The Evil Child was deployed for one second before crashing and burning at lightspeed.

But Zheng Xiu, stuck in the bars, was completely dumbfounded.

POP~

He forcefully pulled himself out.

He rubbed his face.

Pinched his arm.

’The Incarnation... it has a physical body!’

Zheng Xiu’s shock instantly turned into a pleasant surprise. He felt himself all over to confirm it was real.

’It seems this change is because I opened the Ninth Gate on my Path. That one step forward must have upgraded all my derived abilities!’

One small step on the Path was one giant leap for Master Zheng!

Only now did Zheng Xiu have a vague grasp of how to progress deeper along the Path.

One: clear a Ghostly Realm.

Two: upgrade his prison cell.

Although he didn’t know the precise linear relationship between the two, after he cleared Baili Village and his cell was upgraded to the Heaven-Gazing Prison, Zheng Xiu had pushed open the "Jiazi Ninth Gate." His Derivation abilities leveled up from "Initial Path" to "some accomplishment," and now, when he activated Divine Travel, his Incarnation finally possessed a physical form. It was no longer just an Ah Piao.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.

Zheng Xiu vaguely sensed a strange throbbing in his chest. Pulling open his clothes to look, he saw a claw-shaped pattern of bulging veins on his torso—it was unmistakably the mark of the Caged Sparrow.

He then checked for a pulse. The throbbing from the Caged Sparrow’s veins traveled to his hand, feeling solid and real.

At the very least, the current Evil Child looked and felt...

...like a Human.

Just then, Zheng Xiu quickly turned to look back at his Main Body and pulled open its clothes as well.

On the Main Body’s chest, the claw-shaped bulge of veins was gone.

’So the Caged Sparrow follows my consciousness?’

Zheng Xiu excitedly experienced his new Incarnation.

He hadn’t been this excited even when his bank balance had exceeded eight figures.

Power and wealth truly were a man’s greatest pursuits.

You couldn’t have one without the other.

And now, he had both.

A smile spread across the Evil Child’s face, five parts demonic charm and five parts childish innocence.

Zheng Xiu easily bent apart the bars of the Hundred-Forged Refined Steel Fence, slipped out of the cell, and then bent them back into place one by one.

To be honest, the materials used to construct the Heaven-Gazing Prison were exceptionally hard.

But clearly, Master Zheng was harder. His Incarnation escaped the Heaven-Gazing Prison with ease.

When he created the Evil Child Incarnation, Zheng Xiu hadn’t expected it would gain a physical body in the real world so quickly.

Its off-the-charts Constitution and Muscle Strength Attributes created a little pony... er, no, a super-powered youth!

Zheng Xiu stood on the edge of the Heaven-Gazing Prison, looking down. He spread his arms, feeling the thrill of the high-altitude wind whipping across his face.

Now, Master Zheng faced just one problem:

Now that he was no longer an Ah Piao, how was he supposed to get down from this cliffside prison cage unscathed?

...

「In the Imperial City.」

Tall towers and low pavilions stood in a dense, yet picturesque, array.

The heavy snow had ceased, and the moonlight was crisp and cold.

The city was still a scene of peace and prosperity, a beautiful and harmonious sight to behold.

A hundred paces from the Heaven-Gazing Platform, a tall, black-clad figure leaped effortlessly between buildings.

A raven with jet-black feathers perched on his shoulder, and a Black Iron Wood Order hung from his waist, inscribed with the words "Night Guard, 567."

Within Ye Weiyang, aside from the "Twelfth Moon" who stood at the apex, all other members had only codenames, not names.

Night Guard 567 gazed at the Heaven-Gazing Platform from a distance. He saw only the flock of ravens circling normally above it, with nothing out of the ordinary.

He frowned and pressed a finger against the Raven on his shoulder.

In an instant, a spark of intelligence appeared in the Raven’s eyes.

At the same time, Night Guard 567 shut his eyes tight, gathered his emotions, and two tears slid silently down his cheeks.

Before joining the Night Guard, he was born in Jizhou of the Daqian Southern Domain. Twenty years ago, due to the chaos of war, he had moved north with his father. His father, in life, had been a renowned "Mourner." 567 later followed in his father’s footsteps, entering the Mourner trade himself.

What is a Mourner?

At a funeral, the Mourner accompanies the coffin, wailing to the heavens and beating the earth to create a sorrowful atmosphere.

Back in the day, 567 was an extremely dedicated Mourner and even brought innovation to the craft. He would get the birds, dogs, chickens, and ducks in the street to mourn along with him, crying out, "Look! The chickens, ducks, and fish over there are all heartbroken for the master! Look! That dog has cried itself to death! That cat is so sad all its fur has fallen out!"

One year, two years, three years... ten years.

He cried for a full decade.

567’s self-created "Flying Bird Fish Insect Mourning Style" gradually earned the recognition of the neighborhood.

Legend had it that when he mourned, birds would circle overhead, and magpies would weep tears of blood.

Whenever someone passed away within a hundred-mile radius, their family would pay a hefty sum to hire 567 to come and mourn.

Among the many Mourners, he cried the most wretchedly, the most genuinely, crying until the very birds, fish, and insects resonated with his sorrow.

One night, he dreamed he had fallen into pitch-black water, and before him stood a door.

When 567 awoke, he discovered that he could truly hear the cries of animals.

Initial Path—"Mourner"!

The Raven flew straight to the Heaven-Gazing Platform, circled a few times, then returned to its master’s side.

’Strange. A moment ago, the ravens were clearly disturbed in this area, but now I can’t detect anything out of the ordinary.’

Repeating the process, he cast the Miracle Technique once more. The Raven took flight again, centering its patrol on the Heaven-Gazing Platform’s Celestial Prison and surveying the area from above.

Before long, Night Guard 567 spotted three of his colleagues not far away.

The hierarchy within Ye Weiyang was strict, and the attire of members from different ranks varied slightly.

Take those three, for instance.

Two of them carried boxes on their backs. Their black robes were embroidered with a cloud pattern that concealed a star, marking them as members of the Twenty-Eight Constellations.

The third, whose lapels and cuffs were embroidered with a crescent moon motif, looked even more distinguished. This was clearly one of the high-ranking "Twelfth Moon."

’Hiss! So it was a high-level bigwig!’

instantly understood. It was the presence of these higher-ups that had disturbed the flock of ravens.

...

「Meanwhile.」

Unbeknownst to the humble Night Guard 567, the three bigwigs he saw through his Raven’s eyes were fuming.

"Damn it! The Soul-Chasing Lamp isn’t scratching anymore!"

Dou Xie resentfully slapped the Black Box on Yue Yan’s back. Pointing through the box at the black cat inside, he raised a fist and said angrily, "Sister Yue Yan, I want to beat it up."

Beside them, Feng Bei silently clenched his fist, producing a sharp CRACK.

The black cat had really run the three of them ragged today.

The three of them had first been investigating the true cause of Shi Wentong’s death.

The black cat had indeed sniffed out a residual "trace" on Shi Wentong’s corpse.

When a Miracle Master is Casting, they will, nine times out of ten, leave behind a "scent." This scent can only be tracked by the Soul-Chasing Lamp and Ravens.

But today, as if it had seen a ghost, the black cat had led the three of them on dozens of loops around the city.

From the northern district to the Imperial Palace, from the Imperial Palace to the eastern district, and from the eastern district all the way back to the north.

They had been led around for a full six hours.

From day until night.

But when they reached this spot, the black cat suddenly stopped scratching the box and went still.

Dou Xie was dying to drag the black cat out and give it a thrashing.

Yue Yan had also been furious, planning to starve the Soul-Chasing Lamp for a few days. But when she pulled the black cat out and saw it whimpering pitifully, she had a sudden realization. "It’s not the Soul-Chasing Lamp messing with us. The scent of Shi Wentong’s killer simply vanishes right here!"

Yue Yan whipped a small booklet out from her robes and flipped to a page showing a simple map of the Imperial City, marked with a few crude symbols. Looking up and glancing around, she said, "That’s right. This is where Lord Shi dropped dead."

Feng Bei relaxed his fist and said calmly, "Are you saying that this person appeared from out of nowhere, brazenly looped around the Imperial City thirty-six times, killed Shi Wentong without a soul noticing, and then just... vanished?"

Dou Xie looked utterly incredulous.

The city is full of Ravens. Even though they can’t understand Human speech, if a Miracle Master was moving about so brazenly, they would have surely detected an anomaly.

Yue Yan gave a wry smile. "The Night Lord isn’t in the Imperial City right now. But the city is full of experts. Sneaking around on a normal day is one thing, but to circle the Imperial City dozens of times in midair without being detected by anyone... this person must be a Technique Master of an extremely special ’Path.’ Or, their power has reached the ’Little Celestial Position’ at the very least. After all, the Ravens and the Soul-Chasing Lamp aren’t omnipotent. The world of Miracle Masters is full of bizarre individuals. It’s not strange for there to be an exception or two."

With that, Yue Yan closed her little notebook and tucked it back into her robes.

The unspoken meaning of her action was clear: the trail had gone cold. Time to wrap it up.

Feng Bei turned to leave. "I’ll investigate a bit more. Thank you for your hard work tonight."

Yue Yan laughed. "What a coincidence. I still have to finish three new outfits tonight."

Dou Xie hesitated for a moment before admitting, "I still have to copy forty-eight pages of the *Wisdom Heart Clarity*."

Yue Yan scoffed, "You’d be better off copying the *Spring Palace Secret Record* than that trash."

Hearing this, Dou Xie’s neck instantly flushed red. "None of your business!"

Leaving the two to bicker, Feng Bei departed alone.

...

Master Zheng didn’t jump. Instead, he discovered that his upgraded Divine Travel came with a very useful new feature.

The effects of the upgraded Divine Travel were even more practical than he had imagined.

Only now was Divine Travel truly worthy of its name.

Zheng Xiu could switch freely between his "Ah Piao" form and his physical form.

As an Ah Piao, he could fly, pass through walls, and spy.

The physical form, needless to say, was that of a robust Mighty Man; the Evil Child was divinely brave.

The only slight drawback was that the time limit for Divine Travel was linked to the special Traits the Incarnation used.

If he used its abilities excessively, the Incarnation’s active time would be rapidly reduced.

As for the range of his Divine Travel, while Zheng Xiu had yet to test its limits, it seemed his Incarnation could already move freely throughout the Imperial City.

’The pros far outweigh the cons!’

Zheng Xiu’s Main Body could chill in prison, drinking tea and shooting the breeze, while his Incarnation roamed outside. If it encountered a crisis, it could instantly return to the Main Body.

However, what worried Zheng Xiu was that if the Incarnation were to brazenly vanish in front of people, it would draw far too much attention. Unless it was a last resort, he would need to avoid public view before deactivating his Divine Travel state.

This limitation inexplicably reminded Zheng Xiu of those masked heroes who always hide in alleys to pull out their transformation devices.

As his Evil Child Incarnation, Zheng Xiu wandered through streets and alleys until, unintentionally, he found himself before a luxurious garden mansion.

The main gate was inlaid with gold and jade, looking quite grand. The stone lions on either side were majestic, clearly the work of a master artisan from the city.

The plaque on the gate bore two words: "Zheng Residence."

Zheng Xiu had returned to his own home.

And yet, he paced back and forth in front of his own door for a good ten minutes.

After the butterfly effect, Zheng Xiu couldn’t be sure if old acquaintances were still friends, or if his former companions were still where he’d left them.

But he felt that no matter what happened, Zheng Erniang, with whom he had shared his life for so many years, would surely be waiting at home for him as always.

However, the biggest problem currently giving Master Zheng a headache was...

...how was he going to explain his current identity?

"Well, well! Young man!"

In the dead of night, as Zheng Xiu stood frozen before his own door, wondering how to get in, a friendly voice suddenly rang out from behind him. At the same time, the stem of a pipe puffing white smoke came to rest silently on the Evil Child’s shoulder.

Qing Shisan, dressed as a Wandering traveler, had appeared behind Zheng Xiu out of nowhere. He leaned down, grinning as he drew close to Zheng Xiu, took a puff from his pipe, and blew out a series of perfect smoke rings.

"Young man, do you know that the Zheng Residence has been refusing all visitors these last few days?"

The instant Qing Pi spoke these words...

...on the roofs of the Zheng Residence’s eastern, western, southern, and northern wings...

...a series of ghostly shadows in black, hooded robes appeared, standing silently atop the residence.

Their pitch-black night attire allowed them to blend almost perfectly into the darkness.