____

Sheng Lingyuan helplessly thought: "Is this attached to any apparatus?"　
____

　　This time, Sheng Lingyuan was "awakened" by the sound of beating gongs and drums.

　　The last time he opened his eyes, he found himself lying in the damaged coffin in the barren hills, and his brain was cleaner than his body. He didn"t know where he was, also didn"t know who he was, and only had a skill of being forced to trade by the sacrificial writing.

　　This time he didn"t want to remember, however bearing the lingering death and the eighty-one Heavenly Thunder were extremely unforgettable. That feeling was still lingering until then, and even though his body was scattered as ashes, every single thread of his soul still trembled in pain endlessly. 　

　　Oh, that"s right, by all accounts, he shouldn"t be a "corpse" to swindle ……but what was going on here?

　　These younger generations had not finished! In that case, should they not pay homage to the devil?
　　
　　The sound of beating gongs and drums were getting livelier and livelier, and there was a man who poured all his energy to roaring and panting. Sheng Lingyuan tolerated and listened to it for a while, his splitting headache getting more severe, and he thought to himself: "Where is this evil spirit weeping in this grave?"

　　At this moment, the footsteps approached and someone helped him up. The pain of the sacrificial writing"s thousand cuts on his flesh still remained, so his senses were very chaotic at this moment. It was only after a while that he found that the man took a piece of cloth of unknown material, and wiped it over him in an improper manner.
　　
　　What kind of person... was so bold? 　

　　Sheng Lingyuan suddenly opened his "eyes", a face was very close in front of him. The nose tip of the other side almost stuck to him, even the eyelashes were clear, outlining a pair of elegant eyes. Sheng Lingyuan stared blankly, and as he saw this person, he huffed a breath on his body and wiped him again with a ringing sound, unhappily murmuring:  "What the h.e.l.l, still can"t wipe it clean?" 　

　　Sheng Lingyuan: " ..."   

　　It"s extremely impudent!

　　He recognized it as the little demon with a lot of tricks, and the little demon muttered as he retreated a little, Sheng Lingyuan just found his viewpoint was strange … he seemed to be lying in someone else"s arms.

　　This little demon changed into quirky clothes, like some wool was used to make fine lines, and the craftsmanship was incredibly fine, but there was no magical attachments, it was milky white, and very clean. Sheng Lingyuan judged that he should normally be quite pampered, otherwise he would not wear such a delicate and useless clothes.

　　Although didn"t know why he dressed like a bellwether, but the soft wool rubbing on his body was very comfortable. The little demon"s body temperature gently penetrated through it. Sheng Lingyuan"s pain, which still seemed to be cut by thousands of knives, was immediately relieved a lot. His consciousness also became clearer and brighter afterwards. He tried to feel his body, but all of his limbs were numb. He could "see" and "hear" with some kind of layer around him, but these feelings were not from the five senses.
　　
　　Sheng Lingyuan helplessly thought: "Is this attached to any apparatus?"　

　　"There has never been a situation like this before," the little demon — Xuan Ji picked up the little box that could "transmit a sound to thousand miles" from the side, and Sheng Lingyuan heard him say to the box, "Search on the internet, "how to clean up blood stain on the sword"."

  　　The small box sent out an average solemn female voice replied: "Here is the webpage related to "how to clean up blood stain on the sword"." 　

　　""The public baths can be cleaned"…What the h.e.l.l! "Wipe with handkerchief"... what a c.r.a.p," Xuan Ji frowned and pondered for a while. Probably, other people had never seen a sword stained with blood, so he said to the phone, "Search online ……… uh , "how do girls wash their pants when they have period?"""

       Sheng Lingyuan: "..."

　　Although he didn"t understand it, the intuition of the question was definitely not a good word. 　

　　The pain dulled for a while, Sheng Lingyuan began to feel that this posture was a bit awkward —- mostly, that young man"s hands were very busy, one hand was holding the murmuring "small box", the other hand was so idle that he was constantly tapping on his body to respond the drum beat sound.
　
　　Suddenly, a clang sounded softly — something b.u.mped on his body, making his heart gently skip a beat.

　　His heart had probably not skipped for too long — only occasionally alarmed, and seemed extraordinarily solemn. 　

　　"Yes," Sheng Lingyuan remembered after a distraction, "He had a ring on his hand."

　　The ring"s surface seemed to be broken, and the moment the non-existing ring hit him, the temperature seemed to be higher than the palm of the little demon, which was reminiscent of the small flames in the cold winter wind, warm and captivating. 　

　　"What was that?" Sheng Lingyuan looked over carefully at Xuan Ji"s somewhat steep lower jaw, thinking to himself. 　　

　　Until now, there were only a few intermittent images in his mind, not organized, and most of those images were b.l.o.o.d.y, miserable screaming reaching through the skies. Looking at the gloomy sacrifice that awakened him, he probably was not a good thing before.

　　"Nanming fire guardian" — Sheng Lingyuan did not remember this t.i.tle. It was quite familiar, but he didn"t know why. He instinctively didn"t want to think about it, and with just a slight thought, the kind of pain that even he couldn"t bear would make a comeback.　

　　"Who the h.e.l.l are you?" 　

　　Seeing the little talking on the "small box" and one side immediately afterwards sang along with the gongs and drums, so it turned out to be a male"s shouting voice, which changed into two people howling at each other … it"s not even in tune.　　

　　"Tsk," Sheng Lingyuan paused, thinking and made a final conclusion, "donkey." 　

　　At this time, a ding dong sounded from the outside, and the "donkey brother" who was singing at the top of his voice was interrupted. As if he was responding to the sound, he briefly pardoned Sheng Lingyaun"s ears, got up and walked away.

　　Sheng Lingyuan was put aside by him, feeling that a bed-like thing was under his body — narrow, long and soft — and as soon as he fell into it, it immediately sank down. He didn"t know what kind of a cozy place it was.

　　A part of his heart was amazed, and on the other hand, he took the opportunity to look around the house, and it was very cramped — the roof was especially low, but barely enough to use, and ordinary people would not b.u.mp their heads — the room was well lit, because the whole wall was facing the windows in the south, which were only covered up with thin tulle curtains, and a large expanse of sunlight broke in and spread on half of the room. The window was also covered with extravagant "gems" just like in the previous place called "hospital", only that this looked a lot cleaner and brighter than the hospital. There was a "disk" in the middle of the ceiling, and Sheng Lingyuan guessed that this was used for lighting. He had also seen it in the "hospital" before, although the shapes were not the same, but the hanging positions were similar. The furniture around was very weird, and at first glance, the materials were a little shabby, but with a closer look, it seemed that all of them had their own mystery and it was not good to jump to conclusions.

　　The room was not absolutely dustless, but it was neither messy. It was tidy and very comfortable... except for a bit of noisiness — there was a small square box on the low cabinet at the corner, and there was a man hollering inside that thing.　

　　Xuan Ji led a man inside whom Sheng Lingyuan had never seen before: "Don"t change your shoes, just sit anywhere, want to drink something?"

　　The man was wearing a navy blue colored "chang pao*", the cloth hung stiffly, and his facial appearance seemed to have frustrations. Sheng Lingyuan carefully looked at him for a moment, thinking to himself: "A mortal, but there is a little bit hint of Lei Ze small beast (Note)."

*a traditional chinese men"s robe

　　Wasn"t that right, if the Qing Ping Division had disappeared for almost a thousand years, those mixed half-demons crowd, if they left behind descendants, there would still be little of a thin bloodline left.

　　 The visitor was Xiao Zheng. Director Xiao"s whole body was tired and covered in dust. As soon as he entered the door, he was almost paralyzed to death by heavy metal: "Close it, close it, and quickly — what about quality? The people next door would be calling the police in a moment! Give me a bottle of water."

　　"In the daytime, they go to work or go to school. How would there be someone?" Xuan Ji took a bottle of mineral water from the fridge and threw it at him, and also moved Sheng Lingyuan from the sofa then put him in the corner.

　　Sheng Lingyuan felt that this object attached to him is half as tall as the person who had just arrived, had quite a lot of weight, and made a m.u.f.fled sound when colliding with the floor.

　　There was a vague speculation in his heart immediately, and as soon as Xuan Ji walked away, the mirror that was too clear at the corner of the inner room shone over...

　　As expected.

　　He sighed in his heart: "It is actually the sword."

　　The sword blade was more than three feet, not to mention that it was two palms wide, and the complex patterns were engraved near the blood groove .... it looked familiar, he must had seen it somewhere before. Sheng Lingyuan stared at the pattern for a moment, but had no clue. He remembered that the sword was pulled out from the back spine of the little demon, and it meant that it was somewhat originally a magic weapon. It belonged to fire, and its nature was to subdue cold and yin things.

　　And he himself was the coldest, most yin thing.

　　However, instead of rejecting him, the sword seemed to be carefully warming up his soul.

　　How strange.

　　"Did you just come from Director Huang?" Xuan Ji sat down with his legs crossed, easily turning up a plate of nuts from the bottom of the coffee table. "What did he say?"　

　　"The Head Office decided to officially file a case for the investigation in which field personnel used mirage b.u.t.terflies to conceal the number of casualties. Director Huang asked me to come over to you," Xiao Zheng got straight to the point, "There was an emergency meeting in the "Penglai", arguing for a week, Director Huang really can"t take on. You know what "Penglai" is, don"t you?"

　　Xuan Ju grabbed a handful of melon seeds and cracked a seed to eat: "Not quite clearly, but I"ve roughly guessed it, tell me."　

　　""Special Abilities" are relatively few, and the minority groups like to gather together and huddle together, you know. In addition to being recruited by the Head Office as a civil servant, most of the remaining Special Abilities can be in a few relatively large organizations."

　　Xiao Zheng paused, then explained, "These organizations are similar to us as private inst.i.tutions to the public, and if in ancient times, I a.s.sumed that they could be called "sects." These private inst.i.tutions are certainly impossible to eliminate, and the forced ban is not realistic. It"s better to coexist peacefully, and if there is something, we can help each other. But for the sake of public safety, the Head Office cannot completely allow them, so a "Penglai Safety Federation" was established, which is an "industry self-regulatory organization". Over the years, our relationship with these non-governmental organizations has been subtle that we have always been working together while suppressing each other at the same time." 　

　　Xuan Ji listened as if it was a storytelling, and after eating the seeds, he began to peel off the pistachio nuts: "The result is that your Head Office has made a big scandal." 　

　　Xiao Zheng: "This matter must be self-examined, in theory should be returned to the Reparations..." 　

　　"Shh—" Xuan Ji said, "I can"t come, can"t come, don"t touch me*."

*莫挨老子, mo ai lao zi, is a popular SNS expression, kinda an aggressive one, refer to meme below:

　"There are too many people involved here. Looking for anyone who had worked in the field to check, including me, we all must be self-examined. It"s not clear," Xiao Zheng explained with patience. "Only you are a newcomer, and now in the Reparations Department, and Director said at the Penglai Meeting...." 　

　　Xuan Ji interrupted him: "Speaking of that demonic b.u.t.terfly, there is a question I want to ask: the larva of that thing, or the b.u.t.terfly eggs or something... what is likely to happen? — You guys just put it out like that, and you didn"t even think about what to do if it spread in the crowd?" 　　

　　"That wouldn"t be the case, the stolen b.u.t.terfly eggs have been treated specially," Xiao Zheng said. "It"s just parasitic on human body, and it won"t reproduce. When the human body is dead, the b.u.t.terfly will follow death." 　　

　　Xuan Ji: "That"s not enough, what else must be investigated?"

　　Xiao Zheng had a premonition that he couldn"t expect to hear good words from this man, and the blue veins on his forehead begin to jump in advance. 　

　　"People who are parasitized by b.u.t.terflies live well and work in peace, and friends and family around them do not know. It"s good to not be aware of it, and living muddle headed for your whole life is not that bad? If you want me to say that, I will go to the old director and that partner Bi Chunsheng talked about," Xuan Ji said slowly and leisurely that his tongue might have some special function. While cracking the nuts, he was also talking at the same time, neither were affecting each other, "They left behind traces on the things that they have committed, and it"s useless to deny it. For the sake of the big picture, it"s better to just simply recognize it. They have to cooperate to make the overall situation have a face, and the organization also will not let them have substance. Even if they can"t fight for leniency, they will be able to live behind the bars in the future."

　　"You..."

　　"As for Gong Cheng Gong, I heard about the goods, and it"s absolutely deserved to have this end. Let them find someone to recognize and say that they have used a kind of unexplainable extinct sorcery — anyway, you cannot explain much about the sorcery, just make up one, and I can"t make it up for you."

　　"Are you talking in human language?" Xiao Zheng was unable to take it anymore and grabbed his nut plate. "Cracking seeds! You, parrot!"

　　"Our Reparations Department, our job is b.u.t.t-wiping," Xuan Ji threw the last pine nuts into his mouth, clapped his hands, and educated Xiao Zheng with an earnest heart, "No matter how dirty a b.u.t.t you are facing, use a gentle and soft toilet paper. Taking a sandpaper to use for cleaning can cause death. Oh dear, I say old Xiao, in the end, both of us are newcomers, and you are also an old man, why don"t you understand that?"

　　Director Xiao got high blood pressure from his "b.u.t.t wiping" nonsense.

　　"Your old Huang definitely means this too," Xuan Ji said. "If you don"t believe it, you go back and ask... hey, don"t drop my door, I"ve already changed the locks a thousand times."

　　Xiao Zheng was like a firecracker, even when n.o.body touched him he was already a "fire hazard", yet now meeting the one that likes to set things on fire like Xuan Ji, for him to explode several times a day is not even that much. Once again, Xuan Ji set off Director Xiao like lighting sky firecrackers without feeling any stress. Taking advantage of his "injury and sick leave", he slowly made himself three dishes and one soup. This day was not good at all, so he took a nap with his inherited fate sword, which "ran away from home" and refused to return.　　

　　Maybe he ate too much, or the curtains were not pulled properly, but he didn"t sleep very well. He had been half-asleep and half-awake. He had a lot of scattered dreams, and always in a daze, growing illusions, as if there was another person"s breathing near him...

　　Another person?

　　When he was awakened by the phone, he was stunned for a few seconds, feeling a little strange. He suspected that he had been single for a long time, and that he almost had a dream that was inappropriate for children.

　　Xuan Ji rubbed his face and sat up: "Hey, Director Xiao, what new instructions are there..."

　　"Something is wrong with the parasitized boy," Xiao Zheng interrupted him, "He"s probably infected! Come here quick, you beak mouth, major in curse specialization?"

The author has something to say:

Note: Lei Ze (Thunder lake ) small beast -  the original text of Cla.s.sics of Mountain and Sea says "Thunder G.o.d", human head with dragon body.
Original: There are Thunder G.o.ds in Lei Ze, with a dragon body and a human head, drumming its belly, located in Wuxi.

T/N:

Penglai is actually a legendary land of Chinese mythology. In Chinese mythology, the mountain is often said to be the base for the Eight Immortals, or at least where they travel to have a ceremonial meal.