Chapter 118: Xian Zha Xi Gua Has a Fatal Weakness!

Chapter 118: Xianzha Xigua Has a Fatal Weakness!

The staff had no time to rejoice over successfully deceiving Xianzha Xigua before realizing the severity of the situation.

If the sham believers could have kept the deception going indefinitely, there would have been no issue. But now, the truth had been exposed.

Considering why the prophecy book appeared this time, it was clear that in the source material, the people of Tianlan Xing paid a heavy price for deceiving Xianzha Xigua.

Ordinary people would be furious upon realizing they’d been tricked, let alone Xianzha Xigua, who saw itself as supreme—no, godlike.

How could such a being tolerate being manipulated by what it considered mere ants?

"After the deception was exposed, Xianzha Xigua unleashed havoc upon Tianlan Xing without restraint."

"If initially, its actions still had some semblance of control..."

"Exactly. Even though it routinely leveled schools, toppled overpasses, caused plane malfunctions, and halted subway operations—seemingly unhinged—this was actually the result of it holding back to farm faith."

"That was when it was still rational."

"But now? Forget faith or gaining strength. Xianzha Xigua’s rationality had long been obliterated by rage."

"All it wanted now was payback!"

"Even if it would regret losing such a prime source of faith afterward, the enraged Xianzha Xigua couldn’t care less. Regret could wait."

"Xianzha Xigua recklessly wielded its power to retaliate against humanity, venting its fury."

"Though its abilities paled in comparison to true deities—or even many supernatural creatures—Xianzha Xigua dared claim godhood because it packed a punch."

"It acted like a terrorist cell, launching attacks everywhere."

"Tianlan Xing, caught in this onslaught, was outmatched, unable to overcome its defenses."

"Glass-and-steel skyscrapers crumbled into rubble. People who had been whole, laughing and talking mere moments ago, were suddenly lifeless—reduced to severed limbs, charred bones, or mangled flesh."

"No matter how powerful Tianlan Xing’s weapons were, none could kill Xianzha Xigua. They couldn’t even dent it."

"It was like a high-attack, high-defense raid boss rampaging through the Tianlan Xing dungeon, leaving players powerless."

Indeed.

The staff could barely stomach listening further. Liu Caiyi clutched her phone as she listened. The more formidable Xianzha Xigua appeared in the source material, the more she worried about Cai Zhixuan.

Cai Zhixuan still hadn’t responded.

Had something really happened to her?

Just as Liu Caiyi could no longer sit still and stood up, clutching her phone, ready to seek out the staff downstairs, her phone finally chimed.

[Finally responded.]

Cai Zhixuan had replied at last.

Liu Caiyi let out a shaky breath in relief. It seemed Cai Zhixuan was safe—Xianzha Xigua hadn’t found her yet.

But then another thought struck her: What if it already had? What if Cai Zhixuan had merely bought time by placating it temporarily, hence her delayed response? Hadn’t the source material played out that way?

Cai Zhixuan was so clever. Could her long silence mean she’d been dealing with Xianzha Xigua all this time?

Working with a ruler is like taming a tiger, and Xian Zhaxihuan was even scarier than ancient emperors.

Though she knew Cai Zhixuan should be fine, Liu Caiyi couldn’t shake her unease.

But if her guess was correct, now wasn’t the time to ask. She couldn’t bring it up, yet not asking only made her worry more. As Liu Caiyi wrestled with this, she heard a knock at the door.

Who’d come by this late?

Seeing their daughter restless, Liu’s parents didn’t know how to comfort her. Nothing they said seemed to help. They just held her, a hand on her shoulder.

When the knock came, Liu’s dad figured his daughter wasn’t up for visitors and prepared to answer the door himself. But Liu Caiyi moved faster.

Frustrated, she bolted up and marched to the door, yanked it open—then froze.

A crowd was outside.

Men and women, at least seven or eight people at a glance, packed into the hallway, making it feel crowded.

But that wasn’t what stopped her.

What stopped her was Cai Zhixuan, shielded in the middle of the group, only her small face visible.

Cai Zhixuan smiled brightly. "I'm here."

It hit Liu Caiyi then—no one had come for her yet because this building was safe, and in the original story, she hadn’t been targeted by the evil god. Unlike Cai Zhixuan, whose situation was dangerous.

Given the circumstances described in the original work, it made sense that official personnel would rush to protect Cai Zhixuan first. So there was really no need for her to worry so much.

She’d freaked out.

The staff escorted Cai Zhixuan and invited Liu Caiyi to join them downstairs for protection. Cai Zhixuan’s home was also secured with personnel on guard.

They started evacuating Cai Zhixuan’s neighborhood, Baojing Community, nearby areas, and Yun Teng University’s old and new campuses—all with good excuses. Other locations mentioned in the original plot also had evacuation preparations underway.

Since they couldn’t predict Xian Zhaxihuan’s arrival, these precautions were necessary.

Sheng Qingquan had also been searching for clues about Xian Zhaxihuan’s arrival time and location.

"In the novel, Xian Zhaxihuan wreaked havoc. Though Cai Zhixuan was its first target, the school bombing wasn’t its first act of destruction."

"According to the novel’s description, it initially didn’t understand humans on Tianlan Star, so its actions were way off from what people wished for. The school bombing was extreme but still matched the intent."

"So Cai Zhixuan’s wish was likely one of the later ones it fulfilled early on."

"Only once it got the hang of things did Xian Zhaxihuan avoid straying too far from the wish’s purpose, successfully granting it."

"But to fulfill a wish, it first had to know what the wish was."

"I did make such a wish—after the college entrance exams, while visiting Luofeng Mountain. I made it at the mountain god’s temple." After the staff filled her in, Cai Zhixuan, even though it was awkward, explained the situation honestly in front of Liu Caiyi, aware of its severity.

"It was on June 10th." To be sure, she double-checked her payment history.

Not that she’d donated money that day—she wasn’t into that stuff, so she hadn’t transferred any funds. She’d only lit free incense as a token gesture.

Cai Zhixuan pulled up her transaction history.

The staff took her phone and examined it closely, spotting a string of payments from June 10th.

Luo Feng Mountain ticket: 20 yuan;

Pirate ship ride: 15 yuan;

Roller coaster: 25 yuan;

Tanghulu (candied fruit skewers): 5 yuan...

"Although there’s a mountain god temple on Luo Feng Mountain, few people actually believe in it. The main reason the temple stays busy is that, besides the mountain god temple, there’s also a large amusement park on the mountain. Visitors to the amusement park figure they might as well light some incense while they’re already there."

"Cai Zhixuan went to relax after her college entrance exams. On June 10th, she spent the whole day goofing off."

"This means *Xianzhaxihuang* was already present at that time."

"Other than this, the timing of the other wishes wasn’t mentioned in the plot."

"We’ll have to dig through real-world leads."

Sheng Qingquan thought this way and acted accordingly. However, both he and the team knew it would be difficult. The book barely dropped any hints about these incidents.

Not even the victims' names were mentioned.

Before the incidents occurred, they only knew that in certain provinces and cities, someone had taken a fatal fall from the second floor, a baby had died in a gas leak… but beyond that, they knew nothing.

They were flying blind. Let alone determining when and where these people had made their wishes.

"The only certainty is that it’s already late June, and *Xianzhaxihuang* is already on Tianlanxing (the planet Tianlanxing)."

"Since we can’t keep it out of Tianlanxing, the only option is to find a way to take it out before it makes a move."

"We have to find this 'watermelon' [code name] first!"

"But the novel never mentioned it—does that mean we’re just supposed to sit around until it strikes?"

"That’s too passive."

"Especially since, for the safety of the public, they cooked up cover stories to evacuate people, but it’s hard to say whether we’ve completely avoided tipping it off."

Neither Sheng Qingquan nor the team regretted this decision. However, it undoubtedly made finding *Xianzhaxihuang* even harder.

"Perhaps we should check various temples. If nothing goes wrong, *Xianzhaxihuang* is likely haunting these temples, selecting suitable wish-makers to target."

"Wait!"

Sheng Qingquan snapped his fingers.

["'It’s a shame there are no gods on Tianlanxing, otherwise Nuwa would actually be quite beautiful. Though she doesn’t have as many tails as I do, that serpent tail looks nice.'" This was an offhand jab *Xianzhaxihuang* made when showing Cai Zhixuan its true form while carving a divine statue in the novel.]

"Though it feels like encountering a second King Zhou [(notorious tyrant from mythology)]—no, worse, since it insults both Nuwa and King Zhou."

"Still, there’s some gain here."

"If it 'admires' Nuwa, wouldn’t it go to take a closer look? Especially since, while admiring, it could also search among the believers for suitable wish-makers. For it, a two-for-one deal would surely be appealing."

"There are many Nuwa temples on Tianlanxing, but only three show her full serpent form."

Sheng Qingquan checked and found they were: the Nuwa Palace in Mingfeng Province, the Nuwa Temple in Linqian City, and the Nuwa Shen Shrine in Zhihe Province.

"Maybe I should camp out at these three spots?"

The more Sheng Qingquan thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

To deal with Xianzha Xigua, apart from tracking its whereabouts, the biggest challenge was figuring out how to break through its defenses.

Its high defense was like being encased in a thick turtle shell. In the original story, Tianlanxing had no way to deal with this shell, but the current Tianlanxing might just pull it off. However, without actually confronting it, Sheng Qingquan couldn’t guarantee that Tianlanxing would succeed.

Sheng Qingquan wasn’t about to take chances. What he wanted was a one-and-done solution. Only this way could he prevent Xianzha Xigua from dragging innocent people down with it.

Looks like luck’s on his side.

Just as he was thinking about it, Sheng Qingquan came across a crucial clue.

"Xianzha Xigua actually has a fatal weakness!"