You Came to Deal with Me?

The surroundings were filled with suggestive horror. The stairs, which had been empty just moments before, suddenly echoed with eerie footsteps. An ordinary person who was not prepared for this scene would probably be terrified to tears.

Yu Xing Xinghao turned around leisurely, and Xu Shu stopped right behind him. Being slightly shorter than him did not affect the man's temperament and composure at all. The half-mask and the dim light made the man look a little gloomy, and his figure was thin.

The mask was placed on Xu Shu's face as he walked over. Yu Xing glanced at the Eight Immortals table again. The mask on the table had now turned into a very realistic human head. The black hair was sticky, like the black clumps that formed under the wind chimes, covering most of the swollen and terrifying face.

If he had been bewitched by that mysterious force and reached out to pick it up... Yu Xing had a premonition that he would be entangled by it for a long time.

"Your little frog is dirty." Xu Shu's first words after stopping were not a greeting or an explanation, but rather a glance over Yu Xing at the table, followed by a comment on the little frog soaked in blood.

Yu Xing wasn't disappointed at all. "No, it's your little jumping frog."

Xu Shu glanced at him, then reached out and picked up the severed head from the table. Judging from the fact that the head disappeared after he touched it, Yu Xing knew that the head was a sacrifice from Xu Shu.

As the head disappeared, the surrounding blood fountain, blood handprints, mad bells, cobwebs, dust, and cries hidden in the wind all vanished without a trace. The air suddenly became clear, restoring the tranquil atmosphere that Wind Language Pavilion should have had.

"Are you not afraid of this scene, or have you guessed that this is an illusion?" Xu Shu stared at Yu Xing's nose with his deep brown eyes; he didn't seem to like making eye contact with people.

Yu Xing gave the other person a half-smile, her hands in her down jacket pockets. "You called me over, and greeted me with such a frightening scene. Aren't you going to explain anything first? It seems like the one asking questions right now isn't you, but me, the one with a wounded heart."

Hearing this, Xu Shu raised his eyes and barely observed his expression, openly doubting the "emotional wound" in his heart.

However, he felt that Yu Xing's words made sense, so he said, "Excuse me, I called you here to confirm something."

Yu Xing didn't ask what it was about, "Has it been confirmed now?"

No, so further confirmation is needed.

Xu Shu always speaks like this, giving the impression of being very serious, but lukewarm, somewhat indifferent and formulaic, as if his emotions have been ripped away.

For example, with this sentence, anyone who hears it will subconsciously follow his non-threatening tone and think, how else would they need to confirm?

But the truth is, before Xu Shu could finish speaking, Yu Xing heard a slight whooshing sound behind his head. With a smile in his eyes, he turned to the side and barely dodged the arrow that was shot at him. The arrowhead grazed his hair and his face stung from the wind.

With a fleeting glance, Yu Xing only felt that black mist was emanating from the arrow, as if ghostly faces were hovering around it. The next moment, the arrowhead hummed and stuck into the wooden pillar, the fletching vibrating and emitting a buzzing sound.

At the same time, it missed its target; the ghost face on the arrow let out a sharp whistle and vanished into thin air.

"That's too fierce." Yu Xing rubbed his face, it was unclear whether he was referring to the arrow or the person, his eyes slightly raised, making it impossible for others to tell if he was angry. "As expected of a big shot, the sacrifice's attack power is very strong. But does a big shot have to bully a newbie like me like this?"

"..." Xu Shu didn't answer, but frowned, then quickly relaxed. "Your reaction speed is indeed unlike that of a human. In the instant you dodged just now, the ghostly energy within you was very noticeable. You must be an evil spirit mingling among humans."

"Oh?" Yu Xing's expression remained unchanged as she looked at the man, a slight smile playing on her lips.

Why do people always have to remind him that he's not a normal human being?

Immortality and automatic healing after injury—these monstrous characteristics have indeed helped him a lot over the years, but the accompanying mental distortion, negative emotions, and loss of personality control have also led him to do many things he regrets.

Especially in the period immediately after he came out of the glass container, his mind was filled with the pointing and whispering of the people in white coats, who didn't treat him like a human being at all, but only as something that could be experimented on at will. That kind of look, as if he were a different species, made him fall into serious self-doubt.

He might think that he has become something filthy, inferior to humans.

Even though he's much more at peace with such matters now, he was still a little annoyed to be attacked twice by the sacrificial offerings upon their first meeting, and then to be told, "You're not like a human."

Yu Xing thought to herself, "This Xu Shu has a really strong sense of perception, especially when it comes to stepping on landmines. He's always right."

Then he laughed, "What did I do to give you this misconception?"

Xu Shu realized the ambiguity in his tone, turned around, pulled the arrow from the wall, his pale fingers showing distinct knuckles, and after putting the arrow back into his mask, he said earnestly:

"I noticed you last night. The aura of death emanating from you is so strong that it's impossible for a living person to possess it. Even Xu Xiangfeng can't compare to you. But... it's also very subtle, so subtle that no one else can see it. The Bone Seeking Ruler that Luo Yan created didn't react to you at all."

"But I can see it, in my own eyes," he pointed to himself, "You appear to me like a demon from hell."

Special abilities... Yu Xing glanced at Xu Shu's eyes. His empty, dark brown pupils resembled a pair of heterochromatic black holes, not stagnant water, but rather some kind of calamity churning within them.

After staring at it for a while, he even felt that the color of Xu Shu's eyes was not naturally formed, but rather a trace left by the coagulation and drying of blood.

"Your eyes can't look at this for too long, or you'll be bewitched." Yu Xing bluntly expressed her impression after watching, then looked away and continued the previous topic, "You think I'm an evil spirit, and so what? You're here to deal with me?"

"For a demon to be able to infiltrate the gathering of the Three Great Families means it's powerful enough to blend in with humans without any flaws." Xu Shu looked at him. "Your expression and movements are indeed flawless. May I touch your hand?"

Yu Xing: "Please proceed?"

So Xu Shu unceremoniously reached into Yu Xing's pocket, squeezed Yu Xing's palm, and immediately pulled it out, saying, "The feel of your skin is no different from that of a living person, even the temperature... You're probably more powerful than I imagined."

Most evil spirits are transformed from corpses. The weakest evil spirits are deformed and terrifying, while the stronger the evil spirit, the closer it is to the appearance of a living person.

It only reveals its ferocious side when it attacks.

Many powerful demons are indistinguishable from ordinary people, but there will always be flaws in the details, such as body temperature, pupils, facial expressions, hair, and fingernails.

In Xu Shu's eyes, Yu Xing was probably a super terrifying evil spirit who had no flaws in any of the above aspects.

Xu Shu's gaze lingered on Yu Xing's overly pale skin for a moment. "Humans are always at a disadvantage in the face of ghosts. Even with the help of the rules of deduction, they can only escape and survive from ghosts under certain specific conditions. Very few rules can kill ghosts. But you live in the real world. Even if you are bound by the rules, you are still beyond my ability to deal with."

Yu Xing: Tsk, so you dare to provoke me right from the start? Testing me with an illusion?

He became curious about the young man, who exuded a strong aura of curses, since curses were a type of ghostly energy. He reminded him, "I came with the Zhao family."

The implication is that if he's identified as a ghost, how will the Zhao family explain themselves for blatantly violating the clear rule against bringing ghosts into the gathering?

Or does Xu Shu believe that there is no one in the entire Zhao family who can see through his ghostly identity?

After Xu Shu "revealed" Yu Xing's identity, he not only did not show hostility, but seemed to be secretly pleased. "I see, you came with Zhao Mou. I've heard of him and have had contact with him. My impression of him is that he is quite ambitious and doesn't have a strong sense of belonging to his family. He might break the rules to bring you in for his own benefit."

"Continue?" Yu Xing leaned back, resting lazily against the corner of the table.

"... I won't say anything more." Xu Shu didn't analyze further. His empty gaze seemed to solidify for a moment, then flickered for a while. "I heard your name is Yu Xing. I mean no harm and don't want to upset you. I won't tell anyone about this. I just want to get to know you. I have a suggestion."

Yu Xing raised an eyebrow, feeling that what Xu Shu was about to say was probably one of the other party's real reasons for inviting him here.

"I'm one of the few diviners whose abilities are close to those of a ghost, and I'm even the best among them." Xu Shu first praised himself, but not in a boastful or complacent way. Instead, it sounded like he was promoting himself, and even his exposed eyebrows and eyes revealed a seriousness. "I'm about to advance to the Despair level. I just need one more... a contracted ghost."

"I can have anything Zhao Mou gives you. I'm stronger than him, and I have more connections too."

The wind blew in unexpectedly, and the wind chimes outside the wall swayed and jingled, their sounds mingling with the words as they reached Yu Xing's ears.

Yu Xing was very familiar with the concept of contracted ghosts, because Yi Qing was one of them.

But now, it seems he was invited by this young man who mistook him for a powerful demon?

Little one, I suddenly find you kind of adorably silly.

Yu Xing wanted to get some information from Xu Shu, but the current situation was clearly not suitable to continue the conversation. Although this person was a bit silly and cute, he was also really strong. If a conflict broke out, he would be offending both the Midnight Guild and the Xu family at the same time, which would inevitably bring a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Besides, you should only listen to half of what Xu Shu says and ignore the other half. Unless he has a mental lapse, it's impossible for him to believe everything he says.

He looked at Xu Shu, who was earnestly promoting himself, and tilted his head. "You guessed wrong, I'm really just a newbie, boss, please have mercy."

Xu Shu remained silent for a moment, as if pondering, then shook his head. "I haven't made a mistake when it comes to distinguishing between humans and ghosts."

Yu Xing: "..." Quite confident.

He cautioned, "I am also a diviner. Have you ever seen an evil spirit become a diviner?"

This time, Xu Shu remained silent for a longer time. After a while, he reached out and pressed his mask. "I hadn't seen you before, but I have now. You're right, I didn't consider this carefully. If you are a strategist, an ordinary contract might not work on you."

Yu Xing almost wanted to applaud him.

If it was acting, then Xu Shu's acting was quite good, and he was very dedicated.

If it wasn't an act, then it can only mean that Xu Shu is truly confident in his abilities, preferring to believe that Yu Xing rejected him because she didn't want to be his contracted ghost, rather than believing that he had misjudged the situation.

In his mind, it seems he never considered the possibility of admitting his mistake.

Xu Shu took a few steps back and tilted his head slightly. "I'm sorry, I'll try to win you over again once I find a contract format that can accommodate these rules. I apologize for offending you today, but I've finally encountered a ghost that has perfectly integrated into humanity, and I don't want to give up."

Now that things have come to this, although Yu Xing still doesn't quite understand why he needs to find the contract format, he can guess that it must be something that only those at the Mourning level can access. However, no matter what, he feels that Xu Shu is unlikely to find a way to turn him, this "evil spirit," from a deducer into a contracted ghost.

Let it be. Anyway, we won't find it. What the other party's purpose is will eventually come to light with the passage of time.

"If the big boss insists on thinking that way, there's nothing I can do." Yu Xing sighed. "Can I leave now?"

He waved to leave, Xu Shu didn't stop him. Instead, he picked up the small jumping frog on the table that wasn't contaminated by anything and sat there to think to himself.

Yu Xing left Wind Language Pavilion and entered the plum garden, feeling the cold wind hitting her face, and the slight surprise in her heart faded away.

As he walked toward the winery where there were more people, he took [Sheqing Dreamscape] out of the panel.

Before he arrived, he had guessed that the person who had invited him might be Xu Shu, who had inexplicably looked at him for a while at the exchange meeting last night. Xu Shu had been dealing with ghosts for many years and was said to have extremely high sensitivity. He was worried that close contact would allow Yi Qing to be discovered, so he put the dagger away before stepping into the vicinity of the plum garden.

"How is it?" Yi Qing didn't come out; a voice that only Yu Xing could hear came from inside the dagger.

"There are many suspicious points, and the motive is questionable," Yu Xing said casually. "Quite interesting."

Yi Qing said gently, "Interesting? Let me hear it too."

Yu Xing summarized what had just happened in a few words, then smiled and said, "I don't understand... He needs a powerful evil spirit; wouldn't it be better to find one through deduction?"

"I live in the real world, which involves more complexities. He didn't investigate my background, let alone my exact relationship with the Zhao family. He came to me rashly and couldn't even provide a usable contract in the end."

Several oddly dressed members of the Luo family walked towards us. They seemed to be talking about something happy, and their voices were quite loud.

Yu Xing politely stepped aside, and only continued after the person had gone some distance, "Heh, a diviner, especially one who has experienced many trials, should at least be well-prepared, if not flawless in their actions."

"My impression of Xu Shu is that he made up this excuse just to see me. Maybe what he said wasn't entirely false, but that's definitely not the whole reason he asked me to come over."

He climbed a few steps and turned past a patch of slender bamboo. "Clearly, there's an even more important factor, hidden beneath his seemingly unassuming exterior."

"What I'm curious about now is, what drove him to do this, going so far as to act all silly and naive to make me believe him?"

Yi Qing's reply caused the dagger hanging at Yu Xing's waist to tremble slightly, "As it turns out, his plan was completely ineffective; you anticipated what you should have anticipated."

Yu Xing had already spotted the winery; it was quite crowded. People of all ages always seem to have little resistance to good wine. "No, not entirely useless. At least if he wanted to pique my curiosity, then he succeeded in that respect."

After a brief silence, Yi Qing said, "This person should not be approached too much."

"Indeed, he didn't show any malice, and even wanted to befriend me because I'm a 'demon,' but that's all superficial. He's even covering up his motives. What his true attitude is, we have no idea. Maybe he's full of malice towards me." Yu Xing's tone was light, but the words she spoke were not so light.

He had already approached the winery, and if he wasn't mistaken, many Zhao family were there, including Zhao Jiaming had been playing cards with Zhao Yingying earlier.

Communication with Yiqing ended there.