Chapter 331: 327 Zhuang Zhou

Upon hearing Huang Zhengdao's words, everyone felt it was unbelievable. Zhu Jingzhi directly refused, saying: "No, this is too absurd! We will dispatch other Mysterious Investigators to the Different Dimensional Space to perform the spell; you withdraw with the others."

"This is the best way to reduce casualties." Huang Zhengdao patiently persuaded the other party, saying earnestly, "Besides, once you enter here, you might not be able to get out. There is no need to send more people in and increase casualties in vain.

Furthermore, this method doesn't seem to have a one-hundred-percent success rate, does it? It's quite good for me to take the lead and conduct a test now."

Huang Zhengdao's free-spirited tone made every Mysterious Investigator listening feel conflicted. It had to be said that what Huang Zhengdao said made a lot of sense, and it even moved them somewhat.

Subsequently, a single sentence from Huang Zhengdao made them realize they still had to follow Huang Zhengdao's decision.

"Even if you don't tell me the incantation, I will still go and collect those spell-casting materials. This is the most dangerous part of your plan, after all; one might encounter all sorts of dangers while collecting the materials." Huang Zhengdao said calmly, as if he had cast his own life and death aside.

And it was precisely this sentence from Huang Zhengdao that awakened the Mysterious Investigators; Huang Zhengdao's mind was made up.

There was a high probability that the person would not have a chance to return. Huang Zhengdao had the intention and the courage to try to solve the problem, and this experiment had high value.

Zhu Jingzhi was silent for a moment, then finally relented, "Fine, if this is your choice."

"Yes." Huang Zhengdao also let out a sigh of relief.

In another dimension, a fat Shadow-Devouring Insect suddenly left the swarm and wandered through the city streets. Its unusual behavior did not attract the attention of other Shadow-Devouring Insects, because those Shadow-Devouring Insects were all intoxicated by torturing and slaughtering the prey that had entered this dimensional space; the screams and fearful expressions of those prey before death were the best garnish for their meal.

From this perspective, to evaluate this group of hideous insects, they were both the most perverted and cruel ruthless hunters, and gourmets focused on enjoying their food.

Embedded in this stray Shadow-Devouring Insect was a lifeless human head; it was Agent Bu Gaojun, who had just died a miserable death. This Shadow-Devouring Insect used the headphones on the head to carefully emit sounds and communicate with the other spatial dimension.

Although it sounded like a fantasy and was incredible, this Shadow-Devouring Insect was precisely Huang Zhengdao, who had just been communicating with the Mysterious Investigators.

Huang Zhengdao did not know why he had turned into a Shadow-Devouring Insect. Although he was very panicked at first, perhaps influenced by something, his panic was quickly calmed, and he even became calmer and more rational than usual. He even had an unprecedentedly good feeling, and he quickly became handy with this unfamiliar body, able to control every part of it properly.

It was as if he had always been a Shadow-Devouring Insect; he could understand the language of the Shadow-Devouring Insects and understood their way of communicating with each other, mastering their racial habits and capable of perfect camouflage.

Ever since Bu Gaojun and the other two Mysterious Investigators stepped into this dimensional space, he had been paying attention to them as they moved through the city. Unfortunately, he was in the middle of the insect swarm at the time and dared not make any special moves, otherwise, he would have been treated as an outsider and immediately attacked by the group.

It was a pity that from beginning to end, he never had the chance to save Bu Gaojun, and could only watch silently as he was cruelly played to death by that group of fleshy insects, unable to do anything.

Huang Zhengdao originally thought he would not be able to bear seeing that scene, but he did not expect his reaction to be much calmer than he had imagined. He analyzed that his way of thinking was moving closer to a Shadow-Devouring Insect every second; he was slowly transforming into a real Shadow-Devouring Insect.

This forced Huang Zhengdao to feel that he must do something before he truly became a monster that had lost its humanity.

As a Shadow-Devouring Insect with a human soul, it possessed an advantage that other Shadow-Devouring Insects did not have: he could understand human speech.

Shadow-Devouring Insects, whose rank in the food chain was above humans, naturally would not be interested in human language, let alone learning or understanding it, just as a person would not listen to what a lamb waiting to be slaughtered had to say, but would only think about how to make the food taste better.

Thus, while pretending to join the swarm in teasing Bu Gaojun, Huang Zhengdao was actually silently listening and recording the communication between Bu Gaojun and the Mysterious Investigators. Thanks to his current "sage-like" brainpower, he easily memorized the content of the dialogue between Bu Gaojun and the Mysterious Investigators.

Subsequently, Huang Zhengdao found an appropriate opportunity to take away Bu Gaojun's head and contacted the outside world in place of Bu Gaojun.

Now Huang Zhengdao was acting in place of Bu Gaojun, searching for the so-called spell-casting materials in the city.

Casting spells and chanting incantations... this shouldn't be a capability exclusive to humans, right? Huang Zhengdao thought secretly while sticking his head into a supermarket to search for goods that had become tiny in his eyes.

"The brocade zither, for no reason, has fifty strings; each string and each bridge recalls the prime of youth..." Li Yuning stood in front of Lin Ling, reciting the ancient poem with a face full of sorrow, but she got stuck right there. Her pretty little face turned red from holding her breath, yet she still couldn't recite the next line.

Lin Ling said the punishment content with a chuckle: "Copy the ancient poem twenty times as a penalty, and all your snacks for this week belong to me."

"Boss brother is bullying people!" Li Yuning protested, pouting in dissatisfaction.

Lin Ling smiled without a word, not arguing with Li Yuning.

Li Yuning pulled on Lin Ling's hand, shaking it gently, "My brain is sick, that's why I can't recite it well."

"As if anyone else's brain isn't problematic." Lin Ling glanced at the other party; after all, he was someone who had come out of a Mental Hospital.

"..." Li Yuning was stunned, and could only hang her head in defeat, handing over her snacks to Lin Ling, then going behind the counter to sit next to her father, Li Jiahong, to copy the ancient poem as punishment.

Li Jiahong watched the interaction between his daughter and the boss from the side, feeling a bit between laughter and tears. He didn't mind; he was already used to it.

After finishing the copying, Li Yuning moved her chair next to Lin Ling again to show him the results of her punishment, and recited the ancient poem completely again. This time, she recited it very fluently.

Lin Ling didn't seem to look, only sweeping a glance with his peripheral vision, then said: "Not bad, passed."

"Hee hee." Li Yuning was very happy. She hugged her notebook and looked at Lin Ling with anticipation, "It's about time for me to sleep. Boss brother, you should tell me today's story now. Let's... let's hear the story of the butterfly from the line 'Zhuang Zhou's morning dream confuses the butterfly, Emperor Wang's spring heart entrusts the cuckoo' in the poem I just recited."

"Alright." Lin Ling had just finished a cup of tea. He put down the teacup, and while enjoying the service of Li Yuning pouring tea and water for him, he leisurely began to tell the story, "Once upon a time, there was a man named Zhuang Zhou. He advocated freedom and was carefree and spontaneous. One day, he had a special dream. He dreamed that he became a butterfly. That dream lasted for a very, very long time. Becoming a butterfly even allowed him to experience a kind of free and easy feeling that he had never enjoyed as a human. He was lost in it. When he woke from the dream, he discovered that he was still the same person as before.

He couldn't help but be confused: which one was the real him, the butterfly or Zhuang Zhou? And which side was the real reality? Was it Zhuang Zhou dreaming that he had turned into a butterfly, or was it the butterfly dreaming that it had turned into Zhuang Zhou?"