Chapter 543

"Pa."

Tang Luo gently tugged at the white plastic glove snug against his skin; it snapped back onto his palm, making a crisp sound.

"Don't be nervous, it'll be over soon."

He spoke, his voice carrying a soothing power; at this moment, Tang Luo wore a white coat and a mask.

At first glance he looked like a doctor about to perform surgery, but his unkempt white hair was somewhat messy.

His voice was gentle, yet his eyes were icy cold, like a piercing wind.

This made him instantly shift from the image of a doctor to that of a "mad scientist."

For the patient lying on the operating table (actually just a table covered with a white cloth), it was undoubtedly a terrible experience.

Xue Nianzhi, who already held Tang Luo in immense awe, trembled even more.

Indeed, the one now lying on the operating table was the half-demon fox girl Xue Nianzhi from that women's clothing store specializing in intimate wear, generally divided into upper and lower garments.

And a few months ago, she had actually become a Shenmo Walker.

The real world is not tranquil; beyond Shenmo Walkers, there are also supernatural beings.

There are demons, monsters, ghosts, and spirits—only they usually remain hidden.

The purpose of establishing Near-Science, besides restraining Shenmo Walkers in Huaxia, also had an important reason: to resolve disturbances and troubles caused by supernatural power.

Tang Luo once had Qin Menglan monitor Xue Nianzhi for a period.

Later, Near-Science investigated and found that Xue Nianzhi's family were all upright people, and also demons.

As a half-demon, her greatest "evil deed" was using a bit of her special ability to teach a few young masters a lesson.

But after deeper investigation, it was discovered that these outwardly handsome young masters had numerous misdeeds, so Near-Science made them feel what it meant to be punished by the iron fist of justice.

In the end, Near-Science concluded that Xue Nianzhi was an idealistic, moral, modernized "four-haves" good demon.

No processing was needed; she only needed to regularly report her whereabouts to Near-Science.

Special approval was granted allowing her to become a spirit after the founding of the nation.

Including Xue Nianzhi's mother, who was also like that.

By the way, her mother once encountered a very dangerous demon, which did exist……of course, it no longer exists now.

The reason it no longer exists:

Back when Chi Jing Daoist was not in seclusion, he accidentally discovered that this demon's bloody aura was extremely strong, judged it not a good demon, and thus acted on heaven's behalf.

Xue Nianzhi's mother feared it like a tiger, causing Tang Luo to make a mistaken judgment.

Actually, that demon was just a weakling—relatively speaking.

Chi Jing Daoist expended considerable effort to deal with that demon.

In short, Xue Nianzhi's life is still very peaceful, aside from her mother's daily marriage pressure—she is already thirty, and the pressure to marry is growing.

Then, Xue Nianzhi, under great pressure, suddenly became a Shenmo Walker.

She broke the not-so-certain "rule" that only humans could become Shenmo Walkers.

She became the first half-demon Shenmo Walker in known history.

Then, Xue Nianzhi became the first Shenmo Walker whose fate fragment was incompatible, bringing no benefit, but instead reducing her power.

In the previous mission, Xue Nianzhi obtained a fate fragment.

After using it, it clashed with the fox demon bloodline latent in her body, causing her bloodline power to actually resist the fate fragment's power.

So, Xue Nianzhi sought out Tang Luo.

Wanting to remove the fate fragment.

Her current location is a "operating room" on the Dragon King's Ship—called an operating room, but actually just a clean, empty room.

The only table in the room, covered with a white cloth, serves as the operating table.

To be honest, it exudes a strange feeling, making it hard for people to feel at ease.

Combined with Tang Luo's appearance, it becomes even harder to feel reassured.

After Tang Luo said it would soon be over, Xue Nianzhi rolled her eyes and fainted.

"Master, she fainted, can we take advantage of the heat……" the useless assistant Ao Yulie said, leaning in, "to extract the fate fragment."

"No need for you to say, I can see it." Tang Luo wore a thoughtful expression.

Is Xue Nianzhi's courage really this small? Abnormal.

The Heavenly Hound is not here now, so it exerts no intimidation on this half-demon fox girl.

Even if Xue Nianzhi were not a Shenmo Walker, not a half-demon, as a normal adult, her courage should not be this small.

I am again the merciful holy monk known abroad, I don't know how many people I have enlightened.

What is there to fear? Her reaction is abnormal!

"Master, what's wrong?" Seeing Tang Luo stare blankly at the fainted little fox, Ao Yulie asked.

"A bit interesting."

Ying Chuithting, Tang Luo laughed and said to Ao Yulie, "Get ready, something might happen."

Ao Yulie immediately became alert, stepped back a large step, and prepared to flee or fight at any moment.

The latter possibility is very low.

Facing the unconscious Xue Nianzhi, Tang Luo extended his right hand, fingers together and straight, fingertips touching her heart's position.

Feeling the heartbeat, the rise and fall of the chest, and the flow of blood.

In her unconscious state, Xue Nianzhi was not "stable"; her heartbeat exceeded normal speed, and her breath was quite disordered.

It was as if she dreamed of something extremely terrifying, deeply trapped in a nightmare.

After confirming the position, Tang Luo's right hand suddenly plunged downward.

Red blood bloomed like flowers on the white "tablecloth," staining it red.

Xue Nianzhi's eyes suddenly opened; Tang Luo's other hand covered them, and he whispered by her ear, "Sleep."

There were no further movements, not even basic twitching or struggling; Xue Nianzhi obediently closed her eyes.

"..."

Ao Yulie turned his head away; this kind of pervert-murderer "healing style," Master, where did you learn it from?

As expected, the driver is still the old hand who's formidable?

Ao Yulie also prided himself on having rich postures; now compared with Tang Luo, he's still just a rough draft.

He casually withdrew his hand, wiping it on the tablecloth at random, just enough to keep fresh blood from dripping continuously.

Tang Luo still had one hand placed on Xue Nianzhi.

About a minute passed.

Ao Yulie's expression turned serious: "No fate fragment?"

"... Mm." Tang Luo nodded, "No fate fragment."

"Not dead? How is that possible." Ao Yulie said, then immediately shook his head.

With Tang Luo's rich experience in ferrying souls, how could he fail to handle even a half-demon little fox?

If he said let her die, she would definitely die.

Then, why didn't the fate fragment appear?

Tick-tock, tick-tock, not fresh blood, just the sound of the clock's second hand moving in the room; two minutes passed, and the fate fragment still did not appear.

"Heh."

Tang Luo laughed, the hand resting casually over Xue Nianzhi's eyes spread its five fingers and pressed lightly downward — ferry the soul.

A bizarre, kaleidoscopic world appeared before Tang Luo's eyes.

By his ear he heard some people's wails, cries of fear.

Pitch-black chaos, carrying an aura of fear, lingered around Tang Luo.

Tang Luo reached out, grabbing at the chaos around him; the soul ferrying ended.

A fate fragment appeared in his hand; consecration — the wounds on Xue Nianzhi's body rapidly healed, and soon she was pulled back from the abyss of death by Tang Luo.

She opened her eyes, full of bewilderment.

"Rest a bit; you're still very weak right now." Tang Luo said.

Just like all major surgeries, extracting a fate fragment doesn't guarantee you'll be jumping around lively once off the operating table; it takes time to recover.

After all, merely saving a life and restoring someone to a lively, jumping-around state require different amounts of merit power.

Save a little.

"Mm." Xue Nianzhi answered, her back wet and clammy, a bit uncomfortable.

But she couldn't say anything.

Tang Luo had already left with the fate fragment he'd just obtained; Ao Yulie left behind a line: "Someone will come to take care of you." then left as well.

Soon, two female crew members came in.

Half an hour later, the still slightly fatigued Xue Nianzhi thanked Tang Luo and left in high spirits — the Dragon King had not set sail.

As for the payment rendered, naturally it was the extracted fate fragment.

In the room, Tang Luo, now normally dressed, sank into the sofa; on the tea table before him sat that small fate fragment.

The fate fragment was very small, only the size of an adult's fingernail, the smallest fate fragment Tang Luo had ever seen.

Besides that, there was nothing special about it.

But Zhu Bajie, Ao Yulie, and Xiaotianquan all looked at this fate fragment curiously.

Tang Luo said this fate fragment was weird.

As for what weirdness...

Tang Luo picked up the fate fragment: "I'm not a hundred percent sure; let me test it first, I'll tell you guys in a bit."

Gripping the fate fragment, the normal holding mode, not directly eating it, but there's no difference.

The sea of consciousness.

Tang Luo floated in midair: "Come out."

The surroundings were empty and hollow, not the slightest reaction, not even pure energy infusion for healing occurred.

"Heh."

Without any visible movement from Tang Luo, the surroundings suddenly changed dramatically; a mass of black mist-like substance appeared before him.

Its overall shape, at first glance, resembled a spherical sea urchin, hazy and indistinct.

Tang Luo completely ignored the spines on it and reached out to grab.

The black "sea urchin" instantly shrank into a ball, mostly collapsing in Tang Luo's palm.

"Stop!"

"Stop!"

Just as it was about to be crushed in one hand by Tang Luo, a pleading voice came from within the sea urchin.

"Truly interesting." Tang Luo smiled and released his grip.

According to the information provided by the Holy Monk Xuanzang, as is universally known, there are two types of fate fragments in total.

One is pure power; the other is the "fate is poisonous" type of fate fragment, harboring a certain hazy, muddled consciousness.

And now, a third type of fate fragment has appeared.

This type of fate fragment contains power so minuscule it's practically nonexistent, equivalent to having none.

But the consciousness it harbors is no longer muddled; it has completely reached the level of an independent, sentient individual.

The second type of fate fragment can only be called "possibly poisonous."

This Fate Fragment was, through and through, a deadly poison.

"Who are you, where do you come from?" Tang Luo asked two very philosophical questions.

"I am the Lord of Fear, you ignorant, foolish ants... aaaaaah——"

The initial black sea urchin didn't count as spines; it was roughly the size of a bowling ball. After Tang Luo squeezed it once, it became the size of a honeydew melon.

Now it was already the size of a ping-pong ball.

This still wasn't enough; anyway, Tang Luo only needed this thing to be able to spit out some useful information — leaving it with "one breath" to speak would do.

So, very quickly this Lord of Fear became the size of a glass marble.

One step away from death; like this, can you speak properly now.