Why was he here?
Holy crap, why the hell was he at Songhai University?
Zhang Yuanqing's heart hammered uncontrollably against his ribs, adrenaline surging through his veins in torrents, like someone hiking deep in an ancient forest who had suddenly stumbled upon a white-browed, hanging-eyed tiger. He froze in his tracks, his mind racing at full throttle.
*A coincidence? Demonic Eye showing up at Songhai University—could it really just be a coincidence?*
*If not, then he must be here for me. My age speaks for itself—a local in Songhai in his early twenties is very likely a college student. Besides, I killed Ou Xiangrong here at Songhai University back then.*
*Though that matter wasn't publicized widely, plenty of official walkers in the Songhai Branch knew about it. With Heavenly King Demonic Eye's status and capability, digging up that piece of intel wouldn't be difficult.*
*I remember Heavenly King Demonic Eye has the ability to "identify" Spirit Realm walkers—that was how he sniffed out Kou Beiyue.*
*Demonic Eye has probably searched Songhai University multiple times without my knowledge. Fortunately, I haven't been attending class much these past few days, unwittingly dodging a bullet...*
At the thought, cold sweat broke out on Zhang Yuanqing's forehead.
*Calm down, stay calm. Demonic Eye doesn't recognize me. Fu Qingyang analyzed before that his method of identifying Spirit Realm walkers is an active skill, something he has to deliberately activate, not a passive effect running twenty-four seven... Just act like a passerby, walk right past him, slip out the back gate, and never come back to campus again.*
Zhang Yuanqing took a deep breath. Taking advantage of Demonic Eye being engrossed in sweeping the ground, he pulled a face mask from his pocket and put it on. Maintaining a relaxed, casual gait, he pulled out his phone and fired off a group message to Fu Qingyang, Guan Ya, and Li Dongze:
"HELP!! Heavenly King Demonic Eye is at the front gate of Songhai University!!"
His eyes remained placid, and his fingers typing the message were as steady as an old dog's. The raging tempest within him was completely concealed beneath the surface.
Having sent the text, Zhang Yuanqing calmly put his phone away. Looking straight ahead without altering his path, he walked toward Heavenly King Demonic Eye, who wore a sports headband.
One step, two steps, three steps...
Finally, he brushed past Heavenly King Demonic Eye. The latter kept his head down, diligently sweeping the dust, oblivious and indifferent to the students coming and going around him.
Zhang Yuanqing tried his best to keep his breathing slow and even, suppressing any micro-reactions like sighing in relief or visibly unwinding.
Only after crossing the plaza inside the front entrance and turning into a quiet pathway leading to the academic buildings did he finally let out a heavy breath of relief.
*Phew... Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. As long as Heavenly King Demonic Eye isn't eliminated, I won't get a single night of sound sleep. That psycho insists on having evidence before killing someone, and I'm sure he's sent people to look into me. He ought to know I'm a law-abiding citizen, yet he's still casing Songhai University, which means he has no intention of letting me off the hook.*
*Evil professions are evil professions after all, with their elastic moral baselines. All that talk about requiring evidence to kill is just pure bullshit...*
Curse after curse ran through Zhang Yuanqing's head as he picked up his pace, aiming to slip out through the school's back gate.
Right then, a breezy voice drifted over from behind him, carrying a sunny smile:
"Do you know me?"
Zhang Yuanqing froze in his tracks. His entire body went rigid. Then, like a rusted gear, his neck inched around, turning degree by agonizing degree.
Lush green trees shaded both sides of the path, sunlight filtering through the foliage to cast dappled patterns on the ground.
Amidst the scattered, swaying specks of light, the young man with the sports headband tied around his forehead leaned on his broom, squinting at him with a warm smile.
"A-are you talking to me?"
Inside, Zhang Yuanqing's emotions were detonating, but the more panicked he became, the more expressionless his face grew, settling into a mask of pure calm.
Heavenly King Demonic Eye leaned on his broom and clicked his tongue.
"Your reaction at the front gate was far too conspicuous. Of course, that's not your fault. To us Ancient Gods of War, the slightest rustle in the grass on a battlefield stands out plain as day.
"There were too many people at the gate, so it wasn't convenient to make a move. That's why I followed you all the way here.
"Tsk, tsk. How would a student at Songhai University recognize me? Even more coincidentally, I've recently been looking for a fellow called Yuanshi Tianzun, who also happens to be a student at Songhai University. It couldn't possibly be you, could it?"
Without a second thought, Zhang Yuanqing instinctively moved to activate Night Walk and run for his life.
But right at that moment, Heavenly King Demonic Eye pulled off the sports headband from his forehead. "First, let me check if you're a Spirit Realm walker."
As the headband slid down, a vertical eye with a blood-red socket and a pale gold pupil was exposed. Cold and merciless, brimming with evil and chaos, it rolled in its socket with a sickening squelch.
*Boom!*
The instant he caught sight of the vertical eye, Zhang Yuanqing's thoughts exploded into countless chaotic fragments. There was no pain, no fear—only a descent into primordial stillness.
In reality, however, his face contorted hideously. Tears of blood streamed from his eyes, and the Taiyin power inside his body surged out of control, ravaging his physical life force and rapidly transforming his vessel into a yin corpse.
*Roaaar!*
Suddenly, a crisp, resounding dragon's roar reverberated through Zhang Yuanqing's sea of consciousness.
This dragon roar seemed to possess the miraculous power to cleanse the soul, hauling his spirit back from the brink of collapse. His fragmented thoughts pieced themselves together again, and his mind cleared in an instant.
He regained consciousness. Once more, he could see Heavenly King Demonic Eye a few meters away, as well as that terrifying vertical eye.
It remained horrifying and spine-chilling, yet it no longer seemed insurmountable.
*What was that dragon roar just now...?* Zhang Yuanqing was both bewildered and overjoyed. Having no time to ponder the mystery, he swiftly activated Night Walk, vanishing into invisibility, and bolted at full tilt.
"Interesting!"
Heavenly King Demonic Eye did not give chase. Instead, the corners of his mouth curved up. "A mere Songhai University actually harbors a Rain Master."
*Whoooosh...*
Shrill, violent winds howled and raged. Unbeknownst to anyone, dark clouds had veiled the sky like a black canopy, plunging the world into dimness.
A gale swept over the area. The trees and shrubs around Heavenly King Demonic Eye bent sideways in unison, their trunks bowing into semicircles as if about to snap at any second.
Students far and near were thrown into chaos; lighter girls were even lifted off their feet by the gusts, shrill screams echoing endlessly.
Window panes on nearby buildings shattered into pieces one after another.
Amidst this apocalyptic tempest, the vertical eye on Heavenly King Demonic Eye's forehead wept tears of blood as it fully awakened. Radiating outward from the eye socket, twisted black lines like tattoos rapidly crawled across Demonic Eye's body.
"Hey, hey, hey..." Heavenly King Demonic Eye propped himself up on his broom. "Fighting is one thing, but harming innocent bystanders will make me very angry."
He split his lips into a wild, maniacal grin.
*Huff, puff, huff...*
Dragging his severely battered body, Zhang Yuanqing pushed past limits he had never reached in his entire life, sprinting out of Songhai University and continuing his mad dash in the direction of Fujia Bay.
He moved faster than speeding cars, drawing bewildered stares from pedestrians. Some cried out in surprise and whipped out their phones to film, but by the time they unlocked their screens, he was already gone.
More than ten minutes later, after covering an unknown distance, Zhang Yuanqing finally came to a stop in a secluded park.
He collapsed onto the green lawn, his chest heaving violently as he gulped in great lungfuls of oxygen, panting heavily.
Two or three minutes later, his breathing steadied considerably. Zhang Yuanqing finally mustered enough focus to examine his own condition.
The most severe damage had been dealt to his soul. It was as if his spirit had been shattered and forcefully pieced back together. The primary toll this took on his body was a splitting headache—throbbing agony that felt as if his temples were cleaving apart.
A headache no less excruciating than a relapse of his old ailment.
Beyond that, his internal organs were battered, and his body temperature was freezing cold—the lingering consequence of the berserk, uncontrolled surge of Taiyin power.
*He nearly killed me with a single glance... So this is a Bewitching Demon of the Dominator Realm... And that was when he didn't even intend to kill me. If he had meant it, I wouldn't have had a prayer of resisting—I would've been reduced to ashes on the spot...*
After a moment of lingering terror, he recalled the dragon roar that had saved his life.
*Who helped me? Someone who could cast an art to disrupt Heavenly King Demonic Eye has to be at the Dominator level. I remember Guan Ya—or was it Fu Qingyang?—mentioning that an Elder was stationed at Songhai University.*
*Gale-force winds and a dragon roar... I don't know what profession that Elder belongs to, but he's definitely not a Fire Master.*
Just then, a shrill ringtone sounded from his trouser pocket.
*I'm definitely changing this damn ringtone sooner or later...* Zhang Yuanqing's heart skipped a beat out of sheer instinct. He pulled out his phone. The caller ID showed:
Fu Qingyang!
He answered at once. From the speaker came the slightly relieved voice of the young master of the Fu family:
"It seems the Elder from Water God Palace intervened in time."
Hearing that, Zhang Yuanqing's heart stirred. "Centurion, was it you who notified him?"
Fu Qingyang gave an "mm." Without taking any credit, he changed the subject. "Did you expose your identity?"
"Yes..." Zhang Yuanqing replied, feeling utterly exhausted.
He had used Night Walk to flee the scene, which Demonic Eye undoubtedly witnessed. A student at Songhai University, and a Night Wanderer to boot—anyone could figure out who he was with their toes.
Fu Qingyang mused for a moment. "When you joined the Five Elements Alliance, your student files were already destroyed and classified as confidential. It will be very difficult for Demonic Eye to track down your home address through that channel. You haven't leaked your home address to any classmates, have you?"
Zhang Yuanqing thought for a moment and shook his head. "No."
Even if Heavenly King Demonic Eye knows I'm a student at Songhai University, he still doesn't know my name is Zhang Yuanqing. And the school's archives won't have any records of Zhang Yuanqing anyway.
As long as I don't go to campus from now on, it will be hard for Demonic Eye to find me in the short term. But that's not a permanent solution. Fuck, what an annoying bastard.
A wave of frustration washed over Zhang Yuanqing.
Li Xianzong was the one who tried to kill him first, and taking down Li Xianzong had been fair and square, each relying on their own abilities. Demonic Eye was bullying the weak, completely shameless.
No, the blame actually belongs to the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter.
Demonic Eye's main purpose in coming to Songhai was to kill her, and hunting me was just a side quest. If that woman hadn't gone around flaunting her charms and stirring up trouble, Heavenly King Demonic Eye wouldn't have traveled thousands of li to Songhai just for a nobody like me.
That wretched woman...
Fu Qingyang said:
"Demonic Eye already has a lead on you. Given his operational style, I estimate he will trace his way to your home within a week. I will urge the Elders to close the net as soon as possible and take care of him."
*Trace his way to my home in a week...* A chill ran through Zhang Yuanqing's heart. "And what if... the Elders can't take care of him?"
*The real worry is that the Elders are the ones who get taken care of.*
Fu Qingyang pondered before replying:
"Then you will be in grave danger. My plan is for you to find a way to mask your aura so Demonic Eye cannot locate you. If you were a Night Wanderer of the Saint stage, you might be able to pull it off yourself, but for now, you can only rely on an item.
"However, such items are relatively rare, and the Songhai Branch doesn't have any in stock. I will submit an application to headquarters on your behalf to borrow a similar item, assuming headquarters has one."
With Heavenly King Demonic Eye's dragnet search, he would locate Yuanshi sooner or later. If there were a way to mask himself from Demonic Eye's detection, he might survive this ordeal.
*The application process involves tons of red tape. Just waiting for a reply will take days. What if Demonic Eye finds my doorstep before the item even arrives? And what if headquarters doesn't have one either...?* Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help griping internally.
"Thank you, Centurion."
After expressing his gratitude, they ended the call. Zhang Yuanqing immediately sent messages to Guan Ya and Li Dongze to let them know he was safe.
He looked around. Seeing no one nearby, he quietly brought out the Demon-Subduing Pestle and poked it gently into his thigh.
A dazzling golden light erupted, performing a thorough cleanse on his body.
Faint golden gleams flashed across Zhang Yuanqing's eyes. Under the power of purification, his mind became exceptionally lucid, and a certain person suddenly popped into his head:
Bill Tarantino.
This foreign walker of the Void profession had come to Songhai to conduct trade. He was bound to have plenty of inventory on hand.
Ling Jun had mentioned that the Merchant Guild boasted the most diverse variety of stock among all Spirit Realm walker organizations in the world.
He could ask Fu Qingyang to step in and buy an aura-masking item, but doing so would put the Centurion at a disadvantage in the upcoming negotiations...
Besides, if the branch bought it, the item would belong to the organization, and at best he would only be borrowing it.
An item that can mask one's aura is well worth acquiring. Buying it definitely wouldn't be a loss; once he no longer needed it, he could always sell it to the Songhai Branch. It would be better to contact Mr. Bill himself.
Granted, doing so would reveal to Mr. Bill that he was a Spirit Realm walker.
However, Zhang Yuanqing figured Mr. Bill had probably suspected as much all along. After all, an injury requiring a little blue pill to heal was almost certainly linked to Spirit Realm walkers.
Void and Desire were both orthodox professions. Given Mr. Bill's philosophy of traveling the world, as well as his connections and status, he was bound to have friends everywhere. To him, Zhang Yuanqing was likely just one among many acquaintances.
Thus, letting him know about his status as a Spirit Realm walker shouldn't be a big problem. Still, he couldn't reveal his Spirit Realm ID; Yuanshi Tianzun was far too renowned and held an extraordinary reputation in Songhai.
Action followed thought. Zhang Yuanqing dialed Bill Tarantino's phone number.
*Beep... beep...*
The call went through after ringing for a few seconds. Annie's soft, melodious voice soon came over the line:
"Hello, may I ask who is calling?"
She spoke in a foreign language.
*Who is calling? Didn't you even save my number? You foreigners don't take this Tianzun seriously at all...* Zhang Yuanqing replied in the foreign tongue:
"Ms. Annie, it's me, Chen Shu's son."
There was silence on the other end for two or three seconds before Annie finally remembered who he was, her tone warming eagerly: "How can I help you?"
"I'd like to purchase some items from Mr. Bill."
"Have you thought it through and decided to spend ten million to buy information on who uses the pills?" Annie asked delightfully.
*In your dreams!* Neither confirming nor denying it, Zhang Yuanqing said in a grave voice:
"I would like to meet with Mr. Bill. Right now, if it's convenient."
"Of course!" Annie agreed readily. "Would you like me to send a driver to pick you up?"
"No need."
Chapter 167