Hearing the commotion, Fu Zhu turned his head and saw the bailiff who had touched the soul sand, her body now slumped limply to the side. He imdiately got up and walked over.
Fu Zhu carefully examined the unconscious bailiff, then turned to the other bailiffs gathered around with a strange look on his face.
"Don't tell you guys are actually soul-based entities?"
Fu Zhu had personally experienced the effects of soul sand. While it was especially effective against spiritual beings, for a normal living creature, it would only make their body feel heavy.
Even if the subject wasn't Steve, the most it should do is intensify that feeling of weight, not cause them to collapse unconscious at a single touch.
The bailiffs nearby exchanged glances. One of them stepped forward and nodded in response to Fu Zhu's question.
"You've guessed correctly, Lord Fu Zhu. Most of us bailiffs are individuals who passed away long ago. Our souls have been attached to these automaton bodies by the Ten-Lords Commission using a secret art. Is there a problem with that?"
"A big one."
Fu Zhu walked forward and shattered the soul sand with his bare hands. The spiritual forms of both Rongju and the fainted bailiff were released, though both now appeared sowhat transparent, having clearly had a significant amount of their essence drained by the soul sand.
The other bailiffs gasped when they saw their comrade's soul erge from the destroyed soul sand. They all looked at Fu Zhu in astonishnt, waiting for an explanation.
Fu Zhu held the crumbling soul sand in his hand, displaying it for the bailiffs to see. They all instinctively took a few steps back. Even those who were not in automaton bodies retreated in fear, afraid their own souls would be sucked out.
"This soul sand is the natural enemy of all spiritual beings. It doesn't matter if your souls are bound to automaton bodies by the Ten-Lords Commission's secret arts. As long as you are not in your original bodies, you will be affected."
"I see. Thank you for the information, Lord Fu Zhu."
Fu Zhu nodded and said no more, simply urging them to hurry up and take Rongju away. He then returned to Yanqing's side to continue supervising his sword practice.
The bailiffs carefully collected the souls and bodies of both Rongju and their own companion before quietly departing from the Martial Arts Training Ground.
Another three hours passed. Late into the night, Yanqing finally collapsed to the ground, unconscious from exhaustion. Fu Zhu slung him over his shoulder and left the training ground.
After dropping Yanqing off with the Cloud Knights on duty outside the Seat of Divine Foresight, Fu Zhu headed straight back to the inn, happening to run into Welt, who was also just returning.
"Mr. Yang."
Fu Zhu greeted him and quickened his pace to walk alongside him.
Welt glanced at Fu Zhu's empty side, then looked behind him, puzzled to find that March 7th and the Trailblazer, who were usually attached to Fu Zhu's hip, were nowhere to be seen.
"Hmm? Did little March and the others not co back with you?"
"Nope. We split up this morning. You don't know where they went, Mr. Yang?"
Welt shook his head and pulled out his phone, showing Fu Zhu the chat log between him and the Trailblazer.
"They just told they were going 'ghost hunting.' I thought they would et up with you by nightfall. I didn't expect you to be alone. I hope they don't get into any trouble out there."
"Relax, Mr. Yang. The biggest trouble on the Luofu has already been dealt with. The most they'll do is get into so mischief. If anything really happened, they would have contacted us."
Hearing this, Welt didn't press the matter further. He simply reminded Fu Zhu to get so rest and headed back to his own room first. Fu Zhu followed suit and went into his.
The next morning.
The mont Fu Zhu opened his eyes, he was greeted by the incessant ringing of his phone, which made him frown. He sat up, picked up his phone, and saw a screen full of ssages and several missed calls.
He glanced at the missed calls. Seeing they were all from an unknown number, he didn't call back, instead turning his attention to the unread ssages, all of which were from Jing Yuan.
[Jing Yuan: Little friend Fu Zhu, the Ten-Lords Commission is interested in purchasing a batch of soul sand from you. If you are willing, you can co discuss the price with . I guarantee you will be satisfied.]
[Jing Yuan: Little friend Fu Zhu, I thought I should let you know, with the approval of the Ten-Lords Commission, the Trailblazer and March 7th ford a ghost-hunting squad last night to capture Suiyang.]
After reading the two ssages, Fu Zhu was completely bewildered.
He could understand the Ten-Lords Commission wanting to buy soul sand; after all, it was a specialized counter to spiritual beings and could be of great use to them. But why had the Trailblazer and March 7th, who were supposed to be going to a Trial of Courage, suddenly tead up with the Ten-Lords Commission to hunt Suiyang?
"I hope they don't cause any trouble."
Fu Zhu shook his head and closed the ssage window. Just as he was about to call back one of the missed numbers, his phone rang again. A look at the caller ID showed it was the sa number he had just been about to dial.
Fu Zhu hesitated for a mont before answering the call and putting the phone to his ear. "Hello, who is this?"
"It's ! Little Bro Fu Zhu!"
A very familiar female voice ca from the other end. Fu Zhu wracked his brain for a mont before it clicked. It was that diviner from the Divination Commission who had guided them, Qingque.
"This voice... are you Qingque?"
"Yes! Oh, thank goodness! You still rember , little bro Fu Zhu!"
Hearing Fu Zhu say her na, Qingque on the other end let out a long sigh of relief. She had been genuinely worried that Fu Zhu would have already forgotten her.
After all, apart from their initial eting, they hadn't seen each other at all in the following days. It would be perfectly normal for him to forget her.
Fu Zhu switched the phone to his other ear, wedging it against his shoulder as he got up and walked into the washroom to get ready for the day. "It's a rare occasion for you to call . Sothing must have happened, right?"
He wasn't particularly close with Qingque. Given her personality of loving to slack off, she definitely wouldn't be calling him for no reason. If sothing had happened, it must be related to the Divination Commission, or even Fu Xuan.
"Little Bro Fu Zhu, you're so smart!"
Qingque first praised Fu Zhu for his intelligence, then her tone beca helpless. "Let's make a long story short. The Great Diviner is in trouble! She's been acting very strange lately!"
"Fu Xuan?"
Fu Zhu, in the middle of brushing his teeth, pictured Fu Xuan in his mind. He couldn't help but feel a little puzzled. Fu Xuan was no ordinary person; she excelled at divination. With the chaos of Phantylia and the Disciples of the dicine King already resolved, what kind of trouble could she possibly be in?
"What happened to her? And if she's in trouble, shouldn't you be reporting it to Jing Yuan? What's the use of calling ?"
"The General can't solve this! Only you can, little bro Fu Zhu! Because the Great Diviner is about to be tortured into becoming Mara-struck by you, her 'fated person'!"
"???"
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