by N. Heller
If he was the latter, does that mean that 'Head of College' is dead?
"This trial will end when a person brings me the target's corpse, or if the target moves to another world. The candidates who have not found the target will all fail. Before the trial ends, you can use any means possible to find the target. Now, I don't think you have any other questions, right?" Irezumi's voice snapped Lin Sanjiu from her thoughts. After telling both of them how they can meet, he stood up and dusted his clothes. "If you don't have other questions, I'll get going. I still have to kill two people."
Both of them were startled when they heard his words. They couldn't help gawking at him.
Irezumi widened his eyes, "Why are you looking at me like that? Hey, you should be getting out there to complete your tasks! I'm not the only arbiter in this world. You have many other competitors."
Qing Jiuliu nodded his head eagerly. He had a slightly puzzled look on his face and seemed as though he was still processing all that information. He pulled 'Strongman Lin' up. When both of them stood up and looked around, Irezumi had already disappeared.
After he gulped down a mouthful of whiskey, Qing Jiuliu pursed his lips and asked, "Is it you?"
Lin Sanjiu did not say a word. She looked out of the window and surveyed their surroundings.
"I'm not interested in becoming the leader of any secret organization." The moment Irezumi left, Qing Jiuliu dumped that image of a young, loyal and quick-witted man in an instant. He lit a cigarette lazily and plopped down on a worn-out sofa. Even though the only thing that changed was his face, his whole image changed from an unkempt homeless man to that of a drunken elite intellect in the Wei-Jin dynasty. "You wouldn't want Irezumi to figure that out, no? If I have a say in this, I suggest we leave this place and forget about it. He won't be able to find us no matter how quick he is."
"I can't," Lin Sanjiu sighed.
"Why?"
"I think he took my companion and made him one of the candidates," Lin Sanjiu tugged the black cloth, ensuring that her face was properly covered, "I can't leave until I find my companion."
Qing Jiuliu hesitated for a moment, almost as if he did not expect Lin Sanjiu's answer. He casually tossed his cigarette into the gap between the sofa and coughed, "I didn't expect you to be such a loyal person."
He suddenly sat upright before Lin Sanjiu could even say a word, "Luckily, we aren't that close. Otherwise, I would feel a little sorry to say what I'm about to tell you. Though you're not leaving, I'm leaving."
Lin Sanjiu finally understood a little how this award-winning actor offended almost everyone in the industry. Lin Sanjiu massaged her head resignedly, "You can't leave either."
"Why not?" Qing Jiuliu retorted immediately, "Acting is tiring!"
"Even though I don't think he's nearby, I guess he isn't far. If there are other candidates like you, who join unwillingly, I guess they would also try to escape at the first opportunity they get," the figure covered from head to toe in a black cloth spoke, only her voice was not concealed. "Irezumi did not do anything to us, and he didn't leave anything behind. Isn't it strange that he would let us move around freely? It is almost as if he is intentionally creating an opportunity for us to escape."
Frowning, Qing Jiuliu contemplated the situation for a few seconds. He finally sighed, "Nevermind. Anyway, I will have cigarettes and booze if I follow you."
Lin Sanjiu didn't make a single sound as she stared out of the window at the darkening sky.
The longer Irezumi spent monitoring them, the more worried Lin Sanjiu was for Ji Shanqing. If her conjecture was right, why didn't Ji Shanqing escaping when he isn't monitored?
Did this mean that the arbiters had other means of controlling their candidates after the first qualification test?
Nevertheless, it was meaningless for her to think too much about it. Since they knew that they couldn't leave, for the time being, they decided to rest for some time in the building. After the sky turned completely dark, they stretched and headed for the exit.
When they imagined Irezumi crouching and waiting naively for them for hours, both of them felt a tiny thrill of revenge. Lin Sanjiu felt less uptight after she found out that she was the target of the organization. Since Irezumi had told them to search within a boundary, Ji Shanqing must be within the same area. All she had to do next was to search for him slowly. While they walked, they communicated to each other on a piece of paper. They didn't seem like they were pursuing anyone at all but instead looked like they were just window shopping. Since they had time, Lin Sanjiu even found a pair of men's gloves from an abandoned shopping mall.
"I have been here for four to five months," Qing Jiuliu burped drunkenly after he looked at the piece of paper in his hand. He continued sluggishly, "I didn't dare any solid food. Other than alcohol, I only drank some other beverages. Look at how skinny I've become. In the past, I was voted as one of the top ten s.e.xiest actors in the world."
Lin Sanjiu didn't even throw a single glance at him. In fact, she had to look at her feet constantly as she walked with the black cloth covering her like a huge cloak. They did not know what happened in the shopping mall. The pillars, stairs and half the ceiling had collapsed and were lying on the ground. There was so much broken concrete on the ground that it could cover their ankles.
The only thing they could hear was their own footsteps reverberating through the shopping mall, apart from Qing Jiuliu's grumblings. It had been quite some time since they last saw Irezumi so Lin Sanjiu wasn't sure if he was still following them. Reinforcement steel bars protruded from the large pile of broken concrete. Moonlight slipped through the various cracks in the walls, forming silver lines of light which lit the dark mall. Just when they stepped on a piece of a broken concrete slab, planning to exit the mall through one of the cracks, they heard a long whistle drifting from darkness from afar.
Chapter 459 - The Siren And The Return Of Mrs. Manas
The moonlight lit the ruins of the pitch-black mall, filling it with a silvery white mist. The mall seemed almost alive, as if it was breathing quietly in the dark silence. The slow melody in the distance drifted toward them from an unknown direction. The ethereal tune sounded like it was almost from a dream. It was hauntingly beautiful, yet a little creepy.
Lin Sanjiu froze for a moment. Suddenly, a tear rolled down her cheek uncontrollably. She reached for her face hastily wanting to wipe it with the back of her hand. Feeling the beard on her face, she immediately snapped back to reality. When she looked around, she found Qing Jiuliu was sitting beside her. Neither of them knew how long they had been sitting. They didn't even know when they sat down themselves.
Sitting in the reverie-like mist, Qing Jiuliu's expression was as serene as a lake under the moon. Anyone who took a single glance at him now would even hold their breath rather than risk disturbing him. A tear rolled down Qing Jiuliu's cheek. It sparkled under the moonlight.
Lin Sanjiu's gaze grew cloudy once more. She turned her head and peered into the darkness. Someone was humming softly. The person was humming a melody that no one had ever heard. The melody seemed to be spun from the very emotions of the people around. As long as they were alive, it was almost as if the melody could go on forever.
While they listened in a daze, time slipped by quickly, devoid of any meaning.
"Hey, what are you two goons doing?" Irezumi smashed through the slab of concrete above them and stuck his head through, almost like a snake. He was so angry that his face had turned red, "I've waited for both of you all night, but you guys did no shit—"
The humming voice suddenly grew louder. Irezumi froze for a moment and looked over. His flushed face gradually recovered...
"Wh-what is this…" Irezumi mumbled vaguely without giving a single glance at his two candidates who were sitting on the floor. The gentle melody suddenly grew more bewitching and a little more exotic. The darkness in the ruins started to ebb as the music continued, almost as if it would soon reveal the very thing it was hiding.
> Irezumi accidentally stepped on a broken steel bar. He suddenly snapped from his reverie. He looked at the two people behind him and quickly approached Qing Jiuliu as he could speak, "Hey, what are you—"
The moment he saw the latter's face, Irezumi immediately held his breath. His voice grew quiet and soon faded into oblivion. He stared blankly at Qing Jiuliu for a few seconds. It was as if the dazzling sight of the star before him had rendered him speechless. He bent down and sat on a rock right beside the two people. Then, he stared mindlessly into the darkness ahead.
No one knew what that thing was as it slowly walked out from the darkness. However, it was so beautiful that all of them couldn't help crying.
It was like the prismatic light as the sun rays reflected off the ocean. It was that wild deer leaping gracefully in the plains. It was the reason why life was worth living...
Lin Sanjiu's face was already wet with tears. Her sobs were like that of a baby who had just found her mother's embrace. She stared at the shadow which emerged from the darkness without even blinking once. The shadow circled them once and finally sat in front of Qing Jiuliu, who was sitting in the middle, and slowly reached for him.
The moment "she" touched him, it would be incompar—
"Wake up."
Lin Sanjiu was shocked by the sound of a voice which sounded from the deep recesses of her mind. When she looked at the darkness in front of her, she still felt confused. "You can't withstand such an insignificant little thing. You still need to work on your higher consciousness," the voice said coldly.
Lin Sanjiu sniffled. Her rationality which was almost swallowed by the feeling of warmth came back to her in a split second. She leaped up and before she could turn around to see what had happened, the voice in her mind warned her quietly, "Don't turn your head."
"Huh?" It was only then that Lin Sanjiu recognized that voice in her head. "Mrs. Ma-Manas! You're back! Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine," the voice chuckled.
Lin Sanjiu felt her heart beating rapidly. She forced herself to lower her eyelids. From the corner of the eyes, she noticed the shadow pausing for a moment, almost as if it had noticed her action. Lin Sanjiu took a few steps backward and questioned Mrs. Manas urgently, "What's that? Why can't I turn my head?"
"I told you not to your head but I didn't say you can't look straight." Mrs. Manas said softly with a slight chuckle, "You just have to avoid looking at the person beside you."
"What does that mean? What's wrong with Qing Jiuliu?"
Lin Sanjiu was bewildered but she opened her eyes and looked up.
The moonlight which seeped through the cracks of the building, though like a white mist which hung above the rubble, made her surroundings bright enough for her to see the thing in front of her clearly. That thing was a lot smaller than she thought. It was only the size of an a.d.u.l.t's arm. Beneath its desiccated head, was a human-like ribcage wrapped by a swathe of dehydrated, sepia skin. The bottom half of its spine was connected to something like a fishtail.
"Th-this is a mermaid?" Lin Sanjiu was astonished. Suddenly, she heard Qing Jiuliu making a soft mutter. Apparently, her actions had interrupted that creature so the humming stopped for a while. Finally, the two other people also came to their senses.
When the hideous-looking miniature mermaid realized that the tides had turned, it turned around and dashed back into the darkness. However, now that Lin Sanjiu had seen it, she wasn't going to let it off so easily. She leaped up and immediately blocked its path.
"This should be a Special Item. You should try to convert it into a card." Mrs. Manas hinted softly and coldly.
"Special Item?"
Even though Lin Sanjiu was surprised, she activated her [Planar World] subconsciously and hit the mermaid's spine rather violently.
Bam. The mermaid disappeared into her palm.
"You caught it?" Qing Jiuliu ran up from behind her, "What's that?"
Lin Sanjiu looked at the card in her palm and immediately grimaced inwardly. As Irezumi was around, she knew she couldn't speak. In the end, hidden in her cloak, she passed the card to Qing Jiuliu and gestured for them to read it.
Irezumi immediately peered over Qing Jiuliu's shoulder. When he saw the card, he slowly started to gape at it.
[Fantasy Creatures Exhibition Specimen #12]
A world-famous fantasy author is going to have a book signing event! The organizers of the event ordered many models and fake specimens of fantasy creatures to decorate the event venue to create the sort of atmosphere the author expects. Unfortunately, the apocalypse befell on them on the day of the book signing event so, thankfully, the organizers' effort was a waste. Surprisingly, Exhibit Specimen #12, Siren, became a self-operating Special Item.
This is an honest-to-God Special Item. Just like in the legends, Specimen #12 can bewitched people with its singing. However, it can't capture people's hearts with its beauty unlike its mythological counterpart as the organizers made it extremely ugly. Consequently, that makes its ability much less effective. Any small disturbance could snap a person, bewitched by its voice, back to reality.
As this is a self-operating Special Item, Specimen #12 has a strong personal mission (?) to bewitch a drop-dead gorgeous beauty (?) due to its natural instincts (?), hoping that it can use its victim's beauty to enhance its ability. Humans that are bewitched by it would be absorbed by the Siren, just like in the author's story, and ultimately become a part of it. With beauty, Specimen #12 ability would greatly increase!
PS: To use this Special Item, please hold it tightly in your hand. The item's effectiveness and effect duration are entirely dependent on whether the user is aesthetically pleasing and exactly how beautiful the user is.
"In other words, it's all your fault! You himbo!" Irezumi said vehemently to Qing Jiuliu as he waved the card in his hand. "No wonder! I remembered that I snapped out of it once. When I walked over and saw your face, my mind started going cloudy again…"
Lin Sanjiu agreed inwardly. She did regain her senses once before but when she turned her head, she was drawn to Qing Jiuliu's face. Then, without any resistance, she was mesmerized by that tune again.
"I'm a victim here," Qing Jiuliu grumbled as he knitted his brows tightly. "I have a question. Why is there a question mark behind the word 'beauty'? What is the card trying to say?"
If Lin Sanjiu could talk, she would definitely yell at him to cut it out.
Irezumi seemed to be quite irritated by him too. He tossed the card back to Lin Sanjiu and grouched, "I thought you guys had some incredible plan or something. In the end, you two are idiots! I don't want to waste my time following you two. Get out there to find that target now! MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!"
For a moment, it was difficult for the two so-called idiots to accept this insult from Irezumi. However, before Qing Jiuliu could say anything, Irezumi stepped in front of him and shouted, "Give me your hand!"
Qing Jiuliu tsk-tsked as he stretched out his hand lazily. Irezumi reached for it. Smack! Qing Jiuliu yelped in pain and quickly shook his hand a few times. When he looked at his hand again, he noticed that there was a drop of blood oozing from one of his fingertips.
"This is to prevent both of you from running away. Usually, we will only do this after the candidate takes the first step to complete the trial," as Irezumi spoke, he gestured for Lin Sanjiu to show him her hand, "but, I have never seen any candidates like you two who just dawdle around and do nothing. I'm not going to wait anymore. Give me your hand! Quick!"
"I can't hide my hand now…" Lin Sanjiu gritted her teeth and stuck her index finger out from the black cloth. If she just showed a single finger, that man probably wouldn't notice that it was different from a male's finger, right?
Irezumi looked at her finger and frowned.
Ultimately, he didn't say anything and just pressed Lin Sanjiu's finger. Lin Sanjiu didn't know what he was holding in his hand but she took a sharp breath because of the pain. When she looked at her hand, a drop of blood slowly formed
on her fingertip.
It was almost as if something had buried itself in the epidermis of her skin.
Irezumi probably had enough of the two candidates. After he pricked them with that who-knows-what, he exited the building by jumping through one of the cracks. Judging from the tone of his voice, he probably wouldn't return for some time.
"What did he inject into my skin?" Lin Sanjiu asked Mrs. Manas anxiously the moment Irezumi left.
"Don't worry. It's just a location tracker. I can easily expel that little gadget from the wound on your finger but I can't do it now. If I expel it now, he would definitely notice," Mrs. Manas said rather idly.
After hearing that, Lin Sanjiu felt slightly relieved. After her return, Mrs. Manas seemed a little more powerful than before. Consequently, Lin Sanjiu couldn't help feeling more confident. She realized that she could finally get the answers for the many questions she had, "Mrs. Manas, how is your battle with Nüwa's higher consciousness? Didn't you say her higher consciousness and those abnormal genes were a powerful combination?"
"It's all thanks to you, really," Mrs. Manas laughed. "Your higher consciousness is much stronger than I thought, I guess it's because you are a Growth-type. I managed to subdue Nüwa's higher consciousness for now. I don't know when she will make a comeback, though. So, we still can't relax."
"Alright…" Lin Sanjiu bit her lip.
Just when she was about to ask another question, she felt Qing Jiuliu jabbing her shoulder suddenly, "Hey!"
"Huh?" Lin Sanjiu froze for a second.
"Huh? What? Give me a bottle of booze," Qing Jiuliu scratched his face. Uncaringly, he left a few red marks on the face which people could stare for ten minutes straight. "I don't want Chivas, that's not real booze…"
Lin Sanjiu figured she might as well take a few bottles out for him and store them back after he had his pick. After thinking for a while, she suddenly took out the [Fantasy Creatures Exhibition Specimen #12] card. She changed it back to its original form and threw it at Qing Jiuliu. Qing Jiuliu held a bottle of booze in one arm and caught the mermaid with his other arm rather gracelessly. "What are you doing?" he asked.