Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 120: The Competition Begins

Time passed in the blink of an eye, and it was Sunday.

As night fell, Yin Ren climbed into bed as usual. Zhong Chengshuo was already lying in bed, but someone disrespectfully dove forward, landing exactly on his stomach.

Zhong Chengshuo almost turned into Yellow Millet #2 as he let out a loud “puff”.

Fortunately, Lord Ghost King was able to control his weight. He felt the soft abdomen of his lover for a while, got up slowly, and kissed the tip of Zhong Chengshuo’s nose.

Now Comrade Xiao Zhong was quite good at facing this level of intimacy. He held down the back of Yin Ren’s head and rubbed Yin Ren’s nose with his cold nose, like two animals who were attached to each other.

Zhong Chengshuo’s pajamas were loose and soft, with a low collar. Even if he buttoned every button, his collarbone was still exposed. Yin Ren looked at the smooth skin stretched on the bones and suddenly had a subtle appetite.

He wanted to take a bite.

…But thinking about it…

This was the Fu residence, and Zhong Chengshuo looked too calm… Yin Ren now understood a bit how Zhong Chengshuo felt when he said “not daring to make mistakes” at the beginning.

Reason told him that they could slowly get to know each other, but the unexplained anxiety surrounded him at all times, urging him to deepen the relationship as soon as possible.

Perhaps it was because Yin Ren froze on Zhong Chengshuo for too long that the latter tilted his head slightly and kissed Yin Ren on the corner of his lips. “The competition begins tomorrow. Let’s go to bed early.”

“It doesn’t even say what time it’ll start. What if we oversleep?”

Yin Ren muttered as his hair wrapped around Zhong Chengshuo’s arm.

“I’ll call you when I wake up,” Zhong Chengshuo said solemnly. “I have packed the necessary luggage and equipped it with two bags of your favorite chocolate chips.”

“Nn.”

Yin Ren laid on the edge of the pillow. Reason and sensibility were still fighting for 800 rounds in his head.

They even had an audience.

At this moment, Yin Ren’s head was full of all kinds of “Great Celestial Master Zhong”. In recent days, they had surrounded him from 360 degrees. Half of them were a direct comparison to the laziness of the original, while the other half quietly emanated an aura of righteousness, making Yin Ren himself appear particularly arrogant and extravagant.

At this moment, reason was raising questions in his head with logic and evidence.

“Aren’t you familiar with humans? Isn’t it something that should be worked on slowly? You two haven’t fully understood each other yet. You’ve already surprised Fu Xingchuan with your actions. How do you know if Zhong Chengshuo has any other concerns?”

Yin Ren’s sensibility showed no weakness. ‘What’s wrong with wanting to get close to someone you like! The spring night is short*!‘

*(春宵苦短) Idiom referring to time flies quickly, especially when one is enjoying oneself, so they should cherish every moment.

“Once you break up, it’ll be awkward—”

“I just want to kiss him, and we won’t!”

Deep in his mind, the different forms of the Great Celestial Master Zhong booed in unison.

In the midst of their illusory boos, Yin Ren fell asleep in a daze. A soft strand of hair crawled over the pillow on its own and rested on Zhong Chengshuo’s lips.

Zhong Chengshuo’s forehead was still touching Yin Ren’s.

In the dark, Zhong Chengshuo stared at Yin Ren solemnly. As the second hand ticked away, Zhong Chengshuo lifted his hand slightly, wanting to place it on Yin Ren’s waist.

Yin Ren didn’t cover himself with the blanket, and his loose pajamas were wrinkled, revealing the tight skin on his waist. Zhong Chengshuo’s fingers dangled on the skin, and after a few minutes, he put his hand down as if he had made up his mind, and his palm touched the slightly cool skin.

Yin Ren made a vague “mm” sound.

Zhong Chengshuo closed his eyes and quietly felt the touch of his palm. The temperature washed over his mind, bringing up the wonderful longing that swept his heart with soft hair, but under that desire, there was something sharp hidden.

A trace of cold vigilance, like glass shards in fine sand.

Zhong Chengshuo didn’t put his hand away this time. He stubbornly rested his hand on Yin Ren’s waist and slowly closed his eyes.

……

Yin Ren was awakened by a smell that filled his nose.

For a moment, he thought he was being thrown into a trash can by Fu Xingchuan, who had completely gone crazy. Yellow Millet was whispering frantically in his ear, while Dog Thing didn’t warn him and was lazily pretending to be a phone.

Unfortunately, Yin Ren’s heart was as hard as steel. When he reached out his hand, he immediately grabbed at his side—

Empty.

Yin Ren sat up abruptly. He opened his eyes, and a pair of red pupils passed through the darkness and quickly scanned the surrounding environment.

This was definitely not the Fu residence.

There was the sound of dripping sticky water all around him, and he felt the “mattress” under him had a mixture of softness and stiffness. It was chilly, and it made his heart flutter with fear.

“Zhong Chengshuo?” Yin Ren called out as his nose sniffed the stench.

Before he could close his mouth, a pale hand grabbed him from behind and threw… a chocolate chip into his mouth.

“The competition has begun.”

Zhong Chengshuo was barefoot and wearing his usual pajamas and nightcap. He held a small suitcase in his hand and stood not far from Yin Ren.

“I felt a little wind in the morning—we didn’t open the window, so there shouldn’t be any wind. Unfortunately, I only had time to grab a suitcase. If this was an enemy attack, they wouldn’t have bothered to send in your phone too…”

Yellow Millet: “Puff…”

“And your phone pendant,” Zhong Chengshuo added with a stern face.

It was pitch black where they were. From Zhong Chengshuo’s perspective, most of what he could see was a pair of red eyes in the darkness. Yin Ren touched his face and settled down, kicking away the pillow covered with an unknown liquid.

He should have known earlier that this was the setup for the competition.

They were thrown to this ghost of a place in the middle of the night. The person who did this must be a master, as Yin Ren didn’t notice anything was wrong—this showed that the person who did this didn’t show the slightest malice towards them.

Was this “excessive concern leads to chaos*”? Yin Ren glanced at Zhong Chengshuo and took out his hair band from his pajama pockets and tied his hair up in a ponytail.

*(关心则乱) Idiom referring to excessive worry and concern can lead to unnecessary anxiety and confusion, and sometimes it’s better to maintain a calm and rational mindset.

There were no competition instructions, and no rules were emphasized.

[When a real battle comes, no one will give you the opportunity to prepare in advance.] Shian really did as they proclaimed.

However, since Shian’s spells could affect Zhong Chengshuo, it was likely that it was a “large-scale teleportation” similar to what the ghost market used and didn’t require targeting individuals. In other words, this place was reality and wasn’t a dream or illusion.

“It’s temporarily safe nearby. I haven’t sensed any abnormal energy,” Yin Ren said immediately.

“Nn.” Zhong Chengshuo started to change his clothes in front of him.

Comrade Xiao Zhong naturally unbuttoned his shirt and changed into lightweight and breathable sportswear. In the dark, the scar swayed majestically in front of Yin Ren’s eyes, clinging to the undulating muscle lines. Against the surrounding darkness, this person was simply dazzling.

It was very strange. Compared to Yin Ren’s first time seeing Zhong Chengshuo’s body, the “uncomfortable” side was completely changed. When he took off his pajamas, Yin Ren blushed, gave a dry cough, and turned around.

“I don’t know what happened to Ge Tingting and Yellow Pants*,” Yin Ren said.

*Clarity: Yin Ren was in the middle of saying Huang (yellow) Jin, but because he was preoccupied with Zhong Chengshuo changing, he said Pants instead of Jin.

Zhong Chengshuo, who was holding his pants: “……”

Zhong Chengshuo silently pulled out another set of sportswear from the suitcase. “You should change too.”

Perhaps this was the advantage of being of similar size to his lover. Yin Ren put on the t-shirt while secretly thinking—even if there was a difference, he could easily adjust his body.

They changed out of their clothes, and the embarrassment quickly faded.

Zhong Chengshuo’s pajamas and nightcap were stained with dirt, so he decisively discarded them. In order to prevent something from finding people based on smell, Zhong Chengshuo even took out a lighter and burned the clothes to ashes.

“The oxygen content here is not high, which places a certain burden on the body.” Zhong Chengshuo fastened the last nylon belt—all kinds of tools were packed into storage bags on the nylon belt. The dark straps stretched across his chest, midriff, thighs, and ankles, which was very… that.

Thank you, competition. Yin Ren muttered in his heart.

Naturally, Lord Ghost King completely ignored Zhong Chengshuo’s face. Zhong Chengshuo was looking at Yin Ren, who was wearing his own close-fitting sportswear, and the redness of his ears approached Yin Ren’s eyes.

“Ahem, Shian is examining our ability to respond to emergencies. The first step is to clarify the environment.” Zhong Chengshuo folded the suitcase and changed it into a square backpack. “The number of people in the Haigu branch is larger than the other two branches, so for the sake of fairness, they separated us.”

“So our first task is to figure out the environment and find our companions,” Yin Ren concluded. “I don’t know if Lu Xiaohe was thrown in.”

“It’s hard to say.”

After all, the current environment was extremely unsuitable for the survival of the “rear commander” species.

The space wasn’t big—at most about 30 square meters—and was shaped like an irregular egg. The “ceiling” was surprisingly low. The air was fetid and humid. Coupled with insufficient oxygen, it was enough to make the average person dizzy.

Not only the ground under their feet, but also the cave walls had a weird touch. Many vine-like things hung down from above, and the “wall” was uneven, green, and brown, glowing with disgusting water.

Yin Ren raised his head and looked around, only to see a muddy lake in the center of the space with weird flocs floating on it. Around space, there were many irregular holes leading deeper into the darkness. After taking a closer look, Yin Ren didn’t sense any living things.

It was a bit like the underground cave in Gengsheng Town, but it was narrower and more abnormal than that cave.

Even if they could contact their companions, they couldn’t infer their location.

…He hoped Ge Tingting and Huang Jin could hold on. Since the three coaches didn’t say anything, they didn’t know if the elimination of their teammates would have an impact.

……

“If people want to make money, why not do something else? At worst, prison seems better than here.”

Was it really worth it?

Huang Jin stepped with his slippers and stood in the darkness in a daze. He was almost suffocated by the stench and came here after waking up. Apart from a set of clothes, this spirit smith only had a pair of indoor slippers on him, and they were soft-soled, so even cockroaches would be hard to kill with a single blow from them.

He had no weapons, no supplies, and no preparations. Only Shian’s standard phone was stuffed in his trouser pocket.

Heh, but Shian didn’t even equip them with a surrender signal.

Huang Jin squatted down melancholically and poked the soft ground. Except for wanting to die, he couldn’t think of any effective “fighting method”.

“I get it.” Ge Tingting’s voice came from the darkness. Huang Jin wasn’t mentally prepared and almost fell forward in fright.

“Why are you here?!”

Ge Tingting: “I don’t know. I was here when I woke up, and Xiaohe Jie wasn’t by my side. Huang Jin, the Fu residence is full of people from Shian, so the competition must’ve begun!”

The little girl turned on her phone’s flashlight and tried to shine it on her surroundings.

“There are no rules. It looks like an escape room,” her AI voice said. “To be safe, let’s meet up with Yin Ren and the others first…”

“You want to go into a place like that?” Huang Jin frowned and pointed to the weird black holes in all directions. “I say, it’s safer to stay here and wait for them to find us, right? Let me start by saying that I don’t have half a spirit weapon on me. Even with the two of us, we won’t be able to beat a wolf dog together.”

“But if you stay here, we might get our points deducted.”

Ge Tingting worked hard to dig the soft ground.

“Isn’t there a punishment in games for ‘passive matches’? I don’t want to be eliminated.”

“Sometimes people have to learn to compromise.”

Ge Tingting: “I am short of money.”

“We lost the moment we didn’t take up arms.”

“I am short of money.”

“In this case, we must give priority to self-protection—”

“I am short of money.”

“I’m short too!” Huang Jin covered his chest. “Why are you so courageous…”

He suddenly remembered the little girl in front of him was a serious corpse servant, and the words he prepared got stuck in his throat. Huang Jin let out a tooth achingly loud sigh and pretended to scan the lighting, unintentionally to check his surroundings.

His gaze swept perfunctorily and suddenly froze.

[Good] [Painful]

[Don’t want to] [Die]

[Very] [Reluctant]

Several huge thought runes hung on the wall, mutilated.

He recognized this special form of runes, and the moment he determined their size, Huang Jin’s hair exploded all over his body.

“…Ge Tingting, listen. Let’s go.”

Huang Jin swallowed hard.

“Looking at it now, it’s pretty much the same wherever we go.”

“Ah?”

Huang Jin raised one foot, pulling out muddy yellow mucus from the sole of his slippers.

“The ‘environment’ here has fragments of thoughts left,” he said. “I have only seen this kind of highly degraded fragment of thoughts on rotting corpses… Well, rotting human corpses.”

He tried hard not to sound panicked.

“I don’t know why. We seem to be inside a rotting human corpse.”

Ge Tingting took a deep breath reflexively, and then retched. After a while, she hesitated and stretched out her hand, gently pressing on the ground.

The little girl blushed, and with a “pop” sound, a small bulge rose on the half-hard, half-soft “ground”.

Ge Tingting: “……”

Huang Jin’s judgment wasn’t wrong. Although it was only a little bit, she could indeed control the “environment” a little.

Ge Tingting’s cheeks bulged as she tried her best not to vomit.

“It’s really a human corpse.” The AI’s tone was steady. “Let’s take it easy for a while, okay?”

Before the AI could finish saying “okay”, Ge Tingting saw the hole in front of her squirm, and a “head” about the same height as her came out.

Two striped antennae twitched slightly, and the triangular head lifted slightly, with almost no cognitive runes on the surface. This thing looked familiar and strange at the same time. Ge Tingting and Huang Jin stood still, and two beams of light shot straight at this unwelcome guest.

No professional biological knowledge was required. Both of them, who had lived at the bottom of society, instantly recognized the “enemy” in front of them.

Huang Jin: “Cockroach…Cockroach…”

How could it not be illegal to have a cockroach this big?

He would rather face dangerous evil things.

The huge cockroach crawled a few times, then its head pointed steadily in the direction of the two of them.

Huang Jin: “Run!”

Ge Tingting: “Gwah!”

The two yelled at the same time.

Miraculously, at this moment, Huang Jin couldn’t understand Ge Tingting’s ravings, but he undoubtedly knew what she was trying to say…

The two cultivators in Unit 9 turned around on the spot, stretched out their legs, and ran.

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The author has something to say:

In order to write this chapter, I went to Baidu for a close-up picture of a cockroach’s head.

Thank you. Has passed away peacefully…

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 119: His Notes

Early in the morning, Zhong Chengshuo opened his eyes.

In front of him, Yin Ren was sleeping soundly with their foreheads touching. Although this Evil Spirit didn’t have much sense of propriety in his actions, his sleeping posture was fine, and there was no floundering or drooling.

A strand of black hair was attached to Zhong Chengshuo’s cheek, and it slid gently with Yin Ren’s breathing, tickling him a little.

A perfect face, very much in line with the golden ratio. Yin Ren’s breath was warm and long, and no matter how he looked at it, he didn’t look like a dead thing in every aspect.

This was the “person” he liked.

But then what? No book had ever recorded how to continue their situation.

Zhong Chengshuo stared at Yin Ren for a while, and finally, he sat up squarely and looked out the window.

At Yin Ren’s request, they didn’t draw the curtains at night, allowing the delicate “Zhong Yi painting” to be hidden in the folds of the curtains. This caused the sunlight to shine into the room early the next day, and the greenery outside the window flourished as if it were about to spill in.

Zhong Chengshuo folded up his nightcap a few times and put it away carefully.

Just as he left the bed, someone in bed rolled over to his place. The first thing he did was smack his lips, hug Zhong Chengshuo’s pillow between his arms, and continue to sleep with a straight face. He lay diagonally across the bed, and his long black hair was spread all over.

Zhong Chengshuo looked at the hair and stretched out his hand, burying it in it. The satin-like soft black hair surged between his fingers, like warm liquid. Zhong Chengshuo touched him carefully, and his breathing eased a bit. Only the soft sound of fabric rubbing against the skin was left in the air.

Suddenly, he retracted his hand as if he felt an electric shock and pursed the corners of his mouth.

In the morning light, Zhong Chengshuo sat down in front of the chair and spread out the hardcover book he carried with him. He wrote down the date and weather with his pen, and then lines of words flowed out smoothly like a printer, without a single typo.

In the rustling sound, Zhong Chengshuo organized yesterday’s memories.

At yesterday’s briefing, only the most basic information was announced, and there were no details on the competition as they had expected. According to the coaches, the joint practice exercise will be held next Monday.

The coaches knew all the content of the competition but didn’t reveal the slightest bit to them.

“When a real battle comes, no one will give you the opportunity to prepare in advance,” the “#1 Priestess”, Qiao Shang, said with a stern face.

The “#1 Evil Smith” smiled. “I asked you to come early to familiarize yourself with the environment and to bond with each other. It’s like… What’s it called? Oh right, a paid team-building activity!”

As for Fu Xingchuan, the “#1 Ghost General” of Haigu, he didn’t attend the briefing at all.

It was called an introductory meeting, but the people from different branches didn’t really communicate with each other. B-level and C-level groups competed separately, and the only C-level group from Yandu and Linnan shared the same room with them.

Just looking at the number of people, the Haigu branch had the largest.

There were only two people from Yandu’s C-level group; one was Fu Tianyi, and the other was a thin woman in her forties. However, there was also a black cat lying on their table, which looked like the one that was sunbathing during the day.

“What are you looking at, idiot?” The black cat snorted at Zhong Chengshuo, who was staring at it, and spoke in a soft and delicate voice.

Zhong Chengshuo: “……”

Lu Xiaohe gave the black cat a very complicated look.

“That’s the only non-human in Shian out of all our rear commanders.” Lu Xiaohe explained in a low voice. “Don’t judge it by its appearance. It actually has a special doctoral degree in quantum physics from C University.”

As “King Yama”, Zhong Chengshuo knew this Dr. Cat.

When it was a cub, it survived the corruption of an Evil Force and gained the ability of the “infinite” branch. Those with this ability have a significant increase in their brain’s information processing capacity. In other words, their intelligence was noticeably superior to that of their peers.

Dr. Cat scoffed at the various metaphysical theories of mankind and wouldn’t be frightened by the horror of its human characteristics due to this phenomenon. Given that cats didn’t have their own metaphysical system, Dr. Cat, despite its psychic abilities, had developed into a kind of… distorted science post.

[Yandu C-level group: Fu Tianyi (orthodox cultivator), Auntie Tao (unknown science post), Mei Qiu* (cat, infinite branch ability)]

*Its name translated is Coal Balls (quite apt given how it’s a black cat).

In the gap between memories, Zhong Chengshuo wrote down stroke by stroke in his notebook.

……

Miraculously, there were also only two people in the C-level special group of the Linnan branch.

One of them was Miss Luo Wanxiang, who was known as a “mechanical genius”. Even when she was eating, she had machinery stuck to her arm, and a robot dog was lying at her feet. Her partner was a blind girl who wore a colorful shaman-style dress, and the texture of her cane was like animal bones. The role of the rear commander was assumed by Luo Wanxiang’s AI program and had no entity.

[Linnan C-level group: Sang Jie (shaman), Luo Wanxiang (top mechanic), AI rear commander]

The tip of Zhong Chengshuo’s pen paused.

Except for Haigu, everyone was dressed uniquely. Fu Tianyi wore an old-fashioned red tunic and mask, Luo Wanxiang wore an oily work uniform, and Sang Jie was dressed like a shaman. Even Auntie Tao, who was a science post, wore an old nurse’s uniform.

No matter which one was taken out, they could be used as a “protagonist” of a movie.

…On the other hand, on their side, Ge Tingting and Huang Jin were wearing standard Shian uniforms, while Lu Xiaohe was wearing a shirt with “The weather is great, but I have no money*” written on it and sweatpants that were convenient for hiking.

*It’s a humorous quip implying the weather is great, but that person has no money to enjoy it (as in, their financial situation is limiting their ability to do so).

Yin Ren once again showed “big problems of the leader’s heart*”. Zhong Chengshuo was dressed properly, but his high-collared, long-sleeved linen shirt covering his scar looked quite strange in the summer.

*(领导心腹大患) Idiom which refers to a major hidden danger or problem that is close to one’s superior or leader. || In this context, it refers to something important or sensitive that is only known to the speaker or their superior or leader, which could potentially cause trouble if it were revealed or mishandled (as in, Yin Ren’s true identity, which is only known to him and Fu Xingchuan).

Compared to the other two teams, they seemed more like ordinary people who were trying to win through quantity rather than quality.

Fu Tianyi let out a very loud tsk.

“I originally heard that Haigu was participating in the competition, so I was looking forward to it.” He didn’t deliberately lower his voice.

Yin Ren was facing a bronze statue of Zhong Yi in the center of the table, lost in thought, he had no time to pay attention to him. Ge Tingting was unable to speak directly, and her face turned red. As for Lu Xiaohe and Huang Jin, one had the calm and composed look of an adult, while the other had the look of affection of an adult.

Since Yin Ren had lost his combat effectiveness, Zhong Chengshuo needed to keep the conversation going.

“We’re very good,” he replied.

Fu Tianyi: “……”

Fu Tianyi opened his mouth and fired off a barrage of words. “I’ve seen your mission records, and you really dealt with a lot of big cases, but, except for the Gao Mengyu case, later on, you were simply caught up in them and had to escape. It can’t be considered real combat experience, can it?”

Zhong Chengshuo said calmly, “Well, we’re also very good at escaping.”

It was a pity that Fu Tianyi wasn’t a wicked person, and he couldn’t infer the countermeasures of the opponent from their performance. Zhong Chengshuo tilted his head and looked at Fu Tianyi for a while, wondering how he would smooth things over if he were Yin Ren in this situation.

Yin Ren said that he should be sincere to people who were younger than him.

Zhong Chengshuo adjusted his breathing a bit. “You are from the Fu family, so you’re confident. The reason you’re in a C-level group might be due to severe lack of practical experience. I’m looking forward to our match.”

Fu Tianyi remained silent. After a while, he let out a heavy snort and turned his body around, exuding sharp hostility. While he was sulking, Dr. Mei Qiu dragged out a drumstick from its plate and took a couple bites.

[There were no special circumstances at the introduction meeting, and everyone got along well.]

Zhong Chengshuo reviewed his own speech and believed he was friendly enough. His tone was more confident than Fu Tianyi’s.

After finishing this sentence, Zhong Chengshuo turned his head and glanced at Yin Ren, who had buried his nose in his pillow and was still sleeping soundly.

[So far, I have maintained my love for “Yin Ren”, and this feeling has a tendency to grow over time.]

[Today’s body temperature is 36.2℃. There’s no change in height, and weight has increased by 100g. The fluctuation is within a normal range. There is no obvious discomfort in the body, and everything feels normal.]

The tip of Zhong Chengshuo’s pen hovered over the word “normal” as he frowned slightly. He looked at the hand that was stroking Yin Ren’s hair.

[*There is a slight sense of rejection when touching. Follow-ups need to be watched…]

Halfway through writing, Zhong Chengshuo pursed his lips and scratched out the entire line into a long black block.

[*There is no follow-up to the mayor incident in Gengsheng Town, so we will continue to follow up.] He wrote a completely different message under the black bar.

“Zhong Ge—” Yin Ren finally woke up. He was wrapped in the blanket and gave out a loud yawn. “You get up so early. Wait for me for five minutes, and we can get breakfast together.”

“No need to rush. I’m planning to shower first.”

Zhong Chengshuo closed the hardcover book and put it in his backpack.

“Have you seen my phone?” Yin Ren said as he got out of bed. His hands were already scouring the bed to search for his phone.

“Your phone ornament dragged your phone under the bed. It doesn’t seem to like it here.”

There was a faint “puff” under the bed.

……

Fu residence, the central ancestral hall.

“…So you don’t feel anything special,” Fu Xingchuan said.

“Yes, I don’t have any special feelings.” Fu Wuya, the director of Huajisi from 900 years ago, repeated solemnly. “Did you really bring that evil thing in? How did he react?”

Fu Xingchuan: “He looks ashamed. It’s not like you don’t know how our home is decorated…”

“So it can come in.”

The giant eye on Fu Wuya’s tree trunk turned, and its black hole-like pupils almost swallowed his eyeballs, giving off a very uncomfortable feeling.

“Yes.”

“It seems that that kid has no malice towards mortals if he can pass my exorcism array. Well, it should be said that so far, he doesn’t have too much malice, which isn’t common in evil beings. He also brought in Yellow Millet, right? Its aura is very obvious.”

“Yes…” Fu Xingchuan touched his chin. “Many thanks, Ancestor.”

“Dear grandson, would it be too much if I intervened in the league as well?”

“Fortunately, even if that person isn’t Zhong Yi, these young brats should still get a taste of the real deal… There are more movements from Sunken Society, which probably means there will be a big mess to come.” Fu Xingchuan waved his hand. His eyes regained clarity after a long time of being sleep-deprived.

Fu Wuya’s giant eye turned faster.

He didn’t comment on Fu Xingchuan’s overall deduction but cleared his throat with difficulty.

“Dear grandson… Did you come down this time without bathing after burning incense?”

“…I’m leaving now.”

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 118: Prologue

After bypassing the great altar of Zhong Yi, Yin Ren’s expression turned pale. It wasn’t until he smelled the oily roasted duck that his soul slowly returned to him.

The Fu family’s manor was so big, and they were specially led to a semi-open dining room.

Under the antique cornices, bamboo leaves rustled against each other, and the gurgling of the mountain spring could be heard. Over a dozen beautiful and sturdy koi lazily swam in a clear pond. The rockery beside the pond was full of wild charm, and a black cat was lying on top of it with its belly exposed, basking in the sun.

The dining pavilion was cool, with four round tables arranged inside. The dishes ordered by everyone had just been placed on the table, with insulation pads underneath, and the aroma was so enticing that it made everyone’s mouth water.

…It would be even better if the painting in the pavilion wasn’t of Zhong Yi hunting ghosts.

What the hell is up with this Fu family?

Yin Ren grabbed his chopsticks speechlessly and found that the ends of the chopsticks were also dyed with colorful paint.

Yin Ren: “……”

Zhong Chengshuo: “Pfft.”

It may be that Yin Ren’s expression changed too quickly, but Comrade Xiao Zhong let out a rare laugh. Yin Ren gave him a sad glance and decided to divert his attention.

With great difficulty, Yin Ren moved his eyes away from the dazzling array of different dishes and roughly glanced at the other three tables.

There were five old people, three young people, and a middle-aged person sitting at the table. One of the woman’s facial features was very similar to Fu Xingchuan’s, but she didn’t have Minister Fu’s signature panda eyes. Her skin was well maintained, and her hair was permed in fashionable waves. The red dress she was wearing looked expensive.

That table was probably the Fu family.

The other two tables must be Shian’s special groups from Yandu and Linnan. Yin Ren felt there was at least one powerhouse at each table; most likely, they were coaches of their respective teams.

Those two were only a little weaker than Fu Xingchuan, which meant Shian shouldn’t be underestimated.

The smell of meat persisted in drilling into his nose, causing Yin Ren to retract his gaze and look at the roasted duck with its crispy skin. Lord Ghost King rubbed his chopsticks and anxiously waited for the last member to arrive…

Fu Tianyi had already sat at the Yandu’s table, but Fu Xingchuan was still missing. It wasn’t good to start eating before everyone was present.

“Are you sleeping to death?” Yin Ren was just thinking about whether he should steal some food with his hair when a sneer reached his ears. “Fu Xingchuan, are you feeling itchy? We’re all waiting for you, and you have quite the nerve to keep us waiting like this.”

The woman, who looked a lot like Fu Xingchuan, grimaced at the phone.

“Our parents are here. What are you doing?”

In less than thirty seconds, Fu Xingchuan flew into the pavilion with a levitation spell and almost fell on all fours on the smooth stone tiles.

“My alarm didn’t go off.” The black and blue under Fu Xingchuan’s eyes had faded a lot, and his voice had regained some strength. He slightly bowed to everyone at the nearby tables and said, Evil Smith”I’m sorry, everyone. Really sorry—please go ahead and eat!”

After speaking, he didn’t take his seat but stopped at Yandu’s table. “Hey, isn’t this Zhou Gong and Qiao Shang? What wind blew you two great gods here?”

“Haigu hasn’t competed recently, so we came to see if you’re still alive, right, Xiao Qiao?” The male coach from Yandu grinned—he was a round and chubby guy with a shiny bald head, looking especially festive.

Not far away, the female coach of Linnan nodded. “I heard that there has been a lot of unrest near Haigu recently, so I came to take a look.”

The responding voices came from the two strongest people at their respective tables.

They didn’t care about Fu Xingchuan’s lateness and talked enthusiastically with Minister Fu.

“Who are those people?” Yin Ren turned to Hao Wenzhe curiously, only to find that their senior had run away with his frozen dumplings and soda, along with his computer bag as well.

Hao Wenzhe was a dignified science post but he ran with agility and in such a low-key style that even the 1,000-year-old Ghost King couldn’t detect him.

Yin Ren: “……”

“Hao Wenzhe doesn’t like crowded places. It’s okay. Minister Fu knows his problem.” Lu Xiaohe rubbed her forehead as if she had a headache. “Let me explain.”

“Zhou Gong is the ‘#1 Evil Smith’ of Shian, and Qiao Shang is the ‘#1 Priestess’. Coupled with the ‘#1 Ghost General’ Fu Xingchuan, the three of them represent the apex of the three superior professions. If anyone in this era can become a true ‘Celestial Master’, it will surely be one of these three.”

After staying in Shian for a few months, Yin Ren was already familiar with modern classification methods.

There were three basic cultivation directions: ghost master, corpse servant, and spirit smith.

Those who were proficient in the occupations of both a ghost master and a corpse servant were called “Ghost General”. In contrast, “Evil Smith” corresponded with a corpse servant and spirit smith, while the “Priestess” combined the ghost master and spirit smith—only those who were proficient in all three branches of knowledge could be considered a “Celestial Master”.

These knowledge were interrelated and could produce countless variations when they collided. After becoming proficient in each of them, it took several more times as much time to polish and integrate them. It wasn’t as simple as adding one plus one to advance to the next level.

Fu Xingchuan was given the title Ghost General in his forties, which they considered to be young and promising. The other two powerhouses were over fifty, no matter how he looked at them.

Yin Ren knew the hardship involved, but young people may not realize it…

Ge Tingting asked curiously, “Isn’t there a genius like Xiang Jiang?”

Lu Xiaohe smiled wryly. “It takes a lot of time to gain battle experience and explore combat methods. It’s like studying—there may be young geniuses in math or art, but there are no natural prodigies in subjects like history. In fact, there hasn’t been a Celestial Master since Zhong Yi.”

The tempering of countless battles was the basic of the basics, which couldn’t be made up with “natural talent”.

Ge Tingting: “Wow, isn’t the Great Celestial Master Zhong Yi very powerful? How did he do it?”

The tip of Yin Ren’s chopsticks trembled slightly.

Simple really. One just needed to live for 360 years. Although, to be fair, Yin Ren himself was also considered a genius. Unfortunately, he always adhered to the “good” habit of three days of fishing and two days of drying the net*, so the title of Celestial Master was purely a pile of messy nonsense. If he was replaced by Fu Xingchuan, it was estimated that he would become the so-called Celestial Master in less than two hundred years.

*(三天打鱼两天晒网的) Idiom means that someone isn’t consistent in doing something regularly or has an irregular work/study schedule. It comes from the idea that a person who fishes for three days and then rests for two will not be able to catch as many fish as someone who fishes for five days straight, which implies that someone who works or studies in an inconsistent way may not achieve as much as someone who works or studies consistently with regularity.

The reason why no new Celestial Master had appeared after him was assuredly because the lifespan of humans was too short.

Thinking of this, Yin Ren’s movement of holding the duck skin suddenly stopped.

The inexplicable bitterness rushed to his throat again, making his mouth uncomfortable.

The browned and crispy duck skin was covered with osmanthus granulated sugar. Yin Ren wanted to offer it to Zhong Chengshuo and persuade him to have a bite, but as he looked at the side of Zhong Chengshuo’s face, Yin Ren silently chewed on the duck skin and instead picked up a piece of lean meat to offer to him.

Training wasn’t arranged immediately after the meal. This time, the live-in attendant of the Fu family led the way and brought everyone to their guest room. The rooms of the Fu family were no different from a five-star hotel. They were all spacious and beautiful double rooms, with huge floor-to-ceiling windows facing the green mountain scenery.

He didn’t know whether it was intentional or not, but Ge Tingting and Lu Xiaohe had single beds in their rooms, while Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo were assigned to a room with only a queen bed.

Yin Ren sat by the bed and looked at the dreamlike mountain scenery outside. He stared at it for a while, then motioned his hand at Zhong Chengshuo, who was busy adjusting the angle of his toothbrush. “Zhong Ge, come here.”

Zhong Chengshuo obediently walked to the bed. Yin Ren maintained his sitting posture, put his hands around Zhong Chengshuo’s waist, and buried his face into the other party’s chest and abdomen.

“What’s wrong?” Zhong Chengshuo’s hands stopped a few centimeters above Yin Ren’s head, and he shrank back hesitantly.

“Nothing. Just wanted to hug you,” Yin Ren replied while still burying his face into Zhong Chengshuo’s loose t-shirt, making his voice muffled. “It may be that I’m nervous before the competition.”

Zhong Chengshuo: “……” Even he wouldn’t believe this kind of outrageous bullshit. For the legendary Celestial Master to be nervous, the contestants would have to be the six Evil Spirits led by Qi Xin.

Zhong Chengshuo: “There’s an introductory meeting in the evening. Just hold on until 4:30.”

Yin Ren: “Do you know it’s only 2 right now?”

“Yes.”

Yin Ren stifled a laugh, and when he had laughed enough, he sighed. “I kind of know why Fu Xingchuan chose the training location here… It turns out the Fu family reveres Zhong Yi very much, and I have shattered his illusion.”

“Nn.”

“But at least that kid has some conscience and knows to arrange a big bed for our room,” Yin Ren said. “At this point, on behalf of the Great Celestial Master Zhong Yi, I forgive him.”

“…Pfft.”

“What are you laughing at?”

Zhong Chengshuo continued to maintain the posture of being hugged, trying to stretch his arms to reach for the remote control by the pillow. With a beep, the electric curtains slowly closed. The soft indoor lights came on at the same time, and the <Zhong Yi scattering flowers> picture on the curtains became particularly conspicuous…

The painting showed Zhong Yi with a smile on his face. His tiger eyes were slightly closed, and his long beard was fluttering as golden flower petals that symbolized good luck scattered from his hands. The embroidery was extremely fine and at a glance, one could tell it was expensive from a first glance.

Yin Ren: “……” What is this thing?!

“I just saw it when I was helping Huang Jin move his things. The single bedrooms don’t have this kind of curtain,” Zhong Chengshuo explained with a smile.

Yin Ren: “Fuck forgiving him!”

……

In the evening, Haigu Municipal Hospital.

“Hey, have you heard that the grandson of the Qiu family signed for early discharge… His family isn’t short of money, so why don’t they let him stay for a few more days?”

“His family business is quite good, so maybe he can’t afford to stay.”

“What? How come I heard that Mr. Xiao Qiu is a dandy and doesn’t care about the business.”

“Who knows what’s going on in other people’s homes?”

Sun Qi’an was sitting in the cafeteria with her ears filled with gossip of her colleagues. At this location, it just so happened she could see the vestibule of the hospital. Sun Qi’an raised her eyes and stuffed a chopstick of vermicelli with fried bean sprouts into her mouth.

She saw the figure of “Mr. Xiao Qiu”.

Mr. Xiao Qiu’s name was Qiu Fang. He was thin and tall and wore an ill-fitting high-end jacket. At this moment, he was staggering out, accompanied by a woman, who she was unsure of whether it was a nurse or a relative. From this angle, Sun Qi’an could only see the backs of the two.

As Qiu Fang walked past a flower bed, he brushed shoulders with a man in dirty clothes. The man swayed more violently than Qiu Fang and stumbled forward, his speed increasing.

One step, two steps.

The dirty man trotted up and rushed at the gate of the hospital. He took out an old-fashioned pair of iron scissors lodged in his chest and stabbed the doctor closest to him.

Sun Qi’an almost choked on her vermicelli. She put down her chopsticks and opened her eyes wide.

Amidst the screams, Qiu Fang accelerated his pace among the scattered crowd. His shoulders brushed against a couple who were tightly hugging, almost knocking him over.

One step, two steps, three steps.

The couple suddenly stood still and began to argue fiercely about something. The man suddenly slapped the woman, and the woman screamed and reached out to grab her boyfriend’s face.

The scissors left a hole in the dirty man’s chest, and he used his nails to open up the flesh, spraying dark red blood everywhere.

Qiu Fang cranked his neck and finally turned his head.

Ignoring the bloody conflict, he looked at the restaurant behind the reflective glass. The hospital cafeteria was installed with one-way glass, so it stood to reason that the interior couldn’t be seen.

But Sun Qi’an had a feeling that Qiu Fang had discovered her prying eyes.

The young Mr. Qiu’s neck bent unnaturally as he bared his teeth and gave Sun Qi’an a twisted smile.

---

The author has something to say:

Minister Fu: Who knows where my happiness is?

Even kissing feels awkward in this room, Xiao Yin.

#Even Xiao Zhong couldn’t help laughing at the decoration

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 117: The Fu Residence

Late at night.

Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo crawled under the covers. The light from their phones illuminated from below, casting a ghastly shadow on their handsome faces.

Yin Ren didn’t buy new pajamas. Since they were similar sizes, he directly borrowed a set from Zhong Chengshuo. Unlike Comrade Xiao Zhong, who fastened all his buttons tightly, Yin Ren only fastened the two middle buttons. Now, as he crawled under the covers, one side of his pajama shirt on his shoulder almost got pulled off.

The end of his black hair stretched out its translucent wings unscrupulously, and Zhong Chengshuo gathered them into a ball and hugged them in his arms like a pillow.

In the past, this feeling of living in a small space with people was unbearable for him. However, Yin Ren didn’t have the unique metabolic smell of the living, which Zhong Chengshuo found to be quite pleasant.

The eyes of the two were glued to the phone screen at the same time.

After dinner, they quickly created a WeChat group, labeling it “Paid Love Counseling” and added Dr. Sun to it.

At two in the morning, Sun Qi’an finally responded.

[Let Me See Your Heart: What’s up with this group name?]

[Fruit Knife: Qi’an Jie has worked hard. It’s just a joke. I heard from Zhong Ge that you’re kind of like a matchmaker. Let’s chat together sometime in the future. 😊]

[Fruit Knife: Speaking of which, what happened tonight wasn’t serious, right? At that time, we saw you had a very bad look.]

[Final Fruit: How’s the patient?]

Yin Ren slowly stretched out his hand and pressed the phone in Zhong Chengshuo’s hand. Zhong Chengshuo gave him a suspicious sideways glance and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

“Let me do it,” Yin Ren said.

[Fruit Knife: Zhong Ge is just a little worried about your emotions. After all, you just started your job not long ago…]

[Let Me See Your Heart: I know how he speaks~]

[Le Me See Your Heart: Actually, it’s nothing serious. It’s just a wealthy businessman whose father has been staying at our hospital. Today, coincidentally, his grandson had a heart attack while his grandfather was also experiencing heart failure at the same time. This might be what they all call “the legendary heart connection between grandparents and grandchildren”.]

[Fruit Knife: How coincidental.]

[Let Me See Your Heart: The grandfather couldn’t hold on this time and passed away. The grandson arrived a little late and almost became brain dead but was saved by the efforts of the experts in the department.]

[Let Me See Your Heart: Nowadays, being young and strong doesn’t guarantee health. Life is unpredictable. Irregular lifestyles are the most dangerous, so the two of you should avoid staying up late. I’m going to sleep now. Let’s talk another day.]

[Fruit Knife: Good night!]

“A wealthy businessman, staying in Haigu Municipal Hospital, and his surname is Qiu.” Zhong Chengshuo threw off the blanket and was about to get out of bed and turn on the computer. As a result, he struggled for a long time and found that there was an extra bunch of black hair around his waist.

Zhong Chengshuo: “?”

“Go to bed early. We’ll talk about it tomorrow,” Yin Ren said seriously. “Your body is important.”

Zhong Chengshuo looked at the hair around his waist, then at the computer, then back at the hair around his waist.

“Mm.” He slowly returned to bed and laid down properly. Even the hairball on his nightcap fell in the same position as yesterday.

In the dark, he stared at Yin Ren.

The latter understood. Yin Ren moved to the edge of the pillow, touching foreheads with the other person.

Zhong Chengshuo closed his eyes again, but Yin Ren couldn’t fall asleep for a long time. His deep red eyes emitted a faint light in the darkness.

Zhong Chengshuo’s warm breath blew over one breath at a time, like the tide.

It would be great if it could never really stop, like the tide.

This was the first time he had fallen in love with someone. Yin Ren didn’t think he was suddenly crazy. It was just that at this moment, in the feeling of freshness and happiness, there was also some bitterness.

Unlike the bitterness of the chocolate chips, he didn’t like the looming anxiety.

……

The next day, the brilliance in Yin Ren’s eyes disappeared.

Shian had sent a special car for the participants from the Haigu branch to Dongshan. Seeing the magnificent and bizarre Dongshan, which maintained the natural ecology, Lord Ghost King couldn’t help but feel disgusted from the bottom of his heart!

He had slept on mountains like this for at least eighty to a hundred times.

And no matter how he thought about it, there definitely wouldn’t be a cafeteria here.

Since they already disclosed their relationship, Yin Ren leaned on Zhong Chengshuo’s shoulder and said, “Isn’t the Fu family supposed to be very rich? Why aren’t they living in a luxurious penthouse in the center of Haigu with a rooftop swimming pool?”

The feeling of skin contact made Zhong Chengshuo stiff. Sensing the smell of Yin Ren, he relaxed his body again.

“The existence of non-science posts shouldn’t be known to ordinary people,” Zhong Chengshuo murmured. “The Fu family has lived here since 900 years ago, and their residence is extremely famous for its ancient architecture.”

Ge Tingting jumped out of the car with her schoolbag in her arms, followed by Huang Jin, who had a mixture of “I want to escape” and “But this is two million”. Lu Xiaohe was the last to get out, followed by Hao Wenzhe.

Who would have thought that the rear commander of the Emergency Management Department would have the worst face? Hao Wenzhe stared at the deep mountains and forests in front of him with an expression like a ten-year-old cat who was raised only indoors.

The next car was carrying participants from Shian’s B-level groups.

Bao Linlin and Wang Zhou got out of the car one after another, followed by Xiao Zhao, who was following the two of them. He was carrying so much equipment on his back that he suddenly lost his balance and fell into the mud. If it weren’t for Bao Linlin’s timely help, he would almost become the first member of Unit 7 to break their leg on this mountain.

After Zhao Shiyan, Wu Chiayi from Unit 6 also stepped out with his takeout box on his back. Comrade Xiao Wu looked at the distant mountain in shock and took a deep breath of the mountain air.

“Nice!” Xiao Wu’s voice turned into a string of echoes.

“B-level investigation team, Unit 7. Rear commander Zhao Shiyan, the science post Wang Zhou, and the non-science post Bao Linlin. Because the number in Unit 7 is too small, Unit 6’s Wu Jiayi is added as a substitute.”

Hao Wenzhe pulled a dead cat’s face as he announced in a lack of cadence.

“C-level investigation team, Unit 6. Rear commander Lu Xiaohe, science post Zhong Chengshuo, and non-science posts Yin Ren, Ge Tingting, and Huang Jin. These are the 9 participants. Over.”

He inputted everything on the screen of the tablet, then put it to sleep with a click.

“The coach of the Haigu team is Fu Xingchuan. He’s on vacation at home. You can meet him when you go up,” he added.

Yin Ren: “Oh…”

Before he could finish his sigh, he saw a string of updates in Shian’s app.

[Fu Xingchuan: Everyone can order whatever they want to eat. I’ll have the chef prepare it.]

[Hao Wenzhe: Can he make anything?]

[Fu Xingchuan: This is a retired master from a five-star hotel, so please feel free to order anything you like.]

[Hao Wenzhe: Then a bowl of *** brand frozen dumplings and sugar-free orange flavored soda.]

[Fu Xingchuan: ?]

When Yin Ren saw the words “five-star hotel”, the haze in his heart was swept away.

During the rest of the journey, Lord Ghost King was unusually cooperative. He held onto Zhong Chengshuo’s wrist without any reservation and happily led the way to the Fu family’s residence. Clear springs flowed around them, and the sounds of birds filled the air. The scenery here seemed frozen in time, as if it had remained unchanged for 900 years. While climbing the mountain, Ge Tingting kept exclaiming “Ahh” in amazement.

Even Huang Jin would give a second look at the scenery.

The Fu’s residence was located on the mountain with the steepest terrain. Taking a closer look, the magnificent building complex could be considered a small town. It could be seen that not many people were living there, but the various buildings were well maintained.

There were two vivid stone lions at the gate. Outside the courtyard, ancient vines and old trees grew against the wall, and the paintings on the wooden beams of the gate were simple and atmospheric, with no signs of wear and tear.

And there was a young man sitting on one of the stone lions.

The man was tall and had an assertive posture. His outfit was similar to that of Fu Xingchuan—a red robe. However, he wasn’t wearing a tassel earring. Instead, he had an exaggerated wooden mask on his face, engraved with runes unique to a sealing spirit weapon.

Very strong. Yin Ren made a judgment at a glance. This kid was young but was five or six points stronger than Fu Xingchuan, which was quite impressive.

In terms of cultivation strength, this person wasn’t much different from Xiang Jiang.

“Fu Tianyi, C-level, Unit 5 of the Yandu branch.” The man’s voice was a little youthful, and it sounded like he was twenty at most. “From Haigu? Welcome to my home.”

Yin Ren walked in the forefront and took a decisive step forward. “Yin Ren, C-level, Unit 9 of the Haigu branch.”

The masked man looked at him and then glanced at the members of Unit 9 behind Yin Ren.

“So the ‘good seedlings’ that second uncle mentioned are only at this level,” he commented loudly. “Let’s go. You should consider this a vacation.”

Yin Ren: “Okay.”

He really didn’t want to argue with this young and energetic kid. He was more concerned about the jujube wood-roasted duck and Mrs. Song’s fish soup that were prepared for lunch.

Zhong Chengshuo wouldn’t be provoked. He was busy observing the terrain near the Fu’s residence. Huang Jin’s face was numb, Lu Xiaohe kept smiling politely, while only Ge Tingting stomped her feet in anger.

She made a point to ensure he saw her roll her eyes at him.

Hao Wenzhe didn’t mince words. “So much useless drivel. Hurry up and lead the way. We’re all carrying luggage.”

Fu Tianyi snapped his fingers and waved his hand. At this moment, the gate of the Fu’s residence slowly opened. With thoughts of crispy roasted duck skin dipped in sugar, Yin Ren happily stepped into the manor.

A luxurious photo wall crashed into his retina at a speed of 80 miles per hour.

As a metaphysical family, the Fu family had a deep background. The wall behind the gate was especially grand. The wall was covered with colorful glazed tiles, and on it was a shiny relief of <Zhong Yi sealing an Evil Spirit>.

In the picture, the Great Celestial Master Zhong Yi was stepping on Yellow Millet. His body was scattered with light, and the nine-ring sword was pointed directly diagonally to an Evil Spirit. The Evil Spirit was painted like a mass of rotten flesh, surrounded by countless strange armies of evil beings, as if they were dark clouds that were pressing towards the Great Celestial Master, who was alone.

The relief had some age to it, and the craftsmanship of the artisan was simply divine. One could see the lines were smooth and the colors were bright, with runes engraved on the glazed tiles, exuding a strong positive energy towards the outside.

Fu Tianyi deliberately stopped for a while, enjoying the expression of the group being impressed.

Unfortunately, the two at the head clearly didn’t have such intentions.

Yin Ren looked at his relief with difficulty, not quite ready to point out the faults—the army of evil things were all by his side back then.

Compared to <Zhong Yi sealing an Evil Spirit>, this was more like <A brawl for hot pot>.

How truly embarrassing. Yin Ren had a vaguely bad feeling and subconsciously looked at Zhong Chengshuo, facing his eyes that were full of scrutiny.

“Did you really look like that before?” he mouthed.

Yin Ren stared at Zhong Chengshuo faintly. He had a strange feeling that they weren’t in the Fu family’s manor but in a well-known medical spa in Haigu.

“Comrade Zhong Chengshuo, what you see now is my original appearance.” Yin Ren snorted. “But if you don’t like it, I don’t mind changing back to that look.”

Zhong Chengshuo’s eyes lit up.

Yin Ren: “Wait, are you serious…?!”

“No, I just want to know. Can you change into other forms, like—”

“It’s mealtime. Let’s go in, put our things down, and eat. There will be plenty of opportunities to watch after training.” Hao Wenzhe straightened his backpack and wiped the sweat off his round face. The outdoor environment seemed to make him particularly irritable.

Zhong Chengshuo immediately shut his mouth and took his suitcase, circling around the gate’s decorative wall.

But a few steps away, he stopped again and looked at Yin Ren with complicated eyes.

Yin Ren glanced at the wall again, then followed. “What’s the matter, Zhong Ge? Is there something…”

After seeing the situation in the first courtyard of the Fu family, he immediately shut his mouth.

In the middle of the Fu family courtyard stood a towering statue of Zhong Yi, with the highest quality incense burner and offerings in front of it. Looking to both sides, the wooden offering tables were piled high with fresh meats and fine wines, while uneven red candles dripped long wax tears.

The red streamers were flying, and the blue smoke was rising, as if an endless sacrifice were taking place.

The person for whom the offerings were meant for was numb.

Oddly enough, Yin Ren didn’t mind this sort of thing before. Even when he was in the Ant Nest, his reaction wasn’t very strong. But now, when he saw through Zhong Chengshuo’s eyes, he suddenly felt a bit of shame.

He quickly muttered something and tried to adjust his breathing.

Fu Tianyi pricked up his ears curiously and amplified the sound with a spell, listening to what his prospective opponent was mumbling.

“Roasted duck meringue, roasted duck meringue, roasted duck meringue…”

Fu Tianyi: “……”

What core metaphysical post of Haigu?! This C-level was clearly a layman—facing Zhong Yi’s sacrificial site, those in the know must at least show some respect.

He retracted his gaze, and the corners of his mouth behind the mask curled.

“These are just decorations,” he said.

“There’s a bigger Zhong Yi shrine at home, but it’s a no-entry zone.”

Yin Ren’s face completely collapsed.

This kid, Fu Xingchuan, was definitely doing it on purpose—!

---

The author has something to say:

Fu Xingchuan: But so what?

Before challenging your opponent, let’s accumulate some sense of shame first, Comrade Xiao Yin—

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 116: Sudden Accident

After the news of the competition was sent out, Fu Xingchuan slept peacefully for a long time.

Rather, to be precise, he slept for nearly a day.

Near the evening of the next day, Minister Fu woke up in his room at his old house. The setting sun cast the swaying shadows of the trees onto the ceiling, and the outline of the branches and leaves stretched diagonally, swaying in the orange-red halo.

Time seemed as if it were frozen.

Fu Xingchuan spread himself out on the bed and stared at the shadows of the trees without blinking. His phone was buzzing incessantly under his pillow. Based on Minister Fu’s past experience, he had at least a few hundred messages to deal with.

But Fu Xingchuan didn’t move.

After knowing that Yin Ren was most likely Zhong Yi, the boulder-like sense of crisis in his heart strangely disappeared. Even if he knew that Yin Ren was an evil being, he still couldn’t give birth to a heavy sense of crisis.

Ever since those two little brats entered Shian, Shian had been paying close attention to them…

As it turned out, the “popular idol” of the metaphysical world, the Great Celestial Master Zhong, once again appeared in the world, and not only did he not show any bitterness or deep hatred, but he didn’t delay in eating, drinking, and playing around.

Yin Ren was the kind of person who went out to the night market to buy snacks, came home to play games and watch third-rated dramas, and had a shopping list full of strange and cheap things that were “okay, but not necessary” to buy online. He was even dating a younger man.

If Yin Ren really wanted to tear up the spirit contract and unilaterally declare war, the flames of war would spread throughout Haigu. While the metaphysical cultivators would risk their lives and Shian wasn’t completely powerless in such a battle… facing such a “hypothetical enemy” really made him feel quite helpless.

Fu Xingchuan clamped the kicked blanket between his toes, wrapped himself up, and continued to lie on the bed.

As the genius of the Fu family, he had emerged in the metaphysical world since he was 14. At the age of 18, he officially joined Shian and was directly signed to an A-level special team. He had experienced countless metaphysical cases, large and small, and had passed through blood and fire in peaceful times. After running around in the dark for so many years, Fu Xingchuan experienced the real sense of “vacation” for the first time.

Ah, the situation was too difficult, and what he could do was too limited, so there was no point getting nervous.

Fu Xingchuan yawned and closed his eyes.

“Teacher roll call. Teacher roll call—” A special alarm rang, causing Fu Xingchuan to dip his hand under the pillow.

“Lao Li?”

“The investigation in Gengsheng Town is temporarily over. All the corpse samples in the Ant Nest have been transferred to the underground laboratory. A batch of information should be available in the near future.” Li Nian’s voice sounded a little suspicious. “What’s the matter with your voice? You haven’t gotten up yet, have you?”

“I’m still on annual leave.”

“…..” Li Nian was silent for a while. “Are you serious?”

“Weren’t you always nagging that I’m going to die suddenly? I’m just making up for it.” Fu Xingchuan yawned. “Why? Do you have any objections?”

“No,” Professor Li said. “Regarding Zhong Chengshuo, I asked Hao Wenzhe to coordinate with the police. This person isn’t simple. The only good news is that he and Yin Ren are semi-bound and don’t need to be monitored separately.”

“For the follow-up observation of those two people, do you have any other ideas besides the league?”

Fu Xingchuan pursed his lips and said, “Just watch the league. If they win, don’t we have a reason to give them a promotion and raise?”

Li Nian: “……?”

“They are not openly hostile to us now, and they are not pawns that can be controlled by external forces. It’s best to pursue peace.”

“You mean, an evil thing that has been famous for thousands of years that entered Shian incognito may have no purpose?”

“It’s hard to say.” Fu Xingchuan looked in the direction of the ancestral hall. “We can’t use decades of life experience to speculate on the thoughts of the super-elderly, can we?”

Thinking about it another way, Yin Ren seemed to have a normal mind for the time being. When he was discovered by Shian, he couldn’t necessarily shout at them, saying, “I’m the Ghost King who can control evil spirits” or “I’m the legendary Great Celestial Master Zhong Yi”—his destination would be either the bed in the underground next to Shian’s Evil Spirit or a special ward at Haigu Mental Health Center.

At least now they had data related to the “imitation” of the mountain town, so they wouldn’t be bumping around headlessly.

“Okay.” Li Nian didn’t delve further. “Has the league training location been set?”

Fu Xingchuan: “My home. I have trained here since I was a child and am familiar with the place.”

“…..” Li Nian was speechless.

Professor Li had a vague feeling that his partner had given up something very important in his life. As for what it was, he couldn’t tell at the moment. Li Nian thought for a few seconds, and when he spoke again, there was more hesitation in his voice.

“Fu Xingchuan, have you recently had a major conflict with your family?”

Considering the momentum of Unit 9 blowing everything up wherever they go…

“It’s fine. Look, they come into work every day, and isn’t the Shian campus still standing?”

The #1 Ghost General was answering in a tone similar to “believe in science and get rid of your superstition”.

“Speaking of which, today is a workday. Hao Wenzhe should have reported the situation of those two to you…”

“Yes, they went out for dinner.”

……

“Cheers!”

Lu Xiaohe held a glass of orange juice and spoke passionately.

“Congratulations to everyone in Unit 9 for your safe return!”

A group of people gathered in the hot pot restaurant where they had eaten before their departure. There were a lot of people this time, so Lu Xiaohe specially booked a private room…

In addition to the five members of Unit 9, Luo Bin and Qin Lele of Unit 8 also joined, and even Liang Shan and Sun Qi’an were also there—hearing that it was Lu Xiaohe’s treat, Yin Ren deliberately pulled a few more “outsiders” so he could find an excuse to pay the bill.

After all, Lu Xiaohe still had her mother to take care of, and her expenses were like flowing water.

…And strictly speaking, he and Zhong Chengshuo didn’t pass their “execution mission” smoothly. Yin Ren took a sip of his Coke, feeling desolation in his heart.

Fu Xingchuan really didn’t plan to let them go on living in peace. He and Zhong Chengshuo had been sticky all night. When they got up together, they saw the competition notice.

Amidst Dog Thing’s glowing barks, the warmth in Yin Ren’s heart instantly cooled.

Sure enough, Lu Xiaohe mentioned this in her next sentence. “Congratulations to our Unit 9 for qualifying for the league—Xiao Luo, Xiao Qin, don’t mind.”

Luo Bin and Qin Lele, the former who joined as a science post in Shian at the same time as Yin Ren, were assigned to Special Investigation Unit 8 and were now only a basic three-team group.

“Hey, you should go.” Lao Bin smiled and sandwiched a beef tendon ball between his chopsticks. “The work Unit 9 has done is impressive, and we admire it—we’ve been busy unclogging the sewers, but I actually discovered a new hallucinogenic fungus. I’ve been busy writing my dissertation paper and don’t have time to be an audience…”

The doctor in health toxicology mentioned his thesis with eyes full of brilliance.

Qin Lele had nothing to say. As an orthodox corpse servant of the Qin family, he was busy stuffing himself with beef tendon balls. “Look, candied hawthorns!”

Lu Xiaohe’s expression was complicated for a second.

Ah, this was a normal C-level investigation team. What the hell was she stuck with?

“Ms. Fang Yuanyuan came to me alone before.”

After Lu Xiaohe sat down, Ge Tingting quietly approached and turned her AI’s voice to a minimum.

“She asked me how I felt and if I wanted to transfer out to Unit 8 instead. She said that Unit 8 lacked combat strength and needed me very much. She even said Minister Fu had specially instructed her about this matter… Xiaohe Jie, does Shian think I’m not good enough? Is it because of my unauthorized actions before?”

Ge Tingting looked sadly at Luo Bin, whose hair was thinning, and at Qin Lele, a burly man who was holding two skewers of beef tendon, with rejection written all over her face.

Lu Xiaohe’s heart soured.

“It’s not your problem. Your previous performance was very good. I have been watching!” She patted Ge Tingting on the back. “What did you say?”

“I refused. I said that Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo are very good. They are obviously newcomers like me, but they are much better than me. I want to use them as my goal to catch up and continue to work hard.”

Ge Tingting’s AI whispered.

“So I don’t want to transfer away until I reach this goal.”

Knowing that two were good enough to be assigned an “execution mission”, Lu Xiaohe: “……”

Huang Jin, who knew even more, said, “…Why doesn’t Fang Yuanyuan ask me if I want to transfer?” He even dreamed of being transferred away.

“It’s not good to eavesdrop.” Lu Xiaohe picked up a slice of beef with her chopsticks.

“I can see what you’re thinking.” Huang Jin pointed to his eyes with a numb face.

Lu Xiaohe made a face at Huang Jin from a position he couldn’t see and didn’t respond back.

“What is this league you guys are talking about?” Sun Qi’an asked curiously. “Is it like a competition between different units to evaluate their performance?”

“Almost.” Lu Xiaohe took the opportunity to change the subject. “Oh, that’s right. Not everyone knows about what’s going on.”

Now that the competition was only tentatively determined to be held, the details hadn’t been released yet. It didn’t involve a confidentiality clause for the time being, so it was fine to talk about it.

Sure enough, upon hearing what she said, the newcomers simultaneously cast their gazes over.

“Shian has nearly 100 branches in different cities. There are no nominal headquarters, and the small branches are uniformly managed by larger branches.”

Lu Xiaohe picked up a piece of beef neck and dipped it in sauce.

“For example, in Gengsheng Town, where you went before, there’s a small branch in Luotian, the city closest to it. This Luotian branch is under the jurisdiction of Haigu—there are three such large branches in the entire country.”

“The Yandu branch in the capital, the Linnan branch in the south, and of course the Haigu branch. Every three years, these three major branches will hold a joint exercise competition, mainly composed of B- and C-level investigation teams in their division.”

Yin Ren picked up a piece of lean meat with his chopstick for Zhong Chengshuo. “A-levels aren’t participating?”

“A-level investigation teams have big cases to follow, and they can’t get away.” Lu Xiaohe shrugged. “Sometimes the whole department is busy, and there may be a shortage of players. Our Haigu branch didn’t participate for the first two seasons, so it’s not a big deal.”

Zhong Chengshuo tentatively picked up a few meatballs for Yin Ren. “It doesn’t sound very important.”

“Don’t underestimate it—if you pass and win the league, the C-level investigation team can be directly promoted to the B-level. The winning group will also have a bonus of two million per person, and the division will also receive more funds.”

Zhong Chengshuo: “That sounds good.”

Yin Ren bit the meatball bitterly and thought that Fu Xingchuan and his promotion plan had arrived—he had no doubt that if it weren’t for worrying about attracting attention, Fu Xingchuan would just directly promote them to an A-level investigation team.

“Two million…” Luo Bin showed a fascinated expression for a few seconds. “Forget it, forget it. This kind of fighting and killing is really unsuitable for us. If we have to go on another business trip, my girlfriend will break up with me.”

Speaking of this, he winked at his fellow member of the same period, Yin Ren. “Yin Ren, you should also pay attention to your personal affairs. You Unit 9 are busy every day and can’t get in touch with outsiders. You and Xiao Zhong are both handsome guys. It’s such a waste to just sit here.”

Yin Ren smiled at him. “I—”

“This is exactly the issue we’re talking about.” Zhong Chengshuo swallowed a piece of vegetable with a serious expression. “The situation is appropriate now. In order to reduce possible troubles and misunderstandings in the future, and to ensure…”

“Zhong Ge and I are in a serious relationship.” Yin Ren interrupted his lover’s tirade.

Crack.

Huang Jin’s sauce dish fell to the floor and broke in half.

Those who knew, like Lu Xiaohe and Sun Qi’an, controlled their facial expressions well, while Liang Shan whistled. Ge Tingting looked at the two in confusion before she finally realized.

Huang Jin: “You..he…you…fuck me…!”

Didn’t Zhong Chengshuo know that Yin Ren is an evil being? King Yama’s interest in evil things had reached this point?! Wasn’t this quite perverted? Wasn’t there any relevant law stopping this?

Luo Bin: “Come on, brother. It’s the modern era. Let’s be more open-minded. Anyway, we don’t have any restrictions on office romance.”

Huang Jin looked sadly at this doctor, who was full of “it’s so good to be in love”, and a small whimper escaped from his throat.

Fortunately, Sun Qi’an’s phone rang, temporarily rescuing Huang Jin, who was on the verge of collapse.

“Hello?”

Sun Qi’an picked up, and the smile on her face disappeared a little.

“…What? Slow down… I see. I’ll go back immediately.”

Sun Qi’an hurriedly picked up her purse and nodded to the crowd.

“Sorry, something urgent just happened at the hospital, so I have to go back immediately.”

Zhong Chengshuo: “Urgent?”

Sun Qi’an didn’t hide it and sighed. “It was a coincidence. The patient in our special ward suddenly had heart failure, and at the same time, his grandson was hospitalized for a heart attack. What can you say about this family… haa.”

She shook her head and made another call, speaking as she was walking out.

“Hello? Do you still have the number for Elder Qiu’s family? The hospital needs it…”

Yin Ren’s and Zhong Chengshuo’s chopsticks both froze at the same time.

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 115: Entry Notice

It was night.

Yin Ren turned his face sideways, half burying it in the soft pillow. The words that Dog Thing spewed out a few hours ago were still dangling in his mind.

……

[Siren: In terms of the strength gap, I am a mouse, the sniper is a wolf, and Qi Xin is a tiger.]

In the dim basement, Dog Thing made an aggrieved barking sound.

[Siren: She can eat me as easily as eating a melon seed!]

It even cranked up its vibrate mode and buzzed and bounced on the table, trying desperately to express its fear.

“That sniper may be ‘Mr. Qiu’,” Zhong Chengshuo interrupted. “She specifically asked us to be careful of this ‘Mr. Qiu’, which means we should have been in contact with him before.”

“Being sniped” was also considered a kind of contact.

Yin Ren said softly, as he tapped on the table with his phone, “Is that it? Nothing more? She ate the old mayor and called me a cub. How much do you know about this?”

[Siren: Let me think about it.]

A few seconds later, a “beep” sound was heard, indicating a message delivery.

[Siren: For her, “imitations” are dying meat, which won’t be fresh after death. She wants to eat it while it’s fresh.]

This time it learned how to behave and didn’t dare be vague, but tried to use its limited IQ to come up with a metaphor.

Yin Ren stopped tapping the phone.

He suddenly remembered that not long ago, in the file room, there was a clamor from Dog Thing to eat those “meaty xanthium” monsters.

It labeled them as “weak things that could be eaten”.

If Dog Thing could eat xanthiums and Qi Xin could eat Dog Thing and imitations, it sounded like…

Yin Ren subconsciously looked in the direction of Zhong Chengshuo.

After deciding to give Dog Thing to Zhong Chengshuo for research, he told Zhong Chengshuo about it. Sure enough, Zhong Chengshuo raised his eyes, and his pitch-black pupils looked directly at the phone on the table.

“Do the ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ you describe us refer to the position in the food chain?” Zhong Chengshuo took two steps forward and stopped beside Yin Ren.

Dog Thing slowly brought up a browser and searched for the definition of “food chain”. The two silently watched the phone switch pages for a long time, before waiting for the next text bubble to appear.

[Siren: It’s a bit close.]

[Siren: But it also depends on the individual.]

“Well, if the ‘predator’ at the top of the food chain is aging, sick, disabled, or just a cub, there’s a possibility of being reversely preyed upon by the ‘prey’… In this case, the definitions of strong and weak aren’t absolute. Is this what you mean?”

[Siren: Yes, I want such a brain.]

Zhong Chengshuo said cautiously, “Not giving.”

Yin Ren didn’t know whether to be serious or laugh. He twisted his face and brought Dog Thing closer.

They still didn’t know what Qi Xin and the sniper were, but Yin Ren had a vague idea in his heart.

Whether it was the meaty xanthium or Dog Thing, it obviously didn’t belong to “this world”. Whether based on Yin Ren’s experience or looking at Shian’s records, these kinds of things weren’t “evil spirits” in the conventional sense, let alone the sniper and Qi Xin, whose intensity was obviously beyond the standard.

They would exist in the “Archive” and would be attracted by Guo Wei, who was about to become a fierce ghost. The sniper’s bullet could restrain the power of a fierce ghost, while Qi Xin could directly swallow evil things containing tremendous evil qi, such as the mayor… These existences had countless connections with evil things.

But the relationship wasn’t clear enough.

Yin Ren looked at Zhong Chengshuo, who had also fallen into contemplation. His lover always reacted quickly, and he should have arrived at a similar conclusion.

He couldn’t help sighing and threw Dog Thing, who had stopped spewing words, back on the table.

Perhaps Zhong Chengshuo didn’t feel deeply about it, but as a person who had passed through thousands of years, Yin Ren could inexplicably understand Dog Thing that was clumsily expressing itself.

If he were sent back to the past and asked to describe principles like “chips”, “electricity”, and “the internet” to Huajisi in classical Chinese that he wasn’t familiar with, he might not even be as good as Dog Thing…

Even though he loved using the tablet while eating chips and surfing the web.

“Okay, tell me more about me.”

Yin Ren’s tone became softer, and the 1% battery on Dog Thing trembled and rose to 2%.

[Siren: I thought you were “weak” before. Now I’m not sure about your situation. You’re stronger than I thought, and it’s always changing.]

“I understand. You can’t determine Yin Ren’s position in your ‘food chain’.” Zhong Chengshuo fluently translated Dog Thing’s words.

He took out a piece of paper, grabbed a pencil from the toolbox, and drew quickly.

“This is what we know now.”

The gray-black nib rustled on the paper.

“The ‘special creatures’ like Qi Xin and Dog Thing have their own food chain… There’s too little information about this at the moment, so we have to study it later. Uh, we…”

He chewed on the word “we” slowly, as if it were some kind of delicious food.

“According to Qi Xin, the ‘death’ of the larval stage of these creatures becomes what humans call ‘Evil Spirits’… The power of the Evil Spirit can transform into evil qi. Whether it’s evil qi or Evil Force, it can give birth to or strengthen evil things.”

Zhong Chengshuo’s pencil stopped suddenly.

“What?” Yin Ren listened carefully.

Zhong Chengshuo turned his gaze. In the dim light, his eyes looked like black holes after poking through a paper.

“Irreversible deterioration and transformation. The distribution of food for the weak at the bottom, the use of different types of ‘nutrients’…”

Zhong Chengshuo was murmuring softly. The tip of his pencil was gently poking the paper, and the corner of his mouth showed an almost smiling expression.

“Yin Ren.”

He called to his lover in a low voice.

“Following that ‘meat’ analogy of Siren’s, assuming that the Evil Force of the Evil Spirits is the nutrient-rich ‘fresh meat’ and the Evil Spirits are the spoiled and deteriorated ‘rotten meat’… Adding the evil things that derive and grow from it. Doesn’t this process resemble the cycle of ‘corpse decay’?”

Yin Ren’s soft expression disappeared from his face.

He glanced at the white paper with a half-circular picture. The aura of the Ghost King from thousands of years ago was revealed, like the tip of an iceberg.

“It’s possible that the Evil Spirits appeared concentratedly during the hundreds of years of the Gong Dynasty. Before that, there weren’t many evil things. After the Evil Spirits came to the world, all kinds of strange evil things flooded it… Well, I may be regarded as one of them.”

“Evil Spirit” or “Divine Descent” were all names that humans came up with through observation.

Thinking about this, Yin Ren’s expression became a bit complicated.

“According to this theory, if ‘fresh meat’ was scattered all over the place by ‘Divine Descent’, what exactly is it then?”

Zhong Chengshuo stuck the paper with his thoughts to the wall next to Yin Ren’s information. “This is the most interesting place.”

Unfortunately, they didn’t have a seminar on the spot afterwards.

The two powerhouses looked at each other with affection and decided to continue to explore the mysteries of the world when Zhong Chengshuo received a call from Zhong Youde.

The old man’s voice was so loud that Yin Ren could hear it clearly without using his special abilities.

“You just returned from a business trip, but don’t know how to come home to visit, ah? How are you and Xiao Yin? Your mother and I have bought too many dishes, so why don’t we have dinner together today?”

In this way, King Yama received his first task after returning—his father ordered him to buy fresh beef from the nearby supermarket. Comrade Xiao Zhong looked shocked and stood at attention on the spot.

“You heard it. My parents called us to have a meal together,” he said. “They are probably trying to see if you have broken up with me.”

Yin Ren: “……”

He didn’t know whether the Zhong couple had too much or too little confidence in their son.

“They have cooked your favorite honey pork ribs and want to make beef stew,” Zhong Chengshuo said slowly. “You can go back first and eat while it’s still hot. I’ll clean up here and go buy the meat… Do you remember the way?”

“I do.”

……

As Zhong Chengshuo expected, the Zhong couple didn’t explicitly say anything, but seeing the tacit communication between the two “youngsters”, they both showed some relaxation. The honey pork ribs for dinner were glazed in an orange-red, looking quite attractive, and its sweet aroma gave off a warm taste of the world.

After a long day, they returned to the warmth of home again. Everything in the secret basement seemed like another world.

Yin Ren pulled himself out of his memories.

At this moment, Dog Thing was soaked in 75% alcohol and accepted its punishment. Yellow Millet didn’t have the phone to restrain it, so it was rolling around the living room, familiarizing itself with the environment.

The stewed “Zhong Family beef stew” was placed in the refrigerator. Zhong Chengshuo said he planned to use it to cook beef noodle soup tomorrow morning.

The curtains were still tightly drawn. Yin Ren had to admit that Zhong Chengshuo’s curtains were well picked, as they were excellent at blocking the light. With the moonlight blocked, inside was so dark that he couldn’t even see his fingers. On a dark and windy night like this, if it were a normal night, Yin Ren would probably have pulled out a strand of hair and rummaged through the fridge for a few pieces of beef.

Whether it was a kiss on the cheek or a new discovery, it was worth celebrating with two slabs of beef.

But Yin Ren couldn’t do it now.

The long memories were over, and Lord Ghost King had to face reality—

He was lying sideways on Zhong Chengshuo’s bed.

Zhong Chengshuo, who was wearing pajamas and his nightcap, was lying behind him, and his whole body exuded the unique water vapor and refreshing smell after taking a shower.

…And listening to Zhong Chengshuo’s breathing, it was obvious that he was awake.

He knew it was a bad idea! He knew they wouldn’t be able to sleep!

When he got home, Yin Ren took his pillow back to the sofa. After he finished eating an apple, it mysteriously flew back to Zhong Chengshuo’s bed again, and there was even an extra pillow next to it.

“I’m used to your breath, and I want to stay with you longer.”

Zhong Chengshuo was sitting on the side of the bed with an expression like he was holding a press conference.

“If you don’t want to, I’ll put it back…”

“Of course, I do, but we won’t be able to sleep.”

“Won’t.”

“Will.” Grand Master Zhong asserted in a divine voice.

“Verification is required,” Zhong Chengshuo pivoted and proposed a different excuse.

The verification results were freshly released, and at 3:30 in the morning, they were both wide awake.

Hehe, what did I tell you? Truly, old ginger was spicier. Yin Ren felt the depression around him. It seemed as if Zhong Chengshuo had transformed into a wooden stake, and except for breathing, he didn’t move at all.

Yin Ren began to count in his heart. When he counted to ten, Zhong Chengshuo was still imitating a stake. He didn’t mind breaking the silence and starting a conversation to make his bedmate feel awkward.

Ten, nine, eight…

The blanket rustled as Zhong Chengshuo moved. His movements were light, like a sparrow perched on a branch.

Seven, six, five…

The other’s body temperature got closer, and his heartbeat was a little faster than usual.

Four…

Yin Ren thought he would be hugged.

Zhong Chengshuo’s actions were even more… special. He leaned vaguely behind Yin Ren, and his forehead gently rested against his back. One of Zhong Chengshuo’s hands was attached to Yin Ren’s shoulder blade, with movement as light as a feather.

Yin Ren didn’t wear his pajamas properly, exposing a large area of his neck. Zhong Chengshuo’s forehead was pressed against Yin Ren’s spine, which wasn’t soft, but he still attached himself to it tightly.

Zhong Chengshuo once again froze and let out a small sigh.

“That’s great,” he said.

Yin Ren was silent for a few minutes.

He rolled over and confronted the man head-on. He shrank into the pillow and pressed his forehead against Zhong Chengshuo’s.

In the dark, Zhong Chengshuo was staring at him quietly. The two were extremely close, and those eyes didn’t blink. Without the protection of glasses, they looked a bit strange.

“Go to sleep,” Yin Ren said. “It will be better in the future.”

Zhong Chengshuo slowly closed his eyes.

At this distance, the two of their breaths entangled, and the atmosphere became a bit thicker than before. Even so, Zhong Chengshuo slowly fell asleep.

Yin Ren also closed his eyes.

In the living room, Dog Thing’s screen lit up.

A blood-red notification appeared on the internal app of Shian, and the screen switched to the notification content by itself.

[The 44^th National Joint Exercise Competition of Shian Investigation Team—Entry Notice]

[C-level Investigation Team of Shian, Haigu Branch: Unit 9]

[Pre-match investigation & training locations: Fu Family’s Residence, Dongshan, Haigu.]

---

The author has something to say:

Damn it, why are they so innocent? I need to speed things up and get things hotter…!

---

Kinky Thoughts:

To re-explain the theory they proposed in case you’re confused, based on what Dog Thing said, Zhong Chengshuo thinks this is some kind of food chain, and it’s all related to Divine Descent.

During Divine Descent, “fresh meat” is scattered across the world, giving rise and birth to many evil beings. You can think of this as the animal kingdom in a human sense. These evil beings then develop into their own species and kinds (such as mammals, birds, reptiles, ect.) and they have their own food chain.

Dog Thing’s measurement of “weak” isn’t necessarily about strength but where these evil beings lie on the food chain (similar to the animal world). Even the strong (if they become weak) could get eaten by those lower in the food chain.

Evil Spirits (the label that humans gave them) are considered decaying corpses. Just like in real life, a dying/dead animal slowly rots, but it gives back nutrients to the earth (whether it be through carrion or fertilization). They give off evil qi and Evil Force, which you can think of as nutrients, to the spirit world, nurturing and giving birth to new evil spirits.

So overall, it’s basically an ecosystem, but for evil beings.

Poor Dog Thing. It was just misunderstood!

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 114: Four People

At dusk, Haigu Municipal Hospital.

A woman in her mid-forties left the gift store with a lifeless bouquet in her arms. The petals of the pink carnations were yellowing at the edges, and the surrounding baby’s-breath had fallen apart into pieces.

The woman hunched her back and had a lackluster expression. She was wearing a colorful t-shirt that didn’t match her age, and the bouquet of flowers in her arms couldn’t cover up the faint smell of sweat.

She lowered her head and walked towards the inpatient area, passing by pedestrians who would glance at her for no more than two seconds.

The unremarkable woman approached the ward of the inpatient area slowly in this way.

“……”

Not long after, the door of the ward closed behind her.

An old man in the ward turned his head, and after seeing the person who came, he slowly put away the smile on his face.

“It’s you.”

In the ward surveillance, the woman in her mid-forties who was holding flowers was still standing, but in the eyes of the old man, the “person” in front of him was completely different—

Simple black work uniform and cheap flats. The woman’s eyes were slender and red, as if she had cried, and the hair on the back of her head was tightly tied in a bun.

“You can continue to call me ‘Qi Xin’,” she said. “Qi Xin from Gengsheng Town is dead, and there are no other Qi Xin nearby. I quite like this name.”

The old man made no effort to hide the disgust on his face.

“What are you doing here?”

He sat up from the hospital bed.

“There’s no rally today—you messed up on the affairs in Gengsheng Town, and we haven’t settled that matter with you yet.”

“Um… Messed up?” Qi Xin opened the bouquet and replaced the half-dead flowers in a vase with them. “You asked me to go and you clearly promised that I could ‘eat as much as I want’.”

She bared her teeth at him.

“I went to see the situation with Fu Xingchuan and Li Nian and found food that could be eaten, so I ate.”

Her tone was calm, as if she were describing how she had eaten a few ingredients before the meal was served.

The old man gritted his teeth tightly, as if he wanted to scold her, but when he was looked at by those slender eyes, he couldn’t say a word.

Qi Xin fiddled with the bouquet of flowers, and the withered baby’s-breath fell down as she picked at it. The setting sun shone through the window, dyeing the white dried flowers a light shade of red, like fresh meat shavings. She didn’t stop her movements and played with them attentively.

The old man, Mr. Qiu, looked at the side of her face, and disgust seemed fixed on his expression.

Qi Xin rushed towards Mr. Qiu, and her cheek twitched. A crack opened on her profile, and the gap wriggled for a few seconds, transforming into a slender eye.

“If you think I disrupted your rhythm, you can delay the operations by ten, twenty, or even a hundred years. I have no objections.”

Qi Xin’s mouth was closed tightly, and her voice seemed to come from nowhere.

“Humans grow old fast and forget even faster. I thought you knew the truth.”

“We’re not here to play.” Mr. Qiu frowned as he hissed back.

“Well, you three aren’t here to play, but I am.”

Qi Xin swept away the baby’s-breath with the back of her hand, and the shriveled white flowers fell on the table, silent like snowflakes. The extra-grown eye looked at Mr. Qiu happily, without blinking.

“…Don’t think that ‘you’ can be so unscrupulous because you’re older. There were people older than you before, and you know their endings.” Mr. Qiu was silent for a while before he responded with a hiss.

“I don’t need you to survive. Although I’m a different breed than those two, I enjoy working with them more than you—”

Qi Xin’s movements of fiddling with the flowers stopped.

The thin woman turned her head, and all her facial features disappeared, leaving only a vague dark vortex. Qi Xin’s neck was folded ninety degrees, and her joints clicked as her deformed face rushed straight towards Mr. Qiu.

The old man jolted.

“Shh—be careful what you say.” A blurred voice of indeterminate gender came from deep within the vortex. “If you want to act low-key, you need humans from Sunken Society to help you with your research…”

Qi Xin’s slender body stopped by the bed. Her neck stretched softly as if it were boneless, and the dark vortex stuck to the tip of Mr. Qiu’s nose.

“You won’t like the news of ‘collective suicide of the members of Sunken Society’… You’ll have to wait for another batch of collaborators to be trained, and the result won’t be any different. Be patient, young one.”

A blatant threat.

Mr. Qiu’s withered throat bobbed.

He began to understand why “that one” wanted to bring down this old trouble.

Considering Qi Xin’s “nature”, her strength as a teammate was average, but her ability to be a hindrance was unparalleled. As long as she wanted to, she could cause them huge trouble at any time.

So far, Qi Xin had basically ignored commands, but fortunately, she hadn’t deliberately sabotaged their actions, though it was difficult to say in the future. It was as if “that one” liked putting in unstable factors to monitor them more than pulling combat power.

And he couldn’t interfere with “that one’s” plan.

“…It’s my fault.” Mr. Qiu laughed dryly. “I spoke out of turn. I just want to save my compatriots, so I became a little anxious.”

The swirl on Qi Xin’s face gradually changed back to her original facial features, but her brows remained extremely cold.

“Compatriots? Your rhetoric is becoming more human.” She retracted her neck and continued to fiddle with the flowers. “It sounds really uncomfortable.”

Mr. Qiu didn’t respond.

“I came back because I wanted to say one thing. I don’t care about your heroism, but I don’t want to be hungry either,” Qi Xin said. “A little advice. You’d better keep your plans to more than 50 years. This generation of humans is interesting, so it’s best to wait for them to weaken before acting.”

The cub was guarding “Zhong Chengshuo” and she couldn’t see through that strange man.

And looking at Shian’s attitude, they only suspected the cub was related to an Evil Spirit. Regarding the truth about Evil Spirits, those poor humans’ understanding wasn’t even skin deep. However, with Fu Xingchuan and Li Nian leading this generation, it was difficult to say how things would develop.

So it was better just to wait another fifty years.

Fifty years later, Fu Xingchuan and Li Nian would be six feet underground and wouldn’t pose any threat. Zhong Chengshuo would become an old man of about eighty years old, and it would be hard to say if he could even get up and down the stairs by himself.

At that time, after the dust settled on the relationship between Shian and the cub and when everything came to fruition, she could just decide how to act.

But… in addition to herself, it was still unknown whether “the other three” were willing to wait another fifty years.

For example, like this Mr. Qiu.

As she expected, Mr. Qiu’s voice suddenly became excited. “Why wait? Did you find anything in Gengsheng Town? I heard that Yellow Millet disappeared without a trace and even Snake Swallowing was taken back by Shian and arranged to go to some ‘rare evil creature reserve’. Can this be done with just Fu Xingchuan’s level alone?”

“Is it the pair of partners that Sunken Society has been paying attention to…?”

Qi Xin’s tone was extremely calm. “Fu Xingchuan did it. He was lucky. Those two evils were not controlled by the imitation and lost their will to fight… As for the two boys from Unit 9… They are considered normal humans.”

She lied smoothly.

“I just comprehensively evaluated the situation of the leaders of Shian and gave you my advice.”

“So your suggestion is to ‘wait fifty years’ before taking action? Do you want me to repeat this over and over again for this worn-out idea?” Mr. Qiu showed an expression of speechlessness.

“Yes, because I hate you, and I hate the other two even more.”

After speaking, Qi Xin straightened her back. She patted the dried flower crumbs on her hand and walked to the door without turning her head.

Mr. Qiu: “Hey.”

The cheap flats knocked against the ground, making a regular tapping sound.

“Hey!”

Qi Xin grabbed the door handle with her right hand and moved in a fluid manner.

“Is it because of ‘his’ death that you’re treating us like this?”

Qi Xin’s hand paused.

She didn’t answer. After a while, Qi Xin left the room quietly, and the door to the ward was gently closed.

“…Bastard.”

Mr. Qiu fell back on the soft pillow at the head of the bed.

With Qi Xin’s perfunctory attitude, he didn’t bother to share the latest information with her. Mr. Qiu just got news in the morning that Shian was about to usher in their triennial joint exercise tournament again.

Shian had always suspected that those two boys from Unit 9 were related to an “Evil Spirit”. The execution mission caused such a big uproar that the subsequent observation wouldn’t stop immediately.

“But since those two in Unit 9 are just humans, it’s not a big deal.” He moved his withered fingers. “It doesn’t matter if I play around, right?’

……

“Wow.”

One of Mr. Qiu’s targets was amazed.

Yin Ren shifted his attention away from Zhong Chengshuo and looked at the information on the wall—one after another, all of them were special murder cases that occurred after the ‘Divine Descent’.

“Officially, they are my biological parents.”

Zhong Chengshuo paced to one of the newspaper clippings and pointed at a young man and woman above.

The words “serial killers” next to it were particularly eye-catching. Taking a closer look, the words “has been executed” were also written in fine print.

Yin Ren: “……”

He never thought that the process of meeting Zhong Chengshuo’s parents would come a second time, and this second time was even stranger.

For a moment, thoughts swirled in his feverish mind. Lord Ghost King squinted at the information that covered an entire wall, and countless dog-blooded stories quickly turned up in his heart.

“Stop.” He raised his right hand and said confidently, “Wait, let me guess first! When you were a teenager, you found out that you were adopted and decided to investigate the mystery of your own life. During the investigation, you discover that your parents were actually serial killers.”

“You discovered the existence of the Divine Descent and decided to step into this world. You thoroughly understood the events of the year, your parents’ motives, and traced the fate of the previous generation. During your investigation, you gradually became King Yama.”

Yin Ren shook his finger and was satisfied with the script he had written.

“Ah, to add a little more suffering element—you discovered your personality problem earlier on and decided to use hunting evil things and murderers to relieve your desire for destruction—am I right?”

Zhong Chengshuo applauded with a blank expression.

Yin Ren snorted. Before he could finish saying “old ginger is spicier*”, his boyfriend solemnly commented.

*(姜还是老的辣) Idiom referring to older, more experienced people are usually wiser and more capable than younger people. || In this context, he’s saying that because he’s older than Zhong Chengshuo, based on his life experience, he can come up with this kind of story about Zhong Chengshuo’s life.

“Amazing.” Zhong Chengshuo stopped applauding. “I can’t believe you got nothing right.”

Yin Ren: “?!”

The corners of Yin Ren’s mouth twitched. “If… If Shian finds something wrong in the future, let’s use this to mislead them!”

Zhong Chengshuo tilted his head and thought for a while, then nodded reluctantly.

“So what’s the situation with your biological parents?” Yin Ren continued, asking cautiously.

“Scums like Guo Laifu. These are just the usual investigations. I have no special interest in them.”

“What about hunting evil things?”

“Researching equipment and gear burns money, and I need money.”

“What about… torturing murderers?!”

“Need subject data.” Zhong Chengshuo explained seriously. “Do you want to see their brain CT and blood hormone index?”

Yin Ren was stunned.

Every time he felt that Comrade Xiao Zhong’s plan was too far-fetched, this person could always bring him back down to earth with a thud.

“Then you’re studying Divine Descent,” Yin Ren asked almost hopelessly, “It’s not out of personal interest, right?”

This time, there was no answer from Zhong Chengshuo.

“Step by step.” He thought for a while before replying. “When our relationship goes further, I’ll tell you. Just like a bank card pin, these are secrets belonging to the degree of marriage.”

“Well, if that’s what you say…”

Inwardly,  Yin Ren felt extremely frustrated and couldn’t refute him.

So he decided to spread this pain.

Yin Ren took out Dog Thing and prepared to slap it on the table. Just as he was about to do so, he suddenly hit the brakes, carefully removed Yellow Millet and the little hamster, then slammed Dog Thing onto the table.

Dog Thing: “Woof, woof, woof…”

“Now you’re barking.” Yin Ren cracked his knuckles. “Honesty is the best policy. This is the perfect place to explain yourself.”

“What the hell is up with Qi Xin?”

---

The author has something to say:

This is a clash between the Riddle Master and the straight-forward Emperor Xiao Zhong!

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 113: Two-way

Gengsheng Town.

Li Nian stood blankly in front of the wonton stall. This time, there was no Fu Xingchuan by his side. Instead, he was replaced by several groups of official staff. The closed loop line was empty, and under the setting sun, the exposed steel and concrete looked like dusty bones.

The fog had cleared, and order in Gengsheng Town was gradually restored.

The situation of the elderly wasn’t optimistic. After such a loss, a little more than half were still resistant. The younger people were relatively better. According to a young girl, the previous state was “like a long dream”.

“No one thought this place was run down before.” She pointed to her own bakery. “We find it very comfortable and no different from a new area. The surroundings are the same too. We’ve never heard anyone say it’s dirty or old. It all looks perfectly normal.”

“It’s the same for attacking outsiders. I don’t know what’s going on, but I really feel that ‘everyone is like this’, ‘this is how things are done here’, and ‘they brought it upon themselves by coming into our territory’… At the time, I didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. I was just focused on the idea that once the ‘enemy’ was gone, we could go back to living our lives like before.”

The girl smiled awkwardly.

“Guilt? I feel a little of it occasionally… But everyone around me is like this, with strong conviction, so…”

But now they were awake.

This kind of sudden change in thinking could easily induce psychological problems, so relevant medical personnel took over. Li Nian was rubbing his voice recorder while taking detailed notes.

Over this small mountain town, there were still puzzles, like dark clouds.

The problem with the town itself could be explained by Shian’s existing theories.

Both evil beings and humans were affected by the perception of specific emotions. The perpetrator of the evil qi corruption was extremely powerful, such that it surpassed that of ordinary ability users, and the value of the remaining traces was close to that of half an Evil Spirit.

Coupled with Yellow Millet, who was good at influencing cognition and was used as a “megaphone”, it wasn’t impossible for the perpetrator to use his ability to cover the entire mountain town for a long time.

…The problem was that there was a serious issue with the identity records of the perpetrator.

One of the puzzles.

According to existing information, Shian only knew that the source of the disaster was a human, and the corruption was caused by Sunken Society. As for whether the perpetrator was a man or woman and where they came from, there were no records.

Not broken, not blank.

The metaphysical post could no longer see the words or hear the recording. While top science posts could still do it, they couldn’t get any information…

Li Nian clearly knew that there were relevant records, and those words were lying quietly there, but whenever he read the corresponding paragraph, his brain seemed to suddenly lose its ability to analyze information.

The knowledge flashed through his eyes and slid through his ears, but he couldn’t understand it.

Even if it could be logically inferred that “it’s related to the last mayor of the mountain town”, Li Nian’s attention would be diverted once he turned away.

This was probably a “cognitive distortion” of extremely abnormal intensity.

But the principle, where it came from, and the constant interference of attention were things that Li Nian couldn’t deduce.

It was dinner time at this moment. Li Nian was playing with the recorder, and his eyes unconsciously turned to the chopsticks in the hands of the owner of the wonton shop.

That was the second puzzle.

Not long after Unit 9 left, backup found the real Qi Xin in the abandoned mines. When she was discovered, Ms. Qi was dying and was transferred by Shian to a large hospital at the foot of the mountain.

The real Ms. Qi wasn’t seriously injured and woke up quickly. However, after waking up, she kept crying and didn’t recognize anyone or respond to anything.

While a nurse was getting her medication, Ms. Qi inserted a chopstick into her own heart.

There was no residual evil qi on her body, so Shian could only identify the incident as suicide.

Li Nian had personally drawn a portrait of the “Qi Xin” who acted with Unit 9 and the police quickly returned the results…

It was Anonymous who had been missing for several years.

The unnamed woman was in a car accident, and the hospital was barely able to save her life but couldn’t treat her brain trauma. While the hospital was looking for the woman’s family, the woman herself removed the ventilator she was on and disappeared one night.

Many years later, she appeared alone in a remote mountain town and devoured the unknown perpetrator.

Devour.

This was the testimony given by Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo, which also explained the strange distribution of corruption in their data.

…They hadn’t even settled accounts with Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo yet. If those two were really spies from some other organization, things would be much simpler.

Li Nian sighed and pinched his brows fiercely.

The situation was bizarre and outrageous, and the clues were pitiful. There were all kinds of incomprehensible situations and inexplicable traces in front of him. He vaguely recalled the events of 28 years ago, when the Divine Descent caused chaos everywhere.

As a result, Professor Li was just about to fall in reminiscence when his phone vibrated.

“Hello?”

He listened for a while.

“National joint exercise competition… Fu Xingchuan, have you finally gone crazy?”

“Isn’t this an opportunity delivered to our door? If Yin Ren is really… ahem, that person, dealing with this small situation is as easy as cutting vegetables. We can also keep an eye on Xiao Zhong, so it’s like killing two birds with one stone.”

Li Nian also pinched his brows red.

He understood Fu Xingchuan’s subtext.

Those two despicable guys were still officially classified as C-level, but they really couldn’t assign them C-level tasks. Special Operations Unit 8, which was actually C-level, had already dug through half of the city’s sewers.

Fu Xingchuan didn’t think that “investigating the sounds coming from the sewers in the middle of the night” could test anything. It was better to throw these two hot potatoes on a big stage to see what else they could do.

The national joint exercise competition gathered masters from all over the world. This was indeed a safer direction, but…

“Besides, the matter of Gengsheng Town won’t be finished for a while. It will be a long-term case.” On the other end of the line, Fu Xingchuan whispered devilishly. “Lao Li, people have limited energy, so we can’t just ignore it, right?”

“That being said…”

“Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo have spoken openly, and those two haven’t done anything bad for the time being, so we just need to be cautious. The priority is Sunken Society and that ‘Qi Xin’,” Fu Xingchuan continued to persuade.

Li Nian: “……”

Li Nian: “Do you just want to find a few top non-science posts to suffer with you?”

Fu Xingchuan: “Fuck off. This is official business.”

Professor Li snorted openly, with no intention of hiding it.

“All right,” he said. “If Yin Ren’s identity is true, then Sunken Society would have less interest in him and Zhong Chengshuo. It might be better to let them go on stage.”

Perhaps it could even lure out a few evil spirits.

……

In the distant city of Haigu, the two people who knew nothing about their upcoming fate.

Yin Ren’s lips slowly left the corner of Zhong Chengshuo’s mouth.

Zhong Chengshuo pursed his lips like a clamshell. His ears had turned red all the way to his neck. He seemed surprised by his own intense reaction and took a quick step towards the fridge, grabbing a glass jar and pressing it hard against his neck to cool down.

“Don’t you want special treatment?” Yin Ren approached him happily.

“Come on, let’s do it again…”

But when he saw what was inside the jar, Yin Ren’s smile slowly faded.

A head of an evil spirit with a solid entity was floating in the glass jar. Its protruding single eye happened to drift over to their side, and the brownish-yellow liquid contrasted with the pale red skin, causing quite a visual impact.

My god, help.

Lord Ghost King watched Zhong Chengshuo roll the glass jar around his neck and carefully put it back into the fridge. Finally, he dug out a can of apple juice from the pile of evil creature specimens and asked, “Do you want a drink?”

Yin Ren: “No… How amazing, Zhong Ge. I’ll drink it. I’ll drink it.”

He almost subconsciously said “no”.

Zhong Chengshuo’s eyes had a rare sparkle in them, and he swiftly set up a chair as he said, “You rest here. I’ll take care of the problem.”

It was rare to see Zhong Chengshuo act so easily and happily.

It would be better if that chair wasn’t the one that he used to tie up Guo Laifu. Yin Ren recognized the torture char in Guo Laifu’s memories at a glance, and his inner panic took a sharp turn.

He held the juice solemnly with both hands and couldn’t help but ponder for a few seconds whether the “problem” that Zhong Chengshuo was going to solve was himself.

But he also felt that this person was very cute, which meant he must have gone crazy. Ah, perhaps this was a manifestation of an Evil Spirit… 

There were no outsiders in the basement, so Yin Ren spread his wings on the ground, watching Zhong Chengshuo wade through the sea with one foot deep and the other shallow.

“Give me the phone.” He stretched out his hand.

Dog Thing instantly came back from the dead and shook wildly. “Woof, woof, woof!!!”

“Puff, puff, puff!” Yellow Millet, who was tied to the phone, also shrank back in horror.

Zhong Chengshuo ignored them and shook his hamster keychain. “Or maybe you can take that hamster keychain off and give it to me separately.”

Dog Thing suddenly became quiet, and the ornament kept shaking, pretending to be just another innocent phone accessory.

Yin Ren was taken back.

“This was the first gift you gave me,” Zhong Chengshuo said solemnly. “It has strong evil qi on it. Did you give it to me to ward off evil spirits?”

“…Yes.” Yin Ren was in a daze.

It was obviously not long ago, but at this moment, it felt like that was from a previous life. At that time, he thought that this “boy next door” was just a simple layman.

Yin Ren removed the little hamster with “Blessing and Luck” written on it and put it in Zhong Chengshuo’s palm.

It joined Zhong Chengshuo’s “Wealth and Prosperity” model, and both were placed in the center of the workbench.

Zhong Chengshuo moved quickly, like an assembly line. He walked around the shelves and collected a pile of strange and peculiar tools, gathering them in his arms. Comrade Xiao Zhong was precise, as if his arms were mechanical, as they pinched and carved the two poor hamsters.

Yin Ren watched with a slight pang of heartache—if this person had a bit of metaphysical talent, he would definitely be a top spirit smith.

In less than half an hour, Yin Ren hadn’t finished drinking his apple juice yet, and the hamster with “Blessing and Luck” had met its end. The other hamster with “Wealth and Prosperity” was hung back on its owner’s phone by Zhong Chengshuo.

The appearance of the two hamsters was intact. Except for the more refined coating, no other traces of modification could be seen.

“Okay.” Zhong Chengshuo took off the magnifying glass, normally used to repair watches, from his right eye. “Regarding the conflict between you and me, this is my ‘answer’.”

Yin Ren dangled the hamster in a festive color scheme. Yellow Millet, who was on one side, quickly changed itself into the same golden-red color scheme, which looked extremely harmonious.

“This is?”

“Emergency positioning communicator.”

Zhong Chengshuo cleaned up the workbench like a tornado.

“We can check each other’s position at any time. If there is an emergency, just pull it off the phone, and the other side will receive an alarm.”

“The other side?” The former Celestial Master was stunned.

“It works both ways. If you encounter danger, you can call me at any time.” Zhong Chengshuo looked confused. “Is there a problem?”

“No.”

Yin Ren gripped the hamster so tightly that, incidentally, Yellow Millet became slightly deformed.

“I just like you a little bit more.”

Zhong Chengshuo’s hand stopped, causing the tools in his arms to click lightly as he stared at Yin Ren intently. The red that had just chilled down had a huge resurgence.

After a few moments, he hesitantly put away his tools and walked up to Yin Ren.

The positions of the two were reversed compared to when they were fighting at home. This time, Yin Ren was being circled in the torture chair and had to raise his head.

Zhong Chengshuo, with a solemn face, slowly lowered his head, inching his face closer. When he was about to touch Yin Ren, his movements stopped subtly for a second.

“Chu.”

He gently kissed the corner of Yin Ren’s mouth, with a few tentative pecks. The next moment, without waiting for Yin Ren to see his expression, Zhong Chengshuo instantaneously moved to the front of the refrigerator.

Yin Ren: “……”

Yin Ren rubbed his face. “I want a glass jar too. Do you have any more?”

Zhong Chengshuo generously gave him a specimen jar. Yin Ren tried his best to ignore the five-legged spider in the jar.

Two people were holding a glass jar as the air around them solidified for a few seconds.

“You didn’t bring me here just to change a keychain, right?” After all, this kind of thing could be done at home.

Yin Ren put down the cold jar and touched the corner of Zhong Chengshuo’s eyes. The latter narrowed his eyes in response and let Yin Ren’s fingertips slide over.

“Nn.”

Zhong Chengshuo took off his glasses.

“I want to, um, invite you to join my research. I have been studying this topic for more than ten years. Now it seems that it is also closely related to you.”

“What subject?” Yin Ren’s wings swept across Zhong Chengshuo’s calf, making a swishing sound, encouraging him to continue.

Zhong Chengshuo’s gaze moved along Yin Ren’s facial features. It brushed past his hair and stopped on the information wall that was full of red lines behind Yin Ren.

“Divine Descent,” he replied.

---

The author has something to say:

Let’s continue with the main storyline! …Actually, each arc is the main storyline _(:з”∠)_

They really are a stupid couple!

Xiao Yin: Hehe, isn’t it just dating? I have read 10,000 removed novels. I’m an elder and definitely won’t have any…

Xiao Yin: Thank you for the glass jar.

——Some trivia that no one cares about (?)——

Q: Why doesn’t Xiao Zhong put apples in the refrigerator?

A: Because apple juice has a longer shelf life than apples——

---

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 112: Special Treatment

Yin Ren quickly went through all the conversations they had in his head. He had never taken a mortal imperial examination or test, but at this moment, Lord Ghost King fully tasted the tension of reviewing before an exam.

“I’m ready.” Yin Ren’s face was solemn.

Zhong Chengshuo: “Mm.”

He lowered his eyes, clasped his hands together, and his gaze slid along his knuckles. The taxi compartment slightly trembled. The driver was a bald and chubby man. With two remarkably good-looking people sitting in his back seat, he occasionally glanced at them through the rearview mirror.

But he definitely didn’t look as serious as Yin Ren did.

Before going out, Zhong Chengshuo had taken a shower. His black hair was clean and fluffy, and the taste of shampoo was refreshing and light, giving him the smell of a cool summer night.

On closer inspection, this person’s eyeballs didn’t protrude as commonly seen in myopic patients. Zhong Chengshuo’s eyes had a soft shape, and his eyelashes weren’t short, more similar to a certain type of herbivorous animal.

When Zhong Chengshuo finished saying “uncomfortable”, Yin Ren wanted to touch those eyes.

Unfortunately, Comrade Xiao Zhong fell into a long silence after sending out the announcement. The memories in Yin Ren’s head had been flipped over several times, and instead of alleviating his nervousness, his symptoms gradually deepened.

Was Zhong Chengshuo sulking, or did he decide to hang him dry, returning an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth?

Yin Ren thought that he was quite good at dealing with interpersonal relationships, and Zhong Chengshuo was a man without fancy. But at this moment, he couldn’t guess what Zhong Chengshuo was thinking.

Every unlucky guess took root in Yin Ren’s mind, and countless “bad endings” emerged. His brain didn’t seem to be his own, and Yin Ren wanted nothing more than to turn it off.

Thousands of years ago, he hadn’t thought about things in such a long-winded manner.

The children around him couldn’t keep up with him for too long. He taught them spells, and they taught him to read. If there was conflict… Well, he was a hundred-year-old man. How could he really be annoyed with children?

The officials at Huajisi who corresponded with him weren’t children.

However, their communication was only through ink and paper. The best was through a spirit device that conveyed sounds. The attitude on the other side was always cautious. Even if he encountered a difficult person who didn’t speak, for the sake of “smooth operation”, troublemakers would be replaced.

Communication with people was nothing more than skimming the surface of water for him. If they were destined to meet, they would; if not, they would part ways. Yin Ren had always been accustomed to moving forward and never looking back.

Not to mention the question of not looking back now, he almost didn’t even know how to move.

After the world perished in Yin Ren’s head 180 times, Zhong Chengshuo opened his mouth. “I have thought about it.”

Yin Ren: “……”

Only then did he realize that he hadn’t breathed for more than ten minutes.

“I can’t breathe well. My chest feels like cotton is being stuffed into it. It’s swollen and bloated.” Zhong Chengshuo truthfully described his feelings. “I tried to recall the samples that I managed to get a hold of several times, but I still couldn’t get excited and just wanted to lie down.

Yin Ren: “…Is it because I hardened my feathers just now?”

The taxi driver raised his puzzled eyes in the rearview mirror.

“No. The first time the symptoms appeared was when you said, ‘Even if we are just friends, I will be scared to death if you do this.’ Then when you said, ‘Who told me to be an elder?’ the symptoms became more serious.”

Yin Ren hissed and suddenly realized the problem with what he said. “I didn’t mean that…”

“Anyway, the symptom appeared, and I’m just describing the facts truthfully.”

Zhong Chengshuo had an expression of ‘I can’t do anything about it’.

“I have been thinking about it just now, and I’ve figured out the arguments to refute it.” Zhong Chengshuo turned his head and looked at the car window. “First, I’m your boyfriend, and I want more special treatment. Second, you have never been in love before, so we have the same starting point. I don’t like your ‘modesty’.”

After speaking, Zhong Chengshuo seemed to have realized something and chewed on the sentence “Don’t like…?” repeatedly.

The driver began to raise his eyes frantically in the rearview mirror again. The doubts in his eyes turned into intense curiosity.

Yin Ren exhaled slowly. He had the feeling that he had finally beheaded the tiger.

Although Zhong Chengshuo wasn’t in tune with the world, this person always knew how to identify the key points—whether it was an opponent or a human heart.

He understood. He understood, but…

Lord Ghost King’s gaze began to wander. He stared at the back of Zhong Chengshuo’s head, and his words got stuck in his mouth for a while.

Zhong Chengshuo’s rebuttal was like a heavy hammer, knocking open the walnut shell of Yin Ren’s “self-proclaimed elder”, revealing a little thoughtfulness that he had just noticed.

“I want more special treatment”…

Yin Ren groaned. He knew that he should show his open-mindedness and have an open conversation. Unfortunately, his hot face betrayed him now, making his throat cramp, and he couldn’t utter a word.

No, if he took into account the surroundings, his brain wouldn’t be enough.

Yin Ren pinched his hands, causing the driver’s vision to be blocked by illusions and seals. In the eyes of the driver, the two passengers in the backseat suddenly sat upright, expressionless, without any squinting eyes or anger.

The driver was so frightened that he hurriedly retracted his gaze.

Under the barrier of illusion, the real picture was a bit more frightening…

Without the driver’s inquisitive gaze, Yin Ren’s tense mood relaxed a little. The red cloth and wings fluttered and stretched out. He buried his face in the red cloth, and the wings at his feet uncomfortably curled up, brushing against Zhong Chengshuo’s ankle intermittently.

Zhong Chengshuo was waiting for a while for Yin Ren’s response. He twisted his head suspiciously and saw a certain Evil Spirit had shrunk into a ball.

It wasn’t quite the same as when Yin Ren was closed off to him. This time, the wings looked soft—so soft that they seemed to disappear in the next second.

It also had a suspicious tinge of red.

“I’m sorry.” There was a murmur from the depths of the red cloth.

Two pale arms peeked out from within the red cloth and held Zhong Chengshuo’s face.

Zhong Chengshuo’s glasses were pushed crookedly by Yin Ren’s palm. Behind the lenses, those black eyes blinked.

“Thinking of it this way, my bad parts are a bit like yours.” Yin Ren’s voice was a little low. “Anyway…”

In terms of performance and words, they just went to two extremes—Yin Ren had a caring attitude towards everyone, while Zhong Chengshuo evaluated everything and anyone with rationality.

He was indeed worried about Zhong Chengshuo, but there was also a considerable part of his unhappiness that wasn’t reasonable.

“Now I, ahem, I can tell you clearly. If a friend does something regardless of their own safety, I will definitely be angry too… but I won’t be as angry as if it were you.”

Yin Ren pressed his fingers on the other’s cheek and felt the warm and soft skin.

“But I don’t care how my friends see me or whether they worry about me.” The red color within the translucent wings grew stronger. “Can’t I just care about your attitude towards me?”

He cared that Zhong Chengshuo acted without saying anything; cared that he went into a dangerous place alone; and even cared that he didn’t show “caring” when he acted alone.

He just cared.

No wonder he understood the reasoning, but his anger remained stubborn. Like Zhong Chengshuo, he also wanted that “special treatment”.

Now Yin Ren realized that, when facing a young mortal, it was really… a bit embarrassing to say it out loud directly.

The problem was he chose the person who insisted on getting to the bottom of things, and there was no room for “that’s enough, we understand each other”—he had to speak his mind.

All the wings under Yin Ren’s feet curled up, scratching up the floor.

“I didn’t give in to you. I just didn’t know what to do,” he explained in a whisper. “You feel ‘angry’, which is very similar to why I was angry before… After all, we all feel that we’re ‘not special enough’.”

Zhong Chengshuo looked at him solemnly for a while, thinking for a long time.

“Nn, I agree.”

Yin Ren stretched out his two arms slowly, carefully lifting the red cloth in front of his face, and coughed dryly. “Then, in the future, you and I can give up some shame. I will also, uh, learn more from you.”

“But I don’t have any ‘shame’,” Zhong Chengshuo said puzzledly.

Yin Ren: “……” Uh, that’s pretty much what I meant.

“If you don’t mind, I can tell you all about my abnormalities.”

Yin Ren breathed out a sigh of relief. “Alright, I’ll take it all.”

“But I’m still uncomfortable. Is this ‘angry’?”

“Probably.” Yin Ren saw sweat on his forehead and felt the tendency to shrink back to the red cloth again.

“Obviously, we have initially solved the problem, so why am I still angry?” This person even took out a notebook and wrote a record, as if he wasn’t in a relationship with his lover but was bitten by a rare poisonous snake.

Yin Ren: “…I have an ancient recipe. When we arrive at our destination, I’ll treat it for you.”

“Nn.”

In the panicked expression of the taxi driver, the car stopped near the old town.

At this moment, it was around five in the evening. There was a faint yellow in the sun, and there was an endless stream of pedestrians walking around the old town. Most of them were the elderly wandering around. Unlike the streets of Gengsheng Town, all the elderly had smiles on their faces. The surrounding buildings were old, but they were well maintained, giving the old street a sense of vitality like a hundred-year-old tree.

Under one of the giant trees, there was a stall selling beef skewers.

“Since we were angry at each other this time, let’s AA for now.”

Zhong Chengshuo quietly gathered a strand of hair between his fingers. The soft hair happily rubbed against his knuckles, slowly relaxing.

“I have tried this shop before. Herbs are added to their soup, and the ingredients are also very good, so it’s really delicious,” Zhong Chengshuo commented pertinently. “It’s a suitable place to bring ‘friends’ to eat.”

You’re doing this on purpose, right? Yin Ren couldn’t laugh or cry.

Unexpectedly, this kid could hold a grudge.

Yin Ren deliberately squeezed Zhong Chengshuo’s palm and let out a long cry, “Then where do you want to take your boyfriend?”

Zhong Chengshuo stared at him for a long time.

“You’ll know in a while,” he said.

……

After a satisfying dinner, Zhong Chengshuo took him through the spider-web-like alley. When they reached their destination, Yin Ren instantly forgot the delicious taste in his mouth.

He had seen the space in front of him before—once in Guo Laifu’s memory.

Shelves full of specimens and steel barrels, windowless walls, and air that had the faint smell of medicine. The computer screen emitted a faint light, and next to it, he saw the strand of hair that Zhong Chengshuo had taken away.

Behind him, the basement door slammed shut, and the entire room was filled with inexplicable death, like a square tomb.

It turned out that this was the “suitable place to bring your boyfriend” in the concept of a science post. Lord Ghost King had never seen such a sight, and his heart was almost terrified.

Contrary, Zhong Chengshuo looked a bit excited.

“This is my secret research room in Haigu.” There was a weird shyness in his tone. “You can come here in the future too.”

“Ah, very good!”

The wall facing the entrance was covered with various newspaper clippings, photos, and handwritten texts. Red silk threads were connected in all directions, like a weird spider web. Yin Ren saw that he had occupied half the wall, and his heart started sweating profusely.

But… Did this mean that “King Yama”, surrounded by mysteries, had finally opened a corner of his heart to him?

Although the corner of his heart wasn’t particularly bright.

With a smile on his face, Zhong Chengshuo put the sample bags full of samples on the table. It was rare that he didn’t immediately deal with these “treasures” but stood in front of Yin Ren.

Yin Ren was still observing the “Evil Yin Ren observation data” that occupied half the wall in a daze and didn’t react for a while.

“It’s really nice here!” Yin Ren tried his best to sound sincere.

“It’s not about this.”

Zhong Chengshuo was standing upright.

“I have a little bit of ‘anger’ left, so you still have time to use that ‘ancient recipe’.”

Yin Ren stared at the person in front of him steadily. Zhong Chengshuo was standing in the middle of this dark space, like a ghost, commanding the area. This person knew that he was an Evil Spirit, and knew he was also the Great Celestial Master Zhong Yi, but his gaze wasn’t the same as when he first met him.

Zhong Chengshuo looked up at him intently. Curiosity was hidden in his dark eyes, and the excitement of “sharing secrets” on his face hadn’t dissipated.

“Alright.”

Yin Ren heard himself say.

Their petty fight needed an end.

And their new accomplice career may need a proper start.

Yin Ren brushed away a few strands of hair that were in the way, leaned forward, and gently kissed the corner of Zhong Chengshuo’s mouth.

……

At the same time, Fu Xingchuan’s mobile phone rang loudly.

“Hello?”

Minister Fu had the misfortune of just finding out about his “longevity” and was still in a trance. He even forgot to check to see who the caller was.

“Ah, what? National Special Operations Group joint exercise competition? Haigu isn’t available this year. We don’t have many new recruits here… Wait a minute.”

Fu Xingchuan showed a meaningful smile and looked a little less upright.

“Nothing, nothing. Pretend I didn’t say anything just now. Haa, Haigu haven’t participated for at least three years. This year’s C-level investigation team has really good seedlings, so we’ll definitely join.”

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Ah, this is why I love Nian Zhong’s works. There’s no unnecessary drama or conflict, and when the couples do fight, it gets resolved through communication.

Minister Fu, you devious fox.

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

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 111: Ancestral Hall

The mountains in Haigu were different from those in Gengsheng Town. They lay on the outskirts of the city and were dangerous and steep. The cliffs were sharp like knives, and the teeth of the mountains were jagged. Many areas prohibited tourists from entering, saving the time to even find their bones.

The Fu family lived on such a mountain.

The Fu family mansion had been passed down for hundreds of years and was considered a cultural relic. The Fu family had lived here for generations, and the original residence had expanded, similar to the ant’s nest. They were embedded in the strange peaks and stones, forming a scene of their own.

In the wide courtyard, from time to time, old giant trees twisted their branches, casting large shadows. The chirping of the cicadas from the tree trunks sounded so loud that it gave people headaches. Fortunately, the mountains were much cooler than the city center, so at least the environment wasn’t as irritable.

After his older sister notified him, Fu Xingchuan finally got permission to enter the ancestral hall.

The ancestral hall was at the very center of the entire complex.

The topography of that place was particularly weird, like a depression in the gap squeezed out by several mountains. It was shaped like an inverted bell, and the bottom was always filled with endless mist. To enter the ancestral hall, he had to walk down a spiral of wooden steps.

Of course, after the Fu family entered the new era, the wooden steps were all reinforced with alloy materials, and solid handrails were installed so people wouldn’t die when trying to meet their ancestors.

The body of the “ancestor” was very fragile. Before seeing the “ancestor” the less impurities on his body, the better, so it was best not to meet anyone before.

Fu Xingchuan went to an empty room alone to bathe, shave, and burn incense. He cleaned himself up from head to toe and put on a red tunic smoked with fragrant wood. Even the tassel earring he was wearing was also specially treated.

After taking care of himself, he dipped a willow branch into the cold mountain spring water and walked towards the deepest part of the courtyard.

There were corridors leading to the ancestral halls in different regions. The above-mentioned stone and wood materials were repaired, and they were all painted in bright red colors. Fu Xingchuan walked on the promenade, waving the willow branch lightly and sprinkling water beads in front of him from time to time.

Oddly enough, the water on the willow branch was endless. Even though Fu Xingchuan had swung it multiple times, the jade-like willow leaves were still stained with dew.

Birds chirped and cicadas buzzed along the corridor, while the shrubs rustled in the wind, casting their shadows in the corridor. On occasion, a few cats would run across the promenade. One black cat stared at Fu Xingchuan curiously for a while. In its clear eyes, the red figure moved forward intently without raising his head.

The black cat shook its tail, jumped lightly on the beam of the room, and followed after its companion.

The deeper he ventured into the complex, the lower the surrounding temperature. When he walked in front of the “ancestral hall pit”, a thin mist overflowed from around the mountain pit and spread against the turf.

Fu Xingchuan chanted a few times silently, and the water droplets on the willow branch dispersed. The willow branch stood straight up, and a cluster of spherical blue flames ignited at the end. The mist dissipated as soon as it was touched, forking a path.

On the rock wall of the pit, countless statues of gods were carved, and bright murals were painted in places where it was inconvenient to carve. Compared with the cold air of the ant’s nest, the murals here were quite charming. Those statues also had different expressions and were upright and awe-inspiring.

It was just that they had a new and old look, and some seemed as if they were moved from elsewhere.

They were all things that Fu Xingchuan had seen since he was a child, and they carried the spiritual substance of the Fu family for thousands of years. Although other families would enshrine this person, after thousands of years, only the Fu family maintained an almost old-fashioned fear.

Portraits, stone statues, and the theme were all about the “Great Celestial Master Zhong Yi”.

Among them, the “big and round waist” style was the most popular. There were also some thin and long “xianweng*” models. Some of these images held nine-ring knives, while others were holding elegant long knives. His facial features and clothes were all different, so it was hard to say that they were the same person.

*(仙翁) Depiction of an immortal (god) in the form of an old man.

What had always remained the same was the unrighteous aura.

…Hehe, the unrighteous aura.

As Fu Xingchuan held the wicker, his facial features wrinkled into a chrysanthemum.

He hoped that the ancestor worshipped Zhong Yi only for some kind of “righteous spirit”. Otherwise, if the old man knew the truth, he would not know how disillusioned he would be.

Fu Xingchuan couldn’t help but think about what happened not long ago—

The matter of Gengsheng Town came to an end, and the first thing he did when he rushed back to Shian was to retrieve all relevant information about Zhong Yi. No one had investigated this Great Celestial Master thousands of years ago in detail before, so it took considerable effort to gather the statistical data.

The conclusion was shocking.

In the metaphysical world, everyone knew Zhong Yi’s name, but he couldn’t find any information that could be regarded as official records. Most of Zhong Yi’s records were specious unofficial histories and legends, or vague descriptions.

The only “true record” left by the Great Celestial Master was <The Book of Exorcism>, which recorded a large amount of information about evil things and countless exquisite spells.

This had been the case for thousands of years, and this had almost become the customary status quo. No one thought carefully about the hidden logic behind it.

To obtain such detailed information to compile <The Book of Exorcism>, Huajisi must’ve had contact with Zhong Yi himself.

Huajisi regarded this information as their life, so even if the emperor asked to destroy the records, they would always keep the truth. Unless Huajisi themselves wanted to deliberately conceal it…

If Zhong Yi was really a talented and cynical hero, what was there to hide?

Fu Xingchuan knew Shian and Sunken Society better than anyone else. It was impossible for such a special evil to exist that could make Sunken Society study it for more than a thousand years, yet Shian didn’t get a whiff of it?

A terrible conjecture gradually took shape.

Could it be that the man in red who commanded ten thousand ghosts was Zhong Yi?

And Yin Ren, who hinted and guided them all the way, exposed his terrifying strength in front of Qi Xin…

“Reasonable.” Facing Fu Xingchuan’s stumbling narration, Li Nian concluded with this word.

Perhaps this was the benefit of a science post, Fu Xingchuan thought sadly.

To them, “Zhong Yi” was the same as the “God of Nature, Balakabra”, who was worshiped by the indigenous people of the next hemisphere. It was just a cultural entry without the slightest impact of the collapse of faith.

When Fu Xingchuan thought of the pious pilgrimage in front of the statue of Zhong Yi before, his mood turned sour.

He almost had a heart attack.

“Based on what you said, Zhong Yi is the evil in red, and Yin Ren is most likely Zhong Yi himself.”

Li Nian ignored his partner’s distorted face. “When he first came to Shian, Yin Ren’s tone had characteristics of the ancient language of the Gong Dynasty. And if the evil qi vibration that night was caused by Zhong Yi himself, who sealed six Evil Spirits, such an exaggerated value would make sense… The abnormality that you and I observed in the cafeteria was also that kid teasing us.”

Professor Li tightened his grip on the thermos cup, but his face was calm.

“I have studied literature and materials related to Zhong Yi. Assuming that this inference is true, many contradictions can be explained.”

“You said that when Yin Ren fought Qi Xin, he was wearing a red outfit that was decorated with many seals and spirit weapons. In Zhong Yi’s record, there is a record that shows ‘walking alone, elusive’.”

“There are many unofficial legends and folk histories, but there’s no similar story of ‘encountering an evil thing and being rescued by Zhong Yi in person’. This is a classic routine of encountering strange people in ancient times, but there is no such record for the Great Celestial Master.”

Fu Xingchuan’s face was pale. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Are you trying to say…”

“Whether Zhong Yi is a human or a ghost, he should be surrounded by heavy evil qi, or even Evil Force. He self-sealed himself with spirit weapons and stayed away from the masses, which is why he rarely made contact with people.”

“However, there should be people who can see him from a distance. Sunken Society, who would risk people’s lives, would definitely find a way to meet him.”

As Li Nian spoke, he used a tablet to bring up a few pictures.

It was a very old ancestral hall mural, painted with a tall young man in red clothing with blurred facial features. His red clothes were adorned with armor-like things. There was another simple painting of him in a scarlet cloak. Zhong Yi wore a mask and was wrapped in the cloak, so only a part of the golden armor on his chest was exposed.

The Zhong Yi of the two paintings wasn’t burly, and his body shape was closer to that of ordinary people.

“This was the earliest portrait of Zhong Yi, something like a ‘painting of God’. Latecomers often use their impressions to make up for the omissions of the former and finally change their appearance.”

Li Nian moved his fingers, and countless portraits of Zhong Yi were arranged in chronological order.

Fu Xingchuan looked at the red figure with a blurred face. The youthful figure eventually turned into a strong man wearing a helmet and red cloth light armor. As time progressed, the painter’s painting skills gradually improved.

The rough red cloth armor turned into fine gold armor decorated with red lines. The helmet disappeared, revealing the appearance of a fierce general with a leopard head and ring eyes.

In a daze, Fu Xingchuan seemed to see “something” evolving.

…But conjecture wasn’t enough.

Maybe if he checked again, he would find that Yin Ren was just playing tricks!

Otherwise, how could he accept that a legendary figure… was a legendary evil?……

Thinking of the appearance of Yin Ren slumping in the beverage bar, sucking on a soda, he really couldn’t imagine how such a thing could seal six Evil Spirits.

After the painful thought, Fu Xingchuan decided to return home to find a “witness”. Li Nian happened to follow Hao Wenzhe back to the mountain town to investigate the “unidentified” imitation.

At that moment, Fu Xingchuan walked down step by step. The lower the terrain, the older the mural statues around him became. Unlike Shian of the past, this time he experienced a “back to basics”.

The golden armor turned into civilian clothes, and the nine-ring sword melted into a half-length weapon. The domineering face gradually blurred, blending into the pattern of the weird mask.

Click.

Fu Xingchuan’s feet touched the wet bluestone slab.

The ancestral hall was built after the fall of the Gong Dynasty but still retained the typical architectural style of that era. Its shape was close to the tower, and the decoration was full of stone materials with carvings that were simple and atmospheric. The entire tower presented the gray stone itself, and only two gates were painted in dark red.

…If there weren’t any antennas and air conditioners outside the tower, it was almost a sacred and solemn place.

Fu Xingchuan clenched the green willow branch in his right hand, bit a finger in his left hand, and drew a complicated array on the stone gate with his blood.

In the rumble, the huge stone gate slowly moved away.

“Fu Xingchuan?”

An old, hoarse voice sounded from behind the door.

Fu Xingchuan lowered his head politely. “Great Ancestor.”

One of the ancestors of the Fu family, the director of the Huajisi 900 years ago, Fu Wuya.

According to today’s classification, this person should have been considered a powerful “Charon” 900 years ago. However, his ending was probably similar to that of Minister Jiao.

Fu Xingchuan raised his head.

There was no one in front of him; just a willow tree that led directly to the top of the tower.

The branches of the willow tree were green and were softly tangled together, like octopus tentacles. The green branches didn’t have soft willow leaves, but the hairs were the thickness of blood vessels.

The skin on the trunk was unexpectedly smooth, and the soft blue veins protruding from the thick fingers rushed straight to Fu Xingchuan’s side, revealing a human face that could vaguely be seen…

The man’s facial features were of different sizes, distorted and deformed, and scattered all over the trunk of the tree. One eye on the tree was as big as a human head, with an unnaturally large pupil, while the other was half as big as a human eye, barely counting as a “face”.

“It’s really Xingchuan. You’ve grown so big.” The man with long arms opened his mouth and spoke clearly. “What are you doing here?’

“To ask you about ‘Zhong Yi’.”

Fu Xingchuan didn’t look at the giant eye—the giant eye was pitch black and made people feel palpitations and uneasiness.

“Huh?”

Fu Wuya blinked, not hiding the surprise in his tone.

“A few days ago, I found an evil suspect who was ‘Zhong Yi’,” Fu Xingchuan continued respectfully. “That evil can perfectly disguise itself as an adult human. During battle, it was covered with red cloth, decorated with countless sealed spirit weapons, and wore bells on its ankles. It rides on Yellow Millet and can make such a powerful evil thing bow its head, so its strength is unfathomable.”

He decided to omit parts that were too shattering.

Fu Wuya: “……”

Fu Wuya: “My dear grandson. I was in charge of Huajisi 900 years ago. Grand Master Zhong was a figure from more than a thousand years ago. If it were you, do you know what happened in Shian hundreds of years ago?”

Fu Xingchuan: “I thought you would at least have knowledge of…”

“We were very busy back then and didn’t have time to investigate the legend in detail.” Fu Wuya lamented, twisting his deformed face. “I can only tell you one thing—at my time, there were no records of anything relevant to Zhong Yi in Huajisi except for <The Book of Exorcism>. If someone deliberately changed the record, it would definitely be before my generation.”

Speaking of this, Fu Wuya’s tone became serious.

“The Fu family has ancestral precepts and must not be disrespectful to Grand Master Zhong. No matter whether he’s an evil or a person, if you can verify it, you need to give him 120,000 respects. If that evil thing is messing around with Grand Master Zhong’s name, you must eliminate it.”

“Yes.”

“But since you want to investigate the matter in depth… Xingchuan, some things should be left unsaid. When you don’t need to delve into it, don’t.”

“There are some unnatural things. Since it has become ‘accustomed to’, naturally there’s a reason for it. If you explore too much, be careful not to end up like me.”

Fu Wuya continued in a slow voice as his deformed eyes turned.

“For example?” Fu Xingchuan couldn’t hold back from asking.

“You have memorized <The Book of Exorcism> since you were five years old and can easily recite it. Have you ever thought about the unnaturalness of it?”

Fu Wuya’s eyes, one big and one small, turned at the same time, and his scattered facial features twisted into a ball, looking extraordinarily terrifying.

“No matter how weak or rare an evil thing is, once discovered, it will occupy a separate record. Even if the evil species are countless, Huajisi still counts and classifies them carefully.”

“The six Evil Spirits, regardless of strength, ability, and form, are all different, with only a few commonalities that are general… But they are all classified as ‘Evil Spirits’ and have not been classified separately.”

“The records left by ‘people’ cannot be trusted.”

The “human tree” chuckled, but his voice was chilling.

“People can lie, Fu Xingchuan.”

The air conditioner in the tower was turned to the max, but Fu Xingchuan’s back was drenched in cold sweat.

The person in red controlled thousands of evil beings, and so did that imitation in Gengsheng Town. No matter how he looked at it, it should be this kind of “special evil” that commands all ghosts.

So who moved the title of “Ghost King”, the commander of those ghosts, to Evil Spirit?

There must be hidden secrets behind “Zhong Yi”.

“If you really don’t have a clue, I have a solution. Why don’t I do a divination to see how long you will live?”

Seeing that Fu Xingchuan seemed to have some understanding, Fu Wuya shook his branches.

Fu Xingchuan knew the subtext of his ancestor.

“Zhong Yi” reappeared in the world with thousands of mysteries. If there was a huge conspiracy behind him, his remaining lifespan could be used as a side reference.

Fu Wuya: “But you have to think about it. Knowing your lifespan isn’t a good thing…”

“Thank you.”

Fu Wuya was silent for a moment.

A wicker brushed against the back of Fu Xingchuan’s hand violently, leaving a light bloodstain. A few drops of blood stained the willow branches and were absorbed in an instant.

In the giant eyes, the dark pupils suddenly shrank.

“Fi…” Fu Wuya’s voice trembled a little.

Fu Xingchuan held his breath.

Five years? …Or five days?

“Fifty-three years,” Fu Wuya murmured. “This isn’t reasonable. As far as your physical condition is concerned, how can this be possible?”

Fu Xingchuan: “……”

Fu Xingchuan: “Goodbye, Great Ancestor.”

Fu Wuya clicked his tongue and waved the willow branches.

“Leave as soon as you can. I can’t stand the breath of the living.” Fu Wuya half-closed his eyes. “…Oh, before you go, remember to help me tighten the cable on the TV screen. The screen has been cutting in and out for the past two days.”

Fu Xingchuan was speechless.

With such a comparison, Yin Ren was probably, not so strange… Perhaps longevity could really change a person’s character.

……

Haigu, afternoon.

Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo got in a taxi. Yin Ren’s face was no longer gloomy as he looked around curiously, finally stopping his gaze on Zhong Chengshuo’s face.

Zhong Chengshuo was looking at him.

“No angry anymore?” Comrade Xiao Zhong asked solemnly.

“Nn, I’m not angry anymore,” Yin Ren replied confidently.

Zhong Chengshuo took a deep breath. “Okay, then I decided to start being difficult.”

“?” The smile on Yin Ren’s face froze at the corner of his mouth.

“I care a little about what you just said, and I decided to show it.” Zhong Chengshuo was sitting upright. “Are you ready?”

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Kinky Thoughts:

LMAO, all these evil spirits just want to be salted fish. 

Just to clarify again, the term “evil” when used to describe these ghosts and monsters is not necessarily because they are inherently evil but it’s simply describing a supernatural being.

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