“Can this really work or not?”
Chi Lian was scratching his head in frustration. How could a single stamp be so impossible to find?
Fu Ye had planned things well—getting Ye Yang and the others to leave early so they wouldn’t interfere or get caught up in his affairs. But who would have thought the Can Mountain YCG could be such a shoddy operation? In any case, by evening, Ye Yang and his group still hadn’t managed to leave Can Mountain.
Just as they decided to simply buy plane tickets and fly back, sorting out the paperwork later, a small, transparent fish suddenly appeared out of nowhere and swam straight into Ye Yang’s chest.
This transparent fish was a type of messaging tool—very fast. Any message sent from anywhere within Huaxia could reach the recipient within a day.
In the age of mobile phones and the internet, this inefficient, mana-draining method had long fallen out of use. Ye Yang received the fish and saw that it was from Little Thirteen. He froze for a moment, then his heart sank.
This thing had one advantage no other communication method had: no matter where the sender was—be it inside a barrier, a secret realm, or an illusion—nothing could block it.
For Little Thirteen to suddenly choose to send a message this way… Without time to overthink it, Ye Yang immediately pressed his finger to the fish’s back—
“Ye Ye, get out of Can Mountain immediately!!!”
The message was only that one short sentence, but Ye Yang’s heart plummeted straight to the bottom.
He and Little Thirteen kept in regular contact. That very morning, he had mentioned being on a business trip in Can Mountain, too busy to even sleep. How had Little Thirteen replied then?
Right—Little Thirteen had mocked Ye Yang for picking such a lousy job, saying he’d be better off working for him.
In less than a single day, what on earth had happened?
Ye Yang immediately pulled out his phone. Sure enough, he couldn’t reach Little Thirteen.
After the transparent fish was used once, it dissipated shortly after. If Ye Yang wanted to send a message back to Little Thirteen using the same method, he would have to go buy another fish. But where was he supposed to find one at a time like this?
Suddenly, his eyelid twitched. He watched as another transparent fish landed before him.
He opened it immediately, but this time it wasn’t from Little Thirteen. It was from Brother Ji Qing, whom he hadn’t contacted in a long time.
Ji Qing: “Xiao Ye, that little otter—your friend—his entire clan has been taken away. I followed them all the way. They’re now inside a secret realm. I don’t know the exact location, only that it’s either in Can Mountain or Ye City. I can only reach you this way right now. Hurry and find help!”
Ye City was the demon city closest to Can Mountain.
Ye Yang was completely panicked. He started trying to contact Ji Qing again. Xing Tian, who had been watching the whole thing, couldn’t stand it anymore. He snatched Ye Yang’s phone away. “Ji Qing must have fallen into the same situation as Little Thirteen. You won’t be able to reach him right now. Don’t waste time. Find Shen Ming.”
Ye Yang snapped out of it. “Right, right. Find Teacher Shen!”
The situation was unclear, but both Little Thirteen’s and Ji Qing’s attitudes showed that they were in grave danger. At this point, Shen Ming might really be the only one who could help.
He had just pressed a few digits when he paused. “He’s here.”
Chi Lian: “Who?”
The scale inside Ye Yang’s body grew slightly warm. The next second, a temporary teleportation array unfolded before them. Shen Ming, Director Tu, Yu Bei, and Old Man Li stepped out in succession.
Behind them were several others Ye Yang didn’t recognize. Even as they walked, they were quickly discussing something.
No greetings, no introductions. For the first time, Ye Yang saw—and even Xing Tian saw it for the first time—Old Man Li looking so grave.
“Are we sure we don’t need to evacuate the population of Can Mountain?”
“Can Mountain’s urban area alone has over seven million people. There’s no time to evacuate.”
“If the crowd panics, it’ll only make things harder to handle.”
“But what if our barrier can’t hold?”
Old Man Li raised his voice slightly. “Don’t say such defeatist things!”
The scene fell silent for a moment. Old Man Li looked around and continued, “If we can’t stop the Vermilion Bird, then the entire city of Can Mountain will cease to exist. At that point, nothing we say will matter.”
“Right now, all we can do is give it our all!”
The group remained silent, but their demeanor had already changed. The anxiety and worry were buried deep, replaced by a blazing fighting spirit.
Old Man Li turned to Shen Ming. “From here, it’s up to you.”
Shen Ming nodded. He not only had to stop the Vermilion Bird—he also had to get some clear answers. What exactly had happened back then during the turmoil? And what had really happened to the Azure Dragon and the White Tiger?
He only had time to give Ye Yang a single gentle, reassuring look. He didn’t even have time to say a word before Xuan Wu’s enormous true form materialized in midair—and vanished the instant it locked onto the secret realm’s location.
Ye Yang stood there with his mouth open. When he finally snapped back to reality, only Chi Lian and Director Tu remained beside him.
“Wh-What exactly is going on?”
Director Tu was in charge of logistics. At a time like this, there was no point in rushing. Seeing the worry on Ye Yang’s and Chi Lian’s faces, he sighed and briefly explained the current situation.
“There’s been non-stop warfare in the demon realm lately. YCG can’t intervene directly, but we’ve been investigating and staying on alert. We discovered that the Vermilion Bird—one of the Four Directional Deities, long thought dead—still has a lingering soul fragment drifting in the human realm. To survive, it keeps possessing various spiritual creatures. If that were all, there wouldn’t be much harm. But somehow, the Vermilion Bird has gathered a group of rogue cultivator followers and obtained some kind of evil art—one that uses large numbers of young demonic beings and spiritual creatures to resurrect itself.”
“Any living being with even the slightest trace of spiritual energy—even if not a juvenile—can provide some power for the evil art, just with lower efficiency.”
Ye Yang suddenly thought of the harm that Little Crow had once suffered. At the time, both he and Shen Ming had been utterly baffled—why would someone so powerful go after a little crow? Now, looking back, it had almost certainly been the work of those rogue cultivators!
Little Crow was just an ordinary bird with slightly more spiritual energy than a regular crow. Even he wasn’t spared—utterly monstrous.
And that time he returned to the preschool, when the little capybaras were almost kidnapped—that was likely the work of those same rogue cultivators!
“At first, they were very cautious. But as they grew more desperate, they took control of Yingzhao and used him for their purposes. They began targeting living beings regardless of species or age, acting with utter recklessness. That’s when we finally discovered what was happening.”
Ye Yang’s heart grew heavier. “The war in the demon realm, the chaos in Can Mountain, Fuyuan—all of it is because of this?”
“Exactly. We discovered it early on, but we couldn’t intervene immediately. As you know, YCG doesn’t rule over the human and demon realms—we can only act as a coordinator. It wasn’t until a few days ago that Yan Yungui returned.”
He had brought back irrefutable proof that the Vermilion Bird was slaughtering beings from both realms.
Yan Yungui was a very mysterious and powerful figure within YCG. Few had ever seen him; he spent most of his time away. But his abilities were unquestionable, and his status equal to Old Man Li’s. Once he discovered that the Vermilion Bird might be using this evil resurrection art, he immediately began investigating personally.
Finally, at the risk of losing his own life, he infiltrated deep into enemy territory and discovered that the Vermilion Bird’s lingering soul had actually been taken over by a heart demon. If the evil art succeeded, what would return wouldn’t be one of the Four Directional Guardian Deities at all—it would be an evil god!
Putting aside the countless lives that would be sacrificed for the resurrection, if such a ritual actually succeeded and an evil god descended upon the world, it would be a catastrophe for both the human and demon realms.
Director Tu explained that the demon realm also had its own forces defending it, but the situation there was too chaotic to know the details. Brother Hui had already gone to offer whatever help he could.
Chi Lian suddenly remembered: “Your two friends are likely inside that secret realm. They’re capturing people for the ritual, so…” He abruptly stopped himself.
But everyone present could hear what he left unsaid.
What Chi Lian could think of, Ye Yang could think of too. Little Thirteen and Brother Ji Qing were most likely already in grave danger.
Director Tu hadn’t heard their earlier conversation, but she immediately understood that this matter involved a great many people. She had friends and family who were also missing. But she had more important work to do.
“Elder Yan was severely injured and can’t come. Those people who just went in—including your teammates Xing Tian and Wu Shuwen—they represent all of YCG’s top combat strength. They’re inside the secret realm now. There’s not much we can do to help them. What we can do is stay here and protect innocent humans as best we can.”
Ye Yang was silent for a moment. Then he suddenly said, “No. I have to go too.”
Director Tu immediately grabbed his arm. “Don’t even think about it! Do you think this is one of your regular missions? It’s far too dangerous. What help could a little demon like you possibly offer?”
“Didn’t you see the look on Old Man Li’s face? They’re all prepared to die together if it comes to that. The enemy this time is unimaginably powerful! We still have a chance to get away from here. But if you go down into that secret realm…”
Stopping the resurrection ritual—to be honest, there was no guarantee of success. And if the resurrection ritual succeeded, there was even less to say.
That would be an evil god transformed from the Vermilion Bird. Its power could only be greater than the Vermilion Bird’s. And the Vermilion Bird had always been the most offensively powerful of the Four Directional Deities. The only one who could even somewhat match it—Shen Ming—still hadn’t fully recovered.
This was almost certainly a losing battle.
Ye Yang didn’t waver in the slightest. He was utterly resolute. “What help can I do here? I might as well go down. You all know my ability—it works best alongside someone even more powerful!” The concepts of the human and demon realms were too vast and abstract. But for Ye Yang personally, it came down to this: all his friends and the person closest to him—Shen Ming. How could he stand by while they were all in danger?
Chi Lian and Director Tu both choked on their words of persuasion.
He was right. Ye Yang’s natural ability was truly remarkable. They had nearly forgotten because it had been so long since he last used it.
Chi Lian looked at Ye Yang thoughtfully. With each increase in his rank, Ye Yang had gained new abilities. If his ability were combined with several powerful experts, perhaps they could truly turn this nearly hopeless situation around?
·
As the sky grew dark, the roads filled with commuters and traffic. It happened to be Friday, and the center of Can Mountain City had an extra vibrancy different from weekdays.
Office workers and students, weary after a long week, had shed their midweek numbness and fatigue, calling up friends to go eat, drink, and have fun everywhere.
On such an ordinary Friday, no one had any idea that beneath their feet, a conspiracy that would upend both the human and demon realms had fully ripened.
…
Underground, the secret realm was also lively.
But this liveliness had everyone present strung tight.
Yingzhao paced restlessly beneath the altar, his brow deeply furrowed. Every so often, he couldn’t help but ask, “How much longer?”
One of the rogue cultivators slightly behind him chuckled. “Why so nervous? All the preparations are complete. When the time comes, the altar will activate itself.”
If Ye Yang were here, he would almost certainly recognize the owner of that voice—it was Liu Chen, who had long since been confirmed by Yingzhao to have committed suicide out of guilt!
The same Liu Chen who, back in Luoyang City, had publicly kidnapped and slaughtered fox cubs, then kidnapped Yingzhao’s own child, and after being caught in Luoyang City, had blown himself up to death!
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