but it’s not a dream; definitely not a dream.”
In the dark tomb, the dragonling let out a cry.
“I don’t know what happened to me. I don’t know where this is. I want to go home.”
“I want to go home…”
‘What a coincidence, me too,’ Xu Yue thought bitterly.
He knew it. The answer couldn’t be found so easily. This suspected transmigrator was just as clueless as him about “what happened”.
……
“It was Saturday, and my parents weren’t at home. I finished my homework and went to bed on time, and when I woke up, I was in an eggshell.”
In a corner of the Dragon Tomb, the little black dragon spoke in a small voice. Its round eyes were as red as coal, and at this moment they were moistened by tears.
“The one—the one that was killed—hatched from the same egg as me. Only we could understand what those monsters were saying. I was very scared and pretended I couldn’t understand… He liked to show off more…”
Upon saying this, it couldn’t help but sob.
“Do you know him?” Xu Yue asked softly.
“Yes,” the dragonling said. “He liked to mutter to me… But I… I was afraid the big dragon would hear, so I didn’t respond.”
“His name is Cui Yuchen. He lives next door to me and seems to be a college student. He mentioned ‘City A’ and ‘living in Joy Garden’, so I confirmed it was him…”
“City A? Joy Garden?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, go on.” Xu Yue struggled to keep his tone steady.
Xu Yue’s residence was in the “Yunshang Joy Garden” community in City A. The community itself wasn’t large, and it was comfortable to live in, mostly occupied by homeowners. The name “Yunshang Joy Garden” was too long, so people were more accustomed to calling it “Joy Garden”.
These two dragonlings were once his neighbors in the same community.
The author has something to say:
Starting a new story—!!!
Updated daily at 19:00. If there’s any change, I’ll ask for leave in advance ☆-∑(>ω0)b
Here are some long-winded details:
★ Upgrade flow, upgrade flow, upgrade flow. Although the protagonist has a hidden background, he won’t start rampaging immediately.
★ The author isn’t a professional in the game industry, so the stats given may not be reasonable. Welcome professionals to correct in the comments. I will consider modifying (^ρ^)/
★ Welcome to spot typos. During the serialization, as long as I see it, I’ll give a red envelope (a reward)!
★ Please don’t post comments related to “breaking the main CP”. Their keys are locked, and I’ve soldered them into my stomach…
PS: This is set in a similar universe as the previous fantasy novel “Stray“, but it’s not the same world. The characters are not interconnected, and whether you’ve read it or not will not affect the reading~
In conclusion, I hope everyone enjoys reading it! If possible, please don’t spoil me(〃ω〃)
Kinky Thoughts:
Note: For those who haven’t read Stray yet, I strongly suggest you do before reading this novel. There’s quite a few Easter eggs and references to Stray in this novel that you will enjoy if you’ve already read it. Though, if you haven’t read it, it won’t affect your understanding of the novel (but you could potentially be spoiled if you decide to read Stray after).
I’ve been dying to read this since it was announced, given how it’s in the same setting as Stray, so I just had to pick it up (and of course because it’s also by Nian Zhong). For those who haven’t read Stray, I highly recommend you do.
Regarding the title “Full Server First Kill”, this is a term often used in MMORPG to denote the first time a particular boss or difficult enemy has been defeated in the entire server. A more accurate way of putting it is “First Kill in the Entire Server”… but that’s not as catchy.
Given this was just released and is ongoing, releases will follow the author’s pace. Happy reading.
After Sect Master Shi had a satisfying meal of red bean cakes, he suddenly felt uncomfortable sitting down as nails began to grow underneath his butt.
With improved cultivation and accompanied by his beloved disciple, Shi Jingzhi couldn’t waste such joyful moments. Since leaving the palace, he had never been this content—
Only the Kushan Sect knew about Yan Budu’s letter left in Yuanxian Village. Even the enigmatic figure in his memories now had a clue called “Purifying Words”. Several clues were lined up, waiting for him to unravel them one by one.
Shi Jingzhi had always been tirelessly pursuing leads all by himself. When had he ever been so prosperous?
So he boldly declared, “A’Ci, you’ve been sitting for quite a while. Let’s go. I’ll take you to relax.”
Yin Ci no longer pretended to be obedient. He stood up casually and said, “Sure.”
Shi Jingzhi grabbed Yin Ci’s hand. “Let’s go find Yan Qing and Su Si. It’s been too long.”
The two walked through the woods like beautiful characters from a painting coming to life. Unfortunately, the figures in the painting couldn’t drag along such a formidable inner demon. The human headlamp moved slowly, turning the painting of “Two Immortals Roaming the Forest” into “Two Ants Walking a Dog”.
Not far into their walk, the dog got stuck.
The human headlamp’s numerous shadow hands on its base couldn’t pass through the narrow passage. Moreover, the mountaintop was uneven, with peculiar peaks and stones. The inner demon carelessly got wedged into a small valley, unable to move forward. The valley was filled with mist, obscuring the headlamp’s light and creating the illusion of a third mountain magically emerging.
Shi Jingzhi sighed dejectedly. “The misty scenery here is quite nice. Forget it. Let’s go back the same way.”
Yin Ci then pressed a finger to Shi Jingzhi’s lips. “Shh.”
The warmth from his fingertip made Shi Jingzhi freeze in place.
He soon heard voices—Yan Qing and Su Si were on the other side of the thin fog, discussing something. He vaguely caught words like “Sect Leader” and “Kushan Sect”, igniting Shi Jingzhi’s curiosity.
After spending a long time, the two servants managed to catch a sturdy deer. Afraid of defiling the pure pond of Buddha’s head, they had to dismantle it on the spot. Oblivious to the headlamp as the mist covered their view, they didn’t notice it at all.
Su Si’s meat-cutting skills were incredibly sharp, even faster than Yin Ci’s. While separating the meat, he didn’t stop talking.
“San Zi, we still have time to descend the mountain.”
Unlike their previous teasing, Su Si’s tone was serious this time.
“Their aura is not much different from the true masters I’ve encountered. We didn’t help them much when they were attacked by Greed. Do you really want to risk your life just to carry their luggage?”
Yan Qing silently wiped the meat with snow.
“If you don’t want to leave the Kushan Sect, it’s fine for us to wait outside the mountain. They’re searching for clues on the mountain, and they might not want outsiders to know too much…”
“I understand. There’s no need to say more.”
Su Si paused cutting the meat. “What’s wrong?”
“A’Si, how about this? I’ll consult with the sect master later and send you down the mountain first. The reason you’re with the Kushan Sect now is partly because of me, right?”
Yan Qing remained as gentle as ever.
“Your inner demon is inconvenient, and I don’t want to burden you. When you get out of the mountain, you can have a good rest and just wait for us.”
Su Si completely stopped, and his expression turned somewhat unpleasant.
Seeing Su Si frown, Yan Qing quickly added, “A’Si, I’m not rejecting you. Greed, hatred, and ignorance—I want to accompany the sect master on this.”
“But based on what you said earlier, you didn’t even want to explore the Ghost Tomb, even with Taiheng protecting you.”
“The Buddha Heart Formation is completely different from the Ghost Tomb; it doesn’t have that much malice.”
“You’re not a monk. You think there’s no risk just because there’s no malice? If there’s really no risk, can you stop those demonic sects? Speaking of malice, this time they’re searching for Yan Budu’s clue, and those two deliberately let you, his descendant, follow. Who knows what plans they have.”
Seeing Su Si bristle with anger, Yan Qing wisely changed the subject and stopped talking about himself. “The Jianchen Temple has a reputation for being both upright and compassionate. Those two have matters to discuss and wouldn’t do anything excessive under the monks’ noses… Moreover, even if they’re following Yan Budu’s clues, what they seek is also the Shirou. Every sect is the same in this regard.”
Su Si sneered. “Seeking the Shirou for longevity? Let me tell you, those who are seeking it are out of their minds.”
“What do you mean?”
“Those who openly seek longevity are either the emperor or people like Yan Budu, who are wealthy and treat others as commodities. They find life too difficult and always complain. Even commoners who seek longevity also hope for a heavenly life alongside it. San Zi, ask yourself. Do you really want to live forever like that?”
Yan Qing was taken aback and slowly shook his head.
“So, if they can’t understand why they’re risking their lives for the Shirou, then that’s just foolish. If they understand and still risk their lives, then they’re like ghosts. No matter how you look at Sect Master Shi, they belong to the latter category, right?”
“His health seems to be poor. Maybe he just wants to cure his illness.”
“Who knows?”
Yan Qing gave up on further discussion. Su Si no longer pretended to have his previous childish demeanor and revealed a sharper nature. His words, combining stick and carrot, made everyone appear suspicious, like a cub with its leg caught in a trap.
“Let’s go back for now. We’ve been out for quite a while.” Yan Qing changed the topic once again.
Unexpectedly, Su Si didn’t let himself be led astray. “Let’s clarify things first.”
“What things?”
“Should we leave the mountain early?”
Yan Qing pondered for a moment and spoke firmly. “I’m not leaving. I want to gain experience. Otherwise, the next time we encounter danger, I’ll just hold you back.”
“I don’t mind you holding me back. You shouldn’t have gotten involved in this in the first place.”
“I trust my own judgment. A’Si, you’re not always right either.”
Su Si stood still for a few seconds, and his face turned pale.
Yan Qing instantly realized his mistake. “I didn’t mean that time…”
“Let’s go.”
“A’Si!”
Su Si’s voice sounded dry. “It’s fine. Since you’ve made up your mind, let’s go back.”
Not far away, Yin Ci’s head was throbbing. He couldn’t help but feel that, compared to these two immature youngsters, Sect Leader Shi was much more composed.
Even the composed Sect Leader Shi didn’t go over to greet them rashly. He stood in place for a while, then chose to take Yin Ci with him as they silently withdrew.
Half an hour later, when faced with two conflicted servants, Shi Jingzhi remained composed, observing his breath and thoughts with a serene expression on his face, pretending to know nothing.
Yin Ci finally understood the character of this person. Whenever he encountered unfamiliar people, Shi Jingzhi would spin one set of words after another. But when it came to the people around him, he couldn’t bring himself to be stern and was more cautious than anyone else.
Sure enough, seeing Su Si and Yan Qing silent for a long time, Shi Jingzhi roasted the deer meat while leisurely approaching Yin Ci. “A’Ci, those two…”
Yin Ci: “…Don’t worry about them.”
These two youngsters were still just immature, awkward in expressing their emotions. It was fine to let them be awkward. Shi Jingzhi himself didn’t feel quite right at the moment, so interfering would only make things more complicated.
Unexpectedly, Fox Shi pondered for a while and spoke more seriously. “Yan Qing has a positive attitude, which is a good thing. When you have the chance, teach him a few moves regarding the use of inner force. You can convey it on my behalf.”
“You can do it yourself.” With no one around, Yin Ci couldn’t be bothered to even call him “Shizun”.
Shi Jingzhi’s tone suddenly turned stern. “A’Ci, I said I would only take you as my disciple, so I will only take you. If I start teaching Yan Qing too, wouldn’t that break the rules?”
With that said, he tore the roasted deer meat in half, giving one portion to Yin Ci. The deer meat was cooked ordinary and was nothing special compared to previous meals.
However, the temperature was just right, which made Yin Ci think that his cheap master had paid attention to it.
Yin Ci chewed the meat and couldn’t help but soften his tone as he remembered the fleeting glance from earlier in the day. “Well, it’s not impossible. We’ll do it when we have the chance.”
Shi Jingzhi’s smile was full of gratitude. “Thank you.”
After saying that, he didn’t leave. He remained sitting next to Yin Ci, leaning against him. In the past, he would restrain his reliance on his disciple due to their master-disciple relationship. But now, without any concerns, he relaxed openly, like a tired bird finding its first branch.
Yin Ci took another bite of meat, hiding a slight smile at the corner of his mouth. The person beside him was warm, occasionally shifting, like a wild animal that wanted to get closer but couldn’t find a way.
This journey was even more interesting than he had anticipated.
“Greed, hatred, and ignorance are nothing to fear.” Shi Jingzhi leaned against Yin Ci and spoke with a voice carrying a hint of drowsiness. “Hatred leads to impulsiveness, and ignorance leads to an inability to distinguish good from evil. A’Ci, you are indifferent, and Yan Qing is honest. Su Si might fall to ‘ignorance’, so let’s help him when the time comes. Perhaps then he won’t keep wanting to run away every now and then…”
After saying that, he suddenly awakened, alarmed. “A’Ci, do you think these two quarreling kids might attract the Lord of Hatred?”
“No, there are four of us in total, and Greed is only attached to you with your ‘object obsession’. Ordinary people’s emotions, such as joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, aren’t strong enough to disturb the monsters. To attract the Lord of Hatred, there needs to be years of accumulated resentment.”
As Yin Ci spoke, he suddenly felt regretful—if time could go back two hundred years, he would at least be able to lure out the Lord of Hatred and see its appearance.
Unfortunately, now all his love and hatred were buried under thick ashes, unable to stir up even the slightest ripple.
“Very well, very well. It seems the descent from the mountain will be easier.” Shi Jingzhi breathed a sigh of relief after Yin Ci’s explanation.
It turned out that while Shi Jingzhi was adept at understanding people’s desires, he wasn’t very skilled at judging other emotions.
The next day, the four finally crossed the outermost range of mountains and headed towards the middle-level peak. Su Si and Yan Qing still maintained a faint standoff—although they hadn’t fallen out completely, they were extremely polite to each other, lacking the closeness they once had.
Su Si had always been intense in his emotions and had a somewhat dark side, but his temperament came and went quickly. In the past, Yan Qing would have gone up to coax his brother. However, this time, Yan Qing remained silent with a tense face, and no one knew what he was thinking.
Perhaps it was because he was certain that he couldn’t fall into hatred, and with the Lord of Greed behind them, Shi Jingzhi no longer had his hesitating demeanor. The group from the Kushan Sect moved quickly, reaching the mountaintop in less than half a day. It seemed they were about to pass through this trial without any major difficulties—
But the Lord of Hatred arrived.
Unlike the boisterous Lord of Greed, its presence couldn’t be seen even after the group was bound in place.
The author has something to say:
Upon careful thought, the three Lords of Greed, Hatred, and Ignorance might not be the guardians of the mountains but are more like skinning knives.
Under the skinning knife, no one can escape (?
Although San Zi may night not be considered on onion _(:з」∠)
At that time when Mr. Qiu launched an attack on the Fu residence, Fu Xingchuan was punished and demoted to a combat consultant. He looked at the list of potential successors provided by Shian and dialed Li Nian’s private phone number.
“Lao Li, I want Xiang Jiang to replace me,” Fu Xingchuan said, exhaling a puff of smoke.
“He’s not on the candidate list,” Li Nian replied. “In the execution mission, he seemed to have leaked information to Sunken Society and his performance wasn’t satisfactory. From what I gathered, they’re considering transferring him out of the Emergency Management Department—without you, it will be difficult for a newcomer to handle the pressure.”
“Well, they want to send him to a cold palace until retirement. I get it.”
That night, Fu Xingchuan sat in the long corridor of the Fu residence, gazing at the full moon in the night sky.
“According to the regulations, this is indeed the most secure approach.”
Li Nian on the other end of the phone fell silent, and after a few seconds, he spoke calmly, “What are your plans?”
“I want to see what Xiang Jiang is planning.”
Fu Xingchuan pressed his cigarette butt against the stone decoration.
“By leaking information during the execution missions, Xiang Jiang wanted us to die in Gengsheng Town. Once the wind gets out on his side, we’ll catch him red-handed… It seems he’s not very skilled either. Don’t you find it intriguing, Lao Li?”
“Xiang Jiang and Sunken Society don’t have a long-standing close cooperative relationship,” Li Nian responded.
“Right, I’ve been keeping an eye on him. His accounts are clean—he doesn’t take private jobs. But then he suddenly pulls out a killer move on us. How can I not feel that the mastermind behind this isn’t Sunken Society?”
“That’s just your speculation,” Li Nian said. “It’s also possible that Sunken Society made him a promise. After the Gengsheng Town incident, Hao Wenzhe couldn’t find any abnormal communication from him. He can’t simply be labeled a traitor without evidence.”
“Right, it’s just my speculation—my intuition.”
Fu Xingchuan sighed bitterly.
“In any case, there are only two possibilities—”
“Either Xiang Jiang was just momentarily confused and has become honest after his failure. As a minister, he’ll be under closer supervision, and he has to follow the regulations. Keep an eye on him for me, and he won’t cause any major trouble.”
Professor Li remained silent.
“Or Xiang Jiang is in contact with ‘other forces’, but he’s hiding it well. We’ve just experienced the power that can break through space and make contact with people out of thin air, haven’t we? I was just taken down by Shian. If I were him, I would definitely take advantage of the situation.”
“…You want to expose his motives through deception, of course, assuming he actually has any ‘motives’.”
“Don’t put it so harshly.” Fu Xingchuan chuckled. “It’s only because you’re partnered with him that I can use this plan with peace of mind. Anyway, I’m going to recommend Xiang Jiang. His rank and abilities are sufficient, and he would be in compliance as an interim minister.”
“Just because of your intuition?”
“Just because of my intuition.” Fu Xingchuan blinked at the moon in the sky while replying in a brisk tone. “Everyone else follows the rules to make judgments. What do they need people like us for?”
“Tell me, what do you need me to do?” Li Nian pondered for a moment before replying in a steady voice.
“Two things.”
Fu Xingchuan lit another cigarette.
“First, during work hours, keep an eye on him. If it’s a regular decision, he definitely needs your approval… If it’s you, you’ll surely be able to discern if things aren’t right. Arrange accordingly when the time comes.”
Li Nian: “And the second?”
“When he goes on field assignments, give me a heads up.” Fu Xingchuan slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, which lingered in the air, obscuring the moonlight. “I must be nearby.”
“I understand,” Li Nian said. “You owe me a favor.”
“Well, that means I owe you 178 favors, and you owe me 173. I’m keeping track.”
“Nonsense.” Li Nian dismissed his old partner’s banter. “I have one more question.”
“Go ahead.”
“If you want to monitor Xiang Jiang’s movements, removing him from the picture is also an option. But instead, you’re promoting him. Fu Xingchuan, are you giving him another chance?”
“…Lao Li, you and I both know his situation.”
Fu Xingchuan held his cigarette and gazed blankly into the void.
“What if I say I am?”
……
At this moment, Fu Xingchuan’s worst speculation was coming true.
“…Why, of all people, did you choose to cooperate with the Other Side?” Fu Xingchuan stared at his “half-student”.
Xiang Jiang still wore exaggerated earrings, designed to attract the attention of evil creatures and protect the surroundings. Shian didn’t have specific dress requirements, and this was undoubtedly an imitation of Fu Xingchuan.
However, now he was leading the fierce legion of ghosts and stood in opposition to Fu Xingchuan.
Upon hearing Fu Xingchuan’s question, a fleeting look of surprise crossed Xiang Jiang’s usually emotionless face. He made a gesture, and the surrounding ghosts dispersed, surrounding the sealing spells and making it impassable. Ghostly figures hovered around, their elongated limbs ethereally extending. Xiang Jiang stood among the dead, his face seemingly no different from a corpse.
As the sun rose, the mist on the mountainside surged even more.
Fu Xingchuan stood still as the mist engulfed the back of his feet. Countless skeletons emerged from the ground behind him. Brown and yellow animal carcasses pieced together, forming two massive skeletons.
Yellow talismans ignited between Fu Xingchuan’s fingers, turning into ashes. In an instant, the surrounding ghosts wailed, and pale ghostly figures emerged from the mist, entwining themselves around the two assembled skeletons. Within a few breaths, four blue lights ignited, and two giant white tigers, with carcasses as bones and fierce spirits as flesh, crouched on either side of Fu Xingchuan.
Their eyes burned with blue flames as they roared silently. Freezing ghostly energy surged from their fangs, instantly turning the surrounding mist into ice shards. Dark ghostly spells flickered around the claws of the two giant tigers, poised to strike.
“What does it matter even if you know? It’s already too late.”
Xiang Jiang raised his eyelids and asked calmly.
“The situation with Shian, the situation with the Other Side, the rules of the world… Over the years, the Other Side has already figured you all out.”
Behind Xiang Jiang, the fierce spirits stretched their limbs, embracing and pulling at each other, forming an incredibly large cocoon. Xiang Hai floated in front of the cocoon, like a recently emerged poisonous butterfly. Countless spells revolved around Xiang Jiang, all of them defensive in nature.
“I’ll tell you what will happen next.”
Xiang Jiang spoke softly.
“After the battle inside ends, there will be nothing that can truly resist the Other Side. When the source of corruption goes out of control, just playing hide and seek with the Other Side will deplete Shian’s energy.”
“Sunken Society will have a wild celebration, and the authorities will fall into chaos… As the chaos continues, everyone will reveal their true nature. Isn’t it great? No need to pretend to be a civilized society anymore. It’s nauseating just to think about it.”
“I guess humanity won’t go extinct, and the world will continue to spin. Internal strife or war, which do you think will come first? Well, of course, this tense ‘peace’ is also quite interesting.”
After speaking, a hint of longing appeared on Xiang Jiang’s face.
Fu Xingchuan chuckled. “Anyway, as long as everyone goes crazy and all emotions become extreme, it will be a bountiful harvest for the Other Side, right?”
Flames gradually flickered in the mist, revealing golden light. The two white tigers scratched at Fu Xingchuan’s feet, as if they could pounce at any moment.
Xiang Jiang smiled. “No, no.”
He adjusted his asymmetrical collar and raised the corners of his mouth, revealing an icy and chilling smile.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re crazy or not… People themselves haven’t changed; I’m just helping everyone reveal their true nature. Just like you, Minister Fu. Haven’t you realized that you’re already insane? Don’t you resist?”
Xiang Jiang opened his arms, and Xiang Hai fluttered his butterfly wings behind him, wearing the same smile as Xiang Jiang.
“You’re spouting so much nonsense because you don’t want to attack me proactively and save the cub inside. Let me think. If it were to escape directly, it would bring forth a great Evil Force, corrupting the surroundings—it’s a school, a residential area. Even if you know that the cub is the hope to fight against the Other Side, you still can’t bring yourself to trade the lives of these people for its survival.”
“What big picture and righteousness? You’re just a hesitant mortal. As the former leader of Shian, isn’t it crazy that you’re making this judgment?”
The two white tigers at Fu Xingchuan’s feet roared more urgently, digging up countless clumps of dirt with their claws. Fu Xingchuan sighed heavily as his face showed some fatigue.
“I can still break the seal and take control myself.”
“Just go ahead and try.”
The white tigers pounced. At the same moment, Xiang Hai dove toward Fu Xingchuan, his butterfly wings trembling. A chilling wind blew, emitting endless despair from the crying faces. The size of the white tigers swelled, and they pounced toward Xiang Hai from both sides.
Fu Xingchuan trembled and produced two rows of talisman papers with both hands. The talisman papers were stiff and straight, with edges as thin as razor blades, transforming into two long swords. Crimson flames covered the surface of the talisman papers, creating streaks of fire in the air. Xiang Jiang reached into his pocket and took out a handgun without hesitation. The gun was engraved with chilling symbols, and Xiang Jiang raised the barrel and began firing wildly.
Bang! Bang! Bang! The talisman papers intercepted the flying bullets, diverting their trajectory as if effortlessly. Fu Xingchuan rushed towards Xiang Jiang like a cannonball, and the flames seemed to be about to touch Xiang Jiang’s chest—
Ding!
Xiang Jiang swiftly swung the cloth bag he carried with him, blocking Fu Xingchuan’s blade made of talisman papers.
The bag was burned by the talisman fire, revealing a fist-sized sphere covered in human skin talismans.
The talisman papers created a small notch on the human skin talismans, and in the next instant, the talisman papers quickly decayed, turning into ashes. The human skin talisman, centered around the notch, rapidly withered and wrinkled, revealing a faint glimmer of golden light.
It was a brilliant, translucent bubble.
It emitted an extremely stable Evil Force, as if it was “alive”.
Without stopping, Fu Xingchuan swung another talisman paper longsword. However, Xiang Jiang didn’t dodge, ignoring the long sword that pierced his shoulder and directly pouncing at Fu Xingchuan, who held the sword.
With his left hand tightly grasping the bubble, he pressed it against his chest. Xiang Jiang threw away the gun in his right hand and directly grabbed Fu Xingchuan’s wrist.
“I’ve got you…”
Blood dripped from his wounds, but Xiang Jiang’s smile became even more radiant. Xiang Hai smelled the scent of blood and let out a roar, instantly pouncing back to Xiang Jiang’s side but abruptly stopping three or four steps away. The two white tigers followed suit and, as if fearing something, whimpered and retreated a few steps.
“What Ghost General, what Ghost Master. We’re just maggots on their rotting flesh.”
Holding the bubble tightly, black blood oozed from Xiang Jiang’s seven orifices. Under the influence of Evil Force, he gasped rapidly, and countless dark purple blood vessels bulged on the hand holding the bubble.
“Teacher, you know… that praying to the gods for their attention… sometimes grants even stronger abilities…”
Xiang Jiang grinned, squinting his eyes.
“Teacher… I…”
“What bullshit ability. You’ve been corrupted.”
Fu Xingchuan made every effort not to look at the seemingly creature resembling an Elemental. He frantically manipulated his right hand, and the skin on his left wrist began to ripple. With a slide of Xiang Jiang’s hand, only a layer of bloody human skin remained in his grasp.
In the next instant, Fu Xingchuan had already retreated dozens of steps away. The previously grasped left wrist had lost its skin, appearing bright red and glaring.
This man didn’t waste the blood that gushed out. Blood talismans and flames exploded together, and in the air, hundreds of bloody javelins appeared, emitting a gruesome scent, descending like meteors towards Xiang Jiang.
Xiang Jiang wiped his face full of black blood, burst into laughter, and threw out a blood talisman with one hand. The brilliance of the spell flashed, and Xiang Hai flashed in front of Xiang Jiang, shaking countless tears of blood from his wings. The javelins diminished and disappeared with a hissing sound, ultimately failing to reach Xiang Jiang.
There were only a few remaining human skin seals on the bubble, yet Xiang Jiang kept holding the bubble with both hands. In his hazy eyes, a reflection of golden light shimmered. Xiang Jiang clearly stared at it, yet he remained unharmed, as if it were a part of his own body.
“They are watching me.”
Xiang Jiang said almost relaxedly.
“How wonderful. ‘Resonance’ suits me better than ‘Charon’.”
His asymmetrical clothes were stained red with blood, and both sides of his face had their own roles—one side filled with endless sorrow, the other with a mad smile. The exhaustion and aging in his features vanished, replaced by a hint of abnormal purity.
“Teacher, I will explain everything to you now…” Xiang Jiang ignored the incoming talismans and reached out with both hands.
Fu Xingchuan had no interest in chatting. He took out a bunch of talismans once again. Amidst the blazing flames, the two tigers intertwined and merged, forming a circular giant shield that was about to envelop him—
Brilliant golden light filled the heavens and the earth.
Countless fragments carrying intense emotions entered Fu Xingchuan’s mind.
“Be good, and mommy will give you a kiss!” In front of a kindergarten, a young mother held two identical children in her arms, with a face full of happiness. “Be good today and listen to the teacher!”
“Okay~” The two children shouted together.
…Is this Xiang Jiang’s memory or Xiang Hai’s memory? Light and pure joy echoed in his chest, while Fu Xingchuan struggled to stay clear-headed.
Regardless of whose memory it was, Fu Xingchuan knew what would unfold next.
Over twenty years ago, there was a child abduction case in Haigu. A pair of twins snuck out to play in the rain and one of them went missing. This story wasn’t unique; like countless other families, the parents never gave up searching for their child, succumbing to pain and self-blame early on.
The remaining child named “Xiang Jiang” became an orphan, relying on the elderly in the family for survival. He dropped out of school early and entered the workforce.
Whether it was obsession or a curse, Xiang Jiang took care of his critically ill grandmother while continuing to search for his brother, just like his parents did—these were summarized in official records, but Fu Xingchuan didn’t know the details.
He only remembered that the child excelled in his studies. If there hadn’t been any mishaps, if that family had continued to prosper and live in harmony, Xiang Jiang might have become an outstanding university student.
It was a great pity.
At this moment, another wave of happiness swept over.
Now Fu Xingchuan could confirm that it was Xiang Hai’s memory. In Xiang Jiang’s recollection, there shouldn’t be a secluded and dilapidated mountain village like this. Yet, within that dusty setting, radiant happiness flowed.
“Tell me more about the outside world.” A girl with a limping foot faced Xiang Hai.
“Let me talk about the movies I’ve seen. What do you want to hear?”
The girl’s eyes were youthful, but her features showed premature roughness, making it difficult to determine her age. When she spoke, a faint glow of youthful vitality flickered in her gaze, but it lacked luster and liveliness. Xiang Hai appeared to be around eighteen or nineteen years old, with a withered and emaciated face that bore the signs of malnutrition, and his eyes were unnervingly clear.
They wore worn and dirty clothes, hiding in the darkest corner. The girl vividly described the world outside, and Xiang Hai listened with fascination, his eyes filled with longing.
These scenes flowed by, and Xiang Hai transformed from a young boy into a frail adult.
“I was too young when I arrived, so I don’t remember much. But I remember that my name is Xiang Hai, and I have a brother.” One day, Xiang Hai said with conviction. “I will find my family sooner or later.”
“Haha, no wonder they call you an unfamiliar dog.” The girl laughed. “I told you before, right? I came here after middle school. Compared to others, I’m lucky, only having my leg broken—though in this cursed place, you can never be too careful. I’ve been observing you for three or four years before daring to talk to you.”
“Talk to me?”
“One person definitely can’t escape, but two people can.” The girl’s dark and rough face revealed a sharp and piercing paranoia in her eyes. “I’ve been trapped here for nearly ten years, and I know a few ways out of the village.”
Xiang Hai’s joy flowed like a clear and bright river, murmuring incessantly. Even if it was only through words, the joy of freedom swelled in his chest, flowing through his veins.
“Your adoptive family doesn’t like you. Once they had their own son, they treated you like a beast of burden, not allowing you to study or leave the village. I’ve seen it all.” The girl straightened her dry hair and lowered her voice. “If you still side with them, I’ll blame myself for being blind. So, do you want to escape together?”
Xiang Hai looked at his slightly older friend, and his eyes began to well up with tears.
“Of course!” Xiang Hai answered firmly.
“Sister, what do you want to do after we get out?” He immediately asked, his voice filled with almost overflowing anticipation.
“I don’t know. I used to be good at dancing, but now I can’t anymore.” The girl paused for a moment and revealed a somewhat inexperienced, soft smile. “But I used to have excellent grades, so continuing my studies shouldn’t be a problem. How about you?”
“First, learn how to read.” Xiang Hai scratched his head. “If I study, I won’t catch up to you… Maybe I’ll open a small business. As long as my parents and siblings don’t reject me, it’ll be fine.”
“Ambitious!”
“I heard you have four children…”
The girl’s face instantly turned ugly, and her dry lips trembled for a moment. “The children of a rapist, it’s none of my damn business.”
“That’s true.” Xiang Hai pondered for a moment, nodding in agreement.
With a companion who shared the same aspirations and a way to escape, the happiness they felt was indescribable. The so-called “family” in the village was filled with pain, contrasting the overwhelming sweetness of happiness in their hearts.
The joy of the desperate was enough to dissolve everything. Fu Xingchuan’s mind grew foggy, and his thoughts became fragmented. He… He knew what would happen next.
Outside the mountains, relatives from the village received the news and came to intercept them. Caught between two groups of people, with freedom within reach, the two young people found themselves trapped.
“I’ll lead them away, alright?” Xiang Hai said.
“The road outside is clear, but I don’t know how to ride a bike. Once you escape, come back and save me.”
“But you…”
“Sister, I know. If you’re caught and taken back, you’ll definitely be killed,” Xiang Hai replied with a smile. “I’m still a young man. Even as a sacrificial animal, I might be of some use. Who knows, maybe I can survive.”
“What if you guessed wrong?” The girl’s lips trembled. She clenched her fingers, her features twisted with fear and worry.
“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it… Besides, I’m in good health. I might be able to hold out in the mountains for a few days.”
Xiang Hai patted his chest, his voice lighthearted.
“The fastest runner should go first. Who told me I can’t ride a bike?”
The girl closed her eyes.
“I’ll bring people to rescue you as soon as possible.” She promised.
……
Xiang Hai guessed wrong. The family of the “kidnapped wife” was especially furious, and Xiang Hai was beaten within an inch of his life on the spot. The subsequent “family members” saw him injured and immediately turned back, clamoring for compensation along the way.
Xiang Hai’s body was indeed strong, so strong that he survived with serious injuries in the desolate wilderness for an entire day. When the people from the outside world found him, he had just breathed his last breath.
Xiang Hai returned home as he had wished—he turned into a small urn of ashes and returned to his brother’s side.
However, that urn of ashes was always surrounded by a faint obsession. Over time, as news spread throughout the country, those obsessions slowly gathered, becoming the faint shadows in Xiang Jiang’s dreams.
Two months after the incident exploded, that slender young man appeared in the dreams of his brother. Xiang Hai hid in the distance, so frail that he could dissipate at any moment. He shyly observed his unfamiliar blood relative, cautiously confirming his own obsession.
The memories of joy abruptly ceased, and darkness descended along with it—
[Where are Mom and Dad?]
[They’re no longer here.]
[What about my friend? The sister who escaped with me.] A hint of confusion appeared in the question, and the resentment on Xiang Hai’s body grew slightly stronger.
[She…]
Even in a hazy dream, Xiang Jiang still knew that this was a topic that shouldn’t be brought up. However, whether it was the connection between twins or the overwhelming power of his deceased brother, Xiang Jiang’s memories were directly ripped out.
Xiang Hai couldn’t read, but he could directly sense Xiang Jiang’s thoughts, and unnumbered sentences rushed into his mind.
[Did you see, brothers? This is what happens to a lickspittle.]
[I think it was the woman who seduced him first, finding a little lapdog to do the work.]
[You don’t understand the thrill of taking someone else’s wife?]
[This is what happens when you take a woman seriously.]
Shortly after the incident, the comments in the comment section became “lighthearted”.
[I’m a mother, and even I think it’s not right. After all, she considered cheating, right?]
[They willingly sacrificed themselves, how romantic.]
[Some people won’t let you say anything? The criminals have been caught, what’s wrong with expressing a few feelings? Her being trafficked doesn’t conflict with her taking advantage of other people’s feelings.]
[Don’t just gossip. My acquaintances have insider information.]
……
The news was highly dramatic and attracted national attention, with discussions on various websites lasting a long time. People tirelessly speculated, and after the incident was resolved, regret turned into contemplation, and contemplation turned into curiosity.
Xiang Jiang had visited the girl at the center of the storm. Her mood wasn’t very good, but she had expressed a positive desire to continue her studies. Unfortunately, after ten years, her parents had given up, each starting their own families.
She never got to continue her studies.
Perhaps because of her age, her classmates were already active in the workforce. Perhaps because of her current awkward status, her parents were concerned about other people’s opinions. Perhaps because the “’relatives’ children” in the mountains kept harassing her. Perhaps because of those never-ending topics.
Two months after being rescued, she leaped from the rooftop of her residence, just as determined as when she had escaped. Only this time, she was alone.
Xiang Hai silently absorbed all the memories.
He didn’t understand, he didn’t comprehend. She could endure so much; she had escaped from hell.
Xiang Hai embraced his obsession and fell into greater and deeper confusion. Perhaps that mountain had been etched into his blood and embedded in his nerves. On the day he struggled in agony before his death, he heard the wailing of countless lost souls in the mountains. They left with his body and had nowhere to go.
Xiang Hai pondered day and night, until a chilling and ferocious joy swept over him.
…So that’s how it is. This place must still be a part of the mountain, and they haven’t successfully escaped yet. There would always be people smiling happily, their gazes sweeping over as if they were some kind of inhuman object.
Inside and outside the village, objects were still objects, just with a difference in usefulness and interest.
Xiang Hai wasn’t good at thinking. His thoughts had long been buried under the daily chores. Things were too complicated, and now he didn’t want to know the reasons or bother to understand the motives. He just knew that the ending shouldn’t have been like this.
He just didn’t want them to laugh anymore.
Countless grievances gathered in his dreams, breaking through the wings of the human-faced butterflies. On that day, the most powerful and fierce ghost in recent years was born. From the depths of golden joy, black mildew began to grow.
From this point on, he knew the rest. Fu Xingchuan had experienced all of this, but who…
Who was he?
Memories and emotions surged. His name should be Xiang Hai… right?
Beyond the illusion.
“Teacher, when they were watching me, I couldn’t help but think—”
Xiang Jiang picked up the gun from the ground again.
“—I couldn’t help but wonder; I want to know how he lived before. After all, my life seems to have so little meaning. And then, I was told this.”
Xiang Jiang muttered, pointing the gun at the absent-minded Fu Xingchuan.
His brother had become obsessed after his death. While he had only had this one obsession while alive. If a vengeful spirit lost its obsession, it would disappear, but what about a living person?
“I understand your feelings. It must be confusing, right? Even now, I often can’t distinguish who I am… But I am certain that every time I see you all earnestly maintaining this ‘civilized order’, I feel uncomfortable.”
The white tigers weakened, and Xiang Hai was busily destroying them. Xiang Jiang took a deep breath and slowly pressed the trigger.
Bang!
A human body hit the ground with a heavy thud. Xiang Jiang fell forward, still tightly holding the bubble in his arms. As the Ghost Master fell, Xiang Hai couldn’t help but hesitate for a moment. In that instant, he was pounced on by two white tigers whose breaths were barely there.
Where Xiang Jiang fell, two figures wearing red veils, acting suspiciously, were revealed.
“I’ll take care of Fu Xingchuan!” Ge Tingting swiftly dashed out, frantically applying a reinforced tranquility talisman to Fu Xingchuan’s body. Huang Jin retracted his club and kicked Xiang Jiang on the ground with the tip of his foot.
“I hope we didn’t kill him.” He murmured, still trembling with fear.
Around Huang Jin’s wrist was a strand of pitch-black hair, and his body was covered in red veils adorned with sealed spirit weapons, erasing all traces of sound. Now Huang Jin hastily removed the red veil and covered it over Xiang Jiang—there was a strong Evil Force swirling around Xiang Jiang, in desperate need of isolation.
Without Xiang Jiang’s command, the surrounding ghostly figures scattered. Not far away, Fu Xingchuan, covered in applied talismans, sat up and stayed on the ground for a while to recover. Before he could stand up, a chain of fire shot out and bound Xiang Hai securely.
“Are you both okay?” He wobbled as he got up.
“We’re fine.” Ge Tingting also removed her red veil. “What about you…”
“Everything that needed to be confirmed has been confirmed.” Fu Xingchuan glanced at Xiang Jiang, who was covered by the red veil. “Zhang Hejun and Dr. Sun are also under the control of Shian. Their situation is a bit different from Qi Xin’s and Qiu Fang’s. They have been affected to a lesser extent, making the situation a bit difficult to handle.”
Ge Tingting sighed, feeling a bit down.
“You both continue with the plan. I’ll take care of this thing. Don’t you both have a strand of Yin Ren’s hair? If it’s okay, then he’ll be okay.”
Fu Xingchuan pinched his brow and looked at the protective spell left by Xiang Jiang. He took a deep breath and deliberately lowered his voice.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.”
……
The interstitial space.
Countless giant feet stomped down fiercely, and the terrified cub struggled beneath the lifting and dropping steps. The escape route was sealed from the outside, turning this place into a complete dead end.
Mr. Le accelerated the movement of his giant foot.
Mr. Qiu had been too indecisive before, attempting to fight with only a portion of his body. Facing him was the cub of ‘Fear’—the Fear that annihilated everything.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Accompanied by the impacts, his companions briefly connected to the other side to assist him. Mr. Le mustered his strength and squeezed most of his body into this narrow interstitial space. He had to crush this cub into mud, consume it completely, and eliminate any possibility of “Fear” regenerating in a short time.
Unfortunately, under his trampling, that small patch of darkness was slippery and elusive, wriggling like an eel. The wings on its surface opened and closed, occasionally cutting out large chunks from the adjacent giant foot. Once it succeeded, it would quickly devour the spoils, becoming even more enormous.
No matter what kind of emotional disturbance was inflicted upon it, it remained undeterred, only madly wreaking havoc and feeding.
A dead end.
Mr. Le was quite patient. He carefully synthesized toxins within his limbs. To avoid alarming the “Fear” cub, he administered a very mild poison.
This cub named “Zhong Chengshuo” parasitized a human body, so even if it could consume his own Evil Force, it would still react to biological toxins!
He wanted it to gradually become numb, slow and sluggish, and eventually turn into a black paste.
[How does it taste?]
Zhong Chengshuo’s clothing had transformed into red garments, and his hair had been elongated by the illusion. He remained in human form, securely enveloped within Yin Ren’s body.
[It’s spicy, but it doesn’t have much effect.] Yin Ren responded with his thoughts. [There are no living components inside me anyway.]
In order to isolate emotional influences, he decisively abandoned most of his perception. Just like in the Valley of Bones in the world of dreams, within endless emptiness, there was only him and Zhong Chengshuo. Naturally, he couldn’t fight normally in this state—retaining only a slight sense of touch, he didn’t even know the enemy’s position.
The premise was that he was alone.
Currently, beside him, Zhong Chengshuo opened his pitch-black eyes, and the remnants of his original body continued to operate within his eyeballs. He couldn’t exert any power… but he could still see, touch, and transmit his thoughts completely to the other party.
For example, taking over this battle in terms of consciousness.
Shen Ping had just finished a program broadcast. He held the TV station’s microphone and wiped the sweat off his forehead, tiptoeing to look around. At this moment, he was excited but also a bit annoyed.
He absolutely loved the current grand scene—after all, the density of the crowd represented the explosiveness of the news. However, it would be even better if there were no flashing lights around and he could have the headline all to himself.
On the large screen opposite, displaying the Ansheng International Mall, the minute hand had moved halfway, making Shen Ping even more restless. When he turned his head, he saw a convenience store in the corner of the square, filled with cunning reporters who were enjoying the cool breeze from the air conditioning. What was even more infuriating was the bald reporter from a rival TV station, holding a microphone and interviewing the store employee.
Shen Ping secretly blamed himself for not being quick-witted enough and became even more annoyed. He took out his phone in frustration. In the WeChat group for his interview team, someone was posting emojis, which made him even angrier. He pressed the button on the microphone and shouted, “Give me some news, any news! Just something!”
At the moment he released the button, an unexpected screeching sound of emergency brakes rang out on the road in front of the square.
Shen Ping shivered, quickly retracted his phone, and felt the atmosphere of a big news story approaching. He desperately stood on tiptoe, but the entire small square in front of the skyscraper was crowded with journalists and onlookers, and all he could see were heads moving about.
Shen Ping looked around, and the surrounding crowd was squeezing towards the road where the braking sound came from. He made a bold decision, turned around, and ran away from the crowd, rushing up the steps at the entrance of the office building. Dozens of companies, including Zhourui Pharmaceutical, shared the entire skyscraper, and people were constantly coming and going at the entrance, leaving hardly any space to stand.
However, when Shen Ping turned around to look at the origin of the commotion again, the scene before him made him feel as if he was witnessing a scene from a police action film.
Five pure black SUVs were lined up in a row on the road; their bodies shining with a cold gleam under the sunlight. Behind them were law enforcement vehicles from the Drug Administration, the Safety Supervision Bureau, and other departments, followed by official vehicles with the logo of the Environmental Protection Bureau. Heaven knew why they had also joined in the excitement.
After setting up this formation, the door of the driver’s cabin of the leading pure black SUV was forcefully pushed open, and a pair of black leather boots stepped on the ground.
From bottom to top, the trousers were impeccably straight, the gloves were so white they reflected light, and the uniform had not a single wrinkle. Going up further, a silver star shone on the shoulder epaulet, and the visitor’s face was mostly covered by pitch-black sunglasses. That face showed no emotion; only tension and seriousness could be sensed from the tightly pursed thin lips.
Shen Ping took a deep breath, wanting the photographer to quickly capture the scene, but he found that he and the other person had already been dispersed by the crowd.
With the sound of the door slamming as the person arrived, all the vehicles following them seemed to have received instructions. At once, the doors of dozens of official cars swung wide open, and dozens of officials wearing uniforms from various departments stepped out of the cars one after another. Some of them carried briefcases, some began driving away the onlooking journalists, and others unfurled banners directly at the entrance of the office building…
The flashes erupted once again, filling the small square with excitement. Which journalist wouldn’t love such a grand scene?
Shen Ping wiped the sweat off his face again, gritted his teeth, and prepared to find his damn cameraman. But at this very moment, he caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye of someone walking out of the Zhourui Building. It was clearly the head of the security department at Zhourui Pharmaceutical.
The security guard was dressed in a suit, with muscles bulging all over his body. Such a figure was a waste to be concealed under a suit. At the same time, the officials on the square were clearing a path. The police officer, who was obviously the commander of this operation, was slowly climbing the steps, stopping in front of the security guard. The angle was perfect, and Shen Ping couldn’t help but secretly take out his phone and start recording. In the era of new media, all fresh, explosive, and timely news would be accepted, and no one cared too much about quality.
To Shen Ping’s surprise, the first one to speak turned out to be the captain of the security team at Zhourui Pharmaceutical.
“This is a private area. It’s not convenient to invite the police inside,” the powerful security guard said, sounding extremely arrogant.
After that, Shen Ping heard a sneer.
It was a genuine, mocking laugh.
Huang Ze didn’t say a word, didn’t take off his sunglasses, or remove his gloves. It was as if the person in front of him wasn’t qualified to have a face-to-face conversation with him. He raised his right hand and made a simple gesture, and someone behind him handed him a piece of white paper, which unfolded with a swish.
From Shen Ping’s perspective, it was very clear that it was a search warrant issued by the court with a bright red stamp on it. After Zhourui Pharmaceutical made a move against the police, the police retaliated, and they did so with such pomp and disregard for public opinion! This was definitely big news! Shen Ping’s blood was boiling.
At this moment, Shen Ping’s phone vibrated. He lowered his head and saw a reply on the screen: [Boss, my friend at the Traffic Bureau said things aren’t that simple. It seems like the police are arranging something…]
…
“Have the police gone mad? How dare they be so arrogant toward our company!”
In the top-level office of Zhourui Pharmaceuticals, the vice chairman’s office. The infuriated man slammed his hand heavily on the mahogany desk in front of him, and the managers looked at each other, thinking that it was the police, the power of the state, and they could do anything without being excessive. But when facing their immediate superior, they could only echo their indignation.
“How is the finance department doing?”
“The audit team has arrived and is conducting an investigation.” The CFO reported.
The vice chairman slammed the desk again, causing the crystal glass on the desk to tremble violently. “I’m asking about the accounts! Will any problems be uncovered?”
The CFO cowered and said, “It… it shouldn’t…”
This statement seemed to console the vice chairman a little, and he calmed down a bit, muttering, “Drug inspection, safety supervision, auditing, health… everyone who can come has come.” He sneered. “I wonder if the fire department will also come to inspect whether our fire facilities are up to code?”
At this moment, the logistics department supervisor in the corner raised his hand silently. “Chair… Chairman… The fire department—have arrived.”
……
Not only the on-site journalists and the top management of Zhourui Pharmaceutical were shocked by Huang Ze’s sudden appearance, but also the people who were watching the scene through various channels.
“Boss, you actually let Huang Ze steal the limelight in such a good opportunity. I really don’t know what to say!”
Wang Chao sat in the laboratory, with three computers in front of him. One of them displayed the surveillance footage in front of the Zhourui Building, freezing at the moment when Huang Ze made a beckoning gesture. The angle wasn’t particularly good, but the image quality was sufficient.
Comrade Xiao Wang wasn’t watching the surveillance with the posture of watching a soap opera; instead, he took a quick glance in the midst of his busy work to confirm that the data was smooth, then continued to focus on his tasks.
On the computer screen directly in front of him, the traffic map of the entire city of Hongjing was displayed. The blue and white background was densely covered with red and green lines like blood vessels. This was the basic work that had already been completed, so he only needed to observe it briefly. What he was really doing was the task assigned to him by the man on the other end of the earpiece.
“What about the building’s structural diagram? Is it confirmed?”
The man’s voice was extremely cold.
Wang Chao trembled all over and stopped daydreaming, quickly inspecting the three-dimensional model of the building in front of him and comparing it with the actual pictures. Finally, he swiftly compiled the two sets of documents and pressed the Enter key.
……
One colorful image after another quickly appeared in the dim space of the underground parking lot. The quiet compartments were filled only with the faint sound of electronic devices, and the smell of smoke was heavy in the air.
Xing Conglian sat in the command vehicle, silently swiping the screen. Beside him were half of the high-level members of the operation team, waiting quietly.
Flat, three-dimensional, black and white, color… countless lines intertwined with each other, gradually forming a complete three-dimensional model of the entire building.
Zhourui’s headquarters was a skyscraper that integrated a commercial center and office building. It covered an area of about 10,000 square meters, with a total construction area of 180,000 square meters, a structural height of about 188 meters, and a total height of 282 meters, spanning 43 floors. Zhourui Pharmaceutical occupied the 20th to 43rd floors, while the floors below the 20th were separately rented office spaces.
A chaotic noise came from the communication device—footsteps, shouting. Xing Conglian could almost imagine the commotion caused by Huang Ze right above his head.
“Captain Xing, everyone is inside.”
The deputy team leader held his earpiece and reported to him.
Xing Conglian nodded and handed over the tablet. The three-dimensional model of the Zhourui building was still rotating.
The person on the other side glanced at it and said, “The floors are too high. It’s difficult for us to set up actual surveillance at every staircase entrance.”
“We don’t need to,” Xing Conglian just responded.
The deputy team leader hesitated for a moment. “But if we don’t guard the key entrances and exits, it will be difficult for us to monitor the movements of every person inside the building.”
Xing Conglian didn’t answer immediately. He just leaned back in his seat, cigarette in hand, with an indifferent expression.
“Should we still assign personnel to all the key entrances and exits of the building?” the deputy team leader said, pointing to several safety exits on the ground floor of the building, and added, “We also need to monitor the entrances and exits of the parking lot.”
“I have encountered Shen Lian.”
Finally, Xing Conglian spoke. He looked at each person in the vehicle and believed that his voice would be transmitted to all the operatives through the radio communication devices. After a few seconds of silence, he calmly said, “But I failed to apprehend her, and an officer lost his life during the operation.”
The deputy team leader called out, “Captain,” and then hesitated to say something comforting, but felt it was inappropriate.
“I’m telling all of you this so that you understand. First, Shen Lian is a desperate criminal. When facing her, never take it lightly. It’s never too cautious. Second, what I have planned next may seem very risky to you, but please trust my judgment.”
After he finished speaking, there was a few seconds of silence on the communication channel.
Then, the repeated voices of “Understood” came through the earpieces.
Subsequently, Xing Conglian straightened his body and said seriously, “My plan is that no personnel will be assigned to the entrances and exits of the entire building. No surveillance will be conducted. All personnel will guard one specific location…”
His calloused fingertips drew a circle on the map.
……
Shen Ping touched his phone, trying to disguise himself as an employee of another company to enter the building.
To his surprise, the passing police officers paid no attention to him, treating him like an ordinary employee and not stopping him.
Shen Ping opened his phone again and found a quiet corner of a men’s restroom, crouching down to view the traffic information sent by his subordinates.
To be honest, he wasn’t an expert in traffic matters. Even after so many years in Hongjing, he sometimes relied on navigation when traveling. But even for him, looking at the real-time map now, he realized how strange the traffic in Hongjing had become.
There were several road sections where the police had set up temporary barriers, requiring all passersby to stop for inspections. As a result, the surrounding traffic wasn’t smooth at all. Shen Ping silently observed those key areas and had a feeling that there might be something wrong there. It seemed like the police were conducting surveillance or arranging something in those areas. They were treated as high-priority monitoring zones, as if something big was about to happen.
Shen Ping regretted not obtaining the traffic map earlier. If he had, maybe he could have chosen a different location and tried his luck to get a big exclusive scoop. But now, as Shen Ping looked around, no matter what, this place was filled with police officers. Would the fugitive really come here and walk into their trap?
……
“Why?”
Inside the speeding car, Li Nuo asked Lin Chen this question.
The car radio was broadcasting the news of the police raid on Zhourui Pharmaceutical, and the host’s tone seemed to hope that the police and the giant Zhourui Pharmaceutical would clash. Li Nuo felt annoyed and lowered the volume, looking at Lin Chen.
Lin Chen cleared his throat, his face not looking too good. “Shen Lian is a lunatic. How do you catch a lunatic?”
“I don’t know!” Li Nuo abruptly turned the steering wheel to avoid a car that was aggressively trying to cut in due to the chaotic traffic in the city.
“It’s simple. You have to be crazier than her.”
Thinking about the experiences he had gone through with Lin Chen, Li Nuo couldn’t help but shout, “We’re already crazy enough!” He waved his hand towards the congested elevated bridge, where all the vehicles had their red tail lights flashing, clearly stuck in traffic. “The entire city’s traffic is like this just to trap Shen Lian.”
“It’s not enough,” Lin Chen said. “We use the police communication system to make Shen Lian think that our surveillance locations are outside of Zhourui Pharmaceutical. We use the traffic to create convenience for her. But that’s not enough because the most crucial part is the trap itself.”
“But if we don’t have any surveillance or controls at the entrances and exits, what if Shen Lian successfully enters the building?”
“Even if Shen Lian arrives at Zhourui Pharmaceutical according to our plan, any detail could make her change her plans, like a government official who appears to be sealing off Zhourui Pharmaceutical but is closely observing pedestrians passing by. What if she opens the medication right then and there and we can’t stop her in time? What then?” Lin Chen countered.
Li Nuo was instantly at a loss for an answer. As if to match Lin Chen’s words, the radio inside the car started playing a chaotic live broadcast.
Just from the radio broadcast, one could sense the terrifying crowd inside and outside the building. The host spoke rapidly, “According to our on-site reporter, a large number of electronic devices related to Zhourui Pharmaceutical have been seized by the police, and many materials are being removed from the building. The scene is in chaos.”
Li Nuo suddenly woke up. “On one hand, we use the investigating officers involved in apprehending Shen Lian to enter the building, but on the other hand, we also use them as bait to lure Shen Lian. But… but… what if we can’t control Shen Lian and she succeeds? What about all the people in the building?”
“It won’t happen.”
“What do you mean it won’t happen?”
“She won’t succeed.”
“Why?” Li Nuo anxiously asked. “You’re too confident. There are too many uncontrollable factors in a live arrest operation.”
“I know…” Lin Chen interrupted Li Nuo and looked out the window at the building that was getting closer to them. “But I believe in him.”
Lin Chen spoke calmly.
……
An Xu wasn’t the person Lin Chen trusted, but right now, he was the one entrusted with an important task by “that person”.
He was a sniper, but at this moment, he had become a member of the building’s property management team, slowly and covertly making his way to the upper floors of Zhourui Pharmaceutical.
Thanks to the commotion caused by Inspector Huang, their entire team encountered no obstacles as they dispersed and made their way up. They appeared just like ordinary company employees, busy at their respective positions, maintaining order amidst the chaos throughout the entire building.
The icy elevator doors opened with a swoosh, revealing a cold corridor. This was the central hub of Zhourui Pharmaceutical.
Normally, personnel like him wouldn’t be able to take the elevator to this location, but that was the advantage of a modern, intelligent building. He walked past a surveillance camera, nodding to the person monitoring it, and the camera responded with a slight up and down movement.
An Xu walked calmly, pushing open two doors, scanning his fingerprint, and then entering a completely different area from the beautifully decorated building.
This area was unfinished, with the raw structure of steel and concrete still exposed.
Just then, he heard a faint conversation up ahead.
In an instant, An Xu stopped in his tracks and quickly hid behind a wall.
He took a deep breath, and the scene before him made his heart race uncontrollably. In the area designated for him by Xing Conglian, two janitorial staff members were chatting casually. Around them, plastic bottles were piled up densely.
What had not been reported in any of the surveillance images was that the critical area where he was supposed to snipe Shen Lian had been treated by the janitorial staff as a storage area for empty water bottles.
An Xu took a step back, returning to the empty corridor, and reported back to Xing Conglian through his earpiece, “Captain Xing, this is Fox. There’s a problem in the target area… Should we change the sniper position?”
He briefly described what he had just seen, and there was a tense exchange of questions and answers on the other end of the earpiece.
Finally, a definite command came through the earpiece.
But that voice furrowed An Xu’s brow.
“Captain Xing… The linear distance from the Jin Sui Building to the designated target location exceeds 1,000 meters, and it’s very difficult to calculate the wind speed at such a high altitude.”
The person on the other end said a couple more things.
“Okay, I understand, but…” After pondering for a moment, An Xu decided to give a direct response, “With my abilities, I cannot guarantee the completion of this sniper mission. I request consideration for a replacement sniper.”
There was a slight noise in the earpiece, and then a very certain answer followed.
An Xu suddenly looked up, but in the end, he could only respond in the calmest tone, “Understood.”
That was what he said.
……
Some time later, on the same floor.
“Inspector Huang… The personnel from the drug inspection team have all entered the laboratories of Zhourui Pharmaceutical.”
Huang Ze sat in the office of the Chairman of Zhourui Pharmaceutical with his legs crossed as the voice of his subordinates’ reports came through his earpiece.
“How’s the situation?” Huang Ze asked.
“The investigators have smoothly entered the premises without encountering any obstacles,” the subordinate replied.
“Nephew.” The middle-aged man across from him spoke up.
Huang Ze tried to maintain his composure, but in the presence of the man before him, he couldn’t help but curse Xing Conglian and his entire family in his mind. Yes, indeed. After he had very amicably inquired what he could do to help Xing Conglian, the other party mercilessly sent him to lead the team to investigate the secrets of Zhourui Pharmaceutical.
“Nephew, isn’t it a little inappropriate for you to show no mercy?” The vice chairman of Zhourui Pharmaceutical, to be precise, the father-in-law of a distant cousin, said so.
The middle-aged man’s face was filled with fake smiles and sincere threats, and Huang Ze once again grew tired of the intricate web of alliances between large families.
“When have you seen me show mercy?” Huang Ze retorted.
After he said these words, a distant chime rang out in the square.
Ding… Ding…
Huang Ze shivered suddenly, thinking it was an illusion. Although the sound was faint and the soundproofing of the building wasn’t too bad, Huang Ze couldn’t help but feel that each distant chime struck his heart.
Ding… Ding…
It was the end-of-work chime, and it seemed like a sign of something else.
Unconsciously, he looked out the window, completely shutting out the incessant voice of the person who could barely be considered his uncle behind him.
Sitting in his seat, he lowered his head and could just see Ansheng International Mall across the street. Several months ago, a serious public security incident had occurred in that mall, and ironically, it was Lin Chen who had saved him at that time, and then Xing Conglian had told him to scram. But now, Huang Ze told himself that it wasn’t the best time to reminisce about the past.
Ding… Ding…
But the more he thought about it, the stranger the memories became. He saw the musical fountain in the square opposite the mall spring to life. He suddenly remembered a family meeting where, it seemed, he had made a proposal that all the family’s shopping malls should have iconic musical fountains in front of them. He didn’t know why he had made such an arrangement at the time, perhaps for artistic purposes or maybe because he had a problem with his mind when he was young.
But as he watched the fountain in the square shoot water high and low, clear and transparent, Huang Ze’s expression grew solemn, overwhelmed by a strong sense of foreboding.
Because the instruments playing for the musical fountain in the square were from Johann Strauss Jr.1, and the piece was called <The Blue Danube>2. And there was not a single piece of music by Johann Strauss Jr. played inside or outside Ansheng International Mall, because he detested the Vienna waltzes that were so sticky.
1Was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well as a violinist. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas and a ballet. In his lifetime, he was known as “The Waltz King”, and was largely responsible for the popularity of the waltz in Vienna during the 19th century. 2A waltz by the Austrian composer Johann Strauss II, composed in 1866. It has been one of the most consistently popular pieces of music in the classical repertoire.
Huang Ze stood up and walked slowly to the floor-to-ceiling window. His hand involuntarily tapped lightly on the handrail in front of the window as the musical fountain sprayed a mist of water into the air under the sunlight.
At the same time, a pair of white canvas shoes with gray footprints stepped onto the final step in front of Zhourui Pharmaceutical Building.
Huang Ze looked around and saw the insignificance of humanity beneath his feet, like ants.
In that instant, the diverse expressions on the entire square transformed into pure, flat lines. The expressions dissolved into circular shapes of varying sizes for the eyes and lips, making the world appear very singular, yet the edges were exceptionally vivid and sharp.
The waltz music was light and cheerful, as if dancing to a joyful rhythm. Employees who were finishing work on time stepped out of the elevator and happily rushed towards the vast world outside the building.
Huang Ze’s gaze wandered over the heads of the small figures on the square.
Cleaners emptied various garbage from trash bins, sorting plastic bottles and cardboard together. Janitors wearing masks drove garbage trucks out of the underground parking lot. Secretaries in high heels continued to shuttle back and forth between the inside and outside of the building, holding documents in their hands.
Some people were answering phone calls on the square, others were chatting with friends nearby, and someone angrily threw what they were holding to the ground, venting their anger at the government officials in front of them.
But inside the building, more people remained busy, forced to stay at their posts.
Huang Ze took a deep breath, pressed his earpiece, and uttered the most chilling words to everyone on the channel.
“She’s here.”
……
An Xu stood in the descending elevator, and those words were transmitted through his earpiece.
His heart trembled, and as he looked around, he felt the entire lobby fall silent, without a single sound.
The elevator in which he stood was completely transparent, swiftly descending, and he scanned the floors from top to bottom.
In his eyes, all the images converged into the calmest and clearest lines and data.
As far as the eye could see, there were countless offices and company employees who hadn’t yet left work. On the higher floors, all the government officials inspecting Zhourui Pharmaceutical were busy. The situation on the lower floors of the companies varied, with some people looking at their watches, others turning off the lights and leaving, and some seemingly still immersed in their work…
Looking through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the companies with different logos, the myriad appearances of people made one’s throat tighten. But An Xu was certain that among all the people he had scanned, none of them were Shen Lian.
The numbers on the LCD display in the elevator, indicating the floor, continued to decrease. An Xu steadied his breath. Suddenly, the elevator stopped, and the ding sound rang again as the doors opened.
Another wave of girls in vibrant skirts entered the elevator. The girls had radiant smiles, as if spring had returned and the ice had melted. They stood in front of him, and he caught a whiff of their perfume.
The glass doors closed again, and the floor indicator continued to descend.
One of the girls in the elevator let out a low exclamation.
The male employees in the elevator turned their heads to look at the sky, with smiles on their faces.
An Xu also followed their gaze, and through the transparent elevator and glass curtain wall, he saw the building where he had told Xing Conglian that he couldn’t complete the sniper mission there.
In the distance, the sunset glowed like fire, as if burning above their heads.
In the moment when the descending elevator crossed paths with the ascending elevator, a pair of black high heels flashed past in his field of view.
‘Hope everything goes well,’ An Xu silently thought in his heart.
……
The elevator continuously stopped and then started again. After numerous dings, the elevator finally stopped on the first floor.
Dressed in the building’s property uniform, An Xu followed the girls out of the elevator.
Just as they were walking out of the elevator, he felt someone brush past him, causing him to involuntarily stop in his tracks.
Although he tried his best not to turn around, he couldn’t help but lower his head and reluctantly look back.
He saw a pair of white canvas shoes, and the owner of those shoes, following various types of leather footwear, calmly stepped into the elevator.
The elevator doors closed, and the elevator went up.
An Xu took a few steps forward and, once he reached a safe distance, couldn’t help but turn around to look.
In the ascending elevator that he had just stepped out of, the police consultant lowered his cap. His face was serene as he squeezed among the crowd of various people and nodded at him.
……
An Xu walked out of the building, following Xing Conglian’s previous instructions. He sat down on the second bench on the left side of the square.
Through his earpiece, he heard the quiet breathing of the entire action team. No one was assigning tasks or reporting positions. He seemed to have entered the quietest moment of radio silence.
He took a deep breath of the fresh air outside the building, and everything was silent on the communication channel. However, he had a feeling of escaping and ascending to the heavens.
He unscrewed the mineral water in his hand, took a sip, and then heard the sound of the elevator doors opening again.
Someone was walking out of the elevator, moving slowly in the quiet corridor.
The person walking was the consultant who had brushed past him earlier.
An Xu silently counted the footsteps he heard through the earpiece, calculating the number of steps to infer the person’s approximate location in the building. But this tranquility lasted for a very brief moment. With the accompaniment of light music, he suddenly heard someone on the team’s shared channel just answer a phone call.
Before anyone had a chance to scold the person who dared to answer a call during the operation, a very anxious female voice came through the entire channel. The woman’s voice choked up, sounding somewhat gentle yet filled with suppressed sadness.
“Chenchen, Lao Su… He just went to the hospital, and his condition isn’t good. What happened all of a sudden?”
An Xu held his breath, and there was silence on the channel. The woman’s voice seemed to have plunged into complete darkness, unable to stir any ripples.
An Xu unexpectedly felt a lump in his throat and couldn’t find any words to say because he suddenly realized who had answered the phone call.
There was still no one speaking on the channel, only a soft click, like a pebble falling into a dark world, silently ending the call.
Hongshu Town Police Station. Lin Chen also heard Li Nuo asking the same question.
“I can’t guarantee.” Lin Chen replied.
The police officer in front of him was startled. “This isn’t… This isn’t…”
“A gamble, right?” Lin Chen stood up, pushed the chair, picked up his phone, and calmly said, “This is a gamble.”
After he finished speaking, he walked out again. Li Nuo took the car keys and quickly caught up, as if he wanted to say something but found that he was speechless.
……
Almost every big city had a Zhongshan Road, just like every city had landmarks such as Renmin Road and the Drum Tower Community.
But Zhongshan Road in Hongjing was somewhat special. It was the central hub of Hongjing from south to north. Whether you want to enter the city from the suburban Hongshu Town or go from the location of the city government to the Huihaodi shopping mall, you may pass through here.
It was a weekday afternoon—a little after two—and there weren’t many vehicles on the road.
The driver of bus route 18 yawned and stopped at the bus stop. A few scattered passengers boarded from the front.
The driver had received a notice from the police beforehand, so when the passengers boarded, he responsibly turned his head to confirm if any of these people were the suspected criminal that was rumored.
However, there were very few passengers getting on the bus heading north on Zhongshan Road. Apart from two boys wearing earphones, there was only an elderly lady with mobility difficulties. The old lady was holding a bag from Bai Fu Supermarket, and it seemed like the supermarket was running some special promotions, so she was desperately trying to grab things even in this hot weather.
The driver turned his head, and as the traffic light at the intersection turned red, a row of traffic police on motorcycles whizzed past.
He yawned again, pressed the vehicle startup prompt, and started the vehicle.
……
Traffic officer Xiao Lin had just parked his motorcycle at the roadside booth when the opposite bus on route 18 started moving.
Just at that moment, a Santana drove from south to north through the intersection. It happened to be when the green light turned red, and the brief yellow light stayed for a few seconds. A motorbike was crossing the east-west non-motorized lane diagonally.
The sunlight was dazzling, and the hot air distorted the asphalt road, causing the driver of the Santana to have a flushed face and a drunken look. He was instantly awakened, but it was too late. It was as if something had streaked across the vast mirror of the world, with the sound of brakes piercing the sky, shattering eardrums.
Compared to the sound of braking, the sound of the impact was barely audible.
When Xiao Lin regained his senses, the motorbike’s red and blue fragments and the Santana’s headlight pieces were already scattered on the ground. An injured person was thrown more than 10 meters away, and those colorful fragments shimmered on the ground, creating a shocking sight.
The owner of the Santana, covered in blood, was unconscious in the driver’s seat. Xiao Lin cursed, “Damn it, driving under the influence at a time like this is asking for death!” He ran over there while reporting through his earpiece, requesting an ambulance.
The momentarily still four-way intersection resumed operation, and pedestrians cast concerned glances at the accident. The bus maneuvered around the debris and continued to the next stop.
The victim’s injuries turned out to be more severe than expected. Blood flowed out of the victim’s body as if it didn’t cost a thing, soaking the grayish road surface.
Just then, Xiao Lin heard an inquiry over the radio. He pressed the earpiece and replied, “Report, there has been an accident at the intersection of Heping Avenue and Lihe Road. The injured person’s condition is critical.”
However, the instructions coming through the earpiece surprised him. Xiao Lin was stunned for a moment and incredulously asked, “Why should we handle the accident slowly? It will cause a traffic jam at this intersection, and nearby roads will most likely be congested!”
“Get the injured person to the hospital as soon as possible. As for the tasks arranged by the city, why are you asking so many questions?” The voice of the deputy squadron leader on the other end of the earpiece rose in volume.
Xiao Lin wanted to ask more, but the squadron leader’s voice suddenly lowered and became hoarse. “Set up roadblocks and capture the fugitive.”
Xiao Lin’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly responded, “Yes, understood!”
……
Li Zhipeng and Xiao Lin both belonged to the Heping District Traffic Police Brigade, but they received tasks that were the opposite.
Currently, Li Zhipeng was rushing at a maximum speed of 80 kilometers per hour along the elevated road toward the intersection of Anning Avenue to provide reinforcement. However, his objective was to regulate traffic at the entrance that directly led to the Experimental Primary School, ensuring it didn’t get congested.
Tall buildings flashed by outside the window. The wailing siren echoed in a prolonged tone as vehicles on the road separated to the sides, allowing the police car to speed through the cleared path.
The sky presented a bright deep blue, and the air conditioning was turned up high, but Li Zhipeng’s inner restlessness and anxiety were growing.
The in-car radio transmitted various ambiguous orders from the traffic police department. Some patrol officers were instructed not to issue tickets in a certain area, while other duty officers were notified of reassignments, and everything was in complete chaos.
He was about to press the communication button and say something to his colleague on the other end when he suddenly remembered the instructions he received earlier. He was strictly prohibited from communicating his location with his colleague through the radio equipment.
He quickly withdrew his hand from the walkie-talkie, feeling even more frustrated. If he hadn’t already confirmed the authenticity of the information with his superiors, he would have doubted that this was some new plan to disrupt the normal order of the entire city.
What the hell is going on? It’s just the capture of a female fugitive.
Li Zhipeng thought to himself.
……
Not only on the main roads, but Lin Chen’s actions also caused a huge uproar in the Municipal Transportation Bureau.
The central air conditioning seemed useless as the previously calm and orderly hall was in complete chaos. Employees were walking through office desks and chairs everywhere.
Printers clattered, footsteps were incessant, and phone rings were continuous. Internal and external inquiry calls kept pouring in, to the extent that the staff answering the calls didn’t even have time to take a sip of water.
Traffic volume, violation situations, road conditions, and police deployment—all the information was presented in various forms on large screens.
In the lower corner of the screen, there was a complete map of Hongjing. The numerous colored marks on the map were dazzling, and they were constantly being updated.
The employees of the Transportation Bureau could hardly understand the symbols on the screen. They only knew that the man sitting in front of the monitoring screen was causing chaos throughout the entire hall.
What made it even more infuriating was that the mastermind behind all this chaos sat calmly in front of the enormous monitoring screen, as if nothing had happened.
The man had an earphone in his left ear and one finger holding the microphone on the earphone cord, seemingly in conversation with someone. The remaining idle ear, however, seemed to serve no purpose at all.
Li Nuo had a feeling that Lin Chen’s auditory system might have some special construction that could block out all noise.
For example, the incessant voice of the second-in-command in the command center behind them was driving him crazy, but this voice simply couldn’t enter the ears of Mr. Consultant.
The second-in-command shouted at them, “We all have the duty roster. Taking so many police forces to Zhongshan South Road—what about other places? It’s utter chaos!”
Lin Chen remained indifferent, speaking into the microphone, “Yes, deploy half of the police forces from the Liuxing Brigade in Yulin District to set up roadblocks near Hesheng Square… Mm, maintain a certain distance from Huihaodi… Yes.”
“This won’t work!” The second-in-command roared again, slapping Li Nuo’s shoulder heavily, splattering all his saliva on Li Nuo’s face. “You’re clearly disrupting the normal order of the city!”
Li Nuo wiped his face, and just then, he felt Lin Chen poke his hand on the back. Li Nuo looked down, quickly crossing out a detail he had recorded incorrectly on the paper and rewriting the content that Lin Chen instructed him to record.
This one detail was like the spark that ignited a firecracker, and the second-in-command exploded instantly, shouting at Lin Chen’s back, “Stop it, all of you!”
The voice was so loud, like a bomb going off, and everything fell into sudden silence.
Because it was so quiet, Lin Chen’s voice sounded exceptionally clear in such a solemn atmosphere.
“Yes, every vehicle must stop for inspection,” Lin Chen said, word by word.
The second-in-command’s face couldn’t be any worse. It seemed like Lin Chen sensed something, as after finishing that sentence, he finally slowly took out his earphone and handed it over.
“I have already explained to you just now. This is to apprehend the suspect,” Lin Chen said.
“As the price for inconveniencing the lives of the citizens?” the second-in-command questioned.
Li Nuo took the earphone handed to him by Lin Chen, shocked and unable to speak. Lin Chen looked up and made a gesture at him, so he quickly put the earphone into his own ear. He heard the voice of the sunny teenager that he had heard before. He remembered Lin Chen calling him Wang Chao. Lin Chen pointed at the earphone and said to him, “Answer whatever he asks.”
“Li Nuo, right? Has Li Ziyuan’s Sub-Bureau Traffic Police set off?” Wang Chao asked smoothly through the earpiece, seemingly not paying attention to Lin Chen handing over the headset.
Li Nuo looked around, finally finding the information on the large screen.
“They have already set off,” he replied.
Things seemed to be going smoothly on Li Nuo’s end. Lin Chen turned to look at the leader, who had reached the peak of accumulating emotions, and calmly said, “The price is necessary. The suspect is extremely dangerous. Evidence shows that the suspect has received professional counter-surveillance training, making it difficult for us to capture her through conventional surveillance. We can only take risks.”
“Even if she is dangerous, she is just a woman. Are you making such a big fuss to put on a show for the public? Don’t you think it’s exaggerated?” the second-in-command asked again.
“That… Is that drug real? Does it really cause confusion?” A cautious female voice came from the corner.
This time, Lin Chen didn’t answer anymore.
Li Nuo listened tensely, recalling the gruesome and bloody scene he witnessed in the nursing home earlier. He felt a chill run through his body and was about to speak on behalf of Lin Chen when he heard a crisp sound of something being put down from the earphone.
“Such a hassle.” Li Nuo heard Wang Chao murmuring to himself, followed by the sound of typing on a keyboard in the earpiece.
Li Nuo pressed the earphone tightly, wanting to hear clearly what Wang Chao was saying. Suddenly, a cry from the hall made him raise his head abruptly.
At some point, a section of the road surveillance footage on the screen turned black, like a dead pixel on a huge white canvas.
Then he realized that it wasn’t entirely black; it was a segment of surveillance footage from that night.
The surveillance was recorded at a bustling night market near a new district. Under the night sky, people mingled, laughing and chatting, with the lingering scent of sunlight in the air. The sudden turn of events came in the next second without any warning. The diners in the footage ruthlessly fought each other, inflicting brutal harm with the most merciless means.
The timid female police officer in the hall had already covered her eyes. Although it was a silent black-and-white film, the screams and blood in the footage seemed so real that they were about to splash out of the screen.
“The night market barbecue stall incident!” Li Nuo instantly realized what the replayed footage in the surveillance was about.
He had seen this footage before, and now, as it played again, he still felt a chill running up his spine. Despite being in the lively and noisy police hall, in that instant, he felt like he was immersed in cold water.
The playback on the large screen quickly stopped, and the hall returned to a deathly silence.
The first one to react was still Lin Chen. Li Nuo heard him say, “Focus on your own tasks; I will handle things here.”
Li Nuo didn’t understand what Lin Chen was talking about, but he suddenly heard Wang Chao’s voice in the earpiece, “Got it!”
Only then did Li Nuo realize that Lin Chen wasn’t talking to him but was educating Wang Chao. Li Nuo tightened his grip on the earpiece and subconsciously asked, “Was it you who did it?”
“Oh, it was nothing,” Wang Chao modestly replied from the other end.
Although the voice in the earpiece sounded very relaxed, the people present were clearly scared by that short video.
The second-in-command, who had harbored resistance towards Lin Chen just a while ago, had calmed down. His face turned pale as he asked, “Is the lethality of the drugs held by Shen Lian really that great… Can they still be considered drugs?”
Lin Chen glanced over the faces in the hall and finally nodded.
In the brief seconds that followed, the hall fell silent again, and one could hear the sound of a pin dropping.
Li Nuo took a deep breath and heard the second-in-command finally regain his senses, saying to everyone in the hall, “What are you looking at? Disperse and return to your positions!”
After that sound, the hall became busy again. The officers answering phone calls continued to do so, and the officers responsible for relaying Lin Chen’s instructions continued to pass on the orders. Everything returned to the same chaotic state as before, but Li Nuo felt that something was different.
The interlude quickly passed, and Lin Chen sat back in his position. Li Nuo glanced at him and saw the serious expression on the consultant’s face, wondering what he was thinking.
He could only comfort him, saying, “Actually, the other units don’t have any intimidating intentions. Just explain things clearly to them when you meet with them, and they will cooperate.”
Lin Chen’s gaze followed, and his expression was unreadable. It certainly had nothing to do with the word “relaxed”.
“What’s wrong?” Li Nuo became a little nervous. “Did I say something wrong?”
“Some things are not suitable as examples for clarification,” Lin Chen replied vaguely.
“Why?” Li Nuo asked in return.
“Because fear, while it can make people obey, is also the most dangerous virus.”
Until they encountered later events, Li Nuo didn’t understand the meaning behind Lin Chen’s ambiguous words.
All he knew was that when they left the monitoring hall, the city’s traffic had been twisted and rearranged by Lin Chen into an unclear and ambiguous state.
But if you could stand at a high point in the city, or if you could integrate the city’s traffic data like the young man on the other end of the phone, you would discover that a clear path was opening up in a deliberate and methodical manner, leading the aimless criminal.
Wang Chao was pacing around in the Guanghua Chemical Factory.
He didn’t understand why the boss had thrown him here to assist a junior chemical engineer. Even though he was obviously younger than the busy engineer, he felt that he might be more useful at the crime scene.
Xiao Zhan was busy in front of the gas chromatograph, surrounded by a bunch of beakers and various complex chemical instruments that were incomprehensible to Wang Chao. Wang Chao sighed heavily and shifted his gaze. Suddenly, Xiao Zhan stopped his work and glanced at him.
“What’s wrong?” Comrade Xiao Wang stood up straight and turned to ask.
“I…” Mr. Xiao Zhan hesitated, struggling with his words. After a while, as if he had made a decision, Mr. Xiao Zhan silently walked to the desktop computer at the other end of the lab bench and began typing on the keyboard slowly.
His typing speed was incredibly slow, and it was only then that Wang Chao realized that Xiao Zhan had wanted him to look up some information.
“Wait, wait, why don’t you let me do it? If I’m here, you don’t have to do it yourself. Isn’t this underestimating me?” Wang Chao swiftly opened his own laptop.
“It’s a lab report, mainly in English, and I’m afraid… afraid that you…”
“What do you need? Just tell me!” Wang Chao exclaimed loudly. He wasn’t sure if he had shouted too loudly or what, but in the next second, his phone rang, and seeing Lin Chen’s name on the caller ID almost made his hand tremble.
Excitedly, Wang Chao answered the call. Of course, he knew about the news regarding the nursing home and the unfortunate incident. He was deeply concerned about Lin Chen, but the feeling of being completely useless was driving him crazy. Now that Lin Chen was calling, he finally had a chance to talk to him. “A’Chen Gege, what happened? Are you okay? Do you need me to come over?”
On the other end of the phone, Lin Chen’s calm voice came through the waves. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. I need you to do something for me.”
“Tell me, tell me!” Wang Chao held the phone between his shoulder and cheek, gesturing to Mr. Xiao Zhan to search for the information on his own. Then he grabbed a pen and paper, adding, “A’Chen Gege, you can speak now.”
“First, I need the driving route map from the nursing home to the abandoned car location; second, I need a map of the current locations of the roadblocks set up by the police; third, I need the current locations of Chen Jianguo, Shen Lian’s middle school teacher, the old police officer who received Shen Lian along with Lao Bian at that time, Shen Lian’s middle school, and… Zhourui Pharmaceutical. Fourth, please compile the above requests on a map of Hongjing and send it to me. Fifth, do we have an alternative communication network that is not easily monitored?”
Wang Chao quickly jotted down the information and suddenly realized something. “A’Chen Gege, what are you planning to do?”
“Preparing a chessboard.”
……
Like Wang Chao, Li Nuo also had a vague understanding of the consultant’s final words, but that didn’t prevent him from following Lin Chen’s orders.
He was driving with the car window halfway open, and Lin Chen sat beside him. Their destination was a small police station close to the nursing home. With the wind blowing through the open window, they appeared as if they were leisurely going for an outing rather than embarking on something of life-and-death importance.
Li Nuo’s palms were slightly sweaty, and after Lin Chen finished the phone call, the atmosphere in the car became heavy once again. The sound of the engine was clearly audible. Li Nuo had a strong feeling that whatever Lin Chen was about to do was extremely dangerous, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask. He remained silent and focused on driving.
They soon arrived at the police station.
From getting out of the car to entering the building and turning on the computer, it took no more than three to five minutes; a brief moment that could almost be ignored. But the moment Lin Chen opened his email, a complete map of Hongjing appeared on the old computer screen at the police station.
On the blue and white base map, a yellow line indicated Shen Lian’s driving route from Hongshu Town to Yulin District. In addition, there were several colored markers on the map. Li Nuo was amazed that such detailed map markings could be made in such a short time. The person who did this was truly terrifying.
Li Nuo could recognize the red circular markers, most of which represented intersections and roadblocks set up by the police.
Standing beside Lin Chen, he watched as Lin Chen clicked on one of the green markers. A note popped up, clearly indicating specific individuals, locations, and brief descriptions of those places.
Li Nuo realized that it was the information about Chen Jianguo’s workplace that Lin Chen had been looking for.
Chen Jianguo was a security guard who worked at the Hongjing Huihaodi shopping mall. According to the shift schedule, he should be on duty at the moment. The straight-line distance from the abandoned car location to the Hongjing Huihaodi shopping mall was about 5 kilometers.
Following Lin Chen’s clicks on the markers, Li Nuo looked at the information one by one. Each marker represented a predetermined chess piece strategically placed on the map. And in that moment, he finally realized what Lin Chen meant by the “chessboard.”
“Do you know where she’s going?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then… are you planning to… lead… Shen Lian?” Li Nuo stared at Lin Chen in shock.
Lin Chen, as if finishing reviewing all the markers, leaned back in his chair and spoke in a calm tone. “Mm, thank you for your reminder earlier. I want to try guiding Shen Lian to a predetermined location.”
“What did I say earlier?” Li Nuo quickly waved his hand. “I just said something casually. I really don’t understand criminal psychology.”
“It doesn’t require too much specialized knowledge. What’s more important is the analysis of human nature. It’s actually quite simple. You reminded me that Shen Lian had too many potential targets for attack, and the incident happened suddenly. She wouldn’t have had a chance to decide on a final target. Therefore, her choice has a high level of randomness. Since it’s random, we can manipulate her choices.”
“Attack?” Li Nuo took a step back, accidentally bumping into the desk behind him, causing a long and jarring noise as the desk legs scraped against the floor.
“She killed everyone in the nursing home. With such madness, how could she continue to live as a lone individual?”
“Do you think she wants to make sure she gets enough victims before she dies and uses more people as shields?”
Li Nuo instinctively asked, but at the same time, Lin Chen’s phone rang.
The office was very quiet, and Li Nuo could hear the crisp sound coming from the other end of the phone.
“A’Chen Gege, the boss asked if you’re planning to trap Shen Lian!”
Lin Chen’s face showed a serene expression of understanding as he responded to the person on the phone. “Mm, that’s the plan.”
“Did you see the map I sent? Did it help? You asked me to mark so many locations earlier. Where exactly do we plan to trap Shen Lian? And the new secure communication channel will be set up quickly. What should we do? You tell me, and Mr. Xiao Wang will take care of it for you!”
The rapid-fire words came through the receiver, which was, of course, the question Li Nuo wanted to ask.
“Yes, I’ve chosen a location.”
When Lin Chen answered the call, he supported his cheek with one hand and tilted his head slightly, looking at a specific spot on the map.
Li Nuo followed Lin Chen’s gaze and once again looked at him with disbelief.
……
“Is… Is Consultant Lin insane?”
Inside the Municipal Bureau Command Center, Wang Chao’s voice came through the speakerphone, and everyone gathered around the square table listened intently. When they heard the location, someone couldn’t help but interject.
Xing Conglian sat at the edge of the table, furrowing his brows in contemplation, and didn’t immediately respond. Another officer spoke after hearing the comment. “If we really lure Shen Lian to that location, the media and public will definitely condemn us!”
Xing Conglian listened silently, as if he didn’t notice the inquiring gazes around him. He turned his head, and on the display screen behind him was a map of Hongjing, compiled according to Lin Chen’s requirements.
He looked at the various colored markers on the map, imagining the pros and cons that Lin Chen had considered in that brief moment. Despite having various personal emotions, in the end, all he could do was silently marvel; indeed, it was Lin Chen, truly worthy of being Lin Chen.
At that moment, another officer ventured, “No matter the outcome, Consultant Lin’s arrangement will undoubtedly implicate public safety. The other side is quite capable of causing trouble, and they might even accuse us, the police, in the end!”
Upon hearing this, Xing Conglian calmly spoke, posing a question in return, “Then, should we let Shen Lian target the middle school?” He turned to the first officer who had raised doubts. “Nearly two thousand teachers and students.”
The person was instantly rendered speechless.
“Or the Hongjing Huihaodi shopping mall?” Xing Conglian looked at the second person. “It’s a workday today, and the mall has relatively low foot traffic. But the problem is, we know this, and Shen Lian is well aware of it too. Similarly, if she appears during the peak hours after work when the foot traffic is high, the danger level in the mall is clearly no less than that of the school.”
“What about the Louyuan Community? Can’t we use that place?”
On the speakerphone, Wang Chao suddenly explained, “A’Chen Gege said that the area that needs to be monitored there is too large. It’s a very remote and modern residential area, and it’s unlikely to satisfy Shen Lian’s psychological desire for ‘massive harm’. The chances of her choosing that place are very low.”
“The office building isn’t remote, but there are too many people!”
“Lin Chen’s intention is actually quite simple. He wants to choose an area that appears to have a dense crowd, which can attract Shen Lian, and at the same time, it should be convenient for us, the police, to set up surveillance and implement the arrest.” The old director, who had been silently drinking tea in the background, suddenly spoke up. “A large building with a single entrance and exit is certainly preferable.”
“But is there really no other way? No matter where Shen Lian appears, as long as Consultant Lin’s plan is revealed, it will be seen as a sign of incompetence on the part of the police.” A policewoman spoke up. “Moreover, it’s really unfavorable for your team, Captain Xing. It will be seen as… retaliation.”
The policewoman emphasized the last word, and Xing Conglian looked at her and nodded, expressing gratitude for her concern. Then he looked at everyone present and calmly said, “You should all be aware that whether we are seen as competent or not is the public’s evaluation of us. But many times, what we need to care about is not these hypocritical praise or malicious criticism, but whether we have done our best within our capabilities for each case.”
After Xing Conglian finished speaking, he stood up from his chair.
“Captain Xing!” The surrounding officers spoke up one after another.
However, Xing Conglian seemed not to hear them and decisively said, “Mobilize all available police forces in the city and divide them into three groups: A, B, and C. Group A will maintain their original communication devices and follow Consultant Lin’s arrangements; Group B and Group C will use more secure communication systems. Group B will be responsible for surveillance at the following locations, and Group C will accompany me to the final possible location where Shen Lian may appear for surveillance.”
Xing Conglian laid out the specific arrangements in great detail, and for a while, the office was filled with the sound of writing.
At the end, someone suddenly raised their hand and asked, “Captain Xing, everything you said is fine, but how can Consultant Lin guarantee that Shen Lian will really go there?”
As soon as Mr. Le’s words fell, the surrounding oppressive aura dissipated. Yin Ren’s gaze contracted, and he quickly stood in front of Zhong Chengshuo, releasing a formidable Evil Force. In the next moment, it collided head-on with Mr. Le’s Evil Force as they clashed.
A wave of explosions erupted in the peaceful back mountain.
The grating sound of tearing echoed through the sky, completely leveling the nearby area with the surging forces of the two. There was no longer any pavilion or withered trees in place; only a pale expanse of land remained. The four individuals who clashed were pushed away by the force and turned into two figures in the billowing smoke and dust.
As the smoke cleared, Yin Ren’s black hair and red clothes flew alongside Zhong Chengshuo. He floated back behind Zhong Chengshuo while his hands hovered over the man’s shoulders. Countless restraining spirit weapons formed a chain, constantly revolving around the two, creating a spectacular display of blood-colored brilliance.
Meanwhile, several steps away, Luo Chunlei tightly held onto Mr. Le’s long robe. During the explosion just now, Mr. Le undoubtedly protected her. Despite the dense Evil Force lingering around them, the only things evident in the young girl’s eyes were astonishment and an increasingly intense fascination.
“So that’s how it is.”
Looking at the two figures clinging together opposite him, Mr. Le coughed a few times, and he spoke with emotion.
“Zhong Chengshuo, right? No wonder, no wonder. You, a mere cub, hidden under our noses for so many years, only revealing yourself recently… So you’ve been cultivating your own formidable Evil Force.”
Zhong Chengshuo didn’t answer.
He merely reached out his hand and gently touched Yin Ren’s hand resting on his shoulder.
Yin Ren’s lips curled into a cold smile, and his aura surged like a blazing fire on an icy peak. His free hand formed countless seals, turning the sealing techniques that suppressed the Evil Force into barriers. Dust churned, and dull thuds resounded as layer upon layer piled up between the two parties.
If a Primordial Elemental wanted to reveal its true form, relying solely on the mortal realm wouldn’t suffice. Just look at the lesson learned from Dog Thing; at best, they could engage in battles in places like the Archive or the Corpse Cage. Without exception, these places were interstitial spaces between the mortal realm and the Other Side.
As long as the battlefield was forcefully kept in the mortal realm, Mr. Le’s combat strength would be greatly diminished.
Yin Ren’s seals became faster and faster, with countless crimson threads piercing through the heavens and earth, as if stitching this space firmly in place. In this way, even a slight gap couldn’t be created, let alone relocating the battlefield.
“Using a fierce hound as a tool indeed has its uses.”
Mr. Le’s gaze swept over Yin Ren as he reached out to pat Luo Chunlei’s head, letting out a soft sigh.
“Unfortunately…”
In the next moment, a sweet-scented warm breeze swept through the red threads. It was like the most fresh and beautiful flowers, blending the March spring breeze with sunlight, intoxicating anyone’s heart.
However, Yin Ren’s gaze hardened. He waved his red clothes, and his right sleeve danced in the air, enveloping Zhong Chengshuo within his embrace. That warm, transparent breeze effortlessly penetrated Yin Ren’s layers of protection and brushed against his red clothes.
Yin Ren immediately encased his body with his Evil Force, but unfortunately, he was a step too slow.
Under the gentle breeze, the vibrant blood-red clothes disintegrated in an instant. Yin Ren’s exposed skin sizzled, as if immersed in an invisible, strong acid.
But it didn’t hurt.
His right arm’s flesh and skin dissolved, and an inexplicable sense of joy surged through his nerves, piercing directly into his mind. It felt like an overdose of painkillers, and Yin Ren felt like he was floating on cloud nine. He couldn’t even summon any fighting spirit, let alone murderous intent.
Even though he put up a strong defense, that sense of joy permeated every pore, flooding his nerves like warm water. In the dizziness of joy, Yin Ren felt like every pore was opening up.
Forget it, forget it. Happiness is what matters most.
In life, isn’t this fleeting moment of joy what we all seek?
The operation of his techniques gradually slowed down, and Yin Ren’s grip on Zhong Chengshuo’s arm became increasingly loose, on the verge of letting go. Zhong Chengshuo silently took out his phone and pressed a certain audio clip—
“Is work more important to you than me?” A certain person’s voice was clear and loud.
Yin Ren’s movements instantly froze. He forced himself to take out a sheet of talisman paper and slapped it against his forehead with a loud smack. The crisp sound was earth-shattering, and the talisman paper still bore a few red fingerprints tinged with shame.
Produced by Huang Jin, it was an enhanced version of the Tranquility Talisman developed by the Great Celestial Master, capable of treating all overwhelming emotions.
After completing all of this, Yin Ren breathed a sigh of relief with lingering fear. Mr. Le was indeed not to be underestimated. Fortunately, they had made sufficient preparations in advance. Otherwise, if they kept falling into the same pit, his title as the Great Celestial Master would be forfeited.
Everything happened in just a few seconds. Mr. Le on the opposite side casually said, “Oh,” with evident interest—
The fierce ghost glanced at the blood-drenched wound on his right arm and bit down on Zhong Chengshuo’s shoulder and neck. Several streams of blood flowed down Yin Ren’s mouth and seeped into the depths of Zhong Chengshuo’s shirt. At the same time, wisps of white smoke emanated from the wound on Yin Ren’s arm, rapidly closing up.
Zhong Chengshuo remained calm, as if he had lost his sense of pain. Although Yin Ren was clearly sucking his blood, he merely turned his head and rubbed his cheek against the man’s black hair.
In the next moment, the protective barriers surrounding the two became even more complete. Layers upon layers of runes emitted a faint glow, and only the outlines of Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo could be vaguely seen.
“What are they doing?” Luo Chunlei asked curiously.
“Feeding,” Mr. Le leisurely replied, pointing his finger through the empty space. “To raise such a fierce ghost, ‘Anonymous’ always needs to provide it with power.”
The flesh and blood of Primordial Elementals were the purest source of Evil Force, making it the most efficient way to feed fierce ghosts. It was unclear who taught this cub about such knowledge regarding the Other Side…
But speaking of which, the Other Side certainly wasn’t lacking in traitors. At least, in the next second, a certain companion with the surname Qi appeared in his mind.
“The warm-up is about done.” Mr. Le made the final gesture in the empty space. “Cub, it’s time for you to take action. If you linger like this, someone might stab you in the back.”
“…Bring it on.”
The emaciated man closed his eyes; his voice could even be called gentle.
—Boom!
Accompanied by a thunderous tearing sound, the earth trembled slightly. Countless red threads, traversing space under Yin Ren’s control, snapped at the same time, creating a fissure in the sky over ten meters long, even more spectacular than the one in the abandoned hospital building.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Inside the fissure, a peculiar rhythm-like sound could be heard. It echoed in perfect harmony with the sounds Yin Ren had heard in his dreams but was much clearer. After each vibration, the fissure would crack open a bit more, like a pod unable to contain its beans.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The fissure continued to expand, resembling a giant mouth. Yin Ren cut his wrist, and numerous blood threads pierced through. Unfortunately, those threads were unable to stitch up the self-opening fissure—
“There are two opponents.” Zhong Chengshuo frowned. “Retreat!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Finally, the gap abruptly collapsed, like a flood bursting through a dam. The surrounding space twisted and distorted, and sharp sounds resounded incessantly. The gap widened like it was being torn and shoved by some force, almost forming a circular shape, like a giant mouth devouring the entire area.
Luo Chunlei let out an excited scream as her eyes widened. Yin Ren, with Zhong Chengshuo, quickly retreated but was still swallowed whole.
In an instant, all sounds of wind and bird chirping disappeared, replaced by the silence unique to the interstitial space.
At that moment, the expansion of the enormous gap abruptly halted. The opening to the mortal realm suddenly lost its power, and the space autonomously closed at an astonishing speed.
Amidst the sharp sound of space compression, Yin Ren opened his eyes.
The surrounding grass and trees distorted ceaselessly, flickering like poorly modeled objects in a video game. Further in the distance, the scenery remained the same, faintly revealing the school’s teaching building; except those buildings appeared bright and new, emanating an uncomfortable, icy aura.
There was no doubt that this was the transitional area between the mortal realm and the other side.
Mr. Le and Luo Chunlei were nowhere to be found. In their original positions, only a brownish-red cocoon remained, like a tumor attached to the ground, large enough to envelop a child. Faint, rapid heartbeats could be sensed from within the cocoon; it was likely that Luo Chunlei was inside.
Surrounding the cocoon floated numerous colorful, translucent bubbles. Each one was the size of a fist and resembled the plastic balls in an amusement park, giving a delightful feeling. Each bubble emitted Mr. Le’s aura—could these things be his true form?
The bubbles floated leisurely, resembling soft eggs with constant flickering inside, containing countless fragments of transformation.
Puppies frolicked on the lawn, cats stretching lazily under the sun, birds pecking at sweet fruits on branches, two wet wolf cubs licking each other… Children eating freshly baked pastries at a stall, adults laughing and chatting by a chessboard, kids gathering together chattering and playing games, families gathered around the dining table…
They were so vivid.
Among them, there were also dim ones, exuding a dirty deathly pallor, unmistakably human—kicking at a struggling and screaming animal, confidently spewing rumors, reaching out to steal others’ wealth and efforts, laughing at those around them who had collapsed due to misfortune…
The bubbles continued to float and scatter, with the vibrant ones constantly bursting, producing fragments of indistinct laughter. Among the bubbles that filled the sky, the number of dim-colored ones increased.
Stealing, slandering, insulting, using illegal drugs… even directly trampling upon others.
They were no longer scattered bubbles but had turned into a cluster of rapidly expanding, filthy foam. They proliferated on the surface of the earth like falling snow, seemingly intending to fill the entire world.
Yin Ren cautiously stood in place while numerous red threads formed a net to isolate the erratically flying bubbles outside. He could feel the bubbles lightly touching the threads and then bouncing away effortlessly. Each touch from the vibrant bubbles brought him a fleeting sense of relief.
The successive waves of interference made it difficult to maintain composure and engage in combat.
At the same time, the dirty foam continued to proliferate, piling up along the ground. The surrounding scenery was devoured by the countless bubbles, and the air carried a maddeningly sweet and rancid odor.
“Zhong Chengshuo, quickly!” Yin Ren attached two more tranquility talismans to his body and held Zhong Chengshuo’s neck tightly.
Zhong Chengshuo extended his hand, and a layer of transparent black gel appeared on his right hand. They quickly gathered together, solidifying into a soft and pliable cluster of wings. In the next second, the largest wing suddenly opened, and its edges became hard and pitch black, resembling a small sickle.
Without hesitation, Zhong Chengshuo struck into the void.
The sound of tearing arose for an instant, but the gap created by the cluster of wings quickly closed.
“It’s Shian’s defensive technique.”
Upon seeing the recently perfected spell specifically designed to counter gap attacks, Yin Ren gritted his teeth.
“Damn it, there’s a traitor!”
Simultaneously, all the bubbles floating in the air came to a sudden stop. They rotated from various angles, and their surfaces instantly became murky and wrinkled, resembling flesh.
Black spots of various shapes emerged from these flesh-like balls, resembling pupils as they turned towards the cluster of wings.
[Indeed… this aura… I haven’t felt it in so many years…]
Mr. Le’s sigh reverberated among the different flesh balls.
[It’s a “Fear” cub. Truly a “Fear” cub…]
Those flesh balls desperately crowded towards Zhong Chengshuo.
[You must never go back…]
Boom!
The dirty gray-white foam transformed into a torrent, devouring the two individuals like a crushing force. They spun wildly, centered around Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo. Within the whirlpool, intermittent screams and laughter could be heard. The turbulent, filthy foam continued to surge and rapidly multiply.
It was like a carnival.
Amidst the fluctuating ups and downs, violence and madness permeated the surroundings. The vibrant bubbles were entirely consumed and rotted into a murky gray. All the scenes in the interstitial space were shattered, leaving only the remnants of ecstasy in the world. After an unknown period of time, the bubbles gradually calmed down, resembling the still surface of a windless lake.
A long sigh resonated from an unknown source, filled with a profound sense of nostalgia and regret.
As the bubbles gradually tightened, a black tender sprout suddenly emerged in the center of the murky vortex.
A pair of small wings emerged at the top layer of the foam, flapping lightly twice.
Swish, swish.
It no longer resembled its previous translucent appearance but had turned nearly opaque black.
In an instant, a fierce wind rose, tearing apart the foam. A pure black burst opened up and blossomed passionately like a flower. The wings blended into the darkness, while the darkness surged and countless indescribable, distorted dark streams shimmered on its surface.
[You… Are you about to materialize?!] Mr. Le’s heart sank. The cub had been forced to reveal its true form, and the situation was worse than they had imagined.
The darkness didn’t answer his startled question.
Deep within the darkness, a faint red hue was faintly discernible. This darkness tightly protected the fierce ghost it had nurtured, just as he protected the human cub named Luo Chunlei.
This is impossible.
Mr. Le swung his body, attempting to further crush the cub with his true form. Anything that came into contact with his true form would undoubtedly fall into a state of irrational ecstasy. Whether it was a living creature, an evil creature, or an Elemental, none could escape his influence.
Even the mighty “Fear” lineage, even on the verge of materialization, it was still just a cub!
Why isn’t it going mad?
The young darkness was spinning itself, akin to a meat grinder, destroying the surrounding bubbles. Mr. Le could feel that his true form was being rapidly shredded and consumed on the spot. Apart from biting the enemy, the darkness extended countless wing-like scythes, madly disrupting the surrounding space as if seeking a way out.
Ironically, as the representative of joy, he often felt sorrow.
[Initially, I thought you were “his” successor… I should have let you die in bliss, without any suffering…]
The gray-white foam surged once again, leaving the sky and earth suddenly empty. The bubbles crowded around from all directions and simultaneously burst, disappearing into nothingness. Mr. Le’s aura not only didn’t weaken but grew even stronger.
Without the support of the surrounding bubbles, the mass of darkness fell to the ground, and the wings on its surface curled up in confusion.
The pounding sounds from the Other Side gradually intensified, and the sky in the interstitial space transformed into a black-gray vortex. Drip, drip. More foam dripped from the vortex onto the ground. The once indistinguishable interstitial space violently fluctuated, rapidly collapsing and turning into a misty gray.
The empty gray-white color rushed in from all directions, and the foam coalesced into gigantic human legs that walked incessantly around.
The darkness roiled with bubbles the size of adults. The mountain-like giant legs casually stepped down, causing the bubbles to emit a music-like, melodious scream. One of the legs stepped on the wings that had emerged from the darkness, causing the cluster of wings to instantly shatter into minced meat.
Amidst the intense pain, all the extended wings suddenly retracted.
In the ethereal heights of nothingness, within the dense fog above those legs, Mr. Le’s voice could faintly be heard.
[Apologies.]
He said.
……
Outside the gap, small cracks had just appeared, but they were instantly sealed by sealing techniques, and the space quickly returned to its original state.
In the area where Yin Ren was located, Xiang Jiang’s sealing techniques enveloped layer upon layer. Not only could evil qi not escape, but even Evil Force couldn’t seep out. If the gap that had just opened was an exit, it was sealed shut, and these seals could be likened to pouring concrete. It was sealed tightly on the outside as well.
Confirming that there were no loopholes, Xiang Jiang withdrew his hand and turned around.
Behind him, Xiang Hai’s back had the wings of a butterfly spread wide. Fierce ghosts covered the sky, and ghosts from the nearby areas continuously gathered. They numbered in the thousands and were swept up by the Evil Force, forming a formidable army of spirits.
Compared to when he was in Gengsheng Town, the wings on Xiang Hai’s back had grown several times larger. The butterfly wings, adorned with countless faces, gently fluttered, and bloody tears flowed from the faces. Amidst the wailing of women and children, scales resembling the palms of elderly hands rose up.
Those emaciated hands opened their five fingers, and the sharp fingertips pointed straight ahead, directed at the person in front of Xiang Jiang.
“To be honest, I’ve always wanted to say that your brother resembles a ‘Ghost General’ more than I do. It’s a pity that if you had been following me all along, we could have formed a duo like Heibai Wuchang*.”
*Two deities in Chinese folk religion in charge of escorting the spirits of the dead to the underworld. As their names suggest (Black and White Impermanence), they are dressed in black and white, respectively.
Fu Xingchuan straightened his coat, his tone filled with emotion.
Xiang Jiang snorted as a cold smile appeared on his face.
“Xiang Jiang, I thought you were just young and confused for a moment. I thought you were just burdened by inner struggles and chose to be passive and unproductive… I thought you really cared about innocent, ordinary people. We gave you a chance, more than once. Even before you set foot here, you could have turned back.”
Fu Xingchuan’s fingers twitched, and between his fingertips, the yellow talisman automatically stirred without wind, emanating a scorching fighting spirit. His face still wore the usual smile, but his eyes held no trace of humor.
“At first, I thought if you were colluding with that banal group, Sunken Society, you might have some hope of being saved. Honestly, when you sat in my position and I couldn’t find any communication from you to the outside, I was somewhat happy. Who would have known… Haa.”
Fu Xingchuan halted his words and let out a long sigh. His burgundy coat continued to burn, transforming into a blood-red long robe.
“…Why, of all things, did you choose to collaborate with the Other Side?”
The Greedy Butterflies dispersed, and Shi Jingzhi managed to remain standing.
He stubbornly supported his spine, still with a few Greed Butterflies perched on his head. Sensing his precarious state, Yin Ci furrowed his brow and tightened his embrace.
There was more than one mountain in the Huilian Mountain Range. The Jianchen Temple was nestled among the three slightly lower peaks surrounding the main peak of Huilian Mountain. Because of the layered structure of three outer layers, the mountain range was named Huilian*.
*Clarity: [Hui] (回) means circles, return, revolve, among other meanings, while [lian] ( 莲) means lotus. Basically, the mountain range has three lower peaks that surrounds (revolves/circle around) the main peak making it look like a lotus, giving the mountain its name.
The group was climbing the outermost and lowest peak, clearly guarded by the Greed Butterflies. Shi Jingzhi’s condition had finally stabilized, and they should leave this area immediately to prevent another attack.
Su Si and Yan Qing were still able to move, and if they mustered their strength and hurried, they might be able to escape before sunset.
Yin Ci made a prompt decision. “I’ll carry you on my back, and we’ll leave first.”
But Shi Jingzhi didn’t budge.
“No need. It’s fine here. Let’s rest here.”
Shi Jingzhi’s voice was unusually calm. He tried to stand straight and gently squeezed Yin Ci’s hand as if to reassure him. “Besides, if I collapse like this, who will lead you?”
Rest here? In front of the Greed Butterflies’ nest?
Yin Ci chuckled. “Shizun, a person’s state of mind is not constant. Your qi was desolate just now, and you don’t seem like someone who has shattered their own vows. Your condition is also unstable. If you get lost in your thoughts again, the Greed Butterflies will build their nest on your head… With this cycle repeating, we won’t be able to leave.”
Shi Jingzhi’s myriad of desires were only temporarily soothed and calmed, not disappeared completely. Moreover, this time his tranquility technique had borrowed external assistance, so it was impossible to maintain it for long.
Shi Jingzhi didn’t immediately respond.
He first released his embrace, took a step back, and gently placed his hand on Yin Ci’s face, as if trying to use touch to replace sight. “Are you not injured? I remember hitting you several times.”
“I managed to evade most of the attacks and didn’t suffer serious injuries. Shizun, your consciousness was blurred. Perhaps you remembered incorrectly.” Was this person trying to change the subject? Yin Ci’s face couldn’t help but darken.
Shi Jingzhi furrowed his brow and looked at his disciple up and down. Yin Ci’s clothes had several damaged areas, but there were no obvious wounds or bloodstains on his body.
After a moment of silence, Shi Jingzhi changed the topic. “…A’Ci, that technique is quite useful. Where did you learn it?”
“That technique is called ‘Purifying Words*’, an adaptation of the Buddhist scriptures. It can be considered a somewhat esoteric technique for calming the mind. It was taught by my family, and it may have been passed down outside as well.”
*[Wu Chen Yan] (无尘言) Lit. means words without dust. It suggests that the words spoken are free from mundane or worldly contamination, making them untainted by worldly desires, attachments, or impurities.
This was indeed not a lie.
The adaptation was true, and its circulation was also true. In order to counter the state of losing control, Yin Ci tried many mental techniques, among which “Purifying Words” was particularly effective.
However, the version he used for Shi Jingzhi was his personal adaptation—back then, to teach the Little Mute, Yin Ci modified the originally stern and imposing mental technique to make it gentler and more soothing, specifically targeting the conflicting desires.
“Purifying Words” didn’t bring any benefits to martial arts practice, and there were countless calming techniques in the world. It wasn’t a cure-all. It had been passed down in an ordinary and vague manner for hundreds of years, giving rise to numerous versions, making its origin difficult to trace.
Indeed, Shi Jingzhi didn’t pursue further questions. He just planted the “Medicine Cures Illness” flag into the ground, as if he intended to set up camp right there. “My state wasn’t good earlier, and I didn’t memorize all the acupoints. A’Ci, please teach me the method again in detail.”
Yin Ci: “…”
Yin Ci: “Shizun, let’s find another place to learn. It’s not urgent.”
Shi Jingzhi remained silent for a long time, then sighed lightly. “To be honest, I have been running away all along.”
“What do you mean?”
“Since I became conscious, I have been running away. It doesn’t matter how unsightly I look; I take one step forward at a time, simply seeking to get by… Now that A’Ci is by my side, I feel at ease. Suddenly, I think it wouldn’t be bad to walk forward righteously.”
Shi Jingzhi’s voice was close, weak in tone, but with a hint of a smile.
“I have lost control in the Ghost Tomb before, and I have lost control in the forbidden area as well. Perhaps I could get through with a momentary burst of power, but as you know, A’Ci, relying solely on undisciplined brute force, I would definitely be no match for true masters.”
“I don’t want to run away anymore. All desires in the world are thoughts in my mind, and I must fully control them. Now it seems that there is nothing more effective than using the Greed Butterflies for training.”
“A’Ci, teach me, okay?”
Yin Ci didn’t know what to say for a moment.
The reason why Greedy Butterflies were difficult to deal with lay in their nature of pursuing hope and indulging in pleasure. The more realistic the dreams, the more desperate one became upon waking up. If it was repeated over and over again, the contrast would be enough to drive a person insane.
Not to mention that Shi Jingzhi had “object addiction”. Even ordinary people sought solace in alcohol, pursuing momentary illusions and release. Even Yin Ci himself was eager to move forward and escape from the darkness before him.
Yet this person firmly held his hand and said with a smile that he wanted to stay.
To face the deepest fear and despair, to shape the heart with thousands of arrows piercing through.
“Rest for a moment and listen to the opinions of Yan Qing and Su Si.”
Perhaps it was disagreement, or perhaps it was out of sympathy. Yin Ci instinctively avoided this topic.
Indeed, not long after Shi Jingzhi sat down, the Greed Butterflies showed signs of approaching again. Yan Qing was on guard against them, heating the flatbread from his backpack and brewing tea with snow water. The four of them managed to have a meal together.
Yan Qing and Su Si were unusually quiet. Yin Ci couldn’t see the expressions of these two servants, but the solemn atmosphere permeated through the darkness, chilling the air, even making the food feel colder.
“Has Sect Master Shi ever had contact with the Immortal Sect?” Su Si finally asked with a heavy heart, halfway through biting the flatbread.
Shi Jingzhi was somewhat surprised. “The Immortal Sect? Are you referring to the Mishan Sect?”
The Mishan Sect was the only “Immortal Sect” recognized by the martial world. While the people of this sect may dress elegantly, their association with “ascending to immortality” wasn’t significant. Compared to other sects, the Mishan Sect excelled in exorcizing demons, creating formations, and crafting weapons. Among them, there were also masters who had tasted immortal wine. Over time, people started calling them the “Immortal Sect”.
Most of the extraordinary formation techniques circulating in the martial world were created by the Mishan Sect, and the remaining few were adaptations from the Mishan Sect’s techniques. This path was profound, and it took ten to twenty years to achieve any accomplishment. There was a saying that you can’t have both the fish and the bear paw*. Martial artists worshiped strength and were unwilling to waste time on such things.
*(鱼与熊掌不可兼得) Idiom referring to you can’t be greedy when faced with two desirable but mutually exclusive options. You have to make a choice between the two and can’t have both. (AKA you can’t have your cake and eat it too).
As a result, the Mishan Sect became a distinct faction, clearly separated from other martial sects, truly deserving the title of the “Immortal Sect”.
However, the Mishan Sect was located in the far north of Great Yun, in an extremely remote location. Its disciples liked to feign profundity and appear mysterious, so ordinary people rarely encountered them.
Shi Jingzhi racked his brains but couldn’t figure out when he had any dealings with the people from the Immortal Sect. The only one who remained elusive in his memory was that person in black.
After the dispersal of the Greed Butterflies, Shi Jingzhi kept trying to recall. However, memories were like shifting sands, uncontrollably slipping through his fingers and sinking into darkness.
Yin Ci wasn’t wrong; he hadn’t overcome his own desires.
He still couldn’t remember the person’s face or their voice. But he knew how that person smiled at him and how gentle their gaze was. That vague figure was hidden deep in his memories, casting a faint shadow over his true self, making it impossible for him to see through it.
Could that person be from the Immortal Sect? Was it that person who tampered with his memories?
With all his thoughts, Shi Jingzhi continued to conceal them, smiling as he replied, “I have never seen anyone from the Mishan Sect. Why are you suddenly asking about this?”
“When Sect Master used your techniques earlier, there was a heavenly and earthly qi. I thought it might be some kind of technique and couldn’t help but think of the Immortal Sect… I was overthinking.” Su Si followed with a forced smile.
“Uh.” Shi Jingzhi didn’t pursue further. “If you two are uncomfortable staying here, go around and explore the surroundings. Remember to bring back some meat and use the dried rations sparingly from the bag.”
Su Si was taken aback. “Aren’t we leaving?”
Shi Jingzhi: “You two don’t attract the Greed Butterflies much, so there shouldn’t be any issues. I can’t swallow this anger, so I intend to have another confrontation with them.”
Su Si choked on the spot. After a while, he lowered his voice and leaned closer, saying, “San Zi, this Kushan Sect…”
Yan Qing: “…Let’s not talk about it. I understand.”
He stood up and casually lifted Su Si. “Sect Master, I’m going hunting with A’Si.”
Shi Jingzhi nodded approvingly, and several dozen more Greed Butterflies landed on his head, resembling a hat adorned with the radiance of spring.
The sunlight was radiant, and the mountain breeze was pure as snow. The pond water was clear, and the koi fish leisurely swam.
Only two people remained in front of the pond.
Seeing that Shi Jingzhi had made up his mind not to leave, Yin Ci sighed. “Aren’t you going to ask Su Si?”
Shi Jingzhi confidently replied, “I know he definitely saw something just now. What if I press him too hard and he runs away? Su Si knows what’s important. When the time comes, he will speak for himself.”
“You didn’t ask me because of that too?” Even with the name of a descendant of the Su family supporting him, during their previous battle, his imposing demeanor, unlike that of an ordinary young man, was enough for Shi Jingzhi to sense something was amiss.
“A’Ci is different.”
Shi Jingzhi’s smile grew stronger.
“Even if you are the King Yan of the underworld, accompanying me until now, I have no regrets. Since there are no regrets, why bother getting to the bottom of it?”
Yin Ci tightened his fingers, holding back all the considerations and probes.
Shi Jingzhi had changed.
Compared to the scattered state when they first met, Yin Ci vaguely sensed the contours of a person. ‘It’s such a pity,’ he thought. With his eyes shrouded in darkness, he couldn’t see Shi Jingzhi’s eyes.
“Alright, I’ll teach you the ‘Purifying Words’. This time, I won’t help you. You can only rely on partial acupoints, achieving half the result with twice the effort. Have you made up your mind?”
“Mm.”
……
The sunlight slowly crawled across their bodies, and Yin Ci could discern the passage of time. Besides that, he could only hear the rustling of clothes, the footsteps on water and stone, and the faint trembling of butterfly wings. Shi Jingzhi was using all his qinggong and inner force to confront the swarm of Greed Butterflies.
This time, he wouldn’t intervene, Yin Ci thought. Since Shi Jingzhi was willing to endure hardships, he had to learn to bear the consequences.
Yin Ci sat on a stone platform with Shi Jingzhi’s flag placed beside him. The flagpole felt smooth and warm to the touch under the sunlight. On the other side, there was a teapot and sweet cakes, and Shi Jingzhi even prepared a cushion for him. Flames flickered nearby, and he didn’t feel the least bit cold.
These items seemed to form a peculiar little formation. The scent of incense lingered around him, and even the darkness in front of him no longer felt heavy.
Unfortunately, it was too far away, and Yin Ci couldn’t sense the subtle air currents or know the progress of the battle.
How is his cheap master doing? Has his mind been broken by the ever-changing desires, or is he still struggling?
How wonderful it would be to catch just a glimpse.
Finally, the surrounding temperature gradually dropped, and the distinctive chill of the night spread across the ground. From noon until sunset, several hours passed slowly. At this moment, the evening glow of the setting sun should have bathed the mountains and fields.
The sound of clothes rustling ceased, and for the first time in those several hours, Shi Jingzhi stopped moving.
Yin Ci twitched in place, instinctively trying to stand up. However, the accumulated coldness of centuries held him in place, anchoring him to the spot.
“Shizun?” After hesitating for a moment, he finally spoke up.
…He really wanted to catch a glimpse.
In just an instant, he cast aside the suffocation brought by the darkness. The Greed Butterflies perched on Yin Ci’s hair fluttered their wings.
Before Shi Jingzhi could respond, the Buddha Heart Formation provided him with an answer. For some reason, in that fleeting moment, the darkness before Yin Ci’s eyes suddenly dissipated.
Sure enough, the sun was setting in the west, casting its radiant glow everywhere.
The small pond reflected the evening sky, resembling molten gold. The Buddha’s head in the center of the pond had slightly closed eyes, exuding a tranquil and compassionate aura. The pure white stone statue had been tinged with a deep blue by the night, adorned with a golden-red border, adding a touch of solemnity out of thin air.
Shi Jingzhi was standing atop the Buddha’s head.
This time, his head wasn’t covered by Greed Butterflies.
All the butterflies flew in the air, forming a few clusters of thin clouds around Shi Jingzhi, obediently flowing with his movements. The evening sun was vibrant, and the evening glow was brilliant. The swarm of butterflies danced in this beautiful world, resembling sparks flying in flames.
Like scattered red leaves in deep autumn.
Hearing Yin Ci’s call, Shi Jingzhi turned his head. A radiant smile graced his face as his long hair swayed in the breeze, the tips tousled by a dozen fluttering butterflies. His gray-white clothes were covered in the red glow, turning into a warm and cozy shade of red.
Yin Ci finally saw the other person’s eyes clearly. They were filled with joy and contentment, free from any shadows, brimming with vitality.
Just like this noisy world, burning and crashing into his vision.
Yin Ci didn’t know how long this brightness would last. He should have looked around—at least turned around to see what kind of inner demon was behind him.
But Yin Ci couldn’t turn back. His throat felt slightly sore, and his gaze was fixed firmly on the other person.
‘So, this is how it is,’ he thought.
At the moment his heart was set free, everything in front of him was once again enveloped in darkness. Yin Ci lowered his eyes, unable to see the terrifying inner demon as big as a mountain behind him.
Shi Jingzhi remained completely unaware.
He had been floating in despair and pain for most of the day, but he finally learned to gather his desires and firmly hold onto that madness. Although they would still cause him immense suffering and sleepless nights, they could no longer take away his mental state.
The turbid sea of desires sank to the bottom, peacefully resting in the clear waters of his mind. They rose and fell with his thoughts, and the Greed Butterflies had no power over him.
Considering it was a small progress, Shi Jingzhi was quite satisfied. Upon hearing his disciple’s call, he turned his head with a smile, stepping lightly on the gentle breeze, and quickly appeared in front of Yin Ci.
“A’Ci, you’ve made a great achievement. That mantra is truly effective. I can finally get rid of those butterflies! I thought it would take two or three days.” He patted Yin Ci’s shoulder, feeling content. “We’ll rest here for one more night and then continue our journey.”
Yin Ci remained silent.
“A’Ci?”
“…It’s nothing. Congratulations, Shizun.”
Yin Ci displayed a smile—a smile that hadn’t been calculated but came completely from his heart.
Perhaps he truly was an evil entity from the abyss, but he would never become King Yan that sought lives.
He wanted this person to live a good life.
This time, it was Shi Jingzhi who stood frozen in place. He looked at this unfamiliar smile, and the overwhelming qi that had shaken the heavens and earth vanished in an instant. A slight uneasiness began to grow in his chest.
Shi Jingzhi cleared his throat and turned around. “I’ll heat up a few red bean cakes… A’Ci, how many do you want?”
At the same time, in Yidu.
The Imperial Preceptor, Jiang Youyue, was practicing calligraphy when suddenly there was a light tapping sound behind him. He paused and looked up, only to see a bonsai on the shrine trembling slightly, blooming a few tiny flowers.
“Interesting.”
His finger traced over the flower buds.
“Even though ‘desire’ has been sealed, it still wants to break free, huh? …Master, you truly didn’t misjudge him. That kid surname Shi is bound to have great potential.”
“He has only recently left the palace yet already made such progress. His little disciple is probably not unrelated to this.”
The author has something to say:
The fox really has a growth system ☆-∑(>ω0)b
Considering his growth environment, it’s unreasonable for him to be able to suppress the 300-year-old Demonic Lord Yin right from the start…
Demonic Lord Yin: With so many versions of “Purifying Words”, you can just make it up.
Fox Shi: Understood. It’s so precise, you can’t escape from this matter.
In an instant, Yin Ci considered many backup plans.
For example, first taking everyone to escape, then asking someone else to lead him to the Jianchen Temple. As long as he provided enough reward, finding an ignorant and innocent child who didn’t understand greed, hatred, and ignorance or an old person with weak desires shouldn’t be difficult.
However, the thought of getting close to a stranger made Yin Ci uncomfortable all over. On the other hand, if the monks saw that his sect leader was trapped outside the mountain, they would most likely become suspicious of anyone from the Kushan Sect. They were all eminent monks with observant eyes, so it wouldn’t be easy for him to ask freely while pretending to be a disciple.
Yin Ci lowered his eyes.
If he thought about it to the extreme, this matter wasn’t entirely without a solution. But he instinctively resisted further contemplation. Having lived for so long, Yin Ci no longer deceived himself.
…He didn’t want to give up on Shi Jingzhi.
Shi Jingzhi’s hand trembled, as if wrapped in the cold wind of the previous night. Even if he had attacked while deeply dreaming, Shi Jingzhi still held his other hand vaguely, as if searching for his disciple’s hand.
I won’t let you down.
Very well.
Yin Ci released Shi Jingzhi, and the empty darkness once again engulfed him. This time, he didn’t panic; instead, a smile appeared on his face. All the worries were gone, and he would cut through the tangled mess with a sharp blade.
If Yan Qing and Su Si dared to leak any information, he would kill them. At least for today, he wouldn’t give up on Shi Jingzhi.
He was offered a wooden peach and would repay with precious jade*. Time stretched on, and he almost forgot this feeling.
*This line comes from a famous Chinese poem “Papaya” from the Book of Songs by Wei Fang. The idea conveyed is of reciprocation and the appreciation of generosity. In this case, Yin Ci was offered a humble gift (Shi Jingzhi’s affection of sorts) and would repay in extravagance (revealing part of his true power to save Shi Jingzhi’s life).
Yin Ci tightly grasped the Hanging Shadow Sword but didn’t draw it. He slowly unleashed his qi, and the heavy bloodthirst instantly enveloped the entire scene, causing even the Greedy Butterflies in the air to pause for a moment.
The qi was mixed but clear. Under the overwhelming bloodlust, Yan Qing and Su Si didn’t dare to move. Shi Jingzhi, who was stumbling down the mountain, halted his steps and turned around.
A familiar sense of oppression emanated from Shi Jingzhi, meeting Yin Ci’s killing intent head-on. Compared to the time in Yuanxian Village, there was a hint of childlike grievance in this aura.
The two forces clashed, shaking the earth, rippling the scales on the lake’s surface, and startling countless birds in the forest.
“Shi Jingzhi, I don’t like disturbing peaceful dreams. I’m only taking you up the mountain, so endure it for now.”
When they came out of the Ghost Tomb, Shi Jingzhi had bought him a scabbard made of ambergris wood. Ambergris wood carried a faint, soothing fragrance that could calm the mind. Yin Ci knew that the fox had a sharp nose, and this scabbard probably acted as an invisible rope, serving as a marker to find his disciple.
Using it at this moment turned out to be a fortuitous move.
The scabbard swiftly scraped against the ground, colliding with rocks, creating sparks. The precious ambergris wood ignited, emitting a thick aroma. Shi Jingzhi’s movement paused, and Yin Ci soared up with the wind.
Yin Ci lightly tapped Shi Jingzhi’s shoulder with the scabbard, hitting three vital acupoints: qinghui, renshen, and yijing*.
*Clarity: As far as I can tell, these are not actual acupoints and are just made up by the author.
“Converge your desires and calm your mind! Let your true qi flow slowly!” Yin Ci sternly commanded, with a tone full of authority as someone in a superior position.
This was one of the Buddhist martial arts techniques derived from staff training. This method could eliminate distractions, guide one’s true nature, and help individuals face their own hearts directly, removing worldly influences and diminishing desires. Shi Jingzhi, being exceptionally talented and not burdened by inner demons, would naturally find ways to restrain his desires.
That was what Yin Ci originally thought.
As the saying goes, even the wisest can make mistakes. Shi Jingzhi indeed revealed his true nature.
However, this nature was like a collapsing mountain and a boiling sea.
The madness beneath the Ghost Tomb that day suddenly magnified a thousandfold. Shi Jingzhi’s momentum surged, nearly devouring Yin Ci’s robust qi.
The force felt like a roaring mountain and a raging tsunami, and a premonition of destruction swept over Yin Ci’s spine like a needle. After a moment of shock, Yin Ci not only didn’t retreat, but his cold blood slowly ignited.
Shi Jingzhi stood still in place with his hands hanging unnaturally. His cotton outer garment had long been blown away by the wind, leaving only a thin gray robe. Now, his robe fluttered in the wind with his ink-black hair, while the butterflies on his head remained eerily motionless.
No fear, no restraint.
The previous trembling Shi Jingzhi seemed like a mere shell. Now, that shell had completely shattered, revealing an overwhelming torrent inside.
Yin Ci had witnessed this madness before.
In the history of Great Yun, there was a notorious tyrant who ruled for only a year. In a short span of a dozen months, that person plunged the world into war, causing the people to suffer. Yin Ci had seen that person riding in a golden chariot. Its golden wheels crushed decaying corpses and scorched the land, grinding countless pleading and cursing hands beneath the rumbling of the wheels.
The tyrant laughed heartily, wearing his yellow robe in the wind.
That young emperor, whose appearance was as divine as an immortal, had lost his sanity and fallen into madness. That madness was like a sticky vortex, engulfing all living beings around him and crushing any resistance.
At that time, Yin Ci descended from the sky and stopped in front of the golden chariot, slashing the tyrant’s throat with his sword. Blood splattered on the golden relief, and as the person died, their face still bore a mad smile, disdainful of the heavens and the earth.
In terms of strength, the tyrant was far inferior to Shi Jingzhi, but their madness was equally terrifying.
However, at this moment, Shi Jingzhi’s madness had no origin and no target; it simply lingered in the air. Yin Ci faced the catastrophic momentum head-on, tearing open a path with his own strength and advancing once again.
He could still continue.
This set of techniques emphasized calming the mind. It was harmless to others, and yet the Greed Butterflies had already shown a negative response. Now that things had come to this point, it would be a waste to give up halfway. It was better to wait until the smoke and dust settled, until the snow melted away, and see what his master would be like.
The scent of the scabbard became stronger as it struck several major acupoints on Shi Jingzhi’s waist, thighs, and the back of his neck. Shi Jingzhi, like a skillfully reacting puppet, adhered smoothly, as if it were an integral part of him. Yin Ci’s strikes broke several of his ribs in succession, leaving behind extensive bruising.
Shi Jingzhi’s momentum grew even stronger, but his aura was like a fire without a source, burning and dispersing in an even more peculiar manner. His hands seemed guided by a divine will, and although he had lost his inner force, each move seemed to resonate with the heavens and the earth.
Relying on the flow of energy, Yin Ci narrowly evaded, with the wind blades causing a few lacerations on his side.
Perhaps due to the inability to see, there was a fleeting moment where Shi Jingzhi seemed to merge with the heavens and the earth.
Yin Ci didn’t cease his movements. If confronting the opponent head-on was futile, then he would use softness to overcome hardness. He tried to soften his actions, transforming the sharp hostility into a gentle drizzle, so as not to further agitate the irrational Shi Jingzhi.
“Ask the heavens, ask oneself, but don’t ask the world.”
The scented scabbard struck again. This time, targeting the upper arm, chest, forehead, and lower back. The movements became increasingly gentle, akin to the touch between lovers.
Shi Jingzhi attacked while retreating, as if something within him struggled and resisted the process of “clearing the mind”. Unfortunately, Yin Ci’s headlamp presence was like a mountain, leaving Shi Jingzhi with no room to retreat. As soon as he collided with that immense inner demon, he was bound in place by countless shadowy hands.
“Sweep away the dust and let the myriad of thoughts be calm.”
With the completion of Yin Ci’s response, Shi Jingzhi’s momentum instantly froze.
The dancing butterflies fluttered away from his head, revealing a teary eye. Yin Ci couldn’t see this sight, but the overwhelming sorrow and confusion replaced the oppressive aura, dispersing with the scattering butterflies, pricking his skin like needles.
Shi Jingzhi finally broke free.
However, desires gathered and dreams shattered. The intensity of his longing was matched by the weight of despair.
And Yin Ci was most familiar with this despair. Withdrawing the scabbard, he unilaterally altered the final step of the technique—
Instead of issuing a forceful command, Yin Ci grabbed Shi Jingzhi’s hand and pulled him directly into his embrace.
“Shh.” He coaxed like one would comfort a child. “Don’t think about anything. It’s all over.”
Shi Jingzhi closed his eyes, and the waves of emotions finally receded, leaving behind a heart full of ruins.
Initially hindered in his steps, Shi Jingzhi felt angry—countless desires wrapped around him like cocoons. All fears and anxieties were shut out, and he didn’t want to move at all, only wanting to continue forward in that ease.
He had never felt so at peace since birth.
Why disturb him?
Wasn’t he deserving of this moment of tranquility?
“Converge your desires, calm your mind. Let true qi flow slowly. All gods become one, winds calm, rain stills.”
Someone unknown employed a demonic technique, gradually peeling away layer after layer of his desires. In that fleeting moment, Shi Jingzhi wished to destroy the heavens and the earth, to kill every living creature that took breath, just to have a moment of quiet around him.
…But why could he hear these things?
The familiar headache resurfaced, and within the colorful illusions, a red leaf drifted slowly.
Compared to the overly vibrant colors, that red leaf appeared dull. It was like a sharp blade, slicing through his heart.
[Little brat, coming to a place like this. Are you seeking death?]
Shi Jingzhi saw a person dressed in black—a figure with disheveled ink-black hair and half-unfastened black clothing. Leaning against a giant tiger demon, he appeared relaxed, reclining with several empty wine jars strewn haphazardly. The tiger demon had its six eyes closed, peacefully napping on the ground. The person and the tiger leaned against a massive maple tree, surrounded by scattered white bones stained with fresh blood.
It was deep autumn, and the ground was covered in red leaves. Bathed in the lingering rays of the setting sun, the entire world seemed to radiate.
In his memories, Shi Jingzhi couldn’t clearly see the person’s face, but he remembered the scent of blood-soaked alcohol emanating from him.
Just the recollection of this scene caused his head to ache unbearably.
It felt as if countless voices were questioning him. What do you seek in life? If you seek to live, what is it that you seek in the remaining years?
This person intruded into his mind without reason, undoubtedly connected in countless ways to his “wish”. Shi Jingzhi thought dazedly as his ears were filled with the vibrations of fluttering butterfly wings.
…No, wasn’t what he wanted was to “live”? Where did all these messy thoughts come from?
[Converge your desires, calm your mind. Let true qi flow slowly. All gods become one, winds calm, rain stills… Kid, don’t think about it too much. Just focus on this mantra. Don’t keep nibbling on your fingers. If you’re left with all sorts of scars, the girls won’t like you in the future.]
In the next fragmented scene, he was embraced by that person. The person’s voice merged into a jumble, but it undeniably carried a hint of laughter.
However, he only remembered the warmth of the person’s chest and busied himself catching the red leaves before him, with the words entering one ear and leaving the other.
Perhaps that was the most at ease moment in his life.
But did such a moment truly exist? Why had he never remembered it before?
As various desires were slowly extracted, Shi Jingzhi felt as if he stood exposed in the frigid, snowy landscape, gradually becoming panicked. His headache worsened, seemingly determined to prevent him from seeing what remained—
His most persistent and profound true self.
In his memories, the person extended their arm, catching a red leaf floating in the air and handing it to him.
[Stop grabbing aimlessly. Take it.]
There was no hunger in his stomach, and all he saw was a brilliant golden red. The young him was held tenderly in someone’s arms, seemingly seeing the world clearly for the first time.
The red leaves fluttered like butterflies, and the stream sparkled with golden light. There were no curious or hostile eyes around; only a warm breeze and an endless sense of security from behind. That person gazed at him with utmost sincerity, eyes filled with laughter. Shi Jingzhi played with the red leaf for a while, then released it, watching it soar with the wind, resembling a cluster of burning flames.
It was as if, in that moment, he was truly born into the world.
Only at that moment, it seemed like he didn’t want anything anymore… For over twenty years, was his sole desire really just to “live”?
[Ask the heavens, ask oneself, but don’t ask the world. Sweep away the dust and let the myriad of thoughts be calm. Remember it well, Little Mute. If you bite your fingers again, I’ll hit you every time I see it.]
At that time, he still couldn’t escape from his abnormal desires. Whenever he unconsciously bit his fingers or suppressed his desires, that person would lift him up, pull his hand out of his mouth, and repeat the mantra… Although the person had made many threats, they had never truly hit him.
How could he have forgotten?
“Ask the heavens, ask oneself, but don’t ask the world. Sweep away the dust and let the myriad of thoughts be calm.”
The outside voices became clearer.
Yes, this splendid dream was ultimately just a dream. Stepping out of the cocoon of desires, he still had to face the nearing end of his life and the suffocating reality.
But he had no choice but to move forward. He didn’t have time to escape anymore.
Shi Jingzhi sobbed and finally broke free from that gentle dream. His head throbbed, and his heart felt like it was going to burst. Just as he was about to collapse, he fell into a warm embrace.
The blurry memories seemed to find a fulcrum and abruptly pierced into reality.
“…A’Ci.” He instinctively clung tightly to the person in his arms.
Where did you learn your mantra? Who are you, really?
And who am I?
Shi Jingzhi had a thousand words to ask, but the intense pain in his head almost drove him crazy. So he could only hold onto his disciple tightly, like a drowning person clinging to the last piece of driftwood, gasping for breath.
Truly, all thoughts were in despair, with only a flickering flame of his true intentions remaining.
Shi Jingzhi had a few remaining butterflies scattered over his head, but there were hardly any left. Looking at the mess on the ground, Shi Jingzhi was left with an emptiness akin to being drained. He struggled to lift his eyes and looked at Yin Ci’s face.
That face remained calm and undisturbed, the ink-black pupils still without focus, but there was a hint of concealed concern.
Unlike before, a Greed Butterfly landed on the tip of Yin Ci’s hair and quietly folded its wings.
Not far away.
“Is… Is everything alright now?” Yan Qing, who hadn’t been affected much by the Greed Butterflies, felt a bit dizzy and disoriented. However, when faced with the extraordinary pressure emanating from the disciple of the Kushan Sect, he immediately snapped out of it.
Under the oppressive forces, Yan Qing’s whole body turned cold, and his knees went weak like melting sugar. He couldn’t even stand properly.
As for Shi Jingzhi, that could be expected, but Yin Ci had just turned twenty, right? Had he spent too much time in the Taiheng Sect, leading to unnecessary misunderstandings about the martial world?
Normally, at a time like this, Su Si would be bouncing around, telling him they couldn’t stay in the Kushan Sect. After going through all of this, Yan Qing missed his friend’s noisy presence a bit. At least it could bring him some sense of reality.
However, Su Si’s face was solemn, his brow furrowed.
His condition wasn’t much better than Yan Qing’s. He was half-kneeling on the ground, in a slightly more dignified posture. Su Si didn’t rush to persuade Yan Qing. Instead, his gaze was fixed on Shi Jingzhi and Yin Ci, murmuring to himself.
“Why…” He looked at the shaky light behind Shi Jingzhi with an expression that had never been so serious before. “Why is there an Immortal Sect ban on Sect Master Shi?”
Kinky Translations 