Chapter 71: System, You’re Being Cocky
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Only after the System explained the situation did Fang Ning used the System View to check out his surroundings.
The monster that the System described as formless looked like a cloud of fog that is more intense than usual. It was constantly shifting its shape, it was no wonder that the System made a remark that it was indescribable.
The fog monster stayed for a little while more fruitlessly before murmuring to itself, “Is the Morality Protection really that strong?”
After that, the monster left without a sound.
At that moment, in Fang Ning’s room, the System had already let out the substitution mechanical puppet to pretend to be asleep. Meanwhile, Fang Ning disguised himself as Vigilante A and followed up.
Fang Ning did not allow the System to disguise as other people because once he had to transform into a dragon, there would be people who would recognize him as Vigilante A, and that might complicate things.
The Fog Monster floated around into the last room in the hall. Fang Ning stayed in the same second floor as it.
Fang Ning recalled the room to be the middle-aged man with the glasses, Zheng Dao.
Zheng Dao’s cultivation affinity was the highest among them, so Fang Ning took notice of him. After lunch, he had entered his room for an afternoon nap. Now that Fang Ning’s brain power had increased, everything that happened within the day was clear in his head.
In the room, Zheng Dao laid on his bed, sleeping soundly in his pajamas and his quilt, and everything looked normal.
At this moment, the System spoke.
It said, “The monster disappeared.”
Fang Ning said, “How could that be?”
He pulled up the System View, the dark red dot had disappeared, leaving only Zheng Dao’s yellow dot that was mixed in with white.
Naturally, Zheng Dao was not the monster, Fang Ning was shocked, ‘There had not been any monsters who the System tailed that could disappear just like that.’
He had been keeping an eye on the Fog Monster. It only disappeared after turning into the room. At this moment, the System notification popped up once again.
[The System used the second Morality gauge, the System used the first Morality gauge, the System activated esoteric skill Spirit Gaze. Spirit Gaze’s power increased sharply. The System gained the effect True Vision – Ultra, lasting one hour. The System had found a secret entrance.]
Fang Ning immediately saw a strange scene through the System View.
Above Zheng Dao’s bed, there was a floating door dimly glowing in white, but it was an all-consuming blackness through the door.
The System spoke.
“I could sense the monster in there.”
Fang Ning looked at the System map, and there it was, the red dot with black was overlapped with the door.
Fang Ning, “It looks like we need to go through that door.”
If he were in an RPG game, Fang Ning would have saved the game and charged inside. Unfortunately, reality does not have a save file, so he had to be careful.
Fang Ning asked, “How strong is the monster?”
The System replied, “I can huff and puff and blow it to pieces.”
Fang Ning could not muster any retort, “Sir System, your mouth reeks of pompousness, remember to brush your teeth. So, go in and take care of it.”
Vigilante A lightly pressed against the window, at which point the window opened and Vigilante A floated into the glowing door. During the whole process, Zheng Dao seemed to have no awareness of what happened, he slept soundly without even turning about.
After Vigilante A entered the door, the scenery changed immediately.
In front of his eyes was a barren land. It was empty with only some weird-looking boulders erected all around. Not far from him, there was a group of people lying down.
Fang Ning looked closer, among the people were people he was familiar with, President Zhao, Fatso Liu, Instructor Xu, Wei Xia, and even the attendant, amongst other people. Every single one of them was affiliated with the newly established Aristocratic Cultivation Club, with the exception of Zheng Dao who was sleeping in bed.
After giving all the people a scan through, Fang Ning was surprised to see the puppet substitution among the people.
“It doesn’t look like illusions,” Fang Ning said after checking it out with the System View.
The System replied, “Of course it isn’t an illusion. I could tell. All of them appeared immediately after we entered this subspace as if they were pulled in directly from where they were.”
Fang Ning was startled to hear that, “Isn’t this Teleportation? That’s a legendary ability, Sir System, don’t get in over yourself.”
The System replied, “Don’t worry, the monster is hidden somewhere right here, as soon as it appears in front of us, I’ll huff it down.”
Fang Ning commented, “Alright then, I’m not worried.”
At this point, the people on the ground slowly regained consciousness. Vigilante A immediately hid behind one of the erected boulders. He was not scared, but if Vigilante A suddenly appeared in this space, it might not be easy to explain. Without the reason to expose himself, it would be better to stealth.
“Where is this, was I not in a nightmare just now, how did I get here, could it be that I’m not awake still?” Fatso Liu mumbled in his grogginess. Looking around, he noticed President Zhao who was also groggy not far away, so he dragged President Zhao over and pinched him as hard as he could.
“F*ck me, what are you doing, Fatso Liu!” President Zhao woke up with a start and immediately saw Fatso Liu’s hand pinching at him.
“I’m making sure that I’m not sleeping.”
“Then pinch yourself, why are you pinching me?”
“Oh, that’s because it felt too real to be a dream, it would hurt to pinch myself. Seeing your reaction, I know it’s not a dream. Whenever I pinched you in a dream, you would not say anything, you would give me a slap on the face instead.”
President Zhao had no comeback. Not wanting to argue with Fatso Liu, he stood up.
He saw as “Fang Ning” stood around with a spacey expression, so he greeted him.
“Fang, come over here.”
“Fang Ning” immediately approached them and said, “Are the both of you alright?”
President Zhao rubbed his head, saying, “I had a nightmare, and suddenly I was here. I hope we’re not involved in some sort of supernatural incident, but no worries, your aunt gave me two of these amulets when I came here, take one.”
President Zhao took a necklace off his neck and handed it to “Fang Ning”.
“Fang Ning” took the necklace, a copper amulet was hung on it, and a copper snake that looked almost like a river dragon coiled around the amulet.
Fatso Liu looked at it with admiration. He searched his own pocket, but the only thing he had on was his pajamas and nothing else.
“Fang Ning” handed the amulet over to Fatso Liu, “I think Uncle Liu should have this. After all, I have my Superpower, I’m not afraid of these supernatural things.”
Fatso Liu was so moved he could not find any word to say, and he could only pat “Fang Ning’s” shoulder as a thank-you.
President Zhao’s face was complicated. In this critical period, the amulet might be saving a life. If his future son-in-law could give it away, what else does he need to worry about in the future? His wife was over-worrying, he was sure of it.
The real Fang Ning saw it from afar, pleased by his unintentional boost of good impression from President Zhao and Fatso Liu.
It really was not intentional. He merely thought the puppet could be returned, and the System was around to assist. No matter what, Fatso Liu was a close companion, as well as President Zhao’s old friend, he could not just let it be.
***************
At this moment, a group of people entered Zheng Dao’s room.
Two of the three who came in first were recognizable by Vigilante A, if he were still here. The two were the Qiao brother-sister pair.
The other one was a cold-looking lady with a sky blue cheongsam. It was as if she was not afraid of the cold in this Northern region near wintertime.
Behind the three, there was a group of fully-armed, well-trained men in black uniforms.
As soon as Qiao Zishan entered, he started getting busy, he reached out with his Morality, covering Zheng Dao who was deep in slumber.
However, Morality did not provoke any reaction from him, and it made Qiao Zishan frown slightly.
Qiao Zijiang asked, “Big brother, did your Morality not have any reaction toward the evil presence just now?”
Qiao Zishan answered, “I could feel Morality’s feedback. I could ascertain that the group of missing people, as well as the monster, were no longer in this realm, so Morality would not have any reaction. Aunt Hai, what do you think?”
As he said that, he woke Zheng Dao up.
Zheng Dao only wore his pajamas. He did not seem to panic as he was woken up. He even allowed the effort to tidy up his sleepwear, as if he already knew the people who came in.
Qiao Zishan’s Aunt Hai, the cool-looking lady, was Hai Lan. she was the big sister of Hai Cheng of the God’s Gaze.
Hai Lan’s face was icy as she asked, “Tell us, Zheng Dao, you’re a psychotherapist, and your Superpower was only Soul Soothe, how do you summon such a powerful monster?”
Zheng Dao was perplexed, “Lady, aren’t you a little too judgmental? Please, show me your evidence. I have always been a lawful man, I’ve never even run a red light.”
Hai Lan’s crossed her arms, shaking her head, “We are the Truth Department, not the Law Enforcement Office. We don’t need evidence, we need only a proof that you are linked with Special Affairs and not a normal person to use any necessary means to capture you. You need not argue for anything, you’re obviously not a normal person. You’re very gutsy, aren’t you? Making a move on your first day here?”
At this point, Zheng Dao shrugged, not arguing any further, and flashed them a helpless smile, “Alright, I would rather not have this drawn out to be a suffering of flesh anyway, I’m actually innocent. I will tell you the whole story, it is long, but I will try my best to simplify them.”
The trio stared at him intensely.
Zheng Dao explained, “I am a psychotherapist, not an idiot. If it were me who did it, I would not choose to make a move here, let alone doing it on the first day. I am actually a vessel of this demon. I believe you’re familiar with its kind.”
“This is because the first curriculum video I was shown here was actually one of its comrades. It’s just that this one was even stronger on a certain level, not only it could pull people’s consciousness into its dreamscape, it could even pull whole persons into its world. You should have found out by now that some people were missing. No doubt, they were all pulled into the demon’s realm.”
Hai Lan was somewhat nervous as she heard his explanation, she followed up, “What are the dangers in that demon’s realm?”
Zheng Dao looked helpless, “I can only say what I know, I can’t guarantee it is the truth. There is no danger in that space, and the demon has no attack power on its own. However, the place has nothing at all. Once someone went inside, they would need at least a month before they could come out. If the demon is willing to spend some power, it might even be longer. Of course, the time outside and inside flows differently. No matter how long somebody has entered, they would come out within a moment. If the demon encountered someone stronger than it, it will choose to starve them inside the realm.”
“What?” the three was caught by surprise. It had trapped thirty-odd people in that realm, and all of them were pulled inside during their slumber, they would have brought nothing at all.
If Zheng Dao’s explanation was correct, in the best case scenario where they would be released after a month, it could very well be that only Instructor Xu Weihua who could survive until then.
