Chapter 605: All She Can Do Is Help Lu Yibei

After parting with Lu Yibei, Zhang Huainan did not immediately return to the Great Pure Palace. Instead, he doubled back to the residential area struck by the psychic attack.

Earlier, before obtaining information from Lu Yibei about the source of the power wielded by the haunting behind the Esoteric Society, he had seen Lu Yibei and Huá Sāng in danger and immediately used overwhelming force to wipe out every villain within the lockdown zone.

In hindsight, he had acted rather impulsively. He should have left one or two alive.

“My cultivation still isn’t sufficient…” Zhang Huainan shook his head and sighed. A complicated look flashed through his slightly opened eyes as he spoke.

Even after cultivating for so many years, he could not remain absolutely calm when someone he cared about was in danger. Was it perhaps asking too much to expect Lu Yibei to do the same?

But…

If that brat intended to make an enemy of the Eclipse Society, then he had to learn.

…

Deep in thought, Zhang Huainan walked along Sleepless Street, quiet in the daytime. Before he realized it, he had passed through the temporary cordon set up by the Great Pure Palace disciples and returned to the residential area.

He stopped and looked toward the disciples working busily inside the residential buildings. Footsteps approached.

Following the sound, he saw Qingxiazi arrive with one hand gripping Huá Sāng by the collar and the other twisting her ear, carrying her along like a kitten that had knocked over a vase.

Zhang Huainan frowned slightly. “The child is already grown. In front of so many people, couldn’t you leave her a little dignity?”

Besides, twisting her ear doesn’t even hurt her… he added inwardly.

Huá Sāng stole a sidelong glance at Qingxiazi and said flatly, “Seconded…”

“You still dare talk back!” Qingxiazi twisted Huá Sāng’s ear hard, set her aside, then cupped her fists and bowed toward Zhang Huainan. “This disciple failed to instruct her apprentice properly. Please punish me, Headmaster Martial Uncle.”

“Oh? What did you do wrong? Why should I punish you?” Zhang Huainan asked, puzzled.

Qingxiazi glared at Huá Sāng, then turned back to Zhang Huainan and bowed again. “Headmaster Martial Uncle, this wretched disciple possessed a divine weapon left by our sect’s honored predecessors, yet failed to care for it properly, causing irreparable damage. However…”

“However?” Zhang Huainan asked with interest.

“This only happened because I failed in my duties as her Shifu. I bear great responsibility for the divine weapon’s damage. Please punish me, Headmaster Martial Uncle. As for Huá Sāng, I will discipline her strictly when we return,” Qingxiazi said.

That sounds noble, but you’re merely trying to shield your own disciple. Do you think I don’t know you? Zhang Huainan thought with a soft laugh. “Qingxiazi, if you knew that ferule was a divine weapon, why would you believe it could be damaged so easily?”

Qingxiazi frowned in confusion. “What do you mean, Headmaster Martial Uncle?”

“It was a fake,” Zhang Huainan said.

“See?” Huá Sāng looked at her Shifu resentfully. “I told you it was fake, but you wouldn’t believe me.”

“It really was a fake?” Qingxiazi frowned, then glared fiercely at Huá Sāng again. “Even if it was, doesn’t losing the divine weapon left by our honored predecessors still count as wrongdoing?”

“How was I supposed to know a thief would sneak into Chenyi Inn?” Huá Sāng replied.

“Chenyi Inn?” Qingxiazi seemed to recall something, and her expression suddenly grew grave.

Noticing the change, Zhang Huainan raised an eyebrow. “Qingmei, did something occur to you?”

“Headmaster Martial Uncle,” Qingxiazi answered, “speaking of Chenyi Inn, I suddenly remembered that Senior Brother Wang, who was on-duty there yesterday, should have arrived at the scene before I did. Yet he wasn’t here when I came. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but now…”

“Uh, Headmaster Martial Uncle, I’m not accusing a fellow disciple. I merely find the circumstances suspicious.”

After hearing Qingxiazi’s explanation, Zhang Huainan and Huá Sāng exchanged a glance and saw the same thought in each other’s eyes.

Had he fled to escape punishment for his crime?

————

After parting with Zhang Huainan, Lu Yibei worried that the unusual psychic energy fluctuation emitted by his body when contacting the PL girl might be detected. Instead of returning to the Great Pure Palace, he entered a gaming café on Sleepless Street and rented a private room.

He sat down, locked the door, leaned back against the soft sofa, and emptied his mind. Letting his consciousness sink, he called inwardly.

“PL girl! PL girl!”

After only two calls, Lu Yibei’s vision blurred. The computer monitor in front of him seemed to suffer electromagnetic interference as countless multicolored points of light flashed across it.

Then, with practiced familiarity, everything before his eyes went black.

…

“In autumn, half cold and half warm, I nestle close beside you~♪

Gently watching the drifting light dance~♪

Crimson leaves flutter through the wind, endless longing fills the heart~♪

…”

An ethereal, distant song sounded beside his ears. A damp, cool breeze brushed his face, and Lu Yibei opened his eyes to see the old Mudan Street he had visited only recently.

He looked toward the song. Her long hair pinned up and sorrow faintly shadowing her brows, the PL girl wore a flowing white silk dress as she poled a small boat slowly along the winding crystal brook through Mudan Street.

From a distance, she resembled an immortal maiden banished to the mortal realm, utterly unlike her usual roguish self.

Lu Yibei studied her and narrowed his eyes. “So you’ve gotten into hanfu now? Careful the authenticity police don’t come after you.”

The PL girl rolled her eyes dismissively. “Whatever. If anyone besides you could find me, I wouldn’t particularly mind having a conversation with them.”

Although it was no longer much use, developing two or three more familiars to serve as cannon fodder when necessary would still be worthwhile.

“As long as you’re happy!” Lu Yibei pursed his lips. “But seriously, what’s with that ridiculous outfit? For a moment, I thought I’d found the wrong person!”

“This?” The PL girl looked down at her clothes, pursed her red lips slightly, and said softly, “This humble maiden just heard a tale of the past that stirred her heart, so she sings to express her feelings.”

“…” Lu Yibei stared at her expressionlessly. After two seconds, he said gravely, “Could you act normal? Speak like a human being?”

When you act like this, I start worrying I’ll end up the same way someday. It’s terrifying… he added inwardly.

“Oh…” The PL girl pouted, sprang from the boat, and floated gracefully onto the bank. Then she sat down carelessly and tried again. “I heard an interesting love story and wanted to match the mood by immersing myself in it. That’s all.”

“An interesting love story?” Lu Yibei tilted his head. “Let’s hear it.”

The PL girl glanced toward Yanzhi Restaurant, quickly looked away, and sighed soundlessly. “I think it would be better to wait until you’ve restored the Pure Lotus Sword and let the person involved tell you himself.”

Lu Yibei: “…”

After I restore the Pure Lotus Sword, and from the person involved herself…

Could it be the Ancestor’s story?

I can just ask the Ancestor directly later, can’t I?

Lu Yibei pursed his lips dismissively, then asked, “Let’s talk business. I did as you said and told Zhang Huainan everything about Pink Fluffy Bunny. He suspects that, given the nature of Pink Fluffy Bunny’s power, it can’t be threatening only the area around the Great Pure Palace…”

A flicker of delight flashed through the PL girl’s eyes before she smiled. “That old man isn’t bad! I didn’t expect him to react so quickly. I assume he asked you to question me about the other affected locations?”

“Uh, don’t worry. I didn’t reveal anything about you,” Lu Yibei said.

“…”

It wouldn’t matter if you had. He could never find me.

If he seriously investigated, everything would eventually lead back to you. He’d assume you had a split personality and did some extraordinary things whenever the other personality took over.

The PL girl returned the conversation to the matter at hand and said seriously, “Since the old man asked, there’s no harm in telling you. But you need to make sure he’s mentally prepared. Even if he knows in advance which places will be harmed, he may not be able to prevent the tragedies.”

“How should I put this? That old man is certainly powerful, but not every psychic is as strong as he is…”

At that point, the light in the PL girl’s eyes dimmed, and she fell silent for a moment.

She remembered the person who had risked his life to seal off the area around the Great Pure Palace, only for his will to collapse the instant he learned that Calamitous Corruption had successfully awakened elsewhere.

Doing everything within one’s power, only to discover that it had all been futile, could plunge anyone into the deepest despair.

And she knew that despair all too well.

Seeing this, Lu Yibei unconsciously grew serious as well. “I understand. Tell me.”

“Mm.” The PL girl gathered herself, recalled the locations where the devotees of Calamitous Corruption were active, and continued, “As far as I know, the places facing the most severe danger include Pashupati Temple in India, Kasuga Grand Shrine in Country R, and the Tulip Club in Amsterdam…”

“Wait! That last one isn’t anything like the first two, is it?” Lu Yibei could not help interrupting.

“They’re the same, they’re the same.” The PL girl waved a hand. “Don’t they all share one characteristic?”

Lu Yibei thought for a moment. “Lots of people?”

“Half right!” the PL girl corrected him. “More precisely, lots of psychics.”

Calamitous Corruption did not care whether those psychics followed respectable paths. As long as their pursuit of material desire was sufficiently obsessive, that was enough.

When starving, didn’t both a three-Michelin-starred restaurant and a sketchy roadside stall fill your stomach?

“And stop interrupting me. I’m not finished!” the PL girl complained coquettishly.

Then she rattled off four more place names in a torrent.

Seven locations in total faced a risk from Calamitous Corruption equal to that of the Great Pure Palace. And those were merely the places where its devotees gathered in large numbers and an outbreak would be most severe. She did not even remember the obscure locations that might suffer smaller outbreaks.

After hearing her explanation, Lu Yibei’s expression grew solemn. “I think I understand. Except for Shizhou City, not a single one is inside Country Z, right?”

“What are we supposed to do about that? No matter how powerful Zhang Huainan is, it’ll be difficult for him to intervene outside Country Z, won’t it?”

“That’s why I told you to make sure he’s mentally prepared!” The PL girl shrugged. “How he handles the specifics is up to him. There’s nothing we can do to help.”

Besides her fear that The Midnight Watchers Society would capture and dissect Lu Yibei, this was another reason the PL girl had never asked him to give them information about these world-ending factors.

There was no point. Some places might appear normal for now, but they were merely in the “incubation period.” Some had even been corrupted from top to bottom and rotted to the core. The moment the time was right, disaster could erupt at any moment.

Save all of them? Was that even possible?

All she could do was help Lu Yibei. As for the rest…

She could offer a little assistance when appropriate, then leave everything to fate.

————

After bidding farewell to the PL girl, Lu Yibei’s consciousness left that unreal place. He sat dazed in the private room for a long while, only returning to his senses when a café attendant knocked on the door.

“Hey, guy! Are you all right?” the attendant called from outside, sounding rather anxious.

According to the surveillance cameras, Lu Yibei had been staring expressionlessly at a blank computer desktop for more than two hours. It looked deeply bizarre and more than a little frightening.

“Oh! Oh, I’m fine,” Lu Yibei answered. “I just wanted some quiet time.”

“…” The attendant fell silent for two seconds, then sighed in relief. “Good. Our boss sent you a cola. You can pick it up at the counter when you come out.”

“Mm, thanks.” Lu Yibei gathered himself, took out his phone, and contacted Zhang Huainan…