Chapter 619: Fear
"Tonight at 3:00 AM, colleagues from the Liandu branch received an emergency notice from the Public Security Bureau stating that a supernatural event occurred in the Lianwu Flower residential area of Liandu. Several illusionists were killed at the scene. After a simple on-site investigation, colleagues from the Liandu branch confirmed that this was a targeted assassination operation against the high-level members of the Southern School. According to information from the scene, the leader was 'Yuanshi Tianzun,' and the target was the Sixth Elder of the Southern School, spirit realm ID 'False Revolution,' along with his mistress, subordinates, a total of eight people, spirit realm IDs being..."
The post concisely described the situation at the crime scene, the identities of the deceased, providing only a factual account without commentary, consistent with the tone of an official account.
In addition to the text description, the post included on-site investigation photos, including photos of the Southern School's Sixth Elder and five female illusionists—blurred naked bodies.
And a photo of the blood-written message: "Yuanshi Tianzun was here."
.........
An upscale apartment in Beijing, a gathering place for disciples of the Taiyi Sect.
Sun Miaomiao squatted on a chair, chin resting on her knees, hands flying across the keyboard, the sound of keystrokes like popping firecrackers, fingers moving faster than afterimages. She was operating ten accounts simultaneously, engaging in online battles with over a dozen trolls, a true keyboard immortal.
Sun Miaomiao frequented the largest social platform in the country, known as the "xx toilet," "xx gathering place." Six Water had registered over a dozen real-name accounts on the platform, solely for entertainment.
Sometimes she would lead her sisters in a fierce attack, sometimes she would disguise herself as a man to fight with stupid women, and other times she would masquerade as a neutral observer, standing on the moral high ground and lecturing.
Occasionally, she would play the role of an angry youth, criticizing social injustice and government inaction; at other times, she would be a radical patriot, chasing after and cyberbullying anyone suspected of being a foreign agent.
She possessed flexible moral boundaries and shifting allegiances, wherever there was a fight, there she would be.
As dawn approached, Sun Miaomiao concluded her last exhilarating flame war, switching the interface to the Taiyi Sect forum. She had many accounts on the Taiyi Sect forum as well, but the number of Night Watchers in the Taiyi Sect was small. At its peak activity, the forum only had a few hundred people.
Not nearly enough for Sun Miaomiao to sink her teeth into.
However, she had long cultivated the habit of browsing the forum. If she saw a post that annoyed her, she would click on it and hurl a few insults, then go to sleep contentedly.
As soon as the screen switched to the official forum, she was drawn to a pinned post:
#Latest News: Yuanshi Tianzun Successfully Assassinated the Sixth Elder of the Southern School#
The poster was Yuan Ting.
This guy, pulling this kind of clickbait again? Sun Miaomiao was filled with skepticism, but couldn't help but click on it.
The post contained only two words: Holy crap!
Followed by a link. Sun Miaomiao clicked on the link and found it led to a post on the Five Elements Alliance forum. After carefully reading the post, her mind was a complete blank, her round, sweet face frozen in a daze.
"How did he do it? The difference between a Saint and a Ruler is greater than the difference between an Extraordinary and a Saint. Can anyone really assassinate a Ruler at the Saint stage..."
Sun Miaomiao gasped. "If Zhao Chenghuang sees this post, his Dao heart might collapse."
.........
Public Security Bureau, Ximen District, Beijing, office.
Zhao Chenghuang, on duty, sat at his desk, staring blankly at the post shared by Yuan Ting. He didn't log into the forum often, and only learned of the post at 7:00 AM, when his subordinate told him.
"Yuanshi Tianzun must have gone for revenge. How did he find the Southern School Elder's hiding place?"
"Upstairs, that's not the point. The point is that he actually succeeded in assassinating a Ruler."
"Could the intelligence be wrong? Surely other Rulers were involved, but the Five Elements Alliance is promoting him, so they're giving him all the credit? Think about it, is it possible for a Saint to assassinate a Ruler?"
"Yuanshi Tianzun isn't the Alliance Leader's son. Considering his relationship with headquarters, promote him? Headquarters would love to stomp on him."
"I just checked the Five Elements Alliance forum. Someone has reconstructed the battle. A Ruler was indeed involved, a Si Ming, but she was only providing support. Do I need to explain what a Si Ming is? According to surveillance footage, the battle lasted one minute and thirty-six seconds. The Si Ming only entered near the end. That means Yuanshi Tianzun was the main force in assassinating the Southern School Elder. It's unbelievable. The Five Elements Alliance is in an uproar."
"A Saint killing a Ruler, that's like a cow flying on an airplane, awesome beyond belief."
"It's terrifying. Prodigies emerge every year. A few years ago, it was Marshal; the year before, it was Young Master Qian; last year, it was the Demon Lord; and now, Yuanshi Tianzun. And the previous ones are clearly not as good as him. At least at the Saint stage, Yuanshi Tianzun is the undisputed strongest."
"Elder Sun was a fool..."
Zhao Chenghuang scrolled through the comments, feeling a strong sense of frustration and powerlessness. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't catch up to Yuanshi Tianzun.
This caused a huge sense of frustration in the proud and arrogant Zhao Chenghuang.
.........
Public Security Bureau, Kangyang District, Songhai.
Tianxia Guihuo stared intently at the computer screen. He had read all the comments and watched the surveillance footage uploaded by his colleagues in the Hangzhou branch.
"He has Ruler-level items, and quite a few of them."
This was Tianxia Guihuo's analysis based on the intelligence.
Next was: "Yuanshi Tianzun wanted to kill the Sixth Elder of the Southern School to establish his authority, warning evil organizations not to target him. Maybe there was also a warning to headquarters. Not sure, I'll keep looking..."
Followed by: "Yuanshi Tianzun trusts the Palace Master of the Zhisha Palace more than official elders, even those in the Songhai branch."
Finally: "Regardless of his future relationship with headquarters, whether it's a split or a reconciliation, I must firmly maintain my relationship with Yuanshi Tianzun. He can give me things that are higher than what headquarters can offer."
After the analysis, he sighed softly, "Some people's existence is just to make others feel bad."
In front of Yuanshi Tianzun, his achievements were insignificant, his pride laughable. In the words of a somewhat melodramatic person, this man dominated an era, causing all the prodigies to bow their heads.
........
"Ding-dong, ding-dong..."
The phone's message notification sound rang incessantly. In the eighty-square-meter rented apartment, the little fatty stayed awake all night, constantly monitoring the Southern School's chat group, a chat software with servers overseas.
At 8:30 in the morning, the Southern School's chat group began to issue an emergency announcement, informing members that the Sixth Elder, "False Revolution," had returned to the spirit realm, killed by Yuanshi Tianzun's assassination.
The Southern School's higher-ups requested that illusionists in Jiangnan Province go into hiding soon and change their addresses because, according to the official style, they would certainly take advantage of this momentum to crack down.
The news came as a bombshell, exploding in the hearts of the Southern School's members, bringing a strong shock and suffocating fear.
The day before, they had been treating the assassination as a topic of conversation, feeling that Yuanshi Tianzun must have been scared out of his wits, and would only dare to cower in Songhai in the future, expressing extreme disdain and smugness.
Who knew that they would wake up to find that the Sixth Elder had been taken out by Yuanshi Tianzun.
Moreover, according to the official announcement, Yuanshi Tianzun had taken revenge personally. His means of locking onto the Sixth Elder left the Southern School's illusionists both bewildered and terrified.
It was still uncertain whether Yuanshi Tianzun's retaliatory actions would continue. If he could lock onto the Sixth Elder, he could certainly lock onto other illusionists as well.
Therefore, the Southern School's higher-ups told the organization members to change their addresses and lie low.
As for the elders, the terrible combat power displayed by this official genius made them feel apprehensive, even though no battle videos had been circulated.
"Yuanshi Tianzun's move has scared all the illusionists of the Southern School, tsk tsk, including the elders." The little fatty looked at the discussions in the Southern School's large and small groups, as if he could feel their panic through the screen.
This gave him a sense of pleasure in retaliating against the Grand Elder.
Suddenly, another announcement was posted in the group, saying:
【Latest Announcement: To prevent Yuanshi Tianzun from continuing to retaliate against the Southern School, the Grand Elder has decided to bestow life-saving means upon the Dream Manipulators and illusionists. All Dream Manipulators should go online immediately and gather in the Dream Hall.】
Seeing this information, the little fatty's heart tightened.
At this point in time, the Southern School should have figured out the course of events, knowing that Yuanshi Tianzun locked onto the Sixth Elder through Mirror Flower, and knowing that there wouldn't be many people applying for Mirror Flower's "waiter" position.
The Grand Elder wants to investigate the mole, no, the Grand Elder suspects it's me........ The little fatty wasn't flustered. He unplugged the phone charger, packed up the simple items he carried with him, and left with his bag.
He had received Yuanshi Tianzun's message at 3:00 AM, learning of the Sixth Elder's death. He stayed behind just to see the Southern School's response.
Sure enough, the Grand Elder immediately suspected him.
A loyal minister chooses a master to kill for. As soon as Liang Chen returned to the organization, the Sixth Elder was respectfully sent back to the spirit realm by Yuanshi Tianzun. Anyone with a normal IQ would make associations, and the Southern School is an evil organization, and evil organizations don't work with evidence.
Direct mind control, and then hypnosis, guidance, brainwashing, etc., there are plenty of ways to interrogate him.
So the little fatty didn't plan to put on the helmet and go to the Dream Hall. His mission was complete, and now he had to return to the Wuhen Hotel.
If Master Wuhen hasn't returned, then think of a way to get Little Yuan and Boss to move........ The little fatty left the temporary "occupied" rental house with his bag, without anyone knowing.
.........
At 9:00 AM, Zhang Yuanching opened his eyes in high spirits. In his arms was a soft, warm body, and before his eyes was a flash of bright red.
This made him swallow the words "Sister Guan Ya."
The Palace Master of the Zhisha Palace curled up next to him, clinging to him like an octopus, her dark hair spread out on the white pillow, echoing the saying that dark clouds fall on a pillow, emerald hair ornaments. (This is a rough translation, a more literal translation wouldn't make much sense).
And the slender waist under the red dress was in his embrace all night.
The Palace Master of the Zhisha Palace was breathing evenly, still in her sleep. Her face was covered with a silver mask, making it impossible to see her face, but Zhang Yuanching thought that the sleeping face underneath must be peaceful and sweet.
Should he take the opportunity to unveil it?
As soon as the thought appeared, Zhang Yuanching put his hand on the mask.
"Don't make trouble~"
A lazy voice came from under the silver mask, "Making a fuss so early in the morning, do you want to be hung up and beaten?"
A red thread popped out from the skirt and lightly pricked the back of his hand.
Zhang Yuanching felt pain and retracted his hand as if shocked by electricity.
He muttered, "Palace Master, are you very ugly? You don't dare to show me your true face."
The Palace Master of the Zhisha Palace widened her beautiful eyes and hummed, "Have you ever seen an ugly Musician!"
The charm of a Musician is comparable to that of a Love-Desire profession.
"That's true." Zhang Yuanching nodded. "Palace Master is definitely worried about being too beautiful, making me feel inferior."
"Right, right, then hug me again."
Since her mental illness was cured, her personality had also changed a bit. Occasionally, she would act like a little girl who wanted kisses and hugs.
Zhang Yuanching hugged her while checking his phone.
Before the action last night, he had put his phone on airplane mode. After the action ended, he reported that he was safe to Guan Ya, sent a notification to the little fatty, and then turned on airplane mode again.
Otherwise, his phone would be blown up with calls this morning.
Zhang Yuanching first ignored the information in the chat groups, replying to the messages of "Niulanshan Little Fairy", "Peony Fairy", "Crossing the River Pawn" and others one by one.
He also declined the invitation from the Demon Eye: "I'll take you to kill the Three Dharma Protectors."
Next, he replied to his mother-in-law's concern. His mother-in-law had heard about his assassination of the Southern School Elder, and asked him with concern whether he was injured or suffered heavy losses.
Then, one sentence, "My son is indeed a dragon among men," and another sentence, "Dear son, you are really great," as if she had given birth to Zhang Yuanching instead of Guan Ya.
Now Fu Xue's mind is full of the son-in-law Yuanshi Tianzun, and she doesn't even think about the Miller family's silly son.
Recently, she not only shines in social situations, but also holds her head high in the Fu family, and can even stand shoulder to shoulder with the elder brother who cultivated Fu Qingxuan.
The daughter you raised is very good, but my daughter is also good, how good her vision is, she found a little milk dog with the resources to be an Alliance Leader.
With one hand around the Palace Master, Zhang Yuanching held his phone behind her head with the other, sending messages to Little Yuan and Guan Ya, expressing his longing, but because of the environment, telling them never to call him.
The Palace Master of the Zhisha Palace couldn't see the phone screen behind her head, so she asked him, who are you chatting with?
Zhang Yuanching said, I'm sending messages to my grandmother.
The Palace Master of the Zhisha Palace said in surprise, is your grandmother called Guan Ya or "Magic Auntie Little Yuan"?
Zhang Yuanching turned his head and realized that there was also a round mirror behind his head, and the Palace Master of the Zhisha Palace was holding a small mirror to spy on him sending messages.
Then Zhang Yuanching was hung upside down by the smiling Palace Master.
"When you are hugging me, you better not flirt with other women." The Palace Master stretched out her finger with a strange smile, drawing circles on his lower abdomen: "Otherwise, I will be angry, you should reflect on it."
With a bang, she exploded into thousands of silk threads and drilled out of the open window.
Really, a madwoman is still a madwoman........ Zhang Yuanching sighed and continued to reply to messages with his phone.
Five minutes later, after he finished flirting with Little Yuan and Guan Ya, he opened the official forum.
As he expected, the forum was now in an uproar comparable to "So-and-so Heavenly King cheated on a young model", "So-and-so top celebrity surrogacy", Zhang Yuanching was already used to it.
When he was conquering S-level dungeons, it was the low- and mid-level Extraordinary that were shocked, while the Executives commented with a high and mighty attitude.
When he defeated the Three Saints of Heavenly Punishment in the Ten Thousand Mountains, it was the Saints' turn to kneel down and shout "Lord Tianzun 666".
Now that he has killed a Ruler, it's the official elders who are alarmed.
"The old guys at headquarters should also be shocked, especially Elder Cai. Anyway, there is no possibility for him to reconcile with me. Before hiding, I will stimulate him again and make him unable to sleep peacefully........"
Thinking of this, Zhang Yuanching opened a post:
#Whoever Offends Me, No Matter What Their Identity or Camp, Will Be Punished#
.........
Headquarters!
Secretary Zhou kicked away the broken white porcelain cup at his feet, grabbed the landline with a gloomy face, and dialed Elder Cai's phone.
His computer screen showed "This post does not exist".
Yuanshi Tianzun's post had been deleted. Secretary Zhou personally called the forum administrator to delete it, because many bottom-level practitioners speculated for no reason, saying that Yuanshi Tianzun was implicitly referring to certain elders at headquarters.
The people below don't keep their mouths shut, and their sarcastic remarks are particularly harsh. When can the people at the bottom point fingers at the high-ranking power holders?
Those barefooted people can only enjoy themselves verbally, so they can be ignored, but Yuanshi Tianzun's attitude made Secretary Zhou furious on the spot.
He knew that Yuanshi Tianzun was demonstrating, demonstrating with soft knives.
When did a mere Saint dare to be so presumptuous!
This is different from the previous resistance. Yuanshi Tianzun's previous resistance was limited to slamming the table and scolding people. The nature is different from now.
The phone was connected. Listening to the faint sound of sea waves coming from the other side, Secretary Zhou said in a deep voice:
"Leader, he is threatening us, he is telling us that new and old accounts will be settled sooner or later. He is just a Saint, but he dares to threaten us. Does he really think we are just paper tigers?
"Leader, we must take action."
Elder Cai's cold and peaceful voice came: "Little Zhou, are you afraid?"
..........
ps: I will update the misspellings later.