Monsters Die When Killed

Chapter 378: Chapter 1: Preparation, and then Departure

「February 23rd, 2016, the day after the Lantern Festival.」

-Auspicious for travel, sacrifices, and prayers for blessings-

Even in today’s world, many people still believed in the concept of auspicious days and used them as a basis for their actions. In fact, due to the Spiritual Energy Revival, even more people subscribed to this belief.

But no matter what, on a cold, damp, and windy winter day in Southern Zhengguo, the vast majority of people would absolutely not go outside. As for sacrifices and prayers, that was even more out of the question; you couldn’t find a single facility for them anywhere.

This made people like Su Zhou a true rarity. After eating *tangyuan* with his parents—a delivery from Tang Yuan—he was now just wandering around the city with nothing better to do.

The mention of *tangyuan* from Tang Yuan wasn’t a deliberate pun. It just so happened that not long ago, Su Zhou had been appointed captain of the First Action Brigade of the official Extraordinary Security Bureau.

With this title, he naturally had Transcendent subordinates. Tang Yuan, with whom he had cooperated in the Kunlun Secret Realm, was one of them. So, when they last met, Tang Yuan had given Su Zhou some homemade *tangyuan*. Perhaps it was a gesture to build a good relationship, or perhaps it could be considered a bribe.

He had to admit, they were delicious. If possible, Su Zhou hoped Tang Yuan would bring more.

Now, Su Zhou was at the Shao Family’s home, watching Shao Shuangyue play games with Shao Qiming, as usual. The gaming otaku had grown quite used to being watched while she played, which Su Zhou noted, ’She’s got the makings of a streamer.’

The game Shao Shuangyue was playing this time wasn’t related to the Otherworld Su Zhou was about to travel to. It was just a very ordinary real-time strategy game: *Empire Generations II*, which had been remastered and rereleased seven or eight times over more than a decade. Heaven knew why this game was still getting campaign DLC updates, but Shao Shuangyue was having the time of her life, controlling her Byzantine Armored Cavalry as they charged, slashed, and burned their way through the enemy’s base with extreme prejudice.

Shao Shuangyue had already reached the Spirit Awakening Tier. A large part of the credit went to the Spirit Plants and Spiritual Food that Su Zhou and Shao Qiming occasionally sent home, while the other part was due to her body having been nursed to perfect health over the past decade or so. The enhancement to her thought processes, hand speed, and reaction time from just the Spirit Awakening Tier was enough to make her gaming skills advance by leaps and bounds, as if she were a different person. All the campaigns she couldn’t beat before were now cleared without much trouble.

"You’re amazing, sis!"

"Isn’t she!"

"But since you’re so good now, why don’t you play some online multiplayer games?"

"Well, uh... you have to take things one step at a time." The beautiful girl, who had been crushed so badly in the past that she could only play single-player, broke into a nervous sweat.

After teasing the now-confident and clearly cocky Shao Shuangyue a bit, Su Zhou made an excuse, asked Shao Qiming for the keys to the Shao Family’s Old Mansion, and then headed to the suburbs alone.

There, he had all the supplies and equipment he had prepared for his trip to the Otherworld.

Although Su Zhou wasn’t short on money and could even mobilize official resources for his own use, his most frequent abuse of public assets was actually at the school cafeteria, where he unscrupulously devoured free state-owned property using the faculty line.

As for something like crossing into an Otherworld, he wasn’t foolish enough to be so obvious and attract official attention. For now, Su Zhou had no intention of letting anyone else know the secret of the Otherworld and the Celestial God Seal.

So, this time, Shao Qiming once again used his various connections as extra support. As long as Su Zhou didn’t proactively draw attention to himself, he didn’t have to worry about being monitored. Shao Qiming was, after all, a professor—and a powerful one with real authority. Even the Holy Seat wouldn’t go so far as to put him and his friends under surveillance.

’Let’s see... Yep, everything’s ready.’

At that moment, Su Zhou was standing by the back door of the Shao Family’s Old Mansion, taking inventory of the various supplies in his hiking backpack.

Because of the Undead Tutor’s legacy, he could generally determine that the Otherworld would have a Western fantasy-style setting. Therefore, Su Zhou had custom-ordered some outfits like hooded robes, leather armor, and even a gentleman’s suit. Of course, since he couldn’t know the era—whether it was ancient, modern, or in the future—Su Zhou had prepared a set of clothing from every historical period in the West.

Although he didn’t really need to blend into a crowd, not even Su Zhou was fond of making a high-profile appearance in a completely unfamiliar and exceptionally dangerous Otherworld.

As for other items that were considered hard currency in most eras—such as spices, Spirit Plants, Yaochi Jade Liquid and Jade Marrow, and Holy Water of various concentrations—Su Zhou had prepared plenty.

Setting aside the spices, this time Su Zhou had used over a year’s worth of his household’s stored Holy Water. This included a cup of No. 1 Holy Water, which was so concentrated that it was self-luminous and almost a paste. He also had one can each of the secondary No. 2 and No. 3 Holy Water.

The same went for the Yaochi Jade Liquid. He carried a full can of the liquid, containing a total Spiritual Power content of around 3,000 Zhou, as well as solid Jade Marrow with a total Spiritual Power content of 4,500 Zhou.

These were all Treasures of Heaven and Earth. Even in a Western fantasy setting, they were fundamentally Attributeless liquid Spiritual Power and Spiritual Power Crystals—high-grade Extraordinary Materials prized across the Four Seas. Not only could they be used to set up Arrays and perform Orbits, but they could also be consumed directly to rapidly supply Su Zhou with Spiritual Power, achieving an effect similar to that of a Life-saving Pill.