“Sister Qu… Oh, Brother Cen!” A squad member ran over. “Brother Cen, the wind-type ability user who went out to scout reports that the beast tide has stopped—no new mutant beasts are gathering!”

“Also, they found Team Leader Shi unconscious in the woods!” Several members of the ability-users squad looked over.

Brother Cen waved his hand. “Rescue him!”

On the eighth day of the beast tide, the last mutant beast died before the villagers’ eyes. This beast tide—the longest-lasting and largest in Yongning Village’s history—had come to a peaceful end.

At that time, the Metal Mushrooms sent out to collect crystal cores hadn’t returned yet, the supplies stockpiled at the small market hadn’t been exhausted, and the squad members’ abilities hadn’t been fully depleted…

Everyone thought they would have to hold out for a very, very long time—long enough that they might adapt to this way of life, just as their ancestors had adapted to the Cataclysm a century ago.

But just then, that mutant beast died, and no new one appeared.

After a long silence, someone finally whispered, “Is the beast tide over?”

In Yongning Village, which had been silent for so long, a sudden outburst of shouts erupted: “The beast tide is over!” 

“We did it! We held out!”

“It was so hard! I thought I was going to meet my great-grandma…” 

“It wasn’t that hard, was it? We had food and drink…”

“Hahahaha! Not only did Yongning Village hold out against the beast tide,  but not a single person died! Hahahaha!”

“Strictly speaking, not a single person died—well, except for those few who insisted on running out earlier… Alright, we really didn’t lose a single person.”

The laughter and cheers carried all the way to the village,  and Qu Yue and the others, hearing the sounds, joined in the laughter.

It was no small feat. Looking back now, this mutant beast tide felt like nothing short of a miracle. They were grateful they’d made the right choices at every critical juncture.

Cen An had naturally heard it as well. He wasn’t one to express his emotions too strongly, and at that moment, his face bore only a gentle smile. Only Su Rui, standing beside him, could hear the significantly faster heartbeat coming from his chest.

He was happy. Su Rui lazily rested his hands behind his head, feeling a sense of joy wash over him as well. Cen An opened the system and deactivated the protective shield.

The purple bubbles that had shielded the villagers for several days vanished. The metal mushrooms removed their gear and happily shuffled inside. “Everyone, don’t rush off just yet. Those who received equipment, please sign in here. We’ll hand it over and send it back to Young Master Cen!”

“That’s right. The gear was lent to us, so we can’t just sit here with a thick skin waiting for Boss Cen to come and ask for it back.” 

“Exactly! We, Yongning Village residents, don’t do things like that!”

“Who can help me return my gear? I need to head up the mountain right now.”

“What’s the rush, Second Son? Are you out of food at home?”

“Heh heh heh, not exactly. My third aunt heard that Boss Cen likes to drink Sparrow Tongue Bud tea, so I’m rushing up the mountain to pick some!” 

“Damn, you little rascal… Wait, return mine too—I’m heading up the mountain as well…”

“I’m going too, I’m going too! What else does Boss Xiao Cen like?”

“Herbs and stuff? Plus wood and hay… You know, just the stuff the gathering team collected a few days ago…”

Cen An had no idea that his upgraded cabin was about to be swamped with supplies again. Right now, they were all gathered at Shi Long’s house.

Shi Long, who had been carried back, remained unconscious. According to the Wind-type ability user, the place where he had fainted was not far from a certain magical array.

Cen An and the others speculated that Shi Long had originally been out there to meet up with Lin Dao. He must have been under some kind of restriction, so as soon as Lin Dao died, he passed out.

The group tried every possible method, but in the end, they still couldn’t wake Shi Long… A crowd of people who had grown reliant on him once again turned their eyes to Cen An. Cen An rubbed his temples in exasperation.

He glanced at Shi Long’s status bar but found nothing out of the ordinary… After all this time, he had figured out the pattern: the system’s status bar was highly restricted and only displayed when the target was in an abnormal state.

For example, the curse on Yu Lin only appeared in the status bar when the curse’s power was actively manifesting; otherwise, it was invisible. Shi Long was the same now—there was simply no sign of a problem.

Cen An suddenly had an idea and pulled out the Soul-Sealing Ring. He’d originally intended to use this on Lin Dao, but unfortunately, Lin Dao had been so overwhelmed upon seeing Senior Lin that he’d even forgotten he possessed psychic abilities, so the item had gone unused.

Cen An pondered the item’s function: 【Prohibits the activation of Soul-type and Mental-type abilities】. He wondered if that mental entity was still present within Shi Long. If it was, could that be the reason Shi Long was unconscious?

Maybe he should try putting it on Shi Long?

He approached with the Soul-Suppressing Ring in hand. Shi Jie, who was wiping away tears by the bedside, had sharp eyes. “You… what are you doing? Are you going to put this on my brother?”

Shi Jie had suffered a great deal these past few days.

During the beast tide, no one cared whose brother he was—all villagers worked equally hard.

Shi Jie had initially signed up for the gathering team, but because of his lack of experience—he’d even snap the roots while picking ordinary herbs—he was kicked out. He became the only villager to be eliminated from the gathering team.

So, like the other villagers, he had to do menial work at the small market. But because he was clumsy, he was often looked down upon, and eventually, he was shuffled off to tend the fire. The white grass soup everyone had been drinking and the hot meals they’d been eating these past few days were all cooked over the fire he tended.

Because of this, the villagers have started to look at him a bit more favorably lately.

So, Cen An didn’t hold his latest blunder against him and simply said, “Let’s give it a try. We don’t have any other options anyway.”

Shi Jie thought to himself, “Please don’t—he’s my only brother…” Yet in the end, he didn’t reach out to stop him, watching helplessly as Cen An placed the Soul-Binding Ring on his brother’s head.

The Soul-Binding Ring immediately emitted a faint white glow… A shadowy, ethereal figure floated out from Shi Long’s body, somewhat resembling the “out-of-body” special effects in movies…

At first, the shadow seemed a bit dazed, but when it saw Cen An and the others, it turned pale with shock. It tried to run, but the Soul-Binding Ring held it fast—it couldn’t escape.

Cen An and the others were also staring at him. With his soul separated from his body, he bore no resemblance whatsoever to Shi Long: he was emaciated, his cheeks sunken, with massive dark circles under his eyes. He looked sickly, his back hunched and stooped…

Cen An watched for a moment, then frowned. This man looked exactly like the drug addicts he’d seen on legal programs in his past life.

The man tried for a while, realized he couldn’t escape, and turned away sheepishly, saying obsequiously, “Mr. Cen, it’s been a long time. How have you been?” It was bad enough when he wasn’t smiling, but when he did, he revealed a mouthful of blackened teeth. Cen An felt an immediate wave of nausea and coldly turned his head away.

The others, of course, weren’t about to watch him suffer. Qu Yue stepped forward, blocking the man’s view, and snapped, “I’m sure you’ve heard by now—we’ve already killed Lin Dao. Now it’s your turn. If you cooperate, you might get a quick death! If you don’t, we’ll toss you to a mutant beast!”

The man cringed and shifted his eyes nervously. “I’ll cooperate, I’ll definitely cooperate! Ask away, ask away.”

Qu Yue didn’t mince words either. “What’s your name? Where are you from? How long have you been following Lin Dao? What dirty deeds have you done for him? Spit it out! If you dare tell a single lie, I’ll skin you alive!”

The man’s name was Wang Yuxiang. He was an ordinary person with no special abilities, but he had once lived a life of luxury. Why? Because he had seven older sisters.

In an era where everyone was struggling just to survive, Wang Yuxiang’s parents still clung to the outdated notion of continuing the family line and favoring sons over daughters. They had seven daughters in a row before finally welcoming Wang Yuxiang, their long-awaited son.

It was simply baffling.

As the sole son of the Wang family—the “one sapling in a thousand acres”—Wang Yuxiang had lived a life of complete pampering since birth. While others went hungry and lacked proper clothing, he actually had spare cash to buy “fruit tobacco” to smoke.

Upon hearing this, Cen An asked in confusion, “What is ‘fruit tobacco’?” He was certain such a thing didn’t exist in the game.

Tian Yuan answered him, “It is powdered tobacco. Legend has it that the raw material is a certain fruit; when cut open, a milky-white liquid flows out, which dries into a powder. It’s addictive—if you go a day without it, your body feels as if it’s being devoured by a hundred insects.”

Cen An frowned. Wasn’t that just opium? His disgust deepened; this man was indeed an addict.

Wang Yuxiang, clueless as to why, gave him an ingratiating smile. “I don’t smoke much. I just buy a little now and then. You know, as a man, the pressure is intense…” The men present all wore expressions of disgust, ashamed to be associated with him.

Qu Yue slammed her fist on the table, her face icy. “Who asked you that! We asked how you met Lin Dao! And what you did with him!” 

“Right, right, right!” Wang Yuxiang continued his story.

After smoking “fruit tobacco” for a few years, Wang Yuxiang’s health began to fail. He used to rely on his parents’ pampering and didn’t have to work. Once his health collapsed, he couldn’t work even if he wanted to.

As it happened, his parents encountered a mutant beast while hiking in the mountains one day, and both died.

With their parents gone, how could his seven older sisters be willing to support a younger brother for nothing? Especially since this brother was no good.

So, the sisters promptly divided the household. They left everything in the house to Wang Yuxiang and took only the tools they needed for their work. After all, thanks to their parents’ favoritism, all seven sisters were capable and hardworking; as long as they didn’t have this dead weight dragging them down, they could thrive anywhere.

When Wang Yuxiang spoke of this, he was still seething with indignation: “Those bitches! They didn’t care about family ties at all. My parents weren’t even cold yet, and they’d already gone off to find their own lovers! Ugh, a bunch of sluts—ignoring their own little brother and running off to serve other men…Ah!”

Cen An twirled the Soul-Binding Ring, forcing his leg to twist in a full circle, and said coldly, “Watch your language.” 

“Yes, yes, I know, Mr. Cen.” Wang Yuxiang was in so much pain he could barely stand, and dared not utter another curse.

“As for those sl*uts… after my sister and the others left, I had nothing to eat or drink. I was pitiful, and then I got sick—I almost died. That’s when I ran into the boss… that old dog Lin Dao.”

Wang Yuxiang flashed Cen An a fawning smile, convinced he’d found the words the man wanted to hear. “That old dog is a real scoundrel! He threatened to kill me if I didn’t follow him. I’m just an ordinary person—how could I possibly stand up to an ability user? So I agreed to follow him, and he turned me into this.”

“That old dog seems to be looking for something—or someone. I’ve followed him all over. Whenever we come across one of those small settlements with few ability users, he’ll stop to investigate. If it’s suitable, he’ll stay for a few months to set up a reincarnation array to drain their life force.”

He glanced at the group, his smugness barely concealed despite his best efforts. “The people in those small settlements are so gullible. No matter who I possessed, I was never discovered. And the reincarnation array has never failed.”

Cen An nodded, seemingly oblivious to that smugness, and then asked, “Where have you been? How long have you been in Yongning Village, and what have you been doing?”

Wang Yuxiang smacked his lips, seemingly still savoring the thrill of playing with other people’s lives as if they were toys. “As for where we’ve been, just from what I can remember, there’s the Cangning Base, Haiping Village, and Panshen Port—basically just this eastern area; we haven’t gone far. We’ve been in Yongning Village for three years now. To be honest, Yongning Village isn’t really the best fit.”

He continued, “Although Yongning Village isn’t very big and there aren’t many ability users here, the ability users here are tough to deal with under the leadership of those two. We were actually about to leave.”

“But then that old dog Lin Dao discovered a treasure labyrinth. He said there was something inside he needed and wanted to go get it. That’s exactly when we ran into him.” Wang Yuxiang pointed at Shi Long. “He came here alone, so that old dog ambushed him and had me possess him.”

He felt a surge of pride. He’d possessed so many people before, but never someone like Shi Long—someone of such high status and so widely admired. It was a feeling he’d never experienced in his entire life.

He thoroughly enjoyed using Shi Long’s body to hurt others, watching their looks of disbelief and pain—it was even more exhilarating than smoking three packs of fruit tobacco!

He continued, “Once I possessed Shi Long, we knew everything the ability-users squad was doing. We took our time, waiting for the right opportunity to set up the reincarnation array. Actually, the array was set up a year ago—you didn’t notice, did you? We just found the chance to activate it recently.”

Cen An nodded again; he seemed to have suddenly become more cooperative. “Was it you guys who controlled the other people in the village, too?”

“That’s right.” Wang Yuxiang relaxed completely and said smugly, “We didn’t control that many people—just one of Liao Yongzhi’s neighbors, two of his brothers, three ability users from the ability-users squad… and another guy named Diao Qi? Anyway, just seven or eight people. We had no choice; Old Dog didn’t have enough puppets, so we didn’t dare make any rash moves.”

Cen An pressed further, “Puppets—you mean those spiritual entities whose minds have been wiped?”

“You guys know all this?” Wang Yuxiang asked in surprise. “You know quite a lot. That’s right—those people didn’t want to follow Old Dog, so he wiped their minds, turning them into nothing more than puppet tools. If you ask me, those people are just stupid. What’s so bad about following the Old Dog? You can swap out your body for whatever you want—it’s practically the same as immortality…”

He realized he’d let something slip and felt a jolt of panic, but when he glanced at Cen An and the others, they didn’t seem to have caught it, so he grew smug again: “If you could switch to a higher-ranking identity, you’d be living the high life.”

This was another source of his dissatisfaction. Although Shi Long was well-loved, his own treatment was no different from that of the other squad members. Since arriving, he had used various excuses to embezzle a great many crystal cores from the ability-users squad, but he hadn’t dared to go too far and hadn’t actually enjoyed any special privileges.

Cen An then asked, “Can the people possessed by those puppets still survive?”

Wang Yuxiang curled his lip. “Of course they can. How could a puppet be the same as me? A puppet’s power is weak; it can’t possibly shatter the original host’s spiritual form. As long as the puppet leaves, the original host will recover quickly.”

Wang Lie couldn’t hold back any longer and sneered, “You think you’re so great? You didn’t manage to wipe out Team Leader Shi, did you?”

A flicker of resentment flashed in Wang Yuxiang’s eyes. This was precisely what he hated most—he had possessed so many people, yet he had never encountered anyone like Shi Long, who was practically reckless with his life! No matter how he tortured Shi Long’s spiritual form, the man refused to give up, clinging to that faint glimmer of hope and fighting him tooth and nail, causing him chest pain for three whole years.

Three whole years! Not three days, not three months!

However, he was well aware of his current predicament and quickly suppressed his resentment, turning to look at Cen An with a fawning expression. He thought he was hiding it well. As expected, Cen An paid it no mind and simply said, “I’m done asking. Do any of you have any questions?”

Wang Lie thought for a moment and asked, “Old Qi—the old man Lin Dao impersonated—where did you take him?”

Wang Yuxiang had to think for a moment before recalling, “Oh, that old man. That wasn’t our doing. He was already on his deathbed when we entered the village. He was quite ill. When he saw us, he tried to alert the ability-users squad, but he didn’t make it. After he passed away, that old dog buried him in the courtyard and started impersonating him.”

After speaking, Wang Yuxiang’s brain kicked in for a split second, and he asked Cen An, “Mr. Cen, I’ve answered in such detail and haven’t held anything back. Do you think I can atone for my sins by doing something good?”

Cen An looked at him impassively. “Alright.”

Wang Yuxiang beamed. “Thank you, Mr. Cen. You’re so magnanimous. I’ll have a memorial tablet made for you in the afterlife!”

He wasn’t afraid that Cen An and his people would deceive him. He knew he wasn’t a good person, but Cen An and his people were good people! In front of so many people, would Cen An dare to go back on his word? If he went back on his word, how could he ever lead these people again?

After Wang Lie finished asking, Tian Yuan also slowly stepped forward. Cen An looked at him, surprised to find that Tian Yuan was also puzzled—just like Yu Lin and Yu Fei. Tian Yuan had never meddled in Yongning Village’s affairs.

However, it suddenly occurred to him that Tian Yuan seemed to be investigating something in the village…

Tian Yuan stood beside Cen An, looked at Wang Yuxiang, and asked, “Tian Jun, do you remember him?”

As soon as the name was uttered, the members of the ability-users squad were taken aback. Cen An faintly heard someone mutter, “Grandpa Tian?”

Tian Yuan’s expression remained unchanged. With his dark complexion, it was actually hard to make out his facial expressions, but Cen An was certain that Tian Yuan was showing no emotion at all.

Wang Yuxiang looked as bewildered as expected. “I don’t remember. Who is that?”

Tian Yuan said calmly, “An ability user from the ability-users squad, Level 3 Fire-type, 64 years old. He was supposed to retire in a few years. But last year, he died from a psychic backlash.”

Wang Yuxiang realized, “Oh, I remember that. Last year, an old man died from ability backlash. But that has nothing to do with us; we didn’t touch him. Besides, we don’t have the power to cause someone’s abilities to go haywire!”

Tian Yuan stood frozen in place, his clenched fists slowly unclenching as his shoulders slumped. “So it wasn’t you…” 

Cen An patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”

Tian Yuan gave a wry smile and nodded in thanks.

Cen An continued, “Does anyone else have any questions? Hmm? Senior Lin?”

Lin She strolled in slowly from outside, speaking in a tone that suggested he might as well share what he had to say. “Do you know what Lin Dao is looking for?”

Wang Yuxiang replied nonchalantly, “A rare ability, right? Let me think… Oh, right, it’s a rare ability. I think it’s called… Chunhua. That’s it, that’s the name. That old dog mentioned it several times.”

Lin She paused, then burst into laughter. “So that’s it… Hahaha, I can’t believe it’s actually that!”

Time had left gentle traces on his face; when he smiled, fine wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes—a unique charm born of the passage of years.

He walked out with a smile, pausing halfway. “Xiao An, since he told me a pretty good joke, give him a quick end.” 

“Yes, Senior Lin.”

Wang Yuxiang was bewildered; before he could figure out what “a quick end” meant, Cen An had already stepped in front of him.

Cen An asked softly, “Are your sister and the others still alive?”

Wang Yuxiang, who answered questions out of instinct, replied without thinking, “Who knows? Maybe they ran into a beast tide and died…”

Cen An nodded. He’d feared that once Wang Yuxiang got to know Lin Dao, he turned around and took revenge on those seven girls. Since that wasn’t the case, it was for the best. He reached out and picked up the Soul-Binding Ring.

An intense wave of pain immediately shot through him. How could someone like Wang Yuxiang possibly endure such agony inflicted upon his soul? He began trembling violently. “W-what are you doing?!”

Cen An glared at him coldly; his once handsome face now looked like that of a demon.

Wang Yuxiang shuddered and, speaking without thinking, turned to the crowd. “You—you all heard it! He promised to let me go earlier! He’s a man of his word—he goes back on his promises. Do you still dare to follow a man like this? Aren’t you afraid he’ll turn on you once he’s done with you… Ah!”

This time, Qi Yangze fired a water arrow at him. While the water arrow couldn’t harm a spiritual form, it still startled Wang Yuxiang.

Qi Yangze said in a deep voice, “Sorry, but we heard you clearly. Boss Cen agreed to let you atone for your crimes through service. You’ve harmed so many people—even a thousand cuts wouldn’t be enough. Now we’re just giving you a quick end. Isn’t that atoning for your crimes?”

Everyone thought about it and agreed that he had a point, giving Qi Yangze a thumbs-up. “You may be quiet most of the time, but you sure have a way with words!”

Qi Yangze glanced at Cen An. Seeing that he hadn’t turned around, he looked down, feeling a bit dejected.

Wang Yuxiang wasn’t feeling the least bit satisfied. He was stunned. “Aren’t you supposed to be the good guys? Aren’t schemes and tricks what we villains love to play? How come you’re so ruthless, too?”

He wanted to hurl one last curse at Cen An, but it was too late… The Soul-Binding Ring truly lived up to its reputation as the nemesis of soul-based abilities. In just a few seconds, Wang Yuxiang—along with his sinful life—had been obliterated.

The room fell silent once more. Wang Yuxiang was dead beyond any doubt, leaving not even a trace in anyone’s mind. Yet most of them held their breath… Their eyes turned to the person on the bed.

Now that the malevolent spirit that had usurped his body was gone, would Team Leader Shi wake up?

Shi Jie lunged forward in a single bound. To be honest, he hadn’t understood what had just happened. It seemed as though a ghost? A spirit? A demon? Whatever it was, now that it had been driven away, his brother should be able to wake up, right?

The man on the bed coughed softly and slowly opened his eyes…

Everyone held their breath as they looked on. Those were gentle, accepting eyes, a blend of tenderness and sternness… No doubt about it—it was their Captain Shi!

Captain Shi was back!

Xiao Ji and the other young guys immediately started crying, “Captain Shi…”

Shi Long regained consciousness, looked around, and immediately understood what had happened. He sat up abruptly and reached out.

“Captain Shi, what are you doing?”

“Bro, don’t move. I’ll get it for you…”

Everyone rushed forward in a crowd; Cen An also took a few curious steps closer—he’d always been a bit curious about the real Shi Long.

But Shi Long brushed everyone’s hands aside, grabbed the broom from the bedside, and—under the tearful stares of the crowd—lashed it hard across Shi Jie’s back with a loud crack. “Bullying villagers? Parading around town? Knocking over people’s stalls? I’m going to teach you a lesson today!”

A familiar wail rang out from inside the hut. “Ah! Big bro, I’m sorry! I’ll never do it again!” Shi Jie was crying his eyes out.

Cen An pulled his foot back, looking bewildered. “What happened to the gentle ‘male mom’ we were promised…”

Wang Lie, hiding behind him, muttered under his breath, “Moms aren’t supposed to be gentle… The more kids a mom has, the more temperamental she gets…”

Cen An fell silent.

That does make sense, I suppose.