Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The hoo-ha about the magic treasure design incident came to an end, but it didnât mean the end of Odd Zhuoâs mission. The black shadow army that had escaped the Palace of Mirrors was the primary target of Odd Zhuoâs investigation and pursuit. Huaxiu Alliance had secretly handed this mission to the Office of Strategic Deception, and Odd Zhuo was the overall commander representing the Office of Strategic Deception in the search for clues on the black shadow army.
This organization was far craftier than Odd Zhuo had imagined. During this period of time, Little Silver and Loopy Toad had joined forces to search everywhere for the aura of the black shadow army, but came up empty-handed. Even the Lord and Lady of the Castle, of the Office of Strategic Deceptionâs intelligence department, were unable to intercept any valuable leads.
It was very clear that this black shadow army had a strict management hierarchy which prevented any internal intelligence from being leaked. This was a very strictly managed organization! Given how strict the management was, it was definitely hiding some large, unspeakable secret.
Wang Ling had possessed Odd Zhuoâs body at that moment, while his own body had entered standby mode. In this mode, Wang Ling would go about his daily routine as though an AI had been implanted in him. It was akin to a smart app running in the background.
Thankfully, Wang Ling usually hardly ever spoke. Even in this state, he wouldnât seem too different from his usual form.
It was just that if he encountered danger in this mode, Wang Ling wouldnât actively attack, and would instead enter a passive defense mode â in layman terms, he would endure a beating without retaliating.
He only wanted to possess Odd Zhuoâs body to get close to Wu Yuanji and Zheng Tianqiang, and see if the situation they were currently facing matched his theory⦠The possession wouldnât take too long, and Wang Ling felt that it shouldnât be a problem to leave his actual body for a short period of time.
This was Wang Lingâs first time possessing Odd Zhuo.
Odd Zhuo was slightly taller than Wang Ling and had the fully mature body of an adult. However, as soon as Wang Ling entered Odd Zhuoâs body, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his backâ¦
It was a protruding lumbar discâ¦
This was a medical affliction which Odd Zhuo had gotten from work after becoming Director of the General Administration of 100 Schools.
Cultivators also suffered from slipped discs; once it was diagnosed, it was difficult to treat at its root.
Cultivators had a higher bone density than ordinary people to begin with. Thus, pressing a protruding disc back into position was excruciatingly painful.
Odd Zhuo, who suffered from the pain of the slipped disc all the time, received a temporary reprieve with Wang Lingâs possessionâ¦
Being an adult is really difficultâ¦
Wang Ling sighed inwardly.
With two souls in one body, Wang Lingâs soul took control of Odd Zhuoâs body.
After losing control of his body, Odd Zhuo could still sense the slipped disc but didnât feel any pain. âShifu, it seems I canât move. Are you already inside?â
Wang Ling: ââ¦â Donât make such ambiguous comments!
âShifu? Shifu?â Odd Zhuo kept asking incessantly.
Feeling helpless, Wang Ling could only answer, âYeaâ¦â
âPhewâ¦â
Odd Zhuo heaved a sigh of relief. âThen, does it feel comfortable being inside meâ¦â
Wang Ling: â???â
Odd Zhuo: âNo⦠Shifu, what I mean is, are you accustomed to using my bodyâ¦â
He knew that he had a slipped disc, and while he had some relief in his situation after his soul was liberated, he was still worried that Wang Ling was unaccustomed to his body.
The biggest problem with a slipped disc was that just a bit of walking would aggravate the lumbar. Thus, Odd Zhuo always walked with a stiff waist to relieve some pressure on the bone.
In fact, after the court hearing for the magic treasure plagiarism case, Odd Zhuoâs slipped disc had reared its head again. He had been resting in bed all this time, his waist cushioned on a soft jade pad which radiated a chill. Usually, half an hour of rest was enough to reduce the pain significantly.
But Wang Ling sensed that things couldnât be delayed any longer. Directly controlling Odd Zhuoâs body, he teleported to a thicket in the vicinity of Songhai First Prison before walking out of the woods.
This already wasnât Odd Zhuoâs first time here. Returning to the prison felt like coming home⦠When the guards at the entrance saw that Odd Zhuo had come, they opened the gate without even checking his ID.
There was a scanner at the prison gate to prevent people in disguise from sneaking in. It could even detect True Immortals. Thus, it was practically impossible for a person to disguise themselves as Odd Zhuo and infiltrate the prison. Only an Almighty with Heavenly Dao like Wang Ling could go undetected.
âDirector Zhuo, youâre here again!â
âThe guest room has already been tidied up for you. If you have more work today, you can just stay the night.â
ââ¦â Wang Ling was startled. There was actually a private guest room for Odd Zhuo in the prisonâ¦
From the looks of it, Warden Liang and Odd Zhuo had quite the extraordinary relationship.
Actually, Warden Liang generally revered Odd Zhuo very highly.
Odd Zhuoâs performance was intricately tied to Songhai First Prisonâs achievements⦠If more and more big shots were caught and thrown into Songhai First Prison, the prisonâs reputation and Warden Liangâs fame in the outside world would gain additional halos.
All the prison staff would receive a substantial pay rise.
Thus, everyone had smiles on their faces when they saw that Odd Zhuo had come.
Wang Ling wasnât good at smiling, but in order not to expose himself, he struggled to give several fake smiles using Odd Zhuoâs body. Although they looked fake, they were at the very least enough to fool everyone else.
The Old Devil; the Master of Immortal Mansion, Cheng Yu; and Evil Sword God were still locked up together in the special prison cell.
The recently imprisoned Father Zheng and Wu Yuanji had been locked up in separate maximum security prison cells.
These two were considered high-risk prisoners. After going on trial, Father Zheng was finally sentenced to eight years of imprisonment. This was already considered a light sentence. However, since Father Zheng showed remorse, he and Wu Yuanji were put in separate cells, so the condition of his surroundings wasnât too terrible.
As for Wu Yuanji, he was in a tragic situation.
Despite also being in a maximum security prison cell, there were heavily armed guards around Wu Yuanjiâs cell. This demonâs lawyer had once relied on his own strength to help many prisoners initially facing heavy sentences walk free⦠Songhai First Prisonâs prison officers held deep grudges against him over all these years.
Wu Yuanji thus naturally received âspecial treatmentâ after he was imprisonedâ¦
âWu Yuanji!â A prison officer walked into Wu Yuanjiâs cell. âTo satisfy the psychological needs of the three special convicts in the special prison cell, and to prevent them from developing mental illness from being locked up for so long, youâre required to play one hour of mahjong with them daily.â
Wu Yuanji: ââ¦â
When he arrived at the entrance to the special prison cell, he saw two prison officers carrying out a prisoner covered in a white cloth as they rushed to get him emergency medical treatment.
Wu Yuanji: âThis isâ¦?â
Prison Officer: âThe last person who played mahjong with them.â
Wu Yuanji: ââ¦â
Prison officer: âDonât try any funny tricks while youâre playing mahjong. Otherwise, the next person to be carried out will be you.â
Wu Yuanji: ââ¦â