Chapter 74: Suspecting A Traitor Among Us
Shangshan Che’s eyes suddenly widened.
Waking up to see the Rolling Dog silently reading beside him—this scene was simply terrifying.
But precisely because of this, Shangshan Che noticed the iron bars behind Lili Zi, which were nearly seamless.
This was no different from the prisons he had seen on TV before, or even worse.
“Huh?” Shangshan Che glanced at the large medical instrument beside him that looked extremely expensive, “Isn’t this a hospital?”
“No ordinary hospital would bear to use so many professional instruments on one person.”
Lili Zi replied flatly, slowly exhaling a pure white Qi Sword about two meters long in front of Shangshan Che, letting her heaving chest settle back down.
Shangshan Che stared in astonishment: “Whoa, that’s so cool!?”
“Average.”
Lili Zi’s eyebrow corner twitched slightly; she pursed her lips and coughed once to restore her flat expression, then continued nonchalantly: “It’s just something anyone can do with enough practice, Shangshan Jun—you too.”
“But the effects of the Breathing Technique are indeed very strong.” Lili Zi said particularly seriously, “The current me could easily defeat five or six fully armed versions of my past self before I learned the Breathing Technique.”
Shangshan Che narrowed his eyes and stared at Lili Zi before him, discovering that her Spirit, Energy, and Vitality compared to just a few days ago when she had first entered the Clear Sword Heart state were simply like two different people.
If a few days ago Lili Zi was like a sun with maximum presence, an existence that could not be ignored even if just glimpsed in peripheral vision.
Then now she appeared completely as just a somewhat pretty normal female high school student, with an unremarkable figure hidden under the wide robe, looks that could at most score a seven, the type of common class flower.
He couldn’t help but ask in surprise: “How is this achieved?”
“A little trick.”
She smiled warmly: “If you want to learn, I’ll teach you.”
Shangshan Che pressed his hands together: “Then I’ll have to trouble you, Teacher Lili Zi.”
“But Shangshan Jun, you sure have a big heart.” Lili Zi stood up and stretched her muscles, making her body emit a series of crackling sounds, “After seeing the prison bars behind, you still have the mood to ask me about this first.”
“I act upright and sit straight, what do I have to fear?”
Shangshan Che shrugged and tore off the electrode pads stuck to his body with crackling sounds: “So Teacher Lili Zi, can you tell me the whole story?”
“Very simple.”
Lili Zi said,
“—Many people are puzzled why an ordinary person like you, who hasn’t learned any Onmyōdō or Breathing Technique, could kill Niijima Yuta, who was possessed by the Blue Ghost incarnation.”
“—And conveniently, the Train Station surveillance was destroyed, so some people think there’s something fishy about your existence itself.”
Shangshan Che scratched his head: “Because I’m stronger than him, that’s the simple reason.”
Lili Zi could hear the footsteps rushing toward them from outside the Room suddenly stop; she knew that person was one of the Onmyoji questioning Shangshan Che’s identity.
However, Lili Zi didn’t think the other person’s thought was wrong—ordinary people and true geniuses cannot understand each other; they could be said to be entirely different creatures.
The so-called summer insects cannot discuss ice with them—nothing more apt.
“Though I think so too.”
Lili Zi paused, “But considering Ai Bieli’s abilities, this idea still holds water.”
As soon as her words fell, a somewhat wary voice from the unfamiliar Onmyoji came from the open Doorway: “Shangshan Che, come with me.”
“No rush, no rush.”
Shangshan Che got out of bed and put on the standard boots placed right at his feet, slightly startled after feeling they fit almost perfectly.
He looked at Lili Zi, who patted his back forward: “What are you looking at? Let’s go, don’t keep them waiting.”
Without saying much, Shangshan Che walked up to the Onmyoji who had been staring fixedly at him, then saw a shikigami that looked aged, holding an iron staff, in the appearance of a Monk.
—【See Over（One-and-a-Half Star）】.
The Onmyoji yanked him, tone unfriendly: “Don’t look too much, move it.”
“Okay, okay.”
Shangshan Che raised his hands to show he had no hostility, then strangely asked Lili Zi, who was sticking close behind him: “I was just thinking, I’ve never even met this guy, why’s he acting like he ate gunpowder.”
The Girl smiled squintingly: “Because he’s too nervous— he’s afraid you this demon might lop off his head on a whim to liven things up. If not for shortage of manpower, the shikigami by your side would be at least Two-Star strength or above.”
“By the way.” Lili Zi held up one finger, “Me following behind you is also so I can kill you with one strike at the fastest speed.”
Shangshan Che nodded seriously: “Then it seems the Special Affairs Office is still underestimating me; you two are at most just an Appetizer.”
As soon as these words were said, both could feel the Onmyoji ahead with his hair standing straight on end, just short of giving the attack order to his shikigami.
The Onmyoji turned back trembling faintly, blustering despite inner fear: “Be quiet!”
The two exchanged a glance, both inwardly sighing that this Onmyoji’s mentality was really poor.
Soon, Shangshan Che was brought to the front of an ordinary Room.
The Onmyoji stepped back, shielding his own shikigami in front: “Open the Room Door and go in yourself.”
No longer bickering with this Coward, as soon as Shangshan Che twisted open the Room Door and entered, he heard an argument between two familiar voices.
Nanjo Emi: “What’s with this detection? It’s completely a waste of effort and redundant. If he had a problem, I wouldn’t have let him come here alive.”
Kondo Yuya: “With Ai Bieli present, this is a necessary procedure. Junior Officer Nanjo, one person’s word isn’t enough to explain anything.”
As the Door opening sound rang out, Nanjo Emi looked toward him,
“You’re here? Just sit down.”
She shook the Kaga Kiyomitsu in her hand: “I’m keeping the sword for you; didn’t let anyone else touch it.”
Kaga Kiyomitsu vibrated pleasantly twice along its blade, clearly shaking even the scabbard.
—This was also one of the small details Shangshan Che had prepared; if he subconsciously stored Kaga Kiyomitsu back into the Storage Bag, it would be inexplicable.
But Shangshan Che raised an eyebrow—why did Kaga Kiyomitsu seem more excited in Nanjo Emi’s hands than in his own as the Master.
These days, even the Daito had learned to flatter…
He shook his head and sat in the chair, asking: “What next? What do I need to do?”
Nanjo Emi snapped her fingers: “Nothing, just sit obediently.”
The next moment, the unremarkable Room was suddenly enveloped in Darkness, and an extraordinarily complex Spell that ordinary Onmyoji could not comprehend lit up abruptly under Shangshan Che’s feet.
“—Am I some No. 42 Concrete, to be plastered into whichever brick seam is needed?”
Calendar Doctor’s sigh echoed in the Room: “Don’t move around; the detection is starting now…”
In an instant, a Spiritual Power Tide far beyond Shangshan Che’s knowledge and perception range surged violently in the Room, nearly suffocating him.
