A Major Event

The ringback tone sounded for quite a while before the call connected. The voice on the other end was articulate and resonant, yet cold: "I am currently reviewing Ou Xiangrong's file and deducing his trajectory. I give you ten seconds." Among the official Spirit Realm walkers, the various squads were the main force handling cases, while Deacons coordinated behind the scenes, stepping in personally only when handling thorny cases. *The Centurion must be under a lot of pressure,* Li Dongze thought. He cleared his throat and reported in a deep, serious voice: "Centurion Fu, we have eliminated Ou Xiangrong." This answer clearly caught him off guard. The line went quiet. After several seconds of silence, Fu Qingyang's voice came through, no longer cold: "Where did you find him?" Li Dongze said: "He was eliminated at Songhai University. He was attempting to interrogate Xu Yingying about the whereabouts of the Holy Grail and the roster, but Xu Yingying knew nothing; she is merely an ordinary female college student. Your assessment was correct—Ou Xiangrong has indeed lost his mind." Fu Qingyang praised, "Well done, Li Dongze. You were sharp this time. You successfully averted a massive bloodbath. I will petition the Council of Elders to credit your squad. Were there any casualties?" "None," Li Dongze paused, then added, "Centurion Fu, we weren't the ones who killed him." "Not you?" Fu Qingyang's tone was tinged with confusion. He seemed to recall something and realized in enlightenment, "I almost forgot. There is an elder from the Water God Palace at Songhai University. Did that person intervene? It seems I should find time to pay them a visit and express my thanks." There was an elder at Songhai University? Li Dongze was stunned, but quickly realized Centurion Fu had misunderstood, and explained: "The one who eliminated Ou Xiangrong was Yuanshi Tianzun, the Night Wanderer I newly recruited." A Level 1 Night Wanderer killed a Level 3 Bewitching Demon? The Centurion on the other end fell silent once more. After a dozen seconds, Fu Qingyang said, "Understood. Have him write a report and submit it." He paused, his voice tinged with a smile. "Well done." Ending the call, Li Dongze gripped the steering wheel, beaming with delight, unconsciously pressing harder on the gas pedal. Bailong opened his phone and pulled the adjacent captains into a temporary group chat: "Look how smug Li Dongze is. His mustache is practically flying up to his eyebrows." Qingteng: "His squad performed a huge service. If I had a subordinate like that, I'd be smug too." Under the official organization's regulations, in order to foster a sense of collective honor among squad members, when one person achieved merit, the entire squad received commendations, and the other members received bonuses and performance ratings as well. If the other captains had merely been envious of the Night Wanderer Li Dongze had recruited before, they were now so jealous that they felt like throwing sportsmanship to the wind. *** Kangyang District Public Security Bureau, the morgue. Li Dongze closed the morgue door, shutting the captains out. Looking at Zhang Yuanqing beside him, his eyes ran deep as he spoke: "A Night Wanderer devouring spirits can gain experience points. The side effect is that over time, one's psyche becomes corrupted. If you have already tried improving your strength this way, you should understand what I mean." Zhang Yuanqing nodded. "Then have you tried using that item to purify distracting thoughts?" Li Dongze prompted. This was his solution. Seeing Zhang Yuanqing frown in thought, Li Dongze laughed. "It seems that item carries no small price." *Yeah, using it too much easily causes anemia and depletes both qi and blood...* Zhang Yuanqing suddenly recalled a detail: he had once found a spirit crystal in the Mountain God Maiden's mouth. Judging by things now, that crystal had very likely condensed from the souls of the Spirit Realm walkers who had died in the Mountain God Temple. That was why the description said it was the best tonic for a Night Wanderer. The impurities of a spirit crystal were undoubtedly psychic corruption, yet they had been purified by the Maiden. By that logic, the Demon-Subduing Pestle would certainly be able to purify psychic corruption as well. With that thought, Zhang Yuanqing opened his inventory and took out the Demon-Subduing Pestle, cast in brass and engraved with exquisite patterns and incantations. He briefly explained the item's effects and toll, adding, "If I go mad in a moment, stab me with it once. Mm, stab my thigh." "Alright!" Li Dongze took the item. Zhang Yuanqing walked over to Ou Xiangrong's corpse, pressed his palm against the man's chest, took a deep breath, and let viscous, pitch-black energy surge in the depths of his eyes, awakening the remnant spirit inside the corpse. A swelling ache hit his glabella, and his consciousness immediately expanded as something that did not belong to him forcefully flooded his brain. Through the haze, Zhang Yuanqing saw himself, saw the underground parking garage, and saw the bizarre red dancing shoes. This was the battle that had just occurred in the garage. Zhang Yuanqing waited in silence for the battle to conclude. The scene soon shifted. This time, it was a dim room. In front of Ou Xiangrong stood a masked man holding an exquisitely crafted crystal goblet, the liquid inside scarlet as blood. "As a Bewitching Demon, your evil is pure, and you possess fine potential. Drink the wine from the Holy Grail, and you shall be my servant." "Every half-month, you must drink the wine from the Holy Grail again, or not even an immortal can save you." "Remember my name: Deceitful Eye Judge." In a cheap rented apartment, a man wearing a surgical mask and a peaked cap stood in the living room, speaking coldly: "The Deceitful Eye Judge is dead. His confidant, Hei Wuchang, has absconded with the Fallen Holy Grail and the roster, hiding in Songhai City. If you don't want to 'die from poison,' find him for us. The Spirit Society will not treat you unfairly." Here, the images shifted again. He saw a blue sky, and saw a bunch of punks in bizarre clothing punching and kicking him. The sudden shift in style left Zhang Yuanqing somewhat dazed. Only after several seconds did he realize that he was experiencing a bout of bullying. *Are these Ou Xiangrong's past memories? Who would have thought that a ruthless fiend who killed without blinking an eye had experiences like this in his past...* "Ou Xiangrong, are you treating my words as wind past your ears?" "Ou Xiangrong, you'd better cherish the times when we talk nicely to you." *Don't hit me, don't hit me...* Zhang Yuanqing felt the intense terror in Ou Xiangrong's heart, curling up in fright. "Useless trash! Bullied again? If you get hit, hit them back! What are you crying to me for? How did I ever father a piece of trash like you?!" A middle-aged man shouted curses, spittle flying everywhere. This time, Zhang Yuanqing sensed despair from Ou Xiangrong's emotions. Many messy, fragmented scenes flashed past in rapid succession. Through one similar incident after another, the man's mindset had grown increasingly twisted, increasingly violent. Just then, a glorious and pure golden light burst into his sea of consciousness, dispelling the violence and anguish and bringing warmth. Zhang Yuanqing snapped his eyes open. He saw the bright fluorescent lights, the stark white walls, and Li Dongze, who was bruised, battered, and whose suit was in disarray. "Decurion, are you alright?" Zhang Yuanqing was greatly startled. He quickly touched his face and discovered it was covered in tears. "I'm fine." Li Dongze tossed the bloodstained Demon-Subduing Pestle onto the ground, straightened his clothes, and grumbled, "I should have had Guan Ya come. Her close-quarters combat is better than mine. This wasn't elegant in the slightest." Once he tidied his attire, he asked impatiently, "Well? Did you find any clues? You look in terrible shape." "I'm just a little sad." His experience points had increased again, but this time, Zhang Yuanqing felt no joy from it. A look of understanding crossed Li Dongze's face. "Because of Ou Xiangrong's memories?" "Yeah." A spirit's memories were incomplete and fragmented, retaining only experiences that could not be let go. After so many years, Ou Xiangrong had remained brooding over what had happened during his school days; it had affected his entire life. Even though the man was a criminal who deserved to die, Zhang Yuanqing still felt awful. Li Dongze sighed. "Although I don't know what you saw in his memories, I can understand. The Night Wanderers of the Taiyi Sect detest devouring the spirits of evil professions the most, and this is the reason. Yuanshi, do you know why the concept of evil professions exists?" Rather than rushing to ask for case clues, he took this opportunity to guide and counsel him, saying: "In faction confrontations, we have killed countless members of evil professions. After compiling data from spirit communions conducted by Taiyi Sect Night Wanderers, we observed a phenomenon: every single evil profession member was a villain or criminal in reality. "In other words, Spirit Realm walkers of evil professions are selected by the Spirit Realm from specific groups of people." Zhang Yuanqing was taken aback. "So they didn't become bad people because they gained an evil profession; they were already bad people to begin with." "Yet their badness wasn't entirely innate either; it was brewed by humanity itself," Li Dongze sighed. "The Spirit Realm does not actively cultivate evil. The birth of any evil profession is the karmic fire of humanity itself. This reality is rather depressing and hardly uplifting, but such is the real world. Keep it to yourself; don't broadcast it around." Zhang Yuanqing nodded in silence. "Additionally, let me tell you one more thing. Having killed Ou Xiangrong, you should have gained Reputation, right?" Li Dongze said. "When Spirit Realm walkers hunt each other, no Morality Points are deducted. However, possessing Reputation will make Spirit Realm walkers of the same faction wary. If you have 10 points of Reputation, any same-faction Spirit Realm walker who kills you will lose 20 Morality Points. Heh, there is a difference between being orthodox and being kind." Having said this, Li Dongze patted his shoulder. "Alright, let's talk business. No more wasting time." *Are there kind ones, chaotic ones, and neutral ones among orthodox professions? Then could there be those who turn over a new leaf among evil professions...?* Zhang Yuanqing pulled his thoughts back, steadied his mind, and said in a low voice: "Decurion, I think I saw a major event in Ou Xiangrong's memories." "A major event?" Li Dongze chuckled. "He was just a Level 3 Bewitching Demon. No matter how big it is, how big could it possibly get? In all my years of work, what major event haven't I seen? Out with it." He was not being arrogant; it was just that in Li Dongze's view, Yuanshi lacked experience and might not have an accurate definition of a major event. "It goes like this..." Zhang Yuanqing recounted the memories he had read in detail. A few minutes later, Li Dongze sprinted frantically out of the morgue and roared at the captains outside: "Something huge has happened!!"