Fu Qingyang had been waiting for a reply. After just a few rings of the dial tone, the call connected. His very first words were, "How did it go? Did Wuhen agree to step in?"
Zhang Yuanqing glanced at Xiao Yuan as she stepped into the elevator. Once the doors slid shut, he said, "I told Master Wuhen that the Songhai Branch wanted to deal with Heavenly King Demonic Eye. At first he refused, so I told him Demonic Eye had gone too far, tracking down my school and nearly killing me. To my surprise, Master Wuhen agreed immediately."
Fu Qingyang was somewhat taken aback. After a second of silence, he remarked with emotion, "I didn't expect Wuhen to hold you in such high regard."
Had they been face-to-face, Fu Qingyang's sharp perception as a high-level Scout would have caught Yuanshi Tianzun lying right through his teeth.
"Master Wuhen gave me a jade talisman that serves as a medium to reach him," Zhang Yuanqing said. As he spoke, he gently stroked the smooth, cool, rounded black jade stone in his palm.
This jade talisman looked no different from the teleportation talisman he had seen before. Little Green Tea still had one that she had yet to use.
However, their purposes were entirely different. For the one given to Little Green Tea, Master Wuhen's promise had been to save her life in a moment of mortal peril. When someone of his stature made a pledge, it was etched in stone; they meant every word they said. That was why Zhang Yuanqing hadn't tried to be clever by using Xie Lingxi's talisman to trick Master Wuhen into showing up. Had he done that, Master Wuhen would most likely have simply whisked him away without interfering in the battle between Demonic Eye and the Five Elements Alliance.
If they wanted Master Wuhen's help in casting an illusion to deceive Heavenly King Demonic Eye, they needed his personal, explicit promise.
"Keep it safe," Fu Qingyang said. "Hand it to me once you're back in Songhai."
With that, the two ended the call.
***
Inside the voice conference room.
The curly-haired toy poodle commanded the houseplant to extend a tendril, powering on the computer and logging into the voice chat software. After a brief wait, four Elders came online one after another.
"How did it go? Did Yuanshi Tianzun convince Wuhen?" The Scarlet Fire Gang Elder's avatar had barely appeared before he asked impatiently.
The other three Elders remained silent, waiting for a response.
Elder Gou answered in an unhurried tone, "Wuhen agreed to cast an illusion, but his involvement ends there."
The four Elders let out a sigh of relief. The White Tiger Battalion Elder chuckled and said, "That is plenty. If he wanted to join the fight in earnest, I'd actually be uneasy. Now it all depends on whether the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter can lure Demonic Eye to the agreed location."
Elder Luoshen said, "This step is critical. Let's hope that woman doesn't make any mistakes."
The Central Court Elder asked, "What were Wuhen's conditions?"
"He had none," Elder Gou replied.
The Central Court Elder grew instantly wary. "None?"
Elder Luoshen of the Water God Palace spoke up. "Given 'Past Wuhen's' style, he never intervenes lightly. How could he have no conditions at all?"
They had nominated Yuanshi Tianzun because he was close to that small group, making him the only one with a real chance of negotiating with them. Anyone else wouldn't have even gotten an audience with that Voidwalker. That was what they had meant by Yuanshi Tianzun having considerable sway. Yet none of them had anticipated that "Past Wuhen" would offer his help free of charge.
Elder Gou said, "That is indeed what Fu Qingyang reported. In fact, I wanted to discuss this very matter with you all. According to Fu Qingyang, the moment 'Past Wuhen' heard Yuanshi Tianzun had nearly perished at the hands of Heavenly King Demonic Eye, he agreed on the spot. This man clearly regards Yuanshi Tianzun with extraordinary importance. What do you all make of this?"
Elder Luoshen said in astonishment, "As a Dominator of an evil profession, there is neither reason nor logic for him to value Yuanshi Tianzun so highly."
The White Tiger Battalion Elder was somewhat on guard. "If he values Yuanshi Tianzun so much, what is he after? Is he trying to turn one of our men?" Poaching talent was the first possibility that crossed his mind.
Elder Gou offered his perspective: "Personally, I don't think there are that many hidden schemes. Yuanshi Tianzun is simply very adept at socializing. It isn't just Wuhen—look at how close he is with the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter. Back during the Bronze Sparrow Tower incident, Wuhen owed Yuanshi Tianzun a favor, so this is likely his way of repaying it. Still, this makes it clear that he harbors immense goodwill and respect toward Yuanshi Tianzun."
Hearing that, the White Tiger Battalion Elder felt much more at ease and laughed. "The kid certainly knows how to expand his network."
Elder Gou remarked with dry amusement, "Genius youths willing to prostrate themselves at the drop of a hat are indeed rare."
The tension in the conference room dissipated considerably.
***
At the Wuhen Hotel reception desk.
Zhang Yuanqing lounged lazily in the front desk chair. Because Xiao Yuan used it regularly, it still carried a faint, rich fragrance. He took a sip of the fruit juice beside him, eyeing the woman's back—the smooth contour of her spine and the astonishing curve of her hips. Her trousers were loose-cut, yet she filled them out completely. All one could say was that this auntie had been extraordinarily blessed by nature.
"Auntie Xiao Yuan, business at the hotel doesn't seem that great."
During the hour he had spent resting here, only three groups of guests had arrived, and one of them had just booked a room by the hour.
"There isn't much foot traffic on the outskirts, so of course business is slow. Also, if you keep staring at my rear, I'll gouge your eyes out," Xiao Yuan threatened in a cool, detached voice without looking back.
"Auntie Xiao Yuan, you're doing me an injustice. I just realized that the twisted tastes inflicted on me by that item seem to have improved significantly."
Zhang Yuanqing's gaze on her shapely hips was by no means born of lust; he was merely verifying whether his preferences had returned to normal. *What a relief—pig tails hardly ever cross my mind anymore,* he thought with satisfaction.
Through personal trial, he had confirmed a trait of the straw doll: so long as its psychological corruption hadn't set in too deeply, pulling back in time and setting the item aside allowed one's distorted preferences to ease over time. He had already tested this observation on both Xiao Yuan and Guan Ya.
Xiao Yuan let out a cold sneer. "Even without that straw doll, your tastes aren't particularly normal to begin with."
"What makes you say that?"
Xiao Yuan said indifferently, "You seem to harbor a peculiar penchant for older women. Were you lacking maternal love growing up?"
"That's uncalled for! With a single sentence, you managed to criticize my tastes and poke right at my old wounds."
If it were a thin-skinned young man sitting there, his face would have flushed scarlet with embarrassment. But Zhang Yuanqing was entirely fearless in social settings; through rigorous practice, awkwardness and dead silence had long ceased to exist for him.
He took a sip of the sweet juice and said, "I've heard similar theories. A person's preferences and orientation start budding in childhood and solidify during adolescence, which is why most perverts had miserable childhoods. It's truly tragic. That's why children need happy upbringings. Of course, I'm certainly no pervert, but I do prefer older women. My father passed away when I was very young, so I was especially attached to my mother, but she turned around and dumped me at my grandparents' house. I lacked maternal affection growing up, and people crave whatever they lack. That's probably the reason."
Xiao Yuan had only meant to mock him casually, never expecting him to treat it as a serious topic of discussion. At a loss for words, she decided to ignore him.
Zhang Yuanqing chattered on relentlessly, "Does Auntie Xiao Yuan have a boyfriend? Ever been married? Do you have kids?"
Xiao Yuan fell silent for a moment. "So, are you trying to pursue me? Pursue someone from an evil profession?"
"Now that's where I take issue. You should know full well how I view evil professions. Saying that makes me feel like you never trusted me at all."
"My apologies, I misspoke. So, you truly want to court me?"
"Auntie Xiao Yuan is gorgeous and has a fantastic figure. Aside from being a bit older, you have no flaws whatsoever. And your age is actually a major bonus in my book."
"And?" Xiao Yuan pulled a utility knife out of the pen holder.
"I'm... I'm just making casual conversation," Zhang Yuanqing said, knowing when to yield.
Just then, a delivery courier dressed in a blue uniform pulled up to the hotel on an electric scooter. The young man marched angrily into the lobby and shouted, "Xiao Yuan, I'm done being a courier! ...Yuanshi Tianzun, what the hell are you doing here?"
The courier had a slightly pale complexion, bold eyebrows, and bright eyes. He was handsome without being effeminate—a feisty young wolf dog with an aggressive stare.
"Since when did you start delivering food?" Zhang Yuanqing asked in surprise.
"He has no brains, no degree, and no work experience. What else would he do if not deliveries?" Xiao Yuan said calmly. She then turned to Kou Beiyue and added coldly, "It's your freedom, but don't expect me to give you any money."
Kou Beiyue replied aggrievedly, "It's not that I don't want to work, but this courier job is impossible! Just now, an older woman dragged me into her apartment, insisting she wanted to 'be friends' with me and pay me twenty thousand yuan a month! She even started touching me! I had so many orders to deliver, who had time to listen to her nonsense? I ran off, and she immediately slapped me with a bad review. This garbage job is completely unworkable!"
*The kid is still too young. In a few years, you'll realize just how wonderful wealthy older women are...* Zhang Yuanqing was momentarily dumbfounded.
Xiao Yuan shot Zhang Yuanqing a glance, as if to say, *Now that is a proper dating mindset.*
Kou Beiyue took off his helmet, placed it on the counter, and walked straight over to the refrigerator. After hesitating between juice and mineral water, he chose the bottle of water that cost one and a half yuan and chugged it down. Letting out a satisfied burp, he asked, "What the hell are you doing here, you bastard?"
*I'm here to hit on your mom.* Zhang Yuanqing glanced at the water bottle in his hand and said, "If you're short on cash and don't want to do deliveries, why not exercise some flexibility with your moral bottom line? Scout around for people making dirty money nearby, then 'borrow' some from them. Most of that cash was squeezed out of ordinary people anyway; it's tainted to begin with."
Kou Beiyue scoffed. "What a garbage idea! Stealing and robbing both deduct Morality Points."
Zhang Yuanqing asked, "How many Morality Points did you get as a reward from the Bronze Sparrow Tower case?"
"Thirteen hundred."
"Do you normally do bad things?"
"That sounds like an insult."
"Exactly! If you never do bad things, what's the point of hoarding so many Morality Points? Leaving them to gather mold? Theft only deducts five Morality Points, at least for amounts under ten thousand yuan. Even if you only spend a third of your points, it'd be enough to vastly improve your quality of life."
Kou Beiyue froze. It actually sounded somewhat reasonable. After a moment's thought, he countered, "Stupid! That's a one-off deal. Your merit points will run out eventually."
"Then take half of the money you get and donate it to charity. That way you earn Morality Points back. It won't be as much as what was deducted from stealing, but at least you have a way to generate income. With thirteen hundred Morality Points cycling through that loop, you wouldn't have to worry about living expenses for at least a year."
Kou Beiyue fell into deep thought.
Xiao Yuan looked at Zhang Yuanqing with a strange expression. "You shouldn't be using your cleverness on things like this. Put it toward the right path."
"Just brainstorming." Zhang Yuanqing drained his drink in one gulp. "I should get going."
"Wait a moment," Xiao Yuan said. "The case regarding Kou Beiyue's sister has already been closed. Even if the authorities purge those corrupt elites, they will never admit his sister was murdered by official Spirit Walkers, let alone that a Public Security Bureau captain fabricated evidence. If the verdict isn't overturned, he'll never be able to face his parents again. Could you... could you help out?"
Kou Beiyue watched him nervously.
Zhang Yuanqing pondered for a moment. "Getting it in the news is out of the question, but I can have the case file corrected and get the Public Security Bureau to send someone to notify his family. If you two are fine with that, I can try to handle it."
Kou Beiyue rushed to say, "That's enough! That's more than enough..."
*That's enough...* Seeing the humble helplessness of an ordinary civilian in him, Zhang Yuanqing's bright mood instantly darkened. Without another word, he silently walked out of the hotel.
***
Songhai.
Heavenly King Demonic Eye, who had been leaping aimlessly across residential rooftops in his search, received a phone call from a subordinate: "Heavenly King, the target is on the move. She just drove out of Songhai and is currently on the highway. Our men are tailing her."
Demonic Eye gave a noncommittal grunt. "Keep watching her. Let me know if anything happens."
After hanging up, he resumed his wandering search. About half an hour later, his phone rang once more.
His subordinate's urgent voice came through: "Heavenly King, we lost our men... We suddenly lost contact with them. Their status is unknown."
Demonic Eye wrapped his athletic headband around his forehead as he spoke: "They're already dead. I know where the target is. I'll take it from here myself."
He had placed a mark on the trackers. The mark disappearing meant the trackers were dead. Meanwhile, the mark he had placed on the target remained intact. This proved that members of Zhisha Palace had spotted the pursuers and eliminated them without noticing the mark. The one who intervened was not the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter herself. Had she been the one to act, he would have grown suspicious of why she cared so much about an ordinary member. Conversely, if the trackers had gone entirely unnoticed and successfully found a Zhisha Palace stronghold, he would also have been wary of why the Palace Master was being so careless.
Demonic Eye sprang off both knees, shooting into the sky like an arrow.
***
Late at night, in a rural town over sixty kilometers outside Songhai.
Beyond the town limits, the curly-haired toy poodle looked toward the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter, who was dressed in an ancient-style red gown, and said, "I've already summoned it over. Keep these rules in mind. First, never say the word 'animal.' Second, if you see a rabbit approaching, pay it no mind under any circumstances. Third, if a staff member comes over to speak with you, pay close attention to their uniform.
"Do not respond to staff in black uniforms—never respond. For staff in blue uniforms, you must say: 'I'm fine, I don't need any help.'"
Elder Gou added, "These guidelines apply to the outer perimeter. Whatever you do, do not venture deep inside the Zoo."
The Palace Master's eyes rippled with curiosity. "What happens if I go deeper?"
Elder Gou chuckled. "The Zoo has three tiers. The outermost corresponds to Level 7 Dominators. The second tier corresponds to Level 8, which is the region I can currently control. The core area corresponds to Level 9; even I dare not enter. If you want to return to the Spirit Realm, by all means, go as deep as you like."
*Returning to the Spirit Realm* was simply a euphemism for dropping dead.
Just then, a colossal shadow loomed overhead, blotting out the moonlight above. The massive shadow descended slowly over the town. It did not crush the buildings beneath it; instead, it physically shoved the town aside.
Quite literally shoved it aside on a physical level.
The town's original location was supplanted by that dark expanse, while the actual town was displaced far into the distance.
Once the shadow settled, it gradually revealed its true form. Facing Elder Gou and the Palace Master was the front entrance of the Zoo. The long automated gate was shut tight, and a massive boulder beside it bore the engraved word "Zoo." Behind the gate lay a dense sea of vegetation.
The Palace Master looked toward the depths of the Zoo and smiled radiantly. "Is Xiahou Chi in there? Where is he being kept? Can I kill him while I'm inside?"
Elder Gou said sternly, "How to handle him is the Five Elements Alliance's business. Do not stir up unnecessary trouble."
The Palace Master giggled. "And what if I insist on killing him? If you don't agree, I'll refuse to cooperate."
Elder Gou's cute button eyes gleamed with a dangerous light. "I do not take threats."
The Palace Master laughed with even greater delight, covering her mouth in a girlish manner. "You old dog, you're so boring, not an ounce of humor in you. Have you been a dog for so long that you forgot how to take a joke? Hey, I hear toy poodles have a tremendous sex drive, and your class is Wood Demon too—do you usually have breeding urges? If you do, do you prefer little female dogs or normal women?"
Elder Gou was still unfamiliar with the eccentric temper of this mad Palace Master and could not take it in stride. His curly fur trembled as he struggled to suppress the urge to strike and subdue her.
At that moment, the White Tiger Battalion Elder hiding nearby said in a deep voice, "He's here! I sense him."
When it came to reconnaissance, an Elder-level Scout held absolute authority. Not even the sharpest Ancient God of War could detect his scouting.
Elder Gou immediately opened his mouth and spat out a rounded black jade stone. He dropped it onto the ground, raised a paw, and crushed it with a sharp snap.
A grayish-white halo rippled outward, spreading in all directions like an ocean tide. Wherever it passed, all things lost their color. Within a few breaths, heaven and earth were drained into monochrome.
A deep, pained voice echoed in the air: "State your request."
Elder Gou said solemnly, "Please disguise my Zoo as a section of the town in the distance, merging them into a single whole."
As the words fell, the Palace Master watched in wonder as the Zoo behind them transformed into red-brick houses of varying heights. Some of the houses had lights on, while others were dark. Concrete streets wound between the buildings, seamlessly blending with the distant town as if they had always belonged together.
"Fascinating!" she marveled. "I can't tell it's fake at all."
As she spoke, the grayish hue receded, and the world regained its vibrant colors.
Without hesitating further, Elder Gou said, "Get inside!"
The Palace Master didn't dally either, slipping directly into the town. Elder Gou retreated into the distance.
Roughly ten minutes later, a small car drove along the straight asphalt road and rolled into the town without stopping.
After a long while, a figure descended from the sky, landing right outside the town.
Dressed in a black short-sleeved shirt, gray sweatpants, and an athletic headband around his forehead, the handsome, vibrant figure was none other than Heavenly King Demonic Eye.
He pulled off the headband to reveal the vertical eye, which fired a crimson beam of light. The beam swept across the town for several seconds before pivoting out toward the open fields beyond.
There were no other presences nearby; only the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter was inside the town. The corners of Demonic Eye's mouth curled upward. "Found you!"
With a push off the balls of his feet, he charged into the town like an artillery shell.
Chapter 173