As soon as the Human Emperor Banner came out, I became the Lord of the Old Ones

Chapter 47: Heroic Spirits in the Dark
Long Jianhuan subconsciously held his breath.

Xu Yan's face reminded the female operator of the frozen sea, with the sound of ice breaking "crackling".

It was as if an ancient giant beast, sealed in the deep sea for billions of years and covered with fangs, was breaking out of the ice.

Xu Yan walked towards her step by step.

With every step he took, a thick blue vein popped out from his neck, spreading all the way to his facial features.

When he squatted in front of Long Jianhuan and stared at the female operator, the crisscrossing blue veins had already formed a captivating ghost face.

Long Jianhuan swore that no matter whether she was facing the mad Dr. Hyde or the old monster covered with fungal blanket, she had never felt such a suffocating sense of oppression. Even her tail vertebrae trembled slightly uncontrollably.

She sensed a murderous intent that could not be described in words, as if there was a shaky scale beneath the ghost's face. If it tilted just 0.1 degrees, the other party would kill her without hesitation.

But she had neither the strength nor the courage to resist.

Fortunately, Xu Yan stretched out his hands in time and dug deep into his face, smoothing out the blue veins and wiping off the terrifying ghost face.

"call--"

He seemed to have recovered from an extremely fierce soul confrontation. He exhaled a long breath of dark red turbid air and regained his gentle smile.

"I'm sorry, I lost my composure. Did I scare you?"

"..."

Long Jianhuan bit his lips tightly, letting the blood flow down.

She was ashamed of her fear.

Stimulated by shame again, anger ignited deep in his veins.

"Don't be afraid. I'm actually a good person. Or, using the definition of this era, I should be a 'heroic spirit'. Yes, I should be."

Xu Yan gently stroked his still burning forehead, somewhat confused by his previous reaction. He slowly shook his head and said, "It's just that I don't seem to like being used. Every time I'm used, I always feel like I'm losing control and going crazy."

Long Jianhuan opened his mouth and tried to defend himself.

"Shh-"

Xu Yan put his hot fingers on her lips.

"Don't deny it. You've been using me all along."

Xu Yan's eyes were deep, wrapping around the female operator like a chain. "From the very beginning, you knew I was a Corrupted Spirit. You kept giving me drugs, arming me with battle cards, and letting Dr. Hyde train me, all in order to force me to go berserk and reveal my hideous true self, so that I could stop Dr. Hyde's investigation, destroy the Ancient Gate, and ideally, even end up losing both sides with Dr. Hyde's men.

"Even after your identity was exposed and I risked my life to save you, you never believed I was a secret member of the Ninth Division of the General Administration. You simply played along, using me to deal with those two monsters, and then trying to stabilize me and delay until your helpers arrived, so that you could finally seal me away, right?"

Long Jianhuan was speechless.

This was indeed what she thought of in a hurry. It was the only way to delay time until the Security Bureau team arrived.

"Don't worry, I don't blame you. After all, you are doing your job. Most of the corpses that have been corroded by mysterious forces and resurrected are indeed not good things."

Xu Yan suddenly smiled, "But now you should know that I am different from them. A long time ago, I was a purifier of the environment, a defender of order, and a practitioner of justice. I was kind-hearted, upright, and hated evil.

"Even now, I have enough rationality and logical thinking ability to not disrupt social order or cause any trouble.

"You don't have to worry about me harboring any evil plans, such as 'restoring the glory of the past' and other foolish dreams. No, I know the principle of overcoming the old and establishing the new, and I don't intend to do anything stupid that goes against the trend of the times." "In short, I can communicate, trade, and cooperate. When conditions are ripe, I am even willing to integrate into mainstream society, contribute to the new civilization, and build a better future with you.

"So, just this once, don't use me again, okay?"

Xu Yan smiled, his eyes clear as day, staring at Long Jianhuan with anticipation.

The female operator's tailbone began to tremble uncontrollably again.

"Yes, yes!"

She nodded subconsciously.

Then he widened his eyes in disbelief, feeling intolerable shame and anger at being threatened by an old monster.

"That's good. As a token of my sincerity, I'll return this 'Lion of the Blazing Sun' to you. It's engraved with a locating symbol anyway, so taking it away would only bring me trouble."

Xu Yan stepped back again and gently placed the gold card in a corner about ten meters away from Long Jianhuan. "Don't be stupid, don't provoke me, and don't go to great lengths to try to capture me. That will only hurt both of us.

"After all, you don't want me to really lose my mind and become the old monster that only knows how to destroy and kill, or even cooperate deeply with the Black Dream Organization in anger and become a serious threat to you, right?"

He bowed slightly to the female operator and retreated into the darkness.

"and many more--"

The suffocating feeling of being crushed by an iceberg disappeared, and Long Jianhuan finally regained her ability to breathe and think. She shouted, "Gravedigger, if you truly have no ill intentions, you should stay and accept our help. You've just woken up and don't understand the full picture of this world, let alone how dangerous and unstable your own condition is.

"Believe me, gravedigger, you haven't truly returned from the dead yet. You're just a fragmented remnant of your former self. Your soul is disturbed, your memories are patchy, you don't know who you are, and you can't find the meaning of wandering between heaven and earth.

"Even if you think you're completely normal, it's only temporary. Soon, your soul and body will clash, just like an organ transplant that causes rejection. Without our help, you'll go completely crazy."

Xu Yan walked out from the darkness again.

Long Jianhuan was overjoyed: "Great! In the name of the Security Bureau, I swear to do my best to help you..."

Xu Yan squatted down and took out the bronze card he had just stuffed into her arms.

He also caught the "crystal slime mold" hiding in the corner, pretending to be a passerby looking at the scenery.

"I almost forgot about this again."

Xu Yan muttered to himself.

He found that this jelly was quite useful.

It is a multifunctional tool that can be changed at will.

Moreover, its presence is very low, and it seems that it has passive skills such as "invisibility, forgetfulness, and neglect", and has the potential to be modded into an assassin.

"Talk less, rest more, and if I really go crazy, I'll come find you again."

Xu Yan glanced at Long Jianhuan.

Without looking back, he completely disappeared into the darkness.

(End of this chapter)