601, 602

601: The Document Processing Department in Star Marshall Hall

Little Bun was almost four now and ran around playing like crazy every day. With Little White by his side, he was perfectly safe.

Some familiar classmates still helped Feng Wu take care of him every now and again.

In the last two years, the students at school matured a lot. The only one that remained the same, with her stoic, expressionless face, was Feng Wu.

Ming Xi graduated and the following year Tian Ya, and Elena left the school as well.

Though Feng Wu was promoted to the fourth years, most of the students who used to be in the same class as her were stuck in the third year. They were working hard in an effort to move up.

Going up a year in Xingguang Holy academy was difficult. It was common for a student to remain stuck in a grade for a year or two.

Fortunately, Feng Wu’s good friends, Jier and Ink both got promoted to the fourth year like her.

Zi Cheng and Ai Lin, of course, successfully advanced to the fourth year. Both of these two had strong cheats so it was impossible to not move up.

It was a tumultuous two years. Many unexplained and mysterious things occurred all over the continent and a general air of anxiety permeated the population.

To deal with the monsters pouring into the human world and wreaking havoc, Star Marshall hall stepped up their recruitment from Xingguang Holy. Elena and the others all entered Star Marshall and started working right away.

Hua Jin’s reputation dropped and she became notorious for a while after it was discovered she stole half a map of unknown use and handed it to an outsider. After this, it was impossible for her to be considered a possible empress candidate.

Even the Moon empress, who had always loved her like a daughter, was completely disappointed in Hua Jin.

Someone found an entrance to the Demon realm not long after the map disappeared. The person wanted to enter, but a pity, he didn’t know entering the Demon realm wasn’t simple. The moment the entrance opened, a strong vortex erupted. It was so strong, let’s just say the only thing left of the person was a piece of skin.

When his identity came out, everyone learned it was the perverted Feng Yi.

Feng Yi made a deal with Hua Jin years ago. Although he never fulfilled his end of the bargain, he still demanded the map, and he threatened Hua Jin for it; if she didn’t want what she did to be made public, then she needed to get him the map.

The half she got for him combined with the half he already owned allowed him to find the treasure marked on the map.

Unfortunately, he was pulled to death by the suction of the portal the moment he opened it.

Feng Yi probably never imagined he would die in such a tragic way.

He died and left a mess for the Moon emperor to clean up.

The entrance to the Demon realm hung open. If it wasn’t resealed, an endless parade of monsters would flood into the human world. It would be a catastrophe of epic proportions, so huge it would surely make it to the history books.

The map was lost in the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom, so the responsibility lay with the Moon emperor.

It wasn’t easy to seal the portal and the difficulty was several times that of the Blood Moon forest enchantment seal.

The Blood Moon seal only had to do with the forest; whereas the portal had to do with an entire realm. In order to seal it, the Moon emperor overextended his powers to the point it would take him years to fully recover.

With such a disability, the Moon emperor felt it was time to pass the throne on to his son, Ming Xi.

Ming Xi became the youngest emperor of all the emperors in the four great empires.

That same year, the Sun emperor also announced his abdication.[omission]

With both Sun and Moon emperors abdicating, the rest of the world wondered if Heaven and Earth emperors were also going to abdicate soon.

Fortunately, this was not the case. The next generation of Heaven and Earth emperors were too young and still needed time to build their powers. Neither the current emperors would abdicate any time soon.

The new Sun and Moon emperors were both young men with promising futures, it was only natural they would be prime magnets favored by the ladies. A pity, one said he did not want to get married while the other said he already had a fiancée.

Although both emperors expressed their wishes clearly, the ladies were still so enthusiastic, they didn’t care and firmly expressed their determination to win the empress seats.

In order to not disturb Feng Wu’s peaceful campus life, no one knew she was the aforementioned fiancée. Feng Wu and Little Bun lived happily at school without anyone disturbing them.

In addition, when Feng Wu was promoted to the fourth year, someone came by to ask her to work at Star Marshall doing paperwork. This was obviously initiated by her brother.

Most of the work at Star Marshall hall involved fighting monsters; there were only a few jobs that weren’t hazardous.

For her brother’s sake, Feng Wu agreed to do paperwork.

At the same time, Jier and Ink also joined Star Marshall hall, Jier because he was an envoy, and Ink because he performed exceptionally well at school and was given a recommendation by the teachers.

Fourth year homework wasn’t heavy so the three youngsters all started going to Star Marshall hall as a part of their internship. This time, Little Bun insisted on tagging along. Feng Wu couldn’t dissuade him no matter what she said, so in the end, she had no choice but to bring him with her.

Both Jier and Ink were assigned to the combat department, while Feng Wu was assigned to the clerical department.

She went there with Little Bun, who was unwilling to leave her alone even for a second.

Working in Star Marshall hall was a rare opportunity. It would be difficult to find another person who dared bring their child with them like Feng Wu.

Feng Wu didn’t know this of course. She walked to the clerical area with her normal poker face.

Most of the people who worked there weren’t capable, or rather you could say they were lousy at combat. Upon entering the area, Feng Wu saw several men and women sitting by a table writing. A young man wearing glasses walked over after spotting her.

He smiled as he greeted her. “Are you Feng Wu? Welcome to the document processing department. Besides you, there will be two other newcomers arriving today. You can sit here while we wait for them. Once everyone is here, I will arrange your work for you.” Dai, the handsome young man with glasses, smiled amiably at Feng Wu, but Feng Wu only nodded her head indifferently.

He wasn’t bothered by it though, and the sincere smile remained on his face.

It was just that the smile was a little distorted when he saw a certain little toddler.

“Who is this child?” He pointed to Little Bun uncertainly. Was he hallucinating from overworking last night?

“This is my son, Feng Ye.” Feng Wu introduced.

“Your son! No. . .  I mean why is he here?” It was the first time the young man encountered someone bringing their child to work. His entire body felt bad.

“He refuses to stay by himself, so he has to follow me.” Feng Wu said a little aggrieved.

Little Bun didn’t want to play by himself and kept pestering to come to work with her. Feng Wu finally agreed out of desperation. It felt like the older her son grew, the harder it was to communicate with him. Was he reaching that legendary rebellious period?

“Eh. . . ” The young man didn’t know what to say to this. Who would bring their child to work on their first day?

Anyone? Please find me a second.

No even if it wasn’t the first day of work, you couldn’t bring children into the workplace. This was a serious disregard between work matters and private matters. It needed a severe reprimand!

Just as he was about to tell Feng Wu that children were not allowed at work, a girl unexpected rush through the door in a whirlwind.

She had a high ponytail, a youthful face, and was wearing the overalls of a document processing employee. She was cute, especially with her big eyes and energy.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry. It’s my first time in such a massive place, and I accidentally got distracted by the amazing scenery. Please forgive me. I really didn’t mean it. My brother will kill me if he finds out I got fired on my first day of work. Boss, please, you’ll be reasonable, right?”

The girl bombarded him before he could even open his mouth and only blinked a few times after she finished speaking.

The young man’s mouth twitched involuntarily.

“You are Han Xia?” The young man associated the girl in front of him with one of the profiles on file. In the file, under admission, it said she had excellent writing skills, a wonderful love of literature, and was that rare youth who was motivated in all things.

Whether she was excellent at writing, whether she truly loved literature, whether she was truly motivated, he did not know. He only knew that she was a dunce.

Thinking about Feng Wu’s admission reason, he recalled there were only three words: serious and responsible.

Didn’t she obviously get in through the back door? Did you have to be so stingy with your words? Couldn’t you write a few more to pad the file and make it look better? It was so sparse, he was embarrassed to show it to anyone.

602: Making Random Stuff Up

He hoped the last one wouldn’t be a weirdo. Although the document processing department did clerical work, the salary was good and the work didn’t require them going to the front lines and fight monsters. It was a cushy job, however, that didn’t mean they got good recruits.

“Yes, yes Boss. You actually know me! I am Han Xia, and my brother is Han Jiang, a clerk in the arbitration tribunal. He was the one who introduced me to this job. My hobbies are writing, painting, and singing. If Boss is tired from work, Boss can ask me to sing a song to relieve fatigue. I’ll sing for everyone!” Han Xia was a motor mouth without breaks who could talk nonstop.

Very good. This girl was not only silly, but a chatterbox as well. Han Jiang’s younger sister and her gentle and polite brother were two extremes on opposite ends of the pole.

At first, he thought Han Jiang’s younger sister would be like Han Jiang, a kind and scholarly elite who made people feel at ease. The young man with glasses never expected her to be such a tornado. If he had known this, he would never have agreed to have Han Xia in his department no matter how good Han Jiang talked her up.

“Enough, I know who you are. You and Feng Wu can rest for a while. There is one more person who isn’t here yet. Let’s just wait.” Just as he finished saying this, another person walked in.

This time it was a guy, a peppy, handsome, sunshiny, fresh-faced young thing. He couldn’t be more than twenty.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I was so excited to work in Star Marshall hall that I couldn’t sleep a wink last night. As a result, I only fell asleep close to dawn and ended up oversleeping! Boss, I know my wrongs. I will definitely not be late next time. Please don’t fire me!” Sunshine boy pleaded his case with a pitiful expression to glasses boss.

“You are Zhao Yang.”[notes] The young man with glasses said the name of the fresh-faced youth with certainty. Even the name was suitable.

“Yes, yes! I am Zhao Yang.” Zhao Yang stood upright with a good attitude, properly admitting his mistake.

Compared to the wooden faced girl with her tag along son, and the incessant chatterbox girl who didn’t know how to stop, this young man was a sight for sore eyes. At this point, the boss didn’t care about Zhao Yang being late.

Somehow his standards dropped without him realizing it.

“Okay, you don’t need to say any more, just be careful not to be late again. Feeling uncomfortable on your first day of work is something everyone goes through. It’s understandable.” After speaking, the young man with glasses paused before continuing. “First let me introduce myself. My name is Wu Chang. I will be responsible for you during your internship for the year. What this means is I will arrange your daily work and evaluate your abilities at the end of the year.

If after the year is over, your evaluation is good or better, you can stay. Anything below will mean you must leave Star Marshall hall. I believe you were already briefed about these points by other people. As for what happens between now and then, I won’t say anymore on the matter.

Now I will arrange your work for the day. I have three blank documents in my hand. The files here will tell you where you are supposed to go to complete the records. Each of you can come over and take one.”

Han Xia, the most active person there, was the first to rush up and grab a file. Feng Wu was second. Zhao Yang, who was the only male in the group, naturally went last and took the remaining file.

There were three locations divided amongst the three files. All they had to do was go to the specified location and create the next record.

They didn’t dare linger after receiving their missions and immediately set off to where they were supposed to go.

Feng Wu took Little Bun to the location of the second team in the red group. Her task was to record the process of capturing the criminal.

This time they caught a woman who committed all kinds of bad deeds. The woman was an evil magician who specialized in absorbing men’s blood essence to improve her own magic. Her victims aged unnaturally and died a miserable death.

Nicknamed, Black Widow, she was amongst the top ten most wanted criminals in Star Marshall hall.

Star Marshall hall divided fighters into seven groups: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, black, and purple. Red was the lowest and purple was the highest.

Each of the seven groups were further divided into ten teams. There was no limit to the number of people on the teams, but the higher the group, the fewer eligible people there were.

Because it was Feng Wu’s first time recording, Wu Chang arranged a relatively simple task that wasn’t too dangerous for her.

Feng Wu found the second team in the red group easily. The people in the team knew she was their recorder and didn’t make things difficult for her.

The captain arranged for two people to be her bodyguards and to protect Little Bun.

In order to prevent the child from running around, one of the fighters simply hugged Little Bun to his body the entire time. It would be horrible if Little Bun ran off to the enemy.

The job of capturing Black Widow went smoothly as Feng Wu watched from behind with pen in hand poised over paper. She wrote a few words, then finished, closed the file folder and left.

The two guys who were tasked with protecting Feng Wu “. . . ” When has recording ever been that clear cut? There were only a few words on there. You must be messing with us, right?

When Feng Wu returned to the document processing department with the files, it so happened that Zhao Yang and Han Xia were also back.

The three walked to Wu Chang’s office to hand in their work together.

Wu Change calmly opened Feng Wu’s file bag first. He saw a few words written on it when he opened it.

-Black Widow was successfully arrested through the joint efforts of the second red team.-

That’s all? Where was the rest?

Wu Chang reluctantly flipped back to the front, but no, he hadn’t missed anything. His face turned black. “Feng Wu, what rubbish did you write? You can’t be lazy like this!”

“I’m not lazy!” Feng Wu looked at Wu Cheng with accusing eyes.

He instantly felt like he was a jerk bullying a little girl.

Well, she is new and inexperienced. Don’t get angry; it will be fine in the future. “Your writing is too simple. It won’t work like this. Next time you must write the process in more detail.” Wu Chang coughed lightly; his tone was considerably nicer than when he started.

Feng Wu didn’t understand but she nodded obediently.

“It’s okay, Feng Wu. It’s your first time. It’s always like this when you’re inexperienced. If you don’t understand, just refer to what I wrote. Not to brag, but I am kind of a professional.” Han Xia stood with a confident smile on her face.

Since she's so confident, let’s take a look at her work. Wu Change put Feng Wu’s file aside and picked up Han Xia’s file.

Wu Chang spent a few minutes reading it over; as he did so, his face turned green. “You. . .  tell me what this is!” If he felt a little angry when reading Feng Wu’s file, then after reading Han Xia’s file, he felt like he was about to vomit blood.

“The members of the third red team surrounded Bing Jì, and Bing Jì looked at the members of the third red team who surrounded her in a daze, the struggle and grievances written across her face.

The very handsome captain looked at Bing Jì with clear reluctance in his eyes. In the next second, while holding back the pain in his heart, he slashed at Bing Jì with his long sword.

Bing Jì dodged sideways, an expression of resentment on her face. Captain Chi San couldn’t bear to close his eyes, but he didn’t forget his responsibilities. He was a soldier of Star Marshall hall and his responsibility was to eliminate all monsters.

After a painful struggle, Captain Shi San finally captured Bing Jì together with his brothers, and when Bing Jì was arrested, the two gazed into each other’s eyes. . . ”

Everyone who heard the contents read aloud by Wu Chang stared agape in shock. One guy even dropped the food on his lips.

“Is there a problem with it? I think my writing is pretty good right? You see, there are fight scenes and literary scenes. I have full confidence in my work!” Han Xia thought about her writing as the file was being read, and she couldn’t see any problems.

“Where do you see that Bing Jì’s eyes had so many emotions? Bing Jì is an ice monster; her eyes are as white as ice and she has no emotions; she is cold from head to toe to heart!

Feeling wrong, dazed, at a loss? Are you sure you’re writing about Bing Jì and not the heroine of some novella. Then there is Captain Chi San, since when did he stare at Bing Jì with reluctance in his eyes? Since when did they gaze at each other? You can’t just make random stuff up as you like!

Take it back and redo it. Rewrite and then rewrite it again. If you can’t write it well, keep writing until you do!” Wu Change was about to vomit blood from anger.

What kind of person was she? To turn an archival report into a small essay. Han Jiang, that scumbag, said his sister was good at writing and loved literature. It was strange; if she was so good, why hadn’t they accepted her in the tribunal department and needed Han Jiang to beg for her to enter the document processing department. It turned out the direction of her excellence was in the direction of high drama fictional stories!

Wu Chang was so angry he tossed the file back at Han Xia. At this point, no matter how silly she was, she knew she shouldn’t argue.

“Boss.” Han Xia felt extremely wronged. It was obviously a fantastic piece.

Close by, an older sister who had been working in the department for several years, called out to Han Xia. “Little Sister Han Xia, what did you do before you came here?”

“Me? I wrote short fantasy romance stories. Noble girls love reading my stories in their free time, and I’ve loved writing it since I was a child.” Han Xia had an expression of great pride on her face as she said this.

603, 604

603: Completing the File

Hahahah . .  Wu Chang didn’t know what to say anymore. He was afraid that if he spoke, he’d vomit blood.

Ignoring Han Xia, who was engaged in a lively conversation with the older sister, Wu Chang picked up the last file and began to read Zhao Yang’s report. His face turned from green to black then black to green. Finally, he took a deep breath, and swallowed a mouthful of blood.

He read out loud, “In order to catch the evil Blue Flame, the members of the fifth red team fought hard for two hours, until they prevailed against the demon and captured him.

Blue Flame, as its name suggests, emits blue flame, and is a low-level demon with a cruel nature that loves to kill. It has killed countless people and wiped out three villages. To send this demon back to the Demon realm for the Demon emperor to sentence is simply too outrageous.

For the safety of all humanity, we should directly execute this kind of monster without mercy. Cruel and ruthless monsters like Blue Flame should be punished and made to atone for their unreasonable provocations. . . ”

Wu Chang swallowed a mouthful of blood. “Who do you think you are? You’re just a document recorder, not a critic! Your duty is to record what you see, not add your own subjective views! What you’re doing here is irresponsible and reckless!

As a recording officer, you’re not there to embellish events or make up stories, nor should you inject your own opinions into the matter. This is a serious job and must be done seriously. . . ”

Three hours of scolding later, the three guys were finally released to go home.

Feng Wu returned to her dorm tired.

Many students who yearned to work at Star Marshall hall gathered in Feng Wu’s dorm waiting for her to return.

Everyone: Is Star Marshall hall fun?

What is your job? Are you tired?

How was your first day on the job?

Feng Wu: . .  I’m so tired. I don’t want to talk.

The next day, Feng Wu brought her rewritten documents to the document processing department.

Feng Wu felt she made a lot of progress yesterday with Rui Baby’s help, so on the second day of work, Feng Wu confidently handed Wu Chang her file.

Zhao Yang’s rewritten files passed without any surprises. Han Xia’s was so well written, Wu Chang suspected Han Xia asked Han Jiang to be a ghostwriter, however he couldn’t prove it.

Wu Chang could see all three had made progress. There was still a lot more to do, but at least now there was something to work with.

Today, instead of arranging a new job for them, Wu Chang had them use the old archives room. He opened it up so they could read old accounts and learn from their predecessors.

After yesterday’s scolding, Little Bun did not mention coming to work with Feng Wu again, so today Little Bun was at school and running around like it was his personal playground. The assistant principal indulged him as always.

In the old archives room, Feng Wu, Han Xia and Zhao Yang picked a corner and began their day plodding through old records.

Meanwhile, Jier and Ink were having a much better time. Jier inherited Summer’s envoy position and Ink was in the fifth red group. Their day was lively and exciting.

Ink’s dream was to work hard and become a purple ranked warrior. To be able to carry out tasks for the purple group would be the highlight of his life.

Jier was already living the highlight of his life.

Feng Wu and her two fellow interns remained knee deep in old records. Three days later, Feng Wu was the first to finish reading everything. She went to Wu Chang for a new job.

You finished reading that fast? Wu Chang was stunned. The files in the old archives room weren’t the only files in the hall, but they should still have taken a month to finish, right?

Wu Change suspected Feng Wu was lying, so he randomly selected a file to test her. Shockingly, she answered all his questions correctly.

Wu Chang had to admit he was wrong. There was a gem amongst the newcomers. All right then, no big deal. At worst he would take her to the main archive room. There, she could read all the nonconfidential files. If she finished those in three days, he would eat his hat.

Wu Chang was ruthless and left Feng Wu in the main room for a month until the other two finished the files in the old archives room. Then he called all three over to arrange a new job.

This time he wanted them to restore some old files. Two weeks ago, a fire damaged several records that were more than twenty years old and replacing the missing information was the document processing department’s responsibility.

To supplement lost information would require contacting the relevant people involved. The cases were so old, it would be difficult to fill in the missing gaps. If it was simple, the other people in the department wouldn’t have bullied the newcomers and entrusted them with it. Supplementing missing information from damaged files was the most troublesome kind of job and no one wanted it.

This thankless job was assigned to the three shiny newcomers.

The files that were damaged were about a serial murder involving several families, the mysterious disappearance of Hong village, and the massacre of a fishing village.

The three of them worked together and divided the labor. Feng Wu went to investigate the serial case, Han Xia went to investigate the village disappearance, and Zhao Yang went to investigate the village massacre.

The serial case was the most difficult to fix because there were as many as five families involved. Relatives and friends of the victims would have to be contacted for relevant details.

Fortunately, not everything in the file was burned. Feng Wu found information about the five families and went to complete the file.

The first person she visited was the mother of the woman killed. She was nearly eighty at this point, and since she was an ordinary person, her age was obvious.

Even the son was in his fifties and the grandson in his twenties.

Feng Wu’s arrival reminded them what they most wanted to forget.

“My poor daughter, she died so tragically. The murderer stabbed her to death and didn’t even spare the two-year-old child. If that child had lived, he would be twenty today.” Tears filled the old woman’s eyes as she pulled up her most painful memories.

604: Han Xia Disappears

Although the old lady was sad remembering, she still did her best to share what information she could remember about her daughter’s family, hoping it would help Feng Wu.

If the files disappeared, any hope of catching the murderer would be lost, so they could not lose the precious files.

Feng Wu stayed at the old lady’s house for several hours asking every question she could think of to fill in as many details as she could.

The old lady wasn’t in good health and in the end, it was the deceased’s younger brother who answered Feng Wu’s questions.

It was a blow to the family that the murderer was still not caught after all these years.

Next, Feng Wu went to visit the other four other families and specifically asked for portraits of the victims.

By the time Feng Wu got back to school, it was already dark. She left campus to and got a few dishes from one of the small restaurants nearby.

Coincidentally, Ai Lin also just returned and was out looking for something to eat when she saw Feng Wu eating.

Ai Lin was living her best life having formed her own mercenary group with like minded individuals. They took up tasks and had all kinds of adventures.

Since entering the fourth year, everyone had their own interests and rarely saw one another.

Ai Lin was surprised to see Feng Wu, and the two girls sat together to share a meal.

Feng Wu told her about the cold case from twenty years ago and how she was trying to fill in missing information from the damaged file.

Ai Lin loved reading mystery novels. There was an unsolved serial murder case and it turned out there was a 200,000 gold reward. It was a lot of money! If she solved the case, she’d be richer by 200,000!

She really wanted to solve the case so she asked Feng Wu all sorts of questions.

Feng Wu shared everything she knew. Basically, a total of five families fell victim to the murderer. The families were just your ordinary family with ordinary people.

The investigator who worked on the case at the time didn’t think it was done by a magician or a sword master. Since all the victims were ordinary people, he felt the perpetrator had to also be an ordinary person. A magician or swordmaster wouldn’t have bothered to kill ordinary people, even if it was to vent their anger.

No self-respecting magician or swordmaster would do such a thing.

The continent also had laws protecting ordinary people: as long as ordinary people did not take the initiative to challenge a magician or sword master, a magician or sword master could not kill ordinary people just because. Without such a law, ordinary people would have a very hard time surviving.

Being a magician was one of the most noble professions on the continent and it was impossible for one to be so bored as to target ordinary people. Therefore, it was impossible for the murderer to be a magician. Besides, the murder weapon was a sword.

As for it being a sword master, that was also unlikely. A sword master was very powerful and had great control over their weapon. Killing an ordinary person would only take seconds, but these victims died very messily, with scars all over their bodies. It didn’t look like the act of a capable person.

Ai Lin looked at the relevant information and asked some more about the situations of all the families involved, especially the first family.

Based on the above reasoning by the investigator, the possibility of it being a magician or a sword master was nonexistent, therefore, it had to be an ordinary person.

Murderers like this usually chose people they knew and resented for their first kills, so the first case would have the most clues.

The information Ai Lin got was mostly from Feng Wu’s interviews and was not publicly available, so she promised to split the reward if she ever solved it.

After dinner, the two girls went back to their respective dorms. Feng Wu had to complete the files one by one and transcribe all the interviews over again. It was laborious and took her more than two hours to complete.

Once finished, she contacted Ming Xi and the two chatted for over half an hour before going to sleep.

As the new Moon emperor, Ming Xi was busy in the early days of ascending the throne, but thereafter, things settled down and he had been taking it easy since. Except for some particularly important tasks he needed to handle himself, everyday tasks were handled by his minister.

When Ming Xi’s father abdicated, the old minister also retired, which left a vacant position. The current minister was an old friend of Ming Xi’s.

With a super capable minister by his side, Ming Xi had it easy.

“Is work in the document processing department very tiring? Xiao Wu look really tired.” Ming Xi frowned and asked.

His minister to the side glanced at Ming Xi. “It should be because she is unaccustomed to it. I’m sure she’ll be fine once she adjusts.”

“That makes sense.” Ming Xi nodded. If she was still tired after awhile, he would need to see if someone was deliberately targeting her and arranging an inordinate amount of work. After all, how could an ordinary clerical job be so tiring?

Feng Wu only completed the files she was supposed to sort out after spending all day on them. Wu Chang was very pleased with her efficiency and had praised her appropriately.

This made Feng Wu happy.

She and Zhao Yan both finished their files, but there was still no news from Han Xia. She hadn’t shown up to work in three days. Something wasn’t right.

Wu Change sent Feng Wu and Zhao Yan to Han Xia’s house to check and make sure she was OK.

They went only to find she hadn’t been back in three days. Three days ago, Han Xia and her brother Han Jiang left home in a hurry and had been gone since.

This was bad news. Both missing? Could something have happened to them?

Zhao Yang rubbed his nose then said, “Xiao Wu, do you think Xiao Xia took her brother to investigate the disappearance of Hong village?”

Feng Wu blinked her eyes. “Did she say that?”

“She said she wanted to solve the case so Boss Wu Chang would praise her. The day she dragged her brother out, it was probably to investigate the case together.” All that time spent in the old archives reading files together gave Zhao Yang a good understanding of Han Xia.

The girl was like a tornado, loved to join in the action and make lots of noise. It looked like something happened this time.

“Wow, what kind of monster is that! So cute!” Zhao Yang had no resistance to small cute things. When he saw Rui Baby appear his eyes instantly flared wide with interest.

The unsolved disappearance of Hong village had been investigated over twenty years ago. Nothing was resolved back then. As a little recorder, you should just go and obediently hand in the files; not try to do more than you could handle.

Zhao Yang complained in his heart.

Feng Wu thought for a while, then said, “Then let’s go to the place where Hong village used to be. She might be there.”

That was the only clue they had so they rushed off to where Hong village used to be.

Once they got to the old site, all they saw was bare dirt.

Never mind finding Han Xia, they couldn’t even find a single person in the area.

Ever since Hong village disappeared, no one dared stay in the area because they were afraid they would disappear too.

Feng Wu and Zhao Yang checked around several times, but couldn’t find anything. Feng Wu was about to leave when Rui Baby, who had just returned from the spirit world, suddenly appeared.

605, 606

605: Hong Village

“Baby! You’re back!” Feng Wu felt a weight on her head and immediately knew Rui Baby was back from playing in the spirit world.

“Baby! So, your name is Baby. Baby come over and call me Brother. Listen to me and I’ll buy you some delicious meat!” Zhao Yang smiled like an idiot.

Feng Wu glanced at Zhao Yang then calmly looked away.

“Who are you? You actually want to be this baby’s brother? This baby can practically be your ancestor! You can’t handle it. To dare try to bribe this baby with food, you clearly don’t want to live anymore!” Rui Baby kicked Zhao Yang in his drooling face.

“Ouch, ouch! I made a mistake! I’m so sorry!” Zhao Yang, who was just kicked in the face, quickly begged for mercy. In front of such a cute little thing, he had no will to fight.

Feng Wu calmly ignored the two of them chasing each other beside her. She walked forward a few steps toward the lake in front. It was a small lake with tiny fish swimming around. Feng Wu stretched her hand wanting to play with the fish, when suddenly a strong suction force yanked her forward. . . 

After Rui Baby felt he’d beat Zhao Yang enough, he turned to look for Feng Wu only to find she’d disappeared. Where did she go?

Rui Baby and Zhao Yang looked around in confusion. She was there just a minute ago. They called out her name, but only got the cold wind blowing in their faces as a response. Feng Wu had disappeared like Han Xia.

Feng Wu felt someone patting her face and calling out to her. She opened her eyes in a daze and saw Han Xiao. Beside her was another gentleman wearing a pair of silver-framed glasses.

The glasses shouldn’t have appeared in the world at the time, but a world traverser named Longze passed by 5,000 years ago. His appearance caused many things, such as glasses, that should not have appeared to appear.

“Oh, thank goodness. Xiao Wu, you’re finally awake. Are you uncomfortable anywhere?” Han Xia was worried.

“I’m fine. What is this place? Why am I here?” Feng Wu asked uncertainly.

“This is Hong village. As for why you are here, I think you probably came through the lake, same as me and my brother.” Han Xia glanced at Han Jiang in embarrassment as she said this.

Han Jiang sighed slightly. If there was an annual list of pit brothers and sisters,[notes] his sister would definitely rank first.

Back home, when she wrote her romance novels, she would often base her characters on him. The characters would yell things like, “I love you!” every day. Han Jiang got goosebumps just looking at the lines.

He could bear with the whole writing romance novels bit as long as his name wasn’t used.

A pity, as time progressed, and his sister got better at being a pit sister, her love of words shifted from hetero romance to gay love, which then changed to sadomasochism. Through all of it, she somehow managed to use his likeness for all the gay novels and turned him into a little shou.

Colleagues who read her novels began to wonder if he was gay and into rough play. Now some of his good-looking male colleagues chatted him up incessantly, to the point he began to wonder if he was, in fact, gay.

As far as pit sister attacks went, hers were very good.

To stop the craziness that was his sister, he convinced his best friend to let her work in the document processing department at Star Marshall hall.

Unexpectedly this great sister, even after entering Star Marshall hall and becoming a clerk, was still able to cheat him ruthlessly. He ended up having to rewrite all her files, and that was only the start. Afterwards, she wanted to find out the truth behind the disappearance of Hong village, so she dragged him along with her to the old village site.

His sister gravitated toward the nearby lake, wanting to play near it. He wanted to pull her back at the time, but unexpectedly, ended up being sucked into this sealed world. Who did he offend? How did he end up with and such a pit sister? It was tiring just thinking about it.

He was annoyed but he couldn’t bear to get angry at her. They were orphaned when he was fifteen and she was eight. Since then, as the elder brother, he had been caring for her and taking on the role of both parents for the past ten years.

His little sister was a handful, but she had a good heart. At least she knew to feel guilty when she did something wrong.

Feng Wu rubbed her forehead and thought about what just happened carefully. The last thing she remembered was playing near the water by the lake. It looked like she was yanked forward by something before losing consciousness.

“This is Hong village? The village that disappeared?” Feng Wu frowned.

“That’s right. This is Hong village, the same one that disappeared. Don’t believe it? Well it turns out, Hong village was sealed and while people can enter, they can not leave. When I tell the boss, he’ll definitely look at me with new eyes hahah. . . ”

Imagining the scene of her being praised made Han Xia giddy.

“Hahahah, stop your runaway thoughts right there. We’re trapped here and don’t know how to get out. You still want to be praised? Dream less and think harder!” Han Jiang slapped his sister on the forehead. Could this girl pay attention to the situation please?

“That’s right, we can’t get out right now. No matter what a great job I’ve done, the boss will never know!” The fact knocked Han Xia down. She slapped her head with the palm of one hand. What an unreasonable world!

“We can’t get out?” Feng Wu frowned. She still wanted to see Xiao Ye, her master and Ming Xi.

“If we had a way, we would have left a long time ago. Let’s go to our place for now. The villagers here are pretty good. They didn’t reject us outsiders coming in here by accident. The even gave us provisions and a thatched hut to stay in. It’s not big, but it’s good enough for three people.”

Feng Wu followed them to their temporary lodgings. It was a dilapidated thatched hut that was just serviceable as shelter against the wind and rain. At least they wouldn’t have to be miserable and sleep outside.

Along the way back, the siblings greeted the villagers amiably. The villagers were all good people with a warm, welcoming attitude. None of them expressed any hostility at Feng Wu’s arrival.

606: Man-Eating Lake

Hong village was isolated from the world and people couldn’t leave. The only way to get news about the rest of the world was from those who entered accidentally. Because of this, the villagers were very welcoming of outsiders.

At the thatched hut, Han Xia wanted to pour water and cook something for Feng Wu, but was stopped before she started.

As a food lover, Feng Wu could do without anything but food. Her storage space was filled with good things to eat. She took out two roasted chicken legs and some fish to grill.

In the three days since the siblings entered the village, their diet consisted of simple vegetarian dishes the villagers shared with them. It was an isolated village after all. The only sources of meat came from the few low-level beasts raised by the villagers. It was the kind of meat commonly found on dining tables across the continent.

The beasts were ordinary beasts with no innate qualities, but they were tasty and suitable for eating. Many ordinary folks raised these kinds of beasts themselves with any leftovers generally put up for sale.

Animals raised for their meat wasn’t expensive, but in this isolated village, they were precious. The villagers didn’t usually eat meat and only slaughtered animals on special occasions. At that time, a little bit of meat would be shared amongst all the families and everyone would eat happily.

All this is to say, the siblings hadn’t had any meat to eat since arriving in the village. So, after sharing in Feng Wu’s bounty, they felt alive again.

“There’s no meat to eat here. I’m a carnivore; I can’t stay here forever. I definitely won’t last!” Han Xia hugged the hand she used to hold the chicken to her chest. She sucked on the bones again and again, reluctant to let them go, knowing there may not be anymore after.

“Don’t be discouraged; we’ll get out of here.” Han Jiang patted his sister on the head trying his best to comfort her.

In fact, he wasn’t sure they could leave. The villagers had been trapped inside for twenty years. Star Marshall hall sent people to investigate several times over the years, but nothing new was ever found. Unless the hall could figure out the mystery of the lake, it wouldn’t matter how powerful the person they sent to investigate was, they wouldn’t be able to find the village.

“Brother, did you wash your hands?” Han Xia, no longer sad, slapped her brother’s hand away. How dare he touch her head with his greasy hands. He must have done it on purpose. The jerk.

The news of Feng Wu’s disappearance spread to the Star temple. Including the Han siblings, Feng Wu was now the third person to disappear. Did they experience the same phenomenon that happened in the village twenty years ago?

Jier volunteered to investigate when he learned about Feng Wu’s disappearance.

Jier[notes] walked around the site several times, but failed to find anything unusual.

Rui Baby blinked his round eyes. “The water, there might be something wrong with the water in that lake.”

“What, did you find something?” Jier asked as he approached Rui Baby.

“I remember Xiao Wu walking towards the lake before disappearing. So there must be something wrong with it.”

“Are you sure she was heading that way?” Jier asked.

Rui Baby nodded his head, absolutely certain he was not mistaken. Zhao Yang was no help; he hadn’t noticed at all.

Rui Baby and Jier walked to the lake together. It didn’t look like there was anything wrong with it. They could see straight to the few stones at the bottom.

Jier didn’t get it. What was so strange about the water in the lake? But he knew Rui Baby wouldn’t lie, so he squatted down and scooped some water in his hand then watched it trickle through his fingers. The water was cold and absolutely normal!

Suddenly Jier felt something catch his body and he fell into the water and disappeared.

Rui Baby reacted and immediately jumped after Jier. He disappeared just like Jier. Zhao Yang was so frightened upon witnessing the scene that his legs went limp. What kind of bull crap was this?! A lake that ate people?!

Zhao Yang didn’t waste time; he ran as fast he could in the direction toward Star Marshall hall.

Jier,[notes] who had been sucked into the water, woke up in another world. Upon opening his eyes, he saw the same white clouds and blue skies above. The lake was still the same, but the barren land beside it turned into a small mountain village.

There were about one hundred families living in the village and everyone there had honest smiles as they worked the fields.

“This place is incredible! No wonder we couldn’t find it. Turns out it’s a dimensional space artifact.” Rui Baby shook his head in wonderment.

“Focus. Since we’re here, then it proves Xiao Wu and the others must be here too. Let’s go and find them first.”

They left to search, one human and one beast walking and looking around the village. The people they met along the way greeted them amiably. Jier found where Feng Wu and the siblings were after asking the villagers.

Han Xia and Han Jiang were just about to take Feng Wu for a constitutional walk after having finished their meal when they ran into Jier.

“Xiao Wu!” Jier rushed over excitedly. He grabbed Feng Wu and spun her around in a hug before putting her down and inspecting her from head to toe. Good, she didn’t look injured.

“Xiao Wu!” Rui Baby also rushed over and hopped into Feng Wu’s arms. His small body was all sorts of cute against Feng Wu’s flat chest.

“Why are you two here?” Feng Wu was a little surprised. She hadn’t expected to see Jier and Rui Baby so soon.

“Rui Baby said he saw you walking toward the lake just before you disappeared, so I came to see what was wrong and ended up being pulled here,” said Jier nonchalantly.

“Don’t be afraid, Xiao Wu. This place is just a dimensional space inside a high-level magic tool. It’s at least holy level. No wonder people from Star Marshall couldn’t find anything all the times they came to investigate.” Rui Baby said.

“You mean we are inside a holy-level space item?!” Han Xia exclaimed.

A holy-level space item, that wasn’t something you saw every day! Why was there such a high-level treasure in a small village like this? It didn’t make sense!

607, 608

607: The Strange Village

“You mean the villagers did this? Why would they? Can being locked inside a dimensional space really make them happy?” Han Xia didn’t understand how people could voluntarily draw a cell around themselves.

“It may also have been done by a single person and wasn’t a choice made by the villagers.” Han Jiang said.

“Then let’s find the person responsible for sealing off the village. We should be able to leave here if we find them.” Jier said.

“But there are so many people in the village; it will be hard.” Han Jiang said.

“We can take our time and look carefully. We can’t just sit and wait for rescue.” Jier rolled his eyes.

He was never one to wait for rescue. As a majestic envoy of Star Marshall hall, it would be too embarrassing to wait for other people to rescue him.

“By the way, I don’t know your name yet. Could it be you are Xiao Wu’s boyfriend?” Han Xia asked with interest.

“My name is Jier and I am the Summer envoy for Star Marshall hall. As for my relationship with Xiao Wu, we’re best buds or brothers, however you want to think of it is fine.”

“It turned out you’re the envoy. I am Han Jiang, a clerk in the arbitration tribunal. I am responsible for recording documents and files in the arbitration department. This is my sister Han Xia. She’s a record clerk at Star Marshall hall and isn’t responsible for much work. She still needs to study hard to learn and grow.” Han Jiang introduced himself and his sister.

He met the envoys for Spring, Autumn, and Winter already, but it was his first meeting with the newly appointed Summer envoy. Apparently, Summer envoy’s appointment was delayed due to personal reasons. Han Jiang never expected to meet under such circumstances.

The arbitration tribunal usually dealt with the season envoys, so the people in his department was quite familiar with them. So although, it was their first meeting, as long as Jier remained the envoy for Summer, it was likely they would get to know each other sooner or later.

In any case, Han Jiang was much more confident about their chances of getting out now that Jier with them. Star Marshall hall would go all out to rescue an envoy.

Moreover, the envoys had their legacies. Even if no one came to rescue them, he was sure they would be able to think of a way out.

Han Jiang’s hope rose up. Their odds of leaving had increased by more than half.

To find the person who sealed the village, the group went around the village and began talking to the villagers. They did that for two days, and in the process also met people who, like them, had been yanked into the village from outside.

These people, in order to survive, also started farming like the villagers. It didn’t matter how powerful they were, they still needed food to fill their tummies.

“Don’t you find it strange? Those outsiders, their attitude is too submissive.” Jier noticed.

“I feel the same way. The two brothers we met today, for example, were obviously not good practitioners, but now they’re obediently farming the land. Why don’t they steal the already grown vegetables from other people? I don’t get it.” Han Jiang also felt it was strange.

The two brothers they saw, from the look in their eyes to the auras they gave off, were obviously bad people. That they wouldn’t try to intimidate and threaten the villagers was too strange.

No matter how Han Jiang looked at it, the men were not principled people with morals against hurting ordinary people.

“Is there something about the villagers that is scaring them?” Han Xia wondered.

“What kind of people could make those brothers so scared that they don’t dare touch even a single roof tile? Or did they try before, but were taught a lesson, so now they don’t dare try again?”

“Also, those villagers are always smiling, no matter who they see coming. Aren’t they afraid of encountering bad people and be forced into slavery?!”

The odd behavior from the villagers, the sealed off village – what kind of secret were hidden inside?

While Feng Wu and the group were investigating inside the village, Zhao Yang had gathered a large group of people to help.

This time Star Marshall hall sent over a high-ranking dimensional space magician who specialized in spatial fluctuations.

“There seems to be a strange space on the other side of this lake.” The magician concluded after studying the lake.

“Is it a dimensional space created using a spell?” Creating dimensional space was something only holy level magicians could do.

“No, it should be space created with an item. It’s not a low-level item either; it must be at least a holy level item, if I’m not mistaken. It wouldn’t have hidden so well from me otherwise. It’s a good thing I’m the one that came. Holy level magicians from the other departments would not have been able to detect the spatial fluctuations on the other side of the lake.”

“What should we do now? Shall we destroy the space and then rescue Xiao Wu and the envoy?” Zhao Yang gestured excitedly.

“Now is not the time; let me think it through some more.”

Suddenly the space distorted and the magician disappeared in and out several times.

“Xiao Wu, Xiao Xia, Master Jier you must hold on. Master Fasheng will definitely save you. . . ” Zhao Yang spoke in the direction of the lake.

Feng Wu and the others had no idea Star Marshall hall was sending people to rescue them. They were busy searching for the owner of the artifact who sealed the village away.

After two days investigating, the most suspicious person they found was the village chief’s daughter, Laiya.

Twenty years ago, a sword master took a fancy to Laiya and wanted to force her to be one of his concubine wives, but Laiya was already engaged to her childhood sweetheart, so naturally she couldn’t accept the offer.

Laiya was an ordinary person with no aspirations of marrying to raise her station; she only wanted to marry her sweetheart and live happily in her village.

Everything changed when the sword master appeared and demanded the village chief hand his daughter over. He had his people surround the village, day after day for seven days, not attacking, but laying siege.

When the eighth day came, all the people that surrounded the village disappeared and the villagers couldn’t leave.

Not being able to leave wasn’t a big deal for them, as long as bullies weren’t harassing them, isolation was acceptable.

The villagers continued to live their lives like normal. It wasn’t until the first outsiders arrived that they realized it wasn’t the wicked people who disappeared, it was them that disappeared.

They would get a few outsiders every now and again after that. And like them, the outsiders were also trapped. Some had thought about leaving the isolated world of the village, but the passage at the bottom of the lake was a one-way gate. Everyone who entered was trapped inside.

Ten outsiders had accidentally entered the village in the past twenty years. The outsiders grew accustomed to life in the village and didn’t make trouble for anyone. Everyone lived happily and worked in peace.

Han Jiang was sure there were things about the outsiders that weren’t being shared. The villagers wouldn’t say anything and the outsiders refused to talk about it. They tried asking around, but couldn’t get any information.

608: The Mysterious Old Widow

“That’s why Laiya is the most likely suspect. She has the best motive.” Han Xia whispered after sipping the juice Feng Wu shared.

“That’s true, but this is all still a guess; I’m not sure if it’s her.” Han Jiang said.

“It seems that we have to keep an eye on her. How is that Laiya now? Is she married to her childhood sweetheart?” Jier pushed his empty cup away.

“They married twenty years ago. Seven days after the village was sealed, the village head’s family hurriedly organized a marriage for them. Now their oldest child is eighteen and the youngest is twelve.” Han Jiang said.

Considering what information they had, they decided to keep an eye on Laiya. Hopefully something useful would show up.

Laiya’s family was an ordinary family; they worked at sunrise and rested at sunset. Ordinary people who didn’t practice magic and martial qi aged normally. The traces of age on Laiya’s thirty-eight-year-old face did not detract from her beauty, however. It was no wonder the sword master spent so much effort trying to marry her; she must have been a stunning woman twenty years ago.

Her husband, a blacksmith in the village, was named Kamen. She and her husband loved each other deeply and their eyes would fill with love and affection whenever they were together. No wonder, even if it raised her station in life, Laiya was unwilling to marry the unfamiliar sword master.

“While they’re all out working, let’s go to her house and see if we can find the holy artifact or anything else suspicious!” Han Xia said.

It was a good idea, so they had Han Jiang stand as look out while everyone else snuck inside Laiya’s house.

In the end, they failed to find anything by the time Laiya’s family returned.

They snuck back out and returned disappointed to their hut. “Why is there nothing? Laiya is definitely the most suspicious person.

“Could you have made a mistake? Is it really Laiya who sealed the village?” Rui Baby said casually while eating a snack.

“Master Rui, did you find something?” Han Xia immediately retreated and ran to Rui Baby’s side to fawn over him.

“This great one has indeed discovered something. In fact, there was something else that happened here twenty years ago other than what happened with Laiya.” Rui Baby was pleased with the fawning so he shared a bit mysteriously.

“Something else? No way. I asked about all the major events that happened twenty years ago. There can’t be something I don’t know about!” Han Jiang thought about it and couldn’t think about the event Rui Baby was talking about.

“Twenty years ago, the old widow in the east of the village had two beautiful daughters, and the three women depended on each other very much. The old widow, because she was cheated on by a man, told her daughter to never trust men. Eventually, one after the other, both her daughters fell in love with men outside the village. The men they loved came to the village to propose, but unfortunately the old widow objected vehemently.

She beat both daughters severely enough to force them to be bedridden. Then she went out and warned the two men never to approach her daughters again.

Her daughters found her dominance over their lives unbearable, and in the end, they decided to elope. Unfortunately, the day before their planned elopement, the sword master came to the village and tried to force Laiya to marry him.

Their elopement plans were thwarted because of this. Then on the eight day the village was sealed and the daughters were trapped inside. They are still single even now.”

This did happen and Rui Baby would never been privy to such details had he not but fluttering around and eavesdropping on the villagers’ conversations.

“You suspect the old widow sealed the village to prevent her daughters from leaving her and marrying?” If this guess was correct, then the old lady was perverted.

Han Xia felt her scalp go numb just thinking about having such a terrible mother.

“Why haven’t the daughters married in all this time? Even if they can’t marry outside the village, they can still marry someone inside.” Han Xia was puzzled by this.

“Their mother is really perverted. Just because one man caused her suffering, she thinks all men are evil things. She doesn’t allow her daughters to approach men, or talk to them, let alone marry one. Anyway, she just wants her daughters to by alone forever like her.”

Rui Baby rolled his eyes, just thinking about perverted old woman gave him the shivers.

“Let’s talk about sealing the village; if it’s that old woman, then she would definitely do it.” Jier thought of the old widow Rui Baby talked about.

They all agreed the perverted old widow was seriously suspicious. Her ranking on the list of suspects was even higher than Laiya’s.

They snuck into her house in the dead of night to investigate, but unfortunately, her room was locked up tight, even her window was closed shut. Finding out if she was responsible for sealing the village would be difficult.

The village was strange so they didn’t know if using magic or scrolls could have unintended consequences. To be safe, they decided not to use magic or qi.

They searched the yard for a long time and found nothing suspicious. As for the two daughters who previously tried to run away, if there was a holy artifact, there was no way the old widow would leave it in their possession.

It was probably in the old widow’s room. She locked it up so tight.

They kept surveillance on the old widow’s family and found, that apart from her two daughters working every day, the widow didn’t leave. How were they supposed to sneak in and search around if she didn’t leave?!

The widow finally left her house two days later on the full moon. She wore a black cloak that covered her body completely; not even an inch of skin peeped through.

Rui Baby went out to follow the old widow and see what she was up to so late at night, while everyone else grabbed the chance to sneak inside her house.

They managed to get inside her room using a lock pick. Inside was pitch black without light or shadow. Han Xia glanced around at the things inside the room after taking out a flint and lighting it for light. She screamed out in fright, completely forgetting where they were for a moment.

This immediately brought a burst of footsteps toward the room. No doubt the people running over were the daughters.

Their mother didn’t even let them into her room, so for there to suddenly be an unfamiliar screaming coming from that direction, of course they didn’t just foolishly rush over without first grabbing a weapon.

“Are you outsiders? What are you doing in our mother’s room?” The sisters watched Feng Wu and the kids in the room warily while still holding onto knives they grabbed earlier.

“Don’t be afraid. We’re here to find a way out of the village.” Jier raised his hand to show them he was harmless and didn’t have a weapon.

609, 610

609: Reanimated Corpse

The sisters’ expression improved once they saw Jier had no malicious intentions. “If there was a way to leave, we would have left long ago. You’re wasting your time looking for clues in this house.”

“That’s not necessarily true.” Han Jiang said mysteriously.

The sisters looked at each other, puzzled why this gentle young man would say such a thing. “What do you mean?”

“To make a long story short, we suspect your mother either sealed the village or had an active hand in the process.” Han Jiang spoke with certainty.

“You mean our mother was the one who sealed the village back then?! But that’s impossible; our mother is just an ordinary person. How could she have that kind of ability?”

The younger of the sisters widened her eyes in disbelief. She couldn’t believe her ordinary mother was capable of doing such mysterious things.

“No, I can believe it.” The older sister had a strange expression on her face. She obviously had doubts in her heart.

“Sister, do not forget, Mother is an ordinary person. How could she do it?!” The fact that their mother was an ordinary person was something the younger sister could not reconcile. It was impossible to believe their mother could be involved.

“Oh! An ordinary person! You really believe that she’s an ordinary person? Look at what’s in this room! What are these?!” The older sister pointed to the pile of bottles and jars in the room containing powerful Gu insects and other transparent jars that held scary insects crawling around inside.

It was what made Han Xia scream earlier. She had a fear of creepy crawlies, so it was no wonder she screamed in fright after see so many all around her.

“Those Gu worms...” The younger sister lost her voice. What ordinary people raised Gu worms?

“She’s coming back.” Feng Wu suddenly received communication from Rui Baby.

“Oh no! You must leave immediately. Tomorrow us sisters will find a way to contact you. It’s best if you use another girl. If Mother sees us talking to a man, she will be suspicious.”

The sisters spoke while pushing Feng Wu and the others out of their mother’s room.

The older sister turned around and put the door back in order, while the younger sister led Jier and the others out quickly through the back door.

Their mother returned through the front door just as the group exited through the back.

Jier and the others didn’t dare linger now that the old widow was back. They immediately returned to the small thatched hut where they were living temporarily.

“Rui Baby, did you discover anything from following the old widow?” Jier promptly asked after swallowing a mouthful of nervous saliva.

“Oh, did I? Guess who I saw her visit?!” Rui Baby asked mysteriously.

They all shook their heads. There were so many people in the village; they couldn’t even begin to guess.

“She went to visit Laiya.” Rui Baby dropped the bomb directly.

“No way! Laiya and the old widow are working together?!” Han Xia felt she needed a drink of water to calm her shock.

That the beautiful, gentle and virtuous Laiya would have anything to do with the perverted old widow was unbelievable!

“And I have more news.” Rui Baby kept on.

Jier rolled his eyes, really hating this bird for being dramatic and not just spitting it out. “What is it? Are you going to say Laiya’s family is also in on it?”

“How is that possible? What I wanted to say was, I found out the old widow is not human anymore!” Rui Baby looked at their bewildered faces in satisfaction.

In fact, there were only three bewildered faces – Feng Wu still had her normal poker face.

Feng Wu looked at Rui Baby and said, “I knew that based on the smell in her room. It smelled of rotten flesh.”

“Xiao Wu! When did you find out?” Han Xia was shocked.

“I found out as soon as I entered her room.”

A chill ran down Han Xia’s back. “So the old widow is a dead person?!” The whole thing was too scary!

“Yes, but she’s more than just a dead person but rather a reanimated corpse.” Rui Baby said.

“A reanimated corpse is quite appropriate.” Han Jiang nodded.

“What is appropriate? A corpse moving and talking by itself and living with its two daughters? Just the thought is enough to scare people half to death. How can you say it’s appropriate?!” Han Xia rubbed the goosebumps on her arms. Why did it suddenly feel so cold?

“A reanimated corpse is the lowest ranked creature. It’s irrational and has no intelligence, but the old woman is obviously intelligent. It seems like she is using some kind of special method to keep her soul sealed in the body. In this way, she can be a reanimated corpse with intelligence and live with her daughters none the wiser.” Rui Baby explained.

“So that old widow is really the most suspicious. If she was just an ordinary person before, how could she have learned these techniques? No matter how you think about it, it would have been impossible for her.” Han Xia said anxiously.

“By the way, Rui Baby, did you see or hear clearly what the old widow and Laiya talked about?” Han Jiang turned to ask Rui Baby.

“Well, I didn’t hear what they said, but I did see Laiya give the old widow a small pot of blood. After the old widow drank the blood, she turned into a normal human again.”

“What kind of blood is that? So powerful!” Han Xia, who didn’t have much knowledge in the area, asked Rui Baby.

“It’s probably blood for raising corpses. In the ancient oriental countries, there is a profession called corpse controller. The blood of the corpse controller can nourish the corpse. If the corpse keeps on drinking the blood, there is a chance it can evolve into a high-level corpse; its body won’t rot and it may even return to normal. A corpse drinking the blood of their corpse controller will get a lot of benefits.

For the corpse controller, letting a corpse drink their blood means they’ve gained a contract. They can make contracts with low-level and high-level reanimated corpses.”

Rui Baby was truly worthy of being a divine wise beast. Its powerful knowledge inheritance was immense.

610: Sisters

“So Laiya has talent to be a corpse controller!”

“That should be it.”

Everyone thought about it and felt this had to be the case.

They finally had a breakthrough in the investigation that night. Early next morning, Feng Wu and Han Xia went to find the old widow’s two daughters.

The sisters were already waiting outside for them.

“Why are you here so early?” The sisters pretended to chat casually with Feng Wu and Han Xia.

“We have something important to ask you today.” Han Xia said impatiently.

“What is it?” One of the sisters asked.

“Your mother, what kind of relationship does she have with Leiya?”

“Leiya? They have nothing to do with each other. Our families do not have a relationship.” The younger sister replied.

“Before the village was sealed, did you ever see your mother and Laiya alone together?” Han Xia asked, “This is really important, so think carefully.”

After thinking about it, the older sister remembered something relevant. “There was this one time. Mother was angry at Laiya for causing so much disturbance in the village so she went to Laiya’s house and didn’t return for a long time.”

The two sisters had long hated whoever it was that sealed the village and separated them from their lovers, never knowing if they would ever reunite.

“You ask this, could it be Leiya is one of the people involved in sealing the village?!”

That woman worked with their mother to seal the village away so she could be with her beloved? How dare she! How was that fair to them at all?!

“We think so. The fact that your mother went out in the middle of the night and secretly met with Laiya, if they aren’t accomplices, then what other reason could there be?” Han Xia spoke rationally and dramatically. The sisters gritted their teeth in hatred for Laiya.

“So, our mother has been going out in the middle of the night to secretly meet with Laiya. She and Laiya are a really good pair.

One would condemn the entire village to isolation for her own happiness.

The other, our own mother, is the worst! Just so she could keep us daughters from marrying, she kept us locked in this isolated village all these years.

Our youth, twenty years, gone! What did we do wrong! Why are they doing this to us?!”

What mother would treat their daughters this way?! The elder sister was so agitated, she wanted to rush to her mother and ask if she was really their biological mother.

Both sisters were emotional but they restrained themselves from crying. They did not forget that they were outside their own house. If they cried here, their mother would definitely be suspicious.

“I have another question I want to ask. Why are the outsiders’ so strange toward you villagers? They seem to go out of their way to avoid any conflicts with you villagers. It’s almost as if they are afraid of you all.”

Han Xia had been wondering about this for a while. What reason would sword masters have for fearing a village of ordinary people?

“Those outsiders, since they first appeared in the village, were cursed by Mother and had Gu bugs planted inside them. The bugs will attack and the pain from the attack feels worse than death. That's why those outsiders don’t dare provoke us." The elder sister didn’t care about keeping it a village secret anymore. She just wanted to leave this unfortunate place and see her beloved again.

“Gu worms! Do we have them too?!” Han Xia was terrified just imagining the lively worms squirming around in her body. She felt ill all over and suddenly wanted to puke!

“You guys are fine! The villagers haven’t found the opportunity to plant Gu worms in you yet. Plus, all of you have behaved politely the entire time you’ve been here. Those others who came before you came in and immediately wanted to use us for labor. You all are different from them, so the villagers don’t need to plant Gu worms in you all. Well, unless you become like those other adventurers and try to take advantage of us.”

“That’s good, that’s good.” Han Xia patted her chest lightly, feeling as though she’d climb back from hell. Phew. She felt light and happy all over knowing there were no bugs inside her.

Before the girls left, the two sisters told them they would let them know when their mother was out of the house and they could return to search.

The sisters were ordinary people; they wouldn’t recognize an artifact even if it was right in front of them. They had to rely solely on Feng Wu and them to find it.

After they finished talking, the sisters picked some vegetables from the field and went back inside. Their mother, who had locked herself in her room all year, was actually outside sitting on the center bench in the hall. Her face was blank.

“What’s the matter, Mother? What made you come and sit outside today?” The three people had an indifferent relationship but the sisters still greeted their mother calmly.

“What did those outsiders ask you just now?” The old widow’s voice was hoarse and unpleasant to hear.

“It was nothing. They came to ask if we knew how to get out and some other things about the village. I shared what should be shared and kept what should not.” The younger sister said without changing her expression.

“In the future, don’t pay attention to those outsiders if they ask again. Newly arrived people are all like that, always thinking of ways to leave. If there was, why would us villagers still be here. . . ?”

The old widow stopped talking to her daughters and returned to her room after reminding them once more to ignore the outsiders.

611, 612

611: The Seal is Released

The sisters exchanged glances before carrying the freshly picked fresh vegetables to the kitchen to cook.

Once they were done cooking, they left the prepared dishes in front of their mother’s room like they always did.

The old widow had no idea her daughters already knew her secret. Not suspecting anything, she fed the food to the babies she was raising.

“Men are bad things and daughters are unreliable. The moment they meet a man, they stop working hard and supporting their mother, and want to run off. Fortunately, I still have you. You are my babies, and you’ll never betray “me. . . ” The old widow smiled in satisfaction before letting out a sinister laugh.

Jier and the others divided into two teams; one team went to keep surveillance on Leiya’s house while the other went to keep surveillance on the old widow’s house. They had to use whatever opportunities they could get to search for the artifact.

Being afraid of bugs, Han Xia chose to go Laiya’s house. Of course, Han Jiang couldn’t leave her in a potentially dangerous situation alone, so he also chose to go to Laiya’s house with her.

That left Feng Wu and Jier with the old widow’s house. Finally, after several days of careful watch, they managed to sneak in under another full moon when the old widow left. They found a mirror emitting magic aura. It had to be the holy dimensional space artifact used to seal the village.

Jier didn’t waste time and immediately tried using magic to break the seal.

Unfortunately, the old widow returned with Laiya at this time. “You lot! You’re trying to break the seal!”

Who knew how Laiya managed to refine two copper corpses, but she brought out two. If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, they would never have believed such a gentle and virtuous woman was a corpse controller.

Judging from her appearance, it was obvious Laiya had been practicing the technique for a long time, otherwise there was no way she could control the copper corpses. Copper corpses were higher level than reanimated corpses.

To Feng Wu, two copper corpses were nothing to worry about. With Xiaochun in her hand, she easily sliced the seemingly invincible copper corpses into pieces with a few strikes.

Laiya stared at Fengwu with a ferocious expression. These copper corpses took her several years to craft using the bodies of the outsiders who had accidentally stumbled into the village. Most who came were adventurers seeking to unravel the mystery of the village's disappearance. Adventurers' bodies were powerful, making them the perfect material for crafting copper corpses.

She never expected that her highly anticipated copper corpses would be easily destroyed by this girl. Laiya was furious and on the verge of madness. Anyone would go crazy when their cherished creation, which took years of hard work to complete, was destroyed so easily.

The old widow extended her ghastly claws and lunged at Feng Wu, but Feng Wu pierced her heart using Xiao Chun. However, the widow had been a dead thing for so long already. For the living, the heart was a weakness, but for the dead, it meant nothing. The old widow kept attacking in a frenzy.

Despite having her heart pierced, the widow continued attacking Feng Wu like a madwoman. Feng Wu calmly defended herself with her sword and activated Xiao Chun's purification power before stabbing the old widow again. The old widow let out a scream and was forcibly purified.

Watching the old widow be eliminated by Feng Wu was the last straw for Laiya; she collapsed to her knees on the ground.

"Why? Why did you come and disturb our peaceful lives? We’re just a family living ordinary and happy days. Why do you adventurers have to come and destroy it!"

“Oh, you mean the happiness you got by isolating the village and keeping everyone trapped here against their will? That happiness? That was only your happiness. Have you stopped and asked if this was what everyone else wanted? What did the villagers do wrong? They sacrificed twenty years of their lives, imprisoned here. Twenty years squandered away!” Han Jiang yelled out in disgust.

The two sisters cried in each other’s arms, not knowing whether they were crying for their dead mother or for their lost youth.

Meanwhile, outside where the original village once stood, many people from Star Marshall hall were trying to break the space created by the rare dimensional space artifact. After days of contemplation and discussions with other experts in spatial magic, the high-level dimensional space magician finally came up with a feasible plan. Just as they were about to proceed with breaking the seal, a dazzling light appeared at the original location of Hong village. After the light faded, rows of cottages and fields suddenly appeared in the once empty village site.

"That’s Hong village! Hong village is back! Mom. . . Mom, where are you?" A soldier from Star Marshall hall’s orange team suddenly shouted and rushed into Hong village, despite the efforts of those around him to hold him back.

This man, around thirty years old, was originally a villager of Hong village. Twenty years ago, he was admitted to the Xingguang Holy academy because of his good aptitude, and had lived at the school thereafter, only returning home for holiday breaks.

Little did he know that when he finally had a break and could return to see his mother, she, along with the entire village and the fields where they used to farm, would vanish without a trace. He searched everywhere like a madman but couldn't find anything.

In order to uncover the secret behind Hong village's disappearance, he joined Star Marshall hall and worked hard for several years to eventually become a member of the orange team.

When he heard an incident occurred at the original location of Hong village, he immediately applied to join the team investigating. Unexpectedly, twenty years later, he could finally return home and reunite with his loved ones.

The man rushed back to his old house, where he embraced his family and wept with everyone. The rest of the village was also shocked by this sudden surprise; they never expected they’d be able to rejoin the rest of the world.

While the villagers were overwhelmed with joy, Laiya's husband and his children searched for his wife.

The villagers were astonished when they learned Laiya and the old widow were the ones who sealed the village. They never considered one of their own would be responsible. After all, everyone knew everyone’s background. Who could have imagined that someone close to them possessed the power to do something like seal the village?

It was impossible for the villagers to not harbor any resentment towards Laiya. However, the village chief, his wife, and Laiya's husband all knelt down and pleaded, hoping the villagers could forgive Laiya. They explained that if it hadn't been for the bully who coerced her, Laiya, with her inherently kind nature, would never have agreed to the crazy plan proposed by the old widow as a means to securing her own happiness.

Indeed, it was the old widow who suggested sealing the village, and even the sacred artifact was brought by her. The old widow's maternal family was once a prominent clan, but none of the children in her generation had a talent for cultivation.

So, the old widow married a man and had two daughters. It was unfortunate that she chose the wrong person. Her husband didn’t marry her in honest sincerity but had only married her to get his hands on her family assets. He was, in fact, already married to someone else.

He suspected the old widow’s family possessed valuable artifacts. She was a cautious however, and kept the location of her treasures secret. He didn’t have any way of forcing the information out of her.

When the old widow accidentally discovered he had another wife and that he married her in order to secure his son's share of the family's wealth, she vowed to take revenge on him for using her.

She watched as he coaxed the other woman with a sweet voice filled with a tenderness he had never showed her. Bitterness filled her as she stared at the family of three sitting together happily.

That night she prepared a sumptuous feast with a Gu laced parasitic drink and acted like she intended to hand the artifacts over to him.

After that, she turned her attentions to the other woman and her two sons. As the woman was out buying flowers one day, the old widow deliberately poisoned one of the purchased flower pots. Exposed to the poison, the mother and her two sons suffered in a state worse than death.

Finally, in front of the man she had thought of as her husband, the old widow sliced pieces of flesh off the mother and two sons and roasted it over an open fire. Then she stuffed it sliver by sliver into his mouth, forcing him to eat everything.

He begged and pleaded for forgiveness, but the old widow showed no mercy and killed him anyway. From then on, the old widow stopped trusting men. She fled to Hong village and gave birth to her twin daughters there.

Ordinary people couldn't activate the sacred artifact, but the old widow had a secret method that allowed her to activate it at the cost of her own lifespan.

Before activating the artifact, she used a special method to bind her soul within her body. After her death, if Laiya willingly used blood to awaken, she would come back to life in a different form.

Laiya agreed to the plan and faithfully kept her promise to resurrect the old widow in order to escape a forced marriage to someone she didn’t love.

Ever since then, when the full moon rose, she would meet with the old widow to give the old widow her blood. Her blood was the only thing that could keep the old widow’s body from decaying.

These were the experiences of the old widow as told to Laiya.

612: War is Coming

The two women kept the shared secret between them for twenty years without anyone finding out.

Later, as she spent more time with the old widow, the old widow taught her the art of corpse manipulation and mentioned that she possessed a rare talent to be a corpse controller.

She never wanted to feel that kind of helplessness again, where the only thing she could do was cry in her room. She knew she wanted to protect herself and not be bullied by those stronger than her ever again.

This desire drove her to learn the art of corpse control. Even if she had to be surrounded by corpses in the future, she didn't mind. Nothing mattered as long as she could become stronger.

Everyone knew what happened after that.

The sisters finally understood the reason for their mother’s deep hatred toward men. They had believed it was their father’s abandonment of them that caused their mother to be the way she was. Little did they know, he hadn’t abandoned them, but had been killed by their mother.

They had no right to judge the grudges of the previous generation; they only hoped their mother would meet a good man in her next life and not suffer as she did in this life.

The two sisters decided to build a grave for their mother, because no matter how she was in life, she deserved a proper burial after death.

The old widow had sealed the entire village, but she was dead now and the past was the past. There was no need to keep grudges with the dead.

The kind-hearted villagers didn't blame the two sisters for the ordeal everyone suffered. If they were to add up who suffered the most in the past twenty years, it was undoubtedly the sisters. Having already endured twenty years of hardship, the villagers had no heart to blame the women more.

With the conclusion of the village case, Feng Wu and Jier reported back to Star Marshall hall together. After which, they returned to school for a rest.

Feng Wu's disappearance had driven Ming Xi almost crazy with worry. Only after the high priest's divination assured him that Feng Wu was not in danger did Ming Xi feel a slight sense of relief. But despite this, he couldn’t feel completely at ease until he could see her.

Fortunately, Feng Wu contacted him today, finally giving his worried heart relief. After listening to her recount her experiences from the past few days, Ming Xi realized that administrative work could also be dangerous. They chatted for awhile before calling it a night.

Feng Wu rested and the next day went to the document processing department in Star Marshall hall.

As soon as she walked into the office, Han Xia rushed over, grabbed her hand and started gossiping.

“Xiao Wu! Xiao Wu! Let me tell you! The men the sisters loved and originally wanted to elope with are also still single! They waited for the sisters for twenty years! I'm so moved. I would be willing to give up some of my life if I could find a man who was willing to wait twenty years for me.” Han Xia said enviously.

“How do you know this?” Feng Wu blinked curiously.

“I went to the village this morning and heard from the villagers! They said the two men showed up and rushed to aid the sisters as soon as they heard the news. The scene was so touching!

And the sisters also decided to donate their cherished family heirloom, the dimensional space artifact, to Star Marshall hall. The artifact is already exposed, so there’s no real advantage in them keeping it. Donating it was a practical decision on their part.

In return, Star Marshall hall rewarded each sister with a bonus of 100,000 gold coins. With that money, they can start a whole new life!”

Han Xia was thrilled for the sisters. Despite having their youth stripped away, both of them had men who genuinely loved them and were willing to wait patiently for so many years. What appeared to be misfortune turned out to be stroke of fortune.

Everything was settled and closed. Feng Wu and the others resumed their regular lives, enjoying their fulfilling and joyful days.

Unbeknownst to Feng Wu, Zi Cheng successfully completed the restoration of the Demon Ancestor's physical body. The Demon Ancestor was now poised to descend upon Tianfeng continent, and bring the greatest calamity the world would ever know.

Ai Lin was the only one who could have guessed this would happen.

Originally, she wanted to stop Zi Cheng, but now that the Demon Ancestor was nearly fully recovered, she didn’t want to die by appearing in front of him.

Once recovered, the Demon Ancestor announced his presence to the world by hitting many smaller islands with his magic and sinking them into the sea.

The large-scale slaughter opened Zi Cheng’s eyes. It was only then, after watching him brutally massacre so many people, did she realize he’d been deceiving her the entire time. He never had any intentions of returning to the Demon realm to live, but had planned on turning the Human realm into another Demon realm from the start.

How could a king live as a commoner? She could have laughed at her own gullibility. The problem now was that he was free and with a complete body. She would be public enemy number one if people knew her role in the matter. But if she killed the Demon Ancestor, no one would know. . . 

Zi Cheng made up her mind to kill him again in this life just as her previous self did in the original novel.

Ai Lin knew about Zi Cheng’s intentions as soon as the Demon Ancestor was released. She wasn’t going to let Zi Cheng get the chance to become the world’s savior though.

She secretly wrote a letter detailing every thing she knew about Zi Cheng’s culpability regarding the Demon Ancestor’s release; how Zi Cheng spent the last two years helping the Demon Ancestor gather all his body parts.

Star Marshall hall initiated an investigation.

A wanted order was immediately issued for Zi Cheng after the findings from the investigation from Star Marshall hall were shown to be consistent with the contents in the anonymous letter.

Now the entire continent knew she was guilty of a grave offense against humanity.

Zi Cheng never expected to be exposed in such a manner. She had hoped to bury the truth by eliminating the Demon Ancestor, but now the entire continent knew about how she betrayed humanity. With her opportunity to rectify the situation lost, she wondered why she shouldn’t align herself with the Demon Ancestor instead. After all, it didn’t matter how she got to the top, it only mattered she stand at the top. Once at the top, who would dare speak against her?!

She did exactly as planned and contacted the Demon Ancestor and about an alliance. The two reached one easily.

Next, Zi Cheng sent Caesar a message requesting a sacred artifact that she claimed was needed to save her life.

It was a rare artifact that even Caesar, who was slated to be the next head of house, could not take out at will.

Desperate to fulfill Zi Cheng’s request, Caesar decided to secretly steal the artifact in the middle of the night.

But from the time his brother fell in love with Zi Cheng, Zo knew his brother would walk the same path as before.

Zo notified the patriarch of Caesar’s intentions, of how Caesar was willing to act to the detriment of the family’s welfare for a woman.

According to family law, for such an offense, Caesar should have been executed, but the patriarch couldn’t bear to do it, so he abolished Caesar’s cultivation and expelled him from the family instead.

Caesar looked at Zo with hate filled eyes. He knew it was all because of Zo that the family knew he was going go steal the family’s sacred artifact.

“Brother Caesar, here is some money and property deeds. Please take them with you. Don’t go to see Zi Cheng anymore. It is inevitable that she will kill you.” Zo couldn’t bear to think of his brother not having anything, so he prepared some money and real estate for Caesar in the hopes his brother could live a good life.

A pity Caesar did not see the good will in the gesture.

“You don’t need to pretend to be kind. I know you’ve spent your entire life trying to get rid of me so you can be the next patriarch. Congratulations, you finally achieved your goal!” Caesar waved his hand rudely and slapped away the crystal card Zo held out. He would rather die than accept donations. As far as he was concerned, they were now enemies, so it was only natural he wouldn’t take any of Zo’s advice about Zi Cheng to heart.

Caesar left the place he called home after rejecting Zo’s offerings.

Zo knew his brother would meet up with Zi Cheng and suffer because of her.

Zi Cheng would always have a stream of points in her bank as long as she had good things in her possession. And with the Demon Ancestor as an ally, she was never short of good things.

Even Ai Lin could never have guessed Zi Cheng would ally with the Demon Ancestor to destroy the world after being wanted by the entire continent.

The events of the world were happening far away from Feng Wu, who did clerical work at Star Marshall hall diligently every day.

She would occasionally go to eat with friends, and for the most part, her life was free and easy.

Meanwhile, Ming Xi and the other four divine emperors, were preparing for war. Combined, their strength was capable of defeating the Demon Ancestor and they were the strongest defense the Human realm had.

Feng Wu’s nightly chats with Ming Xi went from daily hour-long chats to ten-minute chats once a day and sometimes every few days because Ming Xi was so busy preparing.

Jier explained that Ming Xi was about to go and fight and that neither the school nor the hall could intervene in the upcoming battle. The fight against the Demon Ancestor was entrusted to the four divine emperors. With the unleashed powers of the gods coursing through their blood, it was possible they could defeat him.

The envoys also began taking action in preparation for the war. The Demon Ancestor created a group of powerful demons through his supreme magic, and it was the task of the envoys to eliminate these enemies.

Signs of war preparations appeared every where as the horn of battle sounded across the continent. Even civilians had to go to the front lines to record the war.

613

613: Saving the World!

Newcomers lacked the ability to gauge danger honed through years of experience, so there was no way someone like Feng Wu would be sent to the front lines to record such an important event.

Feng Wu obediently stayed in the rear in the office with Little Bun and the other newbies of the department every day while all the seniors went out.

Feng Wu didn’t know what to do, so she went to visit her master in the virtual world. She had found everything her master wanted on her own, with the exception of the last item, which was found by Ming Xi. The only thing left to do was to bring them to her master.

Once inside the virtual world, Feng Wu brought out her master’s soul and drew the magic circle her master taught her. The circle began to burn with pure white flames after she tossed all the materials in. Though the flames weren’t hot, they gave off a dangerous feeling.

Feng Wu continued to methodically follow the directions her master gave her, and two hours later, a body that looked just like her master’s appeared within the magic circle.

Feng Wu had no idea how happy her face looked as she stared at it.

The process of merging White’s[notes] soul into the newly formed body was an easy one to complete. By the time White opened his eyes, he was a young man of thirty again.

He had always been handsome and elegant, but now that he had a physical body, he was even more charming.

“My Dear, your master is back!” White patted his beloved disciples head dotingly; he was quite satisfied with her performance.

Sure enough, with his excellent vision, he had accepted a good apprentice who was filial, unlike all those other fellows. Who knew what kind of hell they ended up with. It was fine to be unfilial, but to even desire and steal things that belonged the master was abominable. Fortunately, he had good eyes and took in a good apprentice who was not greedy.

“Master, has your cultivation level not returned?” Feng Wu was worried because she couldn’t feel the slightest energy fluctuation in her master’s body; it was as if he was an ordinary person.

“Do not worry. Master has everything prepared.” As he spoke, White brought out a small green sphere out of nowhere. Despite its size, it contained an overwhelming amount of power. Just from looking at it, the pressure it exuded was enough to force people to tremble.

“This has all of Master’s cultivation base. My level should return after consuming it.” White said calmly as he held the tiny sphere.

“Then Master should quickly eat it.” Feng Wu had no interest in the sphere that held all her master’s cultivation. She just wanted her master to quickly regain his original strength.

“Lan’er is so good.”[notes] White popped the sphere into his mouth. It liquified and flowed down his throat and into his stomach as soon as it touched his tongue.

The energy inside the sphere was his originally to begin with so it was an easy fusion without any hidden dangers.

White rushed off as soon as he regained his powers, saying he was going to meet the former master of the Demon realm. Feng Wu had no choice but to comfort her wounded heart by taking Little Bun out for a meal.

Feng Wu and Little Bun munched away without a care. Word quickly spread throughout the small shop that there was a mother-son duo with an incredible appetite. Seeing them devour so much, other customers joined in and ordered some food to eat together, bringing in a good number of customers to the little shop. Feng Wu had no idea she was driving the flow of customers.

Feng Wu called the waiter over for the bill after finishing the last plate. Considering how Feng Wu had brought in so much business, the boss decided to give her a 10% discount for the meal and a 10% discount VIP card for future use. Who knew how many similar VIP cards she already had in her possession? Feng Wu calmly accepted the card.

Feng Wu walked back to a mostly deserted Star Marshall hall. It didn’t bother her at all that most people were gone; she took Little Bun around to play.

After ten days of eating, drinking, playing, and making noise every day, good news finally came back: the Demon Ancestor was defeated by a god mage who exuded an ethereal and enchanting aura!

How could a god mage who already ascended to the God realm appear though? Was this a joke? But it couldn’t be. All the big shots present testified it was definitely a god mage.

Though no one could prove whether the white-clothed young man was a god mage or not, his powers were undeniable.

The four divine emperors had the upper hand originally, but a woman ran out from nowhere and changed the flow of battle. She herself wasn’t powerful, but the items she had were all treasures. She exhausted the four divine emperors and bought the Demon Ancestor some breathing room.

Fortunately, in that moment, an incredibly beautiful person appeared. The young man, dressed entirely in white, was stunningly attractive.

Compared to Emperor Ming Xi, he was not inferior at all, but what set him apart was his ethereal and otherworldly aura (or rather, his divine presence), which enchanted everyone who laid eyes on him.

The celestial being who appeared in the nick of time to save the entire continent became mankind’s savior.

Naturally, he was instantly popular. His statues, from big to small, were erected all over the streets. Even small islands dedicated space for his statue. People would pay their respects and pray to his statue to ward off evil.

White: You're the one who wards off evil! Your entire family has the ability to ward off evil.[notes]

Speaking of that day, Ming Xi and the other three emperors teaming up to fight against the Demon Ancestor had been going well, that was until Zi Cheng suddenly ran out and tossed a purple sphere, which happened to be the awesome Nine-Day Divine Thunder that could instantly obliterate anything that touched it, into the mix. Of course, it was an item she exchanged points to get.

Fortunately, the four emperors were protected by the world’s consciousness. They, like Zi Cheng, were also darlings of the world’s consciousness, however their existence was even more important than hers.

Killing them would depend on the world consciousness allowing it, and in this instance, it was not allowed.

In order to stop Zi Cheng, the world’s consciousness tricked White and forcibly teleported him into the fray.

There he was, standing, minding his own business and eating nuts while enjoying the show, when he was forced to take the hit for the emperors.

But in the eyes of everyone else, it was like he saw the danger and stepped in on rainbow-colored clouds[notes] to welcome them, er no, to rescue them.

Zi Cheng was far from reaching her peak and most of her current advantages lay in her system. She lost her most powerful strengths, the five elemental hearts, because of Ai Lin and Zo’s interference.

In the original book, Zi Cheng would have already possessed the power of a god mage by the time the Demon Ancestor was defeated. But now, without the hearts, her cultivation was dramatically slower and she was no where near her peak. It was obvious how much an impact not having the hearts had on her.

White saw through the heroine’s system early on. The scumbag Longze[notes] took out some strange things from his body the same way. The girl seemed to be from the same place as Longze. Heh. Maybe he should say hello.

On second thought, never mind. White nixed the idea less than a second later. The girl was going to die, so there was no need for greetings.

As a powerful god magician, if White wanted to kill a low-level magician, it would be easier than blinking. But he had to consider, she had that thing on her body from Longze.

In the end, the outcome was still as expected. Zi Cheng was careless and was killed by White.

The system immediately tried to flutter off, but White grabbed it, and snuffed it out without leaving even a ghost behind.

Admiration flowed like an endless river in the hearts of those watching from a distance. They stared mesmerized as the figure clad in all white tore apart the heroine then snuffed out the system with a single majestic movement.

Can we all just say you’re a male god, Mr. Perfect? Can we just mess around with you for the rest of our lives?

With the troublemaking heroine finally gone, it was easy for the four divine emperors to take down the Demon Ancestor.

White was in a bad mood after being fooled by the world’s consciousness. He turned and ran off before anyone could thank him. People searched and searched, but couldn’t find him anywhere.

Even though he was never found, the scene was immortalized in a recording and later became a classic all across the continent.

614

614: The Finale

The Demon Ancestor’s strength was greatly reduced once he lost Zi Cheng’s help. Without the shock value of her treasures, the four divine emperors moved more easily. They were the darlings of the world’s consciousness, so it was impossible for the Demon Ancestor to win.

Although the four divine emperors could defeat the Demon Ancestor, they couldn’t completely destroy him. The best course of action was to seal him back in the virtual world. Fortunately, the Demon emperor intervened this time and proposed imprisoning the Demon Ancestor in the Demon realm. It was a good idea. With the Demon emperor involved, it was going to be impossible for the Demon Ancestor to escape to the Human realm and make trouble.

So in the end, the Demon emperor sent this trusted ministers to escort the Demon Ancestor back to the Demon realm.

Everyone who fell under Zi Cheng’s glamour came back to their senses after White destroyed the system.

Caesar, after returning back to his old self, was full of regret. His face was blacker than the bottom of a pot when he thought about every thing he did for Zi Cheng.

“It’s not your fault; you couldn’t help it.” As soon as Zi Cheng died, Zo found Caesar and reached out to convince him to return to the family.

“Did you know Zi Cheng was a problem?” Caesar thought of Zo’s repeated warnings not to trust Zi Cheng too much. It was impossible of course. At the time, he’d been overly confident and couldn’t believe Zi Cheng would do anything to him.

“Yes, I knew it a long time ago.” Zo sighed softly. His eyes were complicated as he looked at his once proud brother. He slowly opened his mouth and told Caesar the future he experienced a hundred years in the future. He hadn’t said it before because he was afraid Caesar would still follow Zi Cheng, and giving him this kind of information would have been detrimental to his mission. He needed to do what he could to save the world. In order to succeed, he hadn’t even told anyone in his family about his rebirth.

“So that’s how it is.” Caesar nodded. It turned out he couldn’t escape Zi Cheng no matter which future he was in.

Fortunately, he and Zi Cheng did not destroy the world this time.

If Zo had told him all this before everything that happened, he knew he wouldn’t have believed it. But he couldn’t deny it now after everything he’d experienced. He recognized the abnormalities in his body better than anyone else could.

Zi Cheng had the power to control people’s hearts, he could believe that. He also believed she wouldn’t return the elemental hearts if she ever got her hands on them because she would need them to ascend to the God realm. Though she appeared kind and gentle, she was, in truth, the cruelest person he knew.

“Brother, it’s all over now. Come back home with me. Father and Mother miss you terribly. Eliza has also been waiting for you this entire time. Come home with me.” Zo looked deeply at his brother. He still harbored a lot of resentment towards Zi Cheng, after all if it wasn’t for her, his brother would never have changed from the apple of everyone’s eyes to this fallen down man. Letting her die as easily as she did felt like a rip off.

Zo thought about it for a while before finally giving up. Everyone was dead, so even if he was dissatisfied and wanted to whip a corpse, there was no corpse to whip!

“I don’t want to go back yet. Too many things have happened and my mind is a mess right now. I need time to sort everything out.” In all honesty, Caesar just didn’t know how to face everyone.

“Brother. . . ” Zo wanted to persuade Caesar again, but Caesar waved his hand, ending the conversation.

“You don’t need to say anything more, I really need time. And about Eliza. . .  I’m really not suitable for her. I know you’ve liked her for a long time. She’s a good girl and you’re a good match. You should go for it.”

“Brother. . .  where will you go?” Zo spoke to his brother’s back, wanting to catch up.

“Don’t come chasing after me. Just let me be alone for a while. Once I’ve figured everything out, I’ll go back.” After saying this, Caesar waved without looking back and left.

Zo quietly stared after his brother’s retreating back and sighed. “Brother Caesar, remember to come back soon. . . ”

Ten Years Later:

Time flew by and many things changed.

Feng Wu finally married Ming Xi and made him the father of her baby, just like she wanted when they first met in the mountain.

Little Bun was still an only child. Ming Xi and Feng Wu didn’t have to worry about having children since they were both cultivators and cultivators aged much slower than ordinary people.

Ming Xi was quite satisfied with their lives. Perhaps in another ten years they could start thinking about having children. After all, he was the Moon emperor and part of his duties was to produce the next generation’s heir.

Maybe because they did such a great job at keeping their secrets, but even after seven years of marriage, no one outside discovered how silly Feng Wu was.

In the hearts of all their subjects, the Moon empress was a cold and noble beauty. It was just an image the made up in their minds though.

Feng Wu adapted well to her new identity. If someone were to ask her what she needed to do as Moon empress, she would say (with her habitual poker face) that she needed to maintain an aloof and noble image in public, but behind closed doors, she could play around and do as she pleased.

A Moon empress’s work was simple anyway. She just had to put in an appearance at special events and receive the noble wives who came to pay their respects.

She could do whatever she wanted the rest of the time.

Ming Xi’s mother grew even more fond of Feng Wu after Feng Wu took over the empress’s seat. The former empress and her husband were living a leisurely life of travel. When they found a beautiful place, they would stay awhile and enjoy the scenery. After they had enough of one place they would move to another place. To say life was comfortable for the former Moon emperor and Moon empress was an understatement.

Tian Ya was still guarding Ming Xi, only now he was the new head of the Moon Shadow guards and in charge of the emperor’s safety.

Jier, still single and not interested in any of the girls, permanently took on the position as Summer envoy at Star Marshall hall.

It took Ink ten years, but he finally achieved his dream and became a member of the Purple team – the highest ranked team at Star Marshall hall.

Several of Feng Wu’s roommates also had good outcomes. Xi went to Star Marshall hall after graduation and in ten years rose up from a novice soldier who didn’t understand anything to a Blue-ranked soldier.

Annika returned home after graduation and married her boyfriend she met at Star Marshall hall. Now the two of them were living happily together after welcoming their first son. Feng Wu was even invited to the baby’s full moon celebration.

But as the Moon empress, it was impossible for Feng Wu to attend such a private event. She still sent an appropriate gift though.

As for Jasmine, she wasn’t the same haughty and untouchable snob she was ten years ago and had changed a lot from the girl who used to always be at odds with Feng Wu. She applied for a transfer to the theology school in her fifth year. After graduation, she took an oath foreswearing marriage and romance and became and saint and honorary missionary for Star Marshall hall. Nowadays she could even visit the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom and chat with Feng Wu calmly in the course of her duties.

Feng Wu’s master, White, became insanely popular after saving the world. It was so annoying to him that he immediately ascended to the God realm to find his buddy Longze after seeing Feng Wu off at her wedding.

The villainous world transmigrator, Ai Lin, got married three years after graduation to, in a dramatic plot twist, Feng Juntian – Feng Wu’s brother!

The reborn Zo married Eliza four years after Caesar left and became a most enviable couple. He still had no interest in taking over as the family head though.

Caesar disappeared for six years before returning to his family and becoming the new family head. His family knew about Zi Cheng’s role in his behavioral changes and had forgiven him long ago.

Caesar’s genius aura never disappeared; he had recovered his lost strength and then surpassed it. He was still a young genius master that all the younger generation in the family looked up to.

Of course, we can not forget Feng Ye, the Little Bun, who at this point, wasn’t so little anymore.

Feng Ye grew up and was now a fourteen-year-old boy. When he was twelve, a group of elves came to welcome him as the elf king.

Feng Ye had created them in his previous incarnation as the elf king. When he reverted to his original form after saving the world, they reverted back into seeds to await his return.

The elves recovered when Feng Ye was twelve, and although they also lost their original memories, they still instinctively gravitated towards him.

They didn’t inherit strength from their previous lives like Feng Ye did. Without anyone to teach them how to cultivate and develop their powers, the family of elves would have been targeted by unscrupulous people.

Feng Ye returned to the Tree of Life with them, not because he wanted to go back to being the elf king, but because he wanted to teach the elves how to cultivate and use their powers. Once they learned what they needed, he would choose a new king from amongst them before going out to roam the world himself.

Everyone found their own happiness, finding where they belonged and what they wanted to do in life.

Another ten years slipped by and Feng Wu’s first child with Ming Xi came into the world. He was a beautiful boy like his father.

Feng Wu was very interested in her new little bun who was looking around with wide open eyes after just being born. The little guy especially liked the aura around his mother.

“Xiao Wu, thank you for your hard work.” Ming Xi, who had stayed by her side the entire time, kissed her sweaty hair.

“Where is Xiao Ye?” Feng Wu was a little upset her eldest son hadn’t come to see her.

“He’s cooking something delicious for you.” Ming Xi smiled faintly as he nodded at her.

Feng Wu’s eyes lit up. She enjoyed Xiao Ye’s cooking the most.

“I miss Master.” Thinking about her master, who she hadn’t seen in a long time, made Feng Wu blink aggrievedly a few times. She never understood why her master abandoned her and ran off to the God realm by himself.

“Be good. You’ll see him again. Your strength is nearing holy level. Once you reach god level, you can go to the God realm and see your master again.” Ming Xi explained as he patted his wife’s head with a doting expression on his face.

“Okay.” Feng Wu felt much better at the prospect of seeing her master again.

The couple leaned against each other enjoying the quiet as they gazed at their newborn son. The years didn’t affect them in the slightest. The people of the Ancient Silver Moon kingdom were nourished by the splendor of the moon and aged very slowly because of it. Twenty years had come and gone, and yet the couple still looked the same as when they were in school.

It was a magical world advantage. Life extended as long as there was strength and those strong enough never grew old.

Ming Xi and Feng Wu played with their baby’s hands together, and the little guy giggled very happily, especially liking the aura around his mother.

“Mom, come and have some soup.” Feng Ye had grown into an unforgettably stunning beauty who left a lasting impression on all the women he met.

He walked into the room steadily carrying a pot of soup. Yes, it was a pot, please remember this was for his mother. How could a bowl be enough to satisfy her bottomless stomach?

Feng Wu directly pushed the newborn in her arms into her husband’s hands and brought a small eating tray to her lap before signaling Feng Ye to bring the soup over quickly.

The tiny newborn blinked his eyes, feeling deeply wronged. Were they related?

Feng Ye smirked at his younger brother. “Mother is mine. Don’t even think about monopolizing her attention at your age.”

The newborn was so angry. This bad guy couldn’t be his real brother, definitely not!

Ming Xi: I didn’t see anything. . .