Chapter 59: Am I an Immortal or a God?
After that, the request to use the River Diagram and Luo Script naturally sailed through all approvals. Then Gong Qian entered Hu Weijie's name, gender, and identification number into the system before pressing the search button.
Far away in Yanjing, at Qilin's headquarters and under the combined efforts of numerous Qi cultivators, a gigantic turtle shell nine meters long and five meters high gradually emitted a jade-white radiance. Countless specks of light immediately appeared across the map engraved on the shell, each representing a city.
A white-bearded Daoist priest swiftly took out a yellow talisman and wrote Hu Weijie's date of birth upon it. With a wave of his hand, the talisman flew into the interior of the turtle shell and spontaneously ignited.
On the shell's surface, not far from the point of light representing Silver City, a red light slowly appeared. Moments later, the red light transformed into a pillar of light. A staff member immediately converted the location into coordinates, entered them into an electronic map, and pressed the send button.
Back at Silver City, after waiting for roughly half an hour, Gong Qian rose to her feet. "We found him. Hu Weijie is at Starbird Airport, outside Silver City."
In the past, Silver City had been far larger and more prosperous than it was now. Subway lines used to connect it to several neighboring cities, including Hibiscus City, and farther away stood a functioning airport. However, after the appearance of the Forbidden Fruits, those facilities had gradually fallen into disuse and were eventually abandoned.
Although Yu Xian and the others had never left Silver City while they were still ordinary people, they had studied old maps in history class and roughly knew where the airport was located.
Zhang Shou jumped to his feet. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Yu Xian casually rolled two bubbles in his hand as though he were polishing walnuts. "There happens to be a spatial bubble I've placed not far from Starbird Airport. We can directly teleport there."
Bluebird quickly stopped them. "Hold on. I'm going to the armory to grab some weapons and ammunition."
Zhang Shou quickly came back to his senses and said that he needed to requisition some weapons as well. Compared to Bluebird, he was even weaker in combat. Without weapons, he was essentially a pure support healer, with an almost-negligible offensive capability.
Yu Xian had never visited the armory before. This was the perfect opportunity for him to see what it was like. So, he rose from his chair. "Then let's go together. Once we've collected our equipment, we'll head out."
The four of them headed to the armory. As soon as the armory's attendant saw them, he opened the warehouse doors and allowed them to browse freely. Any equipment they selected simply needed to be signed out and registered.
Every city's branch office maintained a substantial stockpile of weapons. However, most of them were not intended for use by normal humans. Many of these firearms had such extreme recoil that an ordinary human would break their bones from firing a single shot. Some of the weapons could even inflict serious injuries on the user through recoil alone. Naturally, their firepower far exceeded that of conventional firearms.
Yu Xian had little interest in guns. Instead, he took ten standard-issue super-alloy combat knives. He requested more than five hundred explosives, including flashbangs, concussion grenades, incendiary grenades, and fragmentation grenades. Finally, he added over fifty super-alloy shields to his selection. None of it qualified as top-tier equipment. Still, if deployed unexpectedly, they could produce surprising results.
After signing the necessary paperwork, he stored everything inside his spatial ring and sat off to one side, waiting for the others to finish. Once everyone was fully equipped with weapons and ammunition, he stepped out of the armory and pointed a finger into the air. A tiny bubble instantly materialized before him. He enlarged the bubble before stepping inside. The next instant, he appeared atop a mountain peak.
Emerging from the bubble, Zhang Shou surveyed the surrounding landscape with a sigh of awe. To the right of the summit, they could see the ruins of Starbird Airport in the distance. He muttered, "Salted Fish, your ability is ridiculously convenient. I'm so jealous."
Bluebird and Gong Qian stepped out of the spatial bubble as well. Bluebird admiringly remarked, "With our current lineup, we might be the strongest squad in history. And definitely the most versatile."
Someone needed transportation? Yu Xian was there. Someone needed a medic? Zhang Shou could practically bring people back from the dead. Someone needed reconnaissance? That was Bluebird's specialty. On top of all that, their primary attacker was Gong Qian, whose combat prowess was so outrageous that she could go toe-to-toe with Dragon-rank powerhouses. Bluebird found it hard to imagine what kind of monster could actually pose a threat to them.
Gong Qian added, "Actually, if Captain Jin were here, our capabilities would be even more complete."
Gong Qian wasn't without weaknesses. Against ghosts, vengeful spirits, and other entities resistant to physical attacks, she had few effective options. In contrast, a burst of Jin Sheng's Lion's Majestic Aura could instantly reduce such creatures to ashes.
Bluebird smiled. "Vice-Captain, shall we begin the mission?"
Gong Qian nodded. "Let's begin. Bluebird, head to Starbird Airport and conduct reconnaissance. Locate Hu Weijie's whereabouts, but don't alert him. Salted Fish, fly up to high altitude and establish several teleportation points. If necessary, be prepared to teleport me into the air so I can launch a direct strike against the airport grounds. Death Medic, stay ready. If Bluebird or I are injured or poisoned, coordinate with Salted Fish immediately and provide remote treatment."
The moment Gong Qian finished speaking, Bluebird transformed into a bird and flew toward Starbird Airport. "I'm off!"
Yu Xian nodded toward Gong Qian. He created a bubble and stepped inside, flying toward the airport as well. While Bluebird descended toward a lower altitude, Yu Xian headed upward.
Once his bubble rose above the clouds, he sat inside and looked down at the landscape below. Then, like a Go player placing stones across a board, he launched one spatial bubble after another toward the ground. Centered on Starbird Airport, the bubbles rapidly spread across the surrounding area, forming an interconnected network.
Yu Xian closed his eyes and focused on the sounds being transmitted from Bluebird's side. He had yet to figure out a way to actually see outside his bubbles. However, he had come up with an alternative. Using principles similar to sonar, he could analyze sounds and infer what was happening beyond his bubbles. The method was still far from accurate, but it was at least better than knowing nothing at all.
Viewed from above, Starbird Airport resembled a giant Y fused with an H. Since no one had maintained it for seven or eight centuries, nature had reclaimed the entire facility. Weeds and vines covered every surface, and a massive tree had even grown up through the airport itself, its enormous canopy spreading across much of the structure.
Bluebird landed on one of the tree's branches and immediately sensed that the airport was unnaturally quiet. Her years of experience put her on high alert. A place this silent often concealed something extremely dangerous. "Not even a single animal... that's far too unusual."
She slightly spread her wings and glided down toward a damaged section of the airport roof. Through a shattered glass window, she looked inside and assessed the interior.
It was already past four in the afternoon, and while the sky outside remained fairly bright, the airport glass was so caked in grime that it barely let any light through. The interior was shrouded in dim shadows, offering only faint, fleeting glimpses of numerous animal skeletons and scattered, shattered injectors.
Bluebird slipped through the shattered glass window and entered the airport. She landed atop a weathered sign that faintly read "Baggage Wrapping." Carefully surveying her surroundings, she found no sign of any living creature, yet the smell permeating the terminal immediately put her on edge. It reeked. Worse, the foul odor was heavily laced with the pungent, stinging musk of canine urine.
Numerous cages littered the floor, all of them torn apart by brute force. Besides the mound of bones piled like a small hill, canine skeletons were scattered throughout the terminal. Judging from the remains, they belonged either to dogs or foxes.
Suddenly, a violent chill crept up Bluebird's spine and washed over her head. She froze. Paralyzed with fear, she didn't dare make a single movement. Her heightened senses screamed that at some unknown point, a pair of colossal eyes had locked onto her tiny, defenseless figure from right behind her.
Her pupils trembled violently. In the dusty, grime-streaked glass beside her, she could see a hazy, distorted reflection of a towering fox nearly ten meters tall, its back bristling with thrashing tails.
An expression of utter, raw disbelief flooded Bluebird's eyes. The Nine-Tails? Or Hu Weijie?
However, even though Hu Weijie possessed the Nine-Tailed Fox bloodline, he was fundamentally a human being, not a demon. He could not possibly transform into a monstrous beast like that.
Right then, the monstrosity behind her locked its gaze onto her, enunciating every single syllable with terrifying deliberation. "Tell me... am I... an Immortal... or... a God?"
Its voice carried a weight that shook her very soul, instantly paralyzing her. Bluebird's jaw trembled, forcing her mouth open millimeter by millimeter against her will.
Seeking recognition? How could it possibly be seeking recognition from me?[1]
Hu Weijie was a human by birth, not a fox. Why on earth would he need a mortal's spoken blessing to achieve godhood?
Regardless of the truth, Bluebird had completely lost control of her body. She knew with absolute, terrifying certainty that the moment she uttered an answer, the consequences would be catastrophic.
1. In case anyone has forgotten, seeking recognition is a concept from Chinese folklore in which a demon or spirit that has cultivated for many years asks a human to acknowledge it, thereby gaining the chance to assume human form or advance its cultivation. ☜