Lei Yibing had gone missing four years ago? Chen Yuanjun felt his scalp prickle with numbness, his pupils dilating as a wave of dread inevitably surged in his chest. He felt as though he had run into a supernatural encounter—as if he were listening to a ghost story.
Lei Yibing, who had gone missing from his dorm at Hang City University in April of last year, had actually gone missing four years ago? No, the exact number was three years and six months.
Then who was the Lei Yibing at Hang City University?
Li Dongze and Xie Anna likewise showed expressions of bewilderment and shock. Clearly, Aunt Zhou's response had completely exceeded their expectations.
No one had expected that missing person file to have been created in 2019.
No wonder the person who deleted it couldn't be found. Whoever handled the case back then had either resigned or transferred posts—there were simply too many possibilities.
Chen Yuanjun hurriedly said, "Ask her where Lei Yibing disappeared."
In a soft, ethereal tone, Xie Anna posed the question.
Aunt Zhou murmured as if sleep-talking, "In... in Hang City... He was admitted to Hang City University, went to Hang City for a summer trip, and th-then... he disappeared..."
She suddenly furrowed her brow, a look of pain crossing her face, and muttered, "I didn't call the police, I didn't call the police..."
Her voice grew increasingly hurried and agitated, her eyelashes fluttering violently as if she might wake at any moment.
Xie Anna's heart tightened, and she said, "Not good. Her mental state is on the verge of collapse. My hypnosis seems to have triggered the resurgence of that power inside her. An ordinary person's astral body can't withstand the entanglement of two opposing forces—it could shatter at any second."
Inside the dreamscape, Sect Master Chunyang watched the dream world expand and contract alternately. Hearing the Musician's words from outside, he sneered, "Presumptuous fool!"
He surveyed the dreamscape and the middle-aged woman, pondered for a few seconds, and voluntarily exited the dream.
It wasn't that he cared about whether this middle-aged woman lived or died, but rather that a valuable lead ought to be properly "preserved." Once he gathered more clues and clarified further details, he could return to get to the very bottom of it.
Chen Yuanjun grew anxious and hastily said, "Calm her down, make her forget what happened today."
Xie Anna nodded and pacified the extremely unstable Aunt Zhou.
Once she had completely calmed down and lapsed into a deep sleep, the three stepped out quietly, shutting the security door behind them.
Chen Yuanjun headed down the somewhat narrow stairwell. After leaving the residential building, he and Li Dongze each lit a cigarette. In a heavy voice, Chen asked, "What do you think?"
Li Dongze drew on his cigarette until the tip flared, exhaled a plume of white smoke, and said slowly, "Three and a half years ago, Lei Yibing disappeared in Hang City. His family reported it to the Kangyang District Public Security Bureau, and subsequently, the missing person file was deleted... After that, Lei Yibing must have been found, until he went missing again last April. In this case, there are two things that don't add up.
"First, if he disappeared in Hang City, why was the file in the Kangyang District Public Security Bureau deleted?
"Second, since Lei Yibing was found afterward, wasn't deleting the file completely redundant? All they needed to do was revoke it."
Speaking of which, Li Dongze suddenly recalled something. "A colleague once discussed Lei Yibing's disappearance with me. Lei Yibing was impulsive and reckless by nature, but he wasn't aloof or antisocial. Yet throughout his three years at Hang City University, he kept entirely to himself, rarely interacting with his classmates.
"The contrast between before and after is baffling. However, we didn't reach any conclusions back then."
Chen Yuanjun instinctively knitted his brows, the furrow between them deepening. He was now weighing whether to continue investigating, because Lei Yibing's disappearance clearly involved Spirit Realm walkers.
Yuanzi was just an ordinary person; getting him dragged into this would not be good.
Pulling his thoughts together, Li Dongze looked at the equally contemplative Chen Yuanjun and said, "The Hang City Public Security Bureau is one avenue to pursue. You take charge of screening them one by one. I can sign a document granting you authorization. In addition, I will look into the matter through the organization's internal database."
***
In a spacious, brightly lit office, Swordsman of the World's End leaned back in a high-backed chair, fast asleep.
In the dream world, he met Sect Master Chunyang.
"Choosing to communicate with me in a dream? Seems you've uncovered some valuable intelligence," Swordsman of the World's End said, appearing to catch on.
"Help me check Lei Yibing's information. His disappearance was handled by your official organization, so there should be files," Sect Master Chunyang said.
"Does it have to do with Yuanshi Tianzun?" Swordsman of the World's End asked.
"Can't be certain, but this person is indeed strange." Sect Master Chunyang chuckled darkly. "His mother was hypnotized by a high-ranking member of the Musician class. Borrowing your colleague's hypnosis, I managed to pry some information out of her dream."
"I'll look into it for you," Swordsman of the World's End said. "Actually, if you want to know Yuanshi Tianzun's real identity, that Li Dongze is your best breakthrough point. Before Yuanshi Tianzun made a name for himself, he was hanging around him."
Sect Master Chunyang gave a scoff. "I'm not trying to pinpoint Yuanshi Tianzun's precise identity in reality. What I want is to lock onto several suspicious targets, and regardless of whether they're true or false, directly abduct their families."
Directly pinpointing Yuanshi Tianzun's identity would only throw him into a loop again.
"Why?" Swordsman of the World's End asked.
"You don't need to know..." Sect Master Chunyang's figure swiftly faded from the dream.
***
Huancheng Building.
In a spa and wellness parlor, wrapped in a bath towel, Uncle lay face down on a massage bed, eyes closed in enjoyment.
Wearing pale short shorts and a translucent silk top, Diana, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, gently kneaded the President's shoulders and back with her fair hands.
About half an hour later, Annie, dressed in a woman's tailored suit, knocked and opened the door to the private room.
Cradling a stack of documents in her hands, she stood beside the massage bed and said, "Here is Mr. Yuanshi's latest progress in clearing dungeons. I've organized it all."
The President opened his eyes, sat up, and took the documents Annie handed over. With just a glance, he couldn't help bursting into laughter:
"Forest of Elves?
"The first dungeon he chose was Forest of Elves? Diana, why didn't you warn him?"
Diana smiled subtly and said gently, "A B-rank dungeon doesn't need a warning. He won't be on the losing end anyway. Besides, the difficulty of Forest of Elves is somewhat bugged for the Desire class. Having him help clear it might not be a bad thing."
Years ago, she had entered Forest of Elves herself, but after understanding the dungeon's mechanics, she used a teleportation jade talisman to escape the Spirit Realm, losing a substantial chunk of experience points in the process.
The Desire class possessed two paths: "Love" and "Lust." The former maintained personal purity, enhancing their charm to hold out for the highest bidder, waiting to serve grand figures with an untouched body.
Unless one was an exceptionally brilliant genius or a figure of towering authority, they would never catch their eye.
The latter was the indulgence type, constantly seeking men for pleasure, controlling each one they slept with. They indulged in desire without ever speaking of love, surrounded by countless courtiers under their skirts, also known as: Queen.
Diana's target had always been the sole demigod of the Void class; how could she possibly surrender her chastity in a B-rank dungeon?
Meanwhile, those of the Desire class who took the "Lust" path could not possibly resist the aphrodisiac gas upon entering Forest of Elves. They would ultimately be reduced to female beasts controlled by the bounty hunters, turned into instruments of lust.
Or they would be killed by bounty hunters while resisting.
After a dungeon's first clear, its difficulty dropped precipitously. Although the experience reward would also decrease, for Spirit Realm walkers, safety always trumped leveling up.
Diana chuckled. "After discovering there were gender-bending dungeons, he readjusted the types and numbers of dungeons he cleared. What Annie compiled is his updated dungeon clearance route."
The President grunted twice in acknowledgement and continued leafing through the papers.
[The Seductive Queen]
[Designation: 66]
[Difficulty Rating: A]
[Type: Solo (Death Match)]
[Main Quest: Slay the Seductive Queen and restore the King's rule.]
[Description for Spirit Realm No. 66: After the King's death, the peerlessly gorgeous Queen took control of the country. Jealous of beautiful young maidens, she cursed every girl in the kingdom to be covered in freckles. She abducted handsome young men back to the royal palace, living an indulgent life day after day. The kingdom's ministers and soldiers were all followers of the Queen; it was said that every thirty days, the Queen would reward them with her body in the palace.]
Diana said, "This dungeon doesn't involve gender-bending. According to the strategy guide he provided, Yuanshi's identity in the dungeon was a melancholic youth. The Queen favored him greatly, seeking pleasure with him every night.
"Yuanshi claimed the Queen possessed a special method of harvesting yang energy, nearly sucking him dry into a withered husk."
The President remarked wistfully, "Truly licentious. No wonder my successor liked it so much."
Diana shot him a sideways glance. "I think you could learn a lot from your successor."
The President pretended not to hear, turning to the next page:
[Court Scandal]
[Designation: 81]
[Difficulty Rating: B]
[Type: Solo (Death Match)]
[Main Quest: Lift the witch's curse and eliminate the witch.]
[Description for Spirit Realm No. 81: Once, a glamorous witch wished to marry the king of the Kingdom of Dala and become queen. But the king preferred kind and innocent maidens, and rejected the witch. In fury, the witch cast a curse, condemning the king's descendants for generations to engage in illicit, debauched affairs, and making their children as stupid as pigs and as hideous as devils.]
***
[Valley of the Sirens]
[Designation: 34]
[Difficulty Rating: A]
[Type: Solo (Death Match)]
[Main Quest: Escape from the Valley of the Sirens.]
[Description for Spirit Realm No. 34: In a deep mountain valley lived a pack of powerful sirens. They could command starving wolves, shapeshift into bats, and ride vicious dragons; their wrath could easily destroy a kingdom. Powerful and stunningly beautiful, they possessed an intense desire to reproduce, fond of abducting young men from neighboring nations to keep as slaves in the valley for their amusement.]
Diana said, "This dungeon seems to have left him with severe psychological trauma. He said that after entering, he became a slave with both his level and inventory sealed. The sirens in the valley were not only lustful, but also brutal. The slightest misstep would get him killed."
The President shook his head, remarking proudly, "My successor possesses the supreme knack of dropping to his knees and kowtowing on the spot. Even the most savage sirens would take a liking to him; I'm not worried about his safety in the slightest."
Diana said helplessly, "After he exited the dungeon, I felt that the look in his eyes when he looked at me had a hint of disgust, as if he'd developed misogyny."
The President was shocked. "Looking at it that way, he truly suffered severe trauma in both body and mind."
He quickly flipped through the rest of the documents and said, "Judging by the ranks of these dungeons, he should be close to Level 8. Which stage is his clearance progress at now?"
Twenty days had passed since Yuanshi entered the Association of God of Beauty's dungeons.
During this period, at a steady pace, he had cleared seven B-rank dungeons and three A-rank dungeons, interspersed with several C-rank dungeons treated as vacations.
Yuanshi Tianzun, who had originally started at 50% experience, was probably about to level up to Level 8.
Actually, if measured against the difficulty of Shushan South Courtyard or Ruler of a Fallen Nation, three A-rank dungeons would have been sufficient to advance to Level 8.
However, those former two corresponded to Level 8 A-rank dungeons, not Level 7. When running dungeons alone, Yuanshi couldn't possibly encounter instances with rewards that bountiful anymore.
Diana replied, "When he exited the most recent dungeon, his experience was at 97%. Just yesterday, he entered the S-rank dungeon 'The Sinking of Paphos Island.' If all goes smoothly, he should be able to exit the dungeon within half a month."
The President gave an "Mm," set down the papers, and asked, "I hear the evil organizations in the First District have been a bit restless lately?"
Diana nodded, her lovely face shedding its flirtatiousness and taking on the seriousness suited for business. "According to information forwarded to us by the Department of Defense, as well as intelligence gathered through supernatural means, members of the Eternal Night Church have been frequently appearing near the slumbering place of the Pope of Eternal Night.
"Who knows what they're plotting!"
The President pondered for a few seconds. "It's also possible they aren't plotting anything there at all, merely trying to draw your attention deliberately to provide cover for their true scheme."
Among the three major evil organizations in the First District, the Eternal Night Church was the quietest. It was not because of any benevolence, but because their class characteristics dictated that the higher an Eternal Night's rank, the more easily they fell into slumber.
Once an Eternal Night stepped into the demigod realm, the attribute of extinguishing everything would cause the Pope of Eternal Night to fall into a deep sleep, dragging himself and everything around him into an eternal stillness from which nothing ever awoke.
Of course, at the Night Pope's current rank, he was not yet capable of extinguishing the entire world.
Yet waking the Night Pope was virtually impossible; for several decades at least, the Eternal Night Church had never succeeded in waking him.
Even a nuclear bomb hadn't awakened him.
"Has the Five Elements Alliance been putting pressure on you lately?" Diana asked.
"Heh, they can't even find me," the President scoffed.
Diana gave a wry smile. "Still, Heaven's Punishment has put considerable pressure on the Association of God of Beauty. Heaven's Punishment and the Five Elements Alliance seem to have reached some kind of agreement to back the Taiyi Sect Master. They want to open the Sun dungeon as soon as possible and don't want to go through another Morality Points disappearance event."
The President rose, walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window, and said slowly, "Morality Points... aren't actually that important."
Chapter 929