"Holy shit?"
His eyes widened in delighted shock. "My ass is cured? You've got magic hands, Doc!"
"Alright, alright, we all know you're cured. You healed way too fast! Now that you're done, hurry up and pull your pants back up!"
Ji Xue stowed her dagger with clear regret and planted a kick right on her brother's rear. She snapped, "When we get back, remember to bring a silk banner to Beishan District to thank Dr. Ji of proctology for his supreme wisdom and courage in saving your ass!"
Once Ji Liu had pulled his hazmat suit back on, Ji Jue swept the hardened quicksilver foil across the handprint. Instantly, wisps of black vapor rose from the protective suit and sank into the quicksilver, merging with the corruption previously extracted from the flesh. It formed a distinct five-fingered palm print, constantly squirming as if trying to break free from its confines and escape.
Ji Jue considered it for a moment, deciding against throwing the thing away. After layering seal upon seal to sever any sensory connection, the hardened bead of quicksilver fell silent, entirely inert.
Just like that, he slipped it into his pocket.
It was an oddity, after all, and something he hadn't seen before.
Maybe it would come in handy.
Inside the cabin, having witnessed Dr. Ji's instant-cure, miracle-working technique with their own eyes, the others looked at him with even warmer enthusiasm.
In an environment rampant with corruption, having a teammate who could cleanse contamination at a moment's notice, nip trouble in the bud, and provide gear maintenance and consumables on top of that...
What was that?
That was a goddamn loving, benevolent godfather!
Whatever the Third Department could do, he could do. Whatever the Third Department couldn't do, he could fucking do too! Even if Embers' combat capability was lacking, since when had this team ever lacked firepower? What they desperately needed was an all-powerful support daddy!
What was more, Daddy gave out freebies...
If the circumstances hadn't been so inappropriate, Ji Liu probably would have grabbed Ji Jue's hands and sworn fealty like Lü Bu right then and there. After all, nobody was ever prepared to suddenly bid farewell to half of their butt cheek.
After two consecutive scares, the rest of the journey turned thoroughly uneventful.
Just driving, stopping, then driving and stopping again.
They seemed to be following a planned route—slow and protracted. Sometimes, on a road that could have been crossed in a straight line, Tong Shan went to great trouble to make a wide detour. More often, they started and stopped without any warning.
From his quiet observation, Ji Jue gradually realized that the core of the team wasn't Tong Shan.
It was Xu Guan.
Or rather, his very presence was one of the mission objectives—and one of the must-complete variety.
Throughout the drive, the coordination between him and Tong Shan was exceptionally tight. Outwardly, no one could tell the details of their communication, but usually, whenever either reacted, the vehicle would suddenly accelerate, change routes, or stop dead in its tracks while everyone held their breath, waiting or taking cover.
Most of the time, it was to give Xu Guan time to create record tomes of the Aether lineage.
Sheet after sheet of the record tome came from his hands, carefully and cautiously stored into a specially prepared, sturdy container. Based on Ji Jue's observations, even the container appeared to be some kind of blessed creation of the Aether lineage, specifically designed to store information and prevent contamination.
"Are you mapping the area?" Ji Jue asked inquisitively.
"You figured it out?"
Xu Guan gave a faint smile without pausing his hands. The record tome glowed with a faint luminescence, swiftly and exhaustively recording every detail of their surroundings.
"In truth, advance reconnaissance teams aren't that thrilling. Danger can strike at any moment, but most of the time you're just sitting around with nothing to do. Yet you can't relax, and you aren't even allowed to zone out.
"The actual job, aside from sussing out potential hazards and threats in each sector, is pretty much cartography.
"The situation in Quancheng is complicated. The corrupted environment spawns all sorts of threats, and even space itself falls into chaos at times. Every time we come here, certain areas will have shifted or changed; two days apart, and they'll look completely different."
Ji Jue was puzzled. "Then what's the point of gathering records?"
"Isn't the Tong family of Heavenly Hearing here?"
Xu Guan glanced at Tong Shan, who was taking his turn resting in the back. "The more records we have, the more precise the calculations, and the more information can be analyzed. Even the fixed routes we take were mapped out by the Tong family. Compared to them, someone of my modest skill can only handle the grunt work."
"Cut the modesty, Old Xu."
Tong Shan cracked one eye open and looked over, smiling self-deprecatingly. "Aren't members of the Tong family right here pulling manual labor alongside you? How about I serve you a couple of juicy melons later?"
"What melons?"
Xu Guan's eyes lit up. "Last time, you only told half the story about Lei Yaoxing! I didn't get to finish the juicy gossip, but you sure left me on a cliffhanger!"
"Don't ask me about Lei Yaoxing. Isn't one of the key players sitting right next to us?" Tong Shan looked toward Ji Jue, shifting the spotlight. "Because if you ask me, I'd have to tell the story of how Benefactor Ji painstakingly persuaded someone to turn over a new leaf, and how Chen Xingzhou repented and shed tears at the memorial hall..."
"Holy shit? You even know about that?" Ji Jue was dumbfounded.
"Hua and Ye Chun are good friends, after all," Tong Shan said with relish. "Lately, every day I come home, I get to hear daily updates of the overachieving dog's little tales. Even Fourth Uncle's been following the updates for quite a while."
Tong Hua!!!!
No, never mind Tong Hua—he couldn't beat her brother, so he'd file that grudge away for later.
But as for that inherently evil little brat Ye Chun, I'm going to—
Ji Jue's eyelid twitched, his fists clenching tight, then tighter.
—Tell Professor Ye I want to write an academic paper!
Certain dogs, when pushed to extreme anger, would start out-grinding everyone. "Key Points and Summary of the Fundamental Principles of Fluid Alchemy in Reverse Application"—in less than a few seconds, an outline had already surfaced in his mind.
See, inspiration just strikes like that!
Looking at it that way, Senior Sister really was his academic muse!
Since sitting idly in the car left him with nothing else to do anyway, Ji Jue simply fished out pen and paper from his bag and began scribbling away at a brief literature review.
Beside him, Lou Feng accidentally caught a glimpse, and his gaze snapped away as if struck by an electric shock.
Staring out the window, his expression shifted wildly.
What the hell? What was going on? Why was this dog Ji Jue suddenly researching Fluid Alchemy right next to him? Don't tell me he's setting me up, planning to frame me for peeking at trade secrets?!
Remembering the "glorious deeds" of Ye Xian that his teacher had recounted, Lou Feng felt utterly sick!
Too dirty! Far too dirty!
Everyone from Tide Sound Workshop has a dirty heart!
Overcome with indignant fury, Lou Feng ground his teeth, stomped his foot, pulled out pen and paper from his bag as well, and began scribbling: "A Brief Discussion on the Effects of Combining Spiritus Shaping with Blessing Applications."
Come on, play dirty! Let's get dirty together!
I've put up with you for long enough!
For a time, in the noiseless drive, only the continuous rustle of pens scraping across paper could be heard.
Even Ji Liu on the roof couldn't help poking his head in. Looking down at the two furiously writing—their expressions shifting from furious scowls to silent, manic grins—he exchanged a baffled, utterly bewildered look with his teammate in the cabin.
Why the hell did they suddenly start out-grinding each other out of nowhere?
You Embers guys are weird as fuck!
Yet as they drove on, Xu Guan and Tong Shan in the back suddenly jerked without warning, their expressions drastically shifting: "Stop the car!"
A piercing screech of brakes erupted instantly.
Everyone inside jolted violently, thrown into disarray. Only then did they hear wails and shrieks from outside the window, coming from directly in front of the vehicle.
Viscous blood spread like a tide from beneath the wheels, wrapping around them layer by layer, turning into a quagmire that held the wheels fast no matter how they spun.
Then, from the sticky pool of blood directly before the hood, the glaring headlights illuminated a contorted face.
Wearing a bizarre smile, it let out agonizing wails and shrieks.
"Murder! Murder! Help, help, help me—!"
On that squirming face, two sets of pieced-together features shifted positions constantly, indeterminate of gender. The voice swung between shrill and gravelly, shouting, "A hit-and-run! Help, I'm dying!!!"
Accompanied by the bizarre figure's piercing screams, faint ripples seemed to stir along the previously empty street. In the murky darkness all around, pale faces surfaced one after another, bearing malevolent smiles as they closed in.
"What the hell?"
In the driver's seat, Ji Xue was stunned. "Even ghosts are running scams these days?"
Tong Shan sensed their surroundings, his expression darkening. "A team from Chuancheng ran into this before. It's a swarm of aggregated remnant spirits. Like chang ghosts, they'll draw in more and more things. Everyone, stay sharp."
Bang!
A burst of crimson suddenly exploded across the windshield. A mangled figure crawled out from beneath the hood, pounding relentlessly on the glass. Its contorted face, pieced together from two sets of features, pressed against the glass with a feral grin: "I-I-I saw it! You're the ones who hit me! It was you!!!
"Pity, pity, pity me! I suffer so! I'm dying..."
It wailed its shrill accusations, shouting while grinning maniacally: "Pay up! Pay up! Pay up!!!"
With every shout, its palms slammed against the vehicle's body. Striking the telekinetic barrier from across the air, sharp cracking sounds rang out without pause.
Wherever the crimson spread, the color of rust surfaced rapidly, decaying and rotting everything it touched.
Even the engine stalled in an instant.
Bang!
Under Tong Shan's gaze, that body ruptured instantly. Yet from the gore, a new figure eerily wriggled its way out, clinging tenaciously to the vehicle while howling and screeching.
The eerie figures gathering all around pushed forward as well, pressing against the invisible repulsive force field.
"Tsk."
Tong Shan's expression turned grimmer by the second. Taking a deep breath, wild, violent pressure surged like a tidal wave, gathering strength. Just as he was about to go all out, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder from behind.
"Captain Tong, let me give it a shot?" Ji Jue asked.
"Are you confident?"
"A bit, but not much," Ji Jue replied candidly. "If it doesn't work, at least we still have you, right?"
Tong Shan fell silent.
If it were before, he might have refused without a second thought; there was no way he would entrust the safety of the entire team to Ji Jue. But having personally witnessed Ji Jue's prowess in handling corruption, he hesitated, caught in a dilemma.
In just a breath, he made a resolute decision.
"Be careful with everything."
"Got it."
Ji Jue grinned.
He took a deep, deep breath, then slowly exhaled.
He no longer suppressed the impulses and malice that had been welling up in his mind since moments ago.
And then, before everyone's eyes, amid the excited hum of the bone blade at his waist, his hazmat suit rapidly transformed.
Under the erosion and spontaneous conversion of spiritus, the heavy black protective suit quickly shed its original color, turning into a chilling, paper-thin, ghastly white. Then, large patches of crimson spread across the pale fabric, squirming and faintly outlining marks that looked like wailing faces or handprints.
A bloodstained ID badge materialized out of thin air, hanging down from Ji Jue's chest.
It swayed gently, fluttering without any wind.
Click!
In the dead silence between the wails, a crisp sound echoed.
The car door opened. Steps trod into the pool of blood.
Step by step, moving forward.
"Are you injured?"
The pale figure looked down, asking from above.
On the hood, the wailing, writhing entity froze for a moment, appearing confused. It raised its head, only to stiffen on the spot.
Reflected in its trembling pupils, the burned corpse cloaked in white constantly dripped thick blood, silently grinning down at it.
"What truly... exquisite raw material."
Chapter 197