Chapter 140.2: Replacement (Part Two)

When Wang Ban came to visit Chen Chuan on the third day, he was in high spirits and no longer looked scared out of his wits like he did two days ago.

He was really impressed with Chen Chuan, who figured out a solution on the day he arrived. Over the next two days, no one else had died or was infected by the butterfly tattoos.

Yet Chen Chuan knew that this wasn’t the time to relax. “It isn’t over yet. It’s going to be the Craftsman God Festival tomorrow. If the festival passes without incident, we’ll be fine. But if not, trouble awaits.”

The butterfly tattoos seemed to be connected to the Craftsman God Festival. Since it was tomorrow, it could mark the arrival of an even greater onslaught.

The problem would only be taken care of after they got through the day without any problems.

When Wang Ban heard this, he became uneasy again, but he was really confident in Chen Chuan now. “Do you need anything, Mr. Chen? I can prepare it for you.”

Chen Chuan thought about it and said, “If there’s something we should do, it’s to keep people from gathering near the hostel.”

“I understand,” Wang Ban said gravely. After he left Chen Chuan’s room, he immediately started making arrangements.

The day passed, and soon, it was the day of the Craftsman God Festival.

Chen Chuan found that his guess was correct. The arrival of the festival led to his second self taking much more damage, and as time passed, the intensity of the damage grew.

He believed that the scattered powers of the Knots of Hearts had gathered onto him one by one.

Now, all that was left was to see who would outlast the other.

For the moment, the intensity of the damage still couldn’t compare to the source of the Flying Heads. Back then, Chen Chuan was almost unable to persevere through the ordeal, but he also needed to fight against the other Flying Heads. Now, he didn’t need to do any fighting, so he saved up on a lot of overlap time.

But just in case, he asked the company’s driver to wait outside. If his second self was about to collapse, he would leave Jia County before that happened and avoid the onslaught. Then, he would think of another method to deal with the butterfly tattoos.

The Craftsman God Festival reached its climax outside. The residents of the county town all came out onto the streets to celebrate. This was a rare holiday, so most of the residents wanted to celebrate and relax.

Chen Chuan sat in the hostel and watched the nonstop stream of fireworks exploding outside his window while he endured the stimulation of his mutated tissue. The effects were so strong it felt like he had taken several doses of medicine.

After regulating his breathing, he started guiding the growth of his mutated tissue.

Time trickled by, and midnight arrived. As the commotion outside faded away, the intensity of the onslaught began to ease. While it still continued, it was no longer as strong as before.

This meant that Chen Chuan had lived through the most dangerous period.

He didn’t sleep. Instead, he sat on the bed cross-legged with the Frost King Saber within arm’s reach. In time, the sky started brightening, and sunlight shone through the window.

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Chen Chuan grabbed the saber and got out of bed to go to the window and breathe in a lungful of fresh air. He then looked at the rising sun over the mountains in the distance.

Suddenly, he felt something, and he reached into his pocket for the Knot of Hearts, but only touched some flaking-off rope. All that was left was a knot typical of a tassel.

Chen Chuan turned to his second self. Only some parts of him remained blurred out, which meant that the supernatural being was gone.

Once the room filled with sunlight, Wang Ban knocked on the door. He asked tentatively, “Are you there, Mr. Chen?”

“The door’s not locked, Secretary Wang. Please, come in,” Chen Chuan said.

When Wang Ban heard Chen Chuan speaking normally, he sighed in relief.

He opened the door and saw Chen Chuan standing by the window looking at the scenery. So, he went over and said, “This is the tallest hostel in Jia County. You can see half of the county town and the Gourd River. I heard that the county town suffered from constant flooding in the past, but they reconstructed the place during the Great Expansion, so it seldom happens anymore.”

Chen Chuan nodded. “Secretary Wang, could you check the infected you’re keeping in custody and see whether they still have the butterfly tattoos?”

Wang Ban was momentarily stunned, then he ran out like the wind.

In less than half an hour, he called and said excitedly, “They’re all gone, Mr. Chen! The tattoos have all disappeared.”

Chen Chuan could sense his excitement through the phone, and he smiled. “That’s good, Secretary Wang. If that’s the case, my mission here is complete. I’m going to leave shortly and return to Yangzhi City.”

“Wait, please! Let me see you off,” Wang Ban said in a rush.

“Okay,” Chen Chuan agreed. He packed up and left the hostel, then asked the company’s driver to wait for a bit.

In less than ten minutes, he saw Wang Ban running over. His forehead was covered in sweat, and he held a book. When he saw Chen Chuan, he rushed up to him and handed him the book. “Thank you for solving our problem, Mr. Chen. I didn’t have anything to thank you with, but then I remembered that you were really interested in local customs and traditions. This is

The Legend of the Three Mountains.

It’s a record of quite a number of old legends from the county towns nearby. It’s my gift to you. I hope you’ll like it.”

Chen Chuan took it and smiled happily. “Thank you, Secretary Wang. I love your gift. I’ll be leaving now. You should go back too.”

Chen Chuan waved him goodbye and got into his car. Wang Ban waved back at him but did not leave. He stood and watched Chen Chuan drive away. He stayed even after a long time passed.