Chapter 67: Redemption

Chapter 67: Redemption

With those words, the oppressive air enveloping the front lobby vanished completely, and both Zhang Yuanqing and Xie Lingxi breathed a subtle sigh of relief, the crisis of being stared down by a starved wolf gone.

The woman at the front desk narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing the young man and woman across the table before casting a covert glance outside the hotel.

"I understand. Guests, please wait a moment."

Withdrawing her gaze, she left them with these chillingly indifferent words and walked into the depths of the hotel, the click-clack of her high heels growing distant.

Whew... Xie Lingxi exhaled a breath, her small face pale as she murmured:

"Brother Yuanshi, I, I suddenly remembered something..."

Zhang Yuanqing looked at her sideways.

Xie Lingxi voiced her suspicion: "We couldn't find any information on 'Master Wuhen.' Is there a possibility that it isn't because he is unknown, but, but because our security clearance is too low..."

If a mere receptionist possessed such terrifying intimidation, one could well imagine the caliber of this Master Wuhen.

Zhang Yuanqing nodded with a grave expression:

"I thought of that too. That's why I was just planning to run away earlier, and I was quite confident I could make it."

"Huh?" Xie Lingxi was startled, her bright eyes widening. "My legs completely turned to jelly just now. I didn't even have the thought of running away; I just wanted to hide my head in your armpit."

That's exactly why I was confident I could escape; I only needed to run faster than my teammate... Zhang Yuanqing muttered in his mind. He opened his arm, tucked Xie Lingxi's head under his armpit, and asked:

"Does this give you a sense of security?"

"Brother Yuanshi, let go of me, let me go quickly, this is so embarrassing..." Xie Lingxi struggled hard.

Pulling her head out from Zhang Yuanqing's armpit, she adjusted her skewed over-ear headphones and lowered her voice:

"Brother Yuanshi, my headphones are an item; they can eavesdrop on all movements within a five-hundred-meter radius."

Concentrating on the sound, she whispered:

"That woman entered the elevator... the elevator stopped on the fourth floor... she opened the second door to the left of the elevator... she disappeared?!"

Xie Lingxi lifted her face, astonished: "She vanished."

Vanished? Did that guest room isolate outside spying? Zhang Yuanqing patted the young girl's shoulder, signaling her to stay calm.

The two waited in silence. During the process, Xie Lingxi frequently glanced outside the hotel, finding a modicum of security in her heart only after confirming that the bodyguards brought by her family kept their eyes on her.

About ten minutes later, she tilted her head and whispered: "She's coming out..."

A few minutes more, and Zhang Yuanqing heard the "ding" of the elevator. The car returned to the first floor, followed by the click-clack of high heels. The glamorous lady returned to the lobby, looked at them, and said:

"Follow me."

Her cold gaze swept over the solemn youths as she let out a scoff, "If you're afraid, you can also turn back and go home."

Zhang Yuanqing smiled and said: "Sister, you look kind and gentle, a good person at first glance. We aren't afraid."

Xie Lingxi said meekly: "Auntie, we only came to deliver a message. We mean no harm."

The woman's expression softened slightly. Nodding, she led them into the elevator and arrived on the fourth floor.

Standing in the hallway, she looked toward the second guest room to the left of the elevator and said:

"Go on in."

Zhang Yuanqing saw the room number: 404!

Great name... His mouth twitched. Pulling Xie Lingxi to the door, he turned the doorknob.

Click!

The moment the slight click of the latch echoed, a serene yet powerful force seemed to envelop them, and the scenery before their eyes shifted rapidly.

The carpeted hallway turned into rustic blue porcelain tiles, the whitewashed walls changed into a structure of mixed brick and timber, and the incandescent lights became the glow of flickering candles.

Zhang Yuanqing and Xie Lingxi looked around in astonishment. They were standing inside the main hall of a temple, beneath a seven-to-eight-meter-high ceiling featuring a caisson of raised fretwork patterns, painted with a sky full of gods and Buddhas.

Beneath the caisson stood a five-meter-tall golden Buddha, plucking a flower with lowered eyes, its countenance appearing compassionate, majestic, and stern all at once.

Eighteen thick candles were lit on the offering table, shedding a bright glow.

Below the great Buddha lay a futon, upon which sat a monk in a green cassock. His frame was tall; even while sitting cross-legged, he was as tall as Xie Lingxi.

Zhang Yuanqing and Xie Lingxi exchanged a silent look, their eyes filled with dread and solemnity. One moment they were in a hotel hallway, and the next they appeared inside an unfamiliar temple.

If not for the lack of a scenario notification sound in their ears, both would have suspected they had entered the Spirit Realm again for a mission.

This Master Wuhen is more terrifying than I imagined. What level of Spirit Realm Walker must one be to possess such means... Zhang Yuanqing took a deep breath, looked at the back clothed in the green cassock, and spoke respectfully:

"Are you Master Wuhen?"

"A Night Walker and a Musician. Are you members of the official organization?"

A deep, hoarse voice came through. His tone was bizarre, as though he were enduring some kind of pain.

"Yes!"

Zhang Yuanqing dared not hide it.

Silence stretched in the hall for over a dozen seconds before the deep, hoarse voice echoed again:

"What did Ashamed to Be a Father say before he died?"

Zhang Yuanqing's voice lowered unconsciously. "He asked me to tell you, Master: 'I am sorry, but to this day, I still do not know whether it was I who was wrong, or this world.'"

As he spoke these words, he recalled once more the look in Ashamed to Be a Father's eyes at his final moment—that gaze flickering with loathing and sorrow.

The hall fell into another long silence, a silence so profound it made Zhang Yuanqing and Xie Lingxi anxious.

Finally... Master Wuhen let out a sigh:

"I see."

Xie Lingxi hesitated, then summoned her courage to ask softly:

"Master, he saved my life, and he was not an evil person. Why, why did he become an evil profession?"

The monk in the green cassock spoke slowly:

"He used to have a daughter. She was very smart, very obedient, and had excellent academic grades from childhood all the way through school. Upon entering university, she gradually changed, starting to pursue material things and blindly competing with her classmates. To support his daughter, Ashamed to Be a Father worked day and night, desperately earning money. Yet he grew increasingly unable to satisfy his daughter's demands, until one day, he discovered his daughter had borrowed a massive amount of money online and had indecent photos taken of her.

"He lacked the power to repay those debts, and felt even more that his daughter had brought shame upon the family and disgraced their ancestors. The father and daughter had a massive argument, and he threatened to sever their relationship. Ashamed to Be a Father believed that all of this was his daughter's fault—that she had become money-worshiping, selfish, and unrecognizable.

"Later, the loan company took control of the girl, forcing her into the flesh trade, wantonly playing with her and humiliating her. In despair, she jumped from a building and committed suicide.

"Ashamed to Be a Father broke down. He began to feel that the one who was wrong was himself. If only he could have given his daughter an affluent material life, if only he had the money to repay his daughter's debts, none of this tragedy would have happened. He regretted that argument countless times. If only he had comforted his daughter and accompanied her back then, perhaps what followed would never have occurred. It was his own hands that pushed his daughter into the abyss.

"After his daughter died, he intended to sue that loan company, to sue those villains who tortured his daughter and drove her to suicide. But that loan company held immense power locally, and he lost the lawsuit.

"He was depressed for a very long time, realizing that the one at fault was not his daughter, but him, and this world. He believed that humans cannot change their environment; humans are influenced by their environment. When this society roars about materialism and money in your ears all day long, you will inevitably be influenced, becoming money-worshiping and materialistic. No one can be an exception.

"His daughter had not yet entered society and did not understand the insidious nature of human hearts. She was induced into spending, induced into borrowing, and finally walked down this path of no return. This world is wretched, so he decided to avenge his daughter personally...

"He broke into the loan company, killed the villains who had abused his daughter and driven her to suicide, and then fled the scene. It was precisely that slaughter that allowed him to obtain a character card and become a Demon of Seduction.

"Ashamed to Be a Father was an extremist, but he was not a bloodthirsty villain. However, once one enters an evil profession, there is no turning back for life. He walked further and further down this path of no return, his level growing higher and higher, yet his pain growing deeper and deeper.

"Until one day, he met me, and followed by my side to cultivate, hoping to dissolve the hostility in his heart and find redemption. But he was too extreme. He did not want to slaughter the innocent, yet he stubbornly refused to reconcile with this world.

"Perhaps death, for him, is the best release..."

No wonder he had saved Xie Lingxi. His daughter was about the same age as this girl, and he had regretted countless times not reaching out to pull his daughter back. That leap to catch her wasn't saving Xie Lingxi; it was saving the daughter who had jumped to her death years ago... Zhang Yuanqing glanced at "Little Green Tea." Xie Lingxi was speechless, her eyes red.

He sighed silently and said:

"Master, I think he has found redemption."

Master Wuhen, who had his back to them, gave no answer. He waved his hand lightly, and two glimmers of light swam out from his sleeve, landing at the feet of Xie Lingxi and Zhang Yuanqing.

They looked closely and saw two ink-black jade stones, half a palm in size, with dark light surging inside, shifting into various forms, dreamlike and illusory.

After just a few seconds of looking, Xie Lingxi and Zhang Yuanqing felt their vision darken and became dizzy.

"Thank you for bringing back his last words. This is called the 'Dream-Passing Jade Talisman.' Crush it, and you can contact me. If you encounter danger, I will help you once. This works only in the real world; it is useless in the Spirit Realm," Master Wuhen said calmly:

"Leave now."

The Buddha statue and candlelight twisted and shattered. Zhang Yuanqing and Xie Lingxi returned to the hotel, standing before an open door, the room inside a standard single.

The two black jade stones lay by their feet.