Chapter 47

Twenty buns, four portions of fresh soup, eaten clean by Zhou Shuo and Liu Yanran; along with this food, they also ingested all kinds of information from this realm—from the three hun and seven po of the human body, the viscera and meridians, to the various major sects of the supernatural world and the abilities of each school, such as the Fire Virtue Sect, Heavenly Master's Mansion, Martial Mountain Sect, Complete Truth Sect, and so on.

"I'm full, we need to hit the road." Liu Yanran stretched lazily, satisfied.

"Let's go now, in broad daylight!" Zhou Shuo took a slight breath to regulate his viscera, simultaneously glanced up; although the driven corpses aren't afraid of sunlight, traveling in broad daylight greatly increases the chance of being spotted.

"You think we're traveling on foot? Nowadays it's modern society; you think our Liu family still acts like before, traveling by day and hiding at night, staying in corpse-hauler inns?" Liu Yanran looked at Zhou Shuo, her eyes flashing with contempt.

"What else can we do?" Zhou Shuo looked at the girl who despised him, couldn't help but smirk; not walking isn't surprising, but how do we bring corpses onto vehicles and airplanes?

"Just call someone! Although I can't rely on my hometown's power, in the supernatural society there are organizations that can help—if you have money, they can assist with anything!" Liu Yanran said without hesitation.

"Is that so?" Zhou Shuo suddenly understood; corpses are invisible to ordinary people, but for supernaturals it's no issue—their society lies hidden beneath ordinary society, and having a few aid organizations is nothing special; isn't there even a knight bus in Harry Potter that comes when called?

"By the way, what's the difference between organizations that help supernaturals and the traditional aristocratic sects?" Zhou Shuo asked the girl who was pulling out her touchscreen phone and starting to call for help.

"How would I know?! I'm asking where this rookie even came from!" Liu Yanran's eyebrows twitched; this guy has so many questions.

"By the way, if our world lies beneath the ordinary one, then the state should have an organization targeting us, right?" Zhou Shuo pondered briefly, then spoke; upon hearing his question, Liu Yanran's face darkened as she thought of something extremely unpleasant.

"Yes, Omni-pass!"

"Listening to your tone, you seem to have suffered a loss!" Zhou Shuo accurately caught the resentment in Liu Yanran's words, and also somewhat realized that the state indeed controls this matter; however, the name Omni-pass is amusingly even more so than the Dragon Group.

"A loss? Not really, I just find them unpleasant, a bunch of lackeys—I'm not going to talk about it." Liu Yanran looked at Zhou Shuo, saw the call already connected, stopped speaking, then walked aside to converse.

"Hello, is this the Radiant Star Society?"

"Hello, how may I assist you?"

"I come from Xiangxi, surname Liu, currently in Baoding, need to go to Jinmen; could you help me book a train ticket?"

"May I ask what your requirements are?"

"I'm afraid of the sun, not suited to being with others, and I have a few companions beside me." Liu Yanran glanced at Zhou Shuo to the side, then looked upward and stated her request.

"Kind of interesting." Zhou Shuo, playing with the slang on the phone with Liu Yanran, felt somewhat amused; in this world, supernaturals have it rough, completely unable to see the light, yet it seems the peaceful era's restrictions on qi refinement are not minor.

Soon, Liu Yanran hung up; the Radiant Star Society had already agreed to help, and she would quickly be able to settle her old grudge and successfully join Complete Nature.

"Hey, Liu Yanran, how much do you know about Complete Nature?" Zhou Shuo looked at the girl who, after hanging up, showed a happy expression, raised his right eyebrow slightly, and without waiting for her reply, added another sentence.

"I mean, aside from the 'free and unrestrained' notions you already know, what kind of organization is Complete Nature?"

"Well..." Liu Yanran blinked; Complete Nature is what kind of organization? Aside from the 'free and unrestrained' notion, her deepest impression, passed down from her relatives, is the label of 'demons, madmen, and nerves'; but she thinks that's a slander from those out of step with the world—if supernaturals lived like ordinary people, what would they be called?

"Anyway, I just want to join." Liu Yanran felt a bit headache; for the first time she truly faced the organization she aspired to, feeling she knew nothing about it, yet wanting to join should be enough—after all, no one can do anything to her; those people have always labeled Complete Nature as 'demons', yet there's never been a large-scale suppression of it.

"Well, the heavens and earth are big, but nothing beats your happiness—this reason works." Zhou Shuo looked at the ignorant, fearless girl, couldn't help but nod slightly; he now could finally be certain what Complete Nature is.

"What exactly do you want to say?" Liu Yanran, a bit irritated, looked at the chatterbox who wouldn't stop.

"Nothing, I just feel you're pathetic—completely ignorant of the organization you aspire to, you ran off muddle‑headed, now realizing your ignorance yet unable to find a retreat; if you can't join Complete Nature, you'll become…" Zhou Shuo lifted his gaze, pausing between words as he projected Liu Yanran's past and future, but before he could finish, the girl's scream cut him off.

"You bastard, you know what you're saying—don't think I'm afraid of you..." Liu Yanran heard the words, at first unbothered, then her breathing grew heavy, her expression shifted; the moment she heard she couldn't join Complete Nature, she let out a shrill, exasperated scream—she had already successfully dug up Zhang Xilin's corpse, so why can't she join Complete Nature?

"Oh, you're not afraid of me!" Zhou Shuo saw the girl's eyes flash ferocity, his brows slightly raised; she had indeed retained considerable strength from past fights, though she hadn't done anything desperately reckless, and her potential hadn't yet reached the point where he needed to worry.

"I'm certainly not afraid of you—listen, Zhou, you've pushed me to the edge, I would, I would, I would..." Liu Yanran circulated her qi three times, still unable to think of a retort; her anger ebbed, a formless sense of loss rose—if she can't join Complete Nature, what will she do? She's already fled her home and intends to join Complete Nature; if she fails, can she go back home?

"What then?" Zhou Shuo looked at the girl who, after three qi circulations, could think of nothing harsh and whose emotions were rapidly collapsing, and couldn't help but laugh.

"I can't beat you, you're saying all this—what do you want?" Liu Yanran looked at the guy with an inexplicably evil smile, feeling somewhat disheartened and wary; even though she hadn't gone all‑out, she knew she wasn't his match.

Nothing much, I just want to make an agreement with you in advance: when the time comes, if the All-Nature Sect doesn't approve of this mission of yours, or if you reach a dead end, I'll give you a way out so you won't end up in a miserable fate. Zhou Shuo looked at the wary girl, laughing unrestrainedly, like her personality—if she weren't the protagonist, her ending would be miserable.

Of course, if you succeed in this mission, just pretend I never said this, but I feel that then your fate would probably be even more miserable.

Don't worry, I'll forget what you said. Liu Yanyan listened to the godly, rambling prediction, feeling stifled in her chest, she replied in a low voice, determined that her mission this time would definitely succeed, but this bastard, saying that joining the All-Nature Sect would make her worse off—what does that mean?

Heh. Zhou Shuo looked at the sullen yet not rude girl, gave a faint smile, he didn't know whether his prediction about Liu Yanyan's mission outcome was accurate, but he could be certain that Liu Yanyan joining the All-Nature Sect would absolutely have no good outcome.

After the conversation ended, Zhou Shuo withdrew to the side and sat down, silently cultivating qi, using the method he had comprehended from the Liu family's cultivation arts, he gradually probed the seven corporeal souls in his body; the seven corporeal souls of a person are all hidden in the lungs, the corporeal souls are nourished by essence and qi, representing the seven kinds of self of the human body—perception, digestion, excretion, immunity, etc.; when a person's seven corporeal souls remain in the corpse, the corpse will not die but remain lifeless, retaining motility and able to eat, sense, and even excrete; this is what is called corpse transformation.

The seven corporeal souls are the seven functions of the human body; Zhou Shuo quickly, according to the cultivation method, found the seven corporeal souls hidden in the lungs, merged them with his body's qi and blood, his bodily functions became swift and perceptive, all movements of the surrounding creatures entered his mind, he could predict their next moves, he faintly heard the direction of their hearts, it felt like the Observation Haki from One Piece, and this is the spirit-flesh unity of the Martial Saint.

"Spirit-flesh unity, indeed formidable." Zhou Shuo felt the surroundings, exhaled lightly; the terror of the Martial Saint, aside from the yang-strong qi and blood that nullifies all soul arts, lies in the aberrant spiritual awareness after spirit-flesh unity: within a certain radius around him, even if you harbor a twisted thought, he can instantly perceive it; martial arts call this "before the autumn wind stirs, the cicada already senses."

Time passed silently; at nightfall, a bus arrived at the deserted house, picking up Zhou Shuo and Liu Yanyan, along with her several walking corpses, and the "Zhang Xilin" she had dug up; the bus departed from Baoding Prefecture and headed toward Heaven's Gate.

"Say, old brother, thanks for the trouble tonight!" After boarding, Zhou Shuo sat in the passenger seat, smiling and greeting the ordinary-looking middle-aged driver.

"No trouble, no trouble, we're all outsiders; helping each other is only natural." The middle-aged driver had an ordinary face, the kind you couldn't find in a crowd; he responded to Zhou Shuo's words with ease, wearing a simple smile, like a kind uncle.

Say, uncle, your Luminous Star Society...

The road was long and boring; Zhou Shuo didn't waste time, chatting with the driver while getting closer, always feeling that this driver brother was a bit abnormal, but couldn't pinpoint exactly how.