Her newly acquired underling showed some initiative—automatically switching itself to sunglasses mode.

  It was Dax, racing back in a dusty silver van.

  The van could only stop at the alley entrance—too narrow to enter. Dax didn't bother closing the door, jogging over in a hurry.

  Seeing Wynn's condition, his expression darkened instantly—the physical body was just as wrecked as before, broken where it should break, torn where it should tear. But the real problem was the soul. It had been ripped open by that Ghost-Eye. Life or death genuinely uncertain.

  Dax's heart sank. He checked the boy lying on the ground. Then gave Ling a shadowed look.

  Ling didn't like that look. Shot right back:

  "What are you looking at me for? If it weren't for me, there wouldn't even be scraps left of your little underling."

  Dax didn't want to start an argument on the spot. He motioned for Ling to help move Wynn, then stopped mid-sentence—remembering this beauty was as delicate as a hothouse flower, probably struggled to lift an arm.

  He fished a glass bottle from his pocket, the body wrapped in a yellow paper talisman—obviously slapped on in the car just now.

  "Go collect Wynn's blood." He pressed the bottle into Ling's hands. "Still usable. No point letting good fertilizer flow to someone else's field."

  With that, he hauled Wynn toward the alley entrance by hisself.

  Ling blinked, leaned in to examine the bottle, then looked at the mess of blood on the car roof.

  "Ghost-Eye." She tapped the frames. "Know what to do?"

  The gold wire-rimmed glasses trembled with excitement:

  "Yes yes! I've been dying to!"

  "High-definition platelet tracking! Activate!"

  The focal point in Ling's vision zoomed in at breakneck speed, like a sports car flooring it.

  Then came microscope-level imaging. Every single red blood cell was as clear as a tiny balloon, bobbing around in her field of view.

  Ghost-Eye was still excitedly yammering:

  "Even clearer! Won't miss a single drop!"

  The problem was—

  Any slight movement from Ling became a catastrophic vertigo event. The world spinning, her stomach churning like a stormy sea.

  She ripped off the idiot glasses, squeezed her right eye shut, and hissed through clenched teeth:

  "Pull it back unless you want to die."

  Ghost-Eye sulked into silence.

  Only when the lenses returned to that familiar 480p blur did Ling put them back on.

  Little Ear felt warm—seemed to be stifling a laugh.

  Ling took a deep breath.

  She casually swirled the bottle over the pool of blood on the car roof a few times.

  By the time Ling walked over, Dax had just finished covering the "corpse."

  He beckoned her with a sour expression to get in the van:

  "Traffic cops will be coming around to write tickets soon. Move it."

  The van started. Ling had barely settled into the passenger seat when Dax launched into interrogation mode, voice dark:

  "What the hell happened just now?"

  "It's only been a moment—how did Wynn end up like this?"

  "And—why are those glasses on you? What's your relationship with that evil spirit? I'm warning you—"

  Ling cut him off coldly: "I'm warning . Jiang. We haven't even begun to settle accounts between us. You sure you want to take that tone with me right now?"

  Dax fired back stiffly: "What accounts? Look—I admit the celestial maiden specs are a bit… outdated. But I genuinely had your best interests at heart. I, Dax, walk the straight and narrow. Think I'm afraid to hash things out with you?"

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "If I hadn't gotten you into a shell that could actually contain you, you'd have leaked out to kingdom come by now. And then… heh, it wouldn't just be a minor Earth God like me coming after you."

  He shot Ling a glance. "I know what you're carrying isn't simple. Don't play dumb. You know perfectly well how much you need this identity."

  Ling laughed in sheer fury: "You sure this is just 'a bit outdated'? You were planning to lock me inside this thing permanently, and you're still playing the innocent?"

  Dax stuck his neck out righteously: "I never lied to you. You want to leave, you can leave anytime. Who's locking you up?"

  "…Yes, there's some paperwork for separation. Approvals, stamps, that kind of thing. But the authority is with me. Once I've confirmed Wynn's situation has nothing to do with you, I can process it immediately."

  His voice rose a notch: "You want to leave so bad, then go! Just stop messing with my only team captain!"

  Ling fell silent.

  She tried to read something from his face. But instinct told her—Dax seemed to… genuinely not know about the tricks built into this body.

  Her tone softened slightly as she spoke again: "I didn't really do anything to him. He was torn apart by that possessing evil spirit. This garbage body of mine was too useless to stop it, and I couldn't leave the shell, so I used some of my own methods…"

  She tapped the frames. "Anyway… this thing belongs to me now. That's all."

  Dax made a noncommittal sound.

  The van fell into dead silence, broken only by the radio broadcast echoing in the cramped space:

  Ling pressed random buttons with a blank expression, shutting off the radio. She turned her head away from Dax's eye-roll.

  After a long moment, something occurred to Ling: "Hey."

  "You said leaving the body requires your approval—so what happens without approval?"

  Dax answered absently: "I already registered you as a temp worker."

  "Unauthorized separation during manifestation counts as absence without leave. Wage deduction. More than two hours, and it's classified as unauthorized descent. Criminal offense."

  Ling: "…What if I just stick out a tiny bit to get some air?"

  Dax yanked the steering wheel hard right.

  Ling's head thunked against the window. The glasses arm caught awkwardly in her already disheveled hair.

  "That's not allowed either." Dax didn't even turn around. "The moment you separate, I get an alert. Synced to the central report system. I couldn't cover for you even if I wanted to."

  "The Court is very cautious about spirit descents these days. Times have changed…"

  "You'll come to understand eventually."

  The van stopped. He reached back to pull a parking ticket from under the rear wiper, stuffed it into Ling's hands.

  "Stop overthinking. If you need to go somewhere, submit a request three days in advance. I'll send you the form later."

  "Alright, get out. Help me grab my bag."

  "…"

  Ling got out of the van with an ugly expression.

  Restraining herself from tearing into Dax and swallowing him whole just now—that had taken real effort.

  She looked up. On the department store building at the intersection, a massive billboard blazed in the night. A handsome man cradled a guitar, reaching out toward passersby with a smile, his features radiating an almost irresistible allure.

  The slogan read:

  Ling stared at that face for several seconds.

  She pulled her gaze away and followed Dax.

  In a side hall of the Vessel Forging Sect, a panicked voice rang out:

  "Master! Master! Something terrible has happened!"

  Footsteps rushed closer, the newcomer gasping for breath: "Your magnum opus… it's been found! The jade slip—it lit up!"

  A dark figure materialized instantly, a booming voice exploding through the chamber: "What! Where?"

  The words had barely landed before the tone dropped, affecting calm: "Ahem… take your time. The Ember Sea? Or the Breath-Severing Chasm?"

  "N-neither…" The disciple swallowed hard. "It was hidden in that… that shabby temple of Li Rein's. And as luck would have it, the statute of limitations expired just two days ago. The Earth God on duty pulled it out and registered it as public property of the Longjiang Tudi Temple. It's already been officially logged in the Heavenly Court Asset Registry… It'll be very difficult to reclaim now."

  He raised his eyes cautiously: "Master… what do we do?"

  Wei Xu could no longer maintain his composure.

  His staff slammed against the floor——setting the entire hall humming with vibrations.

  "That son of a bitch! Five hundred years! He's been tricking our people into running circles through every corner of the Three Realms! After all the manpower and resources we spent, he hid it in his own home?!"

  He ground his teeth: "Hidden in plain sight… Quick! Pull everyone back first! Those locusts' field operation fees are too expensive."

  The disciple obediently acknowledged the order, then hesitated before speaking again: "Then… Master, should I perhaps conduct a surprise inspection through the back door first? See who's actually using it, whether our property is still inside…"

  Xu cut him off with a wave: "Absolutely not!"

  His gaze turned dark: "Who knows what traps that treacherous Li has set, waiting for us to walk right in. Have you forgotten how we stumbled last time?"

  His eyes narrowed as he pondered for a moment: "The Tudi there should still be that turncoat underling of his from back then. Friend or foe, impossible to tell…"

  "Here's what we'll do." He paced with hands clasped behind his back. "Submit a formal random system inspection request under our After-Sales Department's name, and CC all relevant personnel. This time, we investigate openly and above board. At this critical juncture, we cannot let those people from the Myriad Immortals Union find anything to hold against us."

  The disciple bowed: "Yes! As expected of Master—strategizing from afar, thinking of everything. This disciple will go prepare immediately."

  Xu nodded, then added: "This has come up suddenly, but there's no need to be too anxious. After all—"

  The corner of his mouth curved up, revealing a cold, smug smile: "As long as the Infinity Shell Array remains, our secret could be framed and hung on the wall—and they still wouldn't see it."

  "Go. Your master needs to consider this carefully."

  ?? A Message from Dax

  CLOSED on Saturday and Sunday!

  — Yours truly, Dax