Chapter 135 Hiding the Tree in the Forest, Meeting the Grandmaster

[At the same time.]

[Wuyue City, Liu Qing's home.]

[Time passed, and it was already late at night.]

[Liu Qing sat by the bed, looking at her younger sister, Liu Yiyi, who had gone to sleep early and was physically weak.]

[Her eyes were filled with an unshakeable anxiety and worry.]

[Ever since a few days ago, when she took her sister to Yangxin Hospital.]

[To see Director Zhang Dehai, who was said to be an authoritative expert.]

[Yiyi's condition had become even stranger.]

[Although the medicine Director Zhang prescribed that day made Yiyi's fever from the cold subside the same day.]

[But for some reason.]

[Since then, her sister's body had instead become weaker by the day.]

[The originally lively and active little girl now didn't even have the strength to get out of bed every day.]

[Her complexion even showed an abnormal grayish-white hue.]

[This made Liu Qing feel incredibly panicked.]

["How could this be? The fever clearly broke..."]

[Liu Qing tightly held her sister's cold little hand.]

[She decided that first thing tomorrow morning.]

[She must take her sister to see Director Zhang Dehai again.]

[Because Director Zhang had told her before that her sister might not have a simple cold.]

[But rather an extremely rare genetic deficiency disease.]

[However, Director Zhang had said at the time that he wasn't too sure.]

[He needed Liu Yiyi to go home and be observed for a while, then return for a follow-up in a few days.]

[Liu Qing had absolute faith in the words of this "authoritative expert."]

[However, what she didn't know was.]

[At this moment, Liu Yiyi wasn't suffering from some strange disease at all.]

[Instead, she had been secretly cursed by Zhang Dehai with an extremely vicious occult technique of the Heart-Eroding Cult—the "Vitality Severing Technique"!]

[That so-called observation period.]

[Was merely a smokescreen Zhang Dehai set up to let the occult technique take root and slowly drain the girl's vitality.]

[At this moment, deep within Liu Yiyi's Sea of Consciousness.]

[The long-dormant "Water Spirit No. 2" was emitting a faint blue light.]

[It was like a highly efficient purifier and collector.]

[Stripping away the black occult residues that were trying to erode the girl's Soul.]

[Bit by bit, it collected them into its core.]

[Liu Qing took one last worried look at her sleeping sister.]

[She tucked her in and dragged her exhausted body back to her own master bedroom.]

[Although her heart was full of worry for her sister's condition, the high-intensity teaching at the martial arts hall every day.]

[Had already drained her physical strength.]

[As soon as her head hit the pillow, she fell into a deep sleep.]

[Now, it was time for Water Spirit No. 1 to take action.]

[...]

[Liu Qing, in her deep sleep, suddenly felt a wave of suffocation.]

[She fell into an incredibly realistic and terrifying dream.]

[In the dream, she returned to Yangxin Hospital from a few days ago.]

[She saw clearly that during those brief ten-plus minutes when she took the forms to queue for payment on the first floor.]

[The kindly-looking Director Zhang Dehai suddenly changed his face!]

[A greedy red light flashed in Zhang Dehai's eyes as he took out a long black needle engraved with eerie runes.]

[With a sinister grin, he stabbed it into Yiyi's nape!]

[A surge of black evil energy slithered into her sister's body like a venomous snake!]

["No! Yiyi!"]

[In the dream, Liu Qing screamed heart-wrenchingly.]

[She wanted to rush over and stop him, but her body was pinned firmly in place.]

["So... this is the truth!"]

["That beast of a doctor, he tampered with my sister!"]

["This is why Yiyi is so weak!"]

[Just as Liu Qing fell into extreme despair.]

[The scenes in the dream suddenly shattered piece by piece.]

[The white walls of the hospital vanished, replaced by a vast and boundless starry sky.]

[In the center of the starry sky.]

[A towering divine statue, ten thousand feet high and emitting a deep blue watery light.]

[Stood before her.]

[The divine statue's face was blurred, but that compassionate and immense Divine Might.]

[Made Liu Qing instinctively feel awe.]

["Liu Qing."]

[A majestic, cold, feminine voice that seemed to come from above the Nine Heavens boomed in Liu Qing's ears.]

["What you just saw is all factual."]

["Your sister was cursed with an occult technique to strip her of her vitality by a cultist."]

[The voice of the "divine statue" brooked no doubt:]

["Tomorrow morning, pick up that glass bottle on your bedside table."]

["Inside is the occult residue left by that cultist when he performed the technique; it is conclusive evidence."]

["Take it and go immediately to Wuyue City's 'Alien Cult Investigation Bureau' tomorrow morning."]

["Submit this proof."]

["And, you must make a request of them."]

["Demand to see the Director-General of the Jiangnan Province headquarters, Great Grandmaster Grandmaster Zhao Zongtian!"]

["Only he can break this situation."]

["After you see him, you shall..."]

[The divine statue, through dialogue.]

[Deeply engraved the subsequent plan into Liu Qing's mind.]

[After listening, although Liu Qing was shocked by the arrival of this "miracle."]

[Her instinct as an older sister allowed her to overcome her fear of the deity.]

[She noted down all the steps but still asked with some concern:]

["What about Yiyi? If I go to the Investigation Bureau and make demands like this, will they still be willing to help me?"]

["What if they don't believe me... Yiyi can't afford to wait!"]

[The "divine statue" slightly lowered its gaze, its voice softening a bit.]

["There is no need to worry about your sister."]

["I shall take action myself."]

[...]

[The same thing happened at the same time in the dreams of Liao Fan, who was resting in a hotel.]

[And Li Ang, who was lying in another room of the same hotel.]

[However, the details in each person's dream and the "oracle" tasks they received.]

[Had subtle differences based on their respective identities and personalities.]

[Of course, for Li Ang, the chess player.]

[This was merely a self-directed cutscene used to enrich the details of the script.]

[Everything was under control.]

[...]

[The next day, early morning.]

[Wuyue City Alien Cult Investigation Bureau, Special Interrogation Reception Area.]

[The air here seemed several degrees colder than the icy wind outside.]

[Deputy Director Cold Kite, wearing a black trench coat, stood expressionlessly behind a one-way mirror.]

[In her hand, she held three sets of deposition transcripts that had just been urgently submitted by her subordinates.]

[A rare flash of astonishment crossed her cold eyes.]

[Through the glass, she could see the situation in three adjacent independent reception rooms.]

[In Room No. 1 was a girl with red-rimmed eyes, clutching a blue glass bottle tightly in her hand.]

[Though her expression was anxious, she sat upright, exuding an air of determination.]

[In Room No. 2 was a young student with an arrogant look, wearing a jade thumb ring on his finger.]

[Facing the solemn and chilling environment of the Investigation Bureau, he actually showed no fear.]

[Instead, he maintained an arrogant posture of being full of confidence.]

[And in Room No. 3 sat an ordinary high school student carrying a backpack and wearing a peaked cap, looking somewhat dazed and uneasy.]

[He was nervously pinching the corner of his shirt, seemingly quite frightened by this display.]

[These three young people had actually, at the same moment this morning.]

[As if by prior agreement, arrived all at once at the entrance of the Investigation Bureau.]

[What was even more ridiculous was the situation the subordinates had just reported.]

[When these three young people were questioned by the gate guards.]

[They had actually used the exact same rhetoric in unison!]

["I want to see Great Grandmaster Grandmaster Zhao Zongtian!"]

[Cold Kite looked at the three young people behind the glass.]

[She slowly closed the three transcripts in her hand and sank into deep thought.]