Chapter 296: The First Step to Killing an A-Class Tour Guide

In reality, once An Xuefeng appeared on the high platform on behalf of Return, he never left. Even during the presentations from the Tour Guides who came up after, he stayed at Bing-1’s side the entire time.

Dreamchaser stood beside Bing-1 as well, him on one side and An Xuefeng on the other, like two guardian kings flanking a deity. The only difference was that Bing-1’s free hand still held the Sun charm, and Dreamchaser, who had never liked the aura of the Sun’s madness, had positioned himself a little further away, closer to the seats reserved for friends and family on the platform.

That angle happened to block Silverfish, who was currently sitting in the front row.

Dreamchaser and An Xuefeng were really keeping Bing-1 well guarded.

The Puppet Master thought with irritation. After shifting into his alienated state, Bing-1 seemed taller, though he was still on the shorter side in absolute terms. With Dreamchaser blocking the way like that, she couldn’t even get a clear look at the Sun charm.

When Return’s full group came up, Silverfish smiled and applauded along with everyone else. When the Return presentation and Bing-1’s moment came, Dreamchaser finally stepped back and took a seat among the friends and family, giving the Puppet Master a clearer view.

Yes. That was the Sun charm.

She could sense it plainly; the aura of the Sun’s madness emanating from it, intertwining with Bing-1’s pure Abyss energy, and woven through that, the Puppet Master caught a faint thread that carried the Puppeteer’s scent.

“Uncomfortable?”

Dreamchaser, seated beside her, frowned slightly and followed her gaze.

“Being this close to the Sun charm is a little much.”

“I’m fine.”

The Puppet Master gave a light cough and smiled, the fluffy ball of Silverfish in her hands.

“I’m not that fragile.”

Dreamchaser wouldn’t suspect her; the Puppet Master wasn’t worried about that. The gift she had presented was the usage rights to Silverfish’s Abyss node. Only a Tour Guide who possessed an Abyss node could share its access with others, this was a gift that only the real Silverfish could give.

Dreamchaser might worry at most that she had some form of control over Silverfish, but under the Agency’s watch, the moment the Puppet Master attempted to manipulate Silverfish, the clash between her control and the Agency’s authority would leave Silverfish critically injured and collapsed on the spot.

But who would have guessed that this Abyss node had originally belonged to her?

Or rather, it wasn’t a normal Abyss node to begin with.

Getting to this point, as a Demonic creature, had been genuinely difficult.

The Puppet Master thought.

When “she” first hit zero on the Death Countdown, she had already died. “She” had been truly kind, and her titles were unusual, nothing had aligned with any Demonic creature type.

The power of the Abyss would have swallowed “her” whole, driving “her” into uncontrollable madness and ultimately death.

So, as a part of “her,” the Puppet Master had ultimately fused with the Abyss’s power, becoming “her” Demonic creature, becoming “her” most extraordinary alienated state.

The Puppet Master didn’t want to die. She didn’t want “her” to die either. They had always been one; inside the Agency, they should have grown even closer.

But it had been genuinely difficult. The Puppet Master wasn’t a true Demonic creature; she had come into being through a chance encounter later on, when the two of them entered the Abyss during a battle. They had run into something catastrophic. In the midst of that disaster, the Puppet Master had lost all control, split away, taken on her own human form, and become a creature of the Abyss.

At the time the Puppet Master had thought: perhaps that was for the best. Their relationship had always been distorted. A person and a tumor with neural activity, then a person and an alienated state, then a person and an Abyss creature; the Puppet Master’s existence had always caused “her” pain. But without the Puppet Master, “she” could not have survived in the Agency.

Perhaps separation was the answer. Perhaps dying together would have been better. The Puppet Master should have sunk into the Abyss at that point, and everything should have ended there. But “she” had ultimately struggled to find the Puppet Master, had marked her, establishing a bond with her the way you form a link with an Abyss node.

Fine. They were going to stay together regardless.

So, the Puppet Master would not let go again. When they returned to the Agency, that stretch of Abyss had strangely and quietly become something like an Abyss node belonging to the two of them.

Its manner of acquisition was nothing like other nodes. The number of Abyss nodes had always been proportional to the number of Latitude 30 Degrees journeys, but this one fell outside that count; a special, hidden node.

What had appeared after the Tusi King Tomb was opened, and the node Silverfish had seized, those had merely been arrangements she had made in advance.

It had nearly come apart too. After the Tusi King Tomb appeared, by convention another node should have emerged; one was claimed by the West District’s A-5 Little Witch, and the other should have appeared in the East District. The Puppet Master had exploited exactly that expectation, but then another Abyss node had appeared during Wei Xun’s Northern Tibet journey, which she hadn’t anticipated.

That was a minor issue in the end. Others would suspect the Little Witch at most; no one would suspect Silverfish, since the node she had set up had been discovered by Silverfish and Dreamchaser together.

Going through Silverfish’s identity was a risky move. But the Puppet Master needed the Sun charm, and now was the only opportunity.

The Sun charm had been in Bing-1’s hands the entire time. When you wanted to obtain an object, confirming its location was always the hardest part; seizing it was comparatively simple.

The Puppet Master had always been a gambler. She had gambled that even with another personality dominant, the Agency would still recognize her. So, when she fell asleep and the Puppet Master took the lead and began rising even faster, that was simply how it should be.

After all, in this Agency, only those who would do anything to get ahead climbed higher and lived longer. The Agency caused “her” pain but gave the Puppet Master joy and freedom.

Though sometimes there was loneliness.

“She” had been sleeping for far too long. Since reaching B-class rank, “she” had been almost permanently asleep. Even though A-class Tour Guides could choose the color of their own cloak, the Puppet Master still preferred the silver-purple cloak the two of them had worn together back in their B-class days.

Was it beneath her dignity to wear the same color cloak as a B-class Tour Guide?

Once she was powerful enough. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Once she controlled a Latitude 30 Degrees journey. Once she replaced the Puppeteer as Jia-1…

No one would think so anymore.

Once the Return presentation was done, once the Tourists cleared out, once only the Mutual Aid Alliance’s people and Tour Guides remained, Bing-1 and Silverfish had arranged to visit the Abyss node together that evening. She could naturally stay behind then and have a proper conversation with Bing-1. By that point…

She had already arranged things with the people inside the Butcher Alliance. The Puppet Master thought; but it would be better to move quickly. Before the Weeping Medium’s group discovered she was no longer in the Butcher Alliance…

Why was Return taking so long?

“Well, well, the Mutual Aid Alliance’s launch is truly a wonderful occasion! With your agreement, Vice President, I, Wang Pengpai, will personally get to work tomorrow on building a little bridge of communication between our two alliances!”

Wang Pengpai exclaimed cheerfully as he came up; a few sentences from him and the atmosphere, which had been running a little cool, came alive again. Calling him “Vice President” sounded too formal; calling him “Bing-1” lacked punch; “Vice-Bing” sounded strange. Wang Pengpai had simply dropped the “Bing” and called him “President One,” which nearly made Wang Yushu spray his drink.

“My dear One, nothing more to say, here’s to our alliance growing warmer and warmer by the day!”

Tsk, still holding hands? Wang Yushu thought; honestly, thank goodness Wei Xun hadn’t come today, or this would have been quite the spectacle.

Though actually, a full Return appearance like this would have been the perfect moment for Wei Xun to come and make things official with Bing-1. But both Bai Xiaosheng and Wang Pengpai had said tomorrow was likely to bring major developments, and if Wei Xun showed his face it could be genuinely dangerous. Wang Yushu felt a flicker of regret and quietly snapped a photo of Bing-1 and Captain An’s joined hands.

Honestly. A principled man like himself would absolutely not keep something like this from his own teammates. Whatever was going on between Wei Xun and Captain An, he’d have to pull Wei Xun aside later for a private heart-to-heart.

“Come have dinner at the team base sometime.”

Lu Shucheng smiled.

“My cooking is really quite good, you haven’t tried it yet, and that’s your loss!”

“Lu Shucheng is right; you should come by Return and see.”

Bai Xiaosheng said.

“You…”

Mao Xiao Le’s gaze drifted involuntarily to the Sun charm hanging in Bing-1’s hand. He pressed his lips together, said nothing in the end, and shoved a string of paper cranes at him awkwardly.

“If you’re ever in danger, come find me.”

“All right, all right, go sit down.”

An Xuefeng’s patience was running out with all the lingering.

“Come on, stop wasting time.”

We don’t think it’s a waste of time at all!

The audience in the broadcast and the virtual hall were all screaming this internally.

Getting to see this many powerhouses in one place was more than worth the visit. They wanted to keep listening to the great figures talk in person.

But once An Xuefeng spoke, Wang Pengpai and the others drifted off with good-natured laughter to the friends and family seats, landing right next to Silverfish and Dreamchaser. Everyone sitting up there was close to Wei Xun; there was no rule dividing Tour Guides from Tourists.

The Weeping Medium sat a little further off. Yin-Yang Butterfly sat beside him. The others had arranged themselves in a rough circle around Silverfish.

The Puppet Master remained inwardly composed. Silverfish attending the Mutual Aid Alliance’s launch was completely natural; Silverfish was currently, within the Shepherd Alliance, the person the Puppet Master placed highest, and the Puppet Master was someone who cared greatly about appearances and face. A solo Bing-3 Tour Guide presenting a gift would have carried no prestige, you needed someone seated in the friends and family section to give it weight.

Once Return’s pleasantries concluded, An Xuefeng finally moved on to the gifts. Everyone grew alert with anticipation, waiting to see whether Return would or wouldn’t produce something surpassing all three major Tour Guide alliances combined.

Wei Xun watched An Xuefeng with a slight smile. The pleasantries just now had been a delay tactic. In that time, he and An Xuefeng had already exchanged everything they needed to say in private.

‘Boss Maggot’s cocoon showed no reaction, it’s the Puppet Master, not Silverfish.’

‘The Puppeteer’s fragment is not inside the headstone.’

‘The Puppet Master wants to seize the Inca Sun Gate.’

The first sentence was from Wei Xun. The last two were from An Xuefeng.

The last sentence had successfully placed the Puppet Master firmly on Wei Xun’s blacklist.

“You know what I like.”

Wei Xun’s voice was low enough to be a murmur, cool and unhurried, each breath drifting close before An Xuefeng’s face. This was the first time An Xuefeng had experienced Wei Xun standing at this height; he could read Wei Xun’s emotions far more clearly now.

The corner of his mouth curved.

‘Don’t worry. It’ll be something you like.’

The first gift. An Xuefeng’s gift to Wei Xun was a key. And when he spoke, the impact hit the virtual hall like a detonation.

“This key represents half of my assets.”

Perhaps because he hadn’t slept in days, An Xuefeng’s voice sounded faintly lazy, easy and unhurried. He hadn’t followed the format the Tour Guide alliances had used, and the presentation didn’t feel particularly ceremonial.

But his first gift alone surpassed all three Tour Guide alliances combined. Countless people inhaled sharply at the same moment, barely able to trust their own ears.

The number one Tourist, captain of the number one Tour Team, how wealthy could a decade of accumulation make someone?

Legendary items scattered everywhere; Unsolvable-level items in casual abundance, surely. Points stacked so high he could bury a person several hundred times over.

Say the three major Tour Guide alliances were wealthy; that kind of wealth and the wealth of a top Tourist weren’t in the same category at all.

The Weeping Medium’s hands tightened involuntarily into fists, his lips pressing firm, his expression severe. Yin-Yang Butterfly beside him kept drawing long, sharp breaths, sounding exactly like a dumbfounded dog, ceaselessly murmuring calculations:

“Good lord. Half of An Xuefeng’s assets, how many points is that? Heavens, probably enough to buy dozens, hundreds of An Xuefeng posters.”

“No, no, no; I’m thinking too small. Definitely more than that. Weeping Medium, my brother…”

The Weeping Medium’s expression grew even more severe, but that cold facade could not entirely contain what moved beneath it; even the tear-like marks at the corners of his eyes had deepened to dark blue. Yin-Yang Butterfly went immediately quiet.

“Wealth, for a Tourist, means very little.”

Once Yin-Yang Butterfly fell silent, the Weeping Medium said it quietly.

“That was only the first gift. Have patience.”

The vast majority of the audience had already been knocked sideways by An Xuefeng’s first gift; only those with real experience still managed to hold on to clarity. Yes, yes, it was only assets; but everyone knew that what An Xuefeng valued most, what was most precious to him, was not something as simple as wealth.

And then, a second later, those people stopped breathing as well.

They watched An Xuefeng produce a miniaturized pyramid, and a deep-blue book; centered with a fist-sized deep-red eye, its cover wrapped in chains of purple tentacles.

“This is the second gift.”

In the next instant An Xuefeng let out a low grunt, his expression shifting; it looked as though he had paid a significant price. Then everyone saw faint silhouettes materialize on both the pyramid and the book.

“Give me your hand.”

An Xuefeng said gravely.

When Wei Xun’s hands closed with his, An Xuefeng spoke, and his voice was uncharacteristically hoarse:

“The Opening Participant says… that the authority of the tokens shall be shared.”

At those words, even the senior figures watching could no longer stay seated.

“What the—!”

“?????!”

“What is this, am I the one who’s lost my mind, or has someone else?!”

“Did I actually hear that? Did I actually see that?!”

An Xuefeng had chosen to share the authority. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] How could he do that? Had Return planned this from the start?

Many people glanced involuntarily toward the Return group on the platform, and saw their faces just as stunned.

“What the—!”

A stunned Wang Yushu suddenly felt a sharp pain in his thigh and couldn’t hold back the shout; he looked down to find Wang Pengpai’s hand gripping him there.

“Calm yourself. What kind of reaction is that? Have you forgotten what our captain told us before?”

Wang Pengpai said with great gravity, though his grip kept tightening, so Wang Yushu actually believed him.

“That’s right. Research data shows that overlapping Latitude 30 Degrees access rights accelerates the opening of new Latitude 30 Degrees journeys.”

Bai Xiaosheng stated complete nonsense with perfect composure, citing nonexistent research data.

“Before we go into battle, we need to make a trip to the Tusi King Tomb.”

An Xuefeng had already visited Bing-1’s Tusi King Tomb; when the time came, they ought to as well. Saying that much was accurate enough.

“That’s right, what are you all so surprised about?”

Mao Xiao Le said, genuinely puzzled.

“The captain always has his reasons for what he does.”

Oh, so that’s what it was?!

Those eavesdropping nearby were enlightened.

“I’ve really seen something today…”

Even Yin-Yang Butterfly was murmuring, and had grown strangely excited.

Heh heh. With this added, the Vice President now had three Latitude 30 Degrees journeys.

Three times more than their great lord.

“Though it is a little strange…”

Yin-Yang Butterfly glanced carefully at the Weeping Medium as he said it, saw him staring fixedly ahead with clenched fists and no attention to spare, and continued in a lower voice.

“Isn’t this supposed to be Return’s gift presentation? Why does it feel like An Xuefeng’s personal gift giving?”

Everything he’d sent was his own.

Very strange. Ever since the two of them held hands in private, Yin-Yang Butterfly found everything strange everywhere he looked.

“Well, speaking of that…”

The Puppet Master finally couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“But these are Latitude 30 Degrees tokens.”

The Latitude 30 Degrees tokens she had schemed toward for years without even catching a whiff of them.

And An Xuefeng had just handed them over like that.

In that instant the Puppet Master felt overwhelming envy for Bing-1, almost wanting to become him. The acid feeling was unbearable; why had she sat so close? The pyramid and the Book of the Sunken Atlantic were nearly burning her eyes out of her head. Never mind waiting for the Puppeteer, if she’d had one less shred of reason left, she would have just grabbed them outright.

Bing-1 was being far too calm about this.

Wei Xun placed his hand on the silhouettes of the pyramid and the Sunken Atlantic token and felt a current of cold power enter his body. The Sun charm in his hand radiated the Sun’s mad heat as it naturally did, while the human-skin map spread a different kind of chill, eerie and dim. This was the resonance between Latitude 30 Degrees tokens. Barely anyone in the Agency had ever witnessed a spectacle like this. A single token was only portable because it had stabilized, but when they came into contact with each other, a special chain reaction occurred.

In an instant, Wei Xun, An Xuefeng, and the Sun charm’s presence nearly vanished from the Agency’s perception. Only those in the friends and family seats could sense the difference. If they hadn’t been standing right there, almost everyone would have thought the two of them had disappeared on the spot.

Unsolvable-level journey. Not subject to Agency control. Presence blocked.

Wei Xun consciously held his breath. He knew An Xuefeng wasn’t the type to make elaborate shows of things. The pyramid’s authority, An Xuefeng had already shared a portion of it with him before; there was no need to bring out the physical tokens for something like that.

His true purpose was to produce all of these tokens at once, to trigger this chain reaction that blocked their presence from the Agency’s perception.

There were four tokens present. They belonged to An Xuefeng, to Wei Xun, and to… another person. That person had appeared; their presence was also shielded. The Agency would not detect them.

Was this it? Was this really what he was imagining?

Wei Xun couldn’t help looking at An Xuefeng, and he didn’t know that his own eyes were practically shining. Those clear, pale-blue pupils reflected the blue-ice glow of the light around them, something you could drown in.

What Wei Xun wanted most as a gift, An Xuefeng knew. How much he loved adventure, how much he loved challenges beyond his level, An Xuefeng knew that too.

Though the Puppeteer genuinely couldn’t make a real appearance right now, rather than dangling the possibility forever and letting Wei Xun go off seeking danger in places he couldn’t see, it was better to give him some satisfaction.

“This is the third gift.”

When An Xuefeng said those words, the already heated atmosphere crested into something frenzied. The audience had been driven to the edge of delirium, even the Latitude 30 Degrees token rights had been shared, and there was still a third gift?

Even the Weeping Medium had gone numb. His tightly clenched fists loosened and fell open. No competing with this. In this regard there truly was… no point competing.

A quiet exhale.

“An Xuefeng is bringing out something more precious than a Latitude 30 Degrees token?”

Yin-Yang Butterfly muttered beside him.

“I don’t believe it.”

Indeed; the Weeping Medium also couldn’t believe anything could be more precious than a Latitude 30 Degrees token.

Unless—

At that moment, a headstone appeared in An Xuefeng’s hand. Every eye locked onto it immediately. People began assessing: black granite, rectangular headstone, though it appeared to have no characters on it at all, and there were many cracks in it, looking incomplete, as though it were just an ordinary cracked grave marker…

“I give you the Puppeteer’s headstone.”

Everyone: ??!!

The instant An Xuefeng’s words landed, the entire space went silent, as if every person present had been struck mute in that moment. Not a sound.

He said… what?

Whose headstone? [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Whose headstone was it?

Whose headstone was this?!

Dreamchaser froze in stunned disbelief. Return’s members were shaken out of their senses. The Weeping Medium surged to his feet, and the Puppet Master was on her feet even faster.

Whose headstone was this? The Puppeteer’s headstone? His real-world headstone or some tomb within the Agency? An Xuefeng had discovered the Puppeteer’s true identity? Was the Puppeteer already dead?

Countless questions churned through every mind, but An Xuefeng was a genuinely cruel person; he produced the headstone and then said almost nothing about it, as though it were the most ordinary object in the world, handed it to Bing-1, and immediately moved on to more gifts at brisk speed, nothing like the slow deliberate pace from before.

“Fourth gift, this Legendary teapot has served me well; I’m giving it to you.”

“Fifth gift, this Unsolvable-level trench coat is a little large for me; it’ll definitely suit you.”

“Sixth…”

“Seventh…”

……

Who cares about any of these ordinary gifts right now? The hearts of countless people in the room were screaming.

Tell us what the Puppeteer’s headstone is about!

“Could it be… the Puppeteer’s fragment has something to do with this headstone?”

Dreamchaser murmured, and the Puppet Master caught it with sharp precision.

What? The Puppeteer’s fragment? Connected to the headstone?

This was truly the Puppeteer’s headstone?

In that instant the Puppet Master understood. No wonder the Weeping Medium had dared bring the Sun charm to the Mutual Aid Alliance, the Puppeteer’s connection to the Agency’s side had probably already transferred to the headstone.

Seizing the Sun charm was useless. She needed to seize the headstone.

The Puppet Master drew a slow breath, barely able to contain herself. She watched Bing-1, left arm holding the headstone, right hand holding the Sun charm, and in her mind a plan took shape at lightning speed.

Never mind waiting for the ceremony to end. Once An Xuefeng finished presenting gifts and walked away, she would teleport directly to Bing-1’s side and drag him into the Abyss node to take him away.

“Eleventh gift, this Maine Coon kitten is a fine one; I’m giving it to you.”

An Xuefeng was still presenting gifts, but the audience had long since gone numb. Everything after had been practical small items, nothing worth focusing on.

But at this moment Wei Xun snapped to sharp attention.

The headstone was never the point. An Xuefeng had produced it purely to capture everyone’s attention. The string of small gifts afterward was designed to dull the nerves of everyone watching, and the real gift was hidden among them.

“Dreamchaser, hold these for me a moment.”

Wei Xun freed his hands and took the kitten. The small Maine Coon slept in his arms, its build identical to the one Wei Xun kept; no, they were the same cat.

The kitten’s body was soft, but holding it, Wei Xun realized it wasn’t breathing. Its belly didn’t rise and fall. It was as though it had died, yet somehow seemed still alive. At the same time Wei Xun noticed a collar around the kitten’s neck, with a small golden bell hanging from it.

From inside the bell came a faint aura similar to the headstone’s.

Remnant soul consciousness. The headstone. The bell. His brother’s fragment.

In an instant countless threads connected in Wei Xun’s mind. He looked reflexively at An Xuefeng; An Xuefeng gave him a small nod, confirming that what Wei Xun was thinking was correct.

An Xuefeng had examined the headstone and ultimately located what was controlling it: a tiny piece of dark-colored stone. It looked like bone, but very small; not human, more like an animal’s finger bone.

So, he had gone to Wei Xun’s home. And the Maine Coon, Bingbing, had become what it was now.

A pure Abyss aura, but as though sleeping. The moment Wei Xun took it into his arms, that aura began to grow stronger, like someone on the verge of waking. The fine fur along Bingbing’s spine slowly began to take on a deep red color.

The same color as the Puppeteer’s cloak.

“I hope you’ll like this cat.”

An Xuefeng said quietly.

‘If you want to see him, the shielding from the Latitude 30 Degrees tokens alone won’t be sufficient.’

An Xuefeng communicated with him in private. Wei Xun understood.

‘Add one A-class Tour Guide sustaining a critical injury… will that be enough?’

Wei Xun and An Xuefeng exchanged a glance. Then both of them, with the peripheral vision of everyone around them, let their gaze drift almost imperceptibly to Silverfish, seated beside Dreamchaser.

“And now for the final gift…”

What final gift? The Puppet Master couldn’t care less. The moment Bing-1, with the casual air of someone putting things aside temporarily, placed the Puppeteer’s headstone and the Sun charm both in front of Dreamchaser, the Puppet Master’s eyes lit up.

What was this? This was getting something for nothing. Abducting Bing-1 carried too much risk; taking these objects directly was far simpler. Right now, the Puppet Master had eyes only for the headstone and the Sun charm. Some final gift, An Xuefeng and Bing-1, none of it registered for her at all…

When the gift presentation concluded and An Xuefeng turned to leave, the Puppet Master seized her moment and struck immediately for the headstone and the Sun charm. But in that same instant, the light of a blade like the last rays of evening sun, together with a second edge, younger, less refined, yet soaked through with killing intent, fell on her simultaneously. The Puppet Master was unwilling to fail when she was this close; she gritted her teeth and seized the headstone, about to pull back, but the blades were faster than she had imagined.

Her silver-purple cloak could not block them at all. Two sharp edges struck through her body at once. And as the blades landed, An Xuefeng’s voice arrived a beat later:

“…The final gift.”

“Teaching you how to kill an A-class Tour Guide.”

And Bing-1’s light laughter rang out at that moment, sounding utterly at ease.

He said:

“Wonderful, Teacher An.”