Going home?
Pei Kanyan squatted down halfway, looking at the youth who had grown utterly weak, and finally spoke after a long silence: “Is this your last wish?”
“Yes!”
The youth’s expression was exceedingly firm, without a moment of hesitation. Faced with death, there was not a trace of fear, only absolute serenity.
“What a pity, I won’t let you have your way.” The man in front of him was seen sweeping his right hand across, slashing open his own wrist artery. Blood gushed out and fell onto the unfinished talismanic seal.
“Five talismans. I will help you fill them all. If that still does not work, I will definitely stop.”
Holy shit!
Mu Li was startled, staring blankly at the task completion rate shooting straight up.
[Task: Soul Guidance, Completion rate: 40 percent to 80 percent, 100 percent!]
Mu Li had only infused one and a half talismans, yet Pei Kanyan had so effortlessly filled the rest of them?
The player did not need to die once?
With teary eyes, he looked at this NPC: “You really are a good person.”
“…”
Pei Kanyan did not want to speak; he only felt a deep weariness in his heart.
Five talismans, not a single one missing, how much blood must that have drained? What kind of god-tier teammate was this?
At that moment, Xu Yueke’s body also burned to ashes. There was definitely no turning back now.
“It is over.”
Pei Kanyan clenched his wounded hand. Although he had lost a lot of blood, his complexion was not affected much, but his gaze turned cold.
Who on earth taught him how to guide souls?
If he had not helped, given Mu Li’s temperament, he would have definitely bled to death. Letting someone so naive do such a dangerous thing was practically sending him to his death.
Pei Kanyan shoved his hands into his pockets: “Have you made enough trouble? Let us go.”
“Why go? We succeeded.” Mu Li raised both hands, wanting to high-five him in celebration.
Unfortunately, Pei Kanyan completely ignored him and even let out a scoff: “Are you kidding me?”
Just as the words fell, the five talismans spontaneously ignited out of thin air.
Pei Kanyan suddenly sensed something descending. Having no time to escape, he immediately reacted by shielding Mu Li.
At the same time, an archaic and heavy door slowly materialized, followed by a distant, echoing sound of clinking bells.
The Ghost Gate!
A tiny hallway could not possibly contain it; only a small portion at the bottom of the doors was visible.
The two doors on the left and right were respectively engraved with ghost deities, majestic and solemn, striking awe into the soul. Hanging before the doors were nether-flame lanterns, stretching endlessly into the distant depths, either serving as decoration or guiding the souls on their path.
The doors cracked open an inch, and a hand stretched out from the thick darkness, wrapped in chilling chains.
The hand simply lifted, the chains shook, and Xu Yueke’s soul was hooked right out from the painting connected by the music box.
Her soul had already been burned to a precarious state, on the verge of dissipation. The moment the evil fire touched the chains, it was completely absorbed, leaving not a single trace.
Pei Kanyan looked at the unprecedented spectacle before him, a flash of astonishment crossing his eyes for the very first time.
Meanwhile, Mu Li was clinging to Pei Kanyan’s arm, overwhelmingly excited. This character modeling was truly amazing! He glanced at his mini-map.
Green name!
He had never seen a green name glowing this brightly before!
Just as the chains were pulling the soul back, Mu Li stepped forward, grabbed that hand, and vigorously shook it up and down.
“Hello, hello! My name is Mu Li, from now on we are one big family!”
The owner of the hand froze: “…”
Pei Kanyan: “!”
He was wrong.
This youth was even bolder than he had imagined!
Was the thing inside the Ghost Gate something you could just casually mess with?
Pei Kanyan yanked the youth’s hand back, imprisoning him in his embrace: “Behave.”
When Mu Li wanted to grab that hand again, a cascade of rewards came crashing down.
[The player has opened the Samsara Path, unlocking the skill Blood-infused Soul Guidance.]
[Player soul guidance x1, obtained the title Soul-Guiding Envoy. While wearing this title, all NPCs at the Ghost Gate are in a friendly state.]
[Player purified Girl in the Wheelchair, rewarded with talismanic seals x9, attribute points +10, HP +60, unlocked the World Within Paintings series of dungeons.]
Hearing about so many rewards, Mu Li was overjoyed.
Yet, the moment he checked his health bar, a pang of heartbreak hit him. After that unbridled consumption, he had finally finished the quest, only to find his HP even lower than it was this morning.
Who could he possibly reason with about this?
That hand retreated into the doors, and they slammed shut with a click.
Mu Li wailed loudly: “Hey, he has not told me his name yet!”
Pei Kanyan turned around and walked away.
Seeing Pei Kanyan leave, Mu Li cheerfully trotted along behind him, still having questions left unanswered: “Right, why did the sculpture room catch fire anyway?”
“She violated a taboo.”
“What taboo?”
Between restrictions and taboos, what kind of person did this Xu Yueke offend?
Pei Kanyan deliberated for a moment and replied: “I asked her for the painter’s name.”
Mu Li let out an oh: “The painter is a taboo, and everything in the paintings has turned into evil spirits. So the person who painted this picture is most likely the ultimate culprit.”
Pei Kanyan suddenly stopped in his tracks: “Do not you think I am the one who harmed her?”
Mu Li looked at him in confusion: “What?”
“Nothing.”
Pei Kanyan quickened his pace, walking past the youth.
Yet before they had even walked half the distance, a short, plump head of discipline blocked their path, shouting loudly at the sight of the two:
“Who beat up Young Master Su?”
Young Master Su was crawling down the stairs, beaten to a miserable pulp with a bruised and swollen face, lying on the ground groaning in pain. For this big shot to get injured in their school was an extraordinary crisis.
Even the principal had been bowing and scraping to make amends; naturally, the head of discipline wanted to seize the initiative to find the culprit, perhaps even score a connection with the Su family.
Pei Kanyan blocked Mu Li: “I did it.”
Upon seeing him, the head of discipline recognized him as the teaching assistant who had clamored about punishing Young Master Su: “You actually dared to hit Young Master Su? Your career as a teaching assistant is over, I am firing you.”
Before he could finish, Pei Kanyan tossed his teaching assistant badge onto the ground: “You do not need to say it, I am quitting this job.”
The head of discipline was rendered speechless with anger for a moment; this guy was simply too arrogant!
Glancing sideways, he noticed the iron door of the sculpture room was wide open, with a lingering stench of thick smoke pouring out.
“You guys even dared to set fire to a classroom? Destroying public property, I am definitely going to report you to the whole school.”
Mu Li accidentally turned up the game’s volume and hissed, his ears nearly deafening him.
With a single slap, he batted the man against the wall.
The head of discipline slammed his face into the wall, seeing stars as his glasses shattered, and mumbled incoherently: “Utterly lawless! You still dare to assault me? I am going to have all of you thrown in prison.”
Mu Li punched a hole right into the wall, then pulled his hand back, dragging out a handful of rubble along with it.
“I remember now, we still do not know who sealed that sculpture room. You are the head of discipline, you must know, right?”
The head of discipline was a bully of the weak and a coward to the strong. Seeing that wall punched through with a single fist, he shivered in terror: “It was the principal who sealed it. I only came to this school a year ago, that is all I know.”
“A principal, and a Su family…”
Hm, looks like a long-term quest line.
The youth had recovered his energy, likely because the Ghost Gate had supplied him with plenty of power.
Pei Kanyan suddenly piped up from the side: “I will treat you to a big meal.”
Mu Li: “Yay, yay!”
Map loading in progress.
First, they changed into a fresh set of clothes, then headed to an upscale restaurant.
Mu Li looked around like a country bumpkin, gazing left and right. The environment here was quiet, the decor glittering with gold and jade, and it certainly was not cheap.
Just as a waiter was about to step forward to stop them, he caught sight of the black card in the man’s hand. His expression instantly turned amiable as he respectfully led them into a private dining room.
Then he heard Pei Kanyan calmly drop a line: “Bring me one of everything.”
Mu Li looked at Pei Kanyan with absolute worship in his eyes.
He had never eaten anything so expensive before; coming into this game was truly a profitable deal.
Watching the youth bury his face in the plates, devouring the food in large bites while his face radiated a happy smile, Pei Kanyan traced the rim of his wine glass with his finger:
“Are you not going to ask why I quit my job as a teaching assistant?”
Mu Li looked up, his cheeks still bulging: “Because you were not a teaching assistant at all, that was just your cover identity.”
Pei Kanyan gave a light chuckle. Indeed, he had not particularly bothered to conceal his identity from the start. Given the youth’s level of intelligence, figuring it out was inevitable.
He suddenly sat up straight, flicked his finger, and a business card landed right on the table in front of the youth: “I am a demon-slaying exorcist.”
Mu Li held his chopsticks in one hand and picked up the business card with the other to take a look.
Wuwang Organization — Pei Kanyan.
Oooooh, could the player be officially entering their career path now?
Mu Li wiped his mouth: “So when is our next mission?”
Pei Kanyan spun his wine glass: “What?”
“You told me your identity, did you not already consider me a member of the organization?”
“Of course not.”
Mu Li was briefly stunned: “Not? Have I not completed the evaluation yet?”
Pei Kanyan stood up and tapped the youth lightly on the forehead:
“What on earth goes through your head all day? I gave you my card so you could call me if you run into danger, and I will help you, though only this once, fine, twice.”
Mu Li was shocked, dropping the ice cream right out of his hand. This NPC was way too difficult to deal with!
Checking the map, he saw the name was still yellow. Oh, well that is fine then.
Wait, was it just his imagination, or had that yellow shade turned just a tiny bit greener?
Pei Kanyan straightened his clothes, making a move to leave.
Mu Li hurriedly chugged the rest of his drink: “Are we going home now?”
Pei Kanyan turned around and tossed a card to the youth: “I have already paid for this meal, you can eat slowly. This card has 200,000 on it, enough for your expenses for a while. Stop following me.”
Holy shit.
Mu Li was so startled he started chewing on his own fingers.
So this meal was actually a breakup dinner!
Wait, does that mean the player cannot go back to the safehouse either? His health-recovery items were still there!
No way, no way. Even if he had to cling to him like sticky rice, he was going to follow him.
Pei Kanyan had already stepped out of the restaurant doors, and Mu Li eagerly hurried to catch up, only to be blocked by a woman in formal attire.
Ignoring her, Mu Li pivoted on his heel to bypass the stranger, single-mindedly intent on chasing after Pei Kanyan.
Yet the woman stepped in his way once more, and a crisp female voice rang out: “You are Mu Li?” The youth was not wearing sunglasses yesterday, why was he wearing them today? She almost had not recognized him.
From a distance, she saw that Pei Kanyan had already gotten into a car, the door slammed shut, and it drove off.
Mu Li let out a regretful sigh, and turned to look at the strange woman blocking him: “Who are you?”
“My name is Bing Wei, an exorcist,” the woman introduced herself. “I only came to remind you that that man is extremely dangerous! Do not get close to him!”
Mu Li brushed her off: “Oh, I got it,” and tried to bolt off in pursuit again.
He opened his mini-map; fortunately, he had marked the location of the apartment before leaving. Hehehe, there was no way Pei Kanyan was escaping the palm of his hand.
Seeing the youth’s absent-minded attitude, Bing Wei knew he had not understood: “To be honest with you, he is the boss of the Wuwang Organization. If he invites you, do not ever agree!”
“Why?” So he really was the BOSS! Mu Li felt a surge of excitement, though his expression quickly fell back into a slump. He actually wanted to join, but the guy would not allow it at all.
“Because everyone who has ever partnered with him has died of exploitation!”