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Shit.
The snow-white arms stretched out in unison, forming a horrifying flood of flesh. Although it was only a portion, its momentum far surpassed that of the previous Mr. Le. It was most likely the legendary “Love”.
Yin Ren desperately dodged those arms. His instincts were frantically warning him. Once influenced by those arms, things would likely spiral out of control.
Even the presence of “pure thoughts”, a human-made item, was enough to throw off his movements. Now he was working with Zhong Chengshuo. If they were to be affected by the genuine “Love”…
Yin Ren was exhausted, and the spirit of the Primordial Elemental within the vortex was at its peak. If they blindly fought, he might end up as a side dish to Mr. Le.
In an instant, Yin Ren suppressed his fighting spirit and focused all his energy on evading and escaping.
He dodged layers of swinging arms, swiftly shrinking his body to take on the appearance of Zhong Chengshuo. Amidst the thousands of extended arms, Yin Ren wrapped the real Zhong Chengshuo in red silk and hoisted him up, running toward the spot where the gap had appeared earlier.
Gaps like these only appeared in weak points of space. Even if it had somewhat recovered now, the space there was still weaker than elsewhere.
Obviously, Love was aware of this too, as more arms surged toward Yin Ren from the opposite direction. Yin Ren squeezed out his remaining strength, building layer upon layer of defense, stubbornly inching forward.
Perhaps due to his nature, Mr. Le wasn’t as easily digested as Mr. Qiu. After hastily consuming a large amount of the pale “Joy”, Yin Ren’s body felt uncomfortable, and his steps became heavier. More arms pressed against his defenses, making it increasingly difficult for Yin Ren to advance. If it weren’t for Zhong Chengshuo giving him his eyes, Yin Ren doubted he would be able to move at all.
Is he going to fail?
They’ve come this far, haven’t they?
Yin Ren held Zhong Chengshuo tightly, almost grinding his teeth to pieces. Explosions resounded around him, breaking through a layer of defense, which he added another. If his strength waned, he burned his flesh and blood.
Just a little bit more, just a little bit more… Zhong Chengshuo’s life was in his hands, and the purpose of the Other Side had yet to be revealed. He couldn’t allow himself to be trapped and die here.
Step by step, even if it was as slow as a snail, Yin Ren kept pushing aside the overwhelming arms, resolutely moving towards the exit. The “turtle shell” couldn’t chew him up. The snow-white arms swiftly descended from the clouds, piling up like mountains against Yin Ren.
They had reached their destination!
One of Yin Ren’s hands transformed into a winged sickle, fiercely cutting through space. At the same time, he madly activated his hair to transmit messages, preparing his companions outside to assist him in tearing open the gap. However, for some reason, his transmitted messages seemed to vanish into thin air, and there was no response from Fu Xingchuan.
The joy of surviving a calamity had just ignited, only to be extinguished by a bucket of cold water.
What’s going on?!
Did he have to fight head-on?
Yin Ren stopped at what should have been the exit and swallowed a mouthful of saliva. He was nearing exhaustion, and he didn’t even have a chance to communicate and delay. The massive Primordial Elemental in front of him clearly wasn’t as easy to deal with as Mr. Le. Its movements carried a strong intent to kill, and countless palms pressed down fiercely from above Yin Ren.
Bang!
Before Yin Ren could react, a dull sound rang out.
A thick barrier of corpses had risen beside him.
…No, perhaps it wasn’t truly corpses in the literal sense.
Countless small whirlpools emerged around Yin Ren, revealing legs and feet of various creatures. They maintained their normal size but became twisted and entangled, like intricately woven knots. Numerous legs and feet intertwined and remained motionless, emanating a chilling silence.
From the depths of the entangled limbs, various subtle mournful sounds could be heard. They were like sighs, like murmurs, and just a few earfuls of hearing them were enough to bring tears to one’s eyes.
The barrier in front of Yin Ren writhed incessantly, barely forming a human shape. Decaying and withered limbs sprouted fleshy membranes, and a human face slowly emerged.
It was Qi Xin’s face.
“The presence of Joy on the Other Side has disappeared.”
She moved her pupil-less eyes and revealed a satisfied smile.
“Not bad, cub. You still have some use.”
Yin Ren had no time for questions and took advantage of Qi Xin’s protection. He clawed at the space, tearing it apart with all his strength. At the same time, Qi Xin’s power was fully unleashed. The previously fragile space was vigorously torn apart by the two large Primordial Elementals. The space emitted a grating sound, and they managed to tear open a gap of over a meter.
Yin Ren plunged headfirst into it, and Qi Xin quickly followed, making their escape.
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In the next moment, the sea of white arms surged forward, but unfortunately, it missed its mark.
Yin Ren held onto Zhong Chengshuo tightly as the two of them crashed heavily onto the ground of the school’s back mountain. The dust settled, and Yin Ren no longer had the strength to maintain his disguise, reverting back to his true form.
Finally, it was over. Yin Ren wearily stood up. “Fu—”
Before he could finish speaking, the tone changed. Just a few steps away from Yin Ren, Fu Xingchuan’s two white tigers were facing off against Ge Tingting and Huang Jin.
Behind Fu Xingchuan stood Zhang Hejun and Dr. Sun. One held a utility knife, the other gripped a shovel handle. Together with Ge Tingting and Huang Jin, all four of them wore the same gentle and chilling expression on their faces.
Love.
This was definitely not a simple emotional influence. Setting aside the others, Huang Jin could never reveal such a maternal expression.
Right, Love was different from the other Elementals. It existed between the gaps, closer to the “human world”, naturally having more ways to interfere with living beings… Yin Ren knew that he had left someone outside to provide support, and it seemed that Love had also kept an ace up its sleeve.
Yin Ren’s entire body felt almost powerless, but he still struggled to gather what little strength remained, hiding it in the palm of his hand.
Fu Xingchuan might have never encountered so many “traitors” in his entire life. He didn’t know whether to take action or not. The two white tigers were circling around him. Moreover, judging by their physical condition, Fu Xingchuan and Yin Ren were almost the same—his long robe was stained with blood and dirt, and the skin of one of his hands was completely missing, exposing the bright red muscles.
Fu Xingchuan was breathing heavily, and his strength was extremely unstable. It was clear that he was at his last breath. Judging from the scene of the battle and the residual evil qi around him, there should have been a powerful person here before. Now that powerful person was nowhere to be found; perhaps they had escaped.
A little further away, Li Nian and his A-level investigation team were standing. The sealing techniques in their hands were ready to be unleashed, and it was a critical moment. Everyone’s gaze was focused on this side, showing varying degrees of astonishment.
Yin Ren: “…”
Well, it turned out Shian was already prepared, but his appearance was untimely.
However, when it came to the lives of their companions, it was better to resolve the matter sooner. Yin Ren subconsciously wanted to take action, but Qi Xin easily grabbed his wrist and pulled it aside like squeezing a balloon.
Then Qi Xin extended both hands and made a twisting handkerchief gesture.
Ge Tingting, Huang Jin, Sun Qi’an, and Zhang Hejun felt as if they had been hit by a heavy blow. They held their heads expressionlessly, tears streaming from their eyes. In front of everyone, the four of them curled up in place, and the hostility around them dissipated in an instant.
“I smell the scent of a Charon. Those from Sunken Society are watching the show.”
Ignoring the piercing gazes of Shian and the others, she whispered to Yin Ren with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Yin Ren covered Zhong Chengshuo’s head tightly with a red silk spirit weapon, concealing his empty eye sockets. Qi Xin glanced at the nearby humans and once again extended both hands, gently twisting them.
A faint sadness, like moonlight, enveloped everyone present. All the spellcasters came to a unified pause, and in that moment, Qi Xin’s figure flickered and disappeared without a trace.
“It’s okay. I’ll come find you again.”
With that, Qi Xin’s presence neatly disappeared.
Yin Ren stood in a daze in the same spot, watching as Ge Tingting and Huang Jin were controlled by Shian. He felt his nerves relax, and exhaustion and pain washed over him. Yin Ren exerted all his strength to hold Zhong Chengshuo tightly, finally losing consciousness.
……
When Yin Ren woke up again, he was still holding Zhong Chengshuo in his arms.
But the surroundings were a bit strange. The room was decorated in Shian’s style, with no windows, and cameras quietly attached to the corners of the room, but they weren’t active.
Beside him, Zhong Chengshuo’s eyes were already covered with gauze, emitting a faint medicinal scent. Comrade Xiao Zhong maintained his strong composure, still indifferent even if the sky were to collapse, and fell asleep while being held like this. His expression was extremely relaxed, as if he were sleeping in the safest place in the world.
As one of the villains in the fairy tale, this person really had no self-awareness… But then again, neither did he.
Yin Ren took a deep breath and lay there dazed for a while.
The expression before Mr. Le’s demise kept spinning in his mind—
If Mr. Le brought Luo Chunlei here, it wasn’t for escape but to conveniently offer himself to “Love”, right?
When he was killed by his own hands, Mr. Le’s reaction wasn’t particularly surprising. His own downfall was probably within Mr. Le’s expectations… Rather than waiting to be devoured by the enemy, Mr. Le left his remains to his companion.
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If it weren’t for Qi Xin’s timely intervention, both Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo would have lost more than their lives. Their strength had already been thoroughly discovered by Mr. Le.
Fortunately, they held on until the end and kept their final card—at least for now, Love still didn’t know that there were two true “Fears”.
“Two tigers, two tigers, run fast…”
Yin Ren hummed a song as his palm caressed Zhong Chengshuo’s cheek. The latter murmured a couple of words in his sleep and gently leaned into Yin Ren’s hand.
“One without eyes… Hmm, can’t be without eyes.”
Yin Ren’s palm covered Zhong Chengshuo’s eyes, and he propped himself up slightly, leaning in for a kiss.
The crisis was averted, and there was no one around. Yin Ren gathered the Evil Force on his tongue and transferred it into Zhong Chengshuo’s body. Zhong Chengshuo was startled awake by his actions, and he gently embraced Yin Ren’s waist, turning it into a real kiss.
A hazy warmth, a kiss that could make all the troubles in the world fade away.
The two of them kissed affectionately for a few minutes before Zhong Chengshuo reached up to undo the bandages. He cautiously opened his eyelids stained with blood, revealing two new, pitch-black pupils.
Yin Ren: “…” The left pupil of this person was as small as a button, while the right pupil almost filled the entire eye socket. Behind the pitch-black pupils, one could vaguely see something surging.
Yin Ren coughed desperately. “The sizes of the left and right sides are different, adjust them again.”
Zhong Chengshuo acknowledged and went to the bathroom to find a mirror. When he came back, he returned to the “ordinary human” appearance familiar to Yin Ren—handsome face, smooth and clean skin. Zhong Chengshuo also brushed his teeth and took a shower, emitting a refreshing scent of shower gel.
After completing all of this, he poured two cups of warm water and even compared the water levels of the two cups. Seeing that both identical cups were filled with the same amount of water, a faint sense of satisfaction appeared on Zhong Chengshuo’s face.
He really wanted the Elementals from the Other Side to see this. Yin Ren reluctantly took the warm water.
Having gone to great lengths to eliminate Fear, the result was that Fear didn’t disappear but instead became two Fears—one deeply engrossed in studying, the other longing for a vacation. It was hard to say whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.
Yin Ren slowly laid back on the pillow, stretching out like a character.
However, Lord Ghost King didn’t have much time to rest before a familiar person knocked on the door.
Fu Tianyi looked at Yin Ren absentmindedly. “Second Uncle has been going in and out of the hospital again. Do you have any idea what’s going on?”
Yin Ren: “…”
Yin Ren: “Just say it.”
“Professor Li is looking for you.”
……
When Yin Ren arrived, Huang Jin was watching a slideshow of his life in the isolation room.
After returning to Shian, he and Ge Tingting were separated into two isolation rooms for treatment. Even though he didn’t know the specific regulations of Shian, he could tell the level of secrecy here. The ones who came to inquire about them were none other than Li Nian and Minister Jiao with her portable phone.
The questions asked were all about what had happened before.
Huang Jin recounted everything in detail.
Not long ago, Yin Ren personally wrote a tranquility talisman for Ge Tingting and Huang Jin, who volunteered to act as bait. He also added a protective talisman with his own hair, worried that they might encounter life-threatening situations. If that happened, the warning talisman from Lu Xiaohe’s side would immediately ignite, and Yin Ren would personally take action.
Despite all this, Yin Ren was still very worried.
“The opponent’s strength is unknown, and my protective talisman may not be able to completely protect you. You have to think it through.” He emphasized it repeatedly.
Fortunately, their predictions were quite accurate. Killing them directly or throwing them into the gap would trigger extreme circumstances, as Shian could sense their “death” through his techniques. Mr. Le only took away their phones and left Huang Jin and Ge Tingting in the office, leaving them to fend for themselves.
The next steps were simple. Yin Ren successfully rescued both of them and instructed them to hide their presence near the pavilion in the back mountains and act accordingly. Fu Xingchuan was aware of this matter.
As for Fu Xingchuan’s confrontation with Xiang Jiang and their opportune attacks, it could be considered successful.
The problem arose after arresting Xiang Jiang.
Huang Jin remembered that they were supposed to assist Fu Xingchuan in controlling the spells and help Yin Ren escape in time. However, just before he could handcuff Xiang Jiang with a spirit weapon, he lost consciousness.
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All he remembered was the excruciating pain in his head.
When he regained consciousness, Huang Jin found himself kneeling on the ground, shedding tears uncontrollably. His heart was filled with an overwhelming, inexplicable grief. The A-level investigation team from Shian surrounded him with unfriendly gazes.
…No matter how he looked at it, the situation was quite dire.
Did he kill someone? Did he kill someone important to him? No, for him, the most important person was only Ding Lizi… Could it be because Shian erased another important person?
After all, when Huang Jin recalled the entire case, he realized that there were large gaps in his memory. It would have been fine if he didn’t think about it too much, but the more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable he felt. It seemed like someone had disappeared from the case, and he couldn’t remember who it was, no matter how hard he tried.
Huang Jin had applied to see the case files before. There was a name among them, and all the information related to it became unreadable. The words were right there on the paper, but no matter how hard he tried, those lines of text couldn’t enter his mind.
It’s over. Everything’s over. He had landed himself in big trouble.
Huang Jin curled up in a corner, holding his head, filled with regret.
What the hell was going on! If he had known, if he were given another chance by fate, to go back to the time when he only needed to worry about the high-interest loans from Sunken Society—he should have taken a submachine gun and fired it at the members of Sunken Society, rather than joining Shian under reformation.
As Huang Jin tearfully wove this tragic story, Yin Ren couldn’t bear it any longer and pounded on the glass.
“The door has been open for fifteen minutes! Come out!”
“My brain is broken.” Huang Jin stared at the corner of the wall. “The previous case feels wrong… Someone is missing, and I can’t remember… “
“○○○, right? When someone is directly devoured by a creature from the Other Side, it can cause this phenomenon.” Yin Ren explained with patience as he tapped his head against the glass. “Let’s not talk about you as a black seal not remembering her, even Li Nian doesn’t remember her. That case is closed, and it has nothing to do with you.”
Just like the mayor of Gengsheng Town, when Love devoured Luo Chunlei, everything related to that girl was erased from their “cognition”.
Her desk and stationery were still there, her room and clothes were still there, and her chat records in the anonymous chat group were still there.
But people would simply scan over them with wide eyes, unable to leave any trace in their minds. In this world, it seemed that only Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo still remembered that arrogant and domineering little girl.
Even if someone like Huang Jin was aware that there was a “role vacancy”, they couldn’t obtain any more information and would only be truly frightened.
“I lost a long stretch of memory too! I woke up crying in pain!” Huang Jin clung to the corner of the wall, refusing to move.
“That’s because you were under the control of a Primordial Elemental from the other side.” Yin Ren patted the glass again. “We’re still investigating the specific reasons, but I can assure you that you’re safe now.”
“…Oh.” Huang Jin wiped away his tears.
Was he really okay?
No, it couldn’t be that simple. After all, the Great Celestial Master himself was here, and he couldn’t escape even with ten legs. Huang Jin, in a daze, followed Yin Ren out of the room and into a meeting room.
This meeting room was a bit special, with tree roots covering the walls. The areas without roots were filled with deliberately drawn red-brown liquid filled with talismans. There were no windows inside, but also no electrical appliances; only an oil lamp flickered on the table. Along with the eerie surroundings, this place was like a scene from a horror movie.
The people present were all familiar faces.
Li Nian and Fu Xingchuan, the two leaders, and Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo, the two beasts. They were always involved in every troublesome situation.
Lu Xiaohe and Ge Tingting were also present… Well, after all, they were colleagues from Unit 9. Fu Tianyi was there, probably because he was an informant and had collaborated with them before, so it was understandable.
However, sitting in the darkest corner of the long table was a slender woman.
She had tightly bound her hair into a bun, slender eyes and brows, with a hint of pale red at the corners of her eyes, as if she had just been crying. She was securely tied up to the chair with ropes, and each rope was adorned with powerful sealing weapons imbued with a strong Evil Force.
Even though she was tied up like a zongzi, her thoughts were calm and content. Huang Jin had seen that shape of thoughts before in Gengsheng Town.
…Qi Xin.
Huang Jin turned to leave, but in the next instant, the door slammed shut in front of him. Countless tree roots extended rapidly, sealing the door tightly.
“Can I not participate?” He painfully pressed against the wall.
“Unfortunately, no.”
In the flickering fire, Qi Xin stretched her neck nonchalantly and narrowed her slender eyes. As Huang Jin looked at her elongated figure, a wave of goosebumps spread across his back.
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“You and that girl have the same brain damage.” Qi Xin pointed her head at Ge Tingting. “Maybe there could be some good use.”
He was wrong, Huang Jin thought dazedly.
Now, he truly had landed himself in big trouble.
“In the following matters, I will find an opportunity to inform the leaders of the Yandu Branch and the Linnan Branch. The situation is highly sensitive, and it should not be disclosed to ordinary employees until countermeasures are determined.”
Li Nian cleared his throat and spoke first.
“Considering the remarks made by Xiang Jiang during his betrayal, combined with the testimony obtained by Yin Ren from Mr. Le, along with the recent activities of Sunken Society… I believe we can ascertain the intentions of the Other Side.”
For the next ten minutes, Huang Jin’s mind went blank.
The Other Side had been providing sources of corruption to Sunken Society, and the creatures from the Other Side had found a way to stably infect humans using Evil Force.
The next step was to fully corrupt humanity, causing the human population to descend into madness to some extent. This would increase the production of various emotional energies and solve the problem of famine caused by the explosive increase of Elementals from the Other Side. For this purpose, the leaders from the Other Side came to the mortal realm.
Among them, “Love” showcased great determination, personally opening up the gap between the Other Side and the mortal realm, facilitating the influence of their companions on the human world.
Should he say it’s touching? After living for so many years, Huang Jin felt the absurdity of being “a bystander listening to agricultural news in the farmland” for the first time.
“No,” he muttered dazedly.
“If Mr. Le is prepared for self-sacrifice… Mr. Qiu is gone, Mr. Le is gone, and Ms. Qi is here—without someone to guide them, how can Love continue with its plans?”
“And after all that has been said, why is ‘Sorrow’ here? By betraying the Other Side, she won’t gain anything!”
In a sense, this could be considered the Primordial Elemental side of “crime against one’s own kind”. Huang Jin pressed his temples frantically. Sharing a room with Qi Xin, he didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly, fearing that his own tears would choke him in the next moment.
“Oh. You haven’t told them yet, have you?” Qi Xin smiled and looked at Yin Ren.
“I haven’t betrayed the Other Side—I came here to restore the true ‘order’.”
……
Shen Mo hummed a tune as he returned to the underground office of Sunken Society.
“Feeling good?”
Wei Huaqian asked indifferently.
“After watching such a great show, I feel really good.” Shen Mo laughed heartily. “Fu Xingchuan is getting old after all. If he were twenty years younger, Xiang Jiang wouldn’t last five seconds against him. But now, Xiao Fu still needs to shed some skin… Xiao Wei, time doesn’t spare anyone.”
Wei Huaqian, with a face full of wrinkles, didn’t even bother to lift his head. “Is that all?”
“Of course not.”
Shen Mo leaned in his young face full of smiles.
“Xiao Wei, we’re in for a great time.”
Kinky Thoughts:
The breakdown of the world of the Other Side is basically in the beginning, there was Satisfaction and Fear. From Satisfaction, other Primordial Elementals were born, while Fear played the role of death.
With the rise of humans and their emotions, certain Primordial Elementals that reflect human emotions became more powerful, such as the main four that was categorized by Shian: Love, Sorrow, Joy, and Disgust (I think Disgust is supposed to replace Hate as the top 4 emotions classified by Shian, so you can think of it as also hate/malice.)
[Side note: The rise of Disgust is most likely attributed to the rise of the internet. With the protection of anonymity, people can type pretty disgusting things online without fearing repercussions. A prime example was all the comments made to the girl who literally escaped from being human trafficked and was still bullied.]
Love, seeing its elemental compatriots dying to Fear, wanted to end the cycle, and thus, joining with the other great Elementals, they managed to defeat Fear and scatter its body through the “gaps”. One such gap fell in the Valley of Bones, where Yin Ren made his residence, and thus that is how Zhong Chengshuo first met Yin Ren… explaining the events of the “dream history arc”.
However, without Fear, and thus death, the Elementals continued to grow unchecked, and famine started. They began to eat each other (forming that food chain). Unable to bear the situation, Love devised a plan to plunge the human world into insanity. When humans become insane, they give off more potent emotions, twice as much as normal, which could feed the never-ending birth of Elementals.
Like always, everything in the previous arcs ties in with the main story… And this is why I love Nian Zhong.
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Shit.
The snow-white arms stretched out in unison, forming a horrifying flood of flesh. Although it was only a portion, its momentum far surpassed that of the previous Mr. Le. It was most likely the legendary “Love”.
Yin Ren desperately dodged those arms. His instincts were frantically warning him. Once influenced by those arms, things would likely spiral out of control.
Even the presence of “pure thoughts”, a human-made item, was enough to throw off his movements. Now he was working with Zhong Chengshuo. If they were to be affected by the genuine “Love”…
Yin Ren was exhausted, and the spirit of the Primordial Elemental within the vortex was at its peak. If they blindly fought, he might end up as a side dish to Mr. Le.
In an instant, Yin Ren suppressed his fighting spirit and focused all his energy on evading and escaping.
He dodged layers of swinging arms, swiftly shrinking his body to take on the appearance of Zhong Chengshuo. Amidst the thousands of extended arms, Yin Ren wrapped the real Zhong Chengshuo in red silk and hoisted him up, running toward the spot where the gap had appeared earlier.
Gaps like these only appeared in weak points of space. Even if it had somewhat recovered now, the space there was still weaker than elsewhere.
Obviously, Love was aware of this too, as more arms surged toward Yin Ren from the opposite direction. Yin Ren squeezed out his remaining strength, building layer upon layer of defense, stubbornly inching forward.
Perhaps due to his nature, Mr. Le wasn’t as easily digested as Mr. Qiu. After hastily consuming a large amount of the pale “Joy”, Yin Ren’s body felt uncomfortable, and his steps became heavier. More arms pressed against his defenses, making it increasingly difficult for Yin Ren to advance. If it weren’t for Zhong Chengshuo giving him his eyes, Yin Ren doubted he would be able to move at all.
Is he going to fail?
They’ve come this far, haven’t they?
Yin Ren held Zhong Chengshuo tightly, almost grinding his teeth to pieces. Explosions resounded around him, breaking through a layer of defense, which he added another. If his strength waned, he burned his flesh and blood.
Just a little bit more, just a little bit more… Zhong Chengshuo’s life was in his hands, and the purpose of the Other Side had yet to be revealed. He couldn’t allow himself to be trapped and die here.
Step by step, even if it was as slow as a snail, Yin Ren kept pushing aside the overwhelming arms, resolutely moving towards the exit. The “turtle shell” couldn’t chew him up. The snow-white arms swiftly descended from the clouds, piling up like mountains against Yin Ren.
They had reached their destination!
One of Yin Ren’s hands transformed into a winged sickle, fiercely cutting through space. At the same time, he madly activated his hair to transmit messages, preparing his companions outside to assist him in tearing open the gap. However, for some reason, his transmitted messages seemed to vanish into thin air, and there was no response from Fu Xingchuan.
The joy of surviving a calamity had just ignited, only to be extinguished by a bucket of cold water.
What’s going on?!
Did he have to fight head-on?
Yin Ren stopped at what should have been the exit and swallowed a mouthful of saliva. He was nearing exhaustion, and he didn’t even have a chance to communicate and delay. The massive Primordial Elemental in front of him clearly wasn’t as easy to deal with as Mr. Le. Its movements carried a strong intent to kill, and countless palms pressed down fiercely from above Yin Ren.
Bang!
Before Yin Ren could react, a dull sound rang out.
A thick barrier of corpses had risen beside him.
…No, perhaps it wasn’t truly corpses in the literal sense.
Countless small whirlpools emerged around Yin Ren, revealing legs and feet of various creatures. They maintained their normal size but became twisted and entangled, like intricately woven knots. Numerous legs and feet intertwined and remained motionless, emanating a chilling silence.
From the depths of the entangled limbs, various subtle mournful sounds could be heard. They were like sighs, like murmurs, and just a few earfuls of hearing them were enough to bring tears to one’s eyes.
The barrier in front of Yin Ren writhed incessantly, barely forming a human shape. Decaying and withered limbs sprouted fleshy membranes, and a human face slowly emerged.
It was Qi Xin’s face.
“The presence of Joy on the Other Side has disappeared.”
She moved her pupil-less eyes and revealed a satisfied smile.
“Not bad, cub. You still have some use.”
Yin Ren had no time for questions and took advantage of Qi Xin’s protection. He clawed at the space, tearing it apart with all his strength. At the same time, Qi Xin’s power was fully unleashed. The previously fragile space was vigorously torn apart by the two large Primordial Elementals. The space emitted a grating sound, and they managed to tear open a gap of over a meter.
Yin Ren plunged headfirst into it, and Qi Xin quickly followed, making their escape.
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In the next moment, the sea of white arms surged forward, but unfortunately, it missed its mark.
Yin Ren held onto Zhong Chengshuo tightly as the two of them crashed heavily onto the ground of the school’s back mountain. The dust settled, and Yin Ren no longer had the strength to maintain his disguise, reverting back to his true form.
Finally, it was over. Yin Ren wearily stood up. “Fu—”
Before he could finish speaking, the tone changed. Just a few steps away from Yin Ren, Fu Xingchuan’s two white tigers were facing off against Ge Tingting and Huang Jin.
Behind Fu Xingchuan stood Zhang Hejun and Dr. Sun. One held a utility knife, the other gripped a shovel handle. Together with Ge Tingting and Huang Jin, all four of them wore the same gentle and chilling expression on their faces.
Love.
This was definitely not a simple emotional influence. Setting aside the others, Huang Jin could never reveal such a maternal expression.
Right, Love was different from the other Elementals. It existed between the gaps, closer to the “human world”, naturally having more ways to interfere with living beings… Yin Ren knew that he had left someone outside to provide support, and it seemed that Love had also kept an ace up its sleeve.
Yin Ren’s entire body felt almost powerless, but he still struggled to gather what little strength remained, hiding it in the palm of his hand.
Fu Xingchuan might have never encountered so many “traitors” in his entire life. He didn’t know whether to take action or not. The two white tigers were circling around him. Moreover, judging by their physical condition, Fu Xingchuan and Yin Ren were almost the same—his long robe was stained with blood and dirt, and the skin of one of his hands was completely missing, exposing the bright red muscles.
Fu Xingchuan was breathing heavily, and his strength was extremely unstable. It was clear that he was at his last breath. Judging from the scene of the battle and the residual evil qi around him, there should have been a powerful person here before. Now that powerful person was nowhere to be found; perhaps they had escaped.
A little further away, Li Nian and his A-level investigation team were standing. The sealing techniques in their hands were ready to be unleashed, and it was a critical moment. Everyone’s gaze was focused on this side, showing varying degrees of astonishment.
Yin Ren: “…”
Well, it turned out Shian was already prepared, but his appearance was untimely.
However, when it came to the lives of their companions, it was better to resolve the matter sooner. Yin Ren subconsciously wanted to take action, but Qi Xin easily grabbed his wrist and pulled it aside like squeezing a balloon.
Then Qi Xin extended both hands and made a twisting handkerchief gesture.
Ge Tingting, Huang Jin, Sun Qi’an, and Zhang Hejun felt as if they had been hit by a heavy blow. They held their heads expressionlessly, tears streaming from their eyes. In front of everyone, the four of them curled up in place, and the hostility around them dissipated in an instant.
“I smell the scent of a Charon. Those from Sunken Society are watching the show.”
Ignoring the piercing gazes of Shian and the others, she whispered to Yin Ren with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Yin Ren covered Zhong Chengshuo’s head tightly with a red silk spirit weapon, concealing his empty eye sockets. Qi Xin glanced at the nearby humans and once again extended both hands, gently twisting them.
A faint sadness, like moonlight, enveloped everyone present. All the spellcasters came to a unified pause, and in that moment, Qi Xin’s figure flickered and disappeared without a trace.
“It’s okay. I’ll come find you again.”
With that, Qi Xin’s presence neatly disappeared.
Yin Ren stood in a daze in the same spot, watching as Ge Tingting and Huang Jin were controlled by Shian. He felt his nerves relax, and exhaustion and pain washed over him. Yin Ren exerted all his strength to hold Zhong Chengshuo tightly, finally losing consciousness.
……
When Yin Ren woke up again, he was still holding Zhong Chengshuo in his arms.
But the surroundings were a bit strange. The room was decorated in Shian’s style, with no windows, and cameras quietly attached to the corners of the room, but they weren’t active.
Beside him, Zhong Chengshuo’s eyes were already covered with gauze, emitting a faint medicinal scent. Comrade Xiao Zhong maintained his strong composure, still indifferent even if the sky were to collapse, and fell asleep while being held like this. His expression was extremely relaxed, as if he were sleeping in the safest place in the world.
As one of the villains in the fairy tale, this person really had no self-awareness… But then again, neither did he.
Yin Ren took a deep breath and lay there dazed for a while.
The expression before Mr. Le’s demise kept spinning in his mind—
If Mr. Le brought Luo Chunlei here, it wasn’t for escape but to conveniently offer himself to “Love”, right?
When he was killed by his own hands, Mr. Le’s reaction wasn’t particularly surprising. His own downfall was probably within Mr. Le’s expectations… Rather than waiting to be devoured by the enemy, Mr. Le left his remains to his companion.
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If it weren’t for Qi Xin’s timely intervention, both Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo would have lost more than their lives. Their strength had already been thoroughly discovered by Mr. Le.
Fortunately, they held on until the end and kept their final card—at least for now, Love still didn’t know that there were two true “Fears”.
“Two tigers, two tigers, run fast…”
Yin Ren hummed a song as his palm caressed Zhong Chengshuo’s cheek. The latter murmured a couple of words in his sleep and gently leaned into Yin Ren’s hand.
“One without eyes… Hmm, can’t be without eyes.”
Yin Ren’s palm covered Zhong Chengshuo’s eyes, and he propped himself up slightly, leaning in for a kiss.
The crisis was averted, and there was no one around. Yin Ren gathered the Evil Force on his tongue and transferred it into Zhong Chengshuo’s body. Zhong Chengshuo was startled awake by his actions, and he gently embraced Yin Ren’s waist, turning it into a real kiss.
A hazy warmth, a kiss that could make all the troubles in the world fade away.
The two of them kissed affectionately for a few minutes before Zhong Chengshuo reached up to undo the bandages. He cautiously opened his eyelids stained with blood, revealing two new, pitch-black pupils.
Yin Ren: “…” The left pupil of this person was as small as a button, while the right pupil almost filled the entire eye socket. Behind the pitch-black pupils, one could vaguely see something surging.
Yin Ren coughed desperately. “The sizes of the left and right sides are different, adjust them again.”
Zhong Chengshuo acknowledged and went to the bathroom to find a mirror. When he came back, he returned to the “ordinary human” appearance familiar to Yin Ren—handsome face, smooth and clean skin. Zhong Chengshuo also brushed his teeth and took a shower, emitting a refreshing scent of shower gel.
After completing all of this, he poured two cups of warm water and even compared the water levels of the two cups. Seeing that both identical cups were filled with the same amount of water, a faint sense of satisfaction appeared on Zhong Chengshuo’s face.
He really wanted the Elementals from the Other Side to see this. Yin Ren reluctantly took the warm water.
Having gone to great lengths to eliminate Fear, the result was that Fear didn’t disappear but instead became two Fears—one deeply engrossed in studying, the other longing for a vacation. It was hard to say whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.
Yin Ren slowly laid back on the pillow, stretching out like a character.
However, Lord Ghost King didn’t have much time to rest before a familiar person knocked on the door.
Fu Tianyi looked at Yin Ren absentmindedly. “Second Uncle has been going in and out of the hospital again. Do you have any idea what’s going on?”
Yin Ren: “…”
Yin Ren: “Just say it.”
“Professor Li is looking for you.”
……
When Yin Ren arrived, Huang Jin was watching a slideshow of his life in the isolation room.
After returning to Shian, he and Ge Tingting were separated into two isolation rooms for treatment. Even though he didn’t know the specific regulations of Shian, he could tell the level of secrecy here. The ones who came to inquire about them were none other than Li Nian and Minister Jiao with her portable phone.
The questions asked were all about what had happened before.
Huang Jin recounted everything in detail.
Not long ago, Yin Ren personally wrote a tranquility talisman for Ge Tingting and Huang Jin, who volunteered to act as bait. He also added a protective talisman with his own hair, worried that they might encounter life-threatening situations. If that happened, the warning talisman from Lu Xiaohe’s side would immediately ignite, and Yin Ren would personally take action.
Despite all this, Yin Ren was still very worried.
“The opponent’s strength is unknown, and my protective talisman may not be able to completely protect you. You have to think it through.” He emphasized it repeatedly.
Fortunately, their predictions were quite accurate. Killing them directly or throwing them into the gap would trigger extreme circumstances, as Shian could sense their “death” through his techniques. Mr. Le only took away their phones and left Huang Jin and Ge Tingting in the office, leaving them to fend for themselves.
The next steps were simple. Yin Ren successfully rescued both of them and instructed them to hide their presence near the pavilion in the back mountains and act accordingly. Fu Xingchuan was aware of this matter.
As for Fu Xingchuan’s confrontation with Xiang Jiang and their opportune attacks, it could be considered successful.
The problem arose after arresting Xiang Jiang.
Huang Jin remembered that they were supposed to assist Fu Xingchuan in controlling the spells and help Yin Ren escape in time. However, just before he could handcuff Xiang Jiang with a spirit weapon, he lost consciousness.
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All he remembered was the excruciating pain in his head.
When he regained consciousness, Huang Jin found himself kneeling on the ground, shedding tears uncontrollably. His heart was filled with an overwhelming, inexplicable grief. The A-level investigation team from Shian surrounded him with unfriendly gazes.
…No matter how he looked at it, the situation was quite dire.
Did he kill someone? Did he kill someone important to him? No, for him, the most important person was only Ding Lizi… Could it be because Shian erased another important person?
After all, when Huang Jin recalled the entire case, he realized that there were large gaps in his memory. It would have been fine if he didn’t think about it too much, but the more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable he felt. It seemed like someone had disappeared from the case, and he couldn’t remember who it was, no matter how hard he tried.
Huang Jin had applied to see the case files before. There was a name among them, and all the information related to it became unreadable. The words were right there on the paper, but no matter how hard he tried, those lines of text couldn’t enter his mind.
It’s over. Everything’s over. He had landed himself in big trouble.
Huang Jin curled up in a corner, holding his head, filled with regret.
What the hell was going on! If he had known, if he were given another chance by fate, to go back to the time when he only needed to worry about the high-interest loans from Sunken Society—he should have taken a submachine gun and fired it at the members of Sunken Society, rather than joining Shian under reformation.
As Huang Jin tearfully wove this tragic story, Yin Ren couldn’t bear it any longer and pounded on the glass.
“The door has been open for fifteen minutes! Come out!”
“My brain is broken.” Huang Jin stared at the corner of the wall. “The previous case feels wrong… Someone is missing, and I can’t remember… “
“○○○, right? When someone is directly devoured by a creature from the Other Side, it can cause this phenomenon.” Yin Ren explained with patience as he tapped his head against the glass. “Let’s not talk about you as a black seal not remembering her, even Li Nian doesn’t remember her. That case is closed, and it has nothing to do with you.”
Just like the mayor of Gengsheng Town, when Love devoured Luo Chunlei, everything related to that girl was erased from their “cognition”.
Her desk and stationery were still there, her room and clothes were still there, and her chat records in the anonymous chat group were still there.
But people would simply scan over them with wide eyes, unable to leave any trace in their minds. In this world, it seemed that only Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo still remembered that arrogant and domineering little girl.
Even if someone like Huang Jin was aware that there was a “role vacancy”, they couldn’t obtain any more information and would only be truly frightened.
“I lost a long stretch of memory too! I woke up crying in pain!” Huang Jin clung to the corner of the wall, refusing to move.
“That’s because you were under the control of a Primordial Elemental from the other side.” Yin Ren patted the glass again. “We’re still investigating the specific reasons, but I can assure you that you’re safe now.”
“…Oh.” Huang Jin wiped away his tears.
Was he really okay?
No, it couldn’t be that simple. After all, the Great Celestial Master himself was here, and he couldn’t escape even with ten legs. Huang Jin, in a daze, followed Yin Ren out of the room and into a meeting room.
This meeting room was a bit special, with tree roots covering the walls. The areas without roots were filled with deliberately drawn red-brown liquid filled with talismans. There were no windows inside, but also no electrical appliances; only an oil lamp flickered on the table. Along with the eerie surroundings, this place was like a scene from a horror movie.
The people present were all familiar faces.
Li Nian and Fu Xingchuan, the two leaders, and Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo, the two beasts. They were always involved in every troublesome situation.
Lu Xiaohe and Ge Tingting were also present… Well, after all, they were colleagues from Unit 9. Fu Tianyi was there, probably because he was an informant and had collaborated with them before, so it was understandable.
However, sitting in the darkest corner of the long table was a slender woman.
She had tightly bound her hair into a bun, slender eyes and brows, with a hint of pale red at the corners of her eyes, as if she had just been crying. She was securely tied up to the chair with ropes, and each rope was adorned with powerful sealing weapons imbued with a strong Evil Force.
Even though she was tied up like a zongzi, her thoughts were calm and content. Huang Jin had seen that shape of thoughts before in Gengsheng Town.
…Qi Xin.
Huang Jin turned to leave, but in the next instant, the door slammed shut in front of him. Countless tree roots extended rapidly, sealing the door tightly.
“Can I not participate?” He painfully pressed against the wall.
“Unfortunately, no.”
In the flickering fire, Qi Xin stretched her neck nonchalantly and narrowed her slender eyes. As Huang Jin looked at her elongated figure, a wave of goosebumps spread across his back.
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“You and that girl have the same brain damage.” Qi Xin pointed her head at Ge Tingting. “Maybe there could be some good use.”
He was wrong, Huang Jin thought dazedly.
Now, he truly had landed himself in big trouble.
“In the following matters, I will find an opportunity to inform the leaders of the Yandu Branch and the Linnan Branch. The situation is highly sensitive, and it should not be disclosed to ordinary employees until countermeasures are determined.”
Li Nian cleared his throat and spoke first.
“Considering the remarks made by Xiang Jiang during his betrayal, combined with the testimony obtained by Yin Ren from Mr. Le, along with the recent activities of Sunken Society… I believe we can ascertain the intentions of the Other Side.”
For the next ten minutes, Huang Jin’s mind went blank.
The Other Side had been providing sources of corruption to Sunken Society, and the creatures from the Other Side had found a way to stably infect humans using Evil Force.
The next step was to fully corrupt humanity, causing the human population to descend into madness to some extent. This would increase the production of various emotional energies and solve the problem of famine caused by the explosive increase of Elementals from the Other Side. For this purpose, the leaders from the Other Side came to the mortal realm.
Among them, “Love” showcased great determination, personally opening up the gap between the Other Side and the mortal realm, facilitating the influence of their companions on the human world.
Should he say it’s touching? After living for so many years, Huang Jin felt the absurdity of being “a bystander listening to agricultural news in the farmland” for the first time.
“No,” he muttered dazedly.
“If Mr. Le is prepared for self-sacrifice… Mr. Qiu is gone, Mr. Le is gone, and Ms. Qi is here—without someone to guide them, how can Love continue with its plans?”
“And after all that has been said, why is ‘Sorrow’ here? By betraying the Other Side, she won’t gain anything!”
In a sense, this could be considered the Primordial Elemental side of “crime against one’s own kind”. Huang Jin pressed his temples frantically. Sharing a room with Qi Xin, he didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly, fearing that his own tears would choke him in the next moment.
“Oh. You haven’t told them yet, have you?” Qi Xin smiled and looked at Yin Ren.
“I haven’t betrayed the Other Side—I came here to restore the true ‘order’.”
……
Shen Mo hummed a tune as he returned to the underground office of Sunken Society.
“Feeling good?”
Wei Huaqian asked indifferently.
“After watching such a great show, I feel really good.” Shen Mo laughed heartily. “Fu Xingchuan is getting old after all. If he were twenty years younger, Xiang Jiang wouldn’t last five seconds against him. But now, Xiao Fu still needs to shed some skin… Xiao Wei, time doesn’t spare anyone.”
Wei Huaqian, with a face full of wrinkles, didn’t even bother to lift his head. “Is that all?”
“Of course not.”
Shen Mo leaned in his young face full of smiles.
“Xiao Wei, we’re in for a great time.”
Kinky Thoughts:
The breakdown of the world of the Other Side is basically in the beginning, there was Satisfaction and Fear. From Satisfaction, other Primordial Elementals were born, while Fear played the role of death.
With the rise of humans and their emotions, certain Primordial Elementals that reflect human emotions became more powerful, such as the main four that was categorized by Shian: Love, Sorrow, Joy, and Disgust (I think Disgust is supposed to replace Hate as the top 4 emotions classified by Shian, so you can think of it as also hate/malice.)
[Side note: The rise of Disgust is most likely attributed to the rise of the internet. With the protection of anonymity, people can type pretty disgusting things online without fearing repercussions. A prime example was all the comments made to the girl who literally escaped from being human trafficked and was still bullied.]
Love, seeing its elemental compatriots dying to Fear, wanted to end the cycle, and thus, joining with the other great Elementals, they managed to defeat Fear and scatter its body through the “gaps”. One such gap fell in the Valley of Bones, where Yin Ren made his residence, and thus that is how Zhong Chengshuo first met Yin Ren… explaining the events of the “dream history arc”.
However, without Fear, and thus death, the Elementals continued to grow unchecked, and famine started. They began to eat each other (forming that food chain). Unable to bear the situation, Love devised a plan to plunge the human world into insanity. When humans become insane, they give off more potent emotions, twice as much as normal, which could feed the never-ending birth of Elementals.
Like always, everything in the previous arcs ties in with the main story… And this is why I love Nian Zhong.
