The King of Curses

Chapter 26 Becoming Sublime
World Forum——

A familiar yet unfamiliar name.

In the first two to three years when the wave of ghosts swept the world and the major regions had not yet been established, the society of curse masters was in chaos and confusion.

Organizations and groups are fighting each other for control and resources, and many more are struggling to survive and become stronger.

At that time, the Tianxia Forum was very popular across the country, and everyone knew about it. Curse masters could hide their identities on it, or openly recruit companions, share information on the forum, issue commissions, and hold regular meetings...

During the first wave, Tianxia Forum was the most important online platform until the "ancestors" began to divide spheres of influence and establish their own information network channels, and then it gradually weakened.

At least in Cen Dongsheng's era, although conspiracy theories have always been circulating, most people still believe that the Tianxia Forum was jointly established by a group of early awakened curse masters, so it was able to maintain neutrality - this "neutrality" is the reason why it is popular.

He has also met many predecessors and misses that dangerous and chaotic wild era that was also full of opportunities and challenges. The Tianxia Forum is one of the symbols of this era.

Now, the real answer was before him.

The "World Forum", which was originally regarded as a neutral organization, was originally owned by the philosopher Wang An Zhizhen.

This news was not known to the public later. I am afraid that the relevant information was blocked by Sister Zhizhen afterwards. This is very simple for Tiankui Quanshou.

……

It was noon. In the spacious and bright office with clean windows, the gradually blazing sunlight shone through the French windows and cast a shadow-divided fence on the mahogany floor.

The summer breeze blowing through the city's tall buildings lifted the curtains, causing the woman's long hair to sway slightly.

An Zhizhen sat on the sofa chair, holding a red teacup in both hands, with a straight posture, as elegant as ever.

She looked at the young man sitting in front of the computer with a smile on her face, taking in his eyes, expressions, subconscious reactions, and every subtle detail.

An Zhizhen narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, and then she said:
"You seem transfixed. Are you that fascinated?"

"Well, because I am a user of this forum."

Cen Dongsheng did not move his eyes away from the web page and dragged the mouse down.

He wasn't lying, even though it was "eight years later".

By then, times had changed, and the Tianxia Forum had long since fallen into decline, no longer the largest online gathering place for spell-binding masters. He had only logged in out of curiosity, and often saw the seniors on the forum reminiscing about the past.

The changes brought about by the passage of time can easily make people feel emotional...especially since he was reborn to the point where everything began.

"… Really? That's a coincidence."

An Zhizhen lowered her head and took a sip of black tea.

"Well, what a coincidence."

"Then I'll do a survey for the product manager. As a college student, which section do you like to watch the most?"

Cen Dongsheng's gaze finally left the computer screen again, and he answered somewhat helplessly.

"I think Sister Zhizhen can actually guess it, right? By the way, this has nothing to do with whether I am a college student or not."

"Oh?"

"Of course it's 'Ghost Stories from the Deep Mountains'."

He opened one of the sub-sections. Judging from the number of people logged in online, it was also one of the most popular channels on the Tianxia Forum.

The first content in the Tianxia Forum that caught the eyes of the curse masters was the Youshan Ghost Stories section. As the name suggests, this is a place dedicated to telling ghost stories.

It is not surprising in itself, but with the arrival of the "first wave", strange events around the world have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, and some forum users share their ghost experiences here, which gradually forms a trend.

In this era when the truth has not yet surfaced and everything is still in the "undercurrent" stage, the subtle changes in the world can be vaguely seen from the corners of the Internet.

Cen Dongsheng glanced at the posts on the forum.

In his experience, most of the above content is fictional, but among dozens of posts there are often one or two very suspicious contents, especially those asking for help, which may be "real stuff".

The "Youshan Ghost Story" channel will become a source of a lot of first-hand intelligence in the coming days. Ordinary people should avoid the suspicious places mentioned above;

However, some curse masters who are ambitious to become stronger by conquering haunted houses and destroying ghosts need to go to the tiger mountain.

"Do you like ghost stories? Or are you gathering intelligence on it?"

"That's right. By the way, isn't Sister Zhizhen's purpose in opening the forum the same as mine?"

"Hmm..." An Zhizhen tapped her lips, "To be precise, it can only be considered one of them."

While the two were talking, there was a knock on the door outside the office.

"Please come in."

A young girl in a suit and ponytail walked in, holding a teapot and teacups, and put the tray on the coffee table.

"Tea, please."

Cen Dongsheng observed her eyes, which contained respect and admiration for An Zhizhen. It didn't seem fake. It seemed that this company treated her very well.

"Xiao Min, how is your father's health recently? He seems to be recovering well from the surgery."

"Yes... yes! Thank you, boss, for recommending the hospital to us! And for letting me stay in the company... If it weren't for you, I really don't know what I would have done then..."

"Don't worry, I just have some connections, and I just happened to use them." An Zhizhen replied with a smile, "Also, while taking care of your father, you'd better not fall behind in your studies. You got a scholarship last time, right? Keep it up."

"I didn't expect that you would still remember this kind of thing..."

The other person was very excited and his face turned red.

"Yes, I will definitely study hard and work hard after graduation to repay your kindness!"

...I see. He thought, for this girl, Sister Zhizhen was not only her employer, but also her savior.

After the other party left the office, An Zhizhen turned around and said to Cen Dongsheng.

"She is a college student like you, and she comes here to work and study."

"Sister Zhizhen, you are really a very nice person." Cen Dongsheng said after taking a sip of tea.

“I quite like taking care of people.”

"It's not just her. Your subordinates all respect you, I can see that."

"I hope they can all work hard, so the company offers generous remuneration. Of course, this does not guarantee that everyone will work hard..."

She covered her lips lightly and said half-jokingly.

"In that case, the rest can only be attributed to my personal charm."

…She is indeed very charming when she smiles.

The young man was silent for a while, but finally couldn't help but ask the question -

"Are there a few people working here who are being manipulated by your abilities?"

After this question was asked, the atmosphere in the office suddenly became subtle and fell into a kind of silence.

"you guess?"

But in fact, the only person with a serious expression was Cen Dongsheng himself. Sister Zhizhen's expression did not change at all, and it seemed that she really didn't care about this issue.

"Let me guess," Cen Dongsheng sighed, "I guess, there isn't one." "Why are you so sure?"

"Because you don't need to."

"hehe."

An Zhizhen held her cheeks, her expression was satisfied, she didn't know whether it was because of the tea or the young man's answer -

"To manipulate someone for a long time is an extra burden on my ability, so I have to choose someone who is worthy of doing so; or if I don't want to be exposed afterwards, I can only deal with them secretly, which is also a waste of resources."

The woman had a smile on her face, but the words that came out of her mouth were extremely cold.

"They are just a bunch of ordinary people. They are not worthy of me doing this."

"...That's it."

Cen Dongsheng felt a little complicated.

He was definitely not sad because of Sister Zhizhen's cruel character. In theory, he had already made sufficient mental preparations when he made up his mind to curry favor with her two months ago when he was reborn.

He just felt that he couldn't understand An Zhizhen. Until now, he still couldn't figure her out. And the longer they spent together and the closer they got to the true face of this woman, the more complicated it became.

Just like just now, when she said "I like to take care of others", her expression seemed to be sincere. Even a temporary employee in the company can be so caring and devoted. Including her helping neighbors in Xiaokang Building, she is deeply trusted by the people around her...

If you are a really cold-blooded person, you can't do this.

Some people may deliberately disguise themselves and pretend to be a warm-hearted person in front of others to achieve their goals. But he doesn't think An Zhi is such a person, because she doesn't need to pretend at all, and can get everything by relying on her own abilities.

However, when talking about value, she can include human life in cold calculations without hesitation.

The former was the gentle Sister Zhizhen whom he met during the two months they spent together; and the latter was the rationalist philosopher king whom he was familiar with, who was believed to lack human emotions.

Cen Dongsheng couldn't help but think of that day again. The haunted house welcomed another sunless morning. An Zhizhen, who had just finished delivering a baby, walked out of the tent holding the baby.

The woman's forehead was covered with beads of sweat and there was fatigue in her eyes, but more of it was joy and satisfaction.

The sky was still pitch black, but when the dim light of the campfire fell on her in the crowd, he seemed to see some kind of sacred light...

In fact, he never let his guard down and was always suspicious that An Zhizhen's performance did not match his impression until that day.

In other words, in just a few days, his impression of Sister Zhizhen was actually overturned twice.

Finding out what kind of person An Zhizhen is actually has no impact on their cooperation or Cen Dongsheng's plans since his rebirth.

But he just wanted to know, really wanted to know...

He couldn't lie to himself. His feelings towards An Zhizhen were complicated and difficult to understand, with affection and respect, but also fear and alienation.

Even if this woman's nature is the abyss, he has to walk with the abyss.

Driven by this thought, Cen Dongsheng asked subconsciously.

"Does Sister Zhizhen like children very much?"

"child?"

"Ah, a baby to be exact."

“…Huh? Isn’t that too fast?”

An Zhizhen blushed, and then Cen Dongsheng realized that his question was unreasonable and blushed too.

However, Sister Zhizhen was pretending. She suppressed her smile and said:

"Dongsheng, Dongsheng, are you too easy to be teased?"

"…You always like to say weird things to people, right?"

"Yes, I like you very much. Only you, okay?"

Then, An Zhizhen was not surprised to see the shy side of the big boy here.

She narrowed her eyes and said meaningfully.

"Sometimes I really don't understand you, Dongsheng. When you're fighting and dealing with people, you're mature beyond your age and seem experienced. But in some aspects, you're so immature. It always feels a bit strange..."

The woman moved her chair closer to him and adopted an ambiguous posture, almost face to face.

She grabbed the young man's arm and felt the stiffness and tension in his muscles. An Zhizhen asked softly.

"——What did you do in the past? You weren't an ordinary student, were you?"

"…Didn't I tell you? It's an old man I know…"

Cen Dongsheng was caught off guard by this question. He was indeed nervous and didn't even dare to meet her eyes.

"No, it's not about how you are a curse master. It's about a person's character, which is limited by their experience. At your age, you can act like a warrior who has experienced many battles. You can't have been a young soldier, right?"

After waiting for a while, An Zhizhen did not hear any answer, but could only hear the young man's breathing becoming heavier.

She chuckled and let her hand go.

"Forget it. As a man, the more secrets he has, the more attractive he is..."

An Zhizhen straightened her back again, folded her hands on her legs, and resumed her original elegant posture.

"Let's get back to the question, Dongsheng. Why are you suddenly talking about babies?"

"I just suddenly thought of the day you delivered a baby for a pregnant woman."

Cen Dongsheng recalled the scene at that time.

"When you walked out of the tent, for a moment, I felt like I had... seen a saint in person, and I felt a little moved."

He smiled.

"I just asked casually when I remembered it. Don't take it too seriously."

An Zhizhen's eyes widened for a moment.

While showing her surprise, she clapped her hands in joy.

"I never thought that I would be so highly respected in your eyes, Dongsheng. It really makes me happy."

"I told you not to worry about it." Cen Dongsheng sighed, "I already know what kind of person you are, and I won't respect you too much."

"No, although I can certainly stop being so arrogant in front of you, Dongsheng, otherwise we won't be able to get close as partners."

An Zhizhen supported her chin with one hand and cast her eyes toward the city scenery outside the floor-to-ceiling window. The steel forest stretched into the distance.

At the end of the field of vision, the sun jumped over the horizon and hung high in the sky.

Her pupils seemed unafraid of the scorching sunlight and sparkled in the light.

"But what you said is my dream."

"Ok?"

"I hope to be... sublime."

(End of this chapter)