“Mm… You’re right. There are only a thousand survivors in the castle, and the infection rate among them is forty percent. So, that means the number of mutants…”

“There’s no need. Forget how many those things have eaten. What matters is that we eat our fill and get moving… Trust me, they won’t move that fast.”

Juxi gazed at Yu Nai with quiet resolve. In the end, he softened…

“This isn’t looking good. We should move our remaining military forces to—”

“In any case, I’ll pay you… if you complete the job.”

“All right, all right,” Yuanhui finally stepped in to say something reasonable. “Let’s drop the diplomatic talk. We didn’t come here for the princess or those gold coins. I came here to talk to you about Juxi. Answer me in private, briefly and clearly: do you know or don’t you? And you too, Juxi—don’t try to scare me with some damn nonsense about rules and principles!”

Yuanhui finally lost his temper. Juxi, looking a little troubled, instinctively rubbed the corner of his brow.

“Sigh. I’m sure this strange curse can be broken. If I’m not mistaken, we need to find the original cause of their becoming ghouls, then sever the resentment binding them. That’s usually how you deal with ghouls.”

“It’s that simple?” Yu Nai cut in.

She waved a hand. So they didn’t have to kill every mutant after all? That made things a lot easier.

But Juxi immediately poured cold water on that idea. “Not at all! First, we have to survive. You need to understand: wherever those persistent things keep appearing is bound to be where the source lies… Of course, there are exceptions. Some cases are… well, man-made, with no source at all.”

By “man-made,” he meant that someone was controlling the ghouls. Usually, only some kid who’d learned the art of corpse-driving would do something like that. But this time, they’d been terrifying enough to destroy an entire country. It might not be corpse-driving at all—or perhaps the one behind it was an old hand from the corpse-driving world.

“Yeah,” Yuanhui said, picking up Juxi’s words with a frown. “I keep hearing certain people say things like, ‘Think carefully before you kill those ghouls.’ I bet they’ve talked to you too, right? Forget the ritual. We just need to destroy the source of that ghoul’s resentment, then tell the queen she has no other choice. The queen won’t pay us, but they will.”

“No, there’s an easier way—and it’s cheaper!” Juxi smacked Yuanhui across the mouth. “That damn queen might order us beheaded or hanged. Better to keep the money in our pockets.”

“Seriously? Would they really ignore the Heavenly Dao Academy and kill a Heavenly Dao Master?” Yuanhui asked, looking uneasy.

Juxi stared into Yuanhui’s eyes for a long while.

“I don’t know,” he finally said. “But we should consider the possibility. The Heavenly Dao Academy won’t lift a finger to help us.”

Now it was Yuanhui’s turn to fall silent. He could only turn away and smoke in silence.

“I’ll do everything I can…” A moment later, he sighed helplessly. “But if things go wrong, I’ll find a way to get us out. You should consider that possibility too.”

Yuanhui suddenly stood up and glanced toward the floor above.

Yu Nai was leaning against the window, staring into the distance with her eyes wide open. It seemed she hadn’t heard their conversation, so Juxi raised his voice and said:

“You misunderstood. That’s not what I meant.”

“Of course, if things get out of control, I’ll kill her—whether I want to or not. Because if I don’t, she’ll kill you. That’s an obvious, irreversible fact, damn it!!!”

“Yuanhui, I may never have said this before, but plenty of people have already taken on this probably hopeless job. If I don’t kill a few people who refuse to learn, these tricks will never end. Trust me, Baiyan of the Heavenly Dao Academy isn’t someone you can just kill!”

Juxi was a core member of the Heavenly Dao Academy, after all. They couldn’t just let the Westerners kill him and leave it at that.

“Yeah, but they’re exorcists. And when it comes to numbers… we don’t have the advantage!”

“If I’m right, it won’t work after the rooster crows three times. What’ll happen before then?”

“Well, if everything goes smoothly, something terrifying will wake up.”

“You guessed right, Yuanhui. Is it an undead creature with blood-red eyes? Devilish claws?”

“I’m not sure. It’s just… they’ve never had a definite shape.”

Yu Nai suddenly came down the stairs, startling both Juxi and Yuanhui.

“Just what?” Yu Nai pressed them. Juxi spread his hands, trying to ease the tension.

“Physically, uh… a few minor issues.”

“All right. And mentally? A bucket of blood for breakfast every day? Or do you want, you know…”

To encourage her to reach her own conclusion, Juxi deliberately let his gaze drift to Yu Nai’s chest.

“I guess. Mentally… it’s hard to say… I’d guess she’s about eighteen or nineteen, and needs a lot of careful attention.”

“Of course. You know what I mean, right?”

Yuanhui caught Juxi’s meaning. With a leering look, he edged closer to him.

“Yeah…”

“You two—perverts!!!”

Yu Nai glared at Yuanhui, then prepared to turn that thorny stare on Juxi. After all, this had started with him.

Juxi stayed silent, pretending he had no idea what was going on. He tilted his head up and whistled.

“Aha,” Yuanhui said. “We were just talking about… a little secret between men?”

“Ugh, men really are the same everywhere!”

“Hahahahaha!!!”

Though Yu Nai was furious, her face hadn’t turned red at all. Her expression was honestly a little too ridiculous.

Juxi and Yuanhui finally couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing. That only made Yu Nai think they were even less reliable. Just as she was about to scream, a louder scream came from outside the window.

It came from the place where they’d just thrown the soldier!

“If they die five hours after passing out, we have to burn the bodies—and fast.”

Juxi’s expression darkened.

“I think,” Yuanhui added, “they probably won’t end up like that. But just in case, Juxi, I agree with your plan.”

“Now? Isn’t it too soon? You can’t be this heartless. What if…”

“What if what? They’re already dead, and there’s a pretty good chance they’ll turn into ghouls and become our next problem. Understand?”

“But…”

“Now.” Juxi cut Yu Nai off without mercy. “There’s no telling what’ll happen. Maybe you won’t wake up in the morning—or maybe you’ll find my corpse.”

“It’s that serious? Even if I let you—uh, well, I don’t think my permission means much to you anyway.”

Yu Nai’s words faltered, leaving Juxi puzzled for a while. All in all, she’d been acting a little strange.

“Forget it. Don’t be such a downer. This is serious, and the risks are high, so listen carefully: you have to keep this necklace with the luminous stone around your neck at all times. It should be pure silver, with the stone hanging from a silver chain. Wear it day and night.”

Juxi carefully fastened the necklace around Yu Nai’s neck. She looked a little surprised and asked him:

“What am I supposed to do with this? Is it some kind of bait for mutants…?”

“Tch, take it or leave it. Juxi, I told you this girl was up to no good, and you’re giving her a chain that repels ghouls?!”

Yuanhui angrily moved to snatch the silver chain, but Juxi stopped him.

“That’s enough. She’s the only one here who can’t fight ghouls! Yu Nai, the luminous stone has bubbles inside it. And there’s specially treated, poisonous pure silver meant to fight ghouls, with mercury sealed inside.”

Before Juxi could finish, the area around the house was already swarming with gray-skinned monsters.

Their skin had turned blue-green, and some of them had even split open. Still, you could hear them breathing heavily.

“This is bad. We might not be able to leave.”

Before Yu Nai and Yuanhui could react, Juxi started checking the bedding and the food they had stored, all on his own. Once he’d packed everything, he promptly lay down and fell fast asleep.

“We can’t stay here! What about the people of Harilan…? Oh, come on, talk some sense into Juxi!”

Yu Nai was frantic, begging Yuanhui to hurry up and push Juxi to leave. But after a glance out the window, Yuanhui simply agreed with Juxi.

“Thanks for the suggestion, boss. I’ll take it if… Now listen carefully.”

Sometimes, that’s just how things are. You think there’s no hope left; you finally find release—but it doesn’t end… not even close…

It’s time for today’s journal entry:

If you have even the slightest doubt, if you don’t know whether it’ll work, kill her. Don’t be afraid. Reality won’t do anything to you.

In the end, people will just yell in my face and drive me out of the city. That’s all!

Of course, none of that matters anymore. What matters is—what am I doing?!

I’m running down a road in a foreign land like a headless fly, with no idea what will happen next—or what I’ll find out.

Some wise men once pursued this road too, this endless road to heaven. None of us knows where it leads. But there’s one thing we should know: the road lies beneath our own feet. It’s never left us. And on this road, who has Heaven ever spared?

Time keeps passing. No matter how many years go by, I won’t forget any of the stories I lived through here—including that girl.

Heh. I wonder what my future will be like.

Still, when people in the future learn that their ancestor was once so great, maybe they’ll be proud of what I did today…