novelraw Chapter 1200: The Curse
Chapter 1200: The Curse
Inside the autopsy room.
Little Bao blinked, watching Nan Xiaonan’s autopsy work with curiosity — normally the examiner would narrate findings during the procedure so the notes could be recorded.
But through the whole operation Nan Xiaonan didn’t say a word, so paper-and-pen Little Bao hadn’t written even a single line.
“All done.” Nan Xiaonan suddenly stopped. “Put the bodies back.”
Little Bao froze… done already? He hadn’t recorded anything.
Nan Xiaonan took off her gloves and mask, casually wiped her lips with the back of her hand, said nothing, and walked out of the autopsy room. Little Bao stood there bewildered in the cold air.
Nan Xiaonan headed to her office with other thoughts on her mind.
“Absorbing the residual energy from Hai Dagu restored maybe 0.003 units of my power… basically useless. The residual law-force in Wang Liang and Wu Rong, if I could absorb that, though…”
“But with my current ability I can’t assimilate it — that little residue will dissipate soon. Such a pity.”
“So, indeed there are beings in this sub-world who perceive and manipulate law-power at the ‘Eternal Supreme’ level… Back when I was fighting several enemies in a rift, I had to split my attention to resist the dimensional-rift source’s erosion. The rift here closed too quickly; a sliver of my consciousness was left behind and trapped. I suppose my enemies suffered the same fate.”“My body won’t grant me a full return easily — the world’s barrier has been repaired and the original won’t expend great cost to descend. It’ll abandon this fragment and focus on dealing with enemies in the gap. If my enemies are trapped similarly, that’s fine. What worries me is the others…”
“At the time I and a few enemies were fighting, two unknown dimensional travelers passed through. They likely released consciousnesses to probe and got trapped here like me. They’re probably struggling to break the sub-world’s constraints right now.”
Back in her office, Nan Xiaonan made herself a cup of coffee and sat down.
She adapted quickly to this world’s level of civilization: in her native sub-world, magic had replaced science entirely, yet there were still folk who insisted on science and had developed primitive computing machines. She considered the implications calmly.
“I’ve fought those enemies for years and know them well. Even if we’re all trapped at the same level, I’m not too worried. But if they locate those two passing transcendents or higher and unite, that could be dangerous.”
“I must find those two foreign wills quickly and see if they can join forces… Also, there seem to be many strong native beings in this sub-world; I might be able to make use of them.”
She blew on the coffee to cool it, savored the warmth, and felt a twinge of frustration — had she once been this weak?
“The sub-world’s rejection of foreign wills is terrifying. I can only survive by merging with a native soul; otherwise my consciousness would be erased. That native soul will influence me, but luckily the effect is small. The identity of Nan Xiaonan helps me move in society…”
“But this city is chaotic, full of extraordinary beings. Some are strong enough to threaten my original body, though a major one left a few days ago. Now I must watch out for the other dark force…”
Yes — darkness. That day the whole hemisphere had been smothered by a terrifying darkness. Even her far-advanced original, after countless years on the road to immortality, would have trembled facing that darkness. That’s why she dared not make bold moves. Lying low was the only option — she didn’t know whether the great being behind that darkness had noticed her arrival.
So she couldn’t shamelessly use secret arts to recover power; though the many “Demon” individuals in the city would be convenient fuel, she had to be cautious. When she examined Hai Dagu’s body that morning she felt a residual trace and felt tempted.
She smiled wryly. “They say the earlier-numbered sub-worlds are more dangerous — true enough.”
Nan Xiaonan rubbed her temples weakly, sipped the coffee and burned her tongue. “Hot…”
---
Before class, Zhao Le walked into the classroom weighed down by worry. This was not a general lecture, so only his class was present; naturally he didn’t run into Dong Shaofeng and his crowd.
He habitually sat near Chen Mingming — one row in front of him.
The class was small; many students hadn’t come, probably because this teacher didn’t take attendance. The lecture began drowsily and several students nodded off.
Zhao Le seemed distracted, head down, hands under the desk. His eyes kept shifting.
Suddenly someone tapped his shoulder — the light tap startled him noticeably. He spun around. It was Chen Mingming sitting behind him. Zhao Le relaxed. “Y-yeah? What’s up?”
Chen Mingming expressionless, glanced at him, then looked down and said calmly: “You dropped something.”
A ballpoint pen lay on the floor. Zhao Le quickly picked it up. “Thanks…”
“No problem,” Chen Mingming replied.
Zhao Le’s phone in the drawer suddenly buzzed. He bit his lip, grabbed his bag, and stammered, “I… I have something to take care of. Please excuse me.”
He fled out the back door in a hurry. Chen Mingming frowned, thoughtful.
“Do you know what happened to that student?” the teacher asked from the podium — he’d noticed the abrupt departure and was displeased. Attendance low he tolerated, but leaving in the middle of class he would not.
Chen Mingming stood up. “I’ll go check.”
The teacher frowned, but Chen Mingming left before permission could be given.
Just then — thud!
A girl in the front row suddenly dropped to the floor without warning. Students shouted; the quiet classroom erupted into chaos.
The teacher stared at his own hand in confusion — he’d only banged the desk. He had no idea that, at that moment, a crow that had been perched somewhere silently opened its wings and slowly flew away.
---
At last the crow flew up to the teaching building’s rooftop and landed on the shoulder of a haggard young man with messy hair who was slumped slightly forward.
The young man sneered, “A petty quarrel and a woman can put her friend into an everlasting sleep — seems like anywhere, when women hold a grudge, they’re scary.”
“So that’s why Dummy 24 still hasn’t found a girlfriend?” the crow suddenly spoke.
The young man scratched his head but didn’t get angry. Yawning, bored, he said, “Why did I even bring you, beast?”
He shrugged, plucked the crow off his shoulder, and continued, “This job won’t pay much. Better wrap up another commission… Phones really make things convenient — clients just multiply. Also, there’s one right here…”
He tossed the crow from his hand. The crow, the moment it was thrown, became a streak of shadow; its body swelled many times over, and its talons grabbed the young man’s shoulders.
With a flapping of enormous wings, the giant crow lifted the young man into the air.
But as soon as they cleared the rooftop railing, the shadow-crow trembled and instantly shrank back to its normal size.
“Shit!! I forgot my power hasn’t recovered!”
……
……
—“Let's settle this, Yagami.!!”
The voice from the phone was loud — a character line from some video game.
Dong Shaofeng, expressionless, kept his head down and played his mobile game… class was optional for him. No matter his grades, when he needed to graduate he would.
Because it was Friday afternoon, the central lakeside park shared by several universities was crowded with families.
Suddenly a soccer ball fell from the sky and hit Dong Shaofeng’s hands.
“Sorry about that, man!” A man in his thirties ran over; he stared at the phone that had been knocked from Dong Shaofeng’s hand and felt his heart drop.
He recognized the phone — even at the low end it cost seven or eight thousand yuan…
He looked at the young man before him and felt uneasy. The kid was over 1.8m, well built — the man felt scrawny by comparison — and the youth’s gaze gave off a hungry, hostile vibe.
“Daddy…”
A little boy hiding behind the man clutched his father’s pants, frightened.
“Bro, I didn’t mean it… If the phone’s broke I’ll take it to be fixed?” the man said, forcing a smile.
Dong Shaofeng bent down — not to pick up the phone, but the soccer ball. He came before the father and son, squatted, and handed the ball back to the child, his stare still a little scary.
The boy hesitated, afraid, but accepted the ball.
“Little man?” the father tried to make conversation, unsure how to read this intimidating youth.
Dong Shaofeng picked up his phone, glanced at it, and said flatly, “Go keep your son company. It’s fine.”
“Th-thanks…” the man thanked them and hurried away with his child.
Dong Shaofeng watched them go, lay back on the grass with his usual blank face, and continued playing. Someone jogged over.
“Boss Feng! Boss Feng! There you are! I thought you were back at the gym nap room!”
It was one of his teammates, A Zhen.
“Anything up?” Dong Shaofeng stopped playing, sat up, and asked casually. “Where’s A Qiang? Why aren’t you with him?”
“No idea,” A Zhen shrugged. “He’s acting weird today — snuck off to the new teaching building a while ago. Dunno what he’s doing.”
“New teaching building?” Dong Shaofeng frowned.
That building wasn’t finished yet; it was still under construction. He didn’t pay it much mind.
“Boss Feng, I’m bored. Wanna mess with that coward again?” A Zhen suggested.
Dong Shaofeng suddenly said, “You’ve been having fun lately, haven’t you.”
“Yeah!” A Zhen grinned. “Seeing that coward swallow his anger is so satisfying! I was thinking of something more exciting. You were right, Boss Feng — keeping those photos and videos and playing slowly is way more fun!”
“Give me your phone.” Dong Shaofeng suddenly demanded.
“Okay… Boss Feng, what are you doing?” A Zhen hesitated.
Dong Shaofeng’s eyes went icy, like a December wind. A Zhen shivered and, without thinking, snapped his own phone in half and threw the pieces into the lake.
“My phone?”
“You, and the rest of you, don’t touch him again.” Dong Shaofeng said coldly. “Get out.”
“Boss Feng, what did I do wrong…”
“I said, get out… do I have to stand up and tell you?” he snapped.
“Don’t—” Ming Zhen scrambled up, humiliated and furious but too scared to show it; he slunk off.
Dong Shaofeng lay back down. After a while he picked up his phone and opened his social app:
—Don’t go to class, come to the gate. I’ll take you somewhere.
Shortly after:
—What do you guys want to do?! One says go to the new building, another says meet at the gate!! Enough!! I’m not following you anymore!! You all should receive… punishment!!
New teaching building?
Dong Shaofeng sat bolt upright.
(End of Chapter)
Translator is here shamelessly posting his Ko-fi link. Any donation amount would be appreciated. Thank you!