Chapter 140 - 137: Liancheng’s Taboo

Chapter 140: Chapter 137: Liancheng’s Taboo

South Sea, Black Silk Bar.

At a booth in the corner, a red-haired young man was curled up.

He nervously scanned his surroundings as he chugged his drink.

"This way, please."

A waitress led a few college students, who had come to the bar to relax for the weekend, to a nearby booth.

"AH! AHH!!!"

The red-haired young man screamed hysterically as if he’d seen a ghost.

The other patrons looked at the red-haired young man in confusion.

The waitress glanced at the young man, then smiled apologetically at the students.

"He’s probably had too much to drink. Please don’t mind him."

The students just shot him a curious look before taking their seats, unconcerned.

The red-haired young man timidly hid himself under the booth table.

He was Zhu Chuanwu.

He had been a nervous wreck ever since the assassins he sent out disappeared on Anxiang Street a few days ago.

Zhu Chuanwu had already prepared three contingency plans: good, better, and best.

These were strategies for dealing with the Sheriff after the murder.

And the result?

He didn’t get to use a single one!

His target was terrifying. They had made more than a dozen living people vanish without a trace.

Even if a homeless person died, someone would know about it by the next day!

For the past few days, Zhu Chuanwu had been hiding in bustling bars.

Only crowded places gave him a sliver of security.

RING, RING, RING...

His phone rang.

Zhu Chuanwu hurriedly pulled out his phone.

When he saw the caller ID, disappointment flooded his eyes.

After failing the mission the World Honored One had given him, he had panickedly called the World Honored One.

But the World Honored One never picked up.

He thought this was the World Honored One returning his call, but it was his dad.

Zhu Chuanwu took a deep breath and answered the phone.

"Dad, what’s wrong?"

His dad’s voice came from the other end.

"Son... where... are... you?"

Zhu Chuanwu was about to answer when he suddenly shuddered, terror rising in his eyes.

His dad never called him ’son’; he always just called him Wu.

Also!

’Why does Dad’s voice sound so strange?’

’It’s like... the sound is being ground out of a corpse’s dry throat!’

The pauses were strange, too.

Zhu Chuanwu didn’t dare to reply, his hand gripping the phone trembling uncontrollably.

From the other end of the line:

"Son... where... are... you?"

The voice repeated itself mechanically.

Zhu Chuanwu let out a strange cry, dropped his phone, and bolted from the bar.

...

Run!

Run!

Run!

’Run... but where?’

Driving his car, Zhu Chuanwu had no idea where he should go.

"Liancheng! Right, I’ll go to Liancheng!"

Zhu Chuanwu remembered the World Honored One once mentioning offhandedly that he was in Liancheng.

He didn’t know who to look for, but he felt that Liancheng would give him a sense of security.

His car entered the suburbs, just about to get on the national highway.

Up ahead, a figure was waving at his car.

The piercing screech of brakes echoed through the night.

Zhu Chuanwu’s eyes widened in horror.

The car’s headlights illuminated the person.

The man was in his fifties, wearing a bathrobe.

His hand waved mechanically. His face was pale, his eyes were dull, and a strange smile was fixed on his lips.

Zhu Chuanwu swallowed hard.

"Dad?"

Zhu Chuanwu pulled a pistol from under his seat and cautiously got out of the car.

"Dad, what are you doing here?"

Zhu Chuanwu increasingly felt that his dad was like a marionette, controlled by something unknown.

Immediately after, Zhu Feng’s limbs twisted as if the puppet’s ’strings’ had gotten tangled. He collapsed to the ground, his head lolling back a full one hundred and eighty degrees, his mouth hanging wide open.

"What the fuck!"

Zhu Chuanwu cursed in shock and turned to run back to his car.

"Son, where are you? Why didn’t you tell your dad?"

"Son, where are you? Why didn’t you tell your dad?"

Zhu Chuanwu turned his head, trembling.

By Zhu Feng’s side, a strange man in a purple suit had appeared out of nowhere.

Two black threads, difficult to spot in the darkness, extended from the strange man’s index and middle fingers.

The black threads were connected to the inside of Zhu Feng’s mouth and throat.

As the man wiggled his index and middle fingers, the black threads twitched, and Zhu Feng’s mouth and throat began to move.

"Son, where are you? Why didn’t you tell your dad?"

The strange man stopped wiggling his fingers and said faintly,

"If you had stayed hidden in the bar, it really would have been difficult to get to you."

Zhu Chuanwu swallowed hard again.

"Who the hell are you?"

An ugly smile played on Yang Xiao’s lips.

"Is this another game of twenty questions?

How about I ask first?

Who sent you to wreak havoc on Anxiang Street?"

Zhu Chuanwu collapsed onto the ground.

His body was shaking violently.

’Anxiang Street...’

’They finally found me.’

Zhu Chuanwu shook his head and mumbled,

"It wasn’t me! It was the World Honored One! The World Honored One made me do it."

Yang Xiao advanced step by step.

"World Honored One?"

Zhu Chuanwu felt as if a demon was approaching him.

"The Evil Qilin! He’s called the Evil Qilin!"

The corner of Yang Xiao’s eye twitched.

"Evil... Qilin?

Prince Qilin?

The Umbrella Boy?!"

Yang Xiao’s voice rose with each name he spoke.

...

South Sea, Antique Shop Zero.

Jiang Chaosheng sat behind the counter, flipping through a book he hadn’t finished in half a year.

Helian stood in front of the counter, reciting the text he had learned today, shaking his head as he did.

He had become a street urchin before even finishing the first grade.

Jiang Chaosheng required him to attend school.

The Evil Crow didn’t understand why Jiang Chaosheng was doing this. Why insist on him going to school?

Helian was already learning so many things.

At the crack of dawn, Helian would learn Magic from Daji.

Don’t be fooled by how gentle Daji was with Jiang Chaosheng; she was very strict with Helian.

In the morning, he had to go see Xia Li.

Xia Li had arranged for many famous tutors for Helian.

He had to study high school subjects like math, literature, English, physics, chemistry, biology, and more.

At first, the tutors thought Xia Li was messing with them, since Helian was still so young.

But when they began teaching with disdainful attitudes, Helian’s intelligence shattered their worldviews, and they couldn’t help but praise him as a ’Child Prodigy’.

Helian was already smarter than ordinary children, and after his Spiritual Aperture was opened, his learning ability far surpassed his peers.

In the afternoon, Helian also had to attend ’interest classes’.

These were ones he had requested himself.

Combat, cooking, and music.

In Helian’s worldview, combat and cooking were for survival, while music was a comfort for the soul.

Soon, Yang Xiao would come to pick Helian up to learn how to be an outstanding Cleaner Fish.

He clearly had so many learning resources already that school courses seemed somewhat meaningless.

Jiang Chaosheng’s answer was:

"He’s a human, after all. He should walk the path that most humans walk."

The Evil Crow didn’t understand, but Helian was obedient.

Xia Li had already pulled some strings to get Helian a new identity and had also found a middle school for him.

As long as Helian passed the entrance exam, he could become a proud middle school student.

Right now, Helian was reciting texts he should have learned in elementary school.

After a while, a wind chime rang.

When Helian saw who had arrived, he said with a beaming smile,

"Uncle Xiao."

Yang Xiao patted Helian’s head.

"Go on outside and get in the car. I need to have a word with your master."

Helian glanced at Jiang Chaosheng.

Jiang Chaosheng gave a slight nod, and Helian grabbed his schoolbag and ran outside.

Yang Xiao bowed to Jiang Chaosheng with his hands clasped.

"Master, I’ve found the mastermind."

Jiang Chaosheng continued to look at the copy of *Crime and Punishment* on the counter and asked,

"Who?"

Yang Xiao’s eyes were ice-cold.

"Taiping Dao, Prince Qilin. He’s in Liancheng."

The hand Jiang Chaosheng was using to turn the page paused slightly. He parted his thin lips.

"Liancheng."

’So much is happening in Liancheng.’

Yang Xiao bowed again.

"Yes."

Jiang Chaosheng was just about to speak when his expression suddenly went blank, as if frozen in place.

Seeing Jiang Chaosheng’s unusual state, Yang Xiao grew nervous but didn’t dare make a rash move.

After ten-odd seconds, Jiang Chaosheng returned to normal.

He frowned.

’Just now, a Taboo Item reawakened.’

’Number 0-26, the God-Desecrating Bell.’

’As expected, a variable...’

’The rate at which these Taboo Items are reawakening is getting absurdly fast.’

Jiang Chaosheng mulled it over for a moment.

"Is Zhong Shu in Liancheng?"

Yang Xiao nodded.

"Yes, Master."

Yang Xiao thought for a moment, then spoke cautiously,

"Are you sending Zhong Shu to deal with the Evil Qilin?

Sir, to be frank, Zhong Shu is no match for the Evil Qilin."

Jiang Chaosheng shook his head.

The Evil Qilin had a three-thousand-year-old female Ghost under his control.

Zhong Shu wouldn’t even be able to find the Evil Qilin, let alone fight him.

Jiang Chaosheng believed that if Yang Xiao went to Liancheng, he would eventually find the Evil Qilin, though it would take time.

However, it would be a time-consuming and laborious effort.

The Cleaner Fish were the Taboo Association’s only basic combat units; they couldn’t be wasted on the Evil Qilin.

He said,

"A Taboo Item has reawakened in Liancheng. Have Zhong Shu go contain it."

Yang Xiao asked,

"Then... what about the Evil Qilin?"

Jiang Chaosheng continued reading his book.

"Ignore him."

Yang Xiao’s eyes were filled with confusion, but he still bowed and said,

"Yes."

Yang Xiao thought for a moment and asked,

"Then what should I do?"

Jiang Chaosheng said,

"Go to Liancheng and watch. Don’t do anything."

Yang Xiao slowly backed out of Antique Shop Zero.

Jiang Chaosheng murmured the two words, "Evil Qilin."

He suddenly let out a soft laugh.

"Is everyone in the Taiping Dao as bold as you, or are you the sole exception?"

...