Zhang Yuanqing copied the phone number, but he did not dial right away, hesitation written on his face.
Members of the Spirit Society were lunatics, wicked to the bone. Associating with them was no different from making a deal with a tiger. Zhang Yuanqing sighed wearily. He wanted to be a good person too, but he had no choice.
No matter whose hands the roster fell into—be it the Five Elements Alliance, Dark Night Rose, or even Hei Wuchang once the man realized what had happened—it would expose his identity as the Demon Lord's successor.
And what would he face once exposed?
At best, he would be placed under heavy surveillance, stripped of freedom until they got whatever they wanted out of him.
And that was only if he fell into the hands of an official organization like the Five Elements Alliance or the Taiyi Sect.
If he fell into the hands of Dark Night Rose or an evil profession, even if he were merely locked away, he would likely suffer inhumane torture. The consequences were unimaginable.
As for the worst outcome, it was naturally an untimely demise, bidding this world farewell.
Therefore, obtaining the roster was an absolute necessity. The reason he wanted to muddy the waters was that he lacked complete confidence in swaying the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter, nor did he trust her enough.
*As long as I keep a firm grip on the boundaries, reaching out to the Spirit Society isn't out of the question. It's just that when the grand health check rolls around, it'll give me a massive headache...*
Still, that was a matter for later. If he could not solve the present dilemma, how could he speak of a future?
With that thought, he steeled his resolve and dialed Renxue Mantou's mobile number.
*Beep, beep, beep...*
The line rang for a long time before the call was cut off.
A few minutes later, Renxue Mantou called back. An adult man's voice came through the speaker.
"Who is this?"
The voice was gloomy and low, immediately giving off a vicious, sinister impression.
"Since I got hold of your contact information, I'm naturally a friend. At the very least, we're of the same kind!" Zhang Yuanqing chuckled.
*Right, I mean evil professions.*
Renxue Mantou went silent for a second, then let out a sneer. "Cut the crap and speak up. I'm only giving you two minutes."
This unregistered burner number was specifically used to expand his channels and gather information. Renxue Mantou would post bounties in the black markets where evil professions congregated, attaching this contact number.
This made it convenient for those chasing bounties to get in touch with him. The downside was that it was easy to get betrayed or burned—such as someone handing the number over to the Five Elements Alliance.
To prevent being traced and located, none of his calls ever exceeded two minutes.
"I'm a member of Dark Night Rose. Our organization is looking for Hei Wuchang. Perhaps we can collaborate," Zhang Yuanqing said calmly.
*Dark Night Rose?* Renxue Mantou furrowed his brow and sneered, "Why should I cooperate with you?"
He did not trust someone of unknown origin. No matter how many benefits were offered, they were nothing but empty promises.
After all, neither dared to meet face-to-face.
Zhang Yuanqing scoffed, "You're as timid as a mouse. You're truly a disgrace to our line of work. I'm not like you. All day long, I think about how to butcher Fu Qingyang, both to make a name for myself and to claim a massive bounty."
Renxue Mantou's breathing grew shallow and hurried, seemingly provoked.
Zhang Yuanqing pressed on, "This carries no downsides for you. One more channel means an extra pair of eyes and ears. Don't you want to earn merits? How about this: if I get intelligence, I'll text it to you, and you can check it periodically. I'll expect the same in return."
Renxue Mantou paused briefly before speaking in a measured tone, "Fine! In that case, give me some useful intelligence right now."
Zhang Yuanqing adopted a serious tone. "There's an issue with the Fallen Holy Grail. Hei Wuchang wants to ask our leader for help, but there isn't enough trust between him and our leader. As a result, they've been feeling each other out and have yet to meet.
"All right, I can't say any more."
*An issue with the Fallen Holy Grail? Hei Wuchang is in contact with Dark Night Rose?* Stormy waves surged within Renxue Mantou's heart, quickly giving way to excitement. This was the biggest piece of intelligence he had obtained since joining the hunt for Hei Wuchang.
Seeing that he had laid enough groundwork, Zhang Yuanqing asked, "Now it's my turn to ask: if you managed to catch Hei Wuchang's subordinate, how would you find him?"
Renxue Mantou took a deep breath, suppressing the excitement churning inside. His first instinct had been to hang up and take this intelligence for free, but reason told him that this channel was far too valuable; severing it would be his own loss.
He let out a cold snort. "It depends on how much real substance that subordinate has. But knowing Hei Wuchang's cunning, even if you caught a trusted confidant, you might not be able to pin down his location. If your organization has a high-level Scout, I can provide a dossier on Hei Wuchang, including his past history, personality, habits, and so on.
"Relying on a Scout's deduction and profiling abilities, you should be able to extract plenty of information. Of course, I need to apply for approval from my boss."
*We do have one—my boss is a True Eye Scout...* Zhang Yuanqing's eyes lit up, though his voice remained low. "I'll await your news."
***
In a certain residential community, a delivery courier wearing a blue uniform rode an electric scooter smoothly through the neighborhood, coming to a halt beneath a street-facing residential building.
The courier pressed the doorbell and waited in silence.
He had soft facial features, a baby face, an average build, and leaned toward being chubby. His first impression was thoroughly gentle and harmless.
The doorbell chimed for a few seconds before the security door's latch clicked open.
The baby-faced courier entered the building. With his head bowed, he counted the steps one by one: "One, two, three... thirteen."
A single flight of stairs had only twelve steps, never thirteen, yet the baby-faced courier counted an extra one each time.
Just like that, he made his way from the first floor to the fifth. When he counted thirteen steps for the fifth time, a thirteenth step truly manifested on the staircase leading to the sixth floor.
The baby-faced courier stepped onto it. As if passing through an invisible membrane, the surrounding scenery shifted from an old residential building into a square pool roughly ten meters on each side.
The pool was teeming with a dense writhing mass of colorful venomous snakes, spiders, geckos, insects, scorpions, and other gu creatures.
At the center of the pool rose an altar built from stacked crimson boulders, standing about three meters tall.
Atop the altar lay a clump of scarlet flesh and blood, slowly squirming.
The baby-faced courier cast a glance at the venomous gu creatures in the pool. His Adam's apple bobbed as he audibly swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
Forcibly tearing his gaze away and reining in the greed in his eyes, he bowed deeply. "President, I have important intelligence."
The flesh on the altar bounced upward, coalescing into a blood-red humanoid form that looked down condescendingly.
The baby-faced courier said, "Your subordinate has learned that Hei Wuchang is hiding in Songhai for the purpose of meeting an organization called 'Dark Night Rose.' Your subordinate has never heard of this group before."
The scarlet humanoid flesh uttered a grating, strained whisper: "Dark Night Rose..."
*The President seems to know this organization?* The baby-faced courier continued, "Your subordinate also learned that there is a problem with the Fallen Holy Grail. Hei Wuchang is seeking help from Dark Night Rose, but neither side trusts the other enough, so they are still feeling each other out."
Having said that, he added, "Because this intelligence is critical and time was limited, with no channels to verify it, your subordinate cannot guarantee it is entirely true."
The humanoid flesh spoke in a measured cadence, "No, it is true. Renxue Mantou, your intelligence confirms my suspicions. An issue has indeed arisen with the Fallen Holy Grail. Only that explains Hei Wuchang's anomalous behavior."
Renxue Mantou felt as though a great weight had been lifted from his chest, his mood instantly brightening. He then confessed the source of the intelligence truthfully, adding, "As for whether we should provide Hei Wuchang's dossier to the other party, please decide, President."
The humanoid flesh said flatly, "You were deceived. That person is not a member of Dark Night Rose; they are most likely with the authorities. Heh, give him the dossier. At least until Hei Wuchang is found, the authorities are our friends.
"You did well this time. Pick any three gu creatures from the pool."
Renxue Mantou's face lit up with wild delight, and he bowed. "Thank you, President!"
Excitedly, he hurried to the edge of the pool. Puffing out his cheeks and gathering his breath for a few seconds, he suddenly shot out a slender tongue several meters long. In a flash, it snatched up a centipede, a red-and-black venomous snake, and an emerald-green beetle.
Renxue Mantou's neck swelled noticeably, outlining the shapes of the three gu creatures before he gulped and swallowed them whole.
***
Once night fell, Zhang Yuanqing donned a face mask and a baseball cap, quietly making his way to Fujia Bay.
From a distance, he spotted a white business van parked outside the community, seemingly waiting for something.
Activating stealth, Zhang Yuanqing crept over covertly and tapped three times on the car window.
The van door slid open automatically, revealing Fu Qingyang's aloof and handsome face. Staring out the door, Fu Qingyang said, "There is no need to be so cautious."
"Centurion, I'm over here..." Zhang Yuanqing's voice drifted from the other side of the cabin.
The corner of Fu Qingyang's mouth twitched.
*Finally saw you caught off guard.* Zhang Yuanqing secretly reveled in the moment, though his expression remained solemn and earnest. "I believe caution is the parent of safety. Centurion, your detection abilities shouldn't be able to search out a Night Wanderer in stealth, right?"
"Below the Saint stage, they can."
"So not against a Saint stage?"
Fu Qingyang glanced at him. "A Saint-stage Night Wanderer wouldn't be bored enough to stake out your house long-term. And the surveillance footage across Fujia Bay can all be viewed from my villa. Someone monitors it twenty-four hours a day."
Zhang Yuanqing was left speechless. "Centurion's wisdom knows no bounds!"
Fu Qingyang nodded in satisfaction and instructed the driver, "Set off."
Just like last time, Fu Qingyang brought only Zhang Yuanqing along, and the latter's only role was spirit questioning.
This man seemed to possess bottomless confidence, capable of resolving anything on his own and slaying any enemy in single combat.
Calmness and aloofness were the unchanging baseline on his face.
*Once Tiandao Bugong is killed, the matter regarding Brother Bing will be covered up. With his trusted subordinate dead, Hei Wuchang will surely be terrified and vigilant, and he won't dwell on Brother Bing's business anymore. After all, it was merely a request from Dark Night Rose. Even if he's curious, he'll shelve that curiosity.*
*Still, covering it up once doesn't mean it can be covered up a second time. I have to root out Hei Wuchang in the near future and bring this matter to an end as soon as possible, or I won't be able to rest easy...* Zhang Yuanqing stared at the retreating scenery outside the window, his thoughts wandering.
The business van sped through the late-night streets. In less than half an hour, it began to decelerate, finally pulling over beside a small river.
The river meandered along, with a park on its left and a wide street on its right. There were no residential buildings nearby. At this hour, apart from the occasional passing car, the surroundings were remarkably quiet.
In the deep gloom of the night, an arched bridge loomed in the distance.
The electric door slid open. Dressed in a pristine white suit, Fu Qingyang stepped out of the vehicle and said coolly, "Stay here and wait for my call."
With that, he walked into the night, his white figure gradually fading into the distance.
Inside the bridge culvert, Tiandao Bugong sat cross-legged, dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt. As he waited for the Dark Night Rose member, he pondered:
*Why does Dark Night Rose want Young Soldier King's information?*
*That guy was corrupted by the Fallen Holy Grail. Sooner or later, he's doomed to go mad and die.*
His boss, Hei Wuchang, wanted to know as well, which was why he had assigned an additional task today: find out Dark Night Rose's purpose in requesting Young Soldier King's dossier.
Right then, his ears twitched. He caught the faint sound of footsteps approaching at an unhurried pace.
*Here they come.* Tiandao Bugong quietly waited for the footsteps to draw nearer, then let out a low chuckle.
"You did well. Now that Yuanshi Tianzun is dead, the Five Elements Alliance must be stomping their feet in fury, right?
"Especially Fu Qingyang. Yuanshi Tianzun was an official wanderer under his command. Because of his incompetence, he lost a member of boundless potential. The Council of Elders will definitely hold him accountable, but he's destined to seethe in powerless rage."
The footsteps halted outside the culvert. The figure in the white suit said calmly, "You don't need to worry about whether I will seethe in powerless rage, but you certainly will."
*Fu Qingyang?! How could he be here? Why is he here?!* Tiandao Bugong's pupils shrank to pinpricks. Terror exploded within his chest, nearly drowning out all reason.
The muscles across his entire body swelled as his skin darkened to a deep black, interlaced with bulging ridges. His dark brown irises snapped open, turning into amber vertical slits.
*Risk everything with a strength-type gu creature...* He had just formed the thought when he saw Fu Qingyang, standing at the culvert's entrance, raise his hand and flick a finger.
Tiandao Bugong's vision went dark, plunging into boundless, bottomless shadow.
Fu Qingyang fetched his phone from his pocket and dialed Zhang Yuanqing's number.
"Come over. Spirit questioning!"
Chapter 101