The Fallen Night Roamer

Zhang Yuanqing was as shocked as he had been three days ago when the artifact spirit revealed that the final member of the Twin Dark Shadows was "Past Without Trace." That sensation—as if someone had struck him over the head or an electric current had surged through his entire body—hit him once again. "You were the ones who killed Ling Tuo? That's why Chu Shang didn't revive him, and that's why the Dark Night Rose colluded with the Soldier Master sect to wipe out the Chu family..." Zhang Yuanqing rubbed his face hard, finding the truth difficult to swallow. Yet the chain of cause and effect undeniably clicked into place. "Master, do you know that Ling Tuo's younger brother is one of my good buddies? All of a sudden, I'm the son of the man who killed his brother." "I am sorry for causing you such distress," Master Wuhen said in a low voice. "Distress isn't quite the word; my head is just full of 'what the fuck's," Zhang Yuanqing said with a bitter chuckle. Of course, if Zhang Zizhen had also died at Ling Tuo's hands, then Lingjun was the younger brother of his father's killer. Then they were even! He took several seconds to digest the information and calm his emotions before asking, "So why did you kill Ling Tuo?" "Did you not catch it? Ling Tuo used ordinary human lives to verify his conjectures," Master Wuhen said. "Although the Xiaoyao Organization's slogan was to save the world by any means necessary, neither Celestial Master Zhang nor Ling Tuo were cold-blooded men who treated human life like worthless grass." "So something went wrong with Ling Tuo's mental state!" Zhang Yuanqing understood. Master Wuhen remained seated with his palms pressed together as his low, measured voice resounded through the hall: "It was far worse than that. The curse insidiously eroded Ling Tuo. It was more than a mere mental deterioration—he had long since fallen, becoming an entity even more depraved than those of the evil classes. "Left with no choice, we joined forces to kill him. What we never anticipated was that Ling Tuo had prepared contingencies well in advance. Two years after his death, the Dark Night Rose was born. They joined forces with the Soldier Master sect to annihilate the Chu family, seizing the Mother Goddess's Womb to resurrect Ling Tuo." Ling Tuo had fallen... Zhang Yuanqing frowned deeply. This certainly matched Ling Tuo's subsequent transformation. Nothing the Dark Night Rose did could ever be attributed to a righteous person. If Ling Tuo had fallen, however, it all made sense. Viewed from this angle, had Mountains and Rivers Forever fallen as well, which explained the drastic change in his temperament? Furthermore, why was Ling Tuo the one who fell? Zhang Yuanqing pondered and asked, "How did you determine that Ling Tuo had fallen? Just because he harmed one ordinary person?" "Amitabha!" He can't speak of it? Fine, it involves that secret concerning the Spirit Realm. Ling Tuo must have done something else back then... Not dwelling on the matter, Zhang Yuanqing shifted his question: "Still, something doesn't add up, Master. You were cursed as well, yet right until I was born and started elementary school, my dad was perfectly normal. And aren't you normal too?" If his father hadn't been normal, events would have unfolded very differently—Celestial Master Zhang and Ling Tuo would have teamed up to wipe out the Chu family. Or the Xiaoyao Organization would have succumbed to madness as a whole and founded a fourth great evil faction. "The reason Ling Tuo fell was his class: Night Roamer!" Master Wuhen said slowly. "And our reason for killing him was also his class. Once a high-ranking Night Roamer falls, they must die." "Why?" Zhang Yuanqing blurted out. "Amitabha!" What answered him was the master's softly chanted Buddhist phrase. Master Wuhen gave no spoken response, but that silence was answer enough. Zhang Yuanqing understood. Holy shit, does the secret deep within the Spirit Realm have to do with Night Roamers? Is that why the Night Roamer class is so special? A fallen Night Roamer must die... For some reason, Zhang Yuanqing thought of the Demon Lord. He recalled that in the recording, the Demon Lord had once told Brother Bing that to reach the pinnacle, he had to cleanse the power of the Fallen Holy Grail. At that time, the Demon Lord had already been half a step from the supreme realm. Now Master Wuhen was telling him that a fallen Night Roamer must die. The two matters were eerily intertwined. "Then why didn't my dad fall?" Zhang Yuanqing asked. The moment the words left his mouth, he dreaded Master Wuhen replying: What gave you the illusion that your father didn't fall? Master Wuhen chanted a Buddhist phrase. "After killing Ling Tuo, the Xiaoyao Organization disbanded. Plagued by the curse, I teetered on the brink of losing control and was forced to construct this illusion. I never set foot in reality again and never saw Celestial Master Zhang or Chu Shang afterward. Whether your father fell or not, this poor monk does not know." Judging from this, my dad must have used some method to avert falling... Zhang Yuanqing asked again: "Back then, my dad told someone—well, Chu Shang's only daughter—that he was hiding from an enemy. Was that enemy Ling Tuo?" Master Wuhen said, "After returning from the dead, Ling Tuo successfully ascended to demigod. The first things he had to do were seek revenge and seize the core fragment of the Compass of Light. Did the artifact spirit tell you that the Compass of Light is a key?" "Not only a key, but a vessel, an offshoot of the Sun..." At this point, Zhang Yuanqing's pupils shrank abruptly. "Indeed. The Compass of Light is an offshoot of the Sun. Only with the Compass of Light can one find the 'Sun,'" Master Wuhen answered frankly. The Compass of Light was an offshoot of the Sun, and only by obtaining it could one find the Sun. That was why the demigods fought tooth and nail for the compass. That was why Asura invested in Ling Tuo—because Ling Tuo was a fallen Night Roamer, tolerated by none of the Orderly faction. So that's how it is. That's how it is... Zhang Yuanqing muttered inwardly. "So my dad was killed by Ling Tuo?" Ling Tuo was resurrected in 2001, and his father died in 2006. During those four years, the two sides had very likely engaged in scheming and battles, until Ling Tuo ultimately emerged victorious and his father returned to the Spirit Realm. The Palace Mistress had mentioned that his father, Zhang Zizhen, once said he needed to leave to handle a major affair, deliberately boarding her with another family for that reason. Looking back now, that had most likely been a life-or-death confrontation with Ling Tuo. He had returned from that encounter, but six years later, he had failed to escape his grim fate after all. Zhang Yuanqing let out a faint sigh. "Master, since it was about revenge, why didn't Ling Tuo come for you?" "Without mastery over illusions, not even a demigod can enter my temple." Master Wuhen paused briefly before speaking slowly: "Night Roamers lay deep, far-reaching schemes. How do you know he isn't preparing a way to deal with me?" That's true... Zhang Yuanqing was left speechless. He thought for a moment and said, "One last thing, Master. When you decided to explore the Spirit Realm's secret, did you prepare blood and offspring beforehand?" Master Wuhen nodded slightly. Delight instantly surged through Zhang Yuanqing. "Then can I resurrect my dad?" If Ling Tuo could be resurrected, why couldn't Celestial Master Zhang and Chu Shang? "Back then, Chu Shang used our blood and flesh to fashion an avatar for resurrection. Each of us entrusted our avatar to the person we trusted most," Master Wuhen said. "I do not know whom Celestial Master Zhang and Chu Shang gave their avatars to. After the Chu family was exterminated and the Mother Goddess's Womb was seized by the Soldier Master sect, the avatars became useless. If you can locate their avatars and take back the Mother Goddess's Womb, you can naturally resurrect them." Zhang Yuanqing's eyes lit up suddenly, a powerful premonition welling in his mind: Zhang Zizhen's avatar is with Chen Shu! After his father died, Chen Shu had immediately dumped her son back on her maternal family and traveled overseas under the pretext of work, only returning during holidays. Thinking back on it now, that made no sense at all. Why go abroad? It was an unfamiliar land with unfamiliar people. If she had merely wanted to earn money to support the family, with the Chen family's connections in Songhai, she could easily have found a good job; supporting the family wouldn't have been difficult in the slightest. She had taken his father's avatar abroad to seek refuge from danger! So my dad still has a chance to return from the dead, as long as I can retrieve the Mother Goddess's Womb from the Soldier Master sect. And if Chu Shang's avatar can be found, then the Palace Mistress's father also has hope of resurrection... Zhang Yuanqing took several deep breaths to rein in his soaring excitement. Never had he imagined that one day, a complete family reunion would be a real possibility. "I have no more questions," Zhang Yuanqing pressed his palms together. "Thank you, Master, for unraveling so many doubts that have troubled me for so long." "You are the son of an old friend; there is no need for thanks," Master Wuhen said in a deep voice. "In September, I will enter the Spirit Realm once. It will take anywhere from a few days to over a month before I return. During this period, I hope you will look after the hotel." "As I should!" Zhang Yuanqing replied. As his words fell, the scene before his eyes shifted rapidly. The Buddha statue, the caisson ceiling, the candlelight, and the robed back in green slowly dissolved. He was back in the large hotel suite. A succession of sharp gazes turned toward him in unison. Before anyone could speak, Zhang Yuanqing said solemnly, "Everyone, I know you have plenty of questions. To tell the truth, I'm the master's long-lost illegitimate son. Today, on behalf of my late mother, I came to demand justice from him. "The master repented just now, so I forgave him." Those sharp gazes went completely blank. Everyone was struck dumb. Xiao Yuan said coldly, "If you don't want to say, don't." She then glanced at Kou Beiyue, whose jaw hung open, and her fair face twitched slightly. It's one thing for the others not to know Yuanshi Tianzun, but this foolish boy actually believed it? None of them were meddlesome people who pried into everything, so hearing Xiao Yuan's remark, they pressed no further. Zhang Yuanqing laughed heartily. "Eat, eat! Come on, Brother Chong, let's keep drinking." Zhao Xintong glanced at Yuanshi Tianzun, then at the others, and silently grabbed her backpack hanging from the chair back. "I only took half a day off today. I still have class this afternoon. Goodbye, Uncles and Aunts." She strapped the heavy backpack across her chest, clutching it with both hands, and sashayed out the door. Zhang Yuanqing remembered that before she arrived, her backpack had been completely empty. "Sister Ji" also picked up a small pink bag, slung it over a shoulder, and blew a kiss at Zhang Yuanqing. "Big sister has to get to work too. Little brother, keep in touch when you're free~" The others bid their farewells one after another. The members of this group hailed from all corners of the country. A few had flown in by plane, and each had their own affairs to attend to; none planned to linger in Jinshan City. Each carrying a heavy, large-capacity tote bag, they departed one by one. Xiao Yuan and Zhang Yuanqing stood up to see them off, while Kou Beiyue and his lackey stayed behind to clear the leftover food and drink from the table. Watching them leave either by taxi or by car, Xiao Yuan withdrew her gaze and fixed her round, charming eyes on him. "What did you talk about with the master?" "At any rate, it wasn't a marriage proposal!" Zhang Yuanqing gave a perfunctory reply. Xiao Yuan's expression chilled, and she turned to walk away. "Don't go, don't go! Let's talk over on the lounge chairs..." When Kou Beiyue and Little Fatty finished cleaning up the leftovers and carried large black garbage bags downstairs, they saw Yuanshi Tianzun sitting on a lounge chair behind the front desk in the lobby. And Xiao Yuan was sitting on Yuanshi Tianzun's lap. The shameless Yuanshi Tianzun was muttering something in her ear, and while Xiao Yuan kept a cold face throughout, she allowed him to wrap his arm around her waist, hold her hand, and take liberties. Seeing them come down, Xiao Yuan abruptly stood up, walked to the front desk, and bowed her head to pretend to tidy things up. Carrying the trash bags past the front desk, Kou Beiyue let out a loud "Hmph!" to voice his displeasure. Reaching the hotel entrance, he let out another loud "Hmph!" "Hmph, hmph, hmph, hmph, hmph..." Leading his lackey, Kou Beiyue hmphed all the way down the street. Zhang Yuanqing left Wuhen Hotel, took out his car keys to unlock the door, slid into the driver's seat, and buckled his seatbelt. First, he took out his phone and sent a message to the Fu siblings letting them know he was safe. Fu Qingyang replied with a concise "Mn," while Fu Qingxuan did not reply. The Protagonist Team chat group had dozens of unread messages, mostly Xiahou Aotian and Sun Miaomiao flaming each other online. The last few messages were Zhao Chenghuang @-mentioning him to ask when they would enter the faction dungeon. Xie Lingxi and the other two had already cleared three faction dungeons—one Grade A and two Grade B. By now, all three had reached the pinnacle of the Extraordinary stage. If they wanted to advance further, they had to participate in the year-end killing trial. Zhang Yuanqing thought for a moment and typed: [Yuanshi Tianzun: We enter the Spirit Realm tomorrow morning. Everyone, get ready.] After sending the reply, he noticed a friend request in his contacts. The applicant's avatar was a blood-red, solitary eye. Heavenly King Demonic Eye? How did he get my chat account? Oh, right, Fear must have shared my contact with him. Tsk, the evil element on my friends list is getting denser and denser... Zhang Yuanqing quietly accepted Demonic Eye's friend request. He exited the chat app and sent a text to the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter: "Let's meet tonight." He needed to exchange the information Master Wuhen had revealed with this woman. Originally, he had wanted to hold her accountable, but upon careful recollection, Zhang Yuanqing realized the Palace Mistress had never said his soul tearing was caused by the Compass of Light. She had only said that Zhang Zizhen left behind an item for him, and subsequent evidence proved that the Compass of Light's core fragment was in Celestial Master Zhang's hands. He had merely taken it for granted that the object tearing his soul was the Compass of Light. If it wasn't the Compass of Light fragment, what could it be? As he was pondering, his phone chimed with a "ding-dong." Demonic Eye had sent a message. [Transfer] Tapping to open it, Heavenly King Demonic Eye had transferred 500 yuan to him. He... he actually paid back the money... Zhang Yuanqing's expression turned exceedingly bizarre. If the authorities don't award you a banner for being a Model of Morality, I, Yuanshi Tianzun, will be the first to object! Putting his phone away, he started the engine, turned the steering wheel, and drove away from Wuhen Hotel. Midnight. A café across from the Kangyang District Security Bureau. Wearing a peaked cap and a face mask, Zhang Yuanqing pushed open the mirror-bright glass door. Clad in a fiery red dress, the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter stood by the counter with her head bowed, engrossed in brewing coffee. Her cascading hair draped down beside her cheeks. "You've been looking for me more and more often lately. That's not a good sign. You already have a girlfriend; you can't be so dependent on me," she said in a delighted tone, carrying a hint of smugness. "I have serious business to discuss," Zhang Yuanqing warned her not to fool around. "Speak," the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter said, keeping her head down as she brewed the coffee. "I think I found a way to resurrect our fathers," Zhang Yuanqing said. Clatter! The kettle crashed to the floor, splashing hot water against her dress.