Mo Chuan (Crimson Moon) slowly absorbed the passive stacks provided by killing King Taishan from the shadows, and the system's prompt sounded in his ears:
"Ding! Congratulations to the host for reaching level 9. You can choose between [Receive Purple Gift Pack] and [Learn Five Grains Abundant]."
However, Mo Chuan didn't rush to claim his reward. Instead, he used the surveillance of [Raven Swarm's Feast] to sense that a wisp of King Taishan's residual soul had flown out of the scene.
Looking at Xin Lei, who had fainted from exerting too much force, Mo Chuan shook his head and turned to see what tricks King Taishan was up to. If it was a spectral operation of borrowing a corpse to return the soul, then Mo Chuan could deliver a final blow and take its head.
Killing someone once grants two passive stacks, hooray!
After a while, Mo Chuan arrived at the scene following the raven swarm's guidance but did not see King Taishan.
So, Mo Chuan, unwilling to believe it, summoned a horde of crows and continued searching in the surrounding barren land and ruins. Although he still couldn't find King Taishan, he discovered several strange things.
First, he found traces of large-scale combat not far away. From the raven swarm's perspective, Mo Chuan even spotted military supply labels.
The army has arrived?
But where is the person?
Second, there were traces of what seemed to be ink on the ground. He didn't know what had happened.
Third, there was a woman lying on a patch of barren land. Mo Chuan didn't know who she was, but he felt he should go and take a look.
Mo Chuan thought for a moment, shed his [Crimson Moon] skin, and adopted his normal [Hell Curse] form.
Then, using the grappling hook, he moved rapidly through the ruins of Shengjing Avenue, just as he had during the previous battle. In no time, he arrived at the barren land.
Looking at the figure lying on the ground, Mo Chuan frowned, feeling that the figure was somewhat familiar. When he got closer, his eyeballs almost fell out – wasn't this Mo Fei!? How was she here!?
But then he thought about the battle that had occurred there last night and the place he had told Mo Fei to go, and Mo Chuan understood everything.
This little girl... she probably heard the commotion here and rushed here desperately to find me...
Thinking this, Mo Chuan smiled helplessly, gently turned Mo Fei over, confirmed she wasn't seriously injured, then picked her up in his arms, went to a ruined spot in Shengjing Avenue to settle her, and then found a place nearby to lie down, casually picking up a broken mirror from the ground.
Ever since he got [Mental Pollution], many things had become more convenient.
Mo Chuan looked at his own eyes in the mirror, which was his last thought before he fainted.
...
Changbai Mountain City.
The little yellow weasel sat like a human on the threshold of the main hall of the dilapidated temple, holding a dead pigeon in its little paws and eating with relish. Suddenly, it felt a gust of cold wind from behind, and it quickly grabbed the dead pigeon and darted from outside the hall into the hall.
A black wind swirled up, and as the dust settled, the figure of King Taishan appeared in its place.
Seeing King Taishan, who seemed somewhat different, the little yellow weasel dared not speak, only hiding behind an ancestral tablet to observe.
King Taishan drifted into the dilapidated temple with a gloomy expression and shouted at the statue seated high on the altar: "Old Dragon!"
"What happened? How did you become a ghost? Did you use the Soul Severing Talisman of King Yama?" The statue immediately replied to King Taishan, its eyes even glowing with faint blood-red light.
"I was tricked. An old fellow whose strength is probably not weaker than yours or mine made a move. First, he saved Xin Lei's life, and then, as I was escaping, he ambushed me, almost taking my life," King Taishan said with a dark expression. "Do you have any flesh and blood now? I need to summon my little darling and find another suitable body..."
The statue did not speak, but instead, it retrieved the dead pigeon held by the little yellow weasel behind the ancestral tablet and placed it before King Taishan.
King Taishan no longer cared about such things. With a swift move, he tore open the pigeon's belly, then used the blood and internal organs to draw a spell on the ground, muttering something as he did so.
Finally, the formation was drawn, and purple light illuminated the entire dilapidated temple.
...
People's attention to good gossip is always like Liu Huaqiang buying a melon – it comes quickly and goes quickly.
Just as everyone was starting to find new gossip in their mundane lives, that old gossip – Mo Chuan's rejection by eight schools – came to a dramatic conclusion in an extremely explosive way.
On July 20th, Imperial Capital University, Longjing University, and the remaining nine universities all issued announcements stating that the invitation letters sent to student Mo Chuan were still valid and that Mo Chuan could report for duty on the date specified in the invitation letters if he was interested.
The eight universities that had previously claimed the invitation letters were invalid also sheepishly admitted that the invitation letters were re-enacted and welcomed Mo Chuan to report for duty.
However, under the manipulation of those with ulterior motives, the heat of this matter was suppressed to the lowest level, and it eventually faded from public view. New hot topics quickly emerged to attract public attention, such as the attack on Shengjing by the terrorist organization Hell Palace, the secession of the Kiras Principality from the Rose Empire, and the Cross Alliance taking the opportunity to stir up trouble, and so on.
Time returned to the afternoon of July 19th, three days after the Shengjing incident.
Qingzhou Army Hospital.
Mo Chuan, wearing sunglasses and a mask, looked at the contract in his hand and frowned, asking, "So, you helped me settle all these matters, and I have to go to Longjing to study?"
"That's right... young friend, your contributions are immense, and you can exchange them for this small favor," Xin Lei nodded and said. "Going to Longjing is not about studying and working, but about something else."
"Something else?"
"We'll talk about it later. Do you have any other questions? If not, you can sign."
Mo Chuan nodded and signed his name on the contract.
Two days ago, Zhang Henshui reported the intelligence he obtained to the Abilities Administration. It was then that Mo Chuan learned why Zhang Henshui, despite his considerable talent and prominent background, was serving as the captain of the branch in Qingzhou – it was a part-time job for missions; his real profession was captain of an action team in the Abilities Administration.
Mo Chuan could even guess Zhang Henshui's mission with a high degree of accuracy – collecting intelligence on King Taishan.
Then, on the morning of the 19th, Xin Lei met with Mo Chuan with the contract and they talked until the afternoon. This outwardly cold but inwardly warm elder, despite looking a bit intimidating, was surprisingly easy to get along with.
Xin Lei also highly approved of Mo Chuan's talent and abilities, and did not discriminate against him because of his ghost cultivation identity.
Finally, Xin Lei, in exchange for helping Mo Chuan resolve the school rejection incident and transitioning him to a formal position, asked Mo Chuan to work and study in Longjing.
After sending Xin Lei off, Mo Chuan used the black gold card that Principal Liu had given him to pay for Mo Fei's medical expenses.
Looking at the remaining three-digit balance in the card, Mo Chuan sighed.
Since the end of the Shengjing incident, Mo Fei had been in a coma for a full three days.
Although Zhao Qingfeng, who immediately launched a rescue after escaping the scene, sent Mo Chuan and Mo Fei to Jianzhou First Hospital overnight and then transferred them to Qingzhou Army Hospital, and generously paid for the hospitalization fees, Mo Chuan still spent a large amount of money on Mo Fei's medical expenses.
Broke again...
For a family with very little income and meager savings, any illness is a huge blow.
"Beep beep beep beep—"
Mo Chuan answered his phone outside the ward. He heard an anxious female voice from the phone: "Mo Chuan, where are you guys now? I'll be right there!"