Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 133: Story Ending

Night deepened further. The rain had stopped for a while, but the clouds had not dispersed. The sky remained as dark as the bottom of a pot.

A’Shou carefully made her way through the village. The village was brightly lit at night, yet frighteningly silent. Behind the windows were the vague silhouettes of “people” in motion. But upon closer inspection, they were all figures formed from words.

She tried running to several different places, but the words on the shadow figures were all roughly the same. They described her experiences with uncanny accuracy, always just a step ahead of her actual sensations.

Like very brief prophecies.

After seeing enough of them, A’Shou began to question whether they were objective predictions or some kind of script controlling her actions. Her instincts from the battlefield made her hair stand on end. Whatever it was, she should not look too closely.

So, A’Shou stopped at a spot not too far, not too close to the ancestral hall. She forced herself to focus on the sacrifices. While watching Fang Xiu inside the hall, she crouched down and began to draw complex talisman patterns on the ground.

A few seconds later, the talisman glowed with a dim blood-red light, and an illusory figure of an old man in green robes floated up from it.

The old man was gaunt like a skeleton, his beard sparse and dry, and his deep eye sockets glowed with two dim blue lights. He wore a loose green-blue robe, exposing a bony chest with only ribs remaining. The ends of his intricately patterned robe floated in midair and appeared blurry, as if merging into the surrounding mist.

“Lord Haibo.”

A’Shou instinctively cupped her fists and gave a simple salute.

Lord Haibo, one of the well-known ghost immortals.

He had no wish to get too deeply involved with the Underworld and had sealed away his own Immortal E in layers before sinking it to the bottom of the sea. He then went to live alone on an uninhabited island.

In his own words, he was too lazy to work and just as lazy to harm others. His only obsession was reading every book in existence.

Now, facing the powerful General A’Shou, Lord Haibo didn’t budge an inch. He didn’t even turn his eyes. “General A’Shou, how have you been lately?”

“Everything’s well,” A’Shou replied, still in the saluting posture. “I’ve come with a few questions I hope you might help me with.”

Lord Haibo’s dry lips moved slightly. “Not asking the King of Hell or his wardens, but coming to bother this old soul? And still hanging around the Great Xushan. Interesting, interesting.”

A’Shou drew a breath, bowing even more respectfully. “I apologize for coming without an offering—”

“No need for pleasantries. The price,” Lord Haibo interrupted.

A’Shou sighed inwardly. “I have a chest of rare, original storybooks from the Kui Dynasty. I can offer them to you.”

Only then did Lord Haibo move his eyes. “Ask away. But I’ll say this up front: if I can’t answer, it still counts as a consultation.”

“I wish to ask about the ‘Immortal Encounter E’. Have you read any records on it?” A’Shou asked decisively.

Lord Haibo rolled his eyes. “The Immortal Encounter E… The Immortal Encounter E… Yes, I’ve read a letter complaining about it. But the warden who wrote it vanished afterward. I never finished reading it. That letter is one of a kind.”

He held up two fingers and slowly waved them at A’Shou.

“…I’ll find you another chest of storybooks,” A’Shou replied.

Only then was Lord Haibo satisfied. Under the cloudy sky, the light in his eyes dimmed as if he had closed them to recall the memory.

“The warden that day…”

That warden was tasked with tracking a team of Disaster Resolvers. At the time, they were undergoing the eighth ritual. Even though it was dangerous, the warden had to follow them the entire way.

Everyone knew the eighth ritual involved the most dangerous Dust Sealed E’s. It wasn’t a pleasant assignment. Were it not for the generous reward, no warden would want the job.

This time, the Dust Sealed E chosen was the “Immortal Encounter E”.

No one remembered why it had that name. No one knew what it actually did. The official records described it in black and white, and that was accepted as truth. Only the ghost immortal in charge of the Disaster Relief Tower remembered that the Immortal Encounter E had deep ties with Xushan and was extremely perilous.

The warden was understandably anxious. He trembled as he followed the team into the ritual, but to his surprise, the ritual went far more smoothly than expected. The Disaster Resolvers breezed through the ordeal, as if God was on their side.

How could a Dust Sealed E be so simple? The warden waited and waited, expecting a twist—but nothing happened. The group happily completed the ritual and were ready to return to the Tower.

With the situation so stable, the bored warden wrote a letter to a friend, complaining about how underwhelming the Immortal Encounter E was and how absurd the whole trip felt. He planned to chat more after submitting his official report.

That letter turned out to be the final word from both the warden and the Disaster Resolvers.

…After finishing his tale, Lord Haibo clapped his hands. “They vanished without a trace. The fact that the letter survived is sheer luck for the Underworld.”

A’Shou frowned deeply. “Simple? Smooth?”

As far as she knew, even someone as foolish as Dian’er wouldn’t slack off during the eighth ritual. That would be no different from streaking on a battlefield.

If the warden had time to write a letter and successfully deliver it, the ritual must have gone well, and he was preparing to bring everyone back.

A simple ritual. A successful resolution. Yet no one heard from the warden or the team again…

And come to think of it, for Fang Xiu and his group, this ritual had also gone suspiciously smoothly…

A’Shou pinched the bridge of her nose, heart growing heavier by the second.

She looked up again. “Lord Hai—”

But when she saw what was in front of her, her already cold body felt like it had plunged into an ice cave.

Lord Haibo had vanished without a trace. In his place floated a young man dressed in black. He hovered in the same position, his dark robes drifting in the air. On his blank face was a twisted, ancient character for “Pray”.

There was no evil yin energy, only a suffocating pressure.

The ghost immortal barely stood her ground, soft sword already drawn. The creature before her made no sound, but countless thoughts stabbed straight into A’Shou’s mind.

[You want to know.]

[You want to know what was in that letter.]

[You want to know what happened after that.]

She did want to know, A’Shou admitted to herself. If she had not reacted in time, the question would have already slipped from her lips.

And if she had asked, what would have happened…?

Judging by the terrifying pressure, she was no match for it.

“Leave,” she rasped.

[Your wish.]

“No, I’m scolding you.” A’Shou gritted her teeth, ready to strike.

The thing stared at her for a moment, then vanished into the night.

A’Shou steadied herself and pressed her hand to the talisman again. Follow-up questions could wait. First, she needed to confirm Lord Haibo’s status.

But this time, her summoning got no response.

This was an official Underworld talisman. If Lord Haibo still existed, it would react. If he had died, it would return an accurate result.

But it gave no reaction, as if a child had scribbled randomly on the dirt.

As if… Lord Haibo had never existed.

A cold chill crept through A’Shou’s body. Her fingers clenched on the soil where she had drawn the talisman.

In the dark, she suddenly saw the talisman writhing on its own. The strokes crumbled like rotten flesh and turned into crawling words.

[Lord Haibo, one of the well-known ghost immortals.]

[He had no wish to get too deeply involved with the Underworld and had sealed away his own Immortal E in layers before sinking it to the bottom of the sea. He then went to live alone on an uninhabited island.]

[In his own words, he was too lazy to work and just as lazy to harm others. His only obsession was reading every book in existence.]

[“The Tale of Lord Haibo” is completed.]

With the appearance of this final line, all the tiny characters disintegrated. All that remained in her fingers was a clump of damp mud.

……

Fang Xiu stepped on the wet earth, walking into the night with two Guishan Sect followers.

The two cultists were well-trained. They had all the proper gear—compasses, talismans, magic weapons. One walked ahead of Fang Xiu, the other behind. It sounded like they were escorting him for his safety, but in reality, they were watching him from every angle.

Fang Xiu’s expression was calm. He walked along with a cheerful smile.

Bai Shuangying gripped his wrist tightly, frequently glancing around with uncertainty. Fang Xiu didn’t miss a single glance. This was the first time he had seen his ghost so anxious. It was fascinating.

“What is it? Is there really a strange and powerful evil spirit nearby?” Fang Xiu muttered quietly. “Dou Dou seemed pretty accurate.”

Bai Shuangying shook his head, hesitating to speak. It wasn’t that he wanted to hide anything—he simply didn’t know what they were facing.

He couldn’t say it was “another Great God of Calamity”. It wasn’t that powerful and had many odd flaws. But calling it an ordinary evil spirit felt wrong too. Its aura wasn’t particularly heavy, yet disturbingly familiar.

It felt like waking up to find a pair of feet in your house that might be your own, walking around in slippers. It was hard to say whether to be worried or laugh.

No wonder the Guishan Sect had such confidence in “releasing the Great God of Calamity”. They never said it would be the original “God of Calamity”.

In truth, it would be best to go investigate. But his human was too fragile. If he clashed with that thing, and Fang Xiu got caught in the crossfire…

So troublesome. Was this what it felt like to weigh out plans?

Bai Shuangying could not help but turn his head for the ten-thousandth time. This time, he saw Fang Xiu quietly drifting towards the direction he was peering at.

“What is it?” his human asked, clearly pretending not to know.

“I once thought that unsealing everything would solve all our problems,” Bai Shuangying said thoughtfully. “But the enemy is dangerous. I can’t take you near it, and I can’t leave you alone either. The weaker the seal becomes, the more complications arise.”

Fang Xiu’s lips twitched. He coughed. “How dangerous is it?”

Bai Shuangying looked at him nervously. “It has the aura of a God of Calamity, but the situation is unclear.”

“So let me get this straight. You know where this ‘Great Evil’ is. It has the aura of a God of Calamity, but it’s not quite like a normal one.” Fang Xiu scratched his chin. “Could it be the Immortal Encounter E itself?”

“No matter how powerful an E is, it’s still an object. It can’t act on its own,” Bai Shuangying replied immediately.

Fang Xiu hummed and continued walking with the Guishan cultists.

Their private conversation was covered by a “concealment”. To the followers, Fang Xiu just looked odd, walking with a strange posture and mumbling to himself in the silent air.

Just as they were about to lighten the mood with a warm Guishan Sect story, they heard Fang Xiu speak with great reverence. “Your ancestor sealed a great evil at Xushan. This place is close to there… Have you heard any related legends?”

“Like that porcelain statue. I’ve never heard of any god like that. Maybe it’s a sealed evil spirit that Immortal Zhuang subdued, and this village worships it.”

The moment he mentioned the ancestor Zhuang Guiqu, the two believers perked up.

Fang Xiu’s outfit closely matched what Cen Ling had warned them about, except there wasn’t another man wearing white. For a moment, they suspected this red-shirted guy might be the arrogant Fang Xiu, but his respectful tone toward their sect seemed too natural to be fake.

Maybe it was just a coincidence. Master Cen had clearly said the suspect wore white.

While they were still debating, Fang Xiu seized the chance. “I’ve also heard some stories. If we put our information together, maybe we can find a clue. Villages like this always have rumors.”

The believers nodded in agreement.

But they stayed cautious. “Why don’t you go first, brother?”

Fang Xiu smiled slightly. “I heard there’s a small village at the foot of Xushan that worships deformed children as mountain gods. Eventually, a real guardian appeared and protected them. The villagers worshipped it year after year.”

“This village seems to have one particularly powerful evil spirit. Maybe it’s a similar case?”

In a few words, Fang Xiu summarized the Weishan ritual.

The tale was too new, and the Weishan E not well known, so Fang Xiu wasn’t worried about being exposed. Judging by the followers’ faces, they indeed hadn’t heard it before.

“That can’t be a real mountain god. It must be an evil spirit pretending to be one,” said the follower in front, sounding offended. “The only god still walking this world is our Patriarch—he carries Zhuang Guiqu’s direct bloodline!”

Bai Shuangying openly wrinkled his nose and snorted in disdain.

The one in the rear was a bit more polite. “The god near Xushan should only be Zhuang Guiqu. If that porcelain statue isn’t him, then it’s just the villagers doing something foolish.”

“I know some Xushan legends… Let me think…”

He made some odd gasping noises, sharp like a jammed cassette tape. When he spoke again, his voice returned to normal. “Xushan is the foremost of all mountains, a fragment of Heaven’s will.”

“Zhuang Guiqu attained enlightenment in Xushan and was worshipped by everyone. He could have accomplished many great things… If only the dynasty back then weren’t so incompetent…”

“To this day, Xushan remains his domain. He will protect us…”

“…That’s what the books say.”

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 132: Unknown Evil Spirit

Just like before, a sacrificial altar had been placed before the white porcelain statue. Even the types of offerings and drink brands were identical to the one in the Weishan ritual.

Only the strange statue itself and the golden couplets flanking it bore subtle differences.

“Oh, there are even drinks!”

Dou Dou picked up a can of Wangzai Milk and turned it over in her hands. “The production date’s from last year. Someone’s been making offerings here recently.”

She looked genuinely delighted but didn’t touch any of the food or drink. Grandpa Dao made a gesture, and a plain-looking middle-aged man from his team stepped forward.

The man popped a bead into his mouth and began tasting each item on the altar one by one. After he finished, he spit out the bead. “Safe.”

Only then did Dou Dou open a can of canned yellow peaches and smile sincerely. “Thanks, brother.”

“Aside from offerings, nothing else here can be consumed. That taboo is quite interesting.”

Grandpa Dao stroked his beard, mumbling to himself.

Staring at the full table of food, Guan He couldn’t bring himself to eat a single bite.

He suddenly realized how friendly the Weishan ritual had been—he couldn’t even imagine what would’ve happened if they, like these clueless believers, had walked into a nested ritual setup like this one.

The believers had misjudged the nature of the taboo from the very start.

In the increasingly gloomy air, shadows slid slowly across the surface of the white porcelain statue.

Its rough, featureless craftsmanship did match the tiny shrine, but Guan He would rather face the God of Weishan again than deal with this unfamiliar statue of unknown origin.

This wasn’t even a god statue. It offered no protection whatsoever!

Last time, his little child ghost had refused to enter the Weishan shrine. This time, it had no objections and yawned peacefully within his shadow.

At last, darkness fell.

The moment the cloudy sky dimmed further, all the previously extinguished candles within the shrine lit up at once. Outside, the whispers of wandering evil spirits began. The shrine’s door closed slowly without a breeze. Only vague human shadows flickered across the paper windows, near and far.

Now Guan He understood why the statue lacked protective power—there was no true evil spirit aura outside at all.

Back during the Fierce Wind Ritual, Guan He had worked with many unwilling spirit “coaches”. He wasn’t a true metaphysics expert, but he could at least recognize the cold, sticky aura of evil spirits.

…So what were those things outside?

Inside the familiar yet unfamiliar shrine, the faceless statue somehow seemed to be watching them all.

Unable to help himself, Guan He retreated two steps closer to Fang Xiu, only to see him standing with hands behind his back, observing the giant porcelain statue like a casual tourist.

What he couldn’t see was that Bai Shuangying was circling the statue, tapping and examining it here and there.

The statue was hollow. But unlike the containers in the Shrine of All E’s, this statue didn’t store anything at all. It was just an ordinary ceramic sculpture.

The fact that it was “normal” made it all the stranger in this place.

Seeing the frown still on Bai Shuangying’s face, Fang Xiu could more or less guess what was going on. He grabbed a candy from the altar and rolled it between his fingers.

According to how the first ritual played out, the next death should involve “turning into roasted meat”. Now that all the sacrifices were gathered in one place, he was very curious to see how such a death might be carried out.

He already knew his ghost was strong—strong enough to recognize any magic weapon or technique at a glance. Yet now Bai Shuangying had actually developed an anxious expression. That said everything about how difficult the situation was.

A re-creation of the Weishan ritual.

But the inconsistencies had all become warped beyond recognition.

For example, the Skinny Monkey Tree was present, but neither “Skinny Monkey” nor the “cage” existed in this ritual. Corresponding descriptions had also become vague.

And the shrine—while the original plaque clearly bore the words “Weishan Shrine”, the first few letters here seemed covered in mold. All that remained was a weathered, unreadable surface.

These distorted details and strange texts were undoubtedly the key to solving the mystery.

The way forward was simple.

He just needed to redirect the eight deaths slots towards the cultists of the Guishan Sect and observe at leisure. But if they followed the enemy’s script, would this ritual really come to an end?

Fang Xiu rubbed his lower lip in thought.

…What if, after playing through this round, they were dragged into a new round of the Weishan rituals, like some giant “spot-the-difference” puzzle game?

…Or maybe it would lead into a fake Mid-Autumn Ritual? And then cycle back to the seventh ritual, starting all over again?

Facing the bizarre powers of the “Immortal Encounter E” Fang Xiu couldn’t be certain. If things really turned out that way, this was going to be a hell of a ride.

As he thought, a swirl of white cloth fluttered by. Having finished examining the statue, Bai Shuangying landed lightly on the ground. His ghost looked up at the statue with a dark and unreadable expression.

Fang Xiu: “Someone you know?”

Still staring at the statue, Bai Shuangying only shook his head.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, he quickly stepped over to Fang Xiu. “Your hand.”

Hands couldn’t offer spiritual energy.

Fang Xiu looked at him, confused, but obediently held out his hand and pressed it against Bai Shuangying’s palm.

Bai Shuangying pulled out the hair-ring from his chest and slid it onto Fang Xiu’s middle finger. The moment he saw the ring, it was like a bucket of ice water dumped over Fang Xiu’s head and he sobered up instantly.

He had forgotten all about it.

During the last ritual, only his head had remained of his original body. Bai Shuangying had held onto the ring, saying he’d check and maintain it, and return it to him at the start of the seventh ritual.

But ever since entering this fake “Weishan Village”, Fang Xiu hadn’t remembered it once.

It was only now that it hit him—yes, Bai Shuangying had given him that hair-ring.

During the first ritual, the first time they came to the shrine.

Realization dawned, and Fang Xiu slowly looked up at the white porcelain statue across from him.

…That’s right. During the “first” ritual, the “first” time they saw the shrine.

“You just remembered too?” Fang Xiu muttered, lightly smacking his own head.

Bai Shuangying looked conflicted. “Yes.”

Worried he hadn’t made himself clear, he added, “It’s not sentimentality. I just had a bad feeling about this place and remembered I hadn’t returned the ring yet…”

He had taken it out almost reflexively, only to be struck by overwhelming déjà vu.

“In other words, the Immortal Encounter E didn’t forcibly rewrite reality. It’s trying to recreate similar events through normal cause and effect.”

Fang Xiu turned the once-lost ring in his fingers. “Hmm… then let’s see just how far the Immortal Encounter E can go.”

Sometimes the best strategy is to retreat. If they stopped playing along with its fake Weishan reenactment, what would it do?

After months together, Bai Shuangying already understood Fang Xiu’s thought process. “You want to leave.”

“This place really is near Xushan. If it’s not the real ritual site, then the Underworld shouldn’t have sealed off the surrounding area. We can go to the real Xushan.”

Fang Xiu said softly, “There just so happen to be plenty of cultists we can use to test the taboos.”

Then he gave a bitter laugh. “So the death involving ‘escaping the village and ending up roasted’ really does have to follow cause and effect.”

“Huh?”

While Fang Xiu whispered to Bai Shuangying, Dou Dou suddenly exclaimed.

She raised a strand of freshly cut red paper flowers. A string of little people holding hands, each with a standard smiling face. At first glance, they looked quite cute.

Except one paper figure was black with its face twisted into a crying expression that didn’t match the rest.

Dou Dou moved her scissors. “Looks like this village has one big evil spirit… and only one. I could only detect that one.”

Grandpa Dao sighed. “That’s definitely not right.”

It wasn’t strange to have a major evil spirit to cultivate the E. One large evil spirit with a bunch of minor ones feeding on its residual yin energy was the classic setup.

But a single large spirit, and nothing else? That wasn’t right. Even if a lone tree grew in scorched earth of a radius of 160 miles, that tree would still seem suspicious.

Dou Dou tugged the red paper chain. “It’s not nearby. Seems like it’s circling around… Wait, its aura just vanished again.”

“Until we understand the situation, it’s best not to alert the enemy.”

Grandpa Dao’s eyes flicked briefly toward Fang Xiu, and he casually continued, “It’s nighttime now. Let’s send a few people to scout ahead and just observe from a distance.”

“I’ll send two scouts. You’re on your own, so you don’t need to go. Brother Xiao Jia, how about on your end…”

Fang Xiu looked mildly exasperated.

So much for skipping the “midnight investigation of Weishan Village” plotline. It seemed cause and effect struck again.

“Let’s go.” He made no fuss. “The more eyes we have, the fairer the conclusions. But I’ll go alone. Our team doesn’t have many people.”

Great. Here came the classic explore-with-the-enemy segment. The people chosen were Jia Xu and Fang Xiu… except this time, “Fang Xiu” was the one pretending to be Jia Xu. Close enough to call it a two-in-one.

Grandpa Dao was satisfied and gave a nod. He’d secured a hostage… no, a companion.

“Our people are very professional. We’ll watch each other’s backs. There’ll be no trouble.”

Sure there won’t.

Fang Xiu smiled and nodded politely.

Meanwhile, at the mayor’s mansion of Weishan Village.

The mansion was utterly empty. There was no red blessing characters plastered over the walls, and no fake friendly Old Man Fu. Countless characters spelling “evil spirit” writhed across the night, squirming on the surface of their host.

And on the rooftop of the mansion stood a figure. He stood beneath the storm clouds, gazing over the eerie village in its entirety.

He was dressed all in black, giving off a youthful silhouette. His garments were darker than the deepest ink, with no reflection at all. His long hair hung straight and still, devoid of shine, unmoved by the wind.

The only bit of white in that darkness was his face.

His skin was smooth and pale, completely featureless. There were no eyes, no nose, no mouth—just a delicate, flat blankness. And one dark red character, as though painted in blood:

[Pray]

He…or rather, it… turned stiffly, looking toward the brightly lit little shrine in the distance.

Inside the shrine, Bai Shuangying sensed something. He turned slightly, looking toward the direction of that “gaze”.

---

The author has something to say:

Next time, Xiao Bai, when you give Xiao Fang a ring, please don’t use that finger. Just use the ring finger, okay?

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 131: Strange Script

Night had fallen.

Fang Xiu curled up in a corner of the room, stroking his exposed left arm. The anomalies abilities granted by the Underworld were still with him. If he wanted, he could summon the Weishan Village offering table right now.

But this wasn’t the time to reveal his powers. If the other side noticed something, it would complicate things.

The Guishan Sect disciples clearly had no idea what was going on and treated this as just another routine E-resolving task. The food shortage that had plagued them earlier didn’t even count as a real problem to Disaster Resolvers…

“This looks like somewhere near Xushan.”

Grandpa Dao stroked his well-kept beard. “Too bad the weather’s terrible. If we could stargaze, maybe we could figure out the location.”

“Near Xushan is good enough. There’ll definitely be a shrine around here, and at worst a graveyard. Offerings won’t be lacking.”

This came from the leader of the other team. She was a sweet and cute girl.

She called herself Dou Dou, wore twin ponytails, and had meticulously done makeup. Her smile revealed charming teeth and dimples. Her eyes shone with an innocent clarity… She didn’t look twenty, probably younger than her actual age.

Her two teammates had a sleek commercial look, one male and one female, resembling a young idol and her assistants.

Grandpa Dao looked at Dou Dou with grandfatherly affection. “We’ll check the offerings first thing in the morning.”

Dou Dou raised both arms. “Yay! I hope there’s something tasty~”

With just a few words, the Disaster Resolvers had already found a breakthrough point. Confirming the “food taboo” was just a matter of time.

The two Guishan Sect teams made no attempt to hide their cooperation, but Fang Xiu didn’t act suspiciously either, even though he knew they were watching him. It was all so amicable it made one a little nauseous.

Like right now.

Dou Dou had just finished cheering and turned smoothly to Fang Xiu, waving at him in an extremely friendly way like she was onstage somewhere.

Fang Xiu returned the gesture with a polite smile, even adding just the right amount of shyness.

But under his slightly messy bangs, Fang Xiu’s gaze toward the sweet-faced Dou Dou was as cold as ice water.

He stared at her until a flash of white blocked his view. Bai Shuangying casually stepped in front of him, speaking seriously, “Do you have a plan?”

Wow, it was rare for his ghost to be so engaged. Thinking back to the first ritual when Bai Shuangying was totally indifferent, it felt like another lifetime.

But the question was obviously a pretense.

“I’m thinking about how to handle the two team leaders,” Fang Xiu answered truthfully.

Bai Shuangying looked at him silently for a few seconds, then smoothly stepped aside, returning Fang Xiu’s full view.

Fang Xiu couldn’t help laughing under his breath and sighed softly. “Shame I’ve only managed to get data on the ‘faces’. The ones in charge hide themselves too well. Info’s too limited.”

“Faces?” Bai Shuangying asked, curious.

“That ‘Dou Dou’ does livestreams to build a fanbase. Her public image is cheerful, sunny, witty, and popular.”

Fang Xiu had to admit, the Guishan Sect was good at choosing spokespeople—young men and women for the youth, elderly sages for the seniors. Polished, trendy, and seemingly harmless.

However…

“Privately, she uses ‘metaphysics’ as a gimmick to post carefully packaged Guishan propaganda in her VIP fan groups. She also connects with rich backers and introduces them to the sect offline. It’s a variation of how Mei Lan was recruited.”

“That Grandpa Dao runs a wellness-themed account. He loves giving benefits to followers and has decent recognition among seniors.”

Fang Xiu didn’t bother hiding the disgust in his voice. “You block one batch and another springs up. Like cockroaches. These two climbed this high, so they must be very good at hiding things.”

Got it, so good at hiding that only a dead person would be able to report them, Bai Shuangying thought privately.

Fang Xiu muttered these things under cover of his posture. From the outside, it just looked like he had his lower face in shadow, quietly crouched in a corner.

Noticing Fang Xiu didn’t say much, Dou Dou skipped over. “We can stand watch tonight! My team’s really good at that, so everyone can sleep easy… Or if you don’t trust us, feel free to have someone keep watch with us!”

Her tone was cheerful and reassuring, but Guan He only felt dread. Dou Dou’s words were just like what Lao Mian had once said.

“We trust you,” Fang Xiu said graciously, not at all bothered by this deja vu.

Stop it, Fang Ge! Guan He hugged his head, more silent than he was during the original first ritual.

Bai Shuangying leaned in. “I’ll keep watch for you.”

Then he blinked. He had spoken instinctively, but his words had ended up exactly like what he’d said during the first ritual.

What was going on?

Fang Xiu politely thanked Dou Dou and returned to his corner. In the dim light, he lightly wrapped an arm around his ghost’s waist and closed his eyes to rest.

Bai Shuangying gave him a skeptical look. “Do you know what’s happening here?”

“No.” Fang Xiu whispered, “But we’re here already, so we’ll just deal with things as they come. If I panic, Guan He and Cheng Jie won’t stay steady either.”

He yawned and drifted off to sleep.

This time, Bai Shuangying actually kept watch and woke Fang Xiu up.

There was a smell of blood.

It mingled with the damp rain and lingered in the room. The wet earth already had a raw scent, but now it was laced with a pungent iron tang.

Dou Dou was sleeping soundly in a cute pose. Grandpa Dao was resting too. Whether they were really asleep or not, Fang Xiu didn’t know and didn’t care.

He stretched and yawned, then suddenly raised his voice. “There’s blood—!!!”

Aside from Dou Dou’s two assistants who were “outside on watch”, the remaining six disciples all woke up.

Dou Dou squeaked, “I-I smell blood too!”

Grandpa Dao took out a pipe and quickly puffed on it. Warm smoke spiraled into the air, brighter than a normal oil lamp.

“A’Liang, Mimi!”

Dou Dou ran to the door, pounding on it. “Did you hear me? Say something!”

Silence.

Panicking, her eyes reddened as she pulled out a weird brown-black lipstick and smeared it on her lips before opening the door.

Her two assistants lay dead outside the empty house.

The man had been chopped into pulp. The woman had turned into a deformed, monstrous “mutant”.

Not just the manner of death, even their corpses were in the exact positions of Lao Mian and Mai Zi from the first ritual.

Cheng Songyun gasped. “They broke a taboo?!”

But that couldn’t be. Lao Mian and Mai Zi had at least given them some kind of newbie tutorial. These two cultists hadn’t even interacted with them, let alone been chosen as Weishan’s new god.

And the Weishan E was gone!

“They went out just before dawn,” Guan He said, black circles under his eyes. In a place like this, he hadn’t been able to sleep, forced to keep his eyes and ears sharp.

He stopped, realizing he’d spoken an all-too-familiar line, and looked like he wanted to bite his tongue off.

Grandpa Dao sighed. “They had protective charms and just stepped outside for a look. Nothing should’ve happened.”

“They died without a sound. I didn’t feel any yin energy either… They must’ve triggered a taboo.”

Fang Xiu made a noise and quietly asked Bai Shuangying, “Are their souls still here?”

Bai Shuangying: “…”

Bai Shuangying: “Not dispersed yet.”

Really, that was the only thing you wanted to ask?

Fang Xiu sighed in relief. Good, the appetizers he prepared weren’t entirely wasted.

“In the first ritual, eight people died,” Fang Xiu recalled. “Lao Mian and Mai Zi, then the auntie from our group who tried to escape, then the four from the Jade Buddha group, and finally Shan Huanzi.”

Was this ritual going to recreate the entire sequence?

He’d only invited eight Guishan disciples. There were no extra bodies. Unless the Immortal Encounter E didn’t count Shan Huanzi.

Fang Xiu felt an inexplicable feeling.

If this were a novel, it’d be one of those “rebirth with memory and skills” infinite loop stories.

But the recreation was slightly off. Those subtle differences made his skin crawl.

There was nothing exciting about this, just unease.

While everyone was lost in thought, Bai Shuangying silently stepped out and tucked the two remaining souls into his sleeve.

When Grandpa Dao checked the bodies and found the souls missing, his expression turned very grave.

“Their souls aren’t here. This place is too strange. Everyone stick together and don’t separate.”

He tapped his pipe. “Don’t move the corpses either. We might trigger more taboos. First, let’s find food and get a sense of the area.”

Fang Xiu shot a sideways look at Bai Shuangying and nodded in agreement.

……

Determined not to fall into familiar traps, Fang Xiu investigated seriously.

Daytime Weishan Village was the same as the one carved into his memory. Even the rotting safety slogans were identical. He found the same pumpkin vine that Blondie had once bitten.

Cheng Songyun and Guan He didn’t need to act. Just seeing the place again made them visibly tense.

The only blessing this time was they didn’t smell any roasting flesh. The Jade Buddha group’s old hideout was empty. Even the wooden cage hadn’t been set up. In the spot where it should’ve been was only one lonely tree.

Fang Xiu: “…?”

Bai Shuangying: “…………”

Why was the Skinny Monkey Tree here too?

Fang Xiu was happy to think maybe only eight people had to die again, since Skinny Monkey’s death had already been re-enacted.

But he wasn’t happy about what had been re-enacted…

It was a flickering black humanoid figure, mimicking the twisted corpse of Skinny Monkey.

It twitched and glitched like a corrupted computer image. Something squirmed across its surface, possibly black ants, possibly something else.

Yet no one but him and Bai Shuangying seemed to notice. To everyone else, it looked like a normal tree.

Fang Xiu pretended to investigate and slowly moved closer. He realized what the wriggling “something” was…

Black text.

Though jumbled together, the handwriting was neat. It was hard to tell whether it was printed or written.

[In the dim firelight, ■■’s face quickly went pale.]

[He was dead.]

[His corpse remained in a twisted pose beside ■■.]

[From start to finish, no one but Fang Xiu noticed. Everyone else acted as if nothing were wrong.]

Fang Xiu narrowed his eyes and was about to read more when Grandpa Dao’s voice suddenly came from right behind him, his breath brushed Fang Xiu’s skin.

“Young man, is there something wrong with this tree?” he asked with a cheerful smile.

“Nothing,” Fang Xiu answered smoothly with a flawless expression. “I’ve never seen this kind of tree before. Do you recognize it?”

“You’re from the city, huh? Makes sense. They don’t have this kind in the city.”

Grandpa Dao backed off two steps. “This was… what was it called again… ah, I’m getting old…”

“I’ve finished checking here. Nothing to report. Let’s head to the shrine,” Dou Dou said, sniffling.

She’d just lost two teammates. Her mood was clearly low, her eyes shimmering with tears.

It wasn’t even dark yet. They’d found the shrine earlier than during the first ritual. That was fine with Fang Xiu. He didn’t need to find an excuse to slip away.

As for the strange tree, he could return to it later…

Fang Xiu looked back at the Skinny Monkey Tree and froze.

[Fang Xiu looked back at the Skinny Monkey Tree and froze.]

[The trembling text had vanished, as if it had never existed. The tree was no longer a distorted shadow, but a real, regular tree.]

[He didn’t know the species, but he knew it was a tree.]

[It was a tree. Trees don’t talk. Trees have no heartbeat. It was a tree trees don’t talk trees have no heartbeat this is a wood and an inch—]

It was a tree.

Fang Xiu reached out his hand in disbelief and touched the bark. It looked like something out of a children’s coloring book. Dark brown trunk, fresh green leaves, like thousands of blank, unseeing eyes.

Apart from not knowing its species, it was a perfectly normal tree.

He could no longer find a single word on it.

Shocked, Fang Xiu turned to look at Bai Shuangying. He was kneading the disciple’s soul in his hand, brow tightly furrowed, face unusually serious.

He stared at the new tree like he wanted to crush the soul into a ball.

So it hadn’t been a hallucination. Fang Xiu quickly calmed down.

The lines he’d seen had slightly preceded real events, as if they were dictating what happened. If it weren’t called the Immortal Encounter E, they might as well call it the Ma Liang E*.

*Clarity: He’s referring to Ma Liang’s magic brush which basically has the power to bring things drawn/written come to reality.

“What was that just now? Was it the Immortal Encounter E’s power? Or an effect of the Great God of Calamity?”

As they left the courtyard, Fang Xiu walked at the rear and asked quietly.

“It resembles the influence of the Great God of Calamity,” Bai Shuangying said, not looking at him but at the courtyard behind. “But… something’s wrong with it.”

Seeing Bai Shuangying unable to explain it like he usually could, Fang Xiu patted his ghost’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry too much. The fact that we noticed anything already shows how capable you are.”

Bai Shuangying ground his teeth slightly and gave a reluctant grunt.

He could make people think the tree was real, but much too lazy to play such tricks. Moreover, this wasn’t just karma pollution, but karma rewriting reality.

Why had a power from his free era appeared here?

What exactly was this “Immortal Encounter E”?

……

Before sunset, the Disaster Resolvers found the village shrine.

It looked the same, small and dusty, but the door wasn’t locked.

The sign above the door read “■■ Shrine”, written right to left. The doors were wide open.

But at the center wasn’t the god statue from Fang Xiu’s memory.

The wood carving of the Weishan God had been replaced by the white porcelain statue from the Temple of All E’s, which was the same size and material, and even faceless. On either side of the statue, the golden couplets had completely changed.

[Human desires run rampant; joy and sorrow pass in an instant.]

[Heaven’s laws endure; even unfeeling plants last ten thousand years.]

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 130: The Return of the Past

Disaster Resolvers didn’t have a strictly regulated rest period. To coordinate with the teams selected by Fang Xiu, his group rested for a full three days before officially beginning the next ritual.

Face with this cruel realty, no one was more frustrated by this than Dian’er.

Normally, it would be responsible for providing detailed information about the “Immortal Encounter E,” but that E had only appeared in rituals a handful of times. No matter how much you squeezed it, it couldn’t cough up anything useful.

Which made it seem pretty useless.

In order to protect Fang Xiu’s team, an especially high-quality case, it even humbled itself to beg fellow paper figures colleagues for rumors about the E.

To its dismay, it discovered that the last time this thing had been used in a ritual was five hundred years ago. Everyone involved had been wiped out, including the assigned soul envoy. After that, the previous Tower ghost immortal guardian had thrown this cursed thing into the “Sealed E’s” shelf, never to be used again.

The scariest kind of rumor was the absence of rumors.

Though it had no parents, Dian’er came to understand the term “losing one’s parents”. Just as it gloomily reported all this to Fang Xiu, Fang Xiu caught on to a crucial point—

“That’s weird. If you already know no one can clear it, shouldn’t the Underworld use it more often?”

Dian’er: “?”

Fang Xiu: “If I’m right, your eighth ritual is always made extremely difficult. That way, fewer people succeed and less wishes will be granted, so the Underworld earns more.”

“So when faced with an extremely dangerous E, your first instinct was to seal it away. Why? Is there some unique evil in it you don’t want to ascend?”

Dian’er shook its head like a rattle. “No, no, even if a spirit like that did ascend, we’d be glad! Once ascended, it’s bound by the Heavens, making it easier to handle.”

“Just like you said, the most difficult ones are saved for the finale. The previous ghost immortal is gone. We don’t know what happened back then.”

“There’s no records at all?” Fang Xiu raised an eyebrow.

“Only resolved E’s are documented,” the paper figure replied listlessly.

Fang Xiu bit into a fried dough stick, lost in thought.

Beside him, Bai Shuangying perked up his ears and listened attentively. Even Fang Xiu didn’t know about the “Immortal Encounter E”, and neither did he, the so-called Great God of Calamity.

Yet it was clearly influenced by the karma Bai Shuangying had polluted. That meant it had a deep connection to him as the “Great God of Calamity”. To be honest, even Bai Shuangying was confused. He was starting to feel like he was being slandered.

…But no matter what it was, his job was to protect Fang Xiu. Even if he hadn’t fully recovered, he couldn’t possibly lose to some dead object.

They had already survived brutal realities, a cult’s holy land, illusionary photos and dreams. No matter how he thought about it, Bai Shuangying couldn’t figure out what new tricks the Immortal Encounter E might pull.

It would be better to think about how to keep his identity hidden.

Actually, it wasn’t just him—Cheng Songyun and Guan He were both calm, looking like people used to facing storms.

At last, it was time to depart. The two silently walked in front, and as usual, Fang Xiu brought up the rear. As he stepped onto the second floor with Bai Shuangying, he was still deep in thought.

“Huh?” Guan He was the first to speak as his foot touched the second floor.

Fang Xiu looked up instinctively, startled for once.

Through the darkness, the second-floor corridor looked like a rural dirt path, ending at a rotting wooden door. Outside, rain poured down heavily, and the damp air was thick with the earthy smell of wet soil.

…Weishan Village?

Everything looked too familiar… This scene was identical to their first ritual. It was unsettling.

Fang Xiu thought, the Underworld wouldn’t make such a stupid mistake. But coincidence? He didn’t believe that at all.

Coincidence or not, the three stepped through that all-too-familiar door into the ritual site. The door vanished behind them, leaving only a dirt wall.

Even though winter was nearly over, the weather had the warmth of late summer. The rain fell without end, soaking their clothes until they clung to skin like something alive.

They stood once again on the abandoned grain-drying field. Weishan Village was silent beside them, and everything farther off was blocked by thick mist. Only the rough outline of Weishan could be seen in the distance.

There were already many people gathered at the site.

Both Guishan Sect teams selected by Fang Xiu had arrived, with a rare total of eight participants.

While figures like Zhuang Pengdao and Cen Ling led elite squads centered around “core strength”, these teams favored cooperation. They had no internal trust issues, working far more smoothly than most.

All members had cleared at least four rituals. One team still had five members, which spoke volumes about their cooperation skills.

The two team leaders were already chatting warmly. Fortunately, as per Fang Xiu’s request, they didn’t know they had been “specially invited”. They just thought this was another normal ritual.

Looking at the frighteningly familiar scene, goosebumps rose on Guan He’s arms. “Brother Ge, is this…”

Reality? A dream? An illusion?

“Not sure yet. Stay alert,” Fang Xiu said quietly, habitually glancing toward Bai Shuangying.

“These aren’t illusions, and there’s no sign of karmic pollution.” Bai Shuangying frowned slightly. “But the season here is wrong.”

Fang Xiu scanned the surroundings with extra caution. “Do you sense anything else? Anything at all.”

Bai Shuangying, unusually quiet, answered, “There’s something off, but I can’t pinpoint it yet. That ‘Immortal Encounter E’ is extremely powerful. Do not act alone.”

He had broken over thirty thousand chains but still couldn’t see through the “Immortal Encounter E”. That meant its power was comparable to a partially unsealed Lord Bai.

An absurd and terrible realization.

While Fang Xiu’s group was analyzing the environment, the other two teams were already sizing them up, from top to bottom.

They especially scrutinized Guan He and Cheng Songyun, but eventually their focus settled on Fang Xiu’s red T-shirt.

The five-member team’s leader, a kindly looking old man, walked over with a warm tone. “No sense standing around getting soaked. Let’s find shelter from the rain.”

As he spoke, the believers around him smiled warmly too. They looked like a group of cheerful tourists on a countryside retreat.

Hearing such a familiar line, Guan He froze. Fang Xiu simply clenched the jade Buddha in his pocket and replied calmly, “You’re right.”

Half an hour later.

Fang Xiu followed the old man’s lead as their group reached an empty house on the edge of the village.

Inside were just a few bundles of firewood. It was basically an empty storage room. It matched Fang Xiu’s memory exactly—down to the placement of the firewood.

The only difference was that last time, there had been nine people crammed in. Now there were eleven, which made it even more cramped.

Bai Shuangying stayed close to Fang Xiu, keeping up his disguise. One arm wrapped around Fang Xiu’s waist as his sharp eyes scanned the room.

Seeing this creepily familiar building, even Cheng Songyun was losing composure. She swallowed nervously and slowly toyed with her prayer beads to calm her nerves.

“Let’s treat this as our base of operations,” the old leader suggested cheerfully, showing his toothless grin.

His kind face, white goatee, and neatly kept traditional jacket gave him a certain spiritual aura. Around his neck hung a red string with what looked like a jade pendant.

“You all look so young. Just call me Grandpa Dao,” the old man said with a wrinkly smile. “What are your names, young friends?”

Fang Xiu grinned even wider. “I’m Jia Xu. You can call me Xiao Jia. I’m the team leader for our group. Nice to meet you.”

Cheng Songyun and Guan He: “…”

Please don’t use the name of a dead person in such a creepy situation. You just made things even worse.

But it wasn’t the time to comment. They kept their mouths shut and pretended nothing was wrong.

For now, everyone had just arrived. On the surface, things had to remain friendly. Even Guishan fanatics wouldn’t start randomly killing before understanding the situation.

Sure enough, Grandpa Dao was just as friendly as Cen Ling had been early on.

The eight Guishan disciples got to work quickly, cleaning the dirty old house and laying out firewood for makeshift beds.

“It’s almost dark. Let’s leave it at this for today.”

Grandpa Dao lit a fire in the doorway and looked out at the endless rain. “This is only the first day. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”

Another eerily familiar line. Fang Xiu nodded obediently.

This guy was saying the same things Lao Mian and Mai Zi once had… Would he drop dead like them too?

Everything was so strange Fang Xiu didn’t dare act rashly. He leaned at the doorway, staring through the curtain of rain toward the silhouette of Weishan.

“Do you think the Weishan Shrine is still there?” he whispered to Bai Shuangying.

“We’ll check it together in daylight,” Bai Shuangying replied, never straying from Fang Xiu’s side. “But logically, this village shouldn’t even exist.”

The God of Weishan had officially ascended, and Fang Xiu had destroyed the Weishan E. The real village had long been buried by mudslides. Not even ghosts could say what this place really was.

Fang Xiu reached out to catch some rain. He stared at the warm, glistening drops in his palm, then sniffed, and cautiously gave it a taste.

He immediately shuddered and barely suppressed a gag, spitting all the water out.

“Forget whether the shrine still exists. The Weishan E’s taboos are still active here.”

Wiping his lips, Fang Xiu muttered, “No wonder Dian’er least recommended this one. It’s intense.”

The good news was, they’d already experienced the beta version and knew the three taboos of the Weishan E.

The bad news was, this wasn’t the “Weishan E” at all.

……

At the village entrance of Weishan.

A’Shou stood in the rain, solemnly staring into the stormy Weishan Village. From the deserted settlement to the sunless skies above.

As night fell deeper, she turned her gaze toward the shrine.

The lights were still on over there, bustling with activity. Shadows that looked human passed by her silently. She couldn’t see their faces—they were neither human nor evil spirits.

She followed one carefully, watching it for a long time, and barely made out its form.

These humanoid creatures were covered head to toe in black words, like dolls stitched with black thread. Each line was a thread, each word a stitch.

A’Shou squinted to read the blurry embroidery and made out a line:

[A’Shou stood in the rain, solemnly staring into the stormy Weishan Village.]

…What?

She shook her head and looked again.

If her heart could beat, it would’ve skipped. The text had changed. And now it felt even more ominous:

[If her heart could beat, it would’ve skipped.]

[The text had changed.]

[Something was deeply wrong. The Immortal Encounter E was more dangerous than she had imagined, A’Shou thought.]

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 129: Vague Legend

Ghost Immortal A’Shou stood before the wooden rack, carefully placing the completed report into one of the compartments. She looked up at the seemingly endless wall of documents and nearly sighed again.

This was the sixth time Fang Xiu had left his name here. Maybe that red-robed scholar really would make it through all eight rituals and earn a wish.

Who knew what that kid would wish for? If it was within karmic bounds, maybe he’d wish to smuggle that seductive ghost back to the world of the living…

Thinking back on how those two acted like conjoined twins, A’Shou couldn’t help but reach under her veil and wipe her face bitterly.

Still, after clearing her head with a walk around the Shrine of All E’s, her thinking had become much sharper.

According to Dian’er, Fang Xiu had already picked his fellow Disaster Resolver teams for the next ritual. Coincidentally, or not, they were all Guishan Sect members.

Considering that guy’s shady… no, “lively” past behavior, those people were basically equivalent to meat rolls in Bai Shuangying’s hotpot. Clearly, he was planning another “no survivors but me” storyline.

But Fang Xiu hadn’t picked the E yet. Maybe she could use the chance to nudge him a little. Since he was going to investigate the Great God of Calamity, it was best to provide him with enough background.

Intervening directly would be too obvious. But guiding him to understand the Great God of Calamity better…

A’Shou turned away from the rack storing ritual records and walked to the opposite shelf. This rack also had no end, but the scrolls stored in its compartments were sparse, giving off a lonely feel.

As A’Shou reached toward it, Dian’er shuddered. “My Lady, you—”

The “E’s” on this shelf were all “Sealed E’s”. Due to their extreme danger, they were excluded from the karma furnace and could only be assigned manually.

As far as Dian’er knew, these E’s were usually reserved for the eighth ritual. Thousands of Disaster Resolvers had come and gone, and those who could resolve one were one in ten thousand.

“Fang Xiu is the best Disaster Resolver we have. Even I can’t fully understand his methods, which makes this appropriate,” A’Shou said calmly, her tone cold and harsh.

“But, but he’s already on his seventh ritual, my Lady. According to the rules, we could assign it for his eighth ritual…” Dian’er was sweating profusely.

It clearly saw Fang Xiu’s murderous intentions toward the other teams. But this type of “Sealed E” usually required total cooperation from all participants.

This team composition was all wrong!

It had finally caught a high-quality project. How could it just sit back and watch it fall apart?

A’Shou chuckled softly and tapped the scroll with her hand, which was slightly larger than a normal human’s. “Just include this as one of the options. The choice is his. If he doesn’t pick it, I won’t break the rules.”

Dian’er accepted the scroll with tearful resignation. But no amount of lamenting could override a direct order from a superior.

There was no comfort at all. Who didn’t know that this human surnamed Fang was reckless beyond belief?

A few hours later.

Fang Xiu, reckless as ever, said, “Hey, this one looks interesting.”

He had flipped to the “Sealed E” Dian’er had deliberately placed at the end. His eyes lit up like he was ordering food at a restaurant.

Dian’er instantly teleported to his side, speaking urgently. “If you look at the description, this one’s the most dangerous…”

“But it’s also the E most closely connected to the ‘Great God of Calamity’.”

Fang Xiu ran a hand over the information sheet. “Look, it says: ‘Of ancient origin, aligned with heaven and earth. Worshipped by the people, mindful of the will of the ancients.’ …This thing sounds kind of sacred.”

Dian’er: “It’s written vaguely because the Underworld lacks detailed records. Why not check out a different one? I even drew out the full form for you—”

“What’s the point of playing by the walkthrough?” Fang Xiu blinked.

“That’s not the point,” Dian’er tried to reason. “You have to think about your teammates. The eighth ritual is always hard. This seventh one is a good time to adjust the pace. Just think…”

Fang Xiu glanced over at Cheng Songyun and Guan He, not bothering to lower his voice. “From the moment I arrived here, I’ve only acted on my own judgment.”

“If I respect someone, I’ll try to take care of them. But I won’t change my choices just for their safety.”

Afraid of being accused of stirring up discord, Dian’er shook its head quickly. “That’s not what I meant! Really! I just… maybe consider your seductive ghost…”

Fang Xiu paused briefly when Bai Shuangying was mentioned. “Relax. I’ll take care of him. At the very least, I won’t let him die before me.”

Like Underworld I’ll relax, you stubborn lunatic! Dian’er was fuming.

Meanwhile, Cheng Songyun and Guan He had heard everything clearly, yet both looked completely unbothered. Guan He even broke off a piece of meat bun and fed it to the black dog romping around the courtyard.

Noticing Dian’er’s resentful gaze, Guan He shrugged. “Without Fang Ge, I wouldn’t have survived past the third ritual.”

“These rituals are life-and-death. Expecting someone to protect you unconditionally is just shameless.”

Cheng Songyun’s take was simpler. “The Guishan Sect wants to use the Great God of Calamity for evil. So if we study it more, it’s a good thing.”

Seeing the two humans completely unconcerned, Dian’er desperately looked to Bai Shuangying for support. But the white-robed ghost was frozen, his entire spirit seemed to have left his body.

What a timid ghost. Was he scared stiff?

Failing to persuade anyone, Dian’er’s paper face crinkled with deep wrinkles. It sighed and noted down “Meeting the Immortal E” as the selected option, utterly despondent. “Since you’ve picked this… how much do you know about the ‘Great God of Calamity’?”

Fang Xiu poured himself a cup of tea. “I was about to ask you that. Why do both the Underworld and the Guishan Sect call it the ‘Great God of Calamity’? Who copied who?”

Next to him, Bai Shuangying didn’t move a hair or a sleeve.

But Dian’er, in its bad mood, didn’t notice anything unusual. “We’re not too sure. I suppose they adopted the Underworld’s term.”

Fang Xiu stared at him for a moment. “Before coming here, I didn’t know anything about that ‘Great God of Calamity’ plan. It’s just—”

“Just?”

“As far as I know, the spiritual totem of the Guishan Sect has always been Xushan…” Fang Xiu cleared his throat and began explaining calmly.

Xushan was the largest mountain range in the world, vast in area.

Its interior was extremely dangerous, home to large stretches of untouched forest. It was considered a “forbidden zone” for humans. Even in modern times, people had only explored its outer edges and never ventured into its core.

The mountain in the first ritual, Weishan, was one of the outermost peaks of Xushan. Weishan Village was a remote mountain village. Most of the surroundings of Xushan were similar.

“It’s said that near the end of the Kui Dynasty, Zhuang Guiqu sealed a terrifying evil spirit within Xushan and became a so-called ‘half-immortal’. He later disappeared in Xushan, and they claim he ascended.”

“The current Guishan Sect says they inherited Zhuang Guiqu’s legacy.”

“So compared to ‘Xushan’, the true holy land where their founder became an immortal, that imperial tomb from before isn’t even worth mentioning.”

Fang Xiu’s tone was like a museum guide. Calm, practiced, as though he’d gone over this many times in his head.

Guan He stopped feeding the dog. Cheng Songyun listened with full focus.

“What’s the connection between Xushan and the ‘Great God of Calamity’?” she asked seriously.

“Since even the Underworld confirmed it, the ‘Great God of Calamity’ is probably the spirit Zhuang Guiqu sealed in Xushan.”

Fang Xiu shrugged, clearly uninterested in this part. “Cultists say all sorts of things. According to them, the sealed spirits in Xushan could fill a whole fantasy epic.”

“If they’re calling on the ‘Great God of Calamity’ for support, it must be the strongest among them.”

He finished and stared meaningfully at Dian’er.

Dian’er fumbled and sputtered nonsense. “Speaking of the Great God of Calamity, uh… honestly, the Underworld doesn’t have many records either. From what we know, yes, it’s definitely powerful.”

“Ahem, from how much you know about the Guishan Sect, we thought you were an expert…”

Useless. Fang Xiu silently looked away.

“I really don’t know their full plan. It’s like when you intend to kill—um, ‘handle’ someone, you don’t care what they’re having for dinner.”

He admitted freely, “From Mei Lan’s situation, I gather that the plan is only shared among their upper ranks. I just want to see if there’s anything I can exploit.”

That was the truth.

Fang Xiu didn’t believe in “waiting for the enemy to transform”. He preferred strangling threats in their cradle rather than politely watching their plans succeed. This current probe was just on a sudden whim… or from the heart.

But to Fang Xiu’s surprise, the Underworld was unusually concerned with this ritual yet knew remarkably little about the “Great God of Calamity”. The lack of knowledge was almost suspicious.

And Bai Shuangying, too, was evasive, clearly reluctant to discuss it.

…Things were getting interesting.

Hopefully this “Immortal Encounter E”, said to be closely tied to the Xushan seal, would give him an answer.

Wait a minute.

Was it really written that it was tied to the Xushan seal? Why had he assumed that?

Fang Xiu flipped back to the paper. He suddenly found the antique script unfamiliar. The words wobbled in front of him, making his stomach churn.

He forced himself to keep reading. The characters crawled around, but their meanings shot straight into his brain like bullets.

[The Immortal ■■■ E originates from the ■■■ Great God of Calamity, whose ■■■■■■.]

[The Immortal Encounter E originates from the sealed ■■■, whose ■■■ whereabouts are unknown.]

[The Immortal Encounter E originates from the sealed Great God of Calamity, whose current whereabouts are unknown.]

The text yanked at his nerves, trying to convince him the sentences were ordinary, describing well-known facts. If a sane reader saw them, maybe it would’ve worked.

Unfortunately, like the latest virus unable to infect an ancient buggy operating system, Fang Xiu’s mind was too messed up. He’d just been hammered by the Grave-Sealing E. He wasn’t “sane”.

So he calmly watched the words perform their little act, quietly moved but unwilling to accept.

Now he was sure of two things:

First, “Great God of Calamity” was definitely not the original Underworld term. Someone had tampered with it.

Second, the Great God of Calamity was even more powerful than he had imagined. A high-quality bargaining chip.

Excellent. Fang Xiu cracked his knuckles in anticipation.

No matter the outcome, his ghost was in for a feast this time.

---

The author has something to say:

Xiao Bai: What if the promised main course gets canceled?

Then of course we’ll replace it with something just as tasty!

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 128: Main Course Arrangement

In the darkness, a single red candle flickered. Around it, a hundred or so candle stubs melted together, standing in nearly infinite shadows. From the candle flames came the sound of rhythmic breathing.

“Three of our fellow brothers and sisters souls have returned to the mountain.” Cen Ling’s sorrowful voice came from within the red candle.

This was a “private chatroom” split off from the “Disaster Relief Tower Forum”. To avoid detection by the Underworld, Cen Ling rebuilt it randomly each time.

Even so, they tacitly avoided talking about their plans, only sharing ritual experiences and personnel losses.

“What about that Fang Xiu?” a middle-aged woman’s voice responded.

“Still alive. I’ve locked onto the red and white figures. Fang Xiu is likely one of them.”

Cen Ling accurately described the appearances of “Bai Shuangying” and “Hong Shuangxi”, and found himself irritated. After a full ritual, he realized he didn’t understand Fang Xiu’s abilities much at all.

Bai Shuangying had always hovered outside the group, so Cen Ling hadn’t actually seen him fight. Hong Shuangxi had been brainwashed by the Grave-Sealing E and used its powers throughout.

All he knew was that Hong Shuangxi had managed to resist the E’s influence somehow. From this, all he could really conclude was that “Hong Shuangxi has a strong will”.

Come to think of it, it didn’t really matter which of the two was Fang Xiu.

He could clearly sense the ambiguity between them—it wasn’t just fooling around or casual fun. It was something more complicated and serious. To kill Fang Xiu, it would be best to eliminate them both together.

“There are three… no, two others in their team. One is a woman in her forties or fifties, the other a teenage boy. And there’s a strange little black dog. If any of you encounter this group, stay alert.”

“Are they really one team?” For a Disaster Resolver outside the metaphysics circle, that many people seemed unusual.

“I’m sure. If she didn’t know ‘Fang Xiu’, Mei Lan wouldn’t have planned her actions that way. When she was still in the sect, she was known for being discreet and cautious, and managed her projects with perfect order.”

Cen Ling explained without any airs. When he said “Mei Lan”, there was a note of disdain in his voice. Even though his words were positive, his tone made it sound like he was talking about filth.

Another man growled, “What a pity. After this loss, they won’t dare provoke you again. If only we had a chance to meet him…”

Cen Ling cut in softly, “They might not be scared.”

“If Fang Xiu only wanted to complete the rituals, Mei Lan wouldn’t have risked her life to expose my methods. She was sure Fang Xiu and I would cross paths again.”

“Then you—”

“Have Dian Shisi pass a message to the ghost immortals. Tell them I want a break. Don’t assign me to any rituals for the time being. You all carry on as usual.”

Cen Ling said calmly, “I have a feeling Fang Xiu will come to me on his own.”

……

“No familiar faces.”

Fang Xiu leaned against Bai Shuangying, crunching on a candy ball. “It’s not the right time, and that place isn’t right either.”

Bai Shuangying gave him a silent look that clearly said, “So you do know it’s dangerous.”

Fang Xiu completely ignored his ghost’s judgmental stare and kept flipping through the love-filled packet of documents Dian’er had prepared. It included two thick booklets—one listing available teams, the other listing ritual targets.

To make Fang Xiu’s choice easier, the team list even put the ones with previous good relations at the top. But Fang Xiu didn’t even glance at them before flipping past.

The red-robed troublemaker skimmed through the names one by one, his brow alternating between relaxed and furrowed. Finally, he exhaled a long breath and wrote down two Disaster Resolver teams. Their combined size came to a surprising eight people.

Bai Shuangying: “?”

“I’ve heard of all of them. Each one will taste different.” Fang Xiu offered kindly. “Perfect for your appetizer, main course, and dessert. Let’s go with something exotic.”

Bai Shuangying gave a noncommittal grunt, deciding to treat it like a light, healthy meal. No matter what these people had to offer, none would ever be as delicious as Fang Xiu.

Then Bai Shuangying realized something. “Only two teams. How will you split it into three courses?”

“The main course is arranged separately,” Fang Xiu chuckled.

“You?”

“…No. Something else.”

Bai Shuangying nodded, not hiding the disappointment on his face.

The disappointment was so strong that even by nightfall, as Fang Xiu fell asleep, Lord Bai still looked a bit wistful. With that kind of reluctant “I don’t want to eat out” frustration, he stood alone before the Shrine of All E’s.

He’d only wanted to take a walk near the shrine while Fang Xiu slept. But apparently he wasn’t the only ghost wandering around. Just as he was about to spar with the shrine’s sealing chains, the person with the key came to him instead.

Ghost Immortal A’Shou approached slowly, stopping at the temple gates.

She gently touched the layers of chains and sighed beneath her veil. Then she deftly sliced her wrist, unlocking the gate with a wisp of blood smoke, and stepped inside.

Bai Shuangying swiftly used his main body advantage to slither in behind her.

Inside the seemingly infinite shrine, A’Shou dropped like free fall before suddenly stopping on a specific level—everything looked just like it had on their last visit. The rough white porcelain statue, nearly three meters tall. The white jade shrine holding ghost contracts. The glittering golden beast used for suppression.

The only difference was that the ghost contract inside the shrine appeared to have spontaneously combusted, leaving several unsightly scorch marks. The porcelain statue, meanwhile, was covered in a dense network of crack-like fish scales.

“I failed to guard your cup,” A’Shou murmured as she touched the charred shrine, her voice full of sorrow. “I failed to guard the Tower too.”

Neither the shrine nor the statue responded.

“If we still can’t find anything in Xushan, what am I supposed to do?”

A’Shou muttered, “For the seal to look undamaged from outside, the problem must be inside. Back then, the living and dead worked together to create this seal—someone must’ve betrayed us. Reporting it recklessly could spook the enemy… A thousand years have passed, and it’s still a mess.”

Exactly.

Bai Shuangying couldn’t help nodding along.

Of course, his headache wasn’t about the seal. It was about what he’d do if his human actually found something at Xushan. When it came to “absolutely can’t fool Fang Xiu”, the Lord Bai had absolute confidence.

After the tomb ritual, Bai Shuangying had completely lost any thought of polluting Fang Xiu in an emergency. Now, facing this human, he was the most sincerely honest existence in the world regardless of life or death.

Half a step away, A’Shou continued muttering at the shrine. “Maybe I should just tell Fang Xiu the truth and ask for his help openly…”

Bai Shuangying tensed up.

“…But I don’t fully understand that human either. What if he’s the reincarnation of Zhuang Guiqu? That’d make things even messier.”

Bai Shuangying slowly relaxed.

“Or maybe I should talk to his contracted ghost? At least that one works under the Underworld, so it could be helpful…”

Discussing how to seal the “Great God of Calamity” with the God of Calamity himself? Bai Shuangying glanced at her with a touch of pity.

“…But that seductive ghost wears his heart on his sleeve. Fang Xiu is far too sharp—he’ll see through it instantly,” A’Shou mumbled.

Honestly, Bai Shuangying would rather hear her talk about reinforcing the seal.

“Haa.”

Humans were too much trouble. Both great evil spirits, one in the open and one in the shadows, sighed at the same time.

Melancholy aside, Bai Shuangying took the opportunity to inspect the shrine’s condition. From what he could see, the seal still looked intact—all the E’s extended chains of karma, the ends fading into the void, appearing solid and stable.

Only Bai Shuangying knew that over thirty thousand of those “solid” chains had already broken.

How had the Guishan Sect managed that?

At the same moment, Fang Xiu opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling.

He’d woken up within seconds of his ghost slipping out. By now he was used to wrapping his limbs around Bai Shuangying in his sleep. The sensation was hard to describe, but very distinct. Not feeling that cool, slick texture made it hard to sleep.

Oh well. He’d gone to talk with the Underworld by himself not long ago. Now Bai Shuangying wanted some time alone so he couldn’t really complain.

Fang Xiu rubbed the little black dog snoring at the foot of the bed, then jumped down and grabbed some paper and a pen to draft a plan. But he’d barely written a few lines when Bai Shuangying crept back in, slipping through the crack in the door.

Fang Xiu: “…”

Bai Shuangying’s true form that was flattened: “…”

“That was quick,” Fang Xiu greeted casually.

If he didn’t know better, he’d think Bai Shuangying just stepped out for a bathroom break.

Bai Shuangying closed the door and slowly resumed his human form. “…Yes.”

His face clearly showed, “How did you wake up already?”

Fang Xiu grinned. “The Shrine of All E’s?”

“Yes,” Bai Shuangying replied without energy.

“It’s a good place,” Fang Xiu said while chewing on the end of his pen. “Say, if you got free from the Tower’s suppression, could you overturn the Underworld?”

Now that’s what you call a casual conversation topic.

Recently Lord Bai had started to feel he might be a bit too conservative. In comparison, A Shou’s frustrations seemed almost sad.

“I know you want to destroy the world,” Fang Xiu explained, “but there are plenty of ways to do that. Humans are good at it too. I want a more precise answer.”

“Not sure.”

Bai Shuangying tried his best to be vague. “I’ve never tried. I don’t have that kind of grudge against the Underworld.”

In fact, he actually could do it. But his hatred toward the Underworld wasn’t deep enough. If he did go on a rampage, his first goal would be to destroy the Disaster Relief Tower.

Fang Xiu didn’t seem surprised. He nodded and scratched a few more notes.

“Just in case, let me ask first. Do you have any connection to the ‘Great God of Calamity’?”

Bai Shuangying used every ounce of strength to stay calm. “I’ve only recently heard that name.”

Luckily, the room lighting was dim. Fang Xiu just yawned and kept writing, humming cheerfully.

Bai Shuangying finally couldn’t help leaning over silently.

Fang Xiu tilted his head up and ran his hand through Bai Shuangying’s drooping black hair. “The core of the Guishan Sect’s plan is the ‘Great God of Calamity’. If we weaken it in time, they won’t be able to stir up trouble in the world.”

Bai Shuangying repeated slowly, “Weaken the ‘Great God of Calamity’.”

“It’s still sealed for now. The Underworld’s keeping a close eye on it. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance.”

Fang Xiu tapped his pen against the page, deep in thought. “I’m wondering… can we drag a bit of it out and feed it to you?”

Bai Shuangying: “…”

…Help.

---

The author has something to say:

Xiao Bai: Eating myself.jpg

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Is this where the title came from? The last line? Lol.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 127: New Destination

After the discussion ended, Fang Xiu returned to his quarters. It was still a little while before lunch, and Bai Shuangying was sitting by the speaker, happily playing light music.

Fang Xiu had told him to wait alone in the room, and Bai Shuangying waited without a single word of complaint. No doubts, no questions—only a strange sense of calm, as if this were the most ordinary thing in the world.

When Fang Xiu entered the room, he paused for over ten seconds at the door.

Bai Shuangying had returned to his long-haired, white-robed appearance, the same look as when they first met. And yet, something had changed. His ghost still lacked “humanity”, but his emotions were beginning to surface, just as rich as any human’s.

Fang Xiu had once thought it was fine to like Bai Shuangying as much as he wanted. After all, his ghosts didn’t care. 

But now… now he wasn’t so sure. Bai Shuangying’s behavior during the Grave-Sealing E ritual had been a little too much. A normal ghost wouldn’t sacrifice its own interests to protect a human. Let alone attempt an escape while the Underworld happened to be watching nearby.

“I’m back,” Fang Xiu greeted with a cheerful smile.

“Mmm~” Bai Shuangying’s tone followed the rhythm of the music. He was clearly enjoying it.

Fang Xiu flopped onto the bed and lay down next to Bai Shuangying. “Next ritual, we’re going to the sealing ground of that ‘Great God of Calamity’.”

Bai Shuangying: “Mmm… hmm?”

Amid the flowing music in the background, he looked at Fang Xiu stiffly.

“Underworld orders?” Bai Shuangying asked flatly after a few seconds.

“I suggested it.” Fang Xiu grinned. “The Guishan Sect talks like the ‘Great God of Calamity’ is a big deal. We have to check it out.”

Bai Shuangying hesitated. “That place is dangerous. You only have two rituals left. Why take the risk?”

Fang Xiu didn’t respond. He buried his nose in Bai Shuangying’s loose robe. Upon closer look, he could still see the tear Bai Shuangying had made in his real body to protect him. The beautiful white robe had a missing piece, its edge gently writhing like slime mold as it slowly healed.

“Because you like me,” Fang Xiu whispered.

“Nonsense,” Bai Shuangying dismissed.

Then his face crinkled slightly, and he secretly glanced at Fang Xiu. Seeing no sign of displeasure, he relaxed a bit.

He casually stroked Fang Xiu’s warm hair and seriously added, “I’m not willing to die for you, and I don’t want to have children with you. By human standards, that means I ‘don’t like you’.”

Fang Xiu: “…”

In a strange tone, Fang Xiu replied, “…Die for me? Have children with me?”

He wanted to laugh, but held it back out of politeness, pursing his lips hard.

Bai Shuangying cleared his throat and began reciting like a textbook. “If they can’t consummate the relationship and grow old together, they must die for love. If disaster strikes, they must charge in and sacrifice their life. If one dies, the other must grieve themselves to death.”

“And to stay together, there must be a child or two, to continue the family line. If they remain childless, it’s a sign of a disharmonious relationship, thin affection, and poor fortune.”

He didn’t really understand these ideas, but humans had prayed to Lord Bai for love countless times. Over hundreds of years, their requests always boiled down to this sort of thing. Compared to Fang Xiu, who wasn’t even thirty, he was clearly the real master of human love.

Fang Xiu hesitated. “…Let’s leave the first point aside. As for having kids, we literally can’t.”

Forget gender issue, they were 10000% reproductively incompatible.

Bai Shuangying said solemnly, “If I liked you, and we couldn’t have children, I should be devastated.”

Then he thought for a moment and concluded, “Hmm, I feel no devastation at all.”

Fang Xiu couldn’t hold it in any longer. He burst into laughter, burying his face in the sheets, laughing until he couldn’t breathe. In the end, he even wiped his tears with the corner of Bai Shuangying’s robe.

Bai Shuangying looked displeased and began brushing Fang Xiu’s hair more roughly.

“I…cough cough…I give up,” Fang Xiu said, turning to look at Bai Shuangying with a smile, eyes slightly red from laughter. “You’re not human, so you don’t need to follow human definitions. Why force it?”

Bai Shuangying froze for a moment, confusion briefly flickering across his face. Fang Xiu stretched lazily and hugged his wrist.

“And besides, ‘dying for the other person’ is a bit much. Feelings develop step by step. If you start saying stuff like that right after getting together, even humans would find it scary.”

“I haven’t wanted to interact with any other humans but you.”

“Sure, sure.” Fang Xiu grinned the entire time. “Then for you, which is more important, ‘my company’ or ‘destroying the world’?”

“You’re more interesting.” Wasn’t that a rhetorical question? Bai Shuangying answered immediately.

“What matters more, ‘my life’ or ‘your safety’?”

“It’s better if you stay alive,” Bai Shuangying said honestly, recalling the last ritual.

“Do you want to separate from me?”

“Why would I want to separate from you?” Bai Shuangying sounded confused. “I already said, I only do things that make me happy.”

Fang Xiu buried his face back in the robe and laughed for a long time. But as he laughed, his smile slowly faded.

He kept his nose in the fabric, breathing in the pleasant plant-like scent, pretending it was a safe little cocoon. After he’d inhaled enough, he turned his head, dark eyes fixed on Bai Shuangying without blinking.

Bai Shuangying asked instinctively, “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking about finding you something tasty.” Fang Xiu reached out and touched his cheek. “And thinking about how I can spend more time with you.”

Bai Shuangying’s face immediately softened. He clearly liked that answer.

But in truth, Fang Xiu was thinking about far more. He sighed in his heart.

Everything in the rituals had gone smoothly so far. As long as he followed the plan, his life plan would definitely succeed. To ensure that, he should avoid anything related to the “Great God of Calamity”. That was too risky.

And yet, he still couldn’t stop himself from going to Dian’er, as if his legs and tongue had minds of their own. To be honest, the next step looked more like a wild whim than a plan.

…But he just couldn’t help it.

His palms were still sweating, his rational mind banging around in his head, trying to slow a racing heartbeat…

Are you crazy? What happened to “chill romance and graceful goodbye”?

Do you know what “failure at the finish line” means? Or “love makes you stupid”? Only a fool throws everything away when they’re about to succeed.

Fang Xiu took a deep breath and pressed his flushed face against Bai Shuangying again, diving back into his favorite white robe hideout.

This attachment wasn’t so bad. In the cool fabric, Fang Xiu tried to justify himself. His whole life had been about goals, but now, suddenly, he had a dream.

And only now did he realize that “goals” and “dreams” weren’t quite the same thing.

……

After losing Mei Lan, only three living people remained in the huge courtyard. Even with a little black dog bouncing around, it still felt empty.

The eight-person team that had first arrived now felt like a distant memory.

Cheng Songyun looked grim. Guan He’s eyes were red, as if she’d been crying.

The only slight consolation was that they hadn’t known Mei Lan that long, and Mei Lan herself had plenty of blood on her hands. So their grief was mixed with something heavier, more complicated, not enough to make them despair.

Fang Xiu behaved as usual, eating and drinking with a better-than-normal appetite. His seductive ghost sat beside him, just like always, white pupils naturally locked onto him.

“Congratulations to all! The Grave-Sealing E has been resolved—only two disasters remain—”

“The Grave-Sealing E has been resolved. The resolver receives additional rewards—the E was eliminated by Fang Xiu. Many rewards await—”

The paper figure read its lines like a script, dragging out the syllables with no emotion, just technical skill.

Fang Xiu cut the preamble short. “I want Mei Lan’s scarf manipulation spell.”

That was surprisingly normal. The paper figure sighed in relief, then felt a little indignant. “We recommend the ‘personality corruption’ from the Grave-Sealing E. That scarf manipulation thing is just a frontal attack. These days, psychic spells are way more valuable…”

“‘Scarf manipulation’ is good enough. I don’t have a proper weapon.”

Fang Xiu sipped some sweet soy milk and smiled. “I prefer my enemies to die fully aware.”

Dian’er shut up immediately and shuffled forward.

“‘Scarf manipulation’ lets you control the scarf weapon by thought alone. No extra spells needed. It’s simple, but fully effective.”

Fang Xiu nodded calmly.

“As for the site of the Grave-Sealing E, you get it, so I won’t nag.”

The paper figure extended a finger and marked him with the Kun trigram.

“You’re a once-in-a-century genius. Six rituals, seven trigrams. There’s only the Gen trigram left. If the next ritual goes well, you…”

Halfway through, it caught itself and smoothly shifted tone. “Oh what am I saying… ‘If it goes well’? Of course the next ritual will go great! Couldn’t be smoother!”

Discovering a new knowledge point, Guan He perked up. “What happens when one person collects all eight trigrams?”

Facing Fang Xiu’s ally, Dian’er spoke respectfully. “Not much, really. Once Mr. Fang leaves the Underworld, all linked powers get sealed. Carrying a few trigrams won’t change anything.”

It paused to think, then added, “If anything, it means he carries extra karma, the kind that comes from dealing with E’s. The more trigrams, the heavier the weight.”

Cheng Songyun was no longer the metaphysics rookie she once was. She immediately felt something was off. “Ghosts are drawn to souls with heavy karma. If Xiao Fang returns to the world of the living, won’t he be ghost bait?”

“Nonsense!”

Dian’er glanced at Fang Xiu and shook its head like a rattle-drum. “Those trigrams are specially processed by the Underworld, saturated in the Underworld’s scent. No ghost would dare get near. You can be rest assured!”

Fang Xiu remained expressionless as he served himself another plate of soup dumplings, like they weren’t talking about him.

Seeing the mood was right, Dian’er jumped onto the incense burner, clasped its hands behind its back, and dramatically announced…

“For the next ritual, Mr. Fang has designated the site. It’s a special place, so we’ve picked several E’s. Choose one as you please.”

“…That place is called ‘Xushan’.”

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 126: A Perfect Match

Fang Xiu slept for a long time.

Bai Shuangying, having nothing better to do, paced the small room, poking around here and there. On the altar by the door sat the relics of six past rituals, all neatly arranged. Mei Lan’s scarf had been folded into the shape of a bird and leaned artfully against a vase.

It was still the same room, but Bai Shuangying’s mindset had completely changed.

As soon as tens of thousands of chains were broken, he immediately began to corrode the remaining seals. Even if Fang Xiu couldn’t help, within just a hundred years he could break free on his own.

Now that he was one step away, Bai Shuangying no longer felt anxious.

A hundred years was enough for a full human lifetime. Once the human he cared about was gone, he would unseal himself, just in time.

Tired of pacing, Bai Shuangying sprawled back on the bed and resumed admiring Fang Xiu’s sleeping face. After all the chaos in the tomb, Fang Xiu looked thoroughly exhausted, with faint shadows under his eyes.

Bai Shuangying couldn’t resist reaching out and gently covering Fang Xiu’s forehead. His power seeped into Fang Xiu’s soul, slowly nourishing it.

Although Fang Xiu managed to maintain his sanity in the final stages, the corrupted cognition and memories still lingered. He had only kept the damage minimal by fragmenting his consciousness and using poison to fight poison.

For an ordinary person, this level of contamination would have caused a complete mental breakdown. Yet his human remained unchanged. He was still the same Fang Xiu he knew.

This person was far more interesting than any straightforward path to unsealing.

As Bai Shuangying thought and touched, he happened to look down and saw Fang Xiu’s eyes open. The human looked back at him with eyes full of laughter.

“Hungry?”

“Not too bad,” Bai Shuangying replied with a graceful smile, “but a bite wouldn’t hurt.”

……

Fang Xiu wrapped his arms around his ghost’s neck and gave him a five-minute-long good morning kiss.

In his dreams, he kept reliving the karmic memories tied to the Grave-Sealing E, which left him with a lingering headache. Only after that crisp, clear kiss did he feel a little more awake.

Sitting up at the head of the bed, Fang Xiu let out a long breath.

“The karma behind the Grave-Sealing E is a real headache. Watching it once felt like living ten lifetimes.”

Bai Shuangying was in a particularly good mood. “Oh?”

“It was the obsession of a craftsman.” Fang Xiu rubbed his temples.

In a time of chaos when warlords vied for power, a genius craftsman fled north with his child and nearly starved to death on the road.

Luckily, they encountered a group of soldiers. The leader, moved by the child’s pitiful state, gave them some dried food and taught them how to dig up cicada larvae from the woods to roast and eat. The craftsman followed the instructions and survived.

Later, as kingdoms rose and fell, the child grew up. The craftsman, having no more worldly attachments, set out to find his benefactor and repay the life-saving favor.

By coincidence, that benefactor had become a minor king. The craftsman found him and volunteered to design the royal tomb and to seal himself inside to ensure no one else could learn the secrets of its construction.

For this reason, he prepared the plan meticulously.

He recruited laborers from across the land, assigning each to separate tasks. He studied wood and stone construction in solitude, determined to complete the tomb’s core by himself. He tirelessly refined his blueprints, editing and rewriting them over and over in pursuit of perfection.

“I can still remember those diagrams,” Fang Xiu groaned, rubbing his head hard.

Unlike earlier E’s where their karmic stories itself were terrifying, this one’s terror was being bombarded with math, physics, chemistry, and engineering. Pure technical data was rammed into his brain. Additionally, the Grave-Sealing E had left behind a mountain of corrupted data in his mind. If he’d been even slightly weaker-willed, he would’ve forgotten who he was.

Bai Shuangying sat upright beside him, listening intently.

“That jade cicada was originally a family heirloom. It was a jade paperweight passed down for generations. He carved it into a cicada as a burial item, hoping to die with dignity.”

“Later, he realized he could never create a truly perfect design. For every inch of good, evil rises an inch higher*. Even if his tomb stood strong for a century, the world would eventually catch up.”

*(道高一尺，魔高一丈) Idiom that originally was used for religious admonition to practitioners to be vigilant against external temptations, now it’s more so used to highlight how as one achieves a certain level of success, the obstacles encountered will become greater (AKA The higher the stakes, the greater the resistance).

Fang Xiu shrugged. “Right up to the moment he died in the tomb, he was still terrified his construction might fail and bring harm to the benefactor. That’s how the Grave-Sealing E came to be.”

After that, it was targeted by evil spirits and eventually refined into an Immortal E, but that was a different story.

“A man’s obsession becomes an Immortal E yet still fails to protect.” Fang Xiu yawned and summed it up. “There’s no such thing as a flawless plan.”

“Not even yours?” Bai Shuangying asked curiously.

Fang Xiu paused mid-yawn, silent for a moment. “Not really, no—because I met you. Sometimes… I often wonder—”

He glanced at the curious ghost beside him and swallowed the rest of what he was going to say.

Dissatisfied, Bai Shuangying leaned in and bit him a few more times.

There was still a thin veil between them—Fang Xiu’s plan, his identity. Both kept silent about it, peacefully working as partners.

But only two rituals remained.

Bai Shuangying’s fingers itched to tear that veil. He had thought that once he had a way out, his interest in this man would fade. But instead, he was getting more and more curious.

On the other hand, Fang Xiu didn’t show much concern for him, which left Bai Shuangying feeling breathless and frustrated. He wanted to rip that stupid veil apart.

After a bit of back-and-forth, Fang Xiu’s tongue had gone slightly numb. He panted, his dark eyes occasionally dropping in thought, as if he was scheming something.

At the top of the Disaster Relief Tower

Watching A’Shou write her report with lifeless eyes, Dian’er’s paper face twitched. It lifted the corners of its mouth only to force them down again.

Was there anything more satisfying than “watching your boss fall into the same pit you once did”?

Still, it could sense the killing intent radiating from A’Shou and didn’t dare to laugh aloud.

“That Cen Ling kid really knows his way around Underworld rules,” A’Shou said darkly.

Using massive amounts of yin energy to refine his soul and approach a ghost immortal’s body was absurd enough. But since he did it in the human world, he just needed a “sect artifact and secret technique” excuse to fend off scrutiny.

There was no such thing as “suspicious amounts of yin energy” crimes in the human realm, so she couldn’t cross boundaries to intervene. All she could do was watch.

No wonder he was willing to trade that ace for Mei Lan’s life. It had nothing to do with the Guishan Sect tampering with Immortal E’s.

“Tsk, my Lady, the guy’s refining his soul to become a ghost immortal on one end and stealing Immortal E’s on the other. Isn’t it obvious?” Dian’er sniffed. “I used to think they got targeted just ‘because they killed too many’. But now? Bad intentions all around.”

A’Shou narrowed her eyes. “Have you finished checking the Tower’s array?”

“I have, I have. There are no issues,” Dian’er replied quickly. “I even checked staff logs and maintenance records. There is no dereliction of duty. Everyone’s been careful.”

“Hah. Not a single breach in our outer defenses, every spell perfectly functional, yet someone just walked in and took an Immortal E. The luminous cup is really gone.”

A’Shou crumpled the edge of her paper in frustration. From top to bottom, the whole affair was absurd.

Dian’er offered a silver lining. “Well, at least they can only take Immortal E’s during rituals. If they could just waltz into the human world and snatch them, why go through all this trouble to… To…”

It knew what was sealed under the Tower, but the name hovered just out of reach.

A’Shou furrowed her brow, but the doubt faded before it formed. A new thought quickly took over.

“It’s not that simple. Their goal in unleashing this so-called ‘Great God of Calamity’ isn’t just to destroy the tower.”

A cold edge crept into her tone. “Even if they had more Immortal E’s, they’re still just flesh and blood. They can’t withstand the human realm’s response. Besides, the humans now currently live in a peaceful, stable world. No one’s going to follow their cult.”

“But if a dark god descends and throws the world into chaos, the human realm will be too busy fighting it. With the Guishan Sect holding countless ‘immortal artifacts’, the tide could turn, even if the human world fragments, they could carve out a kingdom of their own.”

And if the human realm’s borders changed, the Underworld would follow.

A’Shou had become a ghost immortal during a time of war when the realms were fractured. Just imagining that possibility made her furious.

“…Enough. If the Tower’s clean, then we investigate the source.”

She clawed at the desk, voice laced with rage. “That so-called ‘Great God of Calamity’ won’t take orders from mortals. If they’re so confident it’ll be unsealed, they must have a plan.”

A sacred site of sealing was the foundation of all disaster relief.

According to the Guishan Sect’s plot, the endgame depended on unleashing this “Great God of Calamity”. Without it causing chaos, they had no chance of seizing power.

If the seal was compromised, it had to be addressed first.

Only after confirming its integrity could they investigate the Immortal E’s thefts.

Dian’er tensed up so hard its paper skin nearly tore. “You mean…”

“I want Fang Xiu’s team assigned to the seal site for the next ritual,” A’Shou said grimly.

“The other Disaster Resolvers are tangled in politics. But these ones? They’ve got fresh blood grudges with the Guishan Sect and the ability to back it up. They are perfect for the job.”

“B-But that place is dangerous! Wouldn’t it be better to report to the Underworld enforcers and…”

“The Tower’s in this sorry state and you still trust the higher-ups?”

A’Shou cut it off with a sharp look. “If the Shrine of All E’s is leaking this badly, the Underworld might not be clean either. This matter is critical. No leaks allowed.”

Dian’er didn’t need to breathe, but it still drew a cold shiver.

“This is too important. I’ll go myself.” A’Shou waved her hand.

“There are plenty of Immortal E’s down there. Just pick one. As for companions, anyone’s fine except Cen Ling. Let Fang Xiu choose.”

“They’re under your command. If the mission succeeds, this’ll be a major merit.”

“Understood!”

The paper figure bowed deeply, its original pale cheeks was flushed with a faint red.

But something didn’t sit right. They kept calling that sealed being the “Great God of Calamity” following the Guishan Sect’s lead… Yet it recalled that the one sealed under the Tower didn’t have that name.

The ■■■ that once made both realms tremble… The elusive ■■■… What was its name again?

Never mind. Merit comes first. Besides, Fang Xiu’s reward still needed arranging!

Dian’er shook its head and darted off.

Who would’ve guessed that before it could even come up with a sales pitch, Fang Xiu showed up on his own…

And he hadn’t brought Bai Shuangying. He sought Dian’er out alone.

“That ‘Great God of Calamity’ the Guishan Sect keeps talking about should be sealed by your Underworld, right?” Fang Xiu asked in a low voice.

“…Yes, but how do you…?”

“For the next ritual, can you assign us there?” Fang Xiu lowered his voice further. “Sealing something that powerful must involve Immortal E’s. Just set one aside for us.”

You sound like my boss. Dian’er looked at Fang Xiu speechlessly.

The problem was was, A’Shou had a goal. She knew what to check and how to investigate. No matter how smart Fang Xiu was, what could a person who didn’t even know magic do? Go sightseeing?

Still, if it meant doing him a favor, Dian’er was happy to oblige.

“Done. We’ll arrange it,” it said grandly with a wave of its tiny hand.

“Pick any team members you want. Whatever works for you.”

But Fang Xiu didn’t show his usual crafty grin. He scratched his cheek, a little embarrassed, and sincerely said, “Thank you.”

Suddenly, Dian’er had a very bad premonition.

---

The author has something to say:

Xiao Bai is about to be ambushed by Xiao Fang’s thousand-year-old cat den (?

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 125: Equivalent Exchange

Fang Xiu struggled to keep his eyelids open, trying to see what was happening in front of him.

In truth, he felt absolutely miserable. The corruption from the Grave-Sealing E had drilled countless holes through his brain and then tossed it in a washing machine for a spin cycle. Combined with the high-intensity thinking throughout, his brain was practically reduced to powder.

If he still had a full body, he would’ve been vomiting violently by now.

In his expectations, Cen Ling didn’t have to die here.

From the Underworld’s perspective, keeping Cen Ling alive was more valuable than killing him. Mei Lan wasn’t stupid; she must have known this as well.

Now that the ritual was over, everyone might as well head back and rest and review. There were still two more rituals ahead. If Mei Lan could maneuver Cen Ling into participating once, he could do it again the second time.

But the way things developed still surprised him.

Even without the Substitution E, Mei Lan ignored her weakened body and charged at Cen Ling like a madwoman.

The silken scarf returned to her hand, transforming into a gleaming garrote. Cen Ling took two steps back, frowning, and a dagger silently slipped from his sleeve.

Neither of them said a word about returning to the Tower.

Guan He was the first to panic…

The “protection from all evil” shield had nullified everyone’s spells, stripping Cen Ling of his biggest advantage. But Mei Lan was a wounded woman without a strong build, and going up against a relatively healthy man wielding a blade looked suicidal.

Without thinking, Guan He put on the Jade Buddha and launched himself like a cannonball, trying to knock Cen Ling down before Mei Lan reached him. Cheng Songyun also put on her jade Buddha and rushed forward aggressively to help.

Cen Ling versus Mei Lan one-on-one was fine. One versus three, not so much.

Right in front of Ghost Immortal A’Shou, four humans devolved into a pure melee. A’Shou was exasperated. But everyone was still conscious, and no one had officially requested to return to the Tower. She couldn’t show bias.

Bai Shuangying gently patted the head he cradled in his arms and looked down with a questioning gaze.

“Don’t interfere,” Fang Xiu said firmly, eyes locked on the brawl in the distance. “Mei Lan isn’t stupid. She must have her reasons.”

Compared to the earlier explosions and spells, this fight was ugly. It looked more like a street brawl than a “battle”.

Guan He, headfirst, slammed into Cen Ling’s chest, grabbing for the dagger barehanded without thinking whether it was poisoned. Cheng Songyun dropped to the ground, wrapping herself around Cen Ling’s legs with a death grip.

The green glow had vanished from Mei Lan’s eyes. She stared fiercely at Cen Ling, her silken scarf aiming straight for his throat.

Cen Ling’s expression was stony. Using his strength, he shook off the underdeveloped Guan He, and without moving his feet, twisted his body at an extreme angle, dislocating Mei Lan’s left arm right off the bat.

Mei Lan bit back a scream.

Cen Ling’s eyes were red-rimmed, his rage no less than Mei Lan’s. “You betrayed us first. Then you got my younger brother killed. You will not leave here alive.”

Mei Lan sneered. “Wasn’t it you who sacrificed that little bastard? Didn’t you call that an ‘honor’?”

“Even if it was an honor, the time wasn’t right. If not for you, he wouldn’t have died so early.”

Cen Ling’s voice was cold and grave, his tone disturbingly self-righteous. “This is your sin. Your doing.”

“I must’ve been brain-dead to ever believe your bullshit.” Mei Lan laughed bitterly.

As she moved in close, Cen Ling’s gaze instantly locked onto the jade Buddha on her chest. Fueled by rage, he reached for it.

But it seemed Mei Lan had anticipated the move. She seized the opportunity to wrap her good arm around his neck and tightened with all her strength.

Cen Ling didn’t hesitate either. He drove the dagger deep into Mei Lan’s abdomen.

Already severely injured, her abdominal cavity was torn apart. Blood sprayed, and her organs began to spill out.

Still, Mei Lan clung to his neck as if her body weren’t her own.

Not far away, Bai Shuangying lost interest and looked away.

No matter how awe-inspiring the titles humans bore, their final moments of struggle usually devolved into something as primitive and savage as beasts tearing at each other. He had seen too many scenes like this. It bored him to no end.

In contrast, Fang Xiu was far more interesting.

Even as a severed head, he didn’t shout or try to intervene. Like Bai Shuangying, he watched in silence, with a strange sense of calm.

They watched Mei Lan and Cen Ling fall together, still tangled in each other’s blood and the shimmer of golden light. Mei Lan’s face had turned deathly pale from blood loss. Cen Ling’s face was blue from asphyxiation, his features twisted in agony.

Guan He scrambled over, used Mei Lan’s bloody fingertips, and activated his Jade Buddha, placing it on her. Mei Lan weakly blinked, showing a faint smile.

Cen Ling looked like he wanted to say something, but her stranglehold on his throat allowed not even a whisper.

No screaming, no explosions, no dramatic spectacle. The two just collapsed like that. Mei Lan finally lost all strength and released her grip. As soon as Cen Ling went still, Guan He looked about to celebrate…

“Ha.”

Cen Ling, who should have been dead, suddenly opened his eyes. “So this is what you were after.”

“Trading your life for a single move of mine—I accept that deal.”

A flood of yin energy burst from him, its strength on par with a ghost immortal. Even A’Shou furrowed her brow. This time, no one saw him draw power from any artifact.

On the contrary, despite using the Jade Buddha, Mei Lan showed no signs of recovery. She lay in a pool of blood, its radius expanding beneath her.

“I request to return to the Tower,” Cen Ling said coolly, rising amidst stunned silence.

A’Shou raised her hand wordlessly. A flash of light passed, and Cen Ling vanished from where he stood. The reversal had happened in an instant. Guan He’s joy hadn’t even fully appeared before it was gone.

Cheng Songyun panicked. She didn’t understand what it all meant, but she knew what to do.

“Come on, Miss, let’s get back to the Tower,” she said urgently, lifting Mei Lan’s head.

Cen Ling had run, fine, but Mei Lan was still alive. As long as she was breathing, the underworld could still save her.

Mei Lan gently shook her head.

A’Shou stepped forward and laid her hand on Mei Lan’s forehead. Her nails were painted, but her hand was broad and scarred.

After a moment, she sighed. “She can’t return.”

“Why not?!”

Guan He’s temper flared. “She’s still alive! You people said that if we’re alive, we can be saved! The jade Buddha was given by the Underworld too. Why didn’t it work?”

“Cen Ling somehow acquired a massive amount of yin energy and used it to temper his soul, bringing it close to the level of a ghost immortal,” A’Shou explained gravely, not bothered by Guan He’s attitude.

“When a mortal dies, the soul leaves the body and quickly deteriorates. But that man… his soul doesn’t even need a vessel after death.”

With a soul that powerful, it would be even easier for him to wield Immortal E and high-level spells.

No wonder Cen Ling hadn’t hesitated to force an Immortal E into his body and push toward ghost immortal status. Anyone else would’ve suffered massive damage doing so.

…That man wasn’t just a genius. He was a genius whose soul had been modified. A’Shou’s frown deepened. The Guishan Sect’s methods were stranger than she had thought. She would need to be even more cautious in the upcoming investigation.

“But what does that have to do with Mei Lan? Why can’t she leave?”

Guan He was nearly desperate, even reaching out to grab A’Shou’s sleeve.

A’Shou didn’t respond directly. She looked back at Mei Lan instead.

“If it weren’t for ‘protection from all evil’ blocking his spells, and you encountered that ‘resurrection’ move mid-ritual, you wouldn’t have stood a chance. You pushed him hard the whole time. Was it to force that ability out into the open?”

Mei Lan looked toward the collapsed tomb passage and nodded slightly.

“And… killing him… felt good…” she murmured.

“You must’ve known that the yin energy burst from his resurrection was extremely damaging to nearby souls. The others had their bodies to shield their souls. But in your case…”

Mei Lan, severely wounded and close to death, had an unstable soul. She had taken the brunt of that yin energy at close range. It was like standing naked in a snowstorm.

It wasn’t a spell. It didn’t even count as an attack. So “protection from all evil” couldn’t block it.

It didn’t damage her body. And Mei Lan hadn’t technically died yet. So the Jade Buddha couldn’t protect her either.

Her consciousness remained, but her soul was like a cooked bird egg. All that remained was to wait for it to rot.

A’Shou softened her voice and rephrased it. “Your soul is completely destroyed. Not even the Underworld can save you.”

“I understand,” Mei Lan replied softly.

Cheng Songyun looked shocked. Guan He looked from the conscious Mei Lan to A’Shou’s slightly shaking red veil, completely unable to accept it.

“But she’s still talking!”

He crouched beside Mei Lan, his face flushing red with urgency. “She’s just physically injured. Her mind is still clear. How can she be unsalvageable?”

A’Shou stood up. “In human terms, her condition is like someone who ‘drank paraquat’ or ‘received a fatal dose of radiation’.”

“She’s conscious, yes. But her body is unsalvageable. Replace ‘body’ with ‘soul’, and that’s her situation now.”

“Say your goodbyes properly,” A’Shou said softly.

Guan He stood there in a daze.

He had lost comrades before, but those had been sudden deaths, or deaths he hadn’t even witnessed. He had never experienced such a long, drawn-out farewell.

He instinctively turned to Fang Xiu. Bai Shuangying was approaching, still holding his head.

Yes. Fang Xiu. Maybe Fang Xiu could do something.

Fang Xiu twisted his neck with difficulty and looked at Mei Lan. He didn’t offer any miracle solution. He simply said, “Thank you.”

“I’ve already revealed everything I could…”

Mei Lan didn’t look at Fang Xiu. She kept her gaze up at the dark tomb ceiling. “I’m not as strong as Cen Ling. Not as smart as you…”

Fang Xiu, for once, didn’t deflect. “I truly didn’t know about his yin-soul cultivation. That’s critical information. If not for you, I would’ve suffered a major loss.”

Mei Lan smiled. “You really are… different… Even at a time like this…”

“You reported the Guishan Sect to the Underworld. You killed Cen Ling once. And you fought to expose one of his trump cards.”

Fang Xiu’s voice wasn’t mournful. It was as if they were having an ordinary conversation. “I don’t think you need my sorrow. You need my promise.”

“I’ll use the intel you left to completely destroy them,” he said firmly.

Mei Lan exhaled slowly. Some peace entered her eyes.

She moved her fingers and pushed the silken scarf toward Fang Xiu. “Let it… witness it…”

“Okay,” Fang Xiu said calmly.

Even Guan He, who idolized Fang Xiu, couldn’t help but find his calmness unnerving. He was about to say something when Fang Xiu spoke again, wearily.

“As one of the Guishan Sect’s victims, I’m willing to offer you one portion of forgiveness, and only one portion.”

“I will spare your soul, Mei Lan.”

“Thank you…”

She whispered, eyes still fixed on the collapsed tomb. Acrid smoke still filled the air, and the Samadhi Fire burned in the corners.

It was as if she had returned to the day of the car crash—the same darkness, the same smoke, the same fire.

…Now, finally, she could die on that day.

…With her parents.

Unfortunately, she had taken too many lives and committed too many sins. She probably wouldn’t see them again.

But at least, this way, her parents could believe she had lived a peaceful life.

That was enough.

“I’m sorry,”

She mumbled at the end, not even sure who it was meant for.

……

After everyone left, the tomb was empty. Not even half a ghost remained.

Mei Lan’s body lay in the ruined sacred ground. Nearby, a massive, bloodied evil spirit dragged itself closer. It was the dying Six Ghost Remnants Immortal.

Its huge body was mostly burned away, leaving only a deformed head and a charred torso. Drawn by the scent of a fresh corpse, it struggled forward, trying to devour her body.

Just as it reached out, a thunderous rumble echoed from the tomb. The sound seemed to come from the Underworld itself, booming rhythmically, shaking the entire tomb.

The Six Ghost Remnants Immortal didn’t retreat. It stood there, listening blankly to the terrifying knocking sounds.

Ah. That person.

That person…

As the resonance grew stronger, the tomb completely collapsed—not from an explosion or fire, but from total structural failure. The Six Ghost Remnants Immortal was instantly buried under thousands of tons of dirt and stone, completely immobilized.

Even buried, it maintained its upward-facing posture, staring longingly and sorrowfully into the darkness.

It had carried out its orders. Would he return?

Would he come back?

Inside the Disaster Relief Tower.

Having recovered his body, Fang Xiu turned over in bed and finally closed his eyes.

---

The author has something to say:

This arc is over!

Two more arcs to go!!!

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 124: When the Dust Settles

Another wave of crashing and cracking echoed through the tomb.

This time, the explosion was so loud it could rupture eardrums. The entire tomb trembled violently as dirt and stones rained down like a storm. Bai Shuangying swept Fang Xiu into his arms and narrowly avoided being crushed by several falling stone spikes.

The Six Ghost Remnants Immortal wasn’t so lucky. It thrashed madly under the burning Samadhi True Fire, struggling as the tomb collapsed. The little black dog barked nonstop, guiding Cheng Songyun and Guan He to dodge nimbly.

As the earth heaved and the walls shuddered, Mei Lan kept her eyes fixed on Cen Ling.

Ignoring the cracking ground beneath her feet, she directed the Substitution E to lunge forward. Cen Ling’s face darkened. He turned the jade ruyi scepter in his hand. Both Mei Lan and the Substitution E froze mid-motion, a patch of jade-colored sheen appearing on their faces.

Taking advantage of the chaos, A’Shou slipped away again, fading back into the darkness.

Cen Ling clicked his tongue and rapidly formed hand seals with his free hand, performing a divination.

He had a sense that the place wouldn’t last much longer. The Grave-Sealing E had to be eliminated soon. But he was pinned down by Mei Lan’s frenzied assault and the indiscriminate attacks from the evil spirits. He had no room to maneuver.

“The core taboo of the Grave-Sealing E is to ‘seal the tomb’,” he muttered under his breath. “Deliberately destroying the tomb must be a method to break the taboo.”

And since all participants were present, it meant that the supposedly vanished Bai Shuangying was likely still alive and in action. Interesting. That man might actually be the real Fang Xiu.

But that didn’t matter.

Cen Ling drew a dagger and slashed open his chest and abdomen, jamming the jade ruyi inside. His hands were soaked in his own blood, which shimmered with an unnatural jade-green light.

Then he raised both hands and began chanting. A sudden burst of yin energy erupted around him, and Cen Ling’s entire aura changed.

The red bridal veil flapped violently as A’Shou watched silently.

This was “borrowing yin”.

A living person borrowing a spirit’s power, or becoming possessed, to gain strength they should not possess. Cen Ling had rushed through the preparations, and the spell was crude, but his aura was already near that of a ghost immortal.

No wonder he had chosen the jade ruyi. Though not highly offensive, one of its taboos was turning flesh into jade. Combined with Cen Ling’s blood spell, it just happened to stabilize his physical condition.

One had to admit, this man had what it took to rise to the top among the Disaster Resolvers.

But, unfortunately…

Her eyes flicked toward Fang Xiu.

As the tomb collapsed, Fang Xiu showed a flash of pain so raw it resembled a wild animal having its cub torn away. He gasped, shoving himself out of Bai Shuangying’s arms.

According to the Grave-Sealing E’s brainwashing, he should have gone wild trying to recover it. But A’Shou only saw Fang Xiu shakily reach out a hand and point to the Six Ghost Remnants Immortal.

“Good. Destroy it.”

As the tomb fell apart, a hint of clarity flickered in his eyes. “All those coffins, destroy them all…”

Then Fang Xiu mumbled, writhing weakly on the ground.

“That thing is an enemy of the tomb guardian. I used a trick to calm it and reduce damage. It’s too injured to reach its destination.”

“…I am protecting this place.”

Amazingly, the violently struggling Six Ghost Remnants Immortal quieted down. It twisted its scorched body and made a submissive gesture toward Fang Xiu and Bai Shuangying. Then its six burned-white eyes slowly rotated as it turned toward the massive tomb chamber where the Guishan Sect had stored the coffins of its believers.

All the corpses had been moved there. Once that chamber was destroyed, neither the “holy land” nor the “grand tomb” would truly exist anymore.

A’Shou had nothing to say.

Sure. This was “protection”, right?

The Six Ghost Remnants Immortal was indeed at the end of its rope, but no one mentioned it was still cloaked in Samadhi True Fire. If nobody stopped it, could it really just be ignored?

This was like throwing a molotov into someone’s house and then claiming the floor was fireproof anyway.

And why did that Six Ghost obey Fang Xiu?

That thing was born of evil and overflowing with malice. It was practically a rabid dog. Even A’Shou didn’t trust herself to rein it in.

Suddenly she felt she had been too hard on Dian’er. Fang Xiu was truly unreadable. At least Cen Ling still fell within her understanding.

After using the jade ruyi Immortal E to forcefully raise his power, Cen Ling quickly locked onto the Grave-Sealing E’s aura.

He wasn’t distracted by the Six Ghost’s strange behavior. Instead, he immediately turned toward the darkness where Fang Xiu and Bai Shuangying were hidden and charged. Bai Sui was ready to assist, lightning in one hand and a magic weapon in the other.

The tomb continued to crumble, flames roaring, while bizarre, sharp sounds echoed from afar. Countless evil spirits writhed in the fire, their shadows dancing wildly on the walls.

Fang Xiu lay sprawled on the ground, his funeral robe smeared with dust, staring at the two men with wide eyes. But the smile on his face grew wider and wider, looking nothing like a living person.

Just as Cen Ling’s hand was about to touch Fang Xiu’s head…

“…Cen…”

“Cen Ge…!”

“Wake up, Cen Ge! I can’t hold out anymore!”

Bai Sui’s distant cry pierced Cen Ling’s ears. He jolted.

Fang Xiu had vanished. The fire roared louder. Bai Sui was still desperately fending off Mei Lan. He wasn’t a prodigy like Cen Ling. Even though Mei Lan was heavily wounded, with the Substitution E aiding her, he was barely hanging on.

“You just froze mid-fight!”

Seeing Cen Ling respond, Bai Sui called out with a pained grin, “Help me out here, Cen Ge!”

…Cognitive contamination.

In Bai Sui’s perception, time hadn’t changed. Someone had deliberately tampered with him!

Cen Ling’s strength now rivaled a ghost immortal. Anyone who could interfere with him had to be even higher-level. Could it be that the Underworld had noticed and made a move outside the rules?

Cen Ling had no time to worry about Bai Sui. He turned sharply, trying to relocate the Grave-Sealing E. The collapse continued, the fire had somehow shrunk, and smoke was filling the tomb passage. The scene before him looked like the end of the world.

Crack.

From the depths of the gray smoke came a crisp sound…

Like teeth crushing jade.

Then, a figure staggered out of the haze. Bai Shuangying walked forward, holding the head of “Hong Shuangxi” in his arms, and looked down at Cen Ling with scorn. The figure in the funeral robe had vanished, along with the Grave-Sealing E’s aura.

How?

The tomb passage in front of him was filled with black smoke. In it stood a man in white with a cold expression, but the head in his arms smiled brightly, though clearly dazed.

It was like a twisted dream.

…How?

He had made no tactical errors. Every decision prioritized the Disaster Relief Tower and the Holy Land. He had even used four Immortal E’s. How could he have lost so completely?

Cen Ling had never lost in a battle of spells. His only failure was once, out of curiosity, playing a few video games. That defeat flashed through his mind now. He had understood the controls, attacked with full force, yet still lost without knowing why.

He had never faced an opponent like this.

Cen Ling licked his molars and stared at the red and white pair in the distance.

The Grave-Sealing E’s aura had vanished. The Underworld could arrive at any moment. The priority now was not to fight, but to erase evidence.

Cen Ling’s body went stiff. He quickly wiped his palm across his abdomen, and the jade ruyi vanished instantly. His body became extremely weak, as if he had just run ten kilometers.

He immediately grabbed Bai Sui with one hand, eyes fixed on the Substitution E Mei Lan controlled. His face showed reluctant resignation.

“Return, return,” he recited.

“A child for the offering, all must return as one.”

As he was lifted off the ground, Bai Sui still wore a look of confusion.

But at the words “a child for the offering”, his expression twisted.

He wet himself, trembling, trying to say something to beg for mercy. But no words came out—only a desperate, animalistic cry. He seemed to vaguely understand something, or maybe nothing at all.

Within seconds, Bai Sui’s body burst apart, falling to ash.

The Substitution E reverted into a dirty rag doll. Before it hit the ground, it vanished mid-air like the jade ruyi had.

But Mei Lan didn’t stop.

Dragging her wounded body, she and the silken bird charged at Cen Ling with everything they had.

This was the moment she had waited for. She had known Fang Xiu would succeed in resolving the E. Once the Grave-Sealing E was gone, Cen Ling would be forced to erase the evidence.

And when that moment came, Cen Ling would be at his weakest. That belief had kept her from retreating with Guan He and Cheng Songyun.

This was her only chance… Her only shot to kill a top figure of the Guishan Sect while outmatched.

“Dispersing calamity, dispelling the E—protection from all evil. The ritual is complete. I shall now escort you all back to the Tower—”

A hoarse female voice echoed through the darkness.

A’Shou stepped out from the shadows with a blank expression. Golden light flickered on everyone’s bodies. The “protection from all evil” had been activated.

Mei Lan’s silken bird collided with the golden barrier and floated lightly to the ground. Mei Lan’s blood-red eyes snapped toward A’Shou in fury.

Crack.

Just then, from the depths of the gray smoke came another clear sound—

Like teeth crushing jade.

The next second, a ghost wind swept through the area. The smoke was blown away, revealing a tomb chamber in ruin.

This time, even A’Shou’s face twisted. She looked furiously into the depths of the darkness.

She had felt it. A living soul had returned.

“Sorry, but I have to live. Gambling my life was too risky.”

Fang Xiu’s head, still held in Bai Shuangying’s arms, spoke calmly.

“I only hid the Grave-Sealing E’s aura just now. I didn’t expect everyone to believe I had resolved it so easily.”

Of course A’Shou knew what this brat had done.

Fang Xiu had destroyed the tomb with painstaking effort to weaken the E’s control. Then he made noise, hid its aura, and tricked the Underworld into granting protection.

The Underworld’s “protection from all evil”, it instantly destroyed the remnant soul within Fang Xiu’s head. Without a body sustained by the E, his living soul now had a safe place to return to.

In doing so, Fang Xiu had created a situation in which the Grave-Sealing E could be destroyed with minimal risk.

In the past, Underworld agents only came to end the ritual once an E was confirmed broken. Fang Xiu had dared to play this game because he knew they had been watching the whole time.

Worst of all, Fang Xiu had never declared that he had resolved the E. It had been her own mistake, thinking it was over and ending the ritual herself.

And now, to keep Cen Ling in check, she had to pretend she had only just arrived and knew nothing.

…Whether for official duty or personal pride, she had no grounds to accuse Fang Xiu of “deception”.

It had been a long time since A’Shou felt like she was about to explode. She was both physically and mentally exhausted.

Fine. The greater mission took priority. Mei Lan’s intel had been verified. The rest would have to wait…

“Mei Lan?!”

A sudden cry exploded in her ears.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>