Chapter 21: Calling It Home, Part 1 (Part 3)

The Special Action Team members joined forces with the local guard team and pulled the cordon far outward. Ambulances drove directly downstairs. In total, it took only five minutes for everyone to evacuate cleanly.

A portion of plainclothes personnel remained around the area to conduct follow-up investigations and preventative deployment.

Chen Yi watched everything from not far away. Since he could not insert himself into the work, it was better not to approach and cause trouble for others.

Besides, he also wanted to rest for a moment.

By the time he went to the small supermarket in the residential compound, bought a bottle of water, and returned, the chaotic rush had vanished, leaving only smoke dispersing beneath the moonlight.

Chen Yi, who alone had been left behind: “…”

He took a sip of chilled happy fat宅 water and leisurely pulled out his phone, making a call while walking toward the entrance of the residential compound.

Behind him, countless plainclothes officers still moved through Fuguang Residential Compound. The elevator where the haunting had occurred had been sealed off and might never be opened again.

The call connected, and a shrill sound came from the other side, like something no human could have made.

Chen Yi’s steps paused.

An aberration?

The thought turned. No, a living ghost.

A so-called living ghost was a human who had been deeply infected. They were still alive, but they were trapped in the terrifying environment inside their own mind, unable to ever regain clarity.

The person was still alive, yet they were like an aberration.

That was a living ghost.

In this Fuguang Tower aberration incident, the female aberration existed in the form of a spider. The killing rules it used were hunting, trapping, and then feeding.

This was also why, even though six days had passed since the incident first occurred, there were still survivors.

However, after being trapped in the aberrant domain for a long time and contaminated by twisted spiritual energy, even specially trained Special Action Team members ultimately failed to escape disaster. All of them became living ghosts.

After receiving Chen Yi’s call, Captain Ye went outside, found a ladder, and sat down. He lit a cigarette for himself.

By the time the cigarette burned to its end, he had also summarized the current situation for Chen Yi.

After saying the last word, he tossed the cigarette butt away with a trembling hand. After grinding it out beneath his foot, he looked at the lights of the bustling towers in the distance and said, “Thank you.”

Chen Yi laughed softly. “No need to be polite.”

The light illuminated the wrinkles at the corners of Captain Ye’s eyes and shone into them. He tugged at the corners of his mouth in a smile. “It’s a good thing we have you and the sect.”

…

Chen Yi hung up the phone and walked alone beneath the lights of the big city at night.

At some unknown point, there were far fewer cars on the road. All that remained were delivery riders and designated drivers as busy as worker ants, riding thin electric scooters through the streets and alleys.

Chen Yi stood by the roadside. A taxi stopped in front of him.

Chen Yi tilted his head and glanced at it. The driver was also tilting his head to look at him, eyes deathly white, neck stretched like a snake. From the driver’s seat, his head directly reached out through the passenger window. His black, decayed mouth split open, and he smiled at Chen Yi eerily.

Behind him, a young and pretty woman, wearing fashionable clothes and carrying a pleasant fragrance, walked past with vivid, living energy.

In the tower by the street, some family’s child was crying, wailing loudly enough to light up many homes.

Chen Yi looked expressionlessly at this aberrant driver. The giant peachwood sword he had been holding behind him in a reverse grip was now carried point-down in his hand. The sword tip braced against the ground. Holding the hilt, he pushed forward.

The greatsword fell like a guillotine, and the aberration’s head separated from its body.

A cool night breeze blew past. The aberrant driver scattered like smoke, vanishing without a trace.

The taxi driver inside, who had been waiting impatiently and was about to urge him on, suddenly felt his body lighten. He felt especially comfortable. His thoughts paused for a moment, and when he spoke again, his tone was much friendlier. “Let’s go. It’s not easy to hail a cab along this stretch. Sit in the back. That sword of yours… that is a sword, right? A wooden sword? Oh, then that’s fine. Put it sideways. It should fit.”

Chen Yi pulled open the rear door and sat inside. The greatsword was very inconvenient. A small section had to stick out through the window, so Chen Yi placed the hilt outside the window.

He gave an address, then did not speak again.

Nor would he tell this taxi driver that a driver had once died in this car. Or perhaps it was because the driver knew that fact that this aberrant driver had appeared.

The aberrant driver had already been casually eliminated by him. As long as the taxi driver gradually forgot that someone had once died in the seat he was sitting in, the aberrant driver would not appear again.

Aberrations were undying and indestructible because they lived in human hearts.

When he arrived at the hotel, Captain Ye was already waiting for him in the lobby.

In the end, he was a Qi Refiner. Although he had been heavily contaminated in the aberrant domain and had nearly been eaten, once his mind regained clarity and he actively operated the Spirit Nurturing Art, his body would spontaneously purify the contaminated spiritual energy and circulate it along the meridians of his cultivation.

He only needed a little time to recover without medicine.

Captain Ye’s condition was much better. When he saw Chen Yi, he smiled awkwardly. “It was too chaotic. I didn’t expect you’d get left behind over there. And afterward, you even had to clean up what was left. My performance today was really poor.”

How could Chen Yi possibly care?

Being overlooked was exactly why he cultivated Aura Concealment.

After two seconds, Captain Ye was still staring at Chen Yi’s eyes. He even leaned slightly closer and asked in confusion, “There’s something about your eyes that I can’t quite describe. Is this a change from cultivating an eye technique?”

Chen Yi nodded.

“Then have you mastered it? Can I cultivate it?”

“Not really. I’ve only entered the threshold. Wait until I understand the principle first.”

“This feels very practical. Sect Master, you have to remember me when the time comes.”

Chen Yi could only continue nodding.

Chen Yi took the room card and entered the elevator with Captain Ye. The elevator light flickered once. Captain Ye’s face changed drastically. “Again!?”

Chen Yi: “…”

This was PTSD, right?

Captain Ye was at least at the first stage of Qi Refining. Couldn’t he tell the entire hotel was clean?

A building constructed near the guard team had righteous justice suppressing the area. It did not even have the environment required for aberrations to be born.

In such an environment, it was even possible for incense gods or heroic spirits to be born.

Spiritual Energy Revival was not all bad. Special existences that stood on humanity’s side also existed.

It was just that fear more easily gave rise to aberrations that naturally devoured humans.

The elevator arrived at their floor smoothly. Belatedly realizing this, Captain Ye laughed awkwardly, then waved as though nothing had happened. “Good night!”

“Good night.”

The night passed without incident.

The next day, Chen Yi began his journey back.

Coming here had been very simple. Going back was much more troublesome.

He had to take a plane from Shanghai to the airport nearest Wolong County, then sit in a car for another two hours before he could get home.

Among the people Shanghai had arranged to see him off was Captain Sun.

Rubbing his hands together, he smiled and said, “Last night, Old Ye told me a few things. I’ve already reported it upward today. If everything goes smoothly, we’ll meet again soon, Sect Master Chen.”

Chen Yi nodded. He wished everyone could step onto the battlefield right away. “You need to come as quickly as possible. A city this large needs people who can hold the line.”

“Yes. Your and Captain Ye’s abilities left me deeply impressed. I’ll seize every moment.”

Chen Yi thought for a moment, removed the sword case, and took out a peachwood dagger from inside, handing it to Captain Sun. “Use this for now.”

Captain Sun accepted the peachwood dagger, his eyes reddening with emotion.

If he had obtained this dagger earlier, his team members might not have died.

Chen Yi sighed, showed the special action certificate provided by the Shanghai guard team, and entered customs without inspection, carrying his black sword case on his back.

Behind him, Captain Sun was still fondling the peachwood dagger as though he could not bear to let go.

There were many things Chen Yi did not know, but he did know this: in this book, from now into the future, whether they were called the Special Action Team or the Night Watchers, they were a group of people who went against the current and deserved songs of praise.

The book had done its utmost to portray the tragic heroism of the Night Watchers. Chen Yi had already been moved when listening to the audiobook. Now, after spending time with them, he discovered that their blood and tears, the passing of each fresh, living life, were so real and heartbreaking.

They wanted to live too, yet they still became moths and flew toward the flames.

Chen Yi scratched his head. Even while on the road, he kept thinking that he should just hand over the Technique Transmission function.

It could both ease the current pressure on the Special Action Team members and complete the mission.

Judging by the system’s meaning, the strength of sect members would also fall within the scope of future missions.

Missions were the kind of thing where, if you did not do them, you did not know. Once you did, you grew addicted. Thinking about those free spirit stones, divine abilities, and all kinds of buildings—was he someone who could stop?

After hurrying the whole way, he finally returned to Lishui Village at four in the afternoon.

Along the way, Aura Concealment and Gale Legs had both reached minor success. Sword Manipulation was at seventy-six percent of major success, and the Delusion-Piercing Eye Technique was at fifty-eight percent proficiency.

Most importantly, the core mental art, the Spirit Nurturing Art, had also reached thirty percent.

Although he had not cultivated inside the sect, his cultivation speed had not slowed down one bit.

Hehe.

When Chen Yi walked through the village, he was still maintaining his minor-success Aura Concealment. Only after he entered the sect did he stop operating it.

Captain Ye, who had returned with him, was not sure whether the Sect Master had some kind of halo enhancement inside his own sect, but Chen Yi’s presence instantly shot up to maximum, so strong that he looked again and again.

A little too handsome.

Chen Yi thought about the decision he had made on the road and said, “After dinner, at seven, call Officer Pang, Xun Shiming, Minister Tang… anyway, find a few more trustworthy people. Oh, right, and Da Huang too. Wait for me at the Scripture Pavilion.”

Captain Ye was about to agree directly, but when he heard “Da Huang,” he hesitated. “Which Da Huang? This one running over?”

Chen Yi followed his gaze and looked over.

After not seeing it for a day, Da Huang had grown a bit again. This village mutt, bigger than a giant Alaskan Malamute, looked even more valiant than a wolf. Wagging its tail, it trotted over happily.

Chen Yi bent down and rubbed its big head. Da Huang’s hot tongue nearly licked his face.

After pushing Da Huang away, Chen Yi turned to look at Captain Ye.

Captain Ye reacted.

Of course. Could this dog be a normal dog? This was a dog that could even eat aberrations!

But…

With a complicated expression, he asked, “Sect Master, Da Huang wouldn’t also be one of our sect disciples, would he?”

Chen Yi held back laughter. “Yes. If we count by order of entry, he is your Fifth Senior Brother.”

“…”

Captain Ye looked at Da Huang, who was panting with its tongue hanging out, and the wrinkles on his face grew even deeper.

Chen Yi was still laughing when two old men in their sixties ran over with swift steps, faster than young people, leaving their own students behind. From far away, they shouted, “Sect Master! Sect Master Chen! You’re finally back!!”

“Teacher Zhang, Teacher Huang, slow down, you two.”

Chen Yi hurried forward to support them. He did not know whether they had entered Qi Refining yet. If they fell, it could be serious.

Teacher Huang grabbed Chen Yi’s wrist in return, his eyes full of long-awaited excitement as he looked at him.

“Spiritual field, spiritual field!”

Yesterday, the helicopter had come and delivered two agricultural experts, along with their students, as well as Lou Ting, who was in charge of the sect’s design and planning.

Because Lou Ting needed to plan first, Chen Yi had not rushed to claim the spiritual field. Later, he had temporarily accepted a mission and gone on a business trip. With that delay, a full day had passed.

The two experts already held tremendous expectations for the spiritual field because of everything about the sect. After they entered Qi Refining last night through cultivating the mental art, they seemed to have returned to their youth. They were so energetic that they looked as though they could work another five hundred years without tiring.

With nowhere to spend all that energy, the moment Chen Yi returned, they immediately rushed over upon hearing the news.

Chen Yi soothed the two experts while waiting for Lou Ting to arrive.

Only Lou Ting knew where the spiritual field should be placed.

Elder Huang could not wait. Pulling Chen Yi’s hand, he said, “Here. Put the spiritual field here. If it’s rectangular, place it like this. If it’s square, place it like this. After you place it, leave the seeds, then you can go.”

Chen Tool-Man Yi: “…”

Fortunately, Lou Ting arrived in time. Chen Yi asked, “Right beside the Mountain Gate? Is that suitable? I thought we’d open up a plot behind it.”

Chen Yi pointed toward the Mountain Gate not far away.

Lou Ting explained, “This design is based on the premise that the sect master’s territory will grow larger.

“Although the Sect Main Hall is also the face of a sect and should be built somewhere conspicuous, in my design, the Sect Main Hall will become the hub of the sect.

“Disciple residences, cultivation grounds, the Scripture Pavilion, including the talisman… and formations that have appeared now—I have reason to believe that in the sect’s future rewards, more specialized research institutions will appear.

“Xia founded itself on agriculture. The farming culture passed down over thousands of years has sunk deep into our bones. To see broad fertile fields upon entering the sect carries the meaning of abundance and harvest, and it will also give disciples a sense of belonging.

“Teach me your techniques. Grant me my clothes. Give me my food. Establish my heart. Call it home.”

Chen Yi blinked, a little surprised.

But he felt it was quite good.

Who asked him to be a mountain person who made his living by farming?

“Good.” Chen Yi nodded, with nothing else to say. “Then let’s place our first spiritual field here.”

Chen Yi waved his hand.

A patch of black soil, different from the yellow earth beneath their feet, appeared before their eyes like a small hill.

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