Chapter 724

"Well said. So this time I came here, I also have another purpose: to visit 'Summon Thunder'."

"Hu Lei?" Yùkōng was greatly surprised. "You mean that Hu Lei? That Bu Li war chief? The one who has been imprisoned in the Luofu Secret Prison for over seven hundred years?"

Feixiao nodded: "【Fox People's Great Enemy】, 【Eternal Unforgivable】, 【Until Heaven and Earth Perish】 and so on… I can't remember all those titles, it's just that guy."

"But inspections of Hu Lei have always been sent out by the Yaoying Immortal Vessel Heavenly Shipping Bureau, once every hundred years. Why are you doing this at this critical juncture…?"

Feixiao: "The fox people and the celestial vessels swore an oath to jointly vanquish evil beings; besides liberating their kin, they also seek justice. That wolf‑fang evil beast should be locked away forever in the Secret Prison, suffering punishment daily. Given Luofu's situation, the Yaoying faction is deeply worried about Hu Lei's confinement. The regular inspections—once every hundred years—have already left the old‑timers uneasy."

"... Nothing but bad news."

"Not entirely. At least, many things aren't as bad as you think. The target you asked me to find already has some leads."

Yùkōng instantly perked up: "Come on, spill it!"

"The Qingqiu army, following the route you provided, found the wreckage of a ship from the 【Minghuo】 Merchant Guild. Unfortunately, there was no cargo and no survivors."

"……"

Yùkōng clenched her lips tightly, but a mist already gathered in her eyes.

"However, someone had already been to the scene before we arrived at the crash site."

"Is it one of ours? Or someone from the company?"

"Neither." Feixiao turned to look at her. "Yùkōng, do you know Ruan Mei?"

—— (this is a line with just "——"? Actually line 【15】 is "——". Should translate as "——"? Probably keep as is? It's a separator line. We need to output translation of that line. It's just "——". Should we keep same? Probably output "——".

Jujutsu Kaisen.

Ruan Mei snatched Tingyun's corpse.

Itadori suddenly realized.

I never expected to be linked with the Genius Club. Considering Ruan Mei's past experiments and the Genius Club's bizarre thinking, a very troubling thought arose in his mind.

Ruan Mei... she wouldn't be planning to use Tingyun's corpse to turn Tingyun into a breeding envoy, would she?

After all, her previous attempt to replicate the envoy failed; the test subject could only survive a few dozen seconds, and its power was far weaker than before.

What are you thinking? No normal person would do something that would surely make them enemies of the Xianzhou. Nitoko smacked Itadori on the head, annoyed, wondering if all athletes have is muscle in their heads.

But Ruan Mei is clearly not a normal person...

That said, based on Feixiao's description, Tingyun is likely dead, and Phantasm wouldn't be so merciful as to leave a survivor. Nitoko flicked ash from her cigarette, "But... since Ruan Mei can revive a breeding envoy that's been dead for who knows how many years and give it life, she must be able to achieve 'resurrection'."

Resurrection... that's too exaggerated, right?

Even ancient Heian-era sorcerers needed to rely on 'incarnation' to manifest in the world.

Using Tingyun's remaining corpse or flesh fragments to revive her... I think Ruan Mei can definitely do it. Although it resembles Dan Heng's 'Dragon Transformation Mystic Method,' she could surely do it even better.

——

After a day of traveling, everyone arrived at the inn to rest...

After a sleepless night, Star woke up dazed, only to find that March and Dan Heng were gone.

(Huh, did I wake up late?)

I went out for a stroll and happened to see March and the others with Yanyan, seeming to chat about something.

"March, why don't you go greet your master?"

March smiled, turned, and bowed to Yanyan: "Master Yanyan, I pay my respects."

"In the stories, when becoming a disciple on the Xianzhou, you're supposed to present a grand gift to your master and kowtow. Oh no, I haven't prepared anything."

Being called that, Yanyan's face flushed red like a rising cloud, and she lowered her head embarrassed.

"Hey, Master Yanyan, why are you blushing?"

"Um... this is the first time someone's called me master, so I need a moment to adjust." Yanyan cleared her throat, "Cough... but as they say, sword training is to forge body, mind, and strength—not something you can achieve overnight."

"I promised General Huaiyan that I would teach Miss March the Cloud-Riding Swordsmanship, have her perform at the martial demonstration, and defeat at least one opponent. I will do my best to teach her, but if you go against your teacher's instructions..."

"March is very well-behaved!" Star quickly chimed in to defend her.

"Once I say something, even a shooting star can't catch up! Since I've promised to study hard, I'll start today!"

"Good, that's the spirit!" Yanyan nodded approvingly.

Dan Heng: "Yanyan, I entrust March to you—don't go easy on her."

March immediately put on a 'pouting cat' face: "Dan Heng, your heart is colder than your usual jokes."

——

Blessings upon this beautiful world.

"Ahhh, Yanyan is really adorable! Her shy look is just too cute!"

Like a hungry tiger pouncing on prey, if Aqua could really fly, I'd even suspect she'd lunge at the sky to lick Yanyan's face wildly.

"Tch, you're a goddess after all—please watch your image..." Woma slumped in her chair, picking her ears, muttering, "It's not like you just called me master; you can call me master too, and I can get shy for you to see."

But as soon as he finished speaking, two sharp gazes stabbed toward him.

Wrapped tightly in her thick cloak, Megumi's eyes from beneath her large mage hat showed a complex mix of sympathy and disgust. Meanwhile, Aqua's stare was as direct as when she sees a cockroach in an inn.

"Hey, what's with that look..."

"Because all I see from you is disgust!" Aqua retorted bluntly, "And you have the nerve to call yourself a master? If anyone actually took you as a teacher, the only thing they'd learn would be useless skills like 'stealing underwear' and 'how to survive on the lowest budget.' Besides, with your personality, you'd definitely work your apprentice to death—this is exactly how it would go."

"I'm not that terrible! You're being prejudiced! Besides, I'd teach my disciples how to quickly escape monsters and handle credit—these are essential practical skills in another world! And isn't it natural to make disciples work for you? Look at masters in novels and manga—they all do that."

——

Yanyan led March 7 alone to a secluded garden behind the Ministry of Personnel, where Yunli had been waiting for a long time.

"On the first day of class, you bring your disciple and are late—how can the rules on the Luofu be so lax? Sigh... it really disappoints me as a teacher." Yunli glared at Yanyan reproachfully.

"Ah, Master Yunli has arrived. Sorry for the wait!"

Yunli turned her head to look at Sanyue, then glanced at Yan Qing, suddenly seeming to understand something, quickly went up to Yan Qing and lowered her voice: "Hey! You're not thinking of secretly teaching her by yourself, are you? That's so despicable!"