Special Ability Users (Part 1)

"Kid! Heh heh, there are really a lot of people here!" Dharma King Xuan Yuan said to Zhou Qing as he watched the unending stream of people on the street. The two walked along the broad concrete avenue while men and women occasionally pointed at them.

Zhou Qing stared blankly ahead like a dead fish, with a jumble of noisy voices reaching his ears.

"Eh! Honey, look—isn't that man a lunatic, dressed like that?" A pretty girl in fashionable clothes clung to the arm of a fat middle-aged man, pointing at Dharma King Xuan Yuan beside Zhou Qing as she coquettishly spoke. Her syrupy voice gave Zhou Qing goosebumps all over.

"My little darling, maybe he is! But these days, people wear all sorts of strange things. That's called fashion, understand? Just two days ago, I even saw someone wearing a bikini out on the street! Mm..." The fat middle-aged man seemed to have let something slip and hurriedly shut his mouth. It was as if he had been pricked by a needle, yet he did not dare cry out, only making muffled noises.

"Young people these days! Of all things to learn, he had to become a Daoist at such a young age. I really don't know what his parents were thinking." An elderly man nearby sighed.

More and more people were pointing at Zhou Qing and Dharma King Xuan Yuan. Some even took out their phones to make calls, and Zhou Qing clearly saw that they were dialing either 110 or 120.

"This old monster has really gotten me into a terrible mess!" Zhou Qing's head felt as big as a bushel. Dharma King Xuan Yuan's golden Daoist robe was simply too eye-catching, yet Zhou Qing had no way to deal with it. After repeatedly trying and failing to persuade him to change clothes, Zhou Qing gave up. After all, if he accidentally provoked this Old Devil into going berserk, it would be no laughing matter.

"Um... Senior, aren't we drawing a little too much attention like this? What if we stir up some trouble?" Zhou Qing asked Dharma King Xuan Yuan cautiously. Zhou Qing had originally planned to find Ling Fei and use Kunlun's power to shake off this old demon, but Dharma King Xuan Yuan said that he had not seen the mortal world in many years and insisted on taking a look. Zhou Qing could not refuse him and was truly out of options.

"What is there to fear? Would this Old Ancestor be afraid of trouble? Heh heh, there really are a lot of people. Every one of them is dressed so strangely. Number One told me about it when he returned, and I didn't believe him. Now that I've seen it with my own eyes, even at Bianjing's most prosperous peak back then, it did not have half as many people as this place. Humanity now multiplies far beyond my Demon Race!" Dharma King Xuan Yuan shook his head and sighed, utterly disregarding the looks of those around him.

"Bianjing of the Northern Song!" Zhou Qing exclaimed in surprise. No wonder this old demon has always been so mysterious, with cultivation and Dao attainment unfathomably deep. He's actually a thousand-year-old monster.

Seeing Zhou Qing's astonishment, Dharma King Xuan Yuan said smugly, "Back when that kid Zhang Zeduan painted Along the River During the Qingming Festival, this Old Ancestor personally took him up into the sky so he could take in Bianjing's full panorama. But that kid's painting skills truly were first-rate—he actually painted an immortal masterpiece for the ages!" Zhou Qing was left completely speechless.

After turning through several streets and entering a small alley, Dharma King Xuan Yuan and Zhou Qing stopped. Dharma King Xuan Yuan rolled his eyes and shouted, "Who is it? Sneaking around and following this Old Ancestor for so long—do you take this Old Ancestor for an idiot?"

Zhou Qing was startled. How could that be? Someone was following them? How had he not noticed? Zhou Qing hurriedly circulated all his divine sense, sweeping the area within a mile in an instant. He discovered nothing and could not help glancing doubtfully at Dharma King Xuan Yuan. Zhou Qing had comprehended the heart of Heaven, and his divine sense was fully twice as powerful as before. If he unleashed it completely, he would know even how many ants were within a mile. How could he fail to notice a person? Even if the other party were a cultivator, Zhou Qing would be able to sense fluctuations of Dharma power—unless the other party had entered the path of Union of Heaven and Man!

Yet Zhou Qing would not doubt Dharma King Xuan Yuan's judgment. A thousand-year-old demon—his age alone could crush Zhou Qing to death. He had truly eaten more salt than Zhou Qing had eaten rice.

When no one answered for a long while, Dharma King Xuan Yuan snorted coldly and reached both hands toward the empty air some thirty yards away. "Hmph!" A muffled groan sounded, and a figure tumbled out of thin air. It was a middle-aged man with a square face and a sturdy build, his expression upright and righteous. However, a large piece of cloth had been torn from his shoulder, ripped away by Dharma King Xuan Yuan's claw.

"Eh! There isn't the slightest trace of True Essence in him. He isn't a cultivator?" Dharma King Xuan Yuan sensed something unusual with that grab and was puzzled. He did not immediately deal a killing blow.

Zhou Qing found it utterly inconceivable. The divine ability of Mijiezi! Only figures at the late Spirit Transformation stage could barely accomplish this—using powerful True Essence to tear open the void and create a space. It had originally been a method used by ancient immortals to carve out cave abodes. Even late Spirit Transformation experts could only barely create a tiny space to store some items; they absolutely could not use it to hide a person. Especially since this middle-aged man possessed no True Essence at all and was clearly not a cultivator. Could this be the legendary special ability? Zhou Qing had always dismissed those so-called special ability users with disdain, believing they could not compare with cultivators at all.

Seeing this, Zhou Qing could not help feeling that he had underestimated the heroes of the world.

"Sir, why were you following us?" Zhou Qing asked, afraid that Dharma King Xuan Yuan might suddenly strike and cause trouble. Special ability users were national treasures; this man was definitely from the state. Given how eye-catching Dharma King Xuan Yuan's attire was, it was not strange at all for him to have attracted all manner of demons and monsters.

Although Zhou Qing had also killed four Dragon Group members, no one knew about that, so their deaths were as good as unaccounted for. Things were different now. Having witnessed the middle-aged man's Mijiezi ability, Zhou Qing broke out in a cold sweat, thankful that no special ability users had been present back then.

After succeeding with one strike and discovering that the other party was not a cultivator, Dharma King Xuan Yuan seemed too disdainful to make another move. He merely regarded the middle-aged man coldly, ignoring whatever Zhou Qing said, his expression as cool as could be.

Zhou Jianwu was even more astonished. He happened to be on vacation today and had come out for a stroll when he spotted these two strange people on the street. The younger one beside him was nothing much, dressed exactly like an ordinary city youth, but that other one... Zhou Jianwu felt deeply uncomfortable under Dharma King Xuan Yuan's cold scrutiny. Wherever Dharma King Xuan Yuan's gaze landed, it felt like an icy earthworm crawling over his body, unbearably unpleasant.

Zhou Jianwu had noticed Dharma King Xuan Yuan's golden Daoist robe at a glance. As a member of the State Security Bureau Special Abilities Group, Zhou Jianwu knew something about Daoists. The Dragon Group, which stood alongside the Special Abilities Group, was made up almost entirely of disciples of the Daoist Sect.