Translator-Rhapsodite
Editor-Koneko, Proofreader- Spring Flower
At the stime, Bei Quan continued to climb the big tree with Luo Yun.
After encountering two giant earthworms and the consecutive deaths of the female nurse, Wei Fuyuan and Jiang Nan'an, things suddenly seemed to go smoothly.
For a considerable period, they did not encounter any danger or obstacles.
It wasn't until they climbed to a height equivalent to nine floors that Bei Quan and Luo Yun encountered trouble again.
This time, they cacross a group of raptors that looked somewhat like night owls, that were perched in the treetops.
These creatures were originally agile and capable of flying as they moved collectively. They posed a significant threat to the two remaining individuals.
Especially for Luo Yun whose combat abilities were weak, facing the sharp claws and beaks of these monster owls would result in being torn apart, which was a completely normal thought to have.
However, the deaths of Wei Fuyuan and Jiang Nan'an had already filled Bei Quan with rage, and he was looking for someone to vent his anger on. These owls happened to fall into his hands, becoming the perfect target for his outburst.
Bei Quan caught the group of monster owls and started tearing them apart. He threw out the prepared talismans one after another as if they were free, and in an instant, the wind roared and thunder rumbled, with flames blazing. The group of strange birds scattered in all directions, flying chaotically like blind flies. After a series of collisions, they were all knocked down from the sky by the talismans, falling into the bottomless darkness of the tower.
Luo Yun had never seen such a scene before, and for a moment, he was completely stunned by Bei Quan's explosive momentum, forgetting even fear and confusion.
He leaned against the tree trunk, motionless, staring at the astonishing scene in front of him, as if it were a Hollywood blockbuster with special effects.
His eyes widened as if they were about to pop out. For a moment, feathers and leaves were swirling around, amidst the roaring of wind, thunder, and the piercing screams of the owls.
The battle lasted for a full five minutes.
It wasn't until the last owl's feathers were ignited by the flames, turning into a burning fireball, screaming as it fell into the abyss, that Bei Quan finally stopped.
---Cough, cough, cough...
He covered his mouth and coughed softly. Luo Yun approached cautiously.
"Are you okay?"
Bei Quan turned to face him sideways.
From Luo Yun's angle, he could see the other male's round forehead, straight bridge of the nose, and thin lips, with beautiful and delicate outlines. But, even though this little classmate in the ivory tower didn't have much common sense about life, he could still tell that the other party's condition looked quite bad.
---Cough, cough...
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtBei Quan coughed again.
Luo Yun noticed
trace of fresh blood on Bei Quan's pale lips.
"To be honest, I am not okay.." Bei Quan said, using the back of his hand to wipe away the bloodstains from his lips.
"My talismans are running out, and..."
He pursed his lips and didn't continue speaking.
Luo Yun swallowed hard and opened his mouth as if trying to say something.
"So, that... you.."
After hesitating for two seconds, he changed his question and asked,
"So, what should we do now?"
Bei Quan replied, "We continue ascending."
Bei Quan pointed upward and said, "We're almost there."
Luo Yun understood exactly what Bei Quan meant by 'almost there.'
Yes, they were indeed not far from the top of the tree.
So, Luo Yun stayed silent and followed Bei Quan silently, continuing to climb the final stretch.
As Wei Fuyuan got out of the taxi, he spotted that another black car was already parked by the side of the road, with two people standing outside- Qing Zhu and Miss Liu from the 'Special Seven.'
The meeting place they had agreed upon was the low-rent apartment where Ran Qu lived.
On their way to the rendezvous, Qing Zhu and Miss Liu had already learned the general idea of what had happened from the police.
Yes, Ran Qu had indeed died.
He cut his wrist, used his blood to draw a rune on the floor of the room, and then hung himself from a ceiling fan, with his feet pointing towards the center of the rune.
Although Qing Zhu and Miss Liu hadn't yet fully understood the meaning of the rune, based on their 'professional knowledge', it was not difficult to infer that it was a type of sacrificial magic.
Ran Qu used himself as the 'ceremonial sacrifice' for the ritual, rapidly strengthening his power in a short amount of time. This allowed his dream space to becpowerful enough to forcefully pull in people who were once connected to him.
The moment Bei Quan opened the door, this magic was triggered, causing the three of them to suddenly lose consciousness without any preparation.
Although twas tight, Qing Zhu and Miss Liu didn't have tto summarize, but they obtained sinformation - it was not just Bei Quan, Wei Fuyuan, and Jiang Nan'an who had lost consciousness at the stime.
They suspected that anyone who had entered Tianyuan City' had fallen under the spell. Now, Wei Fuyuan had called Qing Zhu and Miss Liu because he had even more important information.
"That guy named Ah Song is nearby right now!"
Wei Fuyuan directly revealed the key clue he knew.
Qing Zhu and Miss Liu exchanged a glance, their expressions becoming more serious.
They didn't ask Wei Fuyuan how he knew. Both of them knew about Bei Quan's abilities and were well aware of the close relationship between Wei Fuyuan and Bei Quan. Naturally, they did not doubt that Bei Quan would find a way to inform his boyfriend of the information and then have Wei Fuyuan seek support from the 'Special Seven'.
"Where is he?!" Qing Zhu immediately asked.
Wei Fuyuan shook the red-colored letter that was in his grasp.
"With this, we should be able to find his whereabouts."
What Wei Fuyuan held was Ah Song's fate card.
This was the trump card that Bei Quan's master gave them when they returned from the Zhuling Secret Realm before.
Each person can only sign one such letter in their lifetime, needing to use their own blood to seal it. Once signed, it was like the Book of Life and Death in the underworld, accurately marking the person's lifespan in the mortal world.
It remains effective until the person who sealed it dies, and no matter what method is used, its effect cannot be erased.
If they ignited this personal fate card of Ah Song, the smoke would automatically drift towards the owner of the card, floating above their heads, with a tracking radius of about three kilometers.
Of course, burning the personal fate card was equivalent to destroying someone's proof of existence in the mortal world.
Whoever has their fate card destroyed can no longer be reincarnated after death, becoming a lonely ghost.
No one would have wanted to do this if it weren't for the fact that Ah Song had already killed many people and was guilty of serious crimes. If he hadn't been caught and brought to justice as soon as possible, more people would be killed.
But now that Bei Quan was still trapped in a dream, and this opportunity was so rare, Wei Fuyuan of course took out this trump card without hesitation.
After Qing Zhu heard the usage of this eight-character card, he pinched a small flwith his fingertips and ignited a corner of the talisman.
A wisp of green smoke quickly rose.
According to reason, when paper products are ignited, the fire should burn quickly. But, this eight-character talisman was made of an unknown material. Even when ignited by the Five-Flavored True Fire, only a faint red flrose at the edge, slowly climbing upwards. The burned area turned into fine ash, falling off slowly, bit by bit.
It was as if it was not a paper talisman that had been ignited, but a cigarette. The green smoke rose and lingered in the air, like a lively dragon, drawing a circle above their heads, then drifted directly towards the southeast.
Wei Fuyuan, Qing Zhu and Miss Liu didn't hesitate and followed the guidance of the smoke, while running in that direction.
"Bei Quan toldthat the formation drawn by Ran Qu before his death was likely taught to him by Ah Song," Wei Fuyuan said, sharing the information he knew with Qing Zhu and Miss Liu as they walked.
Qing Zhu asked, "Why are you certain that he must be nearby?"
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmWei Fuyuan replied, "Because, what he wants is Ran Qu's three souls and seven spirits."
Qing Zhu and Miss Liu thought carefully and immediately understood.
Ah Song's lifespan was coming to an end, so he had been trying to transform himself into a vengeful spirit that could live forever by feeding on negative human emotions.
But in reality, this was not an easy task.
It was clear that although Ah Song knew the method, he had not succeeded so far. He needed more test subjects. According to the 'evidence' found in Zhu Hongtao's villa by the 'Special Seven', creating a new 'vengeful spirit' requires two materials: the 'container' and the 'core'
The 'container' is the skin of a person who possesses the 'Four Pillars of Yin.'
As for the 'core', it must be the three souls and seven spirits of a person.
Not just anyone's soul can be chosen as the 'core' however.
The people of the 'Special Seven' were aware that the children adopted by the Zhu Ling Secret Realm, to sextent, were all related to the special bloodline of the Wu clan.
Ah Song, naturally, was no exception.
If the method of transforming oneself into a vengeful spirit proves effective, one day Ah Song himself would personally becthe 'core'.
So, he needed to find 'test subjects' who were similar to himself.
Ah Song didn't have the ability to target the children of the Zhu Ling Secret Realm, so he could only search among the general population for those who had the Wu clan bloodline - those who were 'different' from others.
These 'precious remnants' of the Wu clan bloodline could be people like Xu Lei, who possessed the power of "Spirit of Words", or someone like Ran Qu, who was so powerful that they could drag living people into their own dreams.
Ah Song sees them as experimental materials, attempting to capture their souls to create new vengeful spirits.
That would make sense.
"But... if that's the case, Ah Song doesn't have to be so roundabout."
With this in mind, Miss Liu furrowed her brows slightly and raised her own question, "He could simply kill people directly, just like how he dealt with Xu Lei, right?"
"Yeah."
Wei Fuyuan nodded, "Actually, I couldn't figure it out at first either..."
He paused, "It wasn't until I found out Ah Song's current identity that I understood why."
Both Qing Zhu and Miss Liu looked at him and asked in unison, "What is Ah Song's current identity??"
Just then, the three of them followed the smoke from the fate letter and arrived in front of a seven-story old apartment building. It was only about 500 meters away from the shared house where Ran Qu lived.
The author has something to say:
The truth will soon be revealed! (*?? * *)