Author: 梦溪石 / Meng Xi Shi

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

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Chapter 42

Suddenly, a sharp whistling sound was heard, followed by movements like fireworks. In the great battle just now, Chi Banxia used the least strength, so she had reserve energy to spare to be on the lookout.

“Could it be a signal from Zhang Song and the others letting us know where to rendezvous?”

Li Ying’s expression moved. “What do you think?”

As he finished his words, Chen Xun’s throat made a cracking sound, as if bones were being split apart. Liu Qingbo stood up with vigilance and pointed his sword at Chen Xun. “He was scratched by those monsters just now. Could he be infected?”

Everyone subconsciously retreated from Chen Xun, only to see his complexion paling and his eyeballs rolling upwards. His hands kept grasping the wounds on is body that were profusely bleeding, and he refused to stop.

“Don’t touch it, Chen Xun!” Gu Meiren couldn’t help but say

“Xiao Chi, see if he can still be saved!” Liu Si said anxiously.

Chi Banxia took something from her pocket and sprinkled it on Chen Xun, but the latter’s symptoms were not alleviated. The wound was growing bigger, and Chen Xun’s breathing began to shorten as he started to roll around, frightening the ordinary people who hid to the side. Dong Zhi wanted to come forward and check, but Ba Sang grabbed him tightly.

Chen Xun didn’t move for a long time, but everyone knew what would happen next. They stared at him in silence and as expected, after a while, Chen Xun slightly moved again. He slowly got up and folded his upper body desperately as he straightened his body into a weird posture that normal people could not do and slowly walked towards them.

“Chen Xun!” Liu Si yelled.

Chen Xun naturally did not respond. Everyone knew that he had become like Xiang Yongnian, who had lost his mind and attacked his companions. Sure enough, he let out a low roar and rushed towards Liu Qingbo.

Unfortunately, this was the wrong decision. Liu Qingbo waved his sword and penetrated Chen Xun’s neck. Chen Xun desperately tried to grab onto Liu Qingbo, but in the end, he lowered his hands in vain.

Dong Zhi clenched his fists. They had lost another companion.

If this was reality, then who among them could survive until the end? He couldn’t help but think of Long Shen. If it was him, he would leave behind the corpses of thousands of monsters, but such a strong man never stops for the world. It was the world that stopped for him.

Liu Qingbo continued holding his sword in place and his long-suppressed emotions finally broke out. “I don’t want to be consumed like this anymore. I want to go back to the Special Administration Bureau and look. I need to know whether it’s training or reality because I don’t believe that everyone around me has been killed!”

Li Ying frowned and said, “Calm down. I think it’s best for us to find a large army first and then move out of the city.”

Liu Qingbo: “What do you mean by a large army?”

Li Ying: “If everything is real, then the government will definitely organize a retreat. If it’s just training, it’s better to rendezvous with Zhang Song and the others first, then find a way to hold out until it’s over. It’s impossible to keep us trapped in this world.”

Liu Qingbo disagreed, “Then it’s better to go back to the Special Administration Bureau to ask clearly!”

Li Ying shook his head and said, “If this is training, do you think you can just find someone back at the Special Administration Bureau? You also saw what happened to Xiang Yongnian just now.”

Liu Qingbo tilted his chin slightly, not concealing his arrogance. “That’s because he’s too weak!”

Originally, although Liu Qingbo had a deep background, he still maintained a certain degree of politeness in front of Li Ying. After all, Li Ying’s father was a consultant to the Special Administration Bureau, and Li Ying himself was born on Mount Maoshan, so his background was no less than Liu Qingbo’s, but at this moment, Liu Qingbo had finally stopped maintaining his superficial politeness and insisted on returning to the Special Administration Bureau.

Seeing that no one wanted to go, Liu Qingbo snorted coldly, and without saying goodbye, walked out with his sword in hand. He walked quickly and, after a short time, left the mall and disappeared into the distance.

Li Ying looked at Dong Zhi and asked, “What do you think?”

Unlike Liu Qingbo, Li Ying took Dong Zhi seriously. He knows that although Dong Zhi looks harmless on the outside, his actual abilities aren’t that weak. His potential may be even greater than Ba Sang’s, who looks quite domineering in his own appearance. After hearing Boss Wu’s intention to recruit Dong Zhi into his group, Li Ying had always maintained a good relationship with him, as was in line with his usual behavior.

This time, however, Dong Zhi didn’t speak on his behalf but rather asked, “What about these ordinary people?”

Li Ying said, “The world is vast, and they are not the only ones. We can protect for a while, but not for a lifetime.”

Dong Zhi understood and pondered for a moment before saying, “Well, you go meet with Zhang Song and the others, and I’ll stay here to guard. I just saw a semi-closed building on the other side of the mall. We should be able to hold out there for a while. After you rendezvous with them, you can come back.”

Li Ying knew that Dong Zhi couldn’t leave these ordinary people alone. He couldn’t help feeling that Dong Zhi was too kind and soft-hearted, but he couldn’t say anything condemning. After all, there’s nothing wrong with the other party doing this. As a member of the Special Administration Bureau, he shouldn’t leave ordinary people behind at such a critical moment. Although, his reason wouldn’t be as magnanimous as Dong Zhi’s.

Having said that, a kind companion is better than a ruthless one who would stab you in the back or abandon you at a critical moment.

“Okay then,” He nodded and looked around at everyone. “Who wants to go with me?”

Chi Banxia slowly raised her hand. “Brother Li, let me join you.”

Li Ying smiled. “Okay!”

Chi Banxia’s had limited combat power, but she was closer to Li Ying and naturally would want to go with him.

Ba Sang pondered, “I am cooperating well with Dong Zhi, so I’ll stay with him.”

Gu Meiren said, “I’ll stay too.”

Li Ying knew that they had a better relationship with Dong Zhi, but he didn’t care. He nodded and looked at the remaining Liu Si. “What about you?”

Liu Si thought for a while, then said, “I’ll go with you. When we find a large army, someone needs to come back and tell them.”

Li Ying stopped dawdling, got up, and said, “Alright. Before the zombies return, let’s take this chance and move out.”

He also said to Dong Zhi, “Take care. As soon as we find a helping hand, we’ll come back to help you!”

Dong Zhi nodded. “You be careful too.”

The two groups parted ways as the ordinary people shrank to the side at a complete loss. Seeing Li Ying and the others leave, they timidly asked Dong Zhi. “Are you leaving too?”

Dong Zhi comforted them and said, “No, we’re staying.”

The attack from the three monsters just now killed, in addition to Chen Xun, two other ordinary people. One was a young girl, and the other was a middle-aged woman. Luckily, they were stopped in time by Li Ying and Ba Sang, so there were no more casualties.

While the young girl seemed to be alone, the middle-aged woman had a son who was about ten years old. He had been crying for his mother and was being comforted by a woman next to him. He regarded Dong Zhi’s group as enemies as he looked at them with hatred through his wailing.

Dong Zhi felt a headache coming on as he said, “We didn’t kill your mother. She was bitten to death by a zombie. If we didn’t deal with it, she’d soon come to turn you into one. She no longer recognizes you after she was bitten, understand?”

The child responded with a sharper cry. If it weren’t for being hugged by the woman next to him, he would have run towards Dong Zhi to hit him. His cries attracted a few zombies to enter the mall, and their numbers started increasing. Ba Sang stepped forward and kicked the leading zombie while Dong Zhi found a silk scarf somewhere on the ground and ripped it in half, stuffing one piece into the kid’s mouth while using the other half to tie up his hands.

“Mff, mff, mff!” The child stared menacingly at Dong Zhi, as if he was launching death waves at him.

Dong Zhi looked at the woman next to him and said, “Keep an eye on him. Don’t let him make a sound. Otherwise, it’ll attract more zombies. The three of us can escape, but you will all die!”

Since his face was kind and amiable, even if he pretended to be fierce, it didn’t have much lethality. However, given the situation, whether it be the zombies or their life hanging on by a brink, his tone was flat that it served as enough deterrence to make several of the women nodded profusely as they obeyed his command and took the initiative to hold the boy’s leg to prevent him from moving.

Turning around, Dong Zhi saw three zombies besieging Ba Sang, who had his vulture assisting on the peripheral. Unfortunately, he was quickly outnumbered as a swarm of zombies quickly gathered. Under Gu Meiren’s flute, the speed of the zombies was slightly slowed down, but it was only for a short time. Seeing as Ba Sang was about to be grabbed by a zombie from behind, Dong Zhi held his sword in one hand and a talisman in the other. He kept running towards the zombie until he got close enough to slash its neck.

It could be because his strength wasn’t strong as he failed to cleanly cut its head off like Li Qingbo did, but it mattered not. If one strike won’t work, just strike a few more times! Dong Zhi pulled back his sword and slashed again, using more force this time. The sword blade embedded into the gap he made just now and cleanly cut off the zombie’s spine, causing it to collapse onto the ground.

He found that climbing more than 30 floors up and down from the rooftop daily wasn’t a complete waste of time. At least he was able to practice his kung fu tona in the process and, at the same time, work on his physical strength. It wasn’t visible at that time, but during such a critical moment like this, it had revealed itself. Although his reflexes weren’t as light as a swallow, compared to a month ago, it was a world of a difference. His speed of running and his reactions were much more explosive than before.

He pasted the talisman on the head of the zombie, and it ignited, turning into a raging fire that covered its entire head. The zombie roared, falling over and bumping into other zombies, giving time for Ba Sang to breath.

While Ba Sang focused on strength, Dong Zhi focused on skills. Their cooperation had developed from unfamiliar to tacit understanding, and their efficiency in fighting zombies had significantly improved. With a snap, the last zombie fell as its neck was twisted by Ba Sang.

Seeing that there weren’t any new zombies coming in, the three of them wiped off the sweat on their foreheads and rested. Gu Meiren turned her head and saw the child was still struggling desperately while staring at them intently. She put the flute to her mouth and played a minor melody that made the child’s eyes heavy, and he quickly tilted to the side afterward.

Ba Sang gave her a thumbs up. Upon seeing this, Dong Zhi breathed a sigh of relief. People’s lives are the cheapest in troubled times. Seeing the corpses of the zombies, they had gradually started to realize this. Some of their identities can be easily distinguished by the clothes on their bodies.

There were white-collar workers in suits, students in their school uniforms, old men and women, and even children. They had walked on different paths in their lives, but now they all had the same fate in the end.

Dong Zhi sighed softly, looked around at the survivors behind him and said to Ba Sang and Gu Meiren. “This place is located in the middle of a shopping mall, so it’s too dangerous. If there are too many zombies, it’ll be easy to get overwhelmed. Let’s move to a corner over there first.”

Ba Sang and Gu Meiren had no opinion. They moved to the southwest corner of the mall together. There was a separate area here where they could see the movement from outside, and with two walls as a natural barricade, it wasn’t easy for them to be attacked on all sides.

They hadn’t eaten for a while, and after so many encounters, everyone was starving. Ba Sang’s and Dong Zhi’s stomachs grumbled while Gu Meiren covered hers, trying to hold back the sound.

“How are you, beauty?”

Gu Meiren said softly, “I’m okay. Just need to take a break.”

Dong Zhi said, “Maybe you are too hungry. Did you bring any food with you?”

Everyone shook their heads. They were originally going to go to a restaurant nearby, but who would have expected a crisis like this to suddenly happen.

A woman took out half a bottle of water. “I still have some water here. Would you like to drink some?”

Dong Zhi thanked her and took the water and handed it to Gu Meiren.

“It’s not good to go on like this. Everyone needs to eat something. I remember there should be a supermarket on the ground floor here.”

Ba Sang said, “I’ll go. You stay and rest!”

Dong Zhi grabbed him and said, “I’ll go. You still have a lot of strength left. There are old and weak women and children here. If something happens, you can still hold them off for a while. It’s more convenient for me to act alone. I’ll come back soon after I find food.”

Seeing the worried eyes of Ba Sang and Gu Meiren, Dong Zhi smiled and said, “Don’t worry. I’m well equipped!”

He put his backpack on the ground and checked its contents. His wallet is useless for the time being, but since it was light, he’ll take it with him. After all, it did contain important documents. He had developed a habit of carrying talisman papers and cinnabar with him since the incident at Tianyuan Building in Yangcheng. He would usually paint a few talismans when he had nothing to do and had accumulated around 50 talismans so far. 30 sheets had been used and there were about 20 remaining, which is a bit small for his supply but should be enough just for a trip to the supermarket. He could always paint more when he returns. 

He took out the talismans and put them in a stack in one pocket and left his backpack at the base. He mounted the Qingzhu Sword on his back and set off. He could feel the burning gaze of everyone from behind him without needing to look back, as they were looking at him for the very last time. He couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry and couldn’t help but ask, “Can you stop staring at me like this? It makes me feel as if I’m never coming back!”

“Be careful and come back safely!” Gu Meiren said.

Dong Zhi made an OK gesture to her, turned around, and walked towards the escalator entrance. The path was calm, and there were no zombies on this floor. Not long after the crisis occurred, the escalator was still running. Dong Zhi didn’t rush down but stood by its entrance as he turned on his phone, clicked on a song, and pressed play.

His phone didn’t have signal since the crisis broke out, but he could still play songs that were originally downloaded on his phone. The sound was loud and clear on the phone’s speaker and soon attracted the attention of the zombies. They gathered around the escalator, following the breath of the living as they staggered towards Dong Zhi.

The escalators have two directions, one going up and one going down. Since the zombies weren’t intelligent, many of them piled on the escalator going down and weren’t able to move up. As more zombies gathered, the area got crowded as they all started piling on top of each other to board the down escalator. Dong Zhi thought it was quite funny to see the scene of a bunch of zombies trying to go up but struggling.

The zombies who came from the other side slowly came up the escalator. As one was about to reach the top, Dong Zhi kicked it with one foot, causing it to fall, and like dominos, all the zombies behind it fell with it. Taking his chance, he got out his sword and stepped onto the escalator and pierced the zombies’ necks before they had the chance to get back up.

The Qingzhu sword was extremely sharp. As long as proper strength was used, it could cleanly cut off the heads of zombies. With the increased usage, his proficiency with the sword had also increased. Before, it took him up to three attempts before he could kill the zombies, but now he only needed a single cut to slice them cleanly in half.

After solving the problem around the escalator, he guessed that all the zombies around the first floor should basically be solved. He turned off the song and continued to walk towards the supermarket with his sword in hand.

The supermarket was a mess, with items scattered everywhere, most likely due to everyone leaving in a panic after the chaos erupted. There weren’t any signs that the supermarket had been ransacked as there were still many things left on the shelves. He found a shopping cart and started putting food and water into it.

His goal was clear. He selected foods that were easy to carry, mainly things like bags of instant noodles, various cookies, and candy like chocolates. The higher the calorie, the more energy it can provide. He mainly only took pure water and functional drinks, like those loaded with vitamins. The shopping car was quickly filled with things that it became difficult to push. He had to selectively discard some drinks that were too heavy and refocused on efficiency on the lowest number of trips he’d need to make.

Beep, beep.

Dong Zhi suddenly turned around! The sound came from behind him, several aisles away. He didn’t plan to check out the noise as he stood there waiting for a while. When he didn’t hear the sound anymore, he hurriedly pushed the cart out.

Beep, beep, beep.

The sound was eerie as it echoed in the empty store, especially when he knew that there couldn’t possibly be living people around. Dong Zhi accelerated his steps as he held the cart with one hand and his sword with the other. He vigilantly surveyed his surroundings as he continued moving forward.

The wheels on the shopping cart made such loud noises as it rolled on the ground that he was afraid he’d miss the eerie sound that was coming from behind him, so he slowed down his pace and started to push it slowly.

Beep, beep, beep.

The haunting noise was getting closer. Dong Zhi suddenly stopped and swung the sword behind him. A black shadow flashed past within his sight, so fast that he didn’t have time to see his opponent clearly, but Dong Zhi knew that it was one of the monsters that had attacked them earlier.

They were also in the supermarkets! With a crash, the monster jumped between the rows of shelves in the aisle and disappeared in an instant, leaving behind a smashed alarm clock.

…It was an alarm clock held by the monster. Was the monster using it as bait? Truly, they were much smarter than average zombies. This thought made him shiver with fright as all his hair stood up!

No matter how fierce a zombie is, at least they weren’t fast, and they could be defeated using conventional human wisdom. These monsters, however, could set up “traps” and “decoys” to lure humans in. When combined with their strength and speed…

He didn’t dare to think about it anymore. This monster must still be hidden somewhere in the supermarket, secretly looking for an opportunity to attack. Dong Zhi quietly took out a talisman from his pocket.

Could he attract Heavenly Thunder in an underground place like this? If he couldn’t, he would be paying the price with his life. He didn’t dare bet on it, so he held a Sunlight Talisman in his hand just in case. This talisman was a basic talisman that was taught to those who had just gotten started in the Hezao Sect, but Master Fang had told him that no matter how basic things were, they could play a huge role. The most important thing was to familiarize himself and be able to use them freely.

His heartbeat was getting faster, and the palms of his hands were already covered in sweat. Dong Zhi gritted his teeth and pushed the shopping cart forward. It made a loud clanging noise as it rolled by itself past a few aisles before gradually slowing down. At this moment, a dark shadow suddenly appeared on the shelf in front of Dong Zhi. His opponent hadn’t fallen for his trick but went straight for him! His trap was seen through by the monster!

Dong Zhi reacted too late. When he threw the talisman in his hand at the monster, it ignited in mid-air as it swept towards the monster’s face. The monster dodged and avoided it as it clawed towards Dong Zhi’s head. He stepped back quickly and swung his sword out just in time to slash at the monster’s arm!

With a howl, the monster’s elbow was cleanly cut off. It roared fiercely before jumping to the ceiling and disappearing. Dong Zhi didn’t think that such an injury was enough for the monster to lose its combat effectiveness. Since it had brains, it most likely would hold a grudge against him.

He got to the shopping cart, quickly arrived at the elevator, and pressed the up button all in one breath. When the elevator door opened, he pushed the shopping cart in first. Suddenly, he felt a light breeze hit him from behind. Dong Zhi was alert the whole time. Not bothering to turn his head, he stabbed his sword directly behind him.

Miss! The monster let out a low growl and opened its mouth, hitting his face with its foul breath. In the next second, a Sunlight Talisman was attached to its forehead.

“The Ancestors of the Sanqing who sit above the throne. The mighty Heavenly King of Swords turns talisman into fire. Royal edict!”

With a boom, the monster’s head burst into flames as Dong Zhi quickly retreated into the elevator. The elevator door slowly closed as the monster rushed towards him! Its upper body had entered the elevator, jamming the door.

“Roar!” It bared its yellow fangs that were dripping with saliva as its claw stretched towards Dong Zhi, just inches away from his forehead.

Too close!

The distance between him and the claws was barely half a meter long! The prey was right in front of it. Seeing its opportunity was about to be lost, it rushed towards the elevator to jam the door from closing with its body.

Suddenly, a sword was pulled out and inserted into its throat. Dong Zhi had his back against the elevator wall as he gripped the hilt of the sword tightly before thrusting it forward vigorously. The blade penetrated the monster’s head, piercing out from the other end.

The monster fell to the ground, causing the elevator to shake uncontrollably due to the sudden weight. Dong Zhi took a deep breath, then raised his sword to cut off the monster’s head before kicking its heavy body out of the elevator. He squatted down and examined the monster’s head.

He could still see vague facial features on it. It seems to have mutated from a human, but it really looks similar to the Licker in those American movies. The difference was that this monster was completely dark all over and the flesh of its head was stretched open by the bones below. The original eyes were missing, replaced by two black ones, and its nose was high and bulging. This most likely was because after its visual degeneration, its sense of smell replaced its need for vision, which is why it could accurately find him every time.

After leaving the elevator, Dong Zhi picked up a coat on the ground and wiped his Qingzhu Sword to clean it. He then pushed the cart and walked towards where Ba Sang and the others were. In the past, when he first got the Qingzhu Sword, he would clean it every day after practicing and would sometimes take it out to polish it so he could admire it from time to time. Now that he had started using it as a real weapon, he felt even more gratitude towards its original owner.

If it weren’t for Long Shen giving him this sword, it would be unknown whether he could have survived for this long.

Ba Sang and the others had been waiting anxiously for him and got angry when he hadn’t returned for a long time. If it weren’t for the old and weak, plus the women and children, he would’ve gone down to find Dong Zhi. Everyone was happy to see him return safely with the food. Ba Sang hurriedly ran towards him and helped him push the shopping cart.

“Thank you for your hard work!” He patted Dong Zhi on the shoulder.

Dong Zhi shook his head and took the mineral water handed to him by Gu Meiren. He drank most of it in one gulp and only then felt he had relieved some of his dehydration.

“Just now, when I was down there, I ran into another monster.”

Ba Sang’s and Gu Meiren’s expressions changed drastically.

“But you’re okay?!” Gu Meiren scanned his body up and down.

Dong Zhi nodded his head. “How is it here? Is there any news from Li Ying?”

Gu Meiren sighed. “No.”

Dong Zhi said, “This building is dangerous. I suspect that there are still many monsters lurking in the dark. The electricity in the mall may not last much longer. Haven’t you noticed? The air conditioning is no longer as good as when we first came in…”

Before he could finish his sentence, the lights above his head suddenly went out and the entire mall fell into darkness, causing the group of ordinary people to scream.

Dong Zhi: …

Gu Meiren, Ba Sang: …

Gu Meiren cried, “Stop jinxing us!”

Dong Zhi covered his mouth. “I’m shutting up now!”

Ba Sang was worried. “Is there no emergency light in the mall?”

“There is!” The teller said. “There’s a unified emergency power supply on this floor in the electric room. I know where it is!”

In this kind of weather, coupled with the current mood, it was inconceivable what a muggy and sweltering night it would be to spend inside the mall. More importantly, there were monsters hidden in the dark, which became more lethal with no light to protect them.

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Kinky Thoughts:

Hm, is this reality or a test? Even I can’t tell.

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<<< || Table of Contents || Lore Glossary || >>>

Author: 梦溪石 / Meng Xi Shi

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

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Chapter 41

Fortunately, this look lasted only a few seconds before Wu Bingtian continued, “Third place, Zhang Song. Fourth Place, Liu Qingbo…” and he continued on until he named all 20 people.

“…All in all, the written exams and interviews represent everyone’s most intuitive level, but how far you can go in the future is not determined by them. I believe you’ll be able to learn a lot more in this next training course. I hope you’ll make persistent efforts and have the courage to keep climbing! Next, we’ll begin today’s training session.”

Seeing everyone sitting upright with their ears pricked up, he couldn’t help but smile. “The first day of the training course is not from me, but from the Jiang Bureau. Please welcome Director Jiang Jun!”

Amidst enthusiastic applause, Director Jiang Jun walked in. He clasped his palms and motioned for everyone to calm down. He looked around for a while and saw eager eyes and said with satisfaction, “Hello everyone. I’m Jiang Jun. Today’s the first day of your training with the Special Administration Bureau, and I have the honor of teaching you. Our theme today is duty, integrity, and efficiency, and how you can make your contribution to the Chinese dream!”

Everyone: ???

It wasn’t that they had never heard of the origin of this Director Jiang. Rumors swirled that he wasn’t a practitioner but was someone that had been parachuted in from another department. He was quite enthusiastic about speaking and talked incessantly every time his mouth opened. Unfortunately, everything he talked about had nothing to do with training. Ba Sang and the others couldn’t help but doze off after an hour, while Dong Zhi lasted a little longer, and only an hour later did he start to get distracted. Li Ying was the strongest and held on until class was almost over. As a result, his eyes were completely glazed over and listless.

Director Jiang spoke for three hours and didn’t even break for a sip of water in between. It wasn’t until Wu Bingtian came back and announced that class was over that he stopped. As everyone watched the two of them leave the classroom, they all collapsed on their table with a scream.

Ba Sang said in despair, “It won’t be the same kind of course this afternoon, will it?”

Dong Zhi was uncertain. “I don’t think so. Director Jiang must be tired.”

Unfortunately, after their two-hour lunch break, Director Jiang came back and not only didn’t he feel the slightest bit of fatigue, but he was also actually in higher spirits and went on for another three hours. Everyone felt anguished in their hearts and suddenly felt that there was no God.

Even Li Ying, who was the most astute, couldn’t bear it.

It was a bit easier to get through the afternoon session. Director Jiang finally left in the evening. Everyone was afraid that he was going to say he’d be continuing tomorrow, but fortunately, he left without saying anything, so it gave them a glimmer of hope.

“Shall we go to dinner?”

At the end of the day, Ba Sang stammered when he spoke. He had to rub his eyes hard in order not to fall asleep and leave a bad impression and had used up almost all his willpower for half of his lifetime. The others didn’t fare much better, as Li Ying yawned and asked if everyone would like to have a meal together.

The 20 people in the training class had already formed their own circle of friends. Of the ten that had helped Hui Yiguang, Cheng Yuan and another person had failed the interview, leaving only eight people left. Both Dong Zhi and Gu Meiren are friends with Ba Sang, so naturally they invited him as well as Li Ying and Liu Qingbo.

The other group was headed by Zhang Song. As a disciple of the Longhu Sect, he didn’t want to “succumb” to Li Ying, a disciple of another sect, so he started his own group and brought several rising stars to his side. There were three people in it. One was named Ou-Yang Yin, who was good at divination. Another was Zhou Yue, who came from a line of feng shui masters. Finally, there was a young girl named Xie Qingning. She was secretive about her abilities, so no one knew what she was good at.

These three, like Zhang Song, didn’t want Li Ying to stand out as their “de facto leader”, so they naturally banded together.

In contrast, Dong Zhi, who came in second in the interview and first in the written exam, attracted the most attention but had no intention of leading. When Li Ying invited him, he felt relieved.

Li Ying asked them what they wanted to eat. After Director Jiang’s “poison” today, no one had an appetite. Seeing as everyone was lacking interest, Li Yi suggested they go to a hot pot restaurant not far away. It was also convenient as people could eat as much or as little as they wanted.

After climbing the stairs all the way down and condemning the inhumanity of the Special Administration Bureau for their refusal to fix the elevator, everyone finally reached the back door. When they went out, Dong Zhi let out a sound of surprise.

“Left something behind?” Ba Sang asked.

Dong Zhi pointed to the position where the guard would usually sit and said, “The uncle is gone?”

Except for him, no one else lives in the Special Administration Building, so they didn’t realize the importance of his position and how he was always there. Ba Sang casually remarked, “Maybe he went to dinner.”

Li Ying and the others had already walked further ahead, so Ba Sang and Dong Zhi hurried their steps to catch up. As soon as they left the alley, everyone was stunned.

At this time, it should have been the liveliest hour as rush hour had just started. White-collar workers should be heading off from work, children heading back from school, traffic police should be abound directing the congestion, and tourist exploring the city, all converging around the area. The streets should be filled with a mix of cars and bicycles, showing the vibe of a bustling metropolis.

Yet no such scene appeared in front of them.

The bustling streets were empty. A car suddenly drove in the middle of the road and its door flung open, but there was no driver or passengers inside. Briefcases, water bottles, and even armbands from volunteers were discarded and scattered everywhere on the ground.

The center of the country, the heart of the city, was now completely desolated at this moment. It was as if a countrywide emergency was in effect, and everyone was on lockdown.

“What happened… What’s going on?” After a few seconds, Chi Banxia recollected herself.

Dong Zhi remembered his encounter in Yangcheng and said, “I broke into an enchantment set up by a demon before thinking that I had traveled through time and space. It’s very similar to the current situation we’re currently in!”

But were demons really rampant to this point? They were in the center of the capital, just right outside the Special Administration Bureau. Who would dare to create an enchantment like this?

Everyone was shocked to hear Dong Zhi’s words.

“No,” Li Ying rejected. “If you look, extending from here, it will mean that most of the capital is completely empty. I have never heard of a demon that has such great ability!”

“Let’s go back to the Bureau. It must be safe there!” A young man suggested. His name was Xiang Yongnian, but Dong Zhi wasn’t familiar with him.

“I don’t suggest…” Before Li Ying could finish, Xiang Yongnian had already turned around and hurried to the backdoor of the Special Administration Building, and his figure quickly disappeared from everyone’s sight.

Li Ying made an ugly expression. “I suggest everyone continue forward. We are practitioners, not ordinary people. We must find out what happened. If there’s a situation, it’s precisely where we are needed.”

“I agree.”

“Me too.”

Everyone else, including Dong Zhi, nodded.

“What!!!” At that moment, Xiang Yongnian’s scream came from the building.

Everyone’s expressions changed slightly. As they were hesitating whether to go investigate, Xiang Yongnian had already run out again. He covered his neck with one hand and blood kept flowing out of his fingers, quickly soaking his collar as half his shoulder was completely covered in blood.

“Zombies! There’re zombies in the building!”

His complexion drained of color, as if he were a ghost, and he wailed loudly before collapsing motionless in front of them.

“Everything was fine when we were about to go downstairs!” Someone shouted in disbelief.

“Could this be a trial for us?” A different person questioned.

Perhaps it was. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain how the entire world had seemingly changed after they went downstairs.

Ba Sang walked towards Xiang Yongnian slowly while the others stood back. Everyone wanted to know what happened to him. When Ba Sang got close to the body, he squatted down and reached towards its nose, but his wrist was suddenly grabbed.

He was taken aback, and his body reflexively wanted to retreat, but he was gripped tightly. Among the men in the group, he could be considered the strongest, yet Xiang Yongnian’s strength was so far superior to his that he couldn’t break away. As soon as he was about to use his other hand, he saw his opponent slowly raise his head. His eyes were soulless and blue veins were bulging from the area where he was bitten. There was a gaping hole in his neck as blood still flowed freely, yet all Xiang Yongnian did was stare intently at Ba Sang. Suddenly, he rushed towards him, intending to bite him on the shoulder when Ba Sang kicked him in the chest, causing him to fly four meters away. It didn’t seem like he was affected as Xiang Yongnian slowly got up and walked towards Ba Sang again.

He had clearly become a zombie!

Ba Sang let out a whistle, and a vulture came out of nowhere, swooping past everyone’s heads as it swept towards Xiang Yongnian. When his opponent wanted to pounce on Ba Sang again, the vulture pecked directly at Xiang Yongnian’s head. He threw himself onto the group and finally remained motionless.

Everyone was frightened and confused. They didn’t know whether they should continue forward or return to the Special Administration Building. Before they had the chance to think, two more figures appeared at the back door, walking towards them, stumbling in their steps.

One figure was missing an arm, and the other was missing half his neck. Their pace was slow but looking at them was still a terrifying sight.

Gu Meiren exclaimed, “I recognize him. When I came to register on the first day, he was the person who registered me!”

Not everyone in the Special Administration Bureau had extraordinary skills. With regards to this person, he was just an ordinary staff member in logistics.

They couldn’t help but ponder whether this was a trial or a real emergency. There was no sign at all.

After those two figures, more shadows emerged at the doors as zombies started to pour out. Without a second thought, everyone turned and ran.

Dong Zhi wanted to go back to the Special Administration Building to check up on Long Shen and Zhong Yuyi, but the large swathe of zombies that had appeared had now blocked the path. He was pulled hard by Ba Sang and had to run along with him. The zombies’ speeds were relatively slow, so they quickly left them behind.

When everyone reached the sidewalk across the street, they stopped at the corner and all bent over, holding their knees as they gasped for breath.

“How could… this kind of thing happen?!”

“Could it be a training exercise?”

“But I have never heard of this part of the training in the past years!”

“It’s impossible to tell. Otherwise, what kind of sudden training is this?”

“But what happened to Xiang Yongnian just now and those staff member… It’s so realistic… It’s hard to imagine that it’s fake. Is Xiang Yongnian really dead?”

Everyone continued discussing, and some were showing traces of helplessness.

Liu Qingbo scoffed at the reaction of these people. “Whether it’s training or reality, isn’t this the time when we’re needed the most? What are we panicking for?!”

Li Ying gasped. “Qingbo is right. Boss Wu and the others are much more skillful than us. Even if this is reality, they have the means to get away. Instead of worrying about them, we should focus on ourselves. Going forward, we need to adjust our mentality and we cannot treat this as just a training exercise. We have to think of it as real. Think about what happened to Xiang Yongnian just now. Do you want to end up like him?”

These words made everyone’s faces suddenly serious. The sense of mendacity intertwined with the tragic death of one of their companions gave rise to a sense of crisis that was both terrifying and humorous.

In any case, everyone dared not take things lightly any longer.

Li Ying looked around at everyone. “What do you think?”

Liu Qingbo said, “I suggest dividing into two groups to investigate the situation, then agreeing to a place to meet.”

Dong Zhi said, “I think with the current situation, it is better for us not to be separated for the time being, because we don’t know how serious it is yet.”

Liu Qingbo sneered, “Even if there are zombies, they’re just zombies of ordinary people. Or is it you’re afraid you’ll not be able to protect yourself and end up like Xiang Yongnian?!” When he wasn’t in front of the leaders of the Special Administration Bureau, he immediately erected all his spikes.

Dong Zhi pulled on Ba Sang’s arm and showed it to everyone. There was a bruise with five finger marks clearly indented on it that was left by Xiang Yongnian just now. Being able to leave such a mark showed just how much strength he had used at that time.

“The known situation now is that when we’re attacked, we can be injured and bleed. They may be ordinary people turned into zombies, so you’re not taking it seriously, but what if there are other unknowns? The zombies could turn into beasts or evolve into something more frightening in a short period of time. The more people we have, the greater our strength!”

Not everyone could deal with zombies either. People like Gu Meiren’s and Chi Banxia’s abilities weren’t useful when it came to handling zombies.

“You’re right. We better not separate for the time being!” Li Ying nodded as he agreed with Dong Zhi’s words.

Liu Qingbo showed dissatisfaction but didn’t say anything in the end. Gu Meiren and Chi Banxia breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Ying asked Gu Meiren and Chi Banxia to walk in the middle while he and Liu Qingbo led the way in front and Dong Zhi and Ba Sang handled the back. There were two other people with them. One was named Chen Xun, and the other was Liu Si, who were on the side encompassing the girls.

At first, they stumbled upon a few corpses that had fallen on the side of the road, but the further they walked, the more corpses they encountered. The scene was like everyone had scattered from the downtown area and was eventually overtaken by zombies who died on the road as they tried to run away.

Everyone reluctantly went towards the corpses to check on them and found that they were still warm. The touch felt so real that it didn’t seem as if this was some kind of exercise. The deaths of so many people were appalling. Some had missing limbs while others were resurrected as zombies and wanted to attack them but were suppressed.

The streets were empty and occasionally the anti-theft alarms from cars would blare in the distance. It startled everyone at first, but eventually they got used to it and they would turn a deaf ear whenever they hear it now.

The sky gradually darkened and some of the streetlights came on while others were broken, which put an invisible layer of pressure on everyone’s hearts. This was truly like hell on earth and didn’t seem to be a training exercise at all. Their hope was beginning to fade as haziness took over.

Dong Zhi thought about the missing Long Shen and his mood became heavier. Others were not much better than him, but they all tried to prevent their mood from sinking to the deepest level of despair so as to not affect the efficiency of the team.

Li Ying suddenly stopped and listened.

“You guys, did you hear anyone yelling for help?” He asked uncertainly.

“I heard it.” Chi Banxia said.

Everyone else nodded.

Ba Sang said, “It seems to be at three o’clock!”

Li Ying said, “Let’s go and take a look!”

No one had any objections, so they headed that way. The sound of shouting grew louder as they got closer. Eventually, they came upon a commercial building. The building was brightly lit, and corpses were littered around the door. At the intersection next to it, the traffic lights were still working, adding to the unreal-like scene.

Blood marks covered the once bright and clean glass door that left everyone in shock. Li Ying and Liu Qingbo entered first, followed by the others.

The building was a mall that mainly sold high- to medium-end products. Goods were scattered everywhere, and not a single salesperson was in sight. Perhaps people took advantage of the chaos and ransacked the place since they found empty containers everywhere and glass that displayed gold and jewelry was broken into and most of the items in them were missing.

Could a training exercise be realistic to this extent? Doubts started to creep into everyone’s hearts.

After passing through the shopping mall, they finally saw the people that were shouting for help. There were more than a dozen people on the other side, mainly women and children. They piled up clothes hangers and cabinets, forming a circle that surrounded them, and each was holding onto some makeshift weapon, like clothing poles or fire extinguishers. They all had panic-stricken expressions on their faces.

On the other side of their barricade, zombies roared at their prey that couldn’t be seen or eaten. With the arrival of Li Ying and the others, the zombies found new targets to focus on; ones that were not blocked by obstacles and could be easily reached by their fingertips.

The zombies turned around and rushed towards them. Liu Qingbo held tightly to his sword as he jumped a few steps when he saw this. The long sword in his hand unsheathed and he slashed it at the zombie’s neck, taking off its head. It flew high and bounced on the ceiling before falling to the ground and rolling away.

Liu Qingbo’s imposing yet elegant manner was like a rainbow as he slashed several more zombies in a single breath, which was more efficient than Li Ying who was burning them with talisman fire. Ba Sang cooperated tacitly with Dong Zhi. As Dong Zhi controlled the zombies’ movements with his Sunlight Talisman, Ba Sang took the chance and broke their necks.

Unsurprisingly, Gu Meiren’s flute had no effect on the zombies, while Chi Banxia’s witchcraft could somewhat control them, but it worked very slowly, and she was out of just after a short while.

There was also Chen Xun, who was good at martial arts¹. It would be fine if there were only a few zombies to deal with, but his two fists couldn’t beat four hands². He was powerless when he was besieged. Fortunately, Liu Si was there to assist him. Taking out a whip, he snapped it at a zombie’s neck, and with just one flick, he broke its neck. Dong Zhi had to do a double take when he saw this, as he thought of Old Zheng from the Northeast Branch.

¹Horizontal Training (横练) Three method of practice: boxing, martial arts, and horizontal training method. It’s referred to as the “three trainings”. It’s basically a mix of kung fu + boxing.  See lore for details || I’ll be referring to it as martial arts.
²(双拳不敌四手) Idiom referring to one person cannot be a crowd (AKA being outnumbered).

When the women and children saw their saviors, they were overjoyed. Seeing that all the zombies had been wiped out, they got even more excited and shouted loudly.

“Come here!”

“Come in to avoid them!”

When the team had finally resolved the last zombie, they retreated into the barricade. The place was originally a jewelry store but had now been transformed to accommodate around a dozen people. With Li Ying and the others, it caused the space to become a lot more crowded, as now more than twenty people were inside.

“What the hell is going on?!” Liu Qingbo asked anxiously.

A teller wearing a uniform from a luxury brand answered his question. “I don’t know. I was on duty tonight, so I came over half an hour early. Not long after, the colleague who I was taking over her shift left, then suddenly I saw her running back being chased by several zombies¹…”

“They’re called jiangshi¹. Jiangshi² are not the same as zombies.” A young girl corrected her.

¹Clarity: There are two terms being used here. The teller is calling them [Jiangshi] (僵尸) which refers to the Chinese hopping zombie/vampire while the young girl corrected her saying they are zombies [Sangshi] (丧尸) as the normal zombies that most people think of. Both translate to zombies, but they are different types.
²[Jiangshi] (僵尸) Chinese hopping vampires/zombies. They are reanimated corpses in Chinese legends and folklore. See lore for details.

The teller continued, “I saw my colleague being thrown down and bitten to death by those zombies, and the whole mall erupted in chaos. I was so frightened that I hid in the fitting room and didn’t come out until a long time later and ran into them.”

“There are also more zombies outside. I came from outside but ran in here to avoid them. Later, we had to bar ourselves in here since we could no longer leave until you guys came!” The young girl said.

Hearing their stories, it seems that these people and their experiences were pretty much the same. No one knew where the zombies came from or how.

If the zombies could spread this quickly that it took out an entire police force, wouldn’t an army stand no chance?

Dong Zhi and Ba Sang looked at each other as if they seemed to have the same thought. They both felt it was odd, as they thought to themselves. ‘’Can it be that it’s really just a training exercise? But then how can they explain all these people that are in front of them?’

This wasn’t a blessing that they found this suspicion, but it invariably increased their vigilance. Even if it was a training exercise, it only showed that the level of practice this time was very high to the point where they could possibly lose their life at any moment. No one wanted to be the next Xiang Yongnian. What they wanted to do was pass this training period smoothly.

“There’s more than that!” A middle-aged woman shivered as she cried, “I was outside just now and saw something that had a red body and could lie on the walls. I saw it jump from the eaves of a building towards a person as it pierced their heads with its claws…”

“Licker*! That’s a Licker!” The young girl cried out so loudly that it made her voice hoarse.

*A fictional creature from the Resident Evil series. The Licker has lost the use of its eyes and cannot track prey by sight. Their super-developed hearing, however, more compensates for the loss. Upon detecting potential prey, it will attack full force with teeth, tongue and claws, often alerting others of its kind in the vicinity as well.

“What is a Licker?” Li Ying asked with a frown.

The girl was so scared that she stuttered her words. “It’s from… that’s right, a movie… American movies…”

“There’s a series of American movies called “Resident Evil”, which is based on the game. It mentions the Licker in it. They have much stronger mobility and attack power than zombies and are difficult to deal with.” Dong Zhi clarified, helping the girl out.

The girl nodded desperately.

As soon as he finished speaking, the ceiling collapsed with a bang, startling everyone, but nothing came through. Seeing that all his companions weren’t in good shape, Li Ying said, “Let’s take a break here for now and plan for our next step.”

No one had any objections. They all sat on the floor and didn’t care much about it. Zombies could vaguely be seen passing by from outside. The women and children were frightened, so Li Ying let them stay in the inner area of the barricade while their group sat on the periphery.

“I’m questioning if this is a training exercise for an emergency situation. If that’s the case, what task do we need to achieve in the end?” Chen Xun, who was usually taciturn, suddenly spoke.

Chi Banxia glanced at the group of ordinary people before she hesitantly said, “Could it be that we need to protect them?”

Liu Qingbo said, “Maybe we need to go back to the Special Administration Bureau, but we just now went in the opposite direction.”

While talking, another piece of the ceiling collapsed not far away. This time, everyone thought it was just a building issue, so they didn’t pay much attention to it. Suddenly, in the next moment, a black indistinguishable creature jumped out of the hole in the ceiling behind their backs and landed directly in the middle of the crowd.

The young girl screamed as her shoulder was bitten and her entire body was picked up. The monster moved so quickly that Li Ying and the others only had time to grab onto her ankles.

Liu Si attacked the monster with his whip, causing it to throw the girl’s body at him with a flick of its neck. This forced him to catch the girl and prevented him from landing any more shots, giving the monster the chance to attack its next target.

Another monster suddenly swept down from the ceiling and pounced onto the middle-aged woman who was fleeing from fright. It happened to be in a blind spot where Li Ying and the others had no time to rescue her. The monster’s claw pierced directly into the woman’s head as it bellowed out a scream and withdrew its claws that were covered in blood. The body of the woman fell limply as the monster licked the blood on its claws.

The fragile alliance instantly fell apart. Everyone screamed and hid behind Li Ying and the others for protection.

Dong Zhi found that compared to the zombies before, these monsters- although their appearance wasn’t the same as the Lickers in the movies, their combat capabilities were indeed much higher than ordinary zombies, and they seemed a lot smarter as well. They specifically targeted ordinary people and deliberately hurt them, but not kill them, causing the other ordinary people to scream and panic, thereby disturbing Dong Zhi’s focus and judgment.

He grabbed a talisman and threw it at the monster that was rushing towards him. The talisman burned in mid-air and shot like a rocket towards the center of the monster’s forehead. The monster quickly reacted and turned sideways to avoid it as it used one of its claws to grab it. Fortunately, Dong Zhi was prepared and had thrown out another Sunlight Talisman. The talisman made contact with the monster and burst into flames. The monster roared in pain and turned around to retreat, rushing towards the others.

With his sharp sword in hand, Liu Qingbo was invincible. He didn’t take these monsters seriously at all, as any of them that approached him were easily cut down by him. Three monsters seemed to be aware of his lethality, so they gradually stopped approaching him and turned to other targets instead.

Ba Sang summoned his vulture to fight the monsters, but their mobility was more agile than his vulture. Under their claws, the vulture was wiped out within a few swipes. Chen Xun was in an even more precarious situation since he had to fight them with his bare hands. His clothes were ripped in several places, showing off wounds from the monster’s claws.

Chi Banxia and Gu Meiren were protected in the middle. Gu Meiren kept trying to control the monsters with various flute sounds and finally found a tune that could slow them down for a few seconds. This was enough time for Li Ying and the others to quickly counterattack.

Chin Banxia’s witchcraft had no effect, so she could only serve as everyone’s eyes and ears, pointing out to the team any sneak attacks being made.

Finally, with everyone’s combined efforts, they were able to kill two monsters while a third one escaped with injuries. Everyone was exhausted from the battle, and all collapsed on the ground, laying there immobile.

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Kinky Thoughts:

Interesting turn of events…

—

Horizontal Training (横练)

Referred to as the “three trainings”, it encompasses:

1. Boxing method: It’s the orthodox practice of boxing that focuses on attack and defense and uses this as the guideline for its application for the purpose of self-cultivation. During training, the fist is capable of hitting the air even if there’s no physical obstacle.
2. Martial arts method: Hitting the object quickly using martial arts. Training involves rapidly punching sandbags, hitting wooden stakes, kicking objects such as trees, brick walls, ect. to stimulate oneself, but by no means is it comparable to “heavy” kung fu or an experienced boxer. This method is for the inexperienced that cannot refine qi and regulate their dantian, and training is more impromptu than following a set of guidelines, thus could result in hidden damage to oneself and affecting one’s body.
3. Horizontal training method: Special training in Chinese boxing that exceeds the physical capabilities of an ordinary boxer. Training method includes strengthening all parts of one’s body to the extreme, such as using your body, legs, arms, chest, ect. to break objects like bricks, wooden boards ect. In short, this method is designed to cultivate a special offense and defensive skill that surpasses ordinary people. It is a combination of combining kung fu and boxing together.

—

[Jiangshi] (僵尸)

Also known as the Chinese hopping vampire/ghost. It’s a reanimated corpse in Chinese legends. They are typically depicted as a stiff corpse dressed in a Chinese shroud that moves around by hopping with its arms outstretched. It kills living creatures to absorb their qi, or “life force”. It usually moves at night and during the day it will hide in their coffins or dark places.

The Qing Dynasty scholar Ji Xiaolan mentioned in his book Yuewei Caotang Biji (閱微草堂筆記) (c. 1789 – 1798) that the causes of a corpse being reanimated can be classified into either of two categories: a recently deceased person returning to life, or a corpse that has been buried for a long time but does not decompose. Some causes are described below:

• The use of supernatural arts to resurrect the dead.
• Spirit possession of a dead body.
• A corpse absorbs sufficient yang qi to return to life.
• A person’s body is governed by three huns and seven pos. The Qing Dynasty scholar Yuan Mei wrote in his book Zi Bu Yu that “A person’s hun is good but the po is evil, the hun is intelligent but the po is not so good”. The hun leaves his/her body after death but their po remains and takes control of the body, so the dead person becomes a jiangshi.
• The dead person is not buried even after a funeral has been held. The corpse comes to life after it is struck by a bolt of lightning, or when a pregnant cat (or a black cat in some tales) leaps across the coffin.
• When a person’s soul fails to leave their deceased body, due to improper death, suicide, or just wanting to cause trouble.
• A person injured by a jiangshi is infected with the “jiangshi virus” and gradually changes into a jiangshi over time, as seen in the Mr. Vampire films.

You can read more about it at the Wikipedia link.

—

Licker

The Licker is a fictional creature from Capcom’s Resident Evil series. It first appeared in the video game Resident Evil 2. It has appeared outside of video games, including in films. It is one of the most iconic creatures in the game series, as a result of a further mutation in zombies infected with certain strains of the T-virus. This process is known as V-ACT. The Licker is noted for its large, exposed brains; lack of skin; sensitivity to sound; and its eponymous tongues.

The Licker has lost the use of its eyes and cannot track prey by sight. Their super-developed hearing, however, more than compensates for the loss. Upon detecting potential prey, it will attack full force with teeth, tongue, and claws, often alerting others of its kind in the vicinity as well. Weapons that emit very little sound, such as the bowgun, are especially useful.

There are also different forms of Licker. Once it has ingested flesh, it will mutate into a stronger, faster hunter. It has been regarded by critics as the most terrifying monster in Resident Evil.

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<<< || Table of Contents || Lore Glossary || >>>

Author: 梦溪石 / Meng Xi Shi

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

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Chapter 40

The community where Hui Yiguang lives was surrounded by tabloid reporters. Residents around the community were attracted to all the commotion. Some that were stopped by reporters even came forward for interviews. Dong Zhi and Gu Meiren didn’t have an access card, so they could only call someone to come downstairs and pick them up. Hui Yiguang’s assistant naturally couldn’t do it, so it was Cheng Yuan that came down and let them in.

When all three entered the elevator, they finally got rid of all the covetous eyes staring at them and let out a sigh of relief.

“How is Miss Hui?” Gu Meiren asked.

Cheng Yuan said, “I heard that for the first two days she wasn’t in good spirits, so she slept most of the time. She appears to be doing much better these last two days. I’ve made her soul solid again, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”

Dong Zhi couldn’t help but ask, “Are there any abnormal behavior from her?”

Cheng Yuan: “No.”

When Dong Zhi thought about it, they hadn’t known Hui Yiguang for long, so even if there were abnormal changes, they wouldn’t be able to tell.

Hearing of their arrival, Hui Yiguang personally came out to greet them.

“Thank you both so much. If it weren’t for you that night, I might not be sitting here today!” She was full of gratitude and seemed to be in good spirits.

They exchanged greetings and sat down. Gu Meiren didn’t talk much and mostly listened to the others. After everyone finished their greetings, she said, “Miss Hui, in my capacity, and you may feel offended when I say this to you, I still suggest that you help manage the affairs of Wang Qi’s death. After all, strictly speaking, her death is indeed related to you.”

Xiao Han’s expression changed when she heard this. After Hui Yiguang woke up, she and her agent were afraid of committing taboos, so they never mentioned Wang Qi in front of her. The reporters outside couldn’t get in, and Xiao Han didn’t dare let Hui Yiguang know about the gossip online.

Surprisingly, rather than showing displeasure, Hui Yiguang nodded and agreed wholeheartedly, “You are right. We used to be good friends, and now she’s no longer here. I can’t be unkind and unrighteous and ignore this. I have entrusted her affairs to a professional company who will handle her funeral.”

Seeing Xiao Han’s surprised expression, she smiled helplessly. “I know that you have been hiding the news from the outside world from me for the past few days. In fact, I have secretly looked at them. I have done a lot of things wrong in the past, but now that I’ve walked through hell’s gate, I understand many things. If I lose money, I can always earn more, but if I lose the people in my life, there’s nothing that can replace them.”

Hui Yiguang sighed, and then said, “To tell you the truth, I plan to donate a sum of money to a project that helps girls in mountainous areas go to school. When I was a child, I didn’t have such condition, so I could only go to a performing arts school. I hope that there will be more children in the future who don’t need to be like me and can choose the path they want to go.”

Gu Meiren said happily, “That’s great to hear. When the time comes, Miss Hui, please let me know. I also want to donate as well!”

While they were talking, Dong Zhi was quietly observing Hui Yiguang. It seemed like it was still the same person as the tone of her voice had no big changes. Her face and smile were kind and soft, similar to how she was before.

Even if there was a major change, it’s unlikely that Dong Zhi, who had only met her a few times, would be able to pick it out.

Looking down, he saw a ring on Hui Yiguang’s hand. With a thump in his heart, a chill quickly rose throughout his body, even all the way to his hair!

He remembered this ring! It was that night in the hospital. Wang Qi was lying breathless on the hospital bed, wearing a ring on her hand. Enamel-blue petals were inlaid with pearls, giving it a very chic look. At that time, he had looked at the ring very carefully since it caught his eye, so it was impossible for him to forget what it looked like!

Dong Zhi’s breathing became short. Gu Meiren noticed his strangeness, turned her head and said with concern, “Are you okay?”

Dong Zhi calmed down, smiled and shook his head, as he inadvertently asked, “Miss Hui, your ring is very beautiful. Where did you buy it?”

Hui Yiguang glanced down and said, with a smile, “This is from a friend.”

“Is it convenient to tell which friend? I think it’s unique looking, and I also want to buy one to give it to someone.” He pretended to be embarrassed and hesitant.

Hui Yiguang said clearly, “A girlfriend?”

Dong Zhi smiled shyly.

Hui Yiguang touched the pearl on the ring as she said, “This was brought back by a friend from abroad many years ago. I have always liked it very much. Now it seems that it is difficult to buy it.”

Dong Zhi asked, “Maybe your friend still has a few on hand?”

Hui Yiguang sighed and said regretfully, “He has been dead for many years now.”

After that, she smiled slightly at Dong Zhi. “Therefore, there are very few of the same style in the world.”

The weird feeling in his heart became even stronger, causing Dong Zhi’s hair to stand completely upright. He couldn’t wait to run to the morgue to find Wang Qi’s body to see if she still had the ring in her hand.

Hui Yiguang didn’t seem to be interested in the topics of rings, so after a few words, she began chatting with Gu Meiren about other things.

Dong Zhi was full of questions that needed to be answered like crazy grass* but was unable to ask anything. He felt like there was a thin veil covering the truth, but he was unable to tear it away.

*Refers to desire for something that’s grown to the point of madness.

After half an hour had passed, Hui Yiguang showed signs of fatigue, so Gu Meiren and Dong Zhi said their goodbyes. Hui Yiguang sent them to the door.

“I heard that you’ll be performing duties soon, so you don’t need to come again.” Hui Yiguang said, “In fact, I’m someone who’s deeply concerned about my privacy, so I don’t like having others around. Last time, I had no choice but to trouble you. Now that the matter has been resolved, I’m feeling much better now. If anything comes up again, I’ll ask for your help, but for now, we can stop here. Thank you very much.”

Gu Meiren was a little surprised. “The other people…”

Hui Yiguang said, “I’ll let Banxia tell them.”

Since this was her request, Gu Meiren didn’t insist any longer. The interview scores would be announced soon, and if they pass, they’ll start on the training exam. It was true that there was no time for them to follow up on Hui Yiguang’s affairs.

Before parting, Dong Zhi suddenly said, “Miss Hui, did you know that Wang Qi also had the same ring on her hand as you?”

Hui Yiguang was surprised. “Did she?”

She sighed. “We used to be good sisters, so she would use my things at will. Maybe I had given the same ring to her once, but I didn’t expect that things would develop like this now.”

Her tone was so affectionate that it dispelled most of Dong Zhi’s doubts. It wasn’t until he and Gu Meiren entered the elevator and Hui Yiguang had sent them to the door that he saw Hui Yiguang giving him a smile right as the elevator door closed.

It was so profound, as if it contained endless secrets. Dong Zhi’s whole body shook. Gu Meiren wasn’t paying attention as she just lowered her head. Dong Zhi couldn’t help but take a step forward, but the elevator door was already closed and was slowly descending.

Seeing his behavior, Gu Meiren said strangely, “What’s the matter?”

Dong Zhi said, “Do you think Hui Yiguang is a bit strange?”

Gu Meiren thought for a while. “How can you tell? We barely know her, so I can’t really tell. What’s the matter?”

Dong Zhi told her about his thoughts on the ring, and Gu Meiren gave him a disapproving look. “Didn’t she already explain it? She gave that ring to Wang Qi.”

“But she was almost possessed and had her body stolen by her, yet she still wore the same ring without any grudges. Don’t you find that strange?” Dong Zhi said.

When he said this, Gu Meiren became more thoughtful. “Do you think Hui Yiguang is actually Wang Qi?”

Dong Zhi smiled bitterly. “I don’t know. At that time, we all thought that Hui Yiguang’s soul had been returned, but after thinking about it, it was so chaotic that night, and there were monsters mixed in too. It’s possible that something went wrong.”

Gu Meiren comforted, “Don’t think too much. At that time, we all felt that there was no mistake. Now she’s recovering well. After this catastrophe, she changed her ways and is doing well. Isn’t this enough?”

Dong Zhi can only say, “Maybe.”

When they both got off the elevator, they met Cheng Yuan downstairs. He had come to help Hui Yiguang repair her soul.

When Dong Zhi asked about Hui Yiguang’s physical condition, Cheng Yuan said, “Her soul has just returned to its original place, and her spirit is a little unstable. In a few days, she should be fine.”

“Has she shown any behavior that is different from ordinary people or different from usual in the past few days?” Dong Zhi asked.

Cheng Yuan shook his head. “No, her soul is very consistent with her body, and there is no rejection, but her assistant told me privately that after Miss Hui’s accident, her whole demeanor had changed.”

Dong Zhi and Gu Meiren looked at each other. “How?”

Cheng Yuan said, “Her temper has improved, and she is more kind. She even offered to give Xiao Han a raise and even gave her agent a break, saying she needed to recuperate for a while. Xiao Han said that Ms. Hui used to be more impatient in private, wouldn’t listen to others’ opinions, and wouldn’t be picky with scripts, as long as the pay was high.”

This didn’t really explain much. At most, people who crossed a tribulation would often improve their mindset and change their behaviors. Perhaps as Long Shen said, there are many things in this world that have their own cause and effect. The perfection you want may not be consistent with the perfection that others want. As long as you work hard and feel worthy in your heart, it will be the best result.

Dong Zhi said goodbye to Cheng Yuan and left with Gu Meiren. The reporters still haven’t left. With eyes sharper than knives, they immediately spotted Dong Zhi and Gu Meiren coming downstairs from Hui Yiguang’s residence. They immediately flocked over and asked if they were Hui Yiguang’s friends. While Gu Meiren and Dong Zhi can battle against monsters, handling these reporters was a different matter. It took almost all their strength just to squeeze out of the crowd and flee.

After having a meal with Gu Meiren, the two of them received separate notifications informing them that they had passed the interview and asking them to report to the General Administration Bureau in two days to start training.

The unexpected, good news came so suddenly that even an introverted girl like Gu Meiren couldn’t help but express joy.

“After seeing everyone’s abilities, I thought I wouldn’t pass. This was unexpected!” Her face was flushed with glee.

Overwhelmed from his happiness he barely could think straight as he said, “I heard that there’ll be an exam after training. If we pass that, we’ll finally be able to join the Special Administration Bureau. Until then, it’s still up in the air.”

Hearing what he said, Gu Meiren gradually calmed down, nodded, and patted her cheeks. “Calm down, calm down!”

Dong Zhi couldn’t help but laugh. “Want to ask the others? Maybe they got their notification too.”

“Okay!” Since Gu Meiren knew Ba Sang best, she picked up her phone and called him, while Dong Zhi sent the notification to Long Shen, He Yu, Kan Chaosheng, and Zhong Yuyi to inform them of the good news.

Zhong Yuyi, despite being a bit airheaded, was surprisingly the first to respond: [Congratulations.]

Dong Zhi replied with a happy emoji.

Zhong Yuyi: [This year’s training will have my course in it. Classmate, I’ll greet you in advance.]

Almost spitting from the shock, Dong Zhi quickly replied: [Teacher Zhong, please tell me, is the name of your course “How to make your reflex skills longer than the Earth”?]

Zhong Yuyi: [You dare underestimate me! Just you wait and see!╭(╯^╰)╮]

He then sent a few unhappy expressions to Dong Zhi. Dong Zhi was happily chatting with him when he received a message from Kan Chaosheng.

Kan Chaosheng: [Please treat me! Tan Jiacai! Japanese Food! Hot pot! Nothing less than that!]

This was indeed an appropriate response that was most fitting of his character.

Dong Zhi couldn’t laugh or cry. Just as he was about to reply, the other party sent another message: [He Yu’s like a dead dog right now, so he can’t reply to your message. He told me to say congratulations to you. He owes you a meal debt, so he’ll pay it back when he returns!]

He hurriedly asked: [Are you alright? How is it going? When are you guys coming back?]

Kan Chaosheng: [I don’t know yet. Many unexpected things have happened. He Yu rescued a group of three yesterday and almost got himself killed. He’s still lying in bed! That’s why he was so frustrated. If it was me, I would be up and kicking about right now!]

Although his mouth was full of trains*, he didn’t disclose any specific information. Dong Zhi knew that it was most likely confidential, and since he hadn’t officially joined the Special Administration Bureau, it was natural that they couldn’t tell him, and he didn’t pry. After telling them to take care of themselves, he ended the conversation.

*(满嘴跑火车) A few meanings. 1. Refers to a well-spoken, articulate person. 2. Refers to someone who is talkative, smug, or bragging. 3. Describe someone who has no control over their speech and say whatever they want irresponsibly. || In this context, it’s referring to 2.

Long Shen never replied. Dong Zhi surmised he should have known the results long ago.

Gu Meiren put down her phone and said to him, “Cheng Yuan didn’t seem to pass.”

Dong Zhi was taken aback. “No way?”

Li Ying was quite shrewd. That day, when he invited those 9 people, including Dong Zhi, to dinner, he made it clear that he thought these were the ones who would be able to pass the interview, and he wanted to get together so that they could get to know each other. But the results now, was Cheng Yuan didn’t pass.

Gu Meiren: “I also find it strange that Cheng Yuan didn’t pass. He’s quite capable of his psychic abilities. Why didn’t he pass? He said that he didn’t receive a notice, so I asked Li Ying and the others, who all said they got theirs. Even Ba Sang passed.”

Not knowing how to answer, Dong Zhi could only say, “Maybe the above had other considerations. If I have a chance later, I’ll ask.”

While talking with Gu Meiren, Dong Zhi received a message from Long Shen: [Practice more by yourself. I’ll see you in two days.]

This message implied that Long Shen had no time to have a meal with him. Dong Zhi scratched his nose and replied back: [Understood. Please take care of yourself! (*^__^*)]

Long Shen was talking to a visitor in his office.

“Boss Long, I wonder if you have made picks for any candidates?” Song Zhicun said with a smile.

Unlike Wu Bingtian, who liked to welcome and send¹, Song Zhicun was more like a fish in water², and didn’t seem to be cold and impersonal like Long Shen. This Deputy Director of Group Three has always been low-key in the General Administration Bureau.

¹(迎来送往) Refers to someone who likes socializing.
²(如鱼得水) Metaphor referring to someone who gets along well in their environment || In this context it’s saying he’s easy to get along with.

He usually picks up the remaining candidates that the other two groups pass on. Trivial tasks are mostly handled by group three. Their members are made up of a mix of people who are from smaller sects or have no affiliation, and their team leader is a cook who’s also a half-cultivator. Thus, their group was given the nickname, the miscellaneous group.

Of course, to be a Deputy Director of the General Administration Bureau, Song Zhicun was not just good at cooking rice. Just like Long Shen, his temper is cold and there’s no room for error.

Hearing this, Long Shen said, “There is no need to decide so soon, right?”

Song Zhicun smiled bitterly. “There are quick hands and I’m slower. Many of the talents I was optimistic about in previous years were snatched away by Wu Bingtian. Last year, I finally got optimistic about one and I targeted him before the Boss Wu and the result was good. Many have taken the initiative to ask for transfer to the Northwest Branch since they refused to stay in the General Administration Bureau. No matter what this year, I have to get some fresh troops for our group! This time, Yunnan had lost a colleague, so everyone’s morale was low!”

Long Shen said, “Have you talked to Boss Wu about this?”

Song Zhicun silently thought that this guy was too cunning. He’s not like Long Shen, who is straightforward.

He smiled and said, “I have told him, but he ignored me! He has a group of rich and powerful people, as well as the Longhu Sect and Yuanming Palace support. If they need pills, they get pills. If they need talismans, they get talismans. Newcomers aren’t stupid. They all want to go to Group One. Who will come to our groups when they exist? We have suffered losses in previous years, but this can’t go on this year. We have to think of a way to unite and let Wu Bingtian suffer!”

Long Shen: “Then what good idea does Boss Song have?”

Song Zhicun had already thought of it quite some time ago. “Let’s discuss who we fancy, so we won’t have any conflicts with candidate selection and shove it in Wu Bingtian’s face. When the time comes to choose someone, we can join forces to speak on behalf of each other to avoid the other party taking any big advantage.”

Long Shen said, “There will be exams after the training. Even if we take a fancy now, they may not be able to pass the exams.”

Song Zhicun smiled and said, “Let’s bring them to our side first. If they can’t pass the exam at that time, then we only have ourselves to blame.”

Long Shen nodded but didn’t say who he liked, so Song Zhicun made the first move. “I think that Chi Banxia is not bad.”

Witchcraft was popular in Southeast Asia but wasn’t very common in this country. Their domestic comrades who traveled to Southeast Asia often suffered from witchcraft. Later, when they had a mission abroad, they would have to call in poison practitioners to assist.

While the Miaojiang poison technique and witchcraft have the same origin, they later developed separately and are very different now. It could be said they’re equivalent to two flowers on the same branch. Poison practitioners are also, in and of themselves, rare to find. Among the Miao people, most are no different from those of the Han nationality who don’t know the art of poison. One or two experts could be found among a few seedlings who live in seclusion in the mountains and forest. Unfortunately, such experts do not follow the ways of the modern world, let alone their country. It’s estimated that they would not travel far, and there’s also a barrier to communication as well.

The Hainan Chi family wasn’t in line with the secular world but was well known for their art of witchcraft in Southeast Asia, and a unique art at that. No one from their clan had come out to pursue a career before, thus making Chi Banxia the first. Even if she was only half as good, she would be highly sought after. Knowing this, Song Zhicun had his eyes on her, but was afraid Wu Bingtian might rob him of his chance, so he sought Long Shen’s help.

Long Shen said, “Boss Song hasn’t accepted an apprentice yet. If you throw out this bait, you might have a good chance to tempt Chi Banxia.”

Song Zhicun’s eyes lit up. Yes! It was impossible for Yuanming Palace to accept a witchdoctor as an apprentice. Even if Wu Bingtian promised big things, he couldn’t grant her the prestige of being a direct apprentice to a Deputy Director. Since the Chi family allowed her to take the exam, it must mean that they hope to develop her career. Between being a group member compared to being a Deputy Director’s apprentice, there’s no need to even think about which of the two is more important.

This is like two universities trying to grab the champion of the college entrance exam. One would offer to waive the tuition fee for four years, while the other would offer not only free tuition for their undergrad, but also for their postgrad as well. The champion, of course, would lean towards the university with the more favorable conditions.

“Boss Long really knows how to wake up a dreamer with just a word!” He laughed. “Thank you, thank you!”

Long Shen: “You’re welcome, Boss Song.”

Song Zhicun said again, “Li Ying is also very good, but he’s born on Mount Maoshan, so he’ll probably join group one. There’s also Zhang Song, who’s from a side branch of the Longhu Sect, so he’ll join them as well. As for Liu Qingbo, Boss Long saved his life once, so he admires you very much. With such enthusiasm, don’t you want him as an apprentice?”

Long Shen said, “That’s just a kid playing around.”

Song Zhicun smiled and said, “Boss Long, you’re too humble. There’s also Dong Zhi, who ranked first on the written exam. I heard that he’s been named a disciple of the Hezao Sect, and your group have already met him. He must also want to join group two to be with his brothers, but I heard Wu Bingtian is very interested in him.”

Seeing Long Shen’s eyebrows twitch, Song Zhicun secretly smiled. “Liu Qingbo has a deep background. You must already know that his father is very valued by the higher-ups. If he joins group two, money and staff would no longer be an issue. You may even be able to suppress Wu Bingtian. However, Dong Zhi and Liu Qingbo, neither one would want the other to join the group they’re in, which means you have to make a choice.”

“Thank you, Boss Song, for reminding me.” Long Shen nodded while remaining calm.

Seeing that he still refused to reveal anything in the slightest, Song Zhicun inwardly scolded him for being so cunning.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye. On the day of registration, Dong Zhi came to the designated classroom early.

Since everyone didn’t know the specifics of how many had passed, when they looked around, they couldn’t help being surprised. There were only about 20 tables and chairs in the classroom, meaning that only about 20 people had passed through the training stage.

The elimination rate was quite high, so it was no wonder no one was admitted last year. It seems the Special Administration Bureau remained in line with their ideals, preferring to recruit for shortages and be picky with who they recruited rather than recruit indiscriminately. When the training course is completed, there’s most likely another elimination. By the end, if even 10 people remained, that still wasn’t bad.

Li Ying, Liu Qingbo, and the others were already there. Everyone had become a little closer after the incident on the rooftop of the hospital. In any case, they had gone through life and death together. They all smiled and greeted each other warmly. Surprisingly, Liu Qingbo didn’t seem so antagonistic towards Dong Zhi.

When Ba Sang saw Dong Zhi come in, he waved to him happily, motioning that he had reserved a seat next to him. Gu Meiren, who was sitting behind Ba Sang, flashed him a smile.

Dong Zhi walked over and sat down.

Ba Sang leaned over and whispered, “I heard that you had it rough recently?”

Dong Zhi whispered, “Fortunately, I was there to save the day. I’ll tell you the details later.”

Ba Sang gave him a regretful look. “This beauty had told me, but it was a pity that I was at home and missed out. Otherwise, I could have gone with you. What a great practice opportunity!”

Dong Zhi smiled and said, “You want to practice? You won’t have to worry about that chance in the future. I heard there’ll be a ton of exercises during this training period. By then, you’ll probably wish you were still back at home!”

Ba Sang said happily, “Speaking of home, I brought yak meat from home. I’ll give you your share later!”

While everyone was talking, a man walked in. It was Deputy Director Wu, the legendary leader of Group One, who was magnanimous and had ample wealth. The noisy classroom was instantly silent as everyone quickly shut their mouths, as not to leave a bad impression on their potential future leader.

Wu Bingtian looked around with a kind smile on his face. “Dear students, first of all, congratulations on successfully passing the written and interview exams for the Special Administration Bureau this year. You may become a part of our future. Why did I say future? It’s because there’s still a training exam after our training course. Don’t think that just because you passed the interview means this is a shoo-in for you. In previous years, many people have been eliminated as a result.”

Seeing everyone sitting stiffly upright, he smiled again. “Don’t be so nervous. Being able to pass the interviews shows that you’re capable. I also hope that I can work with everyone here in the end. If this year’s practice exam can achieve no elimination, then it will be the most wonderful session ever. I’ll have to engrave your accomplishment in the corridors of the Special Administration Bureau for latecomers to admire.”

“I suppose he says this every year. Next year, he’ll say the same thing to them.” A person next to Dong Zhi muttered in a low voice. Dong Zhi thought it was a bit funny.

Wu Bingtian continued, “In order to encourage everyone to make progress, let me announce the results of the interview. Li Ying ranked first. Second place, Dong Zhi. Regarding this, although he placed second in the interview, combined with his excellent results of first place in the written exam, his total overall score is still first. Presumably everyone knows that his written exam score far exceeded second place by a full 20 points. The Special Administrative Bureau had never given such a high written test score before, thus making Dong Zhi set a new historical record.”

All the sights in the classroom fell on Dong Zhi in an instant, and he finally knew what it was like to have thorns on his back*.

*(如芒在背) Idiom referring to the feeling of extreme uneasiness.

He wasn’t sure if he was remembering things wrong, but Dong Zhi recalled that when he was practicing his Five Thunder Talisman technique on the rooftop, although Deputy Director Wu gave him a smile, his attitude was far from kind as he’d been now. Even from the way that he was looking at him, his eyes were so soft that it made Dong Zhi involuntarily shiver.

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Kinky Thoughts:

I have some thoughts on Hui Yiguang, but to avoid any potential spoilers, I’ll state it later.

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<<< || Table of Contents || Lore Glossary || >>>

Author: 梦溪石 / Meng Xi Shi

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

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Chapter 39

Of course, it was much easier to be carried than to walk on your own. Since Dong Zhi was muddleheaded, his usual worries were gone, and he was only driven by instinct.

“Boss Long have you decided on a candidate to be your apprentice?”

Long Shen snorted.

Dong Zhi said, “I just summoned heavenly thunder once again and took out a demon. Would you consider me?”

Long Shen didn’t answer, but he felt more and more courageous. Although he was being carried, he lost control of his mouth as words continued to flow out.

“A potential apprentice like me, there won’t be this kind of shop if you pass this village*. Although Liu Qingbo is a bit taller than me, he’s not as handsome. With someone as good-looking as me, you’ll have a lot of face when you take me out in the future. Otherwise, if you take Liu Qingbo out, people will say, Boss Long, how can you find an apprentice that looks so much older than you?”

*(你错过这村，就没那店了) Metaphor referring to a rare opportunity that cannot be missed.

After a long time, Long Shen still hadn’t given him a response. He suddenly stopped and put him down. Dong Zhi thought he was angry, so he aporetically said honestly, “It was all nonsense just now. Don’t take it to heart.”

Long Shen: “The key.”

“Huh? Oh!” Only then did he realize that they had reached his dorm, so he hurriedly took out the key to open the door. The heat quickly spread across his face, and his saving grace was that the light above his head wasn’t bright enough for the other party to notice his embarrassment.

He opened the door and turned on the lights. Long Shen hadn’t left, so he most likely wanted to hear his report on what happened tonight. Dong Zhi stepped aside and let him in. He had returned back to his room, so of course he couldn’t let Long Shen continue to carry him. When he tried to move, his legs got so soft that he ended up kneeling directly in front of Long Shen, looking as if he was kowtowing to him.

Dong Zhi: …So embarrassing!

Long Shen: “You haven’t studied under a teacher yet, so there’s no need to be so polite.”

Dong Zhi really wanted to dig a pit and bury himself in it, but from this he found that Long Shen had a sense of humor. He just hid it deeply. It was only when King You of Zhou lit the beacon fires* and made fun of the warlords was he able to win the smile from his beauty. With his soft legs, he could elicit a sense of humor from Deputy Director Long, so it wasn’t a total loss.

*The story goes that King You was infatuated with his concubine Bao Si, who does not like laughing, and wanted to impress her, so he played a trick on the warlords of his kingdom and had the beacon fires lit. When they saw this, they all rushed to defend him, thinking the city was under attack, but it just turned out to be a prank. This made Bao Si laugh, so he kept doing it and eventually, when a real attack came, the warlords ignored the beacon fires, and he was ultimately killed.

After taking a break for a bit, he finally regained some strength. Dong Zhi recount to Long Shen what happened tonight.

Long Shen asked rhetorically, “How would you analyze it?”

Dong Zhi regarded this as a test, so he tried his best to raise his spirits and thought about it carefully before saying, “I guess that Hui Yiguang and Wang Qi do have grudges against each other. After Wang Qi turned into a vegetative state due to her car accident, her soul left her body and was somehow targeted by demons. I remember you told He Yu that people have seven emotions and six desires that spawn love and hate. The greater the desire, the greater it’ll attract demons. Wang Qi’s resentment provided energy for the demons, and in return they gave her unspeakable powers.”

Long Shen nodded. “Hospitals hold countless births, sufferings, illnesses, and deaths every day. It is a place of reincarnation. All walks of life mix there, so feelings, especially resentment, will be infinitely amplified. There are countless incarnations of the Archfiend, so even if the body is destroyed, the demon’s clone may still spread all over the world and even hide in places like hospitals to absorb energy to strengthen itself again. What you bumped into tonight was most likely one of its essence or clones.”

Dong Zhi frowned and said, “But we protected Hui Yiguang and destroyed Wang Qi’s soul. Are we right or wrong? Perhaps Hui Yiguang was truly like what Wang Qi said, and that’s why she hated her so deeply and wanted revenge.”

Long Shen’s expression was faint. “We’re only responsible for subduing demons, not soothing people’s hearts. Even if it was a doctor or a policeman, they could only save lives, but not hearts. The Special Administration Bureau performs a similar duty, but on a different level.”

Dong Zhi sighed. “Yes, no matter what the reason is, if you allow demons to exploit your weakness, then you should be subjected to punishment.”

Still, the reaction between Hui Yiguang and Wang Qi when they were confronting each other was too vivid. Everyone present, including Dong Zhi, didn’t think that Hui Yiguang was completely innocent in this matter.

She had concealed her relationship with Wang Qi in advance and tried numerous times to dodge answering questions about her boyfriend. With Wang Qi’s appearance, they could tell from Hui Yiguang’s tone that she wasn’t completely ignorant of the matter. She might have suspected it a long time ago, but because of her guilty conscience, she dared not admit it.

Long Shen seemed to see through his thoughts. “Many things have their own antecedents, and the results will only be known in the underworld. The so-called Heavenly Way exists in everything. If you and I follow it, then we may become its sword.”

Dong Zhi: “You mean, karma?”

Long Shen shook his head. “Whether it’s retribution or not, it’s just human wishful thinking. I think it’s better to use the law of conservation of energy to explain it more appropriately.”

Facing the puzzled look of the other party, he said, “If a person exudes a little bit of hostility to the world and to others, he’ll accumulate negative energy. After accumulating to a certain extent, he’ll naturally be hit by its backlash. This is the conservation of the Heavenly Way.”

Dong Zhi suddenly said, “So the ancient sages that emphasize walking in line with heaven, they didn’t necessarily mean that good people will receive rewards, but rather if you follow the Heavenly Way, you will naturally get Heaven’s blessings!”

Long Shen nodded slightly. “In the era of the end of the law, materialistic desires flowed, and people’s hearts were chaotic. It’s not unusual for many people to cross their bottom line and do anything for the sake of financial gain. In the end, they became the very same people that they had looked down upon in the beginning. This is a scene that is common that you will only see more of if you continue to engage in this kind of business.”

He paused before saying, “It’s not a bad thing to have a soft heart. It at least gives you a standard that you won’t cross, but when it comes to making decisions, you should avoid being indecisive and dragging your companions down in battle.”

“Yes.” Dong Zhi obediently nodded. He was exhausted after their conversation but wasn’t sleepy. He rubbed his face and yawned. “It’s so late. I hope I didn’t bother you too much.”

Long Shen: “I’m writing a report.”

Does this mean he was disturbed? Dong Zhi hurriedly said, “Then I won’t bother you any longer. I’ll rest after washing up.”

He sent the great god on his way and turned around, heading to the bathroom. After he washed up, he felt refreshed but even less drowsy. Touching his stomach, all the food he had eaten that night was consumed by all his nerves. He decided to buy some barbecue and brought it back. He thought there was someone still up writing a report, so he went to knock on said person’s door and was greeted by Long Shen.

Dong Zhi lifted up the bag in his hand, gave him a smile, and said, “Hungry? Would you like some?”

Long Shen said, “No, I’m good.”

With that said, he was about to close the door when Dong Zhi pulled out his killer move. “I can’t sleep and wanted to read a technical book, but I don’t understand many terms and I can’t find anything about them online. Can I read in here if I don’t disturb you?”

Long Shen turned his body slightly sideways, signaling him to come in. He was overcome with joy and fearing that the male god would regret his decision and change his mind, he hurriedly entered with the book in his arms.

The dorm room was like a studio apartment. It had one bedroom and a living room, but they were all connected as there was no walls dividing up the space. The Deputy Director’s dorm was the same pattern as Dong Zhi’s but his decorations was more unified. The walls were beige, and his sofa and bed were covered with a stain resistant sheet. There was a small bar that was connected to the kitchen. Overall, it looked like a mid-to-high-end decoration. Dong Zhi guessed that the Special Administration Bureau had spent most of the budget on office and staff rooms that they had no money left to pay for the actual property.

Long Shen said, “Make yourself at home. You can ask if you don’t understand something.”

Dong Zhi hurriedly said, “If you are too busy, I can just read on my own.”

Long Shen nodded, poured him a glass of water, turned his head, and sat down at the desk.

Dong Zhi swore to God that he really just wanted to study seriously, and he only came here with the mentality that if there was something he couldn’t figure out, there was a great god that could help teach him. However, when the person that you like was nearby, few people would be able to resist gazing at the object of their affection.

Long Shen had his back turned to him, writing hard, and showed no sign of turning around, but he was keen, so it was impossible for him not to notice the gaze behind him. And the gaze was locked on him for a while, then it turned away, then came back for a while, then turned away again, and thus continued all night.

Long Shen secretly shook his head and thought. ‘Can he really concentrate on his studies?’

As soon as this thought occurred, he heard Dong Zhi ask, “Boss Long, I want to donate all the money paid to me by Hui Yiguang.”

Long Shen didn’t lift his head. “How much did she pay?”

Dong Zhi said, “Three million, 300,000 for each of us. Although the matter came to an end this time, I didn’t think I did a perfect job, so I feel guilty and want to donate all the money.”

Long Shen finally stopped writing. “What do you think is perfection?”

Dong Zhi was taken aback by this question. He thought seriously for a while, then said, “Maybe it’s because I saw that the victim is not completely innocent, and the perpetrator is not without cause. As the saying goes, a poor man must have something to hate¹, and a hateful man must have something to pity². Nine out of ten things in life are unhappy³, but all I ask is for perfection in my own heart.”

¹(可怜之人必有可恨之处) Refers to a seemingly pitiful person’s unsatisfactory reality must’ve been caused by previous faults or was self-inflicted. Knowing that they are wrong, but not changing their ways after repeated teachings is the hateful thing about such people.
²(而可恨之人也必有可怜之处) Second part of the saying that’s not well known. It refers to there must be some kind of suffering a hateful person has gone through that made him that way, so he deserves our pity. 
*Clarity: Linked together, it basically means that not everything is black and white. Someone’s misfortune may not be because of their own doing and cause them to become resentful, so we should take pity on that. Life is complicated and you can’t simply judge whether a person is good or bad because everyone has different experiences and their own circumstances. These two sentences link together, allowing us to see how multifaceted human nature really is.
³(世间不如意事十之八九) Refers to how life isn’t as pleasant and ideal as it seems (AKA Life isn’t like a bed of roses). || In this context, Dong Zhi is saying he knows life isn’t perfect, but he’ll strive to do his best and what’s aligned to his “perfection”.

Long Shen looked back at him. “There will be more dangerous and unpredictable things in the future where good and evil might be hard to distinguish.”

Dong Zhi smiled and said, “Then I will try my best to be perfect. One step at a time, I’ll strive to always do better.”

Long Shen nodded. “I will help you find a reliable charity to donate to.”

Outside of work, he rarely takes the initiative to put forward his own opinions and interfere with others, but this time, when he saw Dong Zhi’s eyes curling, he added, “You also worked hard this time. It’s not bad to receive some compensation. If you want to donate, donate half of it and take the rest.”

Dong Zhi was attentive when responding. “Then I’ll listen to you.”

Seeing Long Shen writing his reports by hand, he couldn’t help but say, “Why don’t you use a computer to type? It would be much faster.” There are few who would do handwritten reports these days.

Long Shen said, “It may be because I used to have very few opportunities to write.”

Dong Zhi thought that he just wanted to practice his penmanship, or maybe he wasn’t good at using a computer, but he didn’t expect such an answer.

Long Shen seemed to be in a good mood as he took the initiative to talk to him.

“Creating words is a significant difference between humans and creatures. Once it appears on paper, it has a life of its own.”

He casually pointed to the book spread out in front of Dong Zhi, and the black arial characters seemingly came to life in an instant, twisting their shapes as they jumped out of the paper. The word “human (人)” bounced around on its left and right sides, and the word “road (道)” rushed forward like a car knocking “human (人)” down. The words “older brother (兄)” and “younger brother (弟)” trembled on the side and, as a result, were shot in the ass by the word “open (张)”, which hit it with its bow and arrow. Then suddenly, they all became a ball of letters*.

*Clarity: I put in the Chinese characters so you can visualize what the characters are doing. Look carefully and see how each of them matches the description of their actions.

Dong Zhi was stunned.

Long Shen said, “Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Buddhism says that there are three thousand great worlds and three thousand small worlds*. What the human eye can see is only one of them. When life is created, it also creates other life. Our duty is to maintain the balance between our world and others.”

*(三千大世界，三千小世界) Referring to the three thousand great thousand world. In Buddhism, it describes the organization of our world. It refers to the world being formed by three kinds of “thousand worlds” split into small, medium, and large. The big thousands of worlds are integrated by the small and middle ones, with Mount Sumeru at the center.

With a wave of his hand, the word “open (张)” suddenly turned into dust and dissipated in the air, and the other words huddled together trembling in a ball of fright.

Dong Zhi thought they looked funny yet pitiful. He stretched out his finger and touched the word “human (人)” and found that he didn’t have a substantial touch. The character seemed to feel his approach and desperately wanted to hide. When his finger came close, it shattered instantly, popping like a bubble.

With another wave of Long Shen’s hand, the words flashed and returned to the pages of the book. They were flat now, as if the scene he had just seen was an illusion.

Dong Zhi sighed. “I suddenly felt that I had lived in the belly of a dog* for more than 20 years!”

*(活到狗肚子里去) Refers to studying/learning in vain. || In this context, he’s saying all that he had been taught and studied has been turned upside down by this new revelation.

Long Shen said, “Every stroke has a spirit. Being able to read and write with your own hands is the natural gift of being human. Many humans often feel small, but what they don’t know is that they have inadvertently created countless worlds.”

Dong Zhi became thoughtful as he looked at the boring textbook, which now seemed a bit more interesting, as if he was reading something from a different world. The more contact he had with Long Shen, the more mysterious he seemed to become. It was like his body was covered in a thick fog, making it difficult to clearly see, but it’s exactly this that drives people to want to get closer to discover what’s behind it.

Long Shen turned around continuing to write his report again, and from time to time he would hear pages turning from behind him. Dong Zhi had finally concentrated on reading his textbook and was no longer distracted as he stopped raising his head to stare at him.

The report he was writing was related to their discovery in Inner Mongolia. Although the work was handed over to a different group, Long Shen still had to write down everything so it would be explained clearly.

The directors above were not cultivators, so they did not accurately predict the severity of an Archfiend. He believed that this was related to similar incidents of the past, so the three deputy directors, Wu Bingtian, Long Shen, and Song Zhicun, had all agreed they should solemnly explain this to their superiors so as to prevent a more serious consequence from happening. Long Shen’s report was one of the speeches he was prepared to give in their subsequent meetings.

While Deputy Director Long was good at subduing and exorcising demons and had been a leader for several years, he was not good at writing reports. He stumbled, frowned, and wrote for over an hour. This report had been delayed for an entire week and could no longer be pushed off.

Such was Long Shen, the Deputy Director of Procrastination. He looked at the punctuation mark he had just written and breathed a sigh of relief, only to find that there were no longer any movements coming from behind him.

He turned his head and saw Dong Zhi was still sitting on the sofa with a book spread across his knees and his head crook to the side, as if he was unconscious. Long Shen got up and walked over, then patted him on the shoulder, rousing Dong Zhi. He woke up and rubbed his eyes.

“…Sorry. Did I fall asleep?”

Long Shen said, “Go back and sleep.”

Dong Zhi hurriedly packed up his books and apologized again. He originally wanted to come over to ask questions, but instead he fell asleep.

Long Shen didn’t reproach him. “You must be exhausted if you summoned Heavenly Thunder today. Before going to bed, make sure to practice your kung fu tona.”

Dong Zhi nodded obediently and walked to the door. Seemingly recalling something, he smiled shyly. “Boss Long, can I take the liberty to ask what my chances are of becoming your apprentice?”

Long Shen raised his eyebrows. “Why do you want to be my apprentice so much? According to the techniques you have practiced, even if you have not worshipped under the Hezao Sect, you have the opportunity to become a disciple of the Wu Bureau. He was born in Yuanming Palace on Mount Qingcheng. Their gate is comparable to that of Maoshan.”

Dong Zhi scratched his head and told the truth. “I only know that if I’m not able to summon thunder, they would not even look at me, but you treat everyone equally. Even when you were harsh on me at the beginning, it was just to prevent me from taking risks and doing things out of impulse.”

Long Shen said, “I’m not as good as you think. As for the apprenticeship, that has yet to be determined. So far, I have no plans to accept any apprentices.”

Dong Zhi felt disappointed, but after thinking about it, if he couldn’t become his apprentice for the time being, then neither could Liu Qingbo. They were all on the same starting line, but he had the advantage of living on the opposite door, which was close to the water tower*.

*Reminder: (近水楼台) Metaphor for getting some kind of benefit or convenience first because he’s closer to someone or something.

In fact, what he didn’t know was that before this, Liu Qingbo had already given waves of gifts to Long Shen; among them were even two antique swords that Dong Zhi couldn’t afford, as well as such things as specialty poison from Miaojiang, an ancient book on swordsmanship from the Song Dynasty, and the like. His net worth was so rich that he could dump Dong Zhi more than ten blocks down. Despite this, all the flattery was a slap on the horse’s leg*, as Long Shen didn’t accept any of them.

*(马屁拍在马腿上) Metaphor referring to wanting to please but the other party isn’t interested.

Unlike him, though, he could get treatment like sitting on the couch and having a face-to-face talk with Long Shen without giving a single thing. If Liu Qingbo knew about this, he might have become so jealous that his eyes would turn red.

But for Dong Zhi, he was like a child who “didn’t know their blessings when they were blessed¹” and felt melancholic for a while before deciding to continue his efforts and keep up his perseverance. Every drop of water would wear away the stone², and the mountains were moved by foolish men³.

¹(身在福中不知福) Refers to living in happiness but not feeling happy.
²(水滴石穿) Refers to constant efforts will bring success.
³(愚公移山) Refers to having determination for victory and the courage to surmount every difficulty.

Early the next morning, Long Shen’s office welcomed a guest.

“Zong Lao.”

Long Shen welcomed her in. While he didn’t bow his head in the face of the chief director or even the higher-level leaders, he slightly lowered his head in front of this elegant middle-aged woman.

Zong Ling smiled and said, “I’m not bothering you, am I?”

Long Shen said, “No, it’s an honor to have you visit me.”

Zong Ling laughed. “It’s rare that you can joke. It seems you’re in a good mood today. Last time Wu Bingtian came to me, he said that he was afraid you would be dissatisfied with their group taking over Inner Mongolia, so he asked me to help, lest it leave some negative feelings in your heart.”

Long Shen said lightly, “He likes to think too much and complicate small matters all day long. If he put as much effort as this into his cultivation, he would’ve inherited the head of Yuanming Palace long ago.”

Zong Ling said, “The two of you are the mainstays of the Special Administration Bureau, so naturally your every move attracts much attention. He has always been heavy-minded. Instead of devoting himself to cultivation, he’s more suitable for mixing in with the officialdom. Jiang Jun is a person who likes to talk about law and order the most. Wu Bingtian fits his line of thought, so it’s inevitable that there will be favoritism, but he was sent from the top. I can’t easily interfere with him, but he’s usually fine during ordinary times. If you are dissatisfied, you can contact me to complain, and I’ll report it to the higher ups.”

Long Shen ignored Zong Ling’s exhortation and said lightly, “I am not dissatisfied.”

Zong Ling nodded and said nothing more, “How is the matter of the stone tablet progressing?”

Long Shen said, “You’re here just in time. I have something to tell you.”

He briefly explained Hui Yiguang’s affairs. As she listened, Zong Ling’s carefree expression gradually disappeared.

“It seems that there are still remnants of the Archfiend.”

Long Shen said, “As long as the world exists, resentment will always be there, and so will the Archfiend. It is an endless cycle that constantly pushes back and forth. People’s hearts are chaotic and resentful, which gives the Archfiend an environment of ample nourishment. I suspect that it was not completely destroyed at Tianyuan Building during the last incident. What Dong Zhi encountered with Hui Yiguang is most likely a remnant of the Archfiend.”

Zong Ling frowned and said, “You must find its ontological source before you can completely kill it. Of the three top demons, the Archfiend is the most active. If it’s not destroyed, there will be endless trouble in the future.”

However, it’s not easy to find the source of the Archfiend. There are many sporadic records of the Archfiend being born and wiped out in history, ranging from decades to hundreds of years. However, when resentment has condensed to a certain extent, the Archfiend will gradually be revived again.

Zong Ling said, “It’s not like its body hasn’t been found before and was seriously injured. After all, two hundred years had passed yet the Archfiend had lay low and dared not act rashly.”

Long Shen smiled. “That is one of Zong Lao’s achievements.”

Zong Ling coughed lightly. “That was many years ago. You probably heard it thousands of times. It’s quite old, so don’t bother mentioning it. I thought it went too smoothly when Tang Jing and the others eliminated the Archfiend on Tianyuan Building. However, even if it wasn’t wiped out, it must’ve been severely injured during that battle, otherwise it would not have scattered itself into remnants. Since you found one of its remnants in a hospital, if you search around the area with that hospital at the center, you may be lucky enough to find its body to take it out in one fell swoop. That would be ideal.”

Long Shen nodded and said, “After Hui Yiguang’s incident, it’s most likely spooked and I have taken more precautions, but I still have this intention. I’ll send people out and try to scout the area.”

Zong Ling said, “He Yu and Kan Chaosheng have all gone to Yunnan. You have only Zhong Yuyi here now, which may not be enough. I’ll provide three groups to come and assist you.”

Long Shen said, “That’s okay.”

Zong Ling said, “Speaking of this, the second group should indeed add a few more people. Do you have any candidates you fancy for this time around?”

Long Shen didn’t speak.

Zong Ling smiled. “Then there is? How rare. I have always felt you are too strict with your subordinates, but all of them can easily take charge and lead their own team.”

Long Shen frowned slightly, obviously disapproving. “Not Kan Chaosheng.”

Zong Ling smiled and said, “Well, he hasn’t been in shape for a long time, still acts like a child and is quite greedy. You are a dignified Deputy Director of the General Administration Bureau but have so little manpower compared to the others. It would be shameful if this were to spread, but if you really fancy someone this time, you should grab them quickly. I heard Wu Bingtian has eyes on a few good seedlings. The interview scores and total scores have already been released. They are with me. Do you want to take a look and open a backdoor for any of them?

Long Shen was about to say no when a knock sounded on the door.

“Come in.”

Dong Zhi pushed open the door and walked inside. He didn’t expect there would be someone else in Long Shen’s office, so he was taken aback for a moment before he recognized the person and hurriedly bowed before politely saying, “Good morning, Ms. Zong.”

“Good morning. Are you looking for Long Shen?” Zong Ling said with a smile.

Dong Zhi hurriedly said, “No, no, it’s fine. You two talk first. I won’t bother you guys.”

Zong Ling smiled. “Am I so annoying that you wanted to run away when you caught sight of me?”

Although he knew that the other party was joking, it still made him uneasy, so he told the truth of why he came. “I came to see if Boss Long would like to have a meal together at noon. Would you like to join as well, Ms. Zong?”

Zong Ling said, “It won’t be a bother?”

Dong Zhi smiled and said, “Of course not. I’m just worried since the scores haven’t been announced yet that others will misunderstand if they see me with you. If you don’t mind, it’ll be an honor.”

Zong Ling waved her hand. “Come now. I was only teasing. Go on now.”

Seeing that they were talking business and that he had been given amnesty, he quickly said goodbye and closed the door as he left.

Zong Ling smiled and looked at Long Shen. “Among the people you want to recruit, is it Dong Zhi? Or is it a step further, perhaps an apprentice?”

Long Shen was silent for a moment before he said, “He has insight, understanding, and perseverance.”

Zong Ling smiled and said, “He Yu and Zhong Yuyi have the same qualities you mentioned, but if they knocked on the door and asked you to have a meal together like he did just now, I would think that you would’ve deducted their entire year’s salary.”

Long Shen said, “He’s not a member of the Special Administration Bureau, so I cannot apply my standards to him.”

Zong Ling raised an eyebrow. “After he joins group two, can you still say the same thing?”

Long Shen: “Yes.”

Zong Ling laughed. “How about we make a bet?”

Long Shen frowned. “Zong Lao!”

Zong Ling raised her hand in surrender. “Alright, alright. I know that gambling is strictly prohibited in front of you. I’m not a rule-breaker. Do you really not want to look at the scores?”

Seeing that Long Shen didn’t answer, she smiled and said, “Then I’ll leave first so I won’t disturb you.” She got up and started to walk out. The moment her hand touched the doorknob, a voice called to her.

“Zong Lao.”

Zong Ling smiled.

—

A few days later, Dong Zhi received a call from Gu Meiren.

In accordance with the order, after Li Ying and Chi Banxia, it was Dong Zhi’s and Gu Meiren’s turn to watch Hui Yiguang, but the events of that night had broken their agreement. With the efforts of Dong Zhi and the others, Hui Yiguang’s affair was completely resolved. However, Cheng Yuan and the other four failed to arrive on time, so naturally the task of protecting Hui Yiguang fell on them.

However, after that day, Hui Yiguang was no longer troubled by her mysterious incidents. Rather, the story of her unsuccessful suicide attempt at the hospital spread like wildfire, and the media even photographed her being helped out of the hospital. Although Wang Qi was not as well known as Hui Yiguang, she had been a celebrity for a while. After her car accident, there were some media reports, but she quickly lost her popularity. As soon as Hui Yiguang’s matter came to light, someone dug into it and found that Wang Qi was also hospitalized in the same hospital. Even more coincidentally, it was the same night that Wang Qi was pronounced dead.

This led to the relationship between Wang Qi and Hui Yiguang being uncovered. News of their relationship in the beginning, and the fact that they had dated the same guy, was made public to the world. Nothing was kept secret and rumors continue to spread. Many people said that Wang Qi wanted revenge, so she haunted Hui Yiguang, wanting her to accompany her to the afterlife. Some say that it was Hui Yiguang’s guilty feelings for being a thief and that she owed Wang Qi, so she went there to commit suicide. There were even those who said Wang Qi’s death was related to Hui Yiguang. It was only after the surveillance video came to light, confirming that Hui Yiguang never entered Wang Qi’s ward, that the suspicion was cleared.

Fortunately, Li Ying and the others had foresight. When they went to Wang Qi’s room that night, they used a trick to disable the surveillance for a period of time. Otherwise, this would turn into a criminal suspense case and not just a supernatural one.

Still, Hui Yiguang was not as lucky as Li Ying and the others. She was completely sucked into the vortex of public opinion. Even her boyfriend had called and told her to not meet for the time being. She simply hid at home and couldn’t even finish up her latest film for the time being. Outside her house, there were a swarm of media reporters who would crowd the area as soon as she left.

During the past two days, Dong Zhi was recuperating. Since Cheng Yuan and the others were at Hui Yiguang’s side, they wouldn’t need his intervention. He had heard all the news about her from Gu Meiren.

At that time, Gu Meiren called him and asked if he wanted to visit Hui Yiguang together. After all, they had received 300,000 from her, so it would be good to do a “follow up”. Dong Zhi wanted to refuse, but after thinking about it, he agreed and made an appointment with Gu Meiren to visit Hui Yiguang together.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Like I said, and maybe it’s just me, but you’re a pretty shitty friend if you start dating your best friend’s ex. And like I also said, the guy they were fighting over is hardly ever worth it.

My goodness I did not expect to delve into the philosophy of life trying to footnote idioms. Quite some heavy stuff, but very interesting. Just know that you shouldn’t judge someone just on the surface because you don’t know what kind of circumstances they’ve been through. Life’s hard and unfair. My life motto is: treat others as you want to be treated and be kind to everyone.

Oh my, Zong Ling is sure sharp. That’s a bet that Long Shen will definitely lose.

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