Chapter 299: Help Him Have Fun!
After the meeting adjourned and the projection screens showing the spiritual organization leaders turned off, the lights in the conference room came on.
After dismissing two secretaries, four guardians of the Siye Society sat around the circular conference table.
“Senior and the Wordless Book acted very well!” said the General first, “However, I’m still very curious, how does the senior plan to deal with Calamity? Do you really intend to take action personally?”
“……” Zhang Hainan opened his mouth, but before he could speak, he heard Huaiyuan Jun beside him howl, startling him so much that the words stuck in his throat.
“Huh? What? That was acting? I thought the old man was really angry!” Huaiyuan Jun said.
The General glanced sideways at Huaiyuan Jun and rolled his eyes, “It’s something that can’t be explained to you clearly; just stay quiet and listen, don’t interrupt!”
Although the Black Emperor and the Wordless Book acted very naturally, the timing of the Black Emperor’s appearance and his interplay with the Wordless Book still contained a bit of an act.
Of course, even if others could see through it, they wouldn’t directly expose it like the General did.
Zhang Hainan looked at Huaiyuan Jun, then at the General, and displayed a kind smile, “Dealing with it or not… this matter isn’t as complicated as Little Friend General thinks! I promised them that I would make Calamity disappear, so as long as Calamity doesn’t appear again, isn’t that enough?”
After a pause, he added, “Little friend, have you ever heard of ancient times in places where rivers often flooded? People would frequently sacrifice cattle, sheep, and even women to the so-called River God to gain peace?”
A hint of confusion appeared in the General’s eyes, but he nodded nonetheless.
“Exactly! That terrifying and cruel ritual has evolved to this day, where the sacrificed cattle and sheep and women have long been replaced with straw figures made from straw or paper figures, along with some simple spell formulas drawn by local low-level spiritual ability users, making it easy to pass off…”
“Coincidentally, I had an epiphany some time ago and obtained a new spell formula that just happens to work for this.”
Although Luxianbei’s method of altering the perception of power remains suspicious to many involved, Zhang Hainan had no intention of delving deeply into it, believing it was all the doing of his “omnipotent” senior brother Qing Ji.
However, not probing into the reasons doesn’t mean he wouldn’t study the principles.
As one of the guardians overseeing the Pink Fluffy Rabbit, Zhang Hainan recently spent a considerable amount of time researching the principles behind the alteration of the Pink Fluffy Rabbit’s power perception.
As one ages, one tends to find themselves things to do. Staying inactive for too long is not good for the body!
Though limited by his powers, Zhang Hainan has not yet mastered the method to alter powers’ perception. However, having glimpsed some surface details, and combining various methods for making puppets, substitutes, or spirit energy items from folklore and diverse texts, he managed to develop some new means to influence perception.
Such matters aren’t too difficult for someone like Zhang Hainan, the “genius junior” of Qing Ji and one of the most powerful spiritual ability users of the time, as the head of Dachunyang Palace.
Just like the spell he is about to use on the puppet representing Calamity… to be precise, the puppet representing its image, under the influence of that spell, as long as others learn through any avenue that Calamity has disappeared, they will subconsciously forget about Calamity unless some event strongly related to Calamity shocks them again.
From a certain perspective, this is similar to deceiving the River God with a straw figure depicting simple spell formulas.
First, deceive them and then talk!
Even if that guy Luxianbei stirs up some trouble later, it won’t matter if they remember.
Zhang Hainan had long thought about an excuse.
A so-called urban legend, suspected to be a factor in world destruction, successfully escaped from the pursuit of the Siye Society guardians through some method; what’s strange about that?
The Black Emperor is not omnipotent.
Besides, if the Black Emperor can’t handle it, then can you?
“But…” finally understanding the situation, Huaiyuan Jun looked at Zhang Hainan and said, “If we do this, there will still be people who will act in the shadows, right?”
“Hmph!” The General snorted coldly, arms crossed over his chest, “It’s just for show, to silence most people. Anyway, those extreme ones won’t let it go, no matter what Siye Society does.”
Such matters are like the Yumen Pass incident; even if Siye Society provides a resolution, there will still be spiritual organizations that refuse to acknowledge it and act in secret. If you tell them Calamity is gone, they won’t believe it.
They won’t be satisfied without a corpse; even after burial, they will dig up the grave and take the bones back for a complete examination.
“Exactly.” The Wordless Book nodded, “There’s only so much Siye Society can do; that guy already possesses Calamity Grade power. If he can’t handle these remaining troubles himself, it’s better to…”
“Hey, wait!”
Her words paused as she looked at Zhang Hainan, “Haven’t you thought about hiding her?”
“Heh heh.” Zhang Hainan smiled but remained silent, giving off an air of “I have my own plans.”
————
Here is the Old District of the Free City, which differs from the affluent area in the southeast. This area was once established by a group of nobles during the European immigration period; thus, many traditional European-style mansions were built here.
Later, due to urban planning bias and the more advantageous geographical location of the southeast, the wealthy gradually moved from here to the southeast.
Now, very few descendants of those former nobles are willing to remain here. The old mansions left behind are mostly uninhabited, hanging “For Sale” signs that are continually lowering in price but rarely attracting buyers.
As the night grew longer and the number of urban legends surged, this area of once-thriving mansions became even more neglected.
Shootings, murders, urban legend attacks… various violent incidents occur almost every moment in this area.
If the Free City is a city abandoned by the Night Alliance, then this mansion district is an area abandoned by the Free City.
This made Arthur Constantin, who lived here, seem like an oddity.
Arthur Constantin is a well-known name in the Free City; he once served as the head of the Mafia, was a formidable urban legend hunter, and even held a history professor position at the University of Pennsylvania. Some films depicting demon hunters were made based on him.
Of course, the presumptuous movie investor also faced punishment from the hot-tempered Constantin, who had his nasal bone removed and three finger bones broken.
For someone like him, at what should be the retirement age, he should have enough capital to move to a better environment, yet he remained here, spending his days with urban legends.
“Creak—!”
An old taxi stopped outside Constantin’s mansion, the brake sounding wanly.
A tall man with a smile on his face stepped out from the backseat of the taxi, stretched lazily, and was just about to step forward when he heard a voice from behind in the taxi.
“Don’t forget, you only have two hours…” said the taxi driver, whose face bore heavy dark circles, looking like he could collapse from exhaustion at any moment.
“Rest assured!” the man said, “I’ll just chat with an old friend; don’t mention two hours—twenty minutes is enough… Oh, look, he’s coming!”
Following the direction the man pointed, an old man leaning on a cane, dressed in a deep purple bathrobe, walking with a tremor, and looking as though he could d*e at the slightest gust of wind, came into view.
It’s hard to imagine this is the rumored Arthur Constantin, yet he’s not even sixty this year.
For a normal Disaster-Class Spiritual Energy Manipulator, this should be the prime of their life.
Constantin had a sullen face as he approached the man and asked in a deep voice, “You’re still alive?”
“Pretty much…” the man shrugged and said with a wry smile, “Just barely hanging on. Even coming to see my dear old friend, I’ve got someone watching! It’s like… medical parole? Something like that.”
Upon hearing this, Constantin glanced at the taxi driver and then back at the man, getting straight to the point, “What do you want to see me for?”
“Nothing major.” The man smiled, “Just heard there’s going to be big trouble here soon, and my child might show up soon, so I’d like to ask for a small favor.”
“Help you protect him?” Constantin frowned.
“No, no!” the man shook his head, “I just want you… to help him have fun!”
Constantin, “……”
