NHWSG chapter 23

“Wait a moment.” Sheng Zhao interrupted him in confusion and said, “Are there different types of monsters?”

For some reason, when Xing Yingzhu mentioned such things, he seemed to be more patient than usual. He didn’t get angry when Sheng Zhao interrupted him abruptly, but instead explained a few words.

“The birds and beasts you can encounter, their cultivation is to transform from ordinary beasts into human forms through practice, and then seek opportunities to transcend the mortal realm and become immortals,” Xing Yingzhu said in a calm tone. “But demonic beasts are different. They are born as demons, carrying energy in their bloodlines. They don’t need to bother with cultivating to awaken their wisdom, nor do they care to transform into human forms.”

“I understand,” Sheng Zhao said. “The former relies on their own efforts to achieve class transcendence, while the latter is born into a certain class—though in their perception, ‘humans’ are not considered the top tier.”

“Yes,” Xing Yingzhu agreed.

Xing Yingzhu noticed that Sheng Zhao’s self-proclaimed “materialist” stance seemed more like a slogan to him, something he could easily discard. He wasn’t sure whether to attribute Sheng Zhao’s openness to acceptance or to a lack of nerves. Sheng Zhao seemed to grasp esoteric matters effortlessly, accepting them as if it were only natural.

Previously, Xing Yingzhu had noticed something subtly charismatic about Sheng Zhao, something that naturally attracted beings like demons. Hence, from himself to Diao Leyu, the young ferret in the apartment building, everyone seemed to have a good acceptance of him.

—Perhaps it’s worth investigating the reason, Xing Yingzhu thought.

These days, he found himself thinking about Sheng Zhao a lot, wondering if he had any connection to his own fate.

If so… Xing Yingzhu thought, if so, then before he found what belonged to him, others shouldn’t even think about taking Sheng Zhao away.

“What a pity,” Sheng Zhao sighed, saying, “I should have spread the news at that time, at least to narrow down the search scope for Zhang Kaisheng’s wife and children.”

“It wouldn’t have made a difference,” Xing Yingzhu, like a cold-blooded beauty with a heart as firm as iron, poured cold water on him mercilessly. “Even if they went, they wouldn’t have found Zhang Kaisheng.”

“That’s not necessarily true,” Sheng Zhao attempted to argue. “Boss, you might not know, but there’s something called the Heavenly Eye system now—”

“Because he’s already dead,” Xing Yingzhu stated.

Xing Yingzhu’s tone was serious, as if stating an obvious fact.

Sheng Zhao: “…”

Sheng Zhao opened his mouth as if someone had pressed the mute button on his consciousness, instantly falling silent.

He felt a sudden chill down his spine, as if surrounded by eyes from all directions, as if the darkness was filled with people.

When he spoke again, his voice was trembling slightly.

“Boss…” Sheng Zhao shuffled his feet closer to him and said shakily, “Don’t scare me, I’m easily frightened.”

Xing Yingzhu glanced at him, probably fearing that Sheng Zhao might faint again and delay their journey, so he graciously changed his tone.

“Clinical death,” Xing Yingzhu said. “Of course, there may still be a breath of life left before biological death.”

Sheng Zhao breathed a sigh of relief.

For him, there was a world of difference between “a person having a breath of life and being lively” and “this person is already dead”. The former he could deceive himself about, convincing himself it was some kind of mystical technique, but the latter was a genuine horror story, with substantial differences.

In fact, Sheng Zhao still had many questions he wanted to ask, such as the origin of that dragon and whether Zhang Kaisheng could still be saved. But after this experience, he dared not speak to Xing Yingzhu anymore. He wasn’t afraid of Xing Yingzhu mocking him, but he was afraid that Xing Yingzhu would earnestly tell him ghost stories to frighten him.

In this pitch-dark wilderness, if he really fainted, there was an eighty percent chance that Xing Yingzhu would not bother to drag him along.

If at that moment Xing Yingzhu’s patience ran out and he left him behind… Just thinking about that scene made Sheng Zhao feel nervous. He couldn’t help but rub his arms, shut his mouth, and follow Xing Yingzhu obediently, like a pet following its master.

He secretly made up his mind, thinking that he would endure any further questions until they returned to the apartment building, where he would ask Xing Yingzhu again in broad daylight, wrapped in a blanket.

Although Sheng Zhao was puzzled as to why Xing Yingzhu suddenly became talkative, he felt a bit relieved. 

The two of them, talking incoherently, actually got along surprisingly well and ended up going together, creating an unusually harmonious scene for the entire latter half of the journey.

However, from Sheng Zhao’s observation, Xing Yingzhu probably couldn’t use his esoteric abilities unless absolutely necessary—because throughout the entire latter half of the night, he persisted in walking along Route 11 with him, without any intention of using magical methods to cheat.

Xing Yingzhu came ashore in the northern part of Poyang Lake, which was quite vast. Sheng Zhao followed him soaked through the night until their clothes were half dry by the faint light of dawn when they encountered fishermen who were out early fishing.

After some persuasion, the fishermen believed that they were tourists who had a stroke of bad luck with a leaky kayak in the lake. A kind-hearted unlucky fellow helped them back to the village with his pickup truck.

“Young people nowadays are reckless. How could you row the boat yourselves in such a big lake like Poyang Lake?” The middle-aged fisherman, though he helped them, seemed reluctant and grumpy. He continued grumbling while driving, “Lucky you can swim; otherwise, wouldn’t you be throwing your lives away?”

Sheng Zhao couldn’t rely on Xing Yingzhu for social interaction. He just chuckled and nodded along, agreeing with the fisherman. When they got off the truck, Sheng Zhao even transferred two hundred yuan to the fisherman’s account as a token of appreciation—fortunately, Xing Yingzhu’s communication device hadn’t been sacrificed underwater, or they would’ve had to beg at the train station with a sign saying “Lost luggage while traveling, seeking kind-hearted people to donate two hundred yuan for a ride home.”

Sheng Zhao didn’t emerge from the water unscathed like Xing Yingzhu did. First, he bought some dry clothes from the local village, then booked a flight on Xing Yingzhu’s phone. They took an intercity bus to the city and finally took a taxi to the airport.

After all the hustle and bustle, they finally landed at Shangdu Airport around two o’clock in the afternoon.

When he disembarked, Sheng Zhao felt sore all over, every muscle protesting, making him tremble with every step. He managed to squeeze himself into a taxi.

“Driver, Fuxing Road, Biyuan Community, in the New Development Zone,” Sheng Zhao instructed.

Xing Yingzhu had leaned back against the rear window of the car with his arms folded, seemingly dozing off. Sheng Zhao occasionally glanced at him, seeing him maintain the same posture, as if asleep.

The bright sunlight outside cast a warm glow on him, even tinting his black windbreaker into a deep brown. His pale face looked fragile under the sunlight, exuding an inexplicable sense of vulnerability.

However, Sheng Zhao knew it was just an illusion brought about by his appearance. Once Xing Yingzhu opened his eyes and spoke, he could command respect and awe.

As the taxi exited the expressway connecting the airport to the city center, they gradually merged into the main road of the downtown area.

In the city center, the traffic slowed down significantly. They encountered occasional red lights or pedestrians crossing the road. As they reached the busiest intersection, they got stuck in traffic, surrounded by a sea of brake lights.

Normally, Sheng Zhao would have asked the driver to take another route, but today he said nothing. Instead, he found himself enjoying the feeling of being surrounded by other people.

The increasing number of people and cars around him gradually reassured him, calming his nerves.

Whether it was sunlight or lamplight, brightness naturally made people feel safe. Sheng Zhao relaxed, leaning back in his seat, letting out a long sigh of relief.

If it weren’t for Xing Yingzhu sitting beside him reminding him, Sheng Zhao might have thought last night’s nightmare was just a dream.

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but glance back at Xing Yingzhu.

Strangely, in broad daylight, Sheng Zhao found it hard to connect the man in front of him with the giant snake that had nearly killed him the night before.

“He doesn’t look threatening at all,” Sheng Zhao thought.