“The nine tails are no tails; each is a rope for the dead to climb back into the mortal realm—”
As the whisper drifted into his ears, the *Dead Sea Secret Scrolls* flipped open with a rustle, stopping at the first chapter.
Materializing vividly upon the pages before Bai Zhou was a bared-claw, posturing—cat!
The second transformation of the Thousand-Faced Moon:
[Life-Stealing Spirit Cat]!
Drawing on Bai Zhou's experiences, modeled after the Undead General Ale, and fused with the concepts of “Death” and “Crevices” within the *Dead Sea Secret Scrolls*, a unique “transformation” had been born!
It was an adorable yet enigmatic spirit cat shrouded in gray mist. Behind its swishing tail, nine ethereal, translucent silhouettes faintly flickered.
Suspended from each of these nine spectral tails were chiming brass bells. Whenever a single bell rang, the spirit cat could execute a short spatial leap, instantly appearing at any spot within its field of vision.
Alternatively, by ringing seven bells at once, it could forcibly transfer its own “state of death” to any living entity in its sight!
Two abilities: one named [Night Travel], the other [Life Theft]!
Yet Life Theft had its constraints:
First, it could transfer only the “state,” not the physical injuries.
Second, the target entity's tier had to be strictly inferior to his own—and it could not be the hostile combatant he was actively fighting!
Finally, it shared the same drawback as the Cursebound Colossus: a cooldown period.
*Ding-ling—*
Like wind chimes, the chime of bells reached Bai Zhou's ears as the shadows of the nine tails swayed gently across the scrolls.
“Is this…”
Bai Zhou looked closer. The instant the silhouettes of the nine tails outlined themselves in his eyes, his mind exploded!
All manner of knowledge surged into his brain, only to swirl away in the next instant. Though seemingly leaving no trace behind, it threw all of his cognitive faculties and reasoning into utter chaos.
Just as Bai Zhou was on the verge of losing his mind—
“[Soothe]!”
The Sea of Ignorance churned.
As though a harp string had been plucked, an invisible ripple swept across Bai Zhou's brain, gently smoothing his scrambled cognition and thoughts back into order.
“Agony! That hurts so much!”
Bai Zhou returned to his senses.
Gritting his teeth, he rubbed his temples as the splitting headache slowly subsided.
When it came to the essential concepts of “Death” and “Crevices,” gazing directly upon them was an absolute taboo.
Being able to manifest them through the forbidden tome was already unbelievable enough.
The fact that the *Dead Sea Secret Scrolls* could miraculously generate such a “transformation” at Bai Zhou's current tier was largely thanks to his unique circumstances.
Not only had he absorbed an abundance of death energy of the undead, but he had also observed the Undead General Ale—the very prototype—at close range!
*I must learn from this…*
Lingering fear chilled his heart, and his expression turned grave. Without [Soothe], he likely would have turned into a madman just now!
Still, the power of this ability was truly worth the risk.
*A divine skill! An absolute godsend, without a doubt!*
The last time he had encountered such a concept had probably been in fairy tales. In fairy tales, human lives were cheap; resurrection and demise were settled by a single sentence from a witch, and romance and virtue mattered far more than mere survival.
Unfortunately, Bai Zhou did not live in a fairy tale. He lived in an all-consuming reality.
“Phew…”
Bai Zhou took a deep breath, trying to calm his emotions.
What did having an extra life mean?
It meant the dragon-slaying hero was granted a pair of wings sturdy enough to let him charge forward without looking back.
It meant he had one more chance to gamble, to ask “what if” and “why not.”
It meant that even after succumbing to terror, he would still have another shot.
It would forever remain Bai Zhou's ultimate trump card.
Yet unless pushed to the absolute brink, Bai Zhou had no intention of using it! He could never guarantee that during the cooldown period after activating [Life Theft], he wouldn't run into another lethal danger.
Especially lately, with the Major's hunting parties hounding him wave after wave…
If only he had nine lives.
Then he would strap explosives all over himself right now and go have a little “chat” with the Major face-to-face.
*Snap.*
Bai Zhou closed the *Dead Sea Secret Scrolls*.
Unlike the viscous resistance he used to feel when picking it up, holding the tome now felt much lighter in his hands.
It felt warm and smooth to the touch, the cover radiating what seemed like body heat. The mysterious eye-like sigil on the front gazed quietly back at him.
Under the silver moonlight, Bai Zhou held it, stroking the surface in silence for a while.
The shadows of the trees shortened as the moon climbed to the zenith.
The rain had tapered off, and the fog thickened—tomorrow promised to be a brilliantly clear day.
Through the hazy mist, the dilapidated villa draped in moonlight came into view.
Bai Zhou finally breathed a sigh of relief.
No matter how terrifying his enemies were, at least he was home.
More than fifty explosive rituals were laid out across the stronghold, alongside countless other miscellaneous arrays.
Though living inside felt remarkably like sitting atop an active volcano that could erupt at any moment, it brought Bai Zhou immense peace of mind.
He even felt like adding a few more explosive rituals while he had the time.
If that person the Major spoke of really showed up tonight, Bai Zhou was determined to break a few of his teeth no matter what!
“I'm back—”
Bai Zhou announced the moment he crossed the threshold.
All was dark and silent. As expected, no one answered.
Carefully sidestepping the array of traps, Bai Zhou went straight to the top floor.
Moonlight fell across the terrace. Total stillness reigned; not a soul was in sight.
The trench-coat-clad girl he had pictured—hands behind her back, admiring the moon—was nowhere to be seen.
“…Where's Crow?”
Bai Zhou blinked.
Before leaving, she had mentioned having some business to attend to. But it was already this late—had she still not returned?
Where had she gone?
Shaking his head, Bai Zhou felt an odd stir in his chest. Perhaps he had simply grown used to her presence.
*Busy, huh… Well, being busy is good.*
Crow was busy most of the time. Behind that perpetually expressionless little face, she carried far too many burdens Bai Zhou knew nothing about.
He wanted to understand her secrets, but he also knew his current strength fell short. Once he grew powerful enough, she would naturally open up. And even if she didn't, he would ask.
“…?”
As he wandered toward the edge of the ruined wall, something in the corner caught the corner of his eye.
“What's this?”
Bai Zhou bent down and picked up a black silk ribbon from beside the wall.
Weightless as a feather and thin as a cicada's wing, it felt silky smooth and warm to the touch, with a silver bell tied to one end.
It looked like the ribbon Crow usually sat on while meditating.
That alone wouldn't have been unusual.
The problem was…
As Bai Zhou lifted the ribbon, a few crisp, melodious chimes drifted on the breeze, stirring the heart and soul.
Then, bathed in the moonlight, Bai Zhou saw a faint silhouette resting upon the black silk.
It was distinctly the figure of a young girl, slender and graceful, with soft, youthful contours.
Yet the shadow was turned inward on her side, one elbow bent to pillow her head, one leg extended, and the other tucked back in relaxed repose.
Turning her back to the world in such a dashing posture, her outline rose and fell gently at a tempo resembling breath.
It looked as if she was…
Sleeping?
The girl was fast asleep.
Peaceful, sound, and deep.
Bai Zhou blinked twice, bewilderment in his eyes.
Raising the soft ribbon with both hands toward the moon, he let the fabric billow in the wind, making the girl depicted upon it look as though she were about to ascend to the heavens.
Bai Zhou leaned in to study her sleeping posture. Suddenly, his heart gave a jolt. The more he looked, the more it seemed…
Wasn't this shadow Crow?
How had she ended up like this?!
His heart tightened. Bai Zhou scrutinized the silhouette carefully, then fell into a brief silence.
*Right.*
Even in her sleep, she didn't forget to maintain a mysterious, stylish pose—this love of putting on airs belonged to Crow, without a doubt.
After a dozen seconds of silence, Bai Zhou drew a quiet breath and called out tentatively:
“Crow!”
“Time to wake up?”
The shadow seemed to twitch slightly, but soon settled back into peaceful slumber.
She paid him no mind at all.
The rhythmic rise and fall of her form made it abundantly clear to Bai Zhou that she was sleeping exceptionally soundly.
If anything, it made Bai Zhou seem dreadfully inconsiderate for disturbing a girl's sleep in the dead of night.
*What is going on…*
Bai Zhou felt a chill, holding his breath.
Crow was almost certainly in trouble!
Either something had tied her hands, prompting her to leave this ribbon behind as a clue beforehand…
Or the sleeping shadow right here was Crow herself.
Thinking back, after leaving the base, Bai Zhou had begun noticing obvious signs of exhaustion on Crow, even catching sight of dark circles beneath her eyes.
This mysterious girl, who had seemingly never slept before, appeared to have gradually developed a need for rest.
Why?
Was the environment in the Special Control Bureau base special in some way?
“…This is trouble!”
Doubts piled heavily upon Bai Zhou's mind.
Perhaps Crow had foreseen this, which was why she had told him to fetch the escape gear in advance.
Those supplies should have been enough.
But now?
Bai Zhou had no idea when Crow would wake—maybe the next second, maybe tomorrow, maybe who knew when.
A sense of crisis, sharper and more vivid than ever before, washed over him.
Even though Crow had never stepped in to fight for him in the past, her presence had always lent him a strange kind of reassurance, knowing she was watching over him.
Yet in the end, he was back to fighting alone.
No one to consult, no one to offer advice; survival depended entirely on his own grit.
Just like before.
A new threat was already on its way. He had to give everything he had to survive, because only by staying alive would Crow see him the moment she awoke.
After all, in this entire world, he was the only one who could see her.
If she woke from her nap only to find that Bai Zhou had died, wouldn't she be consumed by regret?
Who would buy her coffee beans then?
So Bai Zhou had no choice but to show some mercy and strive a little harder to stay alive.
“Well then… good night.”
Uttering words that felt strangely familiar, as if spoken in a dream, Bai Zhou carefully folded the ribbon.
He looked up into the thickening fog outside.
The cold moonlight fell on his expressionless face, unable to reflect the silent complaints churning in his heart.
*Of all times to vanish, she picked right now…*
*Go ahead and sleep, then. Who could possibly outsleep you?*
*Is turning into a shadow and sleeping really that comforting?*
*And why sleep on a ribbon?*
*It's not like this is her true form—like how the Lady of the Lake might be the spirit of a holy sword.*
Bai Zhou would rather believe that the ridiculously oversized Tang dao was her true body.
Still, if the ribbon had one advantage, it was that it was easy to carry.
Without hesitation, Bai Zhou tucked the folded ribbon into his breast pocket.
If this truly was Crow, then he would face formidable foes and wander the ends of the earth with her in tow.
It still counted as fighting side by side.
From that perspective, she hadn't broken her promise about fleeing together after all.
For some reason, this brought Undead General Ale back to mind.
When Ale dragged his “countless legions” along with his horsewhip… had he felt the same way?
Musing over this, Bai Zhou turned to head downstairs.
He intended to add a few more explosive rituals to the villa.
Fifty was still too few…
Let's make it a hundred!
One per square meter!
All insecurity stemmed from an insufficient quantity of explosive rituals.
He couldn't imagine what a sunny, cheerful young man he would become if the villa were packed with a thousand explosive rituals.
Suddenly, an electric jolt shot down Bai Zhou's spine.
*Tap…*
He halted at the top of the stairs, suspended in suspicion and alarm.
The spiritual warning flare in his mind sounded once more.
And this time, it was far clearer!
In the quiet darkness, an indescribably chilling, manic sensation prickled over his skin…
It felt as though a pair of malicious, frenzied eyes were peering through the midnight fog, studying him.
*Hum—*
Bai Zhou instantly drew his purple-gold cavalry saber and pulled the revolver, Light-Shadow Harmony, from his waist.
Turning back at once, he stood before the broken wall of the villa and peered outside.
He saw it.
In the middle of the wind-bent reed marsh, where the mist hung thickest, a figure stood ramrod straight with his back to the murky moonlight.
He hadn't just appeared; it felt as though he had been there all along, like a scarecrow permanently planted in the fields.
The silhouette had his head raised. His features were indistinguishable in the dense fog, but at that exact moment, his gaze locked with Bai Zhou's.
From afar, the man took off his hat and bowed silently to Bai Zhou, like a gentleman stepping out of centuries past.
Yet the moment he offered that courtesy, everything in Bai Zhou's field of vision shifted drastically.
The reed marsh began to warp and curl, coiling toward the man at its center in a posture that defied natural law, looking precisely like a paint bucket stirred by an invisible giant hand.
They shifted and morphed until, at last, vibrant, blossoming flowers bloomed out of thin air atop the reeds!
They were dazzlingly bright sunflowers—so vivid they hardly seemed alive, appearing more like strokes painted onto reality.
The mist curling nearby was no longer pale.
It had been dyed with color—bold, exaggerated colors bursting with raw vitality!
Surging, turbulent currents of blue and green supplanted the pale fog, devouring one another, swirling, boiling, and churning. In a daze, Bai Zhou looked down at the vivid mist on the ground and felt as though he were gazing upon…
A frenzied night sky!
This night sky encircled the blooming field of sunflowers, and within that vibrant field stood an exalted man.
His hands waved continually through the air as if splashing ink across a canvas, utterly intoxicated and triumphant in his creation. Merely looking at it from afar made Bai Zhou's heart stir with restless agitation, as though contaminated by this manic painting.
And that influence was only deepening!
“Who are you?!”
“Did the Major send you?”
Bai Zhou dared not look away, but he narrowed his eyes, deliberately letting his thoughts scatter in every direction to divert his attention as much as possible.
Facing Bai Zhou's questions, the man fell silent for a moment.
By now, the painting was complete.
Vortex-like currents of blue and green swirled around him, with the blooming sunflowers providing accents of gold like gleaming stars.
As for the man himself, he shimmered with a pale light.
He was the grandest moon in this painting.
The name of this masterpiece could only be *The Starry Night*.
“Did you know, young man? A fire burns in the heart of every person.”
The man spoke.
He was speaking from a great distance, yet his voice was amplified by the swirling blue-green torrents, carrying across with stark clarity.
His voice was distinctive, carrying the metallic rasp of scraping iron alongside the unquestionable passion of an erupting volcano.
“In a corner of every soul burns a hearth with a blazing fire, yet no one comes to warm themselves.”
“Passersby catch only a wisp of smoke from the chimney—but there is always one person who can see that fire.”
“And that person is me!”
He spoke rapidly, almost without pause.
Leaning on his cane, he walked toward the ruined villa, his voice vibrating ever clearer against Bai Zhou's eardrums.
“I saw your fire from far away—”
“So blazing, so radiant, it is simply… like the sun!”
“For this, I spurred my horse onward, terrified that a moment's delay would see you swallowed by the mundane world.”
“—Fortunately, you did not disappoint me.”
The blue-green currents around him spun even faster.
He approached, leaning his head forward, examining Bai Zhou with an almost pathological intensity, his gaze enraptured.
“Now, I arrive bearing my passion, my coldness, my fury, and my tenderness—”
“May I know your name, sir?”
Bai Zhou remained silent.
A mountain of crushing pressure bore down upon him.
This was an unmistakable Rank 4 Beyonder, with zero exaggeration.
And he definitely did not belong to the Mobile Walker pathway Bai Zhou was familiar with.
He hailed from a new, unknown pathway—
This was the foundation of the Major's confidence.
The ultimate insurance dispatched the moment Bai Zhou had been spotted by the Swordbearers—
And now, after Bai Zhou had slaughtered every Swordbearer and returned to his stronghold…
They had finally met.
“Ah, yes, of course—”
Seeing that Bai Zhou made no move, the man slapped his own forehead as though struck by sudden realization. “Before asking another's name, it is only proper to introduce oneself first.”
With that, he came to a stop and stood beneath the building.
Once again, he removed the top hat from his head.
This time, Bai Zhou saw his appearance clearly:
A pipe was clenched between his teeth, and his hair was dyed orange, standing upright in tufts like burning flames.
He wore a mask painted in oils, depicting an angular, haggard man with dark stubble and an anxious expression.
Bai Zhou did not recognize the man in the painting, but found the sight thoroughly hair-raising, particularly in the deep fog of midnight.
Even more chilling was that the masked man appeared to have severed his own left ear with his own hands; the space there was completely bare, wrapped only in pale, yellowing bandages.
Inexplicably, Bai Zhou felt that he was imitating someone—
Imitating another, perhaps the very man on the oil painting.
Or perhaps he was utterly convinced of who he was—
“My name is [Vincent van Gogh],” the visitor introduced himself.
Tucking his cane beneath his arm, he bent in a gentlemanly bow. Then, throwing his head back, he stood ramrod straight, leaning slightly backward—
And through the dull, hollow black sockets of the mask, he stared intently at Bai Zhou on the floor above.
“I come from Tinghai's largest and most secretive guild of Beyonder assassins—”
“The [Fine Arts Society].”
“Once, I caught a fleeting glimpse of the ‘fire’ upon your person, though alas, we were not fated to meet.”
“For on the day the Blood Worship Cult invaded your base, we were there as well—”
Under the moonlight, the man stood tall and straight as a javelin.
He shook his head in regret, his rapid words bursting with boundless passion for life.
Yet every movement he made seemed to pull at the surrounding light and hues, driving the swirling vortexes around him into greater frenzy.
“Perhaps you have heard of me, or perhaps you have not. I am counted among the Fine Arts Society's Sixteen Painters.”
“Tonight, hired by the Third Young Master—”
He said:
“—I have come to kill you.”
Chapter 56