TRYMBPIETM 32: Making Friends (2)

Chi Qingzhou heard but did not understand.

He looked at Xing Shuangzhan in confusion and asked somewhat aggrievedly, “Why was my past self so mysterious and cryptic? Su-ge, did you understand?”

Xing Shuangzhan pondered for a moment, then shook his head. “I don’t remember either.”

Ah Lai crossed his arms, let out a sneer, and lifted his chin. His gaze landed lightly on Xing Shuangzhan, carrying a hint of contempt.

Xing Shuangzhan returned his gaze calmly, without speaking.

Ah Lai withdrew his eyes and continued, “But three years ago, you told me that if you came back alive after three years, I should remind you that there are still other friends waiting for you.”

“These friends of ours either know about some of your plans from three years ago, have promised to offer you some help after three years, or are holding onto things you entrusted to them. In any case, you’re probably going to be traveling all over the place next.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Xing Shuangzhan with some displeasure.

He had not yet fully cultivated himself into a ghost deity and could not leave the clan’s land for now. That shameless man, however, got to take advantage of the situation.

Xing Shuangzhan smiled slightly with great composure, unfazed by his hostility.

Chi Qingzhou pressed further, “Which friends?”

He had a lot of friends. Just from this vague description, he could think of at least fifteen people who could have done these things for him.

Ah Lai sighed and said helplessly, “I don’t know. You didn’t tell me. You only said that three years later, fate would naturally lead the way, and that the right thing would guide you forward, so I didn’t need to worry about it.”

Chi Qingzhou swallowed the last bite of the ghost deity’s essence, and his muddled mind gradually cleared.

Thinking carefully about those words, his gaze involuntarily fell on the system hidden behind him.

Three years later, fate…

System: 【…What the hell?!】

Being looked at by Chi Qingzhou like that, the system finally realized—

Could the fate that would guide the host after three years… actually be referring to it?!!!

It suddenly recalled that before entering this dimension, it had captured an extremely tragic and sorrowful data fragment in the crevice of time and space. Immediately afterward, it was drawn into this world, triggering the selection mechanism directly.

The results of that selection were still stored in its database. Among the twenty most suitable candidates for a host, Chi Qingzhou’s score was at the very top—97.

Starting from the second place, the scores dropped off a cliff—71, 66, 62… All of them were far worse than Chi Qingzhou.

Because of this, it hadn’t even initiated a second round of evaluation before directly choosing to bind with Chi Qingzhou.

It had thought all of this was a coincidence, but looking at it now…

Could it be that this was all arranged?

The system hugged its round self, whimpering as it shrank behind Chi Qingzhou, trembling.

Chi Qingzhou found it amusing. The system’s emotional cries made for excellent background noise as he finished eating the second ball of essence.

Stuffing down two full portions of extremely pure essence at once, Chi Qingzhou rubbed his bloated stomach, feeling a little overstuffed.

Xing Shuangzhan let out a low chuckle from his throat, reaching out to massage his stomach. While doing so, he channeled purified yin energy into him, helping to smooth his meridians and aid digestion.

“Still thirsty?” Xing Shuangzhan cast a casual glance at Ah Lai and asked Chi Qingzhou warmly.

“Not thirsty anymore.”

Chi Qingzhou was so comfortable that he was getting drowsy. He yawned as he leaned into Xing Su’s embrace.

“Feeling full makes me sleepy.”

Xing Shuangzhan patted his back. “Sleep then.”

Ah Lai ignored Xing Shuangzhan’s movements, gazing at Chi Qingzhou with fondness for a while. Not wanting to disturb him, he turned and walked toward the dragon brain tree where his coffin lay.

Stunned for a long time, Song Yuzhi finally came back to his senses and quickly chased after him.

He had many things he wanted to ask Ah Lai, but Ah Lai had ignored him earlier.

Ah Lai raised a hand to stop Song Yuzhi, who was just about to speak, then pointed into the distance and said in a low voice, “Don’t wake Zhouzhou. Let’s talk somewhere farther away.”

Song Yuzhi: “…Alright.”

Chi Qingzhou closed his eyes as Xing Shuangzhan continued to help him smooth his meridians.

He dozed for over ten minutes. When he woke up, he suddenly realized that the wounds on the other half of his soul were almost completely healed.

He blinked, a little surprised by the medicinal effects of the ghost deity’s essence.

Xing Shuangzhan was both pleased and slightly disappointed.

“The purer the ghost deity’s essence, the better the effect. But you’ve already absorbed as much as you can handle. If you come across similar power in the future, it will have no healing effect on you.”

In fact, because the two portions of essence combined were too much, some of the energy was already overflowing.

Since Chi Qingzhou couldn’t absorb the excess, Xing Shuangzhan had to expend some effort to seal it within his meridians, along with the purified yin energy, forming a new barrier.

He warned, “Qingzhou, though you didn’t suffer serious injuries from losing control this time, no one can guarantee that you’ll always be this lucky.”

Chi Qingzhou nodded obediently. “I’ll be careful next time.”

As he fully regained clarity, his shadow returned to the ground.

Only then did Xing Shuangzhan let him go.

Chi Qingzhou tugged at Xing Shuangzhan’s sleeve and looked down from the mountain peak toward where they had clashed with Qu Feng earlier. Suddenly, he let out a surprised sound.

Pointing at a female ghost wandering through the woods, he said, “That looks like the host’s younger sister?”

Xing Shuangzhan glanced over and nodded. “That’s her.”

Chi Qingzhou looked behind her. “The souls following her also look familiar. Aren’t they the special-fate people from the missing persons reports? They were actually trapped near the altar? How did I not notice before?”

Xing Shuangzhan: “When the altar shattered, it took time for the imprisoned souls to be released.”

Chi Qingzhou nodded in understanding, then said excitedly, “Then let’s go make friends with her? I want to be her friend!”

Xing Shuangzhan chuckled, took his hand, and indulged him. “Alright, let’s go find her.”

…

The white mist in the forest grew thinner.

Chi Qingzhou and Xing Shuangzhan didn’t bother concealing themselves, and with the great calamity of the Puluo Tribe now past, Ah Lai naturally didn’t mind making things public either.

Although the members of the Xuanxu Sect and the Paranormal Control Bureau had only caught part of Chi Qingzhou and Ah Lai’s conversation, that was enough for them to understand the disaster Qu Feng had brought upon the Puluo Tribe.

—In fact, over a decade ago, there had been rumors in the Xuanxu Sect that the Puluo Tribe might face extinction, though not many had believed it.

A certain Daoist from the Paranormal Control Bureau glanced at an elder from the Xuanxu Sect, flicked his horsetail whisk, and said indifferently, “This Qu Feng looks familiar. Wasn’t he the culprit of the Nanyao massacre thirty-three years ago?”

The elder’s already pale face darkened further.

He had also recognized Qu Feng. No matter how thick-skinned he was, he couldn’t possibly be completely shameless about it.

After all, the Nanyao massacre had shocked the entire Xuanxu Sect back then. When the Paranormal Control Bureau tried to take over the follow-up investigation through official channels, they had been refused on the grounds that “the leads and suspects were first discovered by the Sect.”

They had been confident they could capture Qu Feng and teach the newly established Paranormal Control Bureau a lesson, but thirty years had passed in the blink of an eye, and they had only just learned Qu Feng’s whereabouts now…

Since then, the Xuanxu Sect had suffered a significant blow, and the Paranormal Control Bureau took the opportunity to rectify many corrupt practices within the field of occult arts.

Several elite members of the Xuanxu Sect were dumbfounded upon hearing this and loudly protested, “You’re lying! How dare you slander our sect!”

Cheng Yufei raised an eyebrow. “This isn’t exactly a secret in the occult world. If you want to know the truth, go ask around yourselves.”

The elite members of the Xuanxu Sect stood in shock, their worldview shattered, unable to react.

If this was truly the case, could their original ideals still be realized?

Shen Wenxu lowered his head in thought for a moment before asking, “Did they steal Ghost King Xing’s ghostly power in order to create a ghost deity capable of rivaling him?”

Cheng Yufei’s expression was meaningful. “Some people believe that only when power is in their own hands does it truly belong to them. But have they ever considered that what they create may not necessarily obey them?”

Shen Wenxu closed his eyes briefly, his voice trembling. “So this ritual didn’t necessarily have to steal King Xing’s power? Using a soul with a special fate as the main sacrifice, along with a large number of living humans as secondary sacrifices, could achieve the same effect?”

Cheng Yufei: “Of course.”

Shen Wenxu’s face turned ashen. “The ritual process hasn’t been widely circulated, has it? Not many people should know about it, otherwise it would be complete chaos. Then, Qu Feng—why does he know the process so well, even to the point of making modifications?”

He paused. “No, or should I ask—has the sect really never found Qu Feng?”

The elite members of the Xuanxu Sect, who had been dazed, suddenly snapped their heads up, their faces changing as well.

Cheng Yufei gave a knowing smile. “What do you think?”

After saying that, she ignored the furious and shocked members of the Xuanxu Sect and turned to call out to her teammates.

“The barrier is open! Let’s go check on the unconscious villagers. If necessary, we need to contact the hospital immediately!”

The members of the Paranormal Control Bureau responded in unison, swiftly gathering their equipment and entering the village in an orderly manner.

The elite members of the Xuanxu Sect gritted their teeth for a while before one of them, who had a particularly short temper, couldn’t hold back any longer.

He yanked his backpack over his shoulder and said angrily, “I’m going to help save people too! Once today is over, I’m definitely going back to ask my master what the hell is going on!”

With that, he stormed into the village without waiting for the others to respond.

The remaining members exchanged glances before finally picking up their belongings and following into Yinping Village a few minutes later.

The old sorcerer and the supplicants lay unconscious on the ground, shivering slightly as the cold wind blew past, with no one to tend to them.

…

Without Song Yuzhi to guide them, Chi Qingzhou and Xing Shuangzhan took ten more minutes than before to return to the altar.

The female ghost, Lu Yao, had already explained the situation to the victims. Holding a Fengdu Order in one hand and pointing at the ground with the other, she was fervently persuading them to apply for revenge rights.

“As long as we have a Fengdu Token, our revenge is legal!”

“You all saw that great sorcerer from the Puluo Tribe just now, right? He had a Fengdu Order and was able to twist Zhu Yantong into a pretzel on the spot!”

“Qu Feng and Zhu Yantong, those two bastards, are going to the underworld, but first, they’ll have to take a few beatings from us before they even start serving their sentences in different hells.”

“Those two are the ones who got us killed and made our families suffer so much—are you really planning to just let them off that easily?”

“Think about it—if each of you gets a Fengdu Order, those two scumbags will have to endure beatings while dreading their impending punishment. Imagine how satisfying that would be! Don’t you want to personally take a shot at them?!”

The hesitant souls wavered, their resentment dissipating slightly as they became increasingly tempted.

They shouted in unison, “Yes! Of course we do!”

Chi Qingzhou watched from a distance, eyes wide with amazement.

What an enthusiastic rally!

Wow, he’s never had friends of this type before!

Lu Yao, still unaware of the two watching her, spread her hands and displayed the Fengdu Order to the vengeful spirits. “So what are you all waiting for? Hurry to the underworld! If the great shaman’s family finishes their revenge first and those two get thrown into hell, it’ll be too late to apply for retribution!”

The spirits eagerly rushed toward the road to the underworld, loudly clamoring to submit their applications immediately. Their enthusiasm left the soul-collecting Wuchang^[1] speechless.

“Don’t push, don’t push! Line up properly! There’s enough revenge to go around for everyone!”

One of the Wuchang maintained order with a headache and, upon seeing Chi Qingzhou and Xing Su approach, respectfully bowed in greeting.

Chi Qingzhou smiled innocently and curiously observed him.

Ah, a Wuchang.

He does have friends of this type—but not this particular one.

Xing Su nodded in response, showing no intention of interfering with his work.

The vengeful spirits quickly recognized Chi Qingzhou as the one who had rescued them from the altar and hurried over to thank him.

Chi Qingzhou beamed and replied, “No need to thank me. I just did what any kind person should do.”

His humility only made the spirits admire him more, praising him for being righteous, courageous, warm-hearted, and selfless.

Chi Qingzhou’s eyes curved into a smile. “Thank you for the compliments.”

Mmm, mmm, he also thinks he’s quite friendly.

Seeing him so happy, the spirits smiled as well.

To them, Chi Qingzhou was not only kind-hearted but also incredibly powerful. Since they had nothing to offer in return, they could only pray day and night before their reincarnation, hoping that his soul would recover soon.

Chi Qingzhou: “No need for all that trouble.” He thought for a moment and said, “I like making friends, especially unique ones. If possible, when you meet such friends, introduce them to me.”

The spirits found this easy to do.

They patted their chests and promised that once in the underworld, they would spread the word about his warm-heartedness, so more people would want to befriend him.

The Wuchang, who knew Chi Qingzhou’s true nature: “….”

Lu Yao, having witnessed his way of making friends before: “….”

They didn’t really want to say anything. Good luck, everyone.

Chi Qingzhou, however, was very pleased, nodding vigorously and praising the spirits for their noble character.

After some cheerful conversation, the Wuchang led the spirits down the Yellow Springs Road^[2].

Lu Yao didn’t follow them but instead bowed deeply to Chi Qingzhou and personally expressed her gratitude.

Chi Qingzhou didn’t care much about this formality, his focus unchanged.

His eyes sparkled with anticipation as he looked at Lu Yao. “So, are we friends now?”

Lu Yao hesitated. “Uh… I guess? But I feel like I should call you my benefactor. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have successfully taken revenge. I might’ve even ended up as a sacrifice for the ritual.”

Chi Qingzhou waved a hand dismissively. “No need for all that benefactor talk. We’re friends. And good friends help each other.”

Lu Yao was stunned for a moment. Looking into Chi Qingzhou’s earnest gaze, no matter how much she had struggled to understand him before, she couldn’t help but be moved.

She recalled what the Wuchang had told her.

Then she remembered something.

“I saw two strange men outside the village.”

She described them, finishing with, “The taller one made a call and said, ‘Chi Xiaoyuan, today’s plan won’t work. I’ll take care of it another day.’”