For a while, Le Zheng didn’t dare approach Bei Zhen again. Having no family or friends left after leaving his sect, he had no choice but to go into hiding.
Before he could fully recover from his injuries, he encountered demonic beasts once more. The very reason he had joined the Buddhist sect in the first place was due to his unique constitution, which tended to attract demonic beasts. This time, he barely escaped alive—but he was infected with beast venom, temporarily transforming him into a half-human, half-snake monster… just as Bei Zhen, who had been tracking her “sworn enemy,” came across him.
…
“That’s way too absurd, isn’t it?”
Sister Wu: “You haven’t heard the most absurd part yet!”
She then went on to vividly narrate a long tale of the endless cycles of separation and reunion between Le Zheng and Bei Zhen, one misunderstanding piled upon another—most of the stories revolving around Le Zheng’s suffering.
In the end, Le Zheng completely gave up on trying to prove his identity. Whatever Bei Zhen said he was, he became. As long as he could stay by her side, that was enough.
And the more roles they had between them, the more it benefited both of them—their cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds.
However, this also caused the gap in strength between Le Zheng and Bei Zhen to grow ever wider, making it increasingly unlikely that he could ever prove his true identity to her.
“Finally, forty years ago, their situation was discovered by others, and Bei Zhen learned the truth. She couldn’t quite accept it and hid in the Sword Sect for a long time. Le Zheng stayed by her side throughout. Eventually, Bei Zhen secretly gave Le Zheng all her possessions, left a farewell letter, and went off to wander the world. She hasn’t returned in decades.”
“After reading her letter, Le Zheng went into seclusion. He only reappeared a year ago. His cultivation had surpassed his previous peak in the Buddhist sect and is likely above Bei Zhen’s as well. He declared that he would definitely bring Bei Zhen back.”
Le Zheng had always believed Bei Zhen was toying with his feelings—but he was willing. After learning the truth, he became even more unwilling to let go.
“That’s way too devoted,” Chi Lian said, dumbfounded.
“Tell me about it.” Sister Wu shook her head. She herself had needed a long time to process it when she first heard the story. A disciple, a mother, a brother, a sister, a pet, a beloved, a sworn enemy… even a psychiatrist—all the same person. Wasn’t that basically exploiting a glitch?!
And it was a glitch that couldn’t be replicated. After all, to attract a dao partner as utterly devoted as Le Zheng, you’d need not only the same face blindness as Bei Zhen but also her warmhearted, chivalrous, charismatic personality.
“Who knew it could work like that!” Chi Lian was stuffed with gossip. “Hey, Ye Ye, you’ve been quiet. What do you think?”
Ye Yang didn’t have much of an opinion. It was so absurd that it didn’t stir any real feelings in him. He could only say, “Humans really know how to have fun.”
Both Qin Zhi and his senior sister were truly something else.
He had only come for the gossip—he never expected the fire to spread to his own doorstep so quickly.
No sooner had they finished dishing the dirt, with Sister Wu and Chi Lian still passionately discussing it, than Ye Yang received a message from Qin Zhi: “If that stupid dog comes to you, don’t pay him any attention.”
Ye Yang replied “OK,” but didn’t think much of it. Who would have guessed that when he got home that evening, he would find his front door open, Xiao Ya’s cawing, Shen Ming’s interrogating voice, and Xuan Lu’s explanations all tangled together?
Ye Yang hurried inside, only to see the balcony window wide open. Xuan Lu, in his wolf form, stood on the windowsill, tail tucked between his legs, fur bristling. He had apparently tried to climb in through the window but hadn’t even set foot on the floor before being caught by Professor Shen.
Ye Yang had no idea what Shen Ming had done to him before he arrived, but the entire wolf looked utterly miserable. His silver fur was patchy with black and scorched marks, and the air reeked of burnt hair.
“What’s going on? What are you doing here?!”
The moment Xuan Lu saw Ye Yang, he looked as if he’d seen a savior. He immediately tried to run over, but his peripheral vision caught Shen Ming. He shuddered, tucked his tail further, and could only speak pitifully:
“I just came to ask if you have any way to get him to actually listen to my explanation.” The “him” was clearly Qin Zhi.
Ye Yang couldn’t help but marvel—Qin Zhi knew Xuan Lu well, didn’t he? He’d known Xuan Lu would come and had warned Ye Yang in advance.
Under Xuan Lu’s expectant gaze, Ye Yang ruthlessly uttered three words: “Get lost.”
Xuan Lu’s face was full of disbelief. Forgetting his fear, his two folded front legs hit the ground under Shen Ming’s murderous glare. “Aren’t you his good friend?” How could he be so cold?
Ye Yang didn’t hesitate. “Exactly because I’m his good friend, of course I’m on his side. I do what he says.”
“I’ll throw him out.” Shen Ming had run out of patience.
“Wait, wait, wait!” Xuan Lu shouted.
But no one listened. However he had gotten in, he was thrown out the same way.
After tossing him out, Shen Ming even specifically called Director Tu, instructing her to be more vigilant recently—demonic beasts without legitimate human social status shouldn’t be allowed to linger in the human realm.
So angry? Ye Yang quietly took two steps back, retreating to Xiao Ya’s side, and stroked the little crow’s head. He had only managed a couple of pats when Shen Ming finished his call and walked over. “In the future, make fewer friends of that disreputable sort.”
Ye Yang hurriedly nodded.
…
Although Xuan Lu had been driven off easily enough, Ye Yang hadn’t anticipated just how stubborn he was. Xuan Lu was convinced that Ye Yang could persuade Qin Zhi, and he kept coming back for three straight days.
By day, he pestered Qin Zhi. By night, he came to find Ye Yang.
Each time, he was intercepted by Shen Ming—but this couldn’t go on forever.
Day four. Ye Yang couldn’t be bothered anymore. He simply took on an out-of-town assignment and left.
The resurgence of the Vermilion Bird and Fu Ye’s deicide had caused too great a stir. Though much time had passed, Dongzhou remained eerily quiet—no rogue cultivators, no other demon or spirit clans dared make a move.
Not just Dongzhou, but all of Huaxia was very peaceful. There were hardly any assignments to begin with—you even had to compete for them.
Ye Yang had camped out on the mission board for an entire day before finally spotting an out-of-town task. He accepted it without even reading the details and left immediately.
The mission location was a small coastal county called Suli County. It was in Nanhai Province, extremely remote—so much so that the city governing Suli County didn’t even have a YCG presence, let alone a branch teleportation array.
The thrifty Ye Yang had no choice but to take a plane, transfer to a high-speed rail, then switch to a regular train. After arriving at the train station in the neighboring county, he still had to find his own way for over thirty kilometers.
Ye Yang was even more satisfied. Being this far away, the round trip would take several days. Surely Xuan Lu wouldn’t leave Qin Zhi’s side just to come bother him now, right?
Only on the road did Ye Yang have time to look at the mission details. And after reading them, he understood why no one had snatched up this task.
Suli County was already remote, and the mission location was in the most backward, most exclusionary village in the county—a place called Yuluo Village.
YCG field agents had discovered during routine patrols that several people had died in this village under suspicious circumstances. More than one, in fact. It was suspected to be connected to the local dragon god legend.
But Yuluo Village refused to allow outsiders to investigate. Without evidence of criminal activity, even the police couldn’t do anything about them.
YCG’s advance teams had successfully infiltrated Yuluo Village multiple times. But investigating the deaths and the dragon god required direct conversation with the locals—extracting memories from ordinary humans was prohibited.
So they had arranged for Nanhai Province to issue a document claiming that an extinct marine species had appeared off the coast of Yuluo Village. The provincial government would send a team to conduct research.
YCG operatives would infiltrate disguised as this research team.
The mission was rather complex and involved gods—something no one wanted to touch right now. Even if someone wanted to take the assignment, they still had to meet the qualifications. Without them, their application would just be rejected.
Fabricating a background in marine biology was easy, but without relevant knowledge, one slip of the tongue would blow their cover.
Ye Yang happened to have a degree in marine biology. And he also happened to have a close relationship with Shen Ming. By accident or fate, he was actually the most suitable person for this mission.
He stared at his phone for a while, rubbed his chin, glanced out the train window at the scenery, and called Shen Ming.
When gods were involved, ask Shen Ming. Who could be more knowledgeable than Professor Shen?
Seeing that the situation was far from simple, Shen Ming simply said, “Wait for me at the station.”
—
At the train station of Chunfeng County, the neighbor of Suli County, most of the people coming and going were middle-aged men and women, carrying baskets of dried salted fish or dried seaweed on their shoulders. Years of fishing and working in the fields had left their skin deeply tanned.
Ye Yang and Shen Ming stood among them, standing out like two egrets suddenly appearing on a threshing ground.
The provincial research team recognized them immediately. The team leader hurried over to greet them: “You must be the experts sent by Professor Cui Xipeng’s research institute, right? Wonderful. With your participation, this research mission is bound to go smoothly.”
As Ye Yang shook hands with the team leader, he couldn’t help glancing at Shen Ming. Professor Shen works fast—this hasn’t even taken long, and he’s already arranged all the identities. He even upgraded my original researcher status to expert. Now I feel like a fraud.
The provincial team consisted of just two people: Wang Fucheng, the team leader responsible for local coordination and liaison, and his secretary, Xiao Zhou.
After all, they weren’t actually here to conduct research—everyone knew that. Still, appearances had to be maintained.
Xiao Zhou drove them to the Suli County government office. After obtaining the necessary documents from the county, they finally headed to Yuluo Village.
The village was indeed extremely remote, with poor roads. For the final stretch, they had to get out and walk.
By the time they reached the village, it was already dark. The only source of light in the entire village was a single electric lamp under an old locust tree at the village entrance. Everywhere else was pitch black.
The moment Ye Yang stepped out of the car, he sensed something unusual.
The village was unnaturally quiet. It had just gotten dark, yet there wasn’t a single person outside. That alone was strange—but there wasn’t even any animal sounds. No rustling of leaves when the wind blew. It was as if an invisible layer was isolating them from everything.
Even the team leader and Xiao Zhou—both ordinary humans who hadn’t noticed anything explicitly wrong—felt deeply uncomfortable. Their expressions soured the moment they got out of the car.
The team leader had thought this would be a simple assignment. Maybe he could even stay a few extra days in this little fishing village. No overtime—practically a vacation. But this place gave him the creeps.
Xiao Zhou, on the other hand, was already silently regretting his choices. He’d heard long ago that you should never get involved with that “Special Management Department.” He hadn’t listened. Was it too late to back out now?
The village Party secretary was waiting for them at the village entrance.
“Hello, hello, hello!” The secretary’s surname was Feng. The team leader and Xiao Zhou addressed him as Village Chief Feng. He was delighted to see them, extraordinarily warm and welcoming.
After the greetings, Village Chief Feng took out a flashlight and led the way as they walked and talked.
“It’s getting late. There’s really nowhere suitable to stay in the village. I’m afraid you’ll have to put up at my place. Follow me, and watch your step.”
The village secretary wasn’t a local. His residence doubled as his office—a standalone two-story building about three hundred meters from Yuluo Village. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t even within the village boundaries anymore.
As they moved farther and farther away from Yuluo Village, the creeping, hair-raising sensation gradually faded. But instead of feeling relieved, the team leader and Xiao Zhou only grew more unsettled.
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