Girl, There's Something Wrong With You - Chapter 49

In the temple, the group found the remaining young women.

“What’s wrong?” Xing Yuanzhi noticed that Cheng Jinyang seemed distracted and asked with concern, “Has something happened in Jingkou?”

“Hm? It’s nothing.” Cheng Jinyang forced a smile and replied, “The situation in Jiankang remains unresolved. I’m just a bit worried.”

“Is that so?”

“There’s nothing to worry about.” Cui Xiaoniang interjected, “Wasn’t it said that the situation is already favorable?”

“That’s true.”

“By the way, we just met a monk,” Lu Qingyun said.

“A monk? There are either pilgrims or monks everywhere in this temple. What’s so unusual about that?” Chu Qingqing teased. “Speaking of which, Qingyun, don’t you need to wipe your hair with a towel?”

“No need,” Lu Qingyun shook her head. “The monk said Jinyang has a mental block.”

“Ah, Jinyang has a mental block?” Zheng Qiupei exclaimed in surprise. “Should we see a psychologist or something…”

“That’s not what it means,” Li Qingwan explained. “A mental block is a Buddhist term referring to the mental obstacles that prevent one from making progress in their spiritual practice.”

“Monks are always so cryptic,” Xie Lingjiang added. “Not long ago, I met a monk who said there was a destined disaster in my life.”

“What disaster?” Zheng Qiupei asked, playfully holding Xie Lingjiang.

“Sigh, I didn’t get the details,” Xie Lingjiang sighed. “The monk disappeared in the blink of an eye.”

“Maybe you’re destined to encounter some scoundrels as you grow up,” Chu Qingqing joked.

“Qingqing!” Xing Yuanzhi frowned and admonished.

Why are you talking about such ominous things in broad daylight? Do you want even more rivals?

Realizing her mistake, Qingqing changed the subject, “So, shall we continue exploring? There’s a tower behind the temple that we could climb…”

“I checked earlier; the line is quite long,” Li Qingwan said. “And it’s very crowded inside.”

The young women all agreed to skip it, noting that there wasn’t much to see in the tower.

They took the net train back to the Admiral’s residence, settled Xie Lingjiang in the quarters near the Treasurer’s office, and then returned to their rooms.

“You’ve been gone so long!” The tearful Yang Wangshu rushed to them as they entered the room. “I’ve been waiting for you forever!”

“Weren’t you playing games at home?” Cheng Jinyang asked in surprise.

“The game server was down for maintenance this afternoon!” Yang Wangshu wailed.

The girls all burst into laughter.

Miss Wang calmly sat down by the bed and noticed that Cheng Jinyang wasn’t laughing.

She appeared thoughtful.

At night, the group entered the dream again.

Since they had already defeated the demon god Cai Zhaoqin last time, they didn’t need to face another challenge and simply let her open the portal to the hunt.

One by one, the young women passed through the portal, with Cheng Jinyang being the last to go, still looking distracted.

Just as he was about to step through, Cai Zhaoqin called out to him.

“You have traces of karmic techniques on you,” Cai Zhaoqin said calmly. “Have you encountered any peculiar people recently?”

“Peculiar people?” Cheng Jinyang was taken aback and immediately thought of the monk.

After briefly recounting the encounter with the monk, Cheng Jinyang saw Cai Zhaoqin’s rarely seen intrigued smile and heard her say:

“That monk isn’t a monk but an old friend from my past life.”

“A demon?” Cheng Jinyang thought.

No wonder the monk seemed so ambiguous. There was definitely something wrong.

“The so-called karmic techniques are a special type of demonic art used by that person,” Cai Zhaoqin continued. “She likes to use such techniques to observe the karmic connections on others and then hint at the results through vague and obscure words.”

“Is it a type of prophetic demonic art?” Cheng Jinyang frowned and asked. “Why does she do this?”

“It’s her obsession,” Cai Zhaoqin replied.

Obsession… Cheng Jinyang recalled what Yujing San had said.

For acquired demons, because there is a great deal of consciousness fighting within them, the dominant consciousness often maintains its existence through obsession.

“Obsessions of acquired demons are all sorts of strange,” Cai Zhaoqin continued. “Her habit of telling fortunes is relatively harmless. As for how you interpret what she told you, that’s your own concern; I’m not interested.”

“Thank you.” Cheng Jinyang thanked her and suddenly noticed that another demon, Yujing San, was missing. “Senior, have you seen Yujing San?”

“She has left,” Cai Zhaoqin answered.

“Left?” Cheng Jinyang was surprised. After all, Ye Ru had threatened Yujing San to stay and protect them.

“Mm, she asked me to convey this to you,” Cai Zhaoqin said. “There have been changes in the current world. The Tianquan’s fall is beyond her control, so she doesn’t intend to honor her agreement with them anymore. Given that we’ve gotten along well during this time, she won’t turn against you in the dream realm, so she simply left.”

Cheng Jinyang: ?

Since they weren’t in a hunting state, even if they were killed, it would only be a few hundred horses worth of bloodline concentration. Yujing San would naturally find this unworthy. But what did “changes in the current world” mean?

Could it be that Ye Ru is dead?

“Senior,” Cheng Jinyang asked cautiously, “Did she reveal any specifics about ‘Tianquan’s fall being beyond her control’?”

“She didn’t say,” Cai Zhaoqin answered. “But I’ve heard from other sources that recently the Fourth and Seventh of the Northern Dipper ambushed and killed the current Northern Dipper Star Lord. The Ziwei Emperor is enraged and is currently pursuing them everywhere.”

…

After some time, Cheng Jinyang finally snapped out of it and trembled, “Senior…”

“I don’t know the specifics either, since I’m still dead,” Cai Zhaoqin said calmly. “If you have any past ties with the Fourth of the Northern Dipper, I’ll give you a warning.”

She looked into Cheng Jinyang’s eyes and said solemnly, “If you face the Ziwei Emperor directly, you have no chance of surviving.”

“Demons don’t die; they can only have their star fire taken away,” Cai Zhaoqin added slowly. “In a few decades, they’ll be reborn.”

“You cannot save her.”

——————

In the morning.

Waking up from the dream, Cheng Jinyang silently went to the bathroom to wash up.

After having breakfast in the cafeteria, he silently went to the office to start handling the day’s affairs.

But no matter what, he couldn’t calm his mind.

How much of what Cai Zhaoqin said was true? He wasn’t sure.

He needed to ask the Cavalry about the situation in the northern Central Plains or find recent refugees who arrived in Jingkou to inquire.

But even if he confirmed that Xiao Li and Ye Ru were indeed being pursued by the Ziwei Emperor, what could he do?

As Cai Zhaoqin said, the difference between a First-Grade and a Fifth-Grade is like heaven and earth. Not to mention the Ziwei Emperor of the First-Grade, even facing her Second-Grade subordinates, someone of Fifth-Grade like him would have no hope of survival.

This isn’t a dream realm where one can be reborn indefinitely; this is the real world.

As a higher-up, how could he let emotions cloud his judgment? Leaving Jingkou and the Northern Army behind to head north in search of Xiao Li would be absurd.

Yet…

Cheng Jinyang, troubled, suddenly recalled the monk’s words: “…When fate arises, it either continues or ends… There’s no need to be obsessed.”

But it’s simply impossible not to be obsessed…