Fu Qingyang nodded slightly. "That will do."
In truth, the Songhai branch had its own Red Phoenix Star Officials, and handling it in-house would have saved a fair bit of money.
Money Prince simply didn't care.
"All right, I'll text her back right away," Xie Lingxi said with a sweet smile.
Zhang Yuanqing, meanwhile, was lost in his own world, wondering if his aunt could be a Spirit Realm walker as well.
Otherwise, how else could he explain Little Doubi's attachment to her? It couldn't just be because she was an OB-GYN and naturally radiated motherly affection, could it?
He racked his brains trying to recall past details, attempting to unearth any clues from their daily life. Yet for some reason, the only detail he could remember was Little Doubi taking a liking to his aunt. Beyond that, his memory was a total blank.
If his aunt truly were a Spirit Realm walker, she had hidden it far too well.
*The Dragon Group, a superpowered special ops squad... Good lord, this is turning into a horror story.* Zhang Yuanqing kept glancing toward the sedan. He found his aunt looking back at him through the car window. Jiang Yu'er smiled radiantly, flashing her cute little canine teeth.
*Is she laughing at me in her head right now?* Zhang Yuanqing's thoughts were already running wild.
Having sent her reply, Xie Lingxi hopped over to him and said, "Brother Yuanshi, the Palace Master is heading over soon. We haven't seen her in ages."
Only then did Zhang Yuanqing snap back to reality. "I haven't seen her in a long time either."
At the same time, an idea crossed his mind. Should he use that psycho's hypnosis to test his aunt and see if she was a Spirit Realm walker?
Asking Fu Qingyang to stand by while he confronted his aunt face-to-face was another option, but doing so would mean laying all his cards on the table. If his aunt knew full well that he was a Spirit Realm walker yet kept it from him, she might have her own reasons.
Some ten minutes later, a crimson cloud drifted into the tunnel—a torrent woven from countless scarlet threads.
Thousands of shimmering red strands settled onto the ground, condensing into a young woman in an elaborate crimson gown. A silver mask concealed her entire face. Her magnificent red dress was embroidered with golden cloud patterns at the chest and cuffs.
She looked like an ancient fairy stepping right out of a painting, or a noble daughter raised in the innermost chambers of a great clan.
Both Guan Ya and Queen studied the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter with a touch of wonder. Even with her face masked and dressed in such a modest, traditional gown, she radiated an overpowering, captivating presence.
One look was enough to tell she was an extraordinary beauty.
Trailing her long skirt, the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter stepped forward with graceful, measured strides. Stopping before Zhang Yuanqing, she teased, "Tsk, tsk. I haven't seen you for a while, and you've already surrounded yourself with so many lovely confidantes? As my male paramour, you really lack self-awareness."
Guan Ya and Queen's expressions darkened, their eyes darting toward the Palace Master with subtle displeasure.
Though they knew it was just playful banter, a woman would never tease a man like that if she genuinely disliked him.
And when a breathtaking beauty didn't dislike Yuanshi—or rather, their captain—and even enjoyed flirting with him, it was thoroughly irritating.
As for Little Green Tea, she seethed with anger she didn't dare voice.
Zhang Yuanqing gave a helpless smile. "Whatever makes you happy, Palace Master."
The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter turned toward Fu Qingyang, her tone turning cool and distant. "Fifty thousand per person. I guarantee they won't remember a single thing about today for the rest of their lives. The same price applies to the relatives of the deceased."
Fu Qingyang gave an indifferent nod. "A bargain.
"Tell them the tunnel collapsed, that they are the survivors rescued by the constables, and that everyone else unfortunately perished."
The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter walked straight toward the six survivors nearby. Raising her porcelain-white wrist, she snapped her delicate jade fingers. The six civilians shuddered violently, their eyes glazing over as they fell into a daze.
A clear, melodious voice drifted out from beneath the silver mask:
"Look at me!"
The six turned their necks mechanically, staring blankly at her.
"The Inner Ring Tunnel collapsed, and you were buried alive beneath the rubble. The constables organized a rescue team and pulled you out. Aside from the six of you, everyone else perished." Her voice grew low and ethereal. "Repeat my words."
Their eyes vacant, the six repeated in a wooden drone, "The Inner Ring Tunnel collapsed, and we were buried alive beneath the rubble. The constables organized a rescue team and pulled us out. Aside from us, everyone else died."
With those words, their expressions hardened with conviction. They genuinely believed they had survived a cave-in and had just been pulled from danger by the constables.
"Very good!" Fu Qingyang nodded in satisfaction.
Seeing that the aftermath was handled, Zhang Yuanqing said, "Boss, can I head home now?"
Fu Qingyang nodded. He hadn't asked the Palace Master to hypnotize Yuanshi's aunt. While the existence of Spirit Realm walkers was kept confidential, that rule was meant only for the general public.
Certain groups had the right to know—civilian administrative staff within the organization, a small number of constables and government officials, and the family members of Spirit Realm walkers.
Zhang Yuanqing bid farewell to his teammates first, then turned to the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter. "Palace Master, I have a favor to ask."
He pointed toward his aunt's car nearby.
The Palace Master gave an aloof hum of acknowledgment.
Zhang Yuanqing let out a small breath of relief. Opening the car door, he scooped his drowsy aunt into his arms.
It was already eleven at night. After enduring a heart-stopping ordeal in the world of Little Red Riding Hood, returning to reality allowed Jiang Yu'er's frayed nerves to unwind, and overwhelming exhaustion washed over her.
She mumbled, burying her face into her nephew's chest. "Going home to sleep..."
"We're going home right now," Zhang Yuanqing answered softly, carrying her over to his own car left behind in the tunnel.
Just as the Palace Master was about to follow, Fu Qingyang called out, "Hold on, Palace Master. There are three more."
He looked toward the team members, excluding Guan Ya. "Please hypnotize them to forget the relationship between Yuanshi and that woman."
Sitting inside the car, Zhang Yuanqing was rendered speechless. Even at a time like this, the boss hadn't forgotten to eliminate potential trouble for him. His chief truly had his back.
The Palace Master eyed Fu Qingyang and said with a faint smile, "You certainly place high value on Yuanshi Tianzun. But tell me, Elder Fu, have you thought about how you're going to make me forget their relationship?"
Fu Qingyang replied impassively, "That is his problem."
In other words, Yuanshi would have to figure that out himself.
The Palace Master chuckled softly and repeated the trick on the three team members, erasing their memories of the intimate interaction between Yuanshi Tianzun and the beautiful young woman in the car.
Late into the night, soft yellow streetlights washed over the road. Zhang Yuanqing drove aimlessly through the streets of Songhai.
After driving around for half an hour, he pulled over to the curb and turned around. "Palace Master, help me hypnotize her."
After a brief thought, he added, "The kind where she answers whatever she's asked."
The Palace Master glanced at Jiang Yu'er, who was sound asleep across the back seat, and asked with an amused smile, "What are you up to?"
"Personal business," Zhang Yuanqing said.
She didn't pry further. Flicking a finger lightly against Jiang Yu'er's smooth forehead, she uttered, "Awaken!"
Jiang Yu'er shot upright and opened her eyes, her bright pupils hollow and blank.
The Palace Master smiled. "What do you want to ask?"
Zhang Yuanqing fell silent for a moment before speaking in a low voice, "Ask her if she's a Spirit Realm walker."
The Palace Master nodded. Staring into Jiang Yu'er's eyes, she asked, "Are you a Spirit Realm walker?"
With a wooden expression, Jiang Yu'er answered in a distant tone, "No..."
*She's not?!* Zhang Yuanqing was stunned. This answer was completely different from what he had expected.
If his aunt wasn't a Spirit Realm walker, how could he explain Little Doubi calling her 'Mama'?
Thoughts racing, he looked at the Palace Master. "Palace Master, I've heard that Arbiters of Fate govern the power of gestation. You're an expert in this domain. May I ask how an infant spirit could become unusually attached to an ordinary mortal?"
The Palace Master's voice was clear and cool. "Either a Night Walker or a Musician—or a mortal who carries the aura of either class."
She glanced at Jiang Yu'er. "Wang Qian's nephew is particularly fond of her?"
Zhang Yuanqing nodded.
A light smile touched the Palace Master's lips. "Perhaps she possesses an item from either the Musician or Night Walker class. If it were the latter, you, as a Night Walker, would have spotted it immediately. Since you haven't, it must belong to the Musician class."
"Impossible!" Zhang Yuanqing shook his head. "There's no way she has an item."
"Just because you don't know about it doesn't mean it doesn't exist," she chuckled softly. "Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions. Think carefully: has she had any chance of coming into contact with other Spirit Realm walkers without realizing it herself?"
*A chance to come into contact with a Spirit Realm walker...* Zhang Yuanqing thought of his mother. His late father had been a Night Walker, and his mother clearly knew about the Spirit Realm and maintained ties with that community.
Could she have given his aunt a gift in the past—say, a nurturing item that guaranteed a hundred percent success rate on cesarean deliveries?
Zhang Yuanqing drew a deep breath. "Thank you for the reminder."
With that, he stared silently at the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter.
*You can leave now!*
***
Arriving home, Zhang Yuanqing parked the car and carried his aunt upstairs. Pausing outside the door, he listened closely to the sounds inside.
"Why isn't Yuanzi back yet? That brat, I raised him for nothing!" his grandmother's indignant voice rang out.
This was the lingering side effect of dispelling an illusion. Those subjected to one would automatically forget its contents to maintain cognitive consistency, never realizing they had been placed under an illusion in the first place.
Thus, in his grandmother's mind, her grandson had never returned after hearing that his aunt was missing.
"Sigh, it's my fault for not teaching my protégé well," his uncle lamented.
*What does this have to do with you? Scoundrels of the family always love taking credit...* Zhang Yuanqing punched in the passcode and opened the security door.
The living room was brightly lit. His grandparents, along with his uncle and aunt, were sitting on the couch with anxious faces, the atmosphere heavy and grim.
Hearing the door open, the family turned around in unison.
"Yu'er?" Grandma sprang up with an agility unbefitting her age and hurried over.
"The Inner Ring Tunnel collapsed, and she was trapped inside. The constables just pulled her out," Zhang Yuanqing explained. "Guan Ya and I were on the scene the entire time, helping with the rescue."
Following the cover story implanted by the Palace Master's hypnosis, he recounted the events vividly, adding that his cousin had been there as well.
He wasn't worried about being exposed.
Since Fu Qingyang had already set the official narrative, the organization would enforce a unified report, and his cousin, as an inspector at the Kangyang District Police Station, would naturally receive the notice.
"Thank goodness, thank goodness..." Grandma fussed over her daughter's body, checking for injuries, before grumbling, "How could a perfectly good tunnel just collapse? It must have been shoddy construction!"
Grandma was full of grievances about the state of the world.
Zhang Yuanqing said, "Grandma, I'll take Auntie to her room first. You and Grandpa should get some rest soon."
He carried his aunt into her bedroom, took off her shoes, tucked her under the blanket, and returned to the living room. Together with his uncle and aunt, he calmed his grandparents down before finally heading to his own room to sleep.
***
The next morning, after getting his story straight with his aunt, Zhang Yuanqing took a taxi to the Fujia Bay Villa.
*I really need to buy a car soon. Hailing taxis all the time is getting annoying. Wait, if I buy a car, I'll have to drive it myself, and hiring a chauffeur is too much hassle. Taxis are still the most convenient...*
Zhang Yuanqing summoned Blood Rose and placed Little Red Riding Hood onto her head.
The cold indifference in Blood Rose's eyes was instantly replaced by ferocious madness, her pupils turning golden-yellow.
Her body expanded, tearing through her clothes as needle-like golden fur sprouted across her skin. Two pointed beast ears emerged from the crown of her head, the lower half of her face elongated into a wolf's muzzle, and pitch-black claws jutted from her fingers and toes.
In the blink of an eye, she transformed into a four-meter-tall golden werewolf. What dripped from between her interlocking fangs was not saliva, but scalding magma.
*Awoooo!* The golden werewolf threw back its head and howled at the sky.
Zhang Yuanqing carefully sensed Blood Rose's spirit body and frowned slightly.
If a yin corpse was an obedient puppet, then after lycanthropy, she had turned into a bloodthirsty, rampaging husky that was notoriously difficult to control.
You could still command her, but she barely listened.
*After turning into a werewolf, the yin corpse's spirit body gets corrupted too. If she transforms too many times, she'll become a werewolf permanently and lose control entirely...* Zhang Yuanqing quickly deduced the drawback of this item.
Next, he silently contacted the imprint in his sea of consciousness, splitting off a portion of his will to descend into Blood Rose and take control of her body.
Instantly, an intensely corrupted will assaulted his spirit body, causing his sanity to rapidly deteriorate.
Zhang Yuanqing immediately withdrew his consciousness, wincing. It seemed piloting a yin corpse yielded the exact same result as transforming himself; the mental corruption was not mitigated in the slightest.
Afterward, he tested the Flame Demon Wolf's two abilities: Fire Poison and Raging Flames. Unlike a Fire Specialist's flames, the demon wolf's fire was accompanied by pungent, intensely poisonous smoke.
The fire burned like white phosphorus; once ignited, it clung like maggots to bone, near impossible to extinguish.
As for the Fire Poison, it nearly did Zhang Yuanqing in.
The toxin was virulent and domineering. The moment claws slashed open flesh, the venom incinerated cells on contact and spread at alarming speed.
*A Level 4 Bewitching Demon would be dead meat against this. Against a Level 5, the outcome is anyone's guess.*
With the tests complete, Zhang Yuanqing was thoroughly satisfied with the werewolf's combat prowess.
He promptly removed Little Red Riding Hood and stored it back into his inventory.
Blood Rose swiftly reverted to human form, her bare, delicate body displaying beautiful curves in the sunlight. A faint, barely perceptible trace of ferocity now lingered in her formerly indifferent pupils.
Just then, Li Chunfeng walked out of the villa.
"I received a reply regarding your request," he said. "There are no top-tier Saint-stage items suited for close combat available. If you insist on getting one, you can go there yourself."
"Go there myself?" Zhang Yuanqing frowned. "What do you mean?"
Li Chunfeng shook his head. "It's hard to explain. You'll understand once you get there."
He then elaborated, "I know an artificer who belongs neither to the official organization nor to any Spirit Realm clan. She runs an item shop and a local black market. If you want to purchase an item, you can make the trip in person."
"There are no items that match my criteria, yet she wants me to go in person? Will one magically appear if I show up?" Zhang Yuanqing narrowed his eyes.
Li Chunfeng shrugged. "That's what she said, anyway. If you want to go, I can give you an entry token. Just show the token to enter the shop. No need to register your identity. You can even wear a mask."
*If the figure behind him really is Lian Sanyue, this is an opportunity. As for safety, I can send a yin corpse to scout ahead first. For Brother Bing's sake, this little risk is nothing...*
Zhang Yuanqing nodded. "Fine! Give me the token."
Chapter 369