Setting Off for the Capital

Night fell.

Shen Qing lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep as the events of the day replayed in his mind.

Sleeping Corpse Path—the name sounded like some sort of cult, and they clearly possessed Supernaturalists of their own.

With so many corpses involved, while they hadn't yet grown bold enough to refine living people into corpses—likely out of fear of the government—open spears were easy to dodge, but hidden arrows were hard to guard against.

His instructor, Zhou Ming, had met such a miserable fate simply for being associated with him and Wu Yuan.

He himself had thwarted their plans twice... yet he wasn't worried about his own safety.

"It's a good thing Big Brother and the others are moving soon."

Shen Qing rolled over, letting out a small sigh of relief.

Thinking back to Father Xie's invitation to his brother earlier that day, he wondered if he had played a part in it, but regardless, he owed them a debt of gratitude.

"Still, Big Brother hasn't agreed yet; I must persuade him."

With these thoughts swirling in his mind, the more he pondered, the more restless he became.

Shen Qing suddenly sat up, gazing at the walls, which were peeling due to the dampness. "Ah, when will I be able to buy a house?"

He opened his mobile banking app and checked his balance: 341,092.

It was getting close; over three hundred thousand was almost enough for a down payment.

Thinking of it this way, buying a house felt within reach, and he suddenly grew so excited that he couldn't sleep at all, so he decided to start cultivating instead.

In the future, strength would be everything.

"The assessment for becoming a full-time member is coming up soon, too."

Just as Shen Qing was unable to sleep and turned to cultivation, there was someone else on Jingu Street who couldn't sleep either.

The area was still cordoned off with police tape, the air thick with the smell of disinfectant.

A figure wrapped tightly in black, blending into the night, vaulted over the cordon without making a sound.

"Heh, they even arranged for people to watch in secret."

He cast a disdainful glance at a nearby building before turning and heading into the alley behind the old structure.

He looked at the basement entrance, which had also been cordoned off and pried open; a pungent odor of disinfectant wafted from within.

He didn't even need to go inside to guess that all his preparations had gone to waste.

The Black-Clad Man's body trembled uncontrollably, and it took him a long while to suppress his rage.

He placed his right hand against a locust tree, and many images flashed through his mind—blurred, fragmented—until they settled on the clearest figure of all.

The strikes had been ruthless.

He had easily disposed of the Wood Guest and the Walking Corpse he had raised, not to mention the other useless lackeys.

Rank Eight.

A mere Rank Eight, one who likely hadn't even mastered an innate ability, otherwise, what noble Supernaturalist would resort to close-quarters combat?

It was simply barbaric.

And yet, his hard work had been ruined twice over by this?!

The Black-Clad Man's palm clenched involuntarily, and a piece of bark was easily torn away.

He cursed in a low voice, "Damn it, a lowly Rank Eight dares to meddle with me... If this were within the territory of my sect, I would have refined your entire family into Walking Corpses!"

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. The Black-Clad Man was now certain that his previous Living Corpse had also died at the hands of this brat.

Refining a Living Corpse not only required specific birth dates, but he himself had to pay a price as well.

When the last one was destroyed, he had gone to investigate the cause and accidentally discovered another target that met his requirements, only for it to be destroyed before the refinement was even complete.

If he didn't do something, he wouldn't be able to quell the hatred in his heart!

"Brat, I will definitely make you regret this!"

The Black-Clad Man released the locust tree and vanished into the shadows with a few flashes of movement, though he failed to notice a faint red dot blinking in the darkness of the alley.

Unless one was standing right next to it, it was impossible for the naked eye to detect.

Binhai Branch Underground Base.

Fang Shu sat in the monitoring room, watching the screens. Among the dozen or so small windows, several displayed real-time footage of Jingu Street.

In night-vision mode, the Black-Clad Man's movements were captured with perfect clarity.

"Sleeping Corpse Path... did they bypass the two captains?"

Another Supernaturalist who was at least at the level of having opened the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, or perhaps even Rank Seven. They were simply ignorant, or perhaps too arrogant to bother learning about modern technology.

They were a cult that dealt in corpses and trees.

"So, knowing that it's difficult for them to act personally, they've already started developing subordinates."

Fang Shu muttered to himself, picking up a folder from the monitoring console in front of him, "...Youle Group."

It was a long-standing tourism enterprise in Binhai City that, at its peak, had almost monopolized the tourism market in Binhai City and its surrounding areas.

However, due to the rise of self-driving tours, it had been on a downward slope for the past few years.

In an attempt to expand, Jingu Street was a project they had once invested in and developed, but due to the terrain and various other issues, it ended up abandoned only a few years after opening.

And that Guangfei Technology Company, whose boss was a Living Corpse, also had investments from them behind the scenes.

"Two coincidences?" Fang Shu tapped his fingers against the desk.

But there was no direct evidence to suggest they were related to the Sleeping Corpse Path; for now, it could only be suspicion, as investing in internet companies and commercial streets was quite normal after all.

"I've left breakfast on the living room coffee table."

The next morning, Shen Qing bought breakfast and prepared to head out, glancing at the tightly shut guest bedroom; the Heroine was actually sleeping in today.

"I'm leaving."

He called out toward the room, but just as he turned around, there was a click behind him, and the guest bedroom door opened.

"Wait."

Shen Qing turned his head to see the Heroine poking half her body out, her head lowered, looking like a little kitten that had been scolded for doing something wrong and had wilted.

"About that... I'm sorry, I was rude yesterday."

She didn't even know why she had reacted so strongly yesterday.

Shen Qing was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand, "It's fine, I had already forgotten about it."

He hadn't taken it to heart at all; her voice had just been a bit loud, but he was quite gratified that the Heroine was able to apologize in time.

"Alright, I'm off."

In the blink of an eye, time passed, and it had been a relatively calm week; Shen Qing had asked his captain about the situation with the Sleeping Corpse Path.

However, it wasn't clear, and it was still under investigation.

On Saturday, the last day before departure, Shen Qing, who had spent the day taking the Heroine around to buy some things and then practicing until evening, suddenly opened his eyes.

"Still just a little bit off; Blood Qi Pills aren't suitable for clearing meridians."

In one week, he had refined the last Blood Qi Pill, and he was only one step away from completely clearing his first meridian and breaking through to the Eighth Grade.

However, it wasn't that easy, and this was even with the assistance of his traits.

It was no wonder that many veteran team members who had been around for half a year or even longer were still stuck at the Ninth Grade; put that way, He Ying breaking through to the Eighth Grade in just over a month was indeed a fast cultivation speed.

Although there were various ways to obtain cultivation resources during the intensive training, there was no denying that he had the talent to be proud of.

"The capital, huh?"

This was his first time going to the capital in this life, so he felt a bit of the excitement one feels before a trip, along with a hint of unease?

The next day, Shen Qing woke up early and finished giving instructions to Shen Qingtang.

"I'm leaving."

He stood in front of the door, wearing a backpack.

There shouldn't be any problems; after all, the Heroine basically understood how to use a smartphone now, and it had his secondary card, with a family card linked as well.

But just as he stepped out of the house, Shen Qing couldn't help but look back.

"Is there anything else you need to say?"

Shen Qingtang tilted her head slightly.

"If there's really a problem you can't handle, go find my older brother and sister-in-law."

"Don't worry, I'll be back in three or four days at the most."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Shen Qing felt like an old father, endlessly fussing over a daughter who had to watch the house alone.