Thugs in the Building

Amid a patch of dark green flowers, a man and a woman slowly made their way forward.

The clusters of inky flowers beneath their feet were quite extraordinary. Whenever they stepped down, the flowers parted on their own. They looked less like flowers and more like little fish resting quietly in a pond...

"Such a beautiful sight. I wish Aunt were here." Wu Hen was suffering from severe withdrawal.

In the end, he was still pressing on alone through this Otherworld, despite having found the direction of the Nuwa Divine Tree.

Behind him, the filthy girl carried a heavy bundle on her back, packed with supplies and information she had gathered from her former teammates.

Following behind Wu Hen, Yang Qin was starting to look more and more like a maid accompanying her young master to the capital to sit the imperial exams: hardworking, diligent, and obedient.

Only, most of the time, she was treated like she wasn't even there.

"He's strong. If I stay with him, even if he makes unreasonable demands..." Yang Qin had made up her mind to serve the man before her hand and foot, as long as she could return to her home!

After crossing a high slope, they came upon a small flower valley. From a long way off, Wu Hen listened carefully for any sounds within it. Only after confirming there was no danger did he stride into the valley.

"Is the Soul-Resting Tree in the valley?" Yang Qin asked excitedly.

"It should be." Wu Hen nodded.

"Then that's wonderful, just wonderful!" Yang Qin was thrilled, and quickened her pace.

Yang Qin had also been diligent about learning everything she could about the Otherworld Desolate Dust along the way.

The Soul-Resting Tree was not only an important guide from the Nuwa Divine Tree to her human subjects; it also had a vital ability. It could briefly let people return to their home world and cleanse their souls.

Wu Hen knew this too. He was desperate to go back, but he remained on guard. A peaceful appearance did not mean they were safe.

Once they entered the valley, they found even more flowers in a riot of colors. Most of the time, they swayed gently in the breeze. If the wind suddenly picked up, they would huddle together behind the rocks.

To be honest, the sight was captivating. If it appeared in his own world, it would be a little paradise on earth—and someone would fence it off and charge admission.

The valley was small. At its center stood a very unusual tree.

It was about the size of a thousand-year-old tree, yet not a single leaf grew on it.

Its branches were bare and clean, but between them bloomed one brilliant Soul Flower after another!

Some Soul Flowers were fully open, some were still buds, and others had withered or were still growing.

Yang Qin immediately pulled out her notebook and carefully compared the illustrations. The Soul-Resting Tree's shape and the Soul Flowers growing on it were exactly as recorded.

"It's the Soul-Resting Tree. There's no mistaking it. We can go back!" Yang Qin cried, overwhelmed with excitement.

"Only for a little while," Wu Hen said.

"That's enough. I'm so, so tired," Yang Qin replied.

A stream flowed nearby. Not wanting her classmates to see how filthy she looked after returning, Yang Qin cupped water in her hands and washed her face until it was clean.

The stream was as clear as glass. Yang Qin even used it as a mirror, smoothing her hair until she could see her face clearly. Then, satisfied, she stood up.

"I think I might be losing it," Wu Hen said.

"What's wrong?" Yang Qin asked.

"I actually think you're starting to look pretty. I must be starving—or maybe I've really gone mad. I didn't expect the mental contamination of the Desolate Dust to be this terrifying," Wu Hen said.

Yang Qin: "???"

What had she done to offend him?

At a loss for words, Yang Qin could only look up at the brilliant Soul Flowers on the Soul-Resting Tree.

But out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Wu Hen was still staring at her, at her face. First she panicked, then an inexplicable joy welled up inside her!

See? She wasn't that bad-looking after all!!

How could a normal man not even bother to look at her?

"W-what are you doing?" Yang Qin asked cautiously.

Wu Hen's expression was serious. He stared at Yang Qin's face, hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Have you noticed your appearance changing?"

"My appearance changing?" Yang Qin was confused. She hurried back to the stream to look at herself. "No. I look just like I always have. You, though—you look kind of familiar. Like one of my classmates."

When Yang Qin had been filthy, Wu Hen hadn't noticed. But after she washed her face, he saw that her appearance had changed... little by little, it was becoming more like Yang Qin's real face!

After all, when they had first awakened, their new bodies had looked like the people they had been.

And Wu Hen clearly remembered that the body Yang Qin had awakened in hadn't looked like this at first.

It was as if her body were slowly reshaping itself, evolving to resemble the soul within it!

After noticing this,

Wu Hen went to the stream too and scrubbed his face clean with the water.

Sure enough, his body's appearance was already about sixty percent like his original face. His brows, features, and bearing... all seemed to be shifting toward the way he had looked before!

How strange!

What sort of rules governed this Otherworld Desolate Dust??

"The notebook says that if we fall asleep among the Soul Flowers, we can return to our home world," Yang Qin said, pulling out her notebook and looking every bit the diligent student.

"I know. You can log out first. I'll check the area," Wu Hen said, waving a hand.

Yang Qin thought it over. If this man wanted to hurt her, there was no need for him to go through so much trouble.

She was desperate to go home. Even if all she could do was take a nice hot shower and say a few words to her family, that would be enough.

Yang Qin climbed the Soul-Resting Tree and stepped barefoot into a bed of open Soul Flowers.

She lay down, curling up slightly. Before long, one of the flowers seemed to sense her presence, and its open petals began to close around her.

The closing petals enveloped Yang Qin completely. The soft flower skin changed too, transforming into a strange pod that protected the sleeping Yang Qin inside like a flower's stamen.

At the same time, the entire trunk of the Soul-Resting Tree began to glow with the beautiful colors of an aurora. The light flowed from the Soul Flower where Yang Qin lay, like starlight streaming along the tree's trunk and roots...

Wu Hen tried calling out to her several times.

Yang Qin didn't respond at all...

Wu Hen climbed onto the closed Soul Flower and knocked on it. He found that its pod was incredibly hard, comparable to a small life-support capsule.

Even after her consciousness left this body, the Soul Flower pod would surely protect the person sleeping inside.

"Very reasonable. Very reasonable."

Wu Hen had gained a basic understanding of how the Soul-Resting Tree worked.

Su Li had also told Wu Hen that the Soul-Resting Tree would eventually wither. It could only allow people wandering the Desolate Dust to return briefly to the Nuwa Divine Terminal.

But for those on the verge of losing themselves, returning to the embrace of the Nuwa Divine Terminal was itself a kind of spiritual cleansing.

"I wonder how Mom and Dad and Yu Yu are doing. I should go back and let them know I'm safe, so they won't worry." Wu Hen climbed onto a branch and made his way toward an open Soul Flower.

Lying in its soft center, he felt a familiar warmth and comfort. It was like resting in Aunt's gentle embrace, filling him with peace and calm.

Soon, a powerful sense of sleepiness came over him, and Wu Hen closed his eyes.

Licheng.

Inside a shabby old apartment building, in a dim room, Wu Yingting leaned against the wall by the door, holding an old-fashioned pistol.

The corridor outside was filled with the sound of hurried footsteps. A group had gathered nearby, every one of them armed, most wearing black clothes.

"Honey, who are all those people outside? What are they here for?" Yu Yi asked nervously in a whisper.

"The Black Shirt Organization. At first, they were a group of unarmed people in the Otherworld Desolate Dust. They shared information and helped one another to improve the odds of survival for everyone wandering the Desolate Dust..." Wu Yingting said quietly.

"Isn't that a good thing? Someone in this building fell into that Otherworld. They must be completely alone there. If we're forced to enter someday too, following the Black Shirt Organization would be better than figuring things out on our own," Yu Yi said.

Wu Yingting shook his head gravely. "Things aren't always what they seem. From what I know, they often submit to powerful species in the Desolate Dust and pledge themselves to them. In exchange for keeping most people safe, they offer up a few. It's like sacrificing young boys and girls in feudal times."

"I see..." Yu Yi didn't know what to say.

"Whatever you do, don't trust them. How's Xiao Hen doing?" Wu Yingting asked.

His younger sister Yu Yi came out of the room, pointed at Wu Hen, then made a weepy face beneath her eyes. "Brother seems really sad."

"If he can feel sad, that means he's doing all right," Wu Yingting said with a nod.

Wu Hen was effectively asleep right now. If his face remained expressionless, that might mean he was drifting ever closer to losing himself.

The fact that his face showed emotion meant he was still normal.

Wu Yingting also believed his son would return safely!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!!!" Suddenly, someone pounded hard on the door.

Wu Yingting immediately signaled for his wife and daughter to move back into the corner, then quickly went on alert.

"Open up!" a voice outside barked.

"What do you want?" Wu Yingting wasn't about to open the door.

"Old Wu, it's me, He Zhichou. I went in on that deal with you before, remember? You owe me a hundred thousand. Can you pay me now? I want to join the Black Shirt Organization, and they're charging a hundred thousand in membership fees," the man outside said.

Wu Yingting's expression darkened as soon as he heard that.

He hadn't expected the other man to come demanding money at a time like this.

Besides, they had invested in that deal together. It had failed, so legally speaking, Wu Yingting didn't have to pay him back.

"I don't have any money right now," Wu Yingting said.

"Stop pretending. I don't believe you've got nothing left," He Zhichou said unpleasantly.

"Fifth Brother, I really can't. Look at my circumstances. If I had money, I'd have taken the kids to live in the Silver Plate Tower already," Wu Yingting said patiently.

A rush of hurried footsteps sounded. Several more people seemed to have gathered outside the door.

"Why waste your breath? Toss in a firebomb. Even cockroaches will come crawling out!" sneered a man with a gravelly voice from outside.

"Old Wu, I tried talking to you nicely, but you won't even open the door. Don't blame me, then. These days, it all comes down to who's more ruthless!" He Zhichou's voice turned cold too.