"What kind of nonsense is that!" Grandmother spat. "Right, I didn't know your dad well, and I don't know your mom well either."
Zhang Yuanqing snatched the mop with a grin. "Let me do the mopping, you go rest, Grandma... I only brought it up because Chen Shu mentioned that both you and Grandpa didn't like my dad."
Back when his mom wanted to marry into the countryside, his grandparents had strongly objected. A Songhai household registration was worth a fortune—people across the entire country coveted it with eager eyes.
The older generation had toiled bitterly for decades, and for what? For you to marry off to the countryside? So that all future generations would have rural household registrations?
*Did we slave away for nothing?*
*You unfilial wretch! If you dare marry into the countryside, we'll disown you!*
Back in the myths, when the Queen Mother of the West opposed the Weaver Girl marrying the Cowherd, it was probably for similar reasons.
Of course, his grandparents were reasonably open-minded and hadn't actually drawn a Milky Way to separate Zhang Yuanqing's parents. Besides, his mother had a fierce, unyielding temperament. Even without his grandparents making a move, she likely would have slammed the table and shouted:
*You two old geezers, chirp one more word, and you're coming to court with me to sever ties!*
Chen Shu was just that kind of person.
In short, his grandparents hadn't thought much of his dad. Zhang Yuanqing had heard both his mother and his uncle mention this before.
His mother had only brought it up in passing, but when his uncle spoke of it, it was far more vivid. His uncle had said: *Your dad was always sickly, looking completely drained at a glance. Worst of all, he was utterly unambitious. He couldn't sing, dance, or rap, and he had no idea how to butter up the two old folks.*
At the time, Zhang Yuanqing had thought to himself: *Their son is already good-for-nothing. If their son-in-law was also a useless bum, Grandma and Grandpa would've dropped dead from heart attacks in a minute.*
On the surface, he had said, "Ah, yes, absolutely! Uncle is the most accomplished of all! I have to learn how to rap from you, Uncle—how about some pocket money?"
"What's with 'Chen Shu'? That's your mother!" Grandmother scolded him, then asked, "Why are you asking about this anyway?"
"Just curious," Zhang Yuanqing said, mopping attentively. "Dad passed away early, and Mom was widowed young. She must have been heartbroken back then. All these years I've lived in Songhai, and we barely have any contact with relatives on the Zhang side."
Grandmother replied, "Speaking of which, your mother didn't seem all that heartbroken at the time. I was quite surprised too. I thought she'd look for someone else in no time, but over a decade has passed and she still hasn't remarried. Whatever, I can't be bothered with her. Her kid is already this big, so whether she remarries or not doesn't matter anymore. Right now, I just hope your cousin and your aunt can start dating soon."
"Grandma, you're off topic. Tell me about Dad..." Zhang Yuanqing reminded her.
"What's there to say?" Grandmother grumbled under her breath. "Your dad's temper was fine—he never got angry and could tolerate your mother's domineering personality. But he had no spine at all, no drive. Your grandfather wanted to get him a position within the system so he could transfer his household registration here, but he refused no matter what. He just loved staying in the village, farming a bit and doing odd jobs. What future could there be in that? If they had a son, it'd just be an old clodhopper raising a little clodhopper!"
*What's wrong with being a clodhopper? Clodhoppers are the masters of society! Grandma, your petty-bourgeois mindset is completely out of line. Besides, if my dad had truly been a mediocre nobody, how could your daughter—who looks down on practically everyone—ever have fallen for him?*
Zhang Yuanqing complained inwardly while nodding along aloud. "Mhm, keep going."
In his view, his father probably hadn't lacked money, but had deliberately kept a low profile. The reason he hadn't taken a public sector job was likely that he had been busy hunting Dominators, running dungeon instances, and saving the world—while also trying to avoid drawing the attention of official walkers.
"That's it. What else is there to tell?" Grandmother urged. "Hurry up and mop. When you're done here, go mop your aunt's room."
"Wait, don't stop yet! I'm not done asking. Did my dad have any close friends? Close confidants that my mom knew too—do you remember anyone like that?" Zhang Yuanqing probed.
Grandmother knitted her brows, gave it a second's thought before giving up, and shook her head. "No idea. I wasn't close with your dad, and it's been over ten years. Who remembers that sort of thing? If you don't bring Guan Ya over for dinner soon, I'll forget what she looks like too."
*Hopeless Grandma... Getting old and forgetful...* Zhang Yuanqing grumbled inwardly, but he was unwilling to leave it at that. As he mopped, he pondered.
Soon, a question occurred to him. "Grandma, did you attend my dad's funeral?"
"Of course. Even if I didn't know your dad well, I still had to attend his funeral." Grandmother rolled her eyes at him.
"Did you see a dog at the funeral, then?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.
"What?" Grandmother was baffled by the question. "Even if your dad had no friends, he couldn't have been so pathetic as to be best friends with a dog."
"Just tell me: did you see a curly-haired poodle?" Zhang Yuanqing pressed.
"Let me think..." Grandmother tilted her head and thought for a long while before an expression of astonishment suddenly crossed her face. "Now that you mention it, I actually do remember. I really did see a dog at the funeral. It stayed for a long time, and it even seemed to stand up on its hind legs and bow several times. At the time, I found it quite amusing, wondering whose dog it was to be trained so well. Ask me about people and I can't recall, but ask about a dog and I actually remember."
Zhang Yuanqing took a deep breath and pressed for confirmation, "Was it a curly-haired poodle?"
"I'm not so sure. Seemed like it?" Grandmother said.
Zhang Yuanqing leaned on the mop, standing rooted to the spot without speaking or changing expression for a long time.
*Fuck, Elder Dog really did know my dad! In that case, the reason he acquired the Zoo was probably a gift from my father, or a trade—not through some despicable, shameless conspiracy like I had guessed...*
*He knew my dad's real identity, not just his Spirit Realm ID. That means he definitely knows I'm Zhang Zizhen's son too, unless he never looked at my file.*
*But that's impossible. Elder Dog is Fu Qingyang's direct superior, and Fu Qingyang is my Decurion's direct superior, so he had full authority to access my records.*
*Come to think of it, Elder Dog really has treated me with unusual care. The first time we met, I rubbed his dog head and he didn't even get mad. Usually, when we interact, he doesn't put on the air or authority of an Elder at all. None of the other Elders in Songhai gave me that warm and friendly feeling...*
*I always thought Elder Dog was exceptionally gentle and easygoing with me because yours truly is simply that outstanding—like a teacher doting on a top student back in school.*
*Now it seems there was this reason behind it all along. What kind of relationship did he actually have with my dad?*
*For my dad to share his real identity with him, their connection was definitely far from simple.*
Zhang Yuanqing could barely suppress the urge to call Elder Dog and ask. Yet he felt that everything was merely his own speculation without concrete evidence; rashly bringing up Zhang Zizhen would be unwise.
Just then, the security door beeped as someone punched in the passcode. His aunt returned, humming a tune and skipping into the apartment with an exquisite little case in hand.
"Hey there, puppy!" His aunt bounced past her nephew, happily patting his head.
"There's another one right here. Why don't you go greet her like that too?" Zhang Yuanqing pointed at Grandmother, suggesting Jiang Yu'er spread the love equally.
Jiang Yu'er saw through her nephew's clumsy trick, refused to take the bait, and skipped right into her room.
"Going shopping this afternoon?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.
Jiang Yu'er poked her head out in surprise. "How did you know I was going shopping?"
"You just got a new makeup set. With your vanity, you'd definitely put on makeup and head out to show off," Zhang Yuanqing sneered.
Jiang Yu'er wrinkled her nose at him, pulled her head back, and slammed the door shut with a bang.
Zhang Yuanqing stepped into the bathroom, washed his face, and opened his Star Eyes to examine his own facial features.
*Huh? My Court of Fate is bright and shimmering, indicating a good social opportunity in the near future. Looks like today's a great day to go out.*
Zhang Yuanqing was a bit surprised.
At the same time, he felt a bit disappointed. While a clear, bright Court of Fate signaled favorable social opportunities, it lacked the dense, ambiguous soft glow of romantic fortune, so it was unlikely to involve love or romance.
Had it been the latter, Zhang Yuanqing would have bolted straight to a hotel to find Guan Ya without a second thought.
***
Jiuguang Mall.
Inside a clothing store, Fear Heavenly King, clad in rags, covered his mouth and coughed violently.
"Sir, sir, are you all right?"
Dressed neatly and exquisitely, a sales associate stepped forward with concern.
To be honest, someone dressed in tatters looked completely out of place walking into this kind of high-end luxury boutique.
Even the cheapest piece of clothing here cost an entire month's salary for the average white-collar worker.
Fear Heavenly King kept coughing, oblivious to his surroundings. His handsome face was devoid of color, his lips chapped, and his pupils cloudy and dim. Every cough carried a violent tremble, as if he might hack up his lungs at any moment.
"P-Please wait a moment, I'll get you some water..."
Seeing that the "customer" seemed to be enduring immense pain, the sales associate hurried over to the counter, filled a disposable paper cup with warm water, and jogged back in her high heels.
Handing him the warm water, she asked, "Sir, how do you feel? You might need to visit a hospital."
As an associate at a world-class luxury boutique, she was professionally trained and well-mannered. She would not display disdain just because a customer who walked in couldn't afford the goods.
Even when facing a beggar, one had to maintain an elegant smile and polite demeanor—that was what the store manager taught.
Fear Heavenly King took the paper cup, downed it in one gulp, and unsteadily walked over to sit on the soft couch provided for resting customers. In a hoarse voice, he said, "Give me another cup."
***
The Zoo.
Across all of Songhai, there were roughly three zoos. The one out in the suburbs enjoyed the best reputation across the entire internet.
Netizens all said that the animals at the Songhai Zoo were uniquely spirited: an alpaca that spat at visitors; a chimpanzee that threw feces at tourists; an African grey parrot that cursed at anyone in sight with "Dumbass!" and "Grandson!"; monkeys that flashed their genitals to lure female tourists; raccoons that loved awkward dance-offs with visitors, and more.
Furthermore, the variety of animals was exceptionally diverse and complete.
In addition, the zoo had a very distinctive name: it was simply called "Zoo," with no prefix whatsoever.
Because of this, the zoo drew massive crowds every weekend, and on holidays it was packed to overflowing.
In the Lion Park, inside the secret chamber imprisoning Heavenly King Demonic Eye, Elder Dog stood by the iron bars, quietly gazing at the tourists outside who were watching the pride of lions.
From inside the camphor tree behind him came Heavenly King Demonic Eye's sigh of admiration. "Business is booming. Must make a lot of money every month, huh?"
Elder Dog drew his gaze back, his dark, beady button-like eyes looking back. "Does the dignified Heavenly King Demonic Eye care about money too?"
"Of course I care. Money is a fine thing." Heavenly King Demonic Eye's laughter penetrated the curtain of hanging vines. "Yet money is also the filthiest thing in the world. As filthy as human nature is, that's how filthy money is. All the misfortunes of my life were courtesy of it."
"I thought you would say power is the filthiest thing in the world. After all, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and you happen to despise those who abuse power the most." Elder Dog sat on his haunches and scratched his head with a hind leg.
Demonic Eye burst into laughter. "In my eyes, money and power are the same thing. Money can pry open power, and power can amass money. No difference."
"Are you going to start recounting your tragic life story? I'm looking forward to it." Elder Dog sat facing the camphor tree.
"You aren't qualified to know my story," Demonic Eye said faintly. "If I'm dying one day, I'll tell it, but only to Yuanshi Tianzun. He will inherit my will and continue purging the world."
After saying that, he added, "You've been staying at the Zoo for two straight days. That isn't like you."
Elder Dog didn't hide anything and sighed. "Fear Heavenly King came to Songhai to rescue you. I need to remain here to oversee the Zoo and coordinate an ambush with the Grand Marshal to hunt Fear Heavenly King down. However, it seems he couldn't even get past the Palace Mistress."
"Fear came to Songhai to rescue me?" Doubt tinged Demonic Eye's voice.
"Is there a problem?" Elder Dog frowned.
"Fear is lazy to the marrow. He never handles business for more than an hour. Once time is up, he casts aside matters of supreme importance, claiming it's time to pursue freedom. He hates working; he thinks it restricts his freedom. I remember back when he was hunting Deceitful Eye Judge, he chased him for an hour and was right on the verge of killing him, but the guy suddenly gave up and went off chasing his freedom."
Demonic Eye said coolly, "He's far too lazy to travel all the way from the north to Songhai just for a single errand. More likely, he talks every day about saving me while strolling around aimlessly, doing absolutely nothing."
"Yet he did come," Elder Dog said deeply.
"Then he must have another objective—one that makes him willing to set aside a bit of his freedom. You people had better investigate thoroughly." Demonic Eye gave a light sneer. "Still, since he's here, he will definitely come to the Zoo to rescue me."
Elder Dog replied evenly, "Don't celebrate too early. The Palace Mistress has already wounded him. If he still dares enter the Zoo, with two Alliance Leaders making their move, Fear will undoubtedly die."
***
[Yuanshi Tianzun: The Palace Master of Water God Palace heavily wounded Fear Heavenly King? Amazing! No, wait, what a shame—why didn't she kill him?]
[Fu Qingyang: Fear possesses demigod combat strength and is a Bewitching Demon skilled in battle. Killing him is no easy task. The Water God Palace Master alone is not enough, unless the Grand Marshal moves alongside her.]
[Yuanshi Tianzun: Interesting. Since the Palace Mistress could locate Fear, why didn't she bring a crowd to gang up on him? That scumbag cut through two rule-based items with one strike back then—wasn't she super badass? Why didn't she come to Songhai to kill Fear?]
[Fu Qingyang: If a battle between demigods is fought to the death, it is bound to be catastrophic. Outside the Spirit Realm, no sealing technique can contain them. The Alliance Leaders do not wish to see Songhai plunged into devastation.]
[Yuanshi Tianzun: So that's how it is. My perspective was shallow. Uh, Boss, remember to delete the chat history (kowtows).]
[Fu Qingyang: Mm!]
*I just love a proper man like Boss. He handles things uprightly and steadily, not like young people these days who giggle around, talk out of their asses, and can't wait to see everyone suffer social death...* Zhang Yuanqing was touched to his core.
[Yuanshi Tianzun: By the way, Boss, I obtained a magical artifact from the Thousand Cranes Group. How do I bring it into the Spirit Realm?]
Magical artifacts and items were essentially the same thing, but because they were not produced by the Spirit Realm, they did not count as Spirit Realm items and thus could not be brought into dungeon instances.
[Fu Qingyang: Simple. Have an Artificer process it and inject Spirit Realm information into it. Come to my place this afternoon, and I'll find someone to process it for you.]
[Zhang Yuanqing: Thanks, Boss (kowtows frantically)! But wait, can Artificers process nuclear bombs too?]
[Fu Qingyang: While magical artifacts are not produced by the Spirit Realm, they contain spiritual power. Nuclear bombs do not.]
[Zhang Yuanqing: Then what if we replace a nuclear bomb's casing with Spirit Realm materials?]
Fu Qingyang ignored him.
[Zhang Yuanqing: That won't work?]
[Fu Qingyang: I am merely a Scout, not a search engine.]
*Fine, he doesn't know either...* Zhang Yuanqing tactfully ended the chat and returned to his messaging home screen. Then he sent another message to Xiao Yuan:
"Xiao Yuan, I'm entering the official guild Spirit Realm tomorrow. It might take about a week. If you can't reach me during that time, don't panic."
[Magical Aunt Xiao Yuan: I wouldn't contact you anyway.]
[Yuanshi Tianzun: Love you!]
Returning once more to the messaging home screen, he sent a text to the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter:
"Midnight tonight, usual spot. I have something to ask you."
The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter did not reply.
"Hey, stop playing on your phone!" His aunt knitted her brows and huffily reached out to snatch it. "No phones allowed when you're out shopping with me!"
"Got it, got it." Zhang Yuanqing hurriedly put away his phone, walking forward with his arm draped around Jiang Yu'er's shoulder.
Jiang Yu'er glanced around, then pointed at a clothing boutique ahead. "It's been a long time since I bought you clothes. Let's check out that store—the brand is very expensive. Mhm, I'll pick them out, and you pay. Your little aunt doesn't have the money to buy you such pricey clothes."
If the one billion Japanese yen from the Thousand Cranes Group hadn't been put up as collateral, Zhang Yuanqing would have declared in the manner of a domineering CEO claiming a fishpond: *I'll buy the whole store for you.*
But right now, he had only five or six million in savings—hardly enough for reckless splurging.
***
Inside the clothing store.
His condition gradually recovering, Fear Heavenly King had changed into a crisp suit. Standing before a full-length mirror, he relished the sales associate's flattery.
It wasn't even flattery; her eyes were brimming with pure infatuation, like a man gazing upon a stunning beauty.
Fear Heavenly King possessed handsome features, elegant manners, and a mature air, while the two silver earrings lent him a trendy edge—a cold, stylish man that young women found irresistible.
"The clothes are nice. Give me ten sets," Fear Heavenly King said with a satisfied nod.
Hearing this, the sales associate became even more enamored.
Right at that moment, through the full-length mirror, Fear Heavenly King saw a young man and woman walk into the shop.
Chapter 415