Chapter 356

Chapter 357: Zheng Zhi is amazed

The Cursed Children of “Fairy Tale” heard about the outdoor trip fast, and soon the “parents” brought the dollheads to Yu Sheng. The little ones wore yellow hats and carried small canteens like a real field trip. They ran out onto the Cloud Viewing Terrace of Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain and were stunned by the sea of clouds and immortal peaks.

The whole terrace filled with their cheers and chatter.

Zheng Zhi, who had been outside scrolling videos, jumped in surprise at the sight. When he saw Snow White and Cinderella carrying heaps of snacks to spread on the ground like they were about to host a picnic for the Cursed Children, he checked with Yu Sheng again and again that the paperwork was okay. Only then did he relax and say from the heart: “No wonder the Bureau told me this job mainly needs a big heart.”

While they talked, Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella had set up tents-they planned to sleep on the terrace tonight.

Yu Sheng looked at the immortal peaks and lucky clouds, then at 66 Wutong Road not far away. He had no idea if this counted as wilderness survival or just camping at his own front Door. Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain really was the number?one sect on the Grand Void Spiritual Axis. Their gate area was top tier.

Then a plume of glow rose at the horizon and shot over. Immortal Yuan Ling landed on the Cloud Viewing Terrace with a few young disciples.

The old man arrived to find more than seventy children picnicking and camping at the top of a celestial mountain.

The Cursed Children cheered at once. A sage?like grandpa landing from the sky with several flying brothers and sisters didn’t scare kids who had grown up dealing with “Fairy Tale” and the Otherworld. It only excited them. The bold ones had already run up. Immortal Yuan Ling smiled so hard his wrinkles were about to smooth out: “Good, good, everyone have fun… good children, ha ha, good children.”

“You came in person?” Yu Sheng asked, surprised, as he went to greet him.

“I came to take a look,” Immortal Yuan Ling said, beaming. “I’ve always liked children. Every year when the sect opens early lessons and recruits, I go myself. Watching innocent kids is nicer than staring at blockheads who can’t figure out a furnace and spend two months failing to refine a single pill.”

Yu Sheng laughed: “Even blockheads grew up from those same innocent kids.”

“Which is why you should admire them while they’re cute and fun,” Immortal Yuan Ling stroked his beard. “Once they grow up, they only give you headaches.”

Yu Sheng glanced over at Rapunzel, who was egging the King on to send lumberjacks into the forest to chop wood for a bonfire. [Some people are a headache even before they grow up.]

Thankfully, most of the “Fairy Tale” parents were steady-at least Little Red Riding Hood was always reliable.

After shutting down Rapunzel’s bold idea of lighting a fire on the Cloud Viewing Terrace, Little Red Riding Hood took a few other parents to meet the Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain disciples and handle registration.

Yu Sheng stood with Immortal Yuan Ling, watching the lively scene.

Then the Immortal spoke as if casually: “Tomorrow, Immortal Qian Ji of Reclining Cloud Ten Halls will come in person. The Ten Halls don’t have a sect leader; Immortal Qian Ji is the First Elder and leads them.”

“…The First Elder himself? And so soon?” Yu Sheng was startled. “Did they find something huge from those Assault Titans?”

“I didn’t see it, but Reclining Cloud Ten Halls clearly did,” Immortal Yuan Ling said mildly. “I only had people remove the armor from the Titan’s back, traced the mechanism layout, and sent it to Immortal Qian Ji. He immediately rushed over.”

Irene, lying on Yu Sheng’s shoulder, piped up: “Did they confirm whether those Assault Titans were built by them?”

Immortal Yuan Ling slowly shook his head.

“Immortal Qian Ji didn’t say much,” he continued. “He said the Ten Halls have no record of that model of Automaton, but the Mechanism Core looked suspicious. We’ll speak in detail tomorrow. I came now also for this. When Immortal Qian Ji arrives, are you willing to meet?”

Yu Sheng raised his brows.

“After all, you discovered the Assault Titans first,” Immortal Yuan Ling explained. “You know the scene best.”

“That’s true,” Yu Sheng nodded. “Alright, I’ll come tomorrow.”

“Very good,” the Immortal said with a smile. Then he hesitated, thought a moment, and added, “There is one more matter.”

“Go ahead,” said Yu Sheng.

“Xuan Che told me something,” Immortal Yuan Ling said, his expression turning a bit odd. “This ‘Medical Brawl Exploding Fist’ technique-he said Miss Irene taught it. Is that true?”

“…” Yu Sheng went silent. After a moment, he poked the little doll on his shoulder: “They’re asking you.”

Irene let the light fade from her eyes and flopped onto Yu Sheng’s shoulder, pretending to be dead.

She had played dead for barely three seconds when Immortal Yuan Ling stroked his beard and sighed with feeling: “That name has great spirit.”

At those six words, Irene sprang back to life and tilted her chin proudly: “Of course!”

Yu Sheng stared at the sage?like elder, needing a good five seconds to accept that those words had really come from him. [Culture shock is real. Civilizations differ. Every planet has its own taste.]

Then another thought hit him:

Irene had created a monster. From now on, this flourishing Immortal realm on the Grand Void Spiritual Axis would have Medical Immortals roaming the world, all trained in Medical Brawl Exploding Fist…

In the end, even this sacred place would become a “land blessed with outstanding people and strong spirit,” in the most literal way.

No one else seemed bothered. Irene and Immortal Yuan Ling had already reached a happy agreement and were now debating the final move of “Medical Way Killing Fist”-should it be called “Patient’s Family Calm Palm,” or “Medical Knowledge Infusion Palm”?

While Yu Sheng and Immortal Yuan Ling chatted, Zheng Zhi was talking with the “Fairy Tale” parents on the terrace.

Little Red Riding Hood looked him up and down: “So you’re the Door guard for the front door now?”

“…You could say that,” Zheng Zhi nodded. He knew why she stressed “front door.” The backyard at 66 Wutong Road also had a “back door” that opened straight to Borderland. “And there’s Brother Li-Li Lin. We’re partners.”

“I didn’t expect it. The first time I met you, you were a client,” Little Red Riding Hood said with feeling. “Not that it’s rare. Of all the clients I’ve known, several went on working with the Otherworld. Some became Independent Investigators. Some teamed up as Spirit Realm Detectives. But you’re the only one who actually joined the Special Affairs Bureau. Must be serious symptoms?”

“Not too bad,” Zheng Zhi said, rubbing his nose with a shy smile. He glanced at the vast cloud sea beyond the terrace. “I saw a lot of messy stuff in Boundary City. It’s better here. Maybe because this place is full of strange things-talking animals, shouting spirit herbs, weird birds swimming through clouds. Since I know this is an alien world, it doesn’t feel weird.”

Rapunzel sauntered over, heard the chat, and cut in: “Honestly, for someone with Spirit Vision that high, your mind is pretty steady. Usually, if you see that much wrong stuff without training, you get some kind of mental problem. On the good end, it starts at schizophrenia.”

Zheng Zhi jumped: “Is it that bad?”

“Oh yeah,” Rapunzel nodded seriously. “Think about it. Do you sometimes forget things for no reason, feel like a whole day got skipped, or black out while doing something and then find out you did stuff you don’t remember? Or you saw something super weird, passed out, and the next day woke up at home holding bloody veg-”

She didn’t finish, because Little Red Riding Hood smacked the back of her head: “Be quiet! Go watch the kids!”

“Tch-” Rapunzel pouted and wandered off.

Zheng Zhi blinked, confused, and asked Little Red Riding Hood: “…What does ‘bloody veg’ mean?”

“She meant a kitchen knife,” said Little Red Riding Hood.

“Oh.” Zheng Zhi rubbed his hair, then found his eyes drifting back to the distant cloud sea.

More and more strange, shadowy birds were swimming through the clouds. Was it because night was coming? In the sunset, the flock thickened into a dark mass.

“What are you staring at over there?” Little Red Riding Hood noticed his gaze and felt uneasy.

“The birds. Those shadow ones that swim through the clouds like fish,” Zheng Zhi said casually. “I’ve watched them all day. There are only a few in daylight, but the later it gets, the more there are.”

“…Hmm… huh?!” Little Red Riding Hood’s eyes widened at him. Then she snapped her head toward Yu Sheng and shouted: “Yu Sheng! The big nephew is seeing dirty things again!”

“What?!” said Yu Sheng.