"This looks like a parasitic gu beast with no small amount of intelligence?" Tianxia Guihuo studied the hideous ghost face, then glanced at Zhao Chenghuang beside him. "So Sanyang Kaitaitai died long ago. The gu beast has a mind of its own too, and it seems to know a good deal. You might consider Spirit Devouring."
Zhao Chenghuang's mouth twitched. "Devouring a filthy spirit body like that would only speed up my madness. Yuanshi Tianzun can give it a try." He turned to look at the empty-handed Yuanshi Tianzun. "You're only a clone, after all."
Once the prophecy ended, the rule's influence faded. The moment the clone tore off the Perfect Human Skin, he had come back to himself and remembered that this was not the true body.
"What's wrong with being a clone? Clones have no rights?" Zhang Yuanqing spat a mouthful of saliva in his face. "The main body is already possessing the armored man. Just wait for him to come back and share the intel."
Sure enough, Tianxia Guihuo and Zhao Chenghuang exchanged a glance. The former mused for a moment, swept his eyes over the human skin, and said,
"You actually weren't affected by the armored man. How did you manage that?"
"Heh, a mountain man has his own clever tricks. Don't ask—I wouldn't tell you even if you did." Zhang Yuanqing said.
"Who is the armored man? Is it Ren Junzi?" Tianxia Guihuo pressed.
"Not telling you." The clone hummed.
This clone is as insufferable as the original. The thought rose in Zhao Chenghuang's and Tianxia Guihuo's minds at the same time.
"You—what are you talking about? What main body, what clone?"
The hideous ghost face on the back sensed that something was wrong.
"Since neither of you will devour it, then there's no use keeping it." Tianxia Guihuo's eyes went cold. He pressed the Crimson Flame Blade against the ghost face bulging from the flesh and thrust it in with all his strength.
Amid a heart-rending scream, black smoke billowed and the stench of burning filled the air. The hideous face was charred to cinders.
When a person is about to die, their mental strength weakens along with the flesh—but Ren Junzi's spirit body was like hard steel.
Hard, condensed, difficult to digest.
Even weakened, a swordsman's iron will was not to be underestimated.
Possessing a living person is far harder than devouring the remnant spirit of the dead.
"You will never possess me. I have received the Grand Protector's blessing; Spirit Devouring won't work on me. You won't be getting any information." Violent waves of emotion poured from Ren Junzi's spirit body.
Sure enough, Zhang Yuanqing had barely begun Spirit Devouring when a bright, clear moonlight lit up inside Ren Junzi's spirit body, slowly forcing Zhang Yuanqing's spirit body open, bit by bit.
As if provoked, Zhang Yuanqing's spirit body burst out with even more intense moonlight, and high above, the outline of a black full moon faintly emerged.
The black moon was blurred and indistinct, carrying the same aura as the black moon on the character card, but it seemed to be only a projection.
The black moon seems to have merged with my spirit body a little—its projection came along with my spirit body... Zhang Yuanqing did not know whether to be glad or worried.
The moonlight in Ren Junzi's spirit body collapsed in an instant, and his will was ground away along with it.
Because this was not a post-mortem Spirit Devouring, the memories were jumbled and vast, surging in like a tide and washing over Zhang Yuanqing's spirit body again and again.
Among the fragmented images, Zhang Yuanqing found the intelligence he wanted.
It was a spacious master bedroom decorated in a luxurious, high-class style. Ren Junzi, standing by the bed, was listening to a phone call:
"You did well. Very well indeed!"
"Get ready and find a chance to enter Qinfeng Academy. The Leader's wish of many years may be fulfilled by you. You should understand what kind of merit that would be."
In another bedroom, just as luxurious and high-class.
Ren Junzi sat at a desk, phone in hand. From the phone came a voice thick as though phlegm were caught in the throat:
"The Leader observed the night sky and saw the trajectory of the future. He says that after you enter Qinfeng Academy, you need only keep an eye on Jiaoren Lake to fetch that supreme treasure for him."
"But remember this: the journey is fraught with danger, and there may be a disaster written in blood. The Leader says that caution and a clean, decisive hand are the key to averting it."
Beyond this information, Zhang Yuanqing also saw a great deal of Ren Junzi's private life.
For instance, on his way home from work, a golden compass smashed through the car window and tumbled into the cabin. For instance, he was an orphan, trained since childhood in a secret camp hidden deep in dense jungle.
The camp's instructors trained each person according to their personality and strengths: the hot-tempered grew hotter-tempered, the dull grew duller, the calm grew calmer.
They cultivated combat, the ability to take hits, reasoning, and other skills, steering each trainee step by step toward their corresponding profession.
A tiny fraction of them would obtain character cards and become Spirit Realm Walkers.
After receiving the Grand Protector's blessing, these Spirit Realm Walkers were placed in the official branches, entering the great spirit realm clans; some hid among the common people, moving through society under various identities, befriending official walkers and clan scions and developing them into Dark Night Rose members.
Of course, there were also memories of the recent murders of Xia Chaoxue, Lin Su, and Sanyang Kaitaitai. With a compass fragment, Ren Junzi had secretly struck down Sanyang Kaitaitai, implanted a parasitic gu beast in his body, and turned him into a "comrade."
During yesterday's battle with the Tiger King, knowing the Tiger King would break into the library, he deliberately let Sanyang Kaitaitai be gravely wounded by the beast, then dragged him out of the library and handed him the compass fragment, making him deliver the prophecy, while he himself rushed into the library to fight and so prove his innocence.
It was all to make Sanyang Kaitaitai show a flaw and draw Yuanshi Tianzun's suspicion, after which he would use the compass to predict tonight's movements of the four, while he himself took a hidden road and attacked Sun Miaomiao.
And of course, among the memory images were also the ecstatic nights he had spent rolling in the sheets with Teacher Song Man.
Before long, Zhang Yuanqing withdrew from Soul Inquiry.
He clutched his head, the pain making the veins on his forehead bulge; his face twisted, joy and sorrow alternating. Only after a long while did he force down the side effects of Spirit Devouring. He felt the lunar power within him had increased slightly.
—Evil-Breaking Talismans were finite; use one and it's gone. If I can tough it out myself, I'd best not use them.
"Phew~"
Zhang Yuanqing let out a breath and bent down to pick up the golden compass lying on the floor.
He read the item information carefully to the end. Although Ren Junzi's memories had already told him what the item did, he still bared his teeth:
"Truly perverse. Pity it's only Saint-quality—it won't work on a Dominator."
If it had been a Dominator-level item, he would have been made.
"So this legendary Compass of Light fragment is the one the President snatched up back then? Tsk, let me think—do I pocket it, or hand it in?" Zhang Yuanqing muttered to himself.
He actually leaned toward handing the compass over in exchange for benefits.
Because the uproar Ren Junzi had caused was bound to reach Headquarters eventually, hiding the golden compass would be very difficult, and he had to give the official side some accounting. The President was still offering a bounty for the lost item; perhaps he could trade it to him for a top-grade item.
But Ren Junzi's purpose in entering Qinfeng Academy he chose to conceal. If Headquarters asked, he would say he didn't know—he was simply an innocent victim.
If Headquarters asked, "Didn't you use Spirit Devouring?" he would say Ren Junzi had some means of erasing a spirit body, and that his soul had scattered the instant he died.
Stroking the golden compass in his hand, Zhang Yuanqing thought of the legacy his father had left behind. He suspected it too was a Compass of Light fragment, but he had no proof.
I'll put it away for now. Once I'm out of the spirit realm, I'll ask the Palace Mistress and Fu Qingyang for their opinions, then decide whether to hand in the compass fragment or keep it. Zhang Yuanqing put the compass into his inventory.
Then he turned his thoughts to the intelligence obtained through Spirit Devouring.
One line the Grand Protector had spoken on the phone weighed on him: The Leader's wish of many years may be fulfilled by you.
"Plenty of people know about Qinfeng Academy's hidden quest, but that Leader seems to know there's something inside the underground palace—otherwise where would this 'wish' come from? Now that's strange. The underground palace has never been opened, and even Baihui's upper echelons don't know what's actually inside."
"There's no way the Dark Night Rose Leader could know. Or perhaps there's another possibility: the so-called wish is nothing more than wanting to enter Qinfeng Academy's hidden instance?"
Just like Fu Qingyang.
Fu Qingyang had brought up Qinfeng Academy's hidden quest on his own initiative and never stopped thinking about it, regretting only that he could no longer enter the academy.
At this thought, Zhang Yuanqing's heart thumped wildly a few times.
A possibility occurred to him. If—hm, only if—the Dark Night Rose Leader had once entered Qinfeng Academy and stumbled upon the hidden quest by chance.
But at the time his abilities were limited, or he hadn't paid it much mind, and years later it clicked, and he used Stargazing to deduce that an extremely important treasure lay in the underground palace of Qinfeng Academy.
The only ones who could enter Qinfeng Academy while still at a low level were Spirit Realm Walkers trained by the official side. So the Dark Night Rose Leader was one of the official side's people—no, used to be one of the official side's people? Hiss, the more I think about it, the more frightening that idea becomes.
"Once I'm out of the academy, I'll go through the list of everyone who entered Qinfeng Academy in the past. My guess may not be right, but looking into it can't hurt. Dark Night Rose has provoked me time and again; investigating their Leader is a must." Zhang Yuanqing thought.
Just then Sun Miaomiao called from the window: "What are you spacing out for? What intelligence was in Ren Junzi's spirit body?"
Zhang Yuanqing first put away Little Red Riding Hood and the Myriad Slaughterer, then tossed the Soul-Summoning Banner to Sun Miaomiao. He was about to explain the intelligence when Teacher Song Man, over by the entryway, let out a soft moan and groggily came to.
Her pupils lacked focus. She blanked for a few seconds, then finally remembered what had happened before she passed out; she sprang to her feet, summoned her weapon, and ran into the room.
And then she saw Yuanshi Tianzun standing by the bed, Sun Miaomiao slumped on the chaise lounge, and Ren Junzi dead against the wall.
The smell of blood filled the room.
"Yuanshi Tianzun? You..." Song Man looked blankly toward the corner. "He..."
Her head was still muddled; all she remembered was that Ren Junzi had attacked her.
"He was the armored man," Zhang Yuanqing said flatly.
"And a pervert. He was about to assault Miaomiao when I arrived and saved her—he pinched her backside several times. When Headquarters asks later, Teacher Song Man, you'll have to testify for us."
"Ren Junzi was the armored man?" Song Man bared her small white teeth. "No wonder I didn't think Miaomiao looked like the killer. I fell for his trick just now—pah, and to think I thought he was good in bed."
You sea-queen of a woman, Teacher Song Man. You and Lingjun are a perfect match; I'll introduce you two later and you can put horns on each other's heads. Zhang Yuanqing grumbled inwardly.
He walked to the chaise lounge and gathered Sun Miaomiao up in his arms.
"There's no more danger now, Teacher Song Man. I'll take Miaomiao back first; you deal with the body. In a few hours we'll be out of the instance. Until we meet again."
Song Man was full of questions, but Zhang Yuanqing gave her no chance. Carrying Sun Miaomiao, he walked out of the room.
Once out of the girls' dormitory, Zhang Yuanqing headed straight toward the boys' dormitory. The moonlight was bright and clear, falling to the ground like frost—except that along the garden beds one could no longer see the tender fresh flowers.
—They had poisoned them all.
Sun Miaomiao lay soft in Zhang Yuanqing's arms, head turned aside, eyes slanting toward the ground. She seemed stiff and constrained, thoroughly unnatural.
"Have you never been held by a man?" Zhang Yuanqing glanced at her. "Tsk tsk. At your age, and you've never had a boyfriend?"
Sun Miaomiao was three years older than him, with good looks and a fine family background; surely she had no shortage of suitors.
"None of your business. You talk too much," Sun Miaomiao said with a pout.
"Cute face, not a single cute bone in that personality." Zhang Yuanqing gave her soft, springy backside a hard pinch.
Sun Miaomiao had a youthful look—big eyes and a round face like a pure young girl—but her figure had substance: her rear was full and fleshy, carrying a grown woman's plumpness rather than a young girl's small bottom.
She was a rare type: innocent and alluring at once.
"You—you—you!" Sun Miaomiao's face flushed red. "Just you wait. Once we're out of the instance, I'll have my grandfather beat you to death."
Still unsatisfied, she furiously reached out to tear at Yuanshi Tianzun's face.
She got pinched a few more times.
Boys' dormitory, Room 508.
Xiahou Aotian's room.
Zhang Yuanqing set the limp Sun Miaomiao down on the chaise lounge and seated himself beside her, then looked at his three companions and one clone.
"The way you're all looking at me is a little strange."
Zhao Chenghuang and Tianxia Guihuo said nothing. Xiahou Aotian frowned.
"What's with the claw marks on your face? Did the armored man scratch you?"
"Oh, Miaomiao did that. I saved her, and she wanted to offer herself to me in gratitude, but I refused. Hmph—not a chance!"
"Bullshit. You're the one who was pawing at me."
"You couldn't walk by yourself. Is that my fault?"
Tianxia Guihuo cut in impatiently:
"Enough. I'm not in the mood to listen to you two flirt. Give me back the Myriad Slaughterer."
Zhang Yuanqing produced the dark red full-body armor and dropped it on the floor with a clang.
Sun Miaomiao, meanwhile, glared at the world-famous disgrace of the Fire Masters:
"We were not flirting."
Tianxia Guihuo gave a snort. While swiftly reclaiming the Myriad Slaughterer, he retorted: "Have you two never thought of asking Teacher Song Man to cure the poison? One wants to carry, the other gets carried—it's nothing more than that. What's there to show off?"
Zhang Yuanqing and Sun Miaomiao were dumbstruck.
Seeing that neither spoke, Tianxia Guihuo laughed scornfully.
Tianxia Guihuo was indeed a Fire Master, and Fire Masters had no understanding of romance.
Sun Miaomiao stole a glance at Yuanshi Tianzun, embarrassed and indignant; she puffed out her cheeks.
Zhang Yuanqing cleared his throat.
"The armored man was Ren Junzi. I've already killed him."
He recounted what had happened, took the human skin that was handed to him, and then brought out the Yata no Kagami to recall his clone.
"So that's how it was." Tianxia Guihuo nodded in understanding. "That compass item—how do you plan to deal with it?"
"Most likely I'll hand it in. Headquarters won't be easy to fob off, so I plan to consult Elder Fu first." Zhang Yuanqing laid out his thinking. "Before that, let's get our stories straight, so Headquarters doesn't pick up on anything."
"It wouldn't matter much if they did," Zhao Chenghuang said. "At most they'd be suspicious. They can't verify whether the underground palace was opened."
Next, the group agreed on a unified account. Once it was settled, Zhang Yuanqing said,
"I think it's necessary to add another layer of insurance. It's not that I don't trust you, but a cautious sailor keeps his ship for ten thousand years."
They looked at him, slightly wary.
"What insurance?"
"I have a faction token. Join my faction—members can't betray one another, so we won't have Zhao Chenghuang and Sun Miaomiao leading their elders to assassinate us later." Zhang Yuanqing spoke half in jest, half in earnest.
"And that way we won't have to meet in private to split the materials. I'll put them straight in the faction warehouse and you can apply for them. Same with the antiques—give them to Xiahou Aotian to auction, and we split the profit."
Tianxia Guihuo, a man of the grass roots, nodded at once. "I agree."
Sun Miaomiao rolled her eyes but made no objection.
Zhao Chenghuang mused for a moment and decided the deal was no loss.
The faction token really could increase trust, and a beginner's faction token had only simple functions, imposing almost no extra restrictions on members.
Xiahou Aotian thought it over, then snorted:
"Fine. In the future, when I get a faction token, you'll all have to join my faction too. I've already thought of the name—'Salvation Group.' Not bad, right?"
What kind of shit name is that... everyone thought.
Then came the spirit realm notification chime:
[Ding! Yuanshi Tianzun invites you to join the faction—Return of the Dead!]
What kind of shit name is that?! The same thought surfaced in everyone's minds once more.
Xiahou Aotian sneered:
"Yuanshi Tianzun, your naming ability has exposed you as nothing but a supporting character. The protagonist is me, hahaha!"
Sun Miaomiao's attention went elsewhere. She opened the member information, glanced at the spirit realm IDs, and frowned:
"They're all women..."
She knew Xie Lingxi and Asano Ryo. She didn't know Xiao Yuan, but surely no man would name himself "Xiao Yuan."
"None of your damn business." Zhang Yuanqing held grudges.
Sun Miaomiao ground her teeth. "Once the trading is done, I'm quitting the faction."
Members cannot leave a faction of their own accord; only the faction leader can kick someone out.
Xiahou Aotian yawned. "We leave the academy at nine tomorrow morning. There's still time for a nap. All of you, get out."
Tianxia Guihuo was the first to leave.
Zhao Chenghuang looked at Sun Miaomiao, then at Zhang Yuanqing, and nodded to them both.
Uh—did he get the wrong idea... Zhang Yuanqing thought. He turned his head, and Sun Miaomiao looked equally embarrassed.
"So, are you going to cure the poison yourself, or shall I use the Mountain God Scepter to cure it for you, carry you off to rest, and ask for a child along the way?" Zhang Yuanqing teased.
"Get lost, get lost, you pervert." Sun Miaomiao did have antidote pills; she took one from her inventory at once and swallowed it.
Strength gradually returned to her weak, aching limbs. She glared at the Pervert Tianzun and dissolved into starlight.
Zhang Yuanqing then departed by star escape.
Back in his room, the first thing to reach his ears was Brother Red Chicken's deafening snoring.
He lay sprawled on the bed, mouth slightly open, snoring away.
Were your two future ex-wives unable to stand the snoring, and that's why they divorced you... Zhang Yuanqing groused inwardly, enduring the maddening snores as he got into bed and closed his eyes to rest.
In seven hours he would return to reality—no time to experience the Jiaoren Queen's little fangs. What an incomparable beauty she was; in terms of looks, she truly had few rivals... He gradually fell asleep.
The next day. Nine o'clock.
As Zhang Yuanqing dozed lightly, the familiar spirit realm notification chime sounded by his ear:
[Ding. Congratulations on completing the multiplayer spirit realm—Qinfeng Academy. Number: none. Difficulty level: unknown. Settling rewards...]
[Items/props obtained in reward settlement: none]
[Reward experience: 0%]
[Settlement complete. Exiting the spirit realm in thirty seconds.]
ps: typos will be fixed after posting.
Chapter 443