Li Xiang's heart was filled with trepidation, but his face retained a resolute expression.
Guards like him had long prepared themselves to face death.
If he had the misfortune of sacrificing his life this time, his parents and family would be meticulously cared for by the Sky Federation. On top of that, his name would start a brand-new branch in his family genealogy.
He walked over to Zhao Song and hoisted him onto his back with ease.
However, as he lifted him, he felt a hidden force creeping up from Zhao Song's calves. It was obviously the mei.
He didn't dare look; otherwise, before he could even carry Zhao Song to the restroom, he might be able to see the mei as well.
Zhao Song's body was stiff, slumped over Li Xiang's shoulder as though he had already been dead for days.
He stole a backward glance, and horror seized him at once. A female mei in a white robe, with disheveled hair hanging loose, stood quietly and eerily behind them.
Under normal circumstances, he might have had the nerve to quip that she was a gorgeous female mei and that he'd struck gold.
Right now, he only felt like crying.
Every expert present watched the scene with tense expressions.
"Expert Liu, just how much of what that Vampire Emperor said is true, and how much is false?"
"Hiding in a restroom and saying someone's inside... that's just too much of a joke."
The other experts chimed in with nervous murmurs.
If you were in a public restroom and someone knocked, saying someone was inside would indeed keep the person from entering.
But that was under ordinary circumstances.
Right now, what lurked outside was a mei!
"Could it be that this Vampire Emperor figured out our identities and is messing with us?" someone asked.
The others felt heavy-hearted. It was a real possibility.
"This is just too ridiculous."
There had never been a precedent like this.
A mei could not be judged by normal human reasoning.
At that moment, Expert Liu slammed a hand onto the desk and said in a low, stern voice, "Do not presume to guess the thoughts of an exalted god. Besides... we'll know the result in moments. What is there left to argue about?"
No one else spoke; their eyes all fixed on the large display.
Li Xiang wore live-feed equipment, allowing everyone present to observe what was happening inside the restroom.
By this point, Li Xiang had already carried Zhao Song into the restroom.
Inside stood a toilet, and the space was quite spacious—even with two people inside, plenty of room remained.
Li Xiang took a deep breath and stood in silence. Beneath the bright lights, he could hear Zhao Song's heart pounding wildly.
Aside from that...
In that instant, his pupils contracted sharply.
*Tap, tap...*
Faint footsteps approached, sounding crisply in Li Xiang's ears.
He knew this sound came from the mei.
He had been entangled with Zhao Song and the mei for too long, and soon, he too would be able to see it.
Once someone saw a mei, it meant death.
"She's here," Zhao Song said in a trembling voice.
In the hollow silence of the restroom, the tapping footsteps sounded piercingly sharp.
The sound drew closer and grew louder.
Zhao Song was terrified to the bone.
Li Xiang was a professional, and by all rights shouldn't have been afraid, but at this moment, he grew nervous as well.
Tension was contagious. In the hall, the many experts held their breath, breaking into a cold sweat for Zhao Song and Li Xiang.
If Zhao Song died, would the chat group still be accessible?
Would they still be able to use the Vampire Emperor's help to deal with the mei?
The mei were practically invincible, and each year the number of lives claimed by them skyrocketed.
Just then, the two inside the restroom exchanged a look.
The mei had stopped right outside the restroom door.
And most bizarre of all, this mei actually knocked on the door.
*Knock, knock, knock!*
The knocking sounded in a steady rhythm, pounding directly against the hearts of the two inside.
Zhao Song was scared out of his wits.
Outside was deathly quiet, broken only by the sound of the knocks.
"Someone's... inside."
Remembering Qi Yuan's instructions, he blurted out the words.
Outside the restroom, the female mei froze upon hearing them, momentarily at a loss.
Under normal circumstances, if something like this happened...
Whoever was using the toilet would first feel an itch on their buttocks, as if brushed by wet hair, and looking down into the bowl, they would see a deathly pale face.
Yet right now, having heard that someone was inside, the female mei simply... walked away.
The tapping footsteps grew fainter and fainter, until at last they faded away entirely.
An expression of utter disbelief broke across Zhao Song's face. "The mei... really left?"
This was the first time anything like this had ever been seen.
Generally speaking, a mei would never leave without claiming a life.
Unable to quite believe it, he even glanced at the toilet bowl.
What if the mei hadn't left and was hiding in the toilet?
"Gone?"
"The mei left!"
Zhao Song drew a deep breath.
At this point, Li Xiang summoned his courage and peeked out through the crack of the door.
Everywhere he looked was completely empty.
He saw no ankles, nor did he see any trace of the female mei.
He said, "The mei really did leave."
In the hall, every expert who heard this erupted into wild joy, mixed with disbelief and bewilderment.
The terrifying mei... actually left!
The method taught by the group owner, the Vampire Emperor, actually worked!
"It really works like that!"
"Just saying someone's inside the restroom makes the mei leave?"
"What on earth is the principle behind this?!"
Everyone was stunned, finding it completely inconceivable.
Meanwhile, Li Xiang and Zhao Song emerged from the restroom.
The others looked at them, visibly moved.
Expert Liu said excitedly, "Zhao Song, you have performed a monumental service!"
The terror in Zhao Song's heart had now completely turned into delight.
Expert Liu continued, "The top priority now is to confirm with the Vampire Emperor whether this method... can be used at home in the future!"
"Right! If it can be used, we must muster the entire power of the Sky Federation to launch massive construction projects and build public restrooms!"
"This matter must be brought before all council members for a full assembly!"
"Building public restrooms!"
"This is a core national policy!"
Those present spoke with solemn gravity, looking profoundly serious, as if debating the fate of the nation.
If word leaked out, anyone who heard it would be completely dumbfounded.
A core national policy... to build restrooms?
Were the citizens of this country maggots?
"Vampire Emperor, thank you. Relying on your method, the mei really knocked and then walked away. But is this method... a one-time thing, or can it be used anytime in the future?" Zhao Song asked apprehensively.
The members of the task force watched the chat, their hearts pounding.
"This is my divine oracle. In your world, it can naturally be used indefinitely," Qi Yuan replied casually.
A divine oracle was complex and profound.
The same was true of his special ability.
Combining his special ability with the divine oracle produced equally peculiar effects.
"Thank you, Vampire Emperor!" Zhao Song said with flushed excitement.
Seeing this, Expert Liu understood that the crucial national policy of building public restrooms had to be put on the agenda immediately.
After all, this was a welfare measure—how many lives could it save?
If someone ran into a mei on the street, the first thing to do was dash for a restroom.
It could save a life.
Just then, someone pointed out, "However, when some mei appear, they don't give us any time to reach a restroom at all."
That was the plain truth.
The appearances of mei were bizarre; there was no telling how or where one might show up.
Moreover, a hunt could begin in just a few breaths of time.
Where would anyone find the time to run to a restroom?
What were they supposed to do—turn the entire Sky Federation into one giant public restroom?
Expert Liu looked at Zhao Song and said, "Ask him what to do if there's no time to get to a public restroom."
Zhao Song relayed Expert Liu's question.
Meanwhile, in this plane, Qi Yuan's figure appeared in front of a pig trotters rice restaurant.
Even if the probability of a mei appearing at night was high, businesses still had to operate. People couldn't just starve to death, could they?
Seeing the message in the group, Qi Yuan replied nonchalantly, "Isn't that easy? Just clean your ears. As long as you're digging out earwax, people can't mess with you, and a mei can't either."
Qi Yuan felt he was exceptionally clever.
As everyone knew, when someone was cleaning their ears with an earpick, nobody was supposed to disturb them.
Therefore, a mei couldn't either.
"Cleaning your ears?"
When the expert group heard this, utterly bewildered looks washed over their faces.
"Can this really work?"
"Why does that feel so weird too?!"
"I don't know why, but even though it sounds utterly absurd, it actually feels somewhat reasonable!"
After all, if someone was in the restroom, a mei would leave.
So wasn't it perfectly normal that a mei couldn't disturb someone while they were cleaning out their earwax?
At that moment, the shop owner brought over a piping hot plate of pig trotters rice, steam wafting from it.
Qi Yuan took the plate and ate with relish.
"*Sigh*, the taste of Hextech. It's been years since I last tasted this kind of thing."
Through his divine oracle, he had already pinned down the coordinates of these worlds.
And so, he chose to descend.
And as soon as he arrived, he dug into a plate of pig trotters rice.
"Hey handsome, can I get your contact info?"
Just then, a young woman in hot pants walked over. Her shorts cut high on her thighs, showing off long, shapely legs. She carried a faint scent of alcohol and wore heavy makeup, styling herself maturely, though she didn't look very old, radiating youthful vigor.
Not far away, her girlfriends were either giggling or holding up their phones to film the scene.
"Sorry, I'm already married. My kid is old enough to go fishing," Qi Yuan declined.
Being handsome was just a hassle; it brought all kinds of trouble.
Disappointment flickered in the girl's eyes.
After all, this was the first time she had ever seen a guy as good-looking as Qi Yuan—it felt like running into a male celebrity.
No, not even male celebrities possessed this sort of unique aura.
"Though I can't give you my contact info, there is someone among your girlfriends I'd like to meet," Qi Yuan said, smiling as he looked over at the five young women.
The girl in hot pants froze, not expecting this handsome guy to have his eye on one of her friends.
She couldn't help doubting her own looks and asked glumly, "Which one?"
"The one in the red dress, with waist-length hair and only one arm."
"None of my friends are wearing red, and none of them are disabled!" she said with absolute certainty. As she spoke, she turned around to look at her friends, and the expression on her face instantly froze.
"A m-mei... A mei!"
Her other friends seemed startled by her cry and realized something was off.
When they looked over, their expressions stiffened as well.
"A mei!"
"*Sob*, a mei!"
Standing quietly and eerily right behind them was a mei.
The mei was one-armed, dressed in red, with very long hair. Crucially, the look on its face was one that struck instinctive terror into anyone who laid eyes upon it.
This was a mei—a life-reaping mei—standing shoulder to shoulder with them!
Looking at the mei, they felt like mice facing a cat, their spines freezing over, and one of them had even wet her denim shorts.
"Can I treat your friend in red to some pig trotters rice? It tastes pretty good, definitely more appetizing than a cheap group-buy meal, and more upscale too," Qi Yuan said earnestly.
This plate cost twenty-six yuan.
Not something a budget meal costing a few bucks could compare to.
The girl in hot pants was utterly dazed, but Qi Yuan's words gave her a jolt, bringing her slightly back to her senses.
"S-she isn't human! She's a mei!"
She bitterly regretted coming out tonight to stroll the streets with her friends.
At the same time, she wondered how this handsome guy knew it was a mei and yet had no reaction whatsoever.
Could he be mentally ill, or intellectually impaired?
"Hey, want to come over and have some pig trotters rice?" Since the girl wouldn't call out for him, Qi Yuan shouted across himself, even waving at the mei.
The other young women blanked out for a moment at the sight.
This guy was inviting a mei to eat pig trotters rice?!
What a lunatic!
A madman!
Why would a mei ever pay attention to a human?
Yet right at that moment, something nobody could have anticipated happened.
The red-clothed mei simply floated toward Qi Yuan.
"The mei went over because he called it?!"
"This—!"
The girls were both shocked and utterly bewildered.
The next second, the red-clothed female mei sat down beside Qi Yuan.
Seeing this, the girls were frightened out of their wits, unable to walk away or flee.
Running when encountering a mei would trigger an emergency response from it, hastening the slaughter.
"Even though this pig trotters rice is full of additives and artificial tricks, the rice is real. Here, have a taste."
Qi Yuan pushed his rice toward the mei.
Curiosity glimmered in his eyes.
[Mei: A special creation formed after the death of a living being. Typically appears in Abandoned Lands.]
This information surprised him somewhat.
Once, the Liufeng Realm had been known as the God-Forsaken Land due to the Slate of Deceit, untouched by the sun or the moon.
And now, this place appeared to be an Abandoned Land.
Regarding Abandoned Lands, when he was reading in the Library Pavilion a while back, he had seen a few brief mentions in some books.
Supposedly, a certain True God had died in an Abandoned Land.
Qi Yuan hadn't obtained much information about Abandoned Lands.
It seemed that when he had time, he would need to check the Library Pavilion again to find out what was so strange about these so-called Abandoned Lands.
Sitting beside Qi Yuan, the mei grabbed a pair of chopsticks with its left hand and shoveled Qi Yuan's leftover rice into its mouth.
The young women around them were thoroughly shaken by the sight.
A mei had actually accepted a human's invitation to eat!
Was this a dream?
Or had the world's yin and yang turned completely upside down?
Meanwhile, Qi Yuan looked at the mei with an appreciative gleam in his eye.
"You're already this formidable with one arm chopped off, and all these people fear you. If both arms were chopped off, wouldn't you be even stronger?"
The mei, which had been eating, froze mid-action. It stared unblinkingly at Qi Yuan, looking thoroughly eerie.
Qi Yuan looked back at the mei with curious eyes.
Across the myriad heavens and realms, throughout countless universes, he had encountered innumerable beings and races.
Stonefolk, metallic organisms, silicon-based life-forms—everything imaginable.
Yet something like this mei was a first for him.
Although it bore some similarity to the aberrations of the Divine Wood Universe, they were two completely different kinds of beings—or rather, not living beings at all.
If there was anything truly similar...
Qi Yuan recalled back when he had the Eccentric Painter use the Shanhe Sheji Brush to paint the Netherworld for him.
Just after the Netherworld was formed, some filthy things had come to the Netherworld, babbling in an incomprehensible tongue.
Later, Qi Yuan turned himself into a language teacher and taught those filthy things how to speak.
Only then did those filthy things finally express their purpose.
"No... soul... borrow... return..."
In the end, those filthy things condensed into the Stele of the Deceased, which was placed within the Netherworld.
In Qi Yuan's eyes, the mei before him bore quite a resemblance to those filthy things.
Chapter 601