Chapter 114: Crisis

Chapter 114: Crisis

Li Xianzong didn't enter the bedroom. He leaned against the doorframe, twirling a butterfly knife in his hand, and said with a grin:

"I'm going to kidnap the doctors, nurses, and patients at Pingtai Hospital, test the official response, lure out the Primordial Heavenly Venerable, and then announce to everyone: Songhai, I'm here!"

The sexy, glamorous woman sucked on her finger and gave him a seductive look. "That's crazy, but aren't you afraid of death? Never underestimate the Five Elements Alliance. Even though they're often led around by the nose, and though there are plenty of slackers, you can't deny that the Order camp is stronger than us. Otherwise, how could they call themselves the authorities?"

Li Xianzong said casually, "You don't need to worry about that. I need you to help me hold off Fu Qingyang. Kangyang District is his turf. As long as he can't get here in time, I'm confident I can get away clean. Yeah, before the stewards from other districts arrive."

The woman smiled seductively. "And what's in it for me?"

Li Xianzong was silent for a few seconds. "What fun is there in toying with ordinary men? The upright men of the Order camp should be more to your liking. Within half a month, I'll capture at least ten official Practitioners for you."

The Female Guardian's eyes lit up, and she licked her lips. "Interesting. Just the thought of them sinking into depravity and indulging in desire makes me itch all over. But I have a condition: I want that Primordial Heavenly Venerable..."

"He shouldn't be too old, preferably a college student. He should be handsome too. If he has no relationship experience, even better. A pure little puppy like that would be fun to train."

Li Xianzong clicked his tongue. "You're truly a pervert. Even I find you frightening."

The woman stood up, swaying her slender waist as she walked to the bedside. She draped herself in a nightgown light as gauze, put on black-rimmed glasses, and sat down at the round table.

In an instant, she transformed from a seductive, wanton woman into a cool, alluring, and intellectual mature beauty.

She looked at Li Xianzong at the door and said coolly:

"Every evil Practitioner is a pervert; the difference lies only in the direction. Your perversion lies in cruelty, bloodlust, and a desire for destruction. Moreover, you deeply loathe women. Were you hurt by love before? No..."

The Female Guardian stared at Li Xianzong, her gaze hazy, and said:

"You have no interest in me when I'm naked, but when I compose myself, becoming sufficiently mature and dignified, your disgust towards me is mixed with hatred, resentment, and a trace of longing.

"I understand now. The source of your hatred for women is your mother. When she was my age, when you were young, she must have done something you can never forgive."

Li Xianzong's sharply defined face suddenly darkened, and murderous intent surged in his eyes. "Don't pry into my heart. You're angering me."

The Female Guardian giggled, her chest heaving, instantly ruining her cool and intellectual aura. She said:

"Look how angry you are. It's just that your mother abandoned her husband and child. How big a deal can that be for an ordinary person? You're an evil profession yourself, used to seeing the ugliness of human nature. Why can't you forgive your mother?

"Abandoning her husband and child is still better than being like me. But then again, some people spend their whole lives unable to cure their childhood."

Li Xianzong took a deep breath, suppressing his surging anger, and said in a low voice, "I have no interest in your past. At five this afternoon, I will seal off Pingtai Hospital."

With that, he turned and left.

...

Kangyang District Security Bureau.

Zhang Yuanqing had a lot on his mind lately. First, the major physical examination was delayed, and his heart couldn't settle back down. Second, the opening time of the third spirit realm was getting closer.

Finally, the people from the Taiyi Sect still hadn't come to question him. The Red Dancing Shoes had only just been handed over, and he didn't know when they would be purified.

Zhang Yuanqing sat at the computer desk, searching through the official wanted list while thinking:

"My third spirit realm should be coming soon. If it comes in early May, then June will be the Night Wanderer exclusive solo spirit realm. And June is also the large-scale killing instance.

"If I'm lucky, and the solo spirit realm comes before the large-scale killing instance, I can completely level up to 3, then participate in the large-scale killing instance and ascend to Saint in one go. Otherwise, I'll have to wait until the end of the year."

The large-scale killing instance is not mandatory; Spirit Realm Walkers can choose whether to participate, so it doesn't conflict with the solo spirit realm.

After Li Dongze's reminder, he felt the pressure.

The Primordial Heavenly Venerable had emerged too quickly, and would inevitably attract the attention of hostile camps. And because he was a pure newcomer, having been a Walker for just over a month in total.

Experienced people could easily assess his level.

Rising to fame without even reaching Level 3, in the eyes of evil professions, wasn't he just a juicy soft target?

Just as he was thinking, the search results came out. Zhang Yuanqing skipped the Saint stage directly and looked at the bounty list for the Transcendent stage.

At the top of the list, spirit realm ID "A Yi", a Level 3 Witch Doctor, affiliated with the Central Branch of the Spirit Energy Society.

Evaluation: Extremely twisted personality.

Record: He once counter-killed official Walkers during a siege by two Five Elements Alliance spirit realm teams and left calmly. In that battle, the officials lost two Level 3 Walkers, four Level 2 Walkers, and three Level 1 Walkers.

In the file, there were detailed notes on "twisted personality." Generally, evil professions were all madmen and perverts, but each person's "illness" was different—some were bloodthirsty, some lecherous, some gloomy, some extreme...

And this "A Yi" had a bit of everything, like a collection of negative energy.

"Even if I summon the Ghost Bride, I'm afraid I can't kill two official teams. Others won't be stupid enough to fight the Ghost Bride head-on; if they stall for time, I'm screwed."

Zhang Yuanqing felt a surge of caution.

He continued to look at the second on the list, spirit realm ID "Good Minister Chooses His Lord to Murder," a Level 3 Illusionist, affiliated with the Southern Sect of the Void Sect.

Evaluation: Extreme personality.

Record: To avenge his boss, he plotted and killed a Level 4 Saint of the Taiyi Sect and left calmly, still at large.

The file added that after investigation, it was found that this person had followed many bosses, but without exception, those bosses later died unnatural deaths. Gradually, no one in the Southern Sect was willing to protect him, and he became a lone wolf.

"Being able to plot and kill a Saint, and a Night Wanderer at that—this guy is terrifying..." Zhang Yuanqing continued scrolling down.

At that moment, his phone dinged with an incoming message.

He immediately looked away from the computer, grabbed his phone, and checked the message.

Xiao Yuan: "I've gathered some intel."

Zhang Yuanqing immediately stood up, entered a toilet stall, and dialed Xiao Yuan's number.

The call connected, and the old auntie's cool, detached voice came through, half-smiling. "Come to think of it, I still don't know your ID."

"Big Muscle Tyrant!" Zhang Yuanqing brushed her off casually.

Auntie Xiao Yuan snorted. "Well, I guess I was wrong. I thought you were called Primordial Heavenly Venerable."

Zhang Yuanqing neither denied nor admitted it. "What intel?"

"Three thousand per piece of intel."

"I'll need to hear them first."

"First, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable has jumped from the bottom to third on the evil organizations' Transcendent bounty list. The bounty is ten million, two Transcendent-tier items, and one Saint-tier item."

Holy crap? I'm that valuable?! Zhang Yuanqing was stunned. Even when he captured the Holy Grail, he only got a reward of two million and two items.

Of course, A-rank merit couldn't be replaced by money or items.

"Second, two promising Level 3 Walkers from the Central Province branch were killed by 'A Yi'. He's planning to head to the capital to hunt stronger official talents."

As long as he doesn't come to Songhai, take care, colleagues in the capital... Zhang Yuanqing breathed a sigh of relief.

"Third, Li Xianzong has come to Songhai. He plans to hunt down the Primordial Heavenly Venerable, who has recently risen to fame in the Songhai branch."

!!! Zhang Yuanqing's mind buzzed. He thought, "What I feared has come to pass. The one targeting me is actually him!"

The information on Li Xianzong naturally surfaced in his mind.

This person was a member of the Soldier Lord Sect, active in the coastal areas, and was a trusted subordinate of the four Heavenly Kings of the Soldier Lord Sect—the Demon Eye Heavenly King.

The Demon Eye Heavenly King was a Dominator-level Corrupter, an incredibly terrifying existence.

If this were the Five Elements Alliance, it would be like a trusted subordinate of an elder specifically targeting the Primordial Heavenly Venerable for death.

In the official files, the evaluation of this person was: bloodthirsty, cruel, arrogant, and cunning.

Simply put, he is a murderer with a mind.

Li Xianzong was naturally belligerent, his temperament perfectly suited for the profession of Beguiling Fiend. After becoming a Walker, he advanced rapidly, a dark horse rarely matched among his peers.

Before, though he had some small fame, limited by his level, he was not high on the official bounty list.

Until he advanced to Level 3 Beguiling Fiend and, relying on his own strength, assassinated a Level 4 Saint of the Psionic Council, leaping to become a top-five wanted criminal on the bounty list.

“There is an insurmountable gap between Level 4 and Level 3. For Li Xianzong to assassinate a Level 4 Saint, aside from his own power, he must have used props and exploited every advantage of time and place.”

“Targeted by such a terrifying enemy, with enough time for him to prepare, shit, my chances of survival are indeed slim…”

Zhang Yuanqing’s mood grew heavy.

Setting aside props and considering only personal strength, both Beguiling Fiend and Night Wanderer are peak professions; Li Xianzong at Level 3 could definitely thrash himself at Level 2.

As for props, with Red Shoes, that artifact of evasion and pursuit, not by his side, his combat power was greatly diminished; relying solely on the Ghost Bride, he feared could not kill Li Xianzong—his opponent surely also had trump cards.

I need to level up to 3 as soon as possible, boost all stats, otherwise it’s dangerous… Zhang Yuanqing said, “Aunt Xiao Yuan, is there more?”

“No more. That’s nine thousand in total. I’ll give you a discount—make it ten thousand.” Aunt Xiao Yuan’s voice was cold and clear, yet pleasant.

What a tempting aunt.

“I’ll come by when I have time and bring you the money.” Zhang Yuanqing hung up the phone.

…

Pingtai Hospital.

Jiang Yu’er, wearing a white coat, saw off her last female patient, stretched her limbs, and with one more hour to go, her shift would be over.

There were no patient appointments tomorrow, so tonight she could spare an hour or two to play games with her nephew.

Her useless nephew still had no girlfriend, so she, the cute, invincible, understanding little aunt, condescended to keep him company.

Jiang Yu’er strolled out of her office, arrived at the next consultation room, leaned against the doorframe, and smiled:

“That Wang Qian, still no news from him lately?”

In the consultation room sat an elder sister in her thirties, surnamed Zhao, one of Jiang Yu’er’s gossip partners. When not busy, the young and older aunties of the obstetrics and gynecology department liked to gather and chat.

They gossiped about patients, about colleagues, about everything.

“From what the director said, Wang Qian resigned and switched to another job.” Dr. Zhao sighed: “Ever since his nephew’s untimely death, he’s been in a bad state mentally. Maybe staying in the hospital reminds him too much of things; a change of scene might be good.”

Jiang Yu’er gave an “Oh.”

Dr. Zhao added:

“Xiao Jiang, about that matter I brought up last time, what do you think? My cousin works at a central enterprise, stable job, high income, good-looking—truly excellent conditions. I showed him your picture, and hey, that kid can’t eat or sleep, begging me to introduce you to him.”

Jiang Yu’er rolled her eyes: “Elder Zhao, with my qualities, it would take at least a central enterprise leader to marry me. Your cousin’s position is too low; he can’t afford to keep me.”

They were already very familiar with each other and spoke without restraint.

Dr. Zhao scolded with a laugh: “That’s enough. Keep dragging on and you’ll become an old maid.”

Just as they were talking, a gunshot rang out from a distance. Jiang Yu’er’s expression changed slightly.

Dr. Zhao froze for a few seconds, then asked in confusion: “What’s going on?”

As she finished speaking, from the direction of the hospital lobby came waves of noise, screams rising and falling.

“Fizzzz~”

Static sounded from the public address system, then a man’s arrogant voice: “Announcement, announcement. From now on, Pingtai Hospital is under my control. Everyone stay where you are, get down on the ground with your hands on your heads. Anyone who runs will be shot on sight.”

Then, several more gunshots rang out.

…