# 161
Chapter 161 – Spatial Isolation
Baili Pangpang flew back to the dormitory, stowed away all his forbidden relics, and swaggered straight up to Shen Qingzhu.
“Well?” Shen Qingzhu asked.
“What do you think? All sorted, of course!” Baili Pangpang chuckled. “Plus, I found where that thing is hiding.”
Shen Qingzhu’s eyes lit up. “Where?”
“Second warehouse to the east. But I’m not stupid—I’ll wait for you guys before going in.” Baili Pangpang was refreshingly honest.
While they talked, doors along the corridor swung open; the other recruits, souls returned to bodies, woke groggily and stumbled out.
“Bro Shen, Bro Shen!” Deng Wei spotted Shen Qingzhu and hurried over. “I just had a nightmare! A spider trapped me in the sky—couldn’t wake up no matter how I struggled!”
“Oh?” Baili Pangpang’s lips curled. “Then do you remember how you got free?”
Deng Wei blinked, thought hard, and said uncertainly, “I think… a glowing sow flew into the sky, and then somehow I was back.”
Baili Pangpang: …?
A sow flying to heaven?
This young master, treading on Yao Guang wielding the Soul-Severing Blade, saved you all from fire and flood, and what you saw was a flying sow?!
While Baili Pangpang ground his teeth, Shen Qingzhu coldly snorted and slapped the back of Deng Wei’s head.
“Worthless lot—letting your souls be lured away so easily. What kind of Night Watch will you make? Go home and farm!”
“Bro Shen, I—”
Deng Wei started to protest, but one glare from Shen Qingzhu stuffed the words back down his throat.
“All recruits are awake now—about a hundred and fifty we can use. We can drown that spider in bodies,” Baili Pangpang said with satisfaction.
Shen Qingzhu was silent a moment, then said slowly, “It’s not that simple. That spider… really kills.”
Baili Pangpang froze. “Didn’t you say it was just an exercise?”
“People have died—horribly.” Shen Qingzhu’s gaze was grave. “Even with a hundred and fifty, not everyone will cooperate, and against a powerful River Realm mystery there will be casualties… We need a plan to kill the spider while keeping losses low.”
He lowered his head to think.
Baili Pangpang studied him in surprise; in his mind Shen Qingzhu had always been a reckless hot-head. Faced with a crisis, though, the guy was calmer than anyone.
Well—back when they’d fought the Mask Squad, Shen Qingzhu had successfully ambushed the entire team. How could someone like that truly be brainless?
“By the way, where’s Qiye?” Baili Pangpang asked.
“Took people to Building Three—said there’s a mystery inside.”
“Building Three? The girls’ dorm?” Baili Pangpang blinked, then his eyes bulged. “A mystery in Building Three? Then Molly’s in danger!”
Without another word he spun around and sprinted toward Building Three.
“Hey—aren’t you coming to kill the spider?” Shen Qingzhu called after him, stunned.
Baili Pangpang skidded, hesitated, then pulled off the black ring on his right finger and tossed it to Shen Qingzhu.
“A hundred of you should be enough for one spider. This is Soul-Severing Blade—it can cut soul-spun silk. Borrow it. This young master… is off to play hero and save the beauty!!”
Shen Qingzhu caught the ring, watched Baili Pangpang vanish down the corridor, and shook his head helplessly.
…
Outside Building Three.
Lin Qiye stared at the eerily silent dorm, brows knit tight.
He stood right at the entrance, yet his Mortal Divine Realm sensed nothing— as if the building had been erased. He’d never encountered such a thing.
Cao Yuan stepped up and pushed the glass door; no matter how hard he strained it didn’t budge.
Frowning, he unslung his star-steel blade and smashed the pommel against the glass. Thuds echoed, but the door never moved—not even a crack.
He gave up and looked back at Lin Qiye.
With their physiques they should be able to shatter glass bare-handed; something inside was causing this.
“The space here is cut off,” Li Shaoguang suddenly said from the group.
Lin Qiye turned. “Spatial isolation?”
Li Shaoguang nodded. “My Forbidden Ruins relate to space. The building looks in front of us, but spatially it isn’t here.”
“How do we get in?”
“Let me try.” Li Shaoguang stepped forward and drew a blade—not a standard Night Watch star-steel sword, but a big broadsword with a red tassel, decades old. With his receding hairline he looked like a ferocious butcher.
He planted himself, inhaled, and slashed.
A blade-beam laced with faint gray light struck the glass. When the gray flared, a soft crack sounded—like something brittle chipping.
The glass remained intact, but Li Shaoguang gave a light push and the door swung open, revealing a dark corridor beyond.
“Quick— I’ve only cut a corner of the space; it’ll heal soon.” He entered first and waved the rest in.
Lin Qiye and the others hurried inside. Moments later the door swung shut of its own accord. From inside, the outside path faded, dimmed, and turned deep blue… as though they stood on the seabed.
“So this is space…” Lin Qiye tried pushing the door again—still immovable. The entire building seemed relocated, imprisoned in its own pocket.
“Let’s go up and see what’s happening.” He started up the stairs. Half a flight later, a shrill female scream ripped from above, echoing through the halls.
Their faces darkened; they exchanged glances and sprinted upward.