Chapter 19: Not Friends. Dian Zhu: Just stubborn, I get it, I get it…

Dian Zhu smiled. “It sounds like you want to turn the entire Izayoi Family upside down. Fine, but that’s going to cost extra.”

Liu Ming shook his head. “Don’t haggle with me over the price. No matter how much you ask for, I can afford it.”

Dian Zhu’s face instantly lit up with joy. “Good, good, good! I’ll tell you everything I know, no holding back!”

The Third District bordered the vast ocean. For generations, it had been led by the Izayoi Family, an organization centered around Umizuki no Mikoto¹, one of the strongest Correctors of the past who was worshipped by the common people as a deity. Ever since the Kanagawa defense line was established along the coast, the Izayoi Family had held the seat of District Chief for the Third District, maintaining the Kanagawa line.

However, as a thousand-year-old noble clan, they were different from the Liu Family, which had only risen to prominence in the last century. Beyond the family head, the Izayoi Family was governed by an Elder Council that relied on seniority to balance the head’s power. Every single elder in that council was a stubborn traditionalist who believed the ancient family rules were more important than anything else. They were incredibly difficult to deal with, frequently challenging the current head with phrases like, “If only Lord Umizuki no Mikoto were still here-“

Dian Zhu flashed a mocking smile. “What do you think… now that the Y009 prophecy is intensifying, what would those elders do? Those men who fear that the awakening of Y008 will destroy everything they’ve built over a lifetime?”

Liu Ming understood instantly, his gaze sharpening. “Faced with the threat of a highly credible disaster, they would want the Izayoi Family to return to the era when Umizuki no Mikoto was still present.”

Dian Zhu nodded. “That is the Third District’s greatest hidden danger and the source of motivation for all the elders’ actions. The impending awakening of the Kraken is like a Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads, forcing those desperate elders to do something to seize control before the disaster arrives.”

Dian Zhu spread her hands. “After all, you’ve seen it yourself. With Izayoi Ame’s personality, it’s really hard for him to play along with those neurotic elders who look like they were just dug out of a tomb. It’s hard to say which is worse: the viper’s nest atmosphere of your Liu Family, or this environment full of feudal patriarchs².”

Liu Ming nodded in agreement. “True.”

Dian Zhu was speechless. Is this guy just used to it? Why didn’t he argue against the ‘viper’s nest’ label at all? He even looked a little proud of it.

The atmosphere fell into silence as Liu Ming looked at Dian Zhu. “Is that all the information you have?”

Dian Zhu shook her head. “Please, young master, I’ve already pointed you in the right direction. With this lead, you don’t need me for the specifics. The Serpent Guard you have rooted in the Third District can dig that up, can’t they?”

She narrowed her eyes as she spoke the last sentence. Her emerald-green eyes seemed to flash for a moment, carrying a silent pressure.

The Liu Family of the First District was synonymous with egoism and opportunism. Because of this, the Liu Family’s precepts dictated that they never let an opportunity slip by. As the administrators of the First District and the nominal leaders of the seven districts, they only felt at ease when they held the information and status of the other six districts firmly in their grasp.

Thus, the Serpent Guard trained by the Liu Family moved like dark shadows. Under the operations of Liu Lin and Liu Ming, they had struck precisely at the core of the other six districts. Even here, in the heart of the Third District and the Izayoi Family’s headquarters, the Liu Family had planted secret Serpent Guard agents.

But this was a secret known only to the innermost circle of the Liu Family, just as the conflict and undercurrents between the Elder Council and Izayoi Ame were secrets known only to the core members of the Izayoi Family. In a very dangerous way, Dian Zhu had once again proven the value of her intelligence.

Logically, for the Liu Family, the safest course of action would be to kill such an uncontrollable person. But looking at his old classmate, Liu Ming suddenly smiled and even nodded in approval. “True.”

Dian Zhu wore a disappointed expression. “What’s this? Why do you still have that calculating look welded onto your face? I thought I might see a different expression for once.”

Liu Ming looked at her with a half-smile. “I might not show a different expression, but you could have a different job. Why not help me investigate what the Izayoi Family is hiding? If we find the truth… maybe we can save the world this time!”

“Ugh,” Dian Zhu made a face of pure disgust. “Stay away from me. That’s impossible. That tree- ahem, Teacher won’t let me interfere. He said if I get involved in your karma³, I’ll die.”

Dian Zhu shook her index finger with great solemnity. “If that happened, you’d never be able to forget the image of my smiling face in the heavy rain of the Third District for the rest of your life. That’s not good, not good at all.”

Liu Ming was speechless. You usually shout about how your fate is in your own hands and not heaven’s, yet now you’re following feudal superstitions.

Dian Zhu knew Liu Ming far too well. Even with her eyes closed, she knew nothing good was about to come out of his mouth. Before he could speak, she hauled him up from his chair and pushed him toward the door. “Alright, alright, the diner has finished his meal and can leave now. Aren’t you a member of the Salvation squad handpicked by the Black Swan? There are three other people in that team. Go find your friends.”

Liu Ming gave her a cold sweep of his gaze. Dian Zhu shrunk her neck and sighed. “Fine, fine. Not friends, teammates. Happy now?”

Liu Ming retracted his gaze, satisfied. He stopped at the door of the private room, maintaining his composed attitude. “There’s no need to rush. They shouldn’t be able to cause much trouble.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Dian Zhu arched an eyebrow, intending to argue further, but to her surprise, Liu Ming quickly fell into deep thought.

After a few seconds, he convinced himself and reached for the door handle. “…Actually, maybe not. I’d better go check on them quickly.”

Dian Zhu watched him go. Why did she suddenly get the feeling he was a babysitter? Was she crazy, or was Liu Ming?

Meanwhile, at the Haiyue Shrine.

True to form, the trio led by Yun Zhou had once again been found by “trouble.”

Izayoi Ame and Liu Ming both departed in a hurry. As students of Tree Tower Academy, the remaining three had no clear direction for their investigation for the time being. They could only follow the lead of Yun Zhou, the only one who could hear those strange cries, and continue wandering through Haiyue Shrine.

“The voices have become very, very faint, but they’re still inside my head.”

Yun Zhou’s expression was solemn. Once he realized those cries, the Third District anomaly, and Du Shui’s lost memories were all connected, he became hyper-focused, carefully searching in the direction the sobbing sounds originated from.

“That anomaly beneath the sea should only be a part of something larger. I saw its form clearly when the District Chief was cutting and suppressing it. It didn’t just have tentacles – the tentacles were its entire body.”

Du Shui’s hand remained resting on the umbrella-sword⁴ at her waist, her brow furrowed. Now that she finally had a lead on her lost memories and the parasite in her eye, she was desperate to discover her origins.

After all, that feeling of drifting between heaven and earth, rootless and unsettled, was truly unbearable.

She just wanted to know – she had to know – where she came from and where she was going. It was a right and a sense of purpose that every living being deserved to have.

“This way!”

Yun Zhou pressed his aching temples. He led the way, turning past the end of a coastal cliff path. The walkway built into the cliffside had fallen into disrepair and was marked with red warning signs. It was extremely dangerous for ordinary people, but for three Correctors, it posed no problem at all.

Yun Zhou moved the warning sign blocking the path and dashed onto the deserted mountain trail. Du Shui followed close behind, while Ying Huo, bringing up the rear, cautiously moved the sign back into its original place.

“It’s just ahead!”

The other side of the trail transitioned into a wooden boardwalk wrapping around the entire cliff face. Yun Zhou moved with extreme speed, becoming little more than a white blur, making the wooden planks beneath his feet creak and groan.

But he couldn’t hear it at all right now, because his ears were filled entirely with those weak, helpless cries.

“Watch out! Yun Zhou!”

Seeing a missing plank in the rotting walkway ahead, Du Shui quickly called out a warning. Unfortunately, Yun Zhou was too agitated to hear her and stepped straight into the gap.

“Holy crap! Scared the life out of me! Du Shui, Ying Huo, save me!” Yun Zhou yelled.

He had completely forgotten that his affinity was Wind, and that he was perfectly capable of hovering in mid-air.

Even though she knew Yun Zhou possessed Wind-type mental power and could fly, Du Shui still sighed and rushed over. She and Ying Huo each grabbed a hand and hauled him back up.

“Let’s see if you run off blindly next time,” Du Shui said, rolling her eyes. She was about to say more when she saw Ying Huo pointing tremulously behind her and Yun Zhou.

“Wait… behind you… is that an entrance?”

Du Shui and Yun Zhou turned around slowly, their bodies stiff as robots. Due to Yun Zhou’s frantic movements just now, the stone layer on the cliff face had crumbled away, revealing a circular black crevice.

The three exchanged a look. Du Shui drew a slender tachi⁵ from her umbrella and struck the crevice with all her might.

The stone layer covering the gap shattered and fell away, plummeting into the bottomless abyss beneath the boardwalk. The circular door hidden behind the stone slowly swung open, revealing the darkness within to the three young people.

Not a single ray of light existed inside the black, circular tunnel. The darkness seemed to surge out like a dense, woven web, turning almost physical as it threatened to swallow the three standing at the threshold.

“…That thing… is it an eye?” Ying Huo murmured.

Amidst that thick, flowing blackness, a terrifyingly bright, blood-red eye snapped open. It stared at the students standing frozen at the entrance, and slowly, its pupil shifted.

In the next second, everyone heard the pained, weak voice that had been echoing in Yun Zhou’s ears.

“Save me… save me…”

The eye turned slowly in the darkness, suddenly fixing its gaze on Du Shui. A glimmer of hope burst forth within its iris.

“Is it you? Have you come to save me? Big sister?”

Translator’s Notes