Exaggerated

Late at night.

After washing up and changing into silk pajamas, Su Bai lay back on his soft bed. He gazed through the window at the moon hanging in the sky, his thoughts drifting.

Ten years ago, in the days when the red moon descended, Su Bai had been lying in a sterile hospital chamber, watching television.

On the television, a host was reporting on the red moon incident.

Before the bone marrow cell transplant, the doctor had smiled and asked Su Bai, "Are you scared, kid?"

At eight years old, Su Bai had already shown composure beyond that of ordinary people. He had taken off his mask and said calmly, "Yes, very scared, so I hope you'll be careful with my surgery. But... if the outcome is predetermined and death can't be avoided, I can accept it calmly. So don't put too much pressure on yourself."

The doctor had only wanted to make a joke to lighten the somber mood, but Su Bai's answer had deeply moved him, and an unprecedented solemnity had appeared in his eyes.

The doctor had brought his utmost medical expertise to bear, but Su Bai's body was too weak, and the operation had not gone smoothly.

Su Bai had repeatedly lost consciousness, his life hanging by a thread several times. The ECG monitor had flatlined more than once.

"The patient's heart has stopped!"

"Press the defibrillator paddles down!"

"One! Two! Three!"

"Again!"

"..."

In the end, the helpless doctor had fallen to his knees before Su Bai's hospital bed, his eyes filled with tears. "God, please, look at this poor child. Save him!"

Between dreams and wakefulness, Su Bai had heard those words, so he had begun to pray.

Then, through a haze, he had seen a humanoid figure wreathed in scorching flames walking toward him.

"The patient's heartbeat is back!"

"His breathing rate is stable!"

"Oh, God!"

"It's a miracle!"

Amid one exclamation after another.

In a dream no one else could see.

The humanoid figure wreathed in flames had patted Su Bai on the head.

His recollection ended.

Su Bai let out a long breath, closed his eyes, and soon fell asleep.

In his dream.

As usual, he once again saw the magnificent bronze palace.

The palace's interior remained unchanged.

Thirty-two gilded pillars, a rectangular stone table, and seven wooden chairs with backs.

Ever since meeting Novelist, Su Bai had come here for more than ten days in a row, but each time he had stopped to watch, not daring to go any farther.

This time, Su Bai ventured a few steps forward and reached out to touch the pillars. When nothing happened, he grew a little bolder and took a few more steps. He sat in each of the seven chairs for a while, then finally fixed his gaze on the table.

The instant Su Bai touched the tabletop, he suddenly felt a chill that cut to the bone.

Then his body was sliced into countless pieces of flesh and collapsed with a crash.

At the moment his consciousness was pulled from his body, Su Bai suddenly realized that a great being really did lie inside this coffin that had taken the form of a table.

He woke from the nightmare to find it was already noon the next day.

Bright sunlight streamed through the window.

Su Bai rubbed his bleary eyes and left his room, dragging his weary body downstairs. He had meant to find some fruit and vegetables in the refrigerator to fill his stomach, but when he opened it, he found it as empty as his pockets.

Chu Ning appeared behind Su Bai like a ghost. "The food's ready. It's in the living room."

In the living room.

Su Bai stared at the steaming bowl of old-style pickled mustard greens beef noodles on the table, an "I knew it, just as I thought" look on his face.

"Eat up. Once you're done, I'll take you to practice swordsmanship."

Su Bai was taken aback. "Swordsmanship?"

Chu Ning ate her instant noodles in great mouthfuls as she spoke indistinctly. "For Transcendents, an Oracle is a gate leading to a treasure vault, bloodline rank is the key that opens it, and physical fitness is the foundation for bearing a bloodline.

"You have hereditary leukemia to begin with. Although your condition is under control, your immunity is much lower than a normal person's, and your muscle strength and endurance are poor too. If you hadn't awakened your abnormal eyes, you'd be out of breath climbing two flights of stairs.

"With your current physical fitness, you can only bear the power of an eighth-rank bloodline at most. If you rashly advance to the seventh rank, there's a good chance you won't be able to withstand the power your bloodline grants you and will lose control. Captain Li gave us three days off partly to protect you, but the main purpose was to have me train you more."

Su Bai took a bite of his noodles and asked, "What does losing control mean? Is it scary?"

Chu Ning looked up and thought for a while before saying:

"There's nothing scary about it. At worst, your genetic sequence will collapse, your flesh will rot, and you'll go insane. Hmm... something like those brainless apocalypse zombies in movies, except you'll still be able to use the power of your Oracle and bloodline, becoming a monster that's half alive and half dead.

"But you don't need to worry. If you really do turn into a monster, I'll definitely kill you myself and keep you from doing evil."

Su Bai remained utterly calm. "With those words... I feel much more reassured. You really are a living Lei Feng. I thank you."

Over the next three days.

Chu Ning used more than 180 methods, going through all eighteen classes of weapons, from sabers and spears to swords and halberds, to beat Su Bai in turn.

As she put it, to learn how to hit people, you first had to learn how to take a beating.

Although she was suspected of using her public duties to settle a personal grudge, what she said was not without reason.

When Transcendents faced monsters of the same rank, they had no advantage in bloodline or physical fitness and were very likely to be at a disadvantage. After all, a monster might be perfectly fine after having a shoulder chopped off, but a Transcendent would instantly lose the ability to fight if a shoulder were torn off.

A Transcendent's true advantage lay in combat experience and proficiency with various weapons.

Combat experience could be gained in actual battles, but mastering the use of various weapons required dedicated study.

Both cold weapons and firearms were subjects the Grave Keepers had to study.

Chu Ning had long since mastered the use of all kinds of weapons.

Although she had no sense of restraint and often beat Su Bai black and blue, she was a truly top-notch instructor.

In just three days, Chu Ning also witnessed Su Bai's terrifying ability to learn and remember. Had she not seen it with her own eyes, she could never have believed that someone learning swordsmanship for the first time could swing a sword hundreds of times in succession at the exact same angle and with the exact same force.

Another day, at four in the morning.

Chu Ning put on a baseball cap and knocked on Su Bai's door. "Two hours ago, a student mysteriously fell from a building at Suzhou University. Apparently, the student's body spontaneously combusted before the fall. Sister Yan called ten minutes ago and said the incident was suspected to involve a transcendent creature. She wants us to check it out."

Su Bai wasted no time. He quickly changed clothes, strapped on the alchemical bone sword Chu Ning had told him to carry for self-defense, and followed her downstairs. "Are the others going?"

Chu Ning replied at once, "Lin Luo is on leave. Qingxue is already there."

"What about Gu Jiuge?"

"He left on another mission two days ago. Apparently, it's a very difficult one. The target he's responsible for eliminating is a fourth-rank Calamity, so we can't help."

"Fourth rank!" Su Bai was startled. "Can he beat it?"

Chu Ning got into the driver's seat and adjusted the rearview mirror.

"Although I often say he's a guy who just mooches around waiting to die, I've never underestimated his strength. He joined the Grave Keepers seven years ago and has been dispatched to guard more than a dozen different cities. He's taken part in hundreds of team missions and more than a hundred solo missions, and he's personally eliminated many transcendent creatures with bloodline ranks higher than his. So far, his mission success rate is still a hundred percent."

Su Bai exclaimed, "Is he really that formidable?"

"That's nothing. Captain Li, who talked Gu Jiuge into becoming a Grave Keeper, is the truly formidable one." Chu Ning slammed her foot on the accelerator and continued:

"In the past ten years, headquarters has only given out thirteen individual S-rank evaluations. Captain Li alone received five of them. You can't begin to imagine what the name Li Ming means within the Grave Keepers.

"Otherwise, why would headquarters have repeatedly asked him to become captain of the Seventh Special Operations Squad? And how else could he have gotten headquarters to change your individual evaluation to S rank with a single phone call?

"Back then, those two were both known as born killers. They were the ones who started the Grave Keepers' bloodthirsty ways. It's only in the past couple of years that they've gotten a little lazy. Otherwise, they would have advanced to third-rank bloodlines long ago."