"Turning Rot into Miracles"

He wiped his tears with his sleeve, stopped masking his footsteps, and strode into the shipping container.

Under the dim incandescent light, a hunched figure with long golden hair, draped in a white lab coat, stood before an operating table.

It was a foreigner.

Xu Yi could only see the man's profile. He could clearly see the foreigner using a transparent, cling-film-like binding strap to secure a body completely encased in beeswax onto the operating table.

With every layer he wrapped, he would scoop some yellow, paste-like beeswax from a small plastic bucket beside the table to coat the corpse entirely, before applying another layer of cling film.

Round after round, he wrapped it just like that.

Xu Yi sensed a strange spirituality emanating from that "yellow paste." The feeling was profound and mysterious, impossible to articulate, yet he could undeniably perceive it.

Faint wisps of an unmistakable stench of decay drifted through the air. It was imperceptible when one focused on it, but the moment one's attention wavered, the smell would snake its way into the nostrils.

The contamination of something beautiful with such impurities put Xu Yi in a foul mood.

--Realizing that these impurities originated from the "beautiful thing" itself made his mood even worse.

Xu Yi's unmasked footsteps had long since caught the foreigner's attention, yet the man did not acknowledge him, even as Xu Yi arrived at his side.

He remained focused, meticulously continuing his work.

Utterly absorbed, down to the last detail.

To him, there was nothing in this world more important than this task.

Even when facing the mortal danger posed by a stranger—

Even life itself was not as important as the work in his hands!

Xu Yi stood beside him, waiting patiently for him to finish, driven by a certain expectation.

A moment later, the foreigner finished his work.

However, even after the foreigner had completed the entire process, Xu Yi could still smell that intermittent stench of decay.

Xu Yi's tone carried one part reprimand and nine parts accusation:

"You're doing it wrong. You haven't masked the stench of the corpse; the fragrance has been completely ruined!"

Upon hearing this, the foreigner looked dejected. He responded in Mandarin, heavily accented with the local Puxi City dialect:

"I know! But this is the limit of what I can achieve! The stench of decay can never be completely eliminated! I have already tried ten different formulas!"

Xu Yi's eyes darkened.

Ten formulas meant at least ten people.

This goddamn foreigner.

Xu Yi furrowed his brows:

"How can beauty be born from rot?"

Hearing this, the foreigner seemed invigorated, a morbid, excited smile appearing on his pale, bloodless face:

"You in the Great Yan Dynasty have an old saying, don't you? 'Turning decay into magic'?

That is exactly it!"

Even before Xu Yi had entered, the foreigner had already caught his scent.

Now that Xu Yi had walked into the container and asked such a question, he was finally certain: Xu Yi was a kindred spirit!

The feeling was incredibly profound—a mutual attraction between individuals possessing the same type of spirituality, a mystery that only those on the inside could truly grasp when immersed in it.

People like them, possessing such unique spirituality, were far too rare. For many years, no matter what the foreigner did, he could never speak of it to others.

No matter what achievements he made, he had no one to share them with.

No matter what failures he endured, he had no one to confide in.

In his life thus far, no one knew the depths of his misery.

And now, finally, someone "like him" had appeared!

Thinking of this, the foreigner's heart grew increasingly fervent. Like a child eager to share a toy with a best friend, he couldn't wait to share his "toy" with Xu Yi so they could play with it together.

The foreigner spoke to him in that Mandarin heavily laden with the Wu dialect:

"I once traveled across the Great Yan Dynasty, witnessing the divine incense on the dynasty's plateaus and the ghostly incense in its deep valleys.

I have traveled the length and breadth of the land, collecting various methods of blending incense, but none could satisfy my requirements—

I demand a fragrance that not only pleases our flesh but also pleases our souls!"

Xu Yi repeated:

"A fragrance that pleases the soul..."

Unconsciously, a sense of anticipation rose within his heart.

The foreigner's face was filled with fanaticism:

"Yes!"

"What kind of fragrance could possibly please a human soul?"

He asked and answered himself:

"Only a fragrance that has perfectly fused with spirituality can please the soul until it is thoroughly satisfied!"

His speech grew faster and faster, the excitement and fanaticism on his face causing his expression to twist. His cold, pale skin flushed with agitation, and the skin on his face and neck took on a sickly crimson hue under the white fluorescent light:

"The transcendent beings you of the Great Yan Dynasty call Night Roaming Gods are capable of seeing and refining spirituality.

Only a Night Roaming God possesses the ability to fuse spirituality with fragrance!"

"I spent a fortune and searched for nearly twenty years before I finally found the method to become a special Night Roaming God—

As you can see! My friend! I have now become a Night Roaming God! I possess the ability to refine spiritual fragrances!"

Xu Yi steadied himself:

"Where... did you obtain this ability?"

Inheritance—this was exactly what Xu Yi had come for!

Hearing this, the foreigner assumed Xu Yi had developed an interest in his methods, and the fanaticism in his heart grew even more intense.

He had never encountered many "like-minded" individuals in his life, as the obsessions born from such spirituality were far too niche, and there were too few people who could accept them.

To find someone like-minded, who also possessed spirituality and could understand what he was truly doing, was rarer than phoenix feathers and qilin horns.

In the nearly thirty years of his life, Xu Yi was the only one who had ever appeared!

The foreigner was overjoyed, for there was finally someone in this world qualified to understand him!

In this world! Finally! His soulmate had appeared!

Finally, someone could understand his obsession!

Finally, someone could understand the "bizarre" behaviors he exhibited in the eyes of ordinary people!

Finally, someone could understand all the sacrifices and astonishing efforts he had made!

The foreigner wished he could pour his heart out to Xu Yi and share everything he knew with him!

"It was in a small town in Phoenix Immortal Prefecture."

As the foreigner spoke of his proudest achievement, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl upward.

"When I followed the clues to track it down back then, I didn't hold much hope.

You know, people like us are far too rare, and Night Roaming Gods are even rarer still.

I had already experienced many failed searches before, each time setting off with high spirits only to return in disappointment!

Finally, that year, following clues I had collected over many years, I tracked down a bartender. Heh, could you have imagined he would use the identity of a bartender as a cover?

The drinks he mixed were always more fragrant than others because he always added a little secret of his own—he possessed a formula for extracting spirituality from animal fat, capable of distilling spiritual perfume from the bodies of animals.

By mixing this perfume with liquor in a certain ratio, one could create a truly mesmerizing drink."