He Qing sat in a chair and opened his terminal to confide in his mentor.

[The General seems to have mistaken me for an Enigma.]

[Haven’t you seen the other Enigmas in the Empire? They all look like demons, specialized in seducing Alphas,] Qiao Yi quickly responded. [Actually, Duan Chenhui is the exception.]

He Qing paused for a moment: [Are you saying I look like a demon?]

[Aren’t you a spirit?] Qiao Yi shot back. He Qing didn’t reply further, allowing Qiao Yi to relish his small victory before logging off.

After closing the terminal, He Qing sat in silence for a while until Duan Chenhui emerged from the bathroom, toweling his hair dry. “Your turn.”

“Hmm.” He Qing walked into the bathroom, and just as he stepped in, he caught a faint scent of pheromones. Is Duan Chenhui entering his sensitive period again? After his bath, He Qing returned and glanced at Duan, who was sitting on the balcony.

Duan Chenhui lowered his head slightly as he put away a syringe. “Sorry, I’m having some trouble keeping things under control.”

“It’s fine,” He Qing replied, sitting in the other chair. It wasn’t surprising that Duan, an older Enigma without a mate, would struggle with these things. He Qing looked out at the sunset—it seemed the sunset was the same no matter where you were.

Duan Chenhui quietly put away the syringe, not saying a word. The atmosphere grew awkward, and after a while, He Qing couldn’t stand it any longer. He stood up. “I’m going to rest for a bit.”

He returned to the room, where there were two beds. He chose one, lay down, and placed his hands on his stomach, closing his eyes. Soon, he heard Duan Chenhui’s footsteps approaching, stopping by his bed.

He Qing almost twitched but managed to keep still. What is Duan Chenhui doing? It feels a little creepy…

Fortunately, after a moment, Duan left. It wasn’t until dinner that Duan came back to wake him up.

While eating, He Qing kept observing Duan Chenhui.

Duan noticed his suspicious gaze. “What are you looking at?”

“Nothing,” He Qing said, lowering his head and continuing to eat. After dinner and washing up, he returned to bed and began meditating. The next day, he joined Duan and the others as they went out to gather information.

Three days later, they finally met up with Black Shark’s team. As expected, Black Shark had brought along several more people, possibly to serve as “sacrifices.”

Tang Ke, aka Black Shark, smiled at them. “You’ll just follow our ship. Let’s exchange comm numbers first.”

Everyone exchanged a glance. Naturally, piloting their own ships felt safer, so after exchanging numbers, they each returned to their respective ships.

A few days later, they arrived at the planet. The group disembarked from their ships, and Tang Ke squinted at the forest ahead. “We need to head inside. There’s a cave in the center of the forest—that’s our destination.”

“It doesn’t look all that special,” someone said, stepping forward. Suddenly, the entire forest seemed to tremble, and strange noises echoed from within.

“…” The person quickly retracted their foot.

Black Shark chuckled. “Yes, there are beasts inside. Everyone, be cautious. Let’s go.” He led the group forward.

He Qing looked up at the sky, where spiritual energy swirled overhead.

Sun Tu whispered, [Looks like this place is a secret realm.]

[I can see that,] He Qing frowned. [Do you think there might be dark cultivators inside?]

[Hard to say… maybe?] Sun Tu sounded amused. [Either way, you’ve got rotten luck.]

“We should move too,” Duan Chenhui said, and Yang Fan and the others followed.

He Qing joined them, and as soon as they entered the forest, they stepped into a different space. The dark energy became more apparent, causing Duan to glance back, looking puzzled.

“What’s wrong?” Qiao Yi asked.

“Nothing, just a feeling,” Duan Chenhui replied, drawing his laser gun. The others also armed themselves as the strange chirping noises overhead grew louder.

He Qing looked up and realized they had unwittingly been surrounded by small, bat-like demonic beasts.

Black Shark, leading the group, lowered his voice. “Don’t attack first. Let’s move slowly.”

The small beasts in the trees watched them without moving. He Qing slowed his pace, keeping his eyes on the ground, which was covered in messy grass and leaves. Suddenly, someone up front seemed to step on something, which let out a sharp squeak.

“Damn it! Did you step on something?!”

Immediately, the beasts in the trees spread their wings and shrieked, launching an attack.

“Run! We’ll be safe once we’re past this area!”

Everyone fired at the beasts while running forward. “Damn it! How did the guy in front manage to step on that?!”

“I swear they did it on purpose!” someone shouted back.

“Stop talking and run!”

The swarm of beasts came at them relentlessly, and laser guns fired continuously, knocking them down one after another. He Qing, unarmed, simply stepped over the fallen beasts, catching someone’s attention. “Where’s your gun?”

“I don’t have one,” He Qing smiled. “I use spells.”

“Huh?” The person was too preoccupied with the beasts to ask further.

Duan Chenhui tossed a gun to He Qing. “Can you use it?”

“I should be able to.” He Qing weighed the gun in his hand, but just then, the surrounding beasts suddenly disappeared as they crossed into another space.

He Qing blinked, realizing that everyone else was gone.

He glanced around. The trees had transformed from tall woods to bamboo, and as he moved forward, he came upon a lake.

At the center of the lake was a stone pillar, atop which sat an elderly cultivator with white hair and a long beard.

“Senior,” He Qing greeted, stepping forward.

“Another one has stumbled in,” the old man opened his eyes and looked down at him. “If you want herbs, take the right path. If you want spirit stones, take the left.”

“Why are you here, Senior?” He Qing asked, glancing at the lake. Black mist floated on its surface, and eerie faces drifted beneath the water. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

The old man’s expression remained calm as he said, “It’s been many years since I’ve seen a Buddhist cultivator.”

He Qing found a stone by the lake and sat down. “I’d like to help if I can.”

The old man was silent for a moment. “I need to purify the lake.”

“I’ll stay and help,” He Qing offered.

“Your companions are looking for you.”

A water mirror suddenly appeared in front of them. Through it, He Qing saw Duan Chenhui and the others still in the forest, searching for him.

“Where did Mr. He disappear to?”

“I don’t know. He vanished in the blink of an eye. Captain, should we go after him?”

Duan Chenhui frowned deeply and remained silent for a while before saying, “Keep the team together. He should be fine.”

“Yes, sir.”

He Qing looked at Duan and, feeling relieved that they were safe, closed his eyes and began chanting sutras. Golden symbols flowed from his mouth, encircling the dark lake.

The old man glanced at him before closing his own eyes to chant as well. Golden spells slowly descended into the black water.

He Qing remained focused on purifying the lake. He wasn’t sure how long it had been when suddenly he heard Duan Chenhui’s voice coming from the water mirror.

“Captain, it’s been half a month. We should head back.”

He Qing didn’t open his eyes, though his eyelids twitched slightly. The old man suddenly spoke. “You can leave now. Time flows differently here.”

“I’ll leave after the purification is complete,” He Qing said, opening his eyes briefly to glance at Duan Chenhui, then shattering the water mirror.

The old man said nothing more.

He Qing took a deep breath and refocused on the task at hand. The two of them had completed half the purification formation, and with just a little more effort, they would finish. He couldn’t let it fall apart now.

After what felt like another long stretch of time, the formation was finally complete. He Qing stood and activated the purification array. Golden light flooded the lake, and the black water slowly turned clear.

The old man drifted down from his stone pillar and hovered in front of He Qing. “A hundred years have passed. By human standards, your companions are long gone.”

He Qing blinked, then took a moment to process. “The first half of the formation only took half a month. Senior, don’t tease me.”

The old man smiled, shaking his head and running a hand through his white hair. “I’m not teasing. It’s just that you’ve had some clever thoughts of your own.”

He Qing remained silent.

The old man began walking away, and both he and the lake faded into nothingness.

His voice echoed faintly. “By the way, the left path leads to spirit stones, the right to herbs. Choose one and leave.”

“Senior, what’s your name?” He Qing called after him.

“No need to remember my name,” the old man’s voice responded.

He Qing stood up and looked down the path leading to herbs. If he had chosen that path from the beginning, he would have taken the wrong route. The old man really had tricked him.

He Qing pressed his lips together and took the path to the herbs. In a small house, he found a collection of medicinal plants, along with a letter and a book.

[This is a cultivation manual of my own creation, gifted to a fated individual.]

He Qing scanned the room. There was no signature. He had no idea what level this nameless cultivator had reached, nor did he know his name.

He Qing set the book down and knelt to offer a drink, deciding to accept the old man as his master. Afterward, he picked up the book and herbs and left.

The moment he stepped out of the house, he found himself back in the forest. Checking his terminal, he saw that only half a month had passed. He Qing breathed a sigh of relief, though he still had no idea how long he’d spent in that other realm.

As he walked, he hesitated before opening Duan Chenhui’s message log. Duan hadn’t bombarded him with texts. Instead, there was just one simple line: [When are you coming back?]

He Qing stared at the message, unsure how to reply. After thinking for a while, he finally wrote back: [I’m on my way back now.]

Duan Chenhui responded almost immediately: [Good. Come find me when you return. I have something to discuss with you.]

[Okay.] He Qing’s heart tightened. 

What did Duan Chenhui want to discuss? He hurried out of the forest, boarded the ship, and began his journey back. On the way, he read through the manual, estimating that with the herbs he had, he could start treating Duan Chenhui’s Zerg toxin soon.

However, Duan hadn’t sent any further messages. He Qing, feeling uneasy, decided to reach out to Qiao Yi instead.

Qiao Yi, unlike Duan, bombarded him with a flurry of messages.

[Where have you been?! Duan Chenhui’s face has been pitch black.]

[As expected, that Black Shark was up to no good! The cave had energy stones, but it also had Zerg! He wanted to use us as sacrifices, but luckily, we didn’t trust them.]

[We found all the stones, but where are you? We’re leaving soon.]

[I don’t know why, but Duan Chenhui seems really upset. After we got back, he wiped out Black Shark and his men. I’m getting out of here… Hit me up when you’re back.]

He Qing thought to himself, Now that’s a normal reaction from a normal person. On the other hand, Duan Chenhui’s messages seemed strangely calm.

After a long pause, He Qing replied to Qiao Yi: [I’m on my way back now.]

Qiao Yi immediately replied: [No, no, no! Don’t come back!]

He Qing: [Why not?]

He waited for Qiao Yi’s response, but there was none. Unease crept into He Qing’s heart—had Duan Chenhui caught him?