Su Yuan came alone to the entrance of the Feiyun Commerce Guild.
"Sir, what were you and Chongyun chatting about over there just now?"
Axu greeted Su Yuan with a smile, but quickly corrected himself:
"Ah—my apologies, I overstepped. I shouldn't be prying into things I shouldn't know…"
"Might I ask what business brings you to the Feiyun Commerce Guild?"
"Sir?" Su Yuan frowned slightly.
It was the first time someone had addressed him like that.
"Heh, that's right—I'm referring to you, sir!"
"I'm just a humble servant, and I'm used to speaking like this. The young master has also instructed us to treat everyone with courtesy and never judge others by appearances."
"That's always been one of the core principles of our Feiyun Commerce Guild!"
Su Yuan nodded and said, "It's nothing major—I just wanted to pay a visit to your second young master, Xingqiu. I wonder if he's available right now?"
"I'll have to go in and check…" Axu replied.
"Young Master Xingqiu has been acting a bit strange these past couple of days—he's mostly stayed alone in his study and rarely sees anyone…"
"Please wait here at the entrance for a moment, sir…"
With that, Axu opened the door and entered the Feiyun Commerce Guild.
Su Yuan waited for a few minutes, and then Axu came back out.
He gave a small bow, gesturing politely, and said, "Young Master Xingqiu will see you now."
Then, under Axu's guidance, Su Yuan followed him into the Feiyun Commerce Guild and was led to Xingqiu's study.
Xingqiu was seated at his desk, his back to the doorway, seemingly writing something with intense focus.
From the back, he looked perfectly normal…
Was he writing a novel right now?
And because he didn't want to be disturbed, he refused to see Chongyun?
But then… why was he willing to see him?
Su Yuan slowly walked forward and discovered that the characters Xingqiu was writing on the paper looked like tadpole script—chaotic, irregular, and completely incomprehensible, like ghostly scribbles.
It was impossible to make sense of what he was writing...
Compared to the handwriting on prescriptions written by some doctors in Su Yuan's original world, this was on a whole other level...
Clearly, the problem wasn't just that Xingqiu's handwriting was bad—it was that, apart from Xingqiu himself, could anyone actually read it?
In a way, this kind of handwriting might even count as a sort of anti-forgery mark unique to Xingqiu.
Could it be that Xingqiu hadn't actually been possessed or corrupted by any evil spirit or Eerie at all?
"Xingqiu, what are you writing?" Su Yuan couldn't help but ask.
"As you can see, just a novel," Xingqiu replied.
"Mind sharing what genre it is?" Su Yuan continued asking.
"Crime fiction…" Xingqiu replied.
Huh? The moment Su Yuan heard the words "crime fiction", he immediately felt that something was off…
Xingqiu, by nature, was someone who revered the idea of "chivalry."
He was, after all, a swordsman—a man of justice.
Punishing evil and upholding good, helping others in need, were things he regularly did.
No matter how you looked at it, he just didn't seem like the kind of person who would write crime novels…
"There's a saying," Xingqiu suddenly said, "shoot the arrow first, then draw the target…"
"In the same vein, I write the story first, then act it out."
"That way, once the deed is done, this book can proudly proclaim: 'This novel is based on the author's personal experience.'"
Hearing such bizarre and unsettling words from Xingqiu's mouth, Su Yuan suddenly had a very bad feeling…
"Come, let me read you a rough draft of my novel," Xingqiu said casually.
"You can help me take a look—see if there's anything that needs tweaking..."
"It goes something like this: in a certain place, there are two good friends..."
"For now, let's call them Xiao Qiu and Xiao Yun..."
"But one day, due to some unexpected twist of fate, Xiao Qiu wants to kill Xiao Yun—to keep him by his side forever..."
"Xiao Qiu can't just kill Xiao Yun outright. He wants to design a grand performance for him, a spectacle where Xiao Yun dies in the midst of everyone's admiration..."
"But Xiao Yun has no idea that Xiao Qiu wants to kill him. He still clings to Xiao Qiu shamelessly..."
"Xiao Qiu doesn't want to see Xiao Yun, because every time he does, he can't suppress the urge—the impulse to kill him immediately..."
"So, Xiao Qiu decides to string him along. He'll wait until Xiao Yun's emotions are on the verge of collapse... and then pretend to reconcile with him..."
"And in the moment Xiao Yun feels a long-lost sense of warmth and connection—he'll take his life..."
"But I still feel... this isn't flashy enough. Not dramatic enough. So I'm continuing to revise the story..."
Su Yuan suddenly realized—the ink Xingqiu was using to write his novel was actually blood-red...
And now, Xingqiu's face began to distort, grotesque and unnatural, as foul-smelling crimson liquid oozed from every pore...
Xingqiu had already been corrupted and taken over by an Eerie!
The story he had just told—about "Xiao Qiu and Xiao Yun"—was clearly referring to himself and Chongyun!
The reason he refused to see Chongyun wasn't because the Eerie feared the Pure Yang constitution... it was because Xingqiu himself couldn't suppress the overwhelming urge to kill Chongyun!
The next moment, "Xingqiu" pulled a longsword from the wall—its blade writhing with eerie energy—and swung it straight at Su Yuan!
Su Yuan dodged with all his might, but he was still a step too late—a deep gash was torn across his abdomen...
Though blood poured out, the wound wasn't deep enough to slice fully through, so his intestines didn't spill out.
"Su Yuan! Xingqiu!" With Chongyun's shout, he kicked open the door to Xingqiu's study and appeared at the entrance.
He rushed over and helped the wounded Su Yuan up.
"I just couldn't sit still... so I climbed over the wall and snuck in," Chongyun explained.
"Then what exactly is going on with Xingqiu right now?" he asked, lifting his gaze toward Xingqiu—whose face was grotesquely twisted, and whose entire body was emanating an aura of eerie corruption...
"Be careful! Run! Xingqiu has already been corrupted and taken over by an Eerie!" Su Yuan shouted in urgency.
What the hell was Chongyun doing?!
He was supposed to stay outside and wait!
Su Yuan had the power to rewind time—he wasn't afraid of dying and had planned to use his life to gather intel!
But now, with Chongyun charging in like this, wasn't it just going to lead to another unnecessary casualty?!
Although everything could be undone after a time reversal, Su Yuan truly didn't want to see someone he knew and cared about die in front of his eyes again...
"So this is the power of the Eerie…"
Chongyun murmured to himself.
"Die—"
The next moment, Su Yuan suddenly felt an icy, searing pain in his back.
Looking down, he saw the tip of a massive greatsword piercing through his chest from behind…
Su Yuan turned his head with great difficulty—only to see that Chongyun's face had already contorted and twisted.
His eyes were pitch black with crimson glints, and sharp fangs had sprouted from his mouth…
What had just happened?
What condition had been triggered?
Why was Chongyun suddenly taken over by the Eerie as well?
"Chongyun" violently pulled the greatsword out of Su Yuan's body, causing him to collapse to the ground, feeling the blood and life force draining from his chest...
"Chongyun… why did you have to appear in front of me?!"
"Xingqiu" screamed as he seized his longsword and launched himself toward "Chongyun"!
"Eerie… are demons all the same…"
"I will purge this world of all demons and monsters…"
"I will kill every last Eerie in this world!!!"
"Chongyun" spoke those words as he picked up his greatsword and clashed fiercely with Xingqiu…
Su Yuan's consciousness gradually faded.
The outcome of the battle between "Chongyun" and "Xingqiu" was something he was destined not to witness…
In the final moments of his life, Su Yuan couldn't understand…
If the Eerie-infected Chongyun's goal was to eliminate all the Eerie in the world—
Then why… was the first person he killed Su Yuan?
Could it be… that he himself was an Eerie too?
---------------
Exclusive access : 207ch on paetron
Join now : patreon*com/DeCakraWnloverz