Although he'd sworn to Wang KeMing it didn't matter if he missed the start of school, by the time Zong Yan passed all the hurdles and actually returned to Jiangzhou, Qingyang High School had already been in session for four days.
Zong Yan was a little worried.
The parental contact number he'd given the school belonged to a grandpa in the tube-shaped apartment building. If the school called to notify his guardian, Zong Yan would probably get a lecture when he went back.
So he quietly opened his WeChat, where he only had a few contacts, and turned to He Yuan for help.
【I Love Gauss】: He Yuan Ge, help out your didi. I won't make it back in time
【I Love Gauss】: If I miss the start of school I'll be in trouble
There turned out to be a bit of a misunderstanding here.
He Yuan's previous profile pic was the badge of Dragon Team 7. After he went on leave, he changed his WeChat avatar to a picture of a sunset he took in Syria.
Zong Yan wasn't used to sending messages to people. When he saw the Dragon Group pic in his friends list, he sent a message immediately.
Unfortunately, that was also the avatar of Si Yan, the leader of Team 7. His WeChat avatar hadn't changed for ten years, unlike He Yuan who updated it whenever he went on vacation.
This time, because of the incident in Syria, they'd been on assignment for almost two years and received an ample amount of leave.
Si Yan stayed in his dormitory endlessly playing games until his days and nights were switched around. Specifically, he was in the Top 50 of the PUBG international ranking list. A lot of overseas clubs sent him olive branches asking if he had plans to become a professional E-sports player.
But these easy days were coming to an end. Recently there were more and more unusual events in the occult world, and a lot of them were concentrated around Jiangzhou.
Based on the position of the celestial bodies, it was likely that when the stars returned, Jiangzhou would be the center of activity. Si Yan knew he might suddenly become busy in a few days, so he was playing games like crazy, trying to brush up on his skills.
Ding—
He'd just finished playing a game when the cell phone next to him produced a message beep.
Si Yan casually reached for the phone.
He didn't have many contacts. Most of them were work-related, and his WeChat was private. Generally, work would contact him by phone, and they were pretty ruthless about it.
Then he saw the message from 【I Love Gauss】.
Si Yan: ...
Wanted him to handle something, and mistook him for He Yuan. Si Yan didn't want to get mixed up in it.
At the other end, Zong Yan didn't wait for a reply. He didn't know much about online social etiquette and assumed He Yuan had received the message.
That was mostly because Zong Yan was busy preparing, which left him a little frazzled.
Since they were traveling back to China through the Gate of Truth, they had to go from Westminster Abbey to the outskirts of the Dreamlands.
When they reached the gate, he heard investigators with spatial awakening ability chatting about something.
"Why did the Gate of Truth move so early? Don't they usually move it half a month before the start of school?"
"Ugh, you didn't hear? Too much happened in London recently. Those British people said they were done. They told us if we didn't leave they'd cancel our subsidies in the Commonwealth, so we had to move the gate in a hurry."
"Where's the Gate of Truth moving next?" the investigator asked.
"Headed to Jiangzhou, China. Its nickname is Modou, the Magic City, and apparently it has its own wards. But they say wherever MU opens the gate, the feng shui is always bad. I hope the mysterious ancient magic of the East can break the streak," another investigator replied. "The Chinese Dragon Group reported various alien activities in the city lately. I don't know what's attracting the otherworld to Jiangzhou."
"You don't know? If there wasn't a problem, MU wouldn't open the gate there. Of course, if there wasn't a problem before the gate opened, you can bet there'll be a problem after."
Zong Yan felt embarrassed.
No matter where MU opened the Gate of Truth, the destination city got a reputation for bad feng shui. That meant no matter how glorious it was in the beginning, by the time they left, it was a shambles.
After returning to the Dreamlands, he naturally had to submit the results of his E-level mission to the Academic Affairs Office.
Zong Yan was surprised that he received a good external evaluation from Hoshino Kota.
That meant as long as his advisor gave him a passing mark, he'd successfully completed the investigation practice course unscathed.
"Huh? You didn't bring a transcript signed by your advisor?" the Academic Affairs professor entering his grades suddenly looked up and asked.
"No... Well, wait, I need a report card personally signed by my advisor?" Zong Yan froze as though facing a grave threat.
"Of course." The professor was baffled. "Your mentor is the final evaluator of your grades. All your grades have to be approved by your advisor. If he won't let you graduate, there's nothing we can do."
Zong Yan: "Good grief!"
When he thought of who his advisor was, Zong Yan felt a wave of anguish.
That was no ordinary teacher. He was a god, and not an ancient god or a Great Old One. He was an Outer God, at the very apex of the Outer Gods.
Zong Yan wanted to avoid him like the plague, but there was no choice. He had to run over there and show his face. Were these people worried that Zong Yan hadn't died fast enough?
What's more, Tawil seemed very interested in him lately and was committed to making him a believer in Yog-Sothoth.
The whole thing was a mess. All Zong Yan could do was play dumb. He was worried that if he actually dared to refuse, he'd face the fury of the Lord of Time and Space a second later.
The most important thing was that last time, because the situation was so urgent, Zong Yan had appeared in front of him in his Night Watchman persona. He didn't have an easy way to explain where his superpower came from.
However—
If he didn't get his advisor's signature, it was the same as not doing the investigation task at all.
There was really no way out. Zong Yan held his nose and headed to the astrological tower of the school.
As he climbed up the astrological tower with anxiety, the sound of his footsteps echoed in the empty tower.
This time, the door at the top of the tower was already open. When Zong Yan cautiously poked his head out, he was instantly captured by a pair of golden eyes looking directly at him.
Zong Yan: ...
Okay, the omniscient and omnipotent god would certainly know who was coming to visit.
The gray-haired, golden-eyed man was dressed in a simple white and gold robe, lounging lazily in the air. Ironically, in these clothes he looked immaculate and clean, and his profound and handsome face possessed a hint of otherworldly holiness.
Zong Yan had just used the word "holiness" to describe an evil god. He didn't know if he was insulting the evil god or the word holiness.
"Come here."
Tawil's face was expressionless. He seemed to be in a very bad mood.
Zong Yan obediently walked over.
The next second, an icy hand pressed on the precise center of his forehead.
How did it feel to have an Outer God press your forehead?
Zong Yan figured he'd been touched by a Great Old One's tentacle a few days ago. Another touch didn't matter too much.
But he couldn't help feeling a little freaked out.
Tawil carefully scanned Zong Yan's body. After confirming there were no suggestions implanted by another evil god and that Zong Yan hadn't converted to the sect of the King in Yellow, Hastur, his face looked better.
"Do you want the knowledge granted by the gods?" he asked, in a good mood.
Of course, his good mood was predicated on the continued obedience of his future believer.
If he'd found that Zong Yan had become a devotee of Hastur, sadly, the moment he touched Zong Yan's forehead his hand would have turned into a murder weapon and a thing that couldn't be described would have pierced his skull.
"No, no, thank you for your kindness." Zong Yan smiled a bit, meanwhile his other hand relaxed a little from its tension.
Seriously, every time he spent time with this advisor, Zong Yan felt like he was performing acrobatics on a tightrope. Who knew when he'd fall off?
"Very well." Tawil looked a bit regretful. "It doesn't matter. When you become a believer, as long as you have enough faith, even in a human body you can obtain knowledge that is far beyond your species."
From his tone, he seemed to already regard Zong Yan as his follower.
Zong Yan was a bit at a loss, but he didn't dare say anything.
Because his advisor was in a good mood, Zong Yan was happy to receive a signed copy of his transcript.
The grade was still excellent.
What made this all the more surprising was that it was quite difficult to get an excellent grade in the practical investigation course, especially for someone who completed the mission alone, without the participation of an instructor.
As a result, Zong Yan's popularity at MU exploded. He was designated to give a speech in the auditorium as the next outstanding student representative.
His application to the Academic Affairs Office was also approved.
For the next year, Zong Yan could focus on his third year of high school. All he had to do was register and he could continue his studies at MU during the holidays or in his free time.
Sadly, the people in charge didn't understand what kind of mental and physical hell the Chinese college entrance examination represented, otherwise they never would have suggested he could come back to take MU classes in his spare time.
Anyway, Zong Yan had made up his mind. He was determined to get into Tsinghua University as well as the math department of Beijing University. In the next year, no one better try to disturb his study!!!
One year left. He had to improve his physics score.
After all the formalities on the MU side were finally completed, Zong Yan got up early in the morning on the day when the Gate of Truth was successfully moved to Jiangzhou.
"Where are they putting the gate this time?"
As he walked over with his school bag, he heard the investigators in front of him chatting.
"It sounds like the Yu Garden in Chenghuang Temple...."
What? Chenghuang Temple?
Zong Yan thought he'd misheard.
"Chenghuang Temple was built by the Chinese people for their gods. It has that classical mysterious Eastern appearance on the outside. You know how MU loves to open the Gate of Truth in this temple or that church, and I heard there are a lot of snacks in Chenghuang Temple. The MU investigator's committee voted unanimously.... Hey, hey, give me a hand. It's going to scatter, it's going to scatter—."
A section of the phantasmal gate suddenly burst out. The colorful lines twisted and merged in the air, warping into a bizarre pattern.
Seeing this, Zong Yan immediately activated his time stopping ability, and he was able to hold the lines together.
"Phew—that was close." The investigator stood up from the ground. "Thanks for your help. You're the chief of this term, right? I can't believe you already awakened a time-system ability. The younger generation is fearsome!"
"I didn't do much." Zong Yan smiled and lifted the bag in his hand. "If it's all right, can you let me go first? I'm going to be late."
As it turned out, Zong Yan was really, truly late.
He wasn't completely to blame. MU notified Chenghuang Temple in advance, but the temple was located a long way from Qingyang High School, thirty or forty kilometers.
Zong Yan was desperate enough to call a taxi. By the time he got to school, the first class had already started.
Once again, the jar was already broken. Since he was already late, he was too embarrassed to knock on the door and disturb the teacher. He'd have to wait until this class was over and then sneak in.
He found an empty classroom and sat down. Since there was nothing else to do he decided to draw some cards.
The divine blessing granted to him by Hastur was a bit nebulous. Zong Yan's San value had increased from 60 to 70, but he also seemed to have greatly improved his artistic ability. For example, if there was a flute, violin, and saxophone in front of him, he could probably pick up any one of them and play a song.
There were a lot of benefits to a higher San value. After going through the baptism of the E-level mission in London, Zong Yan had a new appreciation of his own insignificance.
Although he had some unbelievable cards, he couldn't use them willy-nilly. As for the cards he could use casually, they might be best-in-tier among humans, but they were paltry in the face of evil gods. It was deeply worrying.
When he reached in with his hand, Zong Yan thought absentmindedly—
He needed a card—one that would change the awkward situation he was in.
Incidentally, 'awkward situation' meant being surrounded by evil gods.
The gap in space paused, and Zong Yan's fingers plucked out a card with perfect accuracy.
A-rank cloud-system superpower card.
A-rank, A-rank!
Zong Yan's pupils contracted. He immediately began to ponder.
The good thing about this superpower card was that it only consumed San value once. After that, this cloud power would be mastered by Zong Yan and he could manifest it anywhere, anytime.
An A-class superpower persona card, it was no exaggeration to say, was absolutely comparable to Monarch level or even better.
But in the face of an evil god, whether it was an A-rank ability or Monarch level, a single word came to mind—
Puny.
Instead of using it, it might be better to—
Zong Yan's eyes began to wander. He took out the only three daily disposable persona cards he could use from the rift in space.
The Child of the Wind, the Night Watchman, Azathoth.
Obviously, neither the Night Watchman nor Azathoth had anything to do with cloud-type abilities, but the Child of the Wind...
Zong Yan's card-drawing power had a special feature. That is, he could synthesize the cards he extracted.
He'd created the Child of the Wind from a B-rank wind-system superpower persona card and a D-rank speed-enhancement superpower persona card.
The most amazing thing about synthesis was that low-level cards would sometimes become high-level after synthesis, but a high-level card could also become very low-level if he were unlucky.
A long time ago, Zong Yan had a fire mage daily disposable persona card. Unfortunately, when he tried to synthesize it, his luck ran out and it accidentally shattered, resulting in nothing.
He hoped the god of good luck would be kind to him this time.
There was no such thing as an evil god of good luck.
The black-haired boy in the school uniform held his breath and slowly slid the two cards into each other.
Shua—
With a flash, light radiated through the classroom.
A brand-new card was quietly suspended over his open palm. On the card was an image of a man with sword eyebrows and starry eyes, and a handsome face with a cold, clear expression. Clouds and fog rose up all around him, but he looked extraordinarily noble.
He was wearing a wide-sleeved, dark blue robe with gold patterns. Although his ink-black hair was scattered around him, there was a circlet of strange ornaments in his hair. The long, intricate blue and gold pendants and white beads hung around his ears, swaying loosely in his long hair.
What surprised Zong Yan was that the face painted on the card was completely different from his own, without any similarities.
This was an S-rank daily disposable persona card.
On the front of the card were three characters written in Chu seal script.
Coincidentally, this esoteric script used in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods was within the scope of Zong Yan's knowledge, so he picked up the card and read it.
It said—
Yun Zhong Jun.
---
TL Notes:
Chenghuang - 城隍 - Chéng Huáng - City God - God of the moat and the walls, a tutelary deity/deities in Chinese folk religion believed to protect the people and affairs of a particular village, town, or city and the corresponding location in the afterlife (Wikipedia)
the jar was already broken - 破罐子破摔 - The jar's already broken so it might as well be smashed - Refer to Ch 27 for a longer note
sword eyebrows - 剑眉 - straight eyebrows slanting upwards and outwards
Chu seal script - An ancient style of writing Chinese characters used in the state of Chu, which existed in the latter half of the 1st millennium BC (Wikipedia)
Yun Zhong Jun - 云中君 - Yún Zhōng Jūn - the Monarch of Clouds, the God of Clouds, the Lord in the Clouds - Worshipped in the hope of rain and good weather for crops. Sometimes seen as male and sometimes as female, but usually portrayed as female in Chinese literature. Jiu Ge (九歌), dating to 241-223 B.C, includes a song addressed to Yun Zhong Jun (Wikipedia)
You can find the master list of transliterated names and titles in Chapter 0 - TL Notes. New in this chapter:
didi - 弟弟 - dìdì - younger brother
Magic City - 魔都 - Mó dōu - Alternately: Devil's Capital
Yu Garden - 豫园 - yù yuán
Chenghuang Temple - 城隍庙 - Chénghuáng Miào - Town God Temple, City God's temple