Spirit Realm Walker

Zhang Yuanqing copied the phone number but didn’t dial it right away. Hesitation flickered across his face. The people of the Psychic Assembly were lunatics, and every last one of them was vicious and depraved. Getting involved with them was like scheming with a tiger to get its skin. 

He sighed wearily. He wanted to be a good person, he really did, but he didn’t have that luxury. It didn’t matter who ended up with the Registry—the Five Elements Alliance, Dark Rose, even Black Wuchang once he figured things out. Any of them would expose Zhang Yuanqing’s identity as the Demon Lord’s successor.

And what would happen after that exposure? The best case scenario was being placed under surveillance, stripped of his freedom, held until they got what they wanted. And that was assuming he fell into the hands of an official organization like the Five Elements Alliance or Taiyi Sect. But if Dark Rose or some Evil-class Walker got hold of him instead, even imprisonment and surveillance would come with inhuman torture. The consequences were unthinkable.

And the worst case? An early grave, obviously.

Therefore, obtaining the Registry was an absolute necessity. The reason he wanted to muddy the waters was because he didn’t have full confidence he could convince the Palace Master to help, since the trust between them wasn’t that solid yet.

As long as I manage the boundaries carefully, making contact with someone from the Psychic Assembly isn’t out of the question. The annual inspection is going to be a headache, though…

That was a problem for the future. If he couldn’t solve the crisis in front of him, there wouldn’t be a future to worry about. With that, he steeled his resolve and dialed Blood Steamed Bun’s number.

The phone rang for a long time before the call was rejected.

A few minutes later, Blood Steamed Bun called back. A man’s voice came through the speaker, low and sinister, the kind of voice that made you picture someone cruel and dangerous before you ever saw their face.

”Who is this?”

”Well, the fact that I have your number means I’m a friend. At the very least, we’re the same kind of people!” Zhang Yuanqing said with a cheerful laugh.

That’s right. It means I’m an Evil-class Walker…

Blood Steamed Bun fell silent for a beat, then let out a short grunt. ”Say what you need to say. You’ve got two minutes.”

For Blood Steamed Bun, this unregistered number was one he used specifically to expand his network and receive information. He would use it to post bounties in the underground black markets where Evil-class Walkers gathered, attaching the number as a means of contact.

It was convenient for anyone chasing bounties to reach him, but the downside was obvious: he could be sold out at any moment. Someone could hand the number straight to the Five Elements Alliance. Therefore, to avoid being traced or tracked, he never let a call last longer than two minutes.

”I’m a member of Dark Rose. Our organization is searching for Black Wuchang. Perhaps we can cooperate,” Zhang Yuanqing said, keeping his tone calm and steady.

Dark Rose… Blood Steamed Bun furrowed his brow and let out a cold laugh. ”Why should I cooperate with you?”

He didn’t trust people who came out of nowhere. No amount of promised benefits meant anything when they were nothing but words. You couldn’t exactly meet face to face to verify.

”You’re an embarrassment to everyone in our line of work, cowering away like a rat,” Zhang Yuanqing scoffed. ”I’m nothing like you. Every single day, I’m thinking about how to kill Fu Qingyang. Imagine the fame and the bounty that would come with that.”

Blood Steamed Bun’s breathing quickened, as if the words had struck a nerve.

Zhang Yuanqing pressed on. ”This arrangement has no downside for you. One more channel, one more pair of eyes and ears. Don’t you want to earn some credit? Here’s what I propose: whenever I have intel, I’ll send it to you by text. You check in regularly. I’ll do the same.”

Blood Steamed Bun was quiet for a moment, then spoke slowly. ”Fine. Then start by giving me something useful. Right now.”

Zhang Yuanqing’s voice turned serious. ”There’s something wrong with the Fallen Holy Grail. That’s why Black Wuchang is trying to get our leader’s help. But neither side trusts the other enough, so they’ve been circling each other, testing the waters, and haven’t met face to face yet. That’s all I can say.”

An issue with the Fallen Holy Grail… and Black Wuchang is in contact with Dark Rose? A storm of shock brewed up inside Blood Steamed Bun’s mind, quickly giving way to excitement. This was the biggest lead he’d gotten since he’d been tasked with hunting down Black Wuchang.

Sensing that the groundwork he’d laid was taking effect, Zhang Yuanqing shifted gears. ”Now it’s my turn to ask you something. If we manage to capture one of Black Wuchang’s subordinates, how do we use that to find him?”

Blood Steamed Bun drew a deep breath, forcing down his excitement. His first instinct was to hang up and walk away with the free intel, but his reason told him this channel was far too valuable. Cutting it off would only hurt himself.

He let out a cold snort. ”That depends on how much that subordinate actually knows. But given how cunning Black Wuchang is, even catching one of his trusted people might not be enough to pin down his location. If your organization has a high-level Scout, I can provide a dossier on Black Wuchang. Past history, personality, habits, the works. A Scout could use profiling and deductive analysis to extract a lot from that. Of course, I’d need to get approval from my boss first.”

We do have one. My boss is literally one of those Vision Ward Scouts… 

Zhang Yuanqing’s eyes lit up, though his voice stayed low and even. ”I’ll wait to hear back from you.”

***

In a certain residential community, a delivery man in a blue uniform rode his little electric scooter through the gate with practiced ease, pulling up beneath one of the street facing apartment buildings. He pressed the buzzer and waited in silence.

The delivery man had soft features, a baby face, and a medium build that leaned toward pudgy. The first impression he gave was one of warmth and harmlessness.

The buzzer buzzed for a few seconds before the security door’s lock clicked open.

The baby-faced delivery man stepped inside and lowered his head, counting each step as he climbed. ”One, two, three… thirteen…”

A single flight of stairs had only twelve steps—there was no thirteenth. But every time he climbed a floor, the baby-faced delivery man counted one extra.

He climbed this way from the first floor all the way to the fifth. When he counted thirteen for the fifth time, a thirteenth step truly appeared on the staircase leading to the sixth floor. 

He placed his foot on it and felt himself pass through an invisible membrane. The aging apartment building around him vanished, replaced by a square pool roughly ten meters long on each side.

The pool was crawling with venomous creatures: vibrantly colored serpents, spiders, geckos, centipedes, scorpions, and other gu[1] creatures, packed so densely they seemed to writhe as one living carpet.

At the center of the pool stood an altar built from crimson boulders, roughly three meters tall. Atop the altar sat a mass of red, raw flesh, pulsing and undulating slowly.

The baby-faced delivery man glanced at the venomous creatures in the pool and swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. He tore his gaze away with visible effort, suppressing the hunger in his eyes, and bowed.

”President,” he intoned, ”I have important intelligence.”

The mass of flesh on the altar sprang upward and coalesced into a blood-red humanoid form that gazed down from its elevated perch.

”Your subordinate has learned that Black Wuchang is hiding in Songhai,” the baby-faced delivery man continued. ”His purpose is to contact an organization called Dark Rose. I have never heard of this organization.”

The crimson humanoid produced a strained, grating whisper. ”Dark Rose…”

The baby-faced delivery man was taken aback. Does the President know this organization? 

”Your subordinate has also learned that there is a problem with the Fallen Holy Grail, which is why Black Wuchang is seeking Dark Rose’s assistance. However, the two sides do not trust each other yet, and are still testing each other.”

He paused, then added a caveat. ”Because the intelligence is significant and time was limited, there was no opportunity to verify through secondary channels. Your subordinate cannot guarantee its accuracy.”

The flesh humanoid spoke slowly. ”No. It’s true. Blood Steamed Bun, your intelligence has confirmed my suspicions. There is a problem with the Fallen Holy Grail. That is the only explanation for Black Wuchang’s erratic behavior.”

Blood Steamed Bun felt a wave of relief wash over him, and his mood brightened instantly. He reported the source of his intelligence honestly and relayed that party’s demands. ”I’ll leave it to the President’s judgment on whether to provide the other party with Black Wuchang’s dossier.”

The humanoid of flesh replied in an indifferent tone, ”You’ve been deceived. That person is not a member of Dark Rose. Most likely, they’re with the authorities.” 

A faint, raspy laugh echoed through the chamber. ”Give them the dossier. These officials are our friends, at least until Black Wuchang is found. You did well this time. Pick any three gu creatures from the pool.”

A grin of wild joy split Blood Steamed Bun’s face, and he bowed deeply. ”Thank you, President!”

He hurried to the edge of the pool, puffed out his cheeks, and after a few seconds of preparation, shot out a thin and whiplike tongue that was several meters long. It lashed out three times in rapid succession, snatching up a centipede, a red-and-black banded venomous serpent, and a jade-green beetle.

His neck swelled visibly, the outlines of the three gu creatures bulging against his throat. He gulped once, and they were gone.

***

After nightfall, Zhang Yuanqing put on a face mask and a baseball cap and slipped quietly toward Fu Family Bay. In the distance, he spotted a white business SUV parked outside the community, as though waiting for something.

He activated Night Wandering and crept toward it like a ghost, then rapped three times on the window. The door to the vehicle slid open automatically, revealing Fu Qingyang’s cold, handsome face. 

The centurion stared at the open doorway and spoke. ”There’s no need to be this cautious.”

Zhang Yuanqing’s voice drifted over from the opposite side of the vehicle. ”Centurion, I’m over here.” 

Fu Qingyang’s mouth twitched.

I finally caught you off guard, Zhang Yuanqing gloated, savoring the moment while keeping his expression perfectly earnest. ”I believe caution is the mother of safety. Your detection abilities shouldn’t be able to pick up a Nocturnal Specter in stealth, correct?”

”If it’s someone below the Saint tier, you’re correct.”

”And what about at the Saint tier?”

Fu Qingyang glanced at him. ”A Saint-tier Nocturnal Specter wouldn’t be bored enough to stake out the neighborhood long term. I have feeds from every surveillance camera around Fu Family Bay piped into my villa. Someone monitors them around the clock.”

Zhang Yuanqing had nothing to counter that. ”You are wise indeed, Centurion!”

Fu Qingyang gave a satisfied nod and gave an order to his driver. ”Move out.”

Just like the previous time, he brought only Zhang Yuanqing along with him, whose sole purpose was to perform a spirit communion afterward.

This man seemed to possess boundless confidence. To him, any problem could be handled alone, and any enemy could be dispatched single-handedly. Calm composure and cool detachment were permanent fixtures of his expression.

Once Heaven’s Injustice is dead, the matter with Soldier Bro will be buried, Zhang Yuanqing thought, gazing at the scenery gliding past the window. When his trusted subordinate turns up dead, Black Wuchang will panic and become paranoid. He won’t spare a thought for Bro Bing’s situation. After all, that was only one of Dark Rose’s requests. Even if Black Wuchang is curious, he’ll shelve that curiosity.

Still, hiding this once did not mean he could do it again. I have to root out Black Wuchang soon and put an end to this, or I’ll never sleep soundly again.

The van sped through the empty late night streets. In less than half an hour it began to slow and finally pulled up beside a narrow river.

The river wound lazily between a park on the left and a wide boulevard on the right. There were no apartment buildings nearby, and at this hour, the surroundings were utterly silent, apart from the occasional passing car. An arched bridge loomed in the distance, blanketed in the darkness.

The electric door slid open, and Fu Qingyang stepped out in his white formal suit, his tone light and unhurried. ”Stay here. Wait for my call.”

With that, he walked into the night, his white silhouette growing smaller until the darkness swallowed it whole.

***

Beneath the bridge, Heaven’s Injustice sat cross legged in the shadows, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt. While he waited for the Dark Rose operative, his mind turned over the same question.

Why does Dark Rose want information on Young Soldier King? That guy was corrupted by the Fallen Holy Grail. Sooner or later, he’s destined to lose his mind and die. Black Wuchang wants to know why, too. That’s why he gave me an additional task today: figure out Dark Rose’s purpose in requesting the Young Soldier King’s file.

Just then, his ears twitched. He caught the faint sound of footsteps approaching, neither rushed nor slow.

Here they come… Heaven’s Injustice waited until the footsteps drew close, then let out a low chuckle. ”You did good work. After Yuanshi Tianzun’s death, the Five Elements Alliance must be scrambling, especially that Fu Qingyang fellow… Yuanshi Tianzun was an official Walker under his command, and now his incompetence has cost them a member with limitless potential. The Council of Elders will demand accountability, and all he’ll be able to do is rage impotently.”

The footsteps stopped at the entrance to the space beneath the bridge. The figure, clad in a white suit, said in a flat, measured tone, ”You don’t need to worry about whether I’ll rage impotently. But you certainly will.”

Heaven’s Injustice felt his eyes go wide. Terror detonated inside his chest, nearly drowning out all rational thought. Fu Qingyang?! How is he here? How is he here?!

Muscles swelled across his entire body as his skin darkened to a deep black, veins bulging and intertwining across his frame. His eyes snapped open, revealing dark brown irises and pupils that had turned into vertical amber slits.

Fuse with a strength-type gu creature and go all out— 

The thought had barely formed when he saw Fu Qingyang, still at the mouth of the underpass, raise his hand and flick a single finger.

Everything went black. Heaven’s Injustice’s vision plunged into darkness, infinite and absolute.

Fu Qingyang pulled out his phone and dialed Zhang Yuanqing’s number. ”Get over here. It’s time for spirit communion.”

1. Gu (蠱) is a venom-based poison in Chinese folklore. The creation of gu involves sealing away many venomous creatures in a closed jar, allowing them to devour each other until only one survivor remained, in which the toxins of all the creatures would be concentrated. This survivor would then be devoured by larvae.