38. The Wayfarer's Return

Suddenly.

Dim yellow light curled overhead.

The wanderer had returned.

It felt as though a lifetime had passed.

Lu Xun looked down. The violet-blue armored skirt he wore had been burned into tatters, with only the belt and main armor plates left, hanging loosely about his waist like ill-fitting shorts.

He hurriedly searched for the two small booklets tucked into his belt, took them out and flipped through them. They were mostly intact, though some edges bore signs of charring.

The seventeen taels of silver he'd carried had melted more than halfway.

Lu Xun fetched his electronic scale, reset it to zero, weighed the silver, and saw the display read 350 grams.

He had abandoned that large bundle of five dry coins during transit.

Lu Xun murmured an apology to himself, feeling regret.

Suddenly, he flexed his beastly paw and shouted, "I'm back!"

Not only had he returned, but he carried the head of a great demon, the Five-Pass God.

He rushed to the door in three strides, arms outstretched to push open the heavy glass door.

The door yielded, but beyond lay an unfathomable darkness, with neither ceiling nor floor—he felt as if he were on a small boat drifting across a boundless sea.

Lu Xun stepped forward, only to be stopped by an invisible wall. Unwilling to concede, he gathered his energy, stepped back several paces, and charged.

Bang.

He crashed, stars exploding before his eyes.

"Can't get out?"

Lu Xun was puzzled.

Last time, he had exited—outside was still the familiar Flower City neighborhood.

Why couldn't he leave now?

"Could it be because I'm wearing a demon's body?"

Lu Xun sank into his consciousness to search for a head.

In the strange space, he saw the faint white glow of the Chieftain's skull.

He focused his mind.

Ink-black smoke formed words before his eyes.

[Devour the skull of Chen Sheng, the Water Fortress Dragon of the Waves?]

"No."

Lu Xun refused the Five-Pass God's urge to devour—it was the head he used to walk the modern world; otherwise, with a demon's head and body, he'd be nothing but a cosplayer, and surely the authorities would take notice and send someone to apprehend him. That would be disastrous.

He shifted his attention to the mottled tiger skull.

Black smoke letters appeared again.

[Devour the skull of the Worldly Army's Mad Tiger?]

"Just as I suspected!"

Lu Xun's eyes gleamed. He had wondered why Old Cat could devour skulls and use ashes, but the Toad and Mad Tiger could not. Clearly, their obsessions had not been fulfilled.

Now, having fulfilled the Five-Pass God's obsession and returned to the modern world, he had unlocked the skull's power.

"Devour!"

[The skull of Five-Pass God, Mountain Lord, devours the Worldly Army's Mad Tiger.]

[Art: Ape Dance] → [Magic: Ape Dance]

"Excellent!"

The great demon's skull now possessed another spell.

Having devoured Mad Tiger's head, Lu Xun turned to the strange space and eyed the toad.

---

This one served little purpose.

[Devour...?]

"Yes!"

[The skull of Five-Pass God, Mountain Lord, devours Five-Pass God, Toad Monk.]

[Magic: Water Play] → [Magic: Water Play]

"Is that all?"

"What about transformation?"

Lu Xun waited, scanning his vision, hoping the smoky black words would change.

"Strengthen?"

[Insufficient ashes, unable to strengthen.]

"I just discarded a toad skull; shouldn't it strengthen?"

[Insufficient ashes, unable to strengthen.]

Lu Xun began to understand. Either the toad was a minor spirit created by the Five-Pass God's 'Marshal Summoning' spell, so devouring it didn't enhance the skull, or perhaps the toad's head did strengthen the Five-Pass God's skull, but the 'energy' was insufficient, requiring more ashes to complete the process.

This 'energy' was, of course, ashes.

Lu Xun fetched a new tape recorder from the storeroom.

After unboxing, he placed it on the murky glass counter, switched it on, then slipped into his small room to find his treasured notebook computer.

It was a secondhand item acquired from a household for twelve hundred yuan; a new one would cost ten thousand, but he couldn't afford that.

Most of his money went straight to the hospital's card, awaiting automatic deductions.

The hospital didn't deduct much; he considered it a way to save.

He needed money.

A lot of it!

Plugging in the power, he pressed the boot button and watched as the XP system interface unfolded.

Once booted, Lu Xun created a new Word document.

"Roar..."

Realizing he couldn't speak, he removed the Mountain Lord's head and attached the Chieftain Chen Sheng's skull.

The fur-faced Five-Pass God transformed into a tall, robust, fair-faced man.

He rummaged beneath his small bed for clothes, choosing those as loose and large as possible, but they still fit tightly—after all, Chen Sheng was much larger than his original body.

'Chen Sheng's' head sported a wild beard and tangled hair, giving him a Beatles-like look.

Lu Xun didn't know how to tie a bun, so he simply used a hair tie.

"Cough cough."

Now he could speak normally.

"First record—the second return from the peculiar world..."

Lu Xun pulled the tape recorder closer. "Now organizing."

His fingers danced across the keyboard:

All changes caused by 'unknown'

I. Possible causes of 'unknown'

1. Playing pirated tapes in the DVD player
2. The young man with blood at the corner of his mouth, bringing 'radiation' from the fantasy world
3. Plain noodles and a fried egg
4. The major fantasy realm incident in Chongyang District
5. The silver-masked person who chopped off my head
6. The metal box blending technology and magic
7. The transformation of the entire sundry shop
8. Others

II. Effects of the 'unknown'

1. I didn't die, but am close to death; a body without a head is always on the edge of 'death'
2. Traversed to another peculiar world (known to have demons) and can return
3. Gained a strange space

Using other beings' heads (including human), I become the skull's master
Fulfilling the head owner's 'wish' or 'obsession' unlocks its power. Other heads can strengthen the unlocked head. If the 'obsession' isn't fulfilled, only basic power is usable, no strengthening (for now; unclear if this will change).

Store extra skulls, crush them to obtain ashes.

4. The sundry shop is now an island in darkness; I cannot leave (repeat: I cannot leave). Interestingly, last time a girl entered the shop, I managed to exit (waiting to test if this can be repeated).
5. Use employer's gifts to strengthen the head (awaiting repeated test).
6. Items from the peculiar world can be brought back, including armor, books, silver... I weighed all three: silver, 350 grams; books, 150 grams; armor skirt, 1,000 grams; total: 1,500 grams.
7. Others

III. How to respond to 'unknown'

1. Investigate the 'metal box', track the masked man, retrieve my head
2. Monitor 'unknown', keep detailed records of changes to myself and the sundry shop
3. Find a way to leave the sundry shop
4. Make money

Lu Xun then recorded detailed information about the skulls he'd acquired.

Relying on memory, he jotted down 'Toad' and 'Mad Tiger', organizing them in a separate 'Skull' document.

Clearly, this was a major undertaking. There was much more to record, such as martial arts...

For now, it was best to eat.

Man cannot live without food.

He pressed pause on the tape recorder.

Lu Xun returned to his small den and found half a bundle of noodles. After some thought, he grabbed another half to make a full bundle; his old body could manage with half, but this Water Bandit Chieftain's head surely wouldn't be satisfied.

He had plenty of such noodles, boiled with salt and topped with a fried egg.

This meal was a bit better than before—more nutritious than just rice and chili.

He found his phone had powered off automatically. Lu Xun removed the battery and used a universal charger to recharge it.

The fair-faced burly man carried a small stainless steel basin and picked up the remote.

At this hour, Soldier Assault should still be airing.

Shhhhh.

Snowflakes flickered across the screen.

Lu Xun approached, raising his hand to smack the big-headed TV.

Ding-a-ling!

The wind chimes hanging on the door rang out, struck crisply as the door opened.

The static-snow TV suddenly switched to a program.

Bathed in sunset glow, a child with a large backpack entered.