Chapter 48#

The Apocalyptic Heavenly Master Who Is Innocent of the World’s Ways#

When Jiang Sile returned to the small building, he heard a familiar voice from inside. His heart leapt with joy and he quickened his pace, stepping into the courtyard.

It was Qin Yi, just as he’d thought.

Jiang Sile watched the man standing in the center of the yard. Years of military service had given him a soldier’s bearing—always standing tall and straight, posture impeccable. His hair was habitually shaved extremely short, his skin bronzed dark from the sun, and the contours of his face carried a sharp, severe edge. In terms of looks, Qin Yi was no match for Mu Fei, and his personality was rough and careless. He spoke bluntly and never bothered to consider anyone’s feelings.

But right now, at this very moment, those broad shoulders and strong back gave Jiang Sile an indescribable sense of security and reliability.

He saw Qin Yi tilt his head upward, gazing at the lush, sprawling tree. The man seemed to murmur something, then walked inside the house.

What was he looking at? Was there a cat hiding in the tree? Qin Yi had been a cat fanatic since childhood—he kept one at home and would always stop to watch and pet any stray cats he encountered. But that was impossible. In this apocalyptic world, the animals had long since mutated beyond recognition. Where would a stray cat come from?

But Qin Yi’s figure had already disappeared behind the door. Jiang Sile hurried after him, too preoccupied to dwell on it further.

Lu Heng sat in the crook of the tree’s branches, watching Jiang Sile’s retreating figure with thoughtful eyes. There seemed to be a trace of demonic energy clinging to this person—very faint, most likely not from that demon that had escaped. But Jiang Sile’s inner demon had grown heavier once again.

How to extract that demon from Jiang Sile’s body—he had no clue whatsoever. Lu Heng leaned back against the trunk with a flicker of irritation, feeling that he needed to eat something to replenish his brainpower.

When he and Qin Yi had descended the mountain earlier, their luck had been extraordinary—they’d encountered a surviving wild boar. The territory of the Heavenly Master Sect had not yet been tainted by demonic energy, so the animals hadn’t mutated and were perfectly safe to eat.

After they’d returned, Qin Yi had volunteered to cook his specialty—braised wild boar—for him. Just now, Qin Yi had come out to tell him that the food would be ready soon.

【Little Assistant, regarding this method for separating the inner demon—can’t you give me some kind of hint?】

【There’s no such thing. I’m merely an auxiliary system, not a cheat system.】

【You systems are way too outdated. You should develop some kind of golden finger shop—unlock it by level. That way, employees will actually be motivated to level up!】

【If we do all the work, then what do we need you for?】Little Assistant was merciless.

【…】

Jiang Sile followed Qin Yi into the house but didn’t see anyone in the living room. Then he heard sounds coming from the kitchen.

Qin Yi was concentrating intently on controlling the heat, starting to reduce the sauce. For braised pork to turn out well, the sauce reduction had to be just right. He heard someone enter behind him but didn’t have the attention to spare to look back.

“Yi Ge, you can actually cook?” Jiang Sile’s voice came from behind him.

“Mm.” Qin Yi’s gaze remained fixed on the dish in the pot.

Jiang Sile leaned in to take a look: “Braised pork. Speaking of which, this is Uncle’s specialty. I still remember going to your house for dinner when we were kids—Uncle always made this dish without fail.”

“Mm.” Qin Yi kept stirring the meat in the pot to prevent it from burning.

“Do you still remember…” Jiang Sile wanted to say more, but seeing that Qin Yi hadn’t even turned his head, he couldn’t help but grow a little irritated. “Yi Ge!”

“Xiao Le, whatever it is, wait until I’m done.” Qin Yi finished the final step, selected a generous portion of perfectly marbled meat and piled it into a large bowl, carrying it straight out. “The rest in the pot—call the brothers out to share it.”

Jiang Sile followed him out with displeasure on his face, but froze in the middle of the living room. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, he watched Qin Yi carry that bowl of braised pork to the great tree in the courtyard. The man looked up and said something. Then that youth called Yun Lan jumped down from the tree.

Lu Heng followed Qin Yi over to an outdoor chair in the yard and sat down. He saw the bowl of braised pork in Qin Yi’s hands—the color was a glistening red, trembling and luscious with oil, clearly the kind that would melt in your mouth.

“Let’s eat together.” Lu Heng picked up his chopsticks. He knew that if he didn’t say this, Qin Yi would probably just sit there watching him eat and consider himself full.

Qin Yi grunted in acknowledgment, then went back inside and came out with two more bowls of rice. The two of them began their lunch with the braised pork.

They’d barely eaten half their meal when they saw Yu Shan walk in somewhat hurriedly: “Boss, Wen Long and the others have gotten into it with the Song family!”

The Song family—one of the three powers controlling W Base. Before the apocalypse, the Song family had made their fortune in real estate. Rumor had it that many of their industries had been less than clean behind the scenes, which was why they’d been able to rapidly amass a force after the apocalypse and claim a position of power within W Base. The Song family patriarch, Song Youren, had a single son, Song Kunyu, whom he doted on like the apple of his eye—a late-life child, after all.

Song Kunyu had also been rather lucky—he’d recently awakened a rare electrical-type ability. The Song family, with their deep resources, had immediately pushed his ability all the way to level seven using crystal cores. This only made Song Kunyu’s already arrogant personality even more domineering of late. Since the legendary Boss Qin’s ability was supposedly only level eight, and that common fire-type ability at that, Song Kunyu had grown increasingly insufferable.

This Sun Wenlong was the captain of the third squad under Qin Yi. He had a hot temper and a strong sense of justice, and had always despised the Song family’s bullying young master, Song Kunyu. Hearing that they’d come to blows, Qin Yi wasn’t the least bit surprised.

“You eat slowly. I’ll go take a look.” Qin Yi said to Lu Heng, set down his bowl, and followed Yu Shan out of the yard.

Lu Heng thought for a moment, shoveled down the rest of his food in a few quick bites, and followed.

Inside the flea market, the scene was chaos.

The two sides faced off in a standoff.

On one side, the leader had a handsome face but murky, bleary eyes with bluish circles beneath them—a man whose body had clearly been hollowed out by drink and women. Purple lightning crackled between his hands, and even the onlookers standing at a distance could feel the terrifying power within it.

On the other side, the group exuded a battle-hardened aura. Their positions looked casual, yet every arrangement allowed them to rush to a teammate’s aid at a moment’s notice—clearly a combat squad that had been fighting together for years.

“That electrical ability really lives up to being ranked first in attack power. I reckon that Sun Wenlong is going to take a serious beating.”

“I heard Boss Song’s ability just hit level seven. Compared to Boss Qin, he might not be far behind.”

“That’s hard to say. An ability isn’t something you can flex just because of its level.”

The onlookers whispered among themselves from a safe distance.

Then Song Kunyu’s lightning came roaring toward Sun Wenlong’s squad. A soil-type ability user in the squad stomped the ground, raising a wall of earth to block the lightning’s path. But the electrical ability’s reputation as the supreme attack power wasn’t for nothing—the wall shattered into fragments upon impact.

Still, the lightning’s momentum had been checked. The squad members all seized the opportunity to dodge aside.

“Tch—” Song Kunyu laughed with disdain. This was merely an appetizer. He’d just broken through to level seven and was itching to find someone to spar with. Why would he kill these sparring partners who’d delivered themselves to his doorstep so quickly? Besides, he’d heard that Qin Yi had left the base a few days ago, so there was nothing to worry about.

After several more exchanges, Sun Wenlong’s side had managed to withstand a few combined attacks but was starting to look battered. On the other hand, Song Kunyu wasn’t even breathing hard. Finding it growing tedious, he decided it was time to wrap things up.

“For Boss Qin’s sake, I’ll spare your miserable lives.” Song Kunyu rubbed his palms together, and a bolt of lightning as thick as a bowl’s mouth appeared between his hands, crackling with violent energy.

This lightning was completely different from the half-hearted attacks before. If Sun Wenlong’s squad couldn’t dodge it, they’d likely be badly hurt.

In that critical instant, a shout rang out from the end of the street: “Stop!”

Everyone turned to see Qin Yi and Yu Shan approaching. But Song Kunyu’s attention was on something behind Qin Yi—he spotted another person appearing around the corner, clearly having followed Qin Yi here.

That person had a baby face, carried a strange sword on his back, and had a mop of curly hair. He looked like he’d be easy to bully. More importantly, Song Kunyu had seen Qin Yi bring this person into the base, and the way he’d treated him suggested the man was someone important.

He couldn’t touch Qin Yi for now, so he’d start with someone beside him. Song Kunyu’s eyes darted, and he feigned the appearance of being startled by Qin Yi’s sudden shout. His hand jerked, and the lightning bolt slipped from his grasp.

“Oh no! Watch out!” Song Kunyu even added a convincingly dramatic yell.

The onlookers’ jaws collectively hit the ground. This Song young master actually dared to provoke Boss Qin? But those with sharper eyes noticed that the lightning’s trajectory was headed well off-course from Boss Qin—even if Qin Yi didn’t move a muscle, it wouldn’t come close to touching him.

Qin Yi thought the same. He figured this Song Kunyu had just reached level seven and was feeling cocky enough to challenge him, but didn’t have the guts to come straight at him. Qin Yi stood in place, didn’t even twitch an eyebrow, and watched the lightning bolt pass by his side. But then he heard a startled cry from the crowd.

“Young man, duck!”

Qin Yi instinctively turned, and what he saw nearly tore his heart apart. Lu Heng had appeared behind him at some unknown moment, and that bolt of lightning was hurtling straight toward him.

Lu Heng’s strength surpassed his own by a considerable margin. A lightning bolt that didn’t faze him would naturally be no threat to Lu Heng. Qin Yi’s rational mind understood this completely. But deep in the recesses of his heart, an inexplicable terror rose—his very soul trembled, as if he had witnessed something like this before. He had no control over his body at all, and he was already sprinting toward Lu Heng.

Some of the more timid onlookers shut their eyes, not wanting to see the innocent bystander get struck into charcoal. But they watched as the youth drew the wooden sword from his back and flicked it in a casual slash—and the lightning bolt that seemed capable of destroying heaven and earth simply dissolved into nothing.

…

A heavy silence descended. Was this electrical ability all for show? That youth only had a wooden sword! How could a wooden sword dissipate an electrical ability? The script wasn’t supposed to go this way!

Qin Yi had no mind for anyone else’s thoughts. He rushed to Lu Heng’s side, grabbed him firmly by the shoulders, and looked him over from top to bottom several times before finally breathing a sigh of relief.

Lu Heng understood why this man was so agitated. These were likely things deeply etched into his very soul, constantly reminding him. Lu Heng felt a faint ache in his heart and wanted to do something, but Little Assistant chose that perfectly ill-timed moment to pop up with an OOC warning.

Lu Heng could only gaze at Qin Yi with innocent confusion: “Senior Brother?”

Hearing the words “Senior Brother,” Qin Yi finally snapped back to reality. He immediately felt he’d overreacted. The youth before him—who looked easy to bully on the outside—was someone capable of taking on a level nine zombie all by himself. That hollow showman Song Kunyu couldn’t possibly lay a finger on him.

Qin Yi’s mood was already turbulent when someone shamelessly chose that moment to insert themselves.

“Is this young man alright? I’m terribly sorry, Boss Qin.” Song Kunyu sauntered over. “I just reached level seven, so my control isn’t quite there yet. I nearly hurt this young man by accident. Surely you won’t hold it against me, Boss Qin?”

Qin Yi’s brow furrowed tightly. He released his grip on Lu Heng’s shoulders and stuffed his hands into his pockets. He could feel his fingers still trembling slightly, and he had no desire to speak.

Song Kunyu saw that Qin Yi was ignoring him, so he turned to Lu Heng instead: “Young man, I truly didn’t mean it just now. How about I treat you to a meal to make up for it?”

Lu Heng understood perfectly. This Song Kunyu had awakened a rare electrical ability, and the Song family was clearly getting restless. After all, holding one-third of W Base while having to keep their heads down couldn’t have been a comfortable position.

“No need to apologize. Your attack was too weak—you couldn’t have hurt me regardless.” Lu Heng spoke the blunt truth.

Pfft—

Stifled laughter rippled through the crowd. Yu Shan and Sun Wenlong, however, had no fear of the Song family whatsoever and burst into open, unrestrained laughter.

“Ha ha ha, Old Sun, let me tell you—I ran into the strangest thing during lunch earlier.” Yu Shan rubbed his face, which was cramping from laughing so hard, and said.

“What was it?” Sun Wenlong played his part as the perfect straight man.

“A fly flew past my ear, and guess what?” Yu Shan performed with dramatic flair. “It actually turned around and apologized to me, saying sorry for almost hurting me.”

This time, even the onlookers couldn’t hold it in anymore, and a wave of roaring laughter erupted. Song Kunyu’s face turned purple with fury. He took two rapid breaths, and ultimately swallowed his pride, turning on his heel and stalking away.

The onlookers gradually dispersed.

“Talk. What happened?” Qin Yi had finally gotten his emotions under control.

“Tch—I found something good at a stall. That brat from the Song family somehow decided to horn in on the deal. Whatever price I offered, he doubled it.” Even now, Sun Wenlong was still fuming at the mere memory. “I’ve never liked this guy to begin with, so things got physical.”

“The Song family has been making a lot of moves lately,” Yu Shan added.

“So what if Song Kunyu awakened an electrical ability? It’s given them delusions of grandeur.” Qin Yi waved his hand dismissively. In his eyes, Song Kunyu was nothing more than a clown performing for an audience. Even at level seven, if he’d never killed a single zombie with his own hands, he was just a paper tiger.

“Oh right, Boss Qin, look at this.” Sun Wenlong proudly produced a translucent object.

“This is… half a crystal core?” Qin Yi recognized it immediately.

“Neat, huh? The kid running the stall said he found it out in the wild. The shell of this crystal core—even a metal-type ability user can’t crack it open. No idea how it got split so cleanly in half…” Sun Wenlong was a chatterbox; once he got going, he could talk forever.

Qin Yi had no patience for his nonsense and turned to leave, but Lu Heng caught his arm.

“What is it?” Qin Yi asked.

Lu Heng pointed at the half crystal core.

“You want that?” Qin Yi saw Lu Heng nod and knew the man didn’t like initiating conversation with strangers. “Xiao Sun, what do you want for the crystal core?” he asked Sun Wenlong directly.

“Boss, come on, no need to be so formal—just take it. I only traded for it because it seemed interesting. Who knew that blind fool from the Song family…”

Seeing that Sun Wenlong was showing no signs of stopping, Qin Yi cut him off: “Cut the chatter. I’ve got a good bottle of wine—come by later to pick it up.”

“You got it!” Sun Wenlong beamed and tossed the crystal core to Qin Yi. Wine was a rare luxury in the apocalypse.

After bidding farewell to Sun Wenlong and the others, Qin Yi’s group returned to the small yard. They found several of the men who shared the building squatting in the courtyard, each with a bowl in hand, shoveling rice—topped with none other than the braised pork Qin Yi had just cooked.

“Save some for me!” Yu Shan shouted the moment he saw them, and was about to dash inside to grab a bowl and chopsticks.

One of the men stood up and grabbed Yu Shan: “I’m done, take my bowl. But you might want to hold off—those two lovebirds inside are fighting again.”

Yu Shan understood instantly. He took the bowl and casually asked: “What are they fighting about now?”

“Something about splitting rooms. Xiao Lin and I are betting they’ll actually separate this time. Da Qian and Old Li are betting it’s just a bluff.” Xiao He tilted his chin toward the building. “Want to place a bet too? One pack of cigarettes.”

Yu Shan was about to respond when he heard Qin Yi ask: “Lovebirds? What lovebirds?”

Everyone present except Lu Heng looked at their squad leader with an indescribable expression.

“Boss, you seriously didn’t know?” Yu Shan asked.

“Know what?” Qin Yi felt their stares were bizarre.

“Jiang Sile and Mu Fei are a couple!” Xiao He blurted out. Wasn’t this something everyone on the team already knew?

“What?!” Qin Yi looked as though his entire worldview had shattered.

Scratch that. It was something everyone on the team already knew—except their boss.

“Either you move out, or I move out!”

Everyone in the yard heard Jiang Sile’s furious roar from inside, and then watched as he stormed out in a rage. Seeing the crowd gathered in the courtyard, he didn’t pause—he charged straight out of the yard.

Mu Fei chased after him but was a step too late. Jiang Sile’s figure had already vanished. Helplessly, Mu Fei walked back.

“Wife ran off again?” Da Qian never missed a chance to be snide. These two would be fighting for a day or two at most before Mu Fei coaxed Jiang Sile back. What harm in a little joke?

Mu Fei forced a thin smile, his face heavy with fatigue, and walked into the house in silence.

…

After his shower, Lu Heng sat cross-legged on the bed, examining the half crystal core he’d obtained from Sun Wenlong. It wasn’t long before a knock came at the door.

“Come in.”

It was Qin Yi, as expected. On the third floor, aside from Qin Yi and Lu Heng, few others ever ventured.

When Qin Yi entered, his expression was solemn. He didn’t speak, and Lu Heng, without prompting, chose not to open the conversation either.

“How can Xiao Mu and Xiao Le be a couple?” Qin Yi said. “They’re both men, aren’t they? Shouldn’t they just be good buddies?”

“…” Perhaps this person was simply born dense—or maybe being shipped off to the military at thirteen meant he’d had little exposure to the internet or similar things. It wasn’t entirely surprising that he’d be completely clueless about this.

“Within the sect, there are men who become cultivation partners. Women too. There’s nothing strange about it.” Lu Heng considered for a moment, then added: “Becoming cultivation partners is about sharing the same ideals and understanding each other’s hearts. It has nothing to do with gender.”

Qin Yi’s expression cleared with dawning comprehension: “That’s true. Loving someone means being able to stay by their side and support each other. Physical desire isn’t the most important thing.”

“…” Lu Heng decided to stoke the fire a little more. “There are also dual cultivation techniques for men within the sect.”

“How have I never seen—” Qin Yi abruptly cut himself off, the tips of his ears quietly flushing red.

Seeing that the fire was burning nicely, Lu Heng decided to let it simmer and changed the subject to what mattered.

“The markings on the inner wall of this crystal core are somewhat peculiar.” Lu Heng handed the half crystal core to Qin Yi.

Holding it up to the light, Qin Yi examined it closely. From the fractured edge, he could clearly see the inner wall of the crystal core covered in intricate, arcane patterns. Though Qin Yi had only recently begun his studies, he could still sense the subtle mystery within those lines.

“These markings seem to follow some kind of pattern,” Qin Yi said.

Lu Heng nodded: “Though I’m no expert in formation work, I can roughly deduce that these markings on the crystal core’s inner wall must be part of some kind of formation sigil.”

“Which formation?”

“With only half a crystal core, there’s too little information to tell.” Lu Heng shook his head. “But I have a feeling—these markings might be a key piece in repairing the seal.”

“I’ll have Sun Wenlong track down the person who sold that half crystal core tomorrow, and find out where they got it,” Qin Yi said. “If we go search that area, we might find more useful things.”

The mention of going out reminded Lu Heng of something else: “When we go out this time, we need to bring Jiang Sile along.”

“Xiao Le? His combat ability is too weak. If I bring him along, I’m afraid he’ll just be a liability.” Qin Yi knew full well what his childhood friend was capable of—or rather, incapable of.

“I noticed today that he has a trace of demonic energy on him. We need to take him with us so I can monitor him at all times.”

Qin Yi nodded: “Then I’ll bring Mu Fei along too. Someone needs to look after him. If something comes up, I probably won’t have the attention to spare for his protection.”

“Mu Fei?”

Seeing the odd expression on Lu Heng’s face, Qin Yi remembered that the two of them had had a huge falling-out today. But in Qin Yi’s view, a fight was nothing—let alone a mere argument.

“Even if they’re not lovers, they’ve been brothers for years. They still have that bond between them.” Qin Yi shrugged. “For the sake of twenty-some years of friendship, Xiao Mu will take good care of Xiao Le.”

“We could ask Yu Shan instead. He’s a soil-type ability user—he’s better suited for protection.” Lu Heng said.

“With Xiao Le’s temper, none of them could stand him.” Qin Yi sighed helplessly. “Xiao Le doesn’t get along with Yu Shan and the others. Even if I ordered them to protect him, I doubt they’d put in half the effort Mu Fei would.”

Lu Heng could only accept this decidedly unreliable pairing and silently prayed that the demon would stay put and Jiang Sile wouldn’t cause any trouble.