A Good-for-Nothing

287. A Soul

Translator: Dragon Rider

About half an hour after Li Zong’s departure, Chen Weiguo suddenly had an inkling that something was wrong.

It all started from the end of that phone conversation of Chen Weiguo’s.

When he had hung up the phone, Chen Weiguo quietly waited for his subordinates and designated SMB staff members to come to pick up He Zheng. Right now Li Zong was absent. It would be best if the staff members arrived soon and got the job done without coming into conflict with Li Zong.

These arrangements made, Chen Weiguo was slightly relieved. He poured himself a cup of tea, sat down onto another desk and slowly sipped at his tea, occasionally glancing at He Zheng.

He Zheng was still playing, his head down. Chen Weiguo asked him a question or two from time to time, to which He Zheng always meekly bobbed his head in response.

As minutes ticked away, Chen Weiguo began to suspect that something was not quite right. Looking at He Zheng, he asked, “He Zheng, can you understand my words?”

He Zheng docilely inclined his head twice.

“He Zheng, can you speak?”

He Zheng gave another two meek head bobs but made no reply.

Chen Weiguo was momentarily surprised and, his face darkening, put his cup aside. If his memory served him correctly, He Zheng’s body was made of mud and he was supposed to be afraid of water. Chen Weiguo sprayed two drops of tea on the surface of the desk beside He Zheng’s feet, which happened to be moving to that very spot. “He Zheng” confusedly looked down at his feet and with that the deceptive enchantment was broken. A small piece of paper was lying on the desk, one of its lower corners soaked with tea.

Chen Weiguo’s face went livid with rage. He sprang to his feet and immediately made a phone call back to SMB.

Li Zong had taken He Zheng away!

Li Zong, naturally, knew very well that the deceptive trick could only buy him a limited amount of time, which was why he planned to settle the matter as quick as possible. He was fully aware of why Old Master Zhu had asked Chen Qianlin to send him that message.

He glanced at He Zheng in his pocket, wordless.

He Zheng noticed Li Zong’s somewhat uncharacteristic countenance and instantly tensed up. There was thunder rambling right beside his ears. His body was made of mud, so he was not scared of lightning, but Li Zong’s body was mortal flesh. He Zheng was alarmed. “Li Zong! You’re hurt!”

His voice was shrill with agitation.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry. Are you saying that soul of yours is beneath this magic circle?”

“Yeah.” He Zheng, concerned, gingerly climbed up to Li Zong’s shoulder and glanced down at Li Zong’s back. What he saw next nearly made him faint. The wound was terrible, and even more so in He Zheng’s eyes, because it had been magnified hundreds of times. The heartache was so intolerable he was reduced to tears.

“Li Zong!”

“I’m fine. Let’s get your soul back first.”

He Zheng’s nose reddened. After hearing these words, he managed to take a grip on himself and croaked, “But it seems to be under the Seal. Do we have to break the Seal to get it?”

Having been working for SMB for such a long time, He Zheng had got some vague information about the six Seals, but he did not know how they worked exactly.

In fact Zhou Qi had done this on purpose. He wanted to play the enemies off each other. Though uncertain about how far Li Zong would go to get He Zheng’s soul back, he was positive that every time He Zheng called out to his soul, he would suffer lancinating headache, which would eventually lead to his death, and Li Zong would lose his marbles because of He Zheng’s death. Zhou Qi had meant to kill He Zheng from the very beginning.

Even if Li Zong and He Zheng flukily found that soul, there would be, Zhou Qi believed, quite an enjoyable scene in SMB when it transpired that Li Zong, a vice director general, had broken a Seal for personal reasons.

Thus, no matter how the situation developed, they could eliminate at least one enemy and cause Li Zong to lose his mind and leave SMB.

Zhou Qi’s plan was watertight. His master had secretly put that soul of He Zheng’s into a Seal, and nobody would find out about it. Li Zong and the others would have a hard job to get the soul out of it. However, man proposes, God disposes. There were two things that Zhou Qi had not bargained on. First, he did not know that SMB had already found out about the secrets of the Seals, which meant that even if Li Zong broke a Seal, SMB would not do anything to Li Zong, for they needed Li Zong.

Second, it had never occurred to him that Li Zong would transfer He Zheng’s pain. The agony was unbearable for He Zheng, but Li Zong could withstand it.

But Zhou Qi had achieved one goal – SMB and Li Zong would inevitably end up on opposing sides because of He Zheng.

“I’ll break the Seal and get your soul back.” Li Zong put He Zheng into his chest pocket. His Luminous Firelight Sword materialized in his hand. At this time, the blade of the sword was covered in raging flames. The air was growing drier with Li Zong’s every step. Soon, his whole body except for the pocket where He Zheng was contained was shrouded in karma flames.

The lightning, surprisingly, paled into insignificance, the black gas shrieking despairingly amid the heat of Li Zong’s karma flames imbued with the elemental power of phoenix. The barrier of enchantments was just a surmountable obstacle in front of him.

He Zheng had never seen Li Zong like this before. In the firelight, every line of his face was etched with apathy, his charming features tinged with a kind of coldness which struck him that it held powers potent enough to destroy the world.

It took a mere change of opinion for a god to turn into a devil, and the converse was equally true. Li Zong seemed to remember someone telling him this in one of his previous incarnations. Sympathy for the people would make him a god, and if he thought of nobody but himself, there would be a high risk of being controlled by his desire and degenerating into a demon.

Unfortunately for Li Zong, he could no longer choose which path to take. The giant hand of fate was pushing him forward. If it came to a choice between He Zheng’s life and the well-being of the people, Li Zong could only be selfish.

The inferno lasted a very long time. Despairing screams were echoing in He Zheng’s ears continuously. Maybe it was half an hour before the fire finally burned out. He Zheng felt that the dank air was becoming drier and drier.

A drop of water fell onto his forehead. He quickly raised his head only to find that it was not water but a drop of sweat from Li Zong’s graceful-contoured lower jaw.

“Li Zong … ” He Zheng’s eyes suddenly became bemused. It should not be easy for Li Zong to conjure Phoenix Flames. He felt that Li Zong seemed to be in great pain.

“The barrier will soon be broken, and when it does, all you need to do is go in there and find that soul of yours. You don’t have to worry about anything else.” Li Zong’s voice was still placid, but He Zheng detected a trace of quavery in it.

He Zheng felt a lump in his throat. He did not willfully ask Li Zong to stop. They had gone this far already. If they stopped at this point in time, all their previous efforts would come to nought.

“Okay,” said He Zheng tremulously, his eyes reddish.

Before long the barrier of enchantments restraining a part of the Demon King thinned to a film. Zhen Daoyuan’s weary voice issued from a short way off. “Li Zong, stop it. Your internal energy is rippling outwards violently! If you don’t put it under control, everything in this area would be reduced to ash by your Phoenix Flame!”

‘Director Zhen? How did they come to show up in this place?’ He Zheng wondered groggily.

“Okay. Go,” said Li Zong, ignoring that voice. He stooped down, performed a rapid succession of complicated exorcism mudras with his hands, then heavily clapped a hand to He Zheng’s forehead, and with that He Zheng’s remaining soul was forced out of the mud figurine. He Zheng reflexively pressed a hand onto the ground to break the fall. Though he was now in spiritual form, he could still feel the scalding heat.

Part of the Phoenix Flame over Li Zong’s body was transferred to He Zheng’s soul. It enveloped him like a little protective barrier of enchantment.

He Zheng looked deep into Li Zong’s eyes. Behind the flashing firelight stood a couple of people: Zhen Daoyuan, Zhang Jingqiu, Xiang Hailou, to name but three.

No. If his eyes were not deceiving him, Zhao Yidi, Chen Qianlin and Qiu Luo were also present. The look in Chen Qianlin’s eyes was flickering, and He Zheng could not get a clear view of him due to the firelight, but he could sense that there was worry on Chen Qianlin’s face.

He Zheng, having no time to give it any more thought, dived head-first through the magical barrier and called out to his lost soul.

Outside the magical barrier.

The Phoenix Flame was still blazing, shielding He Zheng against both the horrifying thunderbolts and black gas.

Zhen Daoyuan, looking at pale-faced Li Zong, felt a stab of heartache and an urge to criticize him, but he subdued it, knowing that it was inappropriate to do so. It was a long moment before Zhen Daoyuan sighed and said in a heavy voice, “Li Zong, such actions of yours are–”

“I’m not going to let you take He Zheng away.” Li Zong shook his head. “I’m sorry, Director Zhen.”

Zhen Daoyuan was momentarily surprised at these words. Then he smiled a mirthless smile. “It seems you’ve already come to know about it.”

“I guessed it.” Li Zong sounded a little resigned as well, his eyes downcast, looking at the magical barrier. “It never crossed my mind things would still come to this in the end. Zhu Ning’s plan seems to have failed.”

Zhen Daoyuan was silent for a few moments. “Now that you’ve guessed all of it, you should know that we have to do this, seeing as you’ve worked for SMB for so many years and are familiar with the protocol.”

“And you should know about what I’ve been sticking to all these years.” Li Zong’s voice was bland and unemotional. “I do what I have to do, no matter whether it’s doable or not.”

“Li Zong, you’re neglecting the well-being of the whole world! Have you ever thought of what the consequences will be if the Demon King gets what he wants and brings forth a new self of his?!”

Li Zong made no reply.

“Li Zong! Why are you doing such a stupid thing?!”

Zhen Daoyuan failed to forebear from shouting criticism.

Li Zong shook his head, a calm look on his face. “Director Zhen, I’m not going to let the Demon King have his way, and I’ll keep He Zheng safe. None of you will be able to approach him.”

Zhen Daoyuan said, “Okay, but even if we let you do this, the Demon King would stop at nothing to hunt He Zheng down and get the Demonic Seed, because he has already come to know the whereabouts of the Seed. Li Zong, I know you’re strong, but not strong enough to make sure nothing goes wrong!

Even the tiniest mistake of yours will provide the Demon King with an opportunity, and he will seize it and take He Zheng away!”

“That’s not going to happen. I have a watertight plan.”

At this time, Chen Weiguo also arrived in haste. Feeling mingled heartache and headache, he cautioned, “Li Zong, think about your grandfather. Who’s going to protect him if anything happens to you?”

“Director Zhen, please take care of my grandfather for me,” said Li Zong. He knew that Zhen Daoyuan would grant his request. Li Tiangang’s identity was special, and nominally he was Li Zong’s relative. SMB would not stoop so low as to threaten him with Li Tiangang’s safety. On top of that, the Demon King and the Zhou family probably had both come to know that the Demonic Seed was inside He Zheng. In order to protect Li Tiangang, SMB would undoubtedly intervene to ensure his safety.

He Zheng’s exclamation emanated from beneath the magical barrier. “I found it!”

His voice was not loud, and he was still in spiritual form, so only Li Zong could hear him.

Li Zong smiled at the others. The raging Phoenix Flame kept them from getting close to him. Gradually, the flames dwindled. When Li Zong’s figure became more distinct, he spun around and decisively jumped into the Seal containing part of the Demon King.

Then Li Zong’s voice issued from inside the Seal.

“The Seal has been destroyed, Director Zhen. I’m counting on you to take care of the rest–”

“Supt. Li!”

“Li Zong!”