He pulled out his sleeve and wiped away his tears. No longer hiding the sound of his footsteps, he strode into the cargo hold.
Beneath the dim incandescent light, a figure with long golden hair, wearing a white lab coat and hunched over, stood beside an operating table.
He was a Foreign Devil.
Xu Yi could only see the man in profile, but he could clearly see him using a transparent, cling-film-like binding strip to wrap up the figure on the operating table, which was already coated in beeswax.
With each layer he wound around the figure, he took some yellow, paste-like beeswax from a small plastic bucket beside the table, completely covered the corpse with it, then added another layer of cling film.
Around and around he went.
Xu Yi sensed a strange spirituality in that yellow paste. The feeling was mysterious and hard to describe, but he could definitely sense it.
A faint, unmistakable stench of death would surface in the air. It was impossible to smell when he tried, but whenever he let his guard down, the odor would creep into his nostrils, one wisp after another.
Something beautiful had been tainted, and it put Xu Yi in a foul mood.
Realizing that the taint came from the so-called "beautiful thing" itself put Xu Yi in an even worse mood.
The Foreign Devil had noticed Xu Yi's unhidden footsteps long ago, but even after Xu Yi came up beside him, he paid him no mind.
He simply continued his work with utmost care and precision.
Completely focused, meticulous in every detail.
To him, there was nothing in the world more important than this.
Not even the mortal danger posed by a stranger standing nearby—
Not even life itself mattered more than the work in his hands!
Xu Yi came to stand beside him and, out of some sense of anticipation, waited patiently for him to finish.
A short while later, the Foreign Devil was done.
Yet even after he had completed the entire process, Xu Yi could still smell that faint, intermittent stench of death.
Xu Yi spoke in a tone that was one part scolding and nine parts reproach:
"You've done it wrong. You haven't covered up the stench of death, and it's ruined the fragrance!"
The Foreign Devil looked somewhat dejected at this. In Mandarin colored by the local accent of Puxi City, he replied:
"I know! But this is the best I can do! There's no way to completely get rid of the stench of death! I've already tried ten formulas!"
Xu Yi's gaze darkened.
Ten formulas meant at least ten people.
That damn Foreign Devil.
Xu Yi furrowed his brow.
"How can something beautiful be born from decay?"
The Foreign Devil reacted as if he'd been injected with adrenaline. A feverish, excited smile appeared on his deathly pale face.
"Your Great Yan Dynasty has an old saying: 'Turn decay into wonder.'
That's exactly what I've done!"
Even before Xu Yi entered, the Foreign Devil had caught his scent.
Only after Xu Yi walked into the cargo hold and asked that question could he finally be sure: Xu Yi was one of his kind!
It was a feeling beyond the ordinary, an attraction between different individuals who shared the same spirituality. Only those initiated into its secrets could sense its mysteries when immersed in it.
People with their unique spirituality were exceedingly rare. For many years, the Foreign Devil had been unable to talk to anyone about anything he did.
No matter what he achieved, he had no one to share it with.
No matter how many failures he suffered, he had no one to confide in.
Throughout his life, no one had known how stifled he felt.
But now, at last, someone "like him" had appeared!
At the thought, the Foreign Devil grew even more eager. Like a child desperate to show a good friend his toys, he couldn't wait to share his "toy" with Xu Yi and play with it together.
In Mandarin heavily tinged with the Wu dialect, the Foreign Devil said:
"I traveled throughout the Great Yan Dynasty. I witnessed the sacred incense on the dynasty's highlands, and the ghostly incense in its secluded valleys.
"I journeyed far and wide, collecting all kinds of methods for blending fragrances, but none could satisfy me—
"I demand a fragrance that doesn't merely please the body, but pleases the soul as well!"
Xu Yi repeated:
"A fragrance that pleases the soul..."
An involuntary sense of anticipation rose within him.
The Foreign Devil was feverishly excited.
"That's right!
"What kind of fragrance can please the human soul?"
He answered his own question:
"Only a fragrance perfectly blended with spirituality can please the soul and satisfy it completely!"
He spoke faster and faster. The excitement and fervor on his face twisted his features further and further. His pale skin flushed with excitement, and the skin on his face and neck took on a feverish red glow beneath the incandescent light.
"The supernatural beings you call Night Roaming Gods in the Great Yan Dynasty can see spirituality and refine it.
"Only Night Roaming Gods have the ability to blend spirituality with fragrance!"
"I spent a fortune and searched for nearly twenty years before I finally found a way to become a special kind of Night Roaming God—
"Just look at me, my friend! I've become a Night Roaming God! I can refine spiritually infused fragrances!"
Xu Yi steadied himself.
"You... where did you get this ability?"
A legacy—that was exactly what Xu Yi had come for!
Hearing Xu Yi ask this, the Foreign Devil assumed he was interested in his method, and his fervor intensified.
He had met only a handful of kindred spirits in his life. The peculiarities that came with this sort of spirituality were simply too niche, and too few people could accept them.
Kindred spirits who also possessed spirituality and could understand what he was doing were rarer still.
In the nearly thirty years of his life, Xu Yi was the only one he had ever met!
The Foreign Devil was overjoyed. At last, someone had appeared in this world who was worthy of understanding him!
At last, someone in this world had appeared who could understand him!
At last, someone could understand his peculiar interests!
At last, someone could understand the "strange" things he did in the eyes of ordinary people!
At last, someone could understand all the sacrifices he had made and all the incredible effort he had put in!
The Foreign Devil wanted to bare his heart to Xu Yi and share everything he knew!
"It was in a small town in Phoenix Immortal Prefecture."
The Foreign Devil's lips curled up as he spoke of his proudest achievement.
"When I first followed the faintest clues there, I didn't have much hope.
"You know how rare people like us are. Night Roaming Gods are rarer still.
"I'd already had plenty of fruitless searches. Every time I set out full of hope, I came back disappointed!
"Finally, that year, I followed the clues I'd gathered over the years and tracked down a bartender. Hey, can you imagine him using the identity of a bartender as a cover?
"His drinks always smelled better than everyone else's because he was always adding little touches of his own. He had a formula for extracting spirituality from animal fat, allowing him to distill spiritually infused perfume from animals.
"Mix that perfume with liquor in the right proportions, and you can make a drink that will captivate anyone."
Before you continue