Like all unexpected trouble, bad news always struck out of nowhere.
Take, for instance, shutting the door only to realize you left your keys inside and the gas on; finishing a meal only to spot half a cockroach's rear on your plate; or opening your eyes to find your pet having explosive diarrhea right by your pillow while you'd been dreaming of eating chocolate...
And sometimes, a teammate suddenly lost his mind, pulled the pin, and blew himself up along with you. When things like that happened, there really wasn't much you could do.
When rendered completely speechless, a person simply couldn't utter a word.
Except this time was different from the usual—it was very possible he would never speak again for the rest of his life.
Just as Kong Yebai grabbed the walkie-talkie and wailed in panic that disaster had struck, everyone finally caught the faint, barely perceptible ticking sound amidst the ragged gasps and pounding heartbeats...
Coming straight from inside his violently heaving chest.
When a dazed teammate instinctively reached out and yanked open his collar, he saw the pitch-black stitches that even Kong Yebai himself hadn't noticed.
The instant the man realized what it was, his eyes went wide.
"You son of a—"
*BOOM!!!*
And just like that, carrying the unfinished final curse of his life, he closed his eyes forever.
Flames and shockwaves blasted outward. Obliterated explosives and corruption poison surged like a tidal wave, engulfing everything. A crimson tide danced across every inch of space, swallowing it whole.
A scorching rain of blood erupted like fireworks one after another, converging within the brutal heatwave. Amidst the deafening roar, severed limbs flew up toward the ceiling, out the windows, or over collapsed walls, scattering down into the corridor.
Heaven only knew how many unfortunate patients were ground to dust in an instant, while even more ravenous patients swarmed in, gorging themselves in wild ecstasy, licking the gore and howling with excitement.
From deep within the billowing smoke came shrill, agonized wails.
In the corner, several squirming figures shrieked and struggled, trying to crawl out of the inferno.
After all, a makeshift nitroglycerin explosion was no match for the phlogiston explosives Lu Feng once made, and the resilience of a Celestial Chosen defied common sense. Even after taking such a horrific blast full in the face, they still clung to a breath of life.
One Swarm, one White Stag, and one Desolate Ruins—all of them renowned for being tough to kill. Yet now, suddenly subjected to such devastation, eighty to ninety percent of their vitality was already gone.
To make matters worse, shrill laughter and weeping echoed from just outside the blasted wall. Crawling along the wall like a wild dog, the ghost fetus poked its head out, grinning hungrily and opening its maw wide.
After inhaling a massive vortex of flesh, blood, and lingering spirits, it turned its gaze toward a grievously wounded Celestial Chosen. Opening its giant mouth, it pounced.
"Aaaagh!! Help... save... save me... save meee!"
Amidst his wretched shrieks, he rolled on the floor. But his teammates whose injuries were slightly less severe couldn't care less. As if deaf to his cries, they scrambled outward on hands and knees, ignoring even the increasingly frantic inquiries crackling from the walkie-talkie in the corner.
Unfortunately, the moment they crawled past the billowing smoke, the first thing to meet their eyes was a face as pale as a ghost.
Flesh and blood squirmed, morphing into a brand-new countenance.
A smile emerged.
He reached out toward the survivors and gave a gentle tap.
"Sleep now. Have a good sleep," Xie Lan said softly. "When you wake up, it'll all be over."
Dust-sized motes drifted faintly into their mouths and noses. Immediately, the living poison gu—a fusion of poison and curse—took root in their spiritus, rapidly sprouting and spreading.
In the blink of an eye, the two survivors turned into rigid living corpses, standing by his side.
*Materials +2.*
"My, my, that was fast. Isn't this going a bit far?"
Xie Lan slowly rose, thrust his hands into the pockets of his white coat, and glanced at the carnage in the office, clicking his tongue in wonder. "And here I thought I'd get to watch a fierce battle between dragons and tigers..."
He asked curiously, "Since when did people from the Security Bureau get this unhinged?"
"Talking behind people's backs isn't a very good habit."
Behind him, the 'fashionably late' Ji Jue walked up slowly from the corridor and reminded him, "Especially when you're stealing someone else's spoils. That's even worse."
"Who's stealing?" Xie Lan's eyes widened in indignant grievance. "I pulled my weight just now, didn't I? You can't honestly refuse to give me a cut, can you?"
"Fine by me. You take the biological matter, and I take the spiritus," Ji Jue agreed readily, as if he had anticipated this all along.
Xie Lan shook his head at once. "What would I do with so many living corpses? A few test subjects are plenty. You're taking all the most valuable stuff for yourself—isn't that being a little too stingy?!"
Ji Jue didn't care in the slightest about his exorbitant demands and smoothly went with the flow. "We can do it the other way around. Doesn't matter to me."
If they couldn't both be satisfied, then neither would be.
If Ji Jue got those severed limbs and hollow shells, he could at least recycle and repurpose them—at worst, he could cultivate a batch of corruption poison to make bombs. But what the hell would a Vortex follower like Xie Lan do with so much spiritus?
He didn't even have a spiritus cage.
"Tsk..."
Xie Lan couldn't help shaking his head. Calculating that time was running short, he could only sigh. "Fine, let's do it your way."
With their hasty agreement struck, the two dropped their guard against each other. A crowd of living corpses swarmed forward, racing against the clock to clean up the scene.
By the time Xie Lan directed a bloated corpse to open its maw and swallow the final severed limb, the spiritus cage at Ji Jue's waist was nearly bursting, the skull's eyes glowing crimson.
The matrices dismantled by the Dissociation Art had finally given Deus Ex Machina a full meal.
Such adept spiritus manipulation and ruthless looting truly opened Xie Lan's eyes. If the two hadn't belonged to different branches with hardly any overlap in resource requirements, he might have already started muttering to himself that *this kid cannot be allowed to live*.
Just as their harmonious scavenging concluded, the patients gathering in the hallway scattered in terror, daring not linger a second longer. Right after, footsteps hurried over like falling rain.
One stiff-faced doctor after another stepped out from the shadows. Leading them was the grim, hideous Director Qian. His stitches had burst, blood oozing out slowly, his previous smile nowhere to be seen.
"What happened here?"
His pitch-black pupils swept across everyone present, settling on the gruesome state of the office. "What happened? How did another major accident happen?!"
"No idea."
Ji Jue shook his head, thought carefully, and arrived at a conclusion. "Maybe someone violated appliance regulations? A microwave exploded, perhaps?"
Director Qian suddenly closed the distance.
Without warning, he was inches away.
A pair of hollow eyes glared fixedly at Ji Jue as he held up half of a shattered skull. "Wasn't he just in your room?"
"Yes, he was," Ji Jue nodded. "Everything was fine when I left. Director Qian, you have to vouch for me. But as soon as I finished rounds and went back, I saw that a very precious personal belonging of mine was missing from the office. That's why I rushed over to demand an explanation... Alas, you can know a person's face but not their heart. Who could have guessed he was that kind of person?"
As he spoke, Ji Jue bent down in front of everyone, picked up a blessed relic, and slipped it into his pocket. Under the gaze of countless frigid eyes, he sighed repeatedly with a look of profound regret.
Director Qian then turned his head toward Xie Lan.
"And you?"
"I came to help," Xie Lan offered an innocent smile. "Loving and caring, one big happy family. The hospital is a family—how could I stand idly by when something happened to a colleague? Unfortunately, their injuries were far too severe. None of them survived. What a shame."
"Is that so?" Director Qian asked.
"That's exactly it," both of them nodded in unison, without a moment's hesitation.
Immediately, a crisp sound of chewing rang out. The shattered bones and mangled flesh on the floor vanished entirely, as if devoured by an invisible, gaping maw. Then, accompanied by the wails of lingering spirits in the air, the ruined walls rapidly contracted and closed up.
It was as though an unseen colossus was slowly healing itself.
"Looking out for one another is a good thing. Keep it up, and don't forget your duties."
Director Qian turned back one last time to look at the two of them, suddenly splitting into a grin. "The hospital is about to get quite busy for a while. You two had better work hard."
One by one, the eerie, rigid figures vanished down the corridor.
Bringing up the rear, Director Qian reached out and gave Ji Jue's shoulder a parting pat, leaving behind a lingering, bone-chilling chill.
From beginning to end, Ji Jue smiled as he saw them off.
"Don't worry. As long as you don't make a move right in front of their eyes, they won't care," Xie Lan said. "The only reason this caused such a commotion was probably because the work area got damaged. Don't let them catch you slipping, or you'll get a demerit and be fired."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Ji Jue nodded with a smile. "When we have time, let's exchange notes, Doctor Xie."
"Pass. I'm just a researcher." Xie Lan shook his head, sighing in admiring awe. "To strike with such brutal ruthlessness so quickly... you really are terrifying."
"Am I?"
Ji Jue looked over, puzzled. "Against bad guys, shouldn't you hit them with everything you've got? Are you a bad guy?"
"I am not," Xie Lan shook his head decisively.
"What a coincidence. Neither am I."
Ji Jue broke into a smile and waved goodbye. "I'm just a passing messenger of justice."
With that, Xie Lan watched Ji Jue's figure disappear into the dark.
Only then did the sneaky mouse poke its head out from under Xie Lan's collar, somehow letting out a sigh of relief. "Holy crap, has the Security Bureau's recruitment gotten this wild?"
"It has nothing to do with the Security Bureau."
Xie Lan stared in the direction Ji Jue had gone and shook his head slightly. "That guy is an anomaly even by Yacheng's standards. Would you have the guts to meddle in the election for the city's boss while still in the Calling stage? Even the Lou family suffered a brutal fall at his hands. If someone claims he's a peace-loving, gentle, and kind-hearted soul, would you believe them?"
Saying this, he couldn't help letting out a cold scoff. "Just you wait and see. The Evil Transmutation Cult picking a fight with someone like him... they've truly stirred up a demon."
***
"I'm back from messing around!"
Whistling, Ji Jue carried the ghost fetus back to his office like he was hauling a dog by the scruff of its neck.
He gave the ghost fetus's rear a casual pat, and the creepy creature obediently opened its mouth, spitting out a small mountain of diverse alchemical creations.
Most of them were crude, shoddy junk not worth a second glance. There were also several blessed items, but unfortunately, heaven only knew which grave the Evil Transmutation Cult had dug them out of—they were packed with an alarming number of backdoors and traps. Either using them once cost more than half your blood, or repeated use tainted you with curses. He had no choice but to dismantle them all and feed them to Deus Ex Machina.
This finally filled the number 【2】 on the dial to completion. With blessings already in hand, Ji Jue was now only a step away from smoothly stepping into the final stage of the Calling phase.
*I need to make time to expand the spiritus cage soon. Otherwise, with this much spiritus, the crude container I cobbled together will burst before long.*
Deus Ex Machina was already an ability that consumed massive amounts of spiritus. Even with his own reserves plus Cousin's, Ji Jue still felt it fell short. Naturally, the more reserves he had to shoulder energy costs elsewhere, the better.
Besides, with this much spiritus and materials...
Ji Jue stroked his chin, studying the skull before him as various modern alchemy applications taught by Professor Ye surfaced in his mind...
*Surely I can build another massive bomb out of this, right?*
He hadn't been this wealthy in ages. The suffocating mood that had weighed on him since entering the Chrono Ruin lifted considerably.
Beside him, however, Tong Hua seemed completely distracted as she organized the records.
She kept spacing out, looking utterly lost in thought.
Ji Jue glanced over in confusion. "What's wrong? Did you find something else?"
"No, not yet. The archives are too messy and tangled. I need a bit more time." Tong Hua rubbed her temples, hesitated for a long while, and finally asked tentatively, "Are you... doing all right?"
"Hm? What's wrong with me?" Ji Jue was baffled, then instantly grew vigilant. Was it a curse? Had he been afflicted without realizing it all this time?
"Uh, I mean..." Tong Hua pondered, seemingly searching for the right words as she leaned forward cautiously. "I feel like lately, you've been... well, kind of... maybe a bit... extreme?"
"Huh?"
Ji Jue blinked in confusion. He followed Tong Hua's gaze toward the powder keg and the pile of blood-smeared surgical tools, finally understanding. He slapped his forehead.
"Oh! You have a point." He considered it and nodded. "Doing it so roughly was indeed a bit unrefined. Once a man's dead, that should be the end of it."
"Don't worry,"
He waved a hand in assurance. "I won't do it again!"
She was his teammate, after all; he had to look out for her mental health. A sheltered young lady like her had probably never seen many B-movies growing up, let alone bloody scenes in real life... *I'll just do it behind your back from now on!*
His response was met with a helpless sigh.
"That's not what I meant. I don't care how that trash dies. Worshipping abominations and undermining the foundation of reality is a crime worthy of death ten times over. Do whatever you want to them."
Tong Hua sighed, looking at him.
"I'm talking about you."
Ji Jue froze, pointed at himself, and tilted his head. "?"
"I mean... you don't have to push yourself so hard. Besides, you have me!"
Halfway through, Tong Hua felt her example wasn't very convincing and quickly corrected herself, "Even if I'm unreliable, there's still Sister Wen, Lao Zhang, Xiao An, and the others, right? Tong Shan might walk around with a deadpan face all day, but when something like this happens, he'll definitely be the first to charge in. The First Department has complete protocols for Chrono Ruin disasters. Besides, the Tong family has existed alongside Yacheng for so long—they won't just sit on their hands and watch."
She coughed twice, did her best to put on a stern expression, and patted his shoulder. "You don't have to shoulder everything alone. You've already done more than enough. You don't have to torment yourself like this. Yacheng is huge; it's not going to be destroyed just because the two of us couldn't take down the Evil Transmutation Cult, right?"
Silence.
In the prolonged silence, Ji Jue didn't say a word, staring blankly at Tong Hua.
He stared until Tong Hua grew self-conscious, lowered her head, and shrank back into her seat, squirming with embarrassment as she scrambled to think of another topic to bury this cringe-worthy moment.
Only then did Ji Jue's voice break the quiet.
"So that's what it was..."
Ji Jue chuckled in realization. For the first time since entering the Chrono Ruin, a truly genuine smile crossed his face. "Thank you, Tong Hua."
He had never expected to feel such heartfelt concern and comfort from this ditzy young lady. Above the difficulties and danger, she had prioritized his state of mind, genuinely offering counsel as a true, vital friend.
Moved, Ji Jue even lost the desire to quietly seize some embarrassing dirt on her... for a brief moment, anyway.
Yet the moment Ji Jue dropped his teasing, mocking tone, Tong Hua grew even more flustered, keeping her head down and looking everywhere else.
"...Glad you know how to say thanks."
She shot Ji Jue a fierce glare. "Stop clicking your tongue at me in the future, got it!"
*Tsk...*
"Did you just click your tongue at me again?!"
Tong Hua's eyes went wide with sudden fury.
"All right, all right, don't worry, I promise, okay!"
With rare sincerity, Ji Jue raised a hand in pledge. After soothing Tong Hua, whose embarrassment was off the charts, he added a final correction: "Though, there's one thing you might have misunderstood."
"Huh?" Tong Hua didn't understand.
"To be honest, I don't have some grand sense of mission like you think, nor do I have Sister Wen's sense of duty. Originally, I had zero interest in the Evil Transmutation Cult."
Ji Jue paused, shrugged slightly, and gave a self-deprecating laugh. "The reason I'm doing this is purely out of a personal grudge. Nothing more."
Tong Hua fell silent, saying nothing more.
When Ji Jue smiled now, not a trace of warmth remained in his expression—only a bone-chilling cold.
Yacheng?
He might worry about Yacheng, but only a tiny bit.
Even if heaven and earth collapsed, Professor Ye's workshop would remain as steadfast as a mountain, not losing a single roof tile.
Even if Ji Jue's old family home collapsed, rebuilding it wouldn't cost much money.
But beyond that?
Beyond himself?
Brother Feng's company was already up and running, making delightful progress and becoming a great partner to various breeding bases. Every day after installing cameras, he'd bring home all kinds of cauliflower, tomatoes, and yardlong beans. Even though he cursed endlessly every time he returned about clients defaulting on payments, he'd do the exact same thing the next day.
Xiao Ling was doing great in college. Her teachers and classmates all liked her, and she had reportedly won a gold medal at the university sports meet.
Mother Lu had been smiling a lot more recently, and her cooking featured far more generous portions of meat.
Lao San was a little crybaby who wasn't great at studying, but would smile sweetly while hugging his leg. Lao Yao loved to treat people differently based on who they were, looking adorably clumsy whenever he tried to act clever.
They were all good people. The best people in the world.
People like that deserved to enjoy a peaceful, tranquil, and happy life.
And yet?
There were always pieces of shit, garbage, bastards, vermin... who couldn't bear to see even a glimmer of light in someone else's life. Like clowns wallowing in a cesspool, praising the stench, worshipping Vile Folly, fancying themselves grand and profound.
If the Chrono Ruin truly ruptured within Yacheng, beneath pollution far worse than dirty bombs and disasters, how many fragile little glimmers of light would be snuffed out? How many more wretches like Ji Jue would be created?
This world had already suffered too many catastrophes.
It was enough.
He couldn't count how many times he had woken in the dead of night, often feeling as though he had already died in that fire ten years ago, and everything now was merely a hallucination before death.
The weeping and wailing from that nightmare had echoed in his ears for over a decade, lingering to this very day.
Right up until now.
And now, someone wanted to push him—and everything he held dear—back into hell.
The Security Bureau might strike like thunder, the Tong family might act with ruthless force, and perhaps more righteous souls would step forward to fight the evil.
None of that mattered to Ji Jue.
In the shattered mirror, that smiling face burned as boundless regret and fury rose from the flames within his eyes, roaring and snarling in silence.
Before any of that—
—*I am going to tear every single one of you to shreds!*
Chapter 164