Chapter 527 - 261: Envoy from the Northern Kingdom

Chapter 527: Chapter 261: Envoy from the Northern Kingdom

"Mwah!"

Zheng Xiu suddenly planted a kiss on Feng Bei’s cheek.

Feng Bei covered her face, looking completely bewildered.

Zheng Xiu said smugly, "A top-tier hunter always strikes when their prey least expects it."

Feng Bei looked at the "old man" before her, who had actually lived for over a century but was now teasing her like an energetic youth. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, yet a hint of sweetness and excitement bloomed in her heart. She took a graceful step back, tucked her hair behind her ear, and asked with a smile, "Stop fooling around. What’s on your mind?"

Zheng Xiu jutted his chin toward the desk. "The Red King is at work. The uninvited are not to disturb."

Feng Bei retorted, "And I’m one of the ’uninvited’?"

Zheng Xiu grinned. "Of course not. Should I hang a ’Do Not Disturb’ sign on the study door?"

In the Cannibal Painting, Zheng Xiu would often pass the time by telling Feng Bei stories, rambling about everything from "The Night Ah Zhen Was Gone, the Gorilla Fell for Ah Qiang" to "On Ice and Fire Island, Ah Zhen Slayed the Gorilla with the Dragon-Slaying Saber and Went After Zhang Wuji." Zheng Xiu’s nonsensical tales spanned heaven and earth and a myriad of worlds, greatly broadening Feng Bei’s horizons and teaching her all sorts of memes. The phrase "Do Not Disturb" made her instantly understand the implication. She blushed, scoffed, and said, "Who wants to ’not disturb’ you?"

Zheng Xiu nodded. ’Yep, this is Feng Bei,’ he thought.

After returning from Lu Town, Zheng Xiu had vaguely sensed that Feng Bei seemed to be suffering from the same illness as the Monk.

In scientific terms, it was "multiple personalities." In metaphysical terms, it was a "rampant Heart Demon."

The one living inside her was "Xie Luohe."

Zheng Xiu had figured it out long ago. The one who had spent ten years with him as his wife in the Cannibal Painting wasn’t the historical Xie Luohe, but "Feng Luohe"—a separate personality that had unconsciously split off, treating the dream as reality.

Feng Bei herself knew what was happening, but she couldn’t control it.

The one who appeared that night in Lu Town to save the day was the Feng Luohe personality.

After spending some time with her, Zheng Xiu could distinguish between the two personalities with just a few words.

The one who played coy was Feng Bei; the one who took the initiative was Feng Luohe.

One passive, one aggressive. One cold, one hot. One submissive, one dominant.

Two completely different kinds of pleasure.

At first, Zheng Xiu had been a little worried.

But later, Zheng Xiu realized it wasn’t entirely a bad thing. First, Feng Bei herself was aware of her situation. Second, in her "Feng Luohe" state, Feng Bei could use the "Luohe Divine Arrow," a skill lost for two hundred years. She could combine the Miracle Technique of the [Executioner] with Archery, creating a Derivation of a new Miracle Technique that was effective at both long and short ranges, making her even more invincible.

Feng Bei’s [Executioner] Path had always been a puzzle to Zheng Xiu. It was as if she had a Passage on her that couldn’t be closed. Her Miracle Technique was in a passively activated state that couldn’t be shut off, forcing Feng Bei to wear gloves under normal circumstances. Otherwise, whoever she touched would be annihilated.

Even while wearing gloves, she could lose control when her emotions ran high.

If Feng Bei could fully master the "Luohe Divine Arrow," she might be able to completely resolve the "Omen" that had always plagued her. This had long since become a weight on her heart.

The coy Feng Bei felt uncomfortable under Zheng Xiu’s strange gaze. She proactively walked to a corner of the study to light some sandalwood incense for him. As she walked back to Zheng Xiu, Feng Bei noticed a diagram tucked under a thick stack of files.

It was, surprisingly, the "Path Map" that Zheng Xiu had casually drawn several months ago.

Pushing aside the files, Feng Bei studied the "Path Map." She noticed that Zheng Xiu had added a few more strokes in the blank areas, which were now covered in question marks. Clearly, Zheng Xiu was very uncertain about his deductions regarding the "Paths" in the blank spaces.

"Huh?"

Feng Bei noticed that Zheng Xiu had written "Zhu"’s name in a blank space, followed by a large question mark.

"Are you speculating... on the Path that person has taken?"

Feng Bei guessed the source of Zheng Xiu’s worry.

"Just baseless speculation."

Zheng Xiu moved to put away the Path Map.

Feng Bei nodded. "Since there are no clues, overthinking it is useless and will only cause more worry. Who knows, maybe that person is walking the same Path as you."

Zheng Xiu froze. "What did you say?"

Feng Bei, completely unaware of the significance of her words, replied calmly, "He can create thousands of incarnations of himself, which is remarkably similar to your ’Divine Travel.’ He can also walk freely on the Bund."

Feng Bei thought back to that night.

She later learned from Snake that the sight of Fragrant Maiden suddenly being vomited out of Bai Qiuyue’s mouth had given her nightmares for more than ten days.

Feng Bei paused for a moment, then shook her head and said with a smile, "Although his Miracle Technique is similar to yours, in reality, your Divine Travel and Incarnation are ten, even a hundred times more profound than his. You don’t need to worry so much."

"No!" Zheng Xiu lowered his head in contemplation. "Madam, you’ve reminded me of something. It makes sense! For the same Path, the difference between a Mystic and a non-Mystic lies in the ’Deceitful Object.’ A ’Deceitful Object’ is an amplifier for a Path, allowing a Mystic to ignore rules and Restrictions to a certain extent and perform Miracle Techniques. I am a natural-born ’Prisoner’ Mystic, one of a kind... If Zhu is not, then all his abilities are just a ’degraded version’ of mine!"

"Back then, I had the absurd thought that the ’Scorching Sun’ he saw a thousand years ago was me. Of course, that’s impossible; I wasn’t even born a thousand years ago. But looking at it from another angle, is it possible that the ’Scorching Sun’ he saw back then was something related to the ’Prisoner’?"

"So he followed the rules of the Prisoner, imprisoned himself, and gradually stepped onto the Prisoner’s Path."

Hearing this, Feng Bei looked slightly stunned. "But he is a Mystic..."

"It’s not a conflict!" Zheng Xiu waved his hand dismissively. "My thinking was too narrow before. If the ’Orchid Deceitful Object’ can be split into four, what else is impossible? I now possess two Deceitful Objects, ’Prisoner’ and ’Painter’; Zhu once possessed two Deceitful Objects, ’Painter’ and ’Orchid’; the Monk, as a ’Mystic Monk,’ uses different personalities to achieve a Derivation into different types of Path Odd People..."