Chapter 85: Dragon Girl Arc (Part 2)

Fu Wuxuan was suddenly illuminated by a strong light, and his eyes felt a stab of pain and discomfort. Ignoring the unease in his body, he remained vigilant, keeping a smiling expression on his face as he looked over without missing a beat.

The newcomer was a middle-aged man in a security uniform, with a fierce expression. He held a flashlight and shouted at them, “Things aren’t safe right now. Everyone’s staying indoors, too scared to come out, and here you are sneaking around. You’ve got some guts.”

Fu Wuxuan and Yun Xueqing had entered a residential complex to avoid the black water and were hiding in the apartment lobby, but they hadn’t expected to be chased out.

Fu Wuxuan found it a bit strange. The black water had only started falling a dozen minutes ago—how had the news spread so quickly?

Yun Xueqing asked directly, “How long has it been since the black hole appeared in the sky and the black water started falling?”

The security guard’s expression turned odd. “Wasn’t that last night? Did you lose your memory or something?”

A look of lingering fear appeared on his face, but he said, “It was scary that day, but the experts on TV said it’d stop in a few days… This dangerous stuff must be some conspiracy cooked up by the ugly country!”

The man looked fierce, but he talked a lot, chattering on familiarly. “The news said you absolutely can’t touch whatever falls from the sky. Touch it and you’re done for. Already hundreds dead according to the reports.”

The actual death toll was far higher, but the news had been suppressed, making it hard to spread.

Fu Wuxuan chatted casually with the man for a couple of sentences before sending him off. He exchanged information with Yun Xueqing. “He said a whole day has passed.”

Yun Xueqing nodded. “It was clearly just a dozen minutes ago that we saw the black hole appear… Maybe the flow of time is different, or it only shows the most important parts of the memories.”

Fu Wuxuan affirmed his guess. “The second one’s more likely.”

The two stood at the apartment front desk, discussing and exchanging info, when they heard heavy footsteps.

They both turned their heads at the same time and saw an unexpected person.

Fu Wuxuan narrowed his eyes dangerously. “Zhongse.”

The damn director of the Degeneration Abstinence Institute, that crazy nutjob with mental issues.

Unexpectedly, Zhongse didn’t show any confusion at seeing strangers. Instead, he smiled dangerously. “Running into you two here—Shen Le really isn’t up to any good.”

He tilted his head, meeting Fu Wuxuan’s unfriendly gaze, and grinned. “What, you wanna make a move on me here? If we start fighting each other, Shen Le gets to play the fisherman who catches both.”

Fu Wuxuan wasn’t that impulsive. Looking at the other’s punchable, arrogant expression, a faint smile bloomed on his face, perfectly at ease. “Why are you here?”

“A prisoner from the Degeneration Abstinence Institute—why should I tell you?” Zhongse tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Fu Wuxuan didn’t get angry and voiced his guess instead. “Back at the Degeneration Abstinence Institute, people from Strategy God Heavens broke in easily and took who they wanted. As an S-Rank Oracle, you couldn’t have missed it. And now you’re in this fake Shen Le’s illusion… You two must have some shady deal going on.”

Zhongse narrowed his eyes. “Being too smart isn’t always a good thing.”

Fu Wuxuan smiled deliberately. “But for someone as dumb as you, it definitely is.”

“Wanna die?” Zhongse said it, but he didn’t look angry. It was like he was deliberately looking for an excuse. Smiling, he pulled out a knife. “Perfect. I happen to have a method for reducing infection. You can be my test subject.”

Yun Xueqing stepped forward to block Fu Wuxuan. Zhongse’s excited eyebrows drooped, his face turning displeased. “What a nuisance… Speaking of which, that knife I gave you before didn’t teach you a lesson?”

Yun Xueqing wasn’t provoked. His tone was flat. “That karmic debt has been settled. No need to bring it up again, or add new ones.”

Of course, if the other wanted to try something, he’d return it all in full.

Zhongse shrugged and sighed, “Boring.” He casually tossed away the dagger in his hand.

Fu Wuxuan didn’t want to deal with this lunatic. Thinking about why Zhongse was here, he said, “You’re also a survivor of the Dragon Girl incident, so that fake Shen Le wants to…”

“Simple stuff,” Zhongse sneered, his eyes drooping as his tone turned mocking. “He just wants this person to witness the birth of an S-Rank Oracle.”

Fu Wuxuan’s expression changed. His already pale face drained of all color. “…As expected.”

Yun Xueqing watched the two with narrowed eyes, feeling like they were playing some riddle he didn’t understand.

Zhongse looked at Fu Wuxuan’s shattered expression and gloated. “Just some irrelevant thing, and you’re this scared to let him know… Scared of him finding out you’re a monster?”

Yun Xueqing had his own guesses from Zhongse’s words, but he saw no need to voice them. He just said coldly, “Better a monster than a nutcase.”

“You’re capable of getting mad, huh?” Zhongse found his reaction novel. “Back then I stabbed you, and you barely reacted. Turns out you’re still pretty lively.”

Only then did Yun Xueqing realize his emotions had been fluctuating a lot lately. He quickly steadied his mind.

A moment later, he regained his calm, unruffled expression.

Zhongse found it amusing. “The Dragon Girl’s descent is still a ways off. How about we do something meaningful in the meantime?”

He picked up the knife from the ground, eyes sparkling as he walked toward Yun Xueqing. “As expected, you’re more to my taste than Dong Jun.”

One minute later, Zhongse clutched his broken right arm and grinned. “We’ll meet again another day.”

Yun Xueqing’s expression was flat. “There won’t be a next time.”

Zhongse kept his goofy grin. “What? You really don’t wanna have anything to do with me?”

Yun Xueqing shook his head slightly, dead serious. “Your forehead is dark. You’ll face a bloody disaster and die an untimely death.”

“What a vicious curse,” Zhongse grinned, but a flash of malice crossed his eyes. “But I didn’t get this far by being scared.”

He waved his good left hand and laughed. “We’ll meet again another day.”

Fu Wuxuan stared at Yun Xueqing curiously. “Is Zhongse really gonna die soon?”

After all, Yun Xueqing was a cultivator, and his master was skilled in divination. He might not have been able before due to injury.

But now that his strength was restored, seeing Zhongse’s fate at a glance should be easy, right?

As he thought that, Yun Xueqing looked at him faintly. “I was just scaring him.”

Fu Wuxuan was a bit surprised, then smiled in understanding. “You’ve gotten naughty… But can you really divine someone’s future and path?”

Yun Xueqing looked at him, nodded, then shook his head. “Divination isn’t my specialty, but I can see a little. However… Heaven’s secrets cannot be revealed.”

Everything had a price.

Though the Heavenly Dao had fallen asleep, the invisible currents of fate hadn’t dissipated. Violating the natural order would bring punishment—it just hadn’t come yet.

Fu Wuxuan had learned this world had real cultivation and was quite interested in such matters. Hearing this, he pressed, “What happens if you reveal them?”

Yun Xueqing shook his head, his expression grave with a worry imperceptible to most. “I don’t know.”

Heaven’s secrets couldn’t be revealed, yet Mei Qujun had told them so much… What was he really after?

Fu Wuxuan didn’t catch that subtle emotion and just nodded lightly. “Fair enough. You haven’t actually revealed any, after all.”

Yun Xueqing didn’t want to dwell on the topic. Seeing the black water outside had stopped, he said, “Let’s head out and look around first…”

Before he finished, another person emerged from the apartment stairs—an old acquaintance again.

Fu Wuxuan looked at the obviously younger but still stern-faced Tu Hexiangchu and sighed. “So the Vice Director was already poker-faced this early on.”

Yun Xueqing ignored him.

Unlike Zhongse, this memory version of Tu Hexiangchu clearly didn’t recognize them. He looked at them like strangers, umbrella in hand, brushing past.

Yun Xueqing watched Tu Hexiangchu’s back, and Fu Wuxuan said gloomily beside him, “You’re gonna stare a hole in his back at this rate.”

Yun Xueqing ignored the quip and said, “Everyone’s hunkered down at home in fear right now, not daring to go out, but Tu Hexiangchu’s heading out alone. Something’s off.”

Fu Wuxuan was smart too and picked up on the anomaly right away.

As one of the seven survivors, someone they knew, and conveniently appearing before them, he was likely deliberately arranged by Mei Qujun.

Unsure of the intent, Fu Wuxuan simply said, “Follow him?”

Yun Xueqing agreed. “Yeah.”

They followed, but Tu Hexiangchu walked faster and faster, shaking them off at a corner.

Fu Wuxuan rubbed his chin. “He spotted us… Well, yeah, pretty obvious.”

There were only two people on the street—three including Tu Hexiangchu—all with umbrellas. Hard not to notice.

Fu Wuxuan suddenly smiled. “Since we’ve been made, no point pretending.”

He twitched his fingertip, and a golden thread extended from it, stretching out toward a certain direction.

Fu Wuxuan grinned. “Let’s go.”

He followed the golden thread, but Yun Xueqing disapproved. “If we’re using Tracking Technique, I can do it.”

He knew Fu Wuxuan’s condition—weirdification was severe. Even after the Degeneration Abstinence Institute, he’d barely returned to human form. His body was like a crumbling tower, on the verge of collapse.

Using oracle powers frequently again might make it irreversible, turning him fully into a Weird.

Yun Xueqing took this seriously, but Fu Wuxuan didn’t mind much. Seeing the other’s tension, he grinned. “Worried about me?”

Yun Xueqing’s expression was flat. “I’m talking about something important.”

“I’m being serious too,” Fu Wuxuan said, though a faint smile played on his face. “I’m an Oracle. No need to treat me like some fragile normal person… I have my abilities and my responsibilities to bear.”

Yun Xueqing disagreed. “We can share the responsibilities. You’ve helped me a lot before…”

“Enough,” Fu Wuxuan cut him off, afraid he’d draw too clear a line. “Let’s go catch up to Tu Hexiangchu first.”