Chapter 122: The True Form of the Evil Spirit

Hu Yunkuan's face changed expression several times.

After intense inner struggle, he finally let out a long sigh and violently ruffled his neat little bowl-cut hair.

"Alright, I admit it."

"I'm not a member of the Creed, but I really want to join the Creed…"

Du E crossed her arms and sneered: "If anyone could just call themselves whatever they wanted, there'd be no such thing as fraud."

"Let me finish speaking."

Hu Yunkuan began telling his story.

"I'm not a gifted Lotus Juanren. My first Fudi journey was only possible because I was led by Creed members, so I deeply admire the Creed and wish to join it."

"But after leaving the Fudi, I could never find him again."

"My second Fudi journey was a nightmare—there were no Creed members in the team, no one trusted each other, no one submitted to authority, everyone insisted on their own views and refused to cooperate, so casualties were heavy; only I and one other person survived. If only they'd listened to me…"

"So on the third Fudi, I observed first—and sure enough, I found no Creed members, nor anyone who acted like a core leader. So… I pretended to be the Creed."

"Only by using the Creed's name could I unite everyone into a single force and lead them to survive as best as possible…"

After finishing, Hu Yunkuan's face relaxed slightly; speaking out the words he'd long suppressed lifted a heavy burden from him.

"Hah…"

Wu Xian laughed mockingly.

He walked with mocking sneer to Guan Daorong's back and stood beside Old Zhao.

"This story sounds decent, but it's not an excuse to deceive us. Someone who fools us isn't trustworthy. The truth is now clear: the evil spirit hiding among us is…"

Sharp spines suddenly burst from Wu Xian's side, and his shield swung sideways.

"It's you, Old Zhao!"

Boom!

Wu Xian swung at empty air.

Driver Old Zhao, holding Guan Daorong, had retreated some distance without notice; Guan Daorong struggled constantly, but his fists—capable of killing ordinary evil spirits—struck Old Zhao's body as if hitting cotton, powerless.

Old Zhao tilted his head to look at Wu Xian.

"How did you figure me out? I thought I'd fooled everyone."

At the Library Grave, Wu Xian had learned from news reports that the evil spirit corresponding to Driver Old Zhao was unusual, so after entering the Guestroom Grave, he had secretly observed Old Zhao's actions.

Based on Old Zhao's behavior outside the Fudi, he shouldn't have been this cowardly.

Also, Old Zhao had knocked over the chamber pot, making himself and Guan Daorong immobile, yet he showed no intention of cleaning up his own mistake—this reminded Wu Xian of the news interview with the driver.

"I hid because I wanted to wait until the storm passed, until everyone forgot about this, so no one would blame me…"

Hu Yunkuan's three points of suspicion also proved Old Zhao was odd, but if one tried to explain, all of them could be rationalized.

So Wu Xian didn't directly confront him—he used a small trick.

Wu Xian fixed his gaze on Old Zhao and spoke.

"It's the name."

Old Zhao blinked: "Name?"

Wu Xian's lips curled.

"The name… you're not Zhao Shengguo—you're Zhao Guosheng!"

From Wu Xian's perspective, Old Zhao's name had only been mentioned once, before the second wave of new passengers boarded; thus Hu Yunkuan, Du E, and Wu Xian knew his name was Zhao Guosheng, while Guan Daorong only knew him as Old Zhao.

But Wu Xian didn't know what had happened in the Clothing Shop Grave.

So if Old Zhao had truly been replaced and already knew his real name, directly asking his name would raise suspicion—even if he didn't know, he could easily read others' expressions and realize the question was a trap, thus becoming wary of Wu Xian.

So Wu Xian directed his accusation at Hu Yunkuan.

He'd already suspected Hu Yunkuan was suspicious; this was a perfect chance to question him and simultaneously lower Old Zhao's guard.

During Hu Yunkuan's defense, he naturally mentioned Old Zhao, and Wu Xian naturally uttered the vaguely correct name "Zhao Shengguo."

Except for someone like Wu Xian.

Most people wouldn't remember a name they'd heard only once and deemed unimportant; if they got it completely wrong, they might sense something odd—but if it was only slightly off, and other urgent matters were at hand, most wouldn't think twice.

So Du E didn't notice, and Guan Daorong was even misled.

But Old Zhao himself shouldn't have been misled!

He even swore an oath using the name "Zhao Shengguo!"

At that moment, Wu Xian confirmed he was the evil spirit—and intensified his accusations against Hu Yunkuan, quietly approaching Old Zhao and launching a surprise attack.

But he hadn't expected.

Even this sudden surprise attack failed to touch Old Zhao, who successfully took Guan Daorong away.

This evil spirit was indeed different from the other dead passengers.

Our Lotus Juanren, after several worship rituals, could only overpower ordinary wandering evil spirits; against higher-level evil spirits, we had no real advantage.

Old Zhao laughed heartily.

"So it's the name… Hah, I glanced at his work ID—I should've memorized it properly."

As he laughed, patches of his skin peeled away, revealing patches of black snake scales, transforming him into a grotesque half-snake, half-human form—not the polished, harmonious kind from cartoons or movies, but a monstrous sight: mottled snake scales growing directly from decaying flesh, each scale surrounded by rotting, oozing tissue, revolting to behold, triggering the uncanny valley effect.

"But being exposed is fine too."

Old Zhao sniffed Guan Daorong's wounds, saliva dripping from his mouth; he bit down hard, sucking off at least half a liter of blood and a chunk of skin, swallowing it.

"Do you know how it felt watching this delicious little guy taunting me constantly? I held back from biting him for a very long time!"

Guan Daorong, already severely wounded, rolled his eyes back after this bite.

Wu Xian ignored Guan Daorong and asked coldly:

"When did you replace Old Zhao? In the Clothing Shop—or when he first got off the vehicle?"

If it were in a clothing shop.

Then the same Teacher Luan and Xu Fenglan, also wearing mourning clothes, might already have been replaced!

Lao Zhao no longer had any need to hide.

"It was when we got off the vehicle."

"In your eyes, he might have been forced off at gunpoint."

"But that was just to fool your Illusory realm—we never had any guns."

"What Zhao Guosheng saw, only he himself knew. I suspect he, like me, had caused many deaths, which is why he knelt down immediately upon getting off and begged for mercy, claiming it was all his fault..."

"He looked so miserable, so miserable..."

"To spare him from continuing in such misery, I flayed his skin and wore it myself, traveling with you all all the way here..."

Happy May Day to everyone.

I'm stuck at home typing away, wu wu wu, wu wu.

Writers have no holidays.

(End of Chapter)