Chapter 277 The Twenty-Second Day of Entering a Xuanhuan Novel

Chapter 277: The Twenty-Second Day of Transmigrating into a Fantasy Novel

An Yi watched all of this coldly, knowing full well that for a corrupt and opportunistic official like Zhou Yuan, reasoning was far less effective than making him feel the threat firsthand.

As for why not simply find a way to replace the county magistrate?

First, their current identities made it inconvenient to directly interfere with local official appointments. Second, even if they did replace him, there was no telling whether the new magistrate would be better or worse.

The current Zhou Yuan, though incompetent, greedy, and easily deceived, had at least not been known to have caused any wrongful deaths through his direct judgments during his tenure.

If he had actually taken a life, the curse would not have merely made his son sick—his entire family would likely have suffered the same fate.

Moreover, Gan Feng would report this matter truthfully to the Demon Suppression Bureau, and the imperial court would subsequently conduct its own oversight and handling.

With the matter settled, the three of them ignored Zhou Yuan, who lay limp on the ground with a deathly pale face, and strode straight out of the county office.

Gan Feng watched An Yi and Xie Xuandu walking ahead, rubbed his nose, and felt as though he had undergone another spiritual baptism. At the same time, he silently noted down the term "Heart-Alert Curse," planning to look it up in the archives or ask the system later.

So cool. He wanted one too.

(System: Host, this mission—'Investigate the Cause of the County Magistrate's Son's Illness'—has been completed. Rewards have been distributed. Additionally, you gained hidden information through contact with a high-level cultivator, so there are extra rewards as well!)

(Gan Feng: Then why didn't I get any for the first two times?)

(System: Because this time there was a Heart-Alert Curse!)

(Gan Feng: But Big Shot An Yi took action before too!)

(System: Do you know what technique he used?)

Gan Feng: ...Fine, you got me.

Comments section:

"That part where Pretty An leaned close to Xie Xuandu's ear to whisper was so GAY I couldn't eat my dinner! @Author, you're dead meat!"

"But they're really strong, handling everything with such ease. If they want to be gay, let them—it's not like they're the main characters doing it anyway."

"This move... this move is totally letting his dick do the thinking!"

"Don't jinx it! Last time you guys were talking smack in the comments, and the author actually wrote gay romance! (Angry)"

"Hehe~ I want it though~"

"Oi~ Little brat~ You're so hot~ (vocal fry)"

"So the root of the curse is the collective resentment from wrongful imprisonment? That setup has a real karma-and-retribution feel to it—I love it. And their approach is clever too, not lifting the curse for the magistrate."

"Their decision not to replace the magistrate is actually quite realistic. In that kind of setting, honest officials are hard to find—a replacement might be even greedier and worse. Using magic to force this magistrate, whose limits are known, to reform, while having the protagonist report to the imperial court for oversight, is the optimal solution right now."

"Am I the only one who feels bad for that mute baby and his family? They suffered such a disaster for no reason. The magistrate is absolute garbage."

"I'll bet five bucks that the magistrate won't behave right away. He'll definitely sneak off to find someone else to break the curse first, and only after getting his fill of suffering will he obediently comply."

"Waiting for the satisfying comeuppance later."

"..."

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By the time they left the county magistrate's residence, the evening lanterns were just being lit.

The night market of Luzhou City had quietly awakened, revealing a bustling splendor entirely different from its daytime appearance.

Shops lined both sides of the street, with colorful lanterns hanging high, casting a dazzling glow over the bluestone-paved road as if it were broad daylight.

The crowds flowed like a river, shoulders brushing against shoulders.

The aroma of food—freshly steamed buns, sizzling meat skewers, sweet sugar cakes—mingled in the evening breeze, saturating the air and painting a vivid picture of mortal life.

Though this world was full of demons and monsters, it was nonetheless extremely prosperous—at least on the surface.

Gan Feng, being perceptive, knew that continuing to tag along would only make him a third wheel. Using the excuse of returning to the inn to organize case files and report the day's events, he took his leave to handle the follow-up matters on his own.

An Yi and Xie Xuandu walked side by side through the bustling crowd.

An Yi held a skewer of candied hawthorn berries, each one crystal-clear and coated in a glossy sugar shell. He bit into one, his teeth cracking through the brittle, sweet coating with a faint crunch.

Yet, despite being in the midst of the dense crowd, the two of them seemed to carry an invisible barrier around them. Passersby instinctively veered away, as if driven by a primal avoidance—daring not to approach, daring not to touch.

An Yi's gaze swept over those who unconsciously gave them a wide berth, and he understood.

It seemed that with demons and monsters running rampant in this world for so long, ordinary people had honed their instinct for self-preservation to a razor's edge, becoming acutely attuned to those who looked "troublesome" or exuded an otherworldly aura.

Xie Xuandu's gaze fell on An Yi's slightly puffed cheek as he chewed, watching his perfect profile outlined by the warm lantern light. Those eyes, usually too calm, now reflected the scattered glow of the night market, light flickering within them as if concealing an entirely different, vast starry sky.

"An Yi."

Xie Xuandu suddenly spoke, his voice reaching An Yi's ears with a peculiar undertone: "Throughout this journey, we've encountered mostly ignorant mortals and specters and monsters. Do you find it... dull?"

An Yi did not slow his pace. His gaze swept past an old craftsman's stall where he was skillfully blowing and shaping sugar figurines, watching the amber syrup transform into forms of birds and beasts in the old man's hands. He said calmly, "No. The mortal world's many faces, strange and wondrous, have their own appeal."

He meant it sincerely. Observing the diverse facets of different worlds was, in itself, part of the meaning behind his endless journeying between worlds.

Xie Xuandu chuckled softly at this. He subtly adjusted his stride, closing the distance to An Yi by a step, so close that he could almost feel the crisp, clean scent emanating from the other.

"And... what about traveling with me?"

He tilted his head, his eyes gleaming under the flickering lantern light, staring straight at An Yi: "An Yi, you always seem to keep me at arm's length."

He paused, his tone still gentle but with an unmistakable air of not taking no for an answer: "Could it be that you find this humble Xie... unworthy to walk beside you?"

He had finally voiced the question, breaking through the thin barrier that had hung between them since they first met, bringing that tentative probing and longing into the open.

An Yi, upon hearing this, finally turned his face to look at him properly.

Those unnaturally dark, clear eyes, set against the night and the lantern glow, resembled two deep, dark mirrors—able to reflect a person's image clearly, even piercing through flesh to expose the deepest secrets and filth in one's heart.

He looked at Xie Xuandu for a moment, his tone a bit more serious than usual: "I don't find you unworthy of my company."

He paused, as if searching for the right words, then continued: "It's just that I don't really know you."

He did not know Xie Xuandu's past, nor the real person behind that perfect smile, nor the source of his power and the principles he lived by.

To An Yi, Xie Xuandu remained a fellow traveler shrouded in mystery, unpredictable and inscrutable.

Just as he himself was equally enigmatic to Xie Xuandu.