Forge a path to success

Wu He was somewhat alarmed upon seeing this: "...Sax?"

Shakes remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking, as if he were sleepwalking.

"Do you think it's possible that one day, while I'm on a mission, some bizarre creature—with a tentacle arm, an eel head, wearing a green coat, and devouring the Tear of the Ice Armor—suddenly runs into my sniping range and says, 'I'm your old nemesis.' Then I can fight him again..."

Wu He took two steps back: "Honestly, have a drink to calm yourself down, you're in a terrible state right now!"

Shakes rubbed his eyes hard and sat down on the bed. He looked extremely tired.

“I need a drink after this vote.” Shakes shook his head vigorously. “It’s ridiculous, too many nightmares… I really should buy a dream editing surgery…”

“I can introduce you to a good doctor afterward,” Wu He said seriously. “Now let’s get down to business. Tell me why you didn’t kill that Zhuo Lei?!”

His tone grew increasingly agitated, almost questioning. The final shot seemed to be a fatal blow, but he knew that the elementalized Tear of Evil wouldn't die so easily; the thing had only lost most of its body, its ghostly form having long since dissipated with the ice shards.

Shax became a legend by killing the Scourge, so there's no reason for him to make such a basic mistake, exposing himself without eliminating his enemies. It must have been intentional on his part.

When he looked up, Shax had returned to his original self, calm and indifferent as if he didn't care about anything.

Why would that Tearful One target you?

The shaman grew impatient: "He killed my rat—"

“Why would he target ‘you’?” Shakes repeated. “Your rats are some distance from the hotel, and you use talismans to control them. How could a delirious Tearful Soul possibly track you back to your hideout?”

Wu He was startled by this. The battle had come too suddenly and too quickly, and he was so enraged by the defeat and the unexpected that he had momentarily overlooked this most illogical problem. Just as Shaks had said, those who ascended to the Supreme Path were rough and unrestrained; meticulous tasks like reverse tracing shouldn't be their forte. That ice man didn't even have a single relic on him; how could he possibly have found the stronghold?

He forced himself to calm down: "Someone gave it some advice..."

“Or perhaps someone is guiding it from behind,” Shakes said. “I left a hook inside it to see if I could catch the fish on its back.”

Wu He hesitated, wanting to say that the sniper's actions were unnecessary, but then he realized that the mastermind behind it had no good intentions since they had targeted him from the start. Shax's decision to stop the fighting and spare lives, while holding back, was actually the best course of action at the moment. After thinking it over several times, he smiled bitterly and said, "...You've thought it through."

Even so, something still didn't feel right. Shakes thought. Even if someone was manipulating Tearful Souls behind the scenes, Wu He's predicament today was far too coincidental. His luck was strangely bad, but luck, such a mysterious thing, wasn't a topic for discussion.

“You care too much about gains and losses,” Shakes said calmly. “If you don’t have money, don’t pretend to be rich.”

Wu He laughed dismissively.

“You’ve got it all wrong. I’m loaded. What I lost today, I can get back in less than a day!” His smile grew even more sinister. “It’s precisely because I don’t need these things that I’m looking for that tree… I have to get that tree!”

He sat under the lamplight, his profile obscured by shadow, a strange fear lurking within the greedy gloom. It was as if he wanted to escape something, yet couldn't escape it.

Shakes waited for him to speak, but Wu He remained silent. His employer's concealment displeased him once again; to keep things so secret when the situation was already this bizarre was simply petty.

After a while, he couldn't help but ask, "What's the name of that eel?"

“I don’t know, but he’s very strong,” Wu He said. “I recognize that skill that’s called ‘Intent Armor’… He’s at least a 3-point mass, and he’s definitely on the path of cultivation.”

"Oh. It seems you're from the Zhengxuan Palace, just like me."

"You're overthinking it. If I had that ability, why would I need to hire you?" Wu He smiled.

Still hiding, still hiding, as if revealing something obvious to everyone would be a huge loss. Shakes was really unhappy this time. Wu He was quite decent when things were going well, but he started to worry and fret when faced with setbacks.

He began to maintain the guns, and soon the room was filled with the smell of gun oil. The two remained silent.

Chapter 114 Famous Reasoning

It's 12:30 at night in the park.

The creations of magic scholars are renowned for their durability; even after a recent cold snap, their radiance and warmth remain undiminished. The steady light from the dark lampposts illuminates the armor of the Shadow Knights, making it shine brightly.

The knights' silhouettes receded from the light source; there were no enemies in the park, so there was no need to draw swords. And after they had gone, the darkness atop the streetlights rippled like water. Like a painting made of night being unveiled, slender figures silently appeared.

This is the Shadow Robe Technique, a concealment technique used to hide one's presence in the shadows. The fact that such a basic technique could deceive the Shadow Knight's senses demonstrates this Remnant of the Heart's profound understanding of magic, making her a true master. She is none other than the genius Remnant of the Heart, Light and Night!

(Thank goodness... any movement would have been noticed, covert operations won't work.) Qingye covered her mouth and nose with her scarf to minimize noise. (I'll think things through for now. What's going on with this city...?)

The constant barrage of powerful enemies, the inexplicable battles, and the final, mysterious gray creature plunged Qingye into utter chaos. Confusion is a fatal flaw for those with a broken heart; a novice who can't figure out the way forward deserves to become a corpse. According to the lessons Qingye had been taught, to unravel the chaos, one must start from the source and unravel the threads, and the source of all actions is "motive."

She, the Remnant Heart One, Light and Night, came to this Dust Island purely on a whim. She disembarked midway because she sensed a strong aura of an unorthodox being in Golden Leaf City. Moreover, her reaction was exceptionally strong, indicating that the unorthodox being was likely a calamity-generating entity.

When those with broken hearts encounter a calamity, there is only slaughter, and even the patriarch will smile because of this judgment.

But things went strange after we arrived on the island. That Tearful One... Iceman Sethlen... while dangerous, he's still a ways off from being a Calamity. He's probably just a pitiful person overwhelmed by emotions, forgetting himself, and not an insurmountable opponent on the real battlefield.

Sethlen's reason for wandering the city was likely to be searching for his own mark. As for the others...

Qingye recalled the rumors she'd heard upon arriving on the island: a rare species had supposedly arrived in Golden Leaf City. So the spellcaster, the woman with the light hammer, and the tentacle man were likely treasure hunters, poachers. The sniper was someone waiting to reap the benefits. She couldn't figure it out and didn't want to think about it, so she skipped it. The gray unidentified object was probably some kind of local curse. As for the aura she sensed…

—There is also a very powerful calamity lurking on the island, and everyone is dancing in the hands of that powerful heretic.

This conjecture sent a chill down Qingye's spine. If it were true, she would have to gather as many troops as possible to defeat the Calamity Species. However, her intuition as a Remnant of the Heart raised doubts. While the conjecture was reasonable, it seemed somewhat forced, and there were many inconsistencies in its explanation.

(Miss Qingye, stay calm! Don't let wishful thinking blind you. You need to stay calm, especially in situations like this!)

Qingye cheered herself up and refocused on those inexplicable contradictions.

The first to be targeted was naturally the tentacle-wielding heretic. His aura was extremely strange, like a demon and a real machine at the same time. Even the head of the family had never seen this kind of heretic before. However, his martial arts had a profound origin, his spirit was sharp but not evil, and he was powerful but not violent, making it seem as if he was not a heretic at all.

No, not just seemingly, he completely sees himself as a normal person. There's a significant cognitive confusion, a profound contradiction between his existence and his self...

This is clearly a sign of psychological attack! He was hypnotized!

Qingye tapped his palm, feeling a sudden realization dawn on him. This time, he was on the right track! Only a hypnotized person would exhibit such contradictory behavior. Perhaps, that man was once a normal martial arts practitioner who was unknowingly hypnotized and transformed into this bizarre form, becoming the experimental subject of the mastermind behind it all!

The blond figure in the shadows was likely also a victim of psychological attack; they were all controlled by the mastermind behind the scenes. And Iceman Sethlen, being a mentally fragile being, was probably also provoked by the mastermind behind his rampage.

Qingye felt a slight fear, telling herself not to be frightened by such tricks. She needed to think it over carefully; the next point of contention was the smooth egg. The monster's defining characteristics were undoubtedly its elusive nature and extremely high defense. It was adept at concealing itself, remaining unharmed even after taking several blows from Zhuo Lei head-on, and always moving underground, like a moving seed.

Seeds...stones...stones and seeds...?

So that's it! That incredibly high defensive power was proof of its identity—the bald egg was actually a stone seed from the Divine Tree clan! Qingye couldn't help but secretly admire it. Normal people would think a seed is tiny, but no one could imagine that a stone seed was a colossal creature four meters tall. And the reason it came to Golden Leaf City…

Fragments of memory flashed through Qingye's mind: this morning, a group of pirates were searching everywhere for a giant egg. That made sense; it had been plundered by pirates, and the stone seed was actively participating in the battle to find a strong enough opponent to defeat the pirates for it.

So... the leader of those pirates this morning was probably a formidable enemy no less than a 3-point mass!

Her thoughts gradually became clearer, and she felt she was getting closer to the truth. In this way, the details of these people were being dissected and revealed to her. The only one she didn't understand was the dark-faced talisman master. Her intuition told Qingye that the talisman master was not simple; he possessed a faint aura of evil.

He's just a poacher? No, things can't be that simple. Think carefully about what the spellcaster did. He was the one who lured Sethlen, he was the one who fought the blonde woman midway, then he attacked the Stone Seed, and finally he was the one who led the bald ice monster around, forcing Qingye to enter the battle.

All the battles that happened today were instigated by the talisman master! This chaotic brawl was entirely orchestrated by him!

Qingye broke out in a cold sweat. The talisman master had instigated the chaos but then portrayed himself as the victim; his cunning was undeniable, and his actions were surely motivated by ulterior motives. Yet, in today's battle, he had deliberately avoided direct confrontation with the tentacle man.

Why is he avoiding the tentacle man? If he just wants to cause trouble, wouldn't the more people involved the better? Thinking about this, the answer is obvious.

—The spellcaster is the mastermind behind the transformation of the tentacle man.

He caused today's commotion in order to take advantage of the chaos to kill the tentacle man... and that disobedient experimental subject!

Little by little, the chaotic surface was pieced together by a meticulously crafted "logic," and Qingye gradually uncovered the terrifying secrets beneath the chaos. She realized that the talisman master's schemes were far more complex than this, because during the fight with the tentacle man, she faintly heard several complaints, seemingly about using some precious talisman...

Yes, she saw that scene from afar. The talisman master slapped the talisman onto the stone seed, and at that moment he said—

Fu Kai...ji...yue...

Fukai...sacrifice...yue?

A talisman offered as a sacrifice to the moon?!

Wait, wait, don't scare yourself. That spellcaster seems perfectly normal from any angle. While he might be a bit short-tempered, the only unusual thing about him is that his skin darkens during battle…

During battle... his skin... turned black?!

Black blood activated?!

"Oh my god...he is...!"

In that instant, a thought flashed through Qingye's mind. Everything connected. A cultist skilled in both physical manipulation and mental control, deeply cunning and shrewd, adept at concealing his presence—there was only one such cultist who met all these criteria.

—The fallen who believe in the First Abyss!

—The true nature of the talisman master Wu He is a heretic who receives the blessing of forgetting the cradle!

The deepest truth is revealed, and a meticulous and insane plan is laid bare. It's likely that at the beginning, Wu He only came to pursue his playthings, but after arriving in Golden Leaf City, he learned the secret of Dust Island… namely, the "undead phenomenon" that prevented the battle, and the information about the Stone Seeds' migration. Thus, he began a new scheme.

As everyone knows, the Senluo Divine Tree clan possesses a spiritual network that soothes the spirits of the dead. Given enough time, the stone seed should be able to deliver the souls from the city's underground. Wu He had his eye on this; he planned to corrupt the stone seed and then reverse the network, absorbing all the souls into the seed. In this way, he would obtain immense energy and a uniquely gifted body. Such abundant resources would be enough for him to take risks and achieve the ultimate goal of the Fallen.

—Conduct a city-wide sacrifice to connect with the Black Moon and summon the evil god!

In fact, his plan was almost complete today! The stone seed had already fallen victim, and the spirits of the dead had entered the game; he could activate the plan at any moment. The Iceman Sethlen was the "detonator" prepared for this occasion. As long as the Iceman self-destructed on that occasion, freezing the entire city, the people who were obstructed would be unable to stop Wu He's sacrifice. The city would then plunge into the abyss.

What shattered this perfect plan was precisely that last bullet. She was greatly mistaken; the sniper wasn't the mastermind reaping the benefits, but a warrior secretly protecting the city. Perhaps only the sniper knew the truth before everyone else: his weapons were bullets and guns, which could only have come from Shura Island or Dustless Land. Considering the history of this small town, his identity was self-evident.

—The sniper's true identity is none other than the magic scholar who built this small town, Mayor Jin Ye!

I understand completely now.

I understand completely now.

Now, the fog shrouding Golden Leaf City has been lifted, and the motives and origins of every faction are fully understood. Without Guang Shi Qingye's masterful scheming, this catastrophe affecting the entire city would remain unknown to this day.

Looking up at the night sky, Jinye City was devoid of stars and moon, everything signifying the town's ordinariness. But who could have imagined that soon, that dark moon would appear in the sky?

(The Fallen Spellcaster... So ruthless, it's against all reason. I will definitely kill you!)

The elder was absolutely right. Those who follow the unorthodox path are always more terrifying and more insidious than you imagine. That talisman master likely has other hidden plans she's unaware of, and time is of the essence.

He left the streetlamp and used the Shadow Robe Technique to conceal himself in the night. His plans were set: once the spirits dispersed, he would contact Golden Leaf and then, if possible, unite with other Ascended Ones.

We must save this city from the clutches of the forgotten cradle!

Chapter 115 Each with their own difficulties

It's 2:30 a.m. in the southern part of Kinyo City.

A small, white, furry creature resembling a fluffy bat pushed open the door and tiptoed into the backyard, quietly picking up a small watering can. The small backyard was laden with fruit: crisp, sweet cucumbers, tender red tomatoes, and many newly planted kumquats—all high-quality fruits beneficial for children's healthy growth.

"Pop...pop pop..."

The white-haired little animal, Gulibo, muttered softly due to nervousness. Growing good fruit requires daily care; a day of drought or a day of drought will affect the quality. As a certified Level 2 professional gardener and Level 1 plant nurse by Jingsha City, Gulibo always takes meticulous care of plants, never neglecting even small potted plants temporarily assigned to him.

Unfortunately, he got frozen this afternoon and didn't warm up until almost midnight. What else can be said about Bosheng's misfortune? I can only water him in the middle of the night…

It carefully finished its work, and seeing that the patrolling monsters outside weren't coming, it quickly slipped back into the house. But it was in such a hurry that the little water bottle slipped from its grasp and fell to the ground with a clatter. Gulibo's already pure white fur turned even whiter with fright, and it screamed in its heart, "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! I'm going to be eaten by the monsters!"

"It's so noisy..." "What's wrong?" A muffled sound came from the small door next to it.

"It's nothing, just dropped a kettle!" Gulibo thrashed about. "Everyone, don't worry! Go get some sleep!"

"It's Gulibo making noise by itself..." "Gulibo is so noisy~" "Watch out, or a monster will catch you."

The children complained for a while, then soon fell asleep. Seeing that the monster outside hadn't come in, Gulibo breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the small water bottle, and groped its way forward in the dark. It arrived at the toy corner where the children played during recess, and lay down beside an exceptionally large flowerpot, crying with heartfelt emotion: "I can't take it anymore! I really can't hold on any longer! Divine Tree, when will someone come to save us, Boo!"

The large flowerpot—a strange contraption that appeared to have no plants growing on it, just a brown rugby ball stuck upside down in the soil—remained motionless, yet a mysterious force stirred the dust on the ground, forming faint writing.

Be patient and hold onto hope.

Gulibo cried even louder: "What did you say, Divine Tree? I can't see without the lights on!"

【…】

Shi Zhong stretched out his spiritual vines with great effort, barely managing to reach the switch. The light illuminated the writing on the ground, as well as the children's building blocks, toys, and the few extracurricular books that no one seemed to read.

As everyone knows, the growth of a stone requires positive emotions such as hope, love, and courage, as well as a stable order. In addition, it ideally needs a harmless environment free from combat. After much hard work, Gulibo finally found a location that perfectly met these requirements—

Jinye City Third Experimental Primary School!

The number of adults corrupted by society is extremely small, and the innocent children are full of hope! Everyone attends classes on time, goes to bed on time, and listens to the teacher, making the school's order unbreakable! 90% of the creatures are elementary school students, so the threat level is close to zero! Moreover, because it is an experimental elementary school, the children study very hard, and this positive atmosphere is the perfect cradle for nurturing the stone species!

After much pleading and begging, Gulibo finally managed to get a job as a school janitor so it could bring its "favorite rugby toy" to the toy corner. Unfortunately, the school's pay wasn't enough to buy quality soil, so it had to work part-time at a family restaurant in the city center during its breaks to take care of the sacred tree. While others get a break after work, it gets a workday after work…

As he pondered, Gulibo felt an overwhelming and inescapable sorrow. Just a month ago, he was happily working at his family's bookstore, enjoying a fulfilling life, catching up on manuscripts and tending to his potted plants. Who would have thought that a simple delivery job would lead to a shipwreck? Who would have imagined that after finally surviving the disaster, he would be found by a group of pirates? Who would have thought that the floating debris he casually retrieved while cleaning the deck would turn out to be stones?

What else can we do but run away?!

I thought the days of caring for the stone seeds while dodging pirates were tough enough, but then a bunch of lunatics started causing chaos in Golden Leaf City these past two days. How am I supposed to live with this bad luck?! Shopkeeper, editor, where are you?! Please, show your magic and save me!!

Do not be afraid, we are never alone.

【That's right, I'm here too!】Giant Egg wrote cheerfully.

"Pop!" Gulibo jumped three feet high, turning 180 degrees in mid-air to see the giant egg that had rolled in without anyone noticing. It leaned against the flowerpot, panting for a moment: "Next time... please say hello..."

"You're such a coward! How can you be a Jingwei bird like that?"

The little animal protested in a low voice: "Who is Jingwei Bird? I already told you I am Gulibo from the Gubo tribe."

The giant egg rolled to the side of the building block area and began to use its eggshell claws, which it used for feeding, to build with the blocks.

[I have good news for you. Those pirates you were worried about were taken care of by Mr. Chu, the one who treated me to dinner today!]