Chapter 621: I'm Not Here to Be a Hero

Immersed in meditation, Hu Chuan secretly observed everything through the objects carried by the Esoteric Society’s members. His brow was tightly furrowed, beads of sweat covered his forehead, and exhaustion gnawed at his nerves like a swarm of ants.

About an hour earlier, he had noticed a slight sluggishness whenever he communicated with that great lord and exercised Its power on Its behalf.

It was like an overheating processor whose responses had begun to slow.

Yet Hu Chuan paid the abnormality no mind.

That great lord is unfathomable and never tires, but I have limits… he thought.

Although he had exercised the Calamitous Corruption’s power over multiple targets before, those occasions had always been brief. He had never continuously observed hundreds or thousands of targets at once as he did today.

Spying on the group “Gu Qianqian” had organized to investigate him in secret had consumed a particularly large amount of his psychic energy and concentration.

Those low-level psychics he had never paid much attention to were numerous and spread throughout every profession in Shizhou City, yet only a tiny fraction had received the Calamitous Corruption’s “grace.”

When he tried controlling electronic devices to spy on their chat group, a strange power strongly interfered. He failed and wasted even more energy.

But small fry remained small fry. Even gathered together, they were more likely to ruin a task than accomplish anything…

Still, I truly have those small fry to thank for creating enough disorder to give me an opportunity to leave Shizhou City so quickly! Hu Chuan thought.

Buzz—buzz—!

In the darkness, the emblem engraved with complex geometric patterns vibrated, interrupting his thoughts.

Impatience flashed through Hu Chuan’s eyes. He brushed the emblem and immediately heard Elder Wang’s panting voice.

“Damn it! They’re watching me! The home-furnishings market is surrounded by people from the Great Pure Palace!” Elder Wang roared. “What do I do? What do I do?!”

During the past few years, the fly-whisk he received from the Esoteric Society had improved his psychic energy fluctuation level. But decades of inferiority and cowardice could not be changed so easily.

When he discovered large numbers of Great Pure Palace disciples outside the market, panic overwhelmed him.

He was like a cornered beast.

Hu Chuan said nothing.

“Damn it, why aren’t you answering? Have you forgotten that we’re in the same boat? If I can’t escape, you won’t have an easy time either!”

Hu Chuan’s expression darkened, and ruthlessness flashed in his eyes. He began whispering too softly for anyone else to hear.

“It knows every secret, for It watches…”

The intricately patterned emblem rotated beneath his fingertip, and Elder Wang’s agonized scream filled his ears.

“Gu He, you! How dare you—aaagh!”

Amid Elder Wang’s screams came faint whooshes like a fly-whisk cutting through the air.

“…It watches from the wind, from the water, from every molecule. Nothing can be hidden, nothing can deceive It, and none can escape. Flesh will perish, but It shall endure forever.”

The whisper ended, and dead silence returned to the rental room.

Hu Chuan stared coldly at the emblem and squeezed.

With a faint crack, it instantly crumbled into powder.

Elder Wang’s screams seemed to shatter with it and abruptly ceased.

“Heh. Idiot…”

A faint sneer seemed to sound in the darkness.

From the moment Elder Wang failed to complete the transaction with Yang Yichen, he had been destined to become a discarded pawn.

————

The home-furnishings market in Shizhou City’s old district.

The speed at which the new replaced the old was always astonishing. Though built only ten years ago, the market already exuded decay.

No one would save it. Like most commercial buildings, it could only perish amid growing disorder and neglect as the city changed around it.

Thick clouds had gathered unnoticed in the night sky. Aviation warning lights stared blankly beneath them.

On the roof of a high-rise near the market, from which the entire surrounding area was visible, Qingxiazi stood at the railing and looked down with a grave expression.

Half an hour ago, she had personally watched Elder Wang enter the market and hide inside. He had not emerged since.

Below, everything within a radius of one and a half kilometers around the market lay silent.

Although the surrounding district was chaotic, it contained no large residential complexes and relatively few people lived nearby. After the relevant authorities were contacted, the evacuation was quickly completed.

Along the deserted streets and alleys, Great Pure Palace disciples moved rapidly, placing long metal spikes engraved with intricate incantations in an orderly ring around the market.

When they finished, they concealed themselves and waited like patient predators.

Huá Sāng stood silently behind Qingxiazi, studying her Shifu’s back.

Something felt wrong, but she could not say what.

Soon, three disciples arrived on the rooftop with the sound of displaced air.

“Martial Aunt Qingxiazi, every resident around the market has been evacuated.”

“Martial Aunt Qingxiazi, the temporary sealing barrier is complete and can be raised at any time.”

“Martial Aunt Qingxiazi, every disciple is in position and standing by.”

Qingxiazi nodded, turned toward them, and said solemnly, “Excellent. Pass down the order. Begin the operation!”

“Understood!” all three answered before vanishing.

The ambushing disciples immediately poured psychic energy into the metal spikes.

Clang—clang—!

The spikes hummed as they pierced the concrete.

Dazzling light erupted from them, and within a breath they melted into boiling iron.

Fire rapidly spread toward the market and interwove across the ground into an enormous, complex spell formation.

As the molten iron cooled and solidified, tiny arcs of electricity emerged from the flames and climbed like wildly growing thorns until they joined overhead.

In less than a minute, a temporary sealing barrier covered the entire market.

Then a low roar came from deep inside.

“All of you… die!”

The entire market shook, and explosions rang through the building.

Then.

A colossal blast tore away half the roof. Chunks of concrete struck the temporary barrier, stirring rings of dazzling lightning before disintegrating into powder.

Within the spreading dust, the savage outline of a behemoth appeared.

“Senior Brother Wang… Is this truly what you wanted? Was it worth it?”

Staring at the creature whose psychic energy fluctuation had reached Class A or beyond and whose shadow covered the ground, Qingxiazi murmured to herself, her expression conflicted.

She had always hoped this senior brother who once treated her kindly would recover his spirit, cultivate diligently, and break through his long-standing limits.

His wish had finally come true, but in a way she had never imagined.

As the dust dispersed, the enormous body assembled chaotically from countless objects came into view. Beneath the barrier’s faint glow, it reflected the cold sheen of metal and possessed an eerie beauty that made the skin crawl.

It inspired the mixture of admiration and fear humans felt before a finely crafted weapon.

The massive body leaped from the market like a whale breaching the sea, freely sweeping the pale hairs formed from the fly-whisk through the air.

As those hairs rose and fell, a psychic energy fluctuation filled with madness and malice spread outward, raising a terrifying storm in every direction.

Elder Wang stood atop the behemoth with half his body fused into it. He seemed decades older, stooped and wrinkled, his pale skin covered in dark spots. Yet madness filled his eyes.

That madness seemed to infect the creature. It circled through the air, then charged suicidally toward the temporary barrier surrounding the market.

Boom—!

The psychic energy fluctuation collided with the barrier. Its invisible walls shook and roared, extensive cracks appearing as countless electrical arcs escaped.

At that moment, Qingxiazi completed her incantation.

“…The calamity that shakes mountains and overturns seas, the configuration of dragons and serpents at war, the omen of shifting stars and moving heavens—Grand Firmament Sea-Roar Ritual Dance!”

The instant the incantation ended, ocean tides and thunder appeared in the heavens, tore through the clouds, and merged in midair before pouring destructive force downward.

A beam comparable in power to the Midnight Watchers Society’s forbidden spell formations numbered 95 or higher slammed into the behemoth.

Amid an earthshaking crash, the enormous body that had been rampaging a moment earlier abruptly stopped and plunged to the ground.

Like a great fish knocked back beneath the surface by a wave, it raised layers of earth.

The ground shook, and thunderous impacts followed.

Once Qingxiazi suppressed its first assault, the waiting Great Pure Palace disciples acted at once. Some took out alchemical materials to repair the damaged barrier, while others drove new metal spikes into the ground to reinforce it.

Qingxiazi suppressed the enemy head-on and tried to kill it. The disciples prevented the barrier from breaking. Huá Sāng, meanwhile, slacked off…

She was thinking deeply about what she saw, but both her appearance and complete lack of action made it seem as though she were simply avoiding work.

“…”

Shifu can suppress or even kill an enemy at this level alone. This definitely isn’t the terrifying existence behind the Esoteric Society…

But why has only Elder Wang appeared? Where is the other man?

And the ferule doesn’t seem to be on Elder Wang. Even from this distance, I should be able to sense it. Could it be…

Huá Sāng’s pupils trembled as understanding struck.

Oh no! Lu Yibei lied. She probably didn’t go to meet those psychics at all. She went alone to the small-goods wholesale market to intercept Hu Chuan!

Huá Sāng’s gaze sharpened. She turned and ran toward the rooftop stairwell.

“…”

Damn it! That girl is still trying to slack off at a time like this?

She doesn’t even know how to share some of her Shifu’s burden!

Noticing Huá Sāng leave, Qingxiazi’s expression darkened. “Huá Sāng, come back here!”

Without turning, Huá Sāng waved and departed with carefree flair.

Qingxiazi fell silent.

————

Meanwhile, inside the dark rental near the small-goods wholesale market.

Through the Esoteric Society members hidden among the Great Pure Palace disciples, Hu Chuan watched the final glorious moment of Elder Wang’s life. A mocking smile curled his lips.

“Sorry, Elder Wang, but better you die than me! At least your lifelong wish finally came true today, didn’t it?”

Elder Wang had lived his life as a coward. He joined the Esoteric Society for a chance to command attention and stand in the spotlight—preferably without making any effort.

Now his wish had finally come true!

“…”

As Hu Chuan pondered, a twisting pain suddenly seized his abdomen. Zhang Shuo, silent for a long time, began struggling as if he might tear his way out at any moment.

Hu Chuan circulated psychic energy to suppress him, looked down, and sneered.

“Heh. I know what you’re thinking, but someone like you will never understand that great lord!”

“That great lord is merciful. It sincerely listens to the wishes of Its devotees. Everyone who accepts Its gifts ultimately realizes their dreams. What could be wrong with that?”

“The price of turning your heart’s desire into reality is only your soul. That’s a bargain, isn’t it?”

He circulated psychic energy to suppress Zhang Shuo and wiped the corner of his mouth as the blood welling up stained his lips crimson.

Then he rose and hurried out.

…

Dim yellow lights illuminated the long corridor, where a faint, indescribable odor hung in the air.

At the reception desk, a middle-aged woman reclined in a chair, staring at her phone. Hackneyed jokes from short videos played intermittently and made her laugh.

Footsteps approached. A man in black with a mask concealing his face passed the desk. The woman barely lifted her eyes before returning to her phone.

Hu Chuan descended the stairs. The moment he left the building, he heard rain pattering on the ground and saw the curtain of water blurring the entire city.

“It always rains when people part… Zhang Shuo, what strange law do you think causes that?”

He smiled up at the sky and raised a hand. An umbrella flew from the distance and landed in his grip.

Pop.

He opened it, crossed the rainy streets, and reached the wholesale market’s parking lot. His gaze settled on an old Volkswagen.

He effortlessly opened the door, started the car that did not belong to him, and drove away.

Dazzling lightning flashed, turning the sky above Shizhou City snow-white.

Within it, a powerful figure flashed past.

The wholesale market contained vast numbers of objects and was Hu Chuan’s home ground.

Lu Yibei had already suffered once among the residential buildings, so she decided to wait a little longer.

…

“Mommy, come look! There’s a superhero!”

In a home near the wholesale market, a little girl stared wide-eyed through the window and pointed at the sky.

“Stop screaming in the middle of the night! There are no superheroes. You’ve watched too many ridiculous cartoons!” an impatient voice answered.

“But I saw one fly past! It was a big sister riding a huge doggy!”

“Nonsense. Go to sleep!”

“I’m not lying! I’m not! I’m not!”

The farce ended in the child’s heartbroken sobs.

Just as rain always seemed to accompany farewells, beating children on rainy days also seemed to be a tradition…

————

Twenty minutes later.

The old Volkswagen sped along Shizhou City’s ring expressway, smashing through curtains of rain like a fleeing beast.

The rain intensified, and fog rose.

Thick mist and dense rain seemed ready to swallow everything. Moisture accumulated until driving through it felt suffocating, like descending into the deep sea.

Then…

A strange, unnatural heat swept through Hu Chuan’s body without warning.

He sensed something wrong and frowned, but before he could react, a thunderous roar sounded above him.

“Roar—!”

Ahead, a powerful figure wreathed in lightning raced down the mountainside beside the expressway and landed steadily on the road. Then it charged straight toward him at astonishing speed.

The next instant, iron hooves struck. The car shook violently, its front end crumpling as sparks flew.

Screech—!

Hu Chuan slammed the brakes to the floor. The teeth-grating sound echoed across the empty expressway, but the car still overturned.

It rolled along the road amid endless metal impacts, then crashed into the mountainside with a boom and erupted in flames.

In the rain.

Lu Yibei stared expressionlessly at the burning vehicle. She jumped from the Shuishu Shou’s back, approached with a sword in one hand, pulled open the door, and saw the man inside.

“Oh, so that’s what you really look like, brat. You’re clean-cut and look like a decent person. No wonder you hid inside the Great Pure Palace for so long.”

Hu Chuan followed the voice, saw the unfamiliar face, and froze.

“Don’t recognize me?” Lu Yibei noticed his confusion and pursed her lips. “Allow me to introduce myself. You may call me the cunning chestnut-haired girl, the Bloody Witch who devours hauntings, Jiang Zhenyu’s closest friend—Gu Qianqian.”

She deliberately emphasized the headless senior sister’s name.

“You!” Hu Chuan’s pupils contracted. Then he sneered. “Heh. You escaped by luck on Sleepless Street last time, yet you dare come play the hero again? A hero isn’t—”

“Sorry to interrupt.” Lu Yibei looked at him expressionlessly. “Have you misunderstood something? I’m not here to be a hero. I simply came to kill you.”

As her words fell, countless red motes appeared behind her. Illuminated by the lightning overhead, they resembled the eyes of a legendary hundred-eyed demon god opening at once…