Pei Zhao was extremely efficient at getting things done, and tonight was no exception.
There was no need to forcibly break into someone else’s home, nor any need to disturb the grieving relatives inside… For Pei Zhao, eating almost never took more than a second.
Qin Shu watched quietly as cold darkness flowed like liquid from beneath Pei Zhao’s feet. It spread outward, seeped silently through the cracks between the bricks, then climbed upward at an incomprehensibly terrifying speed and poured into the small cold-lit window high in the building.
Faint screams and curses drifted out, then stopped abruptly. The surrounding residents noticed nothing and continued enjoying their peaceful night.
“Done.”
Amid the dead silence, the darkness that devoured light and shadow disappeared at some unknown moment. Pei Zhao spoke softly.
“Done?”
Qin Shu had not even processed it yet. After hesitating, he asked, “You’re full already?”
“Mm. He died in the bathroom of his office building. He was slacking off instead of working during the day and went into the restroom to meet his lover in secret. Then he died during sex. He wasn’t even wearing clothes when he died.” Pei Zhao remained completely calm. Even after seeing such an outrageous scene through someone else’s memories, his tone did not change in the slightest.
“…Huh? They were going that hard?” Qin Shu was deeply shaken.
“I checked his belongings while I was there. There was nothing worth stealing.” Pei Zhao took his hand. Cool fingertips circled Qin Shu’s palm, rubbing and brushing against it. “Let’s go home first. We’ll take a bath tonight.”
“Zhaozhao, I don’t think you look full at all.”
Qin Shu tightened his hand around Pei Zhao’s to stop the ticklish sensation in his palm and objectively stated with a straight face, “You look like you want to eat me, and you’ve looked that way all evening!”
Pei Zhao curved his lips without any intention of arguing. “Bath together? Don’t worry. We’ll keep it innocent.”
“…Pei Zhao, you, I…”
Qin Shu genuinely could not refuse.
He could forcibly control all kinds of strange thoughts in his own head, but when Pei Zhao was the one taking the initiative… If Qin Shu could refuse even that, he would no longer qualify as human.
They poured in a large amount of bath salts, tinting the water a low-saturation blue-violet, like a winter evening before the sun had completely set, when the clouds had diluted the light and shadow into something soft and peaceful.
Not only could the color calm the mind, but blue was famously the king of appetite suppression. It should probably help a little. Barely.
Pei Zhao leaned against Qin Shu’s chest, damp hair brushing his neck like a lazy cat. His entire body softened, no longer using so much as a trace of strength.
Even in hot bathwater, he remained cool. Qin Shu rested a hand at his waist and felt as though he were holding a soft piece of ice soaking in warm water. The sensation was remarkably unique.
Within a few breaths, all kinds of chaotic images flashed through Qin Shu’s mind. Even a beef-tallow hotpot filled with ice cubes and then brought to a boil somehow appeared before his eyes.
He was already beginning to panic. He did not understand dragonkind’s preferences at all, yet somehow Pei Zhao’s mood was dragging him along until he began yearning for the same thing.
“Can I requisition your basement? I want to do some research.”
Unexpectedly, before Qin Shu had managed to get himself under control, Pei Zhao’s attention smoothly shifted back to business. Or perhaps more accurately, Pei Zhao had no difficulty thinking about several things at once.
Qin Shu took a deep breath. “Of course. What kind of research? Do you need me to buy any tools?”
“The vines Xing Yong encountered, the demonic power we’ve collected recently, and… have Coalball split off one of its relatives for me. Yuanbao and Xu Qian’s changes are worth studying in depth too.”
Pei Zhao listed them unhurriedly, then explained, “Before entering real combat, we need to make sure every usable force around you is something we understand thoroughly. Only then can we maximize our combat strength. We also need to learn in advance what kinds of power Zuo Zhe might use. I suspect he definitely knows a branch of the dragon vein lies here. If he has come into contact with it…”
Qin Shu froze. Every noisy thought in his mind instantly cooled. “You’re right. The contaminated dragon vein, the influence of the demons, and everything connected to Morning Star Elementary School could all become tools he can use.”
Unfortunately, the nun living in seclusion at the cathedral was unwilling to meet with them. Otherwise, they could have asked for more information about the redevelopment of Zhongshan South Road all those years ago.
When Father William came over today, Qin Shu had deliberately asked. There was no way to reach her at all. Her mental state had become extremely unstable lately, and she had locked herself inside the little building used for storing corpses. Anyone who disturbed her would be met with a basin of urine-water before being viciously driven away…
Perhaps this was a self-protective instinct that erupted whenever she sensed danger. It might be precisely why she had become one of the very few survivors. Qin Shu was also afraid that approaching her to ask questions would disturb the fragile safe environment she had managed to maintain.
If the residents who had accepted the redevelopment money and later died unexpectedly for all kinds of reasons truly had been sacrificed in a ritual… then there was a very real possibility the ritual had never actually been completed.
And everyone who accepted that enormous payment might still, even now, be living in a prolonged state of mortal danger, until the ritual was either completed at last or deliberately destroyed midway, finally giving them a chance to escape alive.
Tonight, after eating the remnant soul of the accountant who died at the arena, Pei Zhao had also learned several useful things from him. He obtained the information using an ordinary soul-searching art, which required magical power, so Qin Shu could not learn it… But soul cultivators naturally had better methods of their own.
Since the subject had come up, Pei Zhao taught him, “The fifth extinction of Nine Extinctions of the Soul Lamp, Spirit Extinction, can also achieve the effect of soul-searching. If you restrain the force slightly and avoid killing the target outright, you can separate and peel apart the pathways of their soul and see the memories you want.”
“You can’t search them after they’re dead?” Qin Shu pumped out a huge amount of shampoo, divided it between his hands, and, while listening, covered Pei Zhao’s head in foam and began massaging that clever head.
Pei Zhao sighed comfortably and closed his eyes, sinking into the warmth surrounding his scalp. After a moment of silence, he continued, “You can after death. But if you use too much force and only fragments of the soul remain, the memory chains become incomplete fragments too. If the crucial information happens to be missing, that becomes inconvenient. Search first, then kill.”
“Mm, understood. Search first, then kill… Makes sense. And sometimes you might not want to kill someone at all, only search their soul. Accidentally killing them would be even more awkward.”
Qin Shu thought it through, remembering how quickly the first sea beast had been killed. Soul techniques really were brutally vicious. The fifth extinction would only be more terrifying than the first, gradually approaching something almost like the power of rules themselves. Once used, the strain on both the caster and the target would not be small.
He made mental notes while his fingertips kneaded Pei Zhao’s wet, soft hair, becoming more addicted to touching it by the second.
“You smell so good… Cough. No, I mean, I’ll go clean out the basement later. Aside from some tea and alcohol my dad stored down there, there’s basically nothing in it. It’s pretty empty. You can arrange it however you want.”
Hearing Qin Shu’s suddenly accelerated speech, Pei Zhao turned his head slightly, lifted his face, leaned closer, and kissed him.
“Indulging your desire might attract a demon’s attention. I would welcome them watching…”
Pei Zhao whispered beside his ear, “The classifications of the Seven Deadly Sins are too obvious. Just comparing Tang Rui Cheng’s experience with the accountant’s is enough for them to validate each other one by one.”
“The Seven Deadly Sins… Belial and Asmodeus?” Qin Shu’s breathing stalled slightly. His palm quietly settled against the side of Pei Zhao’s neck and squeezed unconsciously as he struggled heroically to think about two things at once. “Sloth and lust. Yeah. Extremely obvious.”
“But your desire still isn’t strong enough.” Pei Zhao allowed Qin Shu to hold his neck. His dark golden eyes studied Qin Shu’s face for a moment, then slowly moved downward through the bathwater clouded by salts. “Mm. Not enough.”
“…This still isn’t enough?! It already kind of hurts, and I’m almost not going to be able to stand up!” Qin Shu was deeply shaken. “Pei Zhao, I’m warning you. If you come any closer, something is actually going to happen. Don’t kiss me. Stop looking around!”
Pei Zhao laughed softly. “It’s fine. I know why. Because you’ve never personally experienced it, the desire is still completely controllable. Humans may be equally insane in this regard, but compared with dragonkind, they’re much more rational.”
“Then… do we still want to deliberately attract a demon? Maybe we should postpone that? And we already agreed this was supposed to be an innocent bath.”
Qin Shu worked hard to take a deep breath and exhale slowly, trying to reason with Pei Zhao. “Even if we switched to you, you’re so difficult to provoke that they probably wouldn’t dare touch you at all. If something dirty really does get attracted here, it’ll probably be too scared to show itself.”
“Mm. You’re right.”
Fortunately, Pei Zhao was usually very reasonable. There was only a faint trace of regret in his eyes, as though he truly had wanted to stimulate Qin Shu until… Qin Shu lost control and tightened his grip around Pei Zhao’s neck.
Qin Shu could read everything Pei Zhao had left unsaid at a glance. They had known each other too long. Whatever dark water was bubbling inside either of them became extremely obvious even without being spoken aloud.
He immediately released a huge breath of relief. “After the unified exam, okay? Ancestor, during winter break for Lunar New Year, we’ll kick all the little guys outside to freeze. Whatever you say, I’ll do. We’ll close the front door, I’ll lie there, and I’ll follow your instructions. Guaranteed cooperation.”
“Mm. You promised.” Pei Zhao sighed too. “But your combat training cannot stop, so I’m the only one who has to suffer…”
“That’s what you get for liking to watch me kill people… No, kill fish.” Qin Shu gave a light hiss and shook his head in wonder. “What am I supposed to do? I’m raising a pervert at home… Next time, let’s use monsters that aren’t so bloody. Maybe that’ll be better.”
“Foreign ghosts tomorrow?”
“Sure!”
After narrowly escaping disaster, the two of them proceeded with the planned training and research.
For quite a long stretch afterward, their days were unexpectedly peaceful and full.
Qin Shu’s life somehow became calm and regular, almost as though he had returned to the days before his Heavenly Eye opened, except with several more interesting activities added in.
School, checking Tang Rui Cheng’s mental state, practice problems and review, eating properly, and hugging Pei Zhao for a while during lunch break. Extremely comfortable.
At night, he would go home and speedrun his homework, then clear several of Pei Zhao’s custom “dungeons” for training… Afterward Qin Shu showered while Pei Zhao disappeared into the basement, taking advantage of the heat still simmering inside him to do some research and cool himself down. A remarkably scientific division of time that also prevented accidental combustion.
Life after starting a relationship really was more nourishing than before. Qin Shu had absolutely no room to slack off and discovered that his efficiency had reached unprecedented heights, yet he did not find it painful at all. He had even begun treating practice problems as a way to let his brain relax.
Becoming aware of his growth through constantly escalating battles was already an effective reward mechanism. Add in a Pei Zhao who liked hugging and kissing him more often now… The happiness hardly needed explaining.
Good news also kept arriving from Liu Yang Yang. They had found nearly all the materials needed to build the ritual altar. He had not unexpectedly fallen into any caves or ghost domains again and could barely be described as safe and sound.
Everything had been arranged with Phoenix Village too. When the time came, Liu Bai Long would be brought to a hospital in Jiangcheng and admitted for several days of recuperation. That would also make the later deity-invitation ritual more convenient, sparing Qin Shu and the others another long round trip.
Unfortunately, the Dragon Mother Temple was not suitable as a place to invite a god, in case the Dragon Mother became displeased and interfered. The environment at Jiangcheng No. 2 High School was equally delicate. In that case, hammering together a ritual inside a hospital room filled with more prayers than almost anywhere else might actually produce a surprisingly good effect.
After several comfortable days, Qin Shu received a call from Liu Yang Yang after school. Chen Shui had personally come down from the mountain this time and successfully escorted Liu Bai Long to Jiangcheng First Municipal Hospital, where she had been settled in safely. Liu Yang Yang himself was also on his way back to Jiangcheng.
“Are all the materials on Daoist Master Xu’s side ready?”
Qin Shu watched Tang Rui Cheng obediently return to the dormitory before finally relaxing enough to take Pei Zhao’s hand and leave the school gates. While thinking about what delicious food to make tonight, he turned his head and asked.
“Of course. Some of the materials can only be used once. He’s so heartbroken that he raised the price of every evil-warding talisman he sells by fifty percent.” A faint speechlessness entered Pei Zhao’s eyes when he mentioned the old man whose love of money bordered on incomprehensible.
“…Fifty percent?! Absolutely not. Old Tang needs to stock up right now. Don’t let him skin Old Tang’s savings clean.” Qin Shu immediately took out his phone and applied to Daoist Master Xu for a returning-customer discount, insisting Tang Rui Cheng pay the original price. “All right. Once Liu Yang Yang gets back, we’ll invite the deity. We can’t delay anymore. Everything’s ready. Let’s save one person first.”
The two discussed the later arrangements and prepared several contingency plans based on the possible personalities of whatever deity they might invite. At the very least, they needed to ensure they did nothing offensive.
Coincidentally, Pei Zhao knew quite a bit about these matters, so they whispered to each other the entire way home. When they finally reached the house without realizing how much time had passed, Qin Shu stopped in the yard instead of opening the door.
The little white nest that had hung beneath the porch was gone. Wool lay scattered everywhere, blasted outward in an explosive trail all the way across the lawn. Something had very obviously burst it from inside.
The eyeball had been getting fatter and fatter, but ever since accidentally bursting its previous acrylic box, it had become extremely aware of its own size and acted much more carefully. Once Qin Shu confirmed it was safe, he had mostly stopped trying to isolate it inside containers anyway.
In that case, the eyeball certainly had not done this. Which meant the only remaining suspect was…
“Right… come to think of it, Yuanbao’s new shell finished growing.” Qin Shu looked left and right. “Yuanbao! Where did you run off to? Get over here and clean up the garbage you made!”
“BOOM!”
The instant he finished speaking, an explosion erupted before the two of them. Qin Shu and Pei Zhao froze simultaneously, identical brief blanks appearing on their faces.
The security door of Qin Shu’s house had exploded. A gigantic centipede head had smashed through it.
The gold-and-red head bore vicious mouthparts, with a pair of razor-sharp mandibles thrust prominently forward and glinting with a savage chill painful enough to make the eyes ache.
Yuanbao proudly stuck out his terrifying giant head, clearly intending to show off his handsome body, now several times stronger than before. Yet as the air fell deathly silent, he gradually realized what he had done and tremblingly pulled his head back inside.
He tried to hide beneath the sofa. This time he used much less force, yet somehow still flipped the entire sofa upside down.
“Yuanbao. Go buy me a new security door and install it.”
Qin Shu spoke through gritted teeth in a low, ominous voice, giving Yuanbao the one task he absolutely could not accomplish. Then he walked into the living room, glanced at the half of Yuanbao’s body hidden beneath the overturned sofa, almost laughed from anger, and slapped the exposed tail hard.
Crack!
He had not held back. The blow easily smashed a thin crack into Yuanbao’s shell. Immediately, some strange dark-red viscous fluid surged from inside the gold-and-red armor and repaired the damage in an instant, leaving it completely intact.
An extremely powerful regenerative ability, nourished by the dragon vein, and partially the result of what Pei Zhao had figured out in the laboratory.
A contaminated dragon vein was difficult to deal with, but Pei Zhao possessed the cleverest brain in the world. The vines brought back from Living Water Ridge already carried a large amount of dragon-vein power. Although they were contaminated plants, that also meant they could be used in reverse, becoming one component in the process of absorbing and filtering the contamination.
Pei Zhao extracted and refined a small amount of pure vitality from the vines and fed it to Yuanbao, and the little centipede’s shell replacement advanced with unstoppable momentum.
As it happened, a demigod’s body possessed far greater resistance, especially the child of the Cave God. Pei Zhao had already noticed this back in Phoenix Village. Even Xiao Zhu, despite controlling the dragon veins and continuously eroding the Cave God’s remains, had progressed very slowly and inefficiently.
That was because the Cave God had been born as a suppressing anchor, with the duty and function of suppressing the world’s flaws, and therefore naturally possessed resistance against contaminated and evil power. The deity’s child was similarly exceptional.
Even if Yuanbao encountered tiny traces of uncanny power while absorbing dragon-vein energy, he could turn all of it into something usable for himself and evolve even more aggressively. Both his combat strength and survival ability had improved by a terrifying amount.
The only drawback was probably that Yuanbao himself had not yet adapted to his own strength. He was still happily showing off and enjoying himself while casually wrecking Qin Shu’s house in the process…
Qin Shu touched the beautiful, cool new shell and struggled heroically against the urge to hug Yuanbao and praise him. Keeping a stern face, he forcibly threw the little creature outside.
“You made the mistake, so you fix it yourself. Hear me?”
Yuanbao tilted his head, swished his tail, and unexpectedly left the yard like an obedient child.
When Qin Shu’s training ended that night, something even more unexpected happened.
Yuanbao brought Daoist Master Xu back with him, along with Lin Shi Yu, Huang Yu Yuan, and one brand-new security door.
Huang Yu Yuan’s role was apparently “door-and-window installer.” He carried the heavy iron door directly on one shoulder and walked with tremendous momentum.
Beneath his tall, well-proportioned physique was the terrifying strength unique to ox yao. He worked both quickly and well, installing the new security door with several heavy bang bang bangs. Then he awkwardly scratched his head and asked Qin Shu and Pei Zhao to come connect it to the network and register fingerprints.
Because although he knew how to install doors, he had absolutely no idea how to deal with the information technology built into the newest generation of security systems.
Qin Shu felt as though he had somehow wandered into a dream. He silently finished configuring the new door’s user information, then rummaged through the kitchen for the spirit-tea tin and boiled water for a pot. Come to think of it, the tea had originally come from Lin Shi Yu too. Pei Zhao later mixed in several additional ingredients to make it more nutritious as a food supplement while keeping the effect gentle.
In the living room, Pei Zhao had already begun talking with Daoist Master Xu about the varieties of incense and flowers required for the altar. Yuanbao obediently shrank back into his original miniature size, jumped onto Qin Shu’s shoulder, rubbed against him affectionately, and happily showed off how clever he had been.
“You little brat really are…” Qin Shu could not help laughing. He genuinely could not stay angry at the little thing.
Qin Shu had given Yuanbao an impossible task, yet somehow Yuanbao had actually found people to help install the security door and had even mobilized this entire group… He really was quite clever.
Qin Shu was in a good mood. In truth, his mood had never been that bad to begin with. The kid might be somewhat reckless, but as long as he was happy and healthy, that was enough.
He cheerfully carried the tea toward the living room, only to be stopped by Lin Shi Yu standing in one corner.
Lin Shi Yu had not joined the conversation in the living room because he knew Pei Zhao would never like him. Better to remain quietly in the shadows than stand in the way and worsen Pei Zhao’s mood.
“Come to think of it, I still haven’t apologized to Student Qin in person.”
Lin Shi Yu bowed slightly, hands forming the standard Daoist salute. “I’m sorry. At the time, A-Yuan’s life and mine were both in immediate danger. You and Lord Zhaoyuan were away from Jiangcheng. My sect has declined and possesses little strength, while A-Yuan’s clansmen would never have extended a hand to help… We truly had nowhere to turn. The only solution Master could think of was to use such an underhanded method to preserve our lives first, then make amends afterward.”
Qin Shu stopped walking, lowered his eyes, and listened quietly until the end before nodding. “I don’t blame you. I don’t believe in fate, but a lot of things really do end up becoming the result of intertwined destinies. If you’d never met me, you wouldn’t have been caught in someone else’s anger in the first place and ended up with your life in danger.”
“Thank you for understanding, Student Qin. If you ever need anything in the future, please don’t hesitate. Come directly to the Dragon Mother Temple and find Master or me.” Lin Shi Yu relaxed somewhat, then sighed. “Rebuilding Qingfeng Teahouse will probably have to wait a while longer, so that person doesn’t interpret it as a deliberate provocation.”
That person was naturally the Dragon Mother. Qin Shu could understand that too.
“I only have two things I want to ask.” Qin Shu looked at him thoughtfully. “First, how did Zhaozhao’s dragon pearl end up in Daoist Master Xu’s hands?”
“That…”
“And second, how do you know the title Lord Zhaoyuan?” Darkness gathered in Qin Shu’s eyes. “What exactly was your master before? Where did he get the ability to know all this?”