Chapter 106: The Disappeared—Black Rain

Sang Chu chased the little monsters all the way to Qiaolun, cornering them at a dead end. But when she got there, she was stunned.

“What’s going on?”

Suddenly, a torrential downpour came crashing down toward her. Sang Chu hurriedly pulled out the umbrella Qin Simian had given her.

The umbrella opened with a snap.

The rain was blocked outside, and those little monsters suddenly stopped moving, as if they were afraid of something.

To prevent any accidents, Sang Chu cleared out a space, released all the things she had stored away, and only then put away the umbrella. She took a deep breath and headed toward the basement.

The basement was full of water, and Sang Chu couldn’t get down.

Standing at the edge, staring at the huge waterbed in the middle of the flooded basement, she was puzzled. “Huh? Why is there such a big bed down here?”

“Of course it’s made of water.”

A lazy voice sounded, and a man in a black robe appeared.

When she saw his face, Sang Chu was completely stunned. This man looked exactly like Qin Simian.

Could he be the Thunder Ghost King?

The man seemed to know what she was thinking, and smiled wickedly. “I’m not that useless guy you’re thinking of. What you’re looking for is over there.”

She followed the direction he pointed, and saw two dried-up corpses, one male and one female. The man’s face was twisted and grotesque, while the woman’s face was beautiful—someone who would catch your eye at a glance.

“Who are they?”

“Hmph. That useless Qin Simian gave you the umbrella, but didn’t tell you who I am?”

Sang Chu shook her head. The man glanced at her and said, “You’re a lot smarter than the last one. Anyway, you’ve found what you’re looking for, so take him and get out. As for the things upstairs, you can deal with them however you want.”

“What do you know?”

Suddenly, the man was standing right in front of her, staring into her eyes. Sang Chu suddenly felt dizzy and confused.

He snapped his fingers, and she snapped out of it, jolting with shock. She realized she had just been controlled by this man!

“Relax, I’m not interested in you. If you were as stupid as the last one, you’d already be dead.”

As he spoke, he turned back to look at Sang Chu, a strange smile playing at his lips. “You’re braver than you look.”

Sang Chu said, “No, your power is far above mine. I know you’ve been merciful.”

The man looked at her and smiled, then suddenly grabbed her by the back of her neck like a kitten and tossed her onto the waterbed.

Sang Chu was still in shock, but the man lazily took off his robe, revealing pale skin and a sharp collarbone.

“You used the Floating Life Talisman to save that kid, didn’t you?”

Sang Chu’s heart skipped a beat, afraid he’d use his power on her again. “Yes, but the Floating Life Talisman requires a lot of energy. I only managed to save him by relying on the life force of the mountain.”

“If you hadn’t had that life force, you’d be dead.”

Sang Chu nodded. “I didn’t think that much at the time. I just acted on impulse.”

“Young people always have that kind of impulsiveness. Do you know he was already dead?”

Sang Chu nodded. “I know. Maybe this world was created by the dead, but he was different from the others.”

“When I first came here, the place was full of chaos, everything fighting everything else. You and I both know, later on, there was a strange child. He was clearly dead, but he forgot he was dead. He kept trying to get back in, and each time he was thrown out and died all over again. After a long time, even the ghosts got tired of it, so they just let him in. His grandmother personally threw him out, and after that, he never came back—until you brought him in again.”

So, was this the child’s story, or was it something else?

Sang Chu asked, “Was he the one who failed the trial before me?”

“Sort of. Qin Simian, that useless guy, is arrogant, but he’s strong. With his help, things could have been resolved quickly. After he left, no one could put me to sleep anymore. But I didn’t expect that after he left, all sorts of strange people would show up. You’re not the first to come here, but you’re the first who didn’t die right away.”

Sang Chu asked, “You just want a quiet place to sleep?”

The man suddenly looked at her with a half-smile. “What are you getting at?”

“I do know a good place for you to rest, but I don’t know if you’d like it.”

“Save your little schemes. I don’t like your jade pendant’s space. Just take away those missing people and get out. Don’t disturb my sleep.”

At that, Sang Chu paused, then remembered the little monsters she’d collected. “You mean, those little monsters are the missing people?”

“Yeah. Once they leave this place, they’ll become normal again. When you take them out, that’s the end of it. Now go, don’t wake me up again.”

Sang Chu looked at the big bed he pointed to, but didn’t leave. “What about that woman?”

“She’s already become a cocoon.”

“What do you mean?”

The man sneered and patted the waterbed. “This looks like a waterbed, but it’s actually an ancient seal. Take a closer look at what’s inside.”

Sang Chu crouched down and looked. Inside the waterbed, there seemed to be many fingernail-sized eggs?

Qin Simian’s voice sounded in her mind: “Those are all Thunder Ghost King’s offspring. This is the breeding ground for the Thunder Ghost King. That thing ate so many men just to gain enough strength to break in here. As soon as she devours her other self, she’ll complete her transformation, undergo the thunder tribulation, become human, and shed her demon form.”

“What about those demon flags?”

Qin Simian replied, “Those are just a distraction. I thought if I burned all the demon flags, the cocoons would disappear and I could finally sleep in peace. But I didn’t expect these people to be so stupid, they couldn’t even handle such a small task. I told them to get out, I’d finish the seal myself. In the end, because of this tiny mistake, their cocoons got heavier.”

He spoke carelessly, as if he didn’t care at all, but Sang Chu could sense the concern in his words. He wanted them to leave too, but those aunties ended up trapping themselves here.

He must have wanted to help them, which is why he kept trying to finish this task, but never expected things would turn out like this."

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of the provided Chinese text. Some characters and words in your text appear garbled or corrupted, so I have done my best to reconstruct the intended meaning based on context and standard Chinese fantasy novel tropes. If you have a cleaner version, I can provide an even more accurate translation.

---

**Chapter 107: The Disappeared Person – The Illusion**

“Go ahead, or else, I’ll let you off this time!”

Qin Si looked at Sang Chu coldly and sneered, “You’re just an ordinary human—what tricks could you possibly have?”

Sang Chu: “…” If being an ordinary human is so bad, then I really am out of luck…

Despite the tension, Sang Chu managed to keep a calm expression and said, “I’ll go ahead, but I want you to keep your word!”

“Let’s see.”

Sang Chu continued, “This illusion is his core. The more real the illusion, the more he believes the fragment of the Demon Banner is here. But the Demon Banner was never whole to begin with. He can’t accept that, so he chooses to believe the fragment is hidden in the basement, in a place he doesn’t dare to enter. But what if I bring the fragment upstairs?”

Qin Si replied, “You really think you can pull that off?”

“Since this is an illusion, why not add another layer? My fire jade fan contains a fox demon’s core. With its power, I can create an illusion even stronger than all the ones before. By then, everything he ever wanted will be perfectly resolved in the illusion. The resentment will slowly fade, and while I’m at it, I’ll send all these children home so they can reunite with their families.”

“What do you want to do?”

Sang Chu looked at Qin Si, a bit uneasy, and said, “I want to borrow your strength.”

Qin Si looked at her, his expression uncertain. “And what does that have to do with my mother’s soul?”

Sang Chu replied, “At first, I just wanted a safe place to sleep. If you’re willing, I might be able to provide you with one too.”

“Hmph, you mean your jade space? You think I’d trust you enough to enter it?”

“Just listen!”

Qin Si suddenly waved his hand, and a powerful whirlwind surged toward Sang Chu. She barely managed to defend herself, but was still sent flying.

She crashed into the wall, blood spilling from her mouth.

Damn!

She felt as if her internal organs were about to shatter.

After a quick healing spell, Sang Chu staggered to her feet, muttering, “Damn…”

Blood kept dripping from her lips, and she could only lean against the wall, clutching her mouth, looking utterly miserable.

After a while, she finally managed to speak.

“I’m not lying about the jade space. I once had the good fortune to board a space train to a place called the Monster Transformation World. They had the most advanced construction technology there. I built a huge underground city myself. If you want a place to sleep, I can have my construction robots build another underground city for you.”

“How big is it?”

Sang Chu held out her wrist. “Your divine sense is powerful. Why not see for yourself?”

Qin Si’s eyes flashed with a deep purple light. He glanced at her wrist, then at the space, and nodded. “Not bad.”

“If you like it, that’s good. But what about the matter at hand?”

Qin Si seemed unconcerned and just pointed at her wound. “Isn’t that little dog yours? When the time comes, I’ll hide in the space with you. But are you really just doing this for those lost souls?”

Sang Chu said, “Partly. Another reason is that there are a few powerful people at my base. I can’t beat them alone, so I hope you’ll help if you come with me. As for daily necessities, I can arrange everything for you.”

“You’re quite thoughtful. Fine, give me your fan. I’ll extract the fox core for you, and you can go upstairs to set up the Demon Banner.”

At this, Sang Chu hesitated, then pointed at the group of children and said, “What about them…”

Qin Si waved his hand. “I know. Just go upstairs. That noisy bunch is giving me a headache!”

Sang Chu nodded, then staggered out of the basement.

She was nervous, but ninety percent sure the big demon would cooperate. The remaining ten percent was in case he suddenly lost his temper.

Watching her leave, Qin Si murmured, “I never thought you’d be the one to handle this kind of thing. But then again, only someone who hasn’t been completely assimilated, someone with that much compassion, could help these lost souls find peace.”

With that, he crushed the fire jade fan and took out the fox demon’s core.

In an instant, the fox core seemed to come alive, trying to escape from Qin Si’s grasp. But he just sneered, unconcerned, and squeezed it. A black flame enveloped the core.

“It even has a soul?”

The fox core twisted and screamed in agony, but no one could hear it.

Qin Si kept squeezing. When the core finally turned to ash, a white mist spread out, filled with the mournful cries of countless souls.

His expression grew colder, but he continued to construct the illusion.

“I’m warning you, if you don’t leave this time, I’ll destroy you all myself.”

Qin Si looked at the little monster clinging to him. It wasn’t afraid of him at all. When he stopped, it immediately crawled onto him, rubbing against him as if saying goodbye.

The white mist slowly enveloped Qin Si and the little monster. As his body grew more and more transparent, he whispered, “Don’t be so naive next time. Don’t trust everything people say. You need to be more careful, silly. There aren’t many good people left in this world.”

The little monster didn’t understand what he was saying, but it knew it was time to go. It clung to him, reluctant to leave.

Qin Si looked at it, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. “You’re the naughtiest and the most troublesome. You always risk yourself to save others. Do you know your father’s been looking for you? Hurry home.”

As he spoke, a white light appeared at his fingertips, sending the little monster into the white mist. He watched as it slowly disappeared into the illusion.

Then, his gaze turned cold as he looked at the thunder ghost lying on the waterbed. “Killing you with a single palm was too easy. Since that brat wants to use you, let’s see how you like being beaten up for once.”

He walked over, kicked the thunder ghost into the spell formation, and then summoned flames in his palms, aiming them at the waterbed.

“Ah—!”

A mournful wail echoed from the waterbed, but Qin Si was unmoved, increasing the flames until the bed was completely burned away. Only then did he enter the formation.

---

Let me know if you need further clarification or a more literal translation!"