BUG-Level Spirit Realm

In the spacious, luxurious office, Li Dongze lounged on the sofa with his legs crossed. He held a glass of wine in his left hand and a cigar in his right, looking utterly at ease.

Just moments ago, he had reported to his direct superior that he'd recruited a Night Wanderer.

Li Dongze knew that the young Centurion had just taken office and was eager to prove himself and build a team of loyal subordinates. A Night Wanderer with a clean background was a godsend to someone of the Centurion's prominent family, and the timing couldn't have been better.

Sure enough, his young superior had praised him highly and promised to give him credit for a major achievement.

In the White Tiger Corps, military merit outweighed everything.

"Bam!"

The glass door to the office was shoved open, and Guan Ya came charging in on her high heels.

Li Dongze frowned. He took a leisurely sip of wine before chiding her, "Guan Ya, that's no way to make an entrance."

"Squad Leader, that kid entered the Sheling Tunnel as his trial Spirit Realm!" Guan Ya got straight to the point.

"Pfft!" Li Dongze sprayed wine everywhere. Forgetting to wipe it off, he pushed himself up from the desk and cried out in a shrill voice, "The Sheling Tunnel?! Oh, God, you damned fool! Look what you've done!"

He snatched up his cane and rushed out. When he reached the office area, he saw the new Night Wanderer staring blankly at a computer.

Noticing Li Dongze's arrival, Zhang Yuanqing grimaced. "Squad Leader, do you think there's any chance I can still be saved?"

He was afraid the man would blurt out, "There's no hope. Just wait to die. Your contract is terminated!"

Li Dongze stared at him in silence. His expression was like that of a man who had finally won the heart of the woman he loved, only to discover she was his long-lost sister.

Facing the new employee's eager, hopeful gaze, Li Dongze took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "A trial Spirit Realm is every Spirit Realm Walker's first solo instance. That's also what makes it so troublesome. In a solo instance, no one can help you. This is the Spirit Realm's test, and it's the price you have to pay to gain supernatural powers."

Zhang Yuanqing nodded solemnly.

Li Dongze continued, "I'll report this to my superiors. Hopefully, the higher-level archives have information and a walkthrough for the Sheling Tunnel. Otherwise, no one can save you. Go home and wait for news. I'll tell you as soon as I hear anything."

Though he wasn't a Night Wanderer, Li Dongze was a veteran Spirit Realm Walker and had heard of the Sheling Tunnel's fearsome reputation.

As far as the official records went, no one had ever cleared the Sheling Tunnel. No one had ever achieved the first clear of this instance.

"Okay. Sorry for the trouble, Squad Leader." Zhang Yuanqing nodded stiffly.

Li Dongze added, "Write down everything you experienced in the Sheling Tunnel in detail."

After arranging for a car to take Zhang Yuanqing home, Guan Ya returned to her desk. She took a sticky note bearing an Aquarius watermark from her drawer and uncapped a pen decorated with a Virgo symbol.

Everything on her desk, including her computer, notebook, desktop, and cup, was decorated with or printed with various zodiac signs.

She was clearly a devoted astrology enthusiast.

Guan Ya wrote on the sticky note:

"Yuanshi Tianzun. Scorpio man. Zodiac traits: scheming, vindictive, and sexually X."

"Note: Extremely likely to be seduced by a woman from another organization."

After she finished writing, the mixed-race beauty sighed softly, peeled off the note, and stuck it in the Second Team's personnel file.

She kept notes on every team member's personality and assessed them, including those who had quit and those who had died in the Spirit Realm.

"Hey, Wang Tai, do you think that kid has a chance of clearing it?" Guan Ya called over to the next desk, lifting her head.

Wang Tai, his hair a mess, looked up. "The Taiyi Sect might have detailed information about the Sheling Tunnel, but it probably won't help much. Otherwise, the Taiyi Sect would've already arranged for a Night Wanderer to clear it. An S-rank trial mission should have a decent reward."

Guan Ya frowned.

Wang Tai continued, "If we could find him a few items, he might have a chance of clearing it. But as you know, items have all kinds of different functions, and we know very little about the Sheling Tunnel. We can't choose items specifically to solve its challenges. Chances are, we'd just lose both the person and the items."

"Obviously!" Guan Ya rolled her eyes.

Items were incredibly precious and rare. A Spirit Realm Walker in the Transcendent Stage was lucky to have even one item on hand.

Unclaimed items could only be obtained in two ways: entering a Spirit Realm to find them, or killing a Spirit Realm Walker in the real world and taking their possessions. Even then, only items outside their Inventory could be taken.

Neither option was realistic.

Most importantly, without knowing the specifics of the Sheling Tunnel, who could say what kind of item might help him clear it?

If he died in the Spirit Realm, the Spirit Realm would automatically reclaim any items, making the loss enormous.

Wang Tai hammered away at his keyboard, bringing up a long string of data. After staring at it for a while, he muttered, "Qingming just passed, and it happens to be the time of year when the Sheling Tunnel opens. Is this guy incredibly unlucky, or what?"

In his office, Li Dongze opened a chat app and typed:

"Centurion Fu, I have something to report. It concerns the Night Wanderer we just recruited. His trial Spirit Realm is the Sheling Tunnel, supposedly a bug-level trial Spirit Realm for novice Night Wanderers.

"The Sheling Tunnel first appeared during the tunnel's construction last century. A construction crew accidentally entered it and died inside. The authorities later found one survivor. Thirty-six hours after that, the survivor was transported into the Spirit Realm again.

"That's right. The Sheling Tunnel's trial mission has two stages, unlike the one-time trial missions of other professions and other Spirit Realms."

"I'm sorry. I was overwhelmed by the good news and misled by my assumptions. When I saw him return to the real world from the trial Spirit Realm, I naturally assumed he had passed the trial.

"I know the Taiyi Sect's archives contain the most extensive and comprehensive records on Night Wanderer Spirit Realms. Its Sect Master is the strongest Night Wanderer alive. Perhaps the Taiyi Sect has information about the Sheling Tunnel.

"If you personally ask, Centurion Fu, I imagine the Taiyi Sect will give you some consideration.

"Never abandon a comrade—that's the White Tiger Corps' principle. Since he's already joined us, I can't just give up on him. I hope you'll help, Centurion Fu."

After finishing the message, Li Dongze read it over several times to make sure it was correct, then clicked send.

He held his glass and stared at the screen, letting out a sigh.

Burdened with worries, Zhang Yuanqing returned home, entered the code, and opened the security door.

In the living room, his grandmother was mopping the gleaming floor. A middle-aged man in a black jacket sat at the dining table. He had handsome features and jet-black hair. The deep furrow between his brows and the fine lines at the corners of his eyes lent him the air of a man weathered by time.

By all appearances, he was undeniably a dashing older gentleman with a certain charm, probably popular with mature women and adored by girls who liked older men.

But this middle-aged man wasn't Zhang Yuanqing's uncle. He was his cousin.

His cousin swallowed a bowl of freshly reheated porridge and looked at Zhang Yuanqing. "Grandma said you were looking for me last night?"

He looked stern and unsmiling, like a younger version of their grandfather.

Zhang Yuanqing opened his mouth, then shook his head. "It's nothing now."

Yesterday's problem had been solved, and his cousin couldn't help with this new predicament. There was no point bringing it up.

Besides, he'd signed a confidentiality agreement.

His cousin glanced at him. As he slowly drank his porridge, he said, "It was about Lei Yibing, wasn't it? I heard Li Dongze came by in person yesterday. That means the case is unusual. Even I can't help with it, let alone you."

So his cousin had already looked into it! Zhang Yuanqing gave a quiet "Mm."

Seeing that he was in low spirits, Chen Yuanjun said nothing more, assuming his cousin was simply worried about Lei Yibing.

Just then, Jiang Yu'er emerged from her bedroom in cute teddy-bear pajamas, carrying a stack of facial masks. "Here. They're for wrinkles and aging. Use one in the morning and one at night. They should work pretty well. Your grandma insisted I buy them for you."

His cousin's face darkened, and the furrow between his brows deepened. "Auntie, I don't need these."

His aunt shrugged nonchalantly. "Suit yourself."

Nearby, his grandmother leaned on the mop and glared at her grandson. "If you don't need face masks, then I suppose you need Grandma to iron out all those wrinkles on your face?"

Because her son had turned out to be unreliable, Grandma had long since given up on that older model and turned her attention to raising the two younger ones.

So far, her grandson worked at the Public Security Bureau, and her other grandson had gotten into Songhai University. Both had bright futures ahead of them.

But Grandma had always worried that her grandson was too serious and mature for his age. At thirty, he had the face of a forty-year-old.

The year before last, one of Grandpa's old friends, whom he hadn't seen in years, came to visit in Songhai. After meeting Chen Yuanjun, he exclaimed to Grandpa, "I didn't know you had another son!"

Grandpa had struggled for a long moment before managing to say, "That's my grandson."

His old friend was a blunt man. He immediately blurted out, "Your grandson's got a pretty bold look."

Their decades-long friendship had nearly been ruined over it.

Chen Yuanjun accepted the face masks helplessly and tucked them into his pocket. "All right, Grandma, stop nagging. I have to get to work. I've got a missing persons case on my hands, and I'm swamped."

A missing persons case? Zhang Yuanqing immediately grew alert. "What happened?"

Chen Yuanjun picked up a piece of pickled vegetable. "Two people went missing in the Sheling Tunnel. They still haven't been found. We checked the surveillance footage. The cameras outside the tunnel show them going in, but there's no footage of them entering on the cameras inside."

His cousin suddenly stopped and warned him, "Don't tell anyone."

He'd signed a confidentiality agreement.

Grandma's curiosity flared at once. She leaned in and said mysteriously, "Did it get haunted again? Hey, why haven't they blocked off that place yet? Every year, a few people go missing in that tunnel."

His aunt perked up her ears too, wearing the same gossipy expression as her mother.

"Grandma, don't ask."

Could they have stumbled into the Mountain God Temple like I did? Damn, those two poor bastards. I wonder if they can survive for three hours. Zhang Yuanqing felt both sympathy and pity for them, but he was also comforted by the thought that he wasn't the only unlucky one.

He understood the Spirit Realm a little better now. Li Dongze had told him that the Spirit Realm had always existed. Perhaps some of the people who went missing every year had vanished into it.

Capital City, Siheyuan.

The old pagoda tree in the courtyard was lush with leaves, like an enormous green umbrella spread open above the yard.

An elderly man with white hair lay in a rocking chair beneath it. He wore a white tank top and loose shorts, held a palm fan in his hand, and was dozing contentedly.

His face was lean and refined, with a fleshy mole between his brows. He had an indescribable air of nobility.

A breeze stirred the leaves, scattering patches of sunlight across the ground.

Faintly, the delighted laughter of children drifted from the pagoda tree.

"Elder Sun, someone from the Fu Family sent you an email." A middle-aged man dressed in black stepped over the threshold and entered the courtyard.

Whether in the Five Elements Alliance or the Taiyi Sect, those who became elders were all renowned Spirit Realm Walkers.

"Fu Qingyang?" The old man chuckled without opening his eyes. He waved his fan a few times. "What's it about?"

"His subordinate in Songhai City recruited a Night Wanderer whose trial Spirit Realm is the Sheling Tunnel. He's asking you for information about the tunnel, and for advice." The middle-aged man relayed the contents of the email.

The old man's hand paused mid-wave. A few seconds later, he said with understanding, "Qingming just passed. By my reckoning, it's exactly the time of year when the Sheling Tunnel opens. Quite a few people will be lucky enough to get a Night Wanderer Role Card soon. Unfortunately, no one will be able to clear the Sheling Tunnel."

"We can give them the information. The sect has already given up on clearing the Sheling Tunnel, so the confidentiality level of the related files has been lowered. Also, tell that Fu boy the place was already an S-rank trial Spirit Realm, and something went wrong midway, making it even harder. It's long since stopped being a trial Spirit Realm in any meaningful sense.

"My advice is to give up on that Night Wanderer. There's no point investing in someone who's certain to die."

The middle-aged man nodded. As an executive in the Taiyi Sect, he knew all too well how strange and ominous the Sheling Tunnel in Songhai was.

S-rank trial Spirit Realms were already the most difficult Spirit Realms for newcomers. The Sheling Tunnel was even stranger than an ordinary S-rank Spirit Realm.

Every S-rank trial Spirit Realm contained something out of the ordinary, whether a rare item or some important piece of information. They were extremely valuable.

To figure out the Sheling Tunnel, the Taiyi Sect had specifically sent two Level 1 Night Wanderers to live in Songhai long-term. S-rank trial Spirit Realms occasionally opened to Level 1 Spirit Realm Walkers of the relevant profession, too.

After waiting for several months, the two Level 1 Night Wanderers finally received the Sheling Tunnel mission.

But one Night Wanderer vanished without a trace after entering the Spirit Realm. The other successfully completed the first mission, only to die during the second.

And both Night Wanderers had carried items.

After that, the Taiyi Sect's Council of Elders reassessed the Sheling Tunnel and gave up on clearing it entirely.

"If someone really manages to clear the Sheling Tunnel and obtain the information inside, it would finally put our minds at ease."

The middle-aged man said with a smile.

The old man didn't respond. He slowly said, "In a few days, the Sect Master will summon all the Night Wanderers to Capital City for a meeting. He has something important to announce. Make the necessary preparations and call back all the young ones under your command."

With that, he waved his fan to shoo the man away.

The middle-aged man bowed and withdrew.