Chapter 65: Spirit Realm Walker Families
Li Dongze found the scene hard to process. Bro Wang Tai? Him?
He almost instinctively moved to remind the Xie family's eldest daughter that the person whose sleeve she was tugging wasn't Wang Tai, and that the real Wang Tai was standing right next to them. How could she mistake him for the wrong person?
The awkwardness was truly unbearable. But then, Li Dongze's expression froze. He realized that he was the one who hadn't grasped the situation properly.
The young lady of the Xie family had gone straight for Yuanshi, without so much as a glance for anyone else from Squad Two. She had been crystal clear in her target, and there was absolutely no chance she'd made a mistake. So why had she said she wanted to see Wang Tai?
The teasing smile on Guan Ya's face grew stiff. She looked at Yuanshi, then at Xie Lingxi, and the playful expression on her alluring oval face gradually melted away.
Only Wang Tai quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Towering over her at a full 1.8 meters tall, Zhang Yuanqing gazed down at the little green tea princess's head. Her legs looked long enough, but she was actually a tiny thing.
"What are you doing in Songhai, and why did you ask for Wang Tai to receive you?" he asked.
"I told you I was coming to find you!" Xie Lingxi replied, bouncing on the spot and beaming with delight.
A young girl like her had a light and nimble frame. A heavier woman like Guan Ya would lose her balance if she tried bouncing like that.
Zhang Yuanqing's gaze carried a hint of displeasure. "There's no need to find me for anything. I told you, we shouldn't be in contact."
Xie Lingxi's eyes glistened, as though she were on the verge of tears. She pouted, and she said in a hurt tone, "Why are you like this? You weren't like this last time. You were so caring and attentive, and you even took something precious from me. Now you're just going to pretend you don't know me?"
Li Dongze, Guan Ya, and Wang Tai all stared at Zhang Yuanqing with a mixture of shock and suspicion.
Had it been the actual Wang Tai up against a green tea princess like this, his brain probably would have crashed on the spot. Any normal person would have been flustered, stiff, and completely at a loss.
But Zhang Yuanqing was different. He paused for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing, reached over and wrapped his arm around Xie Lingxi's slender waist.
"Squad Leader, she was willing. Please don't arrest me."
Xie Lingxi froze. The hand pressing against her waist felt scorching and strong, and a tingling coolness shot through her chest. Her cheeks flushed crimson instantly, and she sprang away like a startled rabbit.
It took her a moment to find her words again as she glared at Zhang Yuanqing with her wide, watery eyes. "You, you..."
As they watched this unfold, Li Dongze and Guan Ya, both Scouts, exchanged a thoughtful look.
Having defused Xie Lingxi's little performance, Zhang Yuanqing finally explained, "I met her last night during a game."
It clicked for Li Dongze immediately. He recalled how Zhang Yuanqing had impersonated Wang Tai in the Spirit Realm. If this young lady of the Xie family was also a Walker who had entered Jinshui Amusement Park the previous night, then everything made perfect sense.
The person she was looking for had never been Wang Tai.
At that moment, the real Wang Tai glanced over at his Squad Leader and said, "Since she's not here for me, Squad Leader, may I leave? I still have research to do."
Xie Lingxi finally noticed him. She found it rather baffling that this plain-looking man showed not a shred of disappointment, nor any displeasure or resentment.
If anything, there was a faint trace of relief, and even happiness!
Her eyes darted to him, and she adopted a soft, delicate posture, saying in a gentle, wispy voice, "You must be the real Bro Wang Tai. It's so nice to meet you. Please don't be upset. Bro Yuanshi tricked me, and that's the only reason I mistook you for him."
Wang Tai replied with perfect seriousness, "I'm not upset. I'm actually a little bit happy."
Xie Lingxi almost fell over in shock.
Li Dongze cleared his throat. "Alright, have the driver send you back first."
Wang Tai disliked socializing, and there was no point in forcing him to stay.
***
After Wang Tai left, Xie Lingxi led the remaining three to their seats and instructed the waitstaff to begin serving. Throughout the meal, she peppered every sentence with "Sis" and "Bro," and between her sweet, innocent looks and her soft, honeyed voice, both Li Dongze and Guan Ya found themselves warming to her considerably.
"Bro Yuanshi, do you belong to the White Tiger Legion, or some other organization?"
"The White Tiger Legion. I like white tigers."
"Mmhm, my great ancestor says the White Tiger Legion is the strictest when it comes to discipline. There are a lot of rules, and it can seem rigid sometimes, but it's the most trustworthy organization in the whole Five Elements Alliance."
"You're deliberately flattering us, aren't you?"
Xie Lingxi shot him a reproachful glance. "What do you mean? Bro Yuanshi, you always assume the worst about people.
"Besides the White Tiger Legion, the most straightforward group is the Crimson Fire Gang, but my great ancestor doesn't care for them. Says they're too rough and too explosive. Bro Yuanshi, do you know what the Crimson Fire Gang's emblem was before the Five Elements Alliance was formed?"
"No idea."
"It was a minotaur."
"What?"
"The Crimson Fire Gang considers themselves descendants of the Flame Emperor. And the Flame Emperor was Shennong, who had the head of a bull and the body of a man. I heard that before the Five Elements Alliance was established, people from the other four organizations used to tease the Crimson Fire Gang about it all the time. The best way to enrage a Fire Sage was to shout right in their face, 'Death to all bull-headed fools!'"
Li Dongze broke into a violent coughing fit. He looked at Zhang Yuanqing and warned him with utmost gravity, "Miss Xie is joking. Ancient history doesn't need to be dredged up. Don't go around saying things like that."
"What happens if you do?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.
"You'll be beaten to death."
What if I switched it to "the pure of heart have arrived" instead...? Zhang Yuanqing wondered.
He picked up a piece of tender stir-fried beef and seized the opportunity to ask a question that had been nagging him for a while.
"I thought Character Cards were distributed randomly. So how do Spirit Realm Walker families come about?"
Xie Lingxi took a sip of freshly-pressed coconut juice, tilted her head, and answered in a sweet, lilting voice, "Bro Yuanshi, have you ever heard the term 'class disposition'? Different classes have different dispositions. For example, Fire Sages tend to be hot-tempered, impulsive, and reckless."
Zhang Yuanqing nodded.
Xie Lingxi smiled. "Character Cards choose their people. Someone with an explosive temper has the highest chance of receiving a Fire Sage card. Someone with a dark, brooding personality has a greater chance of receiving a Water Ghost card. And those who are truly evil criminals end up with Evil classes.
"On top of that, the class also reinforces personality. Hot-tempered people grow even more volatile. Brooding people become even gloomier. If two Fire Sages have a child together, what do you think the odds are that the child will be hot-tempered? That's how Spirit Realm Walker families gradually formed over time.
"Even so, not everyone within a Spirit Realm Walker family is guaranteed to receive a Character Card."
Zhang Yuanqing had an epiphany. What did it say about him that he'd been chosen for the Nocturnal Specter card? What were the defining traits of the Nocturnal Specter class? Dark and noble?
The dinner wrapped up quickly. The four of them had enjoyed the meal well enough, chatting and laughing throughout.
Li Dongze chose the right moment to excuse himself, but Xie Lingxi latched onto Zhang Yuanqing's arm and cooed, "Squad Leader Li, lend him to me for a little while. I'll have someone send him back later."
Seeing Li Dongze hesitate, she quickly pressed her palms together in a pleading gesture, her face the picture of earnest supplication.
Who could refuse a girl like that?
Li Dongze gave a slight nod. "No need to trouble yourself, Miss Xie. I'll have the driver wait downstairs at the hotel. Yuanshi, call me when you're done."
Zhang Yuanqing nodded, watching as Guan Ya and Li Dongze took their leave.
It wasn't until the two of them vanished through the revolving doors of the lobby that Xie Lingxi wrinkled her nose and huffed, "Such big breasts and such a round butt. She's obviously a seductress who specializes in luring men!"
***
Inside the elevator car, Guan Ya let out a derisive laugh. "She looks young, but is an old hand at scheming. Are all girls nowadays this steeped in the culture of green tea[1]?"
Before a Scout, any disguise was futile.
Li Dongze leaned on his cane, stroking the two small tufts of mustache under his nose. "She has some hostility toward you, but seems to be quite fond of Yuanshi. Also, she appears to have a favor to ask of him, which was why she deliberately got rid of us."
Throughout the meal, that girl had been relentlessly complimenting Guan Ya's beauty and figure, even saying with an adoring expression, "Sis Guan Ya, you're so pretty, you must have had so many boyfriends."
Guan Ya rolled her eyes. "She can't outplay Yuanshi. When it comes to scheming, he's far better at it than she is."
She had been inside Zhang Yuanqing's room and gone through his computer. Beneath that easygoing, optimistic exterior of his lay a solitary heart. However, if she hadn't pried into all that private information, along with all her abilities as a Scout, she never would have been able to tell from appearances alone.
When it came to Xie Lingxi, on the other hand, she had seen right through at a single glance.
The gap in their levels was clear.
***
You were awfully sweet and well behaved when you were calling her "Sis Guan Ya" just now, Zhang Yuanqing mused.
He dropped the act and frowned. "What are you really doing in Songhai? You didn't come all the way here just for me."
Xie Lingxi stuck out her tongue playfully. "I came to Songhai on behalf of my family to visit an old acquaintance. Bro Yuanshi, have you heard of the Slaughter Cessation Palace?"
Slaughter Cessation Palace? That den of absolute lunatics?
Zhang Yuanqing grunted in acknowledgment. "Of course."
"The Palace Master's family and the Xie family go way back. After a certain incident, that family fell into decline, and the two houses lost contact." Xie Lingxi's voice turned wistful. "Who would have thought that the Palace Master would rise so quickly in recent years, becoming a high-level Spirit Realm Walker and reconnecting with the Xie family?"
If Zhang Yuanqing remembered correctly, Slaughter Cessation Palace possessed high-level items associated with the Musician class, and many of its members were Musicians. The Xie family was also a Musician family. It all made sense now.
"There's one more thing I came to Songhai for," Xie Lingxi said with a sly grin, "but I need Bro Yuanshi's permission first."
"What is it?"
"Before Ashamed Father died, he entrusted you with a message for a friend. Could I come along?" she asked timidly.
"Give me a reason."
Xie Lingxi pursed her lips. "I don't want to owe anyone a favor. He didn't ask me because he suspected I was connected to the government. But the reality is, you're the one who's actually an official member."
Zhang Yuanqing looked over at her from the corner of his eyes. "So what you really want is to keep an eye on me. You actually knew all along that I'm Yuanshi Tianzun. You made a big show of wanting to meet someone from Squad Two and requesting for Wang Tai specifically as your host because you were afraid that asking me this in private would get you a flat refusal. You wanted to create a situation where I couldn't say no."
Ashamed Father had clearly been wary of the government. His dying wish couldn't be entrusted to a member of an official organization, but he hadn't known that Yuanshi Tianzun was a member of the Five Elements Alliance.
There was a real chance it would be like inviting the wolf into the sheepfold.
Xie Lingxi's thoughts had been laid bare.
She gazed at him with open admiration. "Bro Yuanshi, you're amazing."
1. A Green Tea Princess is slang for someone who is sweet and innocent on the outside but is calculative and self-serving on the inside. She treats those around her well but harbors ulterior motives. ☜
