Chapter 71: 71, Ren Xiaosu's perfect-level skill

Once, Ren Xiaosu had crouched on the courtyard wall of the schoolhouse to listen to Zhang Jinglin’s lectures, during which he’d heard tales of peculiar and wondrous things—including stories of "vanished cities."

In truth, Ren Xiaosu sometimes recalled that Zhang Jinglin was not entirely proper; this gentleman, when tired from teaching, would drag a chair to sit upon the lectern and spin yarns of amusing anecdotes to fill the time.

Yet Ren Xiaosu deemed this reasonable, for in the entire hamlet, Zhang Jinglin was the sole teacher, and burdening him with delivering every lesson daily was indeed taxing.

Among the tales Zhang had recounted, there was once a description of an ancient city in the uninhabited region—once prosperous, then suddenly declined. Zhang Jinglin claimed that after its fall, demons and monsters seemed to linger nearby.

At that time, Ren Xiaosu had inwardly scoffed, thinking, *I’ll believe it when I see it. If you don’t want to teach, just say so—why bring up demons? Could such things truly exist in this world?*

But now, Ren Xiaosu found himself half-convinced.

In fact, Zhang Jinglin was not old—perhaps only in his thirties. Ren Xiaosu had heard Wang Fugui say that Zhang Jinglin had come from afar long ago, though no one remembered exactly when.

Sometimes, Ren Xiaosu wondered if Zhang Jinglin had once been a person from the Barrier, later becoming a wanderer. Otherwise, how could he know so much, even if some of it was fabricated?

Now, Xu Xianshu spoke of a mysterious city hidden within Jingshan. Instinctively, Ren Xiaosu recalled Zhang Jinglin’s words—could there be demons in Jingshan?

Ren Xiaosu asked Xu Xianshu, “Has anyone else mentioned anything else?”

After pondering, Xu Xianshu replied, “Before we set out, Wang Chengyang seemed to have learned that not only the 113th Barrier had received news of Jingshan, but other teams were also en route.”

Ren Xiaosu had expected some secret, yet this was the revelation.

“Actually, whether it’s the Barrier administrators or the merchant consortiums, everyone is keenly interested in evolution and supernatural beings,” Xu Xianshu said. “You should know about the psychiatric hospital newly established within the Barrier—they study supernatural beings not merely for precaution, but also to exploit them.”

“Can you tell me more about supernatural beings?” Ren Xiaosu asked. “As one yourself, you must be quite invested in this.”

“Supernatural beings…” Xu Xianshu mused. “They existed long ago, though people then dismissed them as legends. Recently, their frequent appearances have drawn attention, and some places have even formed secret organizations of supernatural beings.”

Ren Xiaosu blinked. “They’ve formed organizations?”

Organizations implied their numbers were not few.

“Recently, there was an assassination of a Barrier administrator by a supernatural being—you’ve heard of it, yes?” Xu Xianshu said. “This news came from Wang Chengyang, who said the supernatural being belonged to an organization called ‘Ruffians,’ or so the being claimed.”

“Was he captured?” Ren Xiaosu inquired curiously.

“No,” Xu Xianshu shook his head. “His power far exceeds your imagination. Now, the major Barriers are devising strategies against supernatural beings, attempting to classify their danger levels, though the criteria remain unclear.”

Ren Xiaosu muttered, “Must we fight to the death? Can’t we coexist peacefully?”

He spoke thus because he, too, was a supernatural being. Suddenly finding himself on the opposing side of those towering entities, he felt a pang of sorrow.

Yang Xiaojin glanced at him but said nothing. Xu Xianshu sighed, “I can’t return now. If the Barrier learns I’m a supernatural being, my fate will be grim.”

Liu Bu, nearby, suddenly blurted, “We won’t betray your secret—rest assured!”

At this moment, Liu Bu’s honesty stemmed from fear of being silenced, prompting his hasty assurance.

Xu Xianshu eyed Liu Bu but remained silent, revealing a man of principles who wouldn’t resort to such extremes.

Yet who would trust Liu Bu’s promise? To do so would be folly.

Xu Xianshu, rare in his sharpness, snapped at Liu Bu, “I’m most worried about you among them!”

Ren Xiaosu asked, “If Liu Bu died unexpectedly, couldn’t you return then?”

Liu Bu: “???”

Was he cursing him to death? Liu Bu wanted to berate Ren Xiaosu but dared not.

Xu Xianshu sighed, “You’re a supernatural being too, aren’t you?”

Ren Xiaosu: “Ah?”

At that moment, Ren Xiaosu wondered if he’d inadvertently revealed something, caught by Yang Xiaojin.

Xu Xianshu said, “You must have awakened the ability to provoke others.”

Ren Xiaosu: “…”

Suddenly, a flash of insight struck him. He mentally asked the Palace, “Palace, do I possess skills related to provocation? What level?”

The Palace replied calmly, “Perfect.”

Ren Xiaosu: “…”

A perfect-grade skill!

Earlier, Ren Xiaosu had marveled at Yang Xiaojin’s perfect-grade ability, never imagining he, too, possessed one!

Yet compared to others, his perfect-grade skill seemed absurd. Palace, are you serious?!

Still, considering he was a perfect-grade wielder, Ren Xiaosu felt a mix of anguish and quiet joy—it was, after all, a perfect-grade skill…

Some say accomplishing one great feat in life is rare enough… Who knew he’d achieved such mastery so young?

Xu Xianshu gazed at the three corpses outside the cave and finally said, “Let’s go. Whatever lies hidden in Jingshan, I must see it with my own eyes.”

This was the longing of a supernatural being—people once deemed those legendary tales void, yet when approaching the threshold of myth themselves, they hunger for that vaster world.

Thus was Xu Xianshu, and thus was Ren Xiaosu.

Xu Xianshu said, “Have you read *Journey to the West*? I found it in the Barrier’s library. When I read of someone lifting a staff of thirteen thousand five hundred catties, I found it incredible. Now I wonder—did the figures in that book truly exist? They say the staff could suppress mountains.”

Ren Xiaosu paused, then said, “I’ve never read *Journey to the West*—the schoolhouse here doesn’t have that book. But if a staff of thirteen thousand five hundred catties could suppress mountains, that’s over six tons. The tractors outside our town’s factories can haul ten tons; overloading slightly to pull two is no problem…”

Xu Xianshu inhaled deeply and turned toward the forest, toward the unknown Jingshan.