High School Student with Immortal Race System

In the dimly-lit corridor, only a single, old, yellowed lamp hung over the exit.

So close, yet so far... blocked by Long Jiu.

Jiang Xingjian didn’t know if he could make it to the other side.

Long Jiu’s voice was still devoid of inflection, but the fact that she could speak such a long sentence...

...was a clear sign she was no longer the same.

"Long Jiu, it’s so good to have you back! Quick, let’s leave together!"

Long Jiu shook her head, still blocking the narrow corridor. "I ask, you answer. If I’m satisfied, you live. If I’m not, you die."

Jiang Xingjian smiled kindly, looking like an old man who truly doted on his granddaughter, but his hand had already slipped into his pocket, secretly gripping a Bone Flute.

He feigned a stumble and fell, but in that motion, he swiftly brought the Bone Flute to his lips and blew with all his might!

A shrill, grating sound pierced the air... This was his ultimate means of controlling Long Jiu.

But to Jiang Xingjian’s despair, Long Jiu didn’t react at all.

The seal had clearly failed...

’Unbelievable... That thing was developed by a once-in-a-millennium genius from the Si Realm. There’s no way she could have broken it on her own. Who is backing her?!’

Long Jiu said calmly, "My origins. Tell me. My parents."

Jiang Xingjian froze. "Your... parents? I get it now, you’ve been led astray! They’re lying to you!"

Long Jiu repeated, "My origins. Tell me..."

’How would I know where her parents are?’ When she was delivered, she was just a listless little girl. All Jiang Xingjian knew was that she was the sole survivor of a certain experiment...

Just as he was trying to figure out what story to spin, Long Jiu swung her scythe. The next moment... one of Jiang Xingjian’s fingers tumbled to the ground, and he let out a bloodcurdling scream!

"My origins. Tell me..."

Jiang Xingjian screamed. With his old bones, and being over sixty, he nearly fainted on the spot.

"Stop! Long Jiu! Now that you’re back to normal, you should know that the organization doesn’t tell me everything. I only know you’re from the Si Realm! If you want to find your parents, you’ll still need my help."

The scythe swung again. Another finger fell.

"AHH!!! I’ll talk! I’ll talk!!"

Jiang Xingjian clutched his wound, his face ashen. ’Actually, Long Jiu’s origin isn’t some great secret; the higher-ups in the Rebel Species all know about it. Besides, even with her seal broken, this kid still seems dense. If I don’t say something, she’ll really chop me to bits!’

"Your... your parents should be in the Great Cloud Marsh area of the Si Realm. All the experiments were conducted there!"

Long Jiu was silent for a moment. "What experiment..."

Jiang Xingjian gritted his teeth. "The Dragonification Experiment! That thing inside your head is a byproduct of the Dragonification Experiment. It was originally meant to control a Dragon!"

"You were the only test subject to survive. Long Ba, Long Qi... they all died. But your parents should still be alive. They’re Witchcraft and Gu Sect Followers!"

"Long Jiu, I truly don’t know who your parents are, but if you want to find them and solve the problem inside your head, you need my help! If I die, you won’t even know how to get back to the Si Realm!"

He was willing to reveal some information, but it was all for the sake of survival. After just a few sentences, he was already circling back, trying to sway Long Jiu’s judgment.

Blood gushed from his hand without pause. Jiang Xingjian felt he was about to bleed to death... He had to double down.

"The Dragonification Experiment is the organization’s project to combine Witchcraft and Gu Dao in a quest for greater Power... You know that what we lack most is top-tier combat strength. This project has been running for decades, it’s enormous, and you were entered into it at least fifteen years ago. To find any clues, you absolutely need my help."

After a moment of silence, Long Jiu asked a seemingly unrelated question. "What is the connection between the Dragonification Experiment and the Twin Dragon Jade?"

Jiang Xingjian froze. ’This is definitely not something Long Jiu should be concerned about...’

But after a moment’s hesitation, her Melting Scythe rose again. Jiang Xingjian immediately blurted out:

"I’ll talk! I’ll talk! The Twin Dragon Jade was another byproduct! The Dragon was the ultimate goal! But it went out of control!"

"The Si Realm Source Concentration is too low to raise a True Dragon, so we sent it to the depths of the Vast Sea on Cyan Blue. But like a dragon returning to the ocean, it became wild and untamable. It was while observing that Dragon that we stumbled upon a newly opened gate to an Exotic Realm... and made contact with those Tattooed Guests and people from other families."

"One of their families has a heritage that is extremely adept with Water, the Shanshui. They helped us steal the Dragon Jade, and in exchange, we helped them infiltrate Cyan Blue..."

Long Jiu’s vacant eyes showed no ripples. "How... can there be a Dragon in this world."

"Aiya! That’s just what we call it! ’Dragon’ or not, isn’t that just a name people give things based on legends? If we believe it’s a Dragon, then it is a Dragon."

Jiang Xingjian felt his strength draining away. He was growing dizzy and his vision blurred, so he plopped right down onto the ground.

"Long Jiu... Grandpa is not long for this world. Get me out of here, and we can take our time talking..."

"Why was Luo Sheng looking for you?"

"Luo Sheng? Who is Luo Sheng!"

Long Jiu didn’t get an answer, but she calmly asked another question. "Five months ago, were the unusual movements of the Deep Sea Sea Beasts related to the Dragon?"

Jiang Xingjian assumed Long Jiu was just testing his story for authenticity and nodded. "It is... it is... It was caused by that Dragon losing control. But I wasn’t at sea, so I don’t know the specifics. We used to have some influence over it, but after that, we lost control completely."

After asking her final question, Long Jiu fell into a long silence.

She didn’t say a word.

’What went wrong?’ Jiang Xingjian wondered. ’Logically, Long Jiu should be completely indifferent to these matters. Why the sudden silence?’

"Long Jiu... come out with Grandpa. At least let me bandage myself..."

Jiang Xingjian tentatively edged forward. He saw that Long Jiu had no intention of stopping him; she didn’t seem to be planning another attack.

He was overcome with joy!

It was a complex mix of feelings—the ecstasy of surviving a catastrophe mixed with the terror of bleeding out.

But just as he was tearing a strip from his clothes to bandage the wound, a figure emerged soundlessly from the ground.

It clapped Jiang Xingjian on the shoulder.

Yang Shen’s face was as dark as a storm-tossed sea...

——————

「Ten minutes later, on the surface.」

In a landscaped median, a hidden door opened, and Yang Shen and Long Jiu climbed out.

It was still the dead of night outside, the empty, rain-slicked road glistening under the lights.

Yang Shen brushed the dust from his clothes, a movement that seemed to aggravate his wounds, causing him to suck in a sharp breath of cold air.

His clash with Luo Sheng’s "Overlapping Waves" had left him with a hairline fracture in his arm and covered in injuries.

’Just you wait, I’m so going to report you!’

But now wasn’t the time to think about that.

In fact, just moments ago... every word Long Jiu spoke had been a secret command from Yang Shen.

After discovering Jiang Xingjian’s whereabouts, he had deliberately engineered the scene of Long Jiu confronting the man alone, while he himself used Earth Element Escape to hide underground.

The Altar Master was an old fox. If anyone else had been present, he might have deduced many things, such as ’Yang Shen isn’t a Tattooed Guest,’ or ’Long Jiu hasn’t recovered, she’s just being controlled.’

That would have hindered the interrogation.

Torture might work on an old bone like him, but he wouldn’t last long. It would be unrealistic to expect to squeeze every last secret out of him, unless one were to keep him captive indefinitely.

But Yang Shen didn’t have the patience for that.

And the facts proved his theory. Jiang Xingjian only lasted ten minutes during the second phase of the interrogation before dying from the pain. The very torture techniques he had taught Long Jiu were used against him.

Yang Shen dissolved his helmet, revealing his somewhat weary face. ’What a long night.’

Long Jiu... a byproduct of the Rebel Species’ Dragonification Experiment.

And as for him... his Uncle’s death was caused by that same Dragonification Experiment going out of control.

’The Dragonification Experiment...’ Heh. ’What ambition...’

’These vermin actually wanted to create a Dragon...’

As for getting more details about the Control System in Long Jiu’s mind from Jiang Xingjian, that was impossible. Jiang Xingjian had no Martial Cultivation, not even implanted Gu Insects; he was a completely ordinary person.

He only knew its origins, not how it worked. The only way to learn more would have been to keep him alive and force him to contact his superiors...

But Yang Shen wasn’t an idiot. Extracting intelligence from villains was one thing; collaborating with them was just plain stupid.

At the very least, he had confirmed Long Jiu’s security. The Bone Flute, Jiang Xingjian’s ultimate key to controlling her, was now completely ineffective. His own Infection of her Control System was thorough and irreversible.

This made Long Jiu much more secure as a Yang Family Shadow Guard, and he had also unexpectedly learned the truth behind his Uncle’s death.

Fate seemed like an imperceptible thread, winding its way through the fog, having already entangled the two of them together long before they ever realized it...

Yang Shen looked at Long Jiu. The stoic girl had remained placid from beginning to end.

Even after learning of her own origins, her expression hadn’t flickered with the slightest emotion.

He tapped his finger lightly, touching Long Jiu’s black mask and dissolving it to reveal her stunning, cold face.

He didn’t use his Bee Control Technique, but instead spoke with normal human "language." "Long Jiu, what are you feeling?"

Long Jiu answered him.

"Noth... ing..."

"Anything at all is fine."

Long Jiu’s vacant eyes didn’t change in the slightest. She just squeezed out a single word.

"Hun... gry..."

Yang Shen sighed.

"Alright, you’re something else. Anyway, I need a moment to process all this."

’Looks like Long Jiu’s injuries are less severe than I thought.’

’But this girl can’t express herself, so I’ll have to give her a thorough check-up when we get back...’

"Let’s go. Time to go home and sleep."

Yang Shen thought for a moment and pulled the Bone Flute from his pocket... it was short, with a length of cord tied to it.

He had already examined it. It was just an ordinary object, containing no Source or Spiritual Qi. It must exert its influence through a specific audio frequency.

Yang Shen had considered destroying it, but after a glance at Long Jiu, he decided to keep it for the time being.

"I’ll keep it as a souvenir. Maybe it’ll be a clue someday."

Given its material, it was likely a piece of a finger bone.

With that said, Yang Shen hesitated no longer and turned to walk away.

It’s just that his whole body ached... causing him to limp slightly.

Long Jiu followed behind him at a slow, steady pace, her face expressionless and her vacant eyes fixed straight ahead.

A moment later, silently and quite abruptly...

She stepped forward to support Yang Shen, using her own shoulder to prop him up.

Yang Shen froze and turned to look at Long Jiu. Unfortunately, her face still held nothing but a blank expression and its pure, aesthetic beauty.

"You... grew a brain?"

This was the first time Yang Shen had ever seen Long Jiu act outside of his commands...

Long Jiu didn’t react.

"Whatever..."

Yang Shen leaned on Long Jiu, and the two supported each other.

In the quiet of the night, two limping figures set off on the road home.