Chapter 556: Hot Potato

The deep, silent night was stretched by a strange sensation. Clad in her thin nightclothes, Yin Qingqing blushed in the dark, let out a soft noise, and her eyes shot open as she sat bolt upright in bed. She watched silently as the Red King emerged from under her covers and lifted the bed curtains. Then she watched as he pushed the door open, left, and quickly shut it behind him. The whole time, she wrung the corner of her quilt, not uttering a single word.

Only after the Red King had left did Yin Qingqing let out a long sigh of relief in the darkness.

‘She had thought…’

But,

‘That’s it?’

A strange feeling welled up in Yin Qingqing’s heart. She didn’t know if it was disappointment, panic, or indignation. In any case, a faint bitterness rose within her, a complex mix of emotions that could only be felt, not expressed.

Coming and going, Zheng Xiu, with the convenience of his Glazed Pure Body, had already become adept at moving between the various Post Stations.

Before, he hadn’t understood why living Humans would be designated as Post Stations. Only now did Zheng Xiu understand why Mystics were designated as Post Stations.

Coming and going from the Post Stations as he pleased was addicting.

Not long after returning from the Monk’s place, Zheng Xiu issued an extremely urgent order.

“Quick! The Master wants a late-night snack!”

“What? A late-night snack at this hour?”

“A late-night snack!”

“The Master himself is asking for a late-night snack!”

“He’s starving!”

“Why?”

“Could it be…?”

“The… exertion must have been immense!”

“GASP…”

A wave of sharp gasps rippled through the dark corners of the Red King Mansion, warming the absurd, cool night.

Some were sharp enough to understand, but they didn’t say it out loud. Everything was left unspoken.

“Spread the word! The Master wants roast chicken in the middle of the night!”

“The ‘hotter’ the better!”

Someone understood.

When the Red King made a move, the entire residence shook. The order was passed down level by level, eventually reaching outside the Red King Mansion.

In just a quarter of an hour, a steaming hot roast chicken, perfectly packaged, was delivered to the Red King Mansion.

Carrying the freshly made roast chicken, Zheng Xiu once again opened the Passage to the Monk Post Station, sighing inwardly. ‘Even though I now walk several Paths and my Prisoner Incarnation has all sorts of Traits, I still couldn’t whip up a roast chicken this fast—not unless I wanted to try drawing one to stave off hunger. Truly, the power of money is the most unpretentious yet practical of all abilities. It lets me do whatever I want.’

The Monk had indeed been so hungry these past few days that his eyes were turning green and his face had a greenish hue. The moment he smelled the roast chicken, he started drooling. Without a second thought, he unceremoniously snatched the chicken and began to devour it, his mouth quickly becoming slick with grease.

Soon, the chicken, which weighed several pounds, was gnawed down to a bare skeleton. Zheng Xiu then proposed that the Monk use the Passage to return to the city quickly.

Ordinary people cannot withstand the corrosion of the Filthy Qi, but Mystics, to some extent, can.

Feng Bei hadn’t stayed in the Rift for long, and the burns on his body had healed in a few days. The Monk walked the [Ascetic Monk] Path. He once carried Zheng Shan barefoot up a snow mountain. After his feet were frostbitten, they were still able to grow back fresh, new flesh, which showed the uniqueness of his healing Ability. For the Monk, even without the Glazed Pure Body, passing through the Rift in a short period of time shouldn’t be a big problem.

Hearing this, the Monk thought for a moment, then shook his head. “Brother Zheng, what I have seen and heard on this journey has benefited me greatly. This Little Monk wishes to use his own two feet to finish this journey.”

The Monk’s reply didn’t surprise Zheng Xiu in the slightest. In fact, this was the Monk he remembered. He couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. The Monk was still the Monk; he hadn’t changed into something else. After reminding the Monk to be careful, Zheng Xiu bid him farewell and once again emerged from Yin Qingqing’s quilt.

Stretched open by the Rift once again, Yin Qingqing clenched her jaw and remained silent. This time, she didn’t even open her eyes. ‘Do whatever you want, Red King,’ she thought. She had clearly given up resisting.

Zheng Xiu, however, was completely preoccupied with the new Deceitful Object he had acquired. Back in his room, the first thing he did was bolt the door and enter his Heart Prison.

In a corner of the Heart Prison, two objects were bound by chains, hanging there being secretly ‘disciplined’. Zheng Xiu casually crossed his legs, as if he were back in his own home, and examined the sinister Broken Foot.

‘Taking a huge step back, perhaps the Deceitful Objects really were transformed from Humans in their previous lives. But the dead are gone, and now the Deceitful Objects are just pure tools, or perhaps equipment that allows a Miracle Master to become a Mystic, and nothing more. Besides, I still have my doubts about what the cat said. The “hand” of the [Painter], the “foot” of some unknown Path… sure, they look like parts of a Human body. But what about the withered branch of the [Orchid]? What part of a Human body is that?’

He had seen with his own eyes the Orchids growing from the backs of the four maids. He had even been hung up, smelling the fragrance of the flowers, tormented for a whole night. It was definitely not a hallucination.

At the very least, Zheng Xiu felt that what the cat had said wasn’t entirely true.

Zheng Xiu didn’t sleep the entire night. The next day, full of Spirit, he whistled as he summoned Qing Shisan.

Comparing it with the Path Map that he and Feng Bei had painstakingly deduced, Zheng Xiu believed that the Path that most closely matched the image of the Broken Foot was very likely the [Wandering] Path.

And among the people Zheng Xiu trusted, if there was anyone who was most suitable, it could only be Qing Shisan.

But what Zheng Xiu never expected was that when he mysteriously slapped the Broken Foot onto the table, Qing Shisan was silent for a long moment, then actually took several steps back. The man, who claimed to have quit smoking, unhesitatingly pulled out his dry pipe, lit it with a CLICK, and started taking huge puffs.

Zheng Xiu thought Qing Pi was so excited that he needed a moment to compose himself, but he quickly showed a look of disgust. “I don’t want it!”

Hm?

Qing Shisan’s reaction left Zheng Xiu momentarily confused. But through the swirling smoke, Qing Shisan’s old, weathered face was visibly inscribed with the words “I don’t want it.” He didn’t seem to be joking, nor was he making a token refusal before reluctantly accepting.