Chapter 62: Mountains and Rivers Brush (II)

This person always possessed the ability to see through people’s hearts with a single glance. San Zhi shuddered all over and subconsciously lied, “It’s not like you’re the only one who can spot Yun Xueqing’s uniqueness. I’ve also noticed that he’s no ordinary person. I wanted to bring him back to the organization for a thorough study.”

“Is that so?” Fu Mi’s face bore a sweet smile, his fair skin tinged with pink, making him look utterly harmless. “That’s not how it looks to me. As you know, I know many things.”

Cold sweat began to bead on San Zhi’s back again.

This person’s special Oracle ability could pierce through too many secrets, and his biggest secret right now was the Shared Fate Curse linking him with Yun Xueqing.

If this secret fell into the other’s hands, he would be completely at their mercy from then on.

He struggled to maintain his composure and forced out, “If that’s not it, then what could it be?”

He boldly made a gamble: Fu Mi had expended too much Spirit Energy searching for the Mountains and Rivers Brush’s whereabouts and had no spare energy left to probe his secrets.

Fortunately, he guessed right. The other merely gave him a faint glance before withdrawing his gaze, no longer pressing the issue.

San Zhi seized the chance to change the subject. “If we’re not heading back to the organization now, then our destination is…”

Fu Mi nodded, confirming his guess. “The Weird Domain where the Mountains and Rivers Brush might appear.”

“How high of a rank?”

“A-Rank.”

“A-Rank, huh…”

A trace of dismay and hesitation crossed San Zhi’s face.

The highest-rank Weird Domain he had ever entered was a B-Rank Weird Domain. Even for him, a higher-rank one carried the risk of being devoured by the things inside.

After all, even Weirds weren’t always completely harmonious with each other—they had a relationship of mutual devouring. They only cooperated fully in certain situations, like when screwing over humans together.

He glanced at Yun Xueqing, thinking that if they ran into the Anomalous Domain Lord in an A-Rank Weird Domain, he would shove him out as a meat shield first. But the next second, he recalled the damned Shared Fate Curse and could only grudgingly abandon the dangerous idea.

Yun Xueqing remained oblivious to San Zhi’s complex thoughts beside him. During a lull in their journey, he pondered the words Li Yulin had left him.

[The Anomalous Domain Lord, descending in December…]

Descending… descending what? A descent?

He had no idea who the Lord of the Weird was, only that it was probably a formidable figure.

He vaguely sensed that Li Yulin’s despair at the time hadn’t been caused by that layer of hell, but by this Lord of the Weird.

He wondered how this Lord of the Weird compared to an S-Rank Weird in terms of power.

Unfortunately, before he could pass this crucial information to Fu Wuxuan, he had been captured by the Strategy God Heavens people.

As he mulled this over, Fu Mi, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped.

As the leader, when he halted, the entire group came to a stop.

San Zhi asked, “We there?”

Fu Mi nodded affirmatively. “Yeah.”

He turned to Ya Yin, who stood quietly acting as their bodyguard. “You head back first. Tell the leader.”

Before Ya Yin could react, San Zhi exploded. “You mean it’s just you and me charging into this A-Rank Domain? Just the two of us?”

Fu Mi smiled. “And him.”

He pointed at Yun Xueqing.

San Zhi fell silent for a moment. “Ya Yin isn’t going?”

I brought this strongest bodyguard along, and now…

Fu Mi’s smile was exceedingly sweet, like a gentle Samoyed. “Nope.”

San Zhi wasn’t buying the cute act and was about to erupt in anger when he heard the other softly explain, “I’ve calculated it. If Ya Yin doesn’t go, our success rate will increase significantly.”

Although it only went from 4% to 5%.

Upon hearing this, San Zhi’s anger instantly deflated, and he backed down. “Fine.”

Though he didn’t like Fu Mi, the other was Strategy God Heavens’ strategist. It was better to trust the dog-headed strategist than to wing it blindly.

San Zhi was someone who had weathered great storms, so he stopped blustering. He followed Fu Mi’s arrangements and entered the range of the A-Rank Weird Domain.

This A-Rank Weird Domain encompassed a small town, but it was no longer merely deserted— even the houses had collapsed and been destroyed, and all surrounding facilities were utterly demolished. The devastation was as if it had endured a world war.

San Zhi’s mood soured: The worse the state of a Weird Domain’s area, the more dangerous the things inside were.

He was always good at reading the room, and his resolve to retreat had already formed in his mind. He was even drafting a mission withdrawal request when a white light suddenly flashed before his eyes.

San Zhi: “!”

Teleported already?!

The teleportation caught him off guard. When he opened his eyes again, the scene had completely changed.

The previously desolate and miserable town was now bustling with prosperity. Vendors hawked their wares openly on the main street, and customers occasionally stopped to buy.

Yun Xueqing gazed thoughtfully at the bustling street.

Amid the throng, they soon noticed that a portion of the people on the street wore masks—extremely ugly ones, like the true form of Zhu Ganglie from the movie Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, grotesque in a uniquely bizarre way.

Glancing at the roadside stalls, they saw that most of the masks for sale were similarly freakishly ugly, like mountain wild demons that hadn’t fully formed.

As a Weird with an aesthetic sense, San Zhi’s eyes burned the whole way. “Why are the people here so ugly and weird?”

Most people’s features were scrunched together, like a steamed bun dough with a few uneven sesame seeds dotted in the middle—strangely placed and crooked.

Not only were their faces crooked and twisted, but their bodies were odd too.

Most seemed to have broken legs, standing at just 1.2 meters or 1.1 meters tall, dwarfed like they had dwarfism, yet bizarrely fat, with length and width nearly equal. Walking down the street, they resembled ambulatory cubes. Even those shaped like gas canisters counted as slim among them.

Most were like this; only a few had human-proportioned bodies, but their faces were still crooked and unnatural.

Among this horde of freaks, the three normal people stood out starkly and drew constant stares.

These gazes felt like stabs, fixated on the trio.

The people made no effort to hide their disdain and revulsion, as if trying to stab those piercing looks into their hearts, making them ashamed of their appearances and unable to lift their heads.

Whispers abounded, fingers pointing at them. Yun Xueqing’s sharp hearing caught snippets like “so ugly” and “so disgusting.”

Yun Xueqing roughly understood: This was a world that prized ugliness as beauty, the inverse of reality.

Reality favored fair, slender, young, and tall; here, it was dark, old, short, and fat.

Thus, the three normal people from the real world naturally seemed ugly in this abnormal one.

Yun Xueqing could guess that being deemed ugly here would invite plenty of targeting.

But San Zhi’s mentality was solid. “No big deal. They think I’m ugly, and we think they’re ugly. It balances out.”

Fu Mi smiled faintly. “You’re pretty good at self-consolation.”

Yun Xueqing lowered his eyes slightly. “Let’s find a place to rest first.”

Fu Mi said, “An inn to stay at.”

But when they tried, they got shut down immediately.

The innkeeper covered his face, unable to mask his disgust. “No way. You’re all too ugly—not just ruining the cityscape, but bad for my business too. Other guests seeing your faces might be so grossed out they can’t eat for three days!”

Hearing such a sharp critique, San Zhi’s lips twitched into a grin. In his usual sarcastic tone, he retorted, “No matter how ugly we are, we’re still better than your perfect cube shape.”

Described this way, the innkeeper’s expression actually improved. “A perfect cube is the ideal body proportion. I’ll take that as a compliment.”

San Zhi: “…”

For the first time, cursing someone felt like slapping their face only for them to lick your hand.

Having been praised, the innkeeper kindly warned the three uglies. “With faces that could shock heaven and move ghosts to tears, it’s not just me— no other innkeeper will let you stay for the sake of their business… If you really want a place, thicken your skins and beg at the homes of folks as ugly as you.”

Here, he couldn’t help his innate snark, adding mockingly, “But ugly ghosts meeting ugly ghosts— who knows, maybe you’ll tear up and hug each other crying.”

After all, in this town, pale-skinned, skinny tall uglies weren’t unheard of, but ones as hideous as these were a first.

San Zhi had endured more insults today than in the past several years combined. He looked up at the inn’s ceiling and said to Yun Xueqing and Fu Mi, “I’ve got an idea.”

Fu Mi smiled. “What?”

San Zhi: “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”

No sooner had he spoken than his height began shrinking while his body expanded laterally. In moments, he became a perfect cube shape, even his features shifting to the standard “steamed bun dough embedded with crooked sesame-seed features.”

Weirds could freely alter their forms—a perfect cube ready in three seconds.

The innkeeper watched San Zhi’s sudden transformation without surprise, instead exclaiming in admiration, “Beauty, here’s your room key.”

He handed over a room card. San Zhi took it smoothly, smugly glancing at the stunned Yun Xueqing and Fu Mi.

“You’re just abandoning us like that?”

Fu Mi’s voice was soft and sweet, his face wearing a pure, beautiful smile—though no one present could appreciate it anymore.

San Zhi replied righteously, “We were never together to begin with, so how’s it abandonment?”

The innkeeper nearby nodded vigorously. “Exactly! How could a beauty like you hang with such ugly ghosts?”

Being called ugly repeatedly—even knowing it was an inverted beauty standard—Fu Mi’s smile finally faltered, his face turning expressionless.

San Zhi had never seen him like this and quietly asked, “How about… you share my bed?”

Before Fu Mi could respond, the innkeeper shrieked, “No! Sleeping with such an ugly ghost would be an insult to you!”

San Zhi: “…”

Please just shut up already.

Fu Mi plastered on a friendly smile again. “Thanks for the kind offer, but sharing a bed with you would give me nightmares.”

He glanced at Yun Xueqing. “Let’s go. Find someone to take us in.”

Yun Xueqing hesitated. “Actually…”

“Hm?” Fu Mi smiled. “What do you want to say?”

His tone was gentle, like a lover’s murmur, though beneath it lurked unseen danger.

Yun Xueqing ignored the danger and slowly finished, “I know the Disguise Technique.”

Though it was only the lowest-rank Disguise Technique, it was better than nothing.

He circulated his Spiritual Power and swiped it across his face.

In an instant, that clear, gentle face became utterly ordinary.

The innkeeper took a look. “Your build’s still awful, but your face is barely passable… Can’t expect every guest to be a stunner. You can stay.”

He handed Yun Xueqing a room key too. Now only Fu Mi remained standing aside, without a place.

Alone, Fu Mi was slender and petite, with delicate features and round-framed glasses, exuding a fragile air. Standing isolated, he seemed pitifully abandoned by the world.

The innkeeper’s face twisted in disgust. “Alright, alright, you ugly ghost, get lost! Don’t block my business!”

Fu Mi: “…”