A spirit medium? He was a spirit medium?
The events of last night were still vivid in his mind.
Back then, the Golden Toad had called him a young spirit medium.
Was there a connection between the two? Or was it simply the same name?
Xu Le asked no further questions and merely nodded.
"Okay, I understand, Mr. Gan."
Gan left. The guard who remained glanced at Xu Le, then at the departing Gan, and roughly guessed what had happened.
Xu Le probably possessed some trait that even warlocks had to take seriously, which was why Gan had let him off so easily.
But Gan had not confirmed whether Xu Le was truly clean.
So... what came next would have to be left to professionals like them.
"All right, kid. The warlock has left. Come with us."
Xu Le watched Gan leave with a pleading look, then obediently nodded.
"Sure thing, bro!"
After the Heart Energy examination, Xu Le was taken to the Guard Hall, which answered directly to the Lighthouse Council.
There, Xu Le underwent several rather brutal tests and screenings.
First came the physical tests: a blood draw, a urine test, and a bone examination.
Then, finally, the impact response test.
Xu Le could accept the first three, but that last impact response test... was downright inhumane!
A guard sat in front of Xu Le with several sheets of paper, patiently explaining:
"You understand, right? As a Night Dweller who's also an ordinary person, your body may already have been contaminated by Guyinduo Pollution without your knowing it. But blows can trigger your body's natural defensive responses. If Guyinduo Pollution contaminants have taken over your body, they'll naturally mutate to keep you alive, protecting your survival. That's more or less how it works."
"So basically... you're going to beat me half to death to see whether there's any Guyinduo in me?"
"Uh!" The guard was momentarily at a loss for words.
"Lighthouse people don't lie to other Lighthouse people. Just tell me the truth, bro." Xu Le looked completely serious.
"It's really not that bad. Just grit your teeth, and it'll be over."
"Then go easy on me, bro."
The guard looked at Xu Le, thinking that Xu Le wasn't even from Lighthouse!
There was nothing wrong with a Lighthouse man lying to a Zion man.
"Sure. I'll go easy."
What followed were Xu Le's screams...
Those screams continued for almost an hour before finally stopping.
Afterward, Xu Le lay half-dead on the floor, yet not a single mark had been left on his face.
Clearly, the guards were professionals at this.
Just when Xu Le thought the examinations were over, a guard told him that next came the human soul interrogation.
"As everyone knows, Guyinduo doesn't merely contaminate human flesh. It also invades and contaminates human souls.
Guyinduo Oddities with mutated minds and souls are often much harder to deal with than physical Oddities.
The principle behind this test is much the same as that of the impact test.
We stimulate the soul to try to trigger a soul response from any Guyinduo parasites.
If your soul hasn't been contaminated by Guyinduo Pollution, there naturally won't be a problem.
But if it has, the Guyinduo soul contamination will be activated.
Xu, we can't afford to overlook this..."
Xu Le silently stared at the somewhat dim light before him. His look of utter despair was enough to make anyone pity him.
"I'm numb already. Bring it on."
So the guard grabbed one of his legs and dragged him back inside.
Another round of screams followed...
He had entered the Guard Hall at around ten in the morning. By the time he came out, it was already evening.
Dressed in a fresh set of clothes, Xu Le walked out of the Night Watchers squad outpost with a completely numb expression.
He looked so utterly abandoned by the world that one could not help wondering what he had endured inside.
But once Xu Le reached an empty alley...
The corners of his mouth began to lift.
"It feels so good to have a new lease on life."
Meow!
Xu Le looked toward the corner and saw a black cat rummaging through a garbage bin.
He frowned slightly, then gave a wry smile.
"The last time I saw you, the tests had just started. This time, they've just ended. A black cat of misfortune, huh? Do you really have to be that accurate?"
The black cat looked disdainfully at the garbage bin, as though nothing inside appealed to it.
It slowly walked over to Xu Le.
Meow!
"I don't have any money to buy you food." Xu Le crouched down and spread his hands toward the black cat.
He was telling the truth. The original owner of this body had left little behind, and he really was poor now.
Just then, a spotted stray dog entered the alley.
It gave Xu Le a wary glance, then looked at the black cat, seeming somewhat hostile.
But instead of barking at Xu Le, it walked over near him and began prowling around warily.
Clearly in a good mood after regaining his freedom, Xu Le moved a little closer to the black cat, pointed at the spotted dog, and said:
"That dog is facing a moral dilemma. Hunger makes it want to go in and steal some food.
But then it remembers the words of wisdom its father left behind.
A good dog might fail to guard its home, but it must never abandon its principles.
It's already fulfilled the first half by becoming a stray, so it absolutely can't lose its principles.
...All right, it's actually started licking shit in the garbage.
Judging by how content it looks, it seems to be nourishing both its body and its soul.
But look at its teeth. Flawlessly white.
This tells us that whether your teeth are black, white, or yellow has no inherent connection to eating shit."
After saying all this, Xu Le looked at the black cat with a hint of anticipation.
"Kitty, what do you think of my writing?"
The black cat turned its head away, its gaze looking exactly as though it were staring at an idiot.
Xu Le watched the cat leave and smiled.
The Xu Le of his previous life was dead, but he was alive.
He had fought a Living Corpse, endured Ghost's harassment, and survived the night.
He had encountered the Night Watchers, met a warlock, and undergone the strictest examinations in all of Lighthouse.
It had all been worth it.
Because he had returned to the human world, to a safe haven.
It truly felt wonderful!
Shaking his head, Xu Le followed the streetlights toward his home.
Lighthouse University was in Upper City. As an international student, he actually had permission to stay there; all he had to do was live on campus.
But then it would be inconvenient to go out with Zhou Ke.
Along the way, the occasional steam-powered unicycle passing by made him marvel. Every so often, he spotted exposed gas tanks outside small workshops.
There were also all sorts of pressure storage devices and the like.
This was a new world.
Back at his home, Xu Le retrieved his key from beneath the third stone brick by the wall.
Forget any talk about someone stealing a key left there. It wasn't impossible in Lower City, but it really was rare.
Who would bother stealing from a house in this part of Lower City?
Xu Le opened the door but did not rashly step inside.
The room was dark. Upper City had ample light, but Lower City did not.
After returning from a long trip, the first thing one had to do was light the oil lamp or a candle at home.
Only after the flame illuminated the room did Xu Le slowly walk inside.
The room was simple: a desk, a bed, and a box for books and documents. There was little else.
Most homes in Lower City were like this. The people here were hardly educated, and many could not even read, so nobody would come to steal these things.
Following the memories in his mind, Xu Le pulled an old notebook from a pile of documents.
He opened it to the first page, and what Xu Le had long been waiting for came into view.
[Calamity Sorcerer-Flame, LV1 Advancement Manual.]
Before you continue