Author: 梦溪石 / Meng Xi Shi

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

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Chapter 43

As soon as this thought occurred, a woman’s scream rang through the mall.

The group!

Ba Sang quickly turned his head and Dong Zhi became highly alert! The incident in the underground supermarket just now had tightened his reflexes, so his body reacted instantly. He sent a talisman flying in the dark, and it turned into a bright light in midair as it flew towards the source of the sound. Roars of beasts cried mixed in with the screams of humans.

Many people’s eyes haven’t been able to adjust since they went from a bright environment to complete darkness. Unfortunately, the monsters had no problems since they rely on smell to catch their prey. Two people died instantly in the dark before Dong Zhi had time to react.

Dong Zhi turned on his phone flashlight and held his sword in his other hand as he kept an eye on the surroundings. Gu Meiren played her flute in an attempt to paralyze the monster’s mobility while Ba Sang gathered the remaining group of people as he stood on the periphery.

With a crack, a small movement sounded, but it was particularly conspicuous in the silence and darkness as everyone was holding their breath. Dong Zhi’s reaction was getting sharper. Almost immediately after the sound was made, he hadn’t had time to see what it was, but quickly threw a talisman at the source!

Roar!

Sure enough, there were monsters there, and his talisman seemed to have hit one as the monster jumped into the partition of the ceiling with a whoosh. Everyone tried to suppress their gasps. A woman who wanted to cry gritted her teeth for fear that she would be the next prey.

Dong Zhi said sullenly, “We have to find the emergency power supply quickly!”

The monsters are smart, and it was precisely when the lights went out that they took advantage, knowing that humans could not see in the dark and chose this opportunity to attack.

Ba Sang said, “I’ll go!”

The teller stammered, “I-I-I’m scared!”

Ba Sang told her. “I’m scared too, but if we just stay here, we’re all just waiting to die together!”

Dong Zhi said softly, “Ba Sang is very strong. Don’t be afraid to follow him. When we have light, we can deal with those monsters and protect everyone.”

His kind words seemed to comfort her. The teller followed Ba Sang tremblingly as she held his arm tightly and the two quickly left. Dong Zhi was worried that the monsters would attack while they were alone, but given the current situation, it was impossible for him to come along as the people here needed his protection.

It seems that it hasn’t even been a year since his encounter on the train heading towards Changbai, but his mentality has changed a lot. From trembling like this ordinary group of people who could only wait around and be protected, he had taken the lead in protecting others.

Dong Zhi couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment for him to have made such progress. It would be even better if the male god could see his heroic performance right now. A faint regret flashed in his heart when he suddenly heard a woman’s scream. It was the teller!

His heart instantly seized up as Gu Meiren shouted, “Ba Sang!”

What answered back was the sound of violent fighting and Ba Sang’s whistle. He heard sounds of flapping wings, which he surmised should be a falcon that Ba Sang summoned.

Dong Zhi reminded Gu Meiren. “Play the flute!”

His notion brought her attention back, as if she had just woken up from a dream, and she quickly picked up her flute to play. Dong Zhi frowned, and suddenly remembered something. If there were more than one monster, one of them was probably following Ba Sang, while the others were waiting for them to relax their vigilance before taking the opportunity to attack again…

A faint fishy smell rose from his nose. Without thinking about it, he threw the talisman fire directly above him. The light from the fire illuminated a dark shadow flashing past him, confirming his guess.

Dong Zhi suddenly turned around and saw the dark shadow rushing towards Gu Meiren’s back.

“Get down!” He yelled as he ran towards her at full speed with his sword pointing at her.

Gu Meiren trusted Dong Zhi. As soon as she heard his words, she leaned forward without a second thought. At this moment, the sword was thrust through in the position that she was previously standing in and stabbed right into the monster’s head!

Gu Meiren only felt the heat radiating from the back of her head as fishy liquid splashed on top of her. The strange smell made her retch. Dong Zhi panted as his legs gave out and he fell to his knees.

If Gu Meiren’s reaction had been any second slower just now, it would’ve been her head that the Qingzhu Sword pierced. He almost took the life of his companion.

Suddenly, the lights turned on, indicating that Ba Sang was successful in turning on the emergency power supply.

He said, “Thank you for trusting me.”

Gu Meiren: “Happy to cooperate.”

When Ba Sang came back, he was dragging his feet, and there was no joy on his face. Everyone knew why. Most likely, the teller was killed by the monster or Ba Sang had to end her life in order to prevent her from turning into a zombie.

“A piece of her flesh was torn off by the monster, so I had to kill her.” Ba Sang said.

“You did your best.” Dong Zhi wanted to pat him on the shoulder, but he avoided him as he slowly turned around.

Gu Meiren took a deep breath to calm herself down as several of the ordinary people subconsciously took several steps backwards. Ba Sang’s shirt had been slashed, and there were blood marks that were slowly bleeding out from the upper left to the lower right of his back. While the wound wasn’t fatal, the monster was poisonous. Once bitten or damaged, what awaits will be the fate of becoming a zombie. There was no exception.

Gu Meiren stared at his wound in a daze, unable to speak for a long time. Dong Zhi reluctantly put on an ugly smile as he said, “Maybe-Maybe there’ll be an exception!”

Ba Sang said sadly, “I saw that woman get hurt with my very own eyes, and she started to change, so I had to kill her.”

Dong Zhi said, “But you are a practitioner, and your body is stronger than ordinary people…”

“Which means after becoming a zombie, I’ll be even more difficult to deal with than an ordinary zombie!” Ba Sang interrupted him. “Kill me. I don’t want to become a zombie.”

Dong Zhi didn’t even want to think about it. “No!”

Ba Sang stretched out his hand, seemingly to pat his arm, but drew back halfway. This Kangba Tibetan man was reckless and always rough but sharp. His unwillingness to hurt his friends made Dong Zhi’s eyes sour.

“It’s nice to meet you all, truly. In fact, my master disapproved of my trying to join the Special Administration Bureau. I wanted to see the outside world and had been cheated so many times that I thought the people on the outside were all really bad, but after meeting you, I felt my thoughts were too naïve. If there are bad people in the world, then there must be good ones as well. I’m very lucky, and as soon as I came out, I had two more friends who are as close as brothers that we can live and die together.”

Gu Meiren covered her mouth with a whimper to muffle her sobs. Dong Zhi couldn’t help it anymore, so he stepped forward and hugged him tightly.

“I originally wanted to invite you to visit my place on vacation. Our butter tea is the best brewed in that area, but if you have the opportunity in the future, I have to trouble you to help go back and tell my parents and master the news of my death!” Ba Sang patted him on the back and motioned for him to let go.

Dong Zhi: “Stop talking!”

Ba Sang suddenly broke away from him with force, causing Dong Zhi to be pushed away several steps away. He was off guard, so he didn’t notice that Ba Sang had pulled out a short blade from his waist and inserted it directly into his throat.

“Ba Sang!” Gu Meiren rushed up.

Ba Sang smiled at them as blood gushed from the corners of his mouth and his eyes gradually became lax. His hand slowly loosened from the place where he held the knife, eventually falling down limp. Moistness spread quickly to Dong Zhi’s eyes, and his throat choked up as if there was a stone lodged in place. He couldn’t move and couldn’t speak at all.

“Zombies! There are zombies coming in again from outside!” Someone shouted in panic.

Looking back, Dong Zhi saw a few more figures slowly wandering towards the entrance of the mall. At first there was only one or two, but after a closer look, he found a string of them was slowly wandering in, seemingly attracted to the remaining vitality here.

Gu Meiren panicked as she picked up the flute and began playing it. Dong Zhi gritted his teeth; his hungry and weak body was filled with anger over Ba Sang’s death as he clenched his sword and strode forward. The talismans he had left weren’t enough to deal with this hoard of zombies, but he didn’t need talismans. He can be like Liu Qingbo and use only his sword. As the sword rises and falls, wherever it goes, zombies fall one after another, as if they were taking the initiative to make way for him. They crawled on the ground, looking as if they were his slaves and servants.

Gu Meiren watched Dong Zhi walk among the zombies in a daze, slashing his sword wildly and with ease. Under the light, the young man with black hair and fair skin, and a face that was calm and indifferent, looked as if he was doing something extraordinary. But in the eyes of others, it was completely shocking. Gu Meiren never knew that killing zombies could create such a sense of artistry.

Dong Zhi discarded everything and gave zero fucks. He was simply holding on to a single breath, and all he knew was that his hands began to tremble and the sword in his hand seemed to weigh a thousand pounds.

A zombie had grabbed his shoulder from behind, opened his mouth and was about to bite him, and he almost didn’t have the strength to turn around and defend himself.

Too tired. I really miss the big bed in the Special Administration dorm. I really want to lie down and get some sleep.

Zombies poured in from outside, one after another, as if they were endless. At such a critical moment, Dong Zhi suddenly remembered that night in Long Shen’s dormitory. He had received a call from Gu Meiren saying that Hui Yiguang had encountered an accident, so he hurried out and Long Shen stopped him and asked him to bring the Qingzhu Sword with him.

He still remembered that the light in that room was warm and pleasant, and that Long Shen felt a bit softer under it. His heart wasn’t as cold and unkind as it seemed.

Suddenly, the ceiling broke with a bang, and a dark shadow fell from the sky into the throng of zombies and leaped towards him with great force!

Monster!

Unfortunately, Dong Zhi didn’t have the strength to react. He could only watch the monster approach him at lightning speed. In one-thousandth of a second, the monster appeared right in front of him, about 2 meters away, and reached out to grab him with its sharp claws!

I can’t dodge in time!

Though Dong Zhi realized this, his body could no longer keep up with the reaction of his brain. Even his spirit had dulled. After fighting fiercely all night, he was so exhausted that his eyes could barely stay open, and he felt he was seeing doubles when he looked at things.

Forget it. Fighting to the death means you’re worthy like Ba Sang. Furthermore, there was Gu Meiren and those ordinary people behind him…

At that moment, the sky was bright outside as dawn finally arrived. Dong Zhi wanted to turn around and help them escape, but he was completely exhausted, so he could only watch as the monsters got closer and closer.

In the next moment, the surrounding scenery was suddenly distorted and blurred, and there was a bright light in front of him. The oncoming monsters had all suddenly disappeared, and the bloody aura and fishy smell that filled his nose were gone as well.

Together with the shopping mall and all the zombies that were pouring in, they were all gone. He felt only dizziness and his legs were so soft that he couldn’t help but sit down on the ground. Dong Zhi closed his eyes, feeling that he might have been too tired and was hallucinating. Otherwise, how could he suddenly see Wu Bingtian and Long Shen?

He was not the only one who was in a daze. Everyone was sitting in the classroom. All had pale faces, or expressions of pain. Some were gasping for breath, while others had faces full of vigilance. It seems that they haven’t recovered from the doomsday crisis they’ve all experienced just now.

Wu Bingtian stood in front of them clapping his hands and saying coldly, “I announce that of all the 20 people who participated in the training, only ten survived. They are Li Ying, Liu Qingbo, Dong Zhi, Gu Meiren, Zhang Song, Xie Qingling, Liu Si, Ou-Yang Yin, Zuo Xingui, and Zhaun Rongrong! All those who “died” in the simulation training will have that noted on their file. If you are eliminated during the next training, you must leave the Special Administration Bureau and take the exam again next year!”

So, the night that just passed was really training?

Everyone looked around blankly at each other and couldn’t help being surprised when they saw their companions who had already “died” last night. Dong Zhi looked at Ba Sang. He had just gotten up from the ground and touched his throat with a painful expression, as if he was afraid of being pierced by his own dagger again. Gu Meiren burst into tears as she was unable to suppress her emotions and covered her mouth as her shoulders trembled slightly.

The others weren’t much better, and some were even more emotional than them. Some people touched their chests and muttered to themselves, “I’m not dead. I’m really not dead!”

Wu Bingtian and Long Shen didn’t stop them and allowed them to continue venting. Dong Zhi couldn’t help but look at Long Shen. The latter seemed to notice his gaze and glanced back at him, giving him a slight nod.

Dong Zhi’s heart, which was seemingly exhausted and deflated, had suddenly been infused with vitality. He couldn’t stop himself from returning a self-confident smile. Long Shen’s smile seemed to be a little deeper than his, though.

When Wu Bingtian looked over, Dong Zhi’s mood had slowly calmed down. After everyone calmed their emotions, Wu Bingtian said, “The equipment used for the simulation this time is the latest achievement of the Sino-US cooperation. The Americans firmly believe that a Resident Evil situation will happen in the future, so the simulation’s background is a modern city in a Resident Evil setting. For people who died in the simulation training, their bodies will be ejected from the simulation environment, but in the simulation world, their ‘corpses’ still exist and are converted to NPCs. This is the first year we have implemented this simulation. We hope to use this kind of sudden training to test your on-the-spot abilities in each of you.”

Everyone smiled bitterly, obviously fearful of everything just now.

Wu Bingtian’s face was not good. “There are 20 of you, yet the survival rate is half. If this number is placed among ordinary people, I would be extremely grateful, but don’t forget, you are the future members of the Special Administration Bureau! You’re not ordinary people! As a national-level practitioner, half of you managed to die in a single night. How can you compete with other countries when you have this kind of survival rating?!”

His voice became louder, and, in the end, he angrily reprimanded everyone.

Liu Qingbo couldn’t help but say, “But we didn’t know that it was training since we had already taken a day class at that time…”

Besides, all of them hadn’t even eaten dinner yet.

Wu Bingtian said angrily, “When there’s a crisis, people don’t care if you are hungry or tired! What is a crisis? It just happens without warning! What is sudden training? It’s to test your ability to react to emergencies! Will the zombies call you first before they come out?! Will those monsters and demons drop off a text message first to announce their arrival?!”

Some people couldn’t help laughing out loud, but quickly suppressed their throats under Wu Bingtian’s glare. He glanced at everyone, and as far as he could see, many people lowered their heads, not daring to look at him.

He snorted coldly, “I know that you have lived in a comfortable environment for a long time and feel that the world is safe. At most, there are occasional emergencies. However, what I want to tell you is that the world is uneasy, and danger lurks everywhere, especially in the dark. If you’re ignorant and don’t know when and how you’ll die, you’ll be just like an ordinary person. How can you protect others when you can’t even protect yourself?”

This stick* was extremely effective. During the day, Director Jiang’s lectures made everyone surprised and amused. They couldn’t help thinking, ‘The Special Administration Bureau is nothing more than this.’ As a result, just when their minds were relaxed, the Special Administration Bureau gave them such a vivid lesson.

*The stick is part of the carrot and stick. Metaphor used of a combination of rewards and punishment is used to induce a desired behavior.

Most likely, everyone will never forget this experience for the rest of their lives.

“You think that after you have passed the written examination and interview, you already have one foot in the door of the Special Administration Bureau, ah? Let me tell you that there will be countless tests waiting for you in the future. If you come here depending only on luck and muddle your way through hoping to pass until training is completed and the practice exam is held, let me tell you that you will possibly lose your life!”

Seeing that everyone was dejected, Wu Bingtian sneered and stared at Chi Banxia. “Chi Banxia, you thought you would be safe if you followed Li Ying, so you went out of your way to stick with him. Unexpectedly, you still lost your life. Let me tell you, the Special Administration Bureau never raises dodder grass*. If you hold onto the idea of depending on others, reality will teach you what ‘death’ really means, and I hope you can remember this lesson!”

*Also known as cuscuta, it’s a type of parasitical plant that attaches itself to other plants and sucks the nutrients from its host.

Chi Banxia’s face flushed from being admonished that she couldn’t lift her head.

Wu Bingtian: “And you, Ba Sang! At that time, the second-level zombie came from behind you. If you were more flexible and reacted faster, you could have avoided it, but because you were half a second too late, you lost your life. Don’t you feel wronged?”

“Injustice! I will definitely practice my reflexes going forward!” Ba Sang nodded repeatedly.

Wu Bingtian then began commenting on the people who died in the training one by one. Dong Zhi found that their performance from last night was clearly seen by the leaders, including what everyone did, how they dealt with the crisis, how they got along with their companions, how they treated ordinary people, and so on.

Then again, if the future of the backbone elites of the dignified Special Administration Bureau would be wiped out in half when they encountered a crisis, it was no wonder that Wu Bingtian was extremely annoyed. Not only were the ‘dead’ people scolded one by one, but the survivors who failed to escape were also on the chopping block.

Wu Bingtian said, “Liu Qingbo! At that time, you were in a team with Li Ying and the others. Why did you have to leave by yourself halfway and run back to the Special Administration Bureau!”

“I want to go back and see if anyone else in the bureau survived,” Liu Qingbo defended.

Wu Bingtian: “What about the ordinary people in the mall? Don’t you care about them? You just threw them to your companions to deal with! Even if there are still survivors in the Bureau, you should still remember the lessons from the past. Your behavior isn’t bravery, it’s recklessness! Completely brainless!”

Liu Qingbo was unconvinced. “But I survived to the end!”

Wu Bingtian frowned. “So what? If you hadn’t passed by the cafeteria and happened to find an electrician’s room, would you be so lucky?”

His voice became sterner. “Don’t forget, you are not the only cultivator. You represent the Special Administration Bureau, which means you must not only protect yourself, but you’re also responsible for the lives of ordinary people! You are the law enforcers and defenders in another sense! You left your companions and ordinary people who needed protection. Even if you survive in the end, what can you be proud of? You should be ashamed of yourself! If you dare do it again, I rather have Ba Sang or Chi Banxia than a selfish person like you!”

After being reprimanded so fiercely in front of everyone, Liu Qingbo’s face turned pale from all the embarrassment. Because of his father’s background, since he came to the capital, he has always been taken care of along the way. Whether they were leaders or elders who met him, they were all kind and pleasant towards him, constantly offering praise for his youth and achievements. Even Deputy Director Wu Bingtian’s attitude towards him before was quite amiable. Let alone reprimanding him, he didn’t even say a single serious word towards him. For the first time in his life, Liu Qingbo, who had always been surrounded by praise, felt so humiliated in public.

He clenched his fists tightly, but he could no longer say a word of rebuttal.

Wu Bingtian: “Dong Zhi, your abilities are relatively singular. In your three-person group, as soon as Ba Sang died, the combat effectiveness of you and Gu Meiren was greatly weakened. If the simulation hadn’t just ended, there would be one more name on the death list! Also, when Li Ying proposed to separate, not only did you not try your best to persuade him to stay, but you also let him take people away. With a broken-up team and zombies swarming all around, you all would have been wiped out in the end! Your total score ranks first, but you don’t have the corresponding team leadership. What’s the use of a high score?”

What he said was very pertinent, and Dong Zhi accepted it gracefully, “I was wrong.”

Wu Bingtian glanced at him, then turned his gaze to the others. “And you, Li Ying. You took Chi Banxia and Liu Si to find a large army. You rescued a group of ordinary people halfway, but at the same time, you made a fatal mistake. Do you know what it is?”

Li Ying nodded. “When I was saving people, I didn’t carefully check their identities and ignored the dangerous elements hidden inside, which got Chi Banxia killed.”

What dangerous element? Everyone looked curious.

Wu Bingtian said, “In the simulation, ordinary zombies are generally lethal and may be fatal to ordinary people, but for practitioners, except for a relatively large number, they do not pose a threat. The second-level zombies are the evolved bodies encountered by Dong Zhi and Zhang Song. They have no vision, but they have a strong sense of smell, and their mobility is much faster than that of ordinary zombies. They can fly from wall to wall. In large numbers, it’s difficult for even practitioners to deal with. Further up, the third-level zombies have evolutionary bodies that can simulate biological forms in a short period of time, such as humans. This kind of zombie can mix in with the general population and cannot be prevented. This is what Li Ying and the others met.”

That was too unlucky. Who would have expected a zombie that could disguise itself perfectly as a human! According to this, they could also simulate animal and even plants. How could such thing be prevented?

As if seeing everyone’s doubts, Long Shen, who’d been silent this whole time, finally spoke up, “You’re not ordinary people. You have to do better than what ordinary people can and can’t do. The incompetent can only use excuses like ‘negligence’, ‘inattention’, and ‘carelessness’ to comfort themselves.”

Wu Bingtian nodded. “Boss Long is right. This sudden training is to teach you a profound lesson and let you know how far you are from truly being qualified to be a member of the Special Administration Bureau! Do you know what the survival rate of the United States was? In the first emergency training, they had a total of 50 people, and in the end, 29 people survived. The survival rate is 58%, which is 8% higher than ours! Among these 50 people, some were ordinary people who are not practitioners, but what about you?”

Everyone was disheartened by the training. Wu Bingtian finally calmed down when he saw that they were all in low moods.

“I hope that through this training, you can discover your shortcomings instead of blindly making excuses to get rid of your prevarication! A person who doesn’t know how to self-examine themselves will never make progress. No matter how much you practice, you can only go so far! Take a day off tomorrow and return here at 9 AM the day after that. Classes will be held as usual. You’re dismissed!”  

After that, he remembered that Long Shen was next to him, and hurriedly said, “Does the Boss Long have anything else to say?”

Long Shen said lightly, “Boss Wu has said all that needed to be said, so I have nothing to add.”

Wu Bingtian choked. “Then that’s it, dismissed!”

Rumors that Boss Jiang was not good at his job and loved to command blindly have been widely circulated in the Special Administration Bureau. It is said that the impression of him wasn’t as good as before, and that news of his removal or transfer would surface from time to time. If this news is conclusive, then the position of the head of bureau will be vacated.

Wu Bingtian was naturally eager to move into this position and was ready to play the game. He didn’t think Song Zhi was competition, but he didn’t dare underestimate Long Shen, who’s a powerful competitor.

However, these are high-level competitions that have nothing to do with Dong Zhi. Many people haven’t eaten yet, but hunger didn’t strike them when they were too hungry.

The people who “died” during the training were naturally dejected, and some “survivors” weren’t so happy either. People with high self-esteem like Liu Qingbo found it more uncomfortable to be scolded than to be killed. He left with an ugly face, and no one dared go forward to provoke him.

Gu Meiren helped Ba Sang stand up and looked around to find Dong Zhi, only to find that he had disappeared.

“Boss Long!” Dong Zhi had rushed out of the classroom to chase him down.

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The author has something to say:

Everyone was scolded to death. How inexplicably cool. →_→

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Kinky Thoughts:

Well, I should have thought it was a simulation given that it was literally based on Resident Evil. Still, I was very sad about Ba Sang’s death! I hope he joins group two with Dong Zhi.

Also, isn’t this test a little bit unfair for some people? Like, WTF was Chi Banxia supposed to do? She only knows voodoo and witchcraft. How the fuck is she supposed to fight against zombies when those things have no effect over?

And also, that martial arts dude that could only fight with his hands. Like… Hand-to-hand combat has a higher risk of getting yourself injured/bitten so what was he supposed to do? Not fight with his abilities?

There should be a goal or something in mind instead of just survival, like finding the army or finding a base, or something. Judging based on whether someone survived or not is too unfair.

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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 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.

---

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.

---

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

Author: 梦溪石 / Meng Xi Shi

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

---

Chapter 38

Hui Yiguang looked at them blankly and puzzled. “What do you want me to do? Of course, I am Hui Yiguang!”

Seeing that everyone seemed to hesitate, her expression became more anxious. She shouted at Chi Banxia, “Banxia! You can recognize me, right?!”

Chi Banxia was injured, so she couldn’t help in the battle just now as she leaned on the side to rest. At this moment, her gaze wandered back and forth between Hui Yiguang and the white figure made of light, trying to carefully identify them, but she shook her head at Li Ying and the others, indicating she could not tell them apart.

Hui Yiguang said anxiously, “It was because of my problem that I asked you all to help me!”

The white light mass trembled violently, but because it couldn’t speak, it couldn’t defend itself.

Li Ying said quietly, “Do you remember how much you paid us?”

Hui Yiguang hurriedly said, “Originally, I told everyone it would be a little more than 200,000, but then I decided to round it up and asked Xiao Han to send each of you 300,000!”

So the mass of white light is really Wang Qi?

Everyone’s suspicion gradually dissipated, and Liu Qingbo raised his sword again and aimed at the white figure. Dong Zhi still felt something was off. The talisman array he had set up on the ground was slowly turning black, as if the talisman paper was being eroded by something invisible.

Was there something trying to break in from outside?

He raised his head and looked at the sky. It was pitch black, filled with lights in the distance that flickered from time to time. Other than that, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong. Feeling uneasy, he suddenly turned his head and looked at Hui Yiguang. He wasn’t sure if it was him seeing things, but the corners of her mouth seemed to evoke a weird arc. But looking intently at her face, it was still full of fear, so how could she be smiling?!

Chi Banxia was also afraid that Liu Qingbo would kill the wrong person and take out the rightful owner of the original’s body, so she hurriedly asked Hui Yiguang a few more questions, to which Hui Yiguang was able to answer them all correctly.

Li Ying said solemnly, “This can’t be dragged out any longer. The soul is absorbing energy and is slowly getting bigger!”

Everyone looked and saw that the white mass of light was slowly expanding as its shadow was slowly extending towards Hui Yiguang. Liu Qingbo no longer hesitated and swept his sword at the white figure.

Suddenly, a hissing sound was made, as if something had been torn apart, and the wind roared. Accompanied by the roar, Liu Qingbo heard Chi Banxia scream behind him. He had no time to turn around as his body was thrown down by the force.

Dong Zhi fell on top of him, bending his head to avoid the violent wind passing by. Liu Qingbo stared at Dong Zhi fiercely and stretched out his hand to push him away. “Get off!”

Dong Zhi said innocently, “I was blown down by the wind…”

Before he could finish his sentence, the white light and shadow were eroded by a black mist that condensed from all sides, and screams rang out from the air. The black mist and the white light gradually merged, quickly turning gray and swelling sharply, eventually becoming as tall as one and a half person as it floated towards Hui Yiguang.

Hui Yiguang was horrified, rolling back and forth.

“You go away! Go away!” She screamed. She desperately tried to get up and escape but kept collapsing to the ground as her body was too weak.

“Watch your step!” Dong Zhi suddenly shouted.

Gu Meiren looked down subconsciously. Under the light, clusters of black shadows appeared on the ground some unknown time ago and moved towards everyone’s feet. Li Ying threw out a talisman, and after a while, it burned together with the black shadow, igniting it.

Gu Meiren played her flute, stopping a black shadow in its place as it heard the sound. Li Ying immediately placed a talisman on it, burning it out.

Another black shadow was about to jump out of the ground but was sliced to pieces by Liu Qingbo’s sword. He then stared at Dong Zhi harshly.

Dong Zhi didn’t bother to pay attention to his opponent’s irritability. With a talisman in one hand, he stopped Hui Yiguang. While holding his sword in the other hand, he drew it towards the gray shadow and forced it back.

“Are you the real Hui Yiguang?” He asked gray shadow.

The gray shadow was shaking violently, as if there was nowhere to vent its resentment and anger. When it heard Dong Zhi’s question, it abruptly stopped, as if it understood.

Dong Zhi turned his head again and said to Hui Yiguang. “And you… You’re Wang Qi!”

Hui Yiguang didn’t have time to hide her expression. It seemed she couldn’t trick him, and panic flashed across her face. Although it was only for a short moment, it was enough for everyone to see that Dong Zhi was telling the truth.

Li Ying said angrily, “The soul that just popped out of Hui Yiguang is really her! Wang Qi is still inside Hui Yiguang’s body!”

Hui Yiguang argued, “Not true! I’m really Hui Yiguang! Don’t be fooled by that fierce ghost!”

Chi Banxia suddenly shouted, “Yiguang! You told me before that you wanted to visit your hometown with me when you have time. Don’t you remember?!”

Hui Yiguang looked flustered and responded casually. “Of course I remember!”

Chi Banxia said angrily, “You have never said such a thing!”

Hui Yiguang collapsed and cried, “I can’t recall anything right now!”

Before the voice fell, the gray shadow trembled abruptly, crossed Dong Zhi and others, and rushed directly towards Hui Yiguang, wrapping itself around her whole body. Hui Yiguang was shocked.

“Help! Help me!”

“I will kill you! Bitch!”

“Let me go! Return back my body!”

“I don’t want it anymore. I want to die with you!”

For a moment it would be Hui Yiguang’s voice, and for another moment it would change to a different tone. The gray shadow and Hui Yiguang were so entangled with each other that no one could distinguish who was who.

Liu Qingbo held his sword wavering.

“What the hell are these things?!”

Gu Meiren and Li Ying worked together to destroy the dark shadows on the ground. One played the flute while the other stuck talismans to them, but soon they found that the shadows were endless and more kept coming and they couldn’t be eliminated.

It’s like… demons. But Dong Zhi wasn’t entirely sure.

He had seen the Archfiend getting wiped out on Tianyuan Building. Heavenly lightning had struck it down, instantly charring Xu Wan so that there wasn’t a single trace left. Now in front of him were clusters of shadows no bigger than the size of a palm. Occasionally a wisp of smoke would rise, and they can be easily destroyed with a talisman. Don’t bother mentioning Archfiends, even a Sneaky Yaksha was much more difficult to deal with than they were. Are they really demons?

Dong Zhi couldn’t bite his finger or mouth, so he had to scratch his finger on the Qingzhu Sword to draw blood. As beads of blood gushed out, he quickly drew the runes on the talisman paper and pasted them in the position where the talisman array was leaking!

Slap!

The loophole immediately closed as the array was restored and the shadows on the ground stopped increasing. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly wiped out the remaining shadows. Li Ying glanced at Dong Zhi, surprised by his capabilities.

With his relationship with his father, Li Ying had a general understanding of everyone who participated in the exam long before it even started.

People like Gu Meiren and Cheng Yuan had great skills but lacked a deep background. They had practice in the deep mountains and old forests. While they may seem weak, their respective masters were well-known as dominant figures in their field of expertise. If they could make it to the end, they would most likely go to group three.

Liu Qingbo was from a famous family, and his skills were on par with everyone else’s. The chances of him entering the Special Administration Bureau are almost guaranteed, and he would be considered a rising star. As for Chi Banxia, her family roots were in Hainan, and the Chi family are famous witchdoctors in that area and Southeast Asia, so it would be inevitable that they would come into contact with each other again in the future.

Li Ying himself was born on Mount Maoshan, and his father was a consultant for the Special Administration Bureau. He was well-liked by the officials and the average person. Such a figure like him needed not to flatter others, but others would come befriend him. However, he was purely average and was not as eye-catching as Liu Qingbo.

As for the others, they all fell into one of the categories previously mentioned. The only exception was Dong Zhi. Before the written exam, Li Ying didn’t even know of his existence. It wasn’t until he came first, and 20 points higher than second place, that he was surprised to find such a dark horse in this year’s candidates.

But after seeing his resume, Li Ying learned that Dong Zhi was just an ordinary person. Even if he was the top scorer on the written exam, the most he could do would simply be logistics. Thinking like this, he was proven wrong again as Dong Zhi’s interview was the longest out of all the remaining candidates. After his father, Li Rui, returned that day, he expressed anger, and the object of that anger was none other than Dong Zhi. Li Ying had to admit that his opponent was quite courageous to argue with an examiner during an interview. If it was another person, even if that person had a differing opinion, they would only show an obedient demeanor at that time.

Li Ying wasn’t interested in forming deep friendships. In his opinion, learning to judge others and interact with them is a necessary skill to have in life. People who were neither capable nor adaptable would have a limited future. Even if they can enter the Special Administration Bureau, they are destined to have no great achievements. When he invited everyone to dinner and they each got to know each other, he didn’t treat Dong Zhi special, although he also didn’t deliberately pit him either. He wasn’t as interested in him as he was in Liu Qingbo.

But seeing his performance just now, Dong Zhi was beyond his imagination. Even if he couldn’t judge the situation, he was by no means a useless ordinary person.

Hui Yiguang struggled and screamed desperately as she was enveloped by the gray shadow. Liu Qingbo swung his sword towards her and stabbed right in the middle of the gray shadow. A loud sound was heard, seemingly screams from an unknown creature.

The voice was so high pitched that it almost pierced everyone’s eardrums, but it slowly got weaker.

Does this mean that these demons are easier to deal with than an Archfiend?

The gray shadow was led aside by the thin sword as it shook violently. There seemed to be a sign that it was separating. Liu Qingbo no longer hesitated and stepped forward to insert his sword into the shadow.

“Ah!!!”

Hui Yiguang’s screams rang in everyone’s ears. It wasn’t really her screams, but rather the wailing of her soul. Liu Qingbo continued as he held the hilt of the sword with both hands and stirred the shadow vigorously with the body of the sword.

“Yiguang!” Chi Banxia couldn’t bear it, and wanted to step forward to stop him, but was held off by Li Ying.

“His sword is not an ordinary sword. It’s the Feijing Sword* that can calm the soul and exorcise evil spirits!”

*(飞景) Translated could be the Sword of Light. It’s part of the three swords of Feijing, crafted by (Emperor Wen of Wei) Cao Pi. Their names are: Feijing, Liucai, and Huafeng. See Kinky Thoughts for lore.

The Feijing Sword was not as famous as the Gan Jiang or Mo Ye*. To the average person, they may think it was an imitation sword of the future generation. Since Chi Banxia didn’t know much about swords, she was confused by his words.

*Swordsmith couple who forge a pair of swords named after them. See Kinky Thoughts or go to Wikipedia for the lore.

Dong Zhi, on the other hand, had worked on a game with the background of ancient Chinese mythology. Many game props were added to it from ancient classics, and among them was, of course, the Feijing Sword, so he was no stranger to this name.

It was said that this sword was one of three swords crafted by Emperor Wen of Wei, Cao Pi. He gave the sword the name Feijing because it was “clear as the sky and its light was like a shooting star”. Later, Cao Pi often wore it by his side. On the day of the sword’s completion, he was able to conquer hundreds of miles with ease.

But there was another little-known allusion to the sword. Legend has it that at that time, Cao Pi had dreams in the middle of the night that would leave him restless, and he would wake up sweating profusely. He once dreamed that he was wandering on the Naihe Bridge when he encountered a man who was about to take his life. Fortunately, a white-faced man jumped out of nowhere and protected him. When Cao Pi woke up, he saw the Feijing Sword lying on his pillow. He had taken it off before going to bed and didn’t let anyone touch it, yet here it was. Since then, he had always worn the Feijing Sword, never allowing it to leave his side.

Liu Qingbo continued to stir the gray shadow with his sword. The gray shadow was dragged by the sword as it struggled desperately but was unable to break free. Slowly, the black and white that were entangled, forming the gray shadow, gradually showed signs of separation. Strand by strand, they were separated from each other by the agitation of the sword, forming a picture just like the two ends of the yin and yang symbol, flowing into each other endlessly.

Seeing his opportunity, Li Ying used cinnabar to draw a rune directly on the palm of his hand and coldly stretched it out, grabbing the top of Hui Yiguang’s head.

“It’s not your body. Leave now! Go!”

“No!!!”

A white shadow fell out of Hui Yiguang’s body. Li Ying took the opportunity to grab the white shadow under Liu Qingbo’s sword and threw it into Hui Yiguang. At this moment, Liu Qingbo’s body shook slightly, which gave pause to the force he was using to hold the black shadow in place. It quickly took the chance and escaped, flying towards the white shadow that was on the ground and merging with it. The speed was so instantaneous that no one had time to even blink.

“Not good!”

As Hui Yiguang’s soul was returning to its rightful place, Wang Qi’s soul was merged with the black shadow, and the metamorphosis speed made everyone speechless. Wang Qi was full of resentment, so it was a match made in heaven for the black shadow. The two quickly merged, and it was much faster than when it was with Hui Yiguang. In the blink of an eye, a figure that was taller than the average person began forming. The mass of light wavered and condensed until it formed into a human-like shape, vaguely like a woman.

“Wang Qi!” Hui Yiguang called out in a daze.

Her soul had just returned to her body, and her face was pale like paper. When she opened her eyes, she saw the gray shadow rushing towards her, overwhelming her with fear so that she fainted right on the spot.

Liu Qingbo had just used the Feijing Sword to separate the dark shadow once, so he had lost a lot of qi and physical strength, so he didn’t have the power to stop it. Li Ying being quick-handed, slapped the gray shadow with his cinnabar painted palm but was easily overturned by it. He fell heavily onto the concrete ground, and the pain was so bad that he vomited a mouthful of blood.

Gu Meiren played her flute, desperately trying to stop the gray shadow’s movements. She managed only to stagnate it in the beginning, but eventually it was unaffected by her music as it continued to rush towards Hui Yiguang.

Seeing the gray shadow inches away from pouncing on Hui Yiguang’s body, everyone thought it was too late, and all their efforts had been in vain, when suddenly, Chi Banxia threw herself in front of Hui Yiguang, stretched out her hand, and sprinkled a cloud of gray powder.

To the eyes of an ordinary person, it would look like powder, but it was in fact countless small insects. She could only pray that these insects were enough to stop the gray shadow. Unfortunately, her expectations fell through.

When the white powder came into contact with the gray shadow, it was immediately absorbed and melted into becoming a part of the gray shadow itself. It then quickly rushed towards Chi Banxia. Everything happened so fast, within a few seconds, that Chi Banxia could only watch as the shadow approached her like a hurricane.

It’s over! There’s nothing they could do! Was the thought that flashed through Liu Qingbo as he could only helplessly watch the gray shadow about to become entangle with Chi Banxia.

If she was also possessed by that ghost, with her own abilities as a witchdoctor, it would be even more difficult to deal with than Hui Yiguang. This was his second thought.

A sudden flash of light appeared in front of him at that moment. Liu Qingbo thought it was a short circuit that caused the light to become unstable, but then a muffled sound filled his ears.

It seems to be… thunder? The sun was shining brightly all day without a cloud in the sky. Where did this thunder come from?

The thought just appeared in his mind, and in the next moment, he saw a thunderbolt pass by the top of his head and strike the gray shadow, leaving behind a loud booming noise! The heavenly lightning was not big, at most its size was as thick as a baby’s arm, but the brightness was enough for everyone to subconsciously close their eyes.

The gray shadow slowly dispersed as it was struck by the lightning. Its outstretched arms were inches away from grabbing Chi Banxia’s hair. Chi Banxia was in shock as she gasped heavily, still digesting the fact that she had escaped death.

Li Ying and others looked around, seeing a young man’s face getting paler as it was illuminated by the flash of lightning.

He held a magic talisman in one hand and a sword in the other. After he summoned the thunder, he didn’t have the strength anymore to hold up his sword as his wrists hung down, causing the tip of the sword to lean diagonally against the ground. Using it as a support, Dong Zhi leaned on the sword and breathed heavily. Sweat covered his hair as it flowed down his temples. He staggered back a few steps and leant against the wall like a prostrated figure.

Looking up, he saw that Gu Meiren was staring at him, so he cracked a smile and joked, “Am I awesome or what?”

Gu Meiren laughed. “Awesome!” She hadn’t looked down on Dong Zhi, so she wasn’t particularly surprised by his feat, though that couldn’t be said for Liu Qingbo and Li Ying.

As their shock subsided, even if he was unwilling, Liu Qingbo had to admit that this ordinary person, who he thought wasn’t qualified to become Long Shen’s apprentice when they first met, had some capabilities in him.

“Dong Zhi, I didn’t expect you to hide such a thing. You know the Five Thunder Law¹ technique!” Li Ying panted and gave him a smile.

As someone born on Mount Maoshan, it was natural he would’ve learned the Five Thunder Law technique¹, though Maoshan calls it the Five Thunder Command¹. The name was different depending on the sect, but it was pretty much the same spell; one that attracted heavenly thunder that could slay monsters and demons.

¹Clarity: There are 3 terms so far for this technique. The Hezao Sect calls it the Five Thunder Talisman [wu lei fu] (五雷符). When Li Ying mentions it for the first time, he calls it Five Thunder Law/Dharma [wu lei zheng fa] (五雷正法). The Maoshan Sect calls it Five Thunder Command [wu lei ling fu] (五雷令符). || I’m assuming Five Thunder Law is what it’s commonly known as, while other sects give it their own name. I’ll be translating it as how it’s referred to in the original text but note that they all refer to the same technique.

In Maoshan, it was also stipulated that only disciples who had been in the sect for more than five years would be taught this technique and could start practicing it. It was relatively rare for an outsider to be taught so casually. This was also the reason why the Hezao Sect had declined, as they were relatively lax in their rules. This kind of thing would never occur in strict sects like Maoshan or Longhu.

But in any case, it was one thing to learn the Five Thunder Law technique, but it was another thing to be able to use it. Li Ying thought his skills at using talismans were much deeper than the shallow knowledge that Dong Zhi possessed, but he only had one Five Thunder Talisman on him, which was drawn by his father. Under such circumstances at that time, he was unprepared as he had never thought about using it, mainly because he didn’t think he was able to use it.

However, if Li Ying only knew how drained and exhausted Dong Zhi was and that he wasn’t as relaxed as he seemed on the surface, his evaluation probably wouldn’t be so high.

Under the lingering thunder, the black shadow that belonged to a demon had disappeared. Wang Qi was now dead, and her soul was masterless. Under the power of heaven, since it was entangled with a demon, it was naturally destroyed, turning into dust.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as they all collapsed on the ground. Li Ying took out his phone as it had been vibrating nonstop, but he hadn’t time to check as they were handling more important matters. Now that he got the chance to look, he saw he had over a hundred missed calls. It was from Cheng Yuan and the others.

He called them back and their voices sounded extremely anxious, as if they knew something had happened. Li Ying didn’t want them all to run to the rooftop of the hospital and attract unwanted attention, so he told them to meet up with Hui Yiguang’s assistant and picked them up from the hospital. When he hung up, they all carried Hui Yiguang down.

During this battle, not only was the talisman array deployed, but there was thunder and lightning from the sky. Such movements were not small, and they quickly attracted the attention of the security guards. When they came up, they were surprised as they saw Li Ying carrying on unconscious with Hui Yiguang on his back. Li Ying and the others had no choice but to find an excuse, saying she was in a bad mental state and was contemplating suicide. After being questioned for a bit, the guards let them go.

Cheng Yuan and the others had been waiting anxiously at the entrance of the hospital for a long time and finally saw Li Ying and the others appear with Hui Yiguang. Finally, they were able to breathe a sigh of relief.

“What happened?” One person said.

Everyone was worn out from the fight, and no one had the strength to speak. Li Ying reluctantly raised his spirits and recounted the story. Hui Yiguang’s assistant’s face turned pale with fright after hearing it.

“How can you tell the security guard that Yiguang wanted to commit suicide! The gossip magazines will be all over this!” A woman in the car said angrily.

Xiao Han hurriedly introduced her. “This is Mary Jie, Hui Jie’s agent!”

Li Ying said coldly, “We only guarantee her life and safety. As for her reputation, that’s for you guys to worry about!”

The agent was speechless and could only glare at Li Ying fiercely as she helped Hui Yiguang into the car.

Li Ying said to Cheng Yuan again. “Her soul is unstable, so she may need some repairs to her soul.”

Cheng Yuan nodded. “I see. Leave it to me.” This was something he specialized in, and as a psychic, this thing would naturally be a cinch for him.

There were too many people to fit in the car, and they didn’t want to go back with Hui Yiguang and her agent, so Dong Zhi and the others bid their farewells and parted ways. On the drive back, Dong Zhi fell asleep in the taxi and was woken up by the driver when they had reached his destination.

He got out of the car groggily, feeling the aftermath of the battle. Summoning heavenly thunder took a lot out of him, as his entire body was weak and sore, and he felt like he was getting a fever. When he touched his forehead, it didn’t seem to be very hot. He walked to the back door of the Special Administration Bureau with a heavy head.

The uncle was still there, guarding the door, sitting with his arms around his neck. Dong Zhi had never seen him playing games on a phone or even listening to music like other standard gatekeepers. He was now familiar with him since he passed by him often, so he greeted the uncle and went inside.

The gatekeeper raised his eyes slightly and glanced at him. Seeing that his face looked pale and fragile, the uncle, who rarely spoke, asked, “Are you okay?”

Dong Zhi was in such a daze that he didn’t even know what he said. He just vaguely remembered that he waved goodbye politely to the uncle as he entered the building. When he walked up the stairs, he felt that they were endless. Step by step, he slowly trudged as if he was stepping on clouds as the same thought replayed over and over in his head. ‘Why is there no elevator? Why is there no elevator? Why is there no elevator?’

He wanted to cry as he kept climbing until he couldn’t any longer. He collapsed on the stairs and thought that it would be fine if he just slept there. Vaguely, he heard the sounds of footsteps coming. Seeing a figure lying on the stairs like this would surprise anyone.

“What happened to make you like this?”

The familiar voice made him barely open his eyes as he tried to answer hazily. After a while, he suddenly thought the voice seemed to belong to Long Shen.

“Boss Long?”

“It’s me.”

Dong Zhi leaned back on the steps and said softly, “I’m sorry, I can’t walk anymore. I hope I didn’t scare you.”

Long Shen: “The matter is resolved?”

Dong Zhi said weakly, “Sort of…”

Thinking of it, it raised his spirits as he said, “You’re just in time. I have something to report to you! This time, it seems we have encountered demons again.”

Long Shen said, “Let’s go back and talk.”

Dong Zhi felt it was a bit ridiculous to lie on the stairs and give a report, but at that moment he couldn’t stand up.

“Then wait a bit. My legs are a little bit too soft now, so let me catch my breath for a sec.”

Long Shen stretched out his hand and grabbed Dong Zhi’s arms. Dong Zhi thought that he wanted to help him, so he quickly tried to get up. Who knew that Long Shen suddenly lifted him up as one of his arms held his back while the other lay firmly on the back of his thighs*.

*Clarity: think princess carry.

“Don’t move.”

Long Shen carried him up the stairs, step by step. His hold was steady, and he moved fast. Under the lights of the night, two figures were seen, and the sound of footsteps could be heard, sketching a dream that would never end.

---

The author has something to say:

I’m sorry, Xiao Dong Zhi. When I read the last scene, I suddenly remember the words: Zhu Bajie carrying his daughter-in-law*…

*(猪八戒背媳妇) Refers to Journey to the West where Zhu Baije carries a beautiful lady on his back but ended up with naught. It’s an allegory referring to thankless hard work.

Dong Zhi: (╯’□’)╯︵┻━┻

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Kinky Thoughts:

Three Swords of Feijing (飞景三剑)

Also called [Baipi Baojian] (百辟宝剑) were 3 swords commissioned by Emperor Wen of Wei/Cao Pi. They each have their own names:

1. Feijing Sword – Was like a shooting star. It’s 4 feet and 2 inches long and weighs about a pound and 15 taels.
2. Luicai Sword – The color is like a rainbow. It’s 4 feet and 2 inches long, 1 catty (11/3 lbs) and 14 taels.
3. Huafeng – Decorated with jade and the hilt is made from a rhino’s horn. It’s 4 feet and 2 inches long.

—

Gan Jiang and Mo Ye

Were a swordsmith couple, discussed in the literature involving the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. Some aspects of this material may be considered historical; others are certainly mythological. A pair of swords was forged by and named after them.

According to the historical text Wuyue Chunqiu, King Helü of Wu ordered Gan Jiang and Mo Ye to forge a pair of swords for him in three months. However, the blast furnace failed to melt the metal. Mo Ye suggested that there was insufficient human qi in the furnace, so the couple cut their hair and nails and cast them into the furnace, while 300 children helped to blow air into the bellows. In another account, Mo Ye sacrificed herself to increase human qi by throwing herself into the furnace. The desired result was achieved after three years, and the two swords were named after the couple. Gan Jiang kept the male sword, Ganjiang, for himself and presented the female sword, Moye, of the pair to the king. The king was already very displeased since he ordered the sword made in three months’ time but Ganjiang did not come back in three years, when he discovered Gan Jiang had kept the male sword, he was angered and had Gan Jiang killed.

Before his death, Gan Jiang had already predicted the king’s reaction, so he left behind a message for Mo Ye and their unborn son telling them where he had hidden the Ganjiang Sword. Several months later, Mo Ye gave birth to Gan Jiang’s son, Chi (赤), and years later she told him his father’s story. Chi was eager to avenge his father and he sought the Ganjiang Sword. At the same time, the king dreamed of a youth who desired to kill him, and, in fear, he placed a bounty on the youth’s head. Chi was indignant and, filled with anguish, he started crying on his way to enact his vengeance. An assassin found Chi, who told the assassin his story. The assassin then suggested that Chi surrender his head and sword, and the assassin himself will avenge Ganjiang in Chi’s place. He did as tell and committed suicide. The assassin was moved and decided to help Chi fulfill his quest.

The assassin severed Chi’s head and brought it, along with the Ganjiang sword to the overjoyed king. The king was however uncomfortable with Chi’s head staring at him, and the assassin asked the king to have Chi’s head boiled, but Chi’s head was still staring at the king even after 40 days without any sign of decomposition, thus the assassin told the king that he needed to take a closer look and stare back in order for the head to decompose under the power of the king. The king bent over the cauldron and the assassin seized the opportunity to decapitate him, his head falling into the cauldron alongside Chi’s. The assassin then cut off his own head, which also fell into the boiling water. The flesh on the heads was boiled away such that none of the guards could recognize which head belonged to whom. The guards and vassals decided since all three should be honored as kings (With Chi and the assassin being so brave and loyal). The three heads were eventually buried together at Yichun County, Runan, Henan, and the grave is called “Tomb of Three Kings”.

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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 37

The park was open at all hours of the day. Since it was in the middle of the night, all was quiet and the streetlights were dim, occasionally shining their light on the homeless and destitute. The bushes were rustling, and they weren’t sure whether it was an animal or possibly a couple coming to seek excitement.

Li Ying carried a small compass in his hand as he led the way. He would glance at it from time to time.

During the day, the tree-lined park gave off a romantic feeling during the summer and autumn months as their leaves scattered around, attracting many local residents who would come to take pictures. At night, the scene was very different, perhaps due to the current psychological effect they were under. Dong Zhi and Gu Meiren both felt the surroundings were particularly gloomy.

The park was large. Li Ying turned along the street into a small grove nearby, then crossed a steep grassy hill before arriving at an artificial lake. He suddenly stopped.

Everyone subconsciously looked at the compass in their hand and saw that the compass needle was stuck and wasn’t moving. Li Ying turned in a few directions while he shook the compass vigorously, but the needle didn’t respond.

“How strange,” he murmured.

Several people raised their heads and looked around. The artificial lake was so large that they couldn’t see the other end. There were lights by the lake, but the brightness was not enough for them to see things clearly.

“What should we do now? Did anyone else bring a compass?” Liu Qingbo asked.

Dong Zhi shook his head. Although he was considered a disciple of the Hezao Sect, it was only in name, and he didn’t develop the habit of using compasses. At that moment, Gu Meiren took out a short stick from her backpack and walked towards the lake. She put the stick to her mouth and started playing.

Through the dim streetlights, Dong Zhi realized that it was actually a small flute that looked lush and green, similar to that of a bamboo flute. The sound was not a familiar tone, but still melodious, and it could be heard from far away in the silent night. Suddenly, a small snake appeared, slithering across the grass towards where Gu Meiren was standing.

“Be careful!”

Gu Meiren remained motionless and continued playing the flute without stopping. The small snake did not attack her but instead straightened up its upper body and started hissing, as if it was communicating with her.

The sound of the flute became shorter, and a little while after, the little snake turned around and left. Gu Meiren put down her flute and said, “It should be over there. Come with me!”

Liu Qingbo thoughtfully asked, “My mother said that in Mengxiu county, in Ruili, there’s a flute fairy who can attract insects with music. Do you know of her?”

Gu Meiren smiled and said, “That should be my grandmother, but she’s not a flute fairy. That’s just flattery from the villagers.”

The four of them went around most of the lake until they ran into a body lying not far away.

“Is that Chi Banxia?” Li Ying was the first to identify her.

Everyone quickly ran over and found that Chi Banxia was completely submerged in water from below her chest. Her whole body was in a state of semi-consciousness. If it hadn’t been for one of her hands gripping tightly to the dirt nearby, she would’ve sunk into the depths a long time ago.

Her fingers on her right hand gripped the ground so tightly that the surrounding area was a mess. There was grass uprooted everywhere, showing signs of an intense struggle. When everyone rescued her, they found that her other hand was still submerged in the water. Her hand was wrapped around a large group of aquatic plants, and there were stones tied to them. It seems she was trying to tear them apart, but in the end, it was futile.

Gu Meiren tried giving her artificial resuscitation, but to no avail.

“What should I do?”

“I’ll do it.” Li Ying said. He pressed his hands on both sides of Chi Banxia’s temples and yelled, “Ha!”

Chi Banxia’s body shook slightly, and after a while, she slowly came to. She looked at everyone in a daze, confused about her current situation.

“Chi Banxia!” Li Ying patted her cheek. “How are you? Can you hear us?”

Chi Banxia slightly nodded, then coughed violently. Gu Meiren helped her up and brushed her back.

“Cough, cough!” She coughed so intensely that tears came out.

Li Ying: “Where’s Hui Yiguang? Didn’t you guys go out together? Did she also fall into the lake?”

“I don’t know…” Chi Banxia took a breath and began recounting what happened.

Hui Yiguang insisted on going out to buy face masks in the middle of the night. This behavior in and of itself was abnormal, but Chi Banxia had known her for years and knew she was obsessed with beauty products, so it wasn’t too surprising. Hui Yiguang said that the nearby supermarkets didn’t have the brand she wanted, so she had to drive to another place to buy it. As the car drove further and further away from the hotel, Chi Banxia sensed something was off, so she hurriedly asked her to stop the car. Hui Yiguang pulled to the side of the road and obediently followed her directions.

Chi Banxia said, “Stop. Let’s go back quickly.”

Then she heard Hui Yiguang slowly say, “Go back? Where are you planning to go back to?”

Chi Banxia was stunned as she looked at Hui Yiguang, who also turned her head and smiled strangely at her.

“Hui Yiguang!” Chi Banxia yelled before she quickly acted. She stretched out her hand and tried to knock Hui Yiguang out but was stopped by her opponent. Hui Yiguang, who was always weak, suddenly had amazing strength that was able to fiercely push Chi Banxia away. She opened the car door and walked out.

Not caring for the severe pain in her arm, Chi Banxia quickly hurried to catch up.

“What happened after?!” Liu Qingbo asked hurriedly.

Chi Banxia coughed. “Later, I saw her running towards the lake. She was about to jump into it, so I hurriedly rushed forward to catch her. Who knew that she was so heavy that I was almost dragged down by her? I don’t know what happened afterwards…”

There were clear marks of five fingerprints on her arm that had already turned dark purple and black. This situation was like an eagle who has been training for a lifetime and was blinded by the eagle*. A dignified witch doctor was actually plotted against. It would be extremely shameful if it were to get out, so Chi Banxia was full of anger and hatred.

*Refers to being in a field that one’s most familiar with only to be calculated against by those familiar people (AKA lost at what you do best).

“I’ve put a tracking curse on Hui Yiguang, so I should be able to sense where she is. Come with me!” She tried her best to get up as Dong Zhi and Gu Meiren assisted her.

In her condition, it would be too slow to move forward like this, so Dong Zhi said, “I’ll carry you. Just show us the way. Let’s go!”

Chi Banxia had no objection. She was barely alive at this point and had no real strength, so she pointed in the direction while on Dong Zhi’s back. Everyone followed it and walked on the path next to the lake for a while. Chi Banxia kept pointing to keep moving forward. Li Ying suddenly said, “If I remember correctly, there is a side gate from the park that leads to a hospital.”

Liu Qingbo took out his phone and opened a map app. “The fourth district hospital?”

Chi Banxia closed her eyes and meditated for a while, then opened her eyes again. “Yes, she’s in the hospital. It should be on the… fifth floor.”

Everyone no longer hesitated. They all rushed to the hospital. The fifth floor was the inpatient department. When several people hurried over, it alarmed the nurse who was on night watch. She got up frowning and said, “Who are you people? Visiting hours are not allowed right now. You’re disturbing our patient’s rest!”

Li Ying hurriedly said, “We are not here to visit patients. We’re looking for someone. Did a young woman come here just now? She’s very beautiful and was dressed in gray clothes!”

The nurse said, vigilantly, “I’m calling security since it seems you people have nothing better to do!”

Li Ying smiled bitterly. “She is Hui Yiguang, and we are her friends. She recently encountered something in her life, so she’s confused and in a bad mood. We’re afraid something had happened to her. We have been with her all this time, but she suddenly ran out. Can you tell us where she went?!”

“So it turns out she was Hui Yiguang!” The nurse said, with surprise. “No wonder she looked so familiar! She went to see the patient in room 5109. She said it was her friend.”

“Who’s in 5109? Can we visit them as well?” Li Ying said.

The nurse shook her head. “I didn’t let her in just now since it’s past visiting hours and she wasn’t a relative of the patient.”

Dong Zhi put Chi Banxia down. She closed her eyes, then opened them again and shouted categorically, though her voice was still weak, “No, she’s been there!”

Dong Zhi asked, “What about now?”

Chi Banxia frowned, her expression gradually showing pain. “Wait, I’ll look…”

Meanwhile, Li Ying called her assistant and asked her who was in room 5109 of the hospital and how it was related to Hui Yiguang. At this time, everyone had faintly guessed that there was some hidden secret that Hui Yiguang had been hiding from them.

Chi Banxia held her head and thought for a moment, then suddenly stretched out her hand and shook it in front of the two nurses on duty. The expressions of the two suddenly change. Chi Banxia shouted, “I cast a coverup! They’ll treat us as if we don’t exist, so hurry and go to 5109!”

To Gu Meiren’s and Dong Zhi’s surprise, the two nurses really lowered their heads and continued to do their jobs as if they hadn’t seen them.

Liu Qingbo: “Is this spiritual descent*?”

*(灵降) A kind of head taming technique that uses one’s willpower to make the victim hallucinate or lose consciousness and do unimaginably strange things. Practitioners are usually called descendants. || Note: I’ll be referring to her as a witch doctor going forward, as head-taming master sounds too weird. I’ll also be translating head-taming as witchcraft as well. See my Kinky Thoughts for details.

Chi Banxia smiled but did not deny it, simply saying, “It’s time limited and will automatically lift after a while. When I was sensing Hui Yiguang, I felt some mishap had happened to her. We need to go to 5109 to have a look before I can further confirm her whereabouts.”

If it weren’t for the paleness of her face, the smile she had now would look much sweeter and more moving.

On the way to 5109, Li Ying put down the phone and said to them, “The name of the patient in 5109 is Wang Qi. She’s also an actress but got into a car accident a month ago that left her in a vegetative state.”

Dong Zhi asked, “What’s her relation to Hui Yiguang?”

Li Ying said, “I heard that the two used to have a good friendship. They lived together for a while when they first entered the entertainment industry, but parted ways somehow. Xiao Han didn’t know all the details, but rumors have it that Wang Qi’s ex-boyfriend is Hui Yiguang’s current boyfriend.”

Could it be emotional entanglement? Everyone started to have traces of doubt in their hearts.

Liu Qingbo asked Chi Banxia, “Didn’t Hui Yiguang tell you anything?”

Chi Banxia smiled bitterly. “No, I don’t mix in their circle. I only met her again after I came to Beijing.”

“5109! There!” Gu Meiren said.

It was a double room. Taking the lead, Li Ying pushed the door open. There wasn’t any sound inside. On the bed closest to the door, lay an old man who was sound asleep. There was also a nurse dozing off next to him. To avoid alerting them and attracting unnecessary trouble, Chi Banxia waved her hand and, just as before, put them into deep slumber.

A young woman lay there on the inner bed. Her head was shaved, and she had a haggard expression, but everyone could vaguely tell that her face was beautiful, but strangely, the monitoring system next to her had been turned off.

She was also wearing a mulberry flower ring on her hand. The style was so unique that it would make people do a double take. Her medical records were hanging next to it. The name on them was Wang Qi.

Li Ying’s heart sank as he sensed something foreboding. He took two steps forward and pressed his fingers on the artery of the woman’s neck. His complexion drastically changed as he whispered, “I can’t sense a pulse!”

Everyone was shocked.

Dong Zhi suddenly said, “Wait!”

He quickly grabbed Li Ying’s arm to prevent him from touching the surface of the bed, then pointed to the area next to the pillow and said, “There’s an indentation here. Someone must’ve been here recently!”

Li Ying gestured. “It’s a woman’s palm.”

That should be Hui Yiguang.

Gu Meiren: “We must quickly find Hui Yiguang!”

This, of course, was obvious to everyone present, but the question was: Where did Hui Yiguang go? The nurse just said she didn’t let her in, so how did she get in? Is it possible that, like them, she had some kind of mysterious ability?

Li Ying frowned. “Could it be that she came here specifically to kill Wang Qi?”

They would’ve gone to the police a long time ago if it weren’t for the fact that Hui Yiguang was able to suppress a witchdoctor, which gave them pause.

At that moment, Li Ying’s phone rang. He answered it, spoke a few words, but most of the time just listened to the other end. After a few minutes, he hung up and his face became uglier and more serious.

“That was Hui Yiguang’s agent. I asked Xiao Han to look into the matter between Hui Yiguang and Wang Qi. Hui Yiguang’s current boyfriend did date Wang Qi, but according to Hui Yiguang, they only dated after he broke up with her. It was through Wang Qi’s recommendation that she landed the opportunity to star in her breakout film. Furthermore, the two injured assistants who came into misfortune were related to Wang Qi as well. The first one was injured after she was told by Hui Yiguang to go warn Wang Qi not to try anything after their falling out. The second that had the car accident was told by Hui Yiguang to visit Wang Qi in the hospital.”

Liu Qingbo surmised, “So, those two assistants are indeed related to Wang Qi.”

Combined with the strange things that were happening to Hui Yiguang and coupled with her weird behavior when she suddenly came to the hospital late at night, all the clues invariably pointed in the same direction.

“Is it because Wang Qi’s dead and her resentment is too hard to dispel that it’s lingering and disturbing Hui Yiguang’s tranquility? Wang Qi wanted to take revenge, but because we were there, she couldn’t get close, so she had to act out and make a big move?”

Dong Zhi said, “But Cheng Yuan said before that Hui Yiguang was clean and there was no ghost with lingering resentment stuck to her. Besides, Wang Qi is still lying here, indicating that she must’ve been breathing just now.”

Gu Meiren exclaimed in a low voice, “The soul! Before we came, Wang Qi hadn’t died yet. Her soul was separated from her body, and she became a living soul so that’s why Cheng Yuan didn’t notice it at that time!”

Almost at the same time, Liu Qingbo also said, “So that’s why Hui Yiguang said she always felt that someone was watching her!”

Li Ying frowned and said, “How could a living soul have such great energy? Even Chi Banxia was confused, hallucinated, and almost died!”

Dong Zhi tried to speculate on the situation. “Regardless of whether the living soul is capable or not, if Wang Qi’s living soul entangles with Hui Yiguang and could even control her body, what would she do?”

Liu Qingbo continued, “If she hadn’t been discovered by us, she would definitely live under the identity of Hui Yiguang. She would first take revenge, then take everything belonging to Hui Yiguang. But now that we have traced it to her, she most likely knows that she’s been exposed. Since the truth will come out sooner or later, it’s better to just…”

Gu Meiren said in a low voice, “Let Hui Yiguang’s body commit suicide, and no one will gain anything from it!”

There were many ways to commit suicide. There was no shortage of equipment inside a hospital, but the ward was more secure, and the windows had guardrails. The most likely thing to do is to run to the park and jump into the lake, but that would be too far away. It would be better to choose a faster and more convenient way.

Chi Banxia had been closing her eyes tightly just now, trying to sense Hui Yiguang’s location. She suddenly opened her eyes and shouted, “The rooftop! She’s on the rooftop!”

Everyone exchanged glances before fleeing the ward.

Dong Zhi grabbed Li Ying. “We suddenly appeared, and Wang Qi died afterwards. The surveillance must’ve recorded it.” It would be difficult to explain this situation once the investigation happened afterwards.

Li Ying said, “It’s fine. When we came in, I used a trick to make the monitoring system fail. To be safe, I’ll ask the Special Administration Bureau to intervene, but we need to focus on our target first!”

These days, the hospital was afraid of unstable patients who were short-sighted, so they installed an iron gate that led to the rooftop that was locked all year round. When the group got there, they found that the lock had been opened and the door was ajar. It was obvious that someone had been through it.

Everyone rushed up and looked around, only to find a figure that was walking towards the water tank. The figure was stumbling in a weird walking and stopping pattern, as if someone was dragging it towards something while also resisting moving towards it. It seems as if the figure was fighting a battle between heaven and earth.

“Yiguang!” Chi Banxia shouted.

Liu Qingbo flipped the switch on the wall and all the lights on the rooftop turned on. Hui Yiguang turned her head around abruptly!

Half of her face was crying miserably, looking at them with a surprised expression, but the other half was indifferent and numb. Her eyes were full of resentment and hatred. Witnessing the combination of two very different expressions on the same face at the same time was too strange and chilling.

“Help me! Save me!” Hui Yiguang said, as one corner of her mouth twitched. Tears continued to flow out of her left eye. “I don’t want to die…”

“Wang Qi!” Li Ying said solemnly. “We know it’s you. Let’s talk!”

Hui Yiguang suddenly grinned. “Do you want to save her? You can’t. I’m slowly merging with her, and soon, I will become her and she will become me. You can’t save her now.”

The calm and relaxed tone of voice was different from Hui Yiguang’s usual manner of speech, as if she was a completely different person.

“No! I don’t want to merge with you! Wang Qi, I beg you. Leave. This is my body! I’ll give you as much money as you want! I’ll treat you better. I beg you, just please leave!” Hui Yiguang pleaded.

Li Ying and the others could see that her consciousness had not been completely swallowed up yet. It was like two souls were pulling a saw across Hui Yiguang’s body, fighting for dominance.

Dong Zhi quietly held the Qingzhu Sword behind him and slowly drew the sword out of its sheath while the other hand reached into his pocket and squeezed a talisman. Looking around at the others, they were all on guard.

“My body has long been broken! If it weren’t for you, how could I become like this! On the first day you came to Beijing, you couldn’t even pay rent. If it weren’t for my kindness to take you in, where would you have stayed! You couldn’t even land a role and could only apply to become an extra. I gave you the chance and got you a supporting role! But how did you repay me?! You stole my boyfriend and repeatedly slandered me on the internet! As a result, you ruined my reputation, and now no one wants me and I’ve lost all my endorsements!” Hui Yiguang roared, spilling out all of Wang Qi’s resentment.

“I didn’t! I didn’t steal your boyfriend!” Hui Yiguang’s voice suddenly changed to the one everyone was familiar with. “He told me that he liked me, but I didn’t accept it because I knew you guys were dating. It was after he broke up with you that he started chasing me!”

The two souls huddled in one body as they confronted each other. The same sounds, voice, movement, and expression all changed as each soul spoke. The whole situation was indescribably weird.

Wang Qi sneered, expressed on one half of Hui Yiguang’s face. “You didn’t promise him, but your words were ambiguous. You flirted with him and dropped hints everywhere! You’re a slut who repays kindness with revenge!”

Hui Yiguang’s body screamed, “I didn’t! I’m different from them. They all rely on their gold masters* while I didn’t do anything like this!”

*Basically, a backer who provides financial support/influence for the artist in exchange for (usually) sex or other kinds of physical or emotional affection/favors.

Wang Qi cackled as if she’d heard some kind of joke. “So you’re more noble than others! I treated you as a friend and told you about my past, yet you used it against me and revealed it to the media. If it weren’t for you, would I be this devastated?!”

Hui Yiguang: “That’s because you have offended too many people. It’s none of my business! Please let me go. I’ll treat you well. Qiqi, aren’t we best friends?”

Wang Qi scoffed, as if she didn’t want to admit she was wrong and completely lost interest in the confrontation. “Being friends with you is the last thing I regret in my life. A bitch like you should just stay quiet, resting in your own body while watching as I live your life and you can’t do anything about it!”

Li Ying sensed something bad and interrupted the heated argument between them. “Wang Qi! Now that you are dead, you should go and reincarnate with peace of mind. If you steal others’ bodies, you will be punished by heavenly thunder! If you continue to be obsessed with this, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”

Hui Yiguang remained motionless. Instead of fear when she heard his threat, she smiled and said slowly, “You can’t get rid of me unless you kill Hui Yiguang.”

“Not necessarily!” Liu Qingbo suddenly moved, and instantly got behind Hui Yiguang. He pounced on her and, with a flick of his wrist, a stick with a sharp blade attached at the end suddenly lengthened, piercing Hui Yiguang.

Though she originally looked weak and dainty, she somehow became increasingly agile. Not only did she dodge Liu Qingbo’s attack, but she also managed to turn her defense into an offense as she fought with him completely empty-handed. Her strength increased so drastically that she was able to kick Liu Qingbo at his waist, causing him to retreat.

Li Ying took the opportunity and threw a talisman with his backhand. Instead of landing on the ground, it fluttered and burned in mid-air, sweeping towards Hui Yiguang. Then Dong Zhi and Li Ying made their move. One of them surrounded Hui Yiguang and formed an array around the entire rooftop, while the other assisted Liu Qingbo trying to trap Hui Yiguang with the talisman.

The array Dong Zhi was forming was the same as when they dealt with the Archfiend on Tianyuan Building. Its role was to form a barrier on the rooftop to prevent Wang Qi’s soul from escaping. After the events he had gone through, he had more practical combat experience and was more efficient in arranging the array. Using the compass app on his phone, he was able to calculate the approximate position immediately. Gu Meiren went to relock the iron gate to prevent innocent people from straying in.

Unfortunately, Li Ying missed. When the talisman was about to be affixed to Hui Yiguang, she stretched out her hand and grabbed it, crushing it fiercely in her palm. The burning flame didn’t seem to cause her to react.

Li Ying was in utter shock. The talisman caught fire because he used yang fire that was his own yang qi to ignite it. His yang merged with the gallbladder* of the talisman causing the talisman to burn spontaneously for a short period of time. This kind of fire couldn’t be extinguished by humans so easily. It could only be put out either by the yang qi being overwhelmed by the yin qi or rain from the heavens. Yet somehow, Hui Yiguang was able to crush the talisman so casually.

*Reminder: This is one of the five elements of a talisman that represents the doorway to the talisman. See lore glossary for details.

“Who the hell are you?!” He yelled.

“I am a person who has been harmed by Hui Yiguang. If you can accept a bitch like her but not me, then you’re not a very good person either!” Hui Yiguang’s face was grim as she spoke.

Li Ying said angrily, “It’s not up to you to decide if she’s good or bad. The way of heaven is constant, its cycle endless. You cannot escape from self-inflicted sins*!”

*This is part of If God commits evil, you can still violate it. If you commit evil yourself, you cannot live. (天作孽，犹可违；自作孽，不可活) It’s basically saying follow the rules and laws of God. Unless he commits them, you’re not allowed to.

Gu Meiren suddenly discovered that Hui Yiguang’s original expression was slowly being eroded away. It was estimated that it wouldn’t be long before her soul would be overtaken by Wang Qi and she would have complete control over her body.

Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but feel rushed, desperately trying to find a way to delay her opponent. She took out her flute and tried to use it to confuse her opponent, but as soon as she started to play, Hui Yiguang suddenly looked at her with fierce eyes as her figure dashed towards Gu Meiren.

As soon as Hui Yiguang moved, Liu Qingbo and Li Ying followed. One was holding a talisman while the other was holding a stick, trying to stop Hui Yiguang from two directions. This didn’t deter her movements at all as she kept moving forward and whisked them away with her bare hands.

The talisman was stopped by an invisible wall in the air while Liu Qingbo’s stick was grabbed by her other hand. She had such strength that she managed to drag Liu Qingbo a few steps forward!

Liu Qingbo gave a muffled huff as his wrist shook slightly. He suddenly pulled his hand back, and with a clang, everyone realized that the black stick was actually a scabbard. In his hand was a slender and sharp sword, similar to a western sword*, except the sword body was straight and sharp and was slightly glowing with blue light.

*Clarity: It’s referencing a fencing sword (foil, épée, or sabre in order of the picture). Note that it’s not a western sword though, as we’ll find out later what it really is.

Hui Yiguang threw the scabbard to the side as Liu Qingbo held up his sword and the two fought, yet Hui Yiguang didn’t retreat in the slightest step.

Li Ying tied seals with both hands and threw four talismans in an instant. They turn into four golden lights and shoot out like sharp arrows. Judging from the look of pain on his face, these four talismans must be of great value.

The four golden lights entered Hui Yiguang’s body, and she screamed. Liu Qingbo took the opportunity to stab her in the chest as he shouted, “Evil, come out!”

As the sword was drawn out of Hui Yiguang’s body, a mass of white shaped like a human figure fell out. The light mass kept shaking, but the face couldn’t be clearly seen as it kept tumbling around on the ground.

Hui Yiguang stagged a few steps before falling to the ground, holding her arms with both hands as she cried miserably.

“Is that Wang Qi? Is she gone?”

Liu Qingbo raised his sword and was about to stab the white light.

“Wait!”

A scabbard suddenly appeared from beside him, covering Liu Qingbo’s sword.

Liu Qingbo glared at him and shouted, “Get out of the way!”

Dong Zhi said solemnly, “How do you know that that is Wang Qi?”

With his docile and soft face, it usually wasn’t very overwhelming when he spoke, but in this moment, as he asked that question, everyone was stunned as they looked at Hui Yiguang, who was still trembling.

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Kinky Thoughts:

Two girls fighting over a guy… A tale as old as time. Just a life lesson, but in general the person that you’re fighting over is usually never worth it. Thank U, Next.

P.S. Don’t be a shitty friend and date your supposedly “best friend” ex. (I’m not taking Wang Qi’s side either cause she be cray as well.)

—

While it may be a controversial decision, I’m going to westernize some of these titles in order to help me better remember what they are as I translate.

Chi Banxia would be equivalent to something like a witch doctor/witch that practices witchcraft (head taming). From the description of a head-taming master/descendent, they are split into black and white magic. Witch doctors can cast curses but can also lift them and cure ailments (thus the doctor part). I think this is a more fitting translation than “head-taming master” or “descendent”, so I’m going with this. Shaman would also be fitting too, I think. Her other skills at controlling people are very similar to voodoo, which falls in line with a witchdoctor’s abilities.

In the same vein, head taming techniques are basically just witchcraft (but not in the sense that they’re inherently evil). So, I’ll be using the western equivalent.

Cheng Yuan is considered a warlock/sorcerer but, due to religious taboo, calls himself a psychic. I do not know the extent of his abilities yet to decide on his title, so I’ll stick to what the translation is for now.

Li Ying and Liu Qingbo seem to be your average Taoists who use talismans and such. Though Liu Qingbo seems to know things about poison since his mother is a famous gu practitioner. Either way, I’m undecided on their roles, so I’ll stick to what’s translated for now.

Gu Meiren and Ba Sang seem to be able to communicate with animals. Not sure what kind of English equivalent that is just yet. Most likely they are in the same vein as a druid and such, but I won’t make any decisions on that just yet.

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Spiritual Descent (灵降)

A kind of head taming technique that uses one’s willpower to make the victim hallucinate or lose consciousness and do unimaginably strange things. This kind of ability must be performed with many spells. The effect is very fast, and it can control a person’s will in an instant.

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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 36

Xiao Han turned pale with fright and said to everyone, “Can I trouble everyone to go back with me to have a look?”

Chi Banxia also made the request as well. While Li Ying could ignore Xiao Han, he needed to give Chi Banxia some face, so everyone headed back to the hotel. When Xiao Han knocked on the door, it took a while before Hui Yiguang opened it with trepidation.

Her face was even more terrified than before. She looked frightened beyond her wits. When she saw Chi Banxia, she rushed over and hugged her, crying.

“Hui Jie, are you okay?!” Xiao Han asked anxiously.

Hui Yiguang sobbed. “After you left, I was too sleepy, so I laid on the bed and closed my eyes for a while. Who knew that as soon as I fell asleep, I dreamed of being choked by someone. When I woke up, I saw the curtains were not drawn, so I got up and walked towards the window. When I was about to close it it…”

She pointed in the direction of the master bedroom. “I saw the roof of the high-rise building opposite of me, someone standing there facing me as if he had been looking at me!”

Everyone ran into the bedroom to take a look. The curtains were indeed not drawn, and the light from outside leaked in. The presidential suite was located on the top floor of the hotel, overlooking the night view of the bustling city. Below, the lights were bright and you could see the top floors of several nearby buildings, but there was no sign of the figure that Hui Yiguang spoke of.

For fear that the others would not believe her, she pulled off the silk scarf she’d been wearing and showed her neck to them. “This is the place that I was choked in my dreams. Look!”

On her fair neck was a shocking mark of five fingerprints that were red and purple. This was something that couldn’t be done by yourself.

“The person you saw, was it a man or woman?” Liu Qingbo asked.

Hui Yiguang said uncertainly, “It seems to be a woman. I can only see her wearing white clothes.”

Dong Zhi suddenly said, “Miss Hui, can you tell me about your first two assistants and what you had them do? After you switch to the third assistant, she has been fine all this time, yet your first two encountered accidents. Do you know why? Have you offended anyone?”

Hui Yiguang frowned slightly. Despite her looks, she was still amazingly beautiful, a testament to why she became so popular. But then again, her appearance is stunning compared to the average person, but wasn’t an uncommon sight in the entertainment industry. To stand out, in addition to strength, she also must have extraordinary luck.

“I really don’t know.” Hui Yiguang smiled bitterly. “To be honest, my family’s background is ordinary. Since I made my debut, I know that I had to rely on myself and be kind to others. How would I dare offend anyone? If I have to recount who felt bitter towards me, there were two previous managers who wanted me to do unspoken rules, but I politely rejected them. There are good people in the circle who are pure, so they won’t hate me for this, right? Later, after I became popular, I got along well with everyone and didn’t step on any toes.”

She breathed a sigh of relief and said, “I know you may think I’m hallucinating, but I told you before that I have been checked and everything is normal. There are no problems with me.”

There are those who are born with kindness and blessed with popularity, and Hui Yiguang is undoubtedly one of the best. Everyone’s original doubts and unhappiness had been almost erased under her sincere explanation.

However, Dong Zhi remained unconvinced and continued questioning. “Miss Hui, I found seasonal high-end clothing from two luxury brands, L&P and Cheryl, in the closet of your room. As far as I know, these are very expensive, and they’re not something you can just get by having money. You don’t seem to sponsor these brands, so can you tell us the reason why you have them?”

Hui Yiguang said in an unhappy tone, “Are you investigating me?”

Cheng Yuan’s tone was even more displeased as he rushed in front of Dong Zhi and said coldly, “You’d better figure it out. You’re asking us for help, but you’re hiding details from us, so we don’t know the specifics of your situation. Next time something happens, no one can save you!”

Dong Zhi said, “This information is not a secret and can be found on the Internet.”

Hui Yiguang’s face turned pale, and she softened her tone. “You misunderstood because I thought this matter had nothing to do with what’s going on with me, so I didn’t say… My boyfriend bought those clothes for me, but he’s an outsider who runs his family’s business and has nothing to do with the entertainment world, so I didn’t tell him about what was going on.”

This whole time, Hui Yiguang maintained a glamourous image in front of her boyfriend and never allowed any sloppiness to show. Her boyfriend regarded her as a goddess because of her acting and he treasured her like a pearl in the palm of his hand. Lately, he chalked up her strange behavior as her being in a bad mood, and naturally, Hui Yiguang didn’t want her boyfriend to know the real reason.

Dong Zhi said, “Then does your boyfriend have any enemies?”

Hui Yiguang hesitated. “…I don’t think so. Even if there is one, he and I are not married, so why would they retaliate against me?”

Dong Zhi said, “I mean, does your boyfriend have an ex-girlfriend or something?”

Hui Yiguang’s face changed slightly, but she concealed it so well that even Dong Zhi, who had been staring at her, thought he was seeing things.

Li Ying said, “Yes, there must be a motivation for everything. Your house is not haunted, and your surroundings are clean. Only accidents have been related to you and the people around you. I can’t really think of any other situation except for someone who’s thousands of miles away.”

Chi Banxia said, “I’ve heard that the Miaojiang have a kind of poison technique, similar to witchcraft, that attaches spirits to you. It also uses mental control that makes it difficult for a person to sleep and eat. Do you think this is it?”

Liu Qingbo shook his head. “I am also slightly knowledgeable in poison, but it doesn’t look like it.”

Everyone began talking, but they couldn’t come up with any results.

Hui Yiguang implored softly, “I know that everyone has real abilities. The two masters I hired before not only said that I was haunted by the ghosts, but also said that they helped me exorcise them, but it didn’t get better after that. Can you help me solve this problem completely? I will treat you as if you were recruited and pay handsomely. How about two million?”

With a total of ten of them, they’ll each get 200,000. The big star was quite generous.

Li Ying felt that this wasn’t getting anywhere, so he said, “Why don’t we divide into several groups, each with two people? They will spend two days with Miss Hui and assess the situation. If anything happens, I will contact everyone else to come help immediately. What do you think?”

Wealth certainly does move people’s hearts. You can make 200,000 yuan simply by solving a difficult problem. This was highly cost-effective. It’s no wonder those feng shui masters now have countless properties at every turn. While the money was easy to make, for Li Ying and the others, there was a more important reason. They could treat this as a real-life mission and gain valuable experience.

This was simply killing two birds with one stone. Everyone was motivated and nodded in agreement. Hui Yiguang was overjoyed when she saw this and thanked them profusely. The money meant little to her, but if these strange things kept happening, it would be the death of her.

Li Ying said, “Miss Hui is a celebrity. With two people around her appearing out of thin air, it will attract attention. The outside world will speculate and gossip. In this regard, you need to solve this problem yourself, Miss Hui.”

Hui Yiguang thought for a while and said, “This is easy to accomplish. I’ll just say that you’re the bodyguards sent by the company. Others generally only pay attention to my assistants and agents and won’t pay any heed to you.”

With the matter settled, Li Ying and Chi Banxia were the first group for the first round of the two days. For the rest of the lottery, Dong Zhi and Cheng Yuan were in group two that will handle the second round. Gu Meiren and Liu Qingbo would be the third round, and so on for the rest.

Hui Yiguang felt refreshed that she asked for everyone’s bank account number on the spot. On the way back, each of them had received a transfer of 300,00 yuan, which was much more than the total original negotiated price.

Not mentioning Cheng Yuan or Gu Meiren, but even those who don’t usually lack money, like Dong Zhi, felt Hui Yiguang was a very generous person. She had shown her sincerity first. Despite their lack of experience, she had entrusted them, so they could not easily turn her down and would naturally try their best to help her.

Gu Meiren felt uneasy. “I’m afraid I can’t help her solve her problem, so I don’t feel right about keeping the money.”

Dong Zhi said, “If you refuse to accept it, she’ll be afraid you won’t do your best. Take it for now and return it when you really can’t solve the problem.”

Cheng Yuan also agreed. “Yes, I heard that there’s lots of money to be made in Taoism nowadays. If you look at all those feng shui masters, they charge millions for a single trip. Compared to that, we are already considered good quality and come cheap.”

After being persuaded by them, Gu Meiren nodded and stopped mentioning the money. Switching topics, she asked, “According to you, what do you think her problem is?”

Cheng Yuan said, “The house and her whole body are indeed clean, but there is one thing that is very strange. The choke marks on her arms and neck are not fake.”

Dong Zhi’s heart stirred, and he suddenly said, “Could it be a demon, or perhaps a devil?”

Cheng Yuan frowned and said, “I won’t rule out this possibility, but I’m more inclined to believe that she’s been cursed by witchcraft. This pathway is not observed by gods and ghosts and can easily be done but can go unnoticed by the affected party.”

Gu Meiren said, “I think that her symptoms may be entangled in nightmares. It is said that ghosts can also turn dreams into nightmares.”

The two of them had different opinions, and neither could convince the other. They all wanted to get recognition from Dong Zhi, who simply gave them a wry smile. “In fact, I have a bit different thought from you guys, because I have dealt with demons before, which is why I suspect that this time, demons are at fault.”

Cheng Yuan said, “Then let’s see if we can find clues in the next few days. If it’s according to what I said, and she’s really been cursed, then even if someone follows, she will still encounter an attack. As for the accidents of her two previous assistants, it may be just a coincidence.”

While talking, Gu Meiren had arrived at her place. Dong Zhi and Cheng Yuan sent her back, and after chatting for a while, they made an appointment to meet Hui Yiguang tomorrow before parting ways.

Back at the Special Administration Bureau, the old man who was the security guard at the back door had already become acquainted with Dong Zhi. He had eaten the beef jerky that Dong Zhi brought for him several times. As he sat there napping with his arms folded, he gave Dong Zhi a glance and nodded slightly to greet him.

Dong Zhi found it curious that this uncle seemed to be there 24/7. No matter what time of day or night, he would always see him whenever he went in and out.

When he climbed up the stairs to the floor where his dorm was, he saw Long Shen standing in the corridor, opening the door to his room.

“Boss Long?”

Long Shen turned to look at him, also a little surprised. “You haven’t slept yet?”

Dong Zhi said, “I just came back from the outside and encountered something. Are you planning to rest?”

Long Shen said, “Not yet.”

Dong Zhi: “I happen to have something I want to ask you. Is now convenient?”

Long Shen: “Come in.”

Dong Zhi was ecstatic at having accomplished the achievement of entering the male god’s room for a second time. At first glance, he saw the yulu placed on the cabinet by the entrance when he entered. The plant was still there and hadn’t been thrown away, and it looked to be well raised.

His mood entered a state of bliss. He could never raise succulents. It didn’t take long after he bought them for them to wilt. He didn’t know what he was thinking when he gave Long Shen the succulent. He thought it was a mistake and he should have bought something that would be able to be stored and kept for a longer period of time.

He walked over to examine the plant, as he hadn’t seen it for a few days. The yulu had become more energetic, looking crystal clear, as if it was glowing green under the light. It was more vibrant than when he first bought it.

“This flowerpot seems to be different from the original?” He chuckled.

Long Shen said, “I took it to a flower shop and asked them to change the pots.”

Truthfully, changing the pots would not have saved the original yulu. The store said the roots were rotted and it couldn’t be saved, so they suggested he buy another plant. Long Shen refused and insisted that they change pots, and when he came back, he used a small technique to revive the plant.

Dong Zhi, unaware of this, praised him. “You’re much better at raising plants than I am! I can’t grow succulents at all. The best I can do is aloe vera or cactuses.”

Long Shen frowned deeply. “Don’t gift me stuff like this next time.”

Dong Zhi responded coolly, “Then should I gift something else?”

Long Shen: “…Don’t give anything.”

Dong Zhi laughed. “Alright.”

Long Shen paused for a moment, thinking that he should still make things clear, lest Dong Zhi thought he was just saying it to be humble. “I don’t know how to raise plants. I just used a technique and lent it some vitality.”

Dong Zhi was surprised. “How?”

Long Shen said, “I took some vitality from a towering tree with a deep foundation and vigorous vitality.”

Dong Zhi thought for a while. “So, in this sense, can you also lend someone life force?”

Long Shen nodded. “Theoretically, yes, but it goes against the virtue of nature.”

Dong Zhi couldn’t help worrying. “Won’t this affect the plant then?”

Long Shen said, “It doesn’t apply to plants.”

He didn’t know what to say. Dong Zhi felt apologetic. “I really didn’t expect this small gift to bother you so much. You’re very busy and you had to spend what little free time you had on trivial things like this.”

Long Shen shook his head, thought for a while, and then said, “Every life is precious and cannot be easily given up.”

The male god’s heart turned out to be warm. The more he learned about him, the more Dong Zhi felt he wasn’t wrong to like such a person.

Long Shen led him to the living room and went to pour two glasses of water. Dong Zhi organized his thoughts and recount Hui Yiguang’s affairs to him.

“What do you think?”

Long Shen said, “I haven’t seen her, so I can’t make an accurate judgment. There are many of you, so it’s okay to take this for experience. The training exam will be more difficult than this.”

Dong Zhi blinked. “Does this mean that I passed the interview?”

Long Shen: “I am only responsible for one of the scores. The final results have not come out yet.”

Dong Zhi still persisted. “Then what score did you give me? Can you tell me?”

Long Shen stared at him without speaking.

Dong Zhi zipped his mouth with his hands and said consciously, “I understand. I won’t ask!”

A smile flashed across Long Shen’s eyes. Suddenly, Dong Zhi’s phone rang, interrupting him as he lowered his head to look at it, missing this precious moment.

“Hello, how are you?”

“Dong Zhi, something happened! Hui Yiguang and Chi Banxia are gone!” Gu Meiren hurriedly said on the other end of the line.

“What’s going on?!” Dong Zhi felt chills.

Gu Meiren: “I’ll come over to find you and we’ll talk on the way!”

Dong Zhi agreed and hung up the phone quickly.

Long Shen had heard their conversation, so he asked, “Do you need me to go?”

“No need.” Dong Zhi said. He naturally knew that if Long Shen was there, the situation would be worry-free, but he couldn’t always count on him for everything, otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to grow. “There are many people here this time, so it shouldn’t be a problem. I really can’t trouble you longer. Rest quickly!”

Long Shen nodded, got up and sent him out.

Seemingly thinking of something, Dong Zhi said, “I got a small commission this time, so I’ll invite you to dinner some other time!”

Long Shen said, “Okay.”

With just a few words, he managed to score another appointment. He praised himself secretly. ‘You’re so awesome, Dong Zhi!’

Just as he was about to leave, Long Shen stopped him and said, “Take the Qingzhu Sword with you.”

Hearing his words, Dong Zhi hurriedly returned to his room, put down his backpack, grabbed his phone, and put the Qingzhu Swords on his back and hurried downstairs.

After he left, Long Shen closed the door and found that his room was deserted again. The glass of warm water that he had just poured was still steaming on the table, as Dong Zhi didn’t have time to drink it. He turned around and walked towards the bathroom. When he passed by the entrance, as if his heart wanted it, he suddenly stretched out his fingers and touched a leaf of the yulu.

The fat and tender leaves felt soft and full of life, like the vibrant smile of the man just now. In the past, Long Shen would never have done such a meaningless act. At that moment, as he had just touched the plant, he immediately retracted his finger.

Dong Zhi waited downstairs for a while before a car stopped in front of him.

“Get in the car!” Gu Meiren shouted as she poked her head out from the backseat. Dong Zhi found that the driver was Liu Qingbo, who turned his head around. When he saw the Qingzhu Sword on Dong Zhi’s back, he was surprised, as he didn’t expect his rival could use a sword.

When Dong Zhi got into the car, it immediately sped forward at such a fast speed that it made him lean back as he hit the seat. Not caring much about Liu Qingbo, he asked, “What happened? Where’s Cheng Yuan?”

Gu Mei said, “Cheng Yuan’s place is too far from here, so he can only go on his own.”

After that, she detailed what happened to Hui Yiguang. After they had left, according to the group agreement, Li Ying and Chi Banxia would be the first to stay with her for the next two days. The presidential suite was large enough and there were three rooms there, so it could accommodate them all. Li Ying stayed in one room, while the assistant stayed in the other. Because Hui Yiguang was scared, she asked Chi Banxia to stay with her. They were originally friends, so naturally Chi Banxia had no objections.

Li Ying was born on Mount Maoshan, and his father is both a consultant for the Special Administration Bureau and an elder of the Maoshan Sect, so he has deep qualifications. His own pedigree and his basic skills are naturally solid. At that time, he gave Hui Yiguang a Maoshan exorcism talisman and set up a small talisman array in her room. Whenever anything evil approaches, they will touch the array and be discovered immediately.

Everything was going well. Before going to bed, Hui Yiguang found that she had forgotten to bring her usual facial mask, so she asked Xiao Han to go downstairs and buy a box for her. Unfortunately, Xiao Han bought the wrong brand, making her unhappy, so she wanted to go out and buy it herself. She couldn’t be dissuaded, so Chi Banxia offered to accompany her.

The two had been gone for over an hour after they went downstairs. Xiao Han felt that it was taking too long and felt uneasy, so Li Ying pinched his fingers and suddenly changed color. He found that the Maoshan exorcism talisman he gave to Hui Yiguang wasn’t on her, and at this time they couldn’t contact either Hui Yiguang or Chi Banxia. Li Ying used his technique to calculate their approximate location and rush there.

Halfway there, he called Liu Qingbo and asked him to call everyone to come over to help, which led to Gu Meiren calling Dong Zhi.

It stood to reason that Liu Qingbo would have rushed over immediately when he received the call, but he didn’t know what he was dealing with. Whether it was a human or ghost, a demon or monster, or even some kind of curse or witchcraft, Liu Qingbo doubted that he could handle it by himself, so he had to call others to assist. As for whether he had the mentality to compete or observe Dong Zhi, this was not known.

The car drove north, getting further away from the city center. The road was unimpeded as it was late at night, and they finally reached their destination half an hour later. The area was in a non-residential area, and the entrance was to a park. Not long after they arrived, Li Ying also came.

“I couldn’t find Hui Yiguang, so I could only calculate the approximate location of Chi Banxia. It should be around here!” Li Ying hurriedly said as he got out of the car.

“Hasn’t anyone else arrived yet?” Gu Meiren said.

Li Ying: “We can’t wait any longer. Let’s go first!”

Despite so many people looking after Hui Yiguang, this kind of thing still happened. In addition to their anxiety at such an unbelievable event, for the first time in his life, Li Ying felt as if all the Taoism he had learned in the past 20 years were absolutely false!

Dong Zhi said, “Something has happened to Chi Banxia, so it’s better for us not to separate.”

Gu Meiren nodded. “That’s good idea.”

Liu Qingbo wanted to taunt him for his timidity, but when he heard that others agreed with this sentiment, he held back his tongue.

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Kinky Thoughts:

Loving these cute small interactions between Dong Zhi and Long Shen.

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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 35

Dong Zhi left as the interview came to an end. As soon as he stepped out of the room, all eyes fell on him. When he first entered the room, the attention brought to him was due to his written exam results, which were comparable to a 30-watt lightbulb. Now that he had just stepped out, it was more like a 100-watt.

He was puzzled, thinking that it was impossible for others to know about his argument with Taoist Master Li. When he saw Ba Sang, the other party asked, “Why did you stay for so long? What were you talking about?”

Dong Zhi asked strangely, “Was it a long time?” He was inside answering questions and was unaware of the passage of time.

Ba Sang said, “Of course. Usually it’s about 15 minutes for others, but you’ve been in there for almost 40 minutes. Are your written scores too high that the examiners take their turn praising you one by one?”

Dong Zhi smiled wryly. “You give me too much credit. I was asked questions by each one of them, and I argued with one of the examiners.”

Ba Sang’s mouth became an O-shape. “You’re quarrelling with examiners?!”

Gu Meiren was also surprised. It was hard for her to imagine someone like Dong Zhi would compete with others.

Dong Zhi shrugged. “Anyway, my results may be uncertain this time. I’m mentally prepared to take the exam again next year.”

Ba Sang patted him on his arm but didn’t know what to say. Dong Zhi comforted them in turn. “Don’t worry. The questions aren’t difficult. Just answer them well.”

When it was Ba Sang’s turn to go in, Dong Zhi didn’t leave. He waited for Gu Meiren and Ba Sang to finish their interviews before accompanying them to leave.

Gu Meiren had relatives in Beijing, so she was living temporarily at a relative’s house. In addition, she often goes to the university nearby to attend courses during her free time. She was actually a gentle and low-key girl who wouldn’t really stand out as a practitioner if she didn’t tell them.

Ba Sang had a family issue sprung up, so he planned to go back that day, intending to come back after receiving his training notice.

Since it was fate that the three of them met and became like old friends, they all agreed to have a meal together, then said their goodbyes as they parted ways. After sending Ba Sang and Gu Meiren off, Dong Zhi returned to the dorms.

When he recalled the scene during his interview, he suddenly felt that he was a bit too green. He felt it was right to stick to his ideals, but it also depended on the occasion. Although he was applauded by an elder later, if he had just gone with the flow from the beginning and answered according to Li Rui’s tendencies, it would most likely still produce a satisfactory and stable result. Wouldn’t it have been better if he just stuck to the script and answered accordingly?

Still, there is no medicine for regret in this world. In fact, even knowing now what the best result could’ve been, he would still do it exactly as he had if he were to do it again.

Dong Zhi felt that he should start thinking about finding a home. He had a lot of savings, so he wouldn’t have to worry about food and housing for a while, but if he were to be eliminated from the interview, it’d be too awkward to stay in the dorms. Perhaps he can rent out a home in the capital and live in it. In his spare time, he would work part-time on drafts while reviewing in preparation for his comeback next year.

Dong Zhi laid on the bed and thought about it. Although he had prepared for the worst, depression was still inevitable.

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door. He slowly opened it with a soft pillow in his arms while thinking about who it could possibly be, as He Yu and Kan Chaosheng were still on their business trip. Could it be Zhong Yuyi?

When the door opened, he was stunned by the unexpected visitor. “Long—Boss Long?”

Long Shen figure was standing at the door. “What are you doing?”

He was caught off guard by the abrupt visit of the male god that his mentality hadn’t adjusted. Dong Zhi was slow to react, and only after a while did he say, “I just came back from a meal with Ba Sang and Gu Meiren. Have you eaten yet?”

Long Shen didn’t answer his question, but instead pulled out a card and handed it to him. “Take it. It’s an access card to the training room. Go up and practice in the future. You don’t need to find someone to accompany you any longer.”

Dong Zhi took it and hesitated. “But the interview…”

Long Shen: “Even if you can’t pass the exam, you won’t practice?”

Dong Zhi didn’t even hesitate to reply, “Of course not!”

Long Shen nodded. “The card is temporary, so just give it back to me if you fail the exam.”

Dong Zhi thought how lucky he was. He felt with his high score on the written exam, combined with the experience he had from several missions with He Yu, perhaps Long Shen would open the backdoor for him. He couldn’t help but shed tearless tears when he heard the other party’s intention. Still, having an access card is better than not having one, and other candidates may not necessarily get this kind of treatment.

“Thank you, Boss Long. I will go up every day to practice. Would you like to come in?”

Long Shen said, “No, you can rest.” He turned around to leave.

Dong Zhi gathered up the courage and asked, “Boss Long, is the yulu still alive?”

Long Shen said, “Still alive. Do you want to come and see it?”

Dong Zhi was eager to follow. Even if all they did was small talk, it was still a step forward, but when he saw the faint tiredness in Long Shen’s eyes, he changed his mind. “No, you should rest first. Call me if you need me.”

Long Shen nodded and went back to his room. He hasn’t returned now for a while. The last time was three days ago. His bedroom was as deserted as ever, but he didn’t care. He was about to shower and rest when he passed by the living room and suddenly stopped as he turned the corner.

The yulu was sitting on the table, wilting. It no longer had that delicate look when it was first given to him. The fat leaves had begun to turn yellow, and some had already fallen off, indicating that its life was nearing its end.

Long Shen wanted to give it some water, but then remembered that Dong Zhi said the plant liked dryness and couldn’t help but frown. The omnipotent Deputy Director Long looked at the small potted plant in front of him as if it was an Archdemon that he had fallen into a stalemate with.

After a while, he turned on his phone and typed in: [What should I do if my yulu plant is dying?].

Various answers popped up, but the most reliable one was: [The root may have outgrown. Change it to a deeper pot and swap it to dry soil again.]

Though it was a plant, it was still a life. Long Shen, who wanted to shower, had to take the flowerpot and went out to a flower shop to find someone to rescue it. Before he left his room, he only had one thought in his mind: ‘So troublesome. Don’t accept gifts next time.’

Of course, Dong Zhi was completely oblivious to this, unaware that the small gift he gave was so nerve-wracking to his male god. When he turned on his computer, he received a call from Gu Meiren. She had run into a candidate named Li Ying and wanted to invite everyone to have a meal together so they could get to know each other. After all, they were all busy preparing for the exam, and many had not had the chance to make acquaintances.

The other party only had Gu Meiren’s contact information, so he asked her to call Dong Zhi to invite him. Gu Meiren didn’t really like this kind of social gathering much, but if Dong Zhi went, she would at least have an acquaintance there.

Dong Zhi sensed some hesitation from her and agreed.

It was normal for groups to have an individual come forward and organize gatherings like this. After all, they were likely to become colleagues in the future. Even if some fail this time around, they may succeed next time around. Like mountains and rivers meet*, one more friend is another way forward.

*(山水有相逢) Refers to there are always opportunities to meet and deal with each other in life. To persuade people not to be too absolute, there must be room for them.

The gathering was set for the evening, so Dong Zhi worked on his comic for a while. Seeing as the time was nearing, he prepared and went to the place where he agreed to meet with Gu Meiren. Gu Meiren had changed into a T-shirt and jeans, making her look more like a normal student.

He saw a gathering of people in the distance and hurried over. “Sorry I’m late.”

Gu Meiren smiled slightly. “It’s okay, I’m here early.”

The place they were gathering was at a restaurant nearby. The two crossed a commercial street and walked towards their destination. Dong Zhi joked, “It’s a pity that Ba Sang has already set off. Otherwise, he can still have another meal.”

Gu Meiren said, “I don’t know them too well, but I don’t feel comfortable bringing up AA*.”

*Refers to going dutch. In China, it’s seen as being stingy or bad manners when you ask to split the bill. It’s popular with the younger generation, especially those who are still students and not working.

Dong Zhi thought for a while, then said, “The guy said he wanted to invite everyone to a meal, but AA may not work out. Let’s just buy some snacks and give everyone a share.”

Gu Meiren agreed. “That’s fine.” She refused to take advantage of others, nor did she want to pretend to be magnanimous. There’s a difference between closeness and distance, and it was comfortable to make friends like this.

Dong Zhi asked, “Is Li Ying a local? Besides us, who else will be there?”

Gu Meiren said uncertainly, “His father’s name is Li Rui, and he seems to be one of the examiners for our interview. Do you know each other?”

Dong Zhi: …

In fact, quite well.

He had offended someone’s father this morning and was now invited by said person’s son in the evening. What kind of feeling is this? He suddenly had the urging to turn around and go back.

Dong Zhi smiled bitterly. “I do.” He explained the situation at the interview.

“Then why don’t we just bail?” Gu Meiren said in surprise.

She said “we” instead of “I” which made Dong Zhi a little moved. “No. Now that the appointment’s been set, it’s not good to go back.”

The two walked into the restaurant and told the host Li Ying’s name. They were immediately led by the waiter to a reserved private room. There was already a group of men and women, around eight people, already there, including Liu Qingbo.

Seeing them come in, a man smiled and said, “You’re the latest to come, so your punishment is to drink.”

After saying that, he got up and stretched out his hand towards Dong Zhi. “My name is Li Ying. You’re Dong Zhi. I’ve heard so much about you, like how you ranked first on the written exam. Pleasure to meet you.”

He behaved politely, as if he didn’t know what had happened between Dong Zhi and his father. Dong Zhi shook his hand and smiled at him. “It’s nice to meet you. Let’s not prattle about the written exam. I was just fortunate enough to memorize a few more books.”

Li Ying chuckled. “Well, not everyone can make it today. Some people couldn’t come, so it’s just us. However, it was everyone’s fate that we all took the exam together. Regardless of whether we’ll be colleagues in the future or not, we’ll all stay in contact with each other. Thank you, friends, for giving me face today. Since it was my invitation, don’t rush to pay the bill later! I can’t beat you to it!”

His words were humorous, causing everyone to laugh, and the atmosphere improved, becoming livelier. Though they were taking the exam together, they were still relatively unfamiliar with each other. After introducing one another, Dong Zhi was able to match their faces to their names.

Since it was just after the exams, most of the topics revolved around it. Some discussed the written portion while others talked about the interviews, the more interesting subject. Everyone recounted their painful experiences, especially when they were pitted.

Some people were asked how they would respond if they were asked to participate in an international exchange in the future and they encountered practitioners who were unfriendly to their country. One person, who said he was a psychic, was asked to elaborate on the similarities and differences between the Southeast Asia witchcraft¹ technique and the Miaojiang Poison² technique, was left completely dumbfounded and wanted to die.

¹Head Taming/Descending (Technique) (降头) Witchcraft that’s popular in Southeast Asia. It’s split into two types: black magic and white magic. Black magic focuses on the destruction of the target, while white magic is used for repair and blessings of the target. || Note: I will be referring to this as witchcraft.
²(苗疆蛊) Witchcraft that has its roots in Taoism and specializes in poison/gu used by the people of Miaojiang. It’s used by women to ensure the loyal love of their men, who would go away. If they returned and were faithful, an antidote would be given. Refer to the lore glossary if you want to learn more about poison/gu.

Hearing everyone’s complaints, Dong Zhi felt great comfort for his injured heart. Sure enough, his single tragedy was not as bad as the others. There were others who fell more miserably than he did.

After three rounds of drinking, the atmosphere lightened up. Even Gu Meiren was not as quiet as she was in the beginning. She was chatting with a sweet-looking girl next to her while Dong Zhi chatted with a young man who claimed that he was psychic.

His name was Cheng Yuan. Dong Zhi guessed that, for professional reasons, his temperament was a bit gloomy, but he became quite talkative once he got familiar with someone.

According to him, Dong Zhi learned that “psychic” was just an elegant title. They were generally referred to as sorcerers or sorceress*, which was “heretical” in the eyes of many famous sects. Although Li Ying and Liu Qingbo didn’t show any discrimination towards him, Cheng Yuan still felt uncomfortable around them and instead chatted exclusively with Dong Zhi.

*The term is [shenpo] (神婆) for female and [shenhan] (神汉) for males. Their position is more like a wizard/warlock/sorcerer who performs exorcism but has other occupations as well. They also have the ability to invite gods and goddesses for their blessings. || With the rise of systematic religions such as Buddhism, Christianity, ect. their technique of “witchcraft/black magic” that promotes superstition as a way of exorcism runs counterintuitive to such religions, thus they are labeled heretical, which is most likely why Cheng Yuan refers to himself as a psychic.

While they were chatting, Dong Zhi heard Li Ying’s voice ringing out. “With so many people present, you should speak up and let everyone help come up with ideas.”

Everyone stopped talking and followed the direction of his voice as they saw Li Ying talking to the sweet-looking girl. Her name was unique, Chi Banxia*. Pinellia was the name of the traditional Chinese medicine so people would remember it at once.

*(迟半夏) [Banxia] (半夏) refers to the pinellia [Banxia] (半夏) plant that is used in Chinese medicine, supposedly to help relieve nausea, among other illnesses. Chi Banxia combine translates to late midsummer, which is the time to harvest pinellia.

Gu Meiren, who was sitting next to her, said, “Yes. There are so many great people here. Perhaps they can help.”

Chi Banxia was shy, but she spoke confidently to everyone. “A friend of mine who works in the showbiz industry recently encountered some strange things that made her uneasy to the point where she couldn’t sleep or eat. She invited a lot of high-level people, but it didn’t work. I don’t know what’s going on, so I want to ask everyone’s opinion.”

“What is the strange thing?” Liu Qingbo asked.

Chi Banxia said, “She keeps having nightmares and can’t sleep well. Even in broad daylight, when she’s alone, she always feels as if someone is following her. Also, her assistants have been experiencing accidents recently as well. One had fallen down the stairs, and another was almost hit by a car while crossing the road. In just one month, she had to change assistants twice.”

Liu Qingbo pondered, “It sounds like she’s entangled in something evil. Has she tried an exorcism?”

Chi Banxia said, “She tried it all. She also set up a separate room in her home to make a Buddhist shrine and invited a Bodhisattva* but as long as she leaves the shrine, she will feel uncomfortable. It’s also no use wearing charms and such on her body either.”

*Person who is on the path towards Buddhahood.

After listening to her story, everyone looked at each other. If what she said is true, then her friend was entangled with something too evil!

Chi Banxia said, “I’m not good at exorcising evil spirits, but I’m sure that she does not have a curse cast upon her, and her sanity is normal.”

When she first introduced herself, she mentioned that her family was from Hainan. Dong Zhi was a bit confused by it, but now he realized that she must know some witchcraft. Witchcraft was popular in Southeast Asia and was said to be in the same vein as the Miaojiang Poison technique, but its origin was no longer known.

According to folklore, it was around the Tang Dynasty that Master Xuanzang¹ was returning from Tianzhu when he passed by the Tongtian River and accidently dropped some of his scriptures into it. Fortunately, he picked up most of them, but the missing part is the “prophecy” in Mahayana² Buddhism. Supposedly, this is a curse that’s the source of witchcraft.

¹Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of his journey to India in 629–645 CE, his efforts to bring over 657 Indian texts to China, and his translations of some of these texts.
²Term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism.

There was also a legend that witchcraft came from Maoshan Taoism. Overall, it was a technique that was very popular in Southeast Asia and many people respect their practitioners, lest they offend them and could meet a terrible end.

Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, many people from Fujan, Guangdon, Hainan, and other places traveled to Nanyang to do business. Along the way, there were those who dealt with mysterious and exotic magical techniques. Many of them had learned witchcraft from masters in foreign regions and later returned to China to start their own sect. The most famous of them was the Chi family in Hainan.

It was said that some businessmen had offended their opponents when they were doing business in Southeast Asia and were asked by them to lower their heads, so they sought out the Chi family for help. Over time, the family became famous.

However, Dong Zhi didn’t know these things until Gu Meiren told him later on.

At that moment, when Chi Banxia stopped speaking, everyone was eager to solve her problem. Bluntly put, they were all young people who were either fledglings or had trained since they were young. When encountering this kind of thing, they naturally want to solve the problem while showing off their skills.

Upon seeing this, Chi Banxia said, “My friend is offering a hefty reward and is looking for experts everywhere. If you’re free, why don’t you come with me to take a look?”

Li Ying nodded. “Let me go and have a look with you.”

He looked around at everyone and smiled again. “Even if we pass the interview, there’s still the training exam. I heard that it is quite difficult, so now that we have such a rare opportunity, we should put into practice what we have learn.”

Those who were still on the fence before, after hearing his words, decided to go together. “Then I’ll thank you all on behalf of my friend first; don’t worry, she won’t let you come for nothing,” Chi Banxia said with a smile.

With such sight in their eyes, instead of sitting around and chatting, it was better to act now. Everyone either took a taxi or drove themselves to the place Chi Banxia mentioned, and soon they gathered at a five-star hotel.

Chi Banxia explained, “My friend hasn’t dared go home recently, so she’s staying at a hotel. It’s more convenient to meet here. I’ll call her first and ask her to come down to pick us up.”

Shortly after she called, a young woman came down in a hurry, but she didn’t look like a person that was particularly in distress. When she spoke, everyone realized that she was the assistant to Chi Banxia’s friend.

Some of the people there were unhappy that the person who needed help didn’t even bother to show up herself to greet them. When they arrived at the presidential suite on the top floor and the other party came to open the door, everyone realized why the person was so mysterious. Because Chi Banxia’s friend turned out to be Hui Yiguang.

In the past few years since her debut, Hui Yiguang had participated in a variety of TV series where she starred as the female lead. Her popularity had risen so rapidly that she had countless fans. Similarly, with this kind of stardom comes countless paparazzi as well, who follow her every move. If they were to know that she was being a haunted by an unknown evil being, the gossip would be overwhelming and could greatly damage her career aspects.

Hui Yiguang, while not on camera, still looked beautiful and moving, but her eyelids looked a bit baggy, showing obvious signs that she’d been lacking sleep and was in distress. She hadn’t expected Chi Banxia to bring over so many people, so she showed a surprised expression when she opened the door.

Chi Banxia said, “Yiguang, they are all my friends. Each has their own strengths. Since I can’t solve your problem, I have asked them to come to brainstorm together and maybe they can find the answer.”

Hui Yiguang knew about Chi Banxia’s background, so she naturally understood what she was referring to. When she heard this, she smiled softly and let out a grateful expression. “Thank you, Banxia. Thank you all. Please come in and sit down wherever you like.”

The living room of the presidential suite was extremely spacious. Everyone took their seats separately as Hui Yiguang asked her assistant to bring drinks and snacks.

Hui Yiguang said, “I’m very sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude and not pick you up in person. It’s just that my life is exposed to the lens every minute. If I were to appear downstairs, there would be papers about me all over tomorrow.”

Chi Banxia introduced, “Yiguang is my cousin’s classmate and also my friend. We both grew up in the same city. I have troubled you all at this time.”

Li Ying said to Hui Yiguang, “Let’s talk about your troubles first.”

When it came to this matter, Hui Yiguang’s face turned blue again. Her description was much the same as Chi Banxia’s recount, except that it was more detailed.

According to Hui Yiguang’s recollection, the strange incident happened a month ago. During the day, she would often hear someone whispering into her ears, but if she tried to listen carefully, she couldn’t hear what they were saying. At first, she thought she was too tired from filming and had hallucinations, but after a few days of rest and going to the hospital for an examination, she didn’t get better. Gradually, when she went to bed, she often didn’t sleep well and always felt as if someone was watching her by her bedside. She often wakes up in the middle of the night in fright. Due to lack of sleep, she didn’t have the energy to work and once almost fell down the stairs during filming on set.

Hui Yiguang rolled up her sleeves, and everyone saw a bruise in the shape of five fingers on her white and tender arm, which was extremely conspicuous. “This happened two days ago at the hotel I was staying at next to the studio. At that time, I asked my assistant to sleep in the same room with me, but she said she didn’t feel anything.” Hui Yiguang’s face showed fear. Despite so many people present, she couldn’t control her body from slightly trembling.

“The most bizarre thing is that my previous two assistants were injured inexplicably during this month. One was almost hit by a car. My current assistant, Xiao Han, was sent as a replacement for the company when I started filming a new drama last week.”

Hearing this, Li Ying looked at the new assistant. “After you arrived at Miss Hui’s side, did you encounter anything strange?”

Xiao Han shook her head.

Li Ying asked Hui Yiguang again, “Then have you encountered anything strange in this hotel now?”

Hui Yiguang: “I haven’t finished filming my scenes yet, but I can’t take it anymore. I’ve asked the director for two days off to rest, and I came here yesterday. So far, it’s been calm, but I don’t know if things will act up again tonight. I’m really scared. Can you help me?” Tears filled her eyes as everyone couldn’t bear looking at her pitiful state.

Li Ying comforted, “Don’t worry, let’s take a look first.”

Chi Banxia also said, “Don’t worry, my friends are very capable.”

Hui Yiguang nodded gratefully again and again. “I hope it’s not too much trouble. Please feel free to tell me if you need anything.”

Everyone acted quickly. Some took out compasses while others looked around the suite. Since Dong Zhi didn’t develop the habit of carrying a compass, he just followed the others to watch the excitement. After listening to Hui Yiguang’s words just now, he felt that the chances of her being entangled by a ghost or a demonic being were close to 9 out of 10. It stood to reason that the one who’s best at this method should be the psychic, Cheng Yuan, but he wandered around and shook his head, indicating that the suite was clear, and he didn’t find signs of anything.

At his request, Hui Yiguang allowed him to open her luggage to check, but in the end, nothing abnormal was found.

Chi Banxia said, “Didn’t you say that there is also a problem with your house? Can we go to your house and have a look?”

When she mentioned it, Hui Yiguang couldn’t hold back her expression of fear. “Of course. Let my assistant take you there. I have also encountered strange things at the hotel by the studio, but now that I’ve checked out, it would be inconvenient to go there again.”

Li Ying nodded. “We don’t need to go to the other hotel. Just your home is fine.”

The assistant took them downstairs. Including Chi Banxia, there were a total of ten people that were divided up into three cars. Dong Zhi, Cheng Yuan, and Gu Meiren got into the same car.

Cheng Yuan said as they drove to Hui Yiguang’s home, “I can’t see any signs attached to her body.” He was vague in his words so as to avoid panicking the driver.

Gu Meiren said, “I didn’t find anything either.”

Dong Zhi said with regret, “If you haven’t noticed it, then I definitely didn’t, though I do think it’s a bit strange.”

Both of them looked at him. Dong Zhi glanced at the driver and said, “Let’s talk about it when we get out of the car.”

The car eventually arrived at their destination, a high-end residential area that had beautiful surroundings. Such a home in the capital was naturally expensive, but considering Hui Yiguang’s status, it was something she could easily afford.

Though the assistant had the key card, since she wasn’t the owner of the house, she was still required to register her identity before she was allowed inside. Relatively speaking, it was difficult to imagine there would be anyone trying to fish in troubled waters*, but there were many things in this world that often couldn’t be explained by common sense.

*(浑水摸鱼) Idiom referring to creating chaos for the enemy/opponent and then taking advantage of the confusion to obtain benefits. || In this context it’s saying it doesn’t make sense for them to cause trouble as they’re with Hui Yiguang’s assistant but then again people sometimes act outside of common sense.

The place hadn’t been cleaned for a week, so as soon as the door was opened, the smell of dust permeated. The assistant turned on the lights and let everyone in. The house was quite large and beautifully decorated. It had a Mediterranean style, but from Dong Zhi’s perspective, he felt this house was too big to live in.

He once chatted with Kan Chaosheng and heard him say that many people in modern times think that the bigger the house, the better, but if the house was too big and there were few people to occupy it, it would seemingly appear empty. This lack of vitality indicates a lack of yang that could easily attract trouble. At that time, he thought this sentiment was quite strange. He rebutted by saying that in ancient times, didn’t large families all live in large houses? Kan Chaosheng curled his lips and said he himself had referred to a large family. Such families would be wealthy if they could afford to live in a large place, and thus there would be servants, so how could it be considered a lack of vitality?

Now that he was in Hui Yiguang’s home, Dong Zhi was reminded of Kan Chaosheng’s words.

The master bedroom was huge. It faces west to east and had large floor-to-ceiling windows, making it the preferred room to bask in the sun’s rays at dawn. Furnishings were all items related to a woman. The table was full of cosmetics, and there were dresses on the bed that hadn’t been put away. Several cabinets in the dressing room all held various articles of clothing, showing that Hui Yiguang’s standard of living was quite high. All the clothes were the current in-season looks. Due to his previous occupation, Dong Zhi would often pay attention to the news of fashion week every year. His sharp eye was able to pick up several luxury high-end custom outfits from big name brands.

He took out his phone and searched for Hui Yiguang’s profile online as Cheng Yuan and Gu Meiren walked over.

“How’s it going?” Dong Zhi asked them.

Cheng Yuan shook his head. “I didn’t find anything.”

Gu Meiren also said, “Same.”

Since both Gu Meiren and Cheng Yuan couldn’t find any clues, it meant that the house was clean as well. If this was the case, how was it possible for Hui Yiguang to have incidents in this house?

Gu Mei guessed, “Could it be related to her? After all, incidents keep happening around her.”

Cheng Yuan shook his head. “I didn’t find anything abnormal attached to her.”

He looked at Dong Zhi. “Didn’t you say there was something strange in the car?”

Dong Zhi said, “She said that she had changed multiple assistants within the past month because the first two were injured in accidents, but after she switched the third, it’s been over a week and she still encountered strange things, but the third assistant is still safe. Don’t you think it’s odd?”

Gu Meiren and Cheng Yuan looked at each other. Obviously they hadn’t noticed this detail before.

Cheng Yuan pondered, “You mean this matter is related to her previous two assistants?”

Dong Zhi said, “Perhaps there’s something the first two assistants have done that the third hasn’t done yet. We have to ask Hui Yiguang herself.”

Everyone explored the home and even went to the Buddha Shrine, but in the end, they came up empty handed. Dong Zhi told the others the doubts he had discovered.

“I think Miss Hui may be hiding something from us, or she may have thought it would be inconvenient for us to know, but if she doesn’t make it clear, we won’t find a clue.”

When everyone heard this, their expressions became unhappy. The assistant hurriedly said, “Hui Jie is not such a person, and she sincerely invited everyone to help!”

Li Ying ignored her and said to Chi Banxia. “Xiao Chi, you also know who we are. Although we’re not elites of the industry, we are still capable. If we can’t find a problem, those fortune-tellers and feng shui masters won’t find it either.”

Chi Banxia said, embarrassedly, “I’m very sorry, but I only know as much as you do. I have nothing to hide!”

Since the matter had suddenly developed in this direction, everyone suspected that Hui Yiguang’s problem was due to hallucinations caused by too much stress at work. They started to doubt her initial story and felt unhappy that she was concealing things from them, so they were about to abandon their work.

Suddenly, at this very moment, the assistant received a call from Hui Yiguang. Her screams penetrated the speakers and were so loud that even Dong Zhi, who was far away, could hear them.

“It’s here again! It’s here again! Help! Come back and save me!”

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Kinky Thoughts:

The author does her research as her explanation is in line with the (limited) research I’ve done.

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Head Taming/Descending Technique (降头)

Witchcraft that is popular in Southeast Asia. It’s divided into two types according to the casting medium, the function of the spell, the chants of the spell ect.

Black technique (black magic) refers to techniques used to destroy the “magnetic field” (mind) of the target.

White technique refers to techniques that repair or bless the target.

This is comparable to that of witchcraft or voodoo.

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Miaojiang Poison/Gu (苗疆蛊)

Witchcraft that has its roots in Taoism and specializes in poison/gu used by the people of Miaojiang. It’s used by women to ensure the loyal love of their men, who would go away. If they returned and were faithful, an antidote would be given. Refer to the lore glossary if you want to learn more about poison/gu.

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Shenpo (神婆) / Shenhan (神汉)

The term is [shenpo] (神婆) for female and [shenhan] (神汉) for males. Their position is like a wizard/warlock/sorcerer who performs exorcism but has other occupations as well. They also have the ability to invite gods and goddesses for their blessings and do divinations. They are known practitioners of witchcraft.

It is quite common in Chinese communities in Taiwan and Southeast Asia, but in the People’s Republic of China, due to the atheist stance of the Chinese Communist Party, it is often degraded and suppressed, and dismissed as superstition.

Along with the rise of systematic religions such as Buddhism, Christianity, ect. their technique of “witchcraft/black magic” that promotes superstition as a way of exorcism runs counterintuitive to such religions, thus they are labeled heretical by those communities.

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Author: 梦溪石 / Meng Xi Shi

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

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Chapter 34

After thinking about it for a while, he still ended up with no results. Dong Zhi decided to send a message to Zhong Yuyi: [Old Zhong, do you know what hobbies Boss Long has?]

Zhong Yuyi quickly replied: [Slaying demons.]

Dong Zhi thought, ‘He doesn’t expect me to catch him a demon so he can slay it… right?’

He asked again: [Apart from this? For example, piano, chess, calligraphy, or painting? Mountain climbing or sword dancing? Square dancing*?]

*Clarity: Not American square dancing. It’s referring to a rhythmic dance performed spontaneously by residents in open spaces such as squares and courtyards for the purpose of fitness.

Zhong Yuyi seemed to be lost in his thoughts, and after a long time, he sent a reply: [Cooking.]

??? The male god that’s like a high-cold* flower actually likes to cook?! This is simply too contrasting.

*[Gao leng] (高冷) Internet buzzword used to describe someone who’s arrogant and cold.

Dong Zhi hurriedly asked: [Are you sure?]

Zhong Yuyi: [I think so. When I was still at the old building, no one was willing to deliver there, and the canteen happened to be on holiday. No one in our group cook so the boss personally cooked for us several times.]

Dong Zhi found the image of Long Shen’s busy figure standing in front of the stove with an apron on quite cute.

He asked Zhong Yuyi: [Then his food was delicious, right?]

Zhong Yuyi said honestly: [It was hard to eat.]

Dong Zhi: […Besides that, does he have any other hobbies?]

Zhong Yuyi: [I don’t think so.]

It seems that Zhong Yuyi and Long Shen didn’t know each other all that well either. But then again, except for someone who had ulterior motives like him, who would try to delve into getting to know their immediate boss better.

Dong Zhi wanted to gift him an antique sword, which would not only express his gratitude but also align with his feelings. Who knew that when he looked at their prices, he couldn’t afford even one if he were to sell himself?

He scratched his head and exhaled in distress and visited a forum for help. He typed in: [How to pursue a man?]

After thinking about it, he deleted it and changed it to: [How to pursue a man who’s powerful in all aspects?]

The forum was popular, so he had more than a dozen replies within a few minutes.

Some people said: [You have to be brave and confess. Maybe he was already interested in you a long time ago. This is called a two-way crush!]

This was impossible. Pass. Dong Zhi went to look at the next one.

Some people suggested drugging him and doing a forced entry*. This one is also a pass.

*Overlord hard on the bow (霸王硬上弓) Original meaning refers to someone who is domineering that has now extended in modern times to describe one party forcing/coercing another to have sex (AKA rape). || Don’t do this shit.

Some people replied, asking him to test him first and then wait for the opportunity to act. This wasn’t a bad suggestion and was along the lines of what he was thinking.  

Among the dozens of replies, there were few that were reliable. Most of them were exaggerated and commented on casually. Dong Zhi was left speechless. He simply turned off the computer and went to his appointment when the time neared.

At close to 7, he arrived at the Forest Teahouse. The private room was booked in advance, and he texted Long Shen the room number earlier that morning. When he arrived, Long Shen was already there, and there was someone next to him. It turned out it was his rival, Liu Qingbo.

Dong Zhi was stunned for a moment. Before he could respond, Liu Qingbo smiled and said, “I ran into Boss Long just after a meeting. I have many questions to ask him. Do you mind if I join you? I’ll invite you to dinner another time to make this up.”

How could Dong Zhi reject this in front of Long Shen? He had to pretend to be gracious and said with a smile, “I don’t mind. Since you are here, let’s eat together. Do you have anything you can’t eat?”

Long Shen shook his head. “Feel free to order whatever.”

Liu Qingbo followed up with, “Same.”

Dong Zhi imagined a scene of wringing Liu Qingbo into a knot, then stuffing him into a sack, then stepping on it until he became a meat loaf. As he was thinking this, he handed a succulent to Long Shen. “I didn’t know what to get you and you probably won’t accept anything valuable. I remember that you had potted plants in your office, so I bought this small thing. The shopkeeper said it has a nice name, yulu.”

From the corner of his eyes, he could see Liu Qingbo seemingly raise his mouth slightly, as if he had an expression of disdain.

Long Shen said, “Thank you.”

Seeing that he did not refuse, Dong Zhi felt very happy. He picked up the menu and asked the waiter to order some dishes. While he ordered, Liu Qingbo started a conversation with Long Shen. With his family background, most of the topics they talked about were a combination of magic and swordsmanship. There were many mythical terms like, snake poison, bee poison, cowhide poison, money poison, mother and son poison*, and so on. Long Shen let Liu Qingbo talk incessantly, and occasionally would reply in a sentence or two.

*Clarity: It’s referring to gu. See the Wikipedia to learn about the different types.

Dong Zhi didn’t understand much, but judging from Liu Qingbo’s admiring expression, Long Shen’s few words gave him great inspiration. He didn’t interrupt them either so he listened silently until the waiter came back with their food, then he said, “Liu Shixiong, Boss Long has been in a lot of meetings these days and should be tired. Let him take a break and you can talk after we finish eating.”

Liu Qingbo looked at him for a while, then smiled brightly. “I was negligent, Boss Long. I’m really sorry. Let’s eat first.”

After a few spoonsful of food and three rounds of drinks, it was inevitable that small talk began again. Dong Zhi couldn’t interject into their topics and didn’t plan to, so they talked more comfortably. Dong Zhi recalled when he went karaokeing with He Yu and the others, he often watched Kan Chaosheng sing out of tune and was able to pick up his notions, which still remained vivid in his mind today.

Although Long Shen didn’t talk much, Dong Zhi observed that he did gradually relax and there was a bit of comfort between the corners of his eyes. Dong Zhi thought about He Yu’s complaints about their all-night meetings and couldn’t help feeling distressed for Long Shen. As a Deputy of a bureau, he had even more responsibilities to shoulder.

Liu Qingbo suddenly said, “Dong Shidi, I heard that you joined the Taoist circle not long ago. You have taken the exam so soon. Surely you must have a deep family background?”

Dong Zhi said, “My parents are ordinary people, and they have already passed away.”

Liu Qingbo looked surprised. “So, you must be very talented? I wonder what the results of your written exam?”

Dong Zhi was taken aback before saying, “It’s alright.”

Upon hearing this, Liu Qingbo became sure that Dong Zhi hadn’t done well. He continued to chase after the victory and said, “It doesn’t matter. I heard that many people have taken the exam several times before passing. If it doesn’t work out this time, you can always try again next year. It’s a pity that the opportunity to be an apprentice under Boss Long is not available every year.”

Dong Zhi smiled shyly.

Long Shen suddenly said, “What was your score?” He obviously was too busy to pay attention to the score announcement like He Yu. It didn’t matter, as someone would send him a transcript later anyway.

Dong Zhi said modestly, “This time I didn’t do too good. I only got 157 points.”

Liu Qingbo: …

He scored 130 points on the exam. He originally thought that this score was good, and he wanted to ridicule Dong Zhi while squashing his opponent’s desire to become Long Shen’s apprentice. Who knew that his opponent would drop a nuclear bomb at this very moment?

Dong Zhi continued his humble act. “But I think elder brother Liu is right. There are many capable people in the outside world who are much better. There’s no end to learning. Although my written test scores are acceptable, the interview still requires hard work.”

Dong Zhi was incomparably sincere in his words and had a face that looked harmless to humans and animals, so no one would suspect that he was showing off. Liu Qingbo gritted his teeth with anger upon hearing those words.

Long Shen was fond of this very much, and when he heard Dong Zhi’s words, he gave a nod of approval. Seeing Liu Qingbo’s expression like he was eating flies, Dong Zhi felt extremely happy.

The villain inside Liu Qingbo sneered, ‘Dong Zhi, you scheming bastard!’

Liu Qingbo asked, “Boss Long, will you be an interviewer for the interview this year?”

Dong Zhi pricked up his ears.

Long Shen was noncommittal. “Is this important?”

Liu Qingbo smiled and said, “Seeing you, no matter how nervous I am, I’ll be able to calm down.”

Dong Zhi: Kiss-ass!

Long Shen: “As long as you are well prepared, whoever is the interviewer is the same. Moreover, there will be more than one interviewer.”

Liu Qingbo nodded. “You’re right, but I heard that the interview elimination rate is quite high. No one was shortlisted last year. I wonder if it will be appropriately relaxed this year?”

Long Shen said, “The standards are always there. As long as you can pass the standards, you can be shortlisted, but even if you pass the interview, it’s still too early to be happy. There’s also the training exam later, which also has a high elimination rate.”

What Long Shen said was a circumlocution, as this was all the information they knew, but Liu Qingbo didn’t expect to ask anything from him. His goal was to become his apprentice. No matter how he acted now, the most important thing was to first build a good relationship with Long Shen and make him become aware of his existence.

After their meal, Long Shen had business to attend to, so he took leave first, leaving behind Dong Zhi and Liu Qingbo to stare at each other with smiling faces.

Liu Qingbo was the first to speak, “Taoist friend, you’re actually very good to score 157 points on the test. Most likely, you’ve got first place for the written exam, right?”

He was referred to as shidi in front of Long Shen, but now he had become a Taoist friend instead.

Dong Zhi smiled innocently, “I just got a higher score in the written exam. For the interview, I’m sure I won’t do as well as Liu Shixiong.”

Liu Qingbo was furious as he thought, ‘This kid can sure pretend to be a big-tailed wolf* while acting all docile on the surface.’

*(大尾巴狼) Used as a ridicule for people who’s pretentious and likes to show off.

“It’s okay. If we have time another day, we’ll talk about it again and I’ll ask you for advice.” Liu Qingbo still maintained a graceful look on his face as he stretched out his hand to pat Dong Zhi’s shoulder, but Dong Zhi avoided it by getting up and grabbing the bill.

“Okay, elder brother Liu. Don’t forget that you still owe me dinner, so invite me another day!” Dong Zhi said with a smile and left first after taking care of the tab. He wasn’t interested in staying and pretending to say polite things to each other.

Moreover, he remembered that his rival’s mother was a descendant of the Hmong, who specialized in poison. Liu Qingbo’s conversation with Long Shen just now also proved this. He Yu had warned him that he could be poisoned unknowingly as there are secret channels of transmission, such as physical contact or through food, so there must be some sort of medium.

After Xu Wan’s incident, Dong Zhi had wised up and dared not be careless with strangers like Liu Qingbo, especially one who considered him a rival. Trying to avoid giving your opponent an opportunity would be the best scenario.

If He Yu was here, he would say with great comfort that Xiao Dongdong was getting more cautious.

Dong Zhi returned to the dorms and was about to open the door when he saw the door on the opposite side of his room open. Long Shen stood there beckoning to him.

“You, come in.”

Dong Zhi knew that Long Shen’s room was opposite of He Yu’s but given that he was always busy and even had a house in the city, he rarely ever returned to his dorm.

But…?

Dong Zhi felt confused and thought, ‘Isn’t this progressing too fast?! I haven’t even confessed yet and he wants me to go into his room?!’

He soon snapped out of his imagination and knew that he was thinking too much. Long Shen let him in and pointed to the yulu succulent that he had given him and asked, “How do you take care of it?”

Dong Zhi hurriedly said, “You don’t need to water it much. Avoid heat and too much moisture. Just place it where the sun can’t reach it.”

Succulents are very delicate. Ordinary people may not know how to take care of them. What’s more, with Long Shen’s constant workload, he probably didn’t have time to take care of it. If it were to die, wouldn’t this gift be considered unlucky? Could it be the symbolization of the fate of his love? Death before it even had a chance to sprout?

Pu, pu, pu. Children’s words have no taboos*!

*(童言无忌) Refers to children speaking honestly even if they make bad remarks. It’s also used to ridicule people who speak naively or ridiculously.

Dong Zhi set aside his messy thoughts and embarrassingly said, “I didn’t think much about it when I got it for you. I just thought that this yulu looked very beautiful, like a crystal, and perhaps you would feel better when you looked at it while working… If you can’t take care of it, I’ll get you something else. Anyway, it’s not expensive.”

Long Shen smiled and said, “No need. As long as you have the intention, that’s enough. No need to give gifts.”

Perhaps it was his smile that bewitched him, causing him to go out of character as Dong Zhi asked, “Boss Long, do you have any hobbies?”

Long Shen shook his head. “No.”

Keeping up his persistent effort, Dong Zhi continued, “Is there anything you like? Like collecting antique swords?”

Long Shen raised an eyebrow. “Why are you asking?”

Dong Zhi was tongue-tied as he couldn’t honestly answer.

Long Shen patted him on the shoulder. “Prepare for the interview and don’t think about anything else.” He then dismissed Dong Zhi.

Dong Zhi looked at Long Shen as he closed his door and wanted to step forward and slam open the door and shout, “You misunderstood! I’m not trying to bribe you! I’m trying to fuck you!”

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Between the written exam and the interview, there wasn’t much time for the candidates to prepare. Once the results were announced, the interview would be set within a few days. The examination room was the same as the written exam except there were only 30 people who were shortlisted for the interview. The three rooms before were naturally reduced to one, and the interviews were arranged in random order. When their number was called, they would enter the room while the others wait outside.

When Dong Zhi got there, he was thrilled when he saw Ba Sang and Gu Meiren and went over to greet them. They were naturally happy to see him as well. Though they were competitors, they were more likely to become future colleagues. Even Gu Meiren’s cold face showed a trace of joy.

“Hu Shuo hasn’t come yet?” Seeing that he was missing, Dong Zhi naturally asked, as he was also an acquaintance.

Ba Sang said, “He sent a message and said that he did not pass the written exam and could only come back next year.”

Although it was expected, Dong Zhi still felt a bit regretful. He asked them for their contact information and added them to his friends list. The three had met by chance and didn’t form much of a friendship, but they were able to pass through the first part of the exam and were among the 30 people that were currently here, so there was some semblance of commodore, which had closed the distance between them.

Dong Zhi also caught sight of Liu Qingbo, but he quickly looked away as he wasn’t interested in greeting him.

Ba Sang said, “I heard that the interview questions over the years have been particularly tricky, and I’m really afraid that I won’t be able to answer them.”

After getting acquainted with them, Gu Meiren would speak more. “And everyone’s questions seem to be different. The examiners ask questions randomly, unlike written exams, which can be reviewed in a targeted manner.”

Hearing this, Dong Zhi felt ecstatic as he remembered the interesting interview questions that He Yu had told him about in previous years.

Ba Sang was perplexed. “What are you laughing at?”

Dong Zhi recounted to them the interesting stories. “It seems that last year, a koi spirit had finally cultivated into a human and came to the exam and entered the interview session. An interviewer said that it was strange for spirits to transform to humans, and it wasn’t something easy to do so he must’ve accumulated a lot of merits through his cultivation. He then asked will he keep doing good deeds now that he was human? The koi spirit said yes, and he took out his phone and clicked on a social media app and searched for all the Weibo posts that had forwarded koi* saying that he was spreading luck, and this was his contribution to the world.”

*Reminder: Koi is a symbol of wealth and luck, so it’s used by bloggers as a gimmick to gain forwarding volume. Many netizens hope to get some of this good luck and it eventually became a modern internet superstition.

Ba Sang burst out laughing, attracting the attention of everyone. He quickly lowered his voice, shook his shoulders, and said, “Then what?”

Although Gu Meiren tried her best to hide her expression, she couldn’t help but smile as well.

Dong Zhi continued, “He was scolded by the interviewer, but I heard that he performed well in other aspects, so he was admitted later.”

Ba Sang scratched his head. “I hope that when the time comes, they don’t ask why I can communicate with eagles, because I really can’t answer that.”

As they talked, the people in front of them went in one by one. Dong Zhi secretly paid attention and found that everyone that entered was in there on average for about 15 minutes. At this rate, it’ll soon be their turn.

When people went in, they either pretended to be calm or couldn’t conceal their nervousness. When they exited, they all had different expressions. Some were relaxed, some were happy, and others were sad or crying. From a glance, you could tell how well they did during the interview.

Liu Qingbo took about 20 minutes when he went in before he came out. He was the one who stayed the longest among the previous candidates so far. When he came out, he acted as if nothing had happened, but there was a small trace of a smile at the corner of his mouth, and he seemed relaxed and calm. Seeing this, Dong Zhi forced himself to calm down.

With the highest score for the written exam, he couldn’t possibly perform too badly in the interview.

“No. 12, Dong Zhi!”

When he heard his name called, Dong Zhi hurriedly got up and walked into the room. The ranking of the written test hasn’t been announced yet, but it seems that some people were already aware that he was ranked first as he gained a lot of attention when he got up to move.

The moment he stepped inside the room, the movement from outside seemed to be isolated suddenly. Dong Zhi surmised it must be an enchantment, similar to the training room on the rooftop. The classroom was empty with the exception of six examiners sitting on one side. One of them had a childlike appearance but looked like a big boss. There was also a middle-aged lady who had an elegant and noble demeanor. He couldn’t tell how old she was, but she looked to be in her forties or fifties.

Dong Zhi saw Long Shen as well as Wu Bingtian and another person that was next to him. Since both Deputy Directors were there, the other person must be Deputy Director Song Zhicun of Group Three, though he had never met Song Zhicun, so he didn’t know if his guess was correct.

Long Shen raised his head and glanced at Dong Zhi, showing no fluctuation in his expression, but for Dong Zhi, seeing the other made him completely relaxed. He bowed first and introduced himself as standard to most interviews. “Hello examiners. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to interview me. My name is Dong Zhi and I am a named disciple of Fang Yang, the late elder of the Hezao Sect.”

“But I heard that it’s only been more than two months since you joined the Hezao Sect. Actually, less than two months?” Wu Bingtian asked.

Dong Zhi noticed that there were hints of pit in his words, and he became more cautious. “Yes. Although I have not practiced in this world for long, my enthusiasm for the Special Administration Bureau is not inferior to any other candidates.”

Long Shen flashed a smile in his eyes upon hearing his answer.

“Well, let’s talk about something else, like the difference between a hundred-year-old zombie and a thousand-year-old zombie.” The other man said, casually.

Dong Zhi heard from Kan Chaosheng that among the three Deputy Directors, Song Zhicun was the most assuming and his voice was extremely rough. As soon as the person spoke, it most assuredly confirmed his identity. After hearing his question, Dong Zhi was overjoyed as he had studied this before!

The last time he came out of the written exam, he heard other candidates complaining about the difficulty of the test questions and mentioned something about hundred-year-old zombies. After returning, he checked on the information but didn’t expect that it would be coincidentally asked here.

He spoke eloquently and said what he remembered and ended his sentence politely. “This is what I have researched, but since I have never seen them with my own eyes, it may not be accurate. Please correct me if I’m wrong, examiners.”

Song Zhicun nodded while not saying anything and looked at the others, indicating he had nothing more to ask.

The middle-aged man that Dong Zhi didn’t recognize asked, “If a very cute child that you know is being held hostage by a demon and his body is very likely to have been corrupted, what would you do?”

Long Shen suddenly said, “This is a consultant in the bureau, Taoist Master Li Rui.”

Dong Zhi hurriedly said, “Hello, Taoist Master Li. I would try to save that child first!”

Li Rui frowned slightly. “You only have one chance, so pay attention to my question. I said that he’s likely to have been corrupted by demons.”

His tendency was about to come out. Dong Zhi thought for a bit and replied, “But he’s also very likely to be safe and sound. I will weigh it based on the situation at the time. I’ll try first if I can rescue him. If it doesn’t work, then I’ll make the next move.”

Li Rui said coldly, “Those who practice cultivation must know how to judge the situation. Cut the grass to remove the roots* is not a last resort, but the best strategy. If you are too soft-hearted, you will only bring harm to yourself and others.”

*(斩草除根) Metaphor referring to remove the root of evil to avoid future problems.

Dong Zhi tried his best to make his voice sound sincere. “Taoist Master Li misunderstood. I didn’t say that I couldn’t get rid of the roots, but I want to save people before destroying the enemy. In my view, the Special Administration Bureau is more like a doctor than a policeman. Helping the poor, punishing evil, and promoting good is their duty. Isn’t our original intention to join the Bureau precisely to make this world more peaceful? If, under the circumstances at that time, the child has been corrupted and is unable to return to heaven, in order to protect more innocent people from being implicated, I would certainly not hesitate.”

Li Rui shook his head. “The Special Administration Bureau is different from the police. Of course, the police have to do their best to protect hostages, but kidnappers can only harm the hostages at best, while demons can harm the world. How do you know that when you’re sure that you need to use the next strategy, it will be too late by then? Could it be to satisfy your conscience alone, you’re willing to put the lives of other people and creatures at risk?”

Dong Zhi asked, “What Taoist Master Li mean is even if there’s a 90% chance that the hostage could be rescued, I should still act?”

Li Rui: “Even if there’s a 99% possibility, you should do it! Compared to tens of millions, how can one human life be worth it?”

Dong Zhi said again, “What if the hostage is not a child but a doctor who has saved countless people and may save more people in the future?”

The others didn’t expect that Dong Zhi, who looked harmless, would counter such a sharp argument with Li Rui. Long Shen wanted to cut the topic off, but when he thought about it, he dispelled the idea.

Li Rui’s face was completely cold. “I’m the one interviewing you, not you me!”

Dong Zhi sighed, bowed, and said respectfully, “Taoist Master Li, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause trouble for you. What is the importance of one life compared to a hundred? This, in and of itself, has been a controversial topic through the ages. You were right to criticize me just now. I have just become a cultivator, and I’m indeed not very adapted to this identity, so I’m sorry I cannot answer your question accurately, because the truth of the matter is, when such an event arises, the situation will always be different. I can only say that this is what people of my generation should do. To be more compassionate as this is in line with what it means to call upon heavenly lightning.”

The female examiner with the elegant demeanor clapped her hands, and her applause rang loud and clear in the empty room.

Clap, clap, clap!

“Your statement just now is very good and enough to become the motto of all of us here.” The lady smiled. With her words, Li Rui’s expression remained bitter, but he no longer made any further comments. Dong Zhi realized that this lady must be higher up than him.

“Thank you!” He breathed a sigh of relief, not knowing how to address her.

Long Shen seemed to see his hesitation, and interjected. “This is Elder Zong Ling, who’s also a consultant in the Bureau.”

To be called an Elder, the other party’s age was not as young as she looks. After all, even Li Rui, who looked older than she, wasn’t referred to as an elder when introduced.

Dong Zhi quickly accepted her compliment. “Thank you, Master Zong!”

Zong Ling nodded to him with a smile.

Long Shen said, “Since you are from a traditional family, draw a talisman that you are best at.”

There was ready-made yellow paper and prepared cinnabar next to him. Dong Zhi walked to the table, held his breath, and drew a Sunlight Talisman. He did not choose to draw the Five Thunder Talisman as it was more difficult and had a lower success rate. He had already argued with one examiner just now, so it was better to not take any more risks.

The runes he drew were done in one go, and the results were pretty good. To consider it a success, it had to be done properly on the spot. From his opinion, Dong Zhi would give himself a score of 85. Of course, the requirements for the big wigs would be more stringent. The silver-haired, childlike old man spoke first, “Barely passable.”

Well, barely passable does mean passable.

Dong Zhi looked at Long Shen, who happened to cast his gaze at him. As their eyes met, Dong Zhi saw a slight smile on his face that was imperceptible. There were no traces on his face, but Dong Zhi knew he saw it.

His originally uneasy feelings due to his debate just now were completely erased, and his feelings of regret had disappeared without a trace. Dong Zhi felt that had he answered the question smoothly, he might not have been able to get this look from Long Shen and the praise from Elder Zong.

Even if he didn’t pass this time, as long as he could get that kind of reaction from the male god, he could die without regrets!

Ahhhhhhhhh, he can’t die yet. He hasn’t had time to soak it all up yet, so he won’t be able to die in peace!

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The author has something to say:

Still a long ways to go. Will there still be kisses and hugs? (～￣▽￣)～

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Kinky Thoughts:

Well, someone is certainly getting fucked, but I’m not sure Dong Zhi knows who that is just yet.

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