There was something absurd about the way Jin Bi died.
Unsurprisingly, that strange explosion had come from his head literally bursting open.
But for an animal like a porcupinefish, the distance between its head and its body was… practically negligible.
Jin Bi’s true body was entirely situated above the “neck” of the human-skin coat. When maintaining human form, the movements of his limbs were all powered by his own spiritual power, so when that horrific explosion occurred, his body was caught in it as well.
What was even more absurd was that the explosion had not actually been Jin Bi’s true cause of death. Qin Shu had seen it perfectly clearly… Jin Bi had been killed by himself.
Countless sharp, snow-white spines had pierced straight through him, reducing him to a bloody mass of mangled flesh as the stench of blood rose into the air. Those hard spines should have existed to protect him, yet Qin Shu had personally witnessed the grotesque mutation.
In the instant before the explosion, the spines that had originally lain flat against Jin Bi’s skin suddenly stood upright, dragging his flesh with them as they twisted inward at impossible angles and silently aimed themselves at his eyes, nose, mouth, lower abdomen, and internal organs.
Every target was a fatal weak point. They had left Jin Bi no chance whatsoever to survive, not even enough time for anyone else to save him.
While Jin Bi was wearing that perfectly fitted human-skin coat, even an ordinary cultivator would have had difficulty peeling the skin off him. Trying to stop him from rapidly “killing himself” would practically have been harder than killing him outright.
There really was no better word for such a death than absurd.
Qin Shu did not approach Jin Bi. Remaining where he was, he exhaled and quickly checked whether everyone else was safe.
Liang Ming Yue had reacted quickly, immediately ducking behind the half-open door of the SUV. Only the legs of her trousers had been splashed with blood. Her expression had not changed much, nor did she appear surprised at all; she remained as cold and numb as ever.
Chang Liu Yi, on the other hand, was somewhat shocked, although that shock was directed more toward Qin Shu. After all, she was quite strong herself… Serpent yao were natural predators, naturally combative and physically formidable, and throughout history they had often served as major forces on battlefields.
Yet Chang Liu Yi had never imagined that Qin Shu could pull her down so effortlessly—and with only one hand. In the instant the accident occurred, she had been completely unable to resist and could only follow the force of Qin Shu’s pull to the ground, avoiding the spray from the explosion.
As for Pei Zhao… he was somewhat particular about cleanliness, so he had not been pulled to the ground at all. He had merely followed Qin Shu’s tug by retreating several steps.
At that moment, he stood behind Qin Shu, looking down at the top of his head. Unable to resist, Pei Zhao reached out and smoothed down one small lock of hair that had been blown out of place.
Qin Shu let him fuss with his hair and naturally leaned his back against Pei Zhao’s legs, treating it as a brief opportunity to rest. When he turned and noticed something strange about Chang Liu Yi’s expression, Qin Shu felt slightly guilty, fished around in his pocket, and offered her a packet of wet wipes.
“Sister-in-law, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine. Don’t worry. I’m much sturdier than Xing Yong.” Chang Liu Yi accepted the wet wipes and gently pressed a hand to her chest, her expression worried. “Ah… But I haven’t seen such a terrifying and vicious curse-killing technique in many years. Unfortunately, Mr. Jin’s soul has already been annihilated and returned to the rivers and seas. We can’t ask him for any more answers, nor do we know how to defend ourselves against whatever did this.”
“Even his soul is gone? Then doesn’t that mean he has no chance of reincarnating and can’t even become a wandering ghost?” Qin Shu asked quietly.
“That’s right. Ordinary techniques and divine abilities couldn’t possibly produce an effect like this, but given the horrific manner of Mr. Jin’s death… even Black and White Impermanence had no time to personally collect his soul. His name has been completely erased from the Book of Life and Death.”
Elio’s Notes: Black and White Impermanence are iconic underworld figures traditionally associated with escorting the souls of the dead. The Book of Life and Death is the supernatural register that records mortal lives and deaths.
Chang Liu Yi sighed. “I find it difficult to believe that this was truly the work of ‘that one’… The stories about her never described her as this violent.”
“She did it. There’s nothing she wouldn’t do,” Liang Ming Yue said blandly as she pushed herself upright against the car door. “None of you have ever dealt with her personally, so perhaps you can’t understand what I went through. But I think she may have a serious mental problem.”
Chang Liu Yi’s expression shifted slightly. “Ms. Liang, you mean… she’s gone mad?”
“If she weren’t mad, why would she give me her own son’s relic as compensation? A mother who loses her child going mad is perfectly understandable. I don’t know how the dragon son died, but I know perfectly well that when a mad mother possesses authority and power—and I mean overwhelmingly terrifying power—there’s nothing she won’t do.”
Liang Ming Yue paused and swept her gaze over the bloody pulp on the floor before curling her lips in a cold smile. “Unfortunately, I’m an ordinary person with no ability to fight back. I’ll never be able to oppose a deity in this lifetime, and I was already lucky to get one useless dragon scale from her. If I ever had the chance to become stronger than she is, I would only do things to her a hundred or a thousand times crueler than this.”
“A dragon son’s reverse scale is extremely important. It’s equivalent to half a human heart and is a supreme treasure that countless people could beg for without ever obtaining. If I’m not mistaken, this reverse scale contains the blood of dragonkind. It can transform a yao’s bloodline and also contains tremendous vitality and fortune… Ms. Liang, the reason you recovered so quickly today despite suffering multiple fractures may very well be the reverse scale.”
Hearing this, Qin Shu suddenly understood. “No wonder! During last night’s livestream, you and Brother Yong were walking together, but he was the only one dragged into the ghost wall while nothing happened to you. It must also help you avoid danger and seek good fortune.”
“Avoid danger and seek good fortune?” Liang Ming Yue lowered her eyes slightly. “It certainly does. But every time I escape some disaster, the next day I suffer misfortune hundreds or thousands of times worse. Last night I escaped the ghost wall, so today I took leave and stayed home instead of going to work. I thought I’d avoid as many accidents as possible…”
“Huh? And then you fell out of the sky?”
“I was lying on the sofa watching television. I rolled over, everything spun, and I fell directly onto the hood of your car. I got injured but couldn’t die. My bad luck reached a level that violated common sense… That was the consequence of avoiding last night’s disaster.” Liang Ming Yue remained remarkably calm, apparently long accustomed to things like this.
Chang Liu Yi frowned slightly. “I understand now. You were originally an ordinary human with no connection to the path of cultivation, someone who should have lived a plain and ordinary life. Everything you’ve experienced was something that should never have had anything to do with you at all. ‘That one’ forcibly interfered with your allotted destiny, severed your fate with your child, and then gave you compensation far too valuable for you to bear!”
Now Qin Shu understood too.
There was nothing special about Liang Ming Yue’s allotted destiny, so she simply could not support the weight of a supreme treasure from the Dragon Palace. If she enjoyed fortune today that did not belong to her, then tomorrow she would have to pay for it somewhere else through loss and calamity in order to restore the balance.
The phenomenon felt extremely familiar to Qin Shu.
Liu Yang Yang had taken something that did not belong to him, which was why he had been attacked, fallen into the sea, and nearly been struck dead by heavenly thunder. After finally drifting ashore, he had then been swept into an unfamiliar ghost domain and encountered danger after danger… And that was with Qin Shu having burned incense for him beforehand.
The difference was that the thing in Liu Yang Yang’s possession had been the little centipede—a living semi-divine body and a genuine battlefield weapon. No matter who obtained Yuanbao, they could temporarily use it to stir up an enormous amount of trouble.
The reverse scale of dragonkind, especially the rare dragon blood contained inside it, was actually of little use to a human. But to the yao, it was a supreme treasure capable of allowing them to cross ranks, transform their cultivation path, and perhaps even ascend directly to immortality.
Qin Shu remembered the “blood-selling” stalls at the ghost market, where customers had lined up in long queues. At first, he had not understood what they were doing. Only after asking the City God did he learn that yao bloodlines were remarkably flexible and mutable.
First, yao were divided into ranks according to species. Within each species, they were divided even further: those with pure and concentrated bloodlines were held in high regard, while those with thin bloodlines occupied extremely low positions. The difference in bloodline directly affected both the speed and ultimate ceiling of cultivation, and the disparity in efficiency could be enormous.
If a yao wished to obtain a purer, more concentrated bloodline and rise in rank, they needed to absorb and refine purer yao “essence blood,” digesting it until it became part of their own bloodline.
They could legally purchase guaranteed, high-quality essence blood from markets and auctions. Alternatively, they could secretly murder another yao somewhere in the wilderness, devour the victim’s inner core, and refine all of the prey’s essence blood in one go—but neither the quantity nor the quality would be guaranteed, and whatever consequences followed would be their own responsibility.
Elio’s Notes: Essence blood (精血) is a concentrated form of a cultivator or yao’s vital and bloodline essence. An inner core (内丹) is the cultivated core of spiritual power within many nonhuman cultivators.
Dragonkind was the most exceptional category of all. There was no reproductive barrier between dragon blood and other yao species; any yao beast capable of refining dragon blood would directly leap across bloodline ranks.
For precisely that reason, the reverse scale in Liang Ming Yue’s possession truly deserved to be called a “supreme treasure.” A yao cultivator like Chang Liu Yi, born into a prestigious lineage and possessing a cultivation method suited specifically to herself, could still restrain her desires and avoid trying to seize the dragon scale by force. But if it fell into the hands of less law-abiding cultivators… the consequences would be difficult to predict.
Of course, even if nobody ever tried to rob Liang Ming Yue of the treasure, it was equally impossible to predict how violently her fate might fluctuate in the future. The treasure might not be especially useful to a human, but a supreme treasure of the yao was still a supreme treasure.
“Ms. Liang, I suggest that you sell the dragon scale for a high price as soon as possible. Converted into human currency, the money would be enough for you to live comfortably for ten lifetimes. Alternatively, find a capable fate reader to examine your destiny and devise a way to conceal you from heavenly perception. Otherwise, possessing fortune and status far beyond what your fate can bear may eventually bring a calamity from which there is no return.”
Chang Liu Yi’s advice was sincere, and after a brief silence, Liang Ming Yue answered with equal sincerity. “I don’t care if calamity comes. If I die, I die. Death doesn’t matter to me. I only want my daughter back. Even if she’s a ghost child now, she still shouldn’t be trapped in a place like that. She should have reincarnated long ago.”
“How can you say death doesn’t matter? As long as you still have a goal you haven’t achieved, staying alive means there’s still hope.”
Qin Shu became anxious listening to her. He took Pei Zhao’s hand and stood, saying seriously, “Before last month, I had never seen a ghost in my life. Now I’ve even met Jiangcheng’s City God. Sister Ming Yue, nobody knows what opportunities the future might bring. You’ll only find out if you stay alive long enough to see them.”
Liang Ming Yue nodded slightly, but immediately afterward gave a faint, bitter laugh. “I understand what you mean. Thank you. But Student Qin, can you defeat her now? Even five years from now, ten years from now, can you guarantee that you’ll be able to defeat a deity?”
“…Ah, well…” Qin Shu genuinely could not guarantee that.
“If even you have no confidence, what about me? I wasted ten years doing nothing but helplessly burning burial clothes for my daughter.” Liang Ming Yue laughed again. “I know my own limitations. Maybe after I die, if my resentment is deep enough and I become a malicious ghost, I’ll finally have enough strength to fight her.”
“Wait, you can’t think like that either. Ordinary malicious ghosts still can’t beat me, never mind a local deity. Sister Ming Yue, what if you don’t become a ghost at all? Then you’ll really just go straight off to reincarnate!”
Qin Shu had only meant the remark as reassurance, but Liang Ming Yue’s eyes suddenly brightened. For once, a distinctly positive emotion appeared on her face. “You said you only became able to see ghosts last month, and now you can already defeat malicious ghosts? Oh, right. Your name is Qin Shu… No wonder I don’t find you particularly irritating. I kept thinking you looked familiar.
“I heard what happened at First Municipal Hospital. The television station wasn’t permitted to report it, but your name still made its way to us. Everyone at the station knows. I really am grateful that you were willing to intervene. If you hadn’t taken that malicious ghost away back then, even more people might have died.”
It was perfectly normal that people from First Municipal Hospital had spread Qin Shu’s name, so he was not particularly surprised. After thinking for a moment, he still chose his words carefully. “At the time, I was only trying to help my friend. Looking back, I was too reckless. Many malicious ghosts have legitimate grievances and specific people they blame. Even if I couldn’t beat one, I should at least be able to escape.”
But even that cautious answer was enough for Liang Ming Yue.
She drew a deep breath and slowly said, “In that case, I have a rather unreasonable request. Student Qin, if you become stronger in the future and ever have a chance to approach the Dragon Palace, could you help me set my daughter free?
“I won’t demand that you defeat that madwoman head-on. But if there’s even the smallest opportunity—any chance at all for my daughter to regain her freedom… I don’t care whether she lives or dies. If you can completely release her from that cage, that would be enough. Whatever payment you want, I’ll do my best to give it to you. I’ll do anything.”
“Sister Ming Yue, you don’t need to formally ask me, and I don’t need payment. The moment I have a way to get your daughter out, I’ll do it immediately because I myself want to. But I really don’t know whether I can accomplish it yet. I need more time.”
Qin Shu’s expression was equally solemn. “And you need to keep living and buy me that time, because otherwise you won’t be there to see the day your daughter is rescued. I mean seeing the real her, not some distant image inside a mirage.”
“Agreed. Then that’s what we’ll do,” Chang Liu Yi said softly. “Ms. Liang, come eat dinner at my house tonight. If you trust me, I can ask a friend to examine you and see whether there’s a way to solve the trouble this reverse scale is causing.”
“If having this thing means I’m carrying something beyond what my fate can bear, can I simply give it away? You can have it.”
“?” Chang Liu Yi froze and immediately tried to refuse. “No, no, I—”
Liang Ming Yue lowered her gaze toward the bloody human-skin coat and interrupted her. “Ms. Chang, listen to me. Jin Bi said I was wanted across the Four Realms and came searching everywhere for me. Ultimately, that was because this treasure was in my possession. His mission wasn’t to kill me. It was to recover the treasure.
“He died today. There will only be more people who don’t know the truth coming after me in the future, one after another, only to become sacrifices to that madwoman. I can’t solve this myself.”
“But I still shouldn’t accept it, Ms. Liang. This object doesn’t belong to me. I’m a serpent yao, and my bloodline is noble in its own right. If you trace it back to ancient times, the little snakes of Fengqi Mountain are all descendants of Goddess Nüwa.” Chang Liu Yi smiled. “I’m proud of my own bloodline. I have no desire to become a dragon.”
Elio’s Notes: Nüwa is an ancient Chinese creator goddess traditionally associated with the creation or restoration of humanity and is often depicted with a serpentine lower body. Chang Liu Yi is invoking that lineage as a source of pride rather than aspiring toward dragon blood.
“That’s amazing…” Qin Shu’s eyes lit up as he murmured in admiration.
“Amazing.” Pei Zhao nodded in agreement, then continued admiring the glittering cat’s-eye bracelet on his wrist.
“Mm. Amazing.” Liang Ming Yue laughed softly as well and did not insist any further.
“All right, all right, you’re all going to embarrass me with all this praise. Since everything’s settled, let’s clean up the scene and go home for dinner.”
Chang Liu Yi pretended to blush and rubbed her cheeks. In the next instant, however, her entire demeanor changed. She lowered her eyes with a stern expression and murmured an indistinct incantation while her slender right hand rapidly formed a spell seal. Then she abruptly pointed toward the pile of mangled flesh and commanded coldly, “Let foul evil disperse; may the Dao endure. Begone!”
A flash of white light swept past, followed by a cool breeze. Qin Shu watched in amazement as every trace of blood and filth on the floor vanished. Then his gaze quietly shifted toward the exit of the parking garage.
A group of hazy, translucent spirits were silently carrying Jin Bi’s mangled remains in an orderly procession toward the area touched by sunlight.
Like wisps of smoke and mist, they dissolved into the air and took every lingering ominous remnant with them, carrying out the work with practiced ease.
That was so cool… He could actually see the principle behind an entire incantation now, including every step of how it worked!
It was not some incomprehensible mystical spell at all. Chang Liu Yi was using her own spiritual power to summon and gather the spirits of heaven and earth, borrowing their strength to sweep away filth and purify inauspicious energy.
Unfortunately, although Qin Shu understood it and felt as though he could learn it almost immediately, he lacked the single most basic and essential component: spiritual power. Since he could not do anything this cool himself, he would simply have to admire other people doing cool things instead.
Chang Liu Yi really was a refreshingly straightforward yao cultivator. She knitted her elegant brows slightly and nudged the clean human-skin coat on the ground with the toe of her leather shoe.
“Does anyone want this human skin?”
Liang Ming Yue answered without hesitation. “No.”
Qin Shu shook his head just as quickly, then turned and whispered, “Zhaozhao, do you want it?”
Pei Zhao: “…”
“Cough. Sister-in-law, neither of us needs it.”
“Fine. If nobody wants it, I’ll take it home and dispose of it safely. Dust returns to dust and earth to earth. Something this vicious only harms both others and its wearer, so it ought to disappear from the world as soon as possible.”
Chang Liu Yi casually used Universe Within the Sleeve and, under Qin Shu’s admiring gaze, stored the human skin away.
Qin Shu desperately wanted to learn that technique too. If he could use Universe Within the Sleeve, he would never need to carry a schoolbag again, and he definitely would not keep inexplicably losing his best pens… Sigh.
He could not keep thinking about it. It was bad for his mental health. Qin Shu shook his head and led Pei Zhao into the back seat of the SUV.
Chang Liu Yi insisted on taking them home first, saying that two children had no business running around outside late at night, so Qin Shu could only agree.
“This SUV belonged to Jin Bi, but since his soul has been completely destroyed, I doubt he’ll mind me using it to get around tonight.” Chang Liu Yi smiled and skillfully stepped on the accelerator, driving out of the hospital parking garage.
She dropped Qin Shu and Pei Zhao off outside Tang Rui Cheng’s house, but before leaving, she repeatedly warned them that the current disturbance had not yet settled. Under absolutely no circumstances were they to casually mention “that one’s” name or title, much less spread the rumor that she might have gone mad. They were also to wear their bracelets every day before leaving home and exercise extreme caution in everything.
In short, they needed to lie low for the moment until the danger passed, lest they suffer a horrific fate like Jin Bi’s. If anything happened, they were to contact her immediately.
Standing outside the courtyard and watching the SUV disappear into the distance, Qin Shu sighed admiringly. “So cool. When am I going to become such a reliable adult? I’m learning to drive over winter break too!”
“Do you have time during winter break?” Pei Zhao pressed the doorbell.
“…I don’t think I do.”
Qin Shu sighed and decided he would reconsider driving lessons over summer vacation.
Su Ting Lian was not home. The housekeeper responsible for taking care of Tang Rui Cheng opened the door, and the two of them walked familiarly into the dining room. There, they found Tang Rui Cheng sitting alone before a table covered in nourishing dishes, wearing a VR headset and headphones while twisting around and playing a game one-handed like a plump, well-fed grub.
Never mind being a reliable adult. At the moment, he barely looked human.
Qin Shu silently pulled out his phone and recorded Tang Rui Cheng for half a minute. Then he placed Liang Ming Yue’s autograph beside his hand, gave the housekeeper a little of the spirit tea from his backpack, and put the rest inside Su Ting Lian’s tea cabinet.
Naturally, Qin Shu did not forget to brew a pot for himself as well. Then he went to the kitchen, took out two clean sets of bowls and chopsticks, and told Pei Zhao, “Eat. Ignore him.”
“Mm.”
If even Qin Shu was ignoring Tang Rui Cheng, Pei Zhao certainly was not going to care. He remained picky with food and ate almost nothing except the desserts, occasionally taking a slow sip of tea. A faint trace of distaste flowed through his eyes, although the tea was not so bad that he could not drink it.
Qin Shu, meanwhile, had already fed himself at top speed. After demolishing his meal, he glanced at Tang Rui Cheng, who still had not noticed them at all, and finally could not suppress several laughs.
“Hahaha… Oh, right, Zhaozhao. Don’t you think the way Jin Bi died felt familiar?”
“…”
The sudden change of subject caught even Pei Zhao off guard. He paused, but quickly understood what Qin Shu meant. “You mean the extremely brutal way he killed himself.”
Qin Shu placed a piece of steamed fish in Pei Zhao’s bowl, his pitch-black eyes fixed intently on him. “Right. Zhang Cong did the same thing.”
“Mm. It was very similar.” Pei Zhao reluctantly picked up the fish and ate it.
Qin Shu fell silent for a moment. “Zhaozhao, that water buffalo you mentioned before—the one that wanted to kill you. It couldn’t possibly be…”
It couldn’t possibly be the Dragon Mother herself, could it?!
“Qiuniu was born from a dragon and a bovine. It’s actually fairly obvious.” Pei Zhao lifted his teacup. “I thought all of you would have realized it by now.”
“Then I absolutely have to attend her birthday banquet.”
“Aren’t you afraid?” Pei Zhao tilted his head.
“You got bullied by her. If I don’t go get some of your dignity back, that doesn’t seem right, does it?” Qin Shu laughed. “I heard the birthday banquet isn’t until after the New Year, so there’s still time. I’ll figure something out.”
“I wasn’t bullied. She only placed a soul mark on me, and I could have eaten it.” Pei Zhao corrected him seriously.
“That still counts as bullying you! Even I’ve never put a mark on you…”
“…Hm?”
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