With the Jing River Dragon King as the center, the vast whiteness all around faded away.
Jiang Chaosheng didn’t move. The Jing River Dragon King didn’t move. But in an instant, the distance between them stretched.
Their eyes met...
...
Jiang Chaosheng snapped awake.
He looked down at the Manager’s handbook in his hand and murmured,
"No wonder you were able to trick it into the antique shop."
’It really was easy to fool.’
The Jing River Dragon King had actually believed his whole story without a shred of doubt.
For the next one hundred years, the Jing River Dragon King must serve Jiang Chaosheng, summoning clouds and rain.
A hundred years from now, if Jiang Chaosheng failed to find the Jing River Dragon King’s enemy, he would willingly have his soul shattered and scattered.
Shattered and scattered...
’Shattered and scattered, my ass!’
The Manager’s soul was bound to Antique Shop Zero—immortal and indestructible!
At most, if he violated the rules of the deal, the Manager would simply be Cursed by Antique Shop Zero.
"Sir! You’re finally awake! You worried me to death!"
Jiang Chaosheng turned his head.
Jin Meiting rubbed her eyes and stood up from the floor.
Jiang Chaosheng’s gaze shifted slightly.
"How long was I out?"
Jin Meiting said,
"You’ve been out for a whole day."
Jiang Chaosheng’s pupils contracted.
’I was asleep on my feet for a whole day?’
’Is this the power of the Jing River Dragon King?’
’No wonder Li Qinglian said he almost fell into a permanent slumber.’
A wave of fear washed over Jiang Chaosheng only then.
’If my negotiations with the Jing River Dragon King had fallen through, could I also have been trapped in a permanent slumber?’
Jiang Chaosheng glanced at the dim and gloomy Dragon Pearl.
’If its resentment alone holds such power, what about the Jing River Dragon King in his prime?’
’Just how did those Deities, so powerful they were beyond comprehension, fall from grace?’
Jiang Chaosheng looked down again at the Manager’s handbook in his hand.
’How did Li Qinglian dare to put something so dangerous here?’
An unpurified Taboo Item was like keeping a venomous snake with its fangs intact in your home.
Even if it was in a cage, it was still dangerous.
You might just receive a fatal kiss while you’re admiring it.
’Absolutely insane!’
Jiang Chaosheng asked,
"What time is it now?"
Jin Meiting said,
"It’s three in the afternoon."
Jiang Chaosheng started walking upstairs.
Jin Meiting quickly asked,
"Where are you going?"
Jiang Chaosheng:
"To eat. We’ve got work to do in a bit."
Jin Meiting stared at Jiang Chaosheng in astonishment.
’The master was in that state for so long. Was he looking for a way to make it rain at will?’
’How incredible...’
...
「Dusk. South Sea, West City Suburb.」
From time to time, the piercing cry of some bird echoed through the mountain forest.
In the wild fields, unknown insects began their tentative chirping.
The sounds were short and sharp, each one cutting through the deepening Dusk.
Li Mingyue had been hiding in the bushes for a long time.
The camera on her chest was on.
The name on the plaque above the temple gate had been eroded by time, making it impossible to read.
Yesterday, she had searched the ruined temple for a long time but found no valuable clues.
Today, while going through the case files, she had discovered a detail that everyone else had overlooked.
The missing persons had all disappeared at night.
She told Luo Quan about her discovery.
Luo Quan was dismissive, explaining that it was either because it was easier to strike at night, or it was just a coincidence.
But Li Mingyue felt it wasn’t that simple.
She believed the disappearances were bizarre and that nothing could be explained with common sense.
So, Li Mingyue chose to come here herself for a stakeout after work.
And sure enough, something turned up!
She heard footsteps and quickly hid herself deeper, looking toward the source of the sound.
Four people appeared in her line of sight.
A middle-aged man was wearing a suit, looking like an office worker.
A woman was dressed scantily, her makeup heavy and garish, reeking of the nightclub scene.
When Li Mingyue saw the other two people, her eyes slowly widened.
They were two Government Officials.
That’s right—Government Officials from a historical drama.
They were escorting the man and woman toward the ruined temple.
Li Mingyue immediately grabbed her phone, hid behind a tree, and dialed Luo Quan’s number.
"Sir, we have a situation! I’ve found the culprits in the missing persons case!
I’m wearing a hidden camera. Connect to the feed on a computer at the station."
Luo Quan:
"What? Don’t do anything reckless! I’m on my way!"
Li Mingyue:
"Okay, I’m right he—"
Before she could finish, Li Mingyue felt a bone-chilling cold.
She stiffly turned her head, looked up, and her eyes gradually filled with terror.
The two Government Officials escorting the man and woman had somehow appeared in front of the tree where she was hiding.
The Government Officials’ faces were ashen, like corpses, as they stared at her blankly.
...
In the courtyard, two rows of Vajra statues were broken and dilapidated.
Some had their eyes corroded, others were missing shoulders, and some had no heads at all.
The night grew deeper, like a ferocious Fierce Ghost lurking in the ruined temple.
In the center of the Vajra statues stood a broken wooden table.
An old man dressed like a County Magistrate from ancient times sat in a chair.
Eight Government Officials holding Execution Sticks stood on either side, their heads bowed.
Li Mingyue was being restrained by a Government Official at the temple entrance.
She watched the scene, her heart pounding with terror.
For a moment, she was in a daze.
’This sinister atmosphere, these terrifying figures...’
’If I’m not in an immersive murder mystery game, then I must be in the Underworld, right?’
The County Magistrate slammed his Gavel on the table and shouted sternly,
"Do you know of your crimes!"
The man and woman kneeling in the center of the courtyard were jolted back to their senses.
The woman let out a terrified scream.
"Where is this! Who are you people!"
The man roared,
"How dare you kidnap me? Do you know who I am?!"
The County Magistrate snorted coldly.
"For shouting in the courtroom, ten strikes of the board for each!"
Two Government Officials stepped out from the sides and forced the man and woman to the ground. Two other officials raised their Execution Sticks and smashed them down hard onto the pair’s backs!
"AHH!!"
"This is abuse!"
"Stop, stop! Don’t hit me! Ah!"
...
The screams were particularly horrifying in the silent, gloomy temple.
Li Mingyue’s heart felt like it was about to leap out of her chest.
She was just a young woman fresh out of college; when had she ever witnessed such a terrifying and bizarre scene?
Steeling herself, she bit down hard on the tip of her tongue.
The pain jolted her short-circuited brain back into thinking.
’Did I run into a bunch of psychos holding some kind of underground trial?’
Suddenly, Li Mingyue’s eyes caught sight of something, and her pupils contracted violently!
Because these Government Officials and the County Magistrate couldn’t possibly be human!
Under the moonlight, they had no shadows!
Li Mingyue felt her brain was about to short-circuit again.
She was a staunch materialist, born in an age of technology, who scoffed at tales of Ghosts and Deities.
But everything before her now utterly shattered her worldview!
’No wonder the police couldn’t find any clues. The culprits weren’t human at all, but a pack of Fierce Ghosts!’
She thought of the three bizarre deaths on Han Dafu Street.
’Could it be... the work of ghouls and monsters too?’
Suddenly, she heard the County Magistrate speak and looked over.
The County Magistrate stared at the man and woman, who were now beaten to a bloody pulp, and said coldly,
"You two, do you know of your crimes!"
The man lay on the ground, barely breathing, and said weakly,
"Who are you? Who sent you? I have money, I have a lot of money!"
The County Magistrate’s face instantly twisted into a savage expression, his eyes burning with a ghastly, spectral fire.
"Well, well! Daring to bribe me in my own court!
Do you take me for one of those corrupt officials whose infamy will last ten thousand years?!"
"Men! Drag him out and tear him to pieces!"
Two Government Officials received the order, grabbed the man’s limp body, and dragged him to the temple entrance.
It was less than two meters away from Li Mingyue.
A Government Official swung the Execution Stick and brought it down on the man’s head.
The next second, red and white matter splattered everywhere!
A few drops of blood landed on Li Mingyue’s face.
As crimson as a winter plum, it made her face look even paler.
But the truly terrifying and sinister part was yet to come.
Li Mingyue bent over, about to vomit, unable to even stand steady.
The Government Official restraining her yanked her upright.
Horrified, Li Mingyue looked up at the Government Official and saw his face filled with Greed as he stared at the flesh and blood on the ground.