“Kitchen God, this [Fireworks Register], how did it…”
As Lu Chen spoke, he didn’t forget to return the Kitchen God’s bow.
The Kitchen God smiled faintly and lightly tapped His fingertip. The [Fireworks Register] drifted back before Him.
“It seems this little thing has set its sights on you, young friend. But the fact that it could reawaken its spiritual essence is also thanks to you.”
“Then the scenes of the whole city I just saw—could they be…”
“Precisely. That is the [Fireworks Register]’s innate divine ability. With your cleverness, young friend, I doubt I need to explain further.”
“This junior understands!”
As the two spoke, the [Fireworks Register] suddenly opened on its own, its pages turning without wind, rustling softly.
“Rip—”
One of its pages actually detached from the book, drifting gently down into Lu Chen’s hand.
“The [Fireworks Register] actually shed a page on its own and gave it to you, young friend?”
Even the Kitchen God seemed rather surprised at this: “It seems this little thing is truly fated with you, young friend.”
“Kitchen God, may I ask… what use does this page have?” Lu Chen’s heartbeat couldn’t help but quicken.
This was the Kitchen God’s own life-bound magic treasure!
Completely different from the [Plague Emperor Banner] that the Plague Emperor had given him before.
The latter was merely a replica the Plague Emperor had refined based on His own magic treasure.
The Kitchen God smiled and said: “Hold this page, and you may write the names of up to ten people on it. As long as the [Fireworks Register]’s spiritual essence remains unbroken, you will be able to sense the circumstances of those ten people at all times.”
“Sense them at all times? Does Your Eminence mean… twenty-four hours a day, three-hundred-sixty-degree, no-blind-spot surveillance?”
“Ahem.” The Kitchen God cleared His throat twice and said with a straight face, “This is about caring for the hardships of living beings. How is it ‘surveillance’?”
“Yes, yes, yes, Your Eminence’s teaching is correct! This junior misspoke!” Lu Chen quickly corrected himself and pressed on: “Then… is it three-hundred-sixty-degree, no-blind-spot caring?”
“You, of all people.” The Kitchen God laughed despite Himself. “If you really must understand it that way, I suppose you may.”
Lu Chen was delighted. “Kitchen God, then… are there any restrictions?”
“There are indeed some restrictions. The person must be within a hundred meters of where cooking fire, stove fire, or cooking smoke rises for it to take effect.”
“I see.”
Although it was only ten slots, it was undoubtedly a remarkable treasure.
He must use it sparingly in the future and not waste it lightly.
“Very well, this matter is settled. Next, it’s time to clear up your doubts, young friend.”
As the Kitchen God spoke, He flicked His sleeve.
The [Fireworks Register] grew in the wind, suddenly becoming several times larger, its pages rustling as divine light radiated, enveloping them both.
“Young friend, come with me for a look.”
Lu Chen’s vision suddenly went dark.
—”Good grief, a dream within a dream? Is this… ‘Inception’?”
As he muttered inwardly.
His surroundings gradually came into focus.
Lu Chen then realized that he and the Kitchen God were now standing in midair above a dense forest.
“This place is…”
Lu Chen recognized it immediately: “The outskirts of Jiangdu City?”
“Correct. I have instructed the [Fireworks Register] to seek out all scenes related to the ‘Corpse-Release Immortal.'”
“But didn’t Your Eminence say that one can only glimpse memories near cooking fire or stove fire?” Lu Chen asked, puzzled.
The Kitchen God smiled. “Don’t you know, young friend, that mortals also carry three fires on their bodies? Below the navel, a red glow like a furnace—that is the ‘People’s Fire’; at the heart, a golden flame like a lamp—that is the ‘Minister’s Fire’; between the brows, a white radiance like a star—that is the ‘Lord’s Fire.’ What I am invoking now is the ‘People’s Fire.'”
He paused briefly, then continued: “However, this method consumes a bit of the [Fireworks Register]’s spiritual essence, so unless necessary, I do not use it lightly.”
“Consume spiritual essence? Then… will it harm the [Fireworks Register]?” Lu Chen tensed, since he had only just replenished its spiritual essence.
“No harm. Using it once is of no consequence.” The Kitchen God shook His head, then suddenly focused His gaze and said in a low voice: “Here it comes!”
Lu Chen looked where He pointed.
A figure came speeding through the air on a beam of escape light, only stopping deep in the forest.
“Qiu Qianluo?”
Lu Chen recognized him at a glance.
“Come, let’s take a closer look.”
With a slight thought from the Kitchen God.
The two had already arrived beside Qiu Qianluo—though clearly they were not in the same dimensional space as him.
Qiu Qianluo noticed nothing and continued busying himself.
He took out a cloth bag covered in blood-red runes and deftly untied the opening.
Black smoke immediately billowed out from the bag.
In the blink of an eye, a fierce ghost appeared before them.
Its body was shrouded in sinister ghostly aura, its eyes hollow, its expression vacant—clearly completely under Qiu Qianluo’s control.
Next, a flash of blue light appeared in Qiu Qianluo’s hand, revealing a section of dark, heavy wood.
“Yin Thunder Wood.” Lu Chen recognized it again.
Qiu Qianluo muttered an incantation over the Yin Thunder Wood, and the wood immediately emanated a terrifying, heart-stopping aura, wreathed in crackling lightning.
“Go!”
He pushed with his palm, forcibly driving the entire section of Yin Thunder Wood into the fierce ghost’s body.
In an instant, the fierce ghost’s aura surged madly, thick ghostly energy wrapping around it like a cocoon.
When the ghostly energy dissipated, what “broke out of the cocoon” was a face Lu Chen knew well—
It was the red-robed fierce ghost from the Rebirth Academy.
Only compared to the glaring, bloody red Lu Chen had seen before.
At this moment, its blood-colored suit still looked somewhat dim—clearly it had only recently advanced to red-robed status.
Qiu Qianluo ordered coldly: “From now on, you will roam back and forth in the outskirts of Jiangdu City. If you encounter a living person, drag them into your ghost domain and devour them. Once you’ve eaten five hundred people, I will grant you your freedom and help you become a Ghost King. Otherwise…”
Before he finished speaking, lightning arcs suddenly crackled around the red-robed fierce ghost, shocking it into rolling and howling in agony, repeatedly begging for mercy: “Yes! My lord! This humble one will remember, and never dare forget!”
“Go. When the time comes, I will come find you to check. If you slack off, I will make you wish you were dead!”
“This humble one obeys!”
The red-robed fierce ghost transformed into a red shadow and fled deep into the forest.
“What a ruthless method—feeding a ghost with five hundred living souls…”
Lu Chen recalled that this red-robed fierce ghost had already harmed a hundred people.
He hadn’t expected that this was only one-fifth of Qiu Qianluo’s target.
If he hadn’t luckily taken on this mission and happened to foil it.
Four hundred more lives in Jiangdu City would have been lost.
“Young friend just called him by name—do you know this person?” the Kitchen God asked only now.
Lu Chen nodded. “I dare not conceal from Your Eminence—this man is named Qiu Qianluo. Thanks to the Jiangdu City God’s assistance, he has now been captured.”
“Oh? This City God acts quite swiftly.” The Kitchen God seemed slightly surprised.
“The speed was also because the City God used a secret City God technique—just like what we’re doing now, tracing traces through time and space—to capture this villain.”
“City God secret technique, is it…” The Kitchen God nodded slightly. “This City God here is quite dutiful.”
Lu Chen: “…”
He had wanted to say that this City God was only doing it for the position of Prefectural City God.
On second thought, he decided to leave the Kitchen God with a good impression.
As they spoke, Qiu Qianluo had already departed on his escape light.
“Come, let’s look elsewhere.”
The Kitchen God waved His sleeve.
The surrounding scenery rippled like water, waves spreading outward, and suddenly transformed.
The next moment, Lu Chen and the Kitchen God were inside an abandoned warehouse.
Qiu Qianluo stood at the center of the warehouse, hands clasped behind his back, as if waiting for someone.
Seeing this, Lu Chen’s eyes narrowed slightly. “It seems… the person behind him is finally about to show himself.”
The Kitchen God said nothing, merely watching quietly.
“Creak—”
The warehouse door was pushed open.
An unremarkable black sedan slowly drove in and stopped.
A middle-aged man in a suit and leather shoes, tall and upright, stepped out of the car.
At the sight of this man, Lu Chen’s brow immediately furrowed, slightly surprised: “This person… I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere before?”
Familiar!
Very familiar!
But for the moment, Lu Chen couldn’t remember where he had seen him.
“Master Ma, you’ve finally arrived.” Qiu Qianluo turned around and cupped his hands with a smile.
—Master Ma?
BZZZZ!!!!
Lu Chen’s brain felt like it had suddenly been connected to a power source: “It’s him! I remember now!”
He had seen this person once before, during the City Lord Assembly.
“It’s the head of the Ma family from the northern part of the city… named Ma Shilong! Yes, Ma Shilong!”
Lu Chen’s heart tightened. He had previously suspected that this matter might involve Jiangdu’s powerful figures.
But he hadn’t expected the mastermind to be the head of the Ma family.
However, Ma Shilong’s next words plunged Lu Chen’s thoughts—which he’d thought were finally clearing—back into fog.
Ma Shilong looked Qiu Qianluo up and down, his tone skeptical: “Do you really have a way to help my father achieve Ghost Immortal status?”
Qiu Qianluo laughed heartily, his laughter carrying three parts mockery, four parts cruelty, and two parts contempt: “Since the ‘Young Master’ recommended me to you, why doubt? I’ll be frank—as long as you follow the plan, I’m eighty percent confident I can transform your old master into a Ghost Immortal and let him enjoy at least… two hundred more years of lifespan.”
Lu Chen’s head buzzed.
“Young Master?! Could it be that this Qiu Qianluo… is not the ‘fated one’ who performs the ‘Corpse-Release’ for others?”
