At this mont, the setting sun slowly dipped below the horizon, retracting its residual glow scattered across the surface of the sea.
The world dimd into darkness. A chilly ocean breeze swept across the empty coastal highway, gently brushing against the cheeks of Gu Wenyu and Li Qingping.
The two of them stared at each other in stunned silence.
Behind them, the Octoprism still hovered in midair. Pitch-black restraining bands continuously cascaded from it, pooling on the highway into a twisted, writhing black vortex that looked like a pool of dark blood from afar.
"Li Qingping?"
Ji Minghuan controlled Host Body One, Gu Wenyu, to speak, breaking the heavy silence between the two.
Li Qingping swallowed hard. He opened his mouth, but for a long ti, he could not form a complete sentence.
"No, this... this is..."
Li Qingping, the vice-captain of the Royal Court Squad known as Red Dragon, had never shown such an embarrassed and unsightly expression in his entire life.
He had grown up in the Whalegarden since childhood and was a genius in the eyes of everyone.
Because of his unparalleled excellence and a growth rate that far exceeded his peers, he reached the standard for outside adventuring in the Whalegarden at the tender age of twelve. Thus, he left the garden, forged an identity to enter the human world, and received a normal education in school while simultaneously training his Anecdote powers.
To avoid drawing attention, he acted as a maverick at school and never associated with any friends.
Whenever the holidays arrived, he would travel the world alone, collecting all kinds of Anecdote Fragnts from mystical realms across the globe. The Himalayas, the Sahara Desert, the North Pole, the South Pole... these were all places he had once set foot in.
In various mystical realms, he gathered the scattered Anecdote Fragnts left in the world piece by piece, constantly filling his Anecdote Codex, and thoroughly enjoyed the thrill of pursuing excellence.
After growing stronger at a visible rate, Li Qingping encountered a monuntal opportunity. It was exactly this opportunity that brought about an earth-shattering transformation in him.
At that ti, in Dinas Emrys in northwest Wales, he discovered an ancient ruin. It was the original site of the battle between the red dragon and the white dragon in Arthurian legend, where the remains of a fifth-century Iron Age fortress still stood. The hill was surrounded by an oak forest, and a lake hailed as the Holy Spring flowed at its foot.
And it was exactly in those ruins that he found the Generation-grade Anecdote Fragnt of the Red Dragon Wales left behind in the world.
After that, he returned to the Whalegarden with this Generation-grade Anecdote Fragnt.
Amidst the admiration and praise of thousands, he received a title directly from the King and beca a mber of the Royal Court Squad.
The Royal Court Squad was composed of the seven strongest and most recognized Anecdote Envoys in the Whalegarden. It was truly the most powerful organization of Anecdote Envoys, and the absolute minimum requirent to join was the possession of a Generation-grade Anecdote Fragnt.
These seven individuals were bestowed with the mission of closely protecting the King and the princes. This was an unparalleled honor.
Li Qingping joined their ranks at a remarkably young age, becoming one of the Royal Court Squad. He was the first Anecdote Envoy in the history of the Whalegarden to obtain a Generation-grade Anecdote Fragnt before the age of fourteen, and also the first unprecedented monster to beco a mber of the Royal Court Squad at fourteen.
Because of such unprecedented and unparalleled talent and performance, he was deeply trusted and favored by the King. Later, the King directly appointed Li Qingping to the position of vice-captain and bestowed upon him a resounding codena.
Red Dragon.
However, after less than half a year of living a life revered by thousands and coveted by countless others, Li Qingping grew utterly sick and tired of it.
Perhaps it was only when imnse glory was thrust upon him that he realized he did not want to be a peerless genius. He despised the reverent gazes people cast his way, and he loathed the bent knees of commoners when they saw him...
This was simply not the life he wanted.
So Li Qingping left without a word and returned to the human world. The King was furious because of this.
Logically speaking, an Anecdote Envoy returning from their trials—especially one bestowed with the glory of the Royal Court Squad—should cherish this honor above all else, remaining by the side of the King and princes to live a life at their beck and call.
Only Li Qingping was different. He seed to not care about any of it at all.
But out of pride, and possessing a deep appreciation for talent, the King ultimately did not revoke the array of privileges granted to Li Qingping. Instead, while temporarily preserving his position in the Royal Court Squad, he let Li Qingping calm down and carefully consider his choices in the outside world.
Was that world over there... truly worth him giving up all these brilliant, shining honors?
After returning to the human world, Li Qingping went to Lijing, the capital of China, and enrolled in a local middle school.
At the sa ti, he adopted a new form of disguise.
He wanted to make friends, so he used the power of an Anecdote Envoy to profit in the human world, effortlessly amassing a fortune that he could never squander. Then, he began acting like a cheerful, wealthy second-generation heir at school, always smiling playfully and mingling seamlessly with his classmates.
Because he was imnsely wealthy, he could easily provide whatever others desired, so practically no one ever gave him a hard ti or a sour look.
It was during this ti that the very first friend he made was Gu Wenyu. Gu Wenyu had a personality unlike his peers. He always seed strange—withdrawn, aloof, and foul-mouthed. He always preferred to be alone, and so classmates had even dubbed him one of the Four Great Weirdos.
Gu Wenyu never went out of his way to cater to anyone. If he disliked a certain behavior, he simply disliked it. His moral bottom line was crystal clear. Therefore, he never flashed a fawning expression just because Li Qingping was generous or had deep pockets. Not even once.
The relationship between the two was harmonious and natural, devoid of even the slightest hint of hypocrisy.
Li Qingping rembered one ti after school when the two of them sat on the school rooftop, chatting while leaning against the railing.
Hugging his backpack against his chest, Gu Wenyu suddenly spoke up. "I say, Old Li, pretending to be like that in front of others every day... aren't you tired?"
Li Qingping froze for a long ti back then before turning his head to look at him. "...What did you say?" "I an, you're always pretending to be..." Gu Wenyu suddenly paused and tossed him a bottle of cola from his bag. "Forget it. Pretend I didn't say anything. Take care of yourself, you dumbass."
Catching the cola bottle, Li Qingping blankly chuckled a few tis.
That was the first ti in Li Qingping's life that he felt as if soone truly understood him.
Gu Wenyu was the first friend Li Qingping made in the human world, and he also beca the friend he cherished the most to this day.
And now, Li Qingping was very likely about to lose this friend.
Because just monts ago...
Gu Wenyu had witnessed him killing soone in a fit of impulse.
On the coastal highway, the sky darkened. A trace of residual blood-red dusk wrapped in the twilight slanted down, illuminating the cheeks of Gu Wenyu and Li Qingping.
Li Qingping looked up, staring into Gu Wenyu's eyes. His gaze trembled, completely at a loss for words.
The thoughts in his mind were like a ball of yarn rolling onto the floor, the threads growing more nurous and tangled, as if these damn thoughts were about to completely drown his brain...
He could hardly say to Gu Wenyu: 'I was just in a bad mood, so I easily killed a person?'
This reason for murder was far too trivial...
'No... It's all the fault of this thing called Black Cocoon. If he hadn't threatened
with Gu Wenyu's na, I wouldn't have bothered with him at all. I just...'
'I just lost my mind for a mont, that's all.'
Li Qingping lowered his gaze. His face turned pale and then green, his heart filled with an anxious, restless turmoil.
He was terrified that his hard-won life would collapse right here and now, and that his most cherished and only true friend would part ways with him because of this incident.
He dreaded the thought of having to return once more to that world he loathed, to bend his knee again beside those hypocritical royals, serving as a pawn driven by others, all while continuously lying to himself: 'This is a supre honor; you should cherish such a hard-won opportunity.'
A mont later, Ji Minghuan was the first to speak, shattering the silence blanketing the coastal highway.
He suddenly pointed at the Octoprism behind Li Qingping, his eyes widening slightly as he stamred, "What's going on, Li Qingping? What the hell is that thing behind you? That music box-looking thing seems to be bleeding black blood?"
'Black blood?'
Li Qingping was slightly taken aback and whipped his head around to look behind him.
Right at that mont, the restraining bands flowing out from the Octoprism suddenly began to writhe on the ground, restructuring themselves back into a bizarre humanoid shape.
Beneath the blood-red twilight, Black Cocoon slowly lifted his head. His form had not yet fully reassembled, currently looking like a body piled together from a puddle of black sludge.
"Oh... you crushed my sunglasses, Li Qingping," the black sludge monster said slowly. Its voice was hoarse and gloomy, like a debt-collecting ghoul crawling straight out of Hell.
Li Qingping did not feel terrified like Gu Wenyu did; on the contrary, his expression instantly relaxed.
He raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself, 'Not dead? Oh, since this thing isn't dead? Then that ans... I didn't murder soone in front of Gu Wenyu?'
On the other side, Gu Wenyu stared blankly at that lump of a thing. His usually drooping eyelids violently shot open, making him look much more energetic, sweeping away his usual listless aura in an instant.
He scread with a trembling voice, "Holy shit! It's a ghost!"
"Wenyu, run!"
In a flash of inspiration, Li Qingping suddenly dashed toward Gu Wenyu. Shouting loudly, he grabbed his arm and dragged him down the highway. Gu Wenyu already had a frail build, so right now he was being pulled along like a bamboo pole, entirely unable to put up the slightest resistance.
It was unknown how long they ran, but the two crossed the coastal highway and entered a brightly lit street. Neon signs covered in Japanese characters caught their eyes. Li Qingping ca to a halt, belatedly releasing Gu Wenyu's arm.
"What... what the actual fuck is going on?" In order to maintain his persona of being sickly and frail, Gu Wenyu let his legs give out and collapsed in front of a vending machine. Hanging his head, he spoke completely out of breath.
Li Qingping wasn't tired in the slightest, but he still bent his knees and rested his hands on them, putting on an act of panting heavily.
A mont later, Gu Wenyu, sprawled on the ground, finally gathered enough strength to speak. He slowly raised his head to look at Li Qingping's profile and said with a deathly pale face:
"Li Qingping... what exactly are you hiding from ? And what the hell was that monster just now?"
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