After observing the "frozen lightning" in the darkness for a few minutes, Baili Qing finally looked away.
"Have you gone down to check the situation?" she turned her head and asked.
Kant crossed his arms: "Why, do you want to fly down and take a look?"
Baili Qing opened her mouth, but before she could speak, Baili Xue let out a shriek: "I'm not going down!"
The chairman standing nearby raised his eyebrows at once.
"Your 'sister'... is indeed becoming more and more humanlike."
Baili Xue glared at the old man fiercely—but as soon as the chairman turned his gaze, she immediately looked away.
Kant wasn't concerned about Baili Xue's movements, instead, he gently shook his head: "I wouldn't recommend getting close to that thing. The Old World Rift often reacts unpredictably to external stimuli, and who knows where it could lead to below—Boundary Land's 'past' doesn't only consist of Boundary Land."
Baili Qing remained silent for a moment: "Recently, many things have been out of sorts. Aside from that 'Knight,' incidents of Old World Nightmare Syndrome within the Boundary Land have also been rising, and now there's this stable rift appearing beneath the Council Tower... I think these are all connected."
"And it's not just these, far over in the Dark Meteor Domain an unstable World Gate has surfaced," the chairman sighed, "Don't think just because it's far away that it has nothing to do with Boundary Land. This place... it's not far from any corner of the universe."
Listening to the chairman, Baili Qing seemed to show a hint of contemplation in her eyes.
However, just then, a strange, low rumbling interrupted her train of thought from the depths of the darkness.
Everyone's attention instantly turned to the direction of the rumbling, only to see a dense shadow rapidly gathering in the bottomless abyss beneath the shattered earth. The shadow was like a pool of viscous ink, its edges rapidly expanding and contracting, writhing and spawning countless limbs.
After a brief delay, the horrific thing began to climb upwards, as if clinging to an invisible pillar. Countless limbs reaching out from the shadow grabbed and climbed in the air, reaching towards Baili Qing and the others on the surface layer with increasing speed.
Kant frowned: "Tsk, even these things are appearing more frequently now."
Baili Qing immediately tensed up, her fingers beginning to transform like dragon claws, but before she could move, the chairman beside her had already raised his hand first.
The old man leisurely lifted the thick, mottled cane in his hand, then heavily thumped it onto the ground.
The thick grey-white shell on the cane shattered instantly, revealing a gorgeous silver-white giant sword beneath, gleaming with a chilling light.
The chairman gripped the sword hilt in reverse—his body instantly stood tall, his once shriveled limbs bulging with strong muscles, though his face remained old, a keen brilliance flashed in his eyes like that of a young man.
The next second, the unspeakable creature climbing from the bottomless abyss rushed to the surface, leaping high from the edge of the shattered earth, with countless limbs rapidly extending and then splitting again, growing more dense appendages, surging upwards like a grotesquely swelling ball of flesh.
But the chairman had already raised the silver-white giant sword high and delivered a powerful slash at the monster.
The blade burst forth with a silver light, the ferocious slash seemed to crush the space and time ahead, and a series of irregular cracks burst out along the sword light, slamming onto the monster in an instant.
Kant instinctively took a half step back, half of his face twitching, his eyes conveying a hint of phantom pain.
The sinister and terrifying dark ball of flesh was torn to pieces by the sword light, shredded into countless fragments, and began to disperse rapidly.
The chairman watched the dispersing fragments, only slowly retracting the giant sword after confirming that all debris was completely gone, resting the sword tip on the ground.
"Ah, getting old. I swing the sword much slower than in the past."
He shook his head, countless tiny stone chips began to float out of thin air from all around, quickly covering the silver-white treasure sword until it was disguised again as an odd and ugly cane.
His back bent, once again becoming a frail and elderly man.
Kant stared wide-eyed at the chairman: "You said that once 300 years ago, 500 years ago, and 700 years ago!"
The chairman raised his eyebrows: "…Did I forget to say it 100 years ago?"
Kant: "..."
The chairman: "Ah, getting old, memory's not so good."
Baili Qing, looking on at the scene, kept a straight face: "If there's nothing for me here, I'll head back first—lots of trouble over at the Special Service Bureau."
"Go ahead," the chairman nodded, then reminded, "Oh, and don't forget to collect your scales. Also, get along well with your sister since she's becoming more humanlike recently."
Baili Xue again showed a fierce look but didn't dare to face the chairman this time.
The Colorless Dragon Sisters left, leaving only the tall and short silhouettes on the shattered earth beneath the Council Tower.
After quite a while, Kant broke the silence: "That thing you just slashed—can you tell whose kin it was?"
"Couldn't tell, too distorted. But from its scrabbling hand-and-foot look, it might have been from the Demon Clan in its previous life."
"…I don't think so. I thought the fragments that broke off and split apart after it was slashed looked somewhat like bats, maybe it was Red's kin."
"Possibly…" the chairman slowly said, "It would be a pity if that's the case since she's not here today."
"Yeah, that would be a pity…"
The two fell silent once more, after a while, Kant couldn't help but ask: "There's actually something I've always wanted to ask you."
"Go ahead."
"After you slashed me back in the day, did you end up marrying the princess?"
"Don't remember."
"Don't remember?"
The old man lifted his eyes: "And how much do you remember, Demon King?"
"...Alright, I don't remember either."
...
The sky was overcast, heavy with dark clouds, and the wind carried moisture, evidently brewing a heavy downpour.
The weather forecast said the rain would start in the middle of the night, but now it was barely evening, and the distant rumble of thunder could already be heard.
Zheng Zhi glanced out the window and continued organizing the packages in the small room.
Most of the packages were addressed to Erin, and a few were for Hu Li and Yu Sheng.
He finished counting them, completed the registration, and stood up to stretch lazily.
A faint white light emerged nearby—Freyia's head poked through the wall, curiously watching Zheng Zhi's actions.
Then she flowed through entirely, mimicking him by stretching as well.
Zheng Zhi was startled, but after realizing who it was, he patted his chest. "You almost gave me a scare—can't you just use the door next time? Or even the window..."
Freyia nodded.
She always nodded—although she wouldn't follow through, she was great at agreeing.
Fortunately, everyone, including Zheng Zhi, was used to it. As Erin would say, "Ghosts are free spirits, they float wherever they want because the dead reign supreme."
"Since you're here, these packages are for Brother Yu and the others," Zheng Zhi said, pointing to over a dozen packages of various sizes on a nearby table. "Could you deliver them?"
Freyia quickly understood his meaning. She emitted a series of pleasant spiritual energy chimes, scooped up the packages, and effortlessly stuffed them into her belly in the blink of an eye.
Zheng Zhi was dumbfounded watching alongside, still unable to comprehend how this spiritual creature accomplished such a feat despite seeing it numerous times.
Then he watched as Freyia exited through the wall at a leisurely pace, heading towards No. 66 Wutong Road.
The delivery station fell quiet.
Li Lin had gone to handle affairs at the Special Service Bureau Headquarters, leaving only Zheng Zhi on duty for the time being.
Outside, the sky was darkening, the distant thunder growing closer, and the delivery station felt excessively deserted—occasionally, a ghostly presence would suddenly emerge from the walls or floor. To ordinary people, this environment might seem unsettling.
Yet, sitting beside the sorting table, Zheng Zhi found it rather pleasant.
He liked this environment, calm, natural, and peaceful.
At least for him—it was better to deal with the unpredictability of Freyia than face 20 or so elders standing coldly at the entrance, and a desolate delivery station was preferable to the overly bustling Exotic Realm.
Just as he thought this, he caught a glimpse of a white figure out of the corner of his eye.
Freyia emerged from the wall again, poking half her head out to greet him.
So Zheng Zhi's earlier suggestion to use the door was merely acknowledged with a nod.
"Back so soon from your delivery?"
Freyia nodded happily.
"Did Brother Yu say anything?"
Freyia continued nodding happily.
"What did he say?"
Freyia: "..."
Zheng Zhi: "...Alright, asking was pointless."
Freyia then began drifting around, circling the small delivery station twice, and stopped beside the sorting table, pointing at the pile of miscellaneous items.
"What are you doing?" Zheng Zhi glanced at her, then realized and quickly waved his hands. "Nothing left to deliver, these are mine, you can't have them. That pot of devil's ivy? Definitely not, it's Brother Li's treasure..."
Freyia continued gesturing at everything around her, seemingly growing more entertained, while Zheng Zhi repeatedly explained to the whimsical Miss Angel, to prevent her from sneaking off with the station's belongings.
Then suddenly, Freyia paused.
She slightly turned her head, as if listening intently.
Outside, the thunder drew nearer, intermingled with the sound of raindrops hitting the ground.
The rain had begun, hours earlier than predicted in the forecast.
The window quickly became blurry, rain draping down in sheets, accompanied by flashes of light between distant clouds.
"What's wrong?" Zheng Zhi felt a sudden chill, and seeing Freyia's demeanor, a sense of unease crept over him. He couldn't help but ask instinctively.
However, his question went unanswered. The next second, he witnessed a flash of white light before Freyia swiftly turned around, drawing that flaming Holy Giant Sword.
"Wait..."
Zheng Zhi barely uttered half a gasp when he watched, eyes wide open, as Miss Angel swung the giant sword towards the entrance, releasing a blast of the Light Cannon.
The delivery station's door was no more.
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