Chapter 381 - Fork in the Road

Bologue sat blankly on the edge of his bed, taking a few minutes to fully awaken his sluggish consciousness. Looking at the clock on the wall, he realized it was still very early, just dawn.He stood up slowly, washed up briefly, and adjusted his attire in front of the mirror.

Even though it was morning, the Undying Club remained oppressively dark. To maintain the closure of the Void Realm, they blocked out all light. Serey quite liked this. As a Night Race who had avoided sunlight for hundreds of years, he just wanted to keep hiding.

Getting up today without seeing Wei’Er, Bologue didn’t ponder too much on where she went. These undead were each more mysterious and elusive than the next; Bologue had gotten used to their ghostly comings and goings.

Leaving his room, he heard deafening snores coming from the next room. Palmer was still in a deep sleep; Bologue ignored him and headed straight to the bar downstairs.

To Bologue’s surprise, the bar was tidy today. It seemed Serey hadn’t indulged in a drinking spree last night; the tables and chairs were neatly arranged to one side, and the floor was spotless.

He didn’t see Bode or Wei’Er, but when Bologue’s gaze swept to the counter behind the bar, he was stunned.

Usually, Serey would stand behind the bar, drunkenly handing him breakfast and chit-chatting, but this time it wasn’t Serey standing there. It was someone Bologue never expected.

Sai Zong, still dressed in his dog costume, was standing behind the bar mixing drinks. In Bologue’s memory, this was the first time Sai Zong stood up; had this guy finally found being a dog for decades meaningless and wanted to play some other role?

The eyes beneath the dog mask noticed Bologue’s arrival, and he patted the counter, signaling Bologue to come over.

Bologue didn’t refuse and sat cautiously at the bar. He remembered how Serey described Sai Zong, saying this guy’s mind was definitely problematic. Nonetheless, he was the most senior undead within the Undying Club that Bologue knew.

Sai Zong hummed a tune, fiddling with the glasses for quite a while. The silence within the Undying Club was terrifying, as if only the two of them were left.

Sai Zong finished mixing the drink, placed the glass on the bar, but didn’t pass it to Bologue. Instead, he downed it in one gulp himself.

"Ah..."

Sai Zong let out a satisfied sound while Bologue felt increasingly perplexed, unable to grasp what Sai Zong was intending.

"Good morning, Mr. Bologue Lazarus."

Perhaps having not spoken for too long, Sai Zong’s voice sounded twisted and hoarse, like a child learning to talk.

"Sai Zong?"

Bologue whispered his name, as a strong sense of unease grew within him.

Such scenes happen often in horror films. When the normal world becomes bizarre, people experience a terrifying sense of safety being disrupted, just like Bologue’s first encounter with Sai Zong—a human pretending to be a dog, as if cursed.

As time went by, Bologue got used to all of it, considering this abnormality as normal. But now with the abnormal being corrected, the distortion caused made Bologue fall back into the doubt of his safety being compromised.

The deep gaze beneath the dog mask fixed on Bologue. He dipped the drink in the glass and left a water stain on the countertop.

"Look, this is the trajectory of fate."

Sai Zong said, as the trajectory of the water stain forked, becoming two parallel paths moving forward.

"Now we’ve arrived at the crossroads of destiny."

Again the trajectory forked, like a towering tree growing, splitting layer by layer, becoming countless paths moving forward in parallel. They all branched from this moment, diverging into endless futures.

As destiny’s forks multiplied, the long-looming unease in Bologue’s heart also soared until it completely ruptured.

"Trust your instinct and make the right choice."

Bologue abruptly stood up, loudly questioning, "What on earth are you talking about!"

"What was I talking about? I said nothing."

Serey slowly raised his head, looked wearied at Bologue, puzzled about what kind of madness he was having.

Cold sweat soaked the back of Bologue’s shirt as he stared dumbly at Serey in front of him, his gaze trembling as it scanned the surroundings.

The bar was a mess, tables and chairs overturned, bottles rolling around, and there were even some high-heeled shoes as if it had just gone through a wild party.

Bode, as usual, was mopping the floor, tidying up the bar’s things, ready for the next day when they would be disrupted again.

"Serey, you..." Bologue muttered.

"What do you mean, you? Hurry up and eat, then get to work already."

Having possibly partied too hard last night, Serey now had a splitting headache and didn’t want to bother responding to Bologue.

Bologue looked at the bar before him as usual, with breakfast laid out in front of him, accompanied by a glass of orange juice.

"Where’s Sai Zong?"

Bologue was sure it hadn’t just been a hallucination; something must have happened.

"Sai Zong?" Serey didn’t understand why Bologue mentioned the bothersome dog, "Isn’t he here? Then he probably went out for a stroll. What’s up?"

"No... nothing."

The beautiful morning was utterly ruined by Sai Zong, Bologue had no mood for breakfast at all. He clutched his forehead, his confused consciousness mingling with fleeting pain. Without saying a word, he directly left the Undying Club.

"Damn it! My lovingly prepared breakfast, won’t you even take a bite!"

Seeing Bologue leave directly, Serey cursed from behind, but Bologue didn’t look back.

Sai Zong’s words kept echoing in his mind, hinting at something, yet that guy refused to speak plainly.

Instinct?

Bologue picked up his pace, then started jogging, breaking into a full sprint.

The man’s figure dashed through the streets, like an office worker about to be late. But it was still early, even the sky was just beginning to brighten, hard to imagine what sort of unscrupulous company would demand clocking in at this hour.

Few pedestrians or vehicles were on the streets, he blatantly ignored the red light’s warning, like a raging wolf breaking into the city.

The scene gradually pulled back, then covered with a snowflake pattern. Inside a dim little room, the Tyrant nestled comfortably on the sofa, watching Bologue’s run on the screen, laughing loudly.

The door swung open, another person walked in. He glanced at the bald, burly man on the sofa, knowing this was one of the Tyrant’s vessels in the real world.

The newcomer held a box of beer in one hand and cradled several sealed bottles of wine in the other. If Serey were here, he would recognize these as his prized collection, hidden under the bed to keep them from Palmer.

"Move over a bit."

The newcomer sat down, edging the Tyrant over, then settled back comfortably.

"What’s that smell on you?"

The Tyrant covered his nose, looking at the other disdainfully.

"The scent a dog should have," Sai Zong replied.

The Tyrant couldn’t understand, "Is being a dog really that interesting?"

"Not interesting, but it passes the time nicely," Sai Zong bit open a beer, "Following only the most basic instincts, with nothing on my mind, naturally less worry."

Sai Zong bit open another beer and handed it to the Tyrant.

"Have you started liking alcohol?" The Tyrant took the beer bottle, recalling, "I recall you enjoying killing more, every time we talked, you were always killing, never stopping."

"You know the people in the Undying Club are real drunks. Over time, it’s hard not to pick up a few bad habits."

The Tyrant seemed to have heard some kind of joke and burst into uncontrollable laughter, "Compared to your soaring lust for slaughter, drinking’s a pretty good habit."

"How long has it been since you last stained your hands?" the Tyrant further inquired.

"It’s been a while," Sai Zong didn’t hide it, "The perk of focusing on being a dog is this; my mind has become very calm."

"You know it’s an illusion, you can’t suppress your instinct forever," the Tyrant said.

"So, do you want to see my instincts in action?" Sai Zong side-eyed him.

The Tyrant fell silent, then shook his head with a smile.

"So what is this, are you picking your debtor?" Sai Zong looked at the TV screen.

"A new round of conflicts is about to begin, we are all gathering strength."

The Tyrant’s words halted, then turned severe, "You shouldn’t have contacted Bologue."

"But you interrupted my cultivation, I wreaked a little havoc in your plans, we’re even," Sai Zong drank by himself, "You gave the Fantasy Species to that girl? Was it worth it?"

"It was hers to begin with, isn’t she so uniquely special?"

"What about Bologue then?"

Sai Zong cared about the Tyrant’s attitude, "Bologue is already the Debtor, why are you paying him so much attention?"

"He’s merely a supporting character... Moreover, aren’t you curious who’s taken Bologue’s soul?"

The Tyrant pressed the remote control, the camera zoomed in, Bologue’s visage was clearly visible.

"You..."

"Shh, don’t speak, just quietly watch."

The Tyrant stared intensely at the screen displaying Bologue, vaguely seeing the cyan light spots spilling from his body, murmuring in a barely audible voice.

"I found you."