Chapter 242: Borrowing

"Then, we'll stick to the original leap plan, target—Xianzhou Alliance, Luofu," Jizi made the final decision.

"Wait."

Black Tower suddenly stood up from the chair, looking around with interest, "It sounds like on this Xianzhou trip, besides looking for the little girl Fen Mao, what other crisis do you have to deal with? The one those Star Core Hunters mentioned?"

Walter looked at her: "Yes, Black Tower Lady. Kafuka hinted that Xianzhou Luofu will have a major incident involving the Star Core."

"Star Core?"

Black Tower stroked her chin and said, "Interesting." (Ailiou: Eh?)

She clapped her hands and decided, "I'll go with you to Xianzhou. I'm very interested in how that one called Chang Ye Yue makes people vanish under my perception, and I also want to see what 'Script' the Star Core Hunters are talking about, what kind of play it will be." (Ailiou: Ah?)

Black Tower's joining undoubtedly adds combat support to the train, though her main motive is curiosity.

"Then, it's settled."

Jizi stood up, resuming the train's navigator's competence, "Pam, prepare the final leap inspection. We'll rest briefly; in an hour, target Xianzhou Luofu, depart!"

Time rewinds slightly.

In Winterwood City, at the edge of a residential area, an ancient Japanese‑style mansion stood, clashing with the surrounding modern buildings.

The towering wall, dark tiled roof, and silently sealed gate all exuded an air of old confinement, even a faint sense of ominousness.

The nameplate bore the two characters "Jian Tong."

Chang Ye Yue propped her Black Umbrella, her crimson eyes calmly surveying the mansion.

A Xing stood slightly behind her, with little expression, only occasionally glancing at a tenacious weed growing in the shadowed corner of the wall, or a gray sparrow flying across the sky— their field of observation always broad.

"According to the retrieved local Master family information…"

Chang Ye Yue murmured softly, her voice almost fading into the cool evening breeze, "This place should be the Jiantong Family. A family that possesses qualification to partake in the 'Ritual.'"

Her task is clear: obtain a legitimate Master identity, join the Fourth Holy Grail War, and use that as a "ticket" to remain in this world and rapidly advance the timeline.

The simplest direct method is to "borrow" an existing qualification.

And the Jiantong Family, in her quickly filtered data, is a suitable target to "take over."

She folded away the umbrella, stepped forward a few paces, raised her hand, and lightly but firmly knocked on the heavy wooden door.

Inside, slow footsteps sounded; moments later, the door creaked open a crack.

A middle‑aged man in plain home clothes, his face slightly gaunt, poked his head out—it was Jiantong He Ye (a mediocre man shrouded by his family's shadow).

He looked at the two unusually refined strangers outside the door with puzzlement, "Excuse me… who are you looking for?"

Chang Ye Yue gave no answer, not even looking at him.

Her gaze seemed to pierce him, landing straight toward the depths of the mansion.

She merely lifted her step slightly and, through the gap between the door crack and He Ye, walked straight inside.

A Xing followed closely, also keeping their eyes straight ahead.

Jiantong He Ye froze in place, his lips moving as if to say something, then seemed to suddenly forget why he was standing at the doorway.

His gaze went blank for a moment, then, as if merely completing a routine door‑opening motion, he silently closed the door, turned and walked back inside, unaware of his odd behavior.

The interior of the mansion was even more gloomy than the outside, with dim lighting.

Chang Ye Yue kept moving, walking down the corridor.

Her perception, like invisible tendrils, swiftly scanned the mansion's structure and read the imprint belonging to its owner.

"According to this person's memory, the current head of the Jiantong Family… is named Jiantong Zangyan?"

Chang Ye Yue sorted the information while walking, but when she "saw" the old man's image through He Ye's memory fragments, her words unusually halted.

"…a…"

She furrowed her brow slightly, seeming to search for a fitting adjective, and finally spat out two words laden with obvious disgust, "…a somewhat ugly fellow."

As soon as the words fell, as if to confirm her assessment, the door of a tatami room at the corridor's end swung open.

A hunched figure, clad in a dark Japanese kimono, his face withered like dried bark and eyes flashing with murky spirit light, shuffled out on a cane.

It was Jiantong Zangyan.

He was clearly surprised and wary of the unfamiliar presence in the mansion, his hoarse voice laced with a question: "You are…?"

His words did not finish.

The moment he saw Chang Ye Yue's calm yet crimson eyes that seemed to reflect all impurity, his surroundings seemed to subtly warp.

Immediately thereafter, several translucent, jellyfish‑like phantoms emitting soft deep‑red glows materialized out of nowhere, floating lightly around his body.

Jiantong Zangyan's body froze completely, his murky eyes staring forward, but had lost their spark.

Chang Ye Yue briefly closed her eyes, then opened them quickly; her complexion looked somewhat unsightly in the dim light.

She had just swiftly skimmed the surface and even part of the deeper memories of this old insect.

Within lay centuries‑spanning paranoia, cruelty, a greedy exploitation of life, and countless filthy insect‑related occult techniques…

Especially the essence that now composes his body—it is a counterfeit formed from countless Engraved Insects coalesced in simulation!

"…Insect. Still insect."

Chang Ye Yue's voice was colder than Winterwood's evening breeze, laced with unabashed disgust, "A… insect whose very existence radiates decay and malice."

She was even too lazy to glance again at this puppet whose consciousness and movement were restrained, and walked straight past him toward the direction marked in her memory, leading deeper into the mansion—especially underground.

Goal clear: Insect Lair, and the little girl used as "material."

A Xing halted in place, tilting their head, looking a bit puzzled at the motionless Jiantong Zangyan surrounded by deep‑red jellyfish.

They could sense an aura from this "elder" that instinctively displeased them.

Did Chang Ye Yue just seem angry?

Why?

Because he's ugly? Or because his body seems to harbor countless tiny lifeforms writhing?

A Xing didn't quite understand, but thought that since Chang Ye Yue had "fixed" the guy, he was probably dealt with for now.

She curiously leaned in a bit, her golden eyes carefully examined the statue, even extending a finger, as if to poke the phantom of the deep‑red jellyfish, or to see whether the old man's skin was truly as hard as bark.

Just as her fingertip was about to touch the jellyfish's rim of aura—

Clack.

From the direction of the mansion's main gate came the sound of a door being pushed open.

A Xing's ears twitched, she immediately withdrew her hand, slipped silently back into the shadow behind a hallway column, and cast her gaze toward the entrance.