Chapter 170
Chapter 170: Entering the Soul Town for the First Time
Tang Sirui scratched his disheveled hair, looking utterly bewildered.
"How is that possible? I'm standing right here in front of you all, aren't I?"
"But I saw with my own eyes—"
Liu Ruyan instinctively moved to refute him.
"Hold on. Let's leave here first."
Yue Tian raised his hand to cut her off, his eyes fixed on the street below.
The townspeople and paper figures who had been bustling about moments ago had once again ground to a halt.
They slowly raised their heads, and blood-red light began seeping through their pupils.
A sense of creeping danger crawled upward along the eaves.
"Holy shit! Let's move!"
Tang Sirui was jolted into panic, keeping his voice low. "Their eyes turned red! Those Ghost Constables are about to come and drag people away!"
"Ghost Constables?"
Yue Tian filed the term away and swept his hand forward, leading everyone over the rooftop and down into a narrow, secluded dead-end alley.
The moment they landed, Zhao Yan's expression went through a complete 180-degree transformation.
"Hey! So it really is you, you little bastard!"
Zhao Yan's eyes reddened. He stepped forward and pulled Tang Sirui into a bear hug, clapping him hard on the back.
Xin An crowded in as well, looking him over. "How have you been holding up? Not injured, are you?"
"Cough, cough… thanks for the concern, Captain. I'm doing alright…"
Tang Sirui was genuinely moved.
Then, in the very next instant, he felt something tighten around his neck.
Those same hands of Zhao Yan's—which had just been radiating warmth and affection—instantly locked around his throat!
"Gah!"
Tang Sirui's eyeballs practically bulged out of their sockets.
"Oh~is that right~? Doing alright, are you?"
Zhao Yan tilted his head, grinding his teeth.
"You rolled off with my ring—the one holding the Second Base armory—and you're telling me you're doing alright?"
"Hand it over!"
With that, Zhao Yan hurled him to the ground and started rifling through his pockets.
"Cough, cough, cough… mercy!"
Tang Sirui clutched his throat, hacking violently, eyes darting every which way.
"The ring…"
"I don't have it. I might… I might have lost it on the way to Eerie Island!"
"What?! You lost it!!!"
Zhao Yan's screech cracked with pitch and nearly echoed down the entire length of the alley!
"Captain! Keep it down!"
Shadow clamped both hands over Zhao Yan's mouth, hissing under her breath. "Look at the alley entrance!"
Everyone turned. Out on the main street beyond the alley mouth, the townspeople and paper figures turned their heads in unison, gazes locking onto them.
Zhao Yan immediately clapped both hands over his own mouth, not daring to exhale.
Only when the commotion faded did that hair-raising sense of being watched finally dissolve.
The figures went back to minding their own business.
Once they confirmed it was safe, Zhao Yan lowered his hands and dropped his voice.
"Talk. How did something that important get lost!"
"And what possessed you to steal the case off Shadow's back!"
Faced with Zhao Yan's three-round soul interrogation, Tang Sirui's eyes wandered, and he wrung his hands guiltily.
"Well, you see… about that…"
"All right, let me do the asking."
Yue Tian stepped out from the group and came to stand before Tang Sirui.
He looked down at him from above. "You little Magic Orb—do you still remember who I am?"
At the sound of that voice, Tang Sirui's entire body gave a start. He looked up.
The moment he made out that dark crimson mask, his pupils contracted sharply!
"Yue… Yue Tian. Oh—no, Elder Yue Tian!"
Tang Sirui was so frightened he immediately hunched his neck down and plastered on a fawning smile.
"Of course I remember! I'd recognize you even if you turned to ash!"
"Heh, it seems I've left quite an impression on you."
Yue Tian let out a cold laugh.
His eyes fixed on Tang Sirui's, enunciating each word.
"Then tell me now… who, exactly, are you?"
The moment those words left his mouth—
Everyone's hearts lurched!
A single answer rose in their minds.
Elder Yue Tian was questioning the true identity of the Tang Sirui standing before them!
Soul-Return Town was an eerie place to begin with, and there was that grave bearing Tang Sirui's name outside. If the real Tang Sirui had already died, then the thing standing before them with his memories…
wearing his face…
What kind of monster was it?
A bead of cold sweat slid down Xin An's forehead.
Shadow discreetly wove her Shadow Threads into readiness. Liu Ruyan quietly channeled the Bamboo Thunder Sword's lightning.
Tang Sirui, still on the ground, wore an expression of pure shock.
He glanced around at the bloodlust radiating from every direction, and fear made his speech stutter.
"I…"
"I…"
"I…"
Just as everyone braced for his true face to emerge—
Swoosh.
Tang Sirui suddenly crossed his legs, pointed one finger toward the sky with unshakeable confidence, and struck a JoJo Pose!
He bellowed at the top of his voice.
"Since you've asked me so sincerely! I shall magnanimously reveal the truth!"
"I am Huaxia Second Base's supreme artist!"
"Iron Wall Squad's undying, inextinguishable firepower!"
"Beloved by ten thousand maidens! Graceful as jade! Unrivaled beneath the heavens, the invincible Bamboo God!"
"Tang! Si! Rui! That's who!"
Everyone fell into a prolonged silence.
Liu Ruyan's face was a wall of black lines.
Shadow quietly dissolved her Shadow Threads.
The corner of Yue Tian's mouth, hidden behind his mask, twitched twice.
Zhao Yan pressed a hand to his forehead and let out a long, weary sigh.
"Alright, Chief, no need to test him further."
"There's no second carbon-based lifeform in existence who could be this unhinged…"
"…or this utterly shameless, besides Tang Sirui."
Xin An was the first to raise both hands in full agreement, burying her face in her palms in anguish.
"Agreed. As his captain, I know better than anyone exactly what kind of person this idiot is."
"If something eerie could pull off an impersonation at this level of stupidity, that'd honestly qualify as an occupational hazard."
Seeing that the assembled crowd not only failed to be stunned by his magnificence but instead radiated unanimous contempt, Tang Sirui pursed his lips in dissatisfaction.
"Tch. A bunch of people with absolutely no sense of appreciation~"
Yue Tian stepped back half a pace.
"I'm done asking."
"Now you can answer Captain Zhao's questions from earlier."
"Fine."
Tang Sirui dropped the insufferable act and let out a sigh.
"Honestly, I have no memory of the ring situation."
"Let me just answer your other 2 questions directly."
He pointed at the ragged beggar clothes he was wearing and complained with aggrieved indignation.
"I didn't choose to become a beggar of my own free will!"
"Stealing the case off Shadow's back was forced on me too. It's entirely because of Soul-Return Town's rules!"
"If you don't follow the rules, when night falls you get forcibly dragged away by those Ghost Constables!"
"Hauled into some factory place to do hard labor!"
"The night I arrived, I got taken in because I wasn't following the rules—I've already had one taste of it!"
"I have zero intention of going back for a second!"
"A factory? What's going on?"
Zhao Yan's brow furrowed.
"Too complicated to explain in a few words. Let's walk and talk. I'll take you somewhere—one look and you'll understand everything."
Tang Sirui beckoned for everyone to follow.
Zhao Yan and the others nodded in agreement.
Now that Yue Tian's probing had confirmed there was nothing wrong with this person's identity, following him was naturally the best available option for the moment.
Yue Tian walked at the very back of the group. Yet his gaze never left Tang Sirui's retreating figure—fixed on it with a peculiar, unreadable look.
"Basically, this entire Soul-Return Town is a world fabricated by the one who holds power here—the 'Sage of Painting.'"
Tang Sirui led the way, explaining in a low voice as he walked.
"As for why it's set up to look like some ancient marketplace, I don't know either. I haven't met her."
"What I do know is this: no matter who you are, once you enter Soul-Return Town—"
"You have to report for work assignment and use labor to earn the silver banknotes that keep you alive in this town."
As he spoke, Tang Sirui pulled a slip of paper currency from inside his clothes.
"Look, this is a 1-tael silver banknote."
"Every night at midnight, we must pay 5 taels in silver banknotes as a head tax to the Ghost Constables making their rounds!"
"If you can't pay up, or if you're caught not doing your assigned job, you get hauled into the factory!"
"So that's why you turned to thievery?"
Zhao Yan stared at him, incredulous.
Tang Sirui threw his hands wide in aggrieved protest. "It's not my fault, alright!"
"I wanted to be a hero too, but who told me my luck would be this terrible?"
"Oh—we're here, actually. Just look for yourselves."
Everyone stopped. They followed the direction Tang Sirui was pointing.
Ahead stood a vast estate built in the style of an ancient government yamen.
Above the vermilion gates hung a conspicuous plaque—black background, gold characters.
【The Assignment Office】.
Before the gates, a townsperson dressed as an ancient government runner was beating a gong and calling out.
"Work assignments! Work assignments, folks!"
"Newly arrived guests, come draw your lots now!"
"Vagrants without work, mark my words—tonight the constable officers will have you flayed alive!"
Before the paper-figure runner's table sat a bamboo canister bristling with slips, each bearing a written profession.
Everyone crowded in for a look, and immediately their expressions twisted with puzzlement.
The professions on the bamboo slips were nothing like what they had imagined.
Instead, they were…
【Hard Laborer】
【Merchant】
【Manure Hauler】
【Thief】
And there was even one that read 【Murderer】!
"This isn't a career assignment."
Liu Ruyan deadpanned. "It's an NPC role-play game."
Shadow found herself in complete agreement. "Indeed. Quite unlike the kinds of occupations we're used to."
Tang Sirui shrugged helplessly. "Now you understand why I went around stealing things from Shadow, right?"
"The profession I drew was 【Thief】. If I don't steal enough property worth 5 taels of silver by tonight, I'm done for."
Having explained himself, Tang Sirui cast a nosy glance at Zhao Yan and Xin An.
"By the way, Captain—how did Blade Squad and Iron Wall Squad end up mixed together? Have you settled on a new squad name? What's it going to be—Sword Shield Squad?"
Thwack.
Zhao Yan delivered a sharp knuckle rap straight to his skull.
"Less talking from you! Just tell us—how do we draw the lots?"
Tang Sirui rubbed his head and pointed at the canister.
"You just queue up and draw. Life and death, fortune and fate."
"Anyway, I'm done explaining things to you all—I'm still 4 taels short of my thief quota for today!"
"I need to go steal enough to make up the difference—I can't afford to get dragged back into that damned factory tonight! I'm out of here!"
With that, he gave everyone no time to react, slid a single step sideways, plunged into the crowd, and vanished without a trace.
"Hey! That little bastard—still as reckless as ever!"
"Didn't even get a chance to ask him about the grave out front!"
Zhao Yan shook his head, the picture of exasperation.
"Forget it—asking later is fine too."
"Let's go draw our lots first. Get a legitimate identity so we can move around in this Soul-Return Town."
Everyone voiced their agreement. They were curious too—
Under Soul-Return Town's rules, what absurd profession would each of them end up drawing?
At this moment, far behind the group—concealed behind a tall eave well away from 【The Assignment Office】.
The very same Tang Sirui who was supposed to be off making his quota lay prone on the roof tiles, watching the 5 members of Blade Squad who were now lining up to draw their lots.
Once he confirmed the 5 of them had not given chase and were fully committed to the drawing process—
The corners of 'Tang Sirui's' mouth curled upward.
He slipped away along the eaves, quickened his pace, and wound through the labyrinthine network of alleyways—left, right, left again.
At last, he vaulted through a window into the most exclusive inn tucked in the most secluded corner of Soul-Return Town—the Grand Summer Inn!
With a light, nimble touch he flipped through the window and into the highest-grade 【Heaven-Class Suite】.
The suite's interior was dim.
At the center of the room sat a gaunt old man with snow-white hair, thick black cloth wound tight over both eyes.
At the old man's feet, an iron chain held a man flat on the ground—drooling, grinning a vacant, idiotic smile.
It was Huang Hun!
And now, this so-called Tang Sirui—one second after clearing the window—
His disheveled hair transformed into a brilliant, blinding gold.
The beggar rags dissolved into a tailored purple suit.
The Joker's handsome, wickedly sharp face broke into a smile of pure, satisfied delight.
He removed the thin cracked membrane from his eyes and casually flicked it away.
Then he turned, and with the impeccable courtesy of a gentleman, gave a slight bow toward the blindfolded old man.
"The performance has concluded most splendidly."
"What a thrilling and flawless little cat-and-mouse interlude."
"Would you not agree?"
"Arashin-Kai's 8th Seat—the esteemed 'Sage.'"