Realm Walker

Zhang Yuanqing gripped the crystal chalice and waited a few seconds in silence. The item description materialized before his eyes.

【Name: Fallen Holy Grail (Damaged)】

【Type: Vessel】

【Functions: Control, Corruption】

【Description: A cup beloved by a certain great being. Through a twist of fate, it became stained with the great being's blood and absorbed the laws contained within, transforming into a rule-type item.】

【Note 1: Grovel at my feet. Submission is your only option, and only death may end it.】

【Note 2: Please collect the appropriate materials as soon as possible to repair this rule-type item.】

It's damaged, noted Zhang Yuanqing. The description seems so simple, but the simpler things are, the more terrifying they tend to be. Once you've fallen under the control of the Fallen Holy Grail, only death can set you free.

Time was short. Zhang Yuanqing stowed the Fallen Holy Grail in his Inventory, then pried the Straw Doll from Black Wuchang's dead fingers. He put that away without pausing to check its item description.

Next came the Red Veil, then the Red Dancing Shoes. After a quick sweep of the battlefield, he crouched beside the corpse and began rifling through its clothes. He hadn't forgotten the ultimate objective behind hunting down Black Wuchang.

I have to find the Registry!

The Registry was a record of the Fallen, something that could be considered Ghost Eye Judge's personal ledger. Unlike the Fallen Holy Grail, it was unlikely to be a formal item. And non-item objects couldn't be stored in an Inventory. That meant Black Wuchang either carried it on his person or had it hidden away somewhere secure.

After a brief search, Zhang Yuanqing's fingers closed around a small booklet in the corpse's trouser pocket. He didn't pull it out right away. Instead, he activated Night Wandering first, cloaking himself in invisibility. Only then did he withdraw the slim volume.

The Registry was barely palm-sized, bound in a black cover with pale yellow pages. He flipped through it rapidly, scanning for any mention of Bro Bing. The pages ruffled as he went through page after page. The booklet was thin, listing only a few dozen "servants," and he finished skimming it in moments.

Nothing. There was no trace of Bro Bing's information anywhere.

"That doesn't make sense," he murmured to himself, feeling baffled. "Based on the Cat King Speaker's audio recordings and Heaven's Injustice's memories, Bro Bing absolutely was one of Ghost Eye Judge's servants. There's no question about that. So why isn't he listed in the Registry?"

Then something occurred to him. His expression grew anxious, and he opened the Registry again, this time turning the pages more slowly. The rustling of paper continued until he noticed something and stopped at a particular spot. Near the spine of the booklet, the jagged remnants of a torn edge were clearly visible.

One of the pages had been ripped out.

The conclusion was obvious. The page containing Bro Bing's real identity had been deliberately removed.

Who tore out the information relating to Bro Bing? Black Wuchang? No, the entire Registry belonged to him. He'd have no reason or motive to do that. Following that logic, Ghost Eye Judge wouldn't have either. Could it have been the mysterious figure from earlier on? But that mysterious figure has even less reason to tear out a single page. They could've just taken the whole Registry.

Zhang Yuanqing mulled it over for several seconds, then dropped his invisibility. Darkness churned in the depths of his eyes as he attempted to commune with Black Wuchang's lingering spirit. He wasn't trying to devour the soul. He just wanted to verify something.

Sure enough, no trace of a spirit remained within the corpse.

The mysterious figure erased Black Wuchang's spirit. Why would he do that? He pondered that for a moment, then something hit him. Right, judging from Black Wuchang's earlier reaction, that mysterious figure was someone he knew, someone he hadn't thought would ever appear—a ghost from his past. That would explain why his spirit's been wiped clean.

Could that mysterious figure have been a Nocturnal Specter? Well, someone who possessed that level of power would certainly have the means to erase a spirit, even if they weren't one. Having a specialized item would do the trick.

It's a shame the mysterious figure silenced Black Wuchang so quickly. If he'd let the man talk a little longer, I might've figured out who he was... Oh, but then I'd probably be dead too, he realized. Better not to know.

Zhang Yuanqing's mind raced, analyzing every thread and pulling at every loose end. He was beginning to realize that a hidden undercurrent ran beneath the entire Holy Grail incident.

On the surface, the chain of events was straightforward: Demon Lord and Ghost Eye Judge had destroyed each other, and Black Wuchang had absconded with the Grail, triggering everything that followed.

Beneath the surface, though, there were so many inconsistencies: the unexpected appearance by this mysterious figure, the page with Bro Bing's information being torn out from the Registry, and Black Wuchang's spirit being completely erased...

Zhang Yuanqing was someone who excelled at analysis, but when the threads tangled together too messily to untangle, he fell back on his grandfather's advice: start from the source.

Everything had cause and effect. Everything that lay before him now were effects. The source was the original hunt that killed Ghost Eye Judge. And that raised a crucial question: why had Demon Lord hunted down Ghost Eye Judge in the first place?

Bro Bing was one of the 'killers' who participated in taking down Ghost Eye Judge. If I can find him, maybe I can unravel the whole mystery.

Just then, his ears perked up at the sound of hurried, chaotic footsteps in the distance.

He looked toward the noise. At the far end of the long street, a group of people was sprinting toward him through the darkness.

Leading the charge was Acting Squad Leader Teng Yuan. The middle-aged man who approached everything in life and work with bottomless apathy was, it turned out, first through the door when it came to rescuing a comrade.

Flanking him on either side were Jiang Jingwei and Guan Ya. The former seemed to possess a natural speed, keeping an easy pace beside the Level 4 Plague God.

Guan Ya was a different story. The open-minded lady's long legs were pumping for all they were worth, a pistol gripped in each hand, her face etched with raw anxiety.

The second wave consisted of White Dragon, Green Vine, and Tang Guoqiang, while the third wave consisted of a handful of elite members Zhang Yuanqing vaguely recognized but couldn't name.

There were over a dozen people in all, surging down the street in a determined tide.

As the group approached, they spotted one figure standing by the roadside while another figure lay crumpled on the ground. Those among the official Walkers who lacked night vision felt their hearts plummet. Yuanshi Tianzun versus Black Wuchang. The one lying facedown... the answer was painfully obvious.

Ice crystallized across Guan Ya's pretty face and killing intent surged in her beautiful eyes as she raised a gun barrel toward the standing figure. A few more seconds passed as the party closed the gap. Guan Ya's cold mask faltered, then shattered entirely as joy flickered through her eyes, melting away the last of the frost.

Teng Yuan, White Dragon, Green Vine, and the others all stumbled to a halt, their faces registering varying degrees of confusion, astonishment, and overwhelming relief.

The one standing was Yuanshi Tianzun. Then who was lying on the ground? A bold thought formed in every mind at once, but no one dared believe it.

Impossible.

The young man standing proudly at the roadside, hands clasped behind his back, regarded his tardy teammates with a calm, measured gaze. "You're late. Black Wuchang is already a ghost beneath my blade."

The entire group skidded to a halt in unison, staring slack-jawed at the corpse on the ground. Long face, narrow eyes, ugly in a way that was almost iconic.

Acting Squad Leader Teng Yuan looked at the body, then back at Zhang Yuanqing. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and spoke slowly. "You... killed... a Hex Master at the peak of the Saint tier?"

Even as he said it, he seemed to be reassessing Zhang Yuanqing, as though seeing his subordinate for the very first time.

Well, it wasn't actually me, but if you'll indulge me for just a moment... Zhang Yuanqing gave a slight, dignified nod.

Green Vine's enormous eyes went wide. "How have you already grown this powerful?"

White Dragon stood there, mouth agape, too stunned for words.

Jiang Jingwei planted her hands on her hips and threw her head back with a roaring laugh. "That's my boy! Impressive stuff! But you wrapped it up too fast. Couldn't you have waited for me to show up and help beat him down?"

Guan Ya holstered both silver pistols back into the holsters strapped to her thighs, walked up beside Zhang Yuanqing, and studied him with a furrowed brow. "Were you poisoned? How do you feel? Any discomfort?"

Zhang Yuanqing gave a low chuckle. "Worried about me?"

Of course, he wouldn't have dared say something so flirtatious to any other girl.

Guan Ya gave him a sidelong glance, her lips curving upward into a teasing smile. "I hear Hex Master venom attacks the reproductive system, causing vascular atrophy and all sorts of fun things. You're already not exactly well-endowed at your age, and if it shrinks another few centimeters... Tsk tsk, even a dog would turn up its nose."

Zhang Yuanqing ransacked every corner of his brain for a comeback but came up empty. He had no choice but to concede defeat for now and save his revenge for the next day, or when inspiration struck.

Acting Squad Leader Teng Yuan approached the body and gave it a cursory examination. "How did he end up here?"

Zhang Yuanqing shook his head and told him the truth. "I ran into him by accident."

"How exactly did you run into him?" Teng Yuan asked.

Well... I haven't come up with a good excuse yet!

Instead of answering, Zhang Yuanqing adopted a grave tone. "I believe our priority right now should be contacting the centurion. The fact that Black Wuchang showed up here has to be part of some larger scheme."

Teng Yuan nodded. "Good point."

He promptly pulled out his phone and dialed Fu Qingyang's number.

***

Inside Songhai Third Elementary School, the heavyweights locked in their chaotic free-for-all all noticed as Black Wuchang's hex clone let out a muffled groan then toppled over, stiff as a board. The soul animating it dissipated rapidly, and all signs of life winked out.

Was it dead?

The sudden turn of events caught everyone off-guard. They all paused their fighting and turned to observe the clone.

The black-robed Great Protector frowned. Did Black Wuchang sever the connection to his clone early to conserve strength, or has he already relocated somewhere safe?

With Black Wuchang gone, The Great Protector lost any desire to keep fighting. The Fire Sage was barely holding on under Fu Qingyang's onslaught. The man hailed as "invincible among Saints" was clearly no match for the young master of the Fu family.

Meanwhile, The Great Protector himself, under the combined assault of the Hex King, the Palace Master, and Elder Teddy, had only been buying time. Defeat was just a matter of when, not if.

Even so, at least the stalling had achieved its purpose. The deal may not have gone through, but Dark Rose hadn't lost anything either.

Without hesitation, The Great Protector opened his Inventory and drew out a weapon from the void: a long sword forged from polished, ink-black carbon, gleaming with an oily sheen, dark as a starless night. Yin energy coiled itself around the blade. Simply looking at it directly sent a chill crawling through the body, as though one's very soul might detach and drift away.

"I call upon our Leader for aid!"

He gripped the hilt with both hands and drove the sword point down into the ground before him. Instantly, black clouds engulfed the sky above the school, roiling and churning, coalescing into the silhouettes of countless vengeful spirits and wraiths.

The lush, dense "forest" created by Elder Teddy's power withered in a heartbeat, and the spectral animals collapsed to the ground, trembling.

The tumbling mass of dark clouds finally resolved into an enormous, blurry human face. A colossal hand descended from the cloud layer to rest against the faintly glowing green barrier and pushed down with a gentle, almost casual force.

Trees, flowers, animal phantoms, all of it shattered into motes of pure green light.

"Go!"

The Great Protector vanished, then reappeared beside the battered Fire Sage. Together, they slipped into Night Wandering and disappeared.

The Palace Master let out a furious howl. Red threads erupted from behind her, lashing out wildly in every direction, but they failed to snag either figure.

The Hex King gave a cold snort. His mass of flesh and organic matter melted into the earth, and he was gone.

Elder Teddy made no move to pursue. He simply crouched atop the school building, gazing silently into the distance.

After venting her fury, the Palace Master's red threads slammed against the ground, and she used the recoil to launch herself skyward. Her skirt billowed and her dark hair streamed behind her as she soared away into the night like Chang'e ascending to the moon.

Fu Qingyang sheathed the banner strapped across his back and surveyed the devastated school grounds, his brow furrowed. "Elder, we've failed."

Elder Teddy grunted. "The deal between Black Wuchang and Dark Rose can no longer be stopped. I'll report to headquarters. The responsibility is mine."

Fu Qingyang exhaled slowly, releasing the frustration knotted in his chest. Over two weeks of hunting, and it had all come to nothing. As for securing a seat on the Council of Elders, that would have to wait. He'd earn his Merit another day.

He put away his bronze sword, then fished his phone out from his pocket and turned off the airplane mode. He was just about to notify his subordinates to pull out when the phone rang first.

It was Teng Yuan.

Fu Qingyang answered with his usual impassive expression, his tone flat. "The capture operation has failed. Pull your people back."

There was a brief silence on the other end, before Teng Yuan's listless voice came back down the line.

—Perhaps it hasn't failed, Centurion. Yuanshi Tianzun has killed Black Wuchang nearby.