Pen Immortal

As a professional archaeologist, Nianshi was broadly learned. In matters of the extraordinary, whether superpowers or spells and divine abilities, he knew something of them all. But not one piece of that knowledge matched Zhou You. Seeing that things had turned bad, Nianshi hypnotized himself, turned, and ran. "Let me run fast!" He did not have strengthening on Lishi's level, but he could hypnotize himself and overdraw his body's potential, and still run very fast. The next second, someone covered Nianshi's eyes. Everything before him went black. Zhou You's voice sounded beside his ear. "Don't run." It was the height of summer, yet fright soaked him in cold sweat. So the other one really was possessed by a ghost. Even the move he used was just like a ghost's! Could this be what was special about the ghost king, that it could make the person it possessed become like a ghost? "Who sent you?" Zhou You asked. Nianshi was frightened stock-still. He dared not turn his head, and he dared not speak. He had heard that some ghosts killed people just this way. They called to you, and if you turned around or answered, they twisted your head off. Zhou You heard something cutting the air behind him, as if an object had been thrown. Instinctively he let go of Nianshi and dodged. "Ah—" The brick struck Nianshi. Blood poured from the back of his head. He staggered two steps and dropped to the ground with a thud, startling Zhou You, who hurriedly denied any part in it. "This really wasn't me." Zhou You turned and saw Lishi sprinting over at tremendous speed. A trace of astonishment showed on his face; he had probably not expected the brick to hit Nianshi. Lishi was huge, his bulk terrifying. He had given up strength and put all of it into speed, and the impact was astonishing. He ran like a car racing at full speed, slammed Zhou You aside, hauled up the unconscious Nianshi, and ran. Zhou You tried to chase, but Lishi was simply too fast and soon left him behind. Zhou You wanted to use Ghost Blocks the Eyes to pursue them. He tried. It was probably because the distance was too great; he could not appear behind them. ... "Ow." Nianshi slowly came to, his mind muddled. A faint, flickering pain at the back of his head cleared him a little. Where am I? Why does the back of my head hurt so much? Clutching the back of his head in pain, Nianshi tried to recall what had happened... It seemed Zhou You had covered his eyes the way a ghost would, and then some heavy object had struck him and he had blacked out? His fingers found the bandage at the back of his head. It ached dully. "You're awake. Have some water." Lishi tossed him a bottle of mineral water. Nianshi twisted off the cap and gulped twice. "What happened to me?" "That kid plays dirty. He ambushed you and knocked you out with a brick!" Lishi cursed and grumbled, indignant on Nianshi's behalf. "I've learned some first aid. After I got you away, I wrapped it up simply. You're all right." "Thank you." Nianshi touched the back of his head, his tone sincere. Lishi had not abandoned him on the spot, and had even treated his injury. Adversity showed true feeling. And to think he himself had once calculated how, after they obtained the Human Dao supreme treasure, he would kick Lishi aside. They had known each other a long time, and he had long since seen that Lishi was slow-witted, timid, and greedy. He had not expected the man to have a loyal side as well. He had misjudged him. "It's nothing." Guilty, Lishi waved the subject away. "That kid is too uncanny. What do we do next?" Nianshi sighed. "There's nothing else for it. The two of us are only clerical staff. We were never good at fighting. That kid isn't someone we can handle. All we can do is contact the headquarters in the United States, tell them we've deciphered the ancient text and know the whereabouts of the Human Dao supreme treasure, and have them send people." ... "After school yesterday evening, I ran into two very strange people." The moment Zhou You got to school, he began telling Chu Xiaoyao what had happened the night before. After the fight with Nianshi and his companion, Zhou You had been both excited and afraid in hindsight, and he had not slept well all night. Seeing this, Nuomi flew over to join the fuss. "Sect Master, who bullied you? I'll stand up for you!" Daring to bully the sect master—that was simply not taking her, the deputy sect master, seriously at all! "You could hardly call it bullying me." Zhou You scratched the back of his head. Remembering Nianshi's head covered in blood, he felt a sort of phantom pain. When the fight was over, the one hurt worst was Nianshi, who had only been watching. Zhou You began recounting what had happened the night before, dwelling on Nianshi staring at him wide-eyed and on Lishi, whose physique was unbelievably strong. "If you say they're immortal cultivators, it doesn't quite feel like it. That big fellow was nothing but brute strength, and the other one, tall and thin, didn't seem quite right in the head." Chu Xiaoyao covered most of her pretty face, a hint of a smile showing. "I know." "What do you know?" Zhou You was baffled. He hadn't even asked, and she already knew. "They're people from the Organization." "Back then I couldn't stand the Organization's conduct, and I fled it." Chu Xiaoyao shook her head in self-mockery. "I should have thought of it long ago. As history's strongest superpower user, how could the Organization ever let me go? I just didn't expect this day to come so soon." "They sent two superpower users, hoping to get intelligence on me from you." "Zhou You, I've implicated you!" Zhou You: "..." She was apologizing, but why couldn't he see a shred of apology on her face? "History's strongest superpower user!" Hearing Chu Xiaoyao's background, Nuomi's eyes sparkled with admiration. What a domineering title. Nuomi poked Zhou You, wanting him to pass her words on to Chu Xiaoyao. Zhou You curled his lip and pretended not to see her. As if. Chu Xiaoyao was pleased enough with herself already. If she knew Nuomi was praising her, she would float straight up into the sky. Seeing that Zhou You was ignoring her, Nuomi pouted, a little unhappy. Hey—she had an idea. A pen popped its cap off and wrote on the paper of its own accord: "The strongest superpower user, so amazing!!!" Zhou You had heard of this. It was called Pen Immortal. The sheet slowly rose and appeared in front of Chu Xiaoyao. Startled, Zhou You hurriedly snatched the paper from Nuomi's hand. If a classmate saw this, they would think the place was haunted. He turned for a look at the rows in front and let out a breath. Fortunately they sat in the last row. No one had noticed. "Nuomi, you've got quite the eye!" Chu Xiaoyao had seen the words on the paper and lavishly praised her for knowing how to read the situation. "If you run into any trouble later, come find this sovereign anytime. This sovereign will look after you." Chu Xiaoyao thumped her chest and made the promise, taking the whole of it upon herself. This was a promise from the Carefree Empress. On the Hongmeng Continent, it would be no exaggeration to say that with it one could swagger about unopposed. "Long live the Grand Elder!" Nuomi cheered, then wrote the words on the paper and held them up for Chu Xiaoyao. The empress beamed with delight and was about to bestow still more rewards. Zhou You temporarily cut the empress's rewards short. "Oh, right. Speaking of it, I mastered a spell yesterday. I only won because of that spell." "What spell?" Zhou You recalled the scene. "I can suddenly appear behind someone and cover their eyes. It seems to come from having eaten the Eye-blocking Ghost." Chu Xiaoyao nodded. "That's normal. I already told you this is called dietary supplementation. Whatever you eat, that is what you supplement. Eat an Eye-blocking Ghost, and naturally you can block eyes." "So it really is like that." Seeing his analysis win Chu Xiaoyao's approval, Zhou You was greatly encouraged. He felt he was gradually gaining an immortal cultivator's way of thinking. "This sort of thing isn't uncommon on the Hongmeng Continent. Take the Lord of the Hungry Ghost Path. He was originally human, but because he accidentally ate a starved ghost, he became racked with hunger and was tormented by it at every moment. Only then did he found the Hungry Ghost Path." "So when you eat ghosts, be careful. Don't eat just any ghost." "Understood." Right after that, Zhou You furtively found Su Tingxue and told her what had happened the night before. The corridor was crowded, with too many eyes. Afraid something else would get out, the two found an empty place. Zhou You felt as if he were making a clandestine contact, the way underground operatives did. "You mean someone attacked you yesterday, and you suspect a rich heir who likes me sent them?" After hearing him out, Su Tingxue wore a strange expression. It was the first time she had run into anything like this, but thinking it over carefully, it did seem possible. Several rich heirs, both inside the school and outside it, had been pursuing her all along, to her endless annoyance. They had even sent word that they did not want her getting close to other boys. Su Tingxue had wanted to settle with them, but she simply did not know who they were. There was nothing between her and Zhou You, yet the rumors were flying. Trying to clear them up would only make it look as if the more they covered it, the more it showed. On top of that, the afternoon before yesterday she and Zhou You had left school together to deal with the Eye-blocking Ghost and had come back together. It was entirely possible some narrow-minded person had come to hold a grudge against Zhou You. At that thought, guilt rose in Su Tingxue. After all, Zhou You had been attacked because of her. He was the victim. "Yes. Do you have any leads?" Zhou You wanted the trouble cut off at the root. Those two had been driven off by him, and the rich heir behind them would certainly not let the matter rest. Rather than wait for the other side to send people after him again, better to strike first and catch him off guard. "There really are a few suspects."