Chapter 606: Double the Double

Near Sleepless Street, in the residential area struck by a severe psychic attack the previous night.

The sunlight grew harsher, carrying the particular cruelty of summer. Amid the devastated apartment buildings, Great Pure Palace disciples worked as diligently as worker ants to eliminate the aftermath of the psychic attack.

On the narrow street, beneath a convenience store parasol, Zhang Huainan sat cross-legged. Several damaged objects radiating a heavy aura of death had been arranged neatly on a white cloth spread before him.

He studied them, picked up a relatively intact vanity mirror, and held it in one hand while taking a tortoise shell and copper coins from his robes with the other. After casting a divination, he gazed at the hexagram formed by the coins and sighed soundlessly.

This was already his fifth attempt to use the damaged objects to locate the haunting behind the Esoteric Society. Without exception, every divination had produced a vague, indistinct result.

It was not because the haunting was hidden too deeply or because its ability was too strange. The damaged objects had simply been contaminated by too many psychic energy fluctuations from the Spirit Pattern of the Five-Qi Heavenly Sovereign.

“Ah, I really did strike too hard…” Zhang Huainan murmured. He set down the vanity mirror and was about to choose another object for divination when Qingxiazi hurried over from the distance and stopped before him.

Qingxiazi bowed. “Headmaster Martial Uncle, Senior Brother Wang really did…”

Her voice died halfway through the sentence, regret appearing on her face.

The disciples sent to investigate Elder Wang had found an Esoteric Society emblem at his residence, made using the Death Owl as its model. That alone was enough to prove his involvement with the Esoteric Society.

When Qingxiazi first entered the Great Pure Palace many years ago, Elder Wang had been the one to receive her. He had also cared for her frequently afterward. The revelation left her deeply shaken.

She had never imagined that, as time passed, a person could change so completely…

Sensing her thoughts, Zhang Huainan gently shook his head. “Qingmei, there is no need to grieve over that boy. Everything that happened to him was entirely of his own making!”

As he spoke, his gaze carried the obvious frustration of someone disappointed by wasted potential.

Among the older generation of disciples, including Qingxiazi and Elder Wang, which of them had Zhang Huainan not watched grow from a fresh-faced youth into adulthood?

Elder Wang had never been lacking in talent. Given identical cultivation conditions and resources, Qingxiazi—whose aptitude was even slightly inferior to his—was only one step away from becoming a catastrophe-class psychic, while he remained at the same level he had reached more than twenty years ago. That alone explained the problem.

If someone put in a certain amount of effort and gladly accepted the corresponding reward, there was nothing to criticize. That was a personal choice.

But Elder Wang had lacked ambition, then blamed his insufficient talent, blamed his unsuitable Spirit Pattern, and blamed the sect for not giving him enough help. The moment he encountered a crooked path promising something for nothing, he accepted it without hesitation. There was nothing regrettable about the fate he had brought upon himself.

“Headmaster Martial Uncle’s lesson is correct.” Qingxiazi gathered herself and replied respectfully. “The disciples assigned to the investigation are still following the clues to locate Senior Brother Wang. Once they find him, I will have them bring him before you immediately.”

“Mm…” Zhang Huainan acknowledged her. He was about to give her further instructions when the elderly-model phone inside his robes suddenly vibrated and began ringing loudly.

He took it out and glanced at the screen. The call was from Lu Yibei.

Oh? He has results already? Zhang Huainan raised an eyebrow and answered.

————

“…”

After taking Lu Yibei’s call and hearing all the regions that might be endangered by the haunting behind the Esoteric Society, Zhang Huainan frowned slightly, holding the elderly-model phone. In a calm voice, he asked, “What else?”

A power born from humanity’s negative attitude toward “objects” could potentially use at least half of humankind as fertile ground for its growth.

Even if a haunting like that threatened an area broader than this, it would still remain within what Zhang Huainan was mentally prepared to accept.

“That’s all!” Lu Yibei exclaimed from the other end. “What, isn’t that enough? Seven entire regions involving more than a dozen organizations, large and small!”

“Wow, old man, I’ve realized something about you… You actually want the whole world thrown into chaos, don’t you?”

“Brat, what kind of damned nonsense are you spouting?!” Zhang Huainan snapped back to his senses and cursed under his breath. “Enough. I understand the situation. I will begin handling it immediately.”

Halfway through, he paused and added another warning. “And don’t forget what you promised this old man earlier!”

Don’t see that the situation is bad and simply run away… Zhang Huainan added inwardly.

Lu Yibei: “…”

Is he worried I’ll flee before the battle?

Why would he have such a terrible misunderstanding of me?

Tch. That bastard Li Xuan probably talked behind my back again!

“Don’t worry, sir. I won’t run. I’m still waiting to watch your watermelon-eating performance!”

“…” Zhang Huainan’s face darkened in the ensuing silence, and he coldly ended the call.

Putting away his phone, he rose and walked toward Qingxiazi, who was waiting nearby. “Qingmei…”

“This disciple is here!” Qingxiazi answered.

“I will leave matters here to you for now. If anything proves beyond your ability, seek out Bi Xuzi. This old man must make a trip to Shengjing and will return within three days,” Zhang Huainan said gravely.

Although he had sounded perfectly unconcerned while speaking to Lu Yibei, handling the real situation would be far from easy.

Zhang Huainan was one of the strongest psychics alive and renowned throughout the world, but unless absolutely necessary, even he could not casually interfere with psychic organizations outside Country Z.

It was like knowing the neighbor’s child was about to do something suicidally foolish inside his own home. You could warn him and try to dissuade him, but it would be inappropriate to overstep, pull out a Seven Wolves belt, and beat him in his father’s place.

The priests of Pashupati Temple, the head priest of Kasuga Grand Shrine, and the president of Matiola Academy were all old acquaintances of his. He could personally coordinate with them, but he would have to ask the other guardians to help with the remaining locations.

Civilian psychic organizations were active in two of those regions, so the Commander of Armaments could take responsibility. He had traveled and studied abroad when he was young and knew many friends from the wandering world.

Another location was a Financial Center. They could ask the God of Wealth to act. Even if negotiations failed, the special nature of his power would allow him to apply pressure through financial means.

The only truly difficult location was the Tulip Club.

It was the stronghold of a mafia-like psychic organization entrenched in Amsterdam, and Zhang Huainan knew very little about its godfather, Brusma.

He knew only that Brusma possessed strength approaching the catastrophe class and was suspected of having behind him a terrifying deep-sea haunting born from legends passed down among medieval pirates.

That psychic organization was not exactly hostile toward The Midnight Watchers Society, but there was certainly no trust between them.

Convincing them to heed The Midnight Watchers Society’s warning and take effective action against the haunting behind the Esoteric Society would be even more difficult.

How could they make the Tulip Club act? Zhang Huainan would have to wait until he reached Shengjing, summon the other guardians, and gather their ideas before deciding on a plan…

When Qingxiazi heard that he was going to Shengjing, she froze briefly, then quickly realized he meant to visit The Midnight Watchers Society’s headquarters. She replied solemnly, “Please rest assured, Headmaster Martial Uncle!”

————

Inside a gaming café on Sleepless Street.

After explaining in detail all the places that Pink Fluffy Bunny might endanger, Lu Yibei sighed soundlessly.

As far as he was concerned, his task had ended the moment he delivered the information to Zhang Huainan. Everything that remained lay beyond his abilities.

The regions described by the PL girl involved more than a dozen psychic organizations, large and small, righteous and wicked. If even that old man Zhang Huainan might not be able to handle them, what could Lu Yibei possibly do?

Charge over like a hotheaded fool and announce, “Disaster is about to befall you”?

They would probably have him dragged out, beaten to death, and hung above the city gate for public display for three days!

It would be like attending a baby’s hundred-day celebration and declaring, “This child will definitely die eventually!” It might be the absolute truth, but no one would want to hear it.

Lu Yibei gathered his thoughts, left the private room, and walked briskly toward the gaming café counter. After a brief negotiation with the attendant, he successfully collected his iced cola.

“Please add more cola and more ice. Yes, yes, more! Don’t be so stingy!”

The attendant, who was filling the cup with ice, glanced sidelong at Lu Yibei behind him. His mouth twitched. “How about I just take a 2.5-liter bottle and pack it full of ice for you?”

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly impose like that!”

So you do know what shame is? The attendant pursed his lips.

“A 1.5-liter bottle will be enough,” Lu Yibei said solemnly.

“…”

The attendant’s face darkened. He opened his mouth to speak, but after hearing Lu Yibei’s next words, silently closed it again.

“You know, if people don’t drink enough cola… they’re more likely to drop dead suddenly!”

Attendant: “…”

———

A short while later, beneath the strange gazes of the gaming café’s customers, Lu Yibei carried the 1.5-liter bottle—emptied and packed full of ice and cola—back to his private room.

“Ahhh! That’s the stuff~!”

After drinking deeply, Lu Yibei could not help releasing a sound of pure pleasure.

Cola brought happiness. Iced cola doubled that happiness.

If the iced cola was free, then it brought triple happiness.

And after gaining triple happiness, visiting the Ancestor would super-double it!

In truth, Lu Yibei was always happy whenever he went to see Qing Ji. After all, Qing Ji was one of the few relatives he could still visit whenever he wished. Presumably Qing Ji felt the same.

How delighted I am to see the Ancestor; surely the Ancestor must be just as delighted to see me!

With that thought, Lu Yibei slipped a hand into his sleeve and gently stroked the Broken Sword hidden there.

The time displayed on the computer monitor froze, a single second stretching into something infinitely long.

Then…

When time began moving again, familiar darkness welcomed Lu Yibei’s eyes.

————

It felt as though she had fallen into water. Darkness surrounded her as her consciousness drifted with the current and sank until the tips of her feet touched the ground.

A freezing wind carried snowflakes across her cheeks like countless tiny blades. The bone-deep cold made Lu Yibei shiver. She snapped her eyes open, froze at the sight before her, and frowned.

The scene had changed from Mudan Street a century ago back into the ruined city laid out like Hua City.

Ominous black clouds filled the sky, dragged by some unseen force into the shape of a vortex. Thunder boomed as heart-stopping electrical arcs poured from the heavens, lashing the earth and leaving charred trenches behind.

The ground trembled gently. Low rumbles echoed through the city, and steel frames resembling the skeletons of gigantic beasts swayed as though they might rise from the earth at any moment.

In the distance, a black tornado moved through the crumbling city like a staggering Giant.

Huge snowflakes fell from the sky. The fierce wind sweeping in from afar caught them and raised a white sandstorm dozens of meters high. The snow melted the instant it touched the ground, gathering into rushing torrents.

Farther away, where heaven and earth met in a single line, raging fire spread across the silhouettes of rolling mountains and dyed the horizon crimson.

Thunderstorms, earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, forest fires… Every variety of natural disaster had been thrown together like ingredients in a single chaotic stew and unleashed upon the ruined city at once.

It was as though heaven and earth had flown into a rage and intended to plunge this place into despair.

What the heck? What’s going on? Is this another new skin? Lu Yibei scratched the back of her head, full of confusion. She glanced around and called softly.

“Ancestor, I’ve come to see you! Ances—”

She suddenly noticed a dark figure behind her. Sword in hand, crimson light dancing in both eyes, he approached slowly beneath crushing pressure. Lu Yibei’s heart tightened, and her voice stopped abruptly.

Just looking at him gave the impression that his combat power had to be in the millions!

As he drew closer, he continually moved his body as if warming up. His joints cracked like thunder, terrifying psychic energy fluctuations erupting from his frame. He resembled a malevolent god, disheveled long hair streaming behind him.

The wind howled across the rooftop but could not drown out his heartbeat, which pounded like a war drum. Every muscle in his body twitched violently, repeatedly contracting with tiny sounds like ropes being pulled taut.

When Lu Yibei first saw the figure, the wind and snow obscured his face. Unaware of his identity, she tensed as though confronting a mighty enemy. But when he came a little closer and she saw his face clearly, she immediately relaxed.

“Oh, it’s you, Ancestor? You scared me!”

Before Lu Yibei could finish, Qing Ji rolled his neck, lowered his body slightly, and assumed a sprinter’s stance toward the now-relaxed Lu Yibei.

Lu Yibei frowned. “What are you…?”

Qing Ji suddenly moved. His body became a blur as he closed the distance at terrifying speed, a fierce gale striking Lu Yibei’s face. Then his sword thrust forward, shaking heaven and earth as a thunderous roar erupted.

Terrifying sword energy dragged a silver-white trail across the entire ruined city. The gale, the falling snow, and even the lightning at the edge of the sky were disturbed and twisted.

The instant the arc of light raised by the blade struck her, Lu Yibei felt a horrifying force flood into her body and fill every limb and bone. Savage power crushed every bone, every piece of flesh, and even every cell into dust…

That single thrust seemed to churn her body into nothing, leaving only her soul. Lu Yibei lost all sensation, and visions appeared before her eyes.

The earth shook. The sky split apart. Meteors fell like torrential rain from the opening and plunged into the deep sea. Towering waves rose, and all things in the world returned to the silent cycle.

Though her body showed no damage, Lu Yibei stood there rigid as a statue, every sign of life gone.

Then a gust of wind reduced her to tiny black particles, scattering her into the swirling snow and carrying her far away to bravely venture to the ends of the world.

————

Lu Yibei drifted through boundless darkness, waiting to reappear on the rooftop. When she recalled Qing Ji’s sword strike, phantom pain seemed to linger throughout her body.

What the hell was that? Did the Ancestor turn evil?

If even the ferule could shatter, then the Broken Sword being corrupted wasn’t impossible, was it?

Lu Yibei considered it carefully, then felt something did not quite add up.

As the poem said, “Three thousand guests grow drunk on flowers throughout the hall; one frosty sword chills fourteen provinces.”

Lu Yibei had always assumed the ancients were indulging in poetic exaggeration. After witnessing Qing Ji’s strike today, she suddenly suspected the line might have been a realistic description.

Within that astonishing attack, she had faintly caught something different.

When Qing Ji struck, it had appeared to be an ordinary thrust, yet a sword technique had been woven into it without a trace.

It was a technique Lu Yibei had never seen before.

“…”

I understand. I completely understand! That was a new technique. The Ancestor was demonstrating a new technique for me!

Wasn’t this always how it went whenever I learned something new?

This time might have been much more intense than before, but I have also grown considerably stronger. It’s perfectly reasonable for the Ancestor to increase the pressure accordingly!

The more Lu Yibei thought about it, the more excited she became. She secretly prepared herself to “listen” carefully to the Ancestor’s instruction the instant she descended upon the rooftop again.

————

“Hmph! You wicked creature!”

Watching Lu Yibei’s figure dissipate, Qing Ji snorted coldly and gave the sword in his hand a gentle shake, scattering a layer of snow from its blade.

Just as Lu Yibei had guessed, that strike truly was a new technique. Qing Ji had created it late in his life by integrating the destructive pattern of the psychic energy fluctuations from the Hundred-Armed Giant’s power.

Because the Pure Lotus Sword had been incomplete, he had possessed no memories from his later years. Recently, perhaps because the Broken Sword had come into contact and resonated with the ferule, he had begun remembering many things.

That sword technique was one of them.

Standing amid the wind and snow with his sword in hand, Qing Ji quietly waited for Lu Yibei to reappear.

He had many questions to ask her, but before that, he would not calm down until he had killed her hundreds or thousands of times.

However, perhaps because the previous strike had been too powerful, Lu Yibei seemed to be taking much longer than usual to return.

Did I strike a little too hard? Qing Ji wondered, his heart softening.

After waiting for a long time, just as he began to suspect that Lu Yibei had fled to escape punishment during the interval while her body reconstructed itself, a fierce wind suddenly attacked from behind.

Then he felt a chill in his back, and a familiar voice sounded beside his ear.

“Ancestor, you… let your guard down!”

Qing Ji looked down and saw the Broken Sword piercing straight through his body from behind. Then it twisted violently.

Qing Ji: “???”

At that moment, an exceedingly subtle emotion quietly rose in his heart as his anger intensified.

It felt like: “Not only does the enemy refuse to surrender, they actually dare fight back!”

Wicked creature! You’ve rebelled against the heavens!

That strike was only the beginning. I’ve remembered far more than that recently!

I will absolutely not spare you today! Qing Ji thought furiously.

And so, the torment became super-super-doubled…