Realm Walker

Zhang Yuanqing hauled the cat carcass over the threshold. Not trusting the monster to stay down, he swung it hard against the doorframe once more for good measure. The skinless cat shuddered from the impact, its four legs kicking out in a violent spasm before it went limp again, apparently knocked unconscious once more. Only then did he feel confident enough to toss the beast back into the coffin. He bent down, hefted the heavy lid, and sealed it shut.

By this time, his teammates had followed him inside. When Guan Ya saw the sealed coffin, with no sign of the kinless cat, she blinked in surprise.

"Why'd you put it back in?" she asked in surprise.

Zhang Yuanqing blinked. I told you this was an experiment. How am I supposed to answer that?

He lowered his gaze to the red cord and purple talisman scattered across the floor and asked, "Li Chunfeng, do you know what these are?"

All eyes turned to Li Chunfeng. The knowledgeable Scholar stroked his chin, circled the coffin with a scrutinizing gaze, then picked up the paper talisman and red cord from the floor. He gave them a sniff, then offered his assessment.

"The red cord binds resentment. The purple talisman nourishes malice. Curious. This coffin serves as both a seal and an incubator for the monster."

Zhang Yuanqing nodded. He is truly worthy of being a Scholar, a walking encyclopedia.

"Can you restore the cord and talisman to their original positions?" he asked.

"Restore them? No, you misunderstand," Li Chunfeng said. "Just tie them to the coffin however you like. There's no special arrangement."

Zhang Yuanqing felt a twinge of surprise. Just tie them on in any way? I thought it had to be like a formation, wrapped carefully across every inch of the coffin, with the whole thing falling apart just from one missed spot...

Seeing Li Chunfeng reach for the red cord, he quickly took it from him. "I'll do it!"

He wound the red cord around the surface of the red lacquered coffin in tight loops, knotted it firmly, then picked up the purple talisman and, at Li Chunfeng's direction, pressed it against the coffin's seam.

His teammates watched in bafflement. So what's he actually doing?

The instant Zhang Yuanqing affixed the purple talisman, a chime sounded in his ears, audible to him alone.

【Ding! You have triggered a hidden quest: Eternal Cat Corpse (1/3)】

【Eternal Cat Corpse: This is a cursed monster. It radiates curse power at all times. Do not approach it under any circumstances, or the curse will contaminate you and transform you into a feral cat.】

【Note: I will make him suffer for all eternity, never to find release!!】

【Quest item: jade fragment】

Elation surged through Zhang Yuanqing's chest. So it really did trigger a hidden quest. My theory was right. This was exactly what Demon Lord meant by resisting slaughter.

According to Demon Lord's analysis, the item at the end of the hidden quest had been left behind by the Yin Yang Hermit. That legendary figure was no small fry. Whatever item he left behind could be extraordinary. If it turned out to be a rule-type item, he would have struck gold.

Zhang Yuanqing tamped down his excitement and refocused on the hidden quest itself.

Who cursed this monster? According to the note, whoever cast the curse harbored a bone-deep hatred, wanting it to suffer for all eternity, never finding release... Hmm. I see. That's why we can't kill the skinless cat. Killing it would actually free it, which goes against the caster's wishes. So the hidden quest points toward the caster. But who could the caster be?

Zhang Yuanqing gathered his thoughts and addressed the group. "My theory has been confirmed. Now, let's do a thorough review."

Fire Virtue Star Army, never one for mental heavy lifting, cut straight to the point. "You're the captain. You go first."

The others nodded in agreement. After the trial they had just endured together, the team's cohesion had grown considerably, and the bonds of trust between them had begun to strengthen.

Zhang Yuanqing slowly his words for a few seconds, then began. "Let's start with the background story of Yin Yang Town. You all heard what Granny Wang told us. Parts of her story were true, but other parts were fabricated. The curse that was supposedly placed by the descendant of the Yin Yang Hermit, for instance.

"I've read several strategy guides for Yin Yang Town. The earlier groups of Spirit Realm Walkers who ran this dungeon never mentioned any curse, and they interacted extensively with the townsfolk. Something this significant would have surfaced long ago. Therefore, the curse Granny Wang described is a lie. But a transformation curse does exist. And the person who was cursed was her son."

Zhang Yuanqing's gaze settled on the red lacquered coffin, and his teammates nodded along. His analysis was sound thus far.

"That makes sense," Guan Ya agreed, giving a sharp nod. "I have something to add to that as well. The cat transformation curse probably only triggers if you follow Granny Wang's storyline. Previous Walkers took a different path through the narrative."

She flashed Zhang Yuanqing a radiant smile. "Go on."

As a Scout, her observational and analytical abilities far exceeded his, but she wasn't about to steal the spotlight when the captain needed to build his authority. At most she would fill in the gaps from the sidelines.

"So where did her son's curse come from?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.

Queen's eyes darted as something clicked, and she blurted out the answer before anyone else could speak. "Granny Wang said it herself. Her son couldn't control his lust, and that was what brought him to this fate."

The moment those words landed, everyone except Fire Virtue turned to look at the straw doll in Guan Ya's hand. For Granny Wang to have fashioned a straw doll to curse this person, and for her to harbor such burning hatred, this Xu Xiu'er had to have done something utterly unforgivable. Combined with what Granny Wang had said, and the fate that befell her son...

Fire Virtue caught on at last, his excitement flaring. "I get it! This Xu Xiu'er cursed her son! But wait, who's Xu Xiu'er?"

Zhang Yuanqing offered a hint. "Of the six people left in town, who has the surname Xu?"

"Who is it?" Fire Virtue asked blankly.

Are you serious!? Zhang Yuanqing barely managed to force down the words rising in his throat.

"Widow Xu!" he exclaimed instead.

Fire Virtue's face lit up with sudden understanding.

If the one who cast the curse is Widow Xu, then the hidden quest points directly at her. The target is crystal clear.

Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help but recall Demon Lord's wistful observation: resisting lust and slaughter. Viewed through that lens, Demon Lord, a horndog who had scattered his offspring across different nurseries, had almost certainly done something unspeakable to Widow Xu.

Lotus Eater, the round faced young man, perked up with renewed energy. "Then our next objective is obvious. It's Widow Xu. There's no time to waste. We need to move now and finish this side quest before the Evil team beats us to the town square."

Excitement lit up every face, save for Guan Ya, who furrowed her brows and fixed her gaze on Zhang Yuanqing.

Zhang Yuanqing spoke up. "We definitely need to find Widow Xu. But there's one thing I can't figure out. Li Chunfeng, you have the broadest knowledge here. Do you think the cat carcasses hanging outside alone could sustain a powerful curse like this?"

The others weren't sure why he was asking. Li Chunfeng paused, brow creasing, and sank into thought.

After a dozen seconds, he slapped his forehead. "That doesn't add up. That doesn't add up at all..."

"What doesn't? What are you talking about?" Fire Virtue pressed, alarmed by Li Chunfeng's stunned expression. "Spit it out."

Li Chunfeng's voice dropped low. "The cat carcasses are a medium, but they're not the source of the curse. It's like when a Hex Master curses a target, they'll try to obtain a photograph, the target's birth date, blood, hair, skin, things like that. Those are mediums. The actual source is the Hex Master's power.

"So where's the power source that turned us into cats? I assumed it was Granny Wang, but she was clearly an ordinary person. Otherwise, how could she have been killed so easily? And the straw doll proves it too."

All eyes returned to the straw doll in Guan Ya's hand, and Li Chunfeng shook his head. "It's just an ordinary straw doll. The technique is crude and laughable. If Granny Wang was truly a Hex Master, she'd never have produced something so clumsy."

Grass Upon the Plains, normally silent, spoke up. "That's a valid question, but what does it have to do with the quest?"

Zhang Yuanqing didn't address the question directly. Instead he said, "It has everything to do with it. If we don't clear up every loose end now, it might seem harmless, but later in the dungeon, gaps in our information could cost us critical opportunities or even our only chance to turn things around. The harder the dungeon, the less we can afford to be blind or deaf. We have to get to the bottom of everything."

As someone who had cleared two S-rank dungeons, his perspective commanded respect. Grass Upon the Plains gave a slow nod, conceding the captain's point.

"Good," Zhang Yuanqing said, moving the conversation along. "Back to the matter at hand. Suppose, just suppose, the source of the curse power is the cat inside this coffin. Would the logic hold together then?"

That was the hint provided by the hidden quest.

Li Chunfeng considered it for a moment, then his eyes brightened. "Yes. Whoever arranged this ritual recognized that very fact. They harnessed the Cursed Cat's—well, I'll just call it the Cursed Cat—they harnessed the Cursed Cat's power to set up the ritual, ensuring anyone who entered the house would fall under the curse."

"But that raises another question," Zhang Yuanqing pointed out. "Who set up the cat carcass ritual? Granny Wang is clearly an ordinary person. Someone must have taught it to her."

"Could it be Xu Xiu'er?" Lotus Eater ventured.

"No," Zhang Yuanqing replied, shutting down that path immediately.

Lotus Eater looked unconvinced. "Why not?"

Queen and the others turned curious gazes on Zhang Yuanqing as well.

He laid out his reasoning with easy confidence. "The techniques for setting up the cat carcass ritual and the coffin that incubates the Cursed Cat were almost certainly taught to Granny Wang by the same person. Think about it. What do those two things actually do?"

"The coffin seals and incubates the Cursed Cat, while the cat carcasses amplifies the curse's power," offered Queen.

Zhang Yuanqing shook his head. "The cat carcasses serve another purpose. They suppress the Cursed Cat's own curse, reining in its madness and bloodlust."

The moment he said it, the memory hit them all at once: how the Cursed Cat had turned savage and berserk, losing all rationality, after the carcass ritual had been broken.

Li Chunfeng's face lit up with realization. "So the coffin nurtures the Cursed Cat while the carcasses restrain it. If Granny Wang was the one who set it all up, then it makes perfect sense. She wanted to stay by her son's side, to protect him, to keep him from becoming a complete monster. But from her enemy's perspective, the one who cast the curse, the more pain and madness her target suffered, the more satisfying it would be."

Zhang Yuanqing nodded. "Exactly. The original curse and the cat carcass ritual has to come from two different sets of hands. If Xu Xiu'er was the one who cast the curse, then who instructed Granny Wang on setting up the carcasses and the coffin? What is that person's relationship to the mother and son? What role did they play in all of this?"

A single figure flashed through everyone's mind. Fire Virtue, for once keeping pace with the group's reasoning, spoke up.

"It has to be one of the five remaining people. The one with this kind of ability... could it be the sorcerer that Squire Zhao hired?"

Guan Ya nodded approvingly, a smile playing across her lips. "This dungeon is getting more and more interesting. What kind of relationships exist between the six people still in town? And what roles did they play in the mass exodus?"

Zhang Yuanqing had said everything he needed to say. "There's no time to waste. Let's go find Widow Xu."

No one objected.

Queen touched the round earring on her left ear and smiled. "I know things got dicey back there, and we nearly wiped, but I'm actually feeling confident about what comes next. Despite the dungeon's difficulty, we've managed to pick it apart pretty thoroughly. There's not much left that's confusing or unclear. As long as we're not stumbling about in the dark, I can handle any road, no matter how rough."

Fire Virtue voiced his agreement. He marveled at how his teammates had dissected such a convoluted dungeon with such clarity. Every one of them was sharp, especially this Yuanshi Tianzun. True, the man hadn't shown dazzling combat prowess in the fight earlier on, but during the review, this officially-recognized prodigy who had cleared two consecutive S-rank dungeons had displayed the kind of quick thinking and intelligence that earned Fire Virtue's genuine respect.

Lotus Eater, Li Chunfeng, and Grass Upon the Plains said nothing, but when the captain gave the order to move, they obeyed instinctively, turning and filing out of the room.

The group headed for the courtyard exit. Guan Ya and Zhang Yuanqing fell to the rear of the line. The open minded lady wore a sly, cat-like smile.

"Not bad!" she said.

Zhang Yuanqing was just about to respond when he noticed her gaze drift downward as one corner of her mouth curled upward.

"Not bad at all," she repeated.

Heat flooded Zhang Yuanqing's cheeks, a rare crack in his composure. At the end of the day, he was just a college student who had never had a girlfriend, the type who could talk a big game all day long but turned into a stammering mess when things got real.

Trading quips with the open-minded lady and going along with her jokes was his absolute limit. What had just happened, the full exposure, had blown right past a college boy's psychological defenses.

Being appraised like this made his face burn in ways he couldn't quite handle. Seeing him squirm, Guan Ya let out a triumphant laugh. She still had the upper hand after all.

What's so funny? Zhang Yuanqing fumed, then drew a deep breath and forced words out of his mouth. "So, are you satisfied? Were you startled? I distinctly saw shock and surprise in your eyes."

Guan Ya chuckled. "I'm certainly not going to go around broadcasting your measurements. But Queen might. Women gossip, you know. She was sneaking glances at you the whole time."

Zhang Yuanqing almost sprinted ahead to catch up with Queen to negotiate hush money payments. The last thing he needed was to leave the dungeon and discover that every Walker on the official forums was debating Yuanshi Tianzun's dimensions.

That was a weight no twenty-one-year-old man could bear.

***

At the blacksmith's forge, Li Xianzong sat sprawled on the ground, chest heaving with ragged breaths, covered in blood from head to toe. His left arm was bent at an unnatural angle, and his body bore numerous slash wounds and blunt force injuries. His five remaining companions were in similar shape, either flat on the floor or propped against walls, greedily sucking in air.

Around them lay the wreckage of the forge—a cracked furnace, charcoal scattered about, and broken iron implements. Blacksmith Wang was down as well, his head severed from his body. His body had collapsed onto a pile of glowing embers, his blood hissing as it seeped into the coals. His head had rolled several meters away, cleaved free by Li Xianzong's own hand.

Beside the blacksmith, there was one other corpse, belonging to the bald, muscular man.

The gaunt, middle-aged man braced his hands on his knees and hauled himself upright. He shuffled over and kicked the bald man's body, cursing under his breath.

"Dead already? I never even learned his name."

Li Xianzong continued to pant as his face split into a grin. "Why bother with names? People like us live on the blade's edge. When your time comes, it comes. He died doing what he signed up for."

"Exactly. Learn someone's name and suddenly they're a friend. Who needs that?"

"Heh. Dying's not so bad. Early death, early liberation. It gets you out of this garbage world sooner."

The others chuckled along in agreement. None of them cared about death. Not the enemy's, not a stranger's, not even their own. People steeped in slaughter had a numbness toward death that ordinary folk could never understand.

Li Xianzong waved the gaunt man forward. "Go check the back of the shop. There should be some clues inside."

The gaunt man headed deeper into the forge. A few minutes later he returned with a bewildered expression.

"Boss, this shop is a little strange."