Chapter 865: Ignore

The demon shadow body walked past her.

Go!

Now!

Over!

Away!

It neither attacked madly nor ambushed!

It merely dragged its mutated leg, stumbling like a pretender, and shuffled from a spot less than three steps to her left, its extra eye on its head scanning her before looking away, as if it had merely met a complete stranger on the street, eyes meeting briefly before each continued on its way.

Qingque's neck stiffened as she turned her head half a circle to follow the demon shadow body's silhouette.

Then the second one passed as well, the third trailing behind, its mouth gurgling as if muttering incomprehensible grumbles.

When they passed Qingque, the writhing tendrils on their shoulders nearly brushed her arm; Qingque recoiled slightly, but those demon shadow bodies paid her no mind.

They continued walking past her, joining the few demon shadow bodies rummaging at the other end of the alley.

After the two groups of demon shadow bodies met, they exchanged no words, merely touching each other's tendrils before resuming their low‑head rummaging of the ground.

Qingque stood in the middle of the alley.

She clenched the Jade Tablet in her hand, posture still poised to strike, lips slightly apart, eyes wide and round.

A gust of wind swept through the alley, scattering the fragments of hair across her forehead into disarray.

Now only her brain was still functioning, and it displayed a scrolling bold caption: What the hell is going on!?

Qingque slowly withdrew the Jade Tablet into her palm, glanced down at it, then looked up at the cluster of demon shadow bodies.

For a moment she even wondered whether she had actually died in the Pill Cauldron Office corridor, her soul now wandering a strange purgatory, and the demon shadow bodies ignored her because she had become one of them.

She quickly raised her hand and pinched her own face.

It hurt.

She bit her tongue again.

It hurt more.

The pain made tears nearly spill.

"Alive."

Qingque rubbed her reddened cheek, her jade‑green almond eyes filled with confusion and wariness.

She redirected her gaze toward the cluster of demon shadow bodies.

They were still occupied with their own tasks; one dug up a fragment of unknown material from the ground and examined it repeatedly, another leaned in to see, their heads colliding with a low threatening sound, yet they did not actually fight and each returned to rummaging.

She noticed that the eye that had sprouted on the chest of one demon shadow body turned toward her.

Its pupil was vertical, the iris a murky dark yellow, surrounded by fine blood vessels.

The eye lingered on her for a moment, then turned away, as if it had seen an unremarkable sight.

Qingque looked down at herself.

A short teal waist‑cinching jacket.

A crumpled teal layered skirt.

Bare feet.

Beyond that, there was no special mark that could explain why the demon shadow bodies did not attack her.

She tried taking two steps to the left.

The demon shadow body with an eye on its forehead twitched its ear but did not turn to look at her.

She took two steps to the right.

Several demon shadow bodies remained crowded together; one even faced away, revealing a translucent gray cyst on its back, something inside writhing slowly, which made Qingque feel a slight nausea, so she averted her gaze.

"Hey?"

She tentatively made a small sound.

A few of the demon shadow bodies' shoulders twitched, then they continued their own business.

Qingque's courage grew a bit.

She cleared her throat and raised her voice a few degrees.

"Hey! Those—those—uh—friends over there? Can you hear me?"

Silence fell for a beat.

Then the demon shadow body with the forehead eye slowly, bit by bit, turned its head.

Its three murky dark‑yellow eyes simultaneously focused on Qingque, its cracked mouth slightly opening to reveal uneven fangs and a gray‑green tongue.

Qingque instinctively tightened her knees, and the Jade Tablet in her hand glowed anew.

Then the demon shadow body yawned.

Exactly the same yawning motion as before in the alley, its jaw dropping to an inconceivable angle, exposing the entire gray‑green cavity, then closing with a muffled gurgle.

It turned its head back and resumed rummaging the ground.

Qingque's Jade Tablet trembled slightly in her palm.

"... Are you all this stuck?"

She lowered her voice and muttered, pulling the tablet back into her palm.

Then she made a decision she herself found extremely bold, stepping a few paces toward the cluster of demon shadow bodies.

One step, two steps, three steps.

When she reached about five steps from the nearest demon shadow body, she stopped, tilted her head, and observed carefully.

The demon shadow body crouched on the ground, its mutated claws turning over a fragment of a crushed wooden crate.

Its claws scraped the wood, producing squeaking sounds as if searching for something valuable.

Qingque stared at it for several seconds, and it did not look up.

She took another step forward.

The demon shadow body's ear twitched again.

It still did not look up.

Qingque touched her chin, and her jade‑green almond eyes flashed with contemplation in the dim evening light.

She recalled something.

Could it be that it was caused by her Great Void Sword Qi breaking through the highest realm in the dream?

Although it was a dream, if some of those abilities truly returned with her to reality—like the two previous instances of passive Wall-Passing—then the demon shadow body's current disregard for her would follow the same logic, wouldn't it?

"Or perhaps…"

Qingque lowered her head and glanced at the jade token in her hand, its surface reflecting her own face.

The broken hair at the corner of her forehead and the slight upward curve at the corner of her eye were pressed down a few degrees by confusion.

"Is there really something wrong with me?"

She muttered to herself, then shook her head, pushing the thought aside for the moment.

Regardless of the cause, this situation is good news for her survival.

The demon shadow body does not actively attack her, meaning she can pass through the sealed zone without being pursued.

As long as she avoids doing anything that would particularly provoke them, she can safely make her way back to Tai Bu Si.

Qingque inhaled deeply, straightened her chest, slipped the jade token into her sleeve, and then set off, passing through the cluster of demon shadow bodies.

When she passed the demon shadow body with an eye on its forehead, the extra eyeball turned and glanced at her.

Qingque's steps faltered for a moment, and she turned her face to look at the murky dark‑yellow eyeball.

Then she raised her right hand and waved a finger toward the eyeball.

"Excuse me," she said.