As expected, after leaving Xu Xiu'er's boudoir, "communication" was restored, and he once again sensed Little Doubi's presence.
Calming his emotions, he let his consciousness follow the connection between master and spirit servant, descending into Little Doubi's body.
Zhang Yuanqing "opened" his eyes, and the sight before him stunned him for a moment: a distorted, murky vision with turbulent undercurrents, where countless impurities drifted and floated.
Underwater?
Why was Little Doubi underwater?
After pondering blankly for a few seconds, he decided to take over control and direct Little Doubi's body.
Yet when he tried, he failed.
For Little Doubi's current state was abnormal; his Treasure Seeking skill was active, and instinct was driving his body, repelling any outside influence.
A similar situation had occurred on the night of the encirclement against Hei Wuchang.
There was treasure in the water? Zhang Yuanqing's heart stirred, but he did not stop exerting control, influencing Little Doubi bit by bit in an attempt to interrupt his state.
Little Doubi's sentience had only just awakened, giving him weak self-control and making him unable to restrain his instincts, but as his master, Zhang Yuanqing possessed the ability.
Last time at Songhai Primary School, he hadn't disturbed his spirit servant mainly because he wanted to see what kind of treasure the little guy had found.
Right now, Guan Ya and Queen were in mortal danger; he couldn't let Little Doubi remain "out of control."
Over a dozen seconds later, Zhang Yuanqing gained complete control and pulled Little Doubi's head out of the water.
His vision shifted. He saw the clear surface of the river, the opposite bank stacked with green flagstones, and the moss growing along the riverbank.
Then Queen's despairing voice reached his ears:
"I... I feel dizzier and dizzier. My heart is racing, like I could drop dead at any moment... Guan Ya, you're losing more and more blood. Can you still hold out? Give me the rifle, let me hold them off for a bit..."
Guan Ya was injured? The situation had deteriorated this far? A chill ran through Zhang Yuanqing's heart as anxiety welled up.
Just then, he heard Queen sigh again: "Five minutes have long passed. Looks like Yuanshi and the others aren't coming to save us. Maybe they can barely protect themselves... and here I was counting on him coming to save us..."
Zhang Yuanqing paddled his limbs, turned around, and looked toward the source of the voice.
Seven or eight meters away, Guan Ya stood by the street with her back against a whitewashed wall, holding up her rifle, her face deathly pale.
Her calf was wrapped in a black shirt. Her leg had evidently been injured, leaving her unable to stand steadily, so she could only lean against the wall for support. With every shot she fired, her face grew a shade paler.
Queen, with her smoky makeup and silver hoop earrings, listlessly guarded Guan Ya's side. Whenever an infant spirit pounced, she used her own body to block it, serving as a human shield before letting Guan Ya fire to drive it back.
It was worth noting that she was wearing only a black sports bra on top, supporting a deep, fair cleavage that was lush and alluring. Below that was an abruptly tapered slender waist and a flat, soft belly.
It was distinctly different from Guan Ya's slender waist, sculpted with toned lines and subtle abs.
The shirt tied around Guan Ya's calf to stem the bleeding was the very one Queen had taken off.
There were six infant spirits surrounding them in total, probing and attacking like hunting hyenas.
*So many infant spirits... infant spirits, no less.* Zhang Yuanqing quickly changed his mind, returned control to Little Doubi, and gave him the command: "Fight!"
The current situation was an excellent opportunity to train Little Doubi's combat skills.
*Bang!*
Guan Ya pulled the trigger, blasting back an infant spirit that had grabbed Queen's ankle and sending it screeching shrilly as its form twisted.
Queen shivered as her energy drained yet again. Unable to hold on any longer, she collapsed limply to the ground, her pretty face pale. "I... I can't hold out anymore..."
What drove her to deeper despair was that the infant spirit who had been lying by the river washing its hair had left the water's edge at some point and was now crawling toward them, seemingly about to join the encirclement.
Moreover—perhaps it was just an illusion—Queen felt that the brat's gaze had been glued to her chest the entire time.
The chubby, adorable infant spirit advanced with alarming speed, crawling right up to them in the blink of an eye. Facing it as if confronting a formidable foe, Guan Ya swung her muzzle around, aiming straight at Little Doubi.
Her expression turned grave; she had observed that this infant spirit's strength and speed far exceeded the dusky-blue ones around it.
Just then, the chubby, adorable baby suddenly adopted a ferocious scowl, opened its little mouth with an "*oww!*", and pounced onto the dusky-blue baby in front of it.
Guan Ya's finger resting against the trigger relaxed abruptly, surprise flashing in her beautiful eyes.
*So the little fellow wasn't coming for them?*
"Th-They're fighting among themselves..." Seeing this, Queen, who had sunken into despair, found brilliant light bursting in her dull, hopeless eyes as hope returned from the brink of death.
In the space of a dazed breath, Little Doubi had already pinned the dusky-blue infant spirit firmly to the ground. No matter how it struggled, it couldn't break free from the suppression of its own kind.
Little Doubi lowered his head, bit into the dusky-blue infant spirit's neck, and took a gentle suck.
A wisp of black smoke condensed into a fine thread and surged into his mouth and nose.
Little Doubi's body suddenly expanded, and his aura grew a fraction more robust.
Having tasted sweetness, he no longer needed Zhang Yuanqing's guidance; of his own volition, he let out an "*oww!*" and lunged toward the remaining five infant spirits.
When facing a formidable enemy, the dusky-blue infant spirits dared to fight to the death, but when faced with a stronger creature of their own kind, they seemed suppressed and instantly scattered in all directions.
Little Doubi gave chase, vanishing from sight in no time.
"What's going on? Why did that little infant spirit save us?"
Surprised and overjoyed, Queen was utterly perplexed.
Guan Ya looked somewhat bewildered and somewhat suspicious. Shaking her head gently, she said, "Regardless, we're saved. No need for those rotten men to rescue us."
"True enough. At least the crisis has passed." The glamorous, regal mature beauty slumped against the wall, panting as her chest heaved violently.
Just as she said that, both of them heard hurried footsteps approaching from the distance.
Accompanied by Yuanshi Tianzun's shouts: "Guan Ya! Queen!"
Queen's expression flickered. Forcing her exhausted body up, she said frantically, "Clothes... my clothes..."
Though her makeup and styling leaned toward that of a mature big-sister archetype, she was not so bold as to swagger around in front of men wearing only underwear.
Queen hurried to untie the shirt, ducked into an alley along the wall, and pulled it over herself, ignoring the sticky blood.
By the time she had finished dressing, her teammates arrived. Before Queen could speak, the men looked at her gaunt, haggard face and blurted out in unison:
"Were you harvested too?"
"..." Queen spat, "What kind of nonsense is that?"
Immediately afterward, she caught sight of Chi'ou on Huode Xingjun's back and gasped, "Who's that?"
"Chi'ou!"
"What happened to him? How did he manage to get this thin in half an hour?" Alongside her shock, Queen felt a bit of envy.
While the others were talking, Zhang Yuanqing crouched at the veteran driver's feet and carefully extracted the bullet from her leg.
"Your injury is severe, and you've lost too much blood. You can't fight anymore." Zhang Yuanqing frowned deeply.
Guan Ya looked down, taking in his pained and anxious expression, and the corners of her mouth curved upward. "An experienced veteran driver always keeps a way out for herself."
Under Zhang Yuanqing's puzzled gaze, Guan Ya opened her inventory and fished out a syringe.
"You still have diluted Life Essence?" Queen said pleasantly surprised.
*Fu Qingyang is truly lavish, shoving strategic-tier supplies to his cousin like they cost nothing. No, once I return to reality, I have to suck up to him hard...* Zhang Yuanqing clicked his tongue inwardly.
"It's the last one, saved for keeping myself alive." Guan Ya inserted the needle into a vein on her wrist, injected a third of it, and then injected another third into Queen.
Queen's complexion glowed as her skin regained its plump, hydrated radiance. She asked in a low voice, "Guan Ya, are you the daughter of some Elder?"
Strategic-tier supplies could only be requisitioned by those at the Deacon level; a level 2 Scout did not have permission to use them.
Guan Ya shook her head.
Queen's expression shifted, and she probed, "A concubine, then?"
Guan Ya turned her head and called out, "Huode, bring Chi'ou over."
"I don't need it..." Chi'ou replied weakly. "Don't waste precious Life Essence on me. We Earth Monsters can absorb the power of the earth to nourish our bodies. Fortunately, I only suffered depleted yang and drained essence, not serious injury. The earth is enough to restore my stamina."
Huode Xingjun quickly set Chi'ou down, laying him flat on the ground.
"Depleted yang and drained essence..." Having finally caught her breath, Queen asked about what had just happened, scrutinizing the four men. "What did you all run into?"
Zhang Yuanqing concisely recounted the sequence of events to Guan Ya and Queen. "When we arrived at Widow Xu's boudoir, Chi'ou had already been discarded under the bed like boiled dregs. If we had been a moment later, he would have died from drained yang. So, young folks, celibacy is truly great; celibacy keeps you trouble-free."
Zhang Yuanqing didn't claim credit here. After all, if he claimed that while everyone else was blinded by lust, he alone remained clear-headed, he would likely face a collective barrage of pushback—and truth be told, he hadn't managed to hold himself back at first either, leaving a blemish on his record.
Rather than dragging all four of them down, it was better to let Chi'ou alone serve as the foil to highlight everyone else's uprightness.
Huode Xingjun and Li Chunfeng nodded in agreement. "Lust is a bone-scraping blade."
Chi'ou flushed bright red, so ashamed he wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Guan Ya was still somewhat pale, but the moment this topic came up, her spirits lifted. She asked with a smile, "Chubby, you certainly had quite the romantic encounter. Was Xu Xiu'er sweet and succulent? Was there any difference between her and women in the real world? Share your experience with us!"
Chi'ou pleaded, "Don't... please don't talk about it anymore..."
*Stop talking, I need to save face!*
Queen shot a sidelong glance at the other four men and teased, "Did the four of you do anything with Xu Xiu'er?"
"No, definitely not!"
The four men chorused, "Only Chi'ou couldn't hold himself back."
Chi'ou turned his head away, utterly drained of the will to live.
"What did you two encounter to end up in such a sorry state?" Li Chunfeng successfully steered the topic away.
Queen recounted the siege by the vengeful infant spirits.
When she finished, her brow furrowed in suspicion. "Then, that strange little infant spirit chased the other spirits away."
Huode Xingjun was puzzled. "Did Widow Xu's infant spirits turn on each other? Or did that special little spirit deliberately save you?"
Queen shook her head slightly. "I have no idea."
She glared at Zhang Yuanqing and huffed, "You Night Wanderer, when we actually need you, you're useless! If that little infant spirit hadn't suddenly gone wild and driven away its companions, Guan Ya and I would have been doomed."
Guan Ya looked at Zhang Yuanqing, was silent for a moment, and then broached the topic: "Was that little infant spirit your spirit servant?"
*Huh?* Queen whipped her head around, her silver hoop earrings swaying as she stared blankly at Zhang Yuanqing.
Zhang Yuanqing snapped his fingers. A few seconds later, he looked toward the alley behind them. Queen turned to look, but there was clearly nothing there.
*Whoosh!*
Zhang Yuanqing exhaled a breath of Lunar force toward his companions' eyes.
Instantly, a cold, stinging soreness washed over their eyes. Then, everyone saw a chubby, adorable little baby appear in the alley. Its lanugo hair was sparse, and its dark, gleaming eyes were like a pair of black buttons.
Its little belly was stuffed round and taut, and it panted as it paddled its four limbs, crawling toward Zhang Yuanqing.
*How could this be...* Just as Queen went to look closer, the cold stinging in her eyes faded, and the little infant spirit vanished along with it.
It hadn't disappeared; she simply couldn't see it anymore.
*So it was Yuanshi Tianzun's spirit servant. That infant spirit was there all along. In other words, he stationed his spirit servant by Guan Ya and me from the very start, just in case, so it could save us at the critical moment...* The slight grievance in Queen's heart vanished without a trace.
Immediately after, a thought struck her, and her face flushed with embarrassment.
*He controlled the spirit servant just now... so he saw, didn't he?*
*Queen feels awkward—she realized... Well, besides awkwardness, there's a faint hint of self-confidence; looks like she's quite proud of her bust... Besides, reacting with that sort of psychology after Yuanshi saw her in just underwear means she at least doesn't dislike him, and might even have a favorable impression...* Guan Ya cast a discreet glance at Queen, deducing her thoughts in an instant.
Unaware of the rich inner monologues running through the two women's minds, Zhang Yuanqing said, "Queen, could you do me a favor?"
"What is it?" she asked with instinctive vigilance, nearly crossing her arms over her proud, ample bosom.
"Go into the water and check for me. I suspect there's something at the bottom of the river." Zhang Yuanqing pointed toward the river.
Queen was taken aback, then let out a small sigh of relief and readily agreed. "Give me a moment."
It would also give her a chance to wash the blood from her clothes.
She walked to the bank and leaped into the river. With a splash, water sprayed everywhere.
Zhang Yuanqing waited by the riverbank until silt roiled up from the bed, and Queen leaped out of the water, not a single droplet clinging to her body.
"There's nothing in the river. I even blew away the silt at the bottom to check." She flicked the silver hoop on her earlobe.
Nothing? That was impossible. Little Doubi's Treasure Seeking skill wouldn't be wrong... Zhang Yuanqing pondered for a few seconds and soon formed a hypothesis.
Little Doubi and Queen hadn't met the trigger condition. That was why the former had stayed crouched by the riverbank, peering down in search—he sensed treasure in the water, but couldn't find it.
And the latter had searched diligently, only to come up empty-handed.
*What's hidden beneath the river? Is it an item related to the hidden quest, or has another side branch opened? Based on the information revealed by this dungeon so far, there couldn't possibly be another side quest.*
*If it's the hidden quest, then the treasure in the river is very likely the prop left behind by Yinyang Sanren—the prop that the Demon Lord lamented missing out on.*
At that thought, Zhang Yuanqing felt an urge stir within him. "I'll go down myself."
"It'll be the same if you go. If there's nothing, there's nothing," Queen said, curling her lips.
*Splash.* Zhang Yuanqing dove into the murky river water, paddling his limbs as he swam toward the riverbed. At the same time, he summoned Little Doubi, hoping to use his Treasure Seeking skill.
Little Doubi materialized underwater, darting left and right like a headless fly.
After surfacing twice for air, Zhang Yuanqing finally gave up in defeat.
There truly was nothing at the river bottom.
*That doesn't make sense. Assuming it's connected to the hidden quest, I've already gathered the jade pendants, so by all logic, the plotline should trigger... Seems my reasoning was off. The jade pendants aren't the key?*
His mind raced as he stripped off his clothes to wring out the water.
Amid the dripping drops, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him, and he understood where the problem lay.
*There's still one part of the hidden quest left unfinished, and I haven't fully unraveled the story of the Yinyang Town dungeon either. In terms of the quest itself, it hasn't reached completion.*
Then the next objective was to finish the final part, decrypt the dungeon's lore, and return to check afterward.
He returned to where the group was resting and said, "Everyone, we need to think about what the next stage is."
Queen rubbed her silver earring and said, "There are only six people in town, and we've already dealt with three. By all logic, the story should be over."
Guan Ya shook her head. "Wrong. There are six people in the town, but Granny Wang and the cat corpse count as one plotline, which means Yinyang Town has only five plotlines in total.
"We've already cleared the Cursed Cat and Widow Xu Xiu'er. If the evil faction hasn't been slow, they should have cleared two as well. That means the final plotline will likely be contested between both sides."
Zhang Yuanqing said in a deep voice, "The final character is the sorcerer—the sorcerer hired by Squire Zhao."
***
Zhao Residence.
Thick fog shrouded the entire courtyard, the gauze-thin mist drifting slowly.
Suddenly, the murky gray mist quivered, flowing in a specific direction like floodwaters released from an open sluice gate.
The mist grew thinner and thinner, the surroundings clearer and clearer.
Li Xianzong's figure gradually emerged. A butterfly knife was clamped between his teeth, a gruesome severed head held in his left hand, and a carved wooden box resting in his right palm.
The box's lid was open, and the heavy mist poured into it like a school of fish returning to their nest.
Shortly, the dense mist cleared completely. Inside the inner hall lay five companions: four unconscious, and one with his heart and liver gouged out.
In the battle just now, they had lost yet another companion.
Had Li Xianzong not reacted quickly and used this prop early on to trap his companions and Squire Zhao in the mist before taking them down one by one, the team would undoubtedly have suffered catastrophic casualties.
The five survivors now were Li Xianzong, the youth missing his left ear, the gaunt middle-aged man, the man dressed in a sharp suit, and the taciturn crew-cut man.
Their corresponding classes were Bewitching Demon, Witch Doctor, Witch Doctor, Bewitching Demon, and Illusionist.
"What a shit dungeon. The final battle hasn't even started, and two people are already dead."
Li Xianzong tossed Squire Zhao's head toward the mountain of gold, then walked over to his companions, kicking each awake one by one.
"You bunch of useless trash. Good for nothing, skilled only at ruining things," Li Xianzong cursed in annoyance.
His teammates grimaced, not daring to talk back.
"Is that monster dead?" The gaunt middle-aged man looked around.
"Want me to fetch the head for you to make soup?" Li Xianzong sneered cuttingly.
"Heh, I'd definitely invite you to share a taste," the gaunt middle-aged man chuckled. "What I want to know is, what's our next trial? Hopefully nobody else dies. Otherwise, before we even reach the decisive battle, more than half of us will be dead or injured—how are we supposed to fight then?"
"You think the orthodox faction hasn't suffered casualties?" the youth missing his left ear said coolly.
Just as Li Xianzong was about to speak, the Spirit Realm notification chimed in his ear:
[Ding! You have successfully killed Squire Zhao. Please proceed immediately to the town center square to kill the evil sorcerer and initiate the decisive battle.]
By the river, the Spirit Realm notification echoed simultaneously in the ears of Zhang Yuanqing and the others:
[Ding! You have successfully overcome the temptation of sensual charms. Please proceed immediately to the town center square to kill the evil sorcerer and initiate the decisive battle.]
Chapter 133