Chapter 1241: The Great Omen

"Wei..." Tian She said with a furrowed brow, "I'm preparing to make you powerful."

"Powerful...?"

"This is also Qing Long's intention," he said. "After thinking it over, I still believe this path is the safest for me..."

Xiao Ran didn't quite understand what Tian She meant: "What are you speculating about Qing Long's intentions here? Does his meaning need you to explain it to me?"

Tian She shook his head and said gravely, "You don't understand Qing Long."

"I... don't understand Qing Long?" Xiao Ran laughed angrily after hearing this. "That's ridiculous. If I don't understand him... why would he entrust such an important task to me? I'm your commander now."

"Don't kid yourself," he said. "You only met Qing Long for the first time today, and if I'm not mistaken, you don't even know why he gave you this task, do you?"

As Tian She spoke, he turned back to tidy up the knives on the table. He wiped the blood off the scalpel and then went over to a box nearby to rummage through it.

"Even if I don't know..." Xiao Ran changed her tone, "I was still highly favored by Qing Long, and you have to admit that, right?"

"So I said you don't understand Qing Long."

Xiao Ran watched as Tian She pulled out a round object from the box, examined it in his hand, and then tossed it back to search for another one. He continued, "For Qing Long... you might be useless now, but you can't stay useless forever."

"What... what do you mean by me being useless now..." Xiao Ran asked irritably, "Don't just say whatever comes to mind..."

"Wisdom, physique, Xian Fa, tactics, depth, strategy..." Tian She said lightly while looking down at the box, "Which one do you think you have?"

"I..." Xiao Ran was stunned. "I think you're the one who doesn't get the situation... I have 'connections,' and now Qing Long is backing me. You get that?"

"You're the one who doesn't get it." Tian She sighed. "How dare you treat Qing Long as your 'connection'... Do you know that in his eyes, you're not even a person?"

"You..."

"If I had to say you have something special..." Tian She shook his head, "It's just that you've had incredible luck. I don't know what the heavens were thinking, letting someone like you survive this long, board the 'train' safely, pass through corridors full of 'Zodiac' and 'rebels,' and even stand before Qing Long when he was in a bad mood without getting killed... Most people don't have that kind of luck."

He paused for a moment, feeling a bit off.

Could all this... not be just luck?

No, he quickly dismissed the thought. If it was all premeditated, then there was no point in struggling—the opponent was too formidable, and he'd just have to accept defeat.

"Luck is part of strength, isn't it?" Xiao Ran sneered. "You say I don't understand Qing Long... Do you really understand him? Maybe he just likes my type, and you guys as men wouldn't know."

Tian She slowly stood up, walked to the table in the center of the room, and tossed the items in his hand onto the surface.

Xiao Ran gasped when she saw them—four bloody eyeballs lay on the table.

"Ah... you pervert..." Xiao Ran was stunned. "What are you going to do?"

Tian She picked up a knife and continued wiping it.

"Don't joke around..." He gave a bitter smile. "'Qing Long likes your type'... We've been at the 'Tian Ji' level for so many years that we can't even tell if Qing Long is male or female. How could you be sure he likes your type?"

Xiao Ran was no longer listening to Tian She; she just felt that the "snakes" in this place were a bit twisted—after all, who keeps eyeballs as collectibles at home?

"What exactly are you going to do...?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"Sigh..." Tian She took a pair of used disposable gloves from the table and put them on. "Don't be afraid; it won't kill you, just make you stronger."

"You're using these eyeballs..." Xiao Ran pointed at the table, "These eyeballs will make me stronger?"

"That's right." Tian She nodded after putting on the gloves. "Have you heard of the 'Shen Shou' here?"

"'Shen Shou'..." Xiao Ran paused. "I think I know Zhu Que... he's the one who messed me up like this, but he's already dead."

"Yes." Tian She leaned on the table and looked up at Xiao Ran. "Both Zhu Que and Xuan Wu are dead, and we urgently need new managers."

"New... managers?"

The word "managers" definitely piqued Xiao Ran's interest.

"Each of these four eyeballs represents a kind of ability," he said. "Originally, 'Shen Shou' should only be transplanted with three abilities, plus their own 'Xian Fa' to make four. Besides Qing Long and Tian Long, the 'Shen Shou' get four, and 'Tian Ji' get three—that's the rule set by Qing Long."

At this point, Xiao Ran realized she had slightly misunderstood the situation.

Although Tian She's actions looked scary, his goal was actually to give her those wondrous powers.

She still remembered how Zhu Que had looked when he took her sanity—that man flew through the air, incredibly strong and elusive, like a god descending to earth.

Could she reach that level too?

"So... these are the 'abilities'?" Xiao Ran pointed at the eyeballs on the table.

"Yes."

"What are they?" Xiao Ran asked again.

"Mainly for emergencies and close-combat fighting." Tian She looked at the eyeballs on the table. "It's roughly what Xuan Wu used to handle, since you need to deal with issues on the 'train' first."

"So that means..." Xiao Ran hesitated, "I'll be Xuan Wu from now on?"

"Ha..." Tian She couldn't help but laugh at that, then quickly shook his head. "No, no, no... Don't insult Xuan Wu. Xuan Wu was my most satisfactory creation so far, and it's a name I'm very pleased with—steady and reserved, perfect for Wu Xuan. It's hard for me to call you that."

"What kind of talk is that..." Xiao Ran said. "Can't I be more to your liking than that Wu Xuan?"

Tian She gave a cold laugh, his expression ambiguous, and just sighed: "Hard to say, but I don't mind giving you a new name, one that better fits your personality and style."

"What is it?"

"Qiong Qi."

"'Qiong Qi'... what kind of thing is that?"

Xiao Ran paused, thinking her vocational school textbooks hadn't covered this animal, but the name sounded pretty good.

"It's basically another ancient beast, similar to 'Xuan Wu' in nature." Tian She patted the table in front of him. "If you're ready, come over and lie down."