The Demon Suppression Division was a massive trap.
A bottomless pit, no less—one covered in enticing bait on the surface, but once you fell in, you were trapped, stuck with endless trouble you couldn't shake.
How had she been so blinded back then by that long list of treasures on the military merit exchange catalog that she jumped right in without a second thought?
And look at her now: she hadn't gotten her hands on the Mirage Pearl she wanted, but instead ended up covered in mud, hunted across the world with the label of a defector hanging over her head.
Nan Zhi lay face down on the floor pretending to be dead, motionless for a long while.
The floor beside her was littered with a thick layer of ruined drawings: crooked flowers, birds, fish, and insects, distorted ink-line human faces, and abstract, line-drawn foxes and tigers.
—If the Painted Skin Ghost knew that Nan Zhi’s drawing skills were learned from him, he would probably be resurrected from pure rage.
“Tap, tap, tap...”
A paper figure with a spot of blood on its head scurried over with boundless enthusiasm, gathering the sheets of paper from the floor one by one, neatly stacking them on the coffee table.
The other paper figure wasn't slacking off either—watering plants, mopping the floor, doing laundry, unboxing packages, and feeding the treasure-seeking mouse. Its movements were so proficient it could make someone with terminal laziness die of shame.
Fortunately, all the windows in Nan Zhi’s home were lined with reflective film. Otherwise, if anyone saw two pieces of paper bustling about the apartment, it would add another item to the local supernatural reports.
Corn was exceptionally curious about the household's new members. After watching from inside its hamster ball for a good while, it trotted over, grabbed hold of one paper figure's ankle, and bit down:
“Snap.”
“Snap.”
With that momentary distraction, the two paper figures controlled by Nan Zhi instantly lost all vitality, collapsing limply onto the ground and turning back into ordinary dead objects.
“Corn, don't cause trouble.”
Nan Zhi rolled over lazily, caught the panicked pet trying to flee, buried her head in its fluffy golden fur, took two deep sniffs, and exhaled a satisfied sigh.
As expected, with my cultivation only at the Qi Refinement stage, controlling two paper figures simultaneously is my absolute limit.
Although Daoism had spells like “sowing beans to sprout soldiers” and “giving eyes to paper figures,” those relied on inanimate objects after all, lacking flexibility.
Paper figures created using the Painted Skin Art, on the other hand, were naturally linked to the painter's mind. The caster could even grant them vision and hearing, using the paper figures' eyes and ears to gather intelligence.
Best of all, the paper figures were made from ordinary plain paper, possessing negligible fluctuations of spiritual power.
Therefore, even if an enemy's cultivation far exceeded Nan Zhi’s, these paper figures would be almost impossible to detect.
—Nan Zhi had already verified this point.
They were practically the ultimate tool for gathering intelligence, escaping for survival, swooping in to grab loot, pulling off ambushes and robberies... Ahem, launching surprise attacks.
As for the treasure she had snatched up this time...
Nan Zhi flipped upright in a kip-up and sat cross-legged on the floor, staring into her inventory bag, lost in thought.
Inside her inventory bag, nestled among a stack of 【Blood Supplementing Pills】, 【Yin Niangzi Brand Stinky Tofu】, and 【Qi-Supplementing Pills】, quietly lay a chubby, fleshy little baby.
The infant was completely unclothed, with nothing on except a cinnabar mark on its forehead as red as blood. It looked harmless and adorable, strikingly reminiscent of the chubby baby holding a large carp in traditional New Year paintings.
Yet Nan Zhi didn't dare underestimate this entity in the slightest.
【Corpse of Old Nan (Quality: ???): A Witch, bearer of Pangu's bloodline, favored child of Heaven and Earth. Its corpse shares the longevity of Heaven and Earth, eternal and unyielding to decay.】
This was the corpse of a Witch.
The corpse of a Witch named “Old Nan.”
“I really want to see for myself what a Great Witch from the Primordial era looked like—a soulless corpse alone can swallow thousands upon thousands of souls, leaving even cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage completely helpless before it.
If not for my inventory bag, I really wouldn't dare stash this thing away so casually.”
Nan Zhi rubbed her chin, still feeling a lingering dread as she recalled the tragic deaths of the Dragon Prince and the others that day:
“It seems Huiyuan really lost his mind. If this thing were unleashed upon the mortal realm, it would bring nothing but devastation to living beings and leave corpses scattered everywhere. Even ordinary immortals and gods would be nothing more than slightly larger meals before it...”
—She had witnessed its terrifying power with her own eyes, which was why, even after being driven into a corner while hunted down during this period, she had never taken it out of her inventory bag.
As she observed it, she suddenly noticed two glittering spots of light hovering around the Corpse of Old Nan, circling the infant:
【Flesh Sacrifice, current extractable divine abilities: 2】
【Divine Ability: Call Wind (Comprehendible)】
【Divine Ability: Summon Rain (Uncomprehendible)】
【Do you choose to comprehend the Divine Ability “Call Wind”?】
The instant Nan Zhi tapped to comprehend, her eyes went rigid, and her entire body collapsed straight down onto the floor—
“Thud!”
“Squeak squeak squeak squeak! Squeak squeak squeak!”
The treasure-seeking mouse immediately let out a sharp, ear-piercing squeal.
...
...
Nan Zhi was clearly aware that she was dreaming.
In the dream, mulberry trees towered into the clouds, and the woods stretched out like a vast green sea. Long-tailed birds with human faces sang at the top of their lungs, while ox-and-deer-like Sibuxiang rode on clouds and mist, their four snow-white hooves stepping through air in contented leisure.
Exotic beasts, rare birds, and strange fish were everywhere.
Deep in the mountain valleys, tall members of the Witch race rode strange beasts to herd and hunt, shouting in a tongue indecipherable to outsiders.
At the tribal settlement, countless Witches gathered outside a palace, piling the flesh and blood of strange beasts onto a heap of white stones that resembled an altar:
A giant red fish with pure white wings; a rabbit with horse ears that spoke human tongue; a massive, crane-like bird with a single horn and a single leg; and a giant dog with crimson skin and fur like iron needles—
A Great Witch stood atop the altar with hands outstretched, facing the heavens, letting out wild and strange howls:
【...Come...】
【Come...】
【Wind, come! Wind, come! Wind, come!】
Nan Zhi felt like a spirit inhabiting another person's body, observing everything from a third-person perspective.
She didn't understand why she had appeared at this strange altar, yet a vague realization dawned in her mind.
These were Witches praying for rain.
The Witch race was born with the ability to commune with Heaven and Earth—calling wind, summoning rain, commanding thunder, and driving lightning. These were their innate divine abilities, tied to their bloodline and passed down through generations.
It had nothing to do with spells or spiritual power; such talents were buried deep within the bloodline of the Witches.
Inseparable and indestructible.
Even the most ordinary Witch could commune spiritually with mountains and rivers, perceiving Heaven and Earth.
Calling the wind and summoning rain was precisely this.
“Plop.”
A drop of rain suddenly fell onto the corner of Nan Zhi's eye. She looked up and saw that the wind in the sky seemed to take on form, swirling and howling straight toward her!
“Whoosh—”
Nan Zhi couldn't describe that feeling.
The wind seemed to fill her limbs, surging and flowing through every part of her body along with her blood. In an instant, the invisible wind transformed into a plume of white air, tightly wrapping around her and carrying her up to the clouds!
Above the clouds, Nan Zhi saw blurred figures of countless Witches. She felt as though she had turned into a feather, rising and falling with the wind, moving wherever her mind willed.
At this moment, she was the wind, yet the wind was not her.
“Ah...”
At the highest crest of the heavy cloud layer, someone seemed to let out a deep, heavy sigh. Nan Zhi woke up abruptly, plummeting steeply from the clouds!
Rate on N.U.
