Chapter 19: The Call

"Damn it, that scared the hell out of me..."

Zhang Yuanqing sat on the edge of the bed, his heart still pounding.

He suspected that if he had returned just a second later, what came back might have been nothing more than a mangled body.

Once he finally calmed down, he glanced at the red dancing shoes on his feet—and nearly had another heart attack.

"Deactivate, deactivate..."

The red dancing shoes transformed into a red light and vanished.

Phew, that was close—I almost had to start dancing.

Zhang Yuanqing fully relaxed, got up, and walked to the window. He gazed at the high-rise buildings outside, at the lush green leaves reflecting multicolored lights, and listened to the conversations of elderly residents in the neighborhood, along with the distant hum of traffic.

It was dinnertime. A delivery worker in a blue uniform zipped through the complex on a small electric scooter.

From a neighboring apartment, the sound of vegetables sizzling in hot oil and the clanking of a spatula against a pan echoed through the air.

Ah, the human world is still the best. The city life is still the best...

He stood there for a few minutes, until he finally felt like he had completely shaken off the lingering horror.

Once he calmed down, he couldn't wait to test his newfound abilities.

He steadied his emotions, cleared his mind, and quietly connected with the power of Taiyin within him.

Soon, he watched as his own reflection in the mirror gradually faded away, inch by inch, until he disappeared entirely.

I can really turn invisible—hehehe...

Nine seconds later, his body reappeared in the mirror.

"Hmm, that was a bit tiring—kind of like running a few laps on the track..."

Next, he tested his physical strength. He easily dented a battery with his grip and made a small cut on the back of his hand with a utility knife, only to see it heal completely in less than five minutes.

Even without considering supernatural abilities, his sheer physical strength had already surpassed that of an ordinary human.

As for the other active skill, "Soul Devour," he had no opportunity to use it for now since there were no spiritual entities nearby.

"Now that my body is so much stronger, if my old illness flares up, will I be able to withstand the overload for longer? No, what I should be thinking about is whether there are any healer professions among Spirit Realm Walkers—I need to find someone to check my strange condition."

Zhang Yuanqing then opened his inventory and admired his newly acquired items, though he didn't take them out.

The Demon-Subduing Pestle was one thing, but if he took out the red dancing shoes, what if they forced him into an awkward dance?

Staring at the Demon-Subduing Pestle, Zhang Yuanqing fell into deep thought.

"If I remember correctly, the banyan tree spirit said this pestle contains the Yang soul of the Mountain Goddess. Will she come looking for me...?"

Just the thought made him uneasy.

"The NPCs in the Spirit Realm shouldn't be able to appear in the real world, right? And I probably won't have to go back to the Mountain God Temple—the place has already been fully explored, so it shouldn't generate another mission."

Even as he said this, he had no real confidence. His mind kept flashing back to the smiling face of the Mountain Goddess.

"I should head to the unit later and ask Old Siji and that weird translator guy to confirm."

Just then, someone turned the doorknob a few times from outside, but since Zhang Yuanqing had locked it earlier, they couldn't get in.

"Zhang Yuanqing, why did you lock the door? Are you secretly doing something bad?"

A charming and crisp female voice came from outside, humming lightly. "Come eat."

Only then did Zhang Yuanqing realize he was starving. He responded quickly, stashing away the Demon-Subduing Pestle and changing out of his dusty, bloodstained clothes into a spring baseball jacket and black athletic pants. He hid the dirty clothes before finally walking over to the door and unlocking it.

His aunt stood outside, peeking into the room with her round, delicate face, her expression full of suspicion. "Why did you lock the door?"

"I was practicing divine techniques."

"What divine techniques?"

"The Art of Learning from the Foreigners to Overcome Them."

"You brat, are you asking for a beating?"

His aunt glared at him fiercely. Her large, bright eyes were full of charm, shining like autumn waters—exactly the kind of clear, radiant eyes poets wrote about.

At the dining table, Zhang Yuanqing devoured his food ravenously. His appetite had grown significantly, leaving his grandmother both pleased with her cooking and frustrated that she hadn't made enough.

"School starts again tomorrow. You should go to bed early tonight, don't make me wake you up in the morning," his grandmother reminded him.

"As long as Auntie doesn't come into my room to play video games at night, I can sleep early," Zhang Yuanqing immediately shifted the blame.

Under the table, his leg was promptly kicked.

"She has work tomorrow too," his grandmother turned to her daughter. "If you have to work overtime, call me in advance."

His aunt was an intern in the obstetrics and gynecology department at a top-tier public hospital. When things were slow, she had plenty of free time, but when things got busy, she was even more exhausted than the average office worker.

"You should meet more male colleagues—there must be plenty of doctors interested in you at the hospital, right?" his grandmother probed.

"Mom, you're thinking too small. Even married men who bring their wives in for checkups often ask for my number," his aunt said proudly, hands on her hips.

His grandmother raised her palm, and his aunt instinctively shrank back, quietly eating her food.

While they talked, Zhang Yuanqing was already thinking about his plans for the afternoon.

"After eating, I need to contact Guan Ya and inform the authorities that I cleared the trial mission. I also need to write a report on the dungeon. I wonder if a first-clear report is valuable—can I exchange it for some merit points?"

"I should also mention the awakening of the Mountain Goddess. I feel like that might be a hidden quest."

After finishing his meal and satisfying his hunger, Zhang Yuanqing returned to his room and found his phone had run out of battery.

With all the chaos from the Spirit Realm, he had forgotten to charge it.

Once it was plugged in, he noticed several missed calls—four or five of them.

Caller ID: Guan Ya.

Two of the calls were from an hour ago—when he was still in the Spirit Realm. The other three were from just two minutes ago.

"She's that desperate to check if I'm dead?" Zhang Yuanqing muttered, tapping to return the call.

…

In a two-story office building with glass walls reflecting the sunlight, Li Dongze had just finished a simple lunch. He checked his watch, leaned on his cane, and walked into the office area.

"Guan Ya, any news from Yuanqing?"

This was already his third time asking the same question.

Even though he didn't have high hopes, the uncertainty gnawed at him.

Li Dongze had already written an apology letter, just waiting for confirmation before he sent it to the Centurion, admitting his mistake. He had been careless—he had failed as a scout.

As for Yuanqing… it was a shame, but trial missions assigned by the Character Card were beyond human control.

"He's still not picking up—his phone is off," Guan Ya shook her head. "I've called him five or six times already."

No response...

Li Dongze sighed, as if he had expected this outcome. "Let's wait a little longer."

"Understood, Captain." Guan Ya brushed her hair aside, smiling reassuringly. "Until we get a definite result, anything is possible. Just like Schrödinger's cat—until we open the box, we won't know if it's alive or dead."

At that moment, her phone rang.

The caller ID: Yuan Shi Tian Zun.

Li Dongze froze mid-step, staring at her phone.

Guan Ya bolted upright from her chair, slamming the desk so hard that everything on it tumbled over.

Her wide, beautiful eyes were filled with shock and joy.

She picked up the phone, glanced at Li Dongze.

He said in a low, serious voice, "Put it on speaker."