Wen Wen couldn’t help grinding her teeth, and she was tempted to smack the back of Ji Jue’s head again. “Can you use your brain for a second? The total amount of dragon blood is fixed. Lawrence has been completely vaporized, so there’s no need to worry about him anymore. If there’s nothing left at the scene, then it must be left in you!
“The Mouth of the Ancient Ones mainly handles healing and recovery. It’s not specialized in things like corruption, which directly rewrites the soul and genes. You have to be careful. If anything changes or sothing feels off, call imdiately. Got it?”
“Mm, got it!” Ji Jue nodded, thinking it over carefully. He still trusted his ever-reliable Mr. Watch. Since Mr. Watch said everything had been cleaned out, then it should be fine.
Besides, he had been eating well lately and sleeping like a log the mont he hit the bed. Everything seed perfectly normal.
Wen Wen hesitated for a mont, then sighed. “Honestly, I did handle this a bit improperly. If this had been reported at the ti, you would’ve definitely gotten your share of the reward from the Security Bureau. However, with how fast rumors spread in Cliff City now, the mont sothing like your Chosen One status gets exposed, it’ll be impossible to keep hidden. If that happens, who knows how many strange and dangerous people will co looking for you. Exposing you to that too early would not be a good thing. The last unlucky guy who got exposed was...”
She paused, but didn’t continue.
“I decided to keep your secret. If you think that’s inappropriate, I can report it now.”
“Not at all.”
Ji Jue couldn’t help laughing. He knew all too well how unreliable the Federation was. How could he possibly trust them?
According to Wen Wen, during his “Chosen Rite,” he had managed to attract nine of the Supre Benevolences. That sounded like sothing unbelievably extraordinary. If he were from so prestigious family with generations of honors, he would consider making a big show of it and basking in the spotlight. However, as a student with no backing and full of issues that wouldn’t hold up to scrutiny, it was better not to wade into those deep waters too quickly.
These days, hot-blooded protagonists weren’t popular anymore. Everyone survived by lying low. The longer you could keep your head down, the better. Wen Wen helping him keep his secret actually made him feel relieved.
As expected of Mrs. Wen, she’s truly a righteous lady.
He didn’t say much and just gave her a thumbs-up, which made Wen Wen smile as well, her mood visibly improving.
Before leaving, she patted Ji Jue on the shoulder and smiled mysteriously. “Alright, that’s it for today. Get so good rest. After you recover, I’ll introduce you to a good opportunity.”
“Will you really do that, my patron?” Ji Jue bead with joy, then paused. He felt a little embarrassed about taking so much from her already, so he steeled himself, clenched his teeth, and forced out a standard business smile. “Wen, you see, I’m actually a pretty charming guy...”
“Get lost!!!”
Wen Wen didn’t even look back. She made a gesture with her hand and slamd the door on her way out.
She’s so effortlessly cool, like so jerk who zips up and walks away without a second thought.
***
Just like that, Ji Jue spent more than half a month loafing around in the hospital. In actuality, if it hadn’t been for that bastard Lawrence, he probably would’ve slapped on so dicine and gone straight ho.
First had co the corrosion from the Vortex Cultivation thod, then the massive infusion of aberrant spirit matter. After that, he had stabbed himself in the neck to activate the survival protocol, and then he’d gotten hit with another round of dragon blood corruption. In the end, he had even endured a punch from Minerva.
After going through all that, even an iron body would have shattered.
The reason he was still alive, moving, and breathing was entirely thanks to Mr. Watch drawing out the corruption in ti, holding it back, and stabilizing things. As for Ji Jue himself, he just kept pushing his luck. Even for a Chosen One, there were limits to how far he could go.
With the help of the Mouth of the Ancient Ones, he embarked on a journey of binge eating. He ate seven als a day without fail, devouring food until the hospital cafeteria’s mice were practically in tears[1]. Only then did he finally manage to refill more than half of his completely drained health bar.
After the doctors examined him, the entire departnt burst into applause, happily sending this unlucky troublemaker out the door as fast as possible.
Just like that, they kicked him out.
Still not satisfied, Ji Jue strutted over to the Lu family and stuffed himself again. He perford his classic stunt of eating an entire pig in three bites. Mrs. Lu pitied him, so much so that she wiped tears while cooking, scolding the hospital for being inhumane and lanting how they had starved such a good child.
Finally, under the shocked and terrified gazes of the third and youngest siblings, he left behind a box of extracurricular exercise books and walked away carrying half a takeaway plate of white-cut chicken.
Life felt perfect.
“This is what life should be.”
Ji Jue lay back in his own little den with his legs crossed, enjoying the familiar comfort. He spent half a day cleaning the house. He replaced the refrigerator, humd a tune as he took a shower, and lay on the bed reading for a while. With nothing to do, everything felt calm and peaceful.
This is amazing. Isn’t this way better than fighting that bastard Lawrence to the death? It’s not even remotely comparable!
The mont he thought about how his current life had been built on that bastard’s corpse, Ji Jue was so moved his eyes welled up with tears. He clasped his hands together in prayer, sincerely grateful. What a wonderful death that one had been.
If Lawrence had any awareness in the afterlife, Ji Jue sincerely hoped he would keep contributing a little more, adding bricks and tiles to this beautiful life of his...
BOOM!!!
A sudden, deafening crash erupted in the middle of the night. Ji Jue jolted, startled so badly he rolled off the bed. He looked around instinctively, only to realize the sound had co from downstairs.
No way, right?!
He cautiously peeked his head out and looked down the stairs.
And there it was... The door he had just repaired had been smashed open again?! The calm he had just regained vanished, and he couldn’t help but want to curse.
But... Why did this scene feel so eerily familiar?
Faint, scattered clinking sounds could be heard. The hairs on Ji Jue’s body stood on end. He fumbled around, pulled out a rebar, and slowly made his way downstairs. There, he saw two winding trails of muddy trails stretching from the doorway all the way into his kitchen.
Under the faint glow from the refrigerator, a half-open door swayed slightly, loosely hanging and covering whatever was behind it. Steady chewing sounds could be heard.
Ji Jue’s last bit of hope completely died.
“My new fridge!!!” he scread in agony, his eyes nearly bursting from rage. Just this afternoon, he had painfully spent over six hundred Fedra on a second-hand, “99% new” luxury purple model, and now it had been wrecked again.
“I’m going to fight you bastards to the death!!!” he roared, raising the rebar and charging toward the kitchen.
Finally, he saw the intruder in full. Crouched by the edge of the fridge, writhing as it devoured sothing, was a strange figure with a pink shell, covered in dirt and gri. It had handlebars scavenged from a scrap heap, wheels from different models front and back, and even an exhaust pipe Ji Jue had personally cobbled together using parts from a sports car.
It was his electric scooter, the sa one that had gone missing at rcy Hospital.
After all this ti, Ji Jue no longer recognized it. Well, the scooter he rembered didn’t crawl like a living creature toward his fridge, nor did it open up its shell to reveal a gaping, mouth-like chanical structure as it chewed...
Ji Jue couldn’t hold back his tears. “My white-cut chicken!!!”
Startled by the screams, the scooter’s movents paused for a mont. Then it frantically sped up, lifted its “head,” shoved the chicken bones into its “mouth,” and quickly backed away from the fridge before retreating into a corner.
Its headlights flickered, as if carefully observing Ji Jue’s expression. In the dead silence, it edged closer... then backed away... then edged closer again. Finally, it raised its handlebar and nudged Ji Jue as its lights flickered on and off, its horn beeping repeatedly.
Then it began frantically shaking its fender, like a dog wagging its tail.
“You... you...”
Ji Jue recalled Wen Wen’s solemn warning from half a month ago. His vision went dark. It felt as if fate had co full circle like a boorang, finally smashing right into his face after all this ti.
Now he finally understood where all the dragon blood residue had gone...
“Beep!!!”
The scooter seed to have misunderstood sothing. Its front wheel lifted abruptly as it lunged onto Ji Jue, wriggling excitedly. Beneath its plastic shell, a wide, mouth-like opening spread, and a rubbery, oil-slick tongue began licking his face[2].
Ji Jue stared, then fell backward, looking up at the ceiling.
I’m tired. Just end it all already.
***
“There’s still so ti before total destruction.”
Under the sa sky, in a wilderness camp, an elderly woman sat on a stone, gazing into the distance at the ruins.
“Though it’s not far off, after getting through this period, we should still be able to hold it off for another ten years or so.”
The voice on the phone paused briefly, then continued its report.
The old woman nodded. “Alright, I understand. I’m still tied up here in Spring City for now. I’ll leave the matters in Cliff City to you all. Haizhou’s garrison won’t waste their manpower for too long either. There should be results soon.”
After exchanging goodbyes, the call ended.
Only the night wind could be heard howling. From the distant ruined city ca hellish wails. Strands of black mist rose into the sky, disappearing into the darkness.
She paid no attention to them, simply lowering her gaze in thought.
Bloodlust Syndro, the Spring City underground caverns, the westward expansion plan, the people of Sacred Land, the All-Spirits Alliance, the Restoration Society, and a group of never-ending Solomons causing trouble in the shadows... and lurking in secret was Nirvana...
Lawrence, the Ever-Changing Bug, had been confird dead. As for the Dragonrite Society, they had not made their move yet, but it was unlikely they would simply let this go. And as for that girl Wen Wen, she had evolved much faster than expected. However, given her personality, once she firmly established herself, she probably wouldn’t repent just like that and settle down as a well-behaved girl. It was almost certain her future would be full of chaos.
A faint smile carrying a small hint of anticipation appeared on the old woman’s lips, but when she lifted her gaze to the night sky, that smile gradually faded, leaving only a look of solemnity on her face.
She stared into the void of the night sky and murmured, “What exactly are you all planning? Isn’t this world already chaotic enough?”
No response ca, and the night sky remained silent. The stars shone like the distant and indifferent eyes of gods, never swayed by the wails and turmoil of the earth below.
She withdrew her gaze.
There was still a mountain of unfinished work in her inbox. The Central City had sent new inquiries, and not only Central City, but more than a dozen major cities across the Federation, and even people from the Empire... almost everyone she knew was subtly probing for information, asking about what had happened during that previous incident.
Even after so long, things still hadn’t settled down. Compared to that grand and earth-shaking Chosen Rite, the hidden dangers of Spring City’s underground caverns suddenly seed like trivial nonsense.
Self-awakened Chosen Ones had always been highly sought after. Additionally, across all of Cliff City, and even throughout Haizhou and most of the Federation, sothing of this terrifying scale had never been seen before.
Out of the twelve Supre Benevolences, nine of them had descended! Even a single one of them would be enough to lay the foundation of a Chosen One. With nine presiding at once, just how staggering would the variables be?
“After seventeen years, a Chosen One genuinely summoned by fate has appeared.”
She sighed, then turned and walked back toward the camp.
The sumr night wind blew, gradually turning cool. After a while, following two or three heavy rains, a hint of chill would likely rise, and leaves would turn yellow and fall with the wind.
Another turbulent season of troubles was coming.
1. The imagery of this made lol. Those poor mice, how will they feed their family now? TT ☜
2. NAAWWW give scooter-chan a pat already will ya? ☜
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