Chapter 3: The Gaze that Watches

Yuhai City military base, high-level conference hall.

“Boom!!”

With a deafening crash, a figure flew backward and slammed into the wall in a sorry state.

That pitiful figure was none other than Zhang Xuanze, the supreme commander of Qionglan Base.

After humanity obtained the Heavenly Source from the Holy Snow Lotus and embarked on the path of cultivation, they divided the levels of cultivation into eight stages.

The first was levels one to five, followed by the Yao Bone Realm, the Qiong Rong Realm, and the peak Sheng Xu Realm.

Zhang Xuanze was one of the few hundred Qiong Rong Realm experts within human forces.

But now, did he look anything like an expert?

He lay curled on the ground, drenched in blood, his once-neat uniform tattered, his face bruised and swollen, utterly wretched.

In front of him stood a white-clad figure.

The man wore a white military uniform, his posture as straight as a spear, silver hair falling like moonlight to his shoulders. Though handsome, his face exuded a cold severity forged through slaughter.

He didn’t deliberately release his aura, yet the terrifying pressure from his realm permeated every corner of the hall.

This man stood at the absolute pinnacle of human power.

He was one of the only three Sheng Xu Realm commanders in humanity, Bai Wushang.

…

“Bang!”

Bai Wushang stomped down hard on Zhang Xuanze’s chest. His voice was ice-cold, seething with rage.

“Zhang Xuanze, you have some nerve!!!”

“Qionglan Base is what place? The Saint’s temporary residence! A place of utmost importance! You, as its supreme commander, have the duty to guard the Saint without leaving her side!”

“And what did you do?!”

Bai Wushang pressed down with his foot, and Zhang Xuanze let out a painful grunt, blood spraying from his mouth.

“When the base was attacked, you damn well left your post and ran to a city a thousand miles away… Tell me, what’s your duty? What’s your mission? What the hell were you thinking?!”

Each accusation struck like a hammer.

Everyone present was terrified, no one daring to speak in his defense.

Ling Che, the lord of Yuhai City, watched with satisfaction, even clapping repeatedly.

Thinking about how this bastard had nearly put the Saint in danger, Ling Che wished he could rush up and join the beating.

They all understood Bai Wushang’s fury.

Facing Bai Wushang’s nearly annihilating rage, Zhang Xuanze lay collapsed, consciousness fading, lips parting and closing as if trying to say something.

Seeing this, Bai Wushang narrowed his icy blue eyes.

“Then tell me, why did you leave your post?!”

Bai Wushang’s anger stemmed not only from Zhang Xuanze’s dereliction of duty but also partly from the trust he had placed in him.

He believed this former subordinate could properly look after the Saint.

But the result?

Disappointing.

…

Hearing Bai Wushang’s question, Zhang Xuanze slowly raised his blood-covered face. His eyes, once clear and sharp, were now filled with an unhealthy flush, mixed with obsession, frenzy, and a sickening fervor, even in the agony of near death, there was no trace of regret.

With all his strength, he spoke incoherently.

“Because… the Saint… she wanted… those limited-edition pastries over there…”

Hearing this absurd reason, everyone, including Ling Che, changed expression, becoming even angrier.

However…

Oddly, Bai Wushang did not escalate his fury further upon hearing this. Instead, his foot on Zhang Xuanze’s chest paused slightly.

His blue eyes suddenly contracted, as if something had just occurred to him.

Next instant,

Bai Wushang bent down, grabbed Zhang Xuanze by the neck, and hoisted him up.

“You say it was the Saint who sent you?”

“Yes… yes…”

Zhang Xuanze breathed with difficulty yet still smiled obsessively, his gaze unfocused but extremely fanatical.

“The Saint… has been cooped up in the base… she’s never gone out… she’s so pitiful… she just wanted to eat those limited pastries there… I thought… I wanted to make her happy.”

Bai Wushang’s face sank completely.

Leaving his post to fetch pastries for the Saint?

That sounded utterly absurd, yet it carried a bone-chilling strangeness.

“Zhang Xuanze, you’ve followed me for ten years, earned countless military merits. You’ve always been calm and steady. Military discipline is ironclad. Do you know the consequences of disobeying orders?”

Bai Wushang’s voice was flat, yet even more terrifying.

“Do you know that your foolish idea nearly plunged the Saint into mortal danger? And threw the entire alliance into a desperate situation?”

However.

Facing this life-or-death interrogation, Zhang Xuanze showed no fear. Instead, he slowly grinned, revealing an extremely sick, twisted smile.

That smile was obsessive, delirious, and unnerving.

“As long… as it’s for the Saint… anything… is fine… even death… doesn’t matter…”

Zhang Xuanze whispered in a fanatical tone.

His demeanor was not one of loyalty but of mental collapse, a pathological reverence that had burrowed into his very bones.

Bai Wushang’s brow furrowed deeper, his heart sinking slightly.

Zhang Xuanze’s reaction stirred some unpleasant memories in his mind.

Two years ago, at the Saint’s birthplace, he had seen too many people like this, lost to madness.

Recalling those strange, self-harming colleagues, even a Sheng Xu Realm commander like Bai Wushang instinctively bit his lips.

After a moment of silence,

He stared hard into Zhang Xuanze’s obsessed eyes and spoke each word as cold as ice.

“You… made eye contact with her.”

It wasn’t a question, but a statement.

Hearing this, Zhang Xuanze’s face instead showed an extremely happy, extremely intoxicated expression, as if recalling the most wonderful thing in the world. Blood and tears seeped from his eyes.

“The Saint’s eyes… so beautiful…”

“Gold and red intertwined… like jewels.”

“In all the world… the most beautiful are the Saint’s eyes… ah… an angel, my angel, heh, heh, ha…”

“She is… an ang…”

Before he finished,

“Bang!”

Bai Wushang’s palm moved, and with a crisp strike, he knocked the mad Zhang Xuanze out cold.

Even in the last moment before losing consciousness, Zhang Xuanze’s face remained fixed in that sickly, blissful smile.

Bai Wushang casually tossed the unconscious Zhang Xuanze aside. His gaze cold, he turned to his pale-faced personal guard and ordered, “Throw him to the tribunal. Handle him however he should be handled.”

After a pause, he added, his tone more solemn, “Also, fetch a mental tutor and erase all his memories concerning the Saint.”

“Otherwise… there’s no way to interrogate him.”

“Yes!”

The guard dared not show any negligence. He immediately stepped forward, hoisted the unconscious Zhang Xuanze, and quickly left the chaotic conference hall.

…

Bai Wushang drew a deep breath, suppressing his agitation and unease. Then he slowly turned and fixed his gaze on a figure that had been standing silently in the corner of the hall.

Dressed in a black butler’s uniform, with neatly combed silver-gray hair, that was Mochen, the butler of Luoxue.

Bai Wushang walked up to Mochen, his violent aura retracting.

“Mochen, my old friend, how is the Saint now?” Bai Wushang asked in a low voice.

“The doctors have fully examined her. The Saint’s body is unharmed, just slightly frightened. Under the companionship of her maids, she has fallen asleep peacefully.” Mochen glanced behind him briefly and answered respectfully.

“Asleep?” Bai Wushang repeated quietly, a flicker of complex emotion passing through his ice-blue eyes. “Heh, that’s good.”

He paused, then spoke again, his voice so low that only the two could hear.

“Don’t you think this time was too much of a coincidence? The Saint’s location got exposed accidentally. When Veteba attacked, the defense system happened to be in maintenance. The guard was just changing shifts. And Zhang Xuanze happened to be sent away at that very moment… Do you think… this is really a coincidence?”

Mochen hung his head, glancing backward, a trace of panic flickering in the depths of his eyes, but he kept his tone calm: “I don’t know either. Perhaps… it really was just an accident. After all, other than Zhang Xuanze’s actions, nothing else had anything to do with the Saint.”

“Is that so? I don’t think so.”

Bai Wushang looked at him meaningfully and answered thoughtfully.

Maybe because there were others around, he didn’t say more.

But after a moment’s hesitation, he lowered his voice again, his tone carrying a deep-rooted wariness. He deliberately avoided the title, substituting it with a single word.

“Recently… has she been acting oddly at all?”

Both understood who this “she” referred to.

Mochen’s heart constricted.

After swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Mochen shook his head slightly, keeping his voice as steady as possible: “Lord Wushang, she is currently acting as always. She stays quietly in her room all day long, no signs of anything unusual.”

As he spoke, he turned his head back again involuntarily.

Bai Wushang naturally caught this, his ice-blue eyes narrowing, a flicker of suspicion flashing through them.

“What are you looking at? Why do you keep looking back?”

Mochen jolted, quickly retracting his gaze, lowering his head, forcing calm: “No… nothing. Just have a bit of stiffness in my neck.”

“Mm?”

Bai Wushang gave a strange look at the empty wall behind Mochen, then dismissed the suspicion in his eyes.

“Alright, I understand. Continue to watch over her. Also… a new batch of adapters is arriving. Find a way to keep her cooperating… to help with the awakenings.”

Thinking of that white-haired girl, Bai Wushang’s tone had become strange.

“Understood.” Mochen bowed respectfully.

“Mm. I’ll leave that side to you. I have many things to clean up first. We’ll find a secluded place later and have a good talk. As one of the few… survivors back then.”

Finally, after taking one last look at the Saint’s base through the surveillance feed, Bai Wushang’s ice-blue eyes showed wariness, worry, and an indescribable heaviness.

In the end, he seemed not to dare to look any longer… a flash of white, and he vanished swiftly through the hall entrance.

The aura of the Sheng Xu Realm dissipated completely.

The overwhelming pressure vanished without a trace.

But Mochen remained frozen in place, cold through, unable to move.

It wasn’t until he confirmed that Bai Wushang had completely left and the other officers had also withdrawn, leaving only himself in the entire hall… that Mochen slowly raised his head. His face was as pale as paper, cold sweat trailing down his forehead, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

He gradually turned his head again and looked at the wall behind him that Bai Wushang had just stared at.

True,

that wall was white and smooth, perfectly normal.

But,

in Mochen’s eyes,

on that wall, at some point, had appeared countless dense, crimson red eyes.

One, two, ten, a hundred…

So dense they sent chills down one’s spine.

And each of those bloody eyes stared fixedly, unblinkingly, eerily and coldly, at him, causing cold sweat to continuously stream down Mochen’s cheeks…

…

— She’s watching me.,

📚 Also on NHV Novels

What Should I Do When Girls Keep Trying to Win Me Over After Rebirth?

CampusRomanceHaremlove

Read Now →
Not interested