The X-ray room processed three people at a time, so Zhu Yan put on a lead apron and walked inside with his two “walking corpses.”
He glanced nervously at the examiner behind the glass. But the other person merely frowned at the X-ray results, gave the three of them a hesitant once-over, and waved for them to come out.
“Go get your memories checked.”
The examiner was a girl. Her brows furrowed beneath her protective glasses, and after hesitating for several seconds, she reluctantly grabbed the army medic.
Zhu Yan’s brow twitched, and he stopped as well.
Nothing could go wrong at a time like this, could it?
“What’s wrong?” he asked, pretending to be concerned.
“Well…” The examiner looked a little embarrassed. “I know this may sound unpleasant, but the three of you should probably get your bodies examined.”
The army medic frowned. “Is there something abnormal?”
Zhu Yan was rather curious about that himself.
What difference was there between the walking corpses and a living person under an X-ray?
Or could they see the faintly decayed state of their internal organs?
“Some of your internal organs aren’t particularly healthy,” the girl said. “I didn’t examine them closely, but it feels like there’s some inflammation around the stomach and intestines.”
Then she turned to Zhu Yan with concern. “And you… Um, did you just have your appendix removed? Did you go on a mission before you recovered? I know your mission was urgent, but you have a deficiency inside your body. It’s obviously a surgical wound that hasn’t healed yet.”
“Does it hurt?”
…That was probably just because he hadn’t drunk enough repair agent.
Still, Zhu Yan was grateful that the examiner had pointed it out.
“There’s a military hospital on the tenth underground floor. It’s got fairly complete facilities. You can register at the outpatient department.”
Oh, good.
It seemed the X-ray had revealed no serious problems.
Zhu Yan glanced at the third walking corpse heading inside, then nodded gratefully to the examiner. “I’ll go take a look after I get downstairs. Thank you.”
The examiner pointed toward the memory reader waiting beside her, urging Zhu Yan to hurry over.
“Holy crap—Zhu Zeyu!”
The memory reader suddenly became excited. “You remember me, right? I was the one who read your memories last time!”
Zhu Yan remembered the man.
Last time, he had altered his memories to make them especially thrilling, earning the man’s deep admiration.
Having gained experience from their previous encounter, the memory reader eagerly placed a hand on Zhu Zeyu’s wrist, his eyes full of gossip and curiosity.
“Hey, buddy. What exactly happened to you in the instance? Captain Jin came looking for me several times afterward…”
Zhu Yan sighed.
“You can see for yourself.” He spoke helplessly. “Did Captain Jin tell you to pay special attention to me?”
The other man said nothing. His expression only grew more solemn.
Once he finally lowered his hand, he gestured for Zhu Yan to keep quiet.
“Brother, you’ve suffered.” The memory reader lowered his voice and let out a long sigh.
Judging from the memories he had seen, Zhu Zeyu was practically a hero.
By comparison, Jin Rongxu and Director Jin had been the ones coasting to victory, both inside and outside the instance.
Whenever he thought about Captain Jin’s actions, the memory reader couldn’t help feeling that Zhu Zeyu had been treated unfairly.
“Let me tell you something. Captain Jin arrived early and is watching from upstairs right now.”
Zhu Yan instinctively tried to look up, but the memory reader stopped him.
“Careful. Otherwise, we’ll both be in trouble.”
“Oh, okay,” Zhu Yan said.
“Look at this setup. Everyone’s on high alert. They’re determined to flush out Hunter Number One.”
Zhu Yan was genuinely curious.
He sent a wisp of mist drifting upward and actually found a small glass window set into the wall above them.
The spot was extremely concealed. It would be difficult for anyone below to notice it by looking up, but those inside could overlook the entire room.
Jin Rongxu and Director Jin were both inside, muttering to each other about something.
The Seer was sitting on a small chair nearby. Beneath her crisp, tailored white suit, her Klein-blue pointed shoes were particularly eye-catching.
Huh? The Seer was involved too?
Zhu Yan immediately activated [Invisibility] and moved closer to eavesdrop.
Below, the memory reader patted Zhu Zeyu on the shoulder. “Little brother, let’s have a meal together sometime. I’ve been here longer than you, so I know the place well.”
Zhu Yan agreed with a cheerful smile.
He stood up, had the walking corpse sit down, and followed the instructions toward the “internal examination area.”
The [Mist] clung tightly to the glass window, almost flattening itself into a pancake.
Jin Rongxu’s voice passed faintly through two layers of bulletproof glass and reached Zhu Yan’s ears.
“…Which step went wrong? There obviously weren’t any loopholes…”
He turned toward the Seer, clearly displeased.
“Give me an explanation. Why couldn’t you foresee him entering the shelter?”
“…Couldn’t you, or simply didn’t want to?”
Zhu Yan was curious too.
He had never been able to see through the Seer’s background. He also didn’t dare approach her openly under the identity of Zhu Zeyu.
She was mysterious and seemed difficult to control.
But the guidance she provided each time had indeed been important.
He manipulated “Zhu Zeyu” into stopping and lying down on the examination bed.
Of the three walking corpses, “Pot Lid” had already finished his examination before Zhu Yan.
Nothing had happened.
At that moment, the small red sandalwood bracelet had been put back on the puppet’s wrist. “Ma Dong” and the army medic were waiting in line beside him.
A silver probe wrapped in thin plastic film was inserted into his mouth. Zhu Yan suppressed the urge to vomit and continued using the [Mist] to eavesdrop.
The Seer let out a helpless sigh.
“Captain Jin, I’ll say it again: the Hunter Number One you’re looking for is a higher level than I am.”
“He isn’t either of the two newly emerged hunters you mentioned. He’s different.”
“The fact that I can see him appearing in the examination room is already impressive. You only need to know that you’ll win in the end.”
Jin Rongxu paced around irritably.
Downstairs, Zhu Zeyu rose from the examination chair. No one noticed that the red sandalwood bracelet vanished from his wrist and appeared on the army medic’s hand.
The army medic tugged at its uniform sleeve, covering the bracelet.
It lay down on the examination chair while Zhu Zeyu stood beside it and waited.
“I understand that you’re in a difficult position.” Director Jin pressed a hand against Jin Rongxu’s shoulder, signaling his nephew to calm down. “But surely you can see where Hunter Number One will go next, can’t you? What he plans to do after entering? Which bed he’ll stay in?”
“He wouldn’t enter the shelter just to sit around doing nothing, would he?”
Director Jin’s words carried a double meaning. He was criticizing someone indirectly, and his sharp gaze stabbed at the Seer.
“Miss, the only reason you can still dress like this today is because you have such a useful ability.”
“To wear the crown, one must bear its weight. That ability doesn’t necessarily have to remain with you.”
The Seer fell silent, biting her lip uneasily.
She walked to the window and looked outside through the [Mist]. A thin sheen of cold sweat began to bead on her forehead.
“…Then perhaps I should tell you, Director.”
Zhu Yan saw her gaze sweep rapidly across everything below: the newly arrived students, the ordinary players, Captain Zheng, and the third walking corpse as it rose from the examination chair.
“As for the [Hunter], I could still make out a blurry figure before.”
“But ever since you went to the [Hall of Mourning], every image has gone blank. Even his silhouette has disappeared.”
“His next target is the central control room. If you can intercept him, things here will improve considerably.”
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
