Chapter 90: Possession

Chapter 90: Seizing the Body

In this day and age, having one's body seized isn't exactly a rare occurrence.

In Chengdu Prefecture, such things are commonplace.

Come nightfall, the streets of the Chicken-and-Goose District are littered with peddlers lurking in corners, hawking homemade pink microchips.

These chips, bizarre and varied in content, share a single collective name: Huangliang Desire Realms.

As the name suggests, they are loaded with illusions capable of satisfying a person's every desire.

If you fancy campaigning on the battlefield, experiencing the machinations of power, you can choose the "Dynasty's Old Dream" series.

If you crave nightly spring pleasures, an old tree blossoming over a young one, series like "Golden Lotus," "Spring Colors of the Han Palace," and "Chamber Songs of Qin" can satisfy your every whim.

If you delight in spending money like water, then go transmigrate into Shen Wansan, the wealthiest tycoon of the Empire's ancient past.

If you have a passion for poetry and verse, don a blue robe, become a Poet Immortal, take the Imperial Consort as your topic, and use a grand eunuch as your paper.

The varieties of Desire Realms are myriad, encompassing nearly all of humanity's seven emotions and six desires.

There is nothing you cannot imagine, and nothing those peddlers cannot make.

The most crucial point is that these Huangliang Desire Realms are dirt cheap; the cheapest cost a mere few dozen Baochao for a single session.

For the common folk penned into industrial lines by the great conglomerates, Desire Realms are the most cost-effective pastime after a shift.

A crudely made Desire Realm might be jacked into dozens or even a hundred times a day; the Huangliang characters within cycle at high frequency within a limited timeline—alienation and collapse are perfectly normal occurrences.

Once the user's mental will—that is, their Yang energy—is consumed too greatly, they easily sink into the Desire Realm, unable to distinguish true from false.

If at that moment you mistake the Desire Realm for reality, naturally a Huangliang character will replace you in returning to the real world.

This phenomenon is generally known as Seizing the Body.

And these Huangliang characters who swapped places with the dreamer from within the Huangliang Dream are also called Huangliang Phantoms.

Although the Great Ming Code strictly prohibits these Huangliang Desire Realms that erode the human mind, even stipulating that profits exceeding ten thousand Baochao warrant the death penalty.

Even the Jiaofangsi released official Desire Realms under its name, but the exorbitant prices deterred the masses, utterly failing to stamp out the private trade.

To police the people's desires is harder than policing a river.

"I don't care if you're a monster crawled out of a Huangliang Dream Realm, or some ghost reanimating a corpse—I advise you to shut your mouth and hand over the painting obediently."

Li Jun leaned lazily in the rattan chair, looking at Song Li—who knew what had seized him—with undisguised contempt.

The mighty owner of Greenstone Mansion, the biggest artifact dealer in Baoning Prefecture, actually went cheap and played that trash Desire Realm, and got himself seized—truly a disgrace.

"Since I'm in a not-too-bad mood today, I might just let you keep your life."

Song Li paid Li Jun's warning no heed whatsoever; those hollow eyes bulged wide, his words clipped and precise, carrying an inexplicable majesty.

"The Great Ming Code states: Tomb raiders, your crime is unpardonable; sellers and buyers share the same guilt."

"Criminals Song Li and Li Jun, caught red-handed. By law, sentenced to capital punishment."

The words barely fell before footsteps erupted outside the courtyard; a mob of men brandishing blades surged in.

Judging by their uniform gray tight-fitting attire, they were likely enforcers kept by Greenstone Mansion.

These men bore expressions identical to Song Li's—pupils shadowed, gazes dull and lifeless.

"Didn't expect Legalist Sequence types to fall this low, resorting to parlor tricks like body-snatching control."

Li Jun had spotted something amiss by now; elbows resting on knees, he surveyed the surroundings with a cold, sidelong smile playing on his lips.

"But you bringing this motley crew of trash to stir up trouble with me—isn't that a bit rash?"

Li Jun had just finished speaking when he caught a flash of malicious amusement in the depths of Song Li's eyes, and his brows furrowed sharply.

But before he could sense what was wrong, Song Li had already raised his hand and chopped it down.

"A mob of undisciplined rabble lacks only a leader. The power of the people can topple mountains and rivers—let alone a mere martial husband like you, enforcing the law!"

"Trouble."

The moment the words drifted out, a figure clad in black shot out from under the eaves like a crossbow bolt.

*Thud!*

A leg shadow swept horizontally, sending the foremost man flying, blade and all.

His foot had barely touched the ground when a flash of steel appeared at his flank. Li Jun's right arm twisted and coiled, instantly pulverizing the attacker's sword-arm, and in the same motion snatched the saber into his own grip.

Li Jun had no interest in playing with these seized-and-controlled thugs; his strikes held zero mercy.

Saber held in a reverse grip, blade following arm, Li Jun smashed aside a cold light stabbing from the side with a horizontal forearm strike, the saber tip plowing a deep gash across the man's chest—so deep it nearly split the entire thoracic cavity open.

"Red blood. No Martial Path characteristics. Just an ordinary person."

The sight made Li Jun frown; none of these men were Sequencers, yet the power contained in their blades rivaled a Rank Nine Soldier.

"They've been empowered?"

The Greenstone Mansion enforcers faced such gore with blank faces, fearless of death, swarming from all sides to encircle Li Jun.

In this secluded, elegant courtyard, the only sound was the singing of blades!

"Even if you empower a mob to have Rank Nine physiques, they're still just a disordered rabble."

Li Jun snorted coldly, unleashing the Leaping Abyss Step; his figure moved like a swimming dragon, weaving through the crowd.

The saber clung to his elbow tip, a length of blade protruding like a snake's tongue, every strike biting into the throats of these thugs.

The encirclement hadn't even formed before it was riddled with holes.

Li Jun closed in on the last few, driving an elbow into one's chest, the saber tip piercing flesh and bursting out through his back.

The body flung sideways knocked down the comrades behind them; before they could struggle up, Li Jun strolled over leisurely, raising his foot to stomp on their cervical vertebrae.

*Crunch. Crunch.*

The crisp snapping of neck bones rang out in rhythm with his steps, one after another.

Li Jun walked slowly to Song Li's front; behind him, the ground was littered with corpses, many still twitching unconsciously, blood seeping through tile cracks to be swallowed clean by the sand and mud beneath.

*Pat.*

Li Jun reached out and patted Song Li's face, "Just what are you?"

"I am a tomb-raiding sinner."

Song Li's voice was cold and hard, like a mechanical synthesis, devoid of a shred of emotion.

How is this Huangliang Phantom different from the ones I saw in the Chicken-and-Goose District?

Li Jun's gaze darkened; he clamped his hand around Song Li's throat and barked, "Speak human!"

"You managed to take out Shi Chengfeng and Wu Jinfeng in one go, forced Wu Gong to release me from the aristocratic clan's private prison to save face."

"You, Li Jun, truly are the sharpest blade of Shudao Logistics."

A voice laced with amusement drifted from the courtyard gate.

Li Jun twisted his wrist, wrenching Song Li's head to the side, revealing the figure standing by the door.

The man stood tall and straight, clad in white, his cheeks lean, his eyes bright and spirited.

“Allow me to introduce myself: Le Zhong, Harsh Official of the Eighth Law.”