Chapter 372

Chapter 372: Intel on Yun Qing Zi

After a lot of coaxing, Princess Rapunzel finally finished her nightmare essay. Then, in the blink of an eye, she sprinted out the door. Yu Sheng watched her twist her hair into a glider and leap off the Cloud-Viewing Terrace. Optimistically, she should’ve already reached the halfway point of the mountain to meet Cinderella and the others.

Less optimistically, she was probably hanging in a tree.

Little Red Riding Hood put down her phone and stepped forward with a helpless expression to help Rapunzel clean up the pile of worksheets and practice books she’d thrown across the coffee table the moment she finished. She sorted everything with practiced efficiency and stuffed it into a backpack.

Yu Sheng watched from the side. His gaze snagged on the essay title again, and his eyelid twitched.

“She’s been like that since she was little,” Little Red Riding Hood said casually. “She gets crazy when there are people around. But even so, she became a guardian of Fairy Tale. When she goes out on missions, she’s pretty reliable.”

“Sure,” Yu Sheng said, tugging at the corner of his mouth. “It’s just… that essay blindsided me.”

He hesitated, then added, more thoughtful, “But now that I think about it, wasn’t she the first one in Fairy Tale to call me ‘bro’? Most people say it out of politeness. She’s the one who says it every day. I’m almost used to it.”

Little Red Riding Hood paused while packing, then said quietly, “Probably because she really had a brother before.”

Yu Sheng blinked. “She really had a brother?!”

“Yeah. A long time ago.”

“A long time ago?” Yu Sheng frowned. “Then what happened?”

“Her brother didn’t want her anymore.” Little Red Riding Hood lifted her eyes, stating it like a simple fact. “A lot of us were thrown away by our parents. She was thrown away by her brother.”

Yu Sheng: “…”

“But that was when she was really, really little,” Little Red Riding Hood continued, shaking her head. “I don’t think she remembers now. I don’t know the details. I was still in kindergarten back then. I only heard it later from other guardians. She probably just kept a vague impression of ‘brother,’ or maybe deep down she felt like she was supposed to have one.”

She glanced at Yu Sheng.

“So I’ve always thought it’s a good thing she calls you ‘bro.’ That word has become something happy for her now.”

Yu Sheng didn’t respond right away. He watched Little Red Riding Hood’s quick, practiced motions, then finally let out a quiet sigh.

“You take really good care of your brothers and sisters.”

Little Red Riding Hood looked up. “Why are you suddenly getting emotional? Though I do think I’m doing pretty well…”

Yu Sheng laughed and raised his hand. She met it in a light high-five.

Then, still at home, Yu Sheng grabbed a random Irene, slung her over his shoulder, left Wu Tong Road 66, and opened a door straight to the Parted Clouds Palace.

Not long after he arrived in the grand hall, Immortal Yuan Ling hurried over with Xuan Che appearing alongside him.

“I was refining pills just now, so I received your message a bit late,” Immortal Yuan Ling said the moment they met. “You said there was something urgent? What happened?”

Yu Sheng went straight to the point. “Have you ever heard the name Yun Qing Zi?”

“Yun Qing Zi?” Immortal Yuan Ling froze, then searched his memory even as he spoke. “It feels like I’ve heard it… Where did you hear that name? Why bring it up?”

“In a dream, but I don’t think it was just a dream.” Yu Sheng didn’t hide anything. He laid out the entire illusion experience in one breath. “…That’s what I saw. It might be related to the ‘information’ carried by the Otherworld I recently brushed against, and it all points toward the Emperor Lord’s legacy. Yun Qing Zi appeared at the end. He seemed to be a spectator like me. The moment he noticed me, he attacked.”

Yu Sheng described Yun Qing Zi in detail, then added, “His mental state didn’t seem normal. He was… twitchy.”

Before Immortal Yuan Ling could respond, Irene—still on Yu Sheng’s shoulder—widened her eyes.

“Huh? You ran into something that big in a dream and you didn’t call me?”

“Why would I call you?”

“To fight with you!” Irene said, like it was obvious. “I’m really strong in dreams, did you forget? And maybe I can see through things you can’t!”

“…I didn’t think of it,” Yu Sheng said awkwardly, then tried to patch it. “And there was no time. He didn’t even say hello—he rushed me. I wasn’t done reacting before he finished his entire threatening-speech routine.”

“I don’t care! Next time, you call me immediately, especially for weird dreams like that!” Irene puffed up. “It’s dangerous. And you react so slowly in dreams, you won’t even know you got played.”

“Okay, okay, I get it…”

Immortal Yuan Ling’s expression had turned serious halfway through Yu Sheng’s explanation. By the time Yu Sheng finished, the old man’s face was heavy, clearly thinking of something. After a brief silence, his gaze sharpened. He looked up and exchanged a look with Xuan Che.

“Could it be…” Immortal Yuan Ling said slowly, “…the Exiled Immortal of the Frontier, Yun Qing Zi?!”

“The Exiled Immortal of the Frontier?” Yu Sheng stopped bickering at once. “What does that mean? He’s actually famous?”

“Not famous,” Immortal Yuan Ling said. “Ancient.”

Yu Sheng’s face went blank. “Huh?”

“He’s a figure from the previous era,” Immortal Yuan Ling said solemnly. “Do you remember what I told you before? In the early days, when Grand Void Spiritual Axis history was being remade—before the current five-sects co-rule structure stabilized—Grand Void had many powerful ancestor patriarchs. Later, as the chaotic aftershocks of the Second Singularity gradually calmed, new forces rose within Grand Void Spiritual Axis and reached a consensus. Many ancestor patriarchs faded from the world. Aside from those who fell early, the rest either fled far away, secluded themselves to cultivate, or lived under false names while wandering the mortal world…”

“I remember,” Yu Sheng said quickly. “You mean… this Yun Qing Zi is one of those reclusive ancestor patriarchs?”

“I can only think of that one,” Immortal Yuan Ling replied, brows furrowed. “But he wasn’t just reclusive. According to records, we all believed he died a thousand years ago.”

“…Died?”

“Yun Qing Zi last appeared publicly on a desolate alien planet near the Featherwing-13B border,” Immortal Yuan Ling said in a low voice. “After five-sects co-rule stabilized and the ancestor patriarchs went into seclusion, he also vanished. But every three to five hundred years, he would still appear once—usually near the border—until a thousand years ago.

“A border outpost observed a terrifying impact. A barren star was struck by an unknown force.

“When we investigated afterward, we found damaged monitoring equipment. The records showed Yun Qing Zi was on that barren star at the time.

“He seemed to be fighting something… and losing. At the final moment, he burned his very spirit, drawing void-devouring to himself and causing that terrifying impact.

“Afterward, we found only fragments of a drained body and a vast stretch of scorched earth—blood burned away into ash. And for the next thousand years, Yun Qing Zi never appeared again.”

Yu Sheng listened in silence. Irene blinked, then said, “That really does sound like he died… His body basically exploded into scorched dirt.”

“That’s been the conclusion all along.” Immortal Yuan Ling stroked his beard. “But people like him have countless unbelievable life-saving methods. Some even possess techniques close to reincarnation. Back then, we only found part of the remains on that barren star. We truly can’t be one hundred percent sure he fell.”

“Couldn’t you determine what he was fighting?” Yu Sheng asked. “And what was he like before? Was he twitchy then, too?”

“No.” Immortal Yuan Ling shook his head. “A thousand years ago, Grand Void Spiritual Axis wasn’t as strong or advanced as it is now. Most of Featherwing-13B was still uninhabited barren star, especially the border region. At best you’d have an outpost and a few self-running automatons. Aside from powerful cultivators who could build their own cave dwellings on desolate alien planets, no one approached places like that. We had far too little intelligence.

“As for his temperament… I didn’t know him personally, but by reputation, he wasn’t crazy at all. On the contrary, he was known for being refined and easygoing.”