Chapter 88: God Summoning Plan · Grand Finale (Part 1)

Yun Xueqing asked, “You’re looking for Zhongse?”

“That’s right,” Fu Wuxuan nodded. “I’ve always felt that something was off about this.”

There was no reason for Mei Qujun to pull Zhongse into the domain he had constructed, and the relationship between Zhongse and Mei Qujun seemed quite delicate.

The two of them appeared to have made a deal, but then fallen out. Perhaps that could be exploited.

Yun Xueqing pondered as well. “Although Zhongse’s consciousness was pulled into the domain, it’s hard to say where his actual body is. Where do you think he’ll show up?”

“He’s the upright director of the Degeneration Abstinence Institute. If he ran around carelessly, it would definitely raise eyebrows,” Fu Wuxuan narrowed his slender eyes, a smile on his face. “So…”

Yun Xueqing continued his train of thought. “So we go to the Degeneration Abstinence Institute to find him?”

“But then again,” Fu Wuxuan shifted gears, “he’s an official. If Tu Hexiangchu summons him, he can’t very well refuse to come.”

Yun Xueqing was amused by him. “…”

Fu Wuxuan was always a man of action. He went straight to find Tu Hexiangchu with Yun Xueqing.

After hearing about their experiences in Strategy God Heavens, Tu Hexiangchu’s mood was complicated. “Although I suspected the cause of Leng Xian’s death, I never imagined he was actually…”

He didn’t finish the rest. After all, speaking ill of the dead wasn’t his style.

Fu Wuxuan didn’t want to dwell on this heartbreaking matter either and got back to the point. “So, can you arrange for us to meet Zhongse?”

Tu Hexiangchu shook his head. “What you’ve said lacks evidence. I have no way to report this to my superiors, nor any reason to summon Zhongse.”

Fu Wuxuan raised an eyebrow, about to mock him for clinging to bureaucracy at a time like this, when Tu Hexiangchu changed tack. “However, I have some private contact with that director of the Degeneration Abstinence Institute. I can invite him out on a personal basis.”

Fu Wuxuan was somewhat surprised. “You still keep in touch with a lunatic like that?”

Tu Hexiangchu remained poker-faced. “It’s not really keeping in touch. We were neighbors before.”

Fu Wuxuan jabbed, “Being neighbors with him must’ve been pretty tough.”

“Before the apocalypse, he was still pretty normal.”

Tu Hexiangchu didn’t intend to chat more about him. He messaged Zhongse directly and arranged to meet at an abandoned warehouse.

Fu Wuxuan and Yun Xueqing had thought that, given the current tense situation, the other man would be suspicious and not show. To their surprise, the meeting went smoothly.

“Our esteemed vice director, what brings you to invite a nobody like me…”

Zhongse had been smiling at first, but his smile froze when he saw Fu Wuxuan and Yun Xueqing. His expression turned cloudy, and his tone dripped with sarcasm. “I never expected you two to be connected to our esteemed vice director.”

He sighed, as if disappointed. “But I can guess—you’ve never invited me out before, and now it’s in a desolate place like this. You must have ulterior motives.”

Zhongse tilted his head, his high ponytail swaying with the motion. A flashy smile adorned his face, looking utterly bewitching. “But I didn’t expect the one with ulterior motives wasn’t Tu Hexiangchu, but someone else.”

“Long time no see, cutie.”

Zhongse greeted Yun Xueqing like they were old pals, completely ignoring Fu Wuxuan.

Yun Xueqing couldn’t understand why Zhongse seemed happy to see him. After all, their last encounter had involved stabbing each other.

But he didn’t need to fathom a madman’s thought process. He cut straight to the chase. “What deal did you make with my master… Mei Qujun?”

“Mei Qujun?” Zhongse looked puzzled for a moment, tilting his head again. His red lips curved up as he deliberately smiled. “Oh, you mean Shen Le.”

He drawled it out, grinning. “No big deal. He helped me suppress the restless Dragon Girl Bone in my body, and I used my position to provide him some conveniences.”

Tu Hexiangchu stared at him impassively. “You admit to your actions so readily.”

“What can I do? With you, the vice director, here, I couldn’t hide anything even if I wanted to.”

Zhongse shrugged indifferently, his red lips quirking. He didn’t seem to care at all what fate might await him for spilling these secrets.

His face still bore that flamboyant smile as his eyes fixed intently on Tu Hexiangchu. “Besides, that Mei Qujun wants me dead. If I don’t cling to you people, I’d probably die pretty quick.”

Even as he said this, there wasn’t a trace of fear on his face. Instead, he narrowed his eyes in enjoyment.

No matter what, Zhongse was an S-Rank Oracle. Even if he couldn’t beat Mei Qujun, he wouldn’t need to throw himself at them. It was just a joke.

Tu Hexiangchu let the quip go in one ear and out the other, getting to the heart of the matter. “What did you do for Strategy God Heavens using your position… I advise you to think carefully before you speak.”

He couldn’t help adding that reminder.

After all, the man was erratic, often spouting nonsense and toying with people through words. What came out of his mouth wasn’t always true.

“To you, I naturally speak only the truth,” Zhongse smiled casually. “Since you found me, you must know a lot already. No need for me to hide it. Strategy God Heavens needed lots of test subjects. Capturing Oracles en masse would draw official intervention, so…”

Fu Wuxuan’s gaze bored into him. “So you diverted some Oracles from the Degeneration Abstinence Institute to Strategy God Heavens.”

“Exactly,” Zhongse laughed. “Reversing Weirdification isn’t easy. Only high Spirit Energy level Oracles like you can recover smoothly. The low-level ones are screwed—I couldn’t help them. Most could only end up degenerating badly.”

Zhongse’s red lips curved maliciously, as if it were all very proper. “So rather than let them degenerate and have me execute them, better to hand them to Strategy God Heavens for experiments.”

Tu Hexiangchu suddenly recalled something. “There was a period when the Degeneration Abstinence Institute’s recovery rate doubled.”

“Yeah, you should thank Strategy God Heavens properly,” Zhongse said with a wicked grin. “Without them, you wouldn’t have recovered nearly as many.”

Tu Hexiangchu frowned. “Something that big—how could no one report it?”

“Vice Director Tu, you’ve been up high too long. You don’t understand the will of the people at all,” Zhongse laughed. “They were healed by Strategy God Heavens. What is that? Our official enemy. How dare they admit any connection? They wouldn’t breathe a word to you.”

He chuckled lightly. “Besides, Strategy God Heavens has more ways to torment people than we do. A casual Oracle power seals their lips easily.”

Tu Hexiangchu’s face grew icy. “Zhongse, do you know what you’re doing? What you’re saying?”

Zhongse’s smile was brilliant. “Of course… So concerned about me? Then don’t report what I said to your superiors.”

Tu Hexiangchu closed his eyes, then opened them again. “I’ll report every word.”

“Boring.” Zhongse shrugged.

He wore a wine-red shirt, the top button undone, looking utterly dissolute and improper. As he moved, half his collarbone showed, paired with his roguish expression—like a playboy who’d frolicked through a thousand flowers.

Tu Hexiangchu asked him again, “Has the Dragon Girl Bone in you flared up?”

“Worried about me?”

It was the second time he’d said that today. Tu Hexiangchu was getting annoyed. “Information and data on the Dragon Girl Bone is precious and should be collected.”

This explanation slapped down Zhongse’s presumptuous fantasy.

Zhongse didn’t mind, still grinning. “I know. After all, you’re a very selfish person. You must have a Dragon Girl Bone yourself and are scared it’ll act up like mine, so you’re asking ahead of time.”

Tu Hexiangchu ignored the malicious speculation, merely staring at him with cold eyes.

Seeing this, Zhongse waved dismissively, bored. “Fine, fine, I get it… I don’t know much about the Dragon Girl Bone either, but you don’t need to worry about turning out like me.”

“Mine never meshed with me from the start, tormenting me constantly. I happened to meet Mei Qujun from Strategy God Heavens, and he suppressed it for me.”

Tu Hexiangchu fell silent after hearing this. “Never meshed with you?”

Zhongse sniped sarcastically without restraint. “I’m not like you chosen ones. The Dragon Girl Bone is your boon, but for me, it’s pure poison.”

Like a maggot gnawing at his bones, tormenting him every moment.

Fu Wuxuan suddenly remembered something and interrupted their exchange. “Li Yulin’s dying words about the Lord of the Weird—are they connected to you?”

Zhongse had built a cooperative relationship with Strategy God Heavens, but Mei Qujun had tried to kill him in the domain earlier. Their deal must have soured because Zhongse pulled something.

Zhongse laughed. “You’re still hung up on that little detail… I was just bored and leaked some of Mei Qujun’s plan. Didn’t expect him to try silencing me for it.”

Fu Wuxuan’s brows furrowed sharply, his instincts screaming something major. “What plan are you talking about?”

“You already know, don’t you? The God Summoning Plan.” Zhongse’s flashy face bore a smile that looked somewhat eerie. “December 25th—something big will happen.”

Fu Wuxuan was baffled. “God Summoning Plan?”

First the Lord of the Weird, now God Summoning?

Zhongse said, “I deliberately eavesdropped on his plan, but I’m not one of them, so I don’t know the details. You can probably guess.”

Fu Wuxuan’s mind buzzed. He instantly thought of the deceased Leng Xian.

That deranged Mei Qujun wouldn’t try transplanting a Weird soul into someone else to create the Lord of the Weird again, would he?

But Leng Xian was dead. Who was the next target?

The answer was obvious.

Realizing Mei Qujun had anticipated Yun Xueqing’s awakening, luring him to Thicket Village and maneuvering him step by step into the trap, Fu Wuxuan broke into a cold sweat.

“Mei Qujun’s target is you!”

Thinking that Mei Qujun was gunning for Yun Xueqing—and that they’d crossed paths with him countless times—Fu Wuxuan felt agitated and terrified. He hurriedly grabbed Yun Xueqing’s hand.

Compared to Fu Wuxuan’s agitation and fear, Yun Xueqing was far calmer. “If the date really is December 25th, we still have over ten days to prepare.”

Seeing that the two had gotten the gist, Zhongse asked, “Anything else you want to ask?”

Yun Xueqing and Fu Wuxuan were already preoccupied with Mei Qujun after extracting key intel from Zhongse, so they ignored him.

Tu Hexiangchu said nothing, mulling over the conversation.

Zhongse saw Tu Hexiangchu staying silent and knew this man would discard him once used. Unfazed, he waved casually. “Esteemed vice director, any more questions? If not, I’ll be off.”

Tu Hexiangchu paused for a moment, then shook his head.

Zhongse smirked mockingly, tossed his head, and his high ponytail whipped up—the tip smacking Tu Hexiangchu right in the face.

Tu Hexiangchu: “…”

Zhongse, having succeeded, flashed a sly grin. Before the other could flare up, he waved and slipped away.

Fu Wuxuan calmed down and began pondering solutions and ways forward.

“Not everything he said may be true,” Yun Xueqing said cautiously of information from strangers. “He confessed too readily.”

Tu Hexiangchu replied coolly, “He wasn’t lying. What he said is the truth.”

To lighten the mood, Fu Wuxuan raised a brow playfully, a smile tugging at his lips as he teased Tu Hexiangchu. “Zhongse spilled so fast—must be because of you here.”

Yun Xueqing half-grasped it but asked, “What do you mean?”

“Can’t you tell? It’s obvious.” Fu Wuxuan sighed. Yun Xueqing was hopelessly dense in this area.

Thinking of his own romance feeling distant, he couldn’t resist hinting. “That crazy director of the Degeneration Abstinence Institute has a crush on our vice director.”

Yun Xueqing was surprised, but recalling Zhongse’s demeanor around Tu Hexiangchu, the guess made sense.

Tu Hexiangchu remained expressionless, unaffected by Fu Wuxuan’s words. “Don’t talk nonsense. I have no personal feelings for him.”

Once the Mei Qujun matter was settled, he’d send Zhongse to the Judgment Court for due punishment.

“Unrequited love, flowing water heartless,” Fu Wuxuan said with mock sigh, but thinking of Zhongse’s personality, he couldn’t help shuddering. “Though that kind of unrequited love is best avoided.”

Tu Hexiangchu couldn’t help but add, “Before the apocalypse, his temperament wasn’t this insane. It must be the influence of the Dragon Girl Bone.”

Fu Wuxuan gave him a meaningful glance.

Yun Xueqing, however, paid no attention to the subtleties between these two and said seriously, “His body can no longer withstand the power of the Dragon Girl Bone. It won’t be long before he undergoes Weirdification into a Weird.”