《Xianshi Inn (A contemporary Xianxia novel)》 Chapter 1 It was a cool and breezy night at some corner in San Jose California, the parking lot beside the small wooden sign of ¡°Xianshi Inn¡± was only a third filled. The lights in the lot shined a faint but warm light down at the humble and dusty cars down below. The night was quiet. A brand new looking fancy car in shiny red and gold paint drove into the parking lot and slowly parked in one of the empty spots. A young lady with light brown hair in fashionable attire got out of the car, gently adjusted her sunglasses and walked towards the entrance to the humble looking inn. She threw a cigarette butt onto the ground and took a deep breath of fresh air, the minute traces of smell of flowers and fresh grass may have just lightened her mood for a little bit. The lounge was small yet very neat and clean, with a sign placed near the entrance pointing to the right side that read ¡°Diner¡±. ¡°Good evening, would you like a room?¡± The receptionist behind the desk was a pretty blonde girl with bright blue eyes, a small scar on the left side of her forehead and a ponytail, wearing a clearly non-uniform leather jacket and some sort of occult medallion, with a bit of indication of an attitude, who was obviously not very happy to be doing a shift at this hour either. ¡°Umm¡­ yeah, I would also like some food...¡± hesitantly, the lady still in shades asked, ¡°and could you give me a room with a view of the parking lot and near the stairs please.¡± ¡°Sure thing for the room, but let me check with the boss on the food.¡± the receptionist quickly typed up some information on her computer, then asked: ¡°that would be 80 dollars per night and 80 dollars of safety deposit plus taxes. How long would you stay and would you like to pay cash or credit card?¡± ¡°Just one night. And can we keep my stay off the books? I can pay extra.¡± the lady asked in a low voice and in a slightly secretive manner. The receptionist did not even hesitate for that long, ¡°That would be an additional 40 dollars, miss Mary Jane. And we will need all of the payments upfront, aside from the food.¡± After a swift and probably barely legal transaction involving 200 something dollars and a cold and stainless steel key, the receptionist picked up the phone and called her boss, in a different language than what the lady guest is used to: ¡°Lao ban, you ren yao chi dong xi ¡­ hao de, wo rang ta qu diner.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Diner?¡± the lady guest understood one word, asked slightly nervously, ¡°can I eat in my room?¡± ¡°Sorry, our policy is no food in our rooms.¡± the receptionist shook her head, ¡°Diner only.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ ok ...¡± the lady guest hesitated, then followed the receptionist to the diner. ¡°So, what would you like to eat?¡± The receptionist was also the waitress, as she just picked up an ordering pad and put a small and thin menu on the table, ¡°we don¡¯t have much fancy here. We only serve Chinese food, we don¡¯t have gluten free or vegan options, or any other kinds of religious options.¡± ¡°Umm¡­ how about an egg fried rice? Do you still have it?¡± ¡°Of course, just an egg fried rice? Anything to drink? We still have some soft drinks. Or tea if you like.¡± ¡°Err ¡­ just some water would be fine. With a wedge of lemon?¡± ¡°Ok, coming right up.¡± The receptionist walked over to the kitchen area, and it seemed like someone was already in the kitchen. ¡°Boss, the customer wants an egg fried rice and a glass of water with a wedge of lemon.¡± as Caroline, the receptionist walked into the kitchen, the owner of Xianshi Inn was already getting started with his wok. ¡°What? No Mandarin?¡± Jianmen, the owner asked jokingly. ¡°Please, I am tired, and you wouldn¡¯t have answered me if I spoke english on the phone.¡± said Caroline frustratedly , rolling her eyes. ¡°Egg fried rice will be ready soon. And uh, water is over there near the fridge.¡± Jianmen pointed to the kitchen table near the fridge, where a glass of water was placed and a whole lemon was laid beside it. ¡°So you knew already.¡± Caroline scoffed, then pulled out a knife and cut a slice of the lemon to wedge on the edge of the glass. ¡°Yeah well, an educated guess, figured she¡¯s probably the ice water with lemon type.¡± Jianmen chuckled as he put the overnight rice mixed with egg yolk in the wok. An egg fried rice is a pretty easy and fast dish, especially if the rice is already cooked. And the taste should undoubtedly be great, other wordly, someone might even say. Leaning on the frame of the door to the kitchen, Jianmen watched as the lady guest, who did not take off her sunglasses even while in the dimly lit diner, took her first bite of the egg fried rice. An overly careful, slightly scared woman, who had a nice sense of fashion judging from her choice of clothing was, for some reason, eating a simple egg fried rice. This was what Caroline saw happening in the diner. However, from Jianmen¡¯s point of view, the scene was quite different - it was a woman, whose aura of karma has a lot of threads and chains of different shining colors extended to high above. This of course, as far as he could tell, was only visible to him and him only, for it being a gift from the practice of Laws of Karma - a cultivation method only he would know and understand. A woman of a complicated past, it seemed. Chapter 2 ¡°Thank you, it was very delicious, I never had such delicious rice before.¡± the lady guest seemed surprised herself as she finished the whole plate of egg fried rice. ¡°Thank you! The boss is gonna be happy when he hears it.¡± the blonde receptionist, whose name the lady guest now knew was Caroline, and who was also her waitress, smiled and asked: ¡±Anything else I can get for you?¡± ¡°No, no, that would be all, thank you.¡± the lady guest is much more cheered up compared to before, ¡°How much do I owe you?¡± ¡°Boss said it¡¯s on the house.¡± Caroline smiled and put another glass of water with a wedged lemon on the table, ¡°What can I say, our boss loves off the book customers. Call it an off the book bonus if you will.¡± ¡°Oh, thanks.¡± the lady guest chuckled and delightedly turned towards the kitchen, but the man who stood there while she ate up the whole plate of egg fried rice was no longer there, so she just turned back to the waitress: ¡±Please tell him I said thanks.¡± ¡°He knows, trust me.¡± Caroline winked and gave her a cynical smile . As the lady guest walked to her room through the corridor on the second floor of the inn, she took a look at her car, which could be quite conspicuous compared to the other cars in the parking lot. But now, maybe it was because there was not much light in the parking lot, the car seemed not quite noticeable. After a long exhale, the lady guest went into her room shaking her head. Her room was just in front of her right beside the staircase, just like she asked for. ¡°What¡¯s up with the free food? Something special about her? Is it the clothes? The shades?¡± as she was cleaning up the table, Caroline asked Jianmen in a mildly sarcastic tone, even though he was her boss, and owner of the inn, ¡°The perfume?¡± ¡°The trouble.¡± Jianmen answered without turning to face or looking at Caroline, as he was back in the kitchen cleaning up his cookware, ¡°... and the shades.¡± ¡°What a cliche, former celebrity?¡± Caroline came over to the kitchen and dropped the dishes in the sink, with a light frown at Jianmen. ¡°Nah, you didn¡¯t pay attention to her eyes did you?¡± Jianmen shook his head with a small smile as he wiped the wok clean, ¡°Kind of a cliche as well - you know, a black eye, or two?¡± ¡°Son of a bitch.¡± Caroline threw the sponge she just picked up to wash the dish into the sink, causing a big splash of soap bubbles and water, ¡°So the trouble - you think he¡¯s tracking her down?¡± ¡°Yes, and not too far away. Pretty close, actually.¡± Jianmen chuckled. ¡°Not funny, not, funny!¡± Caroline hastily took off her gloves and threw them on the side of the sink, then rushed out of the kitchen.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Remember to wake Jason, he¡¯s out of practice!¡± Jianmen¡¯s voice barely followed Caroline out the door, and sounded like he was laughing. ¡°What? I just got off my shift and it¡¯s 3 am!¡± after a series of loud bangs on the door, a Chinese young man slightly taller than Caroline and with a non-stereotypically chiseled jaw and broad shoulders came out of his personnel room, who was also looking tired and annoyed while wearing a beanie and a T-shirt with graffiti arts on it and a pair of leisure shorts. ¡°An abuser is tracking one of our guests. Boss said he¡¯s pretty close. So I need backup.¡± with one hand on the frame of the door, Caroline said. ¡°Geez, why me for backup?¡± Jason gave out an unwilling expression and tried to close the door, but Caroline stopped the door from closing with one firm arm. ¡°Ok, I apologize. Sorry to have woken you.¡± Caroline adjusted her posture a bit to not look too aggressive, ¡°Consider it one favor returned.¡± Jason suddenly seemed more awake than a few seconds ago and started smiling, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you start with that Ms. Baker, happy to be of service.¡± ¡°5 minutes, bring your frigging camera.¡± Caroline pointed at Jason with warningly squinting eyes, then headed to the reception¡¯s desk. In almost precisely 5 minutes, Jason arrived at the reception¡¯s desk with a portable camera in hand. But when 30 minutes passed, still no sign of other guests or trouble seekers arriving, and it started to make Jason the backup slightly impatient. After all - this wasn¡¯t his shift, his shift would start at 7 am today, and he barely got enough sleep. ¡°So¡­ boss said the abuser was close? Did he mean ¡®close¡¯ as it was in distance or ¡®close¡¯ in finding out where she is?¡± asked Jason, after the tenth check on his camera inconspicuously placed behind the reception¡¯s desk. ¡°He said he was close, and he reminded me to wake you, so should be both.¡± Caroline started squirming nervously. ¡°Hmmm...someone¡¯s in the parking lot.¡± Jason suddenly pointed at the screen showing feeds from surveillance cameras. ¡°That must be him. Abusing son of a bitch.¡± Caroline stopped rubbing on her scar on the left side of her forehead, jumped out of her chair and ran into the parking lot. Jason needed to grab the camera so he was not in the parking lot until Caroline was already about to confront the apparent abuser. But from what Jason could tell, Caroline might be mistaken: it was three people, led by a woman with pink and green hair with a pretty muscular upper body, wearing an expensive looking jacket; the other two were a young women with similar hair color and similar jacket and a man similar to Jason¡¯s age, wearing the same kind of jacket. ¡°... we were looking for this girl, have you seen her?¡± as Jason caught up to Caroline, he heard the leading woman asking Caroline, with a printed picture in her hand. ¡°... I am so sorry, but we are not allowed to disclose information about our guests. If you really need to find this persona I would suggest filing a police report. What else can I help you with? Would any of you like a room?¡± Caroline smiled. ¡°No! We know she¡¯s here! She stole my car and it is here!¡± the leading woman raised her voice and waved the printed picture in front of Caroline¡¯s face, the other hand pointing at a car with shiny gold and red paint. ¡°Hey hey hey kid, what¡¯s with the camera!?¡± the man of the three person group noticed Jason and saw that he was holding a portable camera. ¡°This is the lot of Xianshi inn, we work here, if you are threatening our staff or our guests we have a right to document it.¡± Jason answered, deliberately loud and clear so that it will be recorded properly. ¡°Stop recording, stop recording! Give me those cameras you fuck!¡± the two followers started to gang up on Jason and tried to take the camera away from him, yet Jason was flexible and agile enough to dodge all of their moves. After quite a few attempts and yet still could not even take a hold of the edge of his clothes, the two lackeys started getting more aggressive and violent. All the while, they are still being filmed. ¡°Imbeciles! Take the camera!¡± the strong woman leading the pack shouted, and attempted to get in on the camera grabbing action. ¡°Wait.¡± Caroline moved in front of the woman with pink and green hair and blocked her way, ¡°The black eye she had, was that you?¡± ¡°So you HAVE seen her.¡± this woman with pink and green hair stared at Caroline, put her focus on Caroline instead: ¡°You tell me where she is, now!¡± Then she shoved Caroline on her shoulder. ¡°Like I said, we¡¯re not allowed to share information about our guests, especially if they are violent ¡­ ¡± ¡°Shut up you bitch!¡± this woman with pink and green hair did not hesitate for one minute, and started swinging at Caroline. Chapter 3 It was morning already, the police finally let Jason and Caroline go. The video from Jason¡¯s video was very helpful to him and Caroline - according to the officers, this video basically proved that they did not instigate the fight, they did not even use much violence to fight back. The other three, on the other hand, may need to stay in the station for a bit longer and may even get booked. To their dismay, the abusing claim did not seem to stick, since the victim was not around to report it. But most important of all, the injuries on those three were all documented on the video and the security footage from the inn - they were trying to assault Caroline and Jason but ended up connecting their hits to cars and light poles in the parking lot. "Well, boss is gonna be pissed. ¡± on their rideshare way home, Jason said to Caroline, scratching his forehead beneath his beanie. "Relax, he can afford the liabilities.¡± Caroline rolled her eyes and said without a care. "Yeah I know that, but we missed work.¡± "You mean, YOU missed your shift.¡± "And you are the reason why!¡± "How is that my problem?! You were paying back a favor!¡± "Dealing with you is really stressful, you know that? ¡± Jason sighed and laid back on the car seat. "Yeah I know, why do you think I work at an inn that is barely getting by with a cheap ass boss?¡± Caroline sighed as well, and laid back on her seat just like Jason. "You missed work! Both of you.¡± as Caroline and Jason entered the door of Xianshi Inn, Jianmen the boss was already waiting for them. "You mean Jason missed work.¡± Caroline still tried to wiggle her way out of the situation, "how¡¯s the guest.¡± "She left early in the morning. And no, you were absent for the last two hour of your shift. And Jason was late for almost two hours. So you both missed the same amount of work.¡± Jianmen was serious yet kind of expressionless as he spoke, staring both Caroline and Jason in their eyes, "I had to cover for you. So you know the drill.¡±A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Can I make up our shift today?¡± Jason raised his hand with slouched shoulders. "No.¡± Jianmen¡¯s answer was simple. "Can we at least wait till Jason¡¯s shift is over? You know, shouldn¡¯t interfere with the business at the busiest hour of the day.¡± Caroline raised her hand and asked. "No. It needs to be now, which happens to be the best time. And you know where.¡± Jianmen gave out a slightly devious smile. ------------------------------------------ After a brief moment, two giant wooden buckets were placed on the backside of the inn, in a discreet corner surrounded with decorative plants that Caroline and Jason did not know the names of. Inside the buckets, were hot water with a bunch of things in them - they include some chili peppers, ginger, some kind of unknown tree bark, some unidentifiable dried fruit, and a couple of pieces of rock. "Medicinal bath¡±, this was what Jianmen calls it, but it was quite a torturous experience for both of them. "Alright, 1, 2 3!¡± with the final countdown, Caroline and Jason both wearing their bathing suits, jumped into the buckets put in front of them. Hard as they tried, the water in the buckets barely splashed out of the bucket. The water was hot enough as it is, but the chili peppers and ginger inside it made the water feel even hotter and produced a burning sensation on their skin. Also, for some unknown reason, the bath gave them a sort of sore feeling to their whole body, especially the muscle in their extremities. After staying in the buckets for around 20 minutes, both of them struggled to climb out and started practicing their martial arts moves right there in front of the buckets. Their skins were as if they had been exposed to the hottest and brightest sun for a whole day and then some - they looked red and if anyone paid close attention, they could see red tree root like markings all over their body. The red skin and red markings hurt as much as it looked - but neither of them could make a sound until the process was finished, because if they did they had to redo it all again. The moves practiced by Caroline and Jason were mostly similar with very small differences, but they were also very in sync so when they were doing the same moves they started and ended at the exact moments. As their kicks flew and punches struck the air, the red marks on their skin slowly dissipated. This was not easy for either of them, as the more they moved the more tired their arms and legs got, if it was a normal person, they¡¯d hardly make past 10 moves. "Are they¡­ are they doing Kung Fu?¡± although this area is quite discreet, it was not entirely hidden and still some of the guests that were staying in the inn walked by the area and noticed Caroline and Jason. This was not the first time it happened, but still a tad bit embarrassing for both of them - no one wants to be seen doing Kung Fu in swimsuits with skins like that of a boiled lobster. "Ha!¡± both finished their practice with a final fist strike and a loud yell, steam slowly rose from their bodies as if they were a new set of newly forged human weapons. Something clicked inside their minds the moment they finished this set of moves - a comforting chill came in their body through their every pore, the weariness from staying almost all night at the police station and having to practice their moves quickly went away. It was as refreshing as a couple of good nights¡¯ sleep. "Congratulations!¡± Jianmen was standing among the people watching, and started slow clapping right after they felt the chill, "now you can join an MMA fight if you want to.¡± "Thanks, boss.¡± Jason and Caroline both made a bow with folded fists, like true Kung Fu apprentices. "Now get back to work! Our guests can¡¯t serve themselves!¡± "Oh, come on boss!¡± Jason frustratedly threw his towel into his bucket. Chapter 4 As Caroline got dressed, she suddenly had a strange gut feeling. It was not her shift, so she just put on some simple clothes and ran into the parking lot. The car with the shiny red and gold paint, it was still in the parking lot. ¡°Hey, the guest you gave the free egg fried rice to yesterday evening, you checked her out?¡± right after barging into Jianmen¡¯s room, Caroline asked hurriedly. ¡°Yeah. And what¡¯s the rush?¡± Jianmen barely took his eyes off from the computer screen, ¡°She left like there¡¯s no tomorrow.¡± ¡°But she left her car here, so she couldn¡¯t have left by her own will!¡± Caroline became really worried, ¡°Crap, she must have been taken by other minions of the son of a bitch abuser!¡± ¡°You mean the daughter of a bitch.¡± Jianmen started chuckling. ¡°Why are you laughing? It is not funny!¡± Caroline was getting a little bit upset. ¡°It is a little bit funny.¡± Jianmen turned around and saw Caroline¡¯s slightly angry expression, so he stopped his insensitive chuckling, ¡±look, I know you feel obligated to help her, OK? But you helped quite enough. I told you, she¡¯s trouble. And I am not talking about a butch ex who has a few lackeys.¡± ¡°Then what do you mean? Care to explain? Or are you still gonna dish out riddles?¡± Caroline felt like she could not help but raise her voice. ¡°Relax, you know I cannot just tell you stuff. I don¡¯t know most of it myself.¡± Jianmen answered in a calming voice shaking his head, ¡°But, if you do feel she needed your help, something tells me you can find clues in her car.¡± then, he reached down from his computer desk and took out a car key: ¡±Lucky for you, our guest was in a hurry and was quite forgetful.¡± ¡°Thanks, Boss.¡± Caroline took the key and was almost ready to head out, then turned back to Jianmen and said: ¡° I¡¯ll take more shifts if you¡¯d like.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take your word for it.¡± Jianmen smiled and turned back to his computer, ¡°Don¡¯t forget, bring Jason when you need backup. And, don¡¯t take this the wrong way - do trust your gut sometimes.¡± ¡°Ok. Thanks?¡± Caroline thought for a second whatever could Jianmen meant, but then she just decided it was just one of those riddles that she just complained about. ---------------------------------------------------------- After getting into the guest¡¯s car, Caroline started searching for things that could be clues to the whereabouts of the off the book Mary Jane. Just like any new owner of an expensive car, the car was kept quite clean, with almost no personal decorations. She did find a small box of napkins and some useless car related documents from the glove compartment. After reaching her fingers down to the small space under the big flat control screen, Caroline pulled out a piece of folded paper - a drive thru receipt to a fast food restaurant, dated to the day before yesterday. Then under the driver seat, she found a single bullet still in the cartridge, and a small rolled up piece of paper with an address on. The place, after a quick search, turned out to be a relatively new one due to it being recently turned into a developer site for office buildings and movie studios.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Emerson Street huh?¡± When Jason saw the address, he seemed to recognize the address: ¡±I heard that place is gonna be pretty cool, they are trying to build some of the next gen studios there. Couple of those big studios are teaming up with some tech companies, kind of a big deal for the movie and TV folks.¡± ¡°So why would someone running away from her abuser leave her car here, and with this kind of things laying in her car?¡± as Caroline and Jason waited around their table during lunch break, Caroline asked Jason. ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe she was in a hurry and she had to ditch her car to avoid being tracked?¡± Jason anxiously tapped the table as Jianmen was getting their lunch ready. ¡°But then she could just park her car nearby on the street somewhere and walk here. This place is not deserted, so that would give her ex more trouble.¡± Caroline scratched her right ear as she said, rather confusedly, ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯d do.¡± ¡°Well, not everyone has as much experience evading trackers or troublesome family members.¡± Jason shrugged. ¡°You can worry about those later, here¡¯s your lunch.¡± Jianmen brough two big plates onto the table, inside each is a piece of slightly charred steak with mushroom, some kind of steamed vegetable roots as a side, and a small lump of chopped berries made from some unknown berries glazed with Jianmen¡¯s homemade honey sauce. ¡°Wow, this is extra nice, what¡¯s the occasion Boss?¡± Jason laughed as he happily rubbed his hands. ¡°This, is to celebrate your first breakthrough. You are officially first layer cultivators now. Here¡¯s I will need to upgrade your bi weekly medicinal meal so you can continue with your cultivation properly.¡± Jianmen smiled and went back to get another smaller plate for himself, ¡°a nice piece of marinated steak for your protein and more. Some mushrooms, some steamed Ling Gen roots to stabilize and harden your Spiritual Roots, and some chopped arcane berries of will to temper and harden your mind and help you shape your Intent, just like your medicinal bath tempers your bodies.¡± ¡°Yeah, about that, what is this ¡®Intent¡¯ anyway? You just started mentioning it and I am not sure I follow.¡± Jason swallowed a mouthful of steak, then asked. ¡°Intent, or the Chinese word ¡®Yi¡¯, is a special manifestation of one¡¯s will power.¡± Jianmen smiled as he sipped his tea, then answered in an educating tone: ¡°On the general and vague side it helps you dissect and understand the world around you and the powers that be. One the more concrete side it can transcend your moves and especially attacks. When you punch with Yi, your fist can strike with the physical power to crush and bludgeon, and the spiritual power to lock onto your foe and shock them into inaction.¡± ¡°That is ¡­ not that helpful.¡± Caroline shook her head as she cut her steak into smaller pieces and ate up one small chunk, ¡±Steak¡¯s delicious though. You should try getting into a competition.¡± ¡°Meh, I will join, once you two reached the second layer of cultivation, which will require you having a basic knowledge of my cultivation method and meditation method.¡± Jianmen laid back into his chair, ¡°And of course, you will reach the second layer of your body tempering process, and the second layer of the martial arts I taught you.¡± ¡°And¡­ what would that mean for us?¡± asked Jason. ¡°That would mean ¡­ you mean this? Won¡¯t hurt you as much.¡± Jianmen grabbed the bullet on the table and showed it to both Caroline and Jason. Both of them almost spit out their food in their mouths. ¡°Seriously? You are kidding right?¡± Caroline forcefully took the bullet away from Jianmen, ¡°A bullet? What the hell? Are you gonna shoot us?¡± ¡°Relax, this is just a normal 9mm. And yeah, once you reached the second layer, as long as it is not point blank or over some critical areas, you will bruise and hurt, but you¡¯ll live.¡± Jianmen chuckled with an extremely punchable expression. ¡°And how bulletproof are you, Boss? Can we test you?¡± Jason pointed his steak knife at Jianmen, with a jokingly jabbing motion. ¡°Yeah well, you see, I am very good at dodging attacks, so I have yet to find out.¡± Jianmen¡¯s smile just became more punchable, ¡°Just like I dodge trouble - I rarely get in trouble because I just lay low.¡± ¡°Geez, boss, way to dodge the important question as well.¡± Jason laughed and continued with his steak. ¡°Speaking of important questions, do you want your break this evening or not? You can have your answers or you can have a break this evening.¡± Jianmen put down his tea and asked in a half threatening tone. ¡°Break please, of course! That was not important at all.¡± Jason raised his hand and yelled. ------------------------------------------ ¡°Hey, is Miss Caroline Baker and Mr. Jie Lin here?¡± just the minute three of them finished their lunch, two tall and serious looking individual walked into the inn, one was a man with clean cut hair, tall nose, brow hair, brown eyes and bulging muscles that are barely hidden by his tight shirt under his jacket, the other was a handsome woman with black shoulder length hair, deep and brown eyes who looked additionally tall with her slim figure and long legs and her jeans and boots. ¡°Hello police sir and police lady, I no speak english. My employee help you.¡± Jianmen was no fan of dealing with cops, so he turned on the Chinese accent and laid out the ¡°I don¡¯t speak English¡± card and slithered back into the kitchen with all the dirty dishes. ¡°So, you are cops huh?¡± Jason sort of had no choice but to start talking to these two police officers, ¡°How can I help you, officers?¡± ¡°Ok, first off, do we really look like cops?¡± the man from this duo frowningly asked Jason. ¡°Um, I am so sorry, are you not cops?¡± ¡°Yeah we are, but still!¡± Chapter 5 ¡°So, Detective Chaver and Detective¡­ Chaver, how can we help you?¡± after a quick introduction and a round of small talk regarding why the police officers looked like police officers, two of Jianmen¡¯s apprentices and the two police officers finally got to the point. ¡°Yeah, brother-sister and partner things are tough, no problem, you can just call us Thomas and Aimee when we¡¯re together. You can call us Detective Chaver when either of us is alone.¡± Thomas, the younger brother of the duo said without much of a care. ¡°Anyway, that aside, we are here for an investigation. Have you by any chance seen this person?¡± Aimee, the older sister rolled her eyes a bit and handed out a picture, which was of the lady guest from last night. ¡°Yes I remember, she was in here last night, paid cash and left really early this morning.¡± Caroline answered, ¡°We weren¡¯t here when she checked out, because we had a scuffle with her stalker slash abuser last night.¡± ¡°Yeah, I remember that as well, our officers were quite impressed with you. I saw the videos in evidence. ¡± Thomas grinned and gave Caroline and Jason a thumb up: ¡°Sick moves! Wanna consult at our precinct?¡± ¡°Anyway - do you know where she went after she checked out?¡± Aimee impatiently shutdown Thomas¡¯ casual question: ¡°If not, could you tell us if there is anything that could help us track down here whereabouts?¡± ¡°Yeah, actually, we found that she forgot her car here. ¡± Jason quickly and happily answered, without much hesitation. ¡°Yeah, yeah, and we found these.¡± Caroline felt the sudden urge to kick Jason¡¯s side but managed to keep it down, then she handed out the piece of fast food restaurant receipt, the single bullet and the piece of paper with the Emerson street on it, ¡°I know we kinda shouldn¡¯t do it, but she left her cars here so we tried to find her as soon as possible, because ¡­ you know, the stalking abuser.¡± ¡°Understandable.¡± Thomas nodded as he took all of these things from Caroline¡¯s hand.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°But definitely not advised, you could get into trouble for that.¡± Aimee gave Thomas a warning elbow as she wrote on her notepad. ¡°Emerson street¡­ isn¡¯t this the place where we rai ...¡± Thomas almost spilled some seemingly confidential information as he checked on the piece of paper with an address on, but he was aware enough to stop himself. ¡°Yeah, yeah, that place. ¡± Aimee half angrily gave Thomas a ¡°let me do the talking now¡± face and then turned to Caroline and Jason: ¡°Thanks very much for your help? Do you know anything else that might help us find this person?¡± ¡°Oh my god, is she OK? If she went to a place that you guys raided last night, that¡¯s bad right?¡± Caroline turned on her valley girl mode a bit. ¡°Yeah, that is classified. And no it was no good.¡± Aimee squinted her eye and stared at Caroline for a bit, ¡°All you need to know is that she might be in danger, so if you think of anything, please let us know, OK?¡± ¡°Ok, no problem.¡± Caroline dialed her pretended accent back a bit at Aimee¡¯s stare, as she took the contact info card from Aimee. ¡°Thanks for your cooperation, have a lovely day.¡± at this point the interview was basically wrapped up, and Thomas being the funnier and happier of the two waved both Caroline and Jason goodbye, ¡°I really meant the consultant thing, we could use some kickass civilian consultants!¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s bad.¡± as Aimee and Thomas drove away, Jason shook his head then was about to head back to the reception¡¯s desk and continue with his shift. ¡°So, what¡¯s your plan for your break this evening?¡± Caroline leaned on the reception¡¯s desk and asked in an abnormally nice and gentle voice. ¡°I was thinking, maybe I can continue with my design...¡± Jason was just about to give an honest answer, then he frowned and asked: ¡°You don¡¯t care, do you? What do you want?¡± ¡°No I don¡¯t. And I need a favor.¡± Caroline nodded and smiled. ¡°Funny how fast funny things change huh?¡± Jason shook his head resignedly, ¡°Yeah, name your ask first, I¡¯m not breaking laws or pissing off Boss for you.¡± ¡°Neither of these, I want to make sure the girl¡¯s OK. So I will try to track her down, but when I find her I will need you to come with me, for backup.¡± Caroline knocked on the reception¡¯s desk twice and said, ¡°I already asked some of my buddies for help, hopefully I can hear back from them soon.¡± ¡°Ok, but only if it is not on a busy hour, I can¡¯t skip a busy shift. Boss is gonna be pissed.¡± sighed Jason. ¡°Yeah, he really needs to get that dealing with too many strangers thing checked out. I was hoping I will hear from them tonight.¡± Caroline stretched and headed out the lounge to the back of the inn, ¡°Thanks again!¡± Later today, as Jason was about to be done with his shift, a lady guest wearing a pair of sunglasses, plain jacket and jeans came into the inn. ¡°Hello, um, I was staying here last night, I think I may have left my car and my car keys here.¡± the lady guest asked Jason in a slightly trembling voice. ¡°Yes, we do have a car here and a lost car key. Let me contact the receptionist at the shift. In the mean time can you describe what the car looks like?¡± Jason started texting Caroline immediately, while asking some basic questions to verify the lady guest¡¯s request, and to stall her for a bit. Chapter 6 As the lady guest drove off with her car, Caroline and Jason slowly drove out of the inn¡¯s parking lot and started following the lady guest. ¡°Don¡¯t get too close, if she¡¯s as smart as you think, she¡¯ll notice.¡± on the front passenger seat, Jason was a bit nervous. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve done this before.¡± Caroline made a shush gesture while not taking her eyes off the lady guest¡¯s car. ¡°That¡¯s one more complicated life related question about you answered.¡± Jason sighed as he adjusted his camera on the dash to record what was in front of the car, ¡°Why do you care so much about this girl you don¡¯t even know??¡± ¡°Well ¡­ I feel I kinda have to, you know?¡± Caroline struggled a bit with her reason, ¡°A girl who escaped from an abusive ex, barely making it on her own, alone and scared, paranoid. I doubt the cops are able to help her. I can feel for her. And her ex, you might not know this, but they look like they are from a gang.¡± ¡°A gang?¡± Jason was unpleasantly surprised, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me this earlier?¡± ¡°Then you wouldn¡¯t come.¡± Caroline grinned as she made a hard left turn on a crossroad, the inertia made Jason swallow his follow up complaints and questions, ¡°And trust me, I am not planning to get anybody killed tonight.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not reassuring.¡± ¡°Yeah well, you heard what Boss said, once we are in the second layer, bullets won¡¯t hurt us¡­ that much.¡± ¡°Yeah, but we just passed the first layer, I am not feeling anything that different. ¡± Jason took a look at his hands and arms, ¡°It felt good right after the practice for sure, but now I just feel really normal.¡± ¡°Huh, so you actually believe in his cultivation talk?¡± Caroline gave Jason a slightly judgemental look.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Well, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Not fully, that¡¯s for sure.¡± the scene of her first meeting Jianmen flashed back in her head, ¡°Look, I know he¡¯s incredible at Kung Fu, and he¡¯s willing to pay me to waitress and give me a place to stay, that¡¯s all I care about.¡± ¡°Interesting, didn¡¯t know your standards are so low.¡± Jason tried cracking his knuckles, but it does not sound too special either. ¡°Yeah well, at least until I saved up enough and figured out what I want to do, I am happy to go along with this Kung Fu and cultivation mumbo jumbo.¡± Caroline squinted as she pulled over to the side of the road, since the lady guests¡¯ car stopped near the crossroads in front of them. And on the right side of the crossroads, was a community with two story houses inside, decorative plants as well as slick looking nightlights. The community has a high and metal decorative gate that was not closed, on the gate hangs flowers as well as colorful words of positivity. ¡°Well you better have faith soon, I heard Boss is going to add meditation sessions to our schedule.¡± Jason chuckled as he got off the car with Caroline, while holding his hand held camera and adjusting his second mini camera he placed on his shirt pocket. ¡°Careful, don¡¯t let her find out.¡± as two of them slowly followed the lady guest from a distance, Caroline whispered as she looked around, ¡°I wonder what she is doing here. This place is way too fancy for a hideout.¡± ¡°I know, didn¡¯t you say a gang was involved? ¡± Jason asked in a low voice, ¡°Looks like she could be safe here, should we go back?¡± ¡°Just follow me.¡± Caroline ignored Jason¡¯s plea and walked right through the decorative gate. ¡°Remember you promised no law breaking?¡± Jason had no choice but to follow Caroline through the gate. The community was quiet and had a calming smell in the air, slightly like the back side of the inn, but not as serene and did not seem to have the same head-clearing atmosphere. There were big and artistically designed flower pots that are waist high with pink and light yellow flowers inside, some of which even had smaller flower pots on top, containing other kinds of smaller flowers. The lady guest was hasty, barely after Caroline and Jason walked through the gate, she entered one of the houses inside the community. House 1204 - one with a small garden in front with some small cacti and flowers inside of it. ¡°Ok, there¡¯s this house, and we are not invited in. Can we go now?¡± Jason folded his hand held camera and seemed couldn¡¯t wait to get out of this short misadventure. ¡°Let¡¯s wait a bit, Ok? Don¡¯t be a child.¡± Caroline dismissively and impatiently waved Jason off. Just when Caroline decided to try to circle the house for a quick look, three loud bangs came out of the house. ¡°Shit, guns!¡± Caroline and Jason swiftly found the nearest cover and hid behind it, ¡°It¡¯s coming from the house!¡± ¡°Help! Help!¡± following the gunshots, two people burst through the front door of the house and started running towards the gate of the community in panic while crying for help. ¡°That¡¯s her!¡± Caroline picked up a piece of rock from where she hid and jumped out of her hiding place and ran towards one of the escapees from the house. ¡°Dammit Caroline!¡± Jason also jumped out of his place and started running as well. Chapter 7 Another loud bang came from behind, a flower pot on the left side of Caroline exploded, broken clay pieces flew everywhere. Jason happened to be close to the two gunmen because of where he was hiding, while the gunman was not paying attention to him, he leaped to the chance and swung his hand held camera at one the gunmen. His swing was more powerful than he thought, not only did he send the gunman flying to the side, his camera was also completely shattered into pieces. The second gunman turned his gun around and tried to point at Jason, but his aim was broken by a broken camera handle to his wrist, his gun flew to the side and the next thing he saw was an incoming fist. It did not take much effort for Caroline to almost catch up to the running lady guest. But another gunshot stopped the lady guest¡¯s escape. Caroline was able to hold the lady guest as she fell down and kept her from hitting the cold and hard ground. The shot was fired from another gunman on Caroline¡¯s left side, and Caroline had no choice but to carry the lady guest over to the nearest giant flower pot and hid behind it. ¡°Don¡¯t be a hero, young lady. We just want that bitch!¡± the gunman continued firing at the flower pot to keep up the pressure, ¡°Come out and we will let you go! Just leave the thief and liar here and you will be fine!¡± ¡°Such a big man, using a gun on a helpless young girl.¡± Caroline tried her best to hide herself and the lady guest away from the edges of the giant flower pot, ¡°Pick on someone your own size for a change!¡± ¡°No one steals from the Corin family, so you chose wrong you little bitch!¡± the gunner yelled as he unloaded the final rounds in his magazine. Right when the gunner was trying to reload, Caroline emerged from behind the pot and threw the piece of rock she picked up earlier at the gunman.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. The piece of rock made a noticeable ¡°woosh¡± sound as it traveled through the air and landed right on the gunner¡¯s face. ¡°Boom!¡± a loud explosion destroyed another giant flower pot, and Jason, now with his shirt and jacket full of burn marks and his beaning exuding smoke, struggled to get to where Caroline was: ¡°We need to go now! They have a fire bender!¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Watch out!¡± without hesitation, Jason stepped up and stood between Caroline and an incoming fireball with his arms crossed in front of him. An explosion ensued, and he was knocked back several feet and almost knocked down Caroline. The person who released the fireball was a man with black hair, and a mustache with a scar on his face and wearing all black. And as Caroline turned to him, he already had another fireball between his two palms. With Jason down on the ground coughing and not able to stand up anytime soon, Caroline rushed to the gunner she just knocked out and picked up the gun on the floor. The next fireball barely missed her, and she could smell her hair and jacket burning. The gun¡¯s hammer struck several times but no bullet was fired - turned out the gunner did somehow reset the action of the gun but did not get to reload before he was knocked out. Another fireball incoming, Caroline had to ditch the gun and dive to the side, her face and side scratched and bruised by flying shattered bricks and clay from the explosion. Having no time to check on her wounds, She leapt towards the man with the scar on his face in an attempt to tackle him. Fierce as the fireball attacks were, the tackling was not as hard as she expected. As they both fell to the ground, she facing down and her opponent facing up, Caroline mustered up all her strength to climb on top of the fireball throwing man and started wailing on him with her well practiced left and right hooks. This man tried his hardest to block Caroline¡¯s hits with his arms guarding his face and upper body while yelling and cursing at her. But his guard was not sturdy enough to save him from getting hit in the face and chest. His nose started bleeding after the second indirect hit, and the corner of his left eye started swelling up. But just as Caroline thought she was about to handle this man below her, the man¡¯s arms started lighting up and releasing pulses of heatwave. A fiery shockwave erupted from the man¡¯s arms, though Caroline backed away just enough to avoid being scorched, she was still knocked away and down on the ground. As the man with a scar on his face stood up and tried to conjure up another fireball, Jason came up from behind him and swept him on the floor with a low sweeping kick. ¡°Come on, standup Caroline! Are you alright?¡± Jason struggled to present a battle form with one arm as he stared at the man doing a quick roll on the ground and tried to stand up again. ¡°Yeah, you weren¡¯t kidding with the fire bending.¡± Caroline coughed as she recovered from the impact of the shockwave, ¡°This son of a bitch is really pissing me off.¡± Police sirens alarmed every standing persona at the scene and put a pause on their fight. The man spitted out some blood in his mouth, turned around and ran away. ¡°Come on, she¡¯s shot and we need to get her to the hospital.¡± Caroline patted Jason on the arm, causing Jason to flinch in pain. ¡°Geez, I think that fireball dislocated my shoulder.¡± Jason was breathing through his locked teeth. Chapter 8 At the hospital, both Caroline and Jason got bandaged up. Jason¡¯s left shoulder was dislocated, both arms endured pretty nasty burns. Luckily the doctor said the burn was mostly superficial, so no severe tissue damage is done. Caroline, however, got quite a lot of mild burns, shallow cuts and some small bruises from being close to the fireball explosions. Her fingers and knuckles were slightly bloodied and swollen due to her striking the man who can conjure fireballs. The lady guest was shot in her shoulder and lost quite a lot of blood so she was put into the ICU after the doctors finished the initial operation. ¡°How is she? Is she OK?¡± right after being patched up, Caroline and Jason found the ICU room of the lady guest and asked the doctors and police officers in front of it. ¡°Excuse me, who are you?¡± one of the two police officers asked with his hand on his weapon. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they are alright.¡± a familiar voice came from behind, Caroline and Jason turned around and saw that it was Thomas, one of the brother-sister detective duo that came to the inn earlier. ¡°Detective Chaver. ¡± the two police officers seemed relaxed, ¡°Sorry, you know ¡­ it¡¯s because of what happened...¡± ¡°No worries. ¡± Thomas nodded at the officers and signaled Caroline and Jason to talk on the side in private. ¡°So how¡¯s the girl? What has she gotten into?¡± asked Caroline as soon as they found a spot that was relatively private. ¡°The girl¡¯s name is Emilia Corin, formerly Emilia Steel and now is a member of the Corin family. Good news is that she¡¯s gonna make it. Lost a lot of blood but lucky that she was brought in in time.¡± Thomas smiled and shook his head, ¡°All thanks to you! And you know, they had some security cameras in that community, and like I told you before, sick moves! Really should consider that consultant thing.¡± ¡°Thanks! But do you know that those criminals have a fire bender among them?¡± Jason asked, but kinda carelessly loud and attracted some strange looks from the nurse walking by. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Shhh, be discreet.¡± Thomas leaned closer and lowered his voice: ¡°You might heard from some feds on that, it¡¯s not like it is some huge secret. But yeah, there are people with ¡­ super powers in this world. And it seems some members from the Corin family are indeed, you know, gifted.¡± ¡°What? That¡¯s new. Why haven¡¯t we heard about any of this earlier?¡± Caroline was not fully convinced. ¡°They have been in our lives for a short while now. But that is extremely rare so it¡¯s kinda natural that it got mixed up with all the other weird stuff.¡± Thomas shook his head: ¡°You guys are lucky, three gunmen and one perp with super power? A whole squad would have trouble with that.¡± ¡°Wow, OK, that¡¯s a ton of unwanted information.¡± Jason let out a long exhale. ¡°Hey, get used to it. It¡¯s only a matter of time this becomes more public. And while that¡¯s sinking in, why don¡¯t you just go home and take a break. We will have officers on guard here.¡± Thomas lightly patted Caroline¡¯s arm, then walked away to catch up with other officers. ¡°OK, you calling Boss? I¡¯ve got the feeling that he knows more than he¡¯s letting on.¡± as he walked by Caroline¡¯s side towards the exit of the hospital, Jason asked. ¡°Yeah, but he¡¯s not picking up. Probably on his nightly Taichi session again.¡± Caroline annoyedly put her phone back into her pocket. ¡°Hey, Ms. Baker and Mr. Lin? ¡± just right this moment, Aimee from the sister-brother duo ran up to them, ¡°Sorry, but we have some questions regarding what happened. Can you help us? Your help will be greatly appreciated.¡± ¡°Ummm¡­ yeah sure, whatever we can share to help.¡± Caroline took a look at Jason, seeing he did not object so she nodded and sat down on a chair in the hospital¡¯s lounge. --------------------------------------------------------- Neither Caroline nor Jason expected it would take this long to answer some questions. At first it was some questions about how they got there and what happened, then the focus of the questions shifted to who the perps were, then the focus shifted to what the house in the community was for and who it belonged to. Their interview continued as most of the police officers at the hospital and even a lot of the hospital staff left. Through the conversation, Caroline and Jason also got to know that the lady guest, Emilia Corin, married into the Corin family a few years ago and for some reason started working with the SJPD and some of the federal agencies in order to bring down the family. The Corin family, while investment moguls on the outside, was apparently dealing with drugs, money laundering and even weapons smuggling and dealing in the dark. It was still unclear why the Corin family members were targeting Emilia, the police and the feds were under the impression that her cover was blown, but from the recollection told by Caroline and Jason, it seemed like it was not the case. Instead it might be because of something she stole. No matter what the reason was, it definitely made Caroline and Jason both more glad and worried that they helped Emilia. As it turned out Caroline was right, the scared lady guest who went into their inn the other day, was indeed affiliated with a gang, and a pretty dangerous gang as well. Exactly as Jianmen said, trouble. ¡°Thanks for your help. We may need you to come down to the station to give us a detailed statement later, so please don¡¯t leave town. And please let us know if you need police protection.¡± as they wrapped up the interview, Aimee was quite trankful, ¡°And again, thank you so much for the help.¡± ¡°No problem, you know where to find us.¡± smiling to show that the gratitude was mutual, Caroline and Jason stood up and were ready to head back. ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang¡± three loud gunshots were fired somewhere inside of the hospital, then screams and panic followed. ¡°It¡¯s the ICU!¡± Aimee drew out her gun and her radio, ¡°Thomas is in there! Shit! Call 911 and stay here!¡± Chapter 9 Caroline and Jason called 911 as Aimee tried to contact nearby officers via her radio, but they did not stay where they were, instead they followed Aimee to the ICU. When they got to the ICU room, one of the officers guarding the room was down on the ground and struggling to crawl away from the room. And inside the room, Thomas was in a standoff with the other officer who was guarding the room, who is now standing right beside Emilia¡¯s bed. ¡°Back off! You as well! Back off!¡± the officer inside the ICU room had his gun pointed towards Emilia, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be here Chaver!¡± ¡°Well, I am here, so what can I say.¡± Thomas¡¯s answer was stern but still slightly sarcastic, ¡°Why did you do this, Cliff?¡± ¡°The Corins want to get rid of a rat.¡± the police officer¡¯s hand was trembling, but his voice was still calm: ¡°And I want my debt paid.¡± ¡°Let me guess, gambling issue?¡± asked Thomas, while he slowly side stepped to block Cliff¡¯s view of the downed officer, with one hand behind him to signal to Aimee to carry the downed officer away, ¡°Then I am sure you¡¯d have no problem with Aimee here getting Lopez here some medical help. Murdering an officer is a serious crime that¡¯s gonna make your debt seem like nothing.¡± ¡°No, and I don¡¯t care, as long as you and your sister stay out of my way.¡± Cliff tried to look behind Thomas and Aimee, he slightly frowned as he saw Caroline and Jason helping Aimee carry the severely wounded officer Lopez away, ¡°Drop your gun! Drop your fucking gun or your witness gets it!¡± ¡°Alright.¡± seeing that the downed officer was pulled away from the scene by Aimee, Caroline and Jason, Thomas laid down his gun, and slid it to Cliff¡¯s side. ¡°And the other gun.¡± Thomas sighed heavily, then took the gun from the back of his boots and slid it to Cliff¡¯s side as well. ¡°Don¡¯t you have one more?¡± Cliff looked at Thomas with half-narrowed eyes. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°I left it in the car. Which is something I do.¡± Thomas said with his hands slowly rising to above his head, ¡°Now the only one in the room with a gun is you. You don¡¯t have to do this Cliff, let this poor girl go and this doesn¡¯t have to escalate.¡± ¡°Well too bad - she could have gotten an easy death. But you just have to get in the way!¡± ---------------------------------------- Though the hospital staff were in panic after they heard the gunshots, they were still quick to action when they had a gunshot victim. Right after officer Lopez was pushed into the ER and confirming that backup is on the way to the hospital, Aimee, Caroline and Jason started rushing back to the ICU room. ¡°You guys need to stay put!¡± while running towards the ICU room, Aimee said to Caroline and Jason: ¡°This is a police matter, civilians stay away!¡± ¡°Tough luck. I didn¡¯t see you earlier!¡± Caroline picked up a vase still with a plastic flower inside along the way. As they got to the hallway to the ICU room, they heard another gunshot, and Thomas, who was at the door of the room, fell down face up right before their eyes. ¡°No, Thomas!¡± Aimee lunged to hold Thomas, giving a clear view into the ICU room for Caroline and Jason. Before Cliff could react, Caroline already threw the vase in her hand at him. The vase shattered on Cliff¡¯s jaw, knocking him back and bumping his back against the wall. This and the knife on his right shoulder caused him to drop his gun and slowly dropped to the ground. ¡°Ouch, sis, looks like you¡¯re not gonna be the only one with cool scars.¡± Thomas laughed though his face is slightly twisted under the pain. ¡°Hey, hey, just a flesh wound. And you wish you could have my scar.¡± Seeing that Cliff was down on the ground unconscious, and that Thomas took the hit on his right side of his torso and it was only a grazed wound, Aimee chuckled with tears in her eyes with relief. ¡°Yeah, well.¡± with Aimee¡¯s help, Thomas sat up with one hand applying pressure on his wound, ¡°My knife throw is still way cooler.¡± Backup came a few minutes after Aime put handcuffs on Cliff and confiscated his guns. Some of the officers sweeping the ICU room found a needle under Emilia¡¯s bed, filled with presumably some sort of poison to kill her. ¡°Alert the units and do a search around the hospital. ¡± as his wound was being treated by a nurse, Thomas told Aimee, ¡°Cliff kept looking behind me and out the back window, looked like he was expecting some sort of backup.¡± ¡°All units, there might be accomplices nearby around the hospital. We need a sweep in the one mile radius.¡± Aimee nodded and talked into her hand radio, ¡°I repeat, we need a sweep in the one mile radius...¡± ¡°We found some guys tied up in the back parking lot.¡± Another officer¡¯s voice came from the radio, ¡°Looks like they are from the Corin family ¡­ is that Ricardo Corin?¡± ¡°Holy shit, Ricardo¡¯s here as well? And tied up?¡± Thomas laughed out loud but his wound stopped him midway, ¡°What do we have here, a friendly neighborhood - ¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go check it out. You stay put.¡± Aimee gently elbowed Thomas¡¯s arm, then turned to Caroline and Jason: ¡°And you guys should go home. We have more units here now, I¡¯ll be watching her with Thomas here. And we will place her in protective custody.¡± ¡°OK.¡± Caroline and Jason took a look at each other and sighed, ¡°It¡¯s been a long night. Good luck officers.¡± ¡°Yeah tell me about it. Goodnight you guys.¡± Thomas still couldn¡¯t control his grin. Chapter 10 ¡°Huh, where do you think you¡¯re going?¡± as six men, all in black and slightly baggy clothes got off two cars and started to approach the side door to St. Anna hospital, a warm looking Chinese man walked up to them and asked with a harmless smile. ¡°Look, sir, we have some business to deal with in the hospital.¡± the leading man, who was one with a smooth haircut with a lock of blonde hair, who was also the only one wearing a suit, unlike the other five, walked up and said: ¡°I don¡¯t know who you are, but you don¡¯t want to get in the way.¡± ¡°Ah, too bad. But I still want to.¡± the Chinese man was still smiling. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure you don¡¯t.¡± the leading man of the six pulled away the right side of his suit for a bit, showing a gun strapped to his belt. ¡°Impressive, but I am pretty sure I still want to.¡± One of the men in the back impatiently walked up with his gun half drawn, but he was stopped by the leading man. At the same time the Chinese man raised both of his hands and pointed to two light poles in the parking lot - there were security cameras on them. ¡°Are you a cop? Why risk your life here?¡± the leading man asked, with a genuine sense of curiosity. ¡°No, just a concerned citizen, and Shifu, if you will.¡± the Chinese man slowly put his hands down. ¡°Shifu? Oh, nice, I have a Shifu as well, he taught me a lot of moves.¡± the leading man in black snickered, ¡°But he also taught me to run in the face of overwhelming danger.¡± ¡°Is that so? He sounds wise. It¡¯d really help both of us here if you heed his teachings.¡± The leading man started laughing, same as the other five men in black behind him. A couple of seconds later, as the indicator lights on those two security cameras dimmed, the leading man pulled out his gun, and was about to point it to the Chinese man. But the Chinese man already closed in, and his left hand on a firm grab on the leading man''s wrist. One quick twist and the gun dropped out of the leading man¡¯s hand, the next second his feet were off the ground as the Chinese man pulled and threw him toward a light pole on the side like a rag doll.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. While in mid air, the leading man¡¯s feet bumped into one of his henchmen¡¯s faces, causing this henchman to tumble on his butt. Before the rest of the men in black could react, the Chinese man flowed in their midst. Two palm strikes to the chest, one high kick to the face and one shoulder bump on the side of the torso later, the last four men in black joined the other two on the ground. ¡°You messed with the wrong guy, Kung Fu man!¡± the leading man stood up and yelled with clenched teeth, as his hands turned into a silver-metal color, and his fingers and edge of his palms turned blade sharp, like some sort of human-weapon. ¡°Nice, very handy in the kitchen.¡± the Chinese man still has that annoying smile on his face, as he extended his flesh and blood palm to face a claw strike from the leading man in black. There was not even one drop of blood, the edges on the leading man in black¡¯s hand were not able to cut through anything, and before he knew, a palm strike connected with his chest. As he was sent back flying, countless shining silver particles flew out of the leading man in black¡¯s back, then in mid air gathered together to form a silver metal ball and dropped to the ground the same time he did. The metal ball rolled towards the Chinese man like it was affected by a magnet, and he gently picked it up. ¡°Such power, in the hands of the unworthy. And your superhero naming skills, oof. But at least you didn¡¯t use any insensitive words.¡± the Chinese man, with the metal ball in his hand, walked up and knelt by the side of the leading man in black. ¡°Who ¡­ what are ...¡± the man was pale and sweating heavily like he was enduring some sort of serious illness, but before he could finish the Chinese man cut him off. ¡°If you dare ask ¡®What are you¡¯, I will freak out and beat you to death with this thing that was once the core of your power.¡± the Chinese man annoyedly said, then he reached his hand into his victim¡¯s jacket pocket to pull out a vibrating phone. ¡°Where are you, Mr. Corin?¡± a men¡¯s voice came out as the Chinese man clicked ¡°loudspeaker¡± on the phone screen, ¡°I don¡¯t see you come in, I can¡¯t keep the camera off for too long or they will auto restart. Please just be quick ¡­ hello? Are you there?¡± ¡°Guess who¡¯s very well connected to pull this off.¡± the Chinese man shut down the call and dropped the phone on the ground. ¡°Look, what do you want? Huh? Money? Drugs? Women? I can get you all those things, just name your price, I swear I¡¯ll - we¡¯ll get outta your face in no time.¡± ¡°How generous of you.¡± the Chinese man stood up and tidied up his clothes, ¡°I don¡¯t ask for much. Just stay away from my inn, and my employees. Is that OK with you?¡± ¡°Your inn? I don¡¯t ...¡± the leading man in black wondered for a short second but quickly changed his tone as he saw the change of expression on the Chinese man¡¯s face, ¡°OK! I understand! We¡¯ll stay away and never bother you, or your employees, ever again!¡± ¡°Good, now get up.¡± the Chinese man¡¯s face turned smiley again, ¡°You are my little gift to the local law enforcement. And uh, a warning: don¡¯t break your vow, hm? Or your wrist is gonna get much much worse.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± the leading man in black struggled up, and shakenly checked his right wrist - the skin there was all red and emitting throbbing pain, and a small burn mark in the shape of a Chinese character appeared on the same side as his palm. ¡°Now gather round my gangsters, you wouldn¡¯t happen to have brought some ropes with you?¡± Chapter 11 The day after the exciting night at the hospital, Caroline and Jason still had to work their shifts at the inn. Complained they did, but Jianmen seemed unempathetic to what happened to them. Still, even after hearing Jason¡¯s story about his dislocated shoulder, which Jason made an honest effort to make sound worse. But the silver lining of the day was that cold hearted boss Jianmen made another hearty lunch, with venison steak this time, additional Ling Gen roots and arcane berries although it was not the time for their bi weekly medicinal lunch. ¡°Boss, where were you last night?¡± halfway through lunch, Caroline stared at Jianmen, who was playing with two balls with one hand while sipping his tea - one of the balls seemed like it was made of metal and had a silver/platinum shine, the other was translucent and bright orange, with some flame patterns inside. ¡°I was here.¡± Jianmen put down his tea and put some food in his mouth, ¡°You know, you guys were on break so the boss is handling all the shifts. Luckily no one came to eat.¡± ¡°We called you last night. You didn¡¯t pick up.¡± Jason followed Caroline¡¯s question, ¡°Thought you never miss phone calls.¡± ¡°Well, sometimes I have a life as well. So last night I was living my ... life.¡± Jianmen¡¯s answer was quite obviously hesitant. ¡°What were you doing though? We called you at least ten times.¡± Caroline then pressed on. ¡°I had a lady over, OK?¡± Jianmen¡¯s answer almost made Jason spit out his food. ¡°Bullshit! That¡¯s bullshit!¡± Caroline stood up and laughingly called Jianmen out, ¡°We¡¯ve been here for almost a year, you never had ladies over!¡± ¡°Or should I say, congrats Boss?¡± Jason winked at Jianmen and asked in a pretended gossipy voice. ¡°No, he¡¯s lying.¡± Caroline sat back down, ¡°What¡¯s her name?¡± ¡°Josephine.¡± ¡°Bull, what¡¯s her last name?¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Wong.¡± ¡°Josephine Wong? Bullshit! I might have believed you if it was another name.¡± this time even Jason was calling Jianmen out. ¡°Wait, who¡¯s Josephine Wong?¡± Caroline was confused. ¡°She¡¯s an action star, kinda up and coming and already got her role in some high profile movies. And she happened to be shooting a movie in the bay.¡± Jason stared at Jianmen with an examining look, ¡°So, Boss, you a fan?¡± ¡°What¡¯s this nonsense? I don¡¯t have to explain myself to you! Cut it out and finish your lunch!¡± Jianmen stood up and took his tea away, ¡°One more word, and I¡¯ll double today¡¯s training.¡± ¡°Okay Boss, we believe you.¡± Caroline blinked and continued with her venison steak. ¡°Alright, Boss, another unrelated question: do you know anything about people with superpowers?¡± Jason wisely switched topics to keep Jianmen at the table. ¡°Okay, I know a thing or two. As you two are my apprentices, I would be happy to impart my knowledge onto you.¡± Jianmen came back and sat down, looking like he was really willing to talk about this particular topic to erase the embarrassment from earlier. ¡°Well?¡± Caroline exchanged a look with Jason, then proceeded to ask: ¡°What can you tell us about it? We had an encounter with a guy who can conjure up flame power and shoot fireballs from his hands. Is that some kind of ¡®cultivation¡¯ related thing?¡± ¡°Good question. The answer is not really, they are related but not the same thing.¡± Jianmen took a sip from his tea, then slowly yet clearly continued with his answer: ¡°For us cultivators, the way of cultivating is a kind of training and study to understand certain kinds of powers in this world. The general terms were Xuanli or Lingli, they are Chinese words that roughly translate to ¡®Arcane Power¡¯, and ¡®Spirit Power¡¯. Through different cultivation methods, you will learn to harness and make use of this kind of power to strengthen your body, enhance your senses and mind power, and after reaching a certain stage, project energy onto the physical world.¡± ¡°Okay, sounds super complicated. ¡± Caroline scratched her head and said: ¡°What does that have to do with people with super power?¡± ¡°Superpower is a kind of manifestation of Xuanli. ¡± Jianmen put his tea cup on the table, then pointed at the cup: ¡°Like water, it can take the form of ice, liquid water, and vapor, or even turn into plasma when hot enough. Sometimes people in this world, through luck and some other circumstances can gain the ability to harness and utilize Xuanli in certain ways without having much understanding of what Xuanli is. Fireballs, per your example, is a kind of elemental skill that is relatively common, because producing heat and causing physical impact are two of the most basic ways of projecting Xuanli.¡± ¡°So, when we reached certain levels - or layers of cultivation, we¡¯d be able to do that too? ¡± asked Jason in mild excitement and eagerness. ¡°Yeah, well, you¡¯d be able to do some basics once you reached the second layer. And think bigger, Okay? Fireballs are just so uninspired.¡± ¡°Wait - are you saying that your training methods are better than everyone else¡¯s?¡± Caroline slightly tilted her head and asked, ¡°What¡¯s with the sudden cockiness, Boss?¡± ¡°Hey, if you two can find me a trained witch or wizard, then I will have a friendly competition to see who¡¯s better.¡± Jianmen laid back while shaking his finger, smiled at his students and stood up again, ¡°Which will still be me. But! In the meantime, since you have both reached the first layer, you¡¯ll be needing more training. So come to the basement tonight.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not ominous at all. Training in an off-limits place?¡± Caroline watched as Jianmen left the diner and went upstairs straight towards his room. ¡°Well, maybe we weren¡¯t ready before.¡± Jason shrugged. ¡°You know, this obedient and docile Asian son thing? Totally chick repellent.¡± Caroline looked into Jason¡¯s eyes and said with a grin. ¡°Wow, geez, where did that come from?¡± Jason laid a hand on his chest as if he was just struck by a huge hammer. ¡°Nothing, just that your mom¡¯s here to check on you again.¡± Caroline lightly patted on Jason¡¯s shoulder and pointed to the direction of the inn¡¯s lounge, then left the diner. Chapter 12 ¡°Hey Ma.¡± dropping his utensils in his plate, Jason went outside the diner and greeted a middle aged Chinese lady wearing simple casual clothes but with a neatly groomed hairstyle. ¡°Jie, you look thinner than last timer.¡± Jason¡¯s mother said to Jason in Mandarin as she accompanied Jason into the diner, ¡°Didn¡¯t the boss treat you well?¡± ¡°Ma, he treats me well.¡± Jason smiled as he sat his mother down, ¡°I look thinner because I work out - I actually weigh heavier than last time since I gained muscle.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t overwork. You know your father and I care about you.¡± Jason¡¯s mother put her right hand onto Jason¡¯s left: ¡°Do you need money? Your boss gives you a fair pay right?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry Ma, I am doing well.¡± Jason leaned forward a bit to try to comfort his mother: ¡°I get a place to stay rent free, Boss provides the food, also free. We have WiFi and all the essentials. If you think about it I am living well above the average.¡± ¡°Is the food good? He couldn¡¯t have given you just bread and water right? What did you have for lunch?¡± ¡°We had venison steak, with vegetables and berries. Bi-weekly special. We get this kind of big lunch on Wednesday and Saturday.¡± Jason laughed and showed his mother the empty plate in front of him, ¡°You just missed it, if you came earlier you would have tasted it.¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Do you cook here? I remember you hate cooking. You love your drawings but you HATE being anywhere around uncooked food.¡± ¡°No, I just do check-in check-outs, take dining orders and wash the dishes. I don¡¯t even have to do the cleaning, Boss changes the sheets and cleans the room.¡± ¡°Oh, do you change your sheets everyday? ¡± ¡°No, just everytime the guests checkout or when they get dirty. Most guests here don¡¯t stay for too long. ¡± The mother and son catch up chat continued till there were a couple of out of town guests at the reception¡¯s table waiting to be checked in. Jason¡¯s mother tried to give him some cash, but Jason gently refused. ¡°No need for me. I am doing well, just save it for little Yan, for her college fund.¡± Jason smiled as he pushed her mother¡¯s hand back, ¡°If I¡¯ll ever need money, I will tell you, okay? Don¡¯t worry Ma. I can totally handle myself.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll leave you to it. Don¡¯t forget to call if you need anything!¡± Jason¡¯s mother held Jason¡¯s hands tight and close before she let go, ¡°Oh, before I forgot, your uncle will come here next Month for your cousin¡¯s wedding, we¡¯ll have a family gathering. You are coming right?¡± ¡°Right, of course. I already told Boss and he said he will cover my shifts.¡± Jason reacted with a miniscule sense of reluctance, but managed to still sound happy and willing. ¡°Yo dude, any place you recommend us to check out before the film and arts festival?¡± as Jason was helping the guests check in, one of the male guests wearing a colorful buttonless t-shirt asked, ¡°It¡¯s our first time here, and we are from New York. So we are dying to see something different.¡± ¡°You guys are here early, there¡¯s another two weeks till it starts. I recommend the XGen studio before they shut it down to prep for the festival. It¡¯s new and not fully built yet. But there are a lot of things to see. ¡± Jason smiled and handed a brochure to the guest. Chapter 13 In the basement, Jason and Caroline finally got to see what is in there: at the South side of it, there was an altar at the wall, on which there were some strangely shaped incense, three pieces of round and shiny metal plates and a crystal ball. On each of the other 3 walls, hanged two drawings on two pieces of long cloth. Each drawing was a colorful and slightly asymmetrical depiction of various complex shapes and color combinations. At the center of these drawings were individual symbols or words, some of which looked like traditional Chinese characters but Jason could not make it out, some of which looked like multi-character words from some unknown language. ¡°What are these?¡± asked Jason, ¡°Are those Mandarin characters in the middle? And what are the others?¡± ¡°No, but they are similar. These were characters that were derived from ¡®True Words¡¯.¡± Jianmen answered: ¡°Or, ¡®First Words¡¯ if you prefer. They were the first written representation of things in intelligent form. And they were thus blessed with certain kinds of power by rule of the universe.¡± ¡°Huh? Say it again?¡± Caroline was looking at the altar but still could not help but turn around and ask. ¡°In plain English, these are magical words.¡± Jianmen walked around the basement, looking at each drawing and said: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, these are general and big words, I won¡¯t tell you what they mean just yet. Once you have your two visualization objects, I will teach you about your own personal scriptures, for recitation during your meditation.¡± ¡°Ok, that is way too much information. What are visualization objects? And what personal scriptures?¡± Jason complained. ¡°You¡¯ll see - in time.¡± Jianmen picked up two round shiny metal plates and gave them to Caroline and Jason, then he went and lit up the incense on the altar: ¡°Now, use this as a mirror, you will need it when you are at the end of your first visualization session. What you need to do next, is to observe these drawings, try to read things from them, don¡¯t overthink anything. And you¡¯ll have them.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ is that it?¡± Jason was more confused, ¡°How do we know we found them?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll know.¡± Jianmen left the basement with a mysterious smile, closing the basement door. ¡°So ¡­ what now?¡± Caroline took a quick look at the metal plate in her hand, asked Jason. ¡°Look at these drawings, I guess.¡± Jason walked toward a drawing with a traditional Chinese character looking symbol in the middle and started staring at it. ¡°Meh, what the heck.¡± Caroline also walked toward a drawing, with particularly dark and ¡°Gothic¡± shapes that fit her taste better. After unclear how long, Jason switched to a different drawing, since he felt like there was not much that he could read from the first drawing he chose. But he started feeling that the drawings from the first choice seemed to have burned into the back of his eyes and his head - even though he switched to the second drawing, he still kept seeing the patterns and colors of the first one.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. This kind of visual dissonance caused Jason extreme dizziness, so he had to choose another one. The next one he chose was way worse, the lines, the colors and patterns and even the word in the centre are causing the flare and jumpiness of the images to get even worse. It was like listening to fingernails on a chalkboard while having a high fever and hangover. The pain was so severe, that Jason could not control but groan in pain. Though it was for a very short time, Jason was longer able to endure the sensory overload and he fell down on the ground. For some reason, Jason had the gut feeling that he needed the right drawing to quell his dizziness and pain, so he struggled up and tried to take a look at another drawing. The fourth one did not help at all - the dizzy feeling, headache and burning sensation did not go away, and he could barely see anything. It was as if what he saw from the first drawing had formed a filter with constantly mutating colors and shapes stuck to his eyeballs. If not for the fact that he could still roughly recognize his surroundings and where the drawings were, he would have thought he¡¯d turned blind. Feeling like he was quickly losing his strength, Jason crawled to the basement wall that was opposite to the one he started with, opened his eyes as wide as possible toward the fifth drawing. He still could barely see anything, however, the dizziness slowly started fading away, and the ever changing filters stuck to his eyes were slowly peeling away. The ¡°shadows¡± left by the first drawing he observed slowly started to form into concrete and gentle shapes and patterns. ------------------------------------------------ As Jianmen closed the door to the basement and walked up to the reception¡¯s desk, he heard painful screams and moans coming from behind. But utterly unconcerned, he still helped two groups of guests waiting to checkout at night for some reason with a warming and welcoming smile. The guests were pleasant and clean, so he did not have much trouble cleaning their rooms. After a quick sweep, the sheets and pillow cases can just be thrown into the washing machine with normal detergent and disinfectant. After cleaning the rooms, there were already some other guests waiting to check in. And after that, two people walked into the lounge, and though Jianmen, per his personal preference, usually do not deal with them, but at this critical moment when Caroline and Jason just started with their visualization, he had no choice but to suck it up and greet them with the same hospitality as he would any other guests. ¡°Good evening Detectives. What can I help you with?¡± ¡°Hey, Mr. Yu. Is Caroline and Jason here?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°They are in a training session, I¡¯m afraid they won¡¯t be able to come out anytime soon.¡± Jianmen took out a pad of sticky notes, ¡°Can I take a message?¡± ¡°Yeah, sure, it¡¯s not urgent, we¡¯re here because we are just in the neighborhood.¡± Thomas smiled and waved his right hand, ¡°Don¡¯t want to mess with their training, gotta keep up those moves - ¡± ¡°Do you remember Emilia Corin, the guest that stayed here for one night and had some brush with Caroline and Jason?¡± Aimee cut Thomas off and asked Jianmen directly. ¡°Yes, I remember. ¡± Jianmend answered while nodding, ¡°What¡¯s up with her?¡± ¡°She woke up and escaped hospital.¡± Aimee was obviously not pleased with Jianmen¡¯s answer and lack of concern, ¡°She is a crucial witness to a case we are investigating. It is about the notorious Corin crime family so anyone involved might be in danger. So we just want to warn Caroline and Jason.¡± ¡°Oh my god, that is horrible.¡± Jianmen appeared surprised, ¡°Are you going to provide us with protection? We have some very troubling guests lately.¡± ¡°No, we are tight on resources right now.¡± Thomas sighed, ¡°I am fully confident they can handle themselves in normal situations. But it is the Corin crime family we¡¯re talking about. And she was also a key witness in some of the critical investigations that SJPD and the FBI are conducting. So can you tell them, if they know anything, if they see anything, or if Emilia showed up here again, please contact us immediately?¡± ¡°No problem. I will tell them when they are done.¡± Jianmen quickly wrote down the note on one sticky note, ¡°Are you sure the SJPD cannot provide us with protection? What if the Corin family decide to target their places of employment? You don¡¯t know what those gangsters will do.¡± ¡°I am pretty sure they won¡¯t do that.¡± Aimee tried to maintain her patience but still got a bit frustrated, ¡°But, if you see anything or hear anything, please call us, OK? Here¡¯s our contact info.¡± Then she handed a card to Jianmen. ¡°Thank you very much detective. You are so kind.¡± Jianmen grinned as if he was just given a big red packet. ¡°Alright Mr. Yu. Have a good night. Please do pass on our message.¡± Thomas noticed Aimee was annoyed, so he decided to take over the conversation and say goodbye early. ¡°Of course. And the same to you.¡± ¡°I thought he does not speak English?¡± as they walked to their car, Aimee asked Thomas. Chapter 14 When Jianmen went back into the basement, with two large jars of water, both Jason and Caroline seemed to have stopped the first visualization process, and they were as miserable as he remembered when he was done with his first. Caroline was sweaty, her face dirtied and her hair a mess, and her jacket and shirt underneath had a lot of fingernail scratch on them. She was coughing and retching non-stop, and looked like she was not able to recover for a short while. And Jason was in a cradle position at the corner of the room, sweat dripping down his face and he was closing his eyes with all he had. ¡°Okay, relax, it¡¯s over.¡± Jianmen put each jar of water beside Jason and Caroline, then stood up and told them in a calming and soothing tone, ¡°But do remember how you felt. You¡¯ll need it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s over?¡± Jason opened his eyes, his eyes were red as if he had been crying all day. ¡°Yeah it¡¯s over.¡± Jianmen stood down on the ground and looked at both Jason and Caroline as they trembled and sat up: ¡°Now, what¡¯d you see?¡± ¡°I¡­ I saw two figures ...¡± Jason tried for a bit to find the right description, as he was still enduring dizziness and vertigo: ¡°Looks like ¡­ looks like one was a paint brush, and the other was like a laptop.¡± Jianmen let out a laughter as he heard the word ¡°laptop¡±, and he looked at Jason for confirmation, yet the miserable expression on Jason¡¯s face and the beanie out of its normal place told him differently. ¡°Okay, sorry ¡­ it is definitely valid. I do not mean to demean your visualization objects.¡± Jianmen collected himself a bit and said: ¡°It was because I am a bit old-fashioned and I am really old. And laptops weren¡¯t around where I first had my visualization.¡± ¡°I¡­ I umm, I saw a shield, and ¡­ and a bike.¡± Caroline chugged down half a jar of water, and answered, ¡°Are you gonna tell us what those mean?¡± ¡°Nope, you have to figure out those meanings all by yourself.¡± Jianmen shook his head and said: ¡°These images in your head, they are representations of your true self, and how the universe interacts with you.¡± ¡°What?¡± Jason and Caroline asked at the same time.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°If you are not confused, you were not paying attention.¡± Jianmen happily clapped his hands and continued: ¡°No need to dwell on that for now. They will be revealed to you in time. But a tip for both of you - the meaning of these objects you saw, you already knew.¡± ¡°Okay, enough with the riddles.¡± Caroline coughed heavily and tried to stand up, ¡°So what now, Boss? What¡¯s next? This was like a mental medicinal bath.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll let you recover for a bit, come to the diner when you feel good.¡± Jianmen stood up and walked out of the door, ¡°And bring your mirrors with you!¡± -------------------------------------- After tidying themselves up and finishing whole jars of water placed beside them, Jason and Caroline came into the diner, and Jianmen already had some beverages prepared: a big pot of tea, some fresh made juice from unknown fruits and berries, and two small scoops of matcha ice cream. ¡°So is this your apology for mentally torturing us?¡± after that dizzying and pain inducing experience, even Jason was a little sarcastic. ¡°Yes and no. These are the things that help you concentrate and they can ease your discomfort at the same time.¡± Jianmen smiled and poured two cups of tea and handed to his two mistreated looking employees, ¡°The pain and discomfort you felt is what I call growing pains of the mind and will. Now, tell me how you felt when you stopped having visions.¡± ¡°I felt ¡­ free, and kind of ¡­ full of different senses.¡± Jason finished his cup of tea in one mouthful, his dizziness and vertigo started being slowly chipped away, ¡°For a minute I felt like I was a centre of the internet, and information was flowing through me and I can see and hear people from thousands of miles away. And with my mind, I can form those fragments of information into a short video, a piece of music, or even a full feature length movie. It was really creativity inspiring.¡± ¡°For me it was different. Quite, different.¡± Caroline did not choose tea, instead she went straight to the matcha ice cream, ¡°I felt¡­ safe and protected, and yes there was a sense of freedom. But it felt really safe and calming, it was as if I became bulletproof and impervious to anything negative.¡± ¡°Nice. Seemed like both of you gained a lot.¡± Jiamnen refilled Caroline¡¯s ice cream bowl with another scoop, ¡°Now the important question, have you heard your personal scriptures? Like a voice in your head? Or a sudden phrase that you uttered?¡± After a brief hesitation, Jason and Caroline both answered: ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Mine was in Mandarin. And sounded like a poem.¡± Jason drank up another cup of tea then slowly recited in Mandarin: ¡°Wu xin yun ji feng. Wu mou tou cang qiong. Wen shi huang tu mo. Ling tong jiang hu yong.¡± ¡°Huh, I know a few words but the combination is confusing as hell.¡± Caroline finished the second bowl of ice cream, then poured herself some juice, ¡°Minds with fast wind? Thick earth? ¡± ¡°You learned traditional Chinese poetry when you were young right? ¡± Jianmen nodded and looked at Jason: ¡°Not bad, I thought it would be in English since you were born and raised here.¡± ¡°Yeah I did, I liked it a lot when I was young.¡± Jason put down his empty tea cup for the third time, then he turned to Caroline: ¡°It means something like: my heart will harbor fast wind, my eyes will pierce the highest sky, my ears will hear what¡¯s buried under thick earth, my mind will sense the waves of the lakes and rivers.¡± ¡°Very artistic, good job Jason.¡± Caroline appeared indeed quite impressed, and she gave Jason a pat on the arm. ¡°Thanks, and what does yours sound like?¡± ¡°Ummm¡­ I don¡¯t wanna...¡± Caroline seemed to be somewhat embarrassed. Chapter 15 ¡°Come on, Caroline, I told you mine, let¡¯s hear yours!¡± seeing that Caroline was a little embarrassed, Jason tried to dogpile on her with a gloating smile. ¡°It¡¯s really lame, Okay? Not as poetic as yours.¡± Caroline waved her hand and was embarrassed enough to want to leave in unease. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Jianmen shook his head and said: ¡°It couldn¡¯t have beaten mine, mine was basic as hell: it was liberally ¡®Sleep serenely, eat peacefully, travel with caution, wear clean clothes¡¯.¡± ¡°Oh, Boss, seriously?¡± Jason couldn¡¯t help but laugh out loud, ¡°Why? What happened?¡± ¡°I was in a completely new environment, struggling to survive and barely made it past a few dangerous encounters.¡± Jianmen poured himself a cup of tea and answered: ¡°So, Caroline, don¡¯t worry, sometimes your personal scripture does not appear to be what you want it to be because it has to do with your unconscious emotions and what you viewed as major parts of your purposes in life. They will change, as you are further along, eventually you can even change it to anything you want.¡± ¡°Okay, but what is this personal scripture anyway?¡± Jason raised his hand. ¡°It is the first step in establishing your connection with the universe.¡± Jianmen gave a short answer and then turned back to Caroline: ¡°So, could you share with us your private scripture? No need to be embarrassed.¡± ¡°Okay, don¡¯t laugh at me, OK?¡± Caroline sighed and looked at both Jianmen and Jason for confirmation. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, no judgment or mockery here.¡± Jason promised. ¡°It was: ¡®I shall be the fort. I shall be the rock. Sticks and stones and blades, firm stand till I fall¡¯. ¡± Caroline nervously recited the voice she heard at the end of her first visualization process. ¡°Hmm, that was not bad, and it makes sense.¡± Jason nodded. ¡°Yeah, no worries, way better than mine.¡± Jianmen chuckled and refilled Caroline¡¯s juice cup to full. ¡°Yeah, I am not a fan.¡± Caroline gave out a cringed, ¡°It gives me the superhero vibes. So cringey.¡± ¡°Yeah, like I said. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Jianmen as he scooped himself a bowl of matcha ice cream: ¡°And like I said, don¡¯t remember how you felt at the end of the visualization. Tomorrow, I am going to teach you meditation methods, and do remember these.¡±The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Really? Do we get our shifts cut?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Yes, you get an extra two hours of break each day. No change in pay.¡± Jianmen sighed and shaking his head, as if he was dealing with children, ¡°But, you will need to practice meditation for half an hour per day and visualization for half an hour per day. Unless you have a really good reason you cannot miss any of it. Also your meals will be upgraded, your bi weekly medicinal meals will be upgraded as well. And your medicinal baths will extend to longer, naturally. For how long I still need to measure you.¡± ¡°Oh crap, why you have to treat us like that Boss?¡± Jason frustratedly lied on the table. ¡°When can we be done with this medicinal bath nonsense?¡± Caroline apparently shared Jason¡¯s sentiment. ¡°You¡¯ll thank me later. ¡± Jianmen left the table with a sly smile, ¡°Take the rest of the day off, help yourselves to the juice and ice cream, and remember to get plenty of sleep. Just remember to clean up. Gather in the training space tomorrow morning at 8.¡± --------------------------------------------------- Next day morning 8 a.m, at the same discreet corner at the back of the inn where Jason and Caroline last had their medicinal bath, Jason and Caroline were told to sit on two rattan mats, with incense burning in front of them. ¡°Nice that we have really good weather today. Perfect for our first meditation and visualization class.¡± Jianmen stood in front of both of them with a smiley face, ¡°Did you get enough sleep yesterday?¡± ¡°For some reason 14 hours is still not enough.¡± Jason yawned as soon as he opened his mouth. ¡°It is natural. It¡¯d be way better if you got 16, but 2 hours is not that much of a difference.¡± Jianmen waved a bamboo stick in his hand like it was a teacher¡¯s pointing stick: ¡°In the upcoming days, I will teach you the basic meditation method of our Clan, the Clan of the Golden Feather.¡± as he saw Jason raise his hand, he continued: ¡°I¡¯ll answer your questions in a bit, let me just lay down your basis 101 first.¡± ¡°First thing I am going to teach you is the basics of visualization. I believe you have heard about meditation, and visualization is, in general terms, a kind of meditation, but it is usually with a drawing, not unlike the drawing you saw in the basement. The meditation and visualization methods I am going to teach you, is called the Meditative Scripture of Three Oceans and Nine Heavens.¡± Jianmen, now sounding and looking like a real teacher and master with mysterious knowledge in his head. ¡°Now, remember the terminologies I am going to use: ¡®meditation¡¯ - refers to a similar kind of exercise you can get from any hipster training centre in San Francisco or online.¡± ¡°And visualization, is a practice of observing one or a few specific drawings with True Words inside, and strengthening your mind in the process. Imagine your mind being like a piece of weapon that is being forged and maintained. Meditation is the process of resting, applying oil on it, and enchanting it, while visualization is the process of hammering it, shaping, sharpening and tempering.¡± ¡°Now, since you have experienced your first visualization session yesterday, this session will be focused on meditation. When you are practicing by yourself, you should try your best to do visualization and meditation in alternating order. And you should not overdo either, especially visualization, lest you want your mind to be out of shape.¡± ¡°Now, listen to what I am saying slowly, and start relaxing your mind, slowly breathe in...¡± Under the guidance of Jianmen, both Jason and Caroline slowly became immersed in the state of meditation, and lost track of what was going on around them. Jianmen stopped talking, then he reached into his pockets and took out three balls of mysterious material, one was silver white with a metal shine, one was translucent and bright orange, and the other was translucent and light blue, with wave patterns both on the inside and surface. After gently placing the three balls on the ground, and muttering a few inaudible words, Jianmen watched as the three balls rolled on the ground as if they had minds of their own. Slowly, the silver white ball with a metal shine rolled towards Jason, and the translucent bright orange ball rolled towards Caroline, and the translucent blue ball just kept turning rounds around its original position. Chapter 16 Less than two weeks since he learned about and started practicing meditation and visualization, Jason was on time attending his cousin¡¯s wedding, hosted at the Prime Royals Hotel in San Francisco. The hotel was quite historic, with a lot of elegant and high end decorations and a very limited parking space. This means that the cost of holding a wedding here is also unimaginably expensive. But it was all paid for by the future husband of his cousin, who was a high exec of a tech company that just went public. It was one classic pride of the family Chinese son. The wedding¡¯s reception was beautiful and elegantly decorated with traditional Chinese decorations - tons of red flowers, traditional Chinese ¡°happiness¡± hung all around. The bridesmaids and groomsmen were all at the reception handling check ins and taking wedding red packets as per tradition. Jason was still saving up money to replace his camera that he shattered on a gunman¡¯s head. Caroline did offer to buy a new one for him, but considering Caroline was on the same pay grade as him, he insisted that he will accept half of the original price. And the half the price for that camera? He still needed to save for 3 months, or for 1 month if he just sewed his wallet shut and did not spend money on anything extra. ¡°Little Jie, you came.¡± just as he put his red packet down in the basket at the reception, he heard a voice that he was looking forward to hearing. ¡°Uncle Bu.¡± Jason turned to the one that called out to him and went straight up to him and greeted him in Mandarin, ¡°How¡¯s your flight here?¡± ¡°Bumpy, long, luckily I got some sleep.¡± after a few years apart, Jason noticed that his uncle had grown older, yet his kindness seemed not changed, ¡°How¡¯s your animation journey doing? Are you Studio Ghibli level yet?¡± ¡°Not yet, I wish.¡± Jason sighed and laughed as he walked with Uncle Bu towards a pair of chairs at the back of the lounge, ¡°How¡¯s everything with you? How¡¯s Little Yu?¡± ¡°She¡¯s doing Ok, just graduated with a bachelor¡¯s degree in accounting, and planning for an internship so she cannot come.¡± Uncle Bu waved his right hand in a ¡°what can I do with them¡± kind of way, ¡°So I just came for both her and her mom. Where are your parents?¡± ¡°They are picking up Little Yan, so they will be late, the traffic just got way worse.¡± Jason chuckled and shook his head, ¡°Who knew San Francisco traffic is bad?¡± ¡°I watched all of your animations, they¡¯re really good!¡± Uncle Bu smiled and patted Jason¡¯s shoulder, ¡°Sometimes a little too dirty for me and I don¡¯t get a lot of the references. But your animation skills have really grown over the years. I hope you keep going!¡± ¡°Thanks! Uncle.¡± Jason smiled wider than he ever had in the past few weeks, ¡°I also make short videos now, with some buddies of mine. And even though times are tough for small internet influencers right now, I can still make a little bit of money on the side.¡± ¡°Great! That¡¯s wonderful! ¡± Uncle Bu nodded and said: ¡°Are they on the same channels?¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Ah, no, we uploaded them to a new channel. I can send you the link to it later. It is quite new, we are not entirely sure on our direction yet, so it might look a bit shattered and inconsistent.¡± ¡°Hey, Little Jie, Uncle Bu.¡± the bride came into the room Jason and his uncle was in and greeted them, ¡°Welcome! I am so happy to see you, how have you been?¡± ¡°Hi, Elaine, congrats!¡± Jason stood up and said to the bride, who was in a red and pink dress. ¡°Just call me Yuxin, my husband¡¯s family is not here. It¡¯d be too awkward if we are speaking in Chinese and you call me by my English name.¡± the bride said with a bright smile, ¡°Uncle, how was your flight? You Okay with the jetlag?¡± ¡°Oh, you know, I just got off the flight, it had not started yet. I¡¯ll take my sleep tonight.¡± Uncle Bu laughed and gave Elaine a ¡°you know how it is¡± look, ¡°Congratulations on your happy day! How¡¯s your parents?¡± ¡°They are doing really well, very glad that I finally got married to a young and rich perfect son. The kid that your parents keep telling you about and comparing your achievements to?¡± Elained laughed half sarcastically. ¡°Don¡¯t say that. You two are pretty great together, which means that you are also really accomplished on your own. ¡± Jason smiled and pointed at himself: ¡°At least you¡¯re not making videos on the internet to buy your coffee.¡± ¡°Well, hey, Chinese parents don¡¯t like artists, but they will suddenly love you and be proud of you when you bring home the big bucks.¡± Elained heard a sound from the reception and she had to excuse herself: ¡°Looks like my parents are here, nice chatting with you, let¡¯s catch up later.¡± ------------------------------------------------ The wedding ceremony was heartwarming, traditional, passionate, and -- ¡°...so loud!¡± after the flamboyant ceremony, Jason couldn¡¯t help but complain to Uncle Bu at the dinner table, who was arranged to sit by his side at the same table, ¡°I didn''t know that they allow this kind of stereos in the hotel. This is a historic hotel after all.¡± ¡°Yeah well, times are tough for the hotel business, even a hotel with this many years of history.¡± Uncle Bu took a sip of his red wine, took a long look at Jason¡¯s parents, who were paying attention to Jason¡¯s younger brother Yan Lin, and said: ¡°You know, being in the business myself, looks like the younger generation - starting from your generation actually, like to go to simpler, cleaner and more modern hotels and venues for their special occasions and their stays during travel.¡± ¡°Hmm, interesting. So now, people are for some reason ditching classic hotels like this?¡± Jason asked curiously, ¡°Is it the same everywhere?¡± ¡°It is more common in areas where the population is younger and the culture is more modern. Places like the Bay Area, and Irvine California.¡± Uncle Bu¡¯s minute drunkenness made him a tad braggy and chatty: ¡°You know, when I was first developing my hotels, I would never thought this would be the case. So I tell you this, Little Jie, the experience of an older generation, they can help guide you and provide you with some wisdom, but don¡¯t dwell on it and reject change and new ideas.¡± ¡°Yeah of course, Uncle.¡± Jason smiled and kept drinking his wine, with a little tears in his eyes. ¡°Brother, stop with your life lessons, it¡¯s a wedding ceremony.¡± Jason¡¯s mother shifted her focus from her younger son to her older son and her brother: ¡°Little Jie is doing fine!¡± ¡°All right, all right, I¡¯ll stop.¡± Uncle Bu chuckled and he laid back to continue with his wine. Throughout the dinner, Uncle Bu was the one Jason engaged in conversation with the most, his mother and father were not paying as much attention to him as his younger brother, who was carrying out his parents¡¯ wishes almost perfectly. Jason was still glad the conversations with his parents and especially with his father were not as awkward as they used to be - at least they could exchange some basic life updates without much judgment from his father¡¯s part. Among the dishes served were some really expensive and luxurious ones, like Kobe steak, lobster sashimi and Chinese style lamb stew. For some reason, they were not as filling as Jason thought they would, and they were not as half delicious as the lunch offerings back at the inn. ¡°My, my, you looked like you are having another growth spurt.¡± a distant aunt was impressed that even though they were close to the end of the night and the dinner, Jason was still able to eat, and was cleaning up all the dishes at the table. ¡°He¡¯s still young with tons of potential.¡± Uncle Bu smiled over his third glass of wine, ¡°And he¡¯s apparently very environmentally aware! You know we ought to save food and not waste them.¡± ¡°High, Uncle Bu, Jason, sorry to come to your table so late.¡± right now, the groom, Donovan Lau, with Elaine by his side, came to the table and greeted everyone at the table with a cup of small glass of wine in his hand and accented Mandarin, ¡°Thank you very much for coming! Elaine and I are both very grateful for your presence. Now please feel free to drink as much as you want, I will finish mine. Cheers!¡± Then, he drank up all the funny looking wine in his glass. ¡°Does that look like grape juice to you?¡± after sitting down and watching Donovan and Elaine walk to another table, Uncle Bu whispered to Jason. ¡°Yeah, but he¡¯s the groom and he still has 3 to 4 tables, let¡¯s not fuzz.¡± Jason chuckled, then he picked another lobster claw and put it on his plate. Chapter 17 One night at the Prime Royals Hotel was already paid for, due to the ceremony being held at San Francisco and by the time it was over the last train leaving the city was already gone. With a full afternoon and the night off, he did not need to rush back to the inn overnight, instead he could just catch the earliest train home. As he came to his room, Jason got a reminder text from Jianmen: ¡°Don¡¯t forget to meditate when you get the chance. Hotel rooms are perfect for meditation.¡± ¡°Geez Boss, way to kill the wedding vibe.¡± Jason shook his head as he laid down his phone, then he took off his shoes, and sat on the bed, placing his round metal mirror in front of him. After setting a timer, Jason started silently reciting his personal scripture, and he soon immersed himself in a meditative state. Even though his eyes were closed, he still ¡°saw¡± wondrous sights and was embraced with a sense of unrecognizable warmth that is not of this world, a strange but weird sense that the world around him was starting to align, and previously unknown and confusing experiences in life started making sense. From the practice of the last few days, Jason started getting slightly addicted to the feeling of meditation. It made him feel free, inspired and safe, it was the same feeling he had after his first visualization session. His visualization sessions were still painful and misery-inducing, that did not change for Jason, but according to Jianmen the Boss, it was supposed to be this way, the pain and discomfort was what was needed for him and Caroline to grow. The humans as weapons metaphor was brought up in different occasions for multiple times and was almost emphasized to death. And the benefits to Jason? Besides his seeming to be getting better sleep and clearer heads in the morning, and was able to concentrate a tad better, not much. Caroline once suggested they try with a hipster meditation school San Jose, and was quickly faced with a harsh shut down and she was almost hit with a double shift. It was actually the first time they saw Jianmen being so stern and absolute and not talking in annoying riddles. In what felt like just a brief moment, Jason was pulled out of meditative state by his alarm. Slowly letting out a long exhale, he picked up his metal mirror, looked right into his reflection and started chanting his personal scripture. The warm and fuzzy feeling from the meditation quickly wore off, his eyes in the mirror seemed to have released a light flash the moment the feeling disappeared. But Jason was enjoying the clear mind too much to notice, as he had quite a bit to drink at the dinner.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. When done with another relaxing meditation session, Jason timely washed up and headed to bed. It took him almost no time to fall asleep, which was quite rare for him before he started with the meditation sessions. ---------------------------------------------------- Feeling a sudden jolt in the chest, Jason woke up, which was also quite rare for him. After rolling on the bed for a short while yet still not feeling the sleep coming back, Jason decided to go downstairs and see if he could find a bar to get something to drink. As he walked out of his room, he noticed near the end of the hall there was a weird but familiar male figure standing beside the window, staring emptily at the fence with pointed tops around the hotel pool. ¡°Donovan? ¡± Jason recognized that figure, ¡°What are you doing here? It¡¯s your wedding night!¡± The figure did not respond. He was still staring at the fence below, perfectly within jumping distance. And as Jason slowly approached the figure, he saw that the figure was indeed Donovan Lau, the husband of Elaine Chao, his cousin. He also saw that Donovan was, for some reason standing on his toes. Something was wrong, something was terribly wrong - as he got closer to where Donovan was standing, his instincts screamed louder urging him to get out of there and stay away. ¡°Donovan? Can you hear me? What are you doing here?¡± as he tried again trying to reach tonight¡¯s groom, the groom finally turned his head towards him. Jason could have sworn he never saw an expression like this: his eyes looked blank, empty and unfocused, as if he was not looking at anything, but his face was twisted as if he was in severe pain while blood was dripping down from his nose and corners of his mouth. Right when Jason was still in shock at what he saw, Donovan opened the window panel and started climbing out. ¡°Donovan! No!¡± Jason raced to Donovan¡¯s side, locking his waist with both arms and tried to pull him back. A barely noticeable chill entered Jason¡¯s body through his arms and chest and ran down his spine and up his neck when he grabbed Donovan, but with the current urgency he paid almost no attention to it. Donovan groaned and babbled as he kept trying to shove his body outside of the window. For someone who was faintly chubby and looked lacking in exercise, he was somehow able to exert unexpectedly great strength - even when Jason was pulling him on his waist from behind with almost full force, he was still able to move forward inch by inch. Noticing that his hotel sandals were sliding on the carpet, Jason swiftly put one leg against the wall, and started pushing. This stopped Jason¡¯s feet from sliding and stopped Donovan from moving forward to outside of the window, instead Jason was able to slowly pull Donovan back. ¡°Help! Anyone awake? Help!¡± seeing that he was gaining ground in the struggle, Jason called out for help in hopes of waking someone up so they could come to his assistance. The window frame onto which Donovan¡¯s hands grabbed started bending and even cracking, it would not be long till Donovan¡¯s body was completely inside the hall. Just as Jason started feeling like he¡¯s got the situation under control, an uncanny feeling of dizziness, vertigo and chill struck him. His vision became blurred and grey, it was as if all the things in his sight started losing color and getting moldy all of a sudden. An overwhelming sense of danger came with this uncanniness, before he could process what was going on, he felt some sort of sticky and cold liquid flooding his arms that were wrapped around Donovan¡¯s waist. Then, he felt the person being pulled back started turning his head around, yet there was no clear motion on his body. Just like in a classic horror movie, the person in Jason¡¯s arms turned his head around 180 degrees, without any accompanying motion from the upper body. And the twisted, boney and eyeless face, it was not Donovan. Chapter 18 ¡°Fuck!¡± Jason let go of the person and stumbled backwards, and he got a fuller view of the person that he was trying to pull back from the window: a twisted and extremely slender man with deep cuts and and wearing broken and dirty rags for clothes. This gnarly looking humanoid creature did not give Jason any chance or room to breathe, the moment Jason backed off, it charged at Jason, still at its current state of twisted head and body facing the window. Both arms and both legs bending backwards in a creepy angle, the creature let out a roar mixed with both high-pitched and low-pitched muffled sound, and both of its backwards bending arms reaching towards Jason, fingers with sharp and dirty fingernails attempting to scratch out some holes in Jason¡¯s body. But, fearsome as this creature maybe, its movement was still not fast enough for its attacks to strike true. Though first being stunned at first sight of the appearance of the creature and the dark colored blood looking liquid covering both of his arms, Jason was quick to recover from the shock and form his fight-ready pose. Two hands formed into palms and smoothly pushed both of the creature¡¯s hands to the side, immediately followed by a quick straight kick to the creature¡¯s waist, then another full force high kick on the creature¡¯s face. The movement flow was so smooth and solid, even Jason himself was a bit surprised and impressed by himself - yes he practiced Kung Fu moves regularly and with Jianmen¡¯s teaching and he sparred sometimes with Jianmen and Caroline, but he had never been in an actual fight since he started working at the inn. Yet, strike back at the monstrous creature and knock it down he did. And his attacks were quite effective as well - the creature was down at the window, struggling to stand up. For some reason, after the strikes, the creature looked blurred and thin - color and shape wise, it was like the creature was about to turn into a fog or dust. A breath of cold wind blew from the side, Jason, who was about to give the creature the final blow swiftly hopped to the side. One, two, three, four ¡­ many more pairs of eye-shaped figures lit up from a distance down the hall. Yet Jason was not able to make out anything else from where he stood. The knocked down creature gave out a deafening high pitched scream, sounded like it was afraid, frightened, terrified maybe. Jason was soon made aware why - as the creature struggled to stand up, something invisible pulled it towards the eye-shaped figures before he could even lift its upper body up. While being dragged away, the creature continued to scream.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Then the darkness that surrounded the eye-shaped figures swallowed the creature in whole, and it was the same time the screaming got muffled and stopped. ¡°Boom!¡± Jason¡¯s back hit the wall behind him, completely breaking the wall paper and wall boards, exposing the wall fillings. The back of Donovan¡¯s head bumped into Jason¡¯s nose due to inertia, which led to Jason¡¯s nose smelling a salty and watery smell and his eyes being filled with tears. ¡°Help! Somebody come and help!¡± after quickly checking the man in his arms was indeed Donovan and was not another twisted creature, Jason cried out to try to get attention for the situation. ¡°What happened? Oh my god Donovan! What happened?¡± the first to wake up and coming out of their room was a middle aged lady, a relative of Donovan. ¡°I don¡¯t know, he tried to jump out of the window, I had to pull him back.¡± Jason placed his index finger below Donovan¡¯s nose for a brief moment, and was relieved to find that Donovan was breathing steadily. ¡°What? How is that possible?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know that either, look at the window.¡± Jason said, shaking his head and gently putting Donovan at the corner of the wall sitting up, ¡°Looks like he was sleepwalking.¡± ¡°I never heard of him sleepwalking before.¡± more people gathered around, including some hotel staff. ¡°I tried calling him and waking him up, but he did not answer me.¡± Jason looked around frowning and explained, ¡°Wait, where¡¯s Elaine?¡± ------------------------------------------------------------- The Limbo. A piece of the realm of the mind. A place of consciousness, subconscious, dreams and raw emotions. It was just a notion Jianmen brought up during one of their visualization sessions, but Jason did not expect to get in touch with one this soon. Now Donovan was being sent to the hospital for a check after not waking up for more than 30 minutes, and Elaine was going along for a check as well, due to her being in a coma-like deep sleep on her wedding night and not even noticing that her husband walked out of the room and tried to literally jump out of a window. Jason noticed that Donovan and Elaine both had a weird vaguely hand-shaped bruise on their arms, as if someone grabbed them by their arms forcefully some time ago. And for almost the whole rest of the night, Jason had been trying to reach Jianmen. But Jianmen was totally unreachable, it seemed like either his phone was not turned on at all, or he was in a place with no cell signal. He was able to get through to Caroline one time. But unluckily, Caroline swore him off right after telling him that she did not know where Jianmen was either. By the time Jason made it back to the inn, he saw an awkward and somewhat dorky young man roughly his age standing over at the reception¡¯s desk. ¡°Hi, um, who are you?¡± asked Jason. ¡°Oh, hi, my name¡¯s Dave. Mr. Yu hired me to cover his shift for today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow ¡­ and then the day after.¡± the young man smiled nervously. ¡°Oh, hi, I am Jason, I also work here. Do you know where Boss is and how I can find him?¡± ¡°Oh, you are Jason! I met Caroline earlier, she was, um, very friendly.¡± Dave chuckled, ¡°Is the food here always this good? I just ate a piece of seafood pancake Mr. Yu left in the fridge. And it was awesome, I¡¯ve never had anything like this!¡± ¡°Yeah the food here is pretty great. Welcome to the inn.¡± Jason fought off the urge to cut Dave off, ¡°Do you know where I can find Mr. Yu? Or how I can get a hold of him?¡± ¡°Ah, sorry, my bad.¡± Dave shrugged and laughed nervously, ¡°He didn¡¯t tell me any of that. He just hired me and told me to take his shift for 4 days. He also gave me a list of things to remind you about. But then he just left in a hurry. I tried his cell a couple of times but uh, he didn¡¯t answer.¡± ¡°Um, Ok, what¡¯s in the list?¡± ¡°It is very long, so I did not read through. But basically he told me to tell you to not forget meditation and ¡­ visualization? And also there¡¯s food for you and Caroline in the fridge, so you can just reheat them when you feel like it.¡± ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s it?¡± Jason took in the written list handed over by Dave, it was indeed a very long list. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to visualize and meditate, food is in the fridge, materials for the medicinal bath is the storage unit, meditation incense in the basement under the altar ... and um, be focused and on alert, remember your personal scriptures?¡± ¡°Hmmm, yeah, your boss said some weird stuff man.¡± Chapter 19 ¡°Little Jie, here you are.¡± right when Jason started his shift at the reception¡¯s desk, and with his head still processing last night¡¯s incident, Uncle Bu came into the inn. ¡°Uncle Bu, what brings you here? Aren¡¯t you going to tour around with the rest of the family?¡± Jason was surprised, and he quickly pulled out a chair to ask Uncle Bu to sit down. ¡°Ah, the plan is cancelled, sure you can understand.¡± Uncle sat down and smiled, ¡°And they wanted me to say thank you on their behalf. Everything just happened too fast and everyone¡¯s in shock, and they did not get to say it to you before you came back.¡± ¡°Thank you. Uncle.¡± Jason went into the dinar and poured two cups of tea, ¡°So what do you plan to do next? My shift just started, so I won¡¯t be able to keep you company till late this afternoon.¡± ¡°No worries, your inn looked very clean and neat. I can just relax in the diner. Or I can rest in a room.¡± ¡°Here¡¯s the key to my personnel room, it¡¯s on the second floor. Go up from here, left turn and it¡¯s the third one.¡± Jason handed the key to his room to Uncle Bu, ¡°Feel free to rest there, jetlag should be hitting you soon so don¡¯t forget to get some sleep.¡± ¡°No problem, I¡¯ll need you to take me shopping afterwards. You know I don¡¯t like to bring clothes with me on travel.¡± Uncle Bu took the keys and said, ¡°And maybe you can get some with me as well. You know, some nice uncle-nephew pairing.¡± ¡°Hey, Jason, I want to talk to you about our meditation ¡­ Oh geez I¡¯m sorry! ¡± when Uncle Bu stood up and was ready to head upstairs, Caroline came downstairs and almost bump into him. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I should have watched where I was going.¡± Uncle Bu took one step back and apologized in English with a warm smile and an extended hand: ¡°My name is Buyi, Jason¡¯s my nephew. ¡± ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re Uncle Bu! ¡± Caroline gave Uncle a handshake: ¡°I¡¯ve heard so much about you!¡± ¡°Really? He must have complained a lot.¡± This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°No, he said you¡¯re great.¡± Caroline chuckled. ¡°Oh, thanks! Jason! Didn¡¯t know you think so highly of me.¡± Uncle Bu waved his right hand with the Jason¡¯s key between between fingers at both Jason and Caroline, ¡°I¡¯ll let you young people be, this old man needs rest.¡± ¡°Wait wait wait, Uncle.¡± Jason¡¯s expression turned incredibly serious and rushed to Uncle Bu¡¯s side, one hand grabbing unclue¡¯s right arm, ¡°Let me look at your hand.¡± On Uncle Bu¡¯s forearm, there was a light bruise, shaped like a hand. ¡°What? Anything wrong?¡± Uncle Bu appeared oblivious to the source of concern. ¡°This bruise, when did you get it? How long has it been here?¡± Jason asked anxiously. ¡°Bruise?¡± Uncle Bu looked closely at his right forearm, ¡°What bruise? I don¡¯t see it? Maybe I¡¯m getting old.¡± This answer made both Jason and Caroline frown at the same time. ¡°You must be overly worried, it¡¯s just some dark spots on the skin.¡± Caroline swooped in and helped Uncle Bu off from Jason¡¯s grasp, ¡°Don¡¯t overthink it Jason, I think Uncle¡¯s fine. no?¡± Jason could tell that Caroline could also see the hand-shaped bruising, yet also understood what Caroline was trying to do from the way Caroline looked at him, so he backed off and chuckled a bit nervously: ¡°Haha, looks like indeed dark spots, maybe from the clothes or food? Yeah, I might be overly sensitive and jumpy, because¡­ you know what happened last night.¡± ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t worry, let Uncle sleep! He¡¯s definitely tired after the long flight.¡± After sending Uncle Bu off upstairs, Caroline came over to the reception¡¯s desk: ¡°Hey, what was that?¡± ¡°Did you see it? The bruise?¡± ¡°Yeah I saw it, it felt kinda ¡­ no, really weird. You know something about it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what it is. But it seemed to be paranormal.¡± Jason then told Caroline all about the encounter he had last night at the Prime Royals Hotel, as well as the basic research on his way back - apparently, the Prime Royals Hotel had a history of weird and creepy suicides and deaths of unnatural and sometimes even unknown causes. The history was long and the incidents were mostly unexplained, so much so that it had become sort of an urban legend by itself. ¡°Indeed it sounded like the limbo.¡± Caroline started scratching his jaw, ¡°Wait, is that the reason you called me at 3 am in the morning trying to find Boss?¡± ¡°Yeah. Your swearings were pretty intense though, almost as intense as that monster.¡± Jason laughed and then asked Caroline with a genuinely serious tone: ¡°Caroline, I want to cash in on that favor.¡± ¡°Boy you can¡¯t save up any favors huh? It¡¯s not even a month.¡± Caroline laughed and gave Jason a halfway forceful punch in the shoulder. ¡°Yeah, and you are no better at this.¡± Jason sighed and started pacing: ¡°I am worried about Uncle, if that kind of bruises are connected to the monster and the limbo, he might be possessed as well. Or who knows what¡¯s gonna happen. My cousin and her husband are still in the hospital, and I don¡¯t even know if they can recover or how many others are affected. I can¡¯t just sit by.¡± ¡°Alright, understood, what do you want me to do?¡± ¡°You¡¯re awfully willing, not even gonna ask to see the contract?¡± ¡°Limited time offer, one more word and you¡¯re gonna lose it.¡± ¡°Alright, alright. I need backup when I go back to the hotel.¡± Jason¡¯s look turned sharp and stern as he stated his decision, ¡°Boss won¡¯t be back for 4 days, I can¡¯t wait that long. I need to strike now.¡± ¡°Strike where? The hotel?¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± Chapter 20 ¡°Okay, Dave, before we go, remember what we told you?¡± right before Jason left with Caroline for San Francisco, he had to confirm with the temp whom Jianmen hired to take over his shift on all of the things he and Caroline detailed for him and asked of him. ¡°Yes, take all messages for you. Don¡¯t ever go into the basement. Check on Uncle Bu regularly if he¡¯s still sleeping. Keep an eye on him and never let him out of my sight if he¡¯s awake. Keep an incense burning at almost every corner of the inn.¡± Dave started counting with his fingers: ¡°Don¡¯t let him out of the inn.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, and uh, if he wants to talk, let him call me. Cool?¡± ¡°Call us, if Jason¡¯s not available, call me.¡± Caroline came over and told Dave, ¡°And um, don¡¯t keep your eyes off him for even one second, okay? You¡¯re not getting any extras if you lost track of him!¡± ¡°But! But ¡­ do call us if you have any trouble.¡± Jason had to soften the tone of their message: ¡°IF something happened, still call us, I don¡¯t want you to hide it from us because you¡¯re worried about not getting paid.¡± ¡°Umm, just so we¡¯re clear, you guys are really just going to San Francisco to deliver something, right?¡± Dave took a look at Jason and Caroline¡¯s backpacks, ¡°You are not going anywhere further than that or stay there all night?¡± ¡°Do these look like what we will pack if we¡¯re staying?¡± Caroline quickly showed Dave what was inside her backpack - inside was a couple of bunches of incense, round and shiny metal plate, and a small plastic bag of light-yellow folded paper. ¡°Um, are you going to the Serene Mantra Studio? I have a friend who works there. She¡¯s a pretty awesome spiritual yoga instructor and she teaches a lot of people. And I mean a LOT! I bet if you mentioned my name and tell her I sent you, she will be willing to give you a discount...¡± Dave got a little bit excited and started rambling again. ¡°Okay, but no. These are for the Boss¡¯s family. Like we told you, it¡¯s an emergency.¡± Jason had to cut Dave off, ¡°But we¡¯ll check it out next time.¡± Then he and Caroline hopped on a rideshare and off to the Prime Royals Hotel directly.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Don¡¯t take too long! My shift ends in 7 hours!¡± Dave still had to yell out when Jason and Caroline left on their ride. ------------------------------------------ In the basement of the inn, there were several giant metal boxes placed in their respective cells. Now, three of the boxes were opened, by none other than Jason and Caroline. Inside the three boxes opened, were three pieces of paper label, with Chinese characters on them. ¡°Spirit Calming Incense¡±, ¡°Illusion Breaking Incense¡±, and ¡°Demon Suppression Sigil¡±. Both Jason and Caroline were pretty familiar with the contents of the first and second box - Jianmen uses Spirit Calming Incense during his instructed meditation sessions with them, and he uses the Illusion Breaking Incense during the instructed visualization sessions. But neither of them ever saw him using any of the folded paper sigils on any occasions. But still, big metal box, yet only a few pieces of folded paper. The name of the sigils sounded very promising, yet they had no idea how to use them. ¡°If what I saw from the super old Hong Kong movies depicted things correctly, we can just throw these sigils at the ghosts. We may need some blood from the top of our fingers to activate them though.¡± looking at his share of Demon Suppression Sigils, Jason sighed and said, then he reached into his back pocket and took out a white card with a hotel logo: ¡°Looks like I forgot to return the keycard, hope it still works.¡± ¡°Yeah, now I¡¯m gonna say it, this is a terrible plan.¡± While searching for information about the Prime Royals Hotel and its urban legend on her phone, Caroline told Jason. ¡°Yeah, told myself several times that. No need to tell me once more.¡± Jason sighed and laid back on his seat. ¡°Okay, try to remember as much as possible from the encounter, what else did you see in the limbo? Besides the bendy ghost ... monster, and the creepy thing with tons of eyes.¡± Caroline put down her phone, looked at Jason and asked. ¡°Besides those, I can¡¯t remember much.¡± Jason laid down his phone and scratched his head, ¡°I just remember things turn grey and colorless, and then it seemed like no one was in the limbo but me. Donovan was in my arms, but in the limbo, it was actually that monster. Which means for some reason the limbo can suck in particular people.¡± ¡°Uh-huh, and what did Donovan say? Did your cousin say anything?¡± ¡°Donovan was still unconscious when we sent him to the hospital. Elaine woke up shortly after I was out of the limbo, but she was pretty frantic so I did not get to ask her anything.¡± Jason thought for a few seconds then answered, ¡°But Elaine did say that she fell unconscious right after she and Donovan entered the room, and she was not sure what happened. And apparently, get this, Donovan never had a history of sleepwalking.¡± ¡°Wait, you said that when you discovered Donovan, he was standing on his toes? Do you know what that means?¡± Caroline felt like she just realized something. ¡°Yeah, that was a symptom of ghost possession, which I am pretty sure was the bendy ghost man.¡± Jason answered, shaking his head. ¡°OK, bummer.¡± Caroline laid back into her seat. ¡°Yo, what kind of video game are you playing? Sounds crazy interesting!¡± the rideshare driver said to Jason and Caroline. Chapter 21 Somewhere underground in Los Angeles, California. It was a huge deserted tunnel, once built as part of a huge underground construction project, initiated and managed by some ambitious billionaire in an effort to fix and optimize the terrible LA traffic. Jianmen did not know what the billionaire''s PR department told the public about the reason for the shutdown and restriction of access, but he had a pretty good idea what the actual reasons were. Aside from the usual entrance blocking mechanisms like metal fence, security camera and huge warning signs aside, the entrance Jianmen went through also had several hidden night vision cameras and motion sensors. Jianmen also had no doubt in his mind, that should anything come out of the tunnel, there would be swift reactions from the authorities and even the military. There¡¯s a foul smell in the air, perhaps not noticeable for ordinary humans, but it was clear to Jianmen as the stench of a skunk. And even though there was basically no light in the tunnel, Jianmen was still able to traverse the routes into the depth of the tunnel with incredible speed, without hitting any obstacles or dead ends. It was barely 10 minutes since he entered the tunnel, he already sensed something was moving in the direction in front of him. Also he began to see some tracks of human activity: there were some used tools on the ground, like broken shovels, dirty gloves, buckets and even an abandoned fork lift truck at a short distance. And behind the fork lift truck, was a creature with shiny eyes. Jianmen picked up a small stone from the ground, then threw it far behind the fork lift truck. The creature stood up and was alerted by the sound of the stone, but the next moment Jianmen¡¯s left hand already had a firm grab on its mouth and its body was slammed on the ground. The creature tried to fight back at its attacker with its sharp claws, but all six of its limbs on its body full of sharp scales and its long tail with short spikes were all clamped down with some sort of invisible force. Jianmen let go of his left hand, but still maintained an invisible energy seal using Xuanli on the creature¡¯s mouth to prevent it from making any sound and alerting other things down in the tunnel. Jianmen¡¯s eyes lit up in an orange-golden light as he stared at the creature¡¯s eyes a short while. When he felt like he obtained enough information from this crazed abomination, he lightly twisted his left hand, and the creature¡¯s body broke down and dried up into a pile of stone like debris and ash.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Without looking at the remains of the creature, Jianmen stood up and started throwing folded light yellow paper at the walls of the tunnel. Even though these were pieces of folded paper, yet they appeared to be sharp and hard enough to cut into the surface of the tunnel walls, and get embedded inside. Leaving eight pieces of folded paper embedded in the tunnel wall¡¯s internal circumference spreaded with almost even angles, Jianmen proceeded to continue forward. ------------------------------------------------- ¡°I know, it¡¯s a bad plan, you don¡¯t have to tell me or signal me through your face.¡± after sneaking into the Prime Royals Hotel using Jason¡¯s key card which should have expired but for some reason still worked, Jason said to Caroline: ¡°Let¡¯s find the window.¡± ¡°Hey, this is just you, I am just following your lead. And this face? This is my ¡®sneaking into fancy places¡¯ face.¡± Caroline shook her head and said: ¡°And uh, I think it¡¯s incredibly sweet, you willing to take action to protect your uncle like that. And your uncle willing to come to you just to check on you.¡± ¡°Thanks! I try.¡± looking at Caroline¡¯s slightly dejected expression, Jason couldn¡¯t find the right words to say for a while, ¡°Well, hey, let¡¯s deal with this monster. See if you can crack some monster skull in the limbo.¡± ¡°Dude, don¡¯t even.¡± Caroline rolled her eyes, ¡°Fighting a boney bendy creepy man sounds fun, but I¡¯m not gonna risk it.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t knock it till you try it. It might be surprisingly satisfying.¡± just went up the fire staircase to the second floor, the floor he stayed in last night, Jason trotted to the window where Donovan tried to jump out of. The window was boarded up, seemingly due to its frame being bent out of shape due to the struggle last night, and a big paper sign with ¡°Out of Order¡± was stuck on the wooden board. The wall facing the window, which Jason broke with his back when trying to save Donovan, was patched up with some temporary board and paint, and a small ¡°Please don¡¯t touch¡± sign on it. ¡°Ok. I take it that this one is the only security camera you know?¡± Caroline looked briefly out of the window, pointing at a security camera pointing at the direction of the pool. ¡°Yeah, seems like a really old hotel. We asked for security camera footage last night but they insisted they do not have one in this hall.¡± Jason tried to look around the ceiling of the hall, ¡°But that was after what happened and there were only a few of us here, so we did not press that hard.¡± ¡°Could they be lying?¡± ¡°They could. But I can¡¯t find a security camera around here.¡± ¡°And they probably don¡¯t have a reason to lie either. ¡± Caroline checked out some corners on the ceiling around the window: ¡°If your cousin¡¯s husband was the one that tried to jump and it was on the video, it is a pretty clear evidence for them to avoid liability.¡± ¡°Yeah. That crossed my mind too. But still weird though? A 4 star hotel with no security camera in the hallway?¡± Jason gave up after checking the surrounding area twice, and turned to the window, ¡°... nevermind. Let me take a look here...¡± After basically confirming that there was no security camera around, Caroline and Jason decided to first investigate the area around the window. But besides a present but barely noticeable sense of eeriness, they could not find anything obvious. ¡°Okay, should we try to trace the ghostly man then? Where did the monster with many eyes again drag the ghost again?¡± Caroline asked Jason. Just this moment, someone was at the door through which Caroline and Jason came to this floor, and with a twist of the door handle, they came in. Chapter 22 ¡°Dude! This is totally sick bro! Should we start the streaming already?¡± as Caroline and Jason prepared to act as if they were the guests staying in this hotel, they heard a voice speaking in a tone that is pretty recognizable if one spends at least some time on the internet. ¡°What the...¡± before Caroline could make a comment, three young man, all wearing some kind of online influencer attire, went out of the fire staircase door and almost bumped into her and Jason. ¡°Sorry dude, but we gotta go live in 3 minutes!¡± one of the young men, who was asian-looking only had whiter skin and light brown hair, and was also wearing a beanie, quickly apologized to Jason and Caroline, ¡°If you are free tonight, please tune in to the live show ¡®Branston Live Show: a dive into the Haunted Prime Royals!¡¯¡± ¡°Wait what, this hotel is haunted?¡± Jason pretended to be oblivious and asked. ¡°Yes! And we have sources in the hotel, so stay away if you are worried about your safety!¡± this guy stayed behind for a brief moment and elaborated to Caroline and Jason, ¡°We¡¯re gonna explore it after another incident, it¡¯s gonna be lit!¡± Jason and Caroline¡¯s eyes met, then they both followed the three young men down the hallway. ¡°This is the direction of the eye monster in the limbo.¡± as they ran and caught up to the three young men, Jason whispered to Caroline. ¡°Is that so? ¡± Caroline frowned, ¡°These idiots¡­ they might have some information we need. Let¡¯s follow them for a while.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like this. They shouldn¡¯t be here, it¡¯s way too dangerous,¡± Jason started trying to think of some excuse to make the three young men leave the premise, without alerting the hotel staff and personnel. ¡°I don¡¯t think we can get rid of them that easily. It may just take too much time.¡± Caroline said: ¡°Let¡¯s follow them and see what they know, we can leave them be when we find something.¡± ¡°Hey, can we explore with you?¡± Jason caught up to the tallest blonde young man wearing a cartoon character hat and carrying a camera on a selfie stick, who seemed to be in charge, ¡°I promise we won¡¯t disturb your stream, we are paranormal fans too.¡± The young man took a look at Jason, then took a look at Caroline, then answered with a smile: ¡°Of course, no problem. Always nice to have a pretty lady on the team. Do you want to appear on screen? If you want to, I can bring a couple hundred followers to your socials easily.¡± ¡°Thanks! But I¡¯m good. Can you tell me your name? I believe I saw your face before, but I am not too into streaming so I apologize.¡± Caroline turned down her usual sass and sarcasm.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°No problem. My name is Branston, I am the host of the Branston show, I do net videos and streaming. And I have over 6 million followers over all social media platforms.¡± the blond young man pointed at his blue T-shirt with a pink ¡°Branston Gang¡± logo and said. ¡°I¡¯m Brian, I¡¯m his assistant.¡± the young man with black hair, light brown skin and bright eyes on Branston¡¯s right side, who was also wearing a black ¡°Branston Gang¡± T-shirt with a white and blue logo. ¡°We met just there, I am the field researcher. My name is Adam.¡± the third asian-looking young man with a beanie nodded at both Caroline and Jason, ¡°I¡¯m afraid it will be a problem, if you want to explore with us you¡¯ll have to sign some release forms, because we can¡¯t guarantee that you won¡¯t be in the shots. And it¡¯s a live stream so we cannot edit you out.¡± ¡°Ok, we¡¯ll sign the release form.¡± Caroline agreed on behalf of both her and Jason, ¡°But we may branch off mid way if we find something.¡± ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be an issue. But if you stop appearing in the stream, you¡¯re not gonna get full percentage of the royalties.¡± Signing a live stream release form is quick and easy. The 1.5% max royalty from the stream is limited and cheap but could still prove useful. ¡°Hello my dear and awesome Branston Gang. We are here, live at the famous haunted hotel Prime Royals! ¡± by the time both release forms were signed and handed to Adam, Branston and Brian had already started their livestream. ¡°Today¡¯s stream we will have two additional guests who will explore the haunted Prime Royals hotel with us!¡± Branston brought his camera on a selfie stick to Caroline and Jason¡¯s faces: ¡°Caroline! Jason! Give the Branston Gang a warm greeting! And Branston Gang, welcome Caroline and Jason!¡± ¡°Hi Branston Gang! Happy to be on the show!¡± Jason was the one more familiar with being in front of a camera. While Caroline, flexible and quick witted she was, she was not entirely comfortable with being in front of a live streaming camera, a live stream of thousands of people watching, no less. ¡°Now! As promised, what we¡¯re going to do today, is the explore this notorious haunted hotel.¡± Branston started leading the way down the hallway while livestreaming, ¡°And what is the history behind this haunted hotel? Take it away Adam!¡± Camera was then taken over by Adam: ¡°Hello Branston Gang, this is field researcher and paranormal expert Adam. As many of you know, we are exploring the Prime Royals Hotel, which is a lesser known haunted hotel compared to some others. But its history is way more creepy and deadly.¡± ¡°For example, for other haunted hotels, how many of them have ghosts that MAY, or may not , have killed people?¡± Adam continued, with deliberately exaggerating tone: ¡°Many of you may have heard of the good old and tired story of ghostly figures roaming the halls and visiting guest rooms at night. But the ghost of the Prime Royals Hotel is something entirely different.¡± ¡°For example, did you know, that there is a time table for suicides at the Prime Royals Hotel? Ever since the early 1930s, for every three to four years, there would be a wave of suicide or strange and unexplained death. Last wave of suicide and strange deaths happened just a bit more than two years ago, with two suicides, and three unexplained deaths.¡± ¡°One happened in the bathroom, a lady guest for some unexplained reason drowned herself in the sink; And a newly wed couple, the groom strangled himself with his bare hands and the bride stabbed herself to death with pieces of glass from a broken mirror.¡± Adam became more and more enthusiastic since he started talking, ¡°And just in case you¡¯re wondering, yes it has happened again! Our friends at the Prime Royals Hotel got wind of a weird incident last night - a newly wed groom almost jumped out of the window here. And if he did, he would have impaled himself on the fences down below ...¡± A sudden weird feeling came over both Jason and Caroline, which made them stop following the three young men midway. ¡°Something happened? ¡± Brian was the closest to them, so he stopped and asked. ¡°Yo, Adam, hold on. Looks like we lost signal?¡± Bransto also stopped and called out to Adam, then showed his phone screen to Brian, Jason and Caroline: ¡°Can you check your cell to see if it¡¯s just me?¡± ¡°No, mine too.¡± Brian took out his phone and tried to open the streaming app, ¡°I got ¡®Service Unavailable¡¯ here.¡± Chapter 23 ¡°Something¡¯s wrong¡± the same thought crossed both Jason and Caroline¡¯s minds, as they quickly turned their backpacks forward and tried to find the incense and folded paper sigils, they found that their backpacks were almost empty, and neither the incense or the paper sigils were in there. ¡°Shit!¡± Caroline looked at Jason nervously, and saw that Jason was also looking at her with the same expression. ¡°Fucking limbo.¡± Jason tried to grab something else out of his backpack, he found something but it did not feel like what he was trying to find at all. It was a long stick, roughly as long as his arm, made of some unrecognizable material, and at one end it shaped like a tip of a pen. ¡°What the fuck is that? And what the fuck is this?¡± Caroline was getting irritated, and she found two things from her backpack: a small round shield, and a short stick shaped like a shorter but thicker baton. ¡°Hey, guys, do your phones have signals?¡± Branston came over and asked, ¡°Looks like ours just lost signals at the same time. Weird huh?¡± ¡°Shut up Branston.¡± Caroline and Jason yelled at the same time. ¡°Woah, what the fuck man?¡± Branston was startled and upset by this outburst. ¡°We¡¯re in danger now.¡± Jason held his long pen looking thing in one hand and threw his phone to Branston, ¡°So shut up for now, until we find a way out.¡± ¡°In danger? What are you talking about?¡± Brian asked. ¡°Jason, the doors are losing color.¡± Caroline interrupted Jason, who was just about to answer Brian. Jason took a quick look around the doors in the hallway, indeed, and not just doors, the colors on everything in sight were fading away at a very noticeable speed. And at the same time, the lights in the hallway started dimming as well. ¡°Dude, what is happening?¡± even the oblivious Branston and Brian started noticing the weirdness. ¡°Oh, no, are we being haunted?¡± Adam started panicking and was not able to stand straight, ¡°Holy shit! We are being haunted! This is the illusion! We¡¯re gonna die!¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Hey, shut up!¡± Caroline gave Adam a light slap, ¡°We don¡¯t know this is the end yet, stay focused, okay?¡± ¡°Wait, wait, wait, slow down. Why are we in danger?¡± Brian watched Adam slid into a corner and asked in shock: ¡°Can you tell us what¡¯s happening?¡± ¡°We¡¯re in the fucking limbo. ¡± Jason tried stabbing the hallway window frame with his ¡°pen¡±, but it just left some ink-like mark on the window frame as if he just painted it with a stroke of a brush, ¡°Adam¡¯s right, we are in an illusion, but it¡¯s an illusion we can possibly die in.¡± ¡°Dude, this is sick!¡± Branston exclaimed excitedly, ¡°We are experiencing a haunting first hand!¡± ¡°Yeah, too bad your cameras can¡¯t record here. Dumbass.¡± Caroline did not hold back on her sarcasm this time, ¡°Now calm down while we figure things out.¡± ¡°And what makes you experts, huh? What the fuck do you think you are? ¡± Brian was upset by Caroline¡¯s sudden change of attitude. ¡°Hehehehehehe...¡± an eerie laughter came out of the blue from the direction they were heading towards. Branston and Brian immediately jumped and tried to hide behind Jason and Caroline, while Adam just shriveled to a cradle position on the ground. ¡°Alright, what now? ¡± Caroline had to get equipped with her shield that can barely cover her face and her baton-like stick. ¡°Watch out. ¡± Jason held onto his pen-like stick, and still tried to lift Adam, ¡°There must be a way out of this limbo.¡± ¡°What are you guys holding in your hands? Are those weapons?¡± Branston¡¯s voice was shaking, ¡°Do you have any more to spare?¡± ¡°No, and I am not sure these are weapons either.¡± Caroline answered impatiently while looking at their surroundings. ¡°Hey, Adam, get up! We gotta go!¡± Jason used both of his hands to pick up Adam forcefully, the tip of his pen-like stick dropped and bounced on the ground, leaving a few more marks on the ground. Sensing something coming from behind, Caroline turned around and took a quick step forward with the shield held in front of her. Her sudden move almost knocked Branston and Brian on their butts. An ear-piercing sound similar to that of claws on a metal board exploded on impact - a ghastly looking woman with half her face swollen and broken had her bloodied and almost skinless right hand blocked by Caroline¡¯s shield. Not hesitating for even a moment, Caroline¡¯s short baton connected with this ghastly woman¡¯s already dislocated left shoulder. Branston and Brian¡¯s eyes could have popped out of their eye sockets if they widened their eyes any harder: with a brittle sound of bones breaking and moving out of their original position, the ghastly woman¡¯s whole body was sent flying by the baton hit and slammed into the wall on her left side At the same time, Jason also engaged with his ghostly opponents: an overweight looking man in suit, with bruises around his neck and bulging eyes, and a tall woman wearing a bloodied nightgown and shards of glasses in her neck appeared from the shadows and tried to attack Jason and Adam, but Jason was able to push them back with his fast reflexes and his ¡°pen¡±. A couple of ¡°ink spots¡± were left on the man with bruises on his neck and the woman with bloodied nightgown due to them being hit and poked by Jason¡¯s ¡°pen¡±. And after they were pushed back, those spots started to smoke. Like attempting to put out fire, Jason¡¯s opponents let out muffled screams and tried to back into the shadows, which gave Jason a window of opportunity to forcefully drag up Adam and pull him to the space between Jason and Caroline. Seeing that Adam was whimpering like a hurt little kid and not able to pull himself together, and the ¡°ink¡± spots were able to burn the ghostly opponents, Jason lightly poked Adam¡¯s forehead with his ¡°pen¡±, leaving a spot there. ¡°Come on Adam! We need you here! Get up! Get up and stand with us!¡± Jason stepped in front of Adam and started drawing on the ground and the wall with his ¡°pen¡±. Chapter 24 Maybe Jason¡¯s ¡°ink¡± spots worked, Adam stopped whimpering and sat up on the floor, just looked a bit confused. ¡°What is happening here? Where are we?¡± Adam¡¯s question made him seem more confused than he looked. ¡°Okay, what did you last remember?¡± Jason helped Adam stand up and asked. ¡°I just remember ¡­ the streaming cutting off.¡± Adam struggled to come up with an answer: ¡°But where are we now? Why is everything ¡­ so grey?¡± ¡°Ok, long story short, we are in a limbo.¡± Jason looked back, and just in time to witness a woman with a half face swollen being beaten down to the floor by Caroline, and her body started flickering, like a broken hologram from the Sci-Fi movies. ¡°Limbo? What the fuck? ¡± Adam started trembling, looks like the fear started to get to him again, ¡°Are we locked in the limbo inside the Prime Royals Hotel? Holy shit! This can¡¯t be happening...¡± ¡°Hey! Focus!¡± Jason lightly slapped Adam¡¯s face again, ¡°Do you know anything about the limbo? Looks like you know more than us, and I have been into this one and back.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Do you know how we can get outta here!? You are the fucking field researcher for Christ¡¯s sake!¡± Branston grabbed Adam¡¯s sleeves and shouted. ¡°Ah! Okay...¡± Adam tried his best to calm down, but still freaked out a bit, ¡°I don¡¯t know much about limbos! I just read about it from the internet!¡± ¡°Okay, what did you read? Maybe that will help!¡± Brian asked. ¡°Umm, okay...¡± Adam took a look at Caroline and Jason, she was facing down a terrifying woman ghost and he was standing between them and two ghosts and the shadowy hallway, ¡°Let me think, let me think, I must have remembered something...¡± ¡°We need to move. This place is no place to stay.¡± before her opponent could escape or dish out another attack, Caroline was able to finish her up with one final baton strike to the neck. Though the sight of a ghastly looking ghost crumbling into a small pile of ash and broken rag was very satisfying and relieving, the whole fight took a lot of her energy.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Agreed.¡± Jason looked to the side of the man with bruises around his neck and the woman with glasses in her neck, the two ghosts seemed to have recovered, but still unwilling or hesitant to cross the lines he drew on the ground with his ¡°pen¡±. Right now, Caroline¡¯s direction facing the door to the fire staircase was clear, so it was only logical that they moved in that direction. After going into the staircase, they quickly moved to the floor down below. But the strange thing happened: they still saw some more stairs leading to the floor below, yet they were on the second floor, both Jason and Caroline remembered quite clearly that the fire staircase on the first floor did not go down. ¡°I think we might be in a loop.¡± looking from where she was standing and down, Caroline shook her head and said: ¡°I can¡¯t see an end going down.¡± ¡°And looks like no end going up either.¡± Jason took a quick look up and said. ¡°Oh my god. What are we gonna do! I can¡¯t die here!¡± Branston seemed overwhelmed with fear and was starting to break down. ¡°Hey, cool it! The more you panic the worse it gets!¡± weirdly, Adam was the first one to call out Branston. ¡°How do you know that? You¡¯ve never been in this situation before!¡± Brian started pulling his hair in distress, ¡°Branston¡¯s right, we¡¯re gonna die!¡± Caroline, while still trying to hold back her frustration and anger, was just about to attempt at calming these two down, but not before Jason gave them each a quick poke on the forehead with his ¡°pen¡±. For a quick second, Branston and Brian recovered from their almost frantic state, and both displayed confused expressions on their faces. ¡°Woah, what¡¯d you do?¡± looking at the strange markings on Branston, Brian and Adam¡¯s foreheads, Caroline asked. ¡°My weapon, I think it¡¯s some kind of pen.¡± Jason explained, ¡°I don¡¯t fully get it yet, but the mark it leaves seems to be some kind of ghost repellent.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Caroline thought for a moment looking at his small shield and short baton, ¡°I don¡¯t get mine either, but I think we can work together on this. Give me and my weapon a mark, it can¡¯t hurt.¡± ¡°Hehehehehehe...¡± the eerie laughter followed them into the staircase and seemed to come from the floors above them. ¡°Move! Move! Move!¡± even with an ¡°ink¡± mark on everyone¡¯s forehead, Jason and Caroline and the others still would not want to face whatever¡¯s giving out that laughter, so they proceeded to go down through the stairs. ¡°Wait!¡± before they were able to reach the next floor, Adam stopped everyone. ¡°What?¡± everyone else asked at the same time. ¡°We should face it.¡± Adam said with a calm and serious face and a trembling voice, ¡°We should go up, and go down that hallway.¡± ¡°What are you, nuts? There are at least two ghosts and who knows what in there!¡± Branston was not panicking, but he was in fear. ¡°That¡¯s the point.¡± Adam said: ¡°From all the different things I have read. One idea is really common among them. It¡¯s that in the limbo, souls that died of horror relive their memories and they will terrorize and torment those who are trapped.¡± ¡°So?¡± Brian asked. ¡°So, if we escape, we are literally giving in to our fear, which is the very thing they are gonna torture us with.¡± Adam¡¯s face got sweaty and his jaw shook as he spoke, but he sounded like he was never more sure of anything else in his life: ¡°We must face it, we must break the cycle of fear. Trust me, I am terrified, I am scared shitless. But thanks to Jason, I think my head is clear. We must try to break it.¡± ¡°But how?¡± Branston and Brian asked at the same time. ¡°Give me your hands.¡± Jason sighed and said, ¡°I¡¯ll mark your hands. If you had to, try punching them.¡± Chapter 25 ¡°Bang!¡± the fire staircase door got pulled open, and no surprise to either Jason or Caroline, the two ghostly figures behind the door lunged at them. The pen in Jason¡¯s hand was thin and it looked even thinner with its length, yet it turned out to be much sturdier than it looked - with a swift poke, the pen¡¯s tip pierced through the bloody woman¡¯s neck. And even though this woman tried to twist her body to disarm Jason or break the pen, she was not able to do so and got kicked in the chest and she was sent to the ground almost 20 feet away. This time, the ink from the pen got into the woman¡¯s throat, which made the situation worse for her. And the fact that she fell onto the ink spots Jason left previously did not help her at all. Bright fire erupted from the woman¡¯s body, as she rolled on the floor screaming and crying in an ear-piercing voice. On the other side, Caroline bashed the overweight looking man with bruises on his neck into the door, and delivered two sweeping blows using her baton to his head. The ink mark on her shield and baton seemed to have increased the damage she could deal with these weapons, and after these few strikes, her opponent¡¯s body exploded into dust and rags. ¡°Works better than expected.¡± Jason took a brief moment to catch his breath after the bloodied woman turned into several piles of ash on the floor, then turned around and said to Caroline and the other three. ¡°Hey, did the hallway light up a tiny bit? Or is it just me?¡± as they proceeded down the hallway to the especially shadowy direction, Brian asked. No one was able to answer him, since two more ghostly figures just climbed into the hallway through the windows on the left side, and two room doors just busted open from behind, and two pale figures, one was a man with half of his forehead missing, and the other was a woman with two bloody wrists and had two black and decayed holes where her eyes should be. ¡°Holy shit! From behind!¡± even if they had Jason¡¯s ink spots on their hands and in theory they could burn these ghosts with their fists, Branston, Brian and Adam still did not have the courage and experience to face them. All they could do was stumble and try to get closer to Jason and Caroline, who were just attacked by two figures covered in black smoke. The two figures that climbed in through the window looked barely human, as they lost their basic human features like eyeballs, ears and clothes, there were only pieces of rag on their bodies, and their slim to the bone limbs were covered with dark markings that looked awfully like horrible bruises. These two were faster and stronger than the previous two Jason and Caroline dealt with, and the black smoke that was emitting from their body seemed to be somewhat corrosive, some brief contact caused both their skin to itch and even burn.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Seeing that Jason and Caroline were handling ghostly figures on their side and not able to come to their aide, Adam toughened himself up for a short moment, gave out a loud roar and took a forceful swing at the woman with two bloody wrists, but then the man with half a head lunged at him and almost got ahold of him, yet the man¡¯s left hand still scratched Adam¡¯s arm. ¡°Get off, you son of a bitch!¡± Brian was also able to muster up some courage and gave the man with half a head a hard push on his shoulder, and then he delivered a hard kick on the man¡¯s groins. Adam¡¯s attack seemed more effective - the woman¡¯s face cracked up like glass, and smoke started coming out from the cracks, while the man with half a head had a burn mark on his shoulder, and Brian¡¯s kick did not seem to do much. Branston fell down due to not paying attention to his footing, and while Jason took a backstep to dodge his opponent¡¯s claws, Branston¡¯s wailing arms tripped him and caused him to fall backwards. Caroline used her shield to block a pounce attack from her opponent, yet because her stance was barely steady she was knocked back a few steps. ¡°Shit!¡± Jason kicked up and barely pushed back his opponent, then he unleashed a full force stab at his opponent¡¯s chest. The tip of his pen only penetrated for a few inches, and Jason felt as if he poked a piece of hardwood, the vibration from the collision actually hurt his hand a little bit. Adam¡¯s courageous and slightly desperate roar was not for naught, hearing that the ¡°civilians¡± still had a shred of spirit and will to fight helped Jason and Caroline calmed their minds for a brief moment. Caroline quickly gathered herself after being knocked back, then charged forward with her shield in front of her. Her opponent charged at her at the same time, with claws extended in front of it and letting out an ugly and stenchful growl. As they clashed, Caroline landed a solid blow to the creature¡¯s face, and her shoulders were grabbed by its claws. The creature¡¯s tips of its claws dug into her skin, and tried to tear into her body. The pain did not waver Caroline, instead it brought out her inner ruthless and savage side - with her shield up the creature¡¯s throat and pushing it against the window, her short baton started delivering rapid and forceful blows on the creature¡¯s head, arms, side torso and even its legs. On Jason¡¯s side, he was able to get up swiftly and regained his pose, right before the creature in front of him grabbed onto his left leg and locked its teeth into his thigh like an animal. The pain also brought out Jason¡¯s furious side, he started using his pen like an ice pick to repeatedly stab the creature¡¯s neck and shoulder. First stab, it was still like stabbing a piece of hardwood. The second stab, it got a tad bit softer. And after the first ten stabs, the creature¡¯s biting power seemed to have weakened, and its neck and shoulder had become more like hard foam instead of hardwood. ¡°Go to fucking hell!¡± having a sense that his opponent was no longer biting as hard, Jason pushed his pen deep into the creature¡¯s neck, then tried to use his bare hands to twist the creature¡¯s head off from his thigh. With a loud pop, the creature¡¯s jaw loosened up, and its head also got removed from it¡¯s shoulder. With a heavy kick with almost nothing held back, the creature¡¯s body flew off to the side and tumbled out of the window. Roughly at the same moment, the creature fighting with Caroline was also pushed out of the window, with broken limbs, broken neck and head smashed beyond recognition. ¡°Are you okay? Ouch...¡± Jason noticed the wounds on Caroline¡¯s shoulders, was just about to go over and check on her, yet the wounds on his thighs stopped him. ¡°Yeah. Hurts but not terrible. You worry about yourself.¡± Caroline¡¯s expression did not tell the same thing as what she said. ¡°Help! A little help here!¡± Adam and Brian tried, but still they were pinned down on the floor and the wall. Branston, while not pinned down, was desperately trying to push the ghosts away but to no avail. Chapter 26 With Caroline and Jason¡¯s help, Brian and Adam were finally able to stand up, they were a bit traumatized by the experience of facing ghosts this close up and the ash and broken rags on the body. But they still could move and with the help of Branston they were able to keep up with Caroline and Jason. ¡°Dude, when we¡¯re back, this is gonna be so viral.¡± Branston joked. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s make it back and tell the whole story. This is some sick stuff.¡± Brian agreed. ¡°Hey, Jason, Caroline. How did you know how to fight these¡­ ghosts?¡± Adam asked. ¡°We can tell you all about it later.¡± Jason sighed, ¡°We learned it from our cheap ass boss, believe it or not.¡± ¡°Yeah, and we¡¯re gonna have a real serious talk with him when we¡¯re outta here.¡± Caroline said, shaking her head. ¡°And your weapons, what are they made of? How did you get them?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. But I think they might be the mirrors we brought.¡± After thinking for a short while, Caroline answered. ¡°Mirror?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Jason agreed, ¡°It¡¯s a mirror we used for meditation and visualization...¡± ¡°Hehehehehehehe...¡± a sudden sound of laughter made all five of them flinched, they were getting closer to the end of the hallway, the path to which felt much longer than it looked. But they still could not see clearly what was at the end, it was still covered in shadows. ¡°What is that? Did you see it?¡± Jason frowned and asked. ¡°No.¡± Caroline answered: ¡°This time it sounded closer though.¡± ¡°Thump¡±, ¡°Thump¡± sounds of bodies dropping on the floor came from behind.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Jason and Caroline turned their heads and checked back, and they saw the three young men behind them dropped on the floor, foaming their mouth with no sign of consciousness. ¡°What the hell - ¡± A shockwave erupted in front of them, and it hit both Jason and Caroline the moment they turned their heads back and knocked them into the air. Both of them were able to land on their feet, Jason had more trouble balancing himself due to the wounds on his thigh. And it was at this moment that Jason and Caroline had a clear vision on what was behind the creepy and eerie smile, yet they didn¡¯t really have the words to describe it. The thing was a big spider-shaped thing, but its body parts were not at all like that of a normal spider. Instead its body parts were formed from human bodies, or human-like bodies - each leg was made of a few pale and naked human with different kinds of extreme facial expression, and these bodies were twisted and bound together to form the shapes of spider legs; and the body of the spider was formed by two layers of human bodies in similar pale and twisted condition interlocking with each other with their out of place and horribly bent limbs. An uncontrollable and freezing chill almost took over Jason and Caroline¡¯s body, as they watched the giant human-formed spider extending its legs beyond the confines of the wall and window in the hotel, and charged at them bringing the same shadows that obscured the backgrounds with it. It was more than obvious to Jason and Caroline at the time, that there was no way out, and the source of this limbo had shown its true face. ¡°You should go to hell.¡± Jason whispered through his teeth. ¡°Hehehehehehe!¡± this human-formed spider¡¯s eyes - which were actually eyeless human heads with long, messy hair, no ears and no jaws, emitting laughter the core of its body, ramped up its speed of its charge. Jason and Caroline stood firm and braced for the clash, yet they were far from strong enough. The human-formed spider did not even crash into them directly - it just let out a high pitched scream from inside of its body, and another shockwave just exploded point blank and it sent them flying. ¡°Kill me ¡­ Kill me!¡± ¡°My eyes ¡­ please give me back my eyes¡­ ¡± ¡°... I am tasting my blood¡­ so bitter ¡­. so cold ¡­ ¡± all kinds of incoherent, grim and even gruesome whispers started resounding in their ears. The wounds from the previous slim humanoid monsters began burning and itching from the shockwave, and their weapons straight out flew off from their hands. Jason was then pinned on the wall while Caroline was pressed on the floor. The spider legs made of human bodies that got a hold of Jason and Caroline started oozing black smoke from the human¡¯s mouths, eye sockets, nostrils and ears. The chill in their bodies became numbing and paralyzing, the black smoke also exacerbated their loss feelings from their legs, arms and then their whole bodies. It was only a few seconds before their vision started blurring and darkening - the black smoke was like a slow and sensory devouring tide, and it just drowned both of their faces in it. ¡°I shall be the fort. I shall be the rock ...¡± right before the black smoke reached his eyes, Jason heard Caroline¡¯s slow and painful, but resilient low chant. This hit Jason like a bolt of lightning, as he started his own low chant at the same time: ¡°My heart will harbor fast wind, my eyes will pierce the highest sky ...¡± ¡°... Sticks and stones and blades, firm stand till I fall.¡± ¡°... My ears will hear what¡¯s buried under thick earth, my mind will sense the waves of the lakes and rivers.¡± Then they could no longer hear each other, they could barely hear themselves. Chapter 27 The first thing Jason and Caroline sensed after they were swallowed by the black smoke, was a painful screech coming from some. The next thing they felt, was that as if they were being thrown in all kinds of directions, yet they were somehow not hitting anything. Slowly they regained their vision and their ability to move, and the giant spider legs for some reason let go of them and they just fell on the hallway floor. Sounds of cracks and pops, the smell of smoke and the feeling of heat surrounded them - the hotel hallway was burning. There were two very conspicuous holes in the floor, and around these two holes were a couple of burning piles of tar-like matter. The giant human-formed spider struggled in the burning hallway and tried to back away from where Jason and Caroline were. It appeared to be extremely fearful of the silver and orange flames that were burning all around the hallway and it appeared to be missing a few of its legs. ¡°Pop!¡± a piece of the carpet beneath one of the spider¡¯s leg burst out burning in silver and orange flame. The spider jumped and tried to move the leg away, yet a large chunk of this leg was already burned by the flame. Some of the human bodies that formed it seemed to be melted off and dropped on the ground, and started burning like drops of tar-like matter around the holes in the floor. ¡°Carry them away!¡± Caroline gave Jason a push and knocked him out of his shock and confusion, then pointed at Branston, Brian and Adam: ¡°We must carry them away!¡± ¡°Right! Now!¡± Jason came to himself and rushed to the side of the three unconscious young men with Caroline, and started dragging them away from the fires. The spider was finally able to back away and into the shadows. But its body was already badly damaged when it did. There were some parts of its body that caught fire, it just shed the burning human body parts like chunks of dead skin, exposing the internals of its body in the process. And even through the fires and almost a whole hallway away, Jason and Caroline were still able to make out a part of the human-formed spider¡¯s ¡°core¡± : it was a woman, in a golden-colored gown cradled in a fetal position. Unlike all other parts of the limbo, this woman and her gown had color on them and were not grey. After letting out a loud and threatening screech, the spider disappeared into the shadows at the far end of the hallway. When Jason and Caroline came to, they found that they were still standing in the hallway, and to their relief the hallway was not on fire at all. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. But something definitely was on fire, since they smelled smoke. ¡°Caroline? Your backpack!¡± ¡°And yours!¡± Looked like while they were in the limbo, something ignited all the incense in both their backpacks, the insides of their backpack were burned and badly damaged. But luckily, nothing else caught fire. The folded paper sigils were also burnt down into barely recognizable pieces, and each of their metal mirrors were in incredibly high temperature and Caroline almost got her hand burnt while she was cleaning out her backpack. Branston, Brian and Adam did not wake up as fast as Jason and Caroline, and they seemed to be very confused when they did. ¡°Stream¡¯s disconnected. What happened? Did we stream at all?¡± Branston asked Brian and Adam, yet neither was able to give him an answer. ¡°Hey, Caroline, Jason.¡± Brian ran up to the two who were staring at two bunches of incense in their hands: ¡°Looks like we got confused there for a bit, did we do the stream? Do you guys remember?¡± ¡°... No?¡± Caroline thought for a minute and decided she wanted to play dumb: ¡°I don¡¯t remember much from before. What do you remember?¡± ¡°Honestly? Almost nothing.¡± Brian turned back and took a look at Branston who was trying his hardest to adjust his camera and get the stream online, and Adam on the side helping him, while his expression clearly showed that he was trying really hard to remember what happened. ¡°It¡¯s probably for the best.¡± Caroline smiled, ¡°I felt like we went through something terrifying, it¡¯s a blessing in disguise if we cannot remember anything.¡± ¡°Caroline? Look at the smoke.¡± Jason interrupted the brief conversation between Brian and Caroline. Some of the incense in their backpacks was still burning, and a lot of the smoke that was trapped in there was also released when they tried to get things out. Yet the smoke did not dissipate like normal smoke would, nor did it rise up to the ceiling or out the window. Instead, all of the smoke drifted through the air across the hallway and gathered around a decorative pillar half embedded in the wall at the far end of the hallway. The smoke from the incense was light, not cough-inducing and even had a calming smell, yet somehow it started to char that piece of the decorative pillar. Jason and Caroline¡¯s eyes met, the same realization just came over them. ¡°Fuck yeah! I just got it working!¡± Branston cheered as he finally got his camera to start shooting and his livestream back online, ¡°Woah, the chats we got, it¡¯s insane!¡± ¡°Let me see. What are they saying? ¡± Brian and Adam hastily took out their phones to check the status of the live stream. A loud bang startled Branston, Brian and Adam. As they looked over to where the sound came from, they saw Jason and Caroline violently tearing up a decorative pillar in a wall at the end of the hallway. ¡°Woah woah woah! Guys! We are not supposed to do this!¡± Brian quickly rushed to Jason and Caroline¡¯s side and exclaimed: ¡°You can¡¯t cause damage to the hotel! What do you think you¡¯re doing?¡± ¡°Hey! What are you guys doing there!? What¡¯s with the smoke!?¡± two doors opened and several guests came out of their rooms: ¡°Stop it! We¡¯re calling the hotel staff!¡± Jason and Caroline did not even slow down, they already broke the surface of the decorative pillar, and they started breaking and pulling out what was inside: dusty fillings, old wooden boards and panels. ¡°Stop it! Stop it!¡± a female guest sounded like she was about to cry: ¡°This is a historic hotel! You can¡¯t do this!¡± ¡°Historic, made sense...¡± Jason muttered as he reached his hand down to the hole they made and pulled out a piece of wood panel that for some reason seemed corrupted and blackened. ¡°Stop what you¡¯re doing, now!¡± two security guards from the hotel made it to the scene and tried to drag both Jason and Caroline away, but big and tall as they were, they were pushed to the side. ¡°Branston! Your camera! Come here!¡± Caroline yelled at the three young men who just seemed to get every streaming device online, ¡°Turn on your flashlight and take a look down here!¡± ¡°There¡¯s a body inside!¡± noticing that Branston was hesitant because of the presence of the bodyguards, Caroline spelled out loudly what she and Jason found. Chapter 28 Everyone staring into the hole Jason and Caroline made gasped, even though they were told what was inside beforehand. It was an already mummified head, with metal chains around its neck and a piece of shiny object embedded in the mouth. ¡°Holy shit! Did you see that folks? We just found a fucking body buried inside the walls of the Prime Royals Hotel!¡± Branston was excited beyond belief by this discovery and he practically yelled these words to his camera on livestream: ¡°Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shiiiiiiiiit!¡± ¡°We just got some exclusive footage of the body and we will definitely follow up as they try to dig it out!¡± Brian also stated to the camera with a semi-professional and semi-serious tone, ¡°Adam, do you have a guess on who the body is?¡± ¡°Okay, let me first clarify that this is my speculation. And we might be wrong.¡± Adam took over the camera: ¡°From my research into the history of the Prime Royals Hotel, there are three main suspects. ¡°The first is the first wife of the third owner of the Prime Royals Hotel, at the time it had a different name. The owner¡¯s name was William Jenson, and his first wife was Abigail Jensen. I am not very familiar with their story, but the story went that Abigail Jensen disappeared and her body was never found. ¡°The second is a maid of the seventh owner, we do not know her name, but she also disappeared and was never found. But at the time it was right after the San Francisco earthquake, she was presumed dead because of the earthquake. ¡°The third and the creepiest possibility is the one of the hotel¡¯s previous owners. Her name was Beverly Winters. Unlike the previous suspects, she was never missing - not when she¡¯s alive. She died of pneumonia at the age of 35, and the next day, her body was stolen from the morgue and was never found.¡± On the other side, police officers were questioning Jason and Caroline. Since they were the ones that found the body, the officers decided not to arrest them, even though the hotel was a historic site. And the questions were really simple: ¡°How did you know there was a body inside¡±, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you call the police¡±, ¡°What were you doing in the hotel.¡± It was not long before they were let go, and the police officers started questioning Branston, Brian and Adam.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Quickly hopping onto a rideshare car, both Caroline and Jason could not fight the weariness anymore and fell fast asleep before their ride even got onto the main street. ¡°Hey sir! Hey lady!¡± when Jason and Caroline were woken up, the car had already arrived at the inn, the driver handed over two small bottles of water: ¡°Here you are. And take these, you look thirsty.¡± ¡°Thanks man.¡± Jason and Caroline grabbed the water, rushed off the car and straight towards the lounge of the inn. ¡°Yo, you came back early. I thought you¡¯re not gonna be back till later. How¡¯s San Francisco?¡± Dave greeted both of them at the reception¡¯s desk. ¡°Where¡¯s my uncle?¡± Jason did not have time to entertain Dave¡¯s chit chat attempt. ¡°He¡¯s doing good, enjoying himself with some matcha ice cream in the diner.¡± Dave pointed to the diner¡¯s direction, ¡°He woke up about half an hour ago and helped me with some guests ...¡± ¡°Thanks a lot!¡± before Dave could finish, Jason rushed into the diner and grabbed Uncle Bu¡¯s arm. ¡°Little Jie, what happened? Dave said you went to San Francisco to make an emergency delivery to your boss?¡± Uncle Bu was indeed eating matcha ice cream, and he was watching Chinese TV on his phone. Jason¡¯s sudden move startled him a bit, but he still asked kindly. The hand - shaped bruising was gone. Jason gave out a long exhale in relief and sat down by Uncle Bu¡¯s side: ¡°It was tough, who knew a delivery could be this tormenting? But I am so glad you are up, let¡¯s go and buy some clothes shall we?¡± ¡°It can wait, you just went to San Francisco and back, you must be exhausted.¡± Uncle Bu smiled and said, ¡°Have some matcha ice cream with me! Can you tell me what brand it is? This is amazing!¡± ¡°Yeah, Boss had them custom made with his own tea leaves, believe it or not.¡± Caroline came over, sat down by Uncle Bu¡¯s side and said in accented Mandarin, ¡°Have you tried his tea? If you like tea you should definitely try it. In fact I think Boss wouldn¡¯t mind if you bring the whole bucket home.¡± ¡°Hey! Good Madarin you got there.¡± Uncle Bu looked pleasantly surprised. ¡°Thanks Uncle. Jie taught me a lot.¡± Just when the three of them settled down and were about to enjoy some more ice cream, Uncle Bu¡¯s phone rang. ¡°Sorry, I gotta take this.¡± Uncle Bu apologized to Caroline and turned to Jason: ¡°This is Little Yuxin¡¯s mother.¡± ¡°That¡¯s Elaine, my cousin.¡± Jason also stood up and explained to Caroline. ¡°Uh huh ¡­ that¡¯s so nice to hear. How are they feeling now? ¡­ understood, Little Jie and I will visit the first thing tomorrow.¡± Uncle Bu turned to Jason while covering his phone: ¡°Little Yuxin just got off sedation, and Donovan woke up.¡± ¡°Whoo!¡± Jason cheered in relief, and he received a high five from Caroline. ¡°Hi, is Mr. Yu here?¡± while Jason, Caroline and Uncle Bu were having some happy quiet time in the diner, a young woman wearing a long coat and sunglasses came to the reception¡¯s desk. ¡°Oh, he¡¯s out until next Tuesday. I am here to take over his shifts till he comes back.¡± Dave hesitated for a second then chuckled nervously, ¡°Do you need a room? Can I take a message?¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. I will come back next Tuesday.¡± the woman looked a bit disappointed. ¡°Holy shit! Guys! Do you know who just came looking for your boss?¡± after the young woman left, Dave barged into the diner. ¡°Who?¡± Caroline frowned and asked. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s Josephine Wong.¡± Jason swallowed some ice cream. ¡°Oh my...¡± Dave looked ecstatic and frustrated, ¡°You knew?¡± Caroline almost spitted out the ice cream in her mouth. Chapter 29 ¡°Thank you very much detective. You are so kind.¡± Jianmen said to Aimee and Thomas, deliberately ignoring Aimee¡¯s more and more annoyed expression ¡°Alright Mr. Yu. Have a good night. Please do pass on our message.¡± Thomas promptly ended the conversation with Jianmen, since he noticed that his sister was losing patience. ¡°Of course. And the same to you.¡± Jianmen waved his hands in the air as Thomas and Aimee went out the front door of the inn. As the two detectives walked to their car and Aimee realizing that Jianmen had a pretty fluent conversation with them even though the last time they met Jianmen claimed that he does not speak English and ran off, Jianmen waved his hand in the air a few more times, then he took a look at what he had in his palm. It was a small trace of black smoke, and it was still slowly moving in his hand, at the center of it there was even a small portion of it that was flickering red. The smoke still flowed like normal smoke would, but it was contained within a small space on Jianmen¡¯s hand by an invisible barrier. Jianmen had rarely looked at anything as seriously as he was looking at this small trace of black smoke that was flickering red. His two students were still in the basement, and from the sound they were making it seemed like they were going to be there for a while, so he still had some time before he would be bothered and interrupted in whatever he was doing. A simple pen with his own special homemade red ink inside in hand, Jianmen drew a few symbols on its corners. And in the center of the paper, he drew a circle and a few words around the circle. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. If Jason and Caroline were here, they would notice that some of the words and symbols were also on the drawings hanging on the basement walls. Placing the trace of black smoke onto the paper, Jianmen slowly conjured up the power he gained from practicing one of the most mysterious, powerful and dangerous cultivation methods in his previous world: ¡°The Laws of Karma¡±. A simple name, and not overly complex for a cultivation method of its level of power, yet not many had come close to successfully understanding it. Not to mention utilizing it. The symbols and words on the piece of paper started emitting light of different colors: some red, some green, some blue, some golden, and some purple. Visions started flashing through Jianmen¡¯s eyes - an old man with silver hair got onto a bus, then he went onto a train. And on one of the stops the old man got off the train, where he was greeted by Aimee and Thomas. Before the old man went on the bus, he dropped by a fast food restaurant to grab a bite and a cup of coffee. Before the old man dropped by the fast food restaurant, he was in his apartment. The day before, the old man went to a busy place, some city downtown, where he bought some gifts in a shop and gave his spare change to a homeless man sitting beside the shop¡¯s front door. It was through this exchange, a lock of black smoke climbed onto this old man¡¯s wrist like a snake from the homeless man¡¯s hand. Before the homeless man went to the shop¡¯s front door, he took a drink at a roadside water fountain. Through the water, another bigger lock of black smoke went into the homeless man¡¯s body. The water from the water fountain was delivered from some complex and somewhat old and under maintained underground piping, which connected to an old and similarly under maintained filtration system. Then the visions ended - the limited amount of black smoke could only support this much causal tracing before it got neutralized under the power of Jianmen¡¯s Xuanli and the Laws of Karma. The piece of paper turned brown, slightly curled up and brittle, as if it was exposed to heat for a while. A small blister occured on Jianmen¡¯s palm like there was a minor burn, then it quickly recovered. Even though the trace was incomplete, Jianmen still got the feeling that it came from something unclean and dangerous. But for now, it was not that huge of a concern for him. But it did give him an urge to speed up his training and lessons, especially on that of meditation and visualization, and eventually, Yi, or Intent. Not too long after he completed, the sounds in the basement stopped. ¡°Hmm.¡± Jianmen smiled with a little bit of pride, and started to prepare tea and chopped berries. Chapter 30 One morning, at a SJPD precinct. ¡°Detective Chavers.¡± the Captain went to Thomas and Aimee¡¯s desks with a serious expression, ¡°Come to the briefing room, we have some important development on the Corin family case.¡± ¡°Okay. That doesn¡¯t sound good.¡± Thomas said to Aimee when they were walking over: ¡°I hope it¡¯s not Emilia again.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Emilia Corin, looks like she surfaced.¡± when they stepped into the briefing room and closed the door behind them, the two federal agents they had been working with on the Corin family case told them with a stern face. ¡°Jesus, what¡¯d she do now?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°A security camera at a Cafe in San Francisco caught her dealing with a man in hood and sunglasses.¡± the shorter and slimmer one of the two federal agents showed a security camera photo on the TV screen: ¡°We sent over someone to the Cafe already. They used cash and only stayed for a short time. The waitress there saw them exchanging envelopes, but unsure what was in them.¡± ¡°Our theory is that she¡¯s looking for manpower.¡± the taller and bulkier of the two federal agents continue: ¡°We know that she¡¯s smart and apparently quite ruthless. She could pull that stunt on Emerson Street to get rid of hostile family members, then she could hire more guns to take over the family business.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a scary theory.¡± Aimee walked closer to the screen: ¡°Who¡¯s this man? Any known dealer?¡± ¡°We are not certain, but it could be one of the low level Exalted Bondsmen.¡± the Captain answered : ¡°Since we know that the Corin family have gifted members and hired helps that have been working against her, if I were her I would not want to be outgunned.¡± ¡°But most of the gifteds for hire are not able to carry a gang war.¡± the shorter Federal agent said hesitantly: ¡°I think if she¡¯s really that smart, she would have hired specific kinds of gifteds, and she would be looking to buy a lot of firepower.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good theory.¡± the taller federal agent nodded, then turned to Thomas and Aimee: ¡°We would coordinate with other agencies to trace arms and hired gifteds, and you guys need to be extra careful on this - if she¡¯s still in the bay, then her loyals will be here as well. And they will be dangerous.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°What about those two civilian inn staff?¡± the Captain just thought of something: ¡°The two that helped you save officer Lopez and take down Cliff?¡± ¡°Yeah, what about them?¡± Thomas appeared confused. ¡°No, sir, I don¡¯t think they will be recruited.¡± Aimee already knew what the Captain was suggesting. ¡°Who are we talking about here?¡± the taller federal agent asked. ¡°Two civilians we met when we were initially looking into Emilia.¡± Thomas answered with a smile: ¡°Really capable, like able to face off against a gifted goon capable. And really hot...¡± Aimee delivered a heavy backhanded flip on Thomas¡¯s arm and said: ¡°We reached out to them a couple times and asked them to contact us if they got in touch with Emilia. But so far we have not heard anything back.¡± ¡°Place them on a watchlist then.¡± said the taller federal agent. ¡°But they are not potential suspects or persons of interest, don¡¯t you think it would be a little rash...¡± Aimee was clearly not comfortable with the idea. ¡°PROTECTIVE watchlist.¡± the shorter federal agent¡¯s expression looked like he just found the magic word. For a moment, Aimee and Thomas just felt like facepalming so hard. --------------------------------------------------- ¡°Question for you: do you fight with your body? Or your mind?¡± one morning training and sparring session, Jianmen asked Caroline and Jason with a bamboo stick in his hand while pacing in front of them. ¡°Um¡­ why not both?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°... you are too smart and no fun.¡± Jianmen turned around, not looking embarrassed at all, ¡°And you are right, when you fight, you fight with both your mind and your body. ¡°What you should also know is that, mind and body are only two of the three factors that you possess in your arsenal as cultivators. When you reach the second layer, you will start to deal with Qi. And you will learn to turn Qi into Xuanli, using your mind and body, thus completing your basics. ¡°I know, that before you had your super fun first visualization and meditation sessions, you did not fully believe this cultivation thing. But now I believe you have become more ¡­ believing, for a lack of a better word.¡± Jason raised his hand. ¡°Yes Jason?¡± ¡°If what you¡¯re gonna teach us is really cultivation methods, how soon can we fly? Will we be super powerful like superheroes?¡± ¡°Sustained flight is achievable when you reach the fourth layer. And yes, you will become powerful not unlike superheroes in those movies. But you still have much to learn and you still have a long way there.¡± Jianmen answered with his bamboo stick pointing to the sky: ¡°Only when you can cut that piece of cloud in half with this bamboo stick, without causing much trouble to others, will you be able to call yourself a good cultivator.¡± ¡°Can you do it? Can you show it to us?¡± Caroline asked. Jianmen did not answer and started laughing, leaving Caroline and Jason speechless for a while. ¡°When you can cut the cloud in half, I will show you.¡± Jianmen gathered himself and said: ¡°Now! Enough questions! Here is your first lesson on fighting with both your body and your mind: you will practice the basic moves I taught you, while reciting your personal scriptures and re-living the feeling of your visualization in your head. This session is not timed, you can only stop when I tell you to stop. Got it?¡± Chapter 31 Another morning, another day in front of Xianshi Inn. ¡°Do you know what that word means? ¡®Xianshi¡¯? ¡± in their car holding a cup of coffee in his hand, Thomas asked Aimee, ¡°That¡¯s like a Chinese word right?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. ¡± Aimee shook her head while looking at some of the security camera footage on her laptop: ¡°I put it in a translator and the word has multiple meanings, it can mean ¡®reality¡¯, or ¡®to show¡¯, or ¡®leisure and comfortable¡¯, or ¡®being a pervert¡¯.¡± ¡°Well, ¡®leisure and comfortable¡¯ checks out though?¡± Thomas looked out of the window and saw some guests excitedly going into the inn, ¡°The inn does look pretty clean and neat though, not like the other places.¡± ¡°Or it can just mean ¡®being a pervert¡¯, you know, because the owner is shady and would like a joke.¡± Aimee frowned as she zoomed in on a photo. ¡°Geez sis, you have too much prejudice against this guy!¡± Thomas laughed: ¡°What has he done to offend you so?¡± ¡°Nothing ¡­ just ¡­ he gives off an annoying vibe.¡± Aimee thought for a bit and could not find a reason: ¡°He kinda weirds me out, OK?¡± ¡°So? He kinda weirds me out too. But I¡¯m not treating him as a pervert.¡± Thomas could not stop laughing: ¡°I felt that he¡¯s just a weird old man, don¡¯t assume the worst of people, you know? ¡± ¡°Yeah, I know, I know. I just can¡¯t shake the feeling.¡± Aimee said. ¡°Hello detectives.¡± a sudden voice came from Aimee¡¯s window and almost made Aimee pull her gun while Thomas just spilled his coffee out the car window. ¡°Mr. Yu? What are you doing here?¡± Aimee put her gun back into her holster and asked.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°I saw your car out front.¡± Jianmen answered with a smile and a deliberately strong Chinese accent, ¡°Are you providing police protection like I asked? That is very very kind of you! Thank you very much!¡± ¡°No, we are not providing police protection. What are you doing here?¡± Aimee impatiently answered. ¡°Well, I saw you near my inn and I want to say hi.¡± Jianmen sounded ever so innocent, ¡°And I understand what you mean, you cannot say that you are providing secret police protection. Because then the criminal will know, big trouble.¡± ¡°No, no, no, we are not providing secret police protection!¡± Aimee was very eager to clarify the situation. ¡°Yeah yeah yeah. I understand.¡± Jianmen touched his nose then pointed at Aimee and Thomas, while winking clumsily and handing out two small brown bags, ¡°As a token of my gratitude for ¡­ being here, I brought you homemade matcha cake.¡± Aimee wanted to refuse: ¡°Oh, no, we can¡¯t...¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, we are working, and we are technically not allowed to take gifts.¡± Thomas explained to Jianmen. ¡°Oh, relax, this is homemade, and I am the boss so it does not cost anything. ¡± Jianmen insisted, ¡°Also, you are not working. You are not providing secret police protection, right? You are just driving by, technically.¡± ¡°Hmm. Okay. It does smell good though.¡± Thomas just took the brown bags right from Jianmen¡¯s hands. ¡°Of course, I am a really cheap boss, but my corporate meals and snacks are top-notch.¡± Jianmen lightly patted the top of the car and said: ¡°I used all the Californian good stuff - gluten free flour, avocado, and with my special matcha powder and a little coffee grind - it¡¯ll brighten up your day.¡± ¡°Oh my god. It¡¯s sooo good!¡± just when Aimee was about to say anything, Thomas interrupted her with a loud exclamation. ¡°I knew you¡¯ll like it.¡± Jianmen looked at Aimee with a smile: ¡°You police officers, always with your donuts, too sweet and full of artificial flavor. San Jose¡¯s finest deserve something good. Feel free to drop by my inn and buy some if you want more, I¡¯ll give you guys friends and family discount.¡± ¡°Hey, that¡¯s a very offensive stereotype.¡± Thomas said to Jianmen in a serious tone: ¡°We are preferring bagels now, got it?¡± Then both him and Jianmen started laughing, while Aimee facepalmed. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll have a taste.¡± Aimee took the other brown bag. ¡°Okay, great. Hope you like the cake.¡± Jianmen waved and started backing away: ¡°Thanks again detectives, and please stay safe.¡± ¡°Alright, you too!¡± Thomas happily waved Jianmen goodbye as well. ¡°Mmmm.¡± Aimee took a small bite and exhaled: ¡°You weren¡¯t lying. This is good.¡± ¡°Right? ¡± Thomas finished his last bite of the cake: ¡°I wonder why the inn is not more popular.¡± ¡°Because it has a weird boss?¡± Aimee took another bite. What neither of them could see, was that two traces of orange-gold air traveled from somewhere inside the cake and into their bodies, and shortly after, a little bit of black smoke rose from their shoulders and was burned off by something invisible. Chapter 32 Another early morning, another guided visualization session. ¡°Okay, here¡¯s the theme of today¡¯s visualization session: you will not face the drawings directly. You will face their reflections.¡± in the basement, Jianmen announced with his usual getup: white loose silky casual clothes and a bamboo stick: ¡°And the source of your reflection, will be your mirrors.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Jason asked: ¡°Wasn¡¯t the whole point of visualization to stare at drawings with ¡®True Words¡¯ and let the illusions torment us?¡± ¡°That is not the point, but you are half correct.¡± Jianmen pointed at Jason with his bamboo stick: ¡°The point is still to harden and temper your minds and spirit, like I told you many times. The purpose of looking at it through reflection is to let you defamiliarize with the drawings and the ¡®True Words¡¯ to prevent you from using your memory as a crutch. ¡°You might have noticed this in your recent visualization sessions, that when you are staring at the drawings, your mind will try to re-use your memory of what the drawings look like to let your minds have a chance to slack off. When this happens, you are less focused on the drawings before you but more on the vision in your head. And at the end of the session you won¡¯t gain as much and even could achieve the opposite effect. ¡°So, this simple practice of focusing on the drawings through a mirror will help you focus more and suppress your mind¡¯s habit and desire to take the easier route.¡± ¡°Will it be as painful as the first session?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°No, unless something goes wrong, no visualization experience should match the level as the first session. But you should learn to embrace the pain, not actively avoid it.¡± Jianmen answered: ¡°The pain is what hardens and strengthens your will.¡± ¡°This is way too Chinese. Using pain as a measure of your progress?¡± Jason scratched his face: ¡°My parents thought the same and I didn¡¯t have much of a childhood.¡± ¡°And why would that be a bad thing?¡± Jianmen slapped Jason¡¯s shoulder lightly with his bamboo stick: ¡°What else you¡¯re gonna measure your progress with? Hugs and kisses from shallow girls and your spoiling mother telling you how special you are?¡± Caroline laughed out loud but had to quickly hold back¡£ ¡°Ouch, Boss. Okay!¡± ¡°Okay, off you go. This session is not timed either. You will stop when I tell you it¡¯s time to.¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Another? We seemed to have more of this kind of untimed session recently. Aren¡¯t you worried no one will take care of the shifts?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°Because you need them, and times like these, time is a luxury.¡± Jianmen went out of the basement and closed the door: ¡°Don¡¯t worry! You¡¯ll still get the usual pay!¡± After he closed the door to the basement, Jianmen went back to the reception¡¯s desk. Then he took out a piece of paper with a meticulously hand drawn map on it and held three ancient Chinese copper coins in his hands, slowly blowing onto them. The coins briefly shined orange, then Jianmen cast the coins onto the desk. This was a special kind of divination he learned a long while ago, and it was the most cost effective one he knew. These coins started spinning on the desk and slowly moving towards the piece of paper with the hand drawn map on it. ¡°Ting!¡± ¡°Ting!¡± ¡°Ting!¡± the three coins struck something invisible as they moved towards the piece of paper, three faint dots of orange light flew out from the coins and landed on the map. The paper started burning from all three points of contact, but as the burn expanded towards the center point of all three contact points, parts of the burn just stopped spreading. When the burning finally stopped, all that was left was a small piece of the map with burnt edges. ¡°Hmmm.¡± Jianmen picked up the small piece of paper and put it onto its computer screen where he had the same map loaded on a browser, and eventually he found the location that fits, a small area with a park and a small area under construction, looks to be an entrance into a tunnel, whose name is made of some weird characters: ¡°Los Angeles ¡­ Ae - Aa - Ai - Ax - Ah something tunnel.¡± Then Jianmen did a quick search on the the tunnel, un-mistakenly named ¡°AeixiiMhundu Tunnel¡±. The tunnel was once a revolutionary underground transportation project that spanned hundreds of miles underground headed by a billionaire, then it was shut down. Jianmen did not get to read too much on the reason for the shut down because two young men just went into the lounge. ¡°Hello, gentlemen, welcome to Xianshi Inn. Would you like a room?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ no. Do you serve food here?¡± one of the two young men asked: ¡°And if you do, is it Chinese?¡± ¡°Yes, we do serve Chinese food. But if you want it right away you¡¯ll have to wait.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. ¡± the other young man asked: ¡°And do you cater, for like 20 people¡¯s meal?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, we don¡¯t cater. But we can definitely make group orders. You can pick them up and bring the food to your location.¡± ¡°Okay, but we might not have people to pick the food up. Can you do delivery? ¡± ¡°Well, we can arrange delivery with 20 percent. But since you have 20 people, you get a discount, 15 percent extra for delivery.¡± ¡°That will do. Can we take a look at the menu?¡± the first young man seemed receptive to Jianmen''s ask. ¡°Sure, no problem.¡± Jianmen handed out two copies of the menu: ¡°Also, do you want individual meals or served in trays?¡± ¡°Trays. And please don¡¯t use peanuts or peanut oil. ¡± By the time these two young men finished ordering, Jianmen also noticed that it was time for Jason and Caroline to stop their visualization session. ¡°Thanks! You will have it next Friday, at 12:30 pm.¡± Jianmen sent off the two young men with a smile. ¡°Hey Boss?¡± when Jianmen opened the door to the basement, Jason and Caroline were already standing right in front of the door, ¡°I think we might have an issue.¡± ¡°Hmm, which is?¡± Jianmen walked into the basement, and he saw that five of his drawings hanging on the walls were somehow burnt down. ¡°We don¡¯t know anything! Somehow they just burnt!¡± Jason sounded really nervous. ¡°Huh, don¡¯t worry about it.¡± a smile appeared then swiftly disappeared from Jianmen¡¯s face, ¡°It is the nature of True Words. I¡¯ll make some new ones.¡± Chapter 33 ¡°How much weight can you lift now?¡± before he started another martial arts training and sparring session, Jianmen asked Caroline and Jason. ¡°Don¡¯t know, I haven¡¯t gone to the gym for a while.¡± Jason answered. ¡°And neither have I.¡± Caroline shared Jason¡¯s sentiment: ¡°In fact I¡¯ve never been to the gym since I came to California, because you know, expenses and stuff.¡± ¡°Okay, then I¡¯ll give you weights based on my estimates.¡± Jianmen handed out some soft weighted bracers, weighted vests and other small portable weights to both his students and said: ¡°Now, put them on, you will practice your moves with half the time today but you¡¯ll have to keep these on.¡± ¡°What are the sprinklers for?¡± while they were putting the weights on, Jason pointed to four sprinklers and four newly erected wood pillars around him and Caroline, ¡°And the wood pillars?¡± ¡°The sprinklers are to spray you with my special concoction. Similar recipe of your medicinal bath water only a little bit more intense.¡± Jianmen circled around them and put a small piece of diamond shaped shiny metal plate that reflected lights in blue, purple, and red on each of the pillars, ¡°And these pillars, they help you concentrate and fight with both your body and your mind.¡± ¡°Okay, that does not sound good. Anything we should know beforehand?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°Just that try your best to finish your set.¡± Jianmen snapped his finger, and both Caroline and Jason felt a strange sense of weight and intensity upon them, not only physically, but also mentally. Then Jianmen turned on the sprinklers and yelled to them: ¡°There will be reward if you finish. But if you did not, there will be a little bit of punishment as well. Starting¡­ NOW!¡± At first Caroline and Jason did not understand why Jianmen would set the bar so low - in their usual training sessions, doing one set of moves was their warm up routine. But as they continued, they were made aware how wrong they were: with each move they completed, the weight on their bodies and minds somehow became heavier. The weight on their bodies were not limited to the weighted equipements they wore, in fact what they were wearing seemed largely secondary, while the air around them got denser as they moved and all their body parts became harder to move. At the same time, they started having visions - visions that only occurred to them while they were practising visualization. ¡°What the fuck is this?¡± Jason yelled: ¡°What¡¯s with the visions?¡± ¡°Focus! Your mind should control your body! When your mind becomes the master of your body, you will brave these weights and tension and pressure.¡± Jianmen shouted, waving his bamboo stick.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The liquid spewing from the sprinklers felt weirdly hot on their bodies, it seemed to provide very small amounts of relief to the sore they were feeling, but after a while, neither Caroline nor Jason was able to move a muscle and fell face down on the ground. ¡°That was barely one third of the whole set!¡± Jianmen turned off the sprinklers and said loudly: ¡°Okay, take a break. You did better than expected. Not enough for the reward. But enough for your first try. You should be happy and proud.¡± ¡°What was that? The tension and the sudden pressure?¡± Jason struggled to remove the weights he wore, ¡°Is that because of these pillars and the stuff you put on there?¡± ¡°Keen observation, young Jason.¡± Jianmen mimicked an English accent: ¡°I will explain the details when you are ready. But you guys basically just dipped your toes in a limbo.¡± ¡°Limbo?¡± Caroline took off her weighted vest and asked: ¡°The kind of limbo in the Bible?¡± ¡°Not really. No.¡± Jianmen circled Jason and Caroline again to take the diamond shaped metal plates off from the wood pillars, ¡°Think of them as bubbles in the air. As you become better cultivators you will be able to venture in some of them and even construct your own. It is pretty common for great cultivators to leave limbos in their personal realms to pass on their knowledge onto future generations of cultivators.¡± ¡°I have a couple of questions but I guess you¡¯ll just say you will give us the answer when we are ready.¡± Jason sat up on the ground and wiped his face, and smelling the liquid on his face and hands: ¡°And what would the punishment be?¡± ¡°Punishment is you will try again tomorrow. And every morning until you can finish a whole set.¡± ----------------------------------------------------------------- ¡°Hello, gentlemen.¡± when Jason just got started with his shift and Caroline took a break in her room, a grey car with two men armed with a long range camera and other surveillance equipments inside got a visit from Jianmen. ¡°Woah.¡± the two men tried to hide everything in a hurry, and the taller and bulkier one at the driver seat asked in an unfriendly tone: ¡°What! Can¡¯t you see we are in the middle of something?¡± ¡°I can see that. You are peeping my guests.¡± Jianmen brought out another two small brown paper bags. ¡°What? No!¡± the shorter and slimmer man on the passenger seat denied in a weirdly high pitch tone. ¡°We are not peeping your guests, sir.¡± the man in the driver seat said to Jianmen in a serious tone, emphasizing on the ¡°sir¡±: ¡°We are here on some other business, can you step away from the vehicle?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. I can tell you are law enforcement. If you are here it must mean there might be some bad people around.¡± Jianmen said in an exaggerated Chinese accent: ¡°I am always trying my best to keep my inn out of trouble, you know? It¡¯s my life¡¯s work here. I spent my whole life¡¯s savings on it, so I will absolutely cooperate with law enforcement to catch the bad guys.¡± ¡°We are not law enforcement, and we are not trying to catch anyone here, okay?¡± the man in the driver seat spoke through his teeth: ¡°Please step away from the vehicle.¡± ¡°Ah, ¡®step away from the vehicle¡¯, right? ¡± Jianmen smiled and pushed the two brown paper bags in his hand forward: ¡°Not ¡®get off my car¡¯, not ¡®stay the fuck away from my car¡¯, so technical and formal. Anyway, I bring my homemade matcha cakes, to thank you for your service.¡± ¡°We are not going to accept your gift. And we ARE NOT law enforcement!¡± the man in the driver seat tried to grab and push away Jianmen¡¯s reaching hand, but Jianmen¡¯s hand was way too fast for him. He had to give up after a few tries to avoid further embarrassment, and asked with frustration: ¡°What, the hell, do you want?¡± ¡°I just want to, um ¡­ put these right here.¡±. Jianmen said hesitantly as he placed the two brown bags on this man¡¯s lap: ¡°Homemade and fresh out of the kitchen! Please try! Don¡¯t waste food! My mother always said, wasting food will take all your good luck away.¡± ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll consider it. Can you go away? We are here on business.¡± the man in the passenger seat took a look at the man in the driver seat and said : ¡°Can you go away?¡± ¡°Yes, sir. Hope you catch the bad guy!¡± Jianmen gave them a clumsy salute and ran away. ¡°Wait wait wait wait!¡± the shorter man in the passenger seat stopped the taller man in the driver seat from throwing the two brown paper bags out: ¡°Let me just take a look.¡± A sweet, savory and slightly bitter smell came out of the paper bags as they carefully opened them. ¡°Maybe just one bite?¡± the shorter man asked. The brown bags were thrown out of the car window moments later. Chapter 34 While Caroline and Jason were in another meditation session, Jianmen took the time to buy and prepare additional food to store in the fridge. He had a feeling that he will need to take off soon, but just unsure what was the best time. Detective Chavers did not come back since he spotted them watching over his inn outside last time. Since then he had visited the different police officers each day and given them two pieces of homemade matcha cake on each visit. Today¡¯s visit was the same old trick for Jianmen: creeping onto the car from the blind spot when the officers were not noticing and busy paying attention to the guests that came in and out, and lightly patted on the top of the car. ¡°Hello officers, we meet again.¡± Jianmen handed out the paper bags in his hands with a smile: ¡°Today is your third time here, right?¡± ¡°Gosh Mr. Yu. How can you always find us like this?¡± this time the people in the car were a young man and a young woman: ¡°We switched our car already!¡± ¡°Well, Officer Anderson, that is because cops have a special smell. Especially new cops like you and Officer Hernandez here.¡± Jianmen said to the young man and lightly shook the two paper bags: ¡°Matcha cake?¡± ¡°Okay, but don¡¯t tell anyone.¡± Officer Hernandez grabbed both the bags, gave one to Officer Anderson and could not wait to open hers: ¡°I did not get a chance to eat this morning. I am starving.¡± ¡°You are too poor at keeping yourself alive, Viviana.¡± Officer Anderson laughed and slowly opened his paper bag, ¡°And thank you, Mr. Yu, you will hear from my cousin soon, he needs something romantic and delicious to apologize to his girl.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s Detective Chaver and Detective Chaver?¡± Jianmen asked, ¡°They were the first to be here and you already took 3 shifts. Did they get too fat from the cake?¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°You mean Thomas and Aimee?¡± Officer Anderson shook his head: ¡°I guess you didn¡¯t hear: they had a car accident the other day, and their father got injured.¡± ¡°What?!¡± ¡°Yeah, kind of a freak accident.¡± Officer Hernandez swallowed a big mouthful with a sip of coffee and said: ¡°They were driving out of a shopping center, and some newbie driver kid on the opposite side of the road lost control of his car and T-boned them.¡± ¡°Holy ¡­ That should not have happened.¡± Jianmen frowned with a horrible feeling that he might have underestimated the danger posed by those traces of black smoke. ¡°Yeah I know right? It was like the kid was aiming at them.¡± Officer Anderson was also a bit disturbed by the accident, ¡°No brake marks, the kid did not even try to stop. Apparently he panicked.¡± ¡°How is their father?¡± ¡°He broke a leg and got whiplash and a light concussion. He just got out of hospital the day before yesterday. So Thomas and Aimee are taking turns to take care of him.¡± Officer Hernandez paused on her cake and sighed: ¡°If you asked me, that is some insane luck. Their car is basically totalled and Thomas and Aimee just needed a few stitches.¡± ¡°Thank God.¡± Jianmen¡¯s expression did not show any sign of relief: ¡°Alright officers, I need to return to my shift. Please pass my good wishes to them and stay safe!¡± ¡°Of course Mr. Yu. Stay safe!¡± -------------------------------------------- Back to his room, Jianmen did not even go and check on how Jason and Caroline did during their meditation session. He took out the piece of burnt paper with partial maps on it, and then he brought out a long piece of paper and a very ancient looking Chinese brush pen. He did not even dip the brush pen in ink before he used the brush pen - he drew a straight red line from one end of the long piece of paper to the other, continuously pressing harder as he drew, leaving the line narrow on one end and wide on the other. Then Jianmen put the small piece of paper on the narrow end of the line, and gave the piece of burnt paper a quick tap. A shade of black occurred at the narrow end of the red line, then it started crawling towards the wide end. Jianmen¡¯s facial expression turned worse and more serious as the black shade crawled - it eventually stopped somewhere around the middle of the line, and the paper at the narrow end of the line also cracked up like it was partially burnt. ¡°Fuck.¡± Jianmen immediately started packing, ignoring a small burn that appeared on the back of his right hand, and he also dialed a number on his phone. Meanwhile at the reception¡¯s desk, Jason handed over the keys to Caroline and hopped on a rideshare to San Francisco. Chapter 35 When the day was getting late, and the lights on the road started turning on, Jianmen emerged from one of the dark corners on the streets of Los Angeles - close to the area he came here to check out, yet not too close so that he wouldn¡¯t risk spooking anybody or anything in the area. The streets around the area were not crowded but there were still a lot of people, as the area was adjacent to some of the key business areas. And the place was also a bit filthy and under-managed - the cracks on the road made all cars driving through slow down significantly, and Jianmen could see homeless people in almost every corner that could serve as a temporary shelter. Having quickly found a hidden and unoccupied corner, Jianmen placed several pieces of folded paper sigils in a small crack under a litter bin by the side of the road. Then he headed towards another place that was suitable - these were Demon Suppression Sigils, the most basic of offensive sigils against almost all kinds of evil, corruptive and dark powers that exist in the world. Their powers scaled pretty well with the power of the user, and were not too explosive or shiny so not too disruptive of the lives of civilians. On top of that, he also placed some incense on the floor and lit them up, in hopes that the effect from them would help cleanse some of the effects of whatever laid down below. By the time Jianmen placed the Demon Suppression Sigils all around the area, the sun had already set for a while and the sky had gone dark. People¡¯s night lives just started and more of them are showing up in the streets. Jianmen wanted to place a charm on each spot he buried the Demon Suppression Sigils so that most of the people now crowding the area will be driven away. But a spell this scale could be quite noticeable for whatever is lying underneath this place and can be quite tricky to conceal - he already underestimated the thing once, he was not about to do it again. Having sent a couple of messages reminding Jason and Caroline to not forget practising meditation in front of a deserted entrance to underground, Jianmen then disappeared inside the tunnel. There were at least ten sets of surveillance equipment and motion sensors near the entrance, yet none was triggered by him. -------------------------------------------------------- As Jianmen ventured deeper into the tunnels, he also left tons of ashes and stone like debris. These were all once the monsters that inhabited this place, Jianmen was not happy and even frustrated with what he found from all of these monsters¡¯ memories - they were chaotic, grey, crazy and scattered. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. They were not hard to read, but their memories were like some barely coherent videos cut and patched together with tons of short and almost meaningless and heavily distorted clips. Not just that, these memories were also full of raw and extreme emotions, though they won¡¯t directly impact Jianmen, they still render the memories even more useless. After neutralizing fifty some monsters, some humanoid and scaley like the first one, some like giant rodents with six legs, some like snakes with no skin and scale but shape shifting tissues all over the body, some like hybrids of bats and flies with dark green goo oozing from all parts of their bodies, and some completely without physical bodies and existed only in shadowy ghostly forms, Jianmen finally got a rough sense of what was going on. Apparently something occurred in the depths of the tunnels. The unknown thing started whispering to the animals and insects living in this tunnel, and even to some weak willed and mentally unstable people on the ground. These insects, animals and humans then mutated and even became bound to other organisms and became other kinds of new and disgusting creatures. Not all these creatures made it through the process, a lot of them either dissolved into chunks of rotten flesh, goo and pus or dried up and became wood and rock like inanimate objects, which then would be devoured by the creatures that made it. Some of the creatures that lived through the process shed their corporeal form and became apparitions. These creatures, when not acting on the direction of the whispers, would roam the tunnels and attack any outsiders. Jianmen had not been this frustrated and upset with himself for years. He could already tell the sole reason behind what happened here. Yet he, the one with the best understanding of the Laws of Karma from his old clan, failed to recognize the signs. These are clear signs of Karmic Corruption, also known as Karmic Pollution. Karmic Flow, or the Flow of Karma is one of the fundamental aspects of a world. And Karmic Flow has its internal laws and patterns. Even a truly transcended mind can barely understand a small portion of the laws and patterns. The flow represents both motion and stasis, both causes and effects, both order and chaos. Yet, there are times when things and beings turn out so unclean and so distortive, corrosive and destructive, they poison the Karmic Flow flowing through and around them. Through this kind of corruption, they wound and even ruin the world in which they reside. Thus these things and beings were so named. ¡°Fuck your mom, and fuck your ancestors.¡± Jianmen swore in mandarin as he abandoned a lot of caution and accelerated forward. Not long before his realization, he had the feeling that he crossed over into a place with horrible smoke and foul smell in the air, even though there was not much change in scenery before him. It was an indication that he officially stepped into the ¡°hot zone¡± of Karmic Corruption. Luckily, Jianmen told himself, judging from the look of the walls, the smell of air, the flow of time and the continuance of the space, the corruption was not too serious. But the next second, he felt like he celebrated too early. There were three people in front of him, who also seemed to be exploring the tunnels. From what he could tell, these were individuals with superpower - and whose power levels were actually pretty high. But they appeared to be grossly inexperienced in this environment, only one of the three knew to protect themselves with an energy shield. Chapter 36 ¡°Cough, hrm, you shouldn¡¯t be here.¡± a calm, warm and smiley sounding voice came from the behind the team of Andrew, William and Eliza. ¡°Fuck!¡± ¡°Shit!¡± ¡°What the - ¡± Andrew¡¯s alloy sword shining in golden light, William¡¯s barrel full of pellets infused with air elemental power and Eliza¡¯s flying dagger coated with an orange layer all struck at the direction of this voice at almost the same time. As fierce as their attacks were, the man in a weird monkey mask still looked unwavering. Blocking the air-infused pellets with his right hand palm, holding the alloy sword with only his thumb and index finger, and catching the dagger with his teeth, Jianmen stomped on the floor and unleashed a concentrated shockwave, which knocked all three of the assailants back on their backs and dissipated immediately so as not to disturb anything else in this tunnel. ¡°Freeze!¡± Jianmen spit out the dagger and locked down the movement of all three people with the mere utterance of a mandarin word: ¡°Don¡¯t resist and don¡¯t panic, I am not here to hurt you. Stay calm.¡± Then he threw the alloy sword back at Andrew. ¡°Who are you!? ¡± Eliza asked while trembling, ¡°Did Mr. Theon send you here as well?¡± ¡°Relax, Eliza. I am not here because of whoever hired you.¡± Jianmen said, then he removed the shackle spell on the three super powered individuals on the ground. ¡°How do you know my name?¡± ¡°Simple answer is that your target slash enemy here already knows your name and he - she - it already wrote your names all over the realm and couldn¡¯t wait to suck you dry and turn you into little minions.¡± Jianmen knelt down and said: ¡°Names are powerful things. It¡¯s best you leave now, you have no idea what you are contending with.¡± ¡°What? And you do?¡± Andrew picked up his sword and tried to stand up, ¡°Do you care to explain why? Without ambushing us first?¡± ¡°Let him explain first.¡± William looked at Jianmen examiningly while pointing his shotgun at the ground, ¡°Please enlighten us, will you?¡± ¡°You are being corrupted right at this moment. By the speed your powers will be half useless when you reach it.¡± Jianmen explained with a tad impatience, ¡°Among the three of you, only Eliza here has the foresight to try to protect herself against the corruption. This space is corrupted, every breath you take, every sense of motion you feel and even every color you see will contaminate you. The monsters you fought on your way here? You will become one of them if you don¡¯t leave.¡±The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°What? What are you talking about? How do you know?¡± Eliza was perturbed by the answer she heard. ¡°No time to explain, just stay outside, Okay?¡± noticing the darkness around these three was closing in, and small locks of hair-like darkness started extending towards them Jianmen became even more impatient, ¡°If you want proof of kill or anything, I¡¯ll bring it to you. But for now you¡¯ll need to get out.¡± ¡°What the fuck!? Who do you think you are!?¡± Jianmen¡¯s attitude rubbed Andrew in such a wrong way, that even though he knew he was not able to gain any advantage in a fight, he still held his sword against Jianmen. ¡°Wait, wait, wait. Andrew!¡± William grabbed Andrew by the arm to stop him from acting more hot-headed, ¡°I think we should listen to him, this place does not feel right. It is ¡­ rotten.¡± ¡°Good choice of word.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°Now, out, while you still can.¡± ¡°Did Mr. Theon hire you? You didn¡¯t answer me.¡± Eliza asked. ¡°No. No one hired me. I am here because I need to. You can say I am a karmic janitor.¡± Jianmen pushed all three of them toward the direction he came from: ¡°This way¡¯s safe. Go!¡± ¡°What¡¯s your Bondsmen number?¡± before they left, William turned around and asked: ¡°So that we can let the broker know that you took over the bounty.¡± ¡°What¡¯s with this yippy-yappy bullshit?¡± Jianmen started yelling: ¡°Are you fucking deaf? OUT! NOW! ¡± All Andrew, William and Eliza saw the next moment was Jianmen¡¯s right palm and the blinding orange and golden light, before an unstoppable gust of wind swept them from their feet and sent them through a long way in the tunnel, to a position where they could almost see the exit. The darkness that was extending towards the three and the black smoke surrounding them got ignited and burned off by the orange and golden light, the foul smell in the air was almost all washed away by the strong wind. At this point, Jianmen could no longer remain as low profile as he hoped to, so he just decided to stop trying to maintain his stealth, and headed straight to the core of this area of Karmic corruption. The palm strike he unleashed earlier to send the three clueless super powered individuals out of danger did alert the creatures deep in the tunnels. Countless different creatures started flooding out from the depths towards Jianmen, their claws, fangs and tails with spikes ready to tear up the human intruder, just like they did with so many before. What greeted their presence, hunger and bloodlust was nothing but another palm strike. The callused measly human palm from the left hand, no doubt made of flesh and blood and bones, looked just like any other they tore up and devoured. Yet this moment, the momentum and pressure unleashed by this palm caused such a shock to the creatures¡¯ systems, it was as if the space they resided in was cracking, crumbling and disintegrating right in front of them. The creatures closest to the palm became pulverized; the ones that were slightly deeper in the tunnels were reduced to burning, tiny pieces of debris, flying back at extremely high speed and penetrating the creatures after them; the creatures that were furthest away had the brief moment to try to turn back but they were knocked into the air, before they could even process what was going on, their bodies had already shattered and turned into ashes and small pieces of stone. Before the dust settled, Jianmen showed up at what appeared to be the core of the underground nest: a spacious underground station with a high dome shaped ceiling. A ¡°tree¡± of sorts resided in the center of the station, connecting both the floor and the ceiling. Its surface was made of animal and human tissue, with many flattened faces still remaining on it. Four giant cocoon shaped flesh bags were hanging from the ceiling surrounding the tree, each connected to the tree with a tube made of flesh and blood and covered with pulsating veins. Aside from the one flesh bag that was severely burned and torn to almost shreds by power from Jianmen¡¯s palm strike, the other three all had something incubating inside them. ¡°Why ¡­ why do you kill my child?¡± Chapter 37 This is not a message conveyed through sound, but a very crude usage of the thought transmission technique. This message was no doubt meant for Jianmen, yet since the message was simple and crude, he did not fully get if the "child¡± was meant to be singular or miscommunicated plural. Jianmen frowned - he knew that the main creature occupying this nest had some level of intelligence, enough so to whisper to animals to turn and control them. But he did not expect it to be intelligent enough to form basic coherent thoughts and messages. "You are in a place you shouldn¡¯t be.¡± Jianmen replied. "I am where I am to be. You killed my child. You ¡­ Will ¡­ Die!¡± The hundreds of faces on the tree all started screaming at the same time, what came of it was an ear-piercing scream and several waves of dark and corrosive energy. Jianmen¡¯s both hands glew in orange and golden light as he clenched his hands, while almost completely unaffected by the scream. In the very next second, he released two balls of energy from his hands. Two bolts of golden lightning emerged from Jianmen¡¯s hands, joining into one in front of him, and struck one of the still intact flesh bags. Then before the tree could do anything, the golden lightning bolt jumped onto the other two flesh bags then finished its jump on the tree itself. All three flesh bags exploded in golden and orange fire and light, whatever creatures that were incubating in them were annihilated without a chance, scattered pieces of charred flesh and bone and organs were all that were left of them. The golden lightning left a huge burn hole on the trunk of the tree, and it caused the screaming to stop abruptly. Meanwhile, Jianmen got a feeling that the Demon Suppression Sigils he buried in corners on the streets up above started getting triggered - apparently, although the horrible scream did not affect him, it reached the surface and affected the civilians there. A loud screech came out from the burn hole on the tree, just as Jianmen conjured Real Fire to burn down the body parts of the creatures in the flesh bags and the pieces of the flesh bags themselves, a slim creature with six legs and two boney wings on its back leapt out of the hole and extended the claws on both of its front legs against Jianmen. With a quick side step, Jianmen barely dodged the creature¡¯s attack, yet he still took the time to observe this creature: the creature had the body like the hybrid of an insect and human; its body was covered with slime, tough hide and fine scale, underneath which were muscles and bones of extremely high density; this creature also had a cord like tail that connected to the inside of the tree, not unlike an umbilical cord; aside from the explosive body structure, the creature¡¯s whole body was infused with the same kind of unclean and dark energy that Jianmen could almost smell in the air. The creature almost fell into a pit of golden fire on the ground left by Jianmen, causing its front legs to catch fire. While it was rolling on the ground and trying to put out the fire, Jianmen extended his right hand and pointed at the cord connecting the creature and the tree with his middle and index fingers.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. "Pop!¡± the cord was broken by a concentrated energy blast, densen and sticky dark green and yellow goo spilled out of the cord, and yet the drops did not fall on the ground, instead they just floated around. Jianmen scooped a few drops of the goo from midair and quickly examined it. And what he saw in the karmic vision of the goo brought great trouble on his mind. This goo was practically a mixture of the unclean and dark energy that ran rampant in this area, and the life force of thousands of people on the surface above. And the life force was collected through some connection to the city¡¯s underground water system. Before he could read anymore from the goo, the creature already recovered from the fire and the pain from the broken cord. Its face, neck and chest cavity opened up from the middle like a giant horizontal mouth as it lunged towards Jianmen, exposing the long, sharp and light brown teeth from both sides of the cavities and the long, red, spikey and extendible tongues within its body. Jianmen again swiftly stepped to the side, leaving the creature¡¯s ferocious bit to land only on his afterimage. His finger attack landed on the creature¡¯s spine before it could try to turn around, sending a powerful shock through its body to all of its extremities. "Please¡­ spare¡­ me...¡± the creature finally started to beg after almost every bone in its body was shattered by the shock. Ignoring the plea for its life, Jianmen placed a seal charm on the creature to ensure its inability to move, then he grabbed the creature¡¯s back of its head and began forcefully reading its memory. Buried inside the tree, there was a very small piece of rock that possessed an arcane energy. The creature fought off its fellow rats and took the rock for itself. The energy from the rock made it bigger, stronger and hungrier. It slowly became sentient and self aware, and it found out it was able to utilize the energy in its own ways - it could control, mutate and drain life force from other animals and even humans if it wanted to, and it could even deploy small deposits of the energy into media like blood, bodily floods and water to extend its reach and control. At first, this creature was still lurking underground and hunting smaller prey as it could not withstand the burns from the sun. But then the tunnel was constructed and it took the chance to expand its territory through it, eventually taking over the tunnels and driving the humans out. One day this creature broke a hole in one of the underground water pipes, and it started depositing its energy in the water pipes and let these deposits flow through the city, infecting hundreds of thousands and even millions of people and slowly draining life force from them. From the freshness of this creature¡¯s memory of taking over the tunnel and forming the incubating tree, this happened not too long ago. "Please ¡­ spare ¡­ me...¡± this creature did not fight back even for a little bit on Jianmen¡¯s action of reading its memory, fear had taken over it. "Too bad. At this stage, the only thing I can do is mercy.¡± Jianmen shook his head as he sent his message. Jianmen¡¯s hand holding the creature¡¯s head lit up in orange and golden, lightning bolts of similar color started shooting through the air and striking the walls around them. The creature¡¯s body was twitching and flickering under the blinding light and powerful lightning bolts. Having spent enough time with the energy from the mysterious piece of rock, it knew what was happening to it but it could not resist for one bit. Its existence was being wiped away - not just that its body was being destroyed or pulverized, its entire sole existence, the causes that put it in this place at this time, the effects it had on its surroundings, its controlled minions and the whole world, was being erased and removed. Everything around them, including the goo, the blood, the shattered body parts and ashes scattered around the ground and even the air around them seemed to have caught on fire. The tree made of flesh and skin went up in flames, the cries and curses from all the faces did nothing to stop the fire. Giving out a final screech, the creature finally stopped resisting and collapsed from within, its flesh, blood, internal organs and bones turned into ashes and the ashes then evaporated without any traces. As the fires around him dissipated, the skin on Jianmen¡¯s right arm started blistering, cracking up and bleeding. He coughed when he tried to take a deep breath to ease the pain, and he could taste the blood in his mouth, throat and lungs. "Guess Karma¡¯s a bitch.¡± he shook his head with a wry smile, meanwhile still trying his best to conjure up more of his Xuanli, preparing to cast spells on the small piece of rock floating in the air where the ugly and creepy tree once was. Chapter 38 ¡°So, I can¡¯t believe this is the first ever delivery. We don¡¯t even have a procedure or protocol to do it.¡± While driving Jianmen¡¯s temporary designated car for delivery towards the address somewhere down the road from the inn, Jason said to Caroline. ¡°Yeah. We are going to ask Boss about that when he comes back. Along with other things.¡± Caroline sighed and shook her head: ¡°Is Uncle Bu Okay? I know you guys just spent the morning shopping, but I am not convinced that the creepy spider will just give up like this.¡± ¡°Have you tried calling him again?¡± Jason asked. ¡°I just tried before heading out, still not picking up. Sounded like he¡¯s stuck somewhere with no signal. It¡¯s not like him, something might have happened.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t worry about him. He¡¯s Boss, he¡¯s the great cultivating master.¡± ¡°Yeah yeah yeah remember what I said about the whole obedient Chinese son thing?¡± Caroline scoffed: ¡°Have you ever seen him do anything as miraculous as he claimed? He¡¯s kinda all talk and no bite, not to mention spells.¡± ¡°Ouch, Caroline. The same shot still hurts here.¡± Jason chuckled, ¡°Technically he hasn¡¯t claimed anything. He just told us what cultivation could have done. And the Kung Fu moves are no jokes. Have I told you that time I almost got mugged?¡± ¡°What? You almost got mugged?¡± ¡°Yeah, long story for another time. But the point is, he does know what he¡¯s teaching us. For one we did kick some ghost asses yesterday.¡± Jason spoke laughingly: ¡°And for two, have you noticed that you got way stronger than before? I moved my bed in the room yesterday without anyone¡¯s help, and I felt like I could practically lift up the whole bed. I haven¡¯t tried an actual weight, but I am pretty sure I could bench press much much more than I used to.¡± ¡°Hmm, interesting. So you¡¯re saying I could have made this delivery all by myself. Since I can carry much more than before now.¡± ¡°Ha-ha, don¡¯t even think about it. We¡¯re splitting the tips and delivery fee.¡±A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. They arrived at the place, it had two small and newly constructed building frames, with some lighting, sound proofing and recording equipment around, looking like a place set up for shooting TVs or movies. ¡°Hello. We are from Xianshi Inn, we¡¯re here for food delivery?¡± Caroline walked up to a guy with ¡°security¡± on his shirt and asked. ¡°You can just bring the food in.¡± the guy nodded and showed them in: ¡°Be careful though, the set supervisor¡¯s not in a good mood today.¡± ¡°Noted, thank you!¡± ¡°Who are you? What in the name of Lao Tzu are you doing here!¡± when Caroline and Jason brought over the food and stepped into the set, an angry bald man with a well groomed full beard wearing a t-shirt with a huge ¡°Á¦¡± on it yelled at them before even asking them a question or checking what they had in their hands. ¡°Um¡­ ¡± Jason became confused for a brief moment by the weird swear, ¡°We are here to deliver food.¡± ¡°Okay, you guys from that ¡®Zyanshee Inn¡¯? What a half-ass Chinese name. Not even trying to pretend to be authentic?¡± the man gave them a ¡°follow me¡± hand gesture. Jason and Caroline followed the man into the inner parts of the set. The temperature around them seemed to lowered as they came closer to the inner parts of the set. Unclear if it was due to the lighting of the set or anything else, the inner of the set also felt much dimmer and gloomier than the outside. Finally they made it to a long table with 4 people with name tags on their shirts waiting around and the man leading the way pointed at the table and said: ¡°You can put them here.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Jason and Caroline¡¯s eyes met, they decided just to shut up, take their money and skedaddle. ¡°How much?¡± ¡°That would be 495 dollars. 20 dollars per person. With delivery fee and tax.¡± Jason answered, handing over the printed bill. ¡°Ok.¡± the man took out his wallet with red and black cloud shapes on it, and took out five hundred dollar bills, and put them onto Jason¡¯s hand. Jason did not take the money back, instead he and Caroline just looked at the man with an expecting and also slightly judging look. The man narrowed his eyes with a sense of condescending disbelief, then took out one 20 dollar bill and shoved it into Jason¡¯s hand: ¡°That would be all. You can show yourselves out.¡± If Jianmen did not say that they could keep the delivery fee for themselves, Jason and Caroline would have given this man a hard time. ¡°Holy shit, what a fucking ass!¡± Caroline cursed as she got into the car: ¡°You still want to get into the entertainment industry?¡± ¡°I¡¯m an indie content creator. This is clearly some corporate bro.¡± Jason shook his head as he started the car and slowly drove away, ¡°Next time we should ask the boss to overcharge them.¡± ¡°Crash!¡± just barely after Caroline and Jason left, a light hanging over the set fell down on one of the wooden prop tables on set, causing the prop table to crash, broken glass and splinters to fly out and hitting two staffers near the table. ¡°Oh my god! ¡± ¡°Oh my god!¡± ¡°Are you okay? You¡¯re bleeding!¡± When Caroline and Jason got back to the inn, they saw that Uncle Bu was having an apparently quite delightful conversation with someone whose right hand and forearm was in bandages. And as they walked into the lounge, they found that the person was none other than their boss Jianmen. Chapter 39 ¡°Hey Boss, we have some serious questions for you.¡± Caroline was first to rush into the diner and said to Jianmen sternly. ¡°Yeah. We really need to talk.¡± Jason followed Caroline, but his eyes quickly turned to the bandages on Jianmen¡¯s arm: ¡°Woah, what happened there Boss?¡± ¡°Excuse me, I owe them an explanation on something.¡± Jianmen said to Uncle Bu in Mandarin, then pointed in the direction to the basement. When Caroline and Jason closed the Basement door behind them and turned around, they saw that Jianmen was bowing to them. ¡°I am really sorry. I thought I had more time.¡± Jianmen said, without his usual riddles, arcane references and snark, ¡°I should have taught you more.¡± ¡°Um¡­ that¡¯s okay¡­? I guess?¡± Caroline clearly did not expect this, so she could not find the right thing to say for a short while. ¡°Get up, Boss. You¡¯re the master, you don¡¯t bow to your students.¡± Jason saw that Caroline was stunned, so he chimed in to save Caroline from the embarrassment. ¡°Okay.¡± Jianmen struggled a bit to straighten his body, ¡°I think it goes without saying, I owe you two an explanation.¡± ¡°Yeah, sure. Go ahead.¡± Caroline said while crossing her arms. ¡°So, I was in an underground tunnel, which is why I didn¡¯t get all your calls and messages.¡± Jianmen proceeded to explain: ¡°I was dealing with a sort of large scale incident. Probably saved millions of people¡¯s lives there. Even if you discounted all the car accidents.¡± ¡°Car accidents? What happened? What did you do?¡± Caroline asked hurriedly, ¡°Did you cause the accidents?¡± ¡°Not directly. But I can explain it in due time, when you are ready.¡± Jianmen coughed and said: ¡°Simple answer is that I wiped an underground monster from existence. And this arm? It¡¯s because of that fight. ¡± ¡°What kind of monster was it? ¡± Jason asked: ¡°How did it hurt you like this?¡± ¡°Nah, it was not strong enough to hurt me. This is just some aftermath of me trying to clean up its mess.¡± Jianmen shook his head and coughed again: ¡°As I already told you, I will explain it to you in full detail when you are ready. It¡¯s no benefit to you if I told you now. How about this, let me give you something else: three questions for each of you. I¡¯ll answer and explain honestly. Just don¡¯t ask about the things I told you you¡¯re not ready to hear.¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Ok, is Jianmen Yu even your real name?¡± Caroline asked while staring at Jianmen with a judgmental look on her face. ¡°Yes. You now have two questions. Way to waste your opportunities.¡± ¡°How old are you, Boss?¡± Jason asked. ¡°I am 157 and counting.¡± Jianmen answered without hesitation while rubbing his right shoulder, ¡°You just wasted your chance on an inconsequential one.¡± ¡°What? How is that possible? Are you kidding?¡± this answer made Caroline put down her arms. ¡°You wanna waste another question here?¡± Jianmen asked Caroline with an insinuating voice and his right eyebrow raised. ¡°No. Um¡­ Okay...¡± Caroline thought for a short while: ¡°Tell us how powerful you are, with your way of measuring power layers and levels, and make it understandable to us.¡± ¡°Very good, Caroline, a nuanced and complicated question. One that asks for ample information and context.¡± Jianmen gave Caroline a proud look and a point with his finger, ¡°Okay, how do I fully explain this¡­ So first, there are nine layers of cultivation. I think I have already told you that. And if one wants to reach for a higher level than the ninth layer, they can go for the tribulation of the Dao and become immortal. And I was a pre-immortal layer nine before my jump. I have not tested my full power since I got here. But before the jump I could easily slice the sun in half and cook my smores with its core. My greatest enemies bowed down before me and begged for my mercy after I threw their entire planet into a black hole. My powers were greatly weakened after the jump, but do know this, that you will be safe as long as I am alive ...¡± ¡°Okay, okay, okay, so you were god tier powerful.¡± Caroline couldn¡¯t help but roll her eyes: ¡°I assume you already know about the limbo and the ghosts from the hotel? I would like a full explanation of the situation in terms we can understand and a solution to the situation.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t know much about the details. And since I got injured, I can¡¯t fully use my powers outside the premise of the inn. Actually I¡¯ll need you to explain what you saw in the limbo you just said to me later. Another question.¡± ¡°Are you really from China?¡± Jason raised his hand and asked. ¡°Yes and no. I was from China, but not the China here. I traveled to the world where I learned the arts of cultivation. Then I ended up here after the jump.¡± ¡°What was the jump?¡± Caroline asked out of instinct, then quickly realized she had no more questions left: ¡°No! I take that back! I have another question!¡± ¡°No you can¡¯t.¡± Jianmen had a sly smile on his face: ¡°The jump was an attempt to go home. And alas, I ended up in a place very close to my home but is actually not my home.¡± Both Jason and Caroline were stunned by the answer, and they stared at Jianmen as if he was talking nonsense. ¡°What? You want an honest answer. It is an honest answer. Haven¡¯t you heard about the multiverse theory? It is very accurate, good for the scientist, unlucky for me.¡± ¡°Wow. Okay, this is ¡­ disturbing.¡± Caroline commented. ¡°And kinda cool¡­ and yes, disturbing.¡± Jason was excited at first, but then he saw Caroline¡¯s face and had to agree to her sentiment. ¡°What? Don¡¯t sweat it! You fought some superpowered mutant guy before. Why is it so hard to accept that I am from another world? At least I am not trying to kill you!¡± ¡°Ask him about this cultivation business.¡± Caroline gave out a long exhale, then turned to Jason. ¡°Tell us about this cultivation business. What is it really? How does it work?¡± Jason nodded and asked. ¡°It¡¯s a way of understanding the world, the flow of a certain kind of energy called Xuanli. You can call it Arcane Energy, Spirit Energy, magic or Chakra or whatever - it is a special kind of power. ¡± Jianmen snapped his finger and said: ¡°Of course, you will become stronger through the process, you will live longer and have a grasp over the power. Through spells that I will teach you, in due time, you can have your own superpower of sorts. And yes, this is a freebie answer: it does work in your world. The fundamental laws are somehow mostly the same.¡± ¡°Ah, okay, a lot of very confusing information and not super helpful.¡± Caroline said sarcastically. ¡°You had me at ¡®superpower¡¯.¡± Jason chuckled and said, and when faced with Caroline¡¯s judgmental look: ¡°What? Like any other answer¡¯s going to change anything?¡± Chapter 40 ¡°Interesting¡­ really interesting.¡± in the diner, Jianmen started pacing in front of the dining table at which they usually eat lunch, after hearing Jason and Caroline retell their experience from the Prime Royals Hotel, ¡°... bad, but interesting.¡± Since Uncle Bu was resting in Jason¡¯s room, they were not worried that the topic and content of their discussion would be overheard. Also this was a time where almost no one would be checking in or out, even Dave who was still taking over Jianmen¡¯s shifts had nothing to do and was playing with his phone at the reception¡¯s desk. ¡°Why is it interesting?¡± Caroline waited a bit, but seeing Jianmen was still pacing so she couldn¡¯t help but ask. ¡°Ah, sorry.¡± Jianmen drew back his smile and sat down, ¡°Bad habits - curiosity got the better of me. Make no mistake, this is bad. For you, for Uncle Bu, for all the people living in San Francisco. It could be really bad.¡± ¡°How bad is it? The black hand markings disappeared, that¡¯s a good sign right?¡± Jason asked worriedly. ¡°That¡¯s good. You guys did good in the hotel. ¡± Jianmen opened the fridge and took out a clay bottle of homemade rice wine: ¡°The body you found in the wall. If I am not mistaken, is the medium of some dark arts. A kind of necromancy, if you will.¡± ¡°... God! Are you saying that my uncle was cursed?¡± ¡°Not necessarily.¡± Jianmen poured himself a cup of rice wine and drank it up: ¡°I haven¡¯t seen it so I can¡¯t say for sure. But at least it is a kind of marking that requires control. My theory is when you defeated that giant meat spider in the limbo, you basically injured whoever put the markings enough so it had to cut the ties to the markings. The markings were not powerful enough to stand on their own, so they dissipated naturally.¡± ¡°Ok, that¡¯s good. That¡¯s really really good.¡± Jason seemed really relieved by the answeed. ¡°Thank yourselves. ¡± Jianmen took another drink: ¡°Okay, here is a task for you: try to figure out the roots of this. You are much more worldly than I am so I¡¯ll leave the investigation to you. I can help you but you will be the ones seeing it through.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°It still has the ability to hurt people. You guys injured it, but it is still out there.¡± Jianmen poured the third drink, but the cup was taken by Caroline and she drank it up, ¡°And I am a little tied up here. Not just because of the arm. I still need to deal with the remnants of that monster and I can¡¯t leave the inn for a few days. Maybe even weeks.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Okay. Whatever.¡± Caroline slid Jianmen¡¯s cup back, sighed and laid back on her chair: ¡°How are you going to help us?¡± ¡°Well, first I am going to teach you the basics of fighting in limbo, the usage of basic sigils, and then I will try to prepare for your first Xuanli cultivation session. That¡¯s going to be tonight, take the afternoon off but be sure to come back before 9.¡± Jianmen poured himself yet another cup: ¡°And, uh, as part of my apology, Dave here will cover your shifts instead of mine. I will also need you to start carrying wine on you.¡± ¡°What? I can¡¯t do that!¡± Jason complained. -------------------------------------------------------- While Jason accompanied Uncle Bu to the airport and Caroline took a break to hang out with some of her friends, Jianmen went into the basement. Before he got started with what he was planning to do in the basement, he did another round of quick divination - he had to make sure that whatever was lurking in the halls of the Prime Royals Hotel was no longer a threat to his students. And the result was relieving - there was indication of some distant risk and even danger, but no immediate threat. The small piece of rock that he found in the tunnels after annihilating the mutated monster was placed on the altar, with two open paper sigils placed beneath it in a cross. Jianmen stepped in front of the altar, gave out a long exhale, and started conjuring up his Xuanli with his left hand. ¡°DOH!¡± Jianmen uttered a mantra with no real common meaning, a beam of orange and golden energy shot out from his middle and index fingers onto the piece of rock. Sound waves of both low and high pitch started emerging from the piece of rock on the altar. At the same time, the paper sigils under it also started burning. After being blasted by the energy beam for a few seconds, an almost inaudible and unintelligible whisper filled the room. The whisper was no mere sound, it seemed also able to transmit through mind - Jianmen was prepared, so the whisper did not impact him at all. When the paper sigils were almost burnt up, a cracking sound came from the rock, a gush of black smoke jetted from a small crack on its surface. ¡°KAH!¡± uttering another mantra, Jianmen stopped the energy beam from his fingers, and turned his left hand into claw shape, the blacksmoke was quickly contained within an invisible sphere container. Golden flames shot out between Jianmen¡¯s lips as he blew, the black smoke started turning into white vapor and grey ash as the flames ate away at it. The whispers that roamed the room became weaker, yet louder and more chaotic, as if the person or thing that was whispering was under stress. After a while, the black smoke stopped flowing out from the piece of rock. And before long, Jianmen¡¯s breath of fire burnt all the smoke into white vapor and grey ashes. Taking out two additional paper sigils to replace the ones that were under the rock, Jianmen then folded the rock with the paper sigils and stored it inside a special metal container with charms and enchanted symbols on its surface and interior, then hid the whole container under the altar. Just when Jianmen went out the basement, he coughed once again. This time what came out of his throat was not blood or phlegm, but fire sparks. After a long sigh, Jianmen went back to the diner, and poured himself a cup of rice wine. ¡°Hey, Mr. Yu?¡± Dave came into the diner and called Jianmen nervously. ¡°What¡¯s up Dave?¡± feeling the calming effect of the rice wine down his throat, Jianmen asked. ¡°I ¡­ I know that you paid me extra to take care of Jason and Caroline¡¯s shifts instead of yours, but I have a conflict in schedule next Tuesday.¡± Dave chuckled nervously as he spoke: ¡°I wonder if I could change to a different shift.¡± ¡°Sure, just switch it with one of my shifts.¡± Jianmen nodded as he chugged down the whole bottle of rice wine. ¡°Um, also, Mr. Yu, I have another question.¡± ¡°Shoot.¡± ¡°Do you really know Josephine Wong? THE Josephine Wong?¡± Chapter 41 The next day, the whole day¡¯s shifts were taken over by Jianmen and Dave, so both Jason and Caroline were completely free for the whole day. Jason had a plan and intended to go with it, and without even having to ask, Caroline joined in. ¡°Okay, do you still have the key card?¡± on their train to San Francisco, Caroline asked. ¡°I do, I intentionally did not return the card since we found the body.¡± Jason said, showing the same hotel key card they used last time they sneaked in: ¡°I had a feeling that we may need to go back.¡± ¡°Nice.¡± Caroline laid back on her chair: ¡°What do you want to do when you get there?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe just try to sense something? Or try and see if I can find anything different.¡± Jason sighed, as he did not think this through: ¡°Yeah, one session on fighting ghosts and dealing with limbo and I think I can deal with ghosts.¡± ¡°Well. We should just be more careful this time.¡± Caroline chuckled, ¡°Worth a try right?¡± ¡°Hey, you didn¡¯t have to come. So I want to say thanks.¡± Jason looked at Caroline: ¡°But I gotta ask why. You don¡¯t wanna hang out with your friends today? Seems like something bothered you this time.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you just appreciate the gesture?¡± Caroline rolled her eyes, but while she noticed that Jason was still looking at her, she gave up and explained: ¡°Okay, okay you win. You know Olivia? Her boyfriend¡¯s in town, and he came to hang out with us. We like Olivia, you know? I like Olivia. It¡¯s just that her boyfriend is ... such a douche! So I just need some time off from them.¡± ¡°That was harsh, and very very vague. But do go on.¡± Jason grinned. ¡°That¡¯s about as juicy of a detail as you are ever gonna get. And if you want any of my girls¡¯ numbers you¡¯re gonna have to try harder.¡± Caroline patted on Jason¡¯s arm: ¡°And why aren¡¯t you hanging out with your buddies?¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m a little worried about the thing in the hotel.¡± Jason sighed: ¡°Donovan and Elaine woke up and they don¡¯t have the hand marks anymore. But I didn¡¯t have a chance to check all of the people at the wedding, so checking the hotel where it happened seemed like the next best thing.¡± ¡°Did you tell Boss?¡± ¡°I left him a note because he went into the basement and apparently we are not supposed to disturb him when he¡¯s in there...¡± ¡°Ew.¡± Caroline rolled her eyes as Jason realized how that came off. It wasn¡¯t long before both of them arrived at the side door of the Prime Royals Hotel through which they sneaked in last time. But now, this side door had yellow tapes on it, an additional lock that didn¡¯t look easy to pick.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Crap. I thought this one was the fire escape?¡± Jason frustratedly kicked an empty soft drink can off the road, but he quickly recovered: ¡°Let¡¯s try the front door.¡± ¡°I am sorry, but you are not allowed to enter the premises.¡± as they went into the lounge, a tall and buff security guard stopped them: ¡°Please leave.¡± ¡°What for? Someone banned us?¡± Caroline asked the security guard. ¡°The management don¡¯t have to explain to you. And they didn¡¯t explain to me either. I just know that you are not allowed on the premises.¡± the security guard shook his head: ¡°Please leave, we don¡¯t have to make a scene here. There are plenty of hotels in the city.¡± ¡°Yeah, but none other is haunted and has a corpse in the wall.¡± Jason pointed upstairs and did not keep his voice down, which caught the attention of several guests. ¡°Get out man. Get out, now!¡± the security guard got closer to them and sort of towered over them with his height. ¡°I bet you and I could just take him down.¡± Jason told Caroline as he and she got out of the front door. ¡°Yeah.¡± Caroline agreed, but right before she was about to say anything, a young couple approached them with great enthusiasm. ¡°Hi, are you Caroline and Jason from Branston¡¯s stream?¡± the boy from the couple asked. ¡°Yes. I didn¡¯t know people watched that stream. Whatsup? ¡± Caroline put on a friendly and smiley face and asked. ¡°OH, MY, GOD, are you kidding!? The stream went super viral!¡± the girl from the couple practically screamed in excitement: ¡°Can I take a picture with you? You know, for my socials.¡± ¡°Sure. But before that, can we take a look at the stream? We didn¡¯t get a chance to.¡± Jason said, half embarrassed: ¡°We¡¯ve been kinda¡­ busy.¡± ¡°Of course, I saved up the best part!¡± the girl shoved her phone with a big screen in front of Caroline and Jason, then pulled it back at her so that Caroline and Jason would watch it with her on her side, while her boyfriend took pictures of all three of them. The video started off with Adam explaining the context of their intrusion into the hotel at the forefront of the screen, while Branston and Brian were activating excitedly and making faces at the camera: ¡°... newly wed groom almost jumped out of the window here. And if he did, he would have impaled himself on the fences down below ...¡± Then all three on the screen stopped where they were, with all expressions gone. ¡°Holy shit, I got goosebumps every time.¡± the girl chuckled: ¡°You¡¯d think the stream froze, but no, look at their eyes!¡± Jason and Caroline did not need the pointer, and they also noticed their slow movements of the influencers¡¯ mouths. The eyes of all three young men on the screen started rolling up when they froze in places. Their mouths started slowly opening as well, it was as if they were going into a shock in slow motion. ¡°Looks like they are also getting pale?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Exactly! They are!¡± the boyfriend said excitedly: ¡°Great eyes! At first no one notices until some guy did a frame by frame breakdown on it.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not in it. But I doubt we¡¯d be looking any different.¡± Caroline¡¯s facial expression turned more concerned and more serious, ¡°Jason, I think I know where we should head to next.¡± ¡°Yeah. I will contact him.¡± Jason pulled out his phone and started searching for Branston¡¯s information: ¡°He¡¯s not that famous yet, so he might be living in one of those influencer apartments.¡± ¡°You wanna find Branston? I think he¡¯s having a meet and greet this afternoon in the city.¡± the girlfriend said in a high pitched voice: ¡°Do you want to go together?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Caroline turned into her valley girl mode and answered in a high pitched voice and a fake and forced smile. On the girlfriend¡¯s screen, Adam, Branston and Brian¡¯s eyes turned completely white due to their rolling back so much, and their jaws opened so wide like they could drop on the floor at any minute. A few seconds before the video ended, smoke came out from somewhere behind Branston. ¡°This is where the stream cuts off. When they reconnected the stream, you guys were already tearing up the wall and found the corpse.¡± when the video stopped, the boyfriend said to both Jason and Caroline: ¡°Also please forgive me but I am dying to ask: are you guys psychic? ¡± ¡°Well¡­ yes!¡± Jason hesitated for a while then happily admitted it: ¡°And we are looking to collaborate with the Branston team some more. And we would definitely appreciate it if you could help make this happen!¡± ¡°Yay! Of course! Of course!¡± both members of the couple cheered. Chapter 42 ¡°Hey. Branston Gang! Welcome to our meet and greet.¡± at the entrance of a local boba shop, Brian was welcoming the fans and trying to control the flow of fans into the shop: ¡°Please be patient. Branston will meet all of you one at a time! Ready your swag and selfie sticks!¡± ¡°Hey, Brian?¡± Caroline and Jason did not stand in the line at all, they headed directly up to Brian: ¡°We need to talk with you and Branston, and Adam ASAP.¡± ¡°Woah woah woah. What¡¯s up with you guys?¡± Brian tried to make Jason and Caroline back off some distance since they were coming on a little bit too strong, ¡°Adam is not here. He¡¯s prepping information for our next ghost hunting adventure. I think he suggested inviting you two to tag along as well!¡± ¡°We don¡¯t care about that now, we wanna check with you...¡± Caroline tried to cut Brian off. ¡°Wait, what do you mean you don¡¯t care? The stream literally blew up! ¡± Brian seemed a bit hurt and offended, ¡°The stream got a couple of million views in live audience and replays! How can you not care?!¡± ¡°Is Caroline here? I heard Caroline.¡± Branston walked out of the boba shop door, causing all of the fans that lined up in front of the door to all cheer and scream - especially the couple that came with Caroline and Jason, ¡°Oh heyyyy¡­ Jason you¡¯re here as well. Whatsup?¡± ¡°We need to talk. Now.¡± Caroline went and grabbed Branston¡¯s arm directly. ¡°Ah. Well?¡± Branston exchanged looks with Brian, both were stunned for a moment and did not know what to do, so they both relented and let Jason and Caroline in the shop. ¡°Just be patient for a short while, gang!¡± Brian told the fans in line loudly before backing into the shop. ¡°Okay, let me see your arms, BOTH your arms!¡± Jason couldn¡¯t help but yell at both Brian and Branston. Brian and Branston were slightly intimidated, so they had to show Jason their arms. And to the relief of both Caroline and Jason, they did not have the same kind of black markings on their arms.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Did you encounter anything weird since the stream?¡± Caroline asked, ¡°Things like nightmares, strange visions and hallucinations? Or have you remembered anything?¡± ¡°Ummm¡­ to be honest, I still can¡¯t remember anything.¡± Branston admitted with embarrassment, ¡°Whatever it is, it must be super creepy though. I mean we looked at the video like a hundred times, and it gets creepier each time!¡± ¡°Okay, okay, you should have the original video? Unedited? Anything strange in there?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Um, no. The camera was wired to keep streaming as long as it is recording. All the stream is also backed up online so that the fans can re-watch. We don¡¯t do that editing fake-ass bullshit on our channel.¡± Branston was the one to seem offended and upset now: ¡°I am the real influencer.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true, we use one of those real cameras that link to an online platform. The platform certifies the final video with the stream. If we edit the streamed video then upload, we will not have the certification of realness.¡± Brian explained in a calmer voice: ¡°Our brand is huge on realness, you know? It¡¯s one of the reasons people trust us and trust the video - even though the stream got cut off - the camera was malfunctioning that time but it was still able to connect to the internet and record when we got the footage of you finding the body.¡± ¡°Okay. If you don¡¯t remember anything, how can we get a hold of Adam? We have some questions for him.¡± Jason asked: ¡°This is very important.¡± ¡°Can you tell me what¡¯s this about first? ¡± Brian had lost most of his patience: ¡°You barged in here, interrupted our meet and greet, just to look at our arms? What the hell is going on?¡± ¡°You¡¯re better off not knowing. Believe me.¡± Caroline shook her head: ¡°Now, tell us how to find Adam and we will get outta your hair.¡± ¡°You remember! Don¡¯t you! You remember!¡± Branston jumped out of his chair and excitedly pointed at Caroline and Jason: ¡°Holy shit! It makes sense now! You guys are psychics! You guys knew and you guys were there to deal with whatever was going on in there weren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Shit! Really?!¡± this realization struck Brian as well: ¡°It totally made sense! Shit! It made so much sense!¡± ¡°You are fucking psychics! Psy-fucking-chics!¡± Branston¡¯s voice caught the attention of the shop staff as well as a few fans outside of the door. ¡°Holy shit! This is bomb! This is bomb! Let me get a camera!¡± Brian rushed to the corner where he put his bag, and started looking. ¡°Tell us how to find Adam, NOW!¡± Caroline grabbed Branston¡¯s shirt and pulled him towards her, speaking through her teeth: ¡°We are not psychics, just give us his phone number.¡± ¡°Ah, ah, okay.¡± Branston was frightened by this sudden turn of Caroline¡¯s attitude and gave up Adam¡¯s contact info in fear. ¡°Thanks. And oh, um¡­ stay away from haunted places next time, alright?¡± before they left, Jason had to turn back and remind Branston and Brian. ¡°Dude, what the fuck just happened?¡± Brian sat down beside Branston: ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah...¡± Branston nodded numbly, then suddenly his face lit up: ¡°We should invite them to our next haunted trip!¡± ¡°Oh my god, dude! Great idea! ¡± Brian yelled excitedly as he high-fived Branston: ¡°Let me ping Adam, don¡¯t piss them off and try to get them onboard.¡± Chapter 43 ¡°Okay, here¡¯s the raw and full recording from the stream.¡± at a coffee shop on the side of a big gated apartment complex, Adam handed over a flash drive to Caroline and Jason: ¡°It¡¯s super big, so I can¡¯t really send it to you directly. You can try to take a look at it and see if you can find anything.¡± ¡°Thanks. Do you really not remember anything?¡± Jason asked: ¡°Not even a bit of a faint feeling?¡± ¡°No¡­ I did have some weird dreams about it though. But when I woke up, all I could remember was that I had a dream.¡± Adam took a sip of the coffee and said: ¡°I asked Brian and Branston, they said they can¡¯t remember anything either.¡± ¡°Let me take a look at your arms.¡± Caroline asked. ¡°Huh?¡± Adam was confused, but still put both of his arms on the coffee table for Jason and Caroline. ¡°Yeah. Looks like you¡¯re good.¡± both Jason and Caroline both checked Adam¡¯s arm carefully to make sure there were no black markings: ¡°But do call us if you can remember anything. And don¡¯t do anything stupid like that again.¡± ¡°Are you guys really psychics? ¡± Adam asked curiously: ¡°You guys were the ones busting the wall and found the body. And if I remember correctly, you guys woke up earlier than we did when we¡¯re at the hotel right?¡± ¡°So Branston and Brian told you huh?¡± Caroline and Jason stood up and were ready to leave: ¡°Just call us if you can think of anything.¡± ¡°Wait! Just a second!¡± Adam called out to Caroline and Jason before they were out of the coffee shop, ¡°Branston and Brian are planning to explore a haunted hospital next month, I can¡¯t talk them out of it! Can you help me!?¡± ¡°What?! Are you fucking kidding me?¡± Caroline¡¯s instant frustration almost caused her to throw her cup of coffee on the ground, but she was stopped by Jason. ¡°Adam? Do me a favor and talk the idiot out of it, okay?¡± Jason¡¯s reaction was not as bad as Caroline¡¯s, but he was still visibly pissed: ¡°We are not going to help you.¡±Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Okay¡­ thanks.¡± Adam fell down back to his chair, scratching his head. ¡°Let¡¯s get back and ask Boss for help. ¡± when they were outside the door of the coffee shop, Jason said to Caroline, ¡°Or at least some guidance.¡± --------------------------------------------- ¡°Your next guest is here. Ms. Summers.¡± inside of a mansion somewhere in the hills near San Francisco, a tall and ripped man in suits walked into a half open air balcony hanging over a side of the hill and reported to a tall, elegant woman in white dress and wearing a golden necklace with three exquisite spindle-shaped pendants hanging in the front. ¡°Show her in.¡± Ms. Summers closed the old leatherback notebook she was reading and set it aside. ¡°Ms. Summers.¡± a timid girl wearing black and green shirt, jeans and a leather jacket came in and nervously sat in front of the table. ¡°Cut the act, Ms. Corin, or should I call you Emilia? I¡¯m not some fat mobster thinking with their dicks. What do you want?¡± Ms. Summers asked the girl impatiently with a frown. ¡°Well, worth a try. Thought you¡¯d be more gentle towards a helpless girl running away from her mobster family.¡± the girl swiftly changed her attitude, and took on a more relaxed and uncouth posture on her chair: ¡°I want to hire some gifteds. I hear you are the highest level broker in the bay.¡± Ms. Summers laughed in a lower and slightly condescending tone: ¡°You are dabbling in some deep, dirty and cold waters, for what? Just to stick it to your uncles?¡± ¡°And to take my rightful place at the table.¡± Emilia leaned forward: ¡°And to do that, I¡¯ll need help. I need to hire some gifteds, strong ones. I can¡¯t afford to have some parlor trick bozo messing up my plans.¡± ¡°Oh, and why is that? You know the ¡®strong¡¯ ones often cost more than just money?¡± Ms. Summers smiled while tilting her head and air-quoted the word ¡°strong¡±. ¡°My uncles have gifteds under their command. They are not the puny ones I can simply kill with a gun, or ten.¡± Emilia answered: ¡°And I need enough power to convince the elders. They will not be easily swayed. Not by a youngling, not by an illegitimate daughter.¡± ¡°So what can you offer as a price? ¡± Ms. Summers grinned and asked: ¡°Like I told you, ¡®strong¡¯ Bondsmen cannot simply be hired by money alone. The better the price, the better the help, and it is pretty much a sellers market.¡± ¡°What about this?¡± Emilia reached inside her jacket and pulled out a tiny piece of red gem and laid it on the table. ¡°Interesting.¡± Ms. Summers picked up the piece of gem and examined it carefully, Emilia noticed that she had a scar where her right hand¡¯s pinky finger should be, ¡°Do you even know what this is?¡± ¡°No, nor do I care. All I know is that the gifteds under my uncles¡¯ command negotiate hard for it. I happened to have my hands on a lot of it.¡± Emilia stared at Ms Summers¡¯ face while answering, trying to detect any minute change of expressions. ¡°You know, that¡¯s good. But don¡¯t flaunt it like some kid who just found his father¡¯s stash.¡± Ms. Summers put the gem on the table and lightly pushed it back to Emilia: ¡°Looks like you got yourself something to offer as the price on a contract. Any specifics on the help you wanna hire?¡± Just when Emilia was about to name her ask, a man in suit walked into the place and whispered something to Ms. Summers¡¯ ears. Ms. Summers appeared to be slightly upset at what she heard, then she just ordered the man: ¡°Go find out what happened. And don¡¯t let those knuckleheads enter my property again.¡± After the man left, Ms. Summers turned to Emilia with an apologetic smile: ¡°Sorry about that, just had a minor incident at one of my businesses. Now where were we?¡± Chapter 44 ¡°Hey Boss. ¡± when Jason and Caroline went back into the inn¡¯s diner, they saw Jianmen was in there chugging down large bottles of his homemade rice wine and fruit wine: ¡°Jeez Boss, you need to lay off the alcohol there. When did this problem start?¡± ¡°Not a problem.¡± Jianmen put down his bottle and answered. His face did not look drunk at all, but his mannerisms were kind of strange compared to how he usually is: ¡°NOT a problem - I just needed some of my wine to heal. You know, cleansing bad karma is hard!¡± ¡°Okay, boss. You¡¯re drunk. Take a breather and lay down your wine. ¡± Jason went over and took away two of the bottles placed right in front of Jianmen. ¡°No! No! I need to drink! No!¡± Jianmen tried to stop Jason, but his moves were too clumsy to do it, and later Caroline joined in, and took away the other two bottles. ¡°Damn, my students, you learned so fast...¡± Jianmen laid on the table, unable to move, his right arm still in bandage and there were some burn marks on his right shoulder. ¡°Damn. I¡¯ve never seen him like this. What happened?¡± Jason and Caroline tried to look for Dave, but Dave was not at the reception¡¯s desk. ¡°Hey! Hey! You two! Come here!¡± Jianmen started yelling at them from the diner. ¡°What? Boss? You¡¯re not getting any more alcohol. ¡± Caroline asked with arms crossed in front of herself. ¡°What do you take me for? I don¡¯t get drunk on normal alcohol. Give me a bottle of vodka and it wouldn''t even faze me.¡± Jianmen sat straight, looked straight at both his students and said: ¡°You know the task I assigned you? Looks like I forgot to remind you, since I forgot you weren¡¯t my other students and don¡¯t know the basics to necromancy - remember to check the body! Okay? The body you found in the hotel? Chains and shiny things in the mouth, it could be something fishy!¡± ¡°Okay, boss. Thanks.¡± Jason and Caroline¡¯s eyes met, they were already thinking about trying to find a way to investigate the corpse they found, ¡°Can we go to the basement and get some Demon Suppression Sigils then?¡± ¡°No! No going into the basement unless I said so!¡± Jianmen lightly banged his head on the table and said: ¡°The Sigils are on the cupboard near the fridge...¡± ¡°Huh? What about our meditation and visualization sessions then?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll let you know. ¡± Jianmen suddenly sat straight up on his chair and said, pointing at the cupboard: ¡°Now take your sigils and go!¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Okay, okay, you¡¯re the boss.¡± Caroline went over to the cupboard and took out a big ziplock bag of folded sigils. ¡°Go! And be careful!¡± Jianmen¡¯s yelling followed them out the diner, then they almost bumped into Thomas and Aimee. ¡°Hooo! Detective Chaver ! Didn¡¯t see you there! ¡± Jason apologized awkwardly, ¡°What can we help you with?¡± ¡°Um, sorry. We were just coming to check on you, and say thanks to Mr. Yu for his flowers.¡± Aimee answered: ¡°We didn¡¯t know how he found out, but we¡¯re very grateful.¡± ¡°Flowers? What?¡± Jason and Caroline were both confused. ¡°We had a car accident the other day. We are fine, miraculously. Our father got injured but he¡¯ll recover.¡± Thomas sighed and said: ¡°How are y''all doing?¡± ¡°Geez, I¡¯m so sorry.¡± Caroline frowned: ¡°How did it happen?¡± ¡°Some guy lost control of the car and T-boned us. We were actually extremely lucky.¡± Thomas explained with a bright smile: ¡°Dad¡¯s resting at home now, he¡¯s seen worse. He used to be in the LAPD...¡± ¡°Is Mr. Yu here?¡± Aimee cut Thomas off as he was about to go on. ¡°He¡¯s um¡­ he¡¯s super drunk right now. Might not be a good time.¡± Caroline looked slightly embarrassed. ¡°Okay, maybe next time, then.¡± Aimee nodded and was about to drag Thomas away. ¡°Officers? Can I ask for a favor?¡± Jason tried to grab onto Aimee¡¯s shoulder but retracted his arm and did not commit: ¡°It¡¯s about a case in San Francisco.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t really have connections with the SFPD. So I¡¯m afraid we¡¯re not much help.¡± Aimee turned around and looked at Jason with curiosity in her eyes: ¡°You guys in trouble?¡± ¡°Ah, no no no, you misunderstood.¡± Jason chuckled nervously: ¡°We are not in trouble - at least not yet. We just want to take a look at a super old corpse that was recently discovered at the Prime Royals Hotel...¡± ¡°What - that was you guys?¡± Thomas laughed out loud and clapped his hands, while Aimee stared at him annoyedly: ¡°Oh god, we heard some influencers discovered that piece of historic body from the Prime Royals, didn¡¯t expect that was you guys! Hahahahaha...¡± ¡°Okay, the stream was that viral?¡± Caroline asked while having her palm on her forehead. ¡°We didn¡¯t watch the stream. We just heard of it when we¡¯re at our precinct earlier. We haven¡¯t got a chance to look at it yet.¡± Aimee shook her head and asked in a serious tone: ¡°You guys really broke the wall to a historic hotel?¡± ¡°And found the body! They found a body!¡± Thomas defended Caroline and Jason: ¡°It would be extremely stupid for them to get into trouble!¡± ¡°The hotel¡¯s in San Francisco, we don¡¯t know that!¡± Aimee sighed heavily and looked at both Caroline and Jason: ¡°What did the SFPD tell you?¡± ¡°Hold on, do you really think we could get in trouble?¡± Jason became much more concerned after hearing what Aimee said. ¡°No, that¡¯s just my sis being a perpetual worrier.¡± Thomas cut Aimee off: ¡°What do you want? I¡¯m all ears.¡± ¡°We would like to take a look at the corpse, and help you guys.¡± Caroline explained: ¡°Or help the SFPD - we are pretty familiar with some of the occult stuff, so if it is a murder case or other types of cases, we can definitely help.¡± ¡°How¡¯d you know it was related to occult?¡± Thomas seemed surprised that Caroline even suggested this. ¡°We found it, and we took a really good look.¡± Caroline tried to act natural as she explained: ¡°The body had metal chains on it and something shiny in the mouth - it is quite common in some pretty serious occult groups. I don¡¯t know if the SFPD had contacts that specialize in this, but I am pretty sure we can offer them help if they want.¡± ¡°Okay, okay. What about this?¡± Thomas told Caroline and Jason: ¡°I¡¯ll call one of my buddies at the SFPD forensics, see if they can okay you as temporary civilian consultants. And you have to be our civilian consultants in martial arts.¡± ¡°You are the police, why do you need martial arts consultants?¡± Jason was really confused by this request. ¡°You¡¯d be surprised how much we need it.¡± Thomas winked at both Caroline and Jason. Chapter 45 ¡°Forensic Lab, SFPD, Log 1013.¡± inside a police precinct, a middle aged Asian forensic scientist was examining a mummified corpse placed on one of the operating tables, while wearing a pair of smart glasses besides all of the hazmat gear and narrating her procedure with them: ¡°This is Dr. Vivian Nguyen. The body from the Prime Royals hotel was ready to be dissected and analyzed. All recording devices, functional. Audio recordings, check. Current time, 8:50 am PST. ¡°I¡¯ll start with some preliminary examinations. The body is mummified all over, with very limited decay, very surprisingly well preserved, considering that the body was kept inside of a building''s wall. The body is in sort of a cradle position, with both arms and both legs bound by the metal chains. The body¡¯s arms are not hugging the body. Instead they seem to be clutched to the side of the torso, and connected to each other on the¡­ pinkies? I will need some technician¡¯s help to properly remove the chains to take a closer look without damaging the integrity of the body.¡± Dr. Nguyen moved to one side of the table, where the head of the body was to take a closer look at the body¡¯s head: ¡°The body has a very visible crack on the forehead, the crack seems to reach the upper jaw and both sides are quite uneven, we¡¯ll need to scan it with supersonic to find out if it was only the skin or the bone is also broken. And look, here, looks like a piece of metal. Let me see... ¡± she carefully grabbed onto the piece of metal half embedded inside the body¡¯s mouth. ¡°Indeed feels like metal. I can feel its cool touch even through the gloves. The engravings and the shape, feel like some sort of old¡­ coin.¡± Dr. Nguyen¡¯s voice became excited, ¡°This is interesting. To my knowledge, embedding coins inside the mouths of the dead used to be a kind of superstitious ritual in some South East Asian traditions¡­ dammit, the coin wouldn¡¯t come off.¡± ¡°Come off! Come off!¡± Dr. Nguyen¡¯s voice became ecstatic and obsessive as her attempts at removing the coin from the body¡¯s mouth became more and more violent, it was not long before she abandoned her caution of not damaging the integrity of the body. Finally, the piece of coin was removed from the body¡¯s mouth, exposing a forked tone underneath. A gust of foul smelling air burst from the body¡¯s through, and with it, whispering voices roamed the room. Dr. Nguyen stared at the coin while she took off her hazmat suit and gear and her smart glasses, her facial expression was no longer calm and serious. Instead, insanity, obsession and greed was all her face showed. Dr. Nguyen opened the door of her lab, and walked straight out, all the while holding the coin in front of her. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. All of that happened in under 10 minutes, but was still recorded by all the devices setup by Dr. Nguyen before she began her examination. And now the whole thing was just witnessed by Caroline, Jason, and two lab technicians that brought them to the lab from the recordings. ¡°What the hell? This is completely against protocol. Dr. Nguyen should know better not to do that.¡± Erika, one of the lab technicians, yelled as soon as she saw Dr. Nguyen took off her hazmat gears then froze and almost freaked out as she saw the look on the doctor¡¯s face. ¡°How can we find her? ¡± Jason asked the technician named Jeremy on his side, who was also frozen at the sight of Dr. Nguyen¡¯s change in facial expression, ¡°Hey Jeremy wake up! How can we find her?!¡± ¡°Uh, umm¡­ I think...¡± Jeremy seemed really clueless on what to do and struggled to answer. ¡°Dr. Nguyen¡¯s not picking up. We can check the security cameras - have footage all over the precinct. Let me ask the captain first.¡± Erika cut off her call to Dr. Nguyen¡¯s phone and dialed another number. ¡°That would be too slow.¡± Caroline grabbed Jason and rushed to exit the lab through the door Dr. Nguyen walked out, and started asking people around. ¡°Hey, have you seen Dr. Nguyen?¡± Jason found a janitor and asked: ¡°You know, the lead forensic scientist in the lab?¡± ¡°Sorry, no.¡± the janitor shook his head. ¡°Has no one seen Dr. Nguyen?¡± Jason asked loudly, attracting attention from multiple people on scene, but no one responded. ¡°Captain¡¯s not picking up either!¡± Erika came out from the lab and told both Caroline and Jason loudly: ¡°I know where she lives, should we check there?¡± ¡°What¡¯s happening here?¡± a detective walked up to Caroline and Jason: ¡°Why are you looking for Dr. Nguyen? Isn¡¯t she at the lab?¡± ¡°Hi, we¡¯re the new temporary civilian consultants, we are here to help the forensics examine the body found from the Prime Royals Hotel.¡± Caroline was in a rush, but considering this is a police precinct, she still extended her hand at the detective, ¡°My name is Caroline, this is Jason. Have you seen Dr. Nguyen? Do you know where she is?¡± ¡°Detective Marcus. I am working a case and I need Dr. Nguyen¡¯s help as well.¡± the detective shook hands with Caroline: ¡°It¡¯s sort of related to the Prime Royals Hotel as well.¡± ¡°Raymond. ¡± a female detective with black long hair walked to the side of Detective Marcus and said: ¡°We need to go. There¡¯s another Corin dead.¡± ¡°Caroline, Jason, this is Detective Jamerson, my partner. Monica, this is Caroline and Jason, they are our new civilian consultants. They were looking for Dr. Nguyen as well.¡± Detective Marcus briefly introduced his partner to Caroline and Jason: ¡°Looks like she¡¯s not at the lab?¡± ¡°We saw from the lab recordings - she took something from the body and she left.¡± Jason said: ¡°Is there any way we can find her? She couldn''t have gotten far.¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go find her.¡± Detective Marcus looked confused but not very concerned. ¡°We need to find her as soon as possible. ¡± Jason said in a serious tone: ¡°She looked¡­ weird when she left the lab.¡± ¡°Captain¡¯s still not picking up! ¡± Erika ran to their side and almost yelled at them: ¡°Take me as well, I had a really bad feeling about this.¡± ¡°Erika, you sure?¡± Monica asked: ¡°You¡¯ve never been in the field.¡± ¡°I¡¯m worried about Dr. Nguyen, okay? She¡¯s my mentor!¡± ¡°Oh my god, please can we just go!? We need to hurry!¡± Caroline couldn¡¯t keep cool anymore and uncontrollably raised her voice. ¡°Okay, okay, geez.¡± Detective Marcus was startled by Caroline¡¯s outburst. Chapter 46 ¡°Dr. Nguyen? Are you home?¡± after checking a coffee shop down the street, a Vietamese restaurant and a musical store, the five person team composed of Caroline, Jason, Detective Marcus, Detective Jamerson and Erika knocked on the door to Dr. Nguyen¡¯s residence - a high end apartment home. The door was not locked, so Detective Marcus and Detective Jamerson quickly drew their guns, told Caroline, Jason and Erika to stay put and entered the room with tactical entry techniques. ¡°Clear!¡± after a short while, Detective Jamerson¡¯s voice came from inside of the apartment. ¡°Was she here? Why would she leave the door unlocked?¡± Erika asked. The moment Caroline and Jason stepped into the apartment, they felt an uncomfortable chill breeze blowing right through them. The feeling was not that unsimilar to the kind of chill they felt when they were facing off against the large spider in the limbo from the Prime Royals Hotel. Jason was particularly affected by the chill - extreme dizziness struck him out of the blue, almost causing him to fall down on his back. Yet it went away as quickly and unexpectedly as it came, by the time he got his hand on the door knob, the dizziness was completely gone. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? ¡± having noticed Jason¡¯s sudden reaction, Caroline grabbed onto his arm and helped him straighten his body, ¡°Did you find something?¡± ¡°Nothing¡­ just ¡­ suddenly felt dizzy.¡± Jason scratched his head while his brows clenched, for he saw a blurred and shadowy figure seemingly made of black smoke in front of him, he could barely make out that the figure took the shape of a human. The most noticeable trait of the figure was its leg and feet - the figure¡¯s shape was clearer on the lower parts of its body, and its legs and feet were displaying a posture that Jason almost forgot about: it was standing on its toes. ¡°Do you see this?¡± Jason gently nudged Caroline¡¯s elbow, inconspicuously pointing at the middle of the room and asked. ¡°See what?¡± Caroline looked at the direction, but she could not see what Jason was referring to. ¡°Okay, I am having a vision. Let me tell you in a bit.¡± Jason nodded, as the figure moved towards a side of the apartment, and stopped in front of one of the tall shelves with open drawers. The figure stood there for a few moments, then it turned around and walked towards the door and disappeared right when it got into the hallway. ¡°She might have come back and taken something from the shelf.¡± although not yet certain on what the vision meant, Jason voiced his theory pointing at the tall shelf: ¡°I think - I think she came back here, found something from that shelf and then left.¡±The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Okay¡­? How do you know that?¡± Erika squinted at Jason: ¡°Have you been here before, or¡­ do you know Dr. Nguyen personally?¡± ¡°No, no¡­ just a hunch.¡± Jason was not sure how to explain, ¡°Just¡­ just check the drawers!¡± ¡°They¡¯re empty.¡± Detective Marcus was already at the shelves as he pulled out some of the drawers completely: ¡°From the look of them it looks like she took everything away? What was in them?¡± Jason shrugged, he did not see anything from the strange vision he just saw. ¡°Let¡¯s check the whole apartment, see if we can find anything.¡± Detective Jamerson exchanged looks with Detective Marcus, then she looked at the 3 civilians in the room: ¡°Be careful, if you found anything let me and Raymond handle it first.¡± ¡°No problem. Forensic basics.¡± Erika nodded. Shortly after all five people in Dr. Nguyen¡¯s apartment dispersed, Erika called out to everyone in the apartment from the bathroom: ¡°Hey guys! I think I found something...¡± When Caroline and Jason got into the modern, spacious and well decorated bathroom, they immediately saw what Erika found: bunches of hair in and near the sink, and two teeth inside of the sink. ¡°Holy¡­ ¡± both detectives did not say anything and were just stunned at the sight for a short moment. ¡°These are quite fresh - the blood on the teeths hasn¡¯t even dried. ¡± Erika put on a pair of gloves and picked the teeth up, ¡°The blood looked a bit dark for oral wounds though¡­ not sure if it is because of something in the sink, or is it because of Dr. Nguyen is REALLY unhealthy...¡± ¡°That does not sound good...¡± Both Jason and Caroline looked at each other with great worry in their eyes. When Jason took an unintentional glance at the mirror, he caught Dr. Nguyen¡¯s pale and crying face on it. But the vision quickly went away as well. ¡°Shit, I just had another vision.¡± Jason whispered to Caroline. -------------------------------------------------- The day was getting late, a movie set of ¡°The Haunting Crescent¡± almost wrapped up the shooting work for the day. Today, like many other days before, was full of small accidents and unintentional hishaps. Another staff on set got injured from a falling prop vase, and to no one¡¯s surprise the set supervisor yelled at almost everyone for the rest of the day. Finally, the last group of staff left before the sky went completely dark. But as the lights inside of the set flickered, a woman figure appeared inside of the set, right at the centre. The woman was walking on her toes, there were a couple of bloody bald spots on her head, the base of her neck had a huge opening like someone cut her throat open, her clothes were bloodied from the inside, and her upper body was contorted and mangled like a poorly assembled doll. The woman¡¯s eyes were cloudy, like a stereotypical blind person. This was one of the lead forensic scientists in the SFPD, Dr. Nguyen. But now she was clearly no longer herself. With another flicker of the lights, a tall and slim figure of a man appeared in front of the woman. This man was surrounded by black smoke, his eyes were missing and the area on his face around his eye sockets is crawling with dark veins. The black and white rags on this man¡¯s body vaguely resembled the appearance of a suit, and on his neck was a dusty but undamaged black tie. Dr. Nguyen¡¯s neck cracked as she raised her forehead and opened her mouth, so widely that her jaw got dislocated and thus producing more cracking sound. A giant eye with shiny yellow and green iris emerged from her mouth and stared at the man that appeared in front of her. The opening on Dr. Nguyen¡¯s neck started moving, like a big bloody and ugly mouth, and a low, echoey and blurry voice with two tones came out: ¡°Pitiful apparition¡­ useless and weak¡­ ¡± Before Dr. Nguyen could finish, the man let out a low roar and lunged towards her. Yet he was not able to close in on her and was frozen in mid air by an invisible force. The black smoke surrounding the man¡¯s body, as well as parts of his body started getting squeezed into a thin stream and sucked into the mouth on Dr. Nguyen¡¯s neck. The man started screaming and struggling in pain while Dr. Nguyen seemed to be enjoying the ghost milkshake. A loud scream from someone else rocked the whole set, a staff on the set was at the door and fell backwards on his back. This, however, did stop what Dr. Nguyen was doing to the slim man. The man took the opportunity and disappeared into thin air. Dr. Nguyen then gave out a furious low roar, and disappeared in the night as well. Chapter 47 ¡°Eww, what were you guys up to? You stink like you¡¯ve been rolling in shit.¡± when Caroline and Jason went back to the inn, Jianmen fanned his nose with his left hand: ¡°Go take a shower, or take a medicinal bath.¡± ¡°What? I don¡¯t smell anything.¡± Dave was right beside Jianmen, and he reacted quite differently from Jianmen, and then he turned to Caroline specifically: ¡°And you smell great.¡± ¡°Aww, thanks Dave.¡± Caroline smiled and then stared at Jianmen with a serious look: ¡°Can we talk in the diner?¡± ¡°Yeah, sure, looks like you had a fun day.¡± Jianmen stepped into the diner, waited for Caroline and Jason to go in and closed the door behind them. ¡°Not fun at all. I had visions! I had some fucking creepy visions!¡± Jason rushed to the fridge and took out a bottle of iced green tea: ¡°Caroline didn¡¯t see it, but I saw them. I am not sure if it was me or...¡± ¡°It¡¯s not you. ¡± Jianmen pointed at one of the tables and told them to sit down, and he brought out two small and transparent bottles filled with light green liquid inside: ¡°At least I am pretty sure it¡¯s not. Here, drink.¡± ¡°What are these?¡± Caroline took a smell at the liquid: ¡°Smells like alcohol?¡± ¡°Boss! You know I can¡¯t drink! My birthday¡¯s not in a couple of months!¡± Jason complained. ¡°Homemade wine, actually quite low in alcohol, made from the berries you eat for your medicinal meals and Linggen leaves.¡± Jianmen sat down on the opposite side of the table and said: ¡°And Jason, just drink. Stop worrying. It¡¯ll help you clear your head after a vision.¡± ¡°So what¡¯s the vision? And why can¡¯t I see them?¡± Caroline took a sip and asked. ¡°Jason¡¯s spirit and mind are more ¡­ what do I call it... ¡± Jianmen thought for a while attempting to find the right word: ¡°... spectrally in-tune. This means that he¡¯s more sensitive to the residues and footprints of spectral activity. But he also suffers from the increased risk of possession and being pulled and trapped in limbo.¡± ¡°What? And you¡¯re telling me this now?¡± Jason also took a sip of the homemade wine, and his facial expression was as if he took a sip of acid and started coughing: ¡°Holy¡­ this is strong!¡± ¡°Slightly stronger than your typical beer.¡± Jianmen answered, bringing out two flasks made from unknown material, one was silver-white whose surface reflected in different colors under the sunlight, and the other was silver-orange and looked like it was on fire when shined upon by sunlight: ¡°And that is the thing I would like you to bring in your flasks with you.¡±Stolen story; please report. ¡°Ah! Wait! This is for you.¡± when Caroline tried to grab the one with silver-white flask, Jianmen stopped her and pushed the silver-orange one in front of her: ¡°This one¡¯s for Jason.¡± ¡°Okay? Guess the difference is not just in the color huh?¡± Caroline asked, as she took the funnel passed by Jianmen and started pouring her bottle of wine into the flask. ¡°And before you ask. ¡± Jianmen took out another bottle and poured out a cup of fruit wine for himself, ¡°Yes, drinking it helps to cleanse the foul smell you brought with you after treading on the paths of something unclean. And no, it does not do a thorough job, so take a bath with some salt will help.¡± ¡°Something unclean? ¡± Jason asked: ¡°Boss, please explain in terms we can understand.¡± ¡°First tell me what you did today.¡± So Caroline and Jason proceeded to tell Jianmen everything they¡¯ve done and encountered today: from the trip to the SFPD precinct that housed the dead body, and what they saw in the forensics lab recordings, to the hunt for Dr. Nguyen that ultimately led to nowhere besides causing Jason to have some visions. ¡°Hmm...¡± after listening to the whole story, Jianmen thought for a while and told his students: ¡°You guys did good. You found a way to the body and it was indeed a source of some unclean presence. ¡± ¡°Unclean presence? What do you think it is?¡± Jason became worried, and took a huge gulp of the wine, which caused him to cough uncontrollably. ¡°Slow down, there¡¯s more in the fridge.¡± Jianmen covered his mouth and also coughed, ¡°I told you, I am not an expert in necromancy. And what you encountered seemed to be something closely related to it, even a direct construct of it. From the foul smell you brought with you, I¡¯d say whatever possessed Dr. Nguyen was a pretty dangerous creature. Since Dr. Nguyen has not yet left a trail of blood behind her, I¡¯d say she¡¯s still weak.¡± ¡°Still weak? Then she¡¯ll find a way to get stronger right?¡± Caroline poured the whole bottle of wine of hers into her flask, yet the small flask still did not feel full at all. So she went over to the fridge and took out two more bottles: ¡°What will she do?¡± ¡°Feed?¡± Jason also tried to fill his flask, but he was a bit clumsy and spilled a lot of wine on the table: ¡°That makes the most sense. Whatever possessed her practically just woke up after a few decades, if we look at this like a process of hibernation, then this is what it will do. I¡¯m just not sure why she would go home first.¡± ¡°She will not be able to directly feed on humans any time soon.¡± Jianmen scratched his jaw and thought for a short while: ¡°At least I hope so.¡± ¡°What now? Can you help us track her down?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°Yeah Boss, I think we need a bit of help on this one. The visions I saw in Dr. Nguyen¡¯s apartment was really creepy and¡­ overwhelming.¡± Jason said hesitantly: ¡°I think we might not be able to handle it.¡± ¡°I still can¡¯t. Like I told you, I have something to do and I can¡¯t leave the inn for a while.¡± Jianmen sighed, then stood up, seemingly having decided something: ¡°But I will try my best to help you from where I am. And beware, that this probably won¡¯t be the last paranormal incident that you encounter, just like the fireball guy won¡¯t be the last super powered individual you meet. Alright, you guys take a shower. Meet me in the training area in 30 minutes. ¡± ¡°Another impromptu training session? Is the situation really this bad?¡± Caroline finished three bottles of wine, yet the flask still felt half empty. ¡°Hopefully not too bad. But it has been a while since I dealt with necromancy. And tossing necromancers and their constructs into the sun is not really feasible right now, so I¡¯ll need to give you some quick pointers on real life anti spectral combat.¡± ¡°Will you teach us how to track possessed people down?¡± Caroline shook her flask with suspicion, she realized that the flask became much heavier than she thought, the wine she poured did not just disappear out of thin air. Chapter 48 ¡°Before we start with the anti-spectral combat arts and techniques, a couple of pop quiz questions: first question, what is the purpose of the mirrors I gave you?¡± standing beside a wooden crate, in the middle of the four wooden pillars and sprinklers they practice meditation and their martial arts movements with. And now, different from usual, each wooden pillar had a small metal sword hanging on it. ¡°It¡¯s a very basic and simplified implementation of the Eight Trigams Mirror. Its purpose is to strengthen our concentration and the power of mind and will, therefore serving as a reflector or projector of our spirit power and even true self.¡± Caroline answered in a plain voice. ¡°Okay, you would be a good student where I came from.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°That is my initial answer word by word. But here¡¯s the follow up question: how has it worked for you?¡± ¡°Oh, I know this. Our weapons in the limbo.¡± Jason answered this one: ¡°We actually discussed it a few times - they became our weapons in the limbo. We are still not yet sure how they became what they were, like mine being a pen and Caroline¡¯s turning into a shield and a stick. Our best guess is that these are a reflection of our mind.¡± ¡°Partially correct. The mirrors did not become your weapons in limbo. They helped you materialize your weapons in limbo. Your weapon has always been with you, which is why you could harm ghosts in limbo with your bare hands and feet. Which is also the reason that ghosts would not just attack anyone.¡± Jianmen explained with a smile, his right arm lightly flailing even though it¡¯s still in bandages: ¡°Think about it, a normal but strong-willed human can still beat the shit out of some ghost in the limbo, pretty neat huh?¡± ¡°Okay? I guess that¡¯s pretty funny.¡± Caroline chuckled: ¡°But what does that have to do with our training? We can¡¯t just expect the ghosts or the ¡®unclean presence¡¯ to pull us into the limbo and let us kick its ass.¡± ¡°Exactly. And remember the basics of using the Demon Suppression Sigil? Focus your mind, visualize your desired forms of attack on your supernatural enemy, then release.¡± Jianmen nodded and opened the wooden crate, from which he took out three completely wooden weapons: an arm-length stick that is slightly thin on one end and thick on the other end, yet the thicker end was the one that was pointy; a small round shield that had a ¡°True Word¡± engraved on it and tomahawk with a dull edge.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Holy shit, Boss you didn¡¯t.¡± Jason laughed as he caught the wooden stick thrown his way by Jianmen, ¡°This is cool and all, but ¡­ how can I use this Chinese painting brush kind of thing as a weapon?¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t you read any Chinese novels? This could be your Pen of The Judge in Hell.¡± Jianmen kicked the wooden crate aside, then picked up his signature bamboo stick during his teaching sessions, ¡°In similar ways to the use of the Demon Suppression Sigil, these are weapons you can use against ghosts and apparitions, who are usually impervious to physical attacks. ¡°Caroline, I chose axe for you because I think it may suit your style and taste, let me know if you want something else. Jason, I tried to get a feel of this one and tell me how you want me to alter it to suit you. Now, try wielding it.¡± Caroline and Jason looked at each other, then both took a light swing with their stick and axe. ¡°Again, harder, you are not concentrated.¡± Caroline and Jason were more confused, yet they took another harder and more serious swing. ¡°Again! More concentration!¡± Jianmen¡¯s voice was not loud, yet this time it seemed to have struck them like bolts of lightning, which caused them to have a very short moment of hyper-focus. And during this brief moment, Caroline felt that her wooden axe and shield caught on fire and glowed in orange and red; and Jason seemed to see that the tip of his stick, when being swung, left a trail of floating silver ink in the air, like a metal colored ribbon. ¡°Shit! What was that!?¡± Jason got pleasantly startled and surprised, the floating ink trail disappeared when he broke away from his concentrated status. Caroline did not have a reaction as strong and sudden, and the glow on her axe and shield just went away slowly. ¡°Not bad, my students. I knew you just needed a little nudge.¡± Jianmen clapped his hands and congratulated both Caroline and Jason: ¡°I was just hoping that you got a hang of the basic use of your mind and will power, yet here you are, having awakened your Xuanli.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Caroline concentrated for a short while and lit up her axe again: ¡°Care to explain?¡± ¡°Short answer is we all did good.¡± Jianmen walked to the valve connected to the sprinklers: ¡°Long answer is that, I¡¯ve been teaching you using my theory, that the command of mind power and physical power should both be taught at the start of cultivation training. And you guys are successful examples of this kind of training. Usually Xuanli awakening happens at the mid to later stage of the second layer. And here you are, barely made it past the second layer and you had Xuanli awakened. I gotta admit this moment came earlier than I thought. But luckily I had everything prepared. Put down the weapons for now. Do you remember that reward for you if you finished your whole set of moves with the sprinkler on? Time to collect!¡± Chapter 49 When Caroline and Jason finished with this particularly long impromptu training session, they felt surprisingly energized, they were not sure if this was because that they were finally able to finish the whole sets of moves, or was it because they awakened Xuanli and it provided them with additional energy. During the training session, not only did Jianmen teach them how to control, hone and cultivate their Xuanli that is now flowing through their meridians inside of their bodies, but Jianmen also taught them how to utilize Xuanli in fights: both in the physical world and in limbo. After they took another shower and came back down to the lounge waiting to have dinner, a large group of people entered into the inn and took up almost every seat in the diner. ¡°Woah, what happened there?¡± Jason asked Dave who was taking over his shift at the reception¡¯s desk: ¡°Who are these people?¡± ¡°I think we met some of them before.¡± Caroline pointed at a young woman sitting facing towards them and said: ¡°Do you recognize that girl? I think I saw her on the movie set we delivered to.¡± ¡°Anyone serving them yet?¡± Jason took a look at the girl and had a ¡°yikes¡± expression on his face: ¡°Where is Boss?¡± ¡°He¡¯s in the kitchen. Looks like he¡¯s prepping the food?¡± Dave answered kinda nervously, ¡°I¡¯m actually supposed to serve them, but I am not sure I can handle it. I don¡¯t even have the menu memorized.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a one pager.¡± Jason could not believe Dave would even say this, ¡°You don¡¯t have to memorize it.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, there¡¯s another thing. I am not good at dealing with a lot of people. And there¡¯s like 12 people in there.¡± Dave looked at Jason and Caroline in a begging way: ¡°Can you help me out here? You can keep all the tips.¡± ¡°Nah, you gotta do better than that, Dave.¡± Caroline joked. ¡°Um¡­ how about I pay you 5% of their total order?¡± Dave hesitated then came up with an offer. ¡°5%, each.¡± Caroline countered. ¡°Okay. That¡¯s a bit high, how about 3% each?¡± Dave stuttered a bit and came up with another offer. ¡°4% each, take it or leave it.¡± ¡°Okay, you got a deal, and you have to give me the receipts.¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°Yeah of course, Dave, we¡¯re not scoundrels.¡± ¡°Right. You are definitely not.¡± Dave chuckled nervously. ¡°Hey ladies and gents, what can I get ya?¡± Caroline and Jason happily obliged and started taking the orders from the guests. ¡°Do you still have that pan fried ribs with bones in and the black bean sauce and celery? ¡± one of the guests, who was a young man with black hair and a lock that was dyed blonde, asked Jason: ¡°That was really good, could you tell me what that dish was?¡± ¡°Just, just pan fried spare ribs with black bean sauce.¡± Jason marked it down in the ordering notepad: ¡°That is a good one, what else would you like? Would you like something lighter? The spare ribs are a bit salty.¡± ¡°Yeah, do you guys have salad? I am allergic to peanuts and I don¡¯t eat meat. ¡± a girl with a white hat and a big pair of glasses asked Caroline. ¡°No, we typically serve traditional Chinese food, so we don¡¯t have salad. But if you want, we have boiled vegetables glazed with sauce. We can use veggie ingredient only sauce with no peanut, would that work?¡± When Caroline and Jason reached the last two tables of guests, they both smelled a light but really noticeable smell: it smelled like a combination of rotten meat and burning tires. ¡°You guys smelled anything?¡± Jason looked around, trying to locate the source of the smell. ¡°No. Nothing!¡± one of the male guests on Jason¡¯s table seemed to be upset and and neurotic for some reason: ¡°I haven¡¯t smelled anything!¡± ¡°Excuse us. We came from a movie set nearby, something quite unfortunate happened and our friend here got a bit shaken up.¡± a fellow female guest on the table said and sighed: ¡°We had to wrap up early also because of it.¡± ¡°Oh, so unfortunate, what movie are you guys shooting?¡± Jason asked. ¡°We¡¯re shooting a paranormal and action movie. Kinda an experimental work. ¡± the fellow guest smiled and then asked Jason: ¡°Hey, have I seen you somewhere? Did you deliver the food on set the other day?¡± ¡°Yes indeed, she and I both did.¡± Jason pointed at Caroline. ¡°We should consult a medium! An exorcist or something!¡± the previous upset guest suddenly had an outburst: ¡°This is clearly not normal! I mean, how many accidents have we¡¯ve had ever since we started shooting at that set? And who the hell attacked Bradley!? And the blood and things on the floor ¡­ it¡¯s not natural!¡± ¡°I agree.¡± there was another guest at Caroline¡¯s table that agreed with the sentiment: ¡°I checked the security cameras before sending them to the police. I could not explain what I saw there. And now the Reaper is trying to silence us into not talking about it? When will this be taken seriously enough?¡± ¡°Caleb, you know we shouldn¡¯t talk about this in public! And we don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on!¡± another guest warned. ¡°How can we stay silent on this?! Bruno got attacked! The attacker clearly is not right! And Bruno got so much blood on him it¡¯s like a gang crime scene! And you saw the security camera too! You know what happened!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what I saw! Now the police have the tapes, can we just let them handle it and have dinner?¡± ¡°Umm, guys, can you keep it down?¡± Jason asked: ¡°Let¡¯s just forget about this for now. Why don¡¯t we have some nice food, and some warm tea?¡± ¡°Oh, um, my colleague and I are actually pretty experienced with paranormal investigation. Maybe we can help you?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°Thanks, but the police...¡± the guest who was trying to get Caleb and the other guest to not mention what happened tried to say something, but he was cut off by someone who has not said anything. ¡°Yeah, we can try to get you onsite for a quick tour if you¡¯d like.¡± this guest spoke to both Caroline and Jason in a serious tone and with a stern yet concerned expression: ¡°But just once, tomorrow, during off hours. I will take you.¡± ¡°But, Stephanie, you can¡¯t just...¡± ¡°I am the assistant set supervisor, when the Reaper is not here. I am in charge of the set.¡± Stephanie stared at the guest whom she cut off: ¡°Robert, we both know what we saw. It¡¯s not something any of us could explain. So I say we do not put our hopes in the police, who couldn¡¯t even find a lost prop!¡± The diner went silent for quite a while, then Robert sighed and said: ¡°Fine, my apologies. But I am coming with you.¡± Chapter 50 The next day, when the day was getting late, general set coordinator Robert, and assistant set supervisor Stephanie brought Caroline and Jason with them to the set of "The Haunting Crescent¡± - the same set to which they delivered food where they were greeted by a very rude person a few days ago. Caroline and Jason now learned that that person is the set supervisor, who is also the one the set staff call "the Reaper¡± when he is not around, because of his rude attitude and his inclination of credit stealing. ¡°So, it all happened sometime during the night before the last.¡± as Robert was opening the door, he described the incident that happened on set: ¡°Bruno is one of our prop guys. That night he went back here. I don¡¯t know why he came back, I just assumed he forgot something, he usually logs his entries so we¡¯ll know what he came back for. But when he came back to the set, he was attacked. By someone who¡¯s clearly out of her mind.¡± ¡°At least that¡¯s what we thought, until we checked the security camera.¡± Stephanie said when the door opened and they walked in and encountered some blood looking stains on the floor: ¡°The police did not take this case seriously at all, they did not even seal the whole set. But Bruno was really traumatized and this is where he was attacked, right at the door. The police told us when they found him, he was covered in blood and some rotten meat. Whoever attacked him scratched him up really bad.¡± ¡°What¡¯s on the security camera footage?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°It¡¯s hard to explain. ¡± Stephanie was shaking her head: ¡°At first, some woman appeared out of nowhere in the room - we didn¡¯t see how she came in. Then a shadowy figure appeared in front of her. Then after a while Bruno came in and the woman attacked him.¡± ¡°Can you tell what the woman looked like? ¡± Caroline gently rubbed her scar on the left side of her forehead: ¡°Is she Asian?¡± ¡°Looks like it.¡± Robert and Stephanie both looked at Caroline and Jason, their facial expressions showed that they were a little creeped out: ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡± ¡°Oh boy.¡± Jason took out his wooden stick, and at the same time Caroline took out his wooden shield and tomahawk. ¡°Wait, what are you doing? Are these ¡­ wood weapons?¡± Roberts asked: ¡°What are you gonna do with those?¡± ¡°Shh! Just tell us more about this woman. What did she do after attacking Bruno? Where did she go?¡± Caroline nervously and impatiently asked. ¡°We can¡¯t tell, but it looks like she just ran outside the door and bumped Bruno out of her way. ¡± Robert said: ¡°But somehow, for some reason she had time to spray him with tons of rotten meat? Did you know her? Is she crazy?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s any rotten meat.¡± Jason lightly gasped and realized something: ¡°It¡¯s her.¡± ¡°Umm, what?¡± ¡°It¡¯s from her, the woman.¡± Caroline exchanged looks with Jason and headed slowly towards the inside of the set, ¡°She¡¯s a forensic scientist at SFPD, we¡¯ve been trying to find her for a while. And I think she¡¯s possessed. We found teeth and hair in her bathroom...¡± Without Caroline and Jason having to explain much, Stephanie started retching and then vomiting on the side into an empty dustbin.Stolen novel; please report. The light flickered, a breath of cold air blew through them. And then all of a sudden, the door they came in through was slammed shut by some invisible force. ¡°Crap!¡± Robert ran to the door and tried to open it: ¡°The door won¡¯t open!¡± ¡°Here it comes, stay behind me!¡± Caroline ran towards the door, then raised her wooden axe and prepared to bash the door with it. ¡°Behind you! ¡± Jason grabbed Stephanie by the arm and headed to the door as well, but he suddenly saw a black shadow appearing behind Caroline. Yelling and having his wooden stick in hand, Jason concentrated his will power onto his stick and dish out a serious swing. A silver droplet flew from the tip of the stick, landed on the black shadow. ¡°Bang!¡± the silver droplet hit the black shadow like an explosive bullet, the black shadow got knocked into the air yet it was able to stabilize its position in mid air, after which it manifested its true face: an eyeless tall and slim man in black and white rags, surrounded by black smoke. ¡°What the fuck is that!?¡± Robert yelled as he had his back against the door. ¡°This does not feel that dangerous, kinda smells differently.¡± Jason said with a frown. ¡°Whatever, let¡¯s get rid of this one first.¡± Caroline let out a long exhale, and her wooden shield and axe lit up in orange and red. ¡°Agreed.¡± Jason used his wooden stick to wrote a word in the air like a pen - as he finished, the silver ink formed a floating Chinese word ¡°¹¥¡±. As the tall and slim man lunged towards them, the word also shot towards the man. The tall and slim man clashed with the silver word head on, and like a man hit with a truck and flew through the air. But the next moment the light flickered and he just disappeared into the darkness. ¡°Door is still jammed.¡± Robert felt relieved and tried again to open the door, but he was still not able to open it. The lights started flickering again, then all of a sudden, they all got shut off. Stephanie started screaming and grabbed Jason¡¯s arm, so tightly so that he could feel her fingernails digging into his skin. Jason struggled to keep Stephanie in check and tried to use his stick to write another word in the air. Caroline felt something from her left side so she swiftly swung her shield to the side. Her shield clashed with something, some bright red sparks flew from the clash, and she heard a man¡¯s whimpering cry. Right now, the only light sources were Caroline¡¯s glowing shield and axe, though the light was too dim to light up too much, it provided enough visibility in the dark for Stephanie and Robert to find their cell phone and use them to light up the space around them. ¡°Is that thing still here? Did you kill it?¡± Stephanie asked Caroline. ¡°Don¡¯t think so.¡± Caroline shook her head. Just this moment, Jason finished his writing in the air, this time, the word he wrote was ¡°ÁÁ¡±, and with a quick poke of the stick, the word started shining in silver white light and lit up more space. ¡°Jason. Try the detection spell.¡± Caroline¡¯s axe and shield shined brighter. ¡°On it.¡± Jason started writing another word in the air. ¡°Are you guys¡­ sorcerers?¡± Stephanie asked. ¡°Cultivators.¡± Jason finished the word ¡°ÏÔ¡±, the word exploded into a wave of silver light, scanning through all the corners in the room. And shortly after the explosion of the silver light, a grey figure appeared above Robert and Stephanie - just like throwing paint on an invisible object, or person. Before the figure had the chance to escape again, Caroline¡¯s axe, while leaving a trail of orange and red afterimage, already cut into the body of the figure, almost splitting it in half. Yet this figure also extended its arms and grabbed onto the handle of the axe and Caroline¡¯s arm, trying to stop Caroline from attacking again. Yet Caroline just started bashing the figure with her shield. The figure dropped to the ground after the fifth or sixth bash, losing its invisibility and showing its true face in the process. Caroline gave out a loud and angry roar, her axe almost got embedded in the ground from a furious swing, which removed the slim man¡¯s head from his shoulder. A jet of black smoke gushed out from the figure¡¯s neck, a strong rotten smell instantly filled the air Another silver word struck the slim man¡¯s headless body, pushing it away and blasting it into ashes and broken rags. At almost the same time, the slim man¡¯s head burned to ashes after a whimper. Yet the black smoke that emerged from the slim man¡¯s neck took a while to dissipate. For some reason, Jason and Caroline had a strange feeling that the smoke was somehow from a different entity, not the slim man. ¡°Try the door again?¡± Caroline cautiously looked around, then asked Robert. With a simple push, the door opened. Yet the next moment, a bright lightning almost blinded all four of them. Both Caroline and Jason felt an electric current rampaged through their bodies, numbing all of their extremities and burning their blood, flesh and bones. The next thing they felt, was the cold hard touch of the cement sidewalk. Chapter 51 ¡°Holy crap! Are you Okay?¡± though stunned by the blinding light from the lightning, Robert and Stephanie were otherwise unaffected by it, and they rushed to Caroline and Jason¡¯s assistance. Neither Caroline nor Jason was responding at first, until Robert and Stephanie came over and helped them lie on their backs. Right before Stephanie started dialing 911. Both Caroline and Jason started breathing heavily and quickly, then woke with gasps. ¡°Ouch ouch ouch ouch! Holy fuck!¡± Jason started rolling on the ground holding his left knee, Caroline was no better, she was twitching on the ground and was not able to get a word out with intense mumbling. Robert and Stephanie both backed off with relief and some concern, Stephanie looked at Robert and asked: ¡°Are they on drugs? ¡± ¡°No, no, no. Not on drugs, just some really painful cramps.¡± Jason took the time to explain as the pain he was experiencing started going away: ¡°Just give us a few seconds. We¡¯ll be fine. Don¡¯t call an ambulance, we can¡¯t afford it. Ouch ouch ouch...¡± ¡°You¡¯re sure? You look like you were struck by that lightning!¡± Stephanie wanted to help but was again scared away by Caroline and Jason¡¯s reactions. ¡°Yep, I am sure. We just need to have another chat with Boss.¡± Caroline sat up and said, ¡°If I remember correctly this should not happen this soon.¡± ¡°And we¡¯ll need some additional vacation days.¡± Jason also seemed to have recovered from his cramps. ¡°What happened? That was really scary.¡± Stephanie helped Jason stand up, and Robert Caroline, ¡°Looks like the lightning struck you?¡± ¡°Yeah, and then some. But believe it or not, it is actually good for us.¡± Jason laughed, then coughed uncontrollably as the burning feeling within his body still remained in his body. ¡°Please drive us back to the inn.¡± Caroline also coughed and said: ¡°I don¡¯t think we can walk ourselves back.¡± ¡°Of course! ¡± Robert nodded earnestly: ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want to go to a hospital?¡± ¡°Yep, no, I think we just need to eat.¡± Caroline said: ¡°I am feeling a bit hungry, Jason you¡¯re feeling hungry?¡± Before Jason could answer, his stomach already growled loudly: ¡°... yeah let¡¯s head back to the inn to eat.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Okay, you I know a good burger place nearby if you¡¯re really that hungry...¡± Stephanie supported Jason by the arm and walked slowly towards Robert¡¯s car, and Robert also helped Caroline to his car. ¡°No, those probably won¡¯t help. Just take us back to the inn, I¡¯ll call Boss.¡± Jason said. At this time, traffic was much better than when they came, it took only 10 minutes for them to get back to the inn. ¡°Boss! Help!¡± Jason mustered up his final strength and ran to the diner, ¡°Food please! We¡¯re starving!¡± ¡°You just had tribulations? What the hell?¡± Jianmen was at the reception¡¯s desk and was genuinely surprised at the aura around both Caroline and Jason. ¡°That¡¯s what we¡¯re gonna talk about! ¡± Caroline also rushed into the diner, and took out a big bowl of meat stew from the refrigerator: ¡°You told us this wouldn''t happen!¡± ¡°Yeah. It shouldn¡¯t happen until you reach the end of the second layer and start breaking into the third¡­ something must be wrong...¡± Jianmen swiftly went into the diner and then the kitchen, not even caring that Robert and Stephanie also came in the diner: ¡°Take it slow, don¡¯t stuff too fast and remember to control the flow of your Xuanli through your meridians! It can be really bad if you lose control!¡± ¡°¡®Kay! ¡®Kay!¡± Jason already swallowed a couple mouthful of his bowl of meat stew and had to pat himself on the chest to help the food go down: ¡°Oh¡­ my god, I feel like my whole body is burning! ¡± ¡°Mind your flow! Mind your flow! Hang on a bit, I¡¯ll make some vegetables for you.¡± ¡°Hey, guys? What¡¯s going on? What are you guys talking about?¡± Robert and Stephanie watched Caroline and Jason eating like animals in embarrassment and confusion, ¡°Are you okay?¡± Before Caroline and Jason could answer, Jianmen in the kitchen snapped his finger and pointed to Robert and Stephanie with his left index and middle fingers. Robert and Stephanie stopped talking immediately, and just had harmless smiles one their faces. ¡°Woah Boss. What¡¯d you do?¡± Jason stopped eating, and stared at Robert and Stephanie. ¡°Shut up, keep eating and concentrate on your flow.¡± Jianmen brought out two plates of green vegetables: ¡°One plate for each, if you feel stuffed or the food is burning your stomach, take some vegetables. And drink your wine in your flasks.¡± ¡°Thanks. Boss.¡± Jason promptly took some vegetables and swallowed with a satisfactory sigh. ¡°You said this wouldn¡¯t happen. Then why did it just do?¡± Caroline also swallowed some green vegetables and took a sip of the wine in her flask. ¡°I don¡¯t know either. What did you do? What happened before the tribulation?¡± Jianmen asked, with a sense of genuine concern. ¡°We basically killed a ghost.¡± Caroline answered, while looking Jianmen straight in the eye and pointing at Robert and Stephanie: ¡°It¡¯s in their movie set. Their set seemed to have some ghost inhibiting it. We promised them we would take a look, and we just went. ¡± ¡°And you guys killed a ghost, good job. What else?¡± ¡°Umm¡­ nothing?¡± Caroline thought for a while, then she felt hungry again and started chowing down on her meat stew. ¡°The ghost did feel really easy though.¡± Jason raised his head from the bowl and said: ¡°Almost feels like it''s too easy.¡± Jianmen did not respond, instead, he pulled out two copper coins and gently blew on it. Then, he held the two coins in his left hand and lightly waved this hand in front of both Caroline and Jason. Both Caroline and Jason had a tingling sense that something slightly chilly, depressing and dark was taken away from them. Jianmen then took out an incense burner and three incense sticks. He buried the two coins inside of the ashes in the incense burner, and stuck the three incense sticks straight up into the ashes. With a quick blow from the mouth, the three incense sticks started burning. ¡°What is this?¡± Both Caroline and Jason felt kinda full after each finishing a bowl of meat stew. ¡°Shh, meditate and focus on your flow. I will explain later.¡± Caroline and Jason looked at each other, Jason shrugged and sat straight on his chair and went into meditation. Caroline sighed, gave Jianmen a serious look and started meditating as well. Chapter 52 When Caroline and Jason opened their eyes, Robert and Stephanie were already gone and the dishes in front of them had been cleaned and put away. What was placed in front of them was the incense burner with three incense sticks still standing but no longer burning. Two sticks on the side were almost burned to the butt entirely, and the one in the middle was barely burnt and stood tall. The two copper coins that were buried inside the burner were now placed on the table with incense ashes sprinkled over them. And Jianmen was making two wooden miniature human figures using a small carving knife and some expensive looking red wood. ¡°Where¡¯s Stephapnie? And Robert?¡± Jason asked. ¡°I sent them home. Don¡¯t worry, they won¡¯t remember much of tonight, besides that you bravely resolved the paranormal presence at their set.¡± Jianmen blew on one of the miniature human figures to clear the dust, ¡°You guys, tell me what you encountered tonight, as detailed as possible.¡± ¡°We pretty much told you already.¡± Jason scratched his head, ¡°Beside the woman in the security camera footage...¡± ¡°Dr. Nguyen¡¯s body might be decomposing. ¡± Caroline was reminded of a detail they did not mention before going into meditation: ¡°According to Robert and Stephanie, some woman attacked a staff named Bruno and sprayed him with blood and rotten meat. But they said on the security camera footage the woman just bumped the guy out of her way. They also said that the woman was Asian. So we figured, that woman might be the missing Dr. Nguyen. She was clearly possessed, the teeth and hair we found in her apartment? They were just symptoms of an early stage.¡± Jianmen put down his carving knife and wooden figure and looked at both Caroline and Jason with a serious and piercing look: ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yeah. Pretty sure.¡± ¡°The incense sticks, they¡¯re one long and two short.¡± Jason suddenly said: ¡°This is bad, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°What do you mean? One long and two short?¡± Caroline was not sure at first. ¡°It¡¯s an omen.¡± Jianmen pushed the two red wood miniature human figures forward: ¡°Take these with you. I want you to be careful and put a pause on the investigation for a while. At least don¡¯t go anywhere unsafe before I am able to leave the inn.¡±The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Wait, what? What does this mean?¡± Caroline asked again: ¡°Please, Boss, can you be clearer in your answers?!¡± ¡°I can tell you this.¡± Jianmen sighed and said: ¡°First of all, these incense sticks were for one divination, and these coins? Another. ¡± ¡°One long incense stick and two short, classic omen of bad luck.¡± Jason provided Caroline with a simpler answer, ¡°At least¡­ that¡¯s what I heard.¡± ¡°You heard right.¡± Jianmen continued: ¡°You did not encounter the trail of one ghost tonight. I think you met one face to face and ran into the footsteps of another - which I think is whatever possessed Dr. Nguyen. So the divination with the incense, I did for a hypothetical run-in between you and that thing.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ unsettling.¡± Jason¡¯s voice trembled a little, which Caroline remained silent with her brows clenched: ¡°Is it right to say it¡¯s a good thing no one has found Dr. Nguyen yet?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. And the coins, I used them for your sudden tribulation.¡± Jianmen pointed at the coins and the ashes from the incense burner: ¡°Turns out, I was right. Tribulation wouldn¡¯t happen at your stage, at least not under normal circumstances.¡± ¡°And... What are our circumstances?¡± Jason saw that Caroline was still deep in her thought, so he asked what he thought Caroline would ask. ¡°It¡¯s ... a gift.¡± Jianmen¡¯s facial expression showed indications of a wide range of emotions: pride, concern, worry, sadness and¡­ almost uncontrollable anger. It was the first time Jason saw his boss with an expression like this. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to. You shouldn¡¯t have to.¡± Jianmen waved his left hand and said: ¡°Just know that it¡¯s good for you. And you two need to make good use of it to improve your skills. I¡¯ll tell you what, get a good night¡¯s sleep. I¡¯ll have someone cover your shifts tomorrow. And for the rest of the week. You¡¯ll need some intense training. ¡± Both Caroline and Jason stared at Jianmen with a confused look, they couldn¡¯t understand what the cause for this sudden decision was. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll still get paid. Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me, I need to get back to what I was doing.¡± Jianmen cleaned up the incense burner and the copper coins, then walked out of the diner and back into the basement. ¡°Bang!¡± Jianmen closed the basement door much harder than usual, which startled Caroline and Jason quite a bit. ¡°What has gotten into Boss today?¡± Jason looked at Caroline, and saw that Caroline was also looking at him, confused. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Caroline stood up, ¡°Looks like he¡¯s more pissed about the tribulation than us.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re gonna stop the investigation?¡± ¡°No. But we just need to be careful about it.¡± Caroline thought for a while, ¡°I felt like we are on the verge of some important discovery.¡± ¡°Hmmm, really? I am just lost. What do you think the discovery is?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know yet, just a gut feeling.¡± Caroline stared at the basement door for a while, ¡°I think Boss is not telling us everything about this ¡®gift¡¯.¡± ¡°Has he ever?¡± Jason chuckled and took a sip from his flask, then realized Caroline was looking at him: ¡°What? My birthday¡¯s in a few months!¡± Chapter 53 ¡°Since you just passed your first ever tribulation and broke into the second layer of cultivation, I think it is time for me to impart upon you the actual cultivation methods, martial arts and meditation and visualization methods.¡± on the training ground, Jianmen was standing there still with his bamboo stick, his injury on his right arm had become more serious, as some burn marks seemed to have reached the right side of his neck: ¡°Today, what I am going to teach you is the basics of ¡®Meditative Scripture of Three Oceans and Nine Heavens¡¯, ¡®Skill and Form of Flow and True Self¡¯ and ¡®Scripture of Jade and Amber¡¯. ¡°Don¡¯t be intimidated by the names, they are fancy because they work very well, and they are among the best in their respective categories. ¡®Meditative Scripture of Three Oceans and Nine Heavens¡¯ is the meditative scripture with instructions on how to continuously hone your power of mind and will, through both meditation and visualization; ¡®Skill and Form of Flow and True Self¡¯ is for the next steps for your physical combat skills; and ¡®Scripture of Jade and Amber¡¯ is the cultivation method that teaches you how to control, hone and cultivate your Xuanli. It is also a spell codex of sorts, you can learn how to channel spells and utilize your Xuanli to achieve various goals you would want. ¡°So the first magical trick of the day. Sit down on the grass, put your mirrors in front of you, place your weapons beside you. Caroline you can put each piece on each side. And then slowly go into meditative states.¡± Caroline and Jason did as Jianmen ordered. Before he closed his eyes, Jason took a look at the metal swords hanging on the four wooden pillars around them. This time there were no sprinklers nearby, just the four pillars. The next moment, both Caroline and Jason started hearing whispers all around them. They could not understand individual words of the whisper, but somehow the meanings behind them are perfectly revealed to them and ingrained in their minds - they could even ¡°see¡±, ¡°smell¡± and ¡°feel¡± when ideas and notions concerning these senses were being described. The Xuanli that was flowing inside of their meridians started slowly growing stronger and denser. While this was going on, a certain amount of Xuanli also seeped out from their meridians and into their blood, muscles and bones, tempering every part of their bodies, strengthening them and making them more resilient. After a while, both Caroline and Jason stood up, and subconsciously started practicing different battle moves. As their moves progressed, their Xuanli started manifesting on the exterior of their bodies: faint flame seemed to be igniting around Caroline¡¯s body, while Jason¡¯s body started shining in metallic silver color. Then at this moment, Jianmen snapped his finger, the metal swords hanging on the four wooden pillars started shining. The air around Caroline and Jason started getting denser, and the gravity in the area started getting stronger, which made Caroline and Jason¡¯s moves more and more difficult - the Xuanli seeping out of the insides of their bodies was being condensed and pushed back onto their skin. The same effect also took place on their meridians, muscles, organs and bones, almost no Xuanli was wasted due to seeping out from the body, instead it was recycled in their bodies like another Xuanli circulation system besides their meridians. It was not long before both Caroline and Jason came into consciousness and stopped their moves, and great weariness and hunger struck them at the same time. Their Xuanli grew stronger and denser, but the higher density and the significant amount of it that was absorbed by their bodies led to their meridians not as filled as before, just like a elastic bottle that was squeezed half empty and could use a refill.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. When both of them ran into the diner, Jianmen already had food and drinks prepared. So they took almost no time to sit down at the table and started eating. And today was the first day they clearly felt how the food at the inn was different: there were traces of pure and ¡°clean¡± Xuanli in the food. As they chewed and swallowed, the Xuanli flew into their bodies and in turn meridians. The amount was not large enough to completely fill their meridians, but just enough to make the hunger stop and the weariness mostly bearable. ¡°Who¡¯s that in the reception?¡± Caroline pointed at a new guy at the reception¡¯s desk. ¡°That¡¯s Bill, he¡¯s taking over your shifts for today. And possibly some future days.¡± Jianmen took three bottles of wine from the fridge and gave two of them to Caroline and Jason: ¡°How are you guys feeling?¡± ¡°Tired, and hungry.¡± Jason answered and took a huge chug of the wine: ¡°But I feel like when I recovered I¡¯d be able to lift a ton.¡± ¡°Not yet, but you¡¯ll be able to.¡± Jianmen smiled, ¡°When you¡¯re done eating, take a one hour break and start practicing your first spells. I trust that you already know your first spells?¡± ¡°Yeah. Fireball, how lame and cliche.¡± Caroline rolled her eyes. ¡°Mine¡¯s wall of ink.¡± Jason said, ¡°Not sure what that is, sounded kinda lame as well.¡± ¡°On the contrary, they¡¯re really good.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°The most basics of the first spells, means that you can start with the bare fundamentals. Starting with fundamentals is good, because there won¡¯t be too many complications to bias you.¡± ¡°Bias us? What for?¡± both Caroline and Jason asked. ¡°That spells are supposed to be a certain way. That they should be complicated. In fact. a lot of times the best spells are not the most complicated. And ninety percent of the most powerful spells? They are just smart combinations of simpler spells. For example, fireballs are simple, but what if you make it bigger? What if you make it smaller but release more of them at once? What if you make the fireball not explosive but more about just burning? What if you let your fireballs shine brighter instead of longer? And for the ink wall, what if you make it smaller like a shield? What if you shape it into a knife instead of a simple wall? What if you make it into a giant glider wing? You guys know what I mean?¡± ¡°I get it I get it, simpler means more flexible.¡± Jason chuckled and brought up a Cantonese accent: ¡°Be water, my friend.¡± Just when Caroline and Jason were done with their food, Robert and Stephanie walked into the inn and straight into the diner. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you to it then! Have fun!¡± Jianmen grabbed another bottle of fruit wine and left the diner for the basement. ¡°Hey, thanks for all your help last night. Are you feeling alright?¡± Stephanie looked at both Caroline and Jason with genuine concern. ¡°We¡¯re good, we¡¯re good.¡± Jason and Caroline looked at each other and for a moment did not know what to say since Jianmen told them Robert and Stephanie would not remember all the details from last night, ¡°How are you feeling?¡± ¡°We¡¯re good! I thought I wouldn''t be able to sleep but I still had a surprisingly good night¡¯s sleep.¡± Stephanie chuckled nervously. ¡°And the same for me! I pretty much passed out on my bedroom floor.¡± Robert joked, ¡°We want to say thank you very much for helping us with the movie set. We really, really appreciate it.¡± ¡°Yeah, no problem. Happy that we could help.¡± Jason said nervously. ¡°Look, I know that you guys help us out of the goodness of your heart. And this is technically off the books so we can¡¯t really repay you the way it seemed appropriate.¡± Robert and Stephanie sat down on the opposite side of the table: ¡°But we would really like to thank you. So, we talked to the reaper¡­ the set supervisor, and we¡¯re thinking about having two paranormal consultants that help us watch the set, in case of other supernatural occurrences. ¡± ¡°He gave us a budget of eight hundred dollars per week per person. And you just need to be onsite 3 days per week. ¡± Stephanie explained: ¡°What do you think? ¡± ¡°That is very generous¡­ but...¡± Jason still remembered Jianmen¡¯s advice that they do not go anywhere unsafe until Jianmen can leave the inn, yet he was cut off by Caroline. ¡°No but, we¡¯ll definitely take it. When should we start?¡± ¡°Right away! If you want you can start right away!¡± both Robert and Stephanie seemed really excited. Chapter 54 It has been one week since Jason and Caroline took the positions as the paranormal consultants to the movie set of ¡°The Haunting Crescent¡±, and everything has been fine and dandy, other than the fact that though they have tried multiple calls to Erika, Detective Raymond Marcus and Monica Jamerson, even Thomas and Aimee, they heard nothing about the whereabouts of Dr. Nguyen. And since their late night visit to the set that got them the positions, the movie set has been running smoothly. So smoothly that the Reaper has been quite happy and much less yelly for the past three days, which also made all the set staff much happier and more productive. Well, ALMOST all the set staff. ¡°Lin! Baker! You are needed here! Come in right now!¡± the main makeup artist on the set just yelled at them from afar, in a tone that was almost as angering and upsetting as that of the Reaper¡¯s when he¡¯s angry. Both Caroline and Jason sighed, and headed to the makeup room, at first neither of them knew why Madison, the main makeup artist, held such unfriendliness or even grudges against them. But later as they got to know some of the staff better, they found out that apparently she had a friend that was a self proclaimed medium/psychic and she had been trying for a few weeks to get this friend on set as a paranormal consultant. Now that they became the paranormal consultants instead, there wouldn¡¯t be any chance for her friend, if there was any before. When they got into the makeup room, they saw that the main actress of the movie, by the stage name of Madeline Bennette, was holding a strangely shaped purple crystal vase and two flowers with long stems. ¡°Hi, what can we help you with?¡± Jason asked with a smile. ¡°Yes. I heard that you are the paranormal consultants on the set. So I guess that you are psychics?¡± Madeline Bennette asked in her typical soft and mildly ethereal voice: ¡°I could use your help here. This is my special aura cleansing vase, made from a whole crystal. I usually use Lily and Rose to cleanse my aura before the shoot. But I am having a hard time making a decision between these two wonderful pieces - this beautiful rose in full bloom? Or this lily touched by morning dew?¡± ¡°Umm¡­ we¡¯re not that kind of paranormal consultant.¡± Caroline shook her head, displaying some impatience. ¡°What she meant was...¡± not wanting to piss off one of the main stars of the movie and losing their position, Jason stepped in with an explanation: ¡°We¡¯re more of the¡­ investigation and nuisance prevention kind of paranormal consultant. Aura cleansing and brightening is not really our specialty.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°Really? That¡¯s disappointing.¡± Madeline Bennet put down both the flowers and her vase. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Ms. Bennette, I have a friend, she¡¯s a brilliant and knowledgeable psychic. If I can get her on set, she can help you everyday with all things concerning your aura, and your chakra...¡± ¡°What about just a hunch? What do your guts tell you?¡± before Madison could finish, Madeline asked: ¡°It might not be your specialty, but if you guys are the real deal, you can still tap into the aura around here and enlighten me on my choice.¡± ¡°My guts said, you are more in-tuned with the aura than we are.¡± after thinking for a short while, Jason said: ¡°I think you should go with your instincts.¡± ¡°Flattering. But I am not there yet.¡± Madeline Bennette smiled and said: ¡°Please, just tell me what your gut feelings are, I insist.¡± ¡°Go with the lily.¡± Caroline said: ¡°Morning dew is pure and full of life. Full bloom is beautiful but it signals the start of aging and decay.¡± ¡°Nice, lily it is.¡± Madeline Bennette was just about to throw the rose away, yet Jason stopped her. ¡°The start of decay is also a part of the circle of life. Let me have it if you so will.¡± Jason smiled as he took the rose from Madeline Bennette: ¡°My colleague and I will try to make the best of it.¡± ¡°Sure you can have it. But don¡¯t you dare put it online for sale.¡± ¡°I sure am tempted. But I definitely will not.¡± Jason laughed as he put the rose into his pocket, and left the makeup room with Caroline. ¡°What was that? You a fan?¡± as they went to the outer parts of the set, Caroline asked. ¡°No. Actually I just had a hunch.¡± Jason took out the rose and said: ¡°I just feel this rose should not be in that vase.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ how so? Do you know why?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just felt like it would be a bad idea.¡± Jason picked up an empty water bottle from one of the recyclable garbage bins, gently put the rose inside and tried to find a spot to place it. ¡°Hmmm, trust your guts. Maybe it¡¯ll just work out.¡± Caroline smiled, ¡°What I said about the lily was also just my guts - I honestly don¡¯t care either way. ¡± ¡°You think this aura cleansing thing is real?¡± Jason held the bottle and the rose in hand while they were heading to the outside of the set - that is what they usually do onset, they walk around the set to ensure that nothing is haunting the set, ¡°I mean, we know that superpowers are real, ghosts and monsters are real, cultivation is very real. What if the hipsters do have a point about chakra and aura?¡± ¡°Another question for Boss for the next session. If you asked me aura does exist but probably just not in the way the hipsters describe it.¡± Just this moment, Jason¡¯s phone rang, it was a text from Tim, a buddy of his and a member of the video channel of which Jason was a part of. The text read: ¡°Dude! Where are you? Call me right now!¡± Since their job as paranormal consultants have been pretty boring and uneventful so far, Jason decided to call Tim right away. ¡°Hey, Tim, what¡¯s up?¡± ¡°Finally, Jason, I have good news for you.¡± Tim on the other side sounded really excited: ¡°Did you know who just called us? Branston! The host of the Branston Show!¡± ¡°What?!¡± ¡°Yeah, I know right! They are huge! They want to collaborate with us!¡± ¡°Mothefu - ¡± Chapter 55 It took a while for Jason to finish the call, and all the while Caroline was on his side laughing uncontrollably. According to Tim, Branston¡¯s team found out about Jason and Tim¡¯s channel and their team, so Branston¡¯s team reached out to Tim and expressed that they would like to collaborate on a future project. And the theme of the project? Visiting a deserted haunted hospital next month, which is exactly what Adam told him last time they met at San Francisco. Jason spent most of the phone call trying to talk Tim out of the collaboration, but Tim being a fan of the paranormal and ghost adventure was way too excited for his own good. Jason¡¯s case was made more difficult after Tim mentioned that he saw Branston¡¯s livestream. By the time Jason hung up, they still could not agree. Tim said he would like to arrange a meeting among the channel members and take a vote. ¡°So, you¡¯re telling me, that the Branston team was full of idiots, and your buddies are not that smart either.¡± Caroline shook her head when she heard about the details about the call: ¡°I mean, haunted hotel is one thing, haunted hospital? That is some nerve.¡± ¡°Not to mention always wanting to get rich and famous.¡± Jason put his phone back into his pocket and still tried to look for a place to put the rose in a bottle: ¡°You know, we could be though? I think if we get into showbiz directly we can beat up 99.9% of the action stars.¡± ¡°Well, yeah, but you¡¯re really not the actor type - you¡¯re always the writer/director/producer. type¡± Caroline laughed: ¡°And for me - you know...¡± ¡°...you¡¯re allergic to douchebags, which makes 90% of the actors and actresses.¡± Jason completed what Caroline was about to say: ¡°You know, I feel that you might be too harsh there. At least 10% of them are only acting like douchebags because they want to fit in.¡± ¡°Aww, aren¡¯t you kind.¡± Caroline took the rose from Jason¡¯s hand and played with it: ¡°What do you say we bring this rose back to the inn? I know it¡¯s already cut and will die soon, but maybe that garden of Boss could use some fancier flowers.¡± ¡°Hmmm, maybe. But I am not sure he¡¯ll approve, he¡¯s very protective of the garden.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Yeah. You let me worry about it.¡± Caroline handed the rose and the bottle back to Jason: ¡°We still have a couple of hours here, you worry about keeping it alive. After all, it is a rose once held by the marvelous and charming Miss. Madeline Bennette.¡± ¡°Yeah, too bad we can¡¯t sell it.¡± Jason laughed. The rest of the day was uneventful as the days before: two of them wander around the set while people inside continue shooting the movie. Technically they are not allowed to go inside while the shoot was ongoing because of confidentiality and publicity concerns, even though they signed a nondisclosure agreement before taking the job. But this boring job is also good for both of them besides the obvious factor that it pays pretty well for a consultancy position - Jianmen taught them some basic methods of casual cultivation, where they don¡¯t have to have full concentration on the power of their mind and will or Xuanli but yet still be able to slowly hone and cultivate them. By Jianmen¡¯s word, it is a perfect set of cultivation tricks that one can easily use when they are taking a walk or listening to music or working out in the gym. So both of them happily obliged and took advantage of the boring and uneventful work to practice these basic cultivation methods. With Jianmen¡¯s regular supervised sessions and their practice of these casual cultivation methods, they could feel that their Xuanli, their power of mind and will has been steadily growing stronger, which gave them more confidence when it comes to dealing with potential paranormal related situations. ¡°Oh, hey, Jason, Caroline.¡± as both of them were ready to leave, Bethany, one of the friendlier prop coordinators on the set went up to them: ¡°Next week, clear all your other schedule, be here on Thursday and Friday.¡± ¡°Why, what¡¯s special about next Thursday and Friday?¡± Caroline asked, as she looked at the plastic water bottle and the red rose still in full bloom in Jason¡¯s hands with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s Josephine Wong! It¡¯s confirmed! She will have a cameo in the movie, and she will spend two days on our set!¡± Bethany let out a low scream in excitement: ¡°Oh my god! Can you imagine?!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± although Caroline was not familiar with Josephine Wong, because of her boss Jianmen¡¯s shenanigans she still has heard of the name multiple times: ¡°Is she a bigger celebrity than Madeline Bennette? You don¡¯t seem as excited about her.¡± ¡°It¡¯s different. Madeline is more of a traditional actress and talk show host.¡± Bethany explained with enthusiasm: ¡°Josephine, on the other hand, is a total badass action star. I heard she has multiple blackbelts and has official combat training with a lot of traditional weapons. How freaking cool is that?¡± ¡°Yeah, and not only that, she is also a pretty darn good actress.¡± Jason was also really excited about the news: ¡°Oh my god, her performance in ¡®The Room Upstairs¡¯ is definitely Oscar-worthy, it¡¯s a shame that not even a nomination was given.¡± ¡°I know right!?¡± Bethany gave Jason a high-five: ¡°She¡¯s such a gem! And I heard her cameo is also pretty badass. Oooh I can¡¯t wait!¡± ¡°Alright, remember to save an autograph for me.¡± Caroline gently patted on Bethany¡¯s shoulder. ¡°What - you¡¯re not gonna be here?¡± Chapter 56 Inside of Xianshi Inn¡¯s basement, behind the closed door, a stream of orange and golden fire was shooting from Jianmen¡¯s mouth and onto the little piece of rock on the altar. Just like so many times before, unintelligible, mumbled and unclean whispers filled the entire room, and Jianmen stayed unfazed as he continued to unleash the fire. The last bit of essence from within the little piece of rock was being squeezed out of the rock and being burned away. Cracking sound was coming from the rock as the fire hit and scoured it like waves. And for the first time in this many days, the rock was starting to change in color. The rock was dark black and occasionally one can see a shade of green under the light, and now, its surface started becoming grey and cracked up like a real piece of rock under high temperature fire. When the surface of the rock was completely covered in grey and racks, Jianmen stopped the orange and golden fire. His left hand and both his eyes glowed in orange and golden light, the next moment, he unleashed a palm strike onto the altar. A shadow palm entirely made of orange and golden energy shot through the air while shrinking in size and accurately landed on the rock. A huge explosion erupted from the centre of the rock, a wave of orange and golden power washed through the whole basement. Dust raised from all surfaces of the room, and the side of the wall to which the altar was attached to also cracked. Jianmen was knocked back slightly, but he was able to maintain his composure. A very tiny droplet of transparent and yet shiny liquid slowly flew up from the altar. This droplet was shortly pulled down by an invisible force back to the altar, Jianmen¡¯s left hand was extended forward, as he was the source of this invisible force. The droplet started crystallizing as it was being pulled closer and closer to the altar, and eventually became a shiny crystal ball and rested quietly on the altar. It still shined warm and comforting white light from time to time, but its energy has been stabilized, balanced and contained. This is the final stage of Jianmen¡¯s work on that piece of rock - it took longer than Jianmen originally planned, as he found out that he greatly underestimated the potency of the karmic pollutant. This led him to endure more serious burns from the usage of the Laws of Karma besides taking more time. If he was correct about the inner workings of invoking karmic power in this world as an outsider, then the pain and cost he paid by cleansing karmic pollutants like this would gradually be repaid by the karmic flows of this universe. But it is hard to say in what form will the repayment come - more often than not it will be something unexpected and you can¡¯t really ask for it, that¡¯s not how it works. Letting out a long exhale, Jianmen sat down on the floor, and with his trembling left arm and hand he picked up a piece of paper from a box he hid under the ground - the piece of paper just floated up from beneath as if the ground was water. The piece of paper had a drawing of a beautiful young woman on it - she was looking at the drawer, and had a string instrument in her hands, which shaped like a sword with a broad edge.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Jianmen held the piece of paper in front of him, a beam of silver light emitted from his forehead and focused on the piece of paper. A ball of silver energy appeared in front of him, then swiftly turned into a holographic image - of the beautiful young woman, playing the strange sword-shaped string instrument. On the side of the paper, there were three Chinese characters: ʯÑãÕZ (Shi Yanyu), name of the young woman, one of Jianmen¡¯s fellow students from the clan. There was no sound, just the young woman playing the instrument gracefully with an angelic smile. She seemed to be speaking something, but just like the music she played, there was no sound. ¡°What should I do, Yu¡¯er?¡± Jianmen asked with a tired and slightly hoarse voice, ¡°You used to know all about what to do with situations like this. Dealing with karmic pollutants and unclean beings with your special circles and arrays, running the logistics for our hostel for inter-galactic travellers, seeing through enemy schemes ¡­ training and advising the students. ¡°And now that I have MY students, guess what, they¡¯re kinda like you. If you¡¯re here, you¡¯ll be the better one to teach them. Karma ¡­ is such a bitch. I want them to be great, but I don¡¯t want your life for them¡­ I tried my best to understand The Will, and still found no ways to revert this kind of ¡­ conscription. It¡¯s such a bitch, it doesn¡¯t even dare ask. It just points, nudges and pushes, like a manipulative coward.¡± Jianmen sighed and stopped the projection of the holographic image as he sensed that Jason and Caroline were back. He placed the piece of paper on the ground, and the piece just sunk into the ground and was invisible shortly after. Jianmen coughed again as he stood up, spitting blood and fire sparks. He was tired and in pain, but he felt greatly relieved that he was finally able to be done with the piece of rock. The crystal ball was placed into a metal box hidden from under the altar, which held one other crystal ball within that had less than half its diameter. Jianmen took out the smaller crystal one and hid the box back under the altar. ¡°You¡¯re back. How was the shoot?¡± Jianmen walked out of the basement and greeted both of his students. ¡°You know we can¡¯t tell you anything.¡± Jason greeted Jianmen with a smile: ¡°Didn¡¯t miss dinner did we?¡± ¡°Ah, I thought I forgot something.¡± Jianmen scratched his head with frustration: ¡°Sorry about that, let me prep now.¡± ¡°Umm Boss? We picked up a flower from the movie set. Can we plant it in your garden?¡± Caroline asked in an atypical nice and sweet voice: ¡°Jason and I both have some pretty good feelings about it.¡± ¡°No place in that garden. But I reclaimed some new ground near it. That was meant for you so you can just try it there.¡± Jianmen answered from the kitchen: ¡°Also, you can go into the basement starting from tomorrow. Let the room sit for a while.¡± ¡°What have you been doing in there anyway?¡± Jason asked, ¡°Does that mean you can leave the inn now?¡± ¡°Technically yes. But I¡¯ll need some rest before venturing out. It might take a few extra days. And you guys be careful while you are out there not listening to my advice.¡± ¡°Huh? What are you talking about Boss?¡± Jason chuckled nervously, he tried to find Caroline to back him up, but Caroline already went to the back of the inn. ¡°You guys working on the set wasn¡¯t just about money wasn¡¯t it? You had suspicion that the ghost you fought there had connections to Dr. Nguyen.¡± ¡°Ah, that¡­ you know. We just had a hunch, but it turned out to be nothing. It¡¯s not like we¡¯re actively pursuing the leads like detectives or anything.¡± A few minutes later, Caroline ran into the diner: ¡°Hey Boss, Jason, I think you need to see this.¡± Chapter 57 ¡°What ¡­ is¡­ that?¡± when Jason and Jianmen followed Caroline to the garden, they saw that the rose he and Caroline brought back from the movie set was planted on a piece of empty land. But now, the rose was surrounded by shed petals and only had a small bud where its full bloom should be. The bud seemed to have something inside of it - something that was emitting light and flickering. ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened. I just stuck it in the ground and it just shed the petals and became¡­ this.¡± Caroline raised both her hands and said: ¡°It doesn¡¯t feel dangerous like the ghosts we encounter¡­ so I was wondering what it is.¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ve been holding it all day and I haven¡¯t felt anything.¡± Jason said: ¡°I just felt that I¡¯d like to hold onto it.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. You guys were just on your paths of cultivation, it is quite natural that you could not sense it.¡± Jianmen knelt down and gently felt what was inside of the rose bud: ¡°How do I put it¡­ in short you¡¯ve been manipulated!¡± ¡°What?¡± Caroline and Jason asked at the same time. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it will be a good lesson for you as well. Long story short, this is a kind of minor spirit. It does not have a mind of its own yet, but it will release certain kinds of smell and aura that inspires the good will of stronger beings in order to gain protection.¡± Jianmen drew a circle around the rose with his finger and said: ¡°Consider this a small project of yours: take care of this thing until it blooms. The basics are the same with taking care of a plant. And of course, you can feed it a little bit of your Xuanli everyday.¡± ¡°Minor spirit? Like a baby, infant ghost?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Not necessarily. Minor spirits are just spirits that are in a weaker state. Some spirits are in the same state all of their life cycle. Some spirits are indeed in the human equivalent of an infant state. Ghosts that you encountered before are technically spirits. But the word ¡®spirit¡¯ is just too broad and general, like the word ¡®animal¡¯. Minor spirits like this can be really weak and vulnerable, that¡¯s why some of them have their instinctual ways of seeking protection. Inspiring goodwill from stronger beings is one of them. ¡± Jianmen stood up: ¡°This circle should protect it from most harm. All you need to do is take care of it and maybe try to understand it better. Once it blooms there will be a quiz.¡± ¡°Oh, come on Boss!¡± Jason complained. ¡°Way to take the fun out of raising a spirit.¡± ----------------------------------------------------------- ¡°Dispatch, dispatch, this is detective Aimee and Thomas Chaver, we¡¯re approaching 256 South West Los Gamos Street. I repeat, this is detective Aimee and Thomas Chaver, we¡¯re approaching 256 South West Los Gamos Street. Any status update?¡± at dusk of the same day, Thomas was speeding their squad car with the police alarm on, Aimee was on the police radio. ¡°Detective Chaver, there are at least 5 suspects in the house, Officer Singh and Officer Lee are under heavy attack and pinned down. Suspects are heavily armed and dangerous. We are sending in SWAT teams.¡± the police radio responded. ¡°Got it, we¡¯ll try to get Officer Singh and Officer Lee out of the scene and let SWAT handle it.¡± Thomas said loudly to the police radio: ¡°How heavily armed are they?¡± ¡°Automatic weapons. They seemed to be holding off in the house, but they are likely to escape. All units approaching the scene be careful.¡±Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. The address they were heading to was right around the corner, and they could already hear the gunshots. Thomas drifted through the turn and tried to approach a stranded police car ahead. Two policemen were hiding behind the left side of the car and using the car as a barricade. Gunshots were being fired from one lone house at the right side of the road onto the police car, the car was already completely totaled and broken, looking like it could fall apart at any moment. On the ground there was a small pool of blood, which seemed to be from the officers. Whoever was in the house clearly saw Aimee and Thomas approaching, so they started firing at their car as well, a few bullets hit the car¡¯s hood and right side of the backdoor but they were unable to stop the car. With a quick and skillful swerve, Thomas stopped his car slightly behind the stranded car, making their car mostly behind the stranded car away from the line of fire with the head of the car pointing to the direction they came from. But just right when Aimee and Thomas got off the car, a projectile was fired from the door of the house and struck the side of the stranded police car. The stranded car was flipped as a giant fireball rose through the air, the two broken bodies of the two downed officers were blown to the side, and Aimee and Thomas were knocked back and down on the ground by the shockwave. In Aimee and Thomas¡¯s blurry vision, they saw three men in black and sunglasses with rifles and shotguns in head walked out of the house and slowly approached them laughing and chatting, like they were doing some sort of twisted victory dance. ¡°We¡¯ve got 1 and a half minutes.¡± one of the men in black walked to the side of Aimee, ¡°Let¡¯s wrap up before the SWAT team got here.¡± ¡°Oh, but this one smells really tasty.¡± one man with long curly hair, face tattoo and a lot of lip piercings knelt down by the side of Aimee, ¡°I think I¡¯ll take her home.¡± ¡°Lloyd, that¡¯s not the plan.¡± the first man said with a frown: ¡°Or do you want to do the explaining to Soren?¡± ¡°You know what? Fuck Soren.¡± the man with face tattoos turned to the first man and cursed: ¡°It¡¯s not even a real name, I bet the Douchebag¡¯s real name is Tom, or Bob. And when I want a snack, I take a fucking snack.¡± Then before the other two men could stop him, he opened his mouth revealing his two long fangs and bit down on Aimee¡¯s neck. ¡°Fuck off! FUCK OFF!¡± Aimee¡¯s painful moan and twitching body pushed Thomas out of his state of almost unconsciousness, he sat up and opened fire on the three men, emptying his whole clip and landed his shots on the two standing but missing the one that had his mouth on Aimee¡¯s neck. Blood burst from the two men, but they just flinched and took a few steps back, there wasn¡¯t even a sign of heavy injury. ¡°We got a fighter here.¡± the silent third man unsheathed a dagger from the side of his leg and walked towards Thomas, and before Thomas could put another magazine in his gun, he sped forward and knocked the gun out of Thomas¡¯s hand. He then grabbed Thomas by the neck and lifted Thomas up and removed his sunglasses, revealing a pair of fluorescent green eyes: ¡°Tell me your name, human.¡± ¡°Fuck you.¡± Thomas struggled to get the word out. ¡°Okay, Officer Fuckyou, it¡¯s been a pleasure...¡± ¡°Fuck!¡± the man with curly hair and face tattoos let go of Aimee and took a few steps back while having his hands around his mouth: ¡°This bitch¡¯s blood burns!¡± ¡°What?¡± the man holding Thomas looked back, ¡°What happened?¡± The man with face tattoos opened his mouth, the first man took a look and found that this man¡¯s teeth, including his two fangs, seemed to have been corrupted by some unknown substance, and this man¡¯s tongue and other parts of his mouth blistered up like he drank directly from a boiling teapot. ¡°Fuck! This bitch is not normal!¡± Out of nowhere, Thomas felt that he was dropped to the ground, while the strong hand with long fingernails was still on his throat. Then the next thing he saw was the man with fluorescent green eyes holding his left arm without a hand and wrist, crying in a beastly voice in pain. Due to the immense pain and just being nearly choked, Thomas could barely stand up and he could only sit up and support his upper body straight with one arm. And he just saw something that seemed like just out of the movie: another man in black, wielding two machetes, removing the head of the man with fluorescent green eyes from his shoulders with one of them. The other two men growled and lunged at this man just like animals with incredible speed. But this man¡¯s movements were even faster - with a trail of afterimage behind him, his machete danced through one of the men¡¯s neck and arms, cleanly separating them from the victim¡¯s body. Then he dodged to the side and sank the blade of his other machete into the final man¡¯s back of his head. The final man, who was the one that bit Aimee and got his mouth burnt, dropped to the ground face down, still struggling, twitching and growling like an animal, while trying to remove the machete from his head. The victorious man in black, now with only one machete in hand just chopped off the head of his last opponent. Shortly after his head was separated from the body, the body parts of this man with face tattoos and curly hair started burning. ¡°Please¡­ help my sister...¡± Thomas tried his best to utter his begging: ¡°Please...¡± The 4th man in black did not respond, instead, he collected some things like wallets, rings and neck chains from all three of his victims, then went into the house from which the three victims came. The sound of the SWAT team vehicles approached, and Thomas tried his best to crawl towards Aimee. Chapter 58 The next morning, it was Caroline¡¯s shift. It was still a weekday and people¡¯s passion for travelling has died down quite a bit, so there weren¡¯t any guests either checking in or checking out. Jianmen was up in the back attending to his garden, and Jason was off to meet with his buddies from the video channel, to try to dissuade them from cooperating with the Branston team on the obviously idiotic advanture into a deserted haunted hospital. Just when Caroline was playing on her phone and practicing the casual cultivation method, a man walked into the inn with a young boy. ¡°Hello, welcome to Xianshi Inn¡­ Kane? What are you doing here?¡± Caroline recognized the man walking in - it was her older brother whom she hadn¡¯t met or talked to for a while, and the young boy was his brother¡¯s son, Alex. ¡°Hello Caroline, nice to see you too.¡± Kane smiled and asked: ¡°So, this is where you work?¡± ¡°Work, eat, live, and suffer.¡± Caroline shrugged then walked out from behind the reception¡¯s desk and looked at the timid young boy: ¡°Alex, nice to see you. You want some ice cream? We have some killer matcha ice cream!¡± ¡°Thanks! Auntie.¡± Alex looked at Kane, and with Kane¡¯s permissive nod he took Caroline¡¯s hand and walked into the diner with her. ¡°So, how have you been? ¡± Kane asked: ¡°Does this place pay well?¡± ¡°No, but it has its perks.¡± Caroline gave Alex a big scoop of Matcha ice cream, took out two bottles of Jianmen¡¯s fruit wine and sat down by one of the tables: ¡°I don¡¯t have to pay rent and I get three meals a day. And I just learned that apparently the signature homemade booze is unlimited.¡± ¡°Nice. But you¡¯re sure the pay¡¯s fair? If not I can hook you up or talk with your boss.¡± ¡°I would really hate that. But thanks.¡± Caroline laughed as she caressed Alex¡¯s hair, ¡°How are you? What brings you here?¡± ¡°Business. You know my line of work. Needs a lot of travel.¡± Kane took a sip of his bottle of fruit wine and looked at Caroline with surprise: ¡°This is sweet, never thought you¡¯d be drinking this.¡± ¡°Yeah, well it¡¯s free and Boss boasts its medicinal properties.¡± Caroline also took a sip. ¡°Sounds very new age, your boss is a hipster?¡± ¡°No, he¡¯s just Chinese. Old school Chinese.¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Mrs. Robinson said it¡¯s inappropriate to stereotype.¡± Alex looked up from his ice cream bowl and said. ¡°Aww that¡¯s very polite. But it¡¯s okay if the person you are talking about doesn¡¯t mind.¡± Caroline chuckled and fluffed Alex¡¯s hair, ¡°And you should meet my boss, he¡¯s very very Chinese.¡± ¡°As long as he treats you well.¡± Kane laughed and bumped his bottle with Caroline¡¯s. After several rounds of smalltalk about each other¡¯s daily lives and interesting anecdotes, Kane turned to Alex: ¡°Hey Alex, your Auntie Caroline and I have some grown up business to talk about, can you stay here for a while?¡± ¡°Okay. Don¡¯t take too long.¡± Alex nodded. Caroline followed Kane out of the diner and to the reception¡¯s desk, where they can talk privately and still keep an eye on Alex. ¡°Simon¡¯s out.¡± Kane looked Caroline straight into her eye and said. Caroline went silent and rubbed her scar on the left side of her forehead for a while, then asked: ¡°When? How?¡± ¡°Just last week. Officially, because of good behavior, if you can even believe it.¡± ¡°And unofficially?¡± ¡°Prison¡¯s getting filled up and they were releasing some first time offenders. And Simon¡¯s previous records were all expunged, because juvie.¡± Kane looked at Caroline with concern: ¡°I just want to warn you. He¡¯s really obsessed with you, so if he ever comes and finds you...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. I am not¡­¡± Caroline sighed and struggled a bit to find the right words: ¡°I can kick his ass now. If he ever shows his face again, I can fend for myself.¡± ¡°No. Don¡¯t take any risk.¡± Kane put his hands on Caroline¡¯s shoulders and said, ever so seriously: ¡°I am pretty sure he¡¯s too dumb to find you. But if he did, I want you to do as we practiced, okay? Stay safe and call the cops. Do you have a weapon with you?¡± ¡°...No?¡± ¡°Okay, I understand, you¡¯re living in someone else¡¯s place. But I think you should really consider getting one, at least a small and portable one...¡± ¡°Kane!¡± Caroline had to cut Kane off and assured him: ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. Trust me.¡± Kane sighed: ¡°Alright, I trust that you can handle yourself. Just¡­ give me a call if you need anything okay? I¡¯ll keep an eye out for you as well.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll help me get rid of his body?¡± ¡°Gladly, and I¡¯ll take the fall for you, as long as you promise me to take care of Alex and never let Barbara touch him.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you sweet big bro, but no. The personnel dorm in this inn is no place to raise a child.¡± ¡°Jokes aside, do remember to give me a call if you need help. I¡¯m gonna be in town for at least one week. So, plenty of time to help. And we can hang out.¡± ¡°Is this an invitation for me to babysit Alex for free?¡± Caroline jokingly punched Kane on the shoulder, which made Kane gasped and flinched. ¡°Ouch, Caroline, you weren¡¯t kidding when you said you can kick his ass.¡± Kane was pleasantly surprised: ¡°Now I¡¯m relieved. Just don¡¯t get cocky. And yes I am asking you to babysit Alex from time to time, pretty please?¡± ¡°Then drinks on you, no take backs. And don¡¯t forget cockiness isn¡¯t really my thing. It¡¯s more of Simon¡¯s.¡± Caroline finished her wine with one long chug: ¡°You¡¯re gonna be here a whole week? What¡¯s this case you¡¯re working on? Some cheating trophy wife?¡± ¡°Yeah I wish.¡± Kane scratched his head: ¡°It¡¯s some other business, can¡¯t really talk about it. Just tryna cover the basics, no hopes on the bonus.¡± ¡°That bad huh? What¡¯s this client¡¯s deal?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t say that either, but he¡¯s more of a concerned father than a jealous husband.¡± Kane also finished his bottle. ¡°Hmm¡­ sounds like a story I¡¯ll have to hear another time.¡± Caroline took the empty bottle from Kane and accompanied him back to the diner: ¡°You got a place to stay? I can give you the best room with the biggest discount.¡± ¡°No, thanks, I can stay at a friend¡¯s place. ¡± Kane shook his head, ¡°I¡¯ll give you the address, it¡¯s not that far from here. A place on North East Los Gamos Street, big, quiet house.¡± ¡°Hmm, this ¡®friend¡¯ is actually the client right?¡± Caroline asked while air quoting with her hands ¡°I¡¯ll tell you when the check clears.¡± Chapter 59 Somewhere in Cupertino, California. Right before a two-story house decorated with exposed red bricks and freshly painted red wood fences, Jason knocked on the door and then rang the doorbell. ¡°Hey, little Jie, you are here.¡± Elaine opened the door and showed Jason in: ¡°Thank you for coming.¡± ¡°No problem, thank you for meeting me.¡± Jason walked in, and tried to not step on the paws of an over friendly corgi, ¡°Cute dog you have.¡± ¡°His name¡¯s Toasty.¡± Elain led Jason and the corgi through the hall and into the spacious living room: ¡°You want tea? Coffee?¡± ¡°Coffee¡¯s fine, thanks.¡± Jason just sat down and started petting Toasty. ¡°Is he here?¡± Donovan¡¯s voice came from the kitchen, ¡°Sorry dear, I forgot the time.¡± ¡°He¡¯s in the living room. I¡¯m getting some coffee.¡± ¡°Hey Jason, haven¡¯t seen you for a while. How have you been?¡± Donovan walked into the living room and showed Jason a big hug: ¡°Thank you for coming by! ¡± ¡°Um, thank you, actually...¡± Jason was not much of a hugger, but Donovan insisted so he obliged: ¡°... actually I am the one wanting to see you. How are you feeling? ¡± ¡°To be honest? Not good. ¡± Donovan sat down by Jason¡¯s side: ¡°After ¡­ what happened, at first we felt alright. But recently after we moved here, we¡¯ve been having some trouble sleeping. ¡± ¡°Trouble sleeping?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, just like - at night, both of us feel really tired but we just can¡¯t fall asleep. And then after a while when we do fall asleep? We then start having these really weird dreams. It¡¯s not scary like nightmares. But¡­ since you are the one who saved me, and we happened to see you on that Branston stream. So we were wondering if you could help us or at least point us to the right direction¡­ ¡± Donovan seemed a bit embarrassed: ¡°I know this is asking a lot. But you are the first one we could think of that has any real experience dealing with this¡­ You were the only one at the wedding that was not affected by whatever happened. And I know that you and your friend went back to the hotel to investigate¡­ so please, we would really appreciate any help you¡¯d give us.¡± ¡°Actually that is why I¡¯m here.¡± Jason said: ¡°In order to figure out what happened and what might be going on, I will need your help. Do you remember anything from that night before you lost consciousness, like the dreams, visions or just strange feelings you had?¡± After the visit to Donovan and Elaine¡¯s new place, Jason headed straight to home, for he had a really bad feeling about what Donovan and Elaine told him. According to Donovan and Elaine: their trouble with sleep did not seemed to be related to stress or any other mental pressure: they planned a month of honeymoon time with no work and pure enjoyment and sightseeing, they were quite disturbed by what happened at the wedding but they found a therapist to help them and they¡¯ve been feeling better about it. The sleeping aid medicines they used were not too helpful and they were starting to get worried that perhaps it was not something medicine could help. The dreams they had were all very similar and involved two themes Jason was very familiar with: in these dreams, they were completely alone one of these two places: either they were in a long hallway with no end in either direction, whose windows on one side were all shut and doors on the other leading to nowhere; or they were in a staircase, and no matter which direction they went they always ended up on the same floor - they also couldn¡¯t tell which floor it was since the signs in the staircase were all broken, they only way they could tell they were not moving was because the signs were all broken the same way.Stolen story; please report. Jason also asked both Donovan and Elaine on what they could remember from that night. Somewhat to his surprise, different from before where they were just having relatively fuzzy pieces of recollection, ever since they started having these strange dreams, some of their memories during that night started coming back. Elaine remembered that she saw some weird shadows in the hallway before they went in their room. And when she was taking a shower, she heard strange knocking and scratching sounds from one of the doors in their hotel suite but she thought it was Donovan or some of the guests pranking her. While Donovan remembered more: he was waiting for Elaine to get out of the shower, when he suddenly heard knocking and scratching sound from their suite door. He also thought it was some of the hotel guests pranking them because he knew that it was not uncommon where Elaine¡¯s mother was from. And as he walked to open the door to see if he could catch the ones he thought were pulling the prank, he lost consciousness the moment he opened the door. The next thing he could remember, was that he was on the ground in the hotel hallway. A lot of people at the wedding, including Donovan and Elaine, were checked by Jason and Caroline after the incident at the Prime Royals Hotel. All of them seemed to be doing fine and had no black markings on their hands and arms after Jason and Caroline defeated that giant spider made of human bodies in the limbo. Jason and Caroline thought that should be the end of it, but turned out they were wrong - even though the black markings are gone, the influence of whatever haunted the Prime Royals Hotel seemed to still maintain some kind of effect on its victims. Before he started his drive home, Jason called both his father and mother, but for some reason they were not responding. Feeling like he had no time to wait, Jason went directly home. As he opened the door, he saw that his younger brother, Mac was at home with his friends, playing some pretty violent video game. Jason¡¯s entrance almost made Mack jump out of the couch, but then when he realized it was Jason, he sat back down and said loudly: ¡°Dude! Why don¡¯t you call first! I thought it was Mom and Dad!¡± ¡°And nice to see you too.¡± Jason started shaking his head: ¡°Where¡¯s Mom and Dad?¡± ¡°Oh! Fuck! That fucking newbie piece of shit!¡± Mack¡¯s character was just shot in the head with a shotgun by a zombie soldier, so he had the chance to look back at Jason and said: ¡°They flew to Los Angeles, they didn¡¯t tell you? They went to visit some of their friends - Dad¡¯s having some high school reunion thing. They¡¯ll be back next Monday.¡± ¡°Huh, I guess they wouldn¡¯t tell me about this kind of boring stuff.¡± Jason walked to the back of the living room and signaled Mack to come over. ¡°Alright, Tyler, my big bro has a lesson to teach me. Don¡¯t drop my gear.¡± Mack gave his controller to a friend by his side and walked to Jason: ¡°What¡¯s up? You¡¯re looking for something?¡± ¡°Before Mom and Dad left, were they having problems?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Problems? What kind of problems? ¡± Mack looked at Jason suspiciously. ¡°Sleeping problems, like having trouble sleeping. Bad dreams.¡± ¡°You are talking about what happened at the wedding? You¡¯re still looking into that?¡± Mack pointed at Jason with an expression that insinuated ¡°I understand what you¡¯re talking about¡±. ¡°Yes I am still looking into that. Can you tell me if they had been having troubles?¡± ¡°I just came home yesterday, so I don¡¯t know.¡± Mack says: ¡°But if you call them in about an hour you can ask them yourself.¡± Jason sighed: ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Are you a psychic? Because if you¡¯re not, it makes no sense that you will be able to save Donovan. And it explains why you had to go back and deal with the loser Branston Gang.¡± Mack chuckled: ¡°Have you visited Donovan and Elaine? They were the main victims there.¡± ¡°Yeah I just did.¡± Jason did not answer the psychic question: ¡°Just let me know if anything strange happened, alright?¡± ¡°Aha, you did not deny, which means it is true.¡± Mack laughed and said: ¡°You need a sidekick? He¡¯s really good with computers and information security.¡± ¡°Unless he can hack the FBI database, then no.¡± Jason patted on Mack¡¯s shoulder and refused with a smile: ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll leave you and your friends to it, I¡¯ll call Mom and Dad later.¡± Chapter 60 Inside of a secretive underground location in California, each having their own security detail and their group of retinues, six individuals with very distinguishable styles of fashion met up inside of a special room with reinforced alloy doors and specialized concrete walls. Each of the six sat by one side of the hexagonal table in the middle of the room, while their security detail waited outside the room and their retinues stood beside them. Sitting among them was none other than Carol Summers, Known to the outside world as a real estate developer, investor and ruthless businesswoman. Sitting on the opposite side of Carol Summers, was Tamil Brooke with condescension, self importance and in his invisible tall hat practically twirling his curly mustache, a member of The Council of Ancient Wizards and Conjurers, and leader of its North America Chapter. Sitting on her right side, was Soren Lupei, a man with a glorious full beard and wise green eyes. He was probably the only one with whom Carol could have a non-bad conversation. On her left, was Lucias Vyn, the wise, smiley but mean Godmother of the Vyn family, and the one that leads the biggest group of gifted mercenaries. And who, according to whispers on the street, always over charges. Sitting on Tamil Brooke¡¯s left side, was Paulo Chang, a bald old man wearing all blue and even dyed his eyebrows and hair blue. He was drinking out of a gourd and not paying attention to anyone or himself. He was the ambassador of the elementals, element spirits and fog dwellers. Despite his age, he was probably the most volatile and short-fused of all six individuals around the table. On Tamil Brooke¡¯s right side was Xyankor, the least talkative one in the six, who represented the Depth Dwellers, a group of mythical humanoid creatures not many in the world had heard of. ¡°Shall we convene the meeting?¡± Tamil said: ¡°I can¡¯t stand the Californian air, all your wildfires just filled the air with ashes, smoke and the smell of hobo excrement.¡± ¡°We should start.¡± Lucias Vyn said with her signature smile: ¡°I have an important family meeting to attend to, and you are not as lovely nor caring as my family. So the sooner we can finish the better.¡± ¡°Ms. Summers? You called the meeting, why don¡¯t you start us off?¡± Soren turned to Carol Summers and said. ¡°Okay, Bill?¡± Carol Summers snapped her finger, and one of her assistants put a small tablet on the table and gave it a light tap. A hologram was projected from an overhead projector - it was a 3-D mapping of a part of an underground tunnel system. In the center, it was a giant station, connected to multiple branches and rails. ¡°This is the AeixiiMhundu Tunnel, you should have heard of it by now. An infrastructure project headed by billionaire Thaicus Theon. ¡± Carol Summers stood up and introduced what was on the hologram: ¡°Theon put a hefty bounty through all of us. But so far, no one in any of our leagues was able to claim it, or produce any evidence that they actually cleaned the tunnels.¡± ¡°Yeah, I remember, the bounty that got one of my grandsons killed. ¡± Lucias Vyn said, while the signature smile disappeared from her face: ¡°But it was gone, by the time my next team got there.¡± ¡°So it is true. What my team reported. ¡± Soren said: ¡°They reported that they encountered a team sent by Thaicus Theon himself at the entrance. Those people told my team that they should not enter, because someone with immeasurable power was in the tunnel handling the bounty. My team went in, and they were pushed out by some invisible force.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°Huh, so did this... team of yours find anything?¡± Tamil Brooke asked, ¡°Sounds like something my peers would do. To seal the battlefield and remain unbothered by the naive and clueless, thus sparing them of the tragic fate of unintended injuries or death. Very benign and generous, my fellows are.¡± ¡°No. They could not find anything as all entrances to the central area of the tunnel were sealed off by this same force.¡± Soren just ignored the hint of conceit in Tamil Brooke¡¯s words : ¡°Whoever it was, it was definitely really powerful. And that person was trying to keep their identity a secret. My team asked Mr. Theo¡¯s team what that person looked like, and three of them gave three different descriptions. That person was either a man or a woman, either tall and thin, and either really strong and muscular or slim and surrounded by smoke.¡± ¡°Interesting. A projective cloaking spell? That¡¯s quite sophisticated a technique. One only few accomplished wizards have mastered. It serves one¡¯s desire to fully hide their identity and traces by creating a cloak of mental projection that reflects a mixture of an image of the gazers¡¯ fears, anxieties and expectations. ¡± Tamil Brooke said with his mustache twitching: ¡°I am almost certain this is the doing of one of my league members - we have fellows that are known for their whimsicality and fondness of playing pranks on the more¡­ simple and untrained minds.¡± ¡°This kind of spell is not unheard of from members of the Trinity Convent.¡± Carol Summers shook her head and said: ¡°But I am not here to take credit of the bounty - we all know that the bounty needs to be claimed and verified ...¡± ¡°You are both wrong!¡± Paulo Chang suddenly put down his gourd and yelled with a red face: ¡°This is clearly thanks to the elementals, which are members of my league. None of your leagues¡¯ parlor tricks and magic rabbits are a match for this kind of dangerous situation. Our records and power is the proof of that!¡± ¡°Paulo, we are not here about the credit...¡± ¡°Shut up you wretched witch!¡± this time Paulo Chang¡¯s yell echoed in the room, his body floated in the air, glowing in blue and electric sparks bursting around him, and his eyes lit up in blue: ¡°Are you challenging the power of us elementals? I am happy to give you a lesson, with death!¡± ¡°Stand down, Chang. ¡± Soren Lupei stood up: ¡°This is a meeting among high brokers, all should remain civil. Or do you want to endure the cost of breaking your word when you got your seat at the table?¡± ¡°Humph¡± Paulo Chang was still not drunk or arrogant enough to face both Soren Lupei and Carol Summers, so he floated back down to his seat. ¡°Thank you Soren, and you, Chang.¡± Carol Summers nodded to both Soren Lupei and Paulo Chang: ¡°As I just said, I didn¡¯t call this meeting to talk about who should take credit for what happened. If anyone comes forward to claim it we should verify. But what I brought here is something I noticed ¡­ here, take a look.¡± Then, she passed out several sheets of paper with some printed words on them, but most of the words were already almost completely faded for some unknown reason. ¡°These are some of the documents of the bounty and of the intel I gathered about the thing that resided in the central station of the tunnels.¡± Carol Summers continued: ¡°They were printed no more than one and a half months before, the latest were printed as early as two weeks ago.¡± ¡°Do you¡­ have a really bad printer? Or do you use cheap ink?¡± Lucias Vyn slowly laid her fingers on one sheet of paper, ¡°I thought a business mogul like you would choose your operational tools more wisely.¡± ¡°I do, and I did, Vyn.¡± Carol Summers lightly squinted her eyes: ¡°The records were almost mysteriously wiped. That includes some digital records we have as well. My security team ran several checks - no one illegally accessed those records.¡± ¡°Could it be the case that your security measures are as disorganized as your convent and misguided as your crude attempts at enchantations?¡± Tamil Brook asked. ¡°They are as impeccable as any high level corporate security measure should be. It¡¯s the 21st century and no one is using age old scrolls and wax seals for storing important information.¡± Carol Summers looked at everyone at the table: ¡°If you are even half as intel savvy as I am, I¡¯d imagine the same thing would have happened to your records as well.¡± ¡°My league doesn¡¯t keep written or digital records. But we did notice that some of the team members¡¯ memories of what happened that night were curiously missing important details.¡± after a long pause, Soren said: ¡°We thought it was because of some kind of spell they encountered in the tunnels. But looks like it might be something else - something is removing the records and history of whatever resided in the tunnels.¡± ¡°But that is impossible, no one has power with this kind of scale.¡± Lucias Vyn shook her head: ¡°You might be making connections that aren¡¯t there.¡± ¡°I agree with mama reaper there.¡± Paulo Chang took a big chug from his gourd: ¡°That is something from fairytales. ¡± ¡°Not exactly. My league, through our long history, have stories and records passing down from generations before us.¡± Xyankor, the one who did not say even one word since he entered the room, now spoke up with a deep and hoarse voice: ¡°It can be done with the right spell, and a Stone of Negation.¡± Chapter 61 ¡°Stone of Negation? What would that be?¡± Tamil Brooke asked Xyankor, with a rare sense of intrigue and respect. ¡°It¡¯s a rare gem, rarer than diamonds. Even the smallest sliver contains the amount of power enough to wipe out a temple.¡± Xyankor answered: ¡°Some of our oldest documents stated that a special spell can be cast using it as a power source - the spell to annihilate existence itself. It can remove a being¡¯s presence from the current time and space, as well as its lineage and affects.¡± ¡°And how do we know this is indeed the cause? Do you know anything about how to find the traces of this Stone of Negation?¡± Tamil Brooke asked: ¡°I have yet to learn about such a powerful gem. And annihilating existence itself? That¡¯s unheard of.¡± ¡°If any of you know anything else, I am all ears. ¡± Other five at the table looked at each other, then Soren said: ¡°Looks like this is our only theory. But what can we do about it?¡± ¡°First, we need to find the one who cast the spell.¡± Xyankor answered: ¡°I think I don¡¯t need to remind you, that this kind of power is just a ticking time bomb for anyone.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± ¡­ ¡°Next item on my agenda, is the rise in paranormal and spectral activities around the area. Same area of the AeixiiMhundu Tunnel.¡± after wrapping up the first discussion, Carol Summers tapped the small tablet a few times and the hologram projected above the center of the table changed to a 3D map of an area - exactly the area right above the span of the tunnels, ¡°Which is without a doubt related to what happened in the tunnels below and the person that completed the bounty.¡± ¡°That sounds like a nuisance for Uncle Sam, not us.¡± Tamil Brooke gently rubbed his mustache.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°It is for now. But it will be on our plates soon.¡± Soren Lupei said: ¡°Many members of my leagues reported that they started seeing an increase in spectral activities in their territory close to the area of the tunnels. The effects are expanding.¡± ¡°Oh my, imaging the dwellers in the dark see ghosts everywhere. How unexpected.¡± Tamil Brooke lightly chuckled. ¡°Some of my family¡¯s children also reported that - they even lost some low level workers and employees because of them. ¡± Lucias Vyn said: ¡°They operate near that area as well.¡± ¡°This does not concern us. So I¡¯ll call for an adjourn.¡± Paulo Chang laid on his chair back and said: ¡°Dealing with filth and apparitions seems like a problem for meat walkers.¡± ------------------------------------------ ¡°Carol, a minute?¡± after everyone left the meeting room and were ready to leave the underground location, Soren Lupei came to Carol Summers¡¯ side alone. ¡°Sure.¡± Carol Summers signaled her assistants and guards to stand back, and followed Soren Lupei to the side. ¡°Please be assured I am by no means trying to pry on your business. And you know I respect you.¡± Soren asked with a slight hint of hesitation: ¡°But I gotta ask, have you dealt in business with a certain runaway member of the Corin family?¡± ¡°I cannot comment on that. But I have heard some whispers that some of the best assassins and witches in my league are under the contract of a young member of a gang.¡± Carol Summers answered with a coy Smile. ¡°And that kind of contract does not go by you?¡± Soren Lupei also smiled. ¡°Like I said, I cannot comment.¡± ¡°Thank you. I am just telling you this because of professional courtesy - that some of our rambunctious younglings appeared to have been under the employment of the Corin family. ¡± Soren Lupei said: ¡°And Northern California is your turf. So I would like to give you a heads up on that since Corins have started more operations there.¡± ¡°And should our league members clash with each other in this way. I shall refer to our original agreements.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all I could ask for. Thank you for your good will.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± As all six of these individuals left the underground location. The location went back to lockdown mode again. They boarded their means of transportation and left for their own destinations. Carol Summers got onto her armoured car with her three security guards. The car drove away, surrounded by other protective vehicles. But not too long after they left the premises of the meeting location and went onto a long and uncrowded road seemingly some distance away from the nearest city or town, their way was blocked by a gang of motorcycle riders. Chapter 62 One early morning, Jianmen was preparing food for the day¡¯s medicinal lunch and dinner, while listening to a podcast with his phone on loudspeaker. "Hello Mr. Thaicus Theon, welcome to the James Sully show. It¡¯s been a long time coming. Thank you, thank you for doing this man, appreciate it.¡± "Thanks James, happy to be here.¡± Jianmen already collected a bunch of best quality meat from his private and secret farm. He also picked up two whole baskets of fresh berries and veggies, especially Linggen roots. For the meat, he needed to clean it, marinate it lightly and it can be easily cooked, even for his students or Dave who have no idea how to cook. His trusted meat cleaver moving in a blur, the giant pieces of meat were cut into smaller and thin slices. The pieces of meat with bones were cleanly deboned - and the bones were cut into smaller chunks and thrown into a metal pot filled with clean water. "... So, what inspired you to start building these giant tunnels under LA?¡± "First of all is the LA traffic, and second is that we as a country are kinda behind the rest of the developed world when it comes to public transportation and infrastructure...¡± Jianmen started his stove and put the pot of clean water and chopped bones on the fire, then he started cutting different veggies and separating them for different uses. He used the same short but wide meat cleaver that he just used on the meat and bones to cut the veggies and berries, the only difference was his movements became even faster. When the water in the metal pot started boiling, he turned down the fire and put sliced ginger, minced garlic and assorted other cut veggies in the water. "... So what do you think about cyborgs? I got kinda creeped out by your suggestions, that we fuse ourselves with machines? That¡¯s also tripping a lot of people out. They think you¡¯re crazy, like a crazy scientist that is gonna doom us.¡± "But that¡¯s the thing, James, if we don¡¯t do this and learn to further take advantage of the processing power of computers. You know, for the last few decades, the computing power of our machines have climbed more than a thousand fold, while our brain, though loaded with new information, barely evolved...¡± Jianmen placed some of the cut veggies into some plastic containers, and some of the chopped berries into big clay jars to start the wine making fermentation process. He then laid some of the meat on a metal pan, then sprayed his homemade sauce on it. With a snap of his fingers, a small fireball dropped on the metal pan and lit all the meat and sauce on fire. At the same time, a rich and umami-filled smell started coming out of the pot boiling with the pieces of bone.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "... So, Thaicus, my final hard hitting question for you.¡± "Oh, you have another one?¡± "What¡¯s your experience with psychedelics? Do you use it?¡± The fire on the meat and sauce on the metal pan slowly died down, and the pieces of meat were already cooked to Jianmen¡¯s desired temperature. These were not for immediate consumption, these were intended as late night snacks to go with noodles or ramen. The pieces of meat that were still being marinated were then placed in metal containers and then into the fridge - though he had the ability to speed things up, doing so would ruin half the fun. Food preparations were done, now he just needed to proceed to room cleaning - the meat cleaver disappeared from his hand, and was replaced by a humble rattan broom. When he was cleaning the room, he pretty much used the broom to clean everything - from the floor, to the bathtub, to even the bedsheets and pillows. With simple and broad sweeps with the broom, dirt, cigarette ash and even stains from sweat and body fluid were simply gone from all corners of the room, even the air smelled a little fresher. When he was done with room cleaning, he proceeded to the garden to take care of the plants - not all of the plants, they were put there as disguise and as mechanisms of defense against potential thieves and unwanted visitors, but a few of the special ones, which included some ginseng, a few pieces of ganoderma fungus, and a few blossoms that would hopefully one day bear fruit. And thanks to his students, there was also a rose planted on some newly reclaimed land near the garden, with a living and growing minor spirit inside. Right now, the same light was flickering from within the rose bud, after being planted here and being taken care of by Caroline and Jason for a few days, the light grew brighter and warmer. When Jianmen finished watering the plants and went back to the kitchen to start cooking breakfast, Caroline and Jason just barely woke up. "Hey Boss. You¡¯re up early again.¡± Jason was the first to enter the diner, "Breakfast smells good! What are we having today?¡± "Special rice noodle soup and matcha cake.¡± Jianmen already had two big bowls ready, and a big pot of tea, all he needed was two slices of cake. "Cool, but when can we have some coffee?¡± Jason sat down and enjoyed the smell: "Nothing against tea, but it¡¯s kinda good to have some variety.¡± "Uh, when I figure out how to grow coffee trees the way I grow tea. Believe it or not, I am not opposed to coffee.¡± "Well, you kinda can¡¯t, it¡¯s not tea.¡± "Yeah yeah, I just meant growing them so that they have the same mind calming and strengthening powers as the tea I grow.¡± "Ah, but that means you¡¯re trying?¡± "I tried, it¡¯s either too strong or too weak. You wouldn¡¯t want to take a sip and act like you are on a ton of cocaine, and I wouldn¡¯t want it to be not effective at all. But rest assured I will keep trying.¡± "Hmm, I am looking forward to it. But I gotta ask, where did you learn to grow the tea?¡± "It¡¯s been a practice in my clan for a few hundred years. And one of my clan sisters, Yanyu, taught me how to properly grow tea in different atmospheres and on different kinds of ground. She also taught me how to properly infuse water and fertilizer with Xuanli and elemental power to make the plants exhibit certain properties. The technique was practiced and improved over the years, and we didn¡¯t have coffee. So it¡¯ll take some time. Hopefully it won¡¯t take too long.¡± "Hey Boss, Jason. Morning.¡± Caroline came into the diner with a yawn: "What are we having?¡± "Rice noodle soup and matcha cake. And since you¡¯re both here, a lesson about Xuanli circles and arrays after breakfast.¡± Chapter 63 ¡°... simply put, Xuanli circles and arrays are like your mythical magic circles and arrays - they are all symmetrical or mostly symmetrical drawings or circles or other regular shapes with symbols inside and lines connecting the symbols.¡± in the training space behind the back of the inn, Jianmen had a big piece of paper with a drawing of a magic circle looking figure on it in his left hand, while pointing at it with the bamboo stick in his still right hand, still in bandages, ¡°You can think of it like this, the symbols are your electrical appliances, and the lines are wires. The wires are media of power, in our case it is Xuanli, and when the symbols are properly infused, they will function as they are supposed to. When all the symbols in a circle or array are functioning correctly, the circle or array will start to take effect. Whether it¡¯s summoning fire, lightning, opening a portal to another dimension, or creating illusions.¡± ¡°But where does the power come from? You¡¯ll need a power source right? An electrical socket?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Those will be slots for power sources. Like this and this here.¡± Jianmen pointed at two empty circles with no symbols in them on the, ¡°These are the places where you place the power sources. For example, certain containers infused with Xuanli, or some rare crystals that already have Xuanli inside or power that can be converted into Xuanli. ¡± Jianmen explained: ¡°Those are not the things you need to worry about now. All you need to do now is take mental notes of the general and basic ideas I¡¯m about to tell you, and make sure you can remember as much as possible, because there will be homework.¡± ¡°Oh, homework, like the assignment you gave us after the spell sessions?¡± Caroline asked while chuckling. ¡°That one was easy, because you are both smart and gifted students.¡± Jianmen said: ¡°But this one is trickier. By no means I am hoping that you fail¡­ but you might fail.¡± ¡°So glad I dropped out from engineering school.¡± Jason sighed. ¡°Relax, this is cooler than you think.¡± Jianmen smiled and gently poked at the slots of power sources on the Xuanli array he was holding, which caused the array to light up in light blue. Then he threw the piece of paper on the ground, the next second white and blue light shined from the array and a hologram of a sword appeared above that piece of paper with the array on it. ¡°Okay¡­ that IS pretty cool.¡± Jason was quite impressed with what he saw, he then tried to touch the sword but his hand went straight through like it would a normal hologram: ¡°So this is a hologram array?¡± ¡°Think bigger. It¡¯s an illusion array, a simpler model. When fully drawn it can change the trail of lights, the tone and volume of sounds, the smell in the air and even the sense of time and space. Draw one big enough and find some strong enough power sources, and you create a field of illusion that can trap an entire army. If you add a few more symbols in there you can even kill them without a trace.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Thanks Boss, for the wonderful introduction to magic arrays.¡± Caroline smiled with squinted eyes. ¡°You¡¯re welcome! But don¡¯t think about learning it right away. The purpose of your first lesson is for you to learn how to draw the most basic form of Demon Suppression Sigil.¡± ¡°Um. Question, why would we need that when we have Xuanli to fight with?¡± ¡°Xuanli is like your arms and legs, and combat sigils like Demon Suppression Sigil are a kind of weapon. You¡¯ve heard of the phrase ¡®No matter how good you are at Kung Fu, you still can¡¯t fight a meat cleaver?¡¯ ¡± -------------------------------------------- ¡°Mr. Jason Lin and Miss Caroline Baker?¡± when Jason and Caroline went back into the lounge, two men in black suits and sunglasses came into the inn. ¡°Yes, can we help you?¡± Caroline went behind the reception¡¯s desk and asked. ¡°We are agents of the FBI.¡± the taller and bulkier man said while showing his ID: ¡°I¡¯m Agent Lance, this is my partner Agent Baskin, we have some questions for you regarding Emilia Corin.¡± ¡°¡­ oh.¡± Caroline was not sure how to respond, she had not heard of the name in a while. ¡°What do you come here and ask us for?¡± Jason shrugged: ¡°You could go ask SJPD, Aimee and Thomas are working on her case right? They must know way more than we do.¡± ¡°Unfortunately the detectives are not available at the moment.¡± Agent Baskin said: ¡°They were injured in action and are still in the hospital. Detective Aimee Chaver was in critical condition last time we heard.¡± ¡°Oh my god! What happened?¡± Caroline and Jason said loudly at the same time. ¡°They were investigating a lead to the Corin family case, jointly investigated by the FBI and multiple local police stations.¡± Agent Lance explained: ¡°From what we heard, they were on route to assist some police officers who reported sightings of some dangerous Corin family members and were also under attack. Apparently those animals blew up a police car with some kind of projectile explosive, killing the first two officers on scene. And the detectives were injured from the attack.¡± ¡°That is horrible, where are they staying?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°That¡¯s enough questions for us.¡± Agent Baskin stopped Caroline from asking further: ¡°Are either of you been in contact with Emilia Corin? Have you seen her?¡± ¡°No¡­ not since what happened at the hospital. We have not heard from her or anyone from her family.¡± Jason answered: ¡°Why would you think she would be in contact with us?¡± ¡°It¡¯s from Detective Aimee Chaver¡¯s notes.¡± Agent Baskin¡¯s facial expression was serious and slightly accusatory, ¡°She noted that you have been very capable in aiding them in their effort of finding Emilia and protecting her from the corrupt cop. Which in turn helped save a police officer¡¯s life. And her notes even said that you happened to have faced off against a ¡®gifted¡¯ assailant. I don¡¯t know the details of those, but sounded like you left quite an impression on her. ¡°And according to our records. Detective Thomas Chaver filed an application to the SJPD to recruit you as civilian consultants of martial arts training, and apparently he got you two your positions of temporary paranormal consultants in the SFPD. So it is safe and fair to say, that Detective Chavers are very fond of you.¡± ¡°Well, we are flattered, but what does that have to do with us? Or with Emilia Corin?¡± Jason scratched his head. ¡°They came to ask you to contact them if Emilia ever reaches out to you, didn¡¯t they?¡± Agent Lance asked. ¡°Yeah. But we never contacted them about her because she never got in touch with us.¡± Jason shrugged and said: ¡°And like we told you, our latest contact with Emilia Corin was at the hospital.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ then I guess no further questions.¡± Agent Baskin seemed a little embarrassed: ¡°Just that, since the Detectives are currently off the case, we¡¯re gonna ask you to call us if she ever contacted you, alright?¡± ¡°Okay, can you tell me where they are staying now?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°St. Anna Hospital.¡± Chapter 64 "Umm agents? Excuse me, one more question.¡± right before the two FBI agents left, Jason came up to them and asked: "Have you heard of Dr. Nguyen? One of the lead forensic scientists of the SFPD.¡± "I heard of the name, but no we don¡¯t have any information on her.¡± Agent Lance said, "Maybe you can call the SFPD for updates. But they might not have time for your questions. From what we heard the SFPD is now swamped.¡± "Understood, thank you agents.¡± "Just don¡¯t forget to call us if you heard from Emilia Corin.¡± "So they are pretty useless. Let me call Erika.¡± Caroline shook her head as she heard Jason forward the FBI agents¡¯ answer to their question. "Cool, let me call the hospital and see if we can go to see Aimee and Thomas.¡± Jason took out his phone and started looking up the phone number of St. Anna Hospital. "What¡¯s up? Something happened?¡± Jianmen came back to the lounge and was not expecting to see that both Caroline and Jason were on their phones with very serious and concerned looks on their faces. "You know Aimee and Thomas? The detectives who¡¯ve been here a couple of times? They were seriously injured. The two FBI agents just told us that.¡± Jason answered while he dialed the number he found. "Is that so...¡± Jianmen scratched his jaw and thought for a while, "Alright. Let me know if you need my help. I think it¡¯s time that I start going out of the inn. Being cooped up in here and spending most of the time in the basement and sleeping really got me depressed and frustrated. Also, feel free to go into the basement to practice visualization and meditation - it¡¯s clear for you to use now.¡± "Finally? What happened in the basement?¡± while waiting on the line Jason looked at Jianmen and said: "How¡¯s your injuries?¡± "Much better, still need more time to completely heal. But it¡¯d be fine as long as I don¡¯t have to fight.¡± Jianmen sat on a chair behind the reception¡¯s desk, "Also, if you want to visit the detectives later, you can bring some matcha cakes. I made some rib soup with mushrooms, great for enhancing the body¡¯s healing abilities, you can also bring to them.¡± "Rib soup! That sounds so¡­ homely. Oh, sorry Boss, they picked up my call.¡± Jason nodded, and finally the call went through.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. "Just remember to do your homework!¡± Jianmen laughed as he started playing the computer on the reception¡¯s desk. "... oh, okay, and can we come in now? ¡­ right, thank you very much! We would like to come in as soon as possible.¡± sounded like Jason got some good news from his phone call to hospital. "Erika heard nothing so far. Just that the lab is still looking for a lead forensic scientist, and the body is being preserved in the lab and no one in the lab can access it without the captain¡¯s okay.¡± Caroline got off her call and told bothe Jason and Jianmen. "Thomas is still in the hospital, so we can visit him. But we can¡¯t visit Aimee just yet.¡± Jason put down his phone and looked at Jianmen: "Hey, Boss, I know my shift is coming up next...¡± "Just go, you¡¯ll take my evening shift so you¡¯d better come back early.¡± Jianmen waved his hands. After Jason and Caroline left, Jianmen took out three ancient copper coins, blew onto it, then put them on the desk in the form of a triangle with each coin touching the other two. Then, he quickly drew a complex symbol on a sheet of paper and placed the paper on the coins. The sheet of paper started burning from where it touched the coins, the fire spread quickly through almost the entirety of it. When the fire stopped, all that was left was a partially burnt irregularly shaped piece with only a small part of the complex symbol Jianmen drew. Jianmen looked at the partial symbol and tried to read as many "sub-symbols" from it by looking at some of the lines and shapes while ignoring others. "Minor fortune be in going out; Fortune be in visiting friends; Minor fortune be in getting married; Fortune be in building and land work. Misfortune be in holding a funeral; Minor misfortune in with child delivery; Minor misfortune be in starting a fight; Misfortune be in taking a test.¡± Jianmen wrote down the results of this quick divination for him and his students: "Well, most of it does not apply. Good that it is a good day to go out and visit friends.¡± Ever since the unfortunate divination with the three incense sticks, Jianmen started doing this kind of daily divination to gauge how much chance his students might get into danger during their possible daily activities. Up till today, there is no apparent danger. Granted that these kinds of quick and easy divination are relatively low in accuracy. Yet with the wooden figures he gave to both of his students, he was confident that should anything happen they will last until he comes to their rescue. "Hi, we would like to checkout, please.¡± a young couple just came into the lounge through the stairs. "No problem. Leaving so soon?¡± Jianmen took the key card from them and started the process of checking out the guest; he remembered this young couple so he knew that they were actually checking out one day earlier than their reservation. "Yeah, the file festival is done, and there isn¡¯t much to see anymore.¡± the boy in the couple said: "So we decided to leave earlier for our next destination.¡± "Good luck. Your payment for tomorrow¡¯s stay will be refunded.¡± Jianmen smiled at the couple and gave them back a receipt to sign. "Do you still have the matcha cake? I would like to buy some for the road.¡± the girl in the couple asked. "Yeah, that¡¯s 5 dollars per slice.¡± Jianmen stood up and was about to walk to the diner: "How many do you want?¡± "6 slices, 3 for each of us.¡± "No problem.¡± As Jianmen walked by the couple¡¯s side, he sensed a small trace of unusual energy radiating from them, he took a quick look at them and still proceeded to the diner and took out six slices of matcha cake, putting them into six brown paper bags. After the young couple left, Jianmen extended his left hand and grabbed the air a couple of times, when he finally looked into his left hand, he saw a small shiny ball of blue light. Chapter 65 Thomas was in his room, slowly pacing with worries and concern. And it didn¡¯t change when both Caroline and Jason came in. ¡°Hi Thomas, how are you feeling?¡± Jason asked as he and Caroline put down some brown bags and two thermal lunch boxes on the small table in the room. ¡°Not good. Three broken ribs and some internal bleeding.¡± Thomas shook his head and sighed: ¡°But I am worried about Aimee¡­ we were both caught in the explosion, but the bastards also came and bit her.¡± ¡°Bit her? What? Why?¡± Jason was not able to hide his surprise. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t know and I don¡¯t understand...¡± Thomas banged his fist against the wall, ¡°One of the men, I shot him on his chest and shoulders, he bled, but it was like nothing to him...¡± ¡°Hold on, tell us what happened.¡± Caroline took out her phone and started to take notes, ¡°From the beginning.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t even know what they are. ¡± Thomas scratched his head and sat down by his bed: ¡°I think I am kinda losing my mind here, the more I think about it, the less sense it makes...¡± ¡°What, vampires?¡± Caroline shrugged. ¡°Huh? What¡¯d you say? You really believe me?¡± ¡°Dude, you did not really say vampires.¡± Jason also shrugged, ¡°But like what you told us before, there are people with superpowers in the world that can throw fireballs. What¡¯s so special or difficult to believe about vampires?¡± ¡°Okay, that makes sense. Thanks buddy.¡± Thomas calmed down for just one mere moment, but then started to freak out: ¡°Oh my god! But Aimee was bit by a vampire! Does that mean she¡¯s infected? Or cursed? Holy...¡± ¡°Hey, hey, hey, calm down. Tell us what happened first.¡± Caroline tried to hold Thomas¡¯s shoulder, but Thomas was about to rush out of the room so she had to hit Thomas on the shoulder. ¡°Ouch! What the hell! That hurt!¡± Thomas jumped, ¡°I didn¡¯t know you¡¯re so strong!¡± A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Calm down and tell us what happened.¡± Caroline said with a serious face. Thomas sighed, and slowly described what happened when he and Aimee were aiding two pinned down officers, including the part where the man with curly hair bit Aimee on the neck and said he was ¡°having a snack¡±, and the man with green eyes completely unfazed even after getting shot by Thomas on some critical areas, and the mysterious and cold blooded killer in all black wielding two machetes. ¡°That is indeed¡­ a lot of information.¡± Jason thought for a while: ¡°And scary, how is Aimee now? Is she under some kind of watch?¡± ¡°She¡¯s not woken up yet. The doctor said that she may wake up today or tomorrow. ¡± Thomas let out a long sigh: ¡°These people - including that man with two machetes, are not normal people, we don¡¯t have any idea who they are or what they are, the only thing I know was that those two officers reported sighting some members of the Corin family in that neighborhood, then they were immediately under attack. Now that everyone¡¯s looking into those cop killers¡¯ identities and no one¡¯s told me anything.¡± ¡°Corin family? As in Emilia Corin?¡± Jason asked while picking up a brown bag and handed it to Thomas. ¡°This smells nice, the matcha cake from your inn?¡± Thomas seemed to have some a little appetite after calming down, so he took a big bite: ¡°Oh my god, thanks guys, I didn¡¯t know I was starving ¡­ Anyway, yes, the Corin family, as in Emilia Corin, one of the biggest underground crime families in California¡­ wait, the Exalted Bondsmen!¡± ¡°What bondsmen?¡± Caroline was opening up one of the nested lunch boxes and taking out some inner smaller boxes and cups on the table. ¡°Shit, uh! I¡¯m not supposed to tell you this.¡± Thomas smacked himself on the head, then looked at Caroline and Jason embarrassedly: ¡°Can you guys keep this a secret?¡± ¡°No problem. What is that Bondesmen you just mentioned?¡± Caroline said. ¡°The Exalted Bondsmen, an underground organization that we just learned about recently when we started looking into a string of murder and drug cases tied to the Corin family.¡± Thomas explained: ¡°We knew about the existence of people with superpower before, but this organization is even weirder - it is an underground mercenary and force for hire organization connecting employers to super powered individuals. Like a network of underground mercenaries and killers with superpowers.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that these vampires are hired forces working for the Corin family?¡± Jason and Caroline both grasped what Thomas had in mind: ¡°But why would they attack police officers?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the thing. They attacked Aimee and me, but sounded like they did not want to kill us. But they did plan to kill Officer Singh and Officer Lee...¡± Thomas started thinking, ¡°So, for some reason they must have a reason to want them dead¡­ I think I need to look into their case files and investigation notes...¡± ¡°Detective Chaver?¡± a nurse went into the room: ¡°Your sister woke up.¡± ¡°Holy shit! Aimee!¡± Thomas ran straight through the door, Caroline and Jason followed. When three entered Aimee¡¯s room, she had bandages on her neck, and one empty saline water bangs hanging beside her bed. ¡°Hey. ¡± Aimee sounded exhausted and weak, ¡°Thanks for being here.¡± ¡°Oh Aimee thank god.¡± Thomas rushed to the bed and hugged her, ¡°I am so glad you are okay. How are you feeling?¡± ¡°Weak, like somebody just tried to drink all of my blood.¡± Aimee smiled and then looked at the concerned people standing beside her desk: ¡°I gotta ask ¡­ did any of you come into my room before I wake up?¡± ¡°No, why? I was waiting in my room the whole day and Caroline and Jason just got here.¡± ¡°And we brought matcha cake and rib soup.¡± Jason chuckled nervously at the strange question. ¡°Oh...¡± Aimee became confused and a bit afraid: ¡°then who stuffed this in my hand?¡± Thomas, Caroline and Jason looked into Aimee¡¯s left hand, it was a meticulously folded paper flower, made from elegant purple printed paper. The paper flow also gave off a calming smell, like it was sprayed with an expensive perfume. Chapter 66 The visit to Aimee and Thomas at the hospital turned out to be more informative than either Caroline nor Jason expected - they asked Aimee and Thomas about the updates on their Emilia Corin investigation, the FBI agents that just came to the inn and the whereabouts of Dr. Nguyen. And both Aimee and Thomas were willing to share with them what they knew and was not confidential: that Emilia Corin had a falling out with the whole family and broke away from them, bringing a few other members of the family with her, and the FBI agents were here as liaisons but apparently they did not really pay too much attention to the Emilia Corin case until recently, where the deaths of a few of the Corin family member showed ties to her. They were however, not able to figure out who gave Aimee that paper flower. Both Caroline and Jason felt that the paper flower was somewhat special, but they were not able to tell how and why. They also checked Aimee quite thoroughly with their limited knowledge and experience of curse and evil marking detection techniques, and neither of them was able to sense anything dangerous. At first they thought it was Jianmen helping Aimee without her or Thomas knowing but the paper flower was not really his style. If it was Jianmen, it would be a folded paper sigil drawn on a piece of yellow paper with red ink. After wishing Aimee and Thomas swift recovery and reminding them that they brought wonderful food from the inn, Caroline and Jason came back. The next day, Jason went to the set of ¡°The Haunting Crescent¡± by himself because this was his solo session for today. And he went there earlier than most people on set as he normally does. It was the only time of the day that he was allowed to enter the interior of the set, because the director and set supervisor wanted the shooting process to be as secure as possible. Just when he walked into the set, he smelled a special foul smell, a little like the smell he encountered the night a lot of the staff went to the inn for food. The difference was, that the smell is stronger and nastier, almost like mixing the smell of burning tires with fully rotten meat. This caused him to rush into the interior of the set, which seemed to be the source of the smell. ¡°Hey, Jason.¡± one of the personal assistants to Robert greeted Jason: ¡°You¡¯re here early as always.¡± ¡°Do you smell it? The nasty smell?¡± Jason was worried so he did not acknowledge the greeting.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°No? What are you talking about?¡± the personal assistant appeared confused and asked some other staff on set, ¡°Hey folks, have you smelled anything?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°No.¡± all of the staff asked shook their heads. ¡°This is bad.¡± Jason looked around and said to himself, trying to find a direction where it smelled the worst, then as he walked through the place where he and Caroline saw the ghost of that slim man, he saw a shadow standing somewhere in front of him. This startled him at first but soon he realized that it was a vision, similar to the one he saw when he was at Dr. Nguyen¡¯s apartment. The shadow was that of a woman, the woman was slouching, her body was in terrible shape and covered in open wounds. Jason was facing her back, so he was able to see the deep and gnarly wounds on her back and even some of her ribs and parts of her spine. He then walked to the front of the shadow, and saw that the woman¡¯s face was missing most of its skin and flesh, her eye sockets were empty and hollow, her nose was also missing and exposing the hole on her skull. And more freakishly, her mouth was open to an unrealistic angle where her lower jaw might have been dislocated, and what resided between her upper and lower jaws was a giant eye. The eye was turning up and down left and right like it was looking for something. Seemingly not able to find whatever it was looking for, the shadow drifted towards the exit of the set. Jason immediately followed along, ignoring all the strange looks he got while doing so. The shadow did not disappear even when it was out of the set - yet when it got under direct sunlight, it did start to dissipate. Jason followed it onto the street, hoping that it could last till it reaches somewhere or does something meaningful. The shadow continued to drift on the street, right now it was still early, the not yet fully risen sun, the wind and the shadow made Jason feel particularly chilly on this late autumn morning. The shadow stopped in front of a giant roadside garbage container that reeked of the smell of kitchen garbage and burnt paint, her arms reaching into the garbage container to grab something violently and taking them to her neck. Right now the shadow was almost completely dissipated - her next and final movement that Jason saw, was turning away and continued to drift down the street. Just as Jason wondered if this gnarly looking shadow had anything to do with the ghostly man he and Caroline defeated the other day or Dr. Nguyen, he realized that the foul smell was actually quite similar. ¡°It¡¯d better fucking not...¡± Jason rushed to the side of the garbage container, and the first thing he noticed was the small pools of blood on the floor and on the edge of the container, and a very small piece of torn fur with some skin attached to it on the ajar lid. Covering his nose, he looked into the garbage container. There was a human hand on top of a broken garbage bag, with its skins and tissues almost completely rotten and exposing the bones and sinew underneath, and a half of a black cat¡¯s head. Jason immediately started vomiting uncontrollably. But he was able to get it under control soon enough and dialed 911. Chapter 67 ¡°Holy shit, what the fuck? How?¡± when Stephanie, the assistant set supervisor pulled Jason to the side, others on the set were thoroughly creeped out and only dared to look at him from afar, ¡°How the hell did you find that body?¡± ¡°Would you believe me if I told you it was a ghostly shadow?¡± Jason¡¯s stomach was still quite upset at what he saw: ¡°I am your paranormal consultant, after all.¡± ¡°Yeah well¡­ I thought you were going to do your job on set, you know? Not finding severed hands in the fucking garbage!¡± ¡°I was following a shadow of the ghost that lingered on our set, possibly yesterday. What the hell is with this set?¡± ¡°Mr. Lin? Can we take a quick statement?¡± a police officer interrupted Jason and Stephanie¡¯s conversation. ¡°Umm...¡± Jason looked at Stephanie, who promptly gave him a ¡°go ahead¡±, ¡°Okay, officer. What do you wanna know? I¡¯ll cooperate in any way I can.¡± ¡°How did you find the hand?¡± ¡°Umm¡­ I was just walking down the street outside, then I smelled a really really bad stench from the garbage, so I went there to take a look. And then I found the cat¡¯s head - what kind of sick fuck kills a cat like that?! And when I looked more carefully I saw the hand.¡± Jason could not tell the officer about the shadow, for obvious reasons, so he left that part out and described the rest. ¡°And did you see anything weird around the scene when you found it?¡± ¡°No, just the cat head, and the cat¡¯s blood, perhaps, I¡¯m assuming...¡± ¡°Okay, and can you tell me what you were doing on this movie set? ¡± ¡°I am the paranormal consultant.¡± ¡°Hmm, paranormal consultant.¡± the officer sounded surprised as he took the notes: ¡°Thank you very much Mr. Lin. We¡¯ll reach out to you when we¡¯d like more information.¡± ¡°Okay. But...¡± Jason was just about to reach for his phone, and the police officer already went away: ¡°... you didn¡¯t get my contact info.¡± ¡°Hey, Jason. ¡± Robert came over and grabbed Jason by the arm: ¡°Come here.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ what now?¡± Jason followed Robert to a small and partially enclosed corner on the side of the set, ¡°Your set is clearly quite unclean, care to share some details with me?¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°Okay.¡± Robert looked to the side, and waited for Stephanie to come over: ¡°I don¡¯t want to think about how you found that hand. But you should have talked to us first before calling the police.¡± ¡°What? Why? That¡¯s a human body part there!¡± ¡°Yes, I understand, but it¡¯d be important that we know about these things first so we can prepare when the police start coming around and possibly locking up the streets around here.¡± Robert sighed and said: ¡°We have an important shoot tomorrow, and if the police want to lock up the scene or anything, it¡¯d compromise the schedule. Even a half-ass investigation may lock our scene for weeks, and we can¡¯t afford to do that. Our PR team will handle the communication with the police, but just know that next time - IF you found something next time, talk to us first, okay?¡± ¡°... okay, understood.¡± Jason nodded while frowning, ¡°But can you tell me what the hell is wrong with this movie set? It¡¯s the second time I encountered a ghost here. You need to shoot elsewhere.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve been asking that ever since the other night.¡± Stephanie said: ¡°The director would not change it - he specifically designated this place for the scene. According to some of our researchers, this place once belonged to a family of five, and in one night the whole family just moved away, saying this place is haunted. Then a few months later the father was arrested for trying to burn this place down.¡± ¡°What a place you found to shoot your movie.¡± Jason shook his head: ¡°How long are you going to shoot here? Please tell me you¡¯re wrapping up soon.¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid not really soon, we practically just started. And due to¡­ reasons that you know, we¡¯re behind schedule. Terribly behind schedule.¡± Robert said: ¡°When Josephine Wong gets here tomorrow, we¡¯ll actually jump the schedule and shoot the scenes we planned for tomorrow, and then we¡¯ll catch up to the rest of the scenes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a crazy stupid idea. The thing that was here was really dangerous, could be far more dangerous than the one we killed the other night.¡± Jason still felt like he had to try to get the crew away from this place: ¡°This place is clearly attracting unclean presence, if you stayed here for any longer, you¡¯d be in big trouble.¡± ¡°But you can deal with it, right? You and Caroline can deal with it.¡± Stephanie looked at Jason in the eyes: ¡°You¡¯re our paranormal consultant.¡± ¡°Yeah, but this thing could be too dangerous. ¡± Jason said earnestly: ¡°Please, you need to leave this place.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Robert and Stephanie both sighed: ¡°We¡¯ll try to talk to the director again.¡± ¡°Alright, please try harder.¡± Jason said: ¡°I¡¯ll discuss with Caroline and see what else we can do¡­ ¡± ¡°Yes, please. And thank you.¡± Stephanie and Robert both patted Jason on the shoulder. Just right when Jason finished this conversation, his phone rang, it was Tim, a member of his video channel. ¡°Hello Tim, please tell me you made a decision.¡± ¡°Yeah, but you¡¯re not gonna like it.¡± ¡°What? You guys really gonna go for it? What the hell? What happened to our brand? Don¡¯t you know what they¡¯re gonna do?¡± ¡°Yeah, I discussed it with Ricky, Jamie and Evelyn. Even counting your vote, you are looking at 2 vs 3. I think we¡¯ll have to do the collaboration.¡± Tim said on the phone: ¡°Sorry Jason, but you¡¯ll be glad to know that our branding won¡¯t be in trouble. Brian from Branston¡¯s channel promised a dual channel collab - we appear on their video, and they appear on our video. ¡± ¡°It¡¯s not just that. It¡¯s dangerous. Haven¡¯t you seen their livestream at the Prime Royals Hotel?¡± ¡°And ... Did you know that this is the reason they want to collab?¡± Tim said hesitantly on the phone: ¡°They found out that you are a member of our channel. And they specifically asked for you. They really wanted you to go with them to venture into the deserted hospital.¡± ¡°Okay, and can you tell them I won¡¯t go?¡± ¡°Please, Jason.¡± Tim expectedly became upset and frustrated: ¡°It¡¯s not going to be that serious. You guys just need to walk around in an empty hospital.¡± ¡°No, Tim. You listen to me.¡± Jason said seriously: ¡°This will be dangerous. I was there in the Prime Royals Hotel. I know how dangerous the situation was and we were quite lucky to have made it out alive and sane. This is a bad idea. The Branston Gang is full of idiots. Don¡¯t do it, please. You have to listen to me.¡± ¡°But the thing is.¡± Tim said blandly: ¡°They said they are still going to do it, with or without you. And some of us are going to do it too. This is too good a chance to pass up.¡± Chapter 68 ¡°So do it.¡± this time it was Caroline on the phone with Jason: ¡°They are idiots who might die. And we¡¯ll be there to protect them. I can go with you, and you owe me one.¡± ¡°No Way! That is way too dangerous! Have you forgotten what happened at the Prime Royals Hotel?¡± ¡°Well, not all ¡®haunted¡¯ are like the Prime Royals Hotel.¡± Caroline clenched her phone on the right side of the shoulder and helped Alex, her nephew assemble a model train : ¡°And you worked so hard for that little channel, even though you have no audience and sponsorship.¡± ¡°Well, you do know how to inspire.¡± Jason chuckled, ¡°Yeah, I wanted to ask Boss for his opinion, but then he rarely cares about this kind of stuff. And these idiots want to go as soon as this Saturday¡­ they moved the supposed schedule again.¡± ¡°You can ask for tips for going into haunted houses. And of course lots of Demon Suppression Sigil and the incense¡­ whatever their names are. Do it as preparation.¡± Caroline gently shrugged so as to not drop the phone: ¡°Just let me know when you¡¯re gonna do it. Don¡¯t ambush me though, I want to spend more time with my brother and lovely nephew.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯m gonna ask Boss first and decide. Thanks!¡± ¡°And remember, if they¡¯re going no matter what you decide, it is better we be there. At least we can handle ourselves plus some tagalongs.¡± Caroline smiled and said: ¡°Alright, talk later. My nephew¡¯s model train is done and we¡¯re gonna try some old school toys.¡± ¡°Thanks Caroline, text me some pictures of that model train.¡± ¡°Is your friend an influencer?¡± Alex gently put the model train on the model rails, and flipped the switch. The model train started moving through the rails, making really life-like steam horn sounds. ¡°He has a channel with his friends. But he works behind the camera, as a writer and animator.¡± Caroline fluffed Alex¡¯s hair and said: ¡°So you could say he¡¯s half an influencer.¡± ¡°That¡¯s cool. Most of my classmates want to be influencers.¡± Alex said, sounding a little down: ¡°But Dad said I need to dream bigger and smarter.¡± ¡°And you¡¯d be correct. I met some influencers. They are the dumbest people I have ever met.¡± Caroline lowered her body to watch the model train go with Alex: ¡°And you, my dear Alex, are the smartest kid I know. So being an influencer will be such a waste.¡± ¡°Thanks, Aunt Caroline.¡± Alex watched the model train go and smiled, with a sense of maturity rarely seen from anyone with his age. ¡°So do you like it here?¡± Caroline asked: ¡°It¡¯s different from home, no?¡± ¡°Yes, but people here are really mean.¡± Alex shook his head: ¡°They smile, but they can¡¯t wait to push you away and they don¡¯t care.¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°I am so sorry Alex. To know this at your age.¡± Caroline sighed: ¡°What do you want to do when you grow up? Not an influencer right? You¡¯re too into the model trains for that.¡± ¡°I want to build a business. I want to make a lot of money. So Dad won¡¯t have to go everywhere and would stay home and spend more time with me.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure you will some day.¡± ¡°Does my dad work with dangerous people?¡± Alex suddenly looked at Caroline and asked. ¡°No! Of course not.¡± Caroline denied immediately, ¡°Who told you that?¡± ¡°I learned that from the internet. They say private investigators deal with shady people everyday, and a lot of them are shady people themselves. Dad¡¯s not shady, right?¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± Caroline couldn¡¯t help but hugged Alex: ¡°He¡¯s a good private investigator. He helps people. And I¡¯m sure he¡¯s here helping other people as well. You don¡¯t know because he doesn¡¯t like to talk about it, and it is also a rule in his job.¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯m back with cake and drink! How¡¯s my boy?¡± just this moment, Kane opened the door and entered the house, with two plastic bags in his hands. ¡°Dad!¡± Alex jumped up and welcomed Kane with a hug. ¡°Hey, buddy, you¡¯ve been good today? Didn¡¯t give aunt Caroline trouble, did you?¡± ¡°The only trouble he gave me was that he got the model train too perfectly.¡± Caroline smiled: ¡°So, how was your day?¡± ¡°Boring, but okay.¡± Kane did not answer the question directly in front of his son: ¡°And thank you for keeping Alex company.¡± ¡°Not a problem...¡± Caroline also hugged Kane, but she noticed that there were traces of black smoke on Kane¡¯s shoulder, so she swiped Kane¡¯s shoulder with Xuanli concentrated on her palm, while acting as if she was trying to clean up his clothes: ¡°Where have you been? There¡¯s dust on your shirt.¡± ¡°Oh, really?¡± Kane also swiped his shoulders out of self-consciousness: ¡°Just the city hall getting some records. Not sure where the dust came from.¡± ¡°I just re-assembled the train in 15 minutes. My best record, Dad!¡± Alex excitedly pointed to the model train still running on the model rails. ¡°That¡¯s awesome! Buddy, you are a genius!¡± Kane held Alex up and spun him around: ¡°What¡¯d you guys have for lunch?¡± ¡°Rib soup, matcha cake, stir fried greens and berries from the inn.¡± Caroline shrugged: ¡°Unlimited food in the fridge, another perk of working at the inn.¡± ¡°Chinese food? How was it buddy?¡± ¡°Very delicious. I want to go eat there next time.¡± ¡°Kane, a word?¡± when Alex got back to his model train, Caroline asked Kane and pointed to the side. ¡°Alright, Alex, give me and aunt Caroline a second okay? We¡¯ll go have some pizza later!¡± ¡°Actually, can we go for Chinese food?¡± ¡°Nice, Alex, you are growing your taste.¡± Caroline laughed and dragged Kane to the side, ¡°Where have you been? I can tell that you already got mixed up in some nasty business.¡± ¡°Geez, Caroline¡­ where did you get that idea...¡± ¡°Buh buh buh buh!¡± Caroline shushed Kane before he could come up with an excuse: ¡°Think about Alex, okay? What have you got yourself into?¡± Kane let out a long sigh: ¡°Dammit Caroline, you¡¯re the one with the hunch. It¡¯s nothing serious, I am just tailing a creep here. It¡¯s the job.¡± ¡°Following a creep?¡± Caroline almost yelled: What the hell!? How is that not serious?!¡± ¡°No! No! It¡¯s not what you think.¡± Kane immediately explained: ¡°The client, he¡¯s a concerned father and he¡¯s worried about his daughter getting involved with some unsavory group. So the job is to tail the boyfriend and dig up some dirt if possible.¡± ¡°That still sounds really bad! I just told Alex that you are not the shady kind of PI!¡± Caroline scratched her head with both hands frustratedly: ¡°And this job pays enough for you to come here?¡± ¡°The client is loaded. He¡¯d pay half a mil for a drug or gang affiliated photo.¡± Kane laid his right hand on Caroline¡¯s left shoulder and said: ¡°And I need this money, I need it to buy a house in the good school district, and for Alex to go to a good school. I mean I can teach him now, but high school? He¡¯s already smarter than me when I was 20.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Caroline also sighed: ¡°But are you done yet? Just tell me you are done and the paycheck¡¯s on its way.¡± ¡°Almost. I¡¯ll probably wrap things up by the end of this weekend. For additional evidence...¡± Kane tried to wiggle out some room but immediately changed course when he saw Caroline¡¯s facial expression: ¡°But this weekend! Just this weekend and that¡¯ll be all! I promise.¡± Chapter 69 ¡°Hey, Erika, so nice to hear from you. What¡¯s up?¡± the next day morning, while Caroline was on her shift at Xianshi Inn, she received a phone call from the SFPD forensics lab technician: ¡°Does the SFPD have any updates on Dr. Nguyen?¡± ¡°This is why I called.¡± Erika sounded more concerned and serious than she¡¯d ever been: ¡°You know that your friend Jason found a hand in a garbage container near that movie set?¡± ¡°Yeah, tell me about it, we might lose a big fat regular paycheck over that.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m losing my shit right here.¡± Erika said with a trembling voice: ¡°Since there were no visible identifiable traits and heavily decomposed, we ran a DNA match against our database. It matched with Dr. Nguyen¡¯s.¡± ¡°Fuck...¡± ¡°Yeah! Fuck! No one knows what the fuck happened! ¡± Erika almost shouted at her phone: ¡°The detectives and captain are running the theory that she might have been murdered. The lab video logs are being looked at as well - I gotta ask, do you and your friend Jason know anything? You are our paranormal consultants, and I noticed that you saw something in the video logs - are you available to talk?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ well...¡± Caroline was a bit ambushed by this question and could not find the answer on the spot: ¡°Actually it¡¯s a bit¡­ complicated to explain.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s good I have all day. ¡± Erika said: ¡°I¡¯m on my way to you. ¡± ¡°Wait¡­ what? You coming over to the inn?¡± ¡°Yeah, you guys gave us your contact information, remember?¡± a door shutting sound just came from Erika¡¯s side: ¡°I¡¯m here, where are you?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ oh, just come in the front door and you¡¯ll see me.¡± The next moment, Caroline saw the young forensic technician with a T-shirt that had a cute Shiba-Inu drawing on it, a pair of light blue jeans and a grey canvas backpack got off a rideshare car and rushed towards the inn. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. And very visibly, there were traces of black smoke, circling around Erika¡¯s head and shoulders. ¡°Hey, Erika. Where have you been?¡± Caroline hesitated for a while, and then went to the entrance to welcome Erika inn. And to her surprise, as Erika approached and stepped into the premise of the inn, the black smoke surrounding her seemed to have been washed away by an invisible force. ¡°Oh my, Boss, very considerate.¡± Caroline whispered to herself. ¡°What¡¯s that? Did you say something?¡± Erika seemed to be very relieved when she saw Caroline and straight up went ahead and greeted her with a hug. ¡°No, I¡¯m just happy to see you.¡± Caroline gently patted on Erika¡¯s back. ¡°Super nice place of work here. Maybe it¡¯s me but even the air smells fresher.¡± Erika took a look around the lounge : ¡°And super clean! Really stands out among the rest of the inn on the street, or even San Jose!¡± ¡°Thanks! Our Boss does the cleaning himself. He is cheap as hell but he¡¯s really particular about cleanliness and the food.¡± Caroline looked at Erika closely and tried to make sure there was no residual black smoke around her. ¡°Hmm, what¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Nothing¡­ you just¡­ looked really tired.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± Erika sighed and followed Caroline to the back of the reception¡¯s desk, ¡°I¡¯ve been pulling a whole week of late nights. You know that corpse you and Jason dug up from the Prime Royals Hotel? We just pulled it out again and we¡¯re doing analysis on it. If not for the discovery of Dr. Nguyen¡¯s hand, I¡¯d be still working on it.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re ¡­ dealing with it extremely well.¡± Caroline sat down with Erika: ¡°How are you feeling?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, it¡¯s okay. I¡¯m doing good, it¡¯s not like we¡¯re that close anyway. I¡¯ve only been her mentee for, like what, six months?¡± Erika chuckles nervously, ¡°Alright, alright, enough about me. Do you know anything? You and your friend were there the other day and I felt that you guys know much more than you¡¯re letting on - and nobody could see what the hell happened in the lab video logs. If you know anything, please share with me...¡± ¡°Hold on, hold on. You were saying that the SFPD just pulled out that body and is doing analysis on it?¡± Caroline stopped Erika¡¯s spiralling questions: ¡°What are you doing with it?¡± ¡°Ah! Yes, I almost forgot.¡± Erika laughed nervously again: ¡°Yeah, so this week, the lawyers representing the owner of the hotel started rushing us on the examination of the body - they¡¯re trying to claim that the body is a historical artifact, which should belong to the owner upon discovery and urged us to give it back. So we¡¯ve been trying our hardest to get as much intel from it as possible.¡± ¡°That¡¯s ¡­ a bad idea. Aren¡¯t you worried¡­ ¡± Caroline wanted to ask Erika how she felt about this again, but quickly changed course: ¡°... nevermind. What have you found?¡± ¡°Yeah, pretty gnarly details!¡± Erika became a bit excited now that the topic was about the corpse from the Prime Royals Hotel: ¡°You remember the crack on the body¡¯s head? The one where the two sides are uneven? Guess what caused it.¡± ¡°Heavy blow to the head? Or cut from a huge sword?¡± ¡°No, no. It so messed up, so fucking messed up.¡± Erika¡¯s left hand kept tapping the table while she spoke: ¡°So since we cannot just cut open the body, we had to run an ultrasound scan on the corpse to see what¡¯s inside, alright? And what we found, was that there are other cracks throughout the whole body. But the thing is, the bones on the sides of the crack are not heavily damaged. Meaning that the cracks are not produced by blunt force impact...¡± ¡°The body was cut open.¡± ¡°Yes, and worse. The unevenness? It¡¯s not one body. It¡¯s two bodies. Two bodies cut in half and kinda held together with chains.¡± Erika almost screamed when she said ¡°chains¡±: ¡°How fucked up is that!? You just can¡¯t make something like that up!¡± Chapter 70 ¡°... look, Jason. You gotta understand. I know that you are very spooked at what happened at the Prime Royals Hotel. But this is literally a once in a lifetime opportunity.¡± during a meeting of the creators behind their video channel in a coffee shop, Ricky, the sound effect guy of the channel, told Jason: ¡°We¡¯ve got our channel for over 8 months, and we are barely covering our operational cost. The ¡®Munching Munchkin¡¯ channel is online for only 3 months and they already have big brand sponsorships.¡± ¡°I agree with Ricky. We need to think about branching out and diversifying our content - our skits and animations are not standing out enough. There are thousands of channels out there just like ours. ¡± Tim, who was the video editor and the one who was closest personally to Jason offered his opinion: ¡°I¡¯m sorry Jason. I thought really hard on this and I can¡¯t agree with you. For this channel to survive or even become relevant we need a big break - and this will be our big break! Just come with us this Saturday, we don¡¯t have to do all that much in the hospital anyway. We just need to follow them and appear on screen.¡± ¡°And I kept telling you, this is not it!¡± Jason frustratedly said: ¡°Branston and his team are reckless, arrogant, rude and always stirring up drama. If we do this, not only will we be doing some dangerous shit with them in a fucking deserted hospital, we¡¯ll also be considered just another lackey suck up channel of his. Branding is what I¡¯m talking about! We do not share a category of brand!¡± ¡°Hence we need to branch out!¡± Jamie, the camera and special effects guy also sounded frustrated: ¡°I know you¡¯re worried about our safety, because of the Prime Royals Hotel. We get it. We absolutely get it, okay? But we don¡¯t know it will be the same with the hospital! We did some research on that hospital, there¡¯s nothing weird going on in there!¡± ¡°Aside from the mass poisoning done by the mad and murderous nurse?¡± ¡°What¡­ what are you talking about?!¡± Tim was surprised by what Jason said. ¡°That was not mass poisoning! That was a nurse who poisoned three gangsters for revenge!¡± Jamie said, ¡°That¡¯s a fucking revenge murder when it was still running! There¡¯s no incident after it was deserted!¡± ¡°Yeah, but it happened shortly after that. You don¡¯t think that¡¯s just too coincidental?¡± ¡°Please, Jason, are you actually saying there are vengeful spirits in there. Do you believe that?¡± Ricky scoffed: ¡°Do you know this? Or are you just assuming?¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°What happened at the Prime Royals Hotel, Jason?¡± Evelyn, the writer and sourcer of the channel and the only girl among them, asked a bit timidly: ¡°You must have seen something that made you feel this way. Can you tell us?¡± Jason sighed, he had been debating the idea of revealing his powers for a while: for one, both he and Caroline had promised Jianmen that he would only reveal the fact that he was a cultivator and his powers only if it was necessary - they were not planning to reveal their powers to Stephanie and Robert, and later Jianmen just basically wiped their memory; for two, without revealing his power, it¡¯d be really hard to make a case against going to explore the deserted hospital, and his channel buddies wouldn¡¯t believe him. ¡°I don¡¯t quite remember what happened.¡± Jason eventually gave a cautious and mostly true answer: ¡°I remembered it being grim and dark... and full of despair. It¡¯s a dark place we somehow went to. We were lucky to be alive. And I don¡¯t think exploring a deserted and haunted hospital, of all places, is a good idea.¡± ¡°Huh, that¡¯s not what Branston and Brian told us.¡± Jamie said: ¡°They just said that they don¡¯t remember anything, but they were sure you, and Caroline helped save them.¡± ¡°Then they remembered wrong. Fucking douchebags.¡± ¡°Yeah. I¡­ I agree with Jason. ¡± Evelyn shook her head: ¡°I don¡¯t think we should do it - it¡¯s just too dangerous. And illegal.¡± ¡°Evelyn, you¡¯re the first one that suggested branching out.¡± Ricky said, ¡°And this is a perfect chance.¡± ¡°Yes. But not like this¡­ I don¡¯t want to put myself, or you guys in danger to do that.¡± Just when Jamie and Ricky were about to voice their passionate support for collaborating with Branston, three people with whom Jason and his channel buddies were very familiar with just came into the coffee shop. ¡°Hello there my friends. How¡¯s your channel doing?¡± a short girl with short and blonde, grey and brown hair smiled at Jason and his channel buddies: ¡°Did you make it on the weekly recommendation list yet?¡± ¡°No. We almost got on though. What about you Kathy?¡± Tim asked, while clenching his teeth. ¡°We¡¯ve been on it for the 6th continuous week!¡± a tall and thin guy with a pair of goofy glasses said excitedly: ¡°Our music videos are trending on multiple platforms. And we¡¯re getting another big sponsor!¡± ¡°Congratulations! Good for you!¡± Ricky almost spoke entirely through his teeth. ¡°Thank you! Keep working on your animations y¡¯all.¡± Kathy smiled and then turned to the barista: ¡°I would like a pumpkin spice chai latte please. And I would like a chocolate croissant.¡± ¡°Fucking bitch! Lowbrow juvenile parody grifters!¡± when the three left, Tim just stopped pretending to be nice and friendly. ¡°Relax, Tim.¡± Jamie was slightly embarrassed and took a sip of coffee, then turned to Jason: ¡°Looks, Jason, how about this? The Branston team are going anyway. And for us, this is a chance. And they said that they wanted you to be there. But they also said they are going to go no matter whether you are in or out. So let¡¯s just go, and if anything seems wrong, we get the hell out. You okay with this?¡± ¡°Look, fuck, I¡¯d go, even not as a member of our channel.¡± Ricky laid back on his chair and said. ¡°Look, you guys can go without me. I can¡¯t.¡± Evelyn was still timid but stern: ¡°I just can¡¯t.¡± ¡°Fuck.¡± Jason sighed frustratedly: ¡°I¡¯ll go with you. But if anything is wrong, I¡¯m dragging your asses out of there. You hear me? Don¡¯t be that fucking thrill seeking idiot in horror movies.¡± ¡°Yeah, sure. If you can.¡± Ricky chuckled. ¡°Then don¡¯t be surprised when I do.¡± Chapter 71 ¡°Oh, Oh, Josephine Wong. She¡¯s finally here!¡± Saturday morning, Bethany excitedly stood at the entrance of the movie set of The Haunting Crescent nervously clapping her hands as a very modernly designed SUV with dark purple paint rolled over. ¡°Hi! ¡± a pretty young woman with a ponytail, very light makeup, leather jacket, tight white shirt with purple stripe and dark-colored jeans hopped off the SUV, ¡°I¡¯m Josephine Wong, very nice to meet you and I am super excited to join today¡¯s shoot!¡± ¡°Oh god, I really want to get her autograph.¡± Bethany chuckled and told Jason who was standing by her side, ¡°I swear, I¡¯m gonna ask her when she wrapped up her cameo. That¡¯s still professional, right?¡± ¡°Yeah. But didn¡¯t you say she was surprisingly grounded and personable?¡± Jason clapped his hands as the rest of the staff on the set to welcome Josephine Wong. ¡°Welcome, Josephine. ¡± Stephanie and the director, whose name Jason and Caroline eventually came to learn was Benny, went ahead and greeted Josephine: ¡°Thank you for coming. And thank you so much for being so flexible with your schedule.¡± ¡°No worries. I am staying here for some personal relaxation time after the film festival anyway.¡± Josephine hugged Stephnie and Benny the director with a bright smile: ¡°Now, just let me know what I need to do. I¡¯m all yours for these two days.¡± ¡°Oh, not a problem. Let¡¯s start with the assassination scene.¡± Benny led Josephine into the set, and then gave Stephanie a weird look. ¡°Okay. I¡¯m gonna go inside.¡± Bethany pumped herself up by waving her fists in the air: ¡°Wish me luck, Jason.¡± ¡°No problem. Good luck keeping it professional with Josephine Wong.¡± Jason laughingly pointed at Bethany, and then he noticed that Stephanie was walking straight towards him. ¡°Hey Jason, you got a minute?¡± ¡°Yeah, what¡¯s up Stephanie?¡± ¡°So the director and Robert would like to ask you¡­ could you be extra careful today. I appreciate that you guys as paranormal consultants are professional at your job, but today, please don¡¯t find another hand near the set okay? If you see anything, try to handle it quietly or talk to me, or Robert.¡± Stephanie said to Jason in a serious tone: ¡°We can¡¯t afford any more delays due to incidents like that.¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Yes. I understand. But have you talked to the director about not shooting in this place? ¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± Stephanie shook her head and her hands dismissively, ¡°Just remember what I said. We can only ask Josephine Wong to change her schedule so many times.¡± Jason sighed as he watched Stephanie go back into the set, he was aware that he and Caroline¡¯s caution would probably fall on deaf ears, yet it was still disappointing and disheartening to just hear Stephanie outright denying ever hearing about it. With a heavy mood, Jason then proceeded to his paranormal consultant routing - circling the exterior of the moving set and practicing casual cultivation methods. On his first circle he didn¡¯t find anything wrong, but ended up almost bumping into Josephine Wong¡¯s driver in the parking lot. ¡°Hi! Are you a staff on set?¡± the driver was a handsome young man with silver white hair and a pair of sharp looking eyes, ¡°Nice to meet you. My name¡¯s Garret. I am Josephine Wong¡¯s driver and assistant personal assistant.¡± ¡°Jason.¡± Jason shook hands with the driver: ¡°Why aren¡¯t you inside with Josephine Wong?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m mostly just a driver and an errand boy. I can¡¯t go on set during shoots. Only the assistant and other professional aid can go in. Some non disclosure stuff. Too complicated for me.¡± Garret scratched his head: ¡°It works out for me anyway, I don¡¯t care for action movies.¡± ¡°Yeah? But you drive for an action movie star!¡± ¡°Ha! Ms. Wong is much more than an action movie star. She¡¯s also a ¡­ kickass martial artist!¡± Garret laughed and said: ¡°I learned quite a lot from her, trust me, so worth it!¡± ---------------------------------------------------- Conversation with Garret turned out to be surprisingly more fun than Jason expected, they talked about the kind of movies they like, what kind of animations they like, and even found out that Garret and Jason were both very interesting the art of drawing - the only difference is that Jason likes drawing modern animation, while Garret was more interested in traditional oil painting. But before they could spend more of this morning chatting, a sudden phone call called Garret away - from his facial expression, it sounded quite urgent. ¡°Sorry Jason, looks like I have something important to pick up for Josephine.¡± Garret sighed and shook his head: ¡°I¡¯ll see you later.¡± ¡°No problem. I¡¯ll see you later.¡± Jason nodded: ¡°Being an assistant personal assistant sure sounds like it sucks sometimes.¡± ¡°Yes. Hope I get promoted to personal assistant soon.¡± Garret laughed and drove away. And as if the call to get Garret away was deliberately made at a bad time, just when the SUV left the street, lt was time for lunch break. Today¡¯s catered lunch was something that Jason never saw on the set before: nice and tender barbeque ribs, roasted beef with gravy, salad with fresh fruit, sweet potato chips and assorted sushi. It was as if the set supervisor went out of his way to make the experience more pleasant for Josephine Wong. ¡°Hey!¡± while Jason was in line to take food, someone tapped his shoulder from behind, which startled Jason. And as he turned around, he found that it was none other than Josephine Wong: ¡°Oh I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to scare you like that.¡± ¡°Hi¡­ Ms. Wong, sorry I didn¡¯t see you there. ¡± being face to face with one of his favorite actresses got Jason a little bit flustered: ¡°My name¡¯s Jason. How was your shoot today?¡± ¡°Please, just Josephine is fine.¡± Josephine Wong used one of the tongs to place some ribs onto her plate: ¡°It¡¯s nice! The assassination angle was super well directed. I haven¡¯t seen you on set today. Are you working off set?¡± ¡°Yeah. Technically, I¡¯m a paranormal consultant.¡± Jason answered without saying much. ¡°Oh!? Paranormal consultant, do they have these now?¡± Josephine sounded surprised. ¡°It¡¯s a precaution. We all heard about what happened on the set of ¡®Darkness Incoming¡¯.¡± Stephanie came between Josephine Wong and Jason and said: ¡°Josephine, why don¡¯t we have lunch together and catch up?¡± ¡°Umm, why don¡¯t Jason join us? I want to chat with a fellow martial artist.¡± Chapter 72 ¡°So Jason, did you learn your martial arts from a dojo or directly from a Shifu?¡± on the lunch table specifically laid on the side just for Josephine Wong, Jason received a question from the cameo star herself. ¡°Um¡­ yeah I wouldn¡¯t call it either, I work for this owner of an inn, and he is a really good Kung Fu practitioner.¡± Jason hesitated and said: ¡°So I just learned from him and trained with him¡­ and so far feels really good.¡± ¡°Inn owner¡­ is his name Jianmen Yu?¡± Josephine Wong asked after a big bit of a piece of barbeque rib. This question almost made Jason spit out his food: ¡°What? You do know him?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take it as a yes.¡± Josephine chuckled and continued with her rib: ¡°And consider yourself lucky, he¡¯s the best Shifu I know. And he¡¯s not known to take students.¡± ¡°Wait, is this the super secret martial arts instructor you practice with? The secret for your sick sick moves?¡± Bethany nervously asked in an abnormally quick speed: ¡°OMG, that¡¯s him isn¡¯t it.¡± ¡°Bethany?¡± Robert stared at Bethany to warn her off her fangirl reaction. ¡°To keep everyone out of trouble, I would prefer not to answer that.¡± Josephine looked at Bethany with a sweet smile and then turned to Jason: ¡°So? Can you tell me what your training is like? And is he going to take in more students?¡± ¡°Uhhh¡­ I don¡¯t think he will. But if you asked him I think he would have no reason to refuse.¡± Jason chuckled nervously: ¡°And his training is kinda tough - but quite effective, I was able to defend myself pretty well...¡± ¡°Ah! That¡¯s what I¡¯d expect.¡± Josephine laughed widely: ¡°He¡¯s got some sick moves.¡± ¡°Umm, should we invite this mysterious Kung Fu master on set? Sounds like we could use someone to fill the action and martial arts coach position, at least temporarily.¡± the Reaper, whose name is Matthew, and who happened to the set supervisor asked.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°Huh, what happened? I liked working with Moreece.¡± Josephine asked. ¡°He quit. ¡± Robert answered with an uneasy look on his face: ¡°But let¡¯s not worry about him. Hey Jason, how do you feel about asking you Shifu to help us with this position? At least temporarily? The budget is pretty generous, we just need someone with at least some experience with designing and directing action and fight scenes right away.¡± ¡°Uhh¡­ I need to ask him first¡­ But I don¡¯t think the budget will sway him.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Josephine laughed and joked: ¡°He¡¯s more of the ¡®give me something interesting and maybe I¡¯ll show up to your party¡¯ kind of guy. He¡¯s like a special devil, you want his help, you¡¯d better give him something that¡¯s dear to your heart. And even your soul probably won¡¯t do because it is too boring.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, don¡¯t I know it.¡± Jason smiled and drank his sparkling water with his head down. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ¡°Demon Suppression Sigils¡­ Spirit Calming Incense, Illusion Breaking Incense, wood figure, mirror, and¡­ weapon.¡± back at the inn in his own personnel room, Jason was organizing his backpack, he gathered all he could from the cupboard in the diner and the basement, with Jianmen¡¯s permission of course, and he was also running the tips and caution from Jianmen in his head, for the 40th or 50th time: ¡°Stay away from small rooms, stay away from places of anguish and pain, stay away from giant and broken mirrors, stay away from dripping water and still water pools¡­ basically stay away from anything reflective or broken doorways.¡± ¡°Hey boss, how¡¯s that card thing going?¡± when he was done with the backpack, Jason came downstairs and asked Jianmen, who was drinking tea behind the reception¡¯s desk. ¡°Here it is.¡± Jianmen slapped a thick piece of wooden card on the reception¡¯s desk, which had a very lively relief sculpture of a fat and ugly toad on it. ¡°A toad? ¡± Jason did not know how to react: ¡°And so¡­ ¡± ¡°Ugly, I know.¡± Jianmen did not ever raise his head from his phone: ¡°But believe me, the uglier the better.¡± ¡°But why toad? Why not something more fierce and awesome¡­ like a tiger, or a phoenix or a dragon?¡± ¡°Kid, you wanna die?¡± Jianmen looked at Jason with a kind of mocking look: ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard of the saying: ¡®if you¡¯ve got weak ass wrists and arms, don¡¯t shoot a Desert Eagle. Or you might kill your dad¡¯? ¡± ¡°Um¡­ no?¡± ¡°Well you¡¯ve heard it now. So just be happy with what you have. You¡¯ll need to learn before you can ride an actual dragon. I gave Caroline one with the hornet for the same reason.¡± ¡°Looks like a hornet could be better ¡­ so is it just used like the Demon Suppression Sigil?¡± ¡°Yes. But just keeping it at your side is sufficient for most of the cases. ¡± ¡°Understood. Thanks Boss.¡± ¡°Happy ghost hunting, don¡¯t let your channel buddies do anything stupid. I¡¯ll be watching your stream, so behave!¡± as Jason stepped outside the inn and onto a rideshare car, Jianmen told him loudly: ¡°And be careful!¡± ¡°Yes! Of course!¡± Jason raised his hand with a thumb up as he waved Jianmen goodbye. Chapter 73 ¡°Hey, buddy, be good today and play with Aunt Caroline, okay? I will be home before dinner.¡± before Kane left, he knelt down on the floor and told Alex: ¡°I know it¡¯s Saturday, but we will go to the movies tomorrow evening, okay?¡± ¡°Fist bump promise?¡± Alex extended his right fist forward. ¡°Fist bump promise.¡± Kane gently bumped Alex¡¯s right fist, then stood up and ruffled Alex¡¯s hair and said to Caroline: ¡°Thank you again, Caroline. I owe you big this time.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, just be home before eight thirty. I promised a friend I will help him out with some pretty crappy stuff.¡± Caroline looked back at her full and heavy backpack resting besides the shoe shelf. ¡°I will be back much earlier. Promise.¡± Kane smiled then looked at Alex: ¡°And look at that sword! Be sure to protect the house with it.¡± ¡°Thanks Dad, this is a gift from Auntie¡¯s boss.¡± Alex waved the meticulous mini wooden sword with flame and lightning patterns on it. ¡°Yeah, my Boss is handy like that.¡± Caroline shrugged and said. ¡°Auntie, can we watch a horror movie?¡± after Kane left and both Caroline and Alex enjoyed a few rounds of video games, Alex asked Caroline. ¡°Huh, why? Aren¡¯t you scared?¡± ¡°It¡¯s close to Halloween, so I want to share with my friends what I have watched.¡± Alex sat down on the couch, ¡°Can we?¡± ¡°Okay, you choose and I¡¯ll tell you if it is Okay.¡± ¡°What about this? ¡®The Massacre of The Lone Hill¡¯?¡± ¡°No! We are both too young to see that.¡± ¡°Then what about this? ¡®The House Made of Bones¡¯.¡± ¡°No! No psycho killers.¡± ¡°How about this classic? Rosemary¡¯s Baby?¡± ¡°No creepy cultists.¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°¡®The Knockers at Night¡¯?¡± ¡°No home invasions. Let me close the doors and windows in the other rooms.¡± Finally, they settled on a zombie movie. And Caroline¡¯s reason was that zombies are gross but not fear-inducing - watching a zombie movie would not make anyone lose sleep at night; maybe the killings and gore could be slightly traumatizing, but Alex was a strong minded kid so he could definitely handle it. ¡°Why do they always split up? And why do they always open the gate to save the dog?¡± almost halfway through the movie, Alex asked, ¡°If I were in a zombie apocalypse, I am not saving an old lady with a dog.¡± ¡°Geez, Alex, how many of these movies have you watched behind your father¡¯s back?¡± ¡°Just a few. I really try to compete with Pete and David. They watch all kinds of creepy movies.¡± Alex put some popcorn in his mouth: ¡°Dad leaves at night a lot these days. So I just watch movies on my pad when he¡¯s gone.¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­ I¡¯m sorry. Next time this happens, you can give me a call, see if I can cheer you up.¡± ¡°Thanks, but it¡¯s okay. I¡¯m used to it.¡± Alex¡¯s mature demeanor made Caroline slightly sad: ¡°When Dad¡¯s away, I just watch movies to keep things off my mind. You won¡¯t believe how much pick-up lines I learned from rom-coms.¡± ¡°Buh-buh-buh. Rom-coms?¡± ¡°Yeah, I would¡¯ve watched some more exciting stuff if Dad didn¡¯t have child protection enabled.¡± Alex chuckled and took a look at Caroline: ¡°So it¡¯s only with you that can I get a chance to watch some non-PG stuff.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid you¡¯re gonna get nightmares?¡± ¡°I have nightmares even when I¡¯m not watching horror movies.¡± Alex shrugged. ¡°Wait, what? Why didn¡¯t you tell me? Did you tell your dad?¡± Caroline swiftly paused the movie and asked Alex with concern: ¡°What do you dream about? How often are these nightmares?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Auntie, I¡¯m completely okay.¡± Alex became the one comforting Caroline: ¡°It¡¯s okay, I¡¯m used to it. It actually kinda inspired me to write my own mini stories.¡± ¡°I insist, Alex. Tell me about these nightmares.¡± Caroline looked Alex in the eye: ¡°And I would like you to know, you shouldn¡¯t have to get used to it. You should tell your dad and me about things that trouble you, okay? You should feel comfortable doing that.¡± ¡°But dad¡¯s always very busy, and he¡¯s worried about me enough. I don¡¯t want him to worry more about me. And now he¡¯s out there following some bad guy because he wants me to go to a good school.¡± ¡°You knew? For how long?¡± ¡°Dad talks loudly on the phone. It¡¯s not that hard to know what¡¯s going on.¡± ¡°Look, Alex.¡± Caroline gently held onto Alex¡¯s shoulder: ¡°It¡¯s very sweet, but you should be able to tell your dad and me about your feelings, and especially the things that bother you. Communication is very important for family. Your dad will worry for you for a bit, but it will solve your problems sooner and won¡¯t lead to a big mess. Just like here, if they talked about the danger of the virus more openly the zombies won¡¯t be walking around.¡± ¡°Or if they helped the old lady keep her dog in check, they wouldn¡¯t be dead.¡± Alex rubbed his eyes and said: ¡°I understand now, thank you Auntie.¡± A tingling sense of chillines and a bad smell seeped through the open window next to them, Caroline turned to the window and looked outside with a frown on her face: the day seemed to be getting dark much earlier than usual, and very quickly, she noticed that the darkness gradually clouding the sunlight was not because of actual clouds or the sun setting earlier than before, it was because of a sneaky, thin but gradually thickening black smoke. ¡°Alex. Go upstairs.¡± Caroline lifted Alex up from the couch: ¡°Now! Do you have a safe place to hide?¡± ¡°Okay, what happened, Auntie?¡± Alex sounded scared from Caroline¡¯s sudden change of demeanor: ¡°Something wrong?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure. But bring me to a place you can hide. Trust me.¡± Caroline looked at the mini wooden sword still in Alex¡¯s hand. ¡°Okay. It¡¯s in my bedroom. ¡± Alex nodded and ran upstairs as Caroline locked the windows and front door, and then ran checking other entry points of the house. ¡°Fuck!¡± even though Alex¡¯s is still in the house, Caroline couldn¡¯t help but swear loudly, when she tried to call both Jianmen and Jason but ended up not getting any signal. Even the smart TV was displaying an error message saying that there was no internet connection. Chapter 74 ¡°Hide in there, and don¡¯t come out unless we call you. Okay?¡± there was a small hidden door on the wall in a big walk-in closet, which led to a small hidden room located behind Alex¡¯s bedroom. Caroline crouched into the hidden room with Alex and gave him a bunch of Demon Suppression Sigils infused with her Xuanli: ¡°Take this, if any bad guy comes in here, throw this in their faces and stab them with your sword, got it?¡± ¡°What¡¯s happening? Are you gonna be Okay? Where¡¯s dad?¡± Alex¡¯s voice was trembling. ¡°I don¡¯t know, I can¡¯t get through to him now.¡± Caroline drew a circle and the simple pattern of a shield on the inside of the hidden door with her finger and her Xuanli: ¡°Stay in here, while I go look for him.¡± ¡°Okay. Be careful, aunt Caroline.¡± Alex clenched his mini wooden sword and the Demon Suppression Sigils tightly in his hands. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Caroline looked Alex in the eye: ¡°It¡¯s gonna be okay.¡± Making sure that the hidden door was closed tightly and was as inconspicuous as possible, Caroline rushed downstairs and retrieved her wooden weapons from her backpack - she prepared them for something else but the occasion called for it. Tire screeching sounds came from outside, as Caroline looked outside the window she saw Kane getting off his hurriedly parked car and running towards the house door. He seemed to be injured, as he had blood on his shirt. ¡°What happened?¡± Caroline opened the door to let Kane in and asked: ¡°Someone attacked you!? What the fuck!?¡± ¡°Yeah, bad mistake.¡± Kane ran to the kitchen to grab a medical kit and wrapped his bleeding left arm with bandages: ¡°Where¡¯s Alex?¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°I told him to hide.¡± Caroline locked the door and placed a Demon Suppression Sigil on the front door, ¡°Tell me what happened.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Simon. ¡± Kane tied up the bandage and rushed to a small storage room in the house and took out a shotgun: ¡°Call the police, now!¡± ¡°No cell signal on my phone, for some reason.¡± Caroline got to Kane¡¯s side: ¡°And what do you mean by ¡®It¡¯s Simon¡¯?¡± ¡°That Simon.¡± Kane loaded his shotgun with shells and took out a handgun then started loading the extra magazine: ¡°And his friends, they ambushed me. He and the creep I was following? They are from the same gang.¡± ¡°Hold on. What the fuck!?¡± Caroline grabbed Kane by the arm: ¡°Were you gonna tell me at all?¡± ¡°Well...¡± feeling the scarily powerful grab from his younger sister, Kane sighed and caved, then he began to explain while pointing to the storage room: ¡°The creep I was following, he was a member of a cult slash gang called Los Diablos. Really cliche name, I know. But really a bad bunch with a really nasty ledger. And according to my sources, Simon joined that gang while he was in prison. And for some reason, the creep AND your piece of shit ex boyfriend both came to San Jose a few weeks back.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯re in town and warned me about Simon.¡± Caroline let go of Kane and grabbed the remaining handgun from the storage room. ¡°Yeah, and believe me, I had absolutely no intention to drag you into this.¡± Kane sighed and tried to use his phone to dial 911: ¡°Fuck! I¡¯m not getting any signal either. What the fuck is going on?!¡± ¡°Did you say they are a gang and a cult?¡± Caroline put an extra magazine in her pocket, ¡°Did they attack you? ¡± ¡°Technically they were butchering the creep and his new girl.¡± Kane pushed the couch behind the door and blocked the entryway: ¡°I basically just walked into it. Then they started shooting at me. Lucky for me they were not very good shots, but I think they followed me back here. You still know how to handle a gun?¡± ¡°Never forgotten.¡± Caroline frowned as she held her gun on her left hand and slid her wooden shield up to a place between her wrist and elbow, while still holding the wooden tomahawk in her right hand: ¡°What do you know about this Los Diablos cult?¡± ¡°That they are a nasty bunch, with a pretty demonic MO. Simple murder doesn¡¯t seem to satisfy their bloodlust, they like their killings ritualistic. That poor creep got hung upside down on an upside down cross before they slit his belly open.¡± Kane took a peek at Caroline¡¯s wooden shield and tomahawk: ¡°What¡¯s with this gladiator shit? You got a fucking gun, use it!¡± ¡°Trust me, they work better than this 9 millimeter.¡± Caroline stared through the window, the sky has gone completely dark: ¡°I have something to tell you too, big bro.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a fucking cultivator now.¡± Chapter 75 Iit was almost completely pitch-black outside, they couldn¡¯t even see the street lights. But after quite a while they still did not see anyone coming. And while staring out the window, Kane asked: ¡°So¡­ when you say you¡¯re a cultivator. What does that mean? Do you ... grow stuff now? Are you a gardener?¡± ¡°None of those. ¡± Caroline stared into the darkness outside, her pupils flickering in orange and red light: ¡°Think about this, Alex has a magical aunt.¡± ¡°When we¡¯re done with whatever this is, you must show us what you meant.¡± Kane chuckled: ¡°¡®Cause I don¡¯t see anything different.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re gonna find out, because the cult thing? They might be onto something. Try the phone again?¡± Caroline circled back to the kitchen to check on the situation at the back of the house. ¡°No, still no signal.¡± Kane frustratedly banged his cell phone on a table: ¡°What the hell?!¡± ¡°There¡¯s no signal here. Even if you tried your hardest.¡± a strange voice came from the staircase. ¡°Who the fuck are you?! Get out of here!¡± Kane¡¯s back was facing toward the staircase, so he immediately turned back and pointed his shotgun at the source of the voice - a woman wearing a female demon facemask, a grey trench coat and a giant knife in her hand. ¡°Kane and Caroline Baker. You¡¯ve been visited by Los Diablos.¡± the woman in mask said in a sultry and slightly seductive voice. Right at this moment, several people started bashing the doors and windows of the house and tried to get in, just when Kane turned to face the front door, the woman wearing a female demon facemask leapt towards the back of Kane. But her leap did not land where she wanted to, a flaming wooden tomahawk thrown from her side hit her midair on the shoulder. A loud thumping sound emerged from the collision, the wooden tomahawk bounced back in the air spinning, and the woman was knocked to the side and hit the wall, then fell down to the corner. ¡°Bang!¡± a man with a male demon mask bashed through the upper part of the front door, and Kane opened fire on him, the man¡¯s mask was shattered into pieces of plastic and a small piece of his forehead was blown off by the pellets, black blood with a disgusting green shine gushed out of the head wound as the man fell backwards. ¡°What is this?! What is this!?¡± the woman hit by Caroline¡¯s tomahawk struggled on the ground as the fire on her shoulder spread to her entire upper body; black smoke was coming out some parts of her body and from under the mask, and as the smoke rose it started to form a shape of something with a head and two arms.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Kane saw this as he turned around to check on the screaming woman on the ground, and as he looked in awe and shock, Caroline jumped across the room, catching and wielding the bounced back wooden tomahawk, and unleashed a powerful slash onto the shadowy figure being formed from the black smoke. A deafening scream rocked the whole house as Caroline¡¯s wooden tomahawk completely cut through the figure formed by black smoke, and the flames on the tomahawk burned through the black smoke in midair. The woman stopped screaming and struggling as the black smoke dissipated, black and dark green goo oozed from her body and from under the mask. But on the other side, the man with a small part of his forehead blown off rose up and attempted to break into the house again. ¡°What the hell is this...¡± Kane looked at the man he just shot in horror, as the man seemed somewhat unfazed by this wound that would immediately kill any normal human being. But as he tried to reach inside of the room, his forearms got in contact with the Demon Suppression Sigil and was knocked by by a sudden explosion and caught on fire. ¡°Yeah, you really need to tell me more about this cult gang.¡± Caroline stared at the direction of the backdoor - from the sound coming from that direction, it seemed like someone already broke in. ¡°I already told you everything I know. You know I don¡¯t get involved too much with gang business. I just know they are bad news. And they do some hard core cult shit. ¡± Kane looked at Caroline and asked: ¡°Alex¡¯s is safe upstairs?¡± ¡°He is, but we need to either hold our ground here or find a chance to leave.¡± Caroline¡¯s tomahawk started lighting up in orange fire. ¡°Come here and die! Caroline!¡± a familiar and deranged laugh came from whoever broke in through the backdoor. ¡°What the fuck ¡­ Simon?¡± Caroline frowned as she looked towards that direction and with her tomahawk ready in battle position. ¡°Caroline, Caroline, Caroline.¡± a shirtless bald man with tattoos on both of his arms, a demon mask pushed up to his forehead, and one sinister looking symbol carved on his chest came out from the shadows, with two masked men behind him: ¡°Long time no see. You¡¯ve grown prettier, and taller.¡± ¡°And you are still a creep.¡± Caroline twirled the tomahawk in her hand: ¡°Get the fuck outta this house with your creep friends, now!¡± ¡°No can do.¡± Simon laughed, revealing his shiny and colorful grills on his teeth, while pointing at the symbol on his chest : ¡°You see, I want to be in this family and start getting into their business...¡± ¡°Bang bang bang!¡± before Simon could even finish, Caroline already shot him in the chest three times with her handgun. Simon flinched and took a few steps backwards, but he was able to regain his stance - the mushroomed bullets dropped to the ground one by one with black and green blood on them. ¡°Well well well, princess, looks like the family likes me.¡± Simon took a look at the three skin deep bullet wounds on his chest and smiled with a mouthful of black and green blood: ¡°And guess what, they will probably like you on a stick!¡± Just at this moment, Alex¡¯s scream came from upstairs. ¡°Alex!¡± Kane immediately rushed to the staircase and upstairs the two men wanted to follow, but Caroline stepped in front of them. ¡°You snot-blooded freaks need to go past me.¡± Caroline did not give either of the men a chance to respond, she just emptied the rest of his magazine on them. And this time, the bullets were not simply lead hollow points - they were also infused with Caroline¡¯s Xuanli. This time, the bullets pierced their skin and dug into their body, and unlike Simon, they were heavily impacted by the shots and eventually fell down on the backs near the chairs in the kitchen. Chapter 76 On the second floor of the house, Alex was hiding in the hidden room, with his little flashlight providing lighting. All the while, he was still trying to get in touch with the police with his cell phone. And yet, he could not get through even once. ¡°Boom!¡± the door to the walk-in closet was busted open, and someone with a heavy footstep came into the room. ¡°Come out, little friend.¡± the person that came in spoke with a low and intentionally intimidating voice: ¡°Alex? That¡¯s your name right? I can already smell you in here. Come out so I won¡¯t have to tear this room apart!¡± Then came a loud tearing sound, seemed like the man literally broke one of the hangers still with some clothes hanging on it. ¡°Found you, you little maggot.¡± a strong hand banged on the hidden door, and with a flicker of bright orange light, the door remained unshaken, which made the man more aggravated and starting banging on the hidden door repeatedly: ¡°Looks like someone¡¯s being clever! Come out! Come out you little maggot!¡± Eventually after the 10th or 12th bang, the strong masked man with sharpened fingernails and busted through the hidden door and grabbed Alex by the shoulders. Alex screamed and threw his full hand of folder Demon Suppression Sigil at the man, the paper sigils burst into flames the moment they touched the face of the man and somehow lit his face and shoulders on fire. The man was struck with surprise and started growling in pain, he retracted his hands trying to put out the fire on his body and in turn let Alex loose. Alex ran through from under the man¡¯s crotch, but not forgetting to turn back and stab the man in the back of his knee with his mini wooden sword. The mini wooden sword released a small electric shock that caused Alex to let go of the wooden sword, yet its edge still was buried deeply into the man¡¯s leg. As the man writhed in pain, Alex took the chance and ran out of the walk-in closet and towards the staircase, where he was caught by Kane. ¡°Dad!¡± ¡°Oh my god Alex, you alright?¡± ¡°Yes. I stabbed the bad man, what is happening?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll talk later, let¡¯s get outta here.¡± Downstairs, Caroline was simultaneously fighting against two cultists - only one of the two masked men shot by her Xuanli infused bullets sustained debilitating injury, the other got up from the ground and lunged at Caroline with his arms extending forward. And without a hint of shame, Simon joined in on the assault against Caroline.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. The cultists, while under the influence of some unknown hex or magic, not only had superhuman resilience, they also had superhuman strength aside from the smell from their body and black and green blood. Caroline tried to block a heavy tackle from a masked man with two bullet wounds on his left shoulder and chest. Orange flames exploded from the shield and lit the man¡¯s arms on fire, yet Caroline was knocked back and bumped her back against the wall. ¡°Your self defense class is paying off!¡± Simon laughed loudly and lunged at Caroline with the giant knife dropped by the first woman in the room. And with a forceful full swing, the knife cut into the wall where Caroline¡¯s right hand was and almost got stuck. Caroline took the chance, lowered her body and dished out a sweeping kick targeting Simon¡¯s legs. Simon was clearly inexperienced with hand to hand combat, and was swept off his feet by Caroline¡¯s kick, and before his body fully fell to the ground, Caroline¡¯s backhand shield bash already landed on his face. With a loud thump, Simon¡¯s body was sent flying and flipping in the air. But before Caroline could reorganize her pose, the other male cultist rushed to her side, grabbing her by the waist and violently throwing her to the wall. Caroline felt the shock rocked her entire body and the wall behind her caving in, the dizziness from the shock did not stop her from instinctually blocking the upcoming attack with the shield on her left arm. But this time she was not able to hold onto the shield, as the male cultist¡¯s claw swung upwards, her shield also flew up and out of her hand. This male cultist was not able to maintain the upper hand for long, however. Right after he knocked the shield away from Caroline, Caroline jolted forward and kicked him in the chest with full force. The fiery kick burnt through the cultist¡¯s clothes, crushed his chest cavity and left a burning footprint embedded on his caved in chest, his body flew back and dropped on the coffee table, smashing it to pieces. This kick was obviously devastating enough to severely wound or kill the man, as black smoke started coming out of his body and from under his mask. But instead of forming into a shape in mid air like the first woman, the smoke was absorbed by Simon, or to be more specific, absorbed by the sinister symbol on Simon¡¯s chest. Simon let out a loud roar, with the sound of bones cracking, his body grew in size and dark spider-web like veins crawled through all his upper body, his fingernails becoming thick, sharp and long, just like a humanoid monster. Caroline swiftly picked up her wooden shield and took out the rest of her Demon Suppression Sigils, and was about to strike Simon while he was still undergoing that mysterious transformation. Another similar roar came from upstairs, Kane rushed downstairs through the staircase while holding Alex¡¯s hand: ¡°Go go go! Caroline, are you okay?¡± Simon was non-responsive due to his transformation, but Kane and Alex¡¯s movements attracted his attention. His head slowly turned towards the staircase, then started rushing towards it while growling like an animal. Kane opened fire on Simon, one full shot of pellets on the chest just barely stopped his charging. The next moment, Caroline¡¯s tomahawk landed on Simon¡¯s shoulder. A wave of green energy exploded from Simon¡¯s body the moment Caroline¡¯s tomahawk cut into his body. Caroline was immediately knocked back down and was somehow paralyzed by the green energy. Kane and Alex were further away from the center of explosion, but they were still affected and were paralyzed on the ground. Simon slowly and painfully removed the wooden tomahawk from his shoulder - even though the explosion stopped Caroline¡¯s swing attack, the tomahawk still struck true and broke his collar bones, the orange fire on the tomahawk started burning him from inside of the wound. This made Simon even more aggravated, so he turned to Caroline, held up the giant knife in his hand, and stabbed at Caroline¡¯s heart without any hesitation. Chapter 77 ¡°... I¡¯m sorry, but the person you called is out of the coverage area....¡± it was probably the 10th time Jason called Caroline, but she was still not reachable. ¡°Hey Jason, your friend still not picking up?¡± Tim came over and asked. ¡°No, I don¡¯t know what happened.¡± Jason sighed: ¡°Can we wait 10 more minutes?¡± ¡°Sorry we can¡¯t dude, we already pushed back 15 minutes for you.¡± Brian from the Branston gang told Jason: ¡°We made a promise to our viewers, we must enter now and start streaming.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jason frustratedly rubbed his forehead for a short while, and then he turned to Evelyn, who was not planning to come to the haunted hospital but still came nonetheless and Jamie, who will work with other members of Branston¡¯s channel to coordinate stream shots in the van: ¡°Evelyn, Jamie, if there¡¯s a girl named Caroline came here and asked for me, just told her that I went in earlier, alright? Thank you!¡± ¡°No problem.¡± Evely was drinking boba tea in the van rented by Branston¡¯s crew: ¡°You guys be careful.¡± ¡°Will do.¡± Jason sighed and went into the premise of the deserted and haunted hospital with the people who will be appearing on the livestream, leaving Evelyn and Jamie in the van. ¡°Alright, Branston Gang!! What¡¯s up! Sorry for the wait, but as a wise old man once said: the good thing¡¯s worth the wait! ¡± right in front of the front gate of the hospital, Branston started streaming with his camera: ¡°Tonight! As promised, we are going to explore the famous haunted hospital, whose name was no longer available on any official California government documents - Clearwater Municipal Hospital! ¡°And here we are going to split into two groups, me, Adam, our old friend from the Prime Royals Hotel Jason and his buddy Tim will be one group. And in the other group, it will be Brian, Lester, Jenny, our latest member to the channel, and Ricky, who is also a friend of our friend Jason. Each group will be equipped with one EMF detector and we will keep in touch with each other through our handheld radio. They have a wonderful skit and animation channel named Creative Eye Media, you should go and check them out!¡± ¡°What? Two groups? What is this?¡± Jason grabbed Tim and asked: ¡°Did you know about this? Why are we splitting up?¡± ¡°No¡­ I don¡¯t. But it makes sense right? There are two wings to the hospital, North Wing and West Wing, it¡¯s better to split up to cover more ground.¡± ¡°Motherfu - why didn¡¯t they tell us?¡± ¡°They are always making on the spot decisions like this. I¡¯m already used to it.¡± Adam heard Jason and Tim¡¯s conversation: ¡°It¡¯s okay, we¡¯ll remain radio contact with each other.¡±Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°That¡¯s not what I¡¯m worried about.¡± Jason scratched his head in frustration: ¡°What the hell is he thinking!? We need to stick together.¡± ¡°Hey hey hey!¡± just as Jason was about to go to Branston, who was excitedly announcing his plan to the audiences, Tim grabbed Jason¡¯s arm and tried to pull him over: ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing? Don¡¯t ruin this, or we¡¯ll be out 20 grand.¡± ¡°What¡­ what ? What 20 grand?¡± ¡°The contract breaking fine.¡± Time explained: ¡°If we break our collaboration or attempt to stop the stream within 45 minutes of filming, we¡¯d be in violation of our contract. The fine¡¯s 20 grand. ¡± ¡°That¡¯s crazy! When is anybody gonna tell me that!?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a pretty standard live stream collaboration contract.¡± Adam was slightly embarrassed: ¡°I just knew that as well - we¡¯ve never done live stream collabs before, our lawyer drafted it and it¡¯s completely new.¡± ¡°Shit.¡± Jason paced around where he was for a short while, then said to his hand held radio directly: ¡°Jamie, Evelyn, can you hear me?¡± ¡°Yep, loud and clear, what¡¯s up?¡± Jamie replied. ¡°If Caroline looked for me, then tell her to go into the wing of the hospital where Ricky and Brian are. Don¡¯t come find me unless it¡¯s an emergency.¡± ¡°Understood. You sure you don¡¯t wanna meet up with your friend first?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, she¡¯ll understand.¡± ¡°Roger that, be safe!¡± ¡°Okay! Now, we¡¯re ready to go! I will go with my group to the North Wing of the hospital, where the psychology department resided. And Brian will lead the team into the West Wing. And we will be streaming from both wings of the hospital, with two separate streams! Right now if you are watching our main channel, then you are watching our main stream. If you want to check out the two individual streams, find the links in the comment below!¡± Branston walked over to the side of Adam, Jason and Tim and included them in the camera angle: ¡°Hi folks, say hello to my team! We¡¯re going to kick Brian¡¯s ass in ghost hunting tonight! Let¡¯s go to the North Wing!¡± ----------------------------------------------- In the house where Kane and Alex were staying while they were in California, Caroline was on one side of the living room with only the wooden tomahawk in her right hand, and Simon, with a broken giant knife in his right hand, was standing on the other side at the entrance to the kitchen. Kane and Alex were still lying on the staircase after being impacted by the explosion of the green energy, and judging from the sound coming from upstairs, there was still some enemy upstairs but they seemed to be heavily wounded and were moaning and whining. Caroline¡¯s left waist had a deep cut on it from the knife, but luckily the wound seemed to have stopped bleeding. ¡°You are different now, Caroline...¡± Simon said in a low voice pointing at the symbol one his chest : ¡°I guess it is kinda sad that I still have to kill you for this.¡± ¡°Tell me more about Los Diablos, Simon.¡± Caroline slowly got a hold of her breathing cycles and balanced her flow of Xuanli, she carefully reached into her left back pocket and took out the wooden card with a relief sculpture of a hornet on it, for some reason her pocket was filled with small pieces of broken wood splinters and wood dust and it came out the same time as the wooden card. ¡°It¡¯s not a cult, it¡¯s a family of learning, and power.¡± Simon raised both of his hands in front of him and showed Caroline his bigger than before hands and sharp fingernails: ¡°Too bad, you won¡¯t be able to see it.¡± ¡°So I¡¯m the sacrifice huh. What gives you that idea?¡± ¡°Oh, you wanna know, don¡¯t ya?¡± Simon scoffed: ¡°Too bad, Father Corpius don¡¯t want no backstabbing bitch!¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t backstab you. You hit me and my friend, and you go to jail.¡± Caroline said: ¡°Just like the piece of shit you are. Should¡¯ve kept your hands to yourself.¡± These words clearly angered Simon, as it caused him to lunge at Caroline with full force. Almost the same moment at which Simon moved, Caroline put the wooden card in front of her, with the side of the hornet sculpture facing Simon, the card was fully infused with her Xuanli and was glowing in orange flamely light. The wooden card started vibrating, as Simon approached, and Caroline¡¯s Xuanli continued to infuse it. Chapter 78 The night is gradually getting late, and Jianmen was sitting alone in the inn¡¯s lounge, with two especially tall and thick incense sticks burning in two separate incense burners on the reception¡¯s desk in front of him. ¡°Well well, the elusive Mr. Yu is here by himself. What happened?¡± the figure of a tall young woman in dark jeans, dark purple boots and a dark purple jacket appeared in front of the inn¡¯s front door, and she said in a curious and slightly sarcastic voice: ¡°Where are your students?¡± ¡°Good evening Josephine.¡± Jianmen looked up from his phone and said: ¡°What are you doing here? Need help with something?¡± ¡°Do I need a particular reason to come here? I¡¯m just in the neighborhood and in the mood.¡± Josephine Wong, the up and coming action starlet, sat down by Jianmen¡¯s side, toying with a sword shaped decoration hanging from the metal bracelet on her right wrist: ¡°Looks like a lonesome night, you and I could both use the company.¡± ¡°Thanks. But I am kinda in the middle of an anxious wait.¡± Jianmen smiled and pointed at the direction of the diner: ¡°Want some special rice wine? Fruit wine? Rib soup?¡± ¡°How¡¯s your coffee endeavor going? If you did it I¡¯d like a cup, if not then just some matcha ice cream.¡± Josephine smiled as she watched Jianmen going into the diner: ¡°Don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve heard. I met one of your students the other day.¡± ¡°Coffee¡¯s a bust so far. And I¡¯ve heard. Jason¡¯s a fan.¡± Jianmen took out a whole mini bucket of matcha ice cream and a big spoon with a bottle of light yellow rice wine, ¡°And Caroline doesn¡¯t even know who you are, so on average you are still well-liked by people in this inn¡± ¡°Aww, that also means you don¡¯t hate me, aren¡¯t you the sweetest grumpy old man.¡± Josephine Wong chuckled and took a big scoop of ice cream and pointed at the two incense sticks: ¡°I thought performing divination on a fellow cultivator is not polite.¡± ¡°It is if they are my students. ¡± Jianmen took a huge gulp of the rice wine, ¡°And if they are going through tribulations.¡± ¡°Ouch, I remember that.¡± Josephine Wong made a painful face: ¡°How far along are they?¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°Today¡¯s the ninety-ninth day.¡± --------------------------------------------- As she triggered the wooden card with a hornet relief sculpture, Caroline found out that she grossly underestimated the power of the card and the recoil that it generated: as several bolts of concentrated Xuanli arrow shot from the card and hitting Simon on the stomach, shoulder and face, the card also flew off from Caroline¡¯s hand. Simon tumbled backwards from the hits and smashed a wooden shelf behind him. Caroline had absolutely no intention to waste the opportunity, with concentrated shiny orange Xuanli on her left palm, she unleashed a basketball-sized fireball aiming at Simon. The same kind of green energy explosion occurred, Caroline¡¯s fireball was weakened and pushed aside, and ended up landing on the floor right beside Simon¡¯s left foot. An earth-shattering explosion threw Simon in the air and out of the kitchen window. The explosion also shook Kane up from his paralysis, and after Caroline promptly retrieved the now cracked up wooden card, he and Alex were finally able to stand on their feet. ¡°Come on, come on Kane, Alex.¡± the use of the wooden card almost instantly drained Caroline half of her Xuanli, and the fatigue and weariness was no joke - if she was not holding onto the idea that she had to get Alex and Kane out of the warzone, she would have fainted. ¡°You little prick...¡± as Caroline tried to get Kane and Alex across the living room and towards the front door, a man with a heavily burnt face and only his body from the waist up crawled to the upper end of the staircase and stared at Alex, Caroline and Kane, ¡°Let¡¯s see what you can do without that thing!¡± Then he pushed on the ground forcefully and ¡°leapt¡± towards the Bakers with full force. ¡°Watch out!¡± Kane tried to aim and shoot at the man who had only half his body with only one hand holding the shotgun, the many tiny pellets sprayed all over the target¡¯s right arm but they barely impacted the man¡¯s movement, and the recoil just made the shotgun jump right out of Kane¡¯s hand. And in the next moment, the man¡¯s sharp nails on his left hand clawed Caroline on her face and neck and knocked her on the ground. ¡°Birdshot?! Fuck you Rubin! ¡± Kane cursed at his client and reached into his back to retrieve the handgun half tucked into his jeans and tried to aim at the man, but the man¡¯s movement was too fast even with only two arms, and Kane was tackled to the ground without firing a shot. Just when the man with only the upper body raised his left arm and was ready to claw Kane just like he did Caroline, a fire arrow pierced his left shoulder and exploded, immediately stopping his next attack, almost completely severing his left arm from his body, and instantly causing him to roll to the side and writhe in anger and pain. ¡±Fuck you and your motherfucking cult, dickwad.¡° Kane held up his handgun and pointed it at the man¡¯s chest in point blank range, while Caroline covered Alex¡¯s eyes and ears he emptied his entire magazine on this man. Bullets penetrated the man¡¯s chest, shoulder and stomach, black and green blood poured from his body and slowly covered large parts of the ground. Black smoke rose from this man¡¯s body, but before Caroline could do anything, the smoke shot through a broken window and disappeared, as if it was sentient and escaped out of fear. The darkness around the house started fading away, as lights from the street lights and neighboring houses at a distance began to appear in their sight. Caroline went to her backpack on the floor, took out her flask and took a big gulp of the fruit wine. As the cool and calming liquid flowed down to her stomach, she felt that her Xuanli and the power of her mind and will started slowly replenishing. ¡°Alex, are you okay? Alex!¡± Chapter 79 "Your friend still not picking up?¡± seeing that Jason put his phone back into his pocket in frustration, Tim asked. "Yeah. Sounds like either her phone died or she¡¯s somewhere with no signal.¡± Jason shook his head: "Now I am worried about her.¡± "Well, at least she won¡¯t have to appear on the stream.¡± Tim chuckled, then patted on Jason¡¯s back after a short moment of silence: "Sorry Jason.¡± "For what?¡± "For not agreeing with you.¡± Tim looked at Branston and Adam, who were walking in front of them and telling the streaming audience about the history of this hospital, "The thing is, I understand your concern - about this not being consistent with our brand and dangerous. It¡¯s just¡­ we need a break, I need a break...¡± "I understand. But this is still too dangerous. I actually care more about our safety and less about branding...¡± "... just hear me out - you know I¡¯ve been looking into the platform algorithm?¡± Tim shook his head: "We need a big break - the age of channel slow growth is pretty much over. If our channel still has not caught on a critical mass of viewers and subscribers after one year. The odds of our channel becoming profitable or even self-sustaining will become almost zero. And without a sudden surge of viewers, our channel¡¯s gonna die in the gutter. I mean, if that happened, you can still do good because you are such an amazing animator. But for me - I don¡¯t know if you know about the job market for video editors - it¡¯s gonna be hard. Even in the bay, the job market for video editors is pretty saturated! ¡± "I understand. Sorry.¡± "Can you tell me what your reservation about this was?¡± Tim sighed and asked: "You seem very disturbed by the idea of coming here - and you didn¡¯t explain exactly why. This is one of the reasons that I could not agree with you. Now that it¡¯s only us, can you be honest with me?¡± "The thing is...¡± Jason hesitated: "I can¡¯t really get into it too much, but the thing that happened at the Prime Royals Hotel? Not as breezy as Branston and Brian made it out to be. If we didn¡¯t bring over some enchanted item, we¡¯d probably never make it out of there.¡± "Holy shit¡­ no wonder you are so spooked¡­ what happened? ¡± "Can¡¯t...really explain...¡± Jason¡¯s internal debate almost caused him to mumble nonsense: "... Okay, I can¡¯t get into it too much, but imagine this: you found yourself in an empty and dark hallway, there is no end to either side...¡±Stolen story; please report. "Hey! Jason! Tim! Don¡¯t be so careful! Let¡¯s say hi to our audience!¡± Branston dragged Adam to Jason and Tim¡¯s side and shoved his hand held camera to their faces: "And gang! Here we are, about to enter the North Wing of the Clearwater Municipal Hospital, and say hi to our new friend Tim, and the old friend who found the body in Prime Royals Hotel: Jason!¡± "Hello, Branston Gang, happy to be on the show.¡± Tim put up a smile and said to the camera, and Jason kinda forced a smile to face the camera as well. "The time is now! We are going to enter the famed haunted hospital - officially.¡± Branston swiftly brought the camera to his face and then Adam: "Adam, our dear researcher, tell us about the creepy and unexplained events that happened in this hospital!¡± "Alright gang! The first unexplained event that happened in the hospital, was the mysterious mass hysteria in the early 1930s.¡± Adam started explaining his researched material to the camera: "We actually don¡¯t know the exact time of this happening. In fact, on the official documentations it was never mentioned. The only thing that documented the incident was some old local newspapers, which I found through the city archive. The mass hysteria affected patients, nurses and even a lot of the doctors, which also led to a panic at the hospital. "And the mass hysteria? Get this: for several days, people saw themselves or people around them differently in the mirrors whenever they were in the hospital. For example, one old lady who was just visiting her son in law in the hospital, said she saw herself with bandages on her arm and her head, just for a brief moment. The other example was a young man in his 20s, he saw that a young woman was standing beside him, holding his arm. "If this sounded freaky to you, get this: the old woman I just mentioned? She was caught in a car accident a week later and injured her arm and head. And the young man? He met a girl shortly after and went into a relationship. And if you think he¡¯s lucky, you won¡¯t after you heard what happened to him later - about 3 months into the relationship, both the girl and him were burned alive in their apartment.¡± "That sounded really bad.¡± Tim said to Jason. "Not just bad.¡± Jason said: "We¡¯ve been investigating what was going on in there, right? If people did alter the official documentations of things that happened. And the bad things did not technically happen IN the hospital, but AROUND the hospital, so your quick and simple research did not tell us anything worrisome.¡± "Shit!¡± Tim frowned and cursed: "This is bad news.¡± "... and one of the creepiest testimonies was from a young girl, whose diary got published some time after her untimely death. And she was a patient at the hospital due to a serious pneumonia infection when the mass hysteria happened. As you probably know, here was not much a young girl can do for fun when staying in a hospital - so she brought her diary with her. And in this particular diary, she clearly wrote down what she encountered: she noticed one morning from the reflection from the window by her bed that a figure of someone was curling in a corner of her room. "She was quite curious about the figure, so she actually tried to communicate with it through the window and through passing notes. The figure did not respond to her initially. But for the following days, she started noticing that the figure was getting closer and closer to her in the reflection. And by the time she finally left the hospital, the figure was sitting on the floor beside her bed.¡± "And what happened to her when she went home?¡± Jason asked loudly as he carefully avoided looking at the windows of the hallway they just entered and a small pool of water dripped from a broken pipe up above. "Good question!¡± Branston excitedly turned back, pointed the camera at Jason and then turned to Adam again: "And what happened to the young girl?¡± "Three years later, her home burned down, people found her parents¡¯ bodies inside the house. And she and her younger sister went missing and were never found.¡± Adam finished the rest of his story. Chapter 80 Adam¡¯s story was not really that scary or creepy, in any other occasion, Jason would have probably made a "basic¡± comment. But here in this long and dark empty hallway, inside of a rumored to be haunted hospital, it still gave Jason a chilling feeling. Knowledge and first hand experience made him more worried and perhaps scared, as he started to wonder what might have happened and if it was paranormally related. And if it was, could the unclean presence still haunt this place after this many years. "So, stay away from mirrors and windows?¡± Tim said to Jason and himself: "But we¡¯re in the hallway, we are looking like forty mirrors here. ¡± "So don¡¯t look at them.¡± Jason said to Tim: "It¡¯s kinda¡­ a tip from someone who understands ghosts very well.¡± "And how are you sure these are ghosts? Can''t it be something else?¡± Tim asked Jason. "Then we¡¯ll see about that.¡± Jason reached into his backpack and took out two incense sticks, these were Spirit Calming incense, which according to Jianmen, wouldn¡¯t help if he wanted to drive away evil spirits, but would help them keep their minds clear: "You got a lighter?¡± "You got your traditional Chinese incense here but you didn¡¯t bring a lighter?¡± Tim chuckled and took a metal lighter out of his pocket: "Here.¡± "Thanks.¡± Jason took his hand out of his backpack: "Mine was probably buried at the bottom of it.¡± After lighting up the two incense sticks, Jason felt quite clearly that it worked on him, as his frustration with not being able to reach Caroline, Branston suddenly suggesting the group split up and the situation with the haunted hospital possibly being more serious than he previously thought, started to clear up. Instead, he felt slightly more in control and was able to think about what he would do if things did start to go south. "Hey, I felt a bit ¡­ uplifted. What is this?¡± Tim looked at the burning incense stick Jason gave him, then looked at Jason and asked. "Spirit Calming Incense.¡± Jason shrugged: "Glad it helps. Just hope the rest of the things I brought won¡¯t be needed.¡± "Holy!¡± Adam almost screamed while narrating to the camera: "I saw something¡­ from the window!¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "What? What did you see?¡± Branston excitedly grabbed Adam¡¯s shoulder and asked: "What did you see?¡± "I saw my own reflection ...¡± Adam swallowed nervously: "And someone standing behind me¡­ I couldn¡¯t tell what they look like...¡± "Oh, my, god dude!¡± Branston put the camera to his face and announced to the audience: "I think we just had our first encounter there. Too bad we didn¡¯t get anything on camera. Let me check with Brian to see what he has¡­ Brian!¡± While still facing the camera, Branston called into the handheld radio in his hand: "We¡¯ve got a sighting! What have you got?¡± "We don¡¯t have anything yet.¡± Brian replied: "What did you see? Did the EMF show anything?¡± "No¡­ but thanks for the reminder, I will pay attention to the EMF! Geez, I am getting too excited here.¡± Branston laughed loudly, without any concern for Adam. "Hey, are you okay?¡± Jason went to Adam¡¯s side and asked him in a lowered voice, all the while trying to check to see if there are any worrying signs on Adam: "Are you feeling anything strange?¡± "Um¡­ okay, I guess.¡± Adam shook his head, "Just felt spooked a bit - it was too sudden, and I was not expecting to see something like that.¡± "And neither is anyone else.¡± Jason frowned and lightly scratched his jaw: "The documents you researched, did any of them mention any theories on what might have happened to those who were affected? Like the little girl you were talking about.¡± "Well, there were some notes from a local exorcist.¡± Adam sighed and quickly followed up to Branston: "He tried to exorcise another local boy because of his weird actions after the boy left the hospital. But he was not able to help. The boy¡¯s parents eventually sent him to a local psychiatry hospital. The notes said that the boy was having hallucinations, started sleepwalking, having night terrors and even hurting himself. But the exorcist was unable to do anything because whenever he tried to do exorcism, the boy started behaving normally.¡± "Interesting, and worrisome ¡­ did the notes mention any physical behavior change? Like walking on toes?¡± Jason asked. "Walking on toes? I don¡¯t think so...¡± Adam thought for a while and then said: "Let me check my notes ...¡± "Okay, while you¡¯re at it, take this and don¡¯t drop it.¡± Jason handed his Spirit Calming Incense to Adam: "It should help keep your head clear.¡± "Tim! While we have some time, why don¡¯t you tell me how you feel about this place and tell the audience if you have been to a place like this?¡± Branston saw Jason and Adam talking, so he grabbed Tim by the arm, almost knocking the Spirit Calming Incense out of his hand: "For example, for me, as my viewers know, I went to the Prime Royals Hotel. But to be honest, I don¡¯t remember much from that experience. So I was wondering if you have some creepy experiences you want to share with us.¡± "Umm¡­ I actually don¡¯t have any experience...¡± while Tim was scratching his head and trying to come up with an answer, Branston suddenly jumped and pointed the camera at a partially broken window attached to a room he was facing. "Oh my god! I just saw it!¡± Branston yelled at the camera and his handheld radio: "I saw someone standing behind me outside the hallway window!¡± "Really?! Did the EMF show anything?¡± Brian asked through the handheld radio. "I wasn¡¯t paying attention...¡± Branston checked the EMF detector screen and did not see anything, then he turned to Jason, Adam and Tim: "Did you guys see anything?¡± "No¡­ and the EMF would beep if it detects something.¡± Adam said. "Damn it!¡± Branston stomped the ground with disappointment: "Let¡¯s go in deeper and see if we can find anything.¡± Jason checked his phone for time - it¡¯s only been 10 minutes. Chapter 81 As all four people in Jason¡¯s group proceeded into the depth of Clearwater Municipal Hospital, the sense of unease and creepiness that had been lingering in Jason¡¯s mind grew stronger and stronger. Jason had more reason to believe that things were right with this hospital, but he had yet to see or sense anything concrete. "Branston, a word?¡± Jason lightly tapped Branston¡¯s shoulder when he had the camera handed to Adam. "Yes. How excited are you about this?¡± Branston laughed and came to the side with Jason: "What do you wanna talk about?¡± "We should head out. This hospital doesn¡¯t feel right.¡± Jason said: "And we should call Brian to get out as well.¡± "Hell no!¡± Branston shook his head and refused loudly: "What are you talking about!? We barely got enough footage. Our audience will be so disappointed...¡± Just when Branston was complaining about what would have happened if they bailed out right away, a loud crashing sound came from some inner parts of the hospital, and echoed through all the halls and rooms. It sounded like something metal was crashing into a pile of glassware, or a big shelve of china falling onto the cold hard ground. "Someone¡¯s here!¡± Branston grabbed Adam by the arm and started running down the hall they were in. "Shit! Don¡¯t go in there !¡± Jason immediately grabbed Tim and rushed down the hallway and tried to catch up to Branston and Adam: "Come back! What the hell are you thinking!¡± "Who¡¯s there!? ¡± Branston yelled loudly into the empty hall, like a typical first wave cannon fodder in horror movies: "Show yourselves!¡± "What the fuck?! Are you fucking stupid?¡± Jason immediately pulled Branston aside the moment he caught up and asked Branston sternly and loudly: "We don¡¯t even know what or who that is! That could be something dangerous!¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "Wait, what? What happened?¡± Branston gasped and quickly blinked a couple of times and appeared confused and in pain because of Jason¡¯s grab on his arm: "Ouch! You¡¯re hurting me! What the hell?!¡± "What the hell? What the hell to you! What the fuck do you think you¡¯re doing?!¡± -------------------------------------- "Umm¡­ umm¡­ guys?¡± in the West Wing hallway of the Clearwater Municipal Hospital, Jenny timidly said to Ricky, Brian and Lest: "I¡­ I think I saw something - from that pool of water on the ground¡­ I saw someone on the ceiling staring at me.¡± "Holy shit!¡± Ricky gasped: "Even water on the ground? The pipes are leaking all over the place! ¡± "God dammit!! Nothing from the EMF! We should pay attention to the mirrors and water! If you want to look, look with the camera pointing!¡± Lester said: "Let¡¯s get close to each other, so that we won¡¯t miss it when it next happened.¡± "Guys? It¡¯s too creepy here¡­ can we find a place with light? I don¡¯t think the flashlight is enough here.¡± Jenny asked the other three in her group. "I don¡¯t think there will be a place with light here. Just stick close to us.¡± Brian said: "And don¡¯t look at anything with reflection - if you want to, just tell us.¡± "Great idea. We should always pay attention to anything reflective.¡± Ricky smiled: "Oh my god, if we get footage, that would be sick! Think about this: we¡¯d be the first streamers to ever get ghost footage live!¡± "Fuck yeah! That¡¯s one million views in the bag for us!¡± Lester laughed. "Holy crap!¡± Brian also jumped while he was holding the camera to his face: "I just saw something on the window. dammit I did not get it!¡± "Get closer together! Get closer together!¡± Lester said to all other members of the group: "And Brian, don¡¯t point the camera at any of our faces - try to face the windows and mirrors¡­ and the fucking water pools!¡± "Guys?¡± Jenny seemed to have mustered up some more courage to speak to everyone: "I think we might have missed something just now.¡± "What?¡± "The EMF¡­ it just flickered. But it didn¡¯t blip.¡± "No problem. We¡¯ll get it next time.¡± Lester sighed and turned to Brian: "You got one more camera?¡± "No, that is all I brought - these are the only direct streaming cameras.¡± "I¡¯ve got one with me, only portable though, would that work?¡± Ricky searched through his backpack and took out a handheld camera, if Jason was here he would recognize it as the same kind of camera he shattered on a thug¡¯s head when he was trying to save Emilia Corin¡¯s life. "Damn, that¡¯s a nice one. You know your cameras.¡± Lester, who was the main camera guy of Branston¡¯s channel, nodded at Ricky in approval: "Built in night visionThe only flaw is that it can¡¯t directly stream.¡± "Yeah, but it is a wonderful recording camera. Just use mine.¡± Ricky handed the camera to Lester: "Now we have one more camera, let¡¯s get that footage!¡± "Hell yeah!¡± Lester and Brian both cheered. Chapter 82 Back at Xianshi Inn, Jianmen was chatting with Josephine Wong, while paying close attention to the two incense sticks burning in front of him. If it was anyone else in his place, they might be able to read something else from the situation, but Jianmen was not paying that much attention to anything outside of the mere conversation, and the two incense sticks. "... so, before I forget. Let¡¯s deal with some business first.¡± Josephine laid down her glass of red wine, which was poured from the bottle she brought, and started looking for things in her jacket pocket: "And let me say this once more, it is always a pleasure doing business with you. My people were very impressed with the quality of your prepayment. But I still think next time you can just prepay half and the other half after delivery.¡± "Yeah, but that prepayment was a whole piece.¡± Jianmen shook his head and smiled: "You should know, there¡¯s more where it came from.¡± "Duly noted.¡± Josephine pulled out a long box and a scroll from her shallow and empty looking jacket pocket, "Here you go - one piece of the very best Metal S. Mined from one of the best mines on earth, prepared by our finest craftsmen. And a copy of some of our best non-secret documentation on spirits, wraiths and fog dwellers. Don¡¯t ask around too much, some of them care about their privacy very much.¡± "Thank you. ¡± Jianmen put the scroll into his pocket and opened the box, then ran his fingers through the silver-grey metal rod inside, and then lightly tapped the rod in multiple places, causing a nice and harmonious buzzing sound to come from the rod: "Pretty good! You and your people over-delivered. ¡± "Well. It¡¯s our reputation we¡¯re talking about. We aim to please and we give the best.¡± Josephine chuckled: "And also my people and I don¡¯t wanna get beat up.¡± "Hey, that pretentious asshat was looking for it.¡± Jianmen: "Same with his whole group.¡± "Yeah. Believe or not. There¡¯s more like him than those who are like me.¡± Josephine smiled sarcastically. "So it worked out. Thank goodness.¡± Jianmen opened a drawer in the reception¡¯s table and took out a flask that seemed to be made from a kind of special gently glowing glass: "Here, for you. Consider it a broker¡¯s fee.¡± "Oh, hmmm. ¡± Josephine took the flask and examined it for a while: "I¡¯ve never had a flask before, not to mention one like this. You made it yourself?¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "Yes. Same quality that I made for my students, just not yet marked.¡± Jianmen said: "It¡¯s kind of a really good blank slate. I trust that you can do a better job marking it as your own than I can.¡± "Thanks.¡± Josephine put the flask into her jacket pocket, "Also a question for you: have you heard of something called the Stone of Negation?¡± "No. What is that?¡± "Huh, thought you¡¯d know about it.¡± Josephine lightly tapped the receptions¡¯ desk: "It was only recently brought to our attention that there is this¡­ thing in the world. We had to dive into some really old records to find some very vague mentions of it. Apparently it has the ability to wipe out something from the world? Like removing it completely from space and time without a trace. ¡± Then Josephine leaned in and, one hand supporting her jaw while looking at Jianmen with a coy smile: "Ever heard of something like that?¡± "Yeah, yeah.¡± Jianmen scratched his jaw: "I remember asking you for something like that a while back.¡± "I¡¯ll let you know if I hear more about it.¡± Josephine placed her empty glass on the desk: "How you¡¯re feeling with your injuries?¡± "Still hanging in there. Not fully recovered but at least I can do some basic stuff.¡± Jianmen answered: "If I can get a piece of this ¡®Stone of Negation¡¯, I¡¯d be feeling much better.¡± "Yeah yeah. You and your plans.¡± Josephine stood up: "How¡¯s that going, by the way?¡± "Not good.¡± Jianmen sighed: "I kinda need my students to grow fast. But not too fast.¡± "Care to explain?¡± "I am sensing that the time is near for me.¡± Jianmen looked up at the ceiling: "I don¡¯t want to take any chances, so I need both of them to be ready to help me ¡­ If they are not ready by then, I would need to wait for the next cycle, which may never come. But¡­ it seems like I can¡¯t really rush them either.¡± "That¡¯s interesting. I¡¯ve always taken you as the patient type. I¡¯ve never seen you rush anything. So, besides that, why?¡± "How much do you know about The Will?¡± -------------------------------------------------------------- "Wait, you don¡¯t remember what you did?¡± Jason looked Branston straight in his eye: "You didn¡¯t remember running all the way here?¡± "What? I - I don¡¯t remember at all!¡± Branston struggled for a bit and then just couldn¡¯t hold back his laughter: "I - I can¡¯t - I can¡¯t believe you bought that! Oh! You should¡¯ve seen your face¡­ you¡¯re so concerned...¡± "What?!¡± it took Jason a while to get that Branston was pulling a stupid prank: "You were faking? Are, you, fucking kidding me?¡± "Relax! It¡¯s just a prank bro!¡± Branston laughed and tried to pull his arm from Jason¡¯s grab: "You¡¯re so gloom! I just wanna lighten the mood up a little bit!¡± "A prank huh?¡± Jason let go of Branston¡¯s arm and slowly formed a fist in front of this reckless and inconsiderate streamer with the hand that grabbed him: "That was not funny, not in the slightest. And I will appreciate it if you stay streaming and not do this kind of childish SHIT!¡± "Okay, okay! Geez.¡± Branston waved his hand at Adam to signal that it was not a good time to put him on stream, "How about a sense of humor?¡± "Hey guys?¡± the voice of one of Branston¡¯s channel producers¡¯ came from the handheld radio: "And Branston? The audience loved the prank. Save some for later. Also, a lot of viewers suggested you explore room 3-5-13, it¡¯s on the third floor of the North Wing.¡± "Roger, Kevin.¡± Branston answered the radio call: "What is so special about that room?¡± "That is the room where Nurse Shirley poisoned the three gangsters.¡± Chapter 83 "No, no, no, stop stop stop. TMI, TMI.¡± as Jianmen continued to explain his understanding of The Will, Josephine put her hands over her ears and shook her head: "You know this kind of explanation hurts more than it helps.¡± "Oops, my apologies.¡± Jianmen immediately: "I was too excited.¡± "Yeah, next time, don¡¯t get too excited right off the start. And that goes with anything.¡± Josephine chuckled and stood up, waving away the broken glass and burnt paper on the reception¡¯s desk from a few words accidentally uttered by Jianmen: "It¡¯s getting late and I should get going. Anything else you need my help on? Anything at all?¡± "Yes, I have a request, not super urgent but I would appreciate it if you can find it.¡± Jianmen also stood up: "I would like some training documentations of Paladins. It doesn¡¯t have to be the top secret kind, just some basic manuals would suffice. But of course, the more magical the better.¡± "No problem. ¡± Josephine smiled: "What¡¯s with the sudden interest in Paladins? Another hunt for interesting reads?¡± "Teaching material. I won¡¯t plagiarize, I promise.¡± "Pfft, no worries on that. We haven¡¯t had a mentionable Paladin sect in decades. I would say the few that still exist might want to thank you if you figured something out of their tomes. ¡± Josephine reached into her pocket in search of something: "Payment can be due on delivery on this request, as I am not entirely sure what I or my people can find. And also, I have a favor to ask you as well.¡± "No problem. Shoot.¡± "We have been trying to track down two runaways.¡± Josephine took out two pictures in crystal frames and handed them to Jianmen: "We have some trackable pictures of them. But they are quite good at hiding themselves so these are probably not accurate anymore. ¡± "And you need my help on breaking the cloaking spell? ¡± "No, not really, just keep your eyes out for something weird in the area, if you noticed them.¡± Josephine handed a small piece of golden metal nugget to Jianmen: "My prepayment, I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ll ever need it. But consider it a thank you note. You should know that there are rewards on their whereabouts. So you¡¯ll get a cut if you have any useful information.¡± "And what happens if you find them?¡± "I¡¯ll bring them back to the academy and have them grounded for a month. Maybe manually copy the Instruction Manual 100 times. And hopefully without having to fend off enemies for them.¡± Josephine curiously looked at Jianmen: "What, you have something already?¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. "I did have a run-in with an interesting couple.¡± Jianmen extended his hand in the direction of the diner, a small dog-shaped fridge magnet flew over and landed on his hand, then he handed the fridge magnet to Josephine: "Here. Not sure if that¡¯s them.¡± Josephine gently placed an unseal spell on the fridge magnet, then immediately stared at Jianmen with narrowed eyes, as the fridge magnet had cartoon dog with a cartoonishly lewd smile on its face with a cross depicting its butthole, and a small ball of blue light slowly rose from this cross into the air. "Very mature, Jianmen, very mature.¡± "Well, I didn¡¯t actually mean to capture it. I had to store it somewhere.¡± Jianmen shrugged with a coy smile. "Yeah, that is totally what happened.¡± Josephine shook her head, and she swiftly captured the small blue ball of light with a small crystal ball: "Thanks. This may have been them. Did they say anything?¡± "Something about that recent movie festival, they said the festival is finished and they had nothing to see.¡± Jianmen shrugged. "Of course. The film festival.¡± Josephine nodded: "Yeah you might wanna pay attention to the next one here. The festival¡¯s biggest sponsor is a close friend of ours, and if you¡¯re willing to pay a suitable entry fee, you can get into a yearly underground expo where you can do some window shopping.¡± "Huh. Noted, figured I¡¯ll need some things soon.¡± Jianmen nodded. "Oh, and one last thing.¡± Josephine walked over to the front of the reception¡¯s desk and started walking backwards towards the front door: "Maybe thanks to you, or maybe not, but a certain area in Los Angeles started having elevated levels of paranormal activity ever since the tunnels cleared - some people are dealing with it, but I guess I¡¯d let you know.¡± "Yeah. Sorry. Small traces of karmic pollution may linger around the area and that could be an effect.¡± Jianmen shook his head: "But that would be your problem. I trust that you, your people, and the rest of the world can handle it.¡± "Yeah, yeah. Just let me know if you heard anything. And give my regards to your students.¡± Josephine turned around and exited from the front door, an SUV was already by the side of the road waiting for her. ----------------------------------------------------------- Third floor of the North Wing of the Clearwater Municipal Hospital was quite different from the first floor. For one, it didn¡¯t have as many regular hospital rooms, instead it had a few very big and spacious ones and the others seemed to have old and broken remnants of soft paddings on the wall. And maybe it was because of the smaller number of windows causing less moonlight to shine into the interior, the third floor was much darker than the first as well. "This place is hella creepy.¡± Branston¡¯s voice was trembling, but Jason wasn¡¯t sure if it was due to fear or excitement, or both, "Alright let¡¯s find room 3-5-13.¡± "This is 3-5-9 and 3-5-7, so it should be in front of us.¡± Tim checked the room numbers on the rooms on his side and said, these two rooms were all rooms with the broken paddings on the wall, "And the things on the wall¡­ what are they?¡± "Psychiatric padded cells. They were used to hold mentally unstable and self-harming patients.¡± Adam explained with a frown: "I¡¯ve got a bad feeling about this¡­ the official documentations I read¡­ it didn¡¯t say that there were psychiatry units here. Guess someone doctored those records as well.¡± "¡®Doctored¡¯, ha, nice one.¡± Branston turned the camera to Adam: "So what are you saying here Adam?¡± "I am saying, at least from what I¡¯ve read, that the documents on Clearwater Municipal Hospital kept in the San Jose County and San Jose City archives failed to mention there being some psychiatric cells in the hospital.¡± Adam organized himself a bit and pointed at the camera: "Branston gang - please try searching for additional information on this hospital. I feel like something is very fishy here.¡± "Woah-oh oh! You hear that Branston gang? Do your thing!¡± Branston turned the camera back to his face and shouted excitedly: "Boy oh boy, we¡¯re ghost hunting AND we¡¯re uncovering shady secrets? This is gonna be wild!¡± The next moment, Adam and Tim both flinched and jumped, dropping their Spirit Calming Incense sticks on the ground. "What? What happened?¡± both Jason and Branston asked. "Didn¡¯t you hear that?¡± Tim asked, looking at the other 3 with a scared look: "A woman¡­ a woman¡¯s cries.¡± "No? What are you talking about?¡± Adam shook his head: "I heard some yelling, like a really angry yell...¡± Chapter 84 "Alex! Alex!¡± Kane held Alex in his arms and tried to wake him from his unresponsiveness, "Can you hear me? Alex!¡± "He¡¯s afflicted by some kind of magic.¡± Caroline held Alex¡¯s arm and felt his face, sensing the same kind of grim and cold green energy that exploded from Simon slowly taking its effect on Alex¡¯s young body: "I can¡¯t heal him - Kane, go to the inn I work at, find my boss, his name is Jianmen Yu. He would have a way.¡± "What? You sure?¡± "If there¡¯s anyone that can, it would be him.¡± Caroline thought for a quick moment and took a large gulp of wine from her flask, then she blew the wine on to Alex and Kane - the wine droplets were infused with her Xuanli and its own healing abilities burned away some of the green energy that were on the surface of their bodies. Then she chugged down on the wine from the flask for a while, and handed the flask to Kane: "Take this with you, if you don¡¯t feel right, just take a drink. It should help. Now go!¡± "Okay.¡± Kane put the surprisingly heavy flask in his pocket and carried Alex to his car. Caroline followed Kane, but she did not get in the car, as she sensed the other members of the cult were still nearby, plus, she had to confirm whether Simon was still around or dead. And just when Kane drove away, Caroline heard a light thud behind her. She turned around, and saw a figure in full on black cloak, carrying Simon on the shoulder. "Who are you? ¡± Caroline immediately formed her battle pose, her wooden shield guarding her front, and her wooden tomahawk raised up and ready to attack: "Why are you here?¡± "Kill her! Kill that bitch!¡± Simon struggled while still on the shoulder of that figure: "Kill that bitch! She ruined the plan...¡± "Shut up!¡± the figure in cloak¡¯s voice was muffled and distorted, so Caroline was not able to tell the gender: "Your initiation failed because of your own incompetence.¡± "Initiation? Speak clearly!¡± Caroline tried to get as much information from the two foes in front of her, while she waited for the wine she just drank to replenish her Xuanli as much as possible: "What¡¯s this initiation?!¡± "Kill her! She killed Logan and Keri! Kill that bitch! If we killed her, the initiation can still...¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Before Simon could yell out any more angry words, the figure in cloak karate-chopped him on the back of his head and knocked him out. Almost at the same time, Caroline already lunged at this figure and swung her wooden tomahawk from overhead, aiming at Simon. A huge explosion tore a fissure on the ground, Caroline¡¯s tomahawk strike did not strike true, the figure in cloak dodged to the side with incredible speed, even while carrying Simon on the shoulder, tossed a metal ball with spikes at Caroline¡¯s right side. Caroline was able to turn around and placed the shield in front her, blocking the metal ball from directly hitting her. Yet the metal ball was no simple projectile - the moment it got in contact with the wooden shield, the explosives inside were triggered. Shockwave, metal spikes and shrapnels exploded from the point of contact, covering almost every corner within a 10 feet (3 meter) radius. --------------------------------------------- Room 3-5-13 of the Clearwater Municipal Hospital. Just like the other room with number 3-5, the room had broken soft paddings on its walls and it was faintly more spacious than the other rooms. What also made it distinct from other rooms was that there were some unintelligible writings and drawings on the walls and ceiling. "Gang? Look at these writings on the wall¡­ does that make any sense to you?¡± Branston pointed both the flashlight and the camera at the wall: "Can anyone recognize anything here? Looks like all gibberish to me...¡± "Looks like another language. I don¡¯t recognize anything...¡± Adam shook his head. "Kevin, Abi, can you ask the viewers if anyone noticed these writings? There¡¯s gotta be someone who knows.¡± Branston turned to Jason and Tim: "Hey, you guys recognize any of these?¡± "No.¡± Jason shook his head, the writings looked like just a bunch of random symbols and letters to him as well, but some of the symbols on the wall - they gave him a bad feeling. After a quick time check, Jason found that he just had to endure for another 10 minutes and technically he could drag Tim away without any contractual consequences. Another loud crashing sound made all four of them in the room jump - the source was not only sudden and extremely loud, it also seemed to be really close by. In fact, it was almost like it was right in the next door. "Holy shit! Let¡¯s go and see!¡± Branston was about to rush out of the room, and he was stopped by Jason. "Don¡¯t you fucking move!¡± Jason forcefully pulled Branston back and then asked the Branston¡¯s coordinators through the handheld radio: "Kevin, Abi, have you heard that sound?¡± "What? What sound? You guys heard something?¡± The answer made all the hair on the back of Jason¡¯s neck stand up, but he forced himself to remain calm and asked again: "So, did you guys catch anything weird? Any viewer pointing out abnormal things happening on the stream?¡± "No¡­ everything¡¯s kinda normal, if you guys see something you better make sure you record it.¡± "Huh? Record it?¡± Jason said: "That was an odd choice of words - we¡¯re streaming here?¡± "Yeah, yep, that is what I was saying...¡± "Hey Kevin, can you put Evelyn on the line? I got a question for her.¡± "No problem, one brief moment.¡± "Hey Jason, what do you want to ask me about?¡± "Hey Evelyn, remember my friend Rosa? I asked you to let her come to me as soon as possible if she gets here. Have you seen her yet? I think we need her here as soon as possible.¡± "No, sorry Jason, I haven¡¯t seen her. But I¡¯ll let her know where to find you as soon as she comes to us, okay?¡± Chapter 85 "Hey Kevin, what do the viewers say? What do they feel about the collab so far?¡± on the other side, which is the West Wing of the Clearwater Municipal Hospital, Lester asked via the handheld radio while Brian was handling the Camera: "How many live viewers do we have now?¡± "It¡¯s¡­ not much.¡± Kevin responded with a bit of hesitation: "They kept asking for more - they said you guys have been jumping and screaming too much without any real scares.¡± "Got it, Kevin.¡± Lester said: "Sounded like they want us to go in deeper? We¡¯re actually planning on that soon.¡± "Branston¡¯s group already made it to the third floor, maybe you can try going there as well. Looks like things are more creepy there.¡± "The third floor? Isn¡¯t it where the mass poisoning happened? But that¡¯s in the North Wing right?¡± "Yes, but some of the viewers sent some pretty interesting stories.¡± Kevin¡¯s voice was shaking like he was trying to hold back laughter or enthusiasm: "They said that there were some kinda sketchy things going on in some of the rooms - they are - they were not regular hospital rooms for patients.¡± "Interesting. Let¡¯s go to the third floor then!¡± Lester hung up the radio and tapped Brian on the shoulder from behind: "Hey Brian, let¡¯s head to the third floor. The viewers want more action!¡± Jenny squirmed, hesitated for a while and said: "Hey guys? I am feeling really uncomfortable on this floor already, I don¡¯t think going up to the third floor is a good idea...¡± "Don¡¯t worry Jenny, we¡¯d be fine.¡± Ricky patted Jenny on the shoulder: "This is gonna be fun and epic! I wonder how this stream will blow up when we get the footage!¡± "But...¡± "Let¡¯s go! Quick! Catch up!¡± Brian spoke loudly and led the group to a staircase, causing the formation of the group to change and loosen for a bit, and in the brief moment where Jenny was left behind because she was not as quick to approach the staircase as the others, her eyes glanced through one of the broken windows on her right side, and she saw someone with a bald head, long neck, slim body in patient gown and a pale face behind her. She tried to say anything, she could not utter a word. ----------------------------------------------------------Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. "Alright, thanks, Evelyn.¡± Jason hung up the radio, then immediately completely shut it off: "We need to leave, now. And Branston, stop the camera, I doubt you¡¯re even streaming.¡± "Wait, why? And what was that?¡± Branston was not sure why Jason had such a strong reaction: "We still need to check out the sound, right? What¡¯s wrong?¡± "My friend¡¯s name is Caroline, and I did not ask Evelyn to tell her to come find me when she comes.¡± Jason took out his wooden pen and some Demon Suppression Sigils from the backpack: "We need to go, we need to get you out of the premise and I will come back to get the other group.¡± "Wait, what?¡± Branston seemed to have trouble grasping what Jason said. "The person on the radio, it¡¯s not Kevin! OH MY GOD! Are you fucking KIDDING me Branston!¡± Adam almost threw his notebook and flashlight on the ground: "We need to go! This place is not right!¡± "No¡­ We should not...¡± Tim was silent for a while, and then suddenly spoke with a low and slurred voice: "We¡­ should¡­ not¡­ leave...¡± Jason turned to Tim and saw that his head was down and his arms were drooping in front of him, then all of a sudden, he violently raised his head up and faced the ceiling, with his eyes and mouth wide open and started running towards the door of the room. "Come back!¡± Jason was already on high alert, so he leapt forward in Tim¡¯s direction, grabbed Tim by his collar and forcefully pulled him back. His pull was so forceful that he sort of ripped Tim¡¯s shirt and almost slammed him onto the ground. ¡°Let¡­ go of me!¡± Tim struggled and his speech was still weirdly slurring, the veins on his forehead were popping out and throbbing, his eyes were bulging and the corners of his mouth were foaming: ¡°Let go!¡± ¡°Who are you!? Get out of my friend¡¯s body.¡± Jason stared at Tim¡¯s eyes and with one hand over his neck to hold him down, Tim¡¯s hand began flailing about and he even tried to scratch Jason¡¯s face and arm. But hard as he tried, he was only able to leave some white marks on Jason¡¯s skin, and couldn¡¯t even make Jason bleed. ¡°Jason? What is happening right now?¡± Branston sounded like he was about to freak out: ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Exorcizing.¡± Jason gave a very simple answer, then started chanting a spell in mandarin, taught to him by Jianmen, with one hand over Time¡¯s neck and one hand over Tim¡¯s mouth: ¡°By the laws of Heaven and Earth, all the filth and corruption shall not hide before me. The power of the Will and spirits, heed my call!¡± As Jason¡¯s Xuanli and power of mind and will flowed through his arm, palm and fingers and locked onto something within Tim¡¯s body like a claw made of energy, he felt that something just popped out of Tim¡¯s mouth into his palm. The bizarre wet and hairy feeling did not even make him flinch - with a grab and pull, Jason removed it from Tim¡¯s mouth, leaving his friend coughing and retching while rolling on the ground. ¡°What the fuck!?¡± ¡°What, the, fuck!?¡± as Jason took a closer look at what he pulled from Tim¡¯s mouth, Adam and Branston also had a chance to check it out. But the sight of it immediately made them jump and back off from Jason. Jason couldn¡¯t blame them, for he also saw what he had in his hand, and he also heard the ugly cry it made: it was a grotesque looking small human head covered in blood, with one eye closed and one eye widely open and staring at him, and a mouth that was full of sharp and malformed teeth. Under the head there was no neck, but a floppy and torn cord. The head cried and tried to bite Jason¡¯s fingers, but Jason¡¯s spell seemed to have not only bound and captured, but also gravely weakened it. Before Jason could think of what to do with it, the head crumbled from the inside and melted into pools of sticky goo and pus with a horrible stench. ¡°What the fuck was that?¡± the coughing and retching filled Tim¡¯s eyes with tears, but he still saw what happened as he stood up, and his trembling voice showed how shocked and horrified he was. Jason was just about to answer, but he immediately turned around as he sensed something else was standing behind him. It was a nurse, with the left half of her body and face terribly burnt and her throat slit, standing at the door, blocking their exit. Chapter 86 Jason immediately held up his wooden pen to the nurse ready to fight, but the nurse just stood there staring at them with her eye on the side of the face that was not burnt. ¡°We need to leave. Can you understand me?¡± Jason narrowed his eyes and lowered his wooden pen: ¡°Can you step aside?¡± When Jason tried to go around the nurse, the nurse just moved and blocked him again, without any sign of aggression. ¡°Holy shit, Jason, I¡¯m never gonna doubt you ever again.¡± Tim looked at Jason, then looked at the nurse: ¡°Just let me know what to do.¡± ¡°Yeah, same with me.¡± Adam nodded like he had never nodded before. ¡°My camera is not working... ¡± Branston kept pressing the ¡°reset¡± button on his streaming camera, but the camera just wouldn¡¯t start. ¡°I think I know that you are not hostile. But please step aside, I need to get them outta here.¡± Jason said to the nurse. But after a while, the nurse still moved to block their way when they tried to go around her. ¡°I think she¡¯s trying to protect us.¡± Adam said: ¡°I think¡­ I think she¡¯s the nurse that poisoned the three gangsters.¡± ¡°Yeah, no shit!¡± Branston was still trying to get the camera to start: ¡°How can I get this thing to start...¡± ¡°Please, we need to leave this place. Let us go if you don¡¯t mean any harm.¡± Jason said to the nurse. But the nurse still did not step aside, and still moved to block their way whenever they tried. Finally, Jason had to be forceful, after a bow of apology, he had his Xuanli concentrated on his hands and arms and tried to push the nurse to the side. The moment Jason¡¯s hands got into contact with the nurse¡¯s shoulder, Jason felt a sudden fall as if the floor he was standing on just dropped. And what came with the sudden feeling of fall, was that the surrounding area got slightly lit up by a faint white light, and the room was no longer the state it was in while Jason and his friends entered - the walls had their original padding cushions, the other 3 people in his group were not in the room and there were three beds with one end significantly higher than the other. And on those three beds, were three frantic male patients chained up and tied to them. The patients were shaking, struggling and mumbling unintelligible speech, but they were not able to loosen the chains and ropes for even one bit.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. A nurse sneaked into the room holding a small clay jar, and she quickly opened it and poured some o f the powder from the gray jar into a few paper funnels made from sheets of paper from a clipboard. She then lifted the mouth pieces from the patients and poured the powder into each of the patients¡¯ mouths. The patients almost yelled out as their bodies shook harder, but the nurse swiftly put their mouth pieces back to muffle their voices. Then, the nurse just drew a cross across her chest and stood beside the beds, crying with hands over her mouth. After a few seconds, all three patients tied to the bed shook harder and started making vomiting sounds, thick black liquid started flowing out from their mouths, noses and eyes. The scene made the nurse cry harder and drew a few more crosses across her chest, as the thick black liquid dripped down the floor, she flinched and backed away from the beds. The liquid, however, formed three continuous streams and flowed to corners of the room, as if the liquid has some kind of mind of its own. Another ¡°fall¡± came over Jason, and he was back to the room with Tim, Adam and Branston, and of course the nurse in front of him. But now the nurse was in a horrible situation: three sharp bone spikes penetrated her from the back and pierced her chest. Thick black liquid gushed out of her wounds, as the bone spikes coming from the ceiling outside the door retracted and tried to pull the nurse away. Jason rushed outside the room and saw the thing that attacked the nurse with the bone spikes - a moving and shapeless shadow on the ceiling. Jason barely hesitated for one moment, then he jumped up and swung his wooden pen in the air horizontally. A crescent-shaped silver energy blade shot from in front of him. And before the shadow on the ceiling could move any further, all three bone spikes were cleanly cut off by it. A loud screech came from the shadow filled the whole hallway. Another tall shadowy figure rushed towards Jason¡¯s back with a bone saw in hand, before Tim and Adam could warn him, the figure already slashed Jason on the waist. With a loud cloth tearing sound, the bone saw ripped through his clothes with full force, but just barely leaving a light scratch on Jason¡¯s skin. Jason turned around and backed off, then delivered a front kick onto the figure¡¯s chest. As the figure was sent flying by the force of the kick, Jason thrusted his wooden pen forward, a silver shadow of the head of a spear emerged from the tip of his wooden pen and impaled the figure on its chest. The figure exploded midair, droplets of black liquid splashed all over the hall, Jason was luckily some distance away and he barely caught any on his pants. Jason turned around again to find the wounded nurse, and saw that the moving shadow on the ceiling already escaped. And the nurse was lying on the ground, still ¡°bleeding¡±. ¡°Hey hey hey. Are you okay?¡± Jason ran to the nurse¡¯s side and tried to hold her up, but she stood up and backed away from him, with a single stream of red tears pouring down her face from her eye on the side of her unburnt face. The next moment, the nurse turned into a shadow and disappeared into room 3-5-13. Chapter 87 ¡°She¡¯s innocent. Oh my god.¡± Adam and Tim came to Jason¡¯s side: ¡°And you¡­ are you a superhero?¡± ¡°It¡¯s actually a culti ¡­ let¡¯s talk about labels later. We need to leave now!¡± Jason stood up, searched through his backpack and took out all the incense sticks and Demon Suppression Sigils, ¡°Hold these incense sticks, light them all up.¡± ¡°Here.¡± Adam did not have a lighter but Tim does, so he just took over the incense sticks and tried to light all of them up at once: ¡°What are these? What should we do when they are lit up and burning?¡± ¡°Wait for the smoke. The smoke should help.¡± Jason infused some Demon Suppression Sigils with his Xuanli and then dispensed them to Tim, Adam and Branston: ¡°Keep these with you, throw it on ghosts or any monsters if they get too close.¡± ¡°The smoke¡­ the smoke! It is the smoke that led you to the body in the wall!¡± Branston suddenly pointed at Jason and yelled: ¡°You lied! You clearly know what¡¯s going on! You fucking lied to me! You could¡¯ve told me!¡± ¡°Dude, seriously? ¡± Tim gave Branston a despising look. ¡°Let¡¯s go. ¡± Jason paid no attention to Branston¡¯s whining, as he helped Tim lit up all of the incense sticks and waited for them to smoke. ¡°It hurts¡­ it hurts...¡± moaning voices suddenly started coming from above. Adam and Branston looked up after hearing the moans and immediately fell down to the ground in fear. Jason looked up as well, and he saw the reason why Adam and Branston, and now even Tim fell down on the floor: the ceiling was covered with some kind of hair-like black threads. And from these threads, dozens of small human heads just like the one removed from Tim¡¯s mouth were dangling from upside down from with cords connecting the bases of these heads to the black threads on the ceiling. As Jason observed, almost the entire third floor ceiling above them was covered with the black threads and dangling human heads, like some sort of twisted Halloween decoration. ¡°It hurts ¡­ it hurts...¡± the heads cried in differently distorted and slightly high-pitched voices and when one head got close enough to Jason, it shot from mid air against him. But the next moment, the small human head¡¯s face collided against an open Demon Suppression Sigil. A silent shockwave was exploded from the Demon Suppression Sigil, sharp silver shards made of Xuanli were fired from the position of sigil like pellets from a shotgun, the head caught in point blank range was instantly pulverized, the other four or five heads in the range and the black threads up on the ceiling above were ripped to shreds. Faint cries and moans came from the other heads around them, and the remainder of the black threads and dangling heads swiftly moved away like the shadow with bone spikes.Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Jason took a look at the incense sticks in Tim¡¯s hands - they were releasing a calming and mind clearing scent and a lot of smoke, yet the smoke seemed very non-irritating and even a bit comforting to all of the eyes that got caught in it. Some of the smoke started floating around the floor in certain directions, like the way the smoke flowed during Jason¡¯s visit to the Prime Royals Hotel. There was one thing strange, however - which was that the smoke seemed to be floating towards a window, not the staircase through which they were intending to leave the building. ¡°We should go through the window...¡± Adam said, frowning: ¡°Is that what this means?¡± ¡°I think so. But let me check.¡± Jason took two incense sticks from Tim¡¯s hand and carefully walked towards the staircase, on his way, he saw more of those black threads and dangling heads being revealed because of the smoke, the black threads moved and left a way as he approached, and when Jason finally got to the entrance of the staircase, he noticed that the sight of the staircase started slowly fading away. And when the illusion of a staircase disappeared, Jason could finally tell what it was: it was an empty elevator shaft, extending to somewhere deep underground, he could not see the bottom of it even when he tried to use his flashlight to light up the shaft. Just when Jason was about to leave, he saw that something shiny was reflecting the lights from his flashlight down there, so he pointed his flashlight directly at the location of the reflection. And then he saw more of those shiny things moving up from the depths of the elevator shaft. From the looks of those things - Jason deduced those might be eyes of some sort. ¡°Jason?¡± Tim called out from one of the windows towards which the smoke floated: ¡°This is the staircase!¡± ¡°Coming.¡± Jason turned back and ran to the windowside. The smoke from Illusion Breaking Incense was indeed quite powerful - it not only dispersed the previously undetectable illusions around them, it also showed them the way out of the building. ¡°How ¡®bout that. The incense proved very useful.¡± Jason looked around and found that the surrounding environment looked quite different from before, and that the staircase being revealed was actually the one through which they came to the third floor. Then, he proceeded to lead the entire group down the stairs that were revealed by the smoke, ¡°Let¡¯s go, pay attention to your surroundings.¡± As the four of them walked down the stairs, a shadow followed them from a short distance away. The smoke wound down through the stairs and revealed quite a lot of things they did not see on their way up: the cracks on the wall, the dark stains that looked like age old dry blood, and the dusty and dirty medical waste just randomly scattered around the floor. ¡°What happened here? These are professional grade medical supplies. How can they just be thrown around like this?¡± Adam took a look at some of the medical waste by the side of the stairs and said: ¡°It¡¯s like people left in a hurry...¡± ¡°They were in quite a hurry...¡± Tim and Branston pointed at the wall in front of them, as they reached the second floor. There were a couple big dark markings on the wall, looked like they were left by gushing and splashing blood, and a pair of handmarks, from the shape of them, looked like whoever left them was forcefully dragged away. Footsteps approached, from the second floor hallway and from upstairs. Chapter 88 ¡°Go! Go down!¡± Just when Jason tried to cast a spell to form a wall to block the entrance into the second floor hallway, three shadowy figures already rushed through the door, with batons in their hands. One of the figures attempted to bash Tim on the head with its baton, but Jason was able to block its attack with his wooden pen. But at the same time, the batons of the other two figures landed on Jason¡¯s shoulder and chest, almost knocking Jason down and made him tumble down the stairs. Jason could easily withstand a slash from a bone saw, but the heavy baton hits still shocked and hurt him to the bones - if it was any other person, they could have immediately been maimed. With a heavy front kick, Jason was able to be temporarily rid of one of the shadowy figures, but then the other two figures swung their batons at him and again bashed him on his face and forehead. Jason started seeing flickering lights and stars, his ears started ringing and buzzing, and he lost his sense of balance and direction for a short while. And before he could prepare for what was coming next, one of the shadowy figures jabbed at his chest with its baton and brought him down to the floor. ¡°Jason!¡± Tim and Adam tried to step up and help Jason but as they barely dodged a baton hit from a shadowy figure, letting the baton land on the handrail and saw that the part of the handrail was almost completely broken by one hit, they could not muster up any more courage to help. A sudden loud yell emerged out of nowhere, the nurse with half her body burnt lunged from the shadows and onto one of the shadowy figures, and started scratching and biting her opponent. Her attacks might have seemed chaotic, formless and even a little frantic, but judging from the dark black liquid splashing from her foe¡¯s body, it seemed like her attacks worked. One of the shadowy figures turned to the nurse and started attacking her with its baton, while the figure under the nurse¡¯s attacks was struggling and could not shake her off. The other shadowy figure proceeded to attack Tim, Adam and Branston, and all three of them could do was just helplessly running and trying to get away. ¡°Don¡¯t kill me! Don¡¯t kill me!¡± Branston was the one who yelled the loudest. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Feeling the blood slowly flowing down his face, Jason forced himself to concentrate and fight through the dizziness and vertigo from being bashed in the head - he was able to conjure up a thin layer silver energy shield which absorbed some of the shock from the batons, and thus he was not incapacitated by the attacks. And when he finally regained focus and his form, a arm-length silver energy blade extended from his wooden pen, and he took a huge swing against the shadowy figure that was attacking the nurse. Thick, dark and smelly liquid splashed over half of Jason¡¯s body when the figure exploded from Jason¡¯s energy blade slash. Then Jason held a silver ball of energy in his left hand and swiftly threw it to the shadowy figure that was attacking Tim, Adam and Branston. The energy ball struck the figure on its back, exploding on impact, annihilating the figure¡¯s upper body, saving Branon¡¯s life but also splashing dark liquid all over him. ¡°Get off! Let me finish it!¡± Jason yelled loudly at the nurse, who was still fighting the shadowy figure and rolling on the ground. He felt the severe strain on his limited amount of Xuanli, and yet he mustered up what he could gather and concentrated it on his silver energy blade. The nurse did not understand Jason, or she did not care, as she finally ripped out a huge chunk from the figure¡¯s throat and chest with her bare hands and mouth. These wounds proved to be ¡°fatal¡±, since this final shadowy figure stopped moving and melted into a pool of dark liquid on the floor. The nurse looked back at Jason, still with red blood tears in her one eye, then disappeared into the shadows on the ground. ¡°Thank you.¡± Jason retracted the energy blade and bowed to the position where the nurse was. Then he took out his flask and started pouring the wine down his mouth as he walked down the stairs to find Tim, Adam and Branston: ¡°Guys! Come to me! Where are you?¡± ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Tim and Adam walked up from stairs below and met with Branston, who was trying his hardest to wipe the dark liquid from his face: ¡°Are you okay? You¡¯re bleeding!¡± ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m fine, let¡¯s go.¡± when Jason felt his Xuanli replenished to a suitable level from the wine, he waved his wooden pen in the air and conjured a curved silver energy wall to block the entrance to the staircase from the second floor and the stairs from above. ¡°Let us help.¡± Tim and Adam saw that Jason was having some trouble maintaining his balance, so they immediately came to Jason¡¯s side and supported him by the arms when they proceeded down the stairs. ¡°Please let¡¯s be quick. I really need to get outta here.¡± Branston¡¯s shaky voice indicated that he was scared and anxious to the brink of freaking out or breaking down. ¡°Slow down, dude.¡± Tim said to Branston with a serious frown as Branston walked past them and seemed to have no intention of waiting for them to catch up. ¡°Oh, nonono, can you catch up?¡± Branston turned around and shook his finger at Tim, Adam and Jason from the stairs below: ¡°I can¡¯t stay in this fucking hospital for even one more sec...¡± Before Branston could finish, a loud cracking sound came from below him, the stairs crumbled and fell apart right under his feet and crashed into the ground underneath. Branston jumped towards Tim, Adam and Jason and was able to grab onto the edge of the not yet broken stairs but still with his lower body not yet on the solid ground. Before anyone of the other three in the group could reach out to help him, he tried to reach for his camera that was hanging on the edge, and at the same time the edge he grabbed onto broke again and he fell down below, landing on his right leg. Branston¡¯s scream was so loud, even the sounds of the crumbling building were not able to cover it. Chapter 89 In front of the house Kane and Alex stayed at, Caroline was still standing and unshaken by the explosion, even though pieces of metal shrapnels, metal spikes and sharp pieces of rock were embedded in her arms and legs - her wooden shield only protected her torso and head from the destructive shockwave and the shrapnels from the explosive, but not enough to block other body parts. The figure in cloak lunged towards Caroline the moment the explosion was over, with two daggers with curved edges in both hands. Caroline swung her tomahawk horizontally and unleashed a crescent shaped fire energy blade. The figure in cloak was expecting it and swiftly side-stepped to dodge the fire energy blade without losing much of momentum, and both daggers were ready to slash Caroline¡¯s shoulder and waist. A baseball sized orange and red shadow emerged from thin air and hit the figure in cloak on the chest like a high caliber bullet. The figure was instantly sent in the air, with a noticeable hole on the chest. Caroline tried to make out what basically saved her and knocked her opponent in the air, and as she concentrated, she clearly saw, heard and sensed the true face of what that baseball sized shadow was: an orange and red hornet almost entirely made of her Xuanli, whose stinger and wings were on fire. After this attack, Caroline felt that the wooden card Jianmen gave her seemed to have bent and cracked up a bit more, seeming like the hornet was not only a creation from her Xuanli, but also something that was connected to the wooden card itself. The figure in cloak appeared to be more affected, and even hurt by the comparatively small hole on the chest - as it tried to get up, its movement were heavily slowed and its limbs were trembling and twitching - just like someone under the effect of a vicious hornet sting. Caroline would attack the figure if she could - but her Xuanli was almost completely drained, and the last bit of it was barely enough to support a basic attack. And although she sensed that she might be able to command the hornet, she did not want to just rush and try without being sure that it would work. The figure in cloak struggled to get to Simon¡¯s side, slowly put Simon on the shoulder, got on a truck parked by the side of the road and drove away. Caroline finally was able to sit down in relief, then all of a sudden she heard her cell phone vibrating and ringing - it seemed to her that the truck that drove away had something to do with her and Kane not getting any cell phone signal earlier. After carefully removing shrapnels from her arms and legs and bandaging herself up, Caroline called a rideshare car with Xianshi Inn as the destination. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. -------------------------------------------------- ¡°Gwak!¡± as a silver toad on Jason¡¯s hand let out a clear and heavy croak. A silver energy shockwave was released towards the direction down the stairs - a set of silver stairs that Jason conjured using his Xuanli connecting from the position where he, Tim and Adam were at, to Branston¡¯s position. The countless slim, slender and shadowy figures that were surrounding the silver stairs and Branston were immediately swept away and blown to pieces by the silver shockwave. But even though Jason temporarily had his way cleared, the silver wall he conjured earlier blocking the upstairs and the entrance to the second floor was sustaining heavy damage from whoever and whatever behind it, and Jason almost passed out and rolled down the silver stairs. ¡°Jason!¡± Tim and Adam, who went down the stairs at the request of Jason to help Branston, immediately went up the stairs and held Jason up: ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Thanks. I can walk. Let¡¯s go!¡± Jason was able to catch his breath when he got the support of Tim and Adam. After making sure that Jason could stand and walk on his own, Tim and Adam went ahead and held the crying and moaning Branston up, the all 4 of them tried to go for the entrance through which they came into the North Wing of the hospital. A sense of severe danger shocked Jason when he was just a few feet away from the door and Tim, Adam and Branston already made it out the door. But before he could defend himself, a huge dark green bone spike shot from above, piercing through the ceiling and aiming straight at Jason¡¯s head. Jason only saw the tip of the dark green bone spike, the next instant his body was enclosed in an orange and golden spherical energy shield. When the bone spike collided with the energy shield, the front parts of it were shattered completely into dozens of pieces. And the silver toad in Jason¡¯s left hand let out another croak, a concentrated silver energy wave blasted the remainder parts of the bone spike, shattering more of it into even more pieces. The momentum and impact from the bone spike and the spherical shape of the energy shield delivered a strong push onto Jason¡¯s body and made him fly out the door, almost knocking Tim, Adam and Branston down. ¡°Woah!¡± ¡°What happened?!¡± ¡°Ouch! My leg! My leg!¡± When Jason landed on the ground outside of the hospital, instead of that sudden sense of fatal danger, he now felt a tingling sense of being watched and observed. What was more disturbing, was that the one observing him seemed like a humongous entity, it was almost like the entire hospital itself was watching him. ¡°Go! Go go go! Leave!¡± Jason helped Tim and Adam in carrying Branston and tried his best to rush to the van. And to his surprise, a lot more people were standing near the van. ¡°What¡¯s happening? Who are you?¡± when all four of them finally made it to the side of the van, Branston asked the men and women in black and all wearing strange pairs of glasses standing in front of them. ¡°Are there more people in there?¡± the biggest man in the group asked. ¡°There are four of them, in the West Wing!¡± Adam pleaded: ¡°Please, I don¡¯t know who you are, but please save my friends.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± the man just nodded as acknowledgment, and he turned to a woman wearing knee long dress and two different boots and tilted his head in Branston¡¯s direction. ¡°Well. Here I am as the medic once again.¡± the woman sighed and stepped up to Branston, Tim and Jason: ¡°Put him down, flat on the ground.¡± Though feeling a bit odd, they put Branston down on the ground and let him lie on his back. Jason also noticed that the people in the van seemed to be in a sort of drunk/drugged up state, where they just sat on their seats and smiled while looking at the screens in front of them. ¡°Now, hold still, this is gonna hurt like hell.¡± the woman said with one hand over Branston¡¯s broken leg. ¡°Wait wait wait! What¡¯s gonna hurt? What are you doing?¡± Branston stared at the woman with sweat dripping down his face ¡°Nah I¡¯m just trolling ya. It¡¯s gon¡¯ be fine.¡± ¡°What? Really? What¡­ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!¡± Chapter 90 ¡°Okay, you feeling better?¡± after enduring a long and ear-piercing cry from Branston, the woman in black stood up and backed off a few steps: ¡°You¡¯re lucky you only broke it and not shattered it, that would hurt hella worse.¡± ¡°This could be worse? What the fuck did you do to me?¡± Branston sat up holding his leg in his arms: ¡°Fuuuuck! Still hurting like hell! Do you have some painkillers?¡± ¡°Here¡¯s some painkillers. Look here.¡± the first big man in black raised his hand and showed all four of them a small metal rod, and before Jason could ask anything, bright white light flashed from the tip of the rod, and blinded them for a short moment. Some kind of strange energy invaded Jason¡¯s head through his eyes, and the energy tried to make it to his brain and it was promptly blocked by a layer of energy shield, subcounsciously formed from his power of mind and will. The strange energy and Jason¡¯s power battled for a while, and eventually the strange energy was annihilated and consumed. The battle only lasted a few milliseconds, but it already caused enough confusion for Jason. ¡°Listen to my voice.¡± a soothing, warm and gentle female voice told them: ¡°You just had a really bad adventure at the deserted and under maintained Clearwater Municipal Hospital, some unhappy and mentally disturbed squatters attacked you and you fell down some broken stairs. You are hurt, and you should go home now. You have already called the police and they will help find your friends.¡± ¡°What...¡± Jason wanted to say something but he stopped himself - he knew that these people might have already done something to Tim, Adam and Branston as well as the people in the van. And currently he did not know what these people were up to, so he decided to just go with the flow. ¡°You are now very tired and you will fall asleep soon. Your friends will drive you home shortly. ¡± a tall woman with long straight hair in a suit was the one that spoke to them: ¡°Now, go.¡± With happy smiles on their faces, Tim, Adam and Branston walked to the van slowly. Jason faked his smile and their walker manner and got in the van. ¡°You will now drive your friends home.¡± the tall woman in a suit said to Abi, who was sitting in the driver¡¯s seat of the van, and snapped her fingers. Abi skillfully backed off the van and started driving away. Jason tried to catch a look at those people in black when they left, but all he saw was that those men and women in black dispersed and went into the hospital from the two different wings. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Jason took a couple of big gulps from his flask, then he carefully observed the people in the van with him: everyone, including Kevin, Evelyn and Jamie who met the men and women in black earlier than he did, had calm, weird and even slightly creepy smiles on their faces. It was as if each of them was having a nice and stimulating day dream. When Jason finally drank up the wine from his flask for the very first time, his phone rang, it was Caroline. ¡°Hey Caroline, are you Okay?¡± ¡°Jason¡¯ I¡¯m so sorry. But the place my brother and nephew stayed at¡­ we were attacked.¡± Caroline sounded like she was in pain: ¡°You guys done streaming yet? I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t make it...¡± ¡°We¡¯re done streaming and I am heading back to the inn. Are you OK? How are you brother and nephew? Are they hurt?¡± ¡°I just talked to them. They¡¯re fine. I¡¯m fine. Almost killed my ex, but I¡¯m fine.¡± Caroline sighed: ¡°What happened? You sound hurt.¡± ¡°That is because I am.¡± Jason answered, but when he wanted to talk about what he encountered in the hospital, he noticed that Tim, Adam and Branston started coming to themselves: ¡°Let me tell you when I get back. It¡¯s some crazy shit.¡± ¡°Okay, glad you¡¯re okay. See you back at the inn.¡± ¡°Ouch, ouch.¡± Time put his fingers on his temples, and Adam started rubbing his forehead: ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°What do you guys remember?¡± Jason asked. --------------------------------------- ¡°Boss! Caroline! You in there?¡± Jason rushed into the lounge the moment he got off the van. ¡°Here! In the diner.¡± Caroline answered Jason¡¯s call. ¡°What happened? You smell like crap!¡± Caroline fanned before her nose: ¡°And you look like crap. What happened?¡± ¡°Remember that fucking haunted hospital?¡± Jason put his backpack on a chair and sat down wearily: ¡°It¡¯s truly haunted, it¡¯s super duper haunted. And not by just some random ghost, a whole bunch of ghosts and maybe even the entire hospital was haunted by some kind of humongus monster-ghost.¡± ¡°Ah, that explains the layered smell.¡± Jianmen nodded and gently tapped the table he was sitting at, with an incense burner before him: ¡°Now sit here, both of you.¡± ¡°How¡¯s Kane and Alex?¡± Jason asked as he moved to the seat in front of Jianmen. ¡°They¡¯re fine - little Alex was a bit shaken up by the toxic energy. Caroline cleverly applied some Xuanli first aid and slowed down the infection. And they are sleeping soundly in Caroline¡¯s room.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°And you, how are your channel buddies?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­ very complicated.¡± Jason sighed: ¡°And I think I¡¯ll need your help, Boss.¡± ¡°Before telling me, how about have some tea and show me the human figures and the cards I gave you.¡± Jianmen poured two cups of tea and pushed the cups in front of Caroline and Jason. ¡°Yeah, yeah. Here it is...¡± Jason reached into his backpack, but all he could find was some wood dust and small fragments, then he took out the wooden card that was sitting his pocket and found that it also cracked up and almost broke into pieces when Jason laid it on the table. ¡°Yeah, I think the dust was the wood figure.¡± Caroline placed the six or seven pieces of her wooden card with a hornet relief sculpture onto the table. ¡°Hmm. So both of you almost died.¡± Jianmen looked at the wooden dust on both Jason and Caroline¡¯s hands. ¡°What?!¡± Chapter 91 ¡°The wood figures I gave you.¡± Jianmen pointed at the dust that spilled from Caroline and Jason¡¯s hands onto the table: ¡°Consider them your spare lives or emergency med packs just like those in video games. They activate once you are faced with fatal attacks. As long as the strengths of the attack do not exceed a certain limit, they will protect you from them.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ did you know?¡± Caroline narrowed her eyes and pointed at her broken wooden card. ¡°I sort of knew.¡± Jianmen sighed: ¡°Remember the divinations I did for you? The omens were alarming, that¡¯s why I gave you these to help you protect yourselves. And of course, today¡¯s the 99th day of your first trace of Xuanli.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ what? What¡¯s so special about the 99th day?¡± Jason asked. ¡°What happened to you today was another round of tribulations. ¡± Jianmen refilled Caroline and Jason¡¯s tea: ¡°Now, before you ask - yeah I know, you just had your first round of tribulations and in theory you shouldn¡¯t have another round this soon. But here¡¯s the catch - remember what I told you about your first round of tribulations, about them being gifts?¡± ¡°Yes. And you never explained that to us.¡± Caroline finished another cup of her tea. ¡°I literally couldn¡¯t tell you anything in detail.¡± Jianmen said: ¡°And I still can¡¯t. Not that I don¡¯t want to - it¡¯s actually a passion of mine and something I am quite good at. But you should know, if I told you it will only hurt you.¡± ¡°What? Because we can¡¯t handle the truth?¡± Jason rubbed his eyes in frustration: ¡°But Boss, that might be the case one haunted hospital and a haunted hotel ago, now we are absolutely ready? We deserve to know what we signed up for! And I still have 4 friends in the haunted hospital that need your help!¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jianmen: ¡°Tell me your friends¡¯ names. I¡¯ll see if they need my help now.¡± ¡°Ricky - Richard Paulson. The others ¡­ I don¡¯t know. ¡± ¡°Just write it here. Do you know his birthday?¡± Jianmen passed Jason a piece of paper and a pen. ¡°Yeah.¡± Jason wrote Ricky¡¯s name and birthday on the paper. Jianmen took the piece of paper, rolled it up and buried it in the incense burner below the ashes. The moment he did that, Jason sensed some kind of arcane connection was made between him and Ricky. And in a more mysterious way, something from this connection was projected onto the incense burner. After one or two seconds, he took the piece of paper out from under the ashes and opened the paper up, revealing the mildly burnt edges and tanned parts.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°Yeah, your friend will be fine. Looks like someone saved him.¡± Jianmen tossed the piece of paper back to Jason: ¡°You can call them in a few minutes - shouldn¡¯t be more than 20.¡± ¡°You gotta teach us that.¡± Caroline took the paper and looked at it, trying to find any hint of what Jianmen just said: ¡°How¡¯d you know all that from this piece of paper.¡± ¡°When you reach the fifth layer, I¡¯ll teach you.¡± Jianmen refilled both his students¡¯ tea again while looking at Jason: ¡°This trick just taps into the flow of Karma on the most shallow layer, and its accuracy depends largely on how much you care about the answer. You¡¯ll learn.¡± ¡°Okay. But I really want to make sure they¡¯re safe...¡± ¡°They ARE safe!¡± Jianmen stood up and gently patted on Jason¡¯s shoulder: ¡°So relax! Now, to the basement.¡± ¡°Are you gonna tell us what the tribulations and the ¡®gift¡¯ was?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t just tell you. I¡¯ll show you.¡± Three of them went into the basement, Jianmen snapped his fingers when he closed the door. Scrolls that were hanging on the walls rolled open, revealing sets of new drawings Caroline and Jason never saw before. And the drawings and symbols on the scrolls started shining in a gentle light. The light grew stronger by the second, but for some reason it was never to a blinding level, even when the entire basement was drowning in light. When the light started fading away, Jason and Caroline noticed that they were no longer in the basement, instead they found themselves in the middle of plain with burning grass, bushes and trees around them, with red hot lava rivers and lava lakes scattered across the land, and with mountains and volcanoes covered by dark clouds afar. Winds were howling, ashes and hail was falling from the sky, and lightnings were striking the trees and mountain tops. The air was hot, dry and was filled with the smell of the burning grass, trees and rotten eggs. Every breath Caroline and Jason took, they felt like their nostrils and lungs were burning. Somewhere far away in front of them, with the occasional blue light coming from behind the clouds due to the lightning, they can see a giant shadow of some kind of winged animal creature, with horns on its head and huge spikes on the side of its body and a long centipede-shaped tail. The shadow seemed to be floating towards their location. Seemingly aware of the gaze from Caroline and Jason, the creature let out a low roar. Even though the roar was not loud, upon hearing it, both Caroline and Jason felt like they were simultaneously struck by lightning, burned from fires of extreme temperature from the outside and frozen from extreme cold on the inside. And when they tried to get away from the huge shadow, they found that they were not able to move a muscle. A strange warm and comforting feeling came from behind, easing the horrible pain they felt and breaking them off from their bind. They turned around, and saw around a dozen people advancing on their position, either in the air or on the ground. The first one they noticed from the group was a woman in plain white traditional Chinese silk clothes with a string musical instrument in her hands, and with silk ribbons from her clothes gently floating behind her like some kind of aura. Each of the individuals that this group consisted of was extremely distinct: there was one man with four hands sitting on a flying bamboo mat, a huge fluffy cat with three tails and two heads, and a knight in shiny silver armour wielding a huge battle axe. Different as these people were, Caroline still sensed something similar from them - they could not tell why and what it was, but they were very certain it was not some kind of delusion. This group of people raced past Caroline and Jason, leaving a trail of no longer burning grass and trees, and fresh air. And when Caroline and Jason paid attention to the group when observing from behind, they saw faint shadows of threads and chains of different color from the group that seemed to connect them to the sky. The group rose to the air as they moved towards the direction of the shadow in the sky behind the clouds. And shortly after they clashed with the creature in the sky, another wave of bright light emerged from around Caroline and Jason. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Jianmen gently asked Caroline and Jason as they recovered from the visions: ¡°You felt anything special?¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know what to make of it.¡± Jason coughed and asked: ¡°Is it meant to tell me that we¡¯re... we¡¯re some sort of chosen ones?¡± Chapter 92 Somewhere underground, in a secret facility under a shell corporation¡¯s name. Carol Summers walked into a room with thick and heavy metal walls, with metal chains and cuffs connected to the walls and ceiling. Her underlings were already in the room guarding 4 heavily injured members of the motorcycle gang that tried and failed to stop them while they returned from their earlier meeting. ¡°Excuse me for the¡­ lack of accommodation. You guys caught me at a bad time.¡± Carol Summers sat down by a chair laid by two men in suits behind her: ¡°And I am terribly sorry for your friends and gang buddies. But rest assured the tomatoes in the next season will be quite tasty.¡± The four motorcycle gang members raised their heads and looked at Carol Summers, but no one said anything. ¡°So, here¡¯s the deal. Any of you talk, you won¡¯t die a painful death, and you might even get a safe and secure position in my group. Sound good?¡± Carol Summers said while toying with the spindle-shaped pendants on her necklace and not even looking at any of the four men chained to the wall: ¡°I am quite generous, to those who would like to help me.¡± ¡°We¡­ we don¡¯t know anything¡­ the guy paid cash and always wears a cloak - we can¡¯t even see his face most of the time.¡± one of the motorcycle gang members said in a weak voice: ¡°Please¡­ the only one that deals with the guys was Chapman, and your people already killed him.¡± ¡°Clever, for you. But that won¡¯t work for me.¡± Carol Summers shook her head and took a look at the other four motorcycle gang members: ¡°My offer will stand for the next 30 seconds. I have a business meeting in about 12 minutes and you guys have already wasted enough of my time. ¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know anything! Please! ¡± another motorcycle gang member pleaded: ¡°Please! Please...¡± ¡°Ah, so you¡¯d rather be 6 feet under than working for me? ¡± Caroline Summers looked at all of them and chuckled: ¡°I can¡¯t help but take it as a personal insult.¡± ¡°Please let them go¡­ I¡¯ll tell you everything I know.¡± one of the gang members finally said. ¡°Aren¡¯t you the honorable one. ¡± Carol Summers stood up, with a small piece of crystal in her right head: ¡°But no, 30 seconds had passed, and your intention to lie was quite obvious.¡± The crystal shone a blue silver light, and the four men chained to the walls started violently shaking, choking and retching. In only a few seconds, some kind of silver smoke seeped from their mouths, eyes, nostrils and ears and was immediately absorbed by the crystal. When the flow of the smoke broke, all four men chained stopped moving, the flesh on their bodies shrunk, their hair started falling off, their dried up eyes and tongues dropped out of their heads and their skin was covered with dark marks and dark veins. Carol Summers closed her eyes and laid her left hand on the crystal for a short while, then turned to her underlings with a blue silver shine in her eyes: ¡°Call Ms. Corin. I have some business to discuss with her.¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Understood.¡± one man behind her nodded and left the room. ¡°Clean these up. Bring them to the doctor.¡± Carol Summers handed the crystal to a woman in suit, who placed the crystal in a briefcase, and walked out of the room: ¡°Let¡¯s go, we¡¯re gonna be late.¡± ------------------------------------------------------------ In the diner of Xianshi Inn, Caroline and Jason were sitting at a table, rubbing their temples and drinking tea and wine at the same time trying to relieve them of their throbbing headache. ¡°Oh¡­ God¡­ I can¡¯t handle the truth.¡± Jason whined. ¡°Yeah¡­ Boss, why the knowledge dump all of a sudden?¡± Caroline discarded some more tissue she wiped blood from her nose with. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s actually good for you.¡± Jianmen came out of the kitchen with a big bowl of soup and two small bowls: ¡°Just not too much at a time. Just like everything good in life, moderation is pretty important. And the reason I chose to tell you now, is because only after a certain point can a cultivator learn about The Will. For most cultivators it is when they¡¯re past the second layer to start with going for the third, and for you it¡¯s the 99th day, because of the gifts.¡± ¡°I still gotta ask¡­ if the gift of the¡­ The Will is that much of a trouble and additional tribulations will happen to us. Why do you think we should slow our progress of cultivation?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not slowing.¡± Jianmen said as he filled the two bowls in front of his two students with soup: ¡°It¡¯s more like¡­ like hardening and firming your base of knowledge and power, so when you finally progress to higher layers, you won¡¯t have any latent and hidden issues with your Xuanli, your Dao, and your very essence. Just like the process of taking good care of your body and doing regular exercise before you partake in some heavy activities - you need to be fully prepared before advancing forward. ¡°And the additional tribulations, risky and dangerous as they may be, are also opportunities for those who are ready. So keep a steady pace of progress and don¡¯t rush yourselves. Even the sharpest sword can be broken at its weak spots from improper forging.¡± ¡°God...¡± Caroline scratched her head in frustration: ¡°What have we signed up for, Boss? Why is this happening?¡± Jianmen sighed and sat down in front of his students: ¡°I don¡¯t know. This may be a surprise to you, but I don¡¯t have the answer to this either. I have some understanding of The Will, but that was back in my last world. I have yet to gain a good understanding of this one. All I know is, that your world is slowly changing, and not necessarily for the better.¡± ¡°But you¡¯ll guide us?¡± Caroline looked at Jianmen in the eyes and asked. ¡°I will, until such days come that there¡¯s nothing I can teach you.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°Now, take a breather here. When you¡¯re ready, come to the garden.¡± ¡°Yeah I¡¯m good now.¡± Jason finished his tea, wine and soup and stood up: ¡°Caroline, you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m good as well. Let¡¯s go Boss. What are you showing us?¡± ¡°Here.¡± Jianmen handed two small golden metal balls to Caroline and Jason: ¡°Infuse it with a tiny bit of your Xuanli and keep it there.¡± When three of them walked into the garden, Jianmen led his two students to stand in front of the newly reclaimed land, where the rose they took from the set of the movie Haunting Crescent was planted. Right now, the rose was just emitting flickering light just like it did before. ¡°Now, tell me what you feel about the metal balls I just gave you.¡± Jianmen turned around and asked. ¡°Feels like it¡¯s changing our Xuanli?¡± Caroline raised her golden metal ball to her eye level and observed it in detail: ¡°It¡¯s turning it into liquid?¡± ¡°Exactly. Now remember this kind of metal and how it feels.¡± Jianmen raised his right hand and showed that he also had a very tiny golden metal nugget: ¡°This is called ¡®Metal ¡¯ a special kind of alloy, not that uncommon and not super useful in the civilian world. It has limited usage for people with superpowers and practitioners of magic, sorcery or similar power systems. And what I am going to show you, is this: when it encounters Xuanli, it will melt into it and form a kind of nutritious liquid that is suitable for consumption for almost all kinds of spirit companions and familiars. Here, try to control the liquid and drop it on this rose.¡± Caroline was the first to try, as she knelt down and lightly squeezed on his golden metal ball, and a small drop of translucent orange and red liquid fell from the metal ball and landed on the rose bud. The drop of liquid was absorbed by the rose, and the lights inside of it seemed to have grown a little bit brighter. Chapter 93 ¡°Okay¡­ okay¡­ That is so good to hear. Get some rest.¡± after feeding the rose, Jason got a call from Ricky - who seemed like he was drugged up on painkillers or some other mind numbing drugs. And in a very incoherent way, Ricky told Jason that he and the other three that went in the West Wing were okay and Jason shouldn¡¯t worry. ¡°Exactly 15 minutes.¡± Jianmen looked at his phone and laughed: ¡°Pretty neat huh? Keep working hard and you¡¯ll learn neat divination tricks like that.¡± ¡°Alright Boss. But I don¡¯t imagine we¡¯ll be full on cultivators and maintain a reasonable pace of progression?¡± Caroline asked: ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we just hole up somewhere and only come out once a decade?¡± ¡°Believe it or not, some great cultivators before actually invented the idea of ¡®Hong Chen Li Lian¡¯, which means ¡®The Trials Among the Secular and Civilian World¡¯.¡± Jianmen answered with a smile: ¡°And you being employees here is a good mixed model of that - you will practice cultivation when you are not working and partaking in other necessary activities. And this is the age of information technology, as long as you are not distracted too much, I don¡¯t see a reason for you to not keep working. Also, before you can skip food and sleep on the clouds, you¡¯ll still need to work for me to use the personnel accommodations.¡± ¡°Okay, I get it. So we¡¯re your apprentices.¡± Jason chuckled - when he knew that the other people in the hospital were safe, he was much more relaxed and relieved. ¡°And, also. Before you call it a day. Follow me to the basement again.¡± Jianmen snapped his fingers as if he just thought of something: ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be a good cultivation master, if I did not have a personal library.¡± When they entered the basement again, Jianmen lightly clapped his hands, and with the sound of bricks and metal chunks moving, a part of the ground opened up downwards and showed some stairs leading to deeper underground. And when three of them walked down the stairs, simple and elegant paper lamps hanging on both sides of the stairs started lighting up. After they walked through a short underground aisle, they entered into a spacious multi-layer room, where each layer is connected with stairs and bookshelves were located on each layer. ¡°The first layer is filled with the books you CAN read and CAN understand. The second layer is for books you CAN read but probably won¡¯t understand unless you¡¯re at least a 4th layer cultivator . And on the third layer if you can go up on it you can read it.¡± Jianmen pointed at three layers and said: ¡°They are organized already. So feel free to come here and read anytime. You can bring the books anywhere in this inn, but never bring any books out.¡± ¡°What happens if the basement is locked?¡± Jason asked: ¡°Like a few weeks back? Any other entrance?¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°You like reading, good. You can come here through any door you want. As long as you concentrate.¡± Jianmen smiled and pointed at Jason with an approving smile, then he pointed at another door at the corner of the room: ¡°And, that¡¯s a new room, you can practice spells and combat techniques in there if you¡¯re so inclined. Don¡¯t worry about damaging the books. Unlike other libraries, food and drinks are actually welcome in here.¡± ¡°Huh? Why?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°If you pay enough attention when you read, you¡¯ll get hungry soon. ¡± Jianmen walked to the wall in front of a bookshelf: ¡°And here¡¯s a neat trick for you.¡± Then he gently knocked on the wall and said: ¡°Rice wine, one bottle.¡± The wall opened up a round hole and revealed a bottle of rice wine on a small platform, and the hole closed up as it was never there when Jianmen took the bottle out. ¡°You see, I¡¯m kind of a bad boy, a rebel and a free spirit.¡± Jianmen showed off the bottle in his hand: ¡°I built a food and drink teleporter connected to the diner fridge in my friggin¡¯ library. I hope you can enjoy it as much as I do!¡± ----------------------------------------- After a good night¡¯s sleep on the temporary folding bed, Caroline woke up refreshed, but still with a heavy mind. Kane and Alex were still asleep on her bed - the cleansing and calming spell Jianmen cast on them yesterday was quite effective and potent - they had already slept for straight 14 hours, and at least from the looks on their faces they were quite well rested. And this still presented her a new problem - they were no longer in danger of being attacked by the gang of cultists, but she then had to explain to them about the nature of being a cultivator and the risks and dangers it entails. What is also worrying, was the story shared by Jason last night and the follow up information provided by Jianmen. Apparently, there were some organizations, both living underground and somewhere on the surface. Jianmen could not tell who those men and women in black were, but he did enlighten them on some pretty explosive and worrisome information regarding this world: that besides them cultivators, and the occasional super-powered individuals they encountered before, there were also other groups of people in the world who wield supernatural powers. These groups include wizards, witches, some other creatures and mythical beings from folklores and legends and even beings they¡¯d never heard of before. And what Jianmen was alluding to, was not only the fact that the world she and Jason were in was changing, but also the fact that there had always been a supernatural side to this world, where many secrets and dangers lay, and by which great risks are posed to Kane and Alex. And on another side, Jason was having similar thoughts and worries, but his worries were not as focused on the fact that there were other supernatural beings in this world, but more on the fact that the world seemed to be much more dangerous than he previously thought. This is the reason that he woke up early, and stayed in a meditation state since - he had a pretty bad gut feeling that something was going on with his family, but it was still early and he did not want to just rush home. His phone rang, waking him up from his meditation. ¡°Hey Jason?¡± it was Mack, his younger brother, ¡°You told me to call you if I notice something weird?¡± ¡°Yeah, what happened?¡± ¡°Mom and dad - they started sleepwalking, and it¡¯s kinda freaking me out. ¡± Mack¡¯s voice was shaking over the phone: ¡°Can you come home? They¡¯re home at the moment and I tried to stall them and convince them to stay home but I think they still want to get on with their plans this afternoon. So please come home as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Got it. I¡¯m on my way. Don¡¯t let them leave yet.¡± Jason put down his phone and immediately rushed out the door, almost bumping into Caroline on the way. ¡°Jason, Erika called, they finally did a thorough examination of the corpse from the hotel. I¡¯m heading to San Francisco. You coming?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ this is super bad timing. My brother just called me, there¡¯s something going on with my parents. I need to get back as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Hmm. Okay, just go then. I¡¯ll let you know if I find anything.¡± Caroline sighed and patted Jason on the shoulder: ¡°Good luck.¡± ¡°Yeah. And you too.¡± Chapter 94 ¡°Have fun investigating. Be careful, it takes time to craft another set of wooden figures to die for you. So, don¡¯t die.¡± when Caroline and Jason prepared their backpacks again and were about to leave the inn at almost the same time, Jianmen said to them while playing on his phone from behind the receptions¡¯ desk. ¡°Can you take care of Kane and Alex and keep them here while I¡¯m gone?¡± Caroline walked to the reception¡¯s desk and asked. ¡°Kane is a grown man so it''s kinda hard to respectfully do that if he insists on leaving.¡± Jianmen put down his phone and said: ¡°But I¡¯ll tell him that you¡¯d like him to stay. You have ¡®the talk¡¯ with him yet?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Jason was confused for a brief moment. ¡°You know? The talk?¡± Jianmen laid back on his chair: ¡°¡®Hey mom and dad and family. I¡¯m a cultivator with super power capabilities. Ghosts and monsters are real and I¡¯m probably not gonna give you grandkids in a few decades.¡¯?¡± ¡°Umm¡­ yeah¡­ no...¡± Jason hesitated: ¡°My younger brother kinda knew a little. But my parents don¡¯t know anything yet. But I kinda need to tell them today.¡± ¡°Okay, just be tactful and avoid showing off.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°And come back early, additional lesson tonight, I¡¯ll teach you how to craft a protection array around a place. Figured that you would want to know about that.¡± ¡°Thanks Boss. I¡¯m about to check on that corpse we found from the hotel, any advice?¡± ¡°Keep your phone charged and take pictures. I¡¯m no necromancy expert but I can still give you some pointers.¡± Jianmen pointed at the diner: ¡°Have you filled your flasks?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Okay, go then. Be careful.¡± It did not take much time for Jason to arrive at his parents¡¯ house, as the early traffic had yet to reach its peak. ¡°Jie, what a surprise. What brings you here?¡± Jason¡¯s mother opened the door and let him in: ¡°Have you eaten breakfast yet? I have some steamed buns on the stove. ¡± ¡°Maybe a bit later. Mom, are you feeling already? You look tired.¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing, no worries.¡± Jason¡¯s mother showed him the sofa: ¡°It¡¯s just that you father and I had been having a little bit of trouble sleeping recently.¡± ¡°Dad, Jason¡¯s here. ¡± Mack¡¯s voice came from the other room, ¡°Let¡¯s go and meet him. I invited him for tea.¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Ah, Jie, what brings you here?¡± Jason¡¯s father walked into the living room with a tea cup in his hand, also looking tired and slightly sleep deprived: ¡°How are you feeling? How¡¯s your job at the inn?¡± ¡°It¡¯s good. Reasonable hours and pay. I got food and a place to stay. If you calculate the savings on living expenses, I am actually saving tons of money for myself. ¡± ¡°Good, good. Glad to hear you are doing good.¡± Jason¡¯s father sat down in front of him and said: ¡°As long as you can support yourself, I¡¯m happy for you.¡± ¡°Thanks Dad, that means a lot. But I didn¡¯t come just for tea.¡± Jason slowly picked up the cup of tea his mother put in front of him: ¡°I heard that you are having trouble sleeping? What is happening? You didn¡¯t tell me much last time I called you when you were in Los Angeles. ¡± ¡°Ah, it¡¯s nothing to worry about. Just that we¡¯re old now and you know old people don¡¯t need as much sleep.¡± Jason¡¯s mother sat down by his father. ¡°Yeah. But that does not mean you don¡¯t sleep at all.¡± Jason frowned: ¡°Did you go to the doctor?¡± ¡°We did, they didn¡¯t find anything.¡± Jason¡¯s mother said: ¡°Just need some medication and light exercise.¡± ¡°Yeah, mom I don¡¯t think that¡¯s working.¡± Mack said while sitting on an arm of the sofa: ¡°You still look very tired.¡± ¡°The process of relief is like the process of de-threading. Just be patient.¡± Jason¡¯s father dismissed Mack¡¯s concern with a hand wave: ¡°We just need some light exercise! We¡¯ll go hiking with some friends this afternoon, both of you should join us.¡± ¡°No, Dad, you¡¯re not getting better. You were sleepwalking last night!¡± Mack got off the arm of the sofa, appearing to be a bit upset: ¡°This is not good! That¡¯s why I asked Jason to come back and help. This is important!¡± ¡°What? Sleepwalking? How?¡± Jason¡¯s father appeared to be genuinely surprised. ¡°Yeah, Yan, what are you talking about?¡± ¡°Here.¡± Mack showed a video on his phone to his parents and Jason. From the looks of it, it was he and Jason¡¯s parents in sleepwear circling the living room during late night. ¡°When is this?¡± Jason¡¯s parents finally became concerned and even somewhat horrified. ¡°Just last night. I woke up thirsty and wanted some water.¡± Mack pulled back his phone: ¡°And this is the first time I saw you do this. I don¡¯t even know how long you¡¯ve been doing it!¡± Jason and Mack¡¯s parents sat back on the couch and stayed silent for a short while, then their mother asked: ¡°What do you think we should do? ¡± ¡°We should make another appointment with Doctor Lee...¡± Jason and Mack¡¯s father wanted to get up and get his phone. ¡°That won¡¯t help.¡± Jason stood up, extended his right hand towards his parents and said firmly: ¡°Show me your hands.¡± His parents were confused, but still held up their hands to Jason¡¯s. Revisiting the spell and the use of Xuanli as well as the power of mind and will in his mind, Jason took a deep breath and then activated the spell silently. A chilly and a bit depressing feeling came over Jason¡¯s mind, as Jason looked over his parents, he saw two small clouds of cold, black smoke above their heads. And from the clouds of smoke, small tendrils extended from it were wrapping around his parents¡¯ head, ear and neck. The moment Jason saw the black smoke, the black smoke seemed to notice that Jason as well. The small clouds of black smoke retracted its tendrils and were starting to move away, also revealing extremely thin black lines connecting these clouds to something in the other room. Jason immediately grabbed onto both clouds of black smoke with Xuanli concentrated on his hands to prevent them from moving away. ¡°Ah!¡± ¡°What happened!?¡± Jason¡¯s parents seemed to endure a sudden pain from Jason¡¯s actions, which caused Jason to flinch and almost let go of the black smoke. ¡°Just hang on a second.¡± Jason clenched his hands, and pulverized the black smoke captured by him. His parents twitched and squirmed in pain, and the thin lines from the smoke started retracting to the other end. Jason immediately hop over to go after the retracting black lines after hastily telling Mack to take care of their parents. As Jason caught up to the retracting black lines, he saw that the lines went back into his parents¡¯ bedroom. When he busted into the room, he saw a vague shadow of human shape coming out from the closet. Even from a bit of distance, he could still make out that the shadow looked a lot like the ones he and Caroline battled when they were trapped in the limbo in the Prime Royals Hotel. The shadow saw Jason busting in, and tried to make a run for the window, but it did not get a chance to, as Jason already activated a Demon Suppression Sigil, and a powerful silver energy shock wave blew through the room and tore that shadow into pieces and then tiny harmless particles. When Jason got back to the living room, he was relieved to find that his parents were sitting on the sofa and staring at his direction, with concern and worry on their faces. Chapter 95 ¡°Hey Erika. What have you got for me?¡± Caroline went straight into the slightly chilly forensics lab in the SFPD precinct she and Jason visited last time and asked, but then she found that she was in the lab with the other lab technician, Jeremy, ¡°And hello to you as well, Jeremy.¡± ¡°Hi, thanks for coming, where¡¯s your friend? Jason?¡± Erika asked. ¡°He had some family stuff - so I¡¯ll be taking notes for both of us for now.¡± Caroline took out her phone and opened a note taking app: ¡°What do you want to show me?¡± ¡°Jeremy, show her what we found.¡± Erika turned to Jeremy and said: ¡°I think it¡¯s best you explain it.¡± ¡°Okay. So from what I heard, Erika already told you that this corpse is actually two different partial corpses stitched together?¡± Jeremy opened up his laptop and projected his screen on the big TV on the wall, showing a 3-D model of the corpse: ¡°So that is the result of our ultrasound scan, we can¡¯t really use x-ray because that is too expensive and we need to bring it to a dedicated lab for it, and wait at least two weeks. Can you imagine? Only two x-ray scanners for the entire SFPD...¡± ¡°Jeremy?! Focus. ¡± Erika had to cut Jeremy off. ¡°Oh yeah. Sorry.¡± Jeremy operated on his laptop and zoomed in on the crack running through the middle of the corpse: ¡°So, you can see, this crack here is where the two partial corpses were stitched together, it is a very smooth and straight line, and the bodies¡¯ positions were quite symmetric, meaning whoever did this was quite precise. ¡°And one interesting thing we found only through ultrasound imaging is this. Here are the two hands that are still under the chains - take a look at the fingers, it looks like a...¡± ¡°... pinky swear?¡± Caroline looked at the screen with a frown: ¡°Is this some kind of sick joke?¡± ¡°Not sure. But it is kinda awesome¡­ I mean creepy.¡± Jeremy corrected himself and then zoomed in to the torso of the corpse: ¡°You see these two round shapes? We think it might be the same coin that was taken by Dr. Nguyen from these corpses¡¯ mouths.¡± ¡°We tried to run some dating tests on the two different corpses. One was older than the other, but they were both at least from three to four decades ago.¡± Erika explained: ¡°Since we all saw what happened to Dr. Nguyen, we think it might be safe if we don¡¯t touch the coins, and we want you to come help us understand this - before Captain ships the whole thing to some other precincts.¡±This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°What? Can he do that?¡± ¡°He can, and he is already contacting other precincts.¡± Erika shrugged: ¡°We don¡¯t have a forensic scientist, we as technicians can¡¯t even do an in-depth check on this corpse. We had to borrow forensic scientists from other precincts for a couple of weeks now. Which reminds the - people from the hotel seemed to have stopped pushing so hard to get it back now for some reason. I think the city may have leaned in on them.¡± ¡°Okay, let me know what else you find. I¡¯m afraid that the longer the corpse stays in your precinct the more danger you will be in.¡± Caroline sighed and said: ¡°Please share as much with me as possible. I¡¯ll try my best to help. But before that, how are you feeling? Are you guys doing good? Lost any sleep recently?¡± ¡°Huh, how¡¯d you know?¡± Jeremy asked, ¡°I just switched the brand of my coffee at home - that stuff is crazy strong, I took a sip two nights before and I couldn¡¯t fall asleep the whole night...¡± ¡°Not that kind.¡± Caroline cut Jeremy off: ¡°Like you are tired but something grim and dark is keeping you awake?¡± ¡°Grim and dark¡­ ¡± Erika scratched her jaw and said: ¡°Well, when we first found that the body was actually two halves stitched together, I did have some uncomfortable dreams, but now I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°And where is that body now?¡± ¡°It¡¯s in the morgue, one of the frozen chambers.¡± ¡°Okay, and who has access to it? Other than you two, who will be examining it?¡± ¡°Yeah, technically whoever has access to the morgue has access to it. But we can ask the Captain to lock it down if you¡¯re so worried.¡± Erika said. ¡°Wait, do you really think there¡¯s something supernatural about the corpse?¡± Jeremy asked, ¡°I know the thing with Dr. Nguyen is super weird¡­ but Erika you know her, she¡¯s really into ancient artifacts and antiques, maybe she just had an outburst of nerdom.¡± ¡°No¡­ that look in her eyes, she looked a bit... deranged.¡± Erika shook her head and turned to Caroline: ¡°I¡¯ll try to convince Captain to lock it up for a bit longer. But do you have any idea how to deal with it?¡± ¡°I will need to take a look at it first. Last time we did not get to look at it too thoroughly.¡± Caroline paced in the lab for a few moments and then raised her phone: ¡°Let me give my friend and teacher a call and see if they can come and help.¡± ¡°Hmm, you have a teacher?¡± Erika asked curiously. ¡°Yeah, and he¡¯s also my boss.¡± Caroline first dialed Jason¡¯s number. ¡°Hey Caroline, I was just about to call you.¡± Jason seemed to be on some kind of vehicle as there were traffic sounds in the background: ¡°Things are pretty bad - I just killed a fucking ghost that latched on my mother¡¯s traditional dress. I told them to go to the inn and wait for me there. I am on my way to San Francisco, are you still there?¡± ¡°Yes I am still here in the forensics lab. How soon will you be here?¡± ¡°I just hopped on a slow train. So it¡¯ll be 45 minutes until I get to the station. So I¡¯d say at least one hour.¡± ¡°Geez, just try to be here. I¡¯ll wait here, I¡¯ll call Boss as well.¡± Caroline sighed. ¡°What¡¯s the update? Have they found anything?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll text you my notes. It¡¯s quite a lot of information.¡± ¡°Okay, stay safe. I¡¯ve got a bad feeling.¡± ¡°Yeah, me too. See you at the precinct.¡± Chapter 96 ¡°I am dealing with something right now. Even if I could find Dave now he¡¯s not going to be at the inn for a few hours.¡± Jianmen refused to come over when Caroline called him: ¡°Unless you are in urgent trouble or you find something serious, I cannot come right away. ¡± ¡°Okay, Boss, but we¡¯ll really need your help here soon. We could use your pointers and guidance.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m still not an expert on necromancy.¡± Jianmen said after a short pause: ¡°Just send me pictures or any other question you have. You are a cultivator now, trust your instincts and your abilities.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know that Boss, thanks for the encouragement.¡± Caroline sighed: ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ I have a really bad feeling about the body here - maybe because I am over paranoid because of the cultists.¡± ¡°Nonono, trust your guts.¡± Jianmen said, after another short pause: ¡°If you feel something is not right, then be extra cautious and careful. ¡± ¡°Thanks Boss, but you¡¯ll be here if I called?¡± ¡°Yeah. And tell you what, since you just had experiences where your phone doesn¡¯t work. So I already blessed our phone connection - you can always reach me whenever and wherever.¡± ¡°What? You can do that? How?¡± ¡°Simple trick. You will be able to do it when you¡¯re at the 4th layer.¡± ¡°Ok, thanks Boss.¡± Caroline hung up the phone. ¡°So¡­ your teacher¡¯s not coming?¡± Jeremy asked: ¡°Is he ... a paranormal expert or something?¡± ¡°He¡¯s not really an expert. But he knows a lot.¡± Caroline shrugged and rolled her eyes. ¡°Okay, while we wait, let¡¯s update you on the Dr.Nguyen situation.¡± Erika sighed and scratched her brows.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Erika, you don¡¯t have to do this. I can give her the update.¡± Jeremy said. ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t worry about me. I want justice for Dr. Nguyen, just like the rest of the people in this precinct.¡± Erika took a deep breath and stood up and looked at Caroline: ¡°And this is where we actually need your help.¡± ¡°Okay. Lay it on me and spare no detail. ¡± Caroline nodded. ¡°You already know, that the hand your friend found in the dumpster belongs to Dr. Nguyen.¡± Erika pointed at Jeremy, telling Jeremy to put something else on the TV in the lab: ¡°People from SJPD ran some tests on it already, and they shared their reports with us.¡± At the same moment, Jeremy projected parts of a document on the TV, with highlights and gruesome pictures of a rotten severed hand on the side. ¡°Holy crap, this looks gross - I mean bad.¡± Caroline was somewhat disgusted by what she saw. ¡°Yeah it was gross and really bad.¡± Erika shook her head and continued: ¡°Believe it or not, the SJPD was under the impression that the hand had been dead for around a month - which is quite impossible, since Dr. Nguyen was not missing for that long - even if it is true - she had to be dead immediately after she disappeared.¡± ¡°Not to mention that the garbage container was collected three days before your friend found it.¡± Jeremy said: ¡°And this is where we are really confused: if she¡¯s been dead that long, any normal killer would have abandoned it a long time ago. And if there¡¯s no foul play, why would a single hand show up there? And here¡¯s something disturbing: there was no apparent wound on the bones. It looked like it just kinda¡­ fell off.¡± ¡°Yeah. And we did some scraping tests on the bones, because we noticed that the hand looked really strange.¡± Erika said: ¡°The bones were really really brittle, and almost completely hollow without any bone marrow.¡± ¡°And I assume this is where you want my help.¡± Caroline rubbed her forehead and said: ¡°Yeah unfortunately I cannot tell you anything about that. The only thing I can tell you - and please don¡¯t tell anyone else just yet - is that my theory is that she was possessed by a powerful unclean being. ¡± ¡°Possessed? Did you say possessed?¡± Jeremy hesitated and then scoffed: ¡°And¡­ unclean being? What does that even mean?¡± ¡°Ghosts, evil spirits. ¡± Caroline explained: ¡°Yeah, Jeremy, don¡¯t dismiss it right away, you saw what Dr. Nguyen looked like when she took out that coin from the corpses¡¯ mouth. She was influenced by something and you know it.¡± ¡°Also, do you remember, we found freshly shed hair and teeth from her sink when we got to her apartment? That is what happens when someone is possessed by a strong evil spirit - the vessel cannot contain or even endure the corruptive power of the spirit and it starts to die the instant the possession takes place and its vitality starts being consumed.¡± Caroline tried to recite what she heard when she casually asked Jianmen about possession before during lunch: ¡°Therefore, the hair, the teeth, and now the hand, are all symptoms of the decay of Dr. Nguyen¡¯s body.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Erika and Jeremy both went silent for a short while with concerned looks on their faces, then Erika asked: ¡°Assuming that you¡¯re right on this, what should we do? What will you and your friend do?¡± ¡°First of all, we need to take a look at the corpse when Jason gets here. Can you show me some pictures?¡± ¡°Yeah, give me a second, we took quite a lot of pictures.¡± Jeremey got back to his laptop, and it did not take him too long to find some pictures to project onto the TV. ¡°Wait, those chains, looks like there are symbols etched on them?¡± Caroline pointed her phone to the TV screen and snapped a few shots of the screen: ¡°Can you zoom in on those?¡± When Jeremy made the TV display zoom in on the metal chains around the corpse, and Caroline got to see some of the symbols clearly up close - and some of the symbols looked kinda familiar to her. Chapter 97 ¡°Oh my god. Are they okay?¡± at the door of the morgue, Caroline said to Jason after he told her about what he encountered at his parents¡¯ house. ¡°I can¡¯t tell. They looked okay but really tired, so I just asked Mack to drive them to the inn.¡± Jason shook his head: ¡°And then I just came immediately - something about this and the Prime Royals Hotel just smelled too dangerous.¡± ¡°Yeah, I have the same feeling.¡± Caroline frowned. ¡°You guys can come in now. Sorry for the wait.¡± Erika and Jeremy opened the door to let Caroline and Jason in, ¡°Just procedure - we had to sweep the room just in case there is some secretive or infectious stuff.¡± ¡°Hey, totally understand. My ex from college was a med student.¡± Jason smiled and went into the room with Caroline, and not far from the door, the same chained corpse that he and Caroline pulled from the wall in the Prime Royals Hotel was lying on an operating table with white cloth on its side. The corpse was emitting cold mist because it was just pulled from one of the frozen chambers ¡°Okay, what do you want to do?¡± Erika asked with arms crossed: ¡°If this thing is as dangerous as you said, we for sure cannot let anyone touch it. And we certainly cannot let the Captain send the corpse to other precincts.¡± ¡°Well, the first thing is the coins inside.¡± Caroline asked Jason: ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone should touch it. Let¡¯s try and see if we can sense something?¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll do it?¡± Jason asked. ¡°You¡¯re the one more spectrally in-tune.¡± Caroline shrugged. Jason took a deep breath, then concentrated his Xuanli and power of mind and will on his eyes. His sight seemed to have pierced through some shallow layer of the corpse, and he could see something that looked like floating thick black liquid slowly flowing inside of the body. And with just this simple sight, Jason felt a bolt of cold and dark energy shot from the body onto his eyes and through his eyes straight towards his head. A bright wave of silver energy exploded from Jason¡¯s eyes - his self defence mechanism was triggered. The bolt of dark energy was dispersed and burned up in mid air, but Jason still almost fell on his back. The energy explosion also knocked back some small items on the floor and on tables near him, which startled Erika and Jeremy quite a bit. ¡°What happened!?¡± Caroline was just quick enough to hold onto Jason and stop him from completely falling on the ground: ¡°You okay?¡± ¡°The corpse, it has something really dark inside.¡± Jason coughed heavily and wiped away a few drops of blood at the corner of his eyes, ¡°I¡¯m not sure we can handle it. If it got out, I don¡¯t think either of us will be able to stop it.¡± ¡°Holy shit!¡± Jeremy had his back against the wall: ¡°What the hell? What do you mean by something really dark inside?¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°I don¡¯t know what it is. ¡± Jason coughed and stood up straight, ¡°This thing needs to be locked up and nobody should touch it, and we need to ask Boss for help. This thing is just¡­ too dark for any of us to handle.¡± ¡°Okay. We will keep it locked up. ¡± Erika nodded while still shaking: ¡°I¡¯ll tell Captain, no one should even get close to this.¡± ¡°Can you guys do anything? It¡¯s like having a time bomb here.¡± Jeremy asked: ¡°If there¡¯s something that dangerous inside, I¡¯d assume it¡¯s not safe even if we lock it up right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m calling Boss right now.¡± Jason picked up his phone and dialed Jianmen¡¯s number. ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± Detective Raymond Marcuse and Monica Jamerson came into the morgue: ¡°Erika, Jeremy, we kinda need your help there. There are two new murder scenes that need your help. ¡± ¡°Yeah, sorry. Detectives, we need a minute here.¡± Erika stood before Caroline and Jason: ¡°We¡¯ll be there as soon as we can, but we¡¯re kinda working on something here and we need some time.¡± ¡°Hmm, why are you guys looking at that thing? Final look before it got shipped off?¡± Detective Raymond Marcus asked. ¡°What? I thought it was still undecided.¡± Jeremy asked, with a nervous high pitched voice: ¡°When!? We can¡¯t move it!¡± ¡°I think sometime this week, might be as soon as the day after tomorrow. ¡± Detective Monica Jamerson shrugged: ¡°I heard the 57th precinct want to take it - their lead forensic scientist is pretty interested in this body. They have some decades old case around the Prime Royals Hotel and they want to take a look at it.¡± ¡°What? They want to take a look at decade old cases? Why?¡± Erika narrowed her eyes and almost yelled. ¡°Don¡¯t know. Don¡¯t care. Maybe they¡¯re fans of the haunted hotel. ¡± Detective Marcus also shrugged: ¡°But whatever you guys are doing here, be quick. We¡¯ve got crime scenes and we need your help there.¡± ¡°What does your Boss say?¡± Erika turned to Jason and asked: ¡°Is he gonna come? You got injured, he should be on his way.¡± ¡°I¡¯m here. I¡¯m here.¡± Jianmen¡¯s voice suddenly came from barely outside the room. ¡°What? Who the hell are you?!¡± Detective Marcus and Jamerson stared at Jianmen suspiciously and asked. ¡°I am the consultant - to your paranormal consultants.¡± Jianmen effortlessly squeezed into the morgue and took a look at the body on the operating table: ¡°I am no expert, but your consultants called me so here I am.¡± ¡°Thank god Boss.¡± Caroline told Jianmen: ¡°I thought you weren¡¯t coming because you were doing something?¡± ¡°I was. It¡¯s kind of a nasty and twistedly nasty business. I need to go back as soon as possible. ¡± Jianmen took a look at Jason¡¯s head and eyes, sighed in relief then rushed to the side of the operating table with a frown: ¡°And from what I¡¯ve heard. This may just be too dangerous for you two. And Jason, remember to take a shower and have a nice sleep when you get back.¡± ¡°And what do you think? Is it dangerous? Is it safe to be kept here?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°I think¡­ that you are safe for now. Unless you do something stupid.¡± Jianmen examined the body for a short while, then took out a wooden coin and stuffed it inside the corpse¡¯s mouth: ¡°Yeah, my advice, don¡¯t move this body for up to 1 week. It¡¯d be better if you put it under the sun during the whole process.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t do any of that.¡± Detective Marcus raised his voice: ¡°And what reason do you have for this kind of suggestion?¡± ¡°Yeah. Sorry, but I really, really have no time to explain. Just please don¡¯t move this corpse anywhere. And don¡¯t remove that coin from the mouth. ¡± Jianmen clapped his hands, seemingly casting an innocuous spell. Then he patted on both Caroline and Jason¡¯s shoulders and walked straight out of the morgue¡¯s door: ¡°If you¡¯re gonna move the body someplace else, at least wait a week! And Caroline, Jason, be careful of the body. Try to find traces of the Doctor if possible. But don¡¯t directly engage with this body. I¡¯ll help you when I finished dealing with this¡­ thing¡± ¡°What the hell are you talking about - ¡± when Detective Marcus and Jamerson tried to chase Jianmen, they found that Jianmen already disappeared. ¡°Okay, explain yourselves. Who the hell is that? And why would we listen to him?¡± Detective Marcus asked Caroline and Jason loudly. ¡°Detectives, what are you doing here?¡± the Captain walked up to the door to the morgue: ¡°We¡¯ve got two murders scenes that need our attention.¡± ¡°Yes. We were just trying to help Erika and Jeremy wrap up their business here - they¡¯re trying to do some last minute research before it got shipped to the 57th precinct.¡± Detective Jamerson told the captain. ¡°Ah, don¡¯t worry about it. I can delay the move until next week if you two really want to take a look at it. ¡± the Captain looked at Erika and Jeremy with curiosity: ¡°But now, please lock it up and get to the crime scenes.¡± ¡°Really? That¡¯s ¡­ really great. Thank you!¡± Erika and Jeremy exchanged looks and then stared at Caroline and Jason: ¡°Let¡¯s lock it up and deal with it later. You guys are free for the rest of the week right?¡± ¡°Yeah, sure. Just nobody touches it until we are confident it is safe.¡± Caroline nodded. Chapter 98 ¡°Boss? You home?¡± when Caroline and Jason went back to the inn, Jianmen seemed like he went somewhere else, and no one was at the reception¡¯s desk or in the diner, ¡°Boss?¡± ¡°Jason, you¡¯re here.¡± Mack came from the back of the inn and greeted Jason and Caroline: ¡°I think your boss might be out, I haven¡¯t seen him ever since we got here.¡± ¡°Mack, where¡¯s mom and dad?¡± ¡°They¡¯re resting in your room, and I stayed here to wait for you.¡± ¡°Hi Mack, my name¡¯s Caroline.¡± Caroline introduced herself to Mack: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll be safe here.¡± ¡°Yeah, the inn feels really safe.¡± Mack smiled and shook Caroline¡¯s hand: ¡°So, are you a cultivator like Jason?¡± ¡°I am, and we practically started at the same time.¡± Caroline smiled and started to head to the stairs: ¡°Now if you¡¯ll excuse me I need to check on my brother and nephew - they are here for their safety as well.¡± ¡°Okay, big bro, is your Boss still looking for students?¡± Mack jokingly asked Jason: ¡°But seriously, what happens now? Whatever you did back at home¡­ That was some kind of exorcism right? You didn¡¯t tell us much, are we safe now? Is there something we can do at home to protect ourselves? Will mom and dad have some lingering issues?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t have answers to those questions, Mack.¡± Jason sighed and went into the diner with Mack following him: ¡°We will need to wait for Boss to come back. I wish I could give you the answers and heal mom and dad¡­ but I¡¯m not there yet.¡± ¡°And if you keep at it you will be.¡± Jianmen¡¯s voice came from the front gate of the inn, and moments later Jason and Mack saw Jianming coming into the diner: ¡°Sorry I kinda had to deal with some nasty - and pretty entangling stuff. But you should know that your parents were okay the moment they came into the inn.¡± ¡°Boss, you gotta help us out here - we thought people were fine when they came home from the hotel. But somehow those things caught up to them. I was only able to help my parents because I could find them. ¡± Jason stared at Jianmen: ¡°But the other guests at the wedding¡­ I can imagine what will happen to them if we don¡¯t act.¡± Jianmen looked at Jason and Mack for a moment then said: ¡°Where¡¯s Caroline? Time for your first lessons. You will need to learn to protect your homes.¡± ¡°She¡¯s checking up on Kane and Alex. She¡¯ll come down soon.¡± Jason nodded: ¡°And what else will you tell us?¡± ¡°That the thing you described to me? The shadowy figure that was hiding in your parent¡¯s closet?¡± Jianmen took out a bottle of cold green tea and explained: ¡°If I remember correctly, they are called ¡®the obscured¡¯. They are a kind of spirit - not necessarily evil, but dangerous nonetheless. Imagine someone who only acts on their primal instincts trainable like dogs - these are the spectral counterparts.¡± ¡°Jason, is Boss back?¡± Caroline came downstairs and went into the diner: ¡°Oh hey Boss, didn¡¯t know you¡¯re here already. I have a question...¡± ¡°Yeah, your brother and nephew can have a room. Don¡¯t worry about the room fee, we are at a light season anyway.¡± Jianmen nodded and then turned to Jason and Mack: ¡°And Mack and your Parents can have a room as well, until you feel safe to go home.¡± ¡°Thanks, Boss.¡± Caroline exhaled in relief: ¡°This cult thing is still kinda a mess to explain though. What should we do next?¡± ¡°Next? Your Xuanli array and circle lessons, proceed with your businesses as usual and continue to look into the doctor from SFPD. I think that you might be close to something. ¡± Jianmen pointed to the direction of the basement: ¡°And if you want to, I can give you and your families some quick introductory sessions about the basics of repelling evil spirits.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I thought you aren¡¯t an expert in necromancy.¡± ¡°Yeah, not an expert, but one can still learn.¡± --------------------------------------------------- ¡°So¡­ that¡¯s your Boss, and your¡­ master.¡± in their room, Kane looked at Caroline and said: ¡°And you¡¯re¡­ magic now.¡± ¡°Xuanli.¡± Caroline corrected Kane: ¡°It¡¯s a kind of magical power, and yes you can cast spells and fight with it, which you have already seen.¡± ¡°Auntie Caroline, how did you get into this magic school?¡± Alex asked. ¡°Yeah¡­ it¡¯s a long story. I was down on my luck, and had to make a promise to my boss.¡± Caroline smiled and answered: ¡°It¡¯s not as magical as the stories you heard and read. But I am not complaining either.¡± ¡°What did he make you promise?¡± Kane was immediately concerned: ¡°Not something sick or dangerous, right?¡± ¡°Nonono, nothing like that.¡± Caroline shook her head: ¡°He said, he just needs my help to go home. And when the time comes, I must help him.¡± ¡°Go home? That¡¯s¡­ odd.¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s complicated. At first I didn¡¯t know what he was talking about. But I understand what he meant now.¡± ¡°Look, Caroline. I don¡¯t know anything about your Boss, or Xuanli or magic.¡± Kane said with a concerned look: ¡°But in my line of work, I have heard rumors about some... special individuals with weird powers, and they are usually very dangerous. So I want you to be careful, be very careful.¡± ¡°No problem.¡± Caroline gently ruffled Alex¡¯s hair. ¡°And here¡¯s another thing I want to tell you.¡± Kane hesitated for a short while and said: ¡°We¡¯ve made the decision, we want to move here. We want to settle down here, at least for the foreseeable future.¡± ¡°Really? That¡¯s great!¡± Caroline was happily surprised, then she proceeded to hug Kane: ¡°So I guess your check cleared already? What did he say about the house?¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s just say that he¡¯s happy that a bad boyfriend is no longer in the picture.¡± Kane smiled and hugged Alex¡¯s shoulder while looking into Caroline¡¯s eyes: ¡°And we already found a place we like, it¡¯s close to here, it has a good school. So it¡¯s perfect.¡± ¡°It IS perfect. Welcome to San Jose, officially.¡± Caroline hugged Kane and Alex again. -------------------------------------------- ¡°Jason, why¡¯d you call us this early?¡± at their usual meeting coffee shop, Tim asked. ¡°Just have something to tell you. First round of coffee on me.¡± Jason nodded at the barista who brought their coffee to the table: ¡°Where¡¯s Ricky?¡± ¡°Ricky¡¯s still not feeling well. Whatever he saw in the hospital gave him some serious trauma.¡± Jamie said: ¡°But I¡¯ll forward the message when he feels better. What do you wanna tell us?¡± ¡°Uh-oh.¡± Evelyn grabbed the latte on the table and said: ¡°You¡¯re quitting the channel are you?¡± ¡°What? No!¡± Jamie scoffed: ¡°He can¡¯t quit the channel! He and Tim started it! Jason, you¡¯re not doing that right?¡± ¡°Well...¡± Jason hesitated for a short while: ¡°Yeah. That is what I¡¯m tryna do. That¡¯s what I¡¯m doing.¡± ¡°What? For real? What the...¡± Jamie raised his voice: ¡°You¡¯re joking right?¡± ¡°No I¡¯m not.¡± Jason said: ¡°I¡¯ll start a new channel. I¡¯ll do my own thing. And you guys can keep the name of Creative Eye Media.¡± ¡°Nonono, wait.¡± Time stood up: ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because of what happened at the Clearwater Municipal Hospital. ¡± Jason sighed and said: ¡°I felt like the path of the channel has grown apart from mine. So I¡¯ve decided, I no longer want to be a part of this channel.¡± ¡°Wait, because of that?¡± Jamie also stood up: ¡°No way! You know that¡¯s only a tactical move to boost publicity, right?¡± ¡°Yes, because of that.¡± Jason nodded and answered firmly: ¡°I am not going to collab with Branston any more, and I am not going to collab with anyone like him. I want to do animation, with stories and perhaps music. I don¡¯t want to appear in front of the camera. And I don¡¯t want to do publicity stunts like that. It¡¯s reckless, irresponsible and stupid.¡± ¡°Yeah, but you can¡¯t just leave!¡± Jamie raised his voice. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because...¡± Jamie hesitated: ¡°I just heard from Brian¡­ apparently their viewers like you. You¡¯ve got some passionate fans because of your¡­ attitude and action in the hospital.¡± ¡°Huh, why is that my problem?¡± Jason started getting impatient: ¡°Sounds like a good time to go solo.¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I meant...¡± Jamie became slightly nervous: ¡°YOU have fans, okay? It¡¯s a chance for the channel to gain more attention...¡± ¡°Ah. I see. So I have fans and you think it¡¯s about you.¡± Jason felt a sudden sense of relief: ¡°Yeah, thanks for the concern. I saved your ass once. I hope that¡¯s enough to pay for your lost views and potential brand deals. But you know, maybe I underpaid, so excuse me while I come up with a payment plan!¡± As Jason walked outside of the coffee shop, Tim followed him out and caught up to him: ¡°Jason, hold on a minute.¡± ¡°Yeah. Sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to drop this on you...¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. You have every right so don¡¯t apologize to me.¡± Tim looked at Jason straight in the eye: ¡°I¡¯m sorry. And I want to say, I hope you succeed. And if you need any help from me, just ask.¡± ¡°Thanks, Tim. I still need some time to figure things out.¡± Jason sighed: ¡°Sorry you may have to deal with Jamie and Ricky on your own now. ¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s gonna suck for a while.¡± Tim chuckled: ¡°But you know. I just got a better part time job, so I think I¡¯ll be exploring other options soon. One thing¡¯s for sure¡­ I am not gonna no more ghost hunting for me.¡± Chapter 99 In the usual training area behind the inn, this time with no sprinklers and only the four wooden pillars around them, Caroline and Jason were trying to stabilize the protective array right in front of them. Jianmen was patiently and silently walking outside the circle formed by the wooden pillars and observing their progress. Just like the manifested color of their Xuanli, the light emitting from their protective arrays were also fiery orange and metallic silver. This was their second time trying to construct the array and maintain it for a long enough period of time, and they were doing ok - per Jianmen¡¯s standards. Jianmen explained the keys of this to both of his students multiple times - but eventually it is something learned and understood through practice. The steady flow of Xuanli, the control of the power and balance using the power of mind and will, and the steadiness of their actual mind and will to maintain a good control without slipping or gripping too tight, these were all the key aspects that cannot be learned by simply listening. Not to mention, that different types of Xuanli required different kinds of control. Caroline¡¯s Xuanli had the primary elemental characteristics of fire, which was easily energetic and vibrant, meaning it was hard to control but easy to spread it across the whole array; while Jason¡¯s Xuanli had the characteristics of soft metals - easy to mold and control, but difficult to push through the veins of the array with consistency, it was like squeezing toothpaste into a rubber tube. And these issues were pretty obvious when Caroline and Jason first tried - Caroline¡¯s array burned down, wasting all the material she used, and Jason¡¯s array was disproportionately fueled, which caused the whole array to crumble and crash. Today, Caroline¡¯s array was still spitting fire but Jianmen could see a rough shape of a dome hovering over it - which was the basic form of the protective array when it fully manifested; Jason¡¯s array was flickering silver light, and the dome was only half-formed from his silver Xuanli, but he was slowly getting the hang of fully fueling the array and making it manifest slowly. After a while, Caroline¡¯s array crumbled like a wood house on fire, and the cinders and sparks again burnt the foundational material; Jason finally formed a silver energy dome over his array and he was able to maintain it and keep it in shape, but when Caroline poked it with a small leaf of grass, the dome shattered like a frozen soap bubble. ¡°Hey! I just got it into shape!¡± Jason whined. ¡°Well, you made a hell of a funny mirror for your enemies. But that¡¯s not protective.¡± Caroline laughed: ¡°Unless your enemies fear the reflection of themselves¡± ¡°Which may sometimes be the case.¡± Jianmen chuckled and said: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s your second try. No one got it ¡­ well almost no one got it on their first five tries. I almost blew up a hay house on my third try, and it was supposed to be a protective array.¡±The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Oh, and who was that someone who got it on their first five tries?¡± Caroline asked: ¡°At least give us something to aspire to. ¡± ¡°Bad idea - if I told you, you¡¯ll either rush, or get discouraged.¡± Jianmen shrugged: ¡°Just keep focusing and learning from your failures - maybe you¡¯ll get it on your third tries - it¡¯s good practice, no? Do you feel like you know more about your Xuanli yet?¡± ¡°As a matter of fact, it did help a lot.¡± Jason scratched his head: ¡°Feels like I am in better control of it every time I practice - it¡¯s a different kind of practice from just using spells. ¡± ¡°And it feels like if I practice both more often, I can learn to gain more control over it...¡± Caroline nodded in agreement: ¡°And it¡¯s a different kind of control as well - for spells it was more of a one time - explosive of power, for this, it¡¯s a constant and mindful grasp...¡± ¡°Indeed. It¡¯s like explosiveness and stamina.¡± Jianmen gently tapped on one of the wooden pillars: ¡°Take a break and continue with your day. Don¡¯t forget to practice the casual cultivation method I taught you.¡± ¡°Ah. It¡¯s just a question: ¡± Jason stood up and asked: ¡°How soon will we be able to construct an array big enough to protect my parent¡¯s place?¡± ¡°Yeah, about that.¡± Jianmen pointed at the direction of the basement: ¡°Go to the basement and you will find two sets of stones. Each set has 4, place them on the four corners of the place you want to protect. Don¡¯t over stretch the covered area though.¡± ¡°Oh my god. Thank you Boss.¡± Jason couldn¡¯t help but hop over and hug Jiamnen: ¡°I was embarrassed to ask¡­ Thank you!¡± ¡°Hey, what are Shifus for huh?¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°And uh, those are self powering so it will keep running for a long time. If you are interested you can take a look at them and see if you can find any inspirations. ¡± ¡°Thanks Boss.¡± Caroline also came over and hugged Jianmen. -------------------------------------------- After their failed second attempts at protective array construction, Caroline and Jason went to Jason¡¯s parents¡¯ place and laid the four strange looking rocks at four corners of the house. Strange and almost undetectable lines of energy connected the rocks as soon as the last one was placed, forming some sort of irregular energy circle. And a strange calming smell seemed to have come from the interior of the circle, not that unlike the gentle flowery smell back at the inn. ¡°That¡­ kinda explains the scent of the inn.¡± Caroline slightly tilted her head and said: ¡°I wonder how strong and complicated the protection array is. I¡¯ve never been able to sense it.¡± ¡°And neither have I.¡± Jason shrugged and sighed in relief, ¡°At least it is safe - er. I¡¯ll talk to my parents and see if they wanna come back.¡± ¡°How did they take it when you told them?¡± ¡°Well, after saving them from two dark clouds hanging over their heads sucking their life force, it looks like I can just tell them anything and they¡¯ll buy it.¡± Jason chuckled: ¡°What about you? Did Alex start worshipping you yet? ¡± ¡°A little bit, which I am kinda worried about. ¡± Caroline smiled: ¡°As much as I enjoy the adoring looks, I don¡¯t want him to pick up my bad habits and think this is the way it should be.¡± ¡°Bad habits? Like what?¡± ¡°Like not having an actual job, no hobby or anything else to show for and only the ability to burn and destroy.¡± Caroline sighed. ¡°Well ¡­ ¡± Jason sighed as well and said: ¡°when you put it like that. I kinda see the point.¡± Which immediately earned him an elbow to the arm. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the movie set. That¡¯s more likely to land me a real job.¡± Caroline laughed and said: ¡°Hope the Reaper can give me a permanent consultant position with his sets.¡± ¡°Yeah. If he offered, you should definitely take that position.¡± Chapter 100 ¡°Caroline, Jason. Come here.¡± when Caroline and Jason came to the movie set of the Haunting Crescent, Stephanie, the assistant set supervisor, went straight up to them: ¡°Come with me, I want you to meet someone.¡± ¡°Okay, who is it?¡± Jason asked as he followed Stephanie. ¡°This is Lady Manzene. ¡± Stephanie brought them to the side of the set and introduced them to a middle aged woman with beads around her neck and wearing a robe with flower patterns on it: ¡°She¡¯s a friend of Madison, you know, our makeup artist. And she¡¯s a certified medium. She¡¯s gonna be the third paranormal consultant on our set.¡± ¡°Wait... what?¡± Jason asked: ¡°Since when? And why?¡± ¡°Let me answer that.¡± Lady Manzene stepped forward and said to Caroline and Jason: ¡°This movie set has had many instances of paranormal disturbances, and as a favor to my friend and the director, I offered to help. Are you the paranormal consultants before me?¡± ¡°Yes. And I don¡¯t remember there having been other instances of paranormal activities?¡± Jason asked. ¡°That might be because you weren¡¯t checking the interior frequent enough.¡± Lady Manzene said slightly braggingly: ¡°And the director has gracefully allowed me to work on the interior of the set.¡± ¡°Yeah. Benny said it¡¯s okay.¡± Madison walked over and said, with kind of a smug smile on her face: ¡°And she¡¯s the real, real deal. She used to do all kinds of house cleansing, movie set blessing and even exorcism for many celebrities. I heard you recently helped Madeline Bennette with some house poltergeist issue?¡± ¡°Yeah. And she was very grateful. She asked me to help bless her next house. She also vouched for me so I can work on the interior.¡± Lady Manzene said. ¡°Say what? She did?¡± Madison appeared genuinely surprised, and it was not totally pleasant: ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡± ¡°Yeah, I just heard that from her. No worries.¡± Lady Manzene patted Madison on the shoulder: ¡°Now, shall we start? I know the shoot is ongoing, but let¡¯s go in and see how Madison is doing after my blessing.¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°Alright, we really appreciate it, Lady Manzene.¡± Stephanie smiled and sent Lady Manzene and Madison off, then she turned to Caroline and Jason: ¡°I¡¯m sorry guys, but turns out Benny also heard about her from a couple of his friends. Apparently brand recognition is also important in the medium business ¡± ¡°Yeah I can tell.¡± Caroline sighed then turned to Jason: ¡°Let¡¯s just do what we¡¯ve always do then.¡± ¡°Oh, and don¡¯t worry. We are still gonna keep you on our payroll until the end of the movie.¡± Stephanie told Caroline and Jason: ¡°The shoot had so many paranormal issues before, we are just trying to keep all the help we can get.¡± ¡°Sure. No worries.¡± Caroline smiled and said. Just this moment, one cat with black and white fur and another with brown fur walked by their side, and both looked at them with seemingly examining looks on their faces. ¡°Oh boy, there¡¯s a lot of them these few days.¡± Stephanie frowned and looked at these two cats walking away, ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll try talking to Benny again about letting you inside the interior during the shoot - as long as you have a hefty NDA you should be fine.¡± ¡°Thank you Stephanie.¡± Caroline forced a smile. As Caroline and Jason circled the exterior of the movie set, they also noticed that there were an increased amount of stray cats around the movie set. And from these cats¡¯ demeanor, it looked as if they were prying on what was going on with the movie set. When both of them walked to the position of the garbage container - the same position where Jason found the severed hand and half a cat¡¯s head, they saw 5 bigger stray cats were strolling around in the area, with three of them sniffing around the ground and the garbage container. And in the middle, was the biggest cat with the black, brown, and white fur. The moment Caroline and Jason looked to the cats, the cats also looked back at them, with human-like serious facial expressions. ¡°Is it just me, or it is true that those cats are extra creepy?¡± Jason asked Caroline. ¡°No, it¡¯s definitely not just you.¡± Caroline answered in a low voice: ¡°I¡¯ve never seen cats like that, they look so big and so¡­ old!¡± ¡°Yeah. ¡± Jason hesitated for a while: ¡°And they don¡¯t seem normal to me. Do they feel normal to you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m no expert on cats.¡± Caroline took a few more looks at the cats, who were staring back at her and Jason, ¡°But yeah, they don¡¯t look normal.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s be careful. ¡± Jason carefully avoided another cat sitting on the side of the road and staring at them: ¡°This movie set is just riddled with dangerous unclean presence - first the ghost we beat, then the rose with a minor spirit inside, then the shadow and the hand. I am not sure what it is about this place.¡± ¡°I was kinda expecting it to be a chance for some career advancement, since we are cultivators now capable of combating monsters and ghosts.¡± Caroline sighed: ¡°But from what I just learned, maybe I still need to hang around the Hollywood types some more and maybe chat up a hipster movie star who believes in crystals and cleansing auras with flowers.¡± ¡°Yeah, sorry about the permanent paranormal consultant career opportunity. I am pretty sure if you want to you can just be an action star. ¡± Jason laughed and said. ¡°Heh, you know we won¡¯t be able to do that, at least not until our promises are fulfilled. But that¡¯s definitely an option. Maybe I¡¯ll be the next Josephine Wong.¡± ¡°OR, you can just be Caroline Baker, the fiery queen of explosive action.¡± ¡°Hmm, have I offended your Josephine Wong fandom? What¡¯s so special about her?¡± ¡°Have you watched even one of her movies?¡± ¡°You know I don¡¯t like movies.¡± ¡°Okay that¡¯s not gonna work. If you want to be an action movie star, maybe you should start with her!¡± Chapter 101 ¡°Have fun investigating. Be careful, it takes time to craft another set of wooden figures to die for you. So, don¡¯t die.¡± before Jason was about to head to his parents¡¯ place and Caroline to SFPD to meet with the forensics technician Erika, Jianmen had to remind them, that they will need to be extra careful this time - because just like he said, it takes time to craft another set of wooden figures that will serve as extra lives for the students, so before he could make them each another one, they could just die like any other. Per Jianmen¡¯s knowledge and experience, the thing with this kind of true mortality scapegoat figures is, there is no way to craft spares. This is a natural and undefiable restriction on any kind of true mortality scapegoat artifact. Before a cultivator reaches a certain level of cultivation and starts gaining certain traits of immortality - to become ¡°pseudo-immortal¡±, if you will, there is no way to bypass this restriction. Jianmen knew some cultivators from his past who tried to find a way to work around this, and all of them failed. The lucky ones had their mortality scapegoat artifacts and their spares all activated at the same time, thus causing their time, effort and precious material to all go to waste. The unlucky ones were more common, and what happened to them was that none of their artifacts or spares actually activated when they needed to. When Jianmen gained more knowledge about The Will, he began to sense and understand that true mortality artifacts, when successfully crafted, are bound to the soul¡¯s place in the karmic flow, in a similar way to gaining a state of pseudo-immortality. When Caroline and Jason left the inn relatively fully prepared, Jianmen went into the back of the inn to tend to his garden - he had a feeling that the rosebud brought back by his students would likely bloom soon, which in turn would ¡°hatch¡± the minor spirit inhibiting it. Right after tending to the garden and reinforcing the protective arrays around it, Jianmen suddenly felt some strange energy waves emitting from somewhere near. He couldn¡¯t exactly trace it directly, without making some big moves that might alert whoever or whatever that¡¯s causing the strange energy wave to appear. Jianmen swiftly went into the basement and cast a few layers of cloaking spells on himself. Then he took out the energy and karmic pollution detection tool shaped like a crystal ball with sand inside and locked inside a cube made of six square pieces of distinctly colored glass from hidden cellars and went straight outside. Before he left the premise of the inn, he cast a spell on the inn itself - a common repelling spell that can make people less likely to go in and want service or even talk to the staff there. It was bad for business, but it was something he had to do in such conditions. The waves of energy were faint, scattered and inconsistent, which reeked of someone or something trying to hide their tracks. What was worse was that he also sensed the energy seemed to have some effect on karmic flow - a very typical tell for something related to karmic pollutants. When Jianmen activated the tool with his Xuanli, the grains of sand in the crystal ball were spinning in it in all kinds of directions and stuck in a cycle of merging in the middle, bursting to the edge of the interior, spinning through the edge and the merging back in the middle.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. With a heavy frown on his face, Jianmen then forcefully slowed down the movements of the grains of sand in the crystal ball. And he noticed that there seemed to be slightly more sand moving on the bottom of the crystal ball than there was on the top of the crystal ball. ¡°Sneaky bastard.¡± Jianmen¡¯s body started rising above through the air and accelerating as he rose. Within a few seconds, he already rose above the clouds without disturbing the air on his trajectory. And floating in the thin air in some distance, was something also with layers of cloaking spell/magic. Jianmen could not see through them directly, so he gently extended his hand at the thing¡¯s direction, creating a small and barely noticeable center of suction of energy. After a short while, Jianmen collected enough escaped energy on his fingertip, he ran a quick analysis of it then he placed the fingertip on his forehead. The shapes and colors of the thing that hid under the layers of cloaking spells were then revealed in Jianmen¡¯s sight: it was a giant glowing floating jellyfish looking monster, with a round head and thousands of tentacles. On the circumference of the head of the jellyfish monster, laid six giant eyes of different shapes and six mouths with long, spikey teeth inside. The monster, while floating in the air like some sort of horrifying hot air balloon, seemed to be absorbing some sort of energy from the ground down below using its mouths. And on a regular frequency, the six giant eyes of different shapes projected beams of energy on the ground down below. When the mouth closest to Jianmen started absorbing energy like it was a huge suction tube, Jianmen swiftly pointed his finger at the stream of energy flowing into the mouth. A small blob of energy was separated from the stream and flew right into Jianmen¡¯s hand. Jianmen broke apart that small blob of energy into six even smaller droplets and analyzed it for a short while - and it looked like that this giant monster was collecting energy that was from negative emotions of sentient beings. As Jianmen used his power of mind and will to get a quick sense of each of the droplets - turned out the emotions being collected were fear, anxiety, anger, jealousy, depression and worst of all, purposelessness. When Jianmen carefully snuck closer to the monster, he was able to get a better sense of the monster - the monster had a special and tiny power core within its body, and its huge body was actually filled with karmic pollutants. The effectiveness of the pollutants did not seem too strong, but the huge quantities made him hesitant to act right away - he still had some pretty serious internal injuries that weakened him till this day. He could not just go into another battle with a creature that is affected and empowered by karmic pollution, it was not just about the price he pays when he uses The Laws of Karma, it was also about the sheer quantities of Karmic pollutants this monster had, if he was not careful he could do more harm than good. Just this moment when he hesitated, the monster seemed to have noticed something. The next moment, wrinkles emerged from the space around the monster¡¯s body, its head shrunk and its tentacles retracted to the base of its body. When the monster had its whole body minimized to about one tenth of its former size, it squeezed itself into a rupture in space and disappeared literally into the thin air. Chapter 102 ¡°Fuck!¡± Jianmen cursed at himself and rushed straight to the rupture in space that was almost closed. With a quick tap of the rupture with his fingers, he was able to locate where the jellyfish monster teleported to. Then he opened a small portal himself and teleported to somewhere near the monster¡¯s destination. The moment Jianmen got out from his own portal and into a space with no clear sense of up versus down and sky versus ground, a concentrated beam of energy shot right at him, he was able to dodge through the energy beam, but then he saw a few more energy beams firing at his general direction, as well as a couple of explosive energy bolts. With a few quick flight maneuvers, Jianmen was able to escape the attacks without a scratch - he was almost about to defend himself when he realized that the monster did not actually lock on to him but instead was directing its attacks at a few general directions - directions that seemed to have wrinkles in space and time, which were indications of teleportation or other uses of the power of space and time. It seemed to Jianmen, that something else was also tracking this jellyfish monster, and whatever or whoever that may be, they were clearly not as discreet as Jianmen was. And then it turned out he was right - another monster of tremendous size grew to its full size and revealed itself from another direction of the jellyfish monster¡¯s attacks - this was a monster shaped like a hybrid between a snail and a multi-headed centipede, with a shell that shined in different color when observing from different angles at the tail end of its body, and five or six long bodies with hundreds if not thousands of segments and each had a pair of scythe-shaped mouthparts on the head. One of the heads of the multi-headed centipede/snail monster flanked the jellyfish monster, and delivered a devastating blow to its opponent, its scythe-shaped mouthparts pierced the bloated body of the jellyfish monster, causing dark red and purple smoke to leak out of the jellyfish monster¡¯s body. And the jellyfish monster was not going to lay down and take it - its tentacles wrapped around the body of the centipede/snail monster that struck its body, and striking its opponent with poisonous spikes emerging from the tentacles and electrocuting it with lightning. When Jianmen managed to keep himself at a safe and discreet distance and was about to figure out what to do next, his mobile phone rang - at this place and time, it could only be one of a few people that could actually reach him. ¡°Caroline, not really a good time right now.¡± If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Hey Boss, sorry about that, but can you come to the SFPD?¡± ¡°I am dealing with something right now. Even if I could find Dave now he¡¯s not going to be at the inn for a few hours. Unless you are in urgent trouble or you find something serious, I cannot come right away. ¡± ¡°Okay, Boss, but we¡¯ll really need your help here soon. We could use your pointers and guidance.¡± Before Jianmen answered, he flew to the side and dodged a piece of meteor that flew his way due to the two huge monsters¡¯ heated battle. ¡°Nonono, trust your guts.¡± Jianmen said after finding another relatively safe and advantageous spot to observe the battle: ¡°If you feel something is not right, then be extra cautious and careful. ¡± ¡°Thanks Boss, but you¡¯ll be here if I called?¡± Jiamen found a window of opportunity and placed two tracking spells on both monsters and answered Caroline: ¡°Yeah. And tell you what, since you just had experiences where your phone doesn¡¯t work. So I already blessed our phone connection - you can always reach me whenever and wherever.¡± -------------------------------------------- After hanging up the phone, Jianmen continued observing the battle for a short while. And in one desperate move of attack to hold off and push back at its enemy, the jellyfish monster broke off hundreds of its tentacles and let them explode. The explosion completely pulverized one of the centipede/snail monster¡¯s centipede heads, and seriously injured another. And riding the shockwave of the explosion, the jellyfish monster squeezed itself through another rupture in space. Jianmen followed the trace of the rupture and teleported to another place - this time it was on the surface of some distant planet - the gravity was a few times that of the earth, the air was filled with unbreathable air to humans and a terrible sandstorm was raging through the area. When Jiamnen looked further into the direction of the jellyfish monster, it seemed to be caught in a dark yellow tornado, with a diameter so wide that one cannot fully see without turning their head even at a distance, and its height was so high, as if the entire planet was impaled by a lance of galactic scale size, where even Jianmen could not see the top clearly without using Xuanli on his eyes or casting a spell. The jellyfish monster, now seriously injured and drained of its power was trying its hardest to get out of the range of the tornado. The grevious wounds on its once bloated body was now leaking what was once inside its body all over the whole tornado, which unfortunately, included those karmic pollutants. With a long and heavy sigh, Jianmen concentrated his Xuanli, and with a flash of orange and golden light, a humble rattan broom appeared in his hands,. ¡°This better not hurt too much.¡± Jianmen took out the flask he made for himself and took a large gulp of the specially brewed wine in the flask. But just when he was about to act, his phone rang again, it was Jason. ¡°Hey Jason. This is not a good time.¡± ¡°Hey Boss, we really need your help. It¡¯s kinda urgent.¡± Jason¡¯s voice was shaking: ¡°The body from Prime Royals Hotel, I just tried looking at it with the basic true sight spell, and something dark just attacked me. I¡¯m okay, but this is clearly above our paygrade here.¡± ¡°You¡¯re attacked? What happened?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, it happened too fast, I was just trying to use the true sight spell...¡± ¡°Okay, I am on my way. Hang on and don¡¯t do anything stupid.¡± Jianmen retracted his broom, marked the position of where he was, and opened a portal by his side. Chapter 103 ¡°So, did you find anything?¡± when the shoot of the day wrapped up a bit early, Lady Manzene walked out of the interior of the set and asked Caroline and Jason and was surprised by an orange cat jumping from the ceiling: ¡°Oh wow, there are so many cats here.¡± ¡°No. We haven¡¯t found anything suspicious. ¡± Caroline answered: ¡°When the shoot wrapped up, we will go inside and take a look...¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying you¡¯re doubting my expertise? As I have been in the set all day.¡± ¡°No, no¡­ of course not.¡± Jason explained: ¡°It¡¯s just that it¡¯s kinda our job to check the whole set. And we normally check the interior either before or after the shoot.¡± ¡°And I¡¯ve been in there all day.¡± ¡°Yeah, but if you work during an active shoot, it¡¯s kinda hard to check all the corners. Why don¡¯t we go in there and do a sweep together. And we can pick your brains and listen to your advice?¡± Caroline smiled and said. ¡°Ah.¡± Lady Manzene looked surprised by this friendly answer: ¡°If you say that, let¡¯s take a look at the entire set together when they wrap up. And see if you can learn a thing or two.¡± ¡°Great! Thank you very much! ¡± Jason quickly understood what Caroline was doing and was quick to join in: ¡°It¡¯d be so great to learn from you!¡± ¡°Well, no use sucking up to me.¡± Lady Manzene tried to conceal her smile, but her tone still softened and warmed up: ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I met anyone young and curious. Let¡¯s go.¡± When the crew wrapped up the shoot and the temporary props on the set, Lady Manzene led Caroline and Jason into the center of the movie set, where Madison the makeup artist met them with a wooden board with arcane symbols carved on it, and one small fur bag. ¡°Hey, Lady Manzene, I brought what you asked.¡± Madison raised the fur bag at Lady Manzene and asked: ¡°What are they doing here?¡± ¡°They are new to the business. So I¡¯ve decided to help them out a bit.¡± Lady Manzene chuckled and turned to Caroline and Jason: ¡°Come here, let me show you how it¡¯s done. If you¡¯ve never seen something like this before, don¡¯t be surprised, practically no one has.¡± Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°You lucky little bitches.¡± Madison sighed and whined to Lady Manzene: ¡°How long did I have to wait to see you in action? And now you¡¯re just giving it away?¡± ¡°Yeah well, you are not in the business, right? I as a senior have the responsibility to support young up and comers.¡± Lady Manzene smiled: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll show you more when we¡¯re done.¡± ¡°Awesome.¡± Madison sat down on the floor excitedly beside the wooden board. Lady Manzene, Caroline and Jason then sat down around the wooden board with her. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s happening here?¡± Bethany and Robert came in, seemingly looking for things but unexpectedly found four of them looking like they were about to have some kind of seance or an ouija game. ¡°Oh, just a little harmless exorcism ritual I was planning to perform on your set.¡± Lady Manzene opened the little fur bag, and took out three dice, and a handful of pink sawdust, ¡°You guys wanna join? We have room for some more.¡± ¡°But if ¡­ you know¡­ you have an early morning tomorrow and if you don¡¯t wanna stay, it¡¯d be totally fine.¡± Madison suggested. ¡°Oh, yeah, maybe I¡¯ll stay and take a look.¡± Robert sat down beside Jason: ¡°I gotta see this for myself.¡± ¡°Really? Then maybe I wanna stay as well.¡± Bethany shrugged and sat down by Caroline. ¡°Okay, everyone, ready?¡± Lady Manzene held her hand tight, with the dice and the pink sawdust, then rolled the dice on the wooden board with arcane symbols, along with the pink sawdust. Each of the three dice rolled and landed on three three different symbols, Lady Manzene lifted up the three dice to check on the symbols they landed on. Then, she took out a small codex and located the page with information about the combination of the numbers on the dice and the symbols on the board: ¡°Interesting¡­ this means that there is SOME presence on this set. Let me roll again.¡± Then she picked up all three dice, put one back in the small fur bag and grabbed some more sawdust in her hand, mumbled something and then rolled again. The two dice landed on two other symbols, with the numbers 3 and 2 on them. Lady Manzene checked her codex and said: ¡°So¡­ bad news, the presence here is indeed hostile, not specifically to you but to everyone. ¡± ¡°Oh my god¡­ what can we do?¡± Madison gasped, then not so subtly peeked at Caroline and Jason: ¡°Can YOU do anything?¡± "Good question. Let me give my final roll.¡± Lady Manzene picked up the two dice, grabbed the sawdust once more and rolled the one die she chose. The single die landed on a symbol that looked like a twisted ¡°S¡±, with number 6 on top. This time, Lady Manzene did not even have to check her codex, she also gasped, in a mildly dramatic fashion and said: ¡°This is not good¡­ this said the presence has already latched onto someone in close relations to this place.¡± ¡°What? How? Who can that be? ¡± Robert was not fully convinced. ¡°I have no idea. But I will find out right away.¡± Lady Manzene started looking for things in her bag and robe pockets. ¡°Did you feel something every time she rolls the dice?¡± Caroline whispered to Jason. ¡°Yeah, a little bit. But quite different from the feels of Boss¡¯s divination.¡± Jason nodded and whispered back. ¡°Okay, here.¡± Lady Manzene found a small batch of dried tiny branches and weeds, then she took out a lighter and lit up the batch, ¡°Hold on there. Don¡¯t freak out, no matter what you see.¡± ¡°What? What will I see?¡± Bethany was already suspicious and in fear after the three ominous dice rolls, and now she was almost about to freak out. In a low and deep voice, Lady Manzene chanted some sort of Latin-sounding spells as she sprinkled the sawdust onto the burning batch in her hand. A wave of strange energy radiated from the burning batch in Lady Manzene¡¯s hand, looked like she indeed cast a spell, but it was not very meticulous and even a bit crude, and neither Caroline nor Jason could tell what the effect of the spell was supposed to be. Chapter 104 When the wave of energy died down, something indeed started happening in the interior of the movie set: strong and cold wind blew through the set, and a few vague and dark shadows made of black smoke started appearing around the people sitting and standing around the wooden board. ¡°Aaah!¡± Bethany screamed and struggled to back away from the shadow that was closest to her, but then when she turned around she almost bump into another shadow, and Jason and Caroline recognized this shadow - it looked just like the man ghost they defeated in the set. ¡°Don¡¯t run! Don¡¯t run!¡± Lady Manzene shouted at Bethany, but she was not able to stop Bethany from getting up and running away, Madison tried to stop her but she was not quick enough either, ¡°They¡¯re just shadows! They¡¯re not real!¡± Yet in only a few seconds, after the sudden sounds of windows, doors and roof breaking, Bethany ran back screaming and crying: ¡°The Cats! The Cats!¡± At the same time, many cats also busted through the windows and roof near the positions of Lady Manzene and others. And with surprising speed and ferocity, a few of the cats with bigger sizes leapt through the air and straight towards the shadows. Different colored lights of energy shone from these cats, and the shadows that manifested were instantly ripped to shreds then burnt up into ashes. ¡°Holy - these are no ordinary cats!¡± Madison screamed and yelled as she fell to the ground due to the attacks from two cats with grey and spotted fur, her carefully done hair now all messy because of the one of the cats¡¯ claws tearing through them. ¡°Get off! Get off!¡± Bethany was ambushed by three cats from the back, she kept spinning and screaming but those cats were still holding onto her. One cat with silvery blue light emitting from its body lunged towards Bethany because during her struggle she kicked away two smaller cats, and with its right claw swinging towards Bethany¡¯s neck. Caroline sidestepped just in time to push Bethany away and block the claw attack from this cat - and with droplets of blood splashed into the air and on the ground, Caroline had a claw wound on her left lower arm.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°Careful! Get everyone outta here!¡± one cat with red light emitting from its body leapt towards Jason, and he barely dodged to the side and avoided being attacked. ¡°Lady Manzene! Do something!¡± Robert yelled as he threw a cat from his shoulder and tried to pull Bethany up from the floor by the hand. Lady Manzene clearly never dealt with situations like this before, and she just started chanting some other spell. By the time her spell completed, a loud screech exploded from thin air and almost brought everyone to the ground. The cats were more heavily impacted by this sound, and they swiftly jumped and ran away from Lady Manzene. Yet that was all this spell accomplished, the cats moved away from all of them, but were still surrounding and circling around them. The cats with light emitting from their bodies stood in their way to the entrance and exit of the set, hissing at them. ¡°What¡¯s with the cats? What is happening?¡± Madison held onto Lady Mazene and asked in a panic: ¡°Please do something!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think anything¡¯s gonna work.¡± Lady Manzene was already panting and could barely smooth her breath, ¡°They¡¯re, they¡¯re, they are Nekomatas!¡± ¡°What is that?!¡± Robert very gentlemanly tried to hide Bethany behind himself, yet his trembling body showed everyone how scared he was. ¡°A kind of Japanese cat monster.¡± Jason explained while looking around: ¡°But I thought they are supposed to be in Japan only?¡± ¡°And you¡¯re wrong.¡± a low and hoarse voice came from the direction to which Bethany ran off. Immediately, Jason and Caroline felt a sense of heavy pressure on their whole bodies, it was as if the air around them had suddenly become dense, heavy and almost completely solid. It felt almost completely the same as the kind of pressure they felt when they were practicing their martial arts moves while surrounded by the wooden pillars back at the inn, but quite a few times heavier. They were almost brought down on their knees but they swiftly maintained their standing position after concentrating and focusing their Xuanli on their limbs and center of focus. And around them, almost everyone, including lady Manzene, just fell on the ground from under the sudden pressure. Silently yet all so dramatically, a huge cat with shiny grey fur, sharp and glowing yellow eyes and five tails the size of a tiger entered their sight, with a few cuddly and fluffy kittens of different fur color on its back. ¡°Interesting¡­ very interesting.¡± the huge cat with shiny grey fur spoke English, with a strange accent: ¡°How are the two of you still standing?¡± ¡°We have our own master as well.¡± Caroline answered. ¡°Do you think we are to be threatened!?¡± the huge cat roared, the pressure on both Caroline and Jason instantly became higher than before, pushing them down with one knee on the ground. ¡°No, master Nekomata.¡± Jason spoke through his teeth: ¡°What brings you here? I don¡¯t imagine we have anything you¡¯d be interested in.¡± ¡°Yes you do.¡± the huge cat sniffed the air and approached Jason, its face almost touching Jason¡¯s: ¡°Your scent ¡­ you were at the scene! You were there!¡± ¡°What?¡± Jason was confused, and a bit shocked. Chapter 105 ¡°You were at the scene of my child¡¯s death! ¡± when the huge grey cat hissed and stared at Jason, Jason felt like the hair on the back of his neck all stood up, and the pressure on him just got worse. ¡°I was¡­?¡± Jason tried a bit and then immediately realized: ¡°The cat in the garbage container - the half of cat¡¯s head...¡± ¡°Be careful where you go! Human!¡± the huge grey cat¡¯s body immediately grew bigger, towering over Jason, and its shiny yellow eyes locking onto him like it was about to strike at him any moment: ¡°And you¡¯re about to pay the price for what you did!¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t do anything! He didn¡¯t do anything!¡± Caroline came to Jason¡¯s defence: ¡°He found the body! And a hand! Near the garbage container outside!¡± ¡°LIAR!¡± the huge grey cat let out a tiger-like roar: ¡°What kind of coincidence would it be, for you of all creatures, who happened to possess the power to do harm my children, to find my child¡¯s body!? ¡± ¡°It was something else!¡± Jason raised his voice: ¡°It was something dark, cold and horrible, not that unlike these shadows around us. If you can pick up my scent from the scene, you must have picked that up too. And I can show you the scent of my power - I bet you can easily tell the difference.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll allow it. Any tricks and you will suffer the consequences.¡± Jason raised his hand, and conjured up a small ball of silver energy from his palm. ¡°This power....¡± the huge grey cat backed off a bit with its eyes narrowed: ¡°You are wizards¡­ No¡­ wizards wield a different kind of power¡­ Who are you?¡± ¡°Cultivators, this is our Xuanli, our power.¡± Caroline held onto Jason and helped him not fall down: ¡°But as you can see, we are not your enemies. And we are also looking for the thing that left these shadows behind.¡± ¡°Tell me what you know.¡± the huge grey cat lightened the pressure on them and asked, ¡°Leave no detail behind. And don¡¯t you dare play any tricks. ¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Okay.¡± Jason exhaled in relief and to a look around, Robert, Bethany, Madison and even Lady Manzene all seemed to have passed out on the ground, ¡°We actually don¡¯t know much, all we know is that something possessed Dr. Nguyen, a forensic scientist of the SFPD. And then she disappeared. The next time we¡¯ve heard anything about her was that time I found a human hand in the garbage container, right next to the body of¡­ your child.¡± The huge grey cat blew its nose, showing its obvious anger. ¡°We don¡¯t know how yet, but this is not the first time I see these shadows.¡± Jason continued: ¡°The day I found the hand, I was following a shadow before I found it. The shadow was kinda similar to these around here. Some of which are already destroyed by your¡­ children.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not the one that cast this crude excuse of a revelation spell.¡± the huge grey cat looked at the people who passed out on the ground: ¡°Who cast it?¡± ¡°That¡¯s Lady Manzene, but I doubt she knows what she¡¯s doing.¡± Caroline answered. Just when the huge grey cat was about to ask something, another cat jumped to its back and seemingly whispered something into its ears. The huge grey cat immediately turned around and ran straight towards the direction behind it, without even considering the wall. In a loud bang, the grey cat busted through the walls and into the parking lot on the side of the set. Caroline and Jason¡¯s eyes met, then they ran outside the set through the hole on the wall right behind the cats. But they left in such a hurry, that they left their backpacks behind on the ground near Lady Manzene¡¯s wooden board. While they were on their way, they both sensed that they were running towards somewhere with more and more intense dark and grim energy. ¡°I feel like...¡± Jason said to Caroline while running: ¡°We should call Boss.¡± ¡°You got your phone?¡± Caroline searched her pockets and seemed like she couldn¡¯t find hers. ¡°God dammit! I think I left mine in the backpack. ¡± Jason searched his pockets and was not able to find his either. Just this moment, both of them went into the external perimeter of a still in construction 4-layer parking building. And when they went into this parking building itself, they found that more and more cats were coming into the building as well. A loud, ear-piercing scream came from the underground layers, and Caroline and Jason both sort of noticed, the scream was definitely not from any of the cats. And when they went to the first underground layer, they saw that two figures were already fighting - it was the huge grey cat and and a human-shaped monster with rotten flesh and exposed bones and surrounded by black smoke. Around them were some pieces of cat bodies, stains of cat blood and a dozen of black shadows in human shape, just like the one Jason extinguished in his parent¡¯s house, fighting other cats that were apparently gifted. One gifted cat with black, white and yellow fur was injured by the black shadow it was fighting and fell down on the ground near a pillar, and when the shadow was about to unleash another attack to finish the cat, a silver energy spear and a fire arrow pierced its chest. The shadow let out a scream, then its body was consumed by the fiery and silver energy radiating from its chest. ¡°Here.¡± Jason concentrated, and a rough looking silver axe appeared in his hand, and then he handed the Xuanli axe to Caroline: ¡°Be careful. I think that¡¯s Dr. Nguyen.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Caroline tried the silver Xuanli axe a bit and said: ¡°But if anything happens, we should go back and call Boss.¡± Chapter 106 The huge grey cat and the human-shaped monster¡¯s fight was just like an overpowered animal fight: they clawed, they bit when they were at close quarters, and they threw energy attacks at each other when they were apart. Building materials and tools like paint buckets and bricks were knocked all over the place, and there were cracks on the cement pillars and walls against which they slammed each other. Caroline and Jason almost got involved in their fight a couple of times - with their current levels of power, they weren¡¯t confident about their chance of survival at all. The shadows made of and surrounded by black smoke were clearly more powerful than the gifted cats individually, what they didn¡¯t have was the numbers - on average, it was around five to seven gifted cats versus one shadow. And with Caroline and Jason in the battle, the shadows were being annihilated at a faster rate than before. The silver Xuanli axe made by Jason and held by Caroline, while not as handy as her usual wooden tomahawk, proved quite powerful thanks to its thin edge and its higher affinity to infusion of Xuanli: Caroline noticed that her strikes seemed to burn brighter with her fiery Xuanli and strike harder when they land on the shadows. And great damage those attacks caused to all those that faced Caroline. But the catch was, that she noticed her Xuanli was drained faster as well. On Jason¡¯s side, he made himself a spear-like silver pen just like a bigger version of his wooden pen - as he practiced with his pen-shaped weapon more and more, not only had he grown better at its usage but also had he become more fond of it as a non-traditional weapon. And right now, he was swinging the weapon like a short spear and a sword, slashing and stabbing his shadowy opponents while also parrying the attacks from them. A faint scream came from above Caroline, a black shadow with a skeleton face and two completely empty black holes for eyes appeared from thin air and lunged at her. Caroline swung her left fist at the shadow¡¯s face, bashing the shadow¡¯s face in yet was not swift enough to stop its boney claw from leaving a bleeding mark on Caroline¡¯s shoulder. Jason was knocked into the air by a shadow that came from his behind, Jason was able to turn back and block the blunt of the attack with a silver energy shield. But the shadow¡¯s claw bypassed the shield and stabbed Jason on the waist. Just right after Jason¡¯s back hit the wall behind him, he let out an explosion of silver energy that shot dozens of sharp silver energy at the shadow that attacked him at point blank range, blasting it to shreds. Caroline swung her silver Xuanli axe at the shadow that clawed her shoulder, the shadow disappeared from where it was under a puff of smoke and in the next moment re-appeared behind Caroline, latching onto her back and trying to choke her and bite at her neck. Caroline then immediately turned her Xuanli full on, forming a fiery armor around her that pushed the shadow¡¯s limbs loose and engulfed its body in flame. The shadow screamed and disappeared once again.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. But this time, Caroline focused her senses, and when she sensed that some dark and grim energy was about to manifest some place to her left, she immediately swung her silver axe and unleashed a crescent-shaped energy blade in that direction. The shadow re-appeared, just in time to be cut in half by the fiery energy blade, and with a loud scream, the shadow burned up from both halves and left nothing but ashes floating in the air. ¡°Boom!¡± the huge grey cat and the human-shaped monster struggled and banged their bodies against an already cracked-up cement pillar, which broke off half the pillar and exposed more of the rebars inside. The grey cat was at a disadvantage, it was bleeding through many wounds on its body. The monster rolled on top of the huge grey cat¡¯s back after their collision with the pillar, locking the huge grey cat on the ground raised its two hands: one hand was only bones and no flesh, and the other was made of concentrated grim and dark energy. Before this shadow was able to deliver its potentially killing blows to the huge grey cat, a silver energy spear shot at its shoulder, forcing it to stop to block the spear, which caused it to almost fall off. The next instant, a spinning silver axe in flames was at the human-shaped monster¡¯s face. Though it crossed its arms in front of it in time to defend itself, it was knocked into the air in an energy explosion and its body created a big hole on the wall. What shot at the human-shaped monster next was a high speed flying silver sword with the tip pointing at- it was able to move out of the way and avoided being stabbed on the chest. The sword only cut through one of its upper arms, cleanly severing it from the monster¡¯s body. The huge grey cat jumped up and roared, unleashing a ball of hyper-compressed air which struck the human-shaped monster right in the torso. The monster was blasted through the wall, with splinters from its bones and pieces of rotten flesh splashing all over the place. The human-shaped monster gave out another loud scream, but instead of barging into the building again, it fled, leaving many black shadows behind. ¡°You saw its missing hand?¡± when they finally destroyed the last remaining black shadow, Caroline asked Jason while breathing heavily and examining her injured shoulder: ¡°That¡¯s definitely Dr. Nguyen - or WAS Dr. Nguyen.¡± ¡°It did not take that long for her to become like this.¡± Jason¡¯s waist hurt like hell, and he was walking with a bit of a limp: ¡°But I wonder what¡¯s it doing here.¡± ¡°My¡­ children.¡± the grey cat spoke with a trembling voice: ¡°It was devouring my children.¡± ¡°Devouring¡­ why?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°It¡¯s recharging.¡± the huge grey cat slowly stood up as some of the smaller gifted cats surrounded it and started licking its wounds: ¡°It¡¯s a kind of dark and evil practice - it was trying to regenerate its power by consuming other entities of power, draining their life force as well as their powers. Spirits like us, especially young ones like my children, are valuable and easy prey to the foul creatures like that.¡± ¡°Hence it kept returning to the movie set.¡± Jason realized: ¡°There are other ghosts inhabiting the set - it was devouring those ghosts!¡± ¡°Thank you human¡­ cultivators.¡± the huge grey cat led the remaining cats to the exit of the building: ¡°You have my gratitude. I am in your debt. And it will be repaid. You have my word.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± Caroline was still a little pissed about how they were treated by the huge grey cat back at the movie set. Chapter 107 ¡°Ms. Summers, please advise.¡± right in front of the SFPD precinct where the body from the Prime Royals Hotel was stored, a man in a grey trench coat asked on the phone: ¡°From what I heard from my sources inside the SFPD, the captain is delaying the move indefinitely. No one knows the reason. Should we just go in and break it out?¡± ¡°No. Keep your posts but stay cautious.¡± the voice of Carol Summers came from the phone: ¡°The thing has become more of a time bomb. Just let the bureaucrats from the Division handle it.¡± ¡°Yes, but if I may say something, Ms. Summers.¡± the man said: ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about the Division - half of their contracts on the west coast went through you. Even if you want to take your property back through some unofficial channels, none of them would even dare hold it against you. What we should worry about are those desperate remnants of the Coven of Crows. I almost caught a few of them the other day.¡± ¡°Just do as I said and be careful. Report to me if you heard anything.¡± ¡°Understood. Ms. Summers, anything else I can do for you?¡± ¡°Revisit what happened at the hotel. And take a look at those ¡®influencers¡¯ this time.¡± Carol Summers hesitated a bit and said: ¡°It might just be them - instead of someone manipulating them as we previously thought. Report back to me if you heard anything on them.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± When Carol Summers hung up her phone, her assistant on her side asked her: ¡°Ms. Summers¡­ are you really that worried about the new liaison in the Division? You know we are ready to take it back without anyone at the SFPD knowing anything.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not just her I am worried about.¡± Carol Summers sighed and said: ¡°It¡¯s also the people she brought with her, and the kind of power they wield. It¡¯s a new kind of power - something the academy definitely wouldn¡¯t teach to their students, so she¡¯s smart, and she branches out.¡± ¡°But¡­ we can handle her if we need to?¡± ¡°We can. But we should avoid clashing with her directly. Especially just when she¡¯s just got the liaison position and is in the mood of making someone an example.¡± Carol Summers gently ran her finger across the edge of her glass, which was filled with a glowing light green liquid: ¡°At least before I can¡­ recover from my condition.¡± ¡°But that body - if it¡¯s that important to you... ¡±The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°It¡¯s not, not anymore.¡± Carol Summers laughed: ¡°What do you know? This condition of mine actually gifted me with a great opportunity - now all I need is just a new vessel.¡± ¡°Ms. Corin is here.¡± just this moment, a man in black suit came into the room: ¡°Do you want her to wait? Ms. Summers?¡± ¡°Show her in.¡± Carol Summers stood up from her chair. -------------------------------------------- ¡°Nekomata, huh?¡± back at the diner of the inn, when both Caroline and Jason¡¯s family were asleep, Jianmen smiled at his students when pouring them tea, ¡°Interesting¡­ didn¡¯t think I¡¯ll see any here. They¡¯re mostly in Japan.¡± ¡°Yeah. This one¡¯s here and she¡¯s very angry.¡± Caroline lifted the gauze on her shoulder, and saw that her claw mark had already healed: ¡°If we lied to her, I thought she might¡¯ve killed us.¡± ¡°And you wouldn¡¯t allow it to happen, right Boss?¡± Jason held the tea cup with both hands and asked Jianmen with an expecting look. ¡°Meh, Nekomatas don¡¯t like to kill.¡± Jianmen shrugged: ¡°They like to bluff, but are mostly harmless. And you said this one has five tails? Quite impressive.¡± ¡°Not THAT impressive.¡± Caroline scoffed: ¡°She almost got killed by Dr. Nguyen. And Dr. Nguyen doesn¡¯t even feel that dangerous.¡± ¡°Yeah, I smelled it from you.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°The other thing with Nekomatas is that they¡¯re not the fighting type. They¡¯re more like the ¡®confuse and manipulate¡¯ type. The pressure you felt when she threatened you? That¡¯s a manifestation of it.¡± ¡°Speaking of which, what can we do with this Dr. Nguyen situation Boss?¡± Jason asked: ¡°We¡¯ve been at it for a while, and all we know so far is that she¡¯s dead and possessed by some really dangerous spirit related to the body we found. Should we go back to SFPD and take a look at that body?¡± ¡°Nonono, I told you, nobody move that thing for at least a week.¡± ¡°Yeah, but you just said that and left in such a hurry.¡± Caroline drank up her tea and pushed the cup forward for a refill: ¡°What happened, Boss?¡± ¡°Entangling business, like I told you.¡± Jianmen answered with a wry smile: ¡°And uh, I am embarrassed to say. I am once again kinda injured. So I can¡¯t help much, unless you really needed me.¡± ¡°What!? Again? What happened?!¡± Caroline and Jason almost jumped. ¡°Not a big deal, not as serious as last time. ¡± Jianmen gave both Caroline and Jason a refill on their tea, then went into the kitchen and took out a bottle of wine: ¡°And the reason, you¡¯re sure you¡¯re ready to handle the truth?¡± ¡°Nonono, just knowing you¡¯re injured is good enough.¡± Jason immediately waved his hands: ¡°I don¡¯t wanna bleed from my ears again.¡± ¡°Speaking of bleeding...¡± Caroline suddenly realized something, then she took out her phone and opened up a photo of a closed up shot of some metal chains: ¡°Boss, do you recognize this symbol?¡± Jianmen¡¯s facial expression turned serious: ¡°This is on the chains that bind the body you guys found in the Prime Royals Hotel?¡± ¡°Yes. How¡¯d you know?¡± Caroline nodded: ¡°I noticed this symbol, because the cultists that attacked us at the house also had similar symbols carved on their chests. Especially this one that looked like a triangle with a hook inside.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a scythe.¡± Jianmen nodded and answered: ¡°Let¡¯s hit the library - I¡¯ve dealt with people who used this symbol before, it¡¯s some sort of sealing rune. I remember an ugly witch who used this rune to seal a monster¡¯s essence into her heart and used it to fuel her nasty magic. But I can¡¯t remember the details.¡± ¡°Sounds like we can ask the witch herself.¡± Caroline joked. ¡°Yeah, that won¡¯t happen. She¡¯s pretty dead now.¡± Jianmen closed the diner door and reopened it, the door now led directly to the underground library: ¡°Just like your encounter with the Nekomata mama today, turns out that killing and consuming monster cubs will bring about the fury of their parents. Who would¡¯ve thought?¡± Chapter 108 When Caroline and Jason followed Jianmen into the underground library, through the diner door, they saw that the books on the shelves all seemed to be glowing in different colors of light. Jianmen raised his right hand, with orange and golden light emitting from his palm, then shortly, three thin books flew from their shelves and into his hand. ¡°Here.¡± Jianmen handed the three books to Caroline and Jason: ¡°Take a look at these, they introduce some basic sealing and other power symbols and their usage. And the sealing rune should be - here.¡± Jianmen pointed his finger at one of the books, the book opened and a gentle orange and golden glow highlighted the page it opened at. ¡°Oh, Boss?¡± Caroline thought for a short while and asked: ¡°Where can I find books on human symbols - something like a - a magical pinky swear?¡± ¡°Pinky swear? You meant like the two halves from the body?¡± Jason looked at Caroline then nodded: ¡°Yeah, yeah, that makes sense.¡± ¡°The first layer, on the shelf that marked ¡®Rituals/Sacrifices¡¯.¡± Jianmen waved his hand again, and the book shelves switched their positions, with one of the shelves pushed up front: ¡°And the thing you called ¡®pinky swear¡¯ is actually a kind of binding symbol. And you can find the basic information on binding symbols from these three books.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you gonna stay and read with us Boss?¡± when Jianmen headed to the stairs, Jason asked. ¡°Oh, I will in a bit. Right now I need to drink my pain away first and tend to the garden for a bit.¡± Jianmen waved his hand: ¡°When you¡¯re done, take a look at the rose in the garden.¡± ¡°Hey, Caroline, look what I found here.¡± Jason gently tapped Caroline¡¯s shoulder shortly after they started reading. ¡°The power of extended fingers...¡± Caroline read with a frown: ¡°In different magical and power systems and frameworks originated from different regions and cultures, the use of hand gestures, especially the ones with extended fingers have become the simplest form of ill-wishing and curses. And with different manners and context of usage, the extended fingers can also serve as the one of the most basic forms of provocation spell - not uncommonly used on the battlegrounds and even for the detection of hidden passive magical mines and traps¡­ did I just read the use of the finger!?¡± ¡°Pretty interesting, huh!¡± Jason couldn¡¯t contain his laughter and pointed at a drawing of a hand with the middle finger raised: ¡°You see, this is pretty official. The middle finger is one hell of a spell! Ahahahahaha....¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Who the hell wrote this?¡± Caroline took the book from Jason¡¯s hand and flipped to the back of the book, then her facial expression turned weird and she handed the book back to Jason: ¡°Look at the author name, look who wrote this.¡± ¡°...by Josephine S.L. Wong, honorary member of the League of Skyblue Aegis, Summa Cum Laude of the Grant Academy ¡®35.¡± Jason read the tiny etchings at the back of the book out loud and looked at Caroline: ¡°This wouldn¡¯t¡­ this couldn¡¯t be THAT Josephine Wong, right? This just can¡¯t be!¡± ¡°Yeah, if this is her, then she would be, what, at least a hundred years old?¡± Caroline shrugged. ------------------------------------------------------------ ¡°Yeah that¡¯s her.¡± when Jianmen came down from upstairs and Caroline and Jason asked him about the author of the book, and he just nonchalantly confirmed: ¡°In fact, she gave me that book. One of her favorite dissertations.¡± ¡°What ¡­ why¡­ how? How old is she?¡± Jason was at a loss for words: ¡°Holy shit Boss! I know you know her, but how come didn¡¯t you tell us this?¡± ¡°Yeah, that was before you guys underwent the tribulation of fate - you¡¯re not ready for some secrets of this world yet.¡± Jianmen shrugged: ¡°And uh, she¡¯s more than 200 years old officially. She graduated from the academy in 1835. And by the academy I meant the Grant Academy of Mythical Arts. You can think of it as a historic magical boarding school floating somewhere in the world, with some very outdated bookkeeping systems and garbage for canteen food.¡± ¡°Wow. ¡± Caroline hit Jason on the arm and winked: ¡°I guess I¡¯ll watch her movies now!¡± ¡°Yeah... No. ¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°I watched them and wouldn¡¯t really recommend them. They¡¯re kinda trash.¡± ¡°Woah woah woah woah! Boss! ¡± Jason seemed like he was genuinely offended: ¡°I thought you are her friend?¡± ¡°I AM her friend. And friends deserve honesty. She knows.¡± Jianmen took a sip of his wine: ¡°But, to be fair - I¡¯ve seen her in action - all her movies looked like trash compared to her actual moves...¡± ¡°Okay, Boss, one of these days you really need to introduce us to these mysterious friends of yours.¡± Caroline shook her head, then she suddenly realized something: ¡°Wait - I think Josephine Wong was the only ¡®friend¡¯ of yours we know about. Who else is magic and we don¡¯t know?¡± ¡°Oh my god! Dave! Is Dave also magic!?¡± Jason excitedly turned to Jianmen. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you later. First tell me about what you just found.¡± Jianmen rubbed his temples and sat down by Caroline and Jason¡¯s side. ¡°Okay. it¡¯s actually quite interesting.¡± Caroline showed Jianmen a page of the book in her hand: ¡°This symbol is also on the chains that bind the corpse. And looks like when combined with the sealing rune we found earlier, they can reinforce each other creating a self-fueling sealing spell, where it basically uses the power it saps out from the entity inside to fuel the spell itself. It¡¯s like making the prisoners maintain the jail cells.¡± ¡°Yeah. That is what I sensed when I saw the body - the two coins inside its body were the central sinks of the energy. They act like car batteries - they charge up when the energy is flowing normally and they go into action when the seal is growing weak due to lack of energy flow.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°And the coin I put on it was like a faulty one - it consumes more energy from what¡¯s inside of the corpse but doesn¡¯t give much back. Which reminds me - be careful of the corpse - I sensed that the wooden coin is processing more energy than expected. ¡± ¡°Noted. And the pinky swear?¡± Jason continued with excitement, showing a page on the books on his hand: ¡°What do you know, Josephine Wong is awesome - she posited here that gestures of promise making and swearing in the names of deities can be foundations of powerful binding spells as well. It doesn¡¯t - so we¡¯re thinking - the pinky swear was not some sicko play - it¡¯s part of the binding spell!¡± ¡°Hmm, makes sense. That explains the concentrated dark energy on the hands. And I think Josephine¡¯s definitely onto something here. Do you remember the nature of ¡®True Words¡¯? Acts of promise making and swearing to deities can have some similar effects, but to a different degree.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°Good work.¡± ¡°Now tell Boss about the power of fingers.¡± Caroline chuckled and nudged Jason. Chapter 109 ¡°Holy crap! Dave? An immortal being?¡± after Jianmen told them some more information about the mythical world he was involved with, both Jason and Caroline came up from the basement, doubting almost every aspect of their lives. ¡°Well, not ¡®immortal¡¯ immortal - they can still die, technically.¡± Jianmen looked back at them and said: ¡°They just don¡¯t really age.¡± ¡°And¡­ uh, when can we have a chance to meet some of these people? Or visit some of these places? I mean, random gifted humans are one thing. A floating magical school? That¡¯s whole another level.¡± Jason excitedly asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know man.¡± Caroline sighed: ¡°The world just feels more and more dangerous the more I learn about it. I mean, with the underground mercenaries, vampires and werewolves. And now the rival witch covens and wizard clans ...¡± ¡°No worries, we have our code. And we have a government agency to keep things in check.¡± just this moment, a figure in a purple coat appeared in the front door of the inn. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Jianmen put his bottle of wine down on the reception¡¯s desk. ¡°Oh, a late night visit from a lady and this is how you respond?¡± Josephine Wong walked into the lounge with a smile and gently nodded at Jason and Caroline: ¡°Hi Jason, nice to see you again. And you must be Caroline, nice to meet you.¡± ¡°Yeah. Nice to meet you too.¡± Caroline nervously greeted Josephine Wong: ¡°Now I feel stupid - I should have gone to the movie set...¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. That is a stinky place to meet anyway. ¡± Josephine raised her purse, took out three abnormally large, heavy and dusty books and put them on the desk: ¡°Did you clean that filthy place up yet?¡± ¡°Is that something we¡¯re supposed to do now? Boss?¡± Caroline looked at Jianmen with a sarcastic expression: ¡°How come we¡¯ve never heard of that?¡± ¡°My bad, my bad.¡± Jianmen made a ¡°you caught me and I¡¯m sorry¡± gesture: ¡°But to be fair, that was still before your tribulation of fate.¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Still needlessly mysterious as always.¡± Josephine Wong gently patted on the three heavy books: ¡°Here you go, three tomes from the once glorious Paladin church of Galantium. Not directly copyable and scribable, which tells you they are really good!¡± ¡°That¡¯s way more than I asked for.¡± Jianmen said with a frown: ¡°Thank you, I really appreciate it. But how much do I owe you?¡± ¡°How about a favor to be redeemed later?¡± ¡°I¡¯d prefer not - too vague for my taste. Just let me know what you want.¡± ¡°You know ...¡± Josephine Wong sighed: ¡°Our barter will go much faster if you¡¯re open to owing some favors once in a while.¡± ¡°Sorry, old habits - money or material things are easy. Favors are hard, and uh¡­ bad karma.¡± ¡°Okay. How about - help me with a mortality scapegoat?¡± Josephine shrugged and asked: ¡°I could use your help - you know it¡¯s such a perilous process.¡± ¡°Why, you don¡¯t have one already?¡± ¡°No¡­ the one I had before had expired. It was time-bound and it just became useless.¡± ¡°Ah, happy birthday.¡± Jianmen raised his bottle like a toast: ¡°Would you tell me why you need it with this kind of urgency?¡± ¡°I am officially stationed here, and I will be for at least the foreseeable future.¡± Josephine Wong sighed: ¡°You¡¯re not involved, you don¡¯t know how shady a lot of business here is.¡± ¡°Okay. I am happy to help.¡± Jianmen thought for a short second and answered: ¡°Which kind do you want? Soul bound? Or something better¡± Josephine scoffed: ¡°Yeah, as if I can afford that - no, just another time-bound one is good enough for now. I¡¯ll think about better options when I can afford it.¡± ¡°Okay. ¡± Jianmen thought for a while: ¡°I can provide you with some material as well, it should be good enough to extend the effectiveness by a few years.¡± ¡°Oh my, you do know how to spoil a lady.¡± Josephine chuckled: ¡°And here I think I could get you to owe me a few favors.¡± ¡°The extra payments¡¯ on their behalf.¡± Jianmen pointed at Caroline and Jason with the hand that held the wine bottle: ¡°The audit program still available?¡± ¡°Done.¡± Josephine smiled and nodded, then shook Jianmen¡¯s hand: ¡°Pleasure doing business with you as always. I¡¯ll let you know when I plan to do it. And hopefully next time I¡¯ll have some news on the stones.¡± ¡°What just happened?¡± after Josephine Wong left, Caroline asked Jianmen in awe. ¡°Yeah, I understood most of the words ...¡± Jason added, ¡°But I don¡¯t know what you were talking about¡­ ¡± ¡°Mortality scapegoats are like the wooden figures I gave you.¡± Jianmen explained: ¡°They will die for you once. And it has a couple of different grades, ranking from cheap to expensive: flesh bound, time bound, soul bound and void bound. Time bound means it will be effective for a period of time, typically from one birthday to another. Soul bound means it will be bound to the soul and will remain active as long as your soul is not destroyed, which is kind of a loop hole because it will activate before someone destroys your soul. And uh¡­ yeah the Grant academy has an audit program for guest students. It is every three years so mark your calendars next summer.¡± ¡°Wow¡­ that¡¯s¡­ thank you!¡± Jason immediately said, and Caroline nodded after a short hesitation. ¡°Any other questions? Before I show you what¡¯s in the garden?¡± Chapter 110 Jianmen led Caroline and Jason into the garden, two fields that were technically Caroline and Jason¡¯s responsibility were still unused - except for one thing: the rosebud with something that was emitting flickering light from inside. ¡°You¡¯ll need to learn to deal with your plants soon. I¡¯ll teach you how.¡± Jianmen said with a plain voice: ¡°But for now, it is your time to meet the first spirit companion. Do you still have the metal nuggets I gave you?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± both of his students took out their golden metal ball, and infused a tiny bit of Xuanli into them. ¡°Drip. ¡± Jianmen extended his left hand, and let his students drip the liquid from the golden metal balls onto it. Before the two drops of liquid could touch his hand, an invisible force field stopped the droplets from falling, and made them mix together. Then, Jianmen sent the mixed bigger droplet in the direction of the flickering rosebud. The moment the droplet landed on the rosebud, the rosebud stopped flickering. Instead, the light became constant, and slightly growing brighter, at the same time the rosebud was somehow growing bigger. At the same time, the petals began to shed as well. By the time all the petals shed, a white, fluffy small fur ball appeared. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Jason knelt down: ¡°Looks like a¡­ mochi ball.¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s very cute.¡± Caroline also knelt down, and was about to poke the fur ball with her finger. All of a sudden, the fur ball twitched, and a pair of huge silvery-orange eyes opened up. And as Caroline and Jason had their eyes on the fur ball, it jumped down from the stem of the rose onto the ground, then hopped towards Caroline and Jason like some sort of cuddly movie creature. ¡°Oh¡­ ¡± Caroline seemed like she was so happy she could run out of breath: ¡°Are minor spirits always this cute? If I burst into baby voice when talking to it please don¡¯t mind me. What kind of minor spirit is this?¡± ¡°Snowball.¡± Jianmen shrugged, and when faced with his students¡¯ look of disbelief, he explained: ¡°No, I¡¯m not bullshitting, really. It¡¯s one of their most common names. Some also call it the White Mold Monster, the Soap Muncher, the Fur Ball of Delight, the Cuddly Squish...¡± ¡°Wait, wait, wait. Why so many names?¡± Caroline tried to hold the fur ball in her hand, but it just hopped away, and went behind the rose stem and tried to hide itself while still peeking at Caroline and Jason.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°It was once a pretty common spirit - the kind that doesn¡¯t actually do much besides radiating good will and positive energy.¡± Jianmen also knelt down and gently rubbed the fur ball¡¯s head: ¡°Some wizards and witches like to keep them as pets. But then some pretty nasty warlock found that their cores can serve as catalysts for a lot of the magical medicines¡­ and then you don¡¯t get to see them very often.¡± ¡°I think you saved it.¡± Caroline nudged Jason and said: ¡°I just realized - remember the monster that devours the cats and the ghosts on the movie set to regenerate its power? If you hadn¡¯t found it and brought it back, it would have been eaten. ¡± ¡°Yeah, I remember having a feeling that something really bad will happen if we just left the rose on set.¡± Jason nodded and tried to touch the fur ball, but it avoided his hand again: ¡°Why does it avoid us Boss?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because you are not radiating a kind of energy it likes.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°No worries, you¡¯ll learn it soon enough. Just feed it like your pet now.¡± Caroline and Jason put forward the metal balls and infused a little bit of Xuanli inside, the fur ball was immediately attracted to the liquid being formed. Carefully and slowly, Caroline and Jason each dropped a little droplet of the liquid onto the fur ball¡¯s head. The fur ball blinked a few times, then its eyes became droopy, and it rolled on the ground as if it fell asleep. ¡°That¡¯s enough food for it. Don¡¯t over feed, just treat it like a normal pet.¡± Jianmen stood up and said. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll trust your gut more next time.¡± Caroline sighed: ¡°Last time I had a strong gut feeling this strong, I ended up busting my ass saving a girl who just might become a major crime boss.¡± ¡°Something bad could have happened. This could just be the better timeline.¡± Jason said while yawning: ¡°Now if you¡¯ll excuse me, I need some rest.¡± ¡°Yeah, go get some rest. Don¡¯t forget to take a shower to wash off that obscured stench..¡± ----------------------------------------------- ¡°Hi Jason.¡± the next morning, when Jason came down from his room, he heard a familiar, slightly awkward voice greeting him. ¡°Dave! Sorry¡­ didn¡¯t see you there.¡± Jason almost jumped when he saw who called him: ¡°What¡­ what brings you here?¡± ¡°Mr. Yu called me yesterday, so I¡¯m here to take over his shifts - he said he had some nasty business to deal with. I wonder what that was.¡± Dave smiled and then chuckled awkwardly: ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s good to see you. I¡¯ll be here until 7pm. Let me know if you need anything.¡± ¡°Thank you. I uh¡­ will definitely do! ¡± Jason nodded and continued walking towards the diner, but then he suddenly turned back and asked: ¡°Hi Dave, Boss told us about you¡­ if you don¡¯t mind, can I ask you some questions?¡± ¡°Ah, sure. I¡¯d be happy to! What do you wanna know?¡± Dave chuckled awkwardly: ¡°I have to tell you that I probably don¡¯t have much to offer though - I am still pretty new to this world. I don¡¯t know if he told you about how we pass on the legacy - I am still much of a newborn by human standards.¡± ¡°Thank you! I am just very interested to know about you and your people ¡­ peers.¡± Jason hesitated: ¡°We are also very new to this world¡­ The world of magic, superpowers... immortal beings.¡± ¡°Ha! No worries, I¡¯m just glad I can help!¡± ¡°Morning guys. You¡¯re up early.¡± Caroline also came downstairs. ¡°Oh, hey good morning Caroline.¡± Dave nervously greeted her, ¡°And before I forget - Mr. Yu told me to give you these.¡± He opened one of the drawers and pulled out two wooden cards like the ones Caroline and Jason had before: ¡°And uh¡­ cicada for Jason, and praying mantis for Caroline.¡± ¡°Huh, are these upgrades from hornets and toads?¡± Jason asked, while looking at Dave with an insinuating smile. ¡°He didn¡¯t say. But it doesn''t look like it.¡± Chapter 111 It was a cloudy day in San Francisco, Caroline and Jason were back into Dr. Nguyen¡¯s apartment again, with Erika, Jeremy and Detective Raymond Marcus. Detective Monica Jamerson was not available, though. The apartment still reeked of the stench that typically came with the unclean presence. But even as Jason and Caroline tried they could not easily locate where the stench came from - it felt like it was all over the place. ¡°Don¡¯t take too long. I¡¯m supposed to meet up with Monica in an hour and a half. ¡± Detective Marcus told them when they entered the apartment: ¡°And try not to leave too much mark or damage anything, we may need to declare this a crime scene later.¡± ¡°Noted. ¡± Erika handed pairs of plastic gloves, disposable shoe covers and hair nets to Caroline and Jason, ¡°Just treat it like a real crime scene then - to save us the trouble.¡± ¡°What is Detective Jamerson working on now?¡± Jeremy asked, ¡°She has been pulling late nights all week ¡± ¡°Yeah, aren¡¯t we all.¡± Detective Marcus shook his head with a wry smile: ¡°Grave defilings and religious site desecration, if you can even believe that. Mostly in various religious cemeteries and sites. No one died but surely pissed a whole lotta people off.¡± ¡°Has anyone been here since the day she disappeared?¡± Erika asked when she entered the apartment: ¡°Something felt¡­ different.¡± ¡°Yes. ¡± Detective Marcus answered: ¡°We searched the place a bit after the discovery of the hand - we figured if some people wanted to hurt Dr. Nguyen or even have her killed, she must have had something important hiding in her apartment or her storage units.¡± ¡°Did you find anything?¡± Erika was sweeping through the now empty shelves, ¡°Or anything missing?¡± ¡°I can send you a list of the evidence.¡± Detective Marcus nodded: ¡°And see if you can recognize anything, let me know.¡± ¡°I wish you would¡¯ve given me that sooner.¡± Erika checked her phone and confirmed the list of evidence, ¡°Who¡¯s handling the case?¡± ¡°Unfortunately, not us anymore. If it was us we definitely would¡¯ve asked you. But the Feds took over a while back.¡± Detective Marcus sighed and said: ¡°They said something about this case being high risk and not suitable for a local police station to handle.¡± ¡°Yeah well. Big talk from the guys that lost ten thousand guns this year.¡± Erika scoffed. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Please, Erika, not in front of the civilians.¡± Detective Marcus¡¯s facial expression did not match his words as he winked at Erika and Jeremy: ¡°But yeah, that¡¯s the reason we¡¯re here to take a look at her apartment. If Dr. Nguyen missed one more payment and this remains not a crime scene the landlord will have the right to put this apartment up on the market.¡± ¡°Why haven¡¯t the feds declared this a crime scene?¡± Caroline asked from the bathroom. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to tell ya.¡± Detective Marcus shook his head. Jason let out a long exhale, then he concentrated his Xuanli on his eyes, just like he did in the precinct a few days back. A black shadow appeared in his sight - it climbed into the apartment through the window and dropped down from the ceiling. Then the shadow floated towards the fridge, and performed a movement that looked like it opened the fridge door and put something inside. ¡°I¡¯ll check the fridge.¡± Jason then walked straight to the fridge and pulled on its door. The door did not open, even when the force Jason used actually moved the entire fridge forward a little. ¡°Try again? ¡± Detective Marcus noticed Jason¡¯s action, so he walked by to Jason¡¯s side and asked. Jason tried again, then Detective Marcus pulled with him, but neither attempts were successful. The fridge¡¯s position was moved by quite a bit, yet the doors were still unaffected. ¡°This is weird.¡± Detective Marcus knocked on the fridge door: ¡°No one metioned this in the notes. I wonder why.¡± ¡°Umm... guys? Raymond?¡± Erika asked: ¡°Did no one see Dr. Nguyen¡¯s jewelry? Especially the one with a piece of sarira?¡± ¡°Sarira? What is that?¡± Detective Marcus asked. ¡°It¡¯s a piece of bone or stone from the bodies of great Buddhist monks after cremation.¡± Jeremy went by Erika¡¯s side and looked at her phone screen: ¡°Dr. Nguyen was a Buddhist and she treasured it a lot. Her mother got it from Tibet and she really treasured it quite a lot.¡± ¡°Yeah. Can you double check?¡± Detective Marcus tried to open the fridge by himself a few times and he started panting: ¡°What the hell is this?¡± ¡°Caroline? Need your help here.¡± Jason called at the direction of the bathroom. ¡°Coming.¡± Caroline came out from Dr. Nguyen¡¯s bathroom holding a small garbage bin: ¡°And Jason, I think you need to take a look at this as well - something odd about this one.¡± Both Jason and Caroline had their hands on the edge of the fridge door, and without making it too obvious, both of them tried to use their Xuanli to help them exert more force. And the moment their Xuanli was focused on their hands and palms, something from within the fridge reacted badly to it and started smoking. Caroline and Jason¡¯s eyes met, and before Detective Marcus could say anything, they poured their Xuanli onto the fridge door. A faint scream came out from the fridge, and the light in the apartment flickered. The next instant fridge door flew from its hinge in a loud bang and smoke through the room, almost hitting Detective Marcus. A concentrated foul and rotten smell coming from inside of the fridge hit both Caroline and Jason the moment the door opened. Headache, dizziness, severe disgust and drumming from the ears all happened at the same time to both of them and brought them to their knees, retching and shaking. ¡°Holy shit, what¡¯s happening?¡± Erika and Jeremy rushed to Caroline and Jason¡¯s side and helped them stand up: ¡°Are you Okay?¡± ¡°Just a second.¡± Jason spoke through his teeth and walked to the side, took out his flask and took a huge gulp. Caroline was right beside him and just did the same. ¡°Woah, drinking on the job huh? Slow down there.¡± Jeremy joked. ¡°Aaaah, yikes. That fucking smell almost killed me.¡± Caroline put down her flask after a few seconds of drinking and exhaled in relief, the fruit wine inside not only refueled her and Jason¡¯s Xuanli, but also helped relieve the terrible sensations induced by the smell. ¡°Smell? What smell?¡± Erika frowned: ¡°I didn¡¯t smell anything?¡± ¡°Guys, we need to call this in.¡± Detective Marcus said, pointing at the fridge: ¡°This is a crime scene now.¡± It was a full fridge of bones, from what Caroline and Jason could tell, there were at least a few pieces of human ribs and shin bones inside. Chapter 112 The next day since they discovered a fridge full of human bones, Caroline and Jason went to visit Aimee and Thomas, with two thermal bottles of soup and one whole matcha cake, who were both staying at Aimee¡¯s place because Aimee¡¯s injuries were more serious and Thomas was taking care of her while they were on leave. ¡°Hey. Caroline, Jason, thanks for coming.¡± Thomas opened the door, wearing a shirt with a cartoon shiba inu on it, ¡°How are you?¡± ¡°Yeah. We found a fridge full of human bones yesterday. It was morbid as fuck.¡± Caroline rolled her eyes and came inside: ¡°How¡¯s Aimee?¡± ¡°Been eating raw garlic every day for a whole week.¡± Aimee rolled out on a wheelchair from inside the room: ¡°But if I turned, I¡¯d be the most pathetic blood sucker ever. Can you imagine catching anyone on this thing? I may have to resort to coked-out losers on the street.¡± ¡°As pathetic as the hundred year old something with a taste for teenagers?¡± Jason showed her the two thermal bottles in his hands: ¡°This is not the same old rib soup, I promise. It¡¯s apparently some sort of light broth made from herbs and bones. Boss made it especially for the purpose of clearing one¡¯s mind and healing one¡¯s wounds.¡± ¡°Tell your Boss I said hi. When I get out of this thing I will say it to him myself.¡± Aimee smiled and showed Jason where to put the bottles: ¡°Just to check, ther ¡®herbs¡¯ are medicinal and not illegal right?¡± ¡°Yeah of course. ¡± Jason looked at Aimee with a confused look: ¡°Why¡¯d you ask?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just that the other day some childhood friends swung by with some herbal muffins.¡± Thomas came by and showed Caroline the sofa: ¡°And those herbs they used - yikes, barely legal even in California.¡± ¡°And I am apparently allergic to some of them.¡± Aimee chuckled: ¡°Which made me sick to my stomach. I mean, imagine the worst food poisoning while being stuck in a wheelchair.¡± ¡°Is sage one of those herbs?¡± Jason asked, ¡°Or does it interact badly with the raw garlic?¡± Aimee laughed: ¡°No. It¡¯s just some really hipster stuff that happened to have some borderline psychedelic effects. They were very thoughtful. Just not the brightest people on earth.¡± ¡°And what else brought you here?¡± Thomas said down beside Aimee and asked: ¡°Not that we don¡¯t like having you guys here. It¡¯s just that you sounded concerned on the phone.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Caroline exchanged looks with Jason and then asked: ¡°We¡¯re here to ask you, Aimee, how are you feeling?¡± ¡°Pretty gross, actually.¡± Aimee shook her head: ¡°But yeah, all this time, no growing fear of sunlight, raw garlic¡¯s disgusting but doesn¡¯t hurt me, and my strength is still the same. Oh, and I¡¯m not hungering for blood.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Jason made a ¡°yikes¡± expression: ¡°It¡¯s been a while, so I think you are safe.¡± ¡°Good, good, good to hear.¡± Thomas patted Aimee on the shoulder: ¡°So the next thing is that you need to get back on your feet and join the force again.¡± ¡°And what? Are they gonna give us silver bullets?¡± Aimee sighed: ¡°Those people - they just killed Officer Singh and Officer Lee like it was nothing. And the guy said he wanted a snack before he bit me, not to mention the last guy¡­ how can we deal with that? There aren¡¯t even enough normal bullets for the force.¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Yeah, but¡­ we¡¯ll find a way.¡± Thomas sighed as well. ¡°Anything interesting going on?¡± feeling that Aimee and Thomas¡¯s emotions were a bit down, Caroline asked: ¡°You know, interesting cases at the station? You know, watched any fun movies?¡± ¡°Well, movies are not my thing. And I just spent my time learning about past cases and sometimes detective stories.¡± Aimee shrugged: ¡°You¡¯d be surprised how many cases go unsolved in the bay.¡± ¡°And if you wanna know about cases, I recently heard of a pretty disturbing one.¡± Thomas went to the kitchen to take out a beer from the fridge, then returned to where he was sitting: ¡°There have been some cultish brutal murders that happened in the past few months, and some of the victim bodies have gone missing from all kinds of precincts...¡± ¡°Thomas! We¡¯re not supposed to discuss that!¡± Aimee hit Thomas on the shoulder. ¡°Ouch! Easy there! ¡± Thomas flinched and started rubbing his shoulder: ¡°That¡¯s not a secret anymore! Someone already blabbed about it to a reporter. It might have been put on the internet already.¡± ¡°Well, yeah, but it is still undisclosed information, you can¡¯t just lay it out in the open like that...¡± ¡°I promise we¡¯ll keep our mouths shut.¡± Caroline immediately asked: ¡°But what¡¯s with the brutal cultish murder?¡± Aimee sighed heavily, then answered: ¡°Okay, we¡¯re not supposed to tell you this. But like my idiot brother said, starting from around three months ago, a string of very gruesome murders have been popping up all over the bay area. And from the scenes and the murder MO, we believe they were all connected to some local cult. And our primary suspect group is a gang called Los Diablos. We were sort of involved in the investigation, but we¡¯ve been out of the loop ever since¡­ this.¡± Caroline and Jason looked at each other, then Caroline said: ¡°That sounds¡­ terrible. ¡± ¡°Well, no worries. Some of our best folks are on it. Last I heard they have got some very promising leads.¡± Thomas took a sip from his bear. ¡°Hey guys...¡± Aimee looked Caroline and Jason in the eyes, seeming like she was about to ask something: ¡°Do you know¡­ do you think¡­ that since vampires exist, and super power exists, that we could actually have some sort of power, but we just don¡¯t know it yet?¡± Thomas looked at Aimee with a surprised expression, and then turned to Caroline and Jason: ¡°You know, she didn¡¯t mean anything for reals ¡­ It¡¯s just a theory of ours.¡± ¡°Hmm, what makes you say that?¡± Jason asked with his eyes narrowed: ¡°Are you feeling different?¡± ¡°No¡­ no! Of course not!¡± Thomas laughed slightly nervously: ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ we¡¯re wondering¡­ I mean we hope - we can have some super powers to deal with situations like that, you know?¡± ¡°After that sucker bit me, something in my blood burned his mouth.¡± Aimee suddenly said, seemingly having made up her mind about something. ¡°What?!¡± Caroline and Jason asked at the same time. ¡°I don¡¯t know why either...¡± Aimee sighed and laid back on her wheelchair, ¡°But, we¡¯ll be fine. We¡¯ll figure things out.¡± ¡°And, uh...¡± Caroline tilted her head a little and looked at Aimee: ¡°Just give us a call if you need help. Or you need some more soup, or tea, or fruit wine...¡± ¡°Boy, your boss really cooks a hell lotta good stuff.¡± Thomas cut a slice from the matcha cake and handed it to Aimee: ¡°Especially this matcha cake, whew. I gotta ask for the recipe some day.¡± ¡°You can just come back to the inn when you feel better. They taste better fresh.¡± Jason smiled and pointed at Thomas: ¡°Friends and family discount on us.¡± ------------------------------------------ ¡°You feel like they¡¯re hiding something?¡± when Caroline and Jason left Aimee¡¯s place, Jason asked Caroline: ¡°I think they might be having some sort of superpower awakening. I just can¡¯t tell what it is yet.¡± ¡°You are the one with the better senses.¡± Caroline sighed: ¡°I think you¡¯re right - at least I haven¡¯t heard of anything about people¡¯s blood burning a vampire¡¯s mouth. If that was more common the vampires would not be so nonchalant when they attacked Aimee.¡± ¡°Sounds like something to ask Boss about. Or at least hit the library until he comes back.¡± Jason scratched his head and hesitated for a short while: ¡°You ever wondered how come Boss always got injured mysteriously?¡± ¡°I try NOT to think about that, why?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just weird¡­ you know?¡± Jason continued, while still trying to find the right words and right ways to put out his thoughts: ¡°I¡¯ve never seen him in actual action. We know he¡¯s strong as fuck, he also told us so. But what could have hurt him like that? He never told us anything about the things he deals with.¡± ¡°Which is why I try not to think about that.¡± Caroline chuckled and then secretly told Jason: ¡°Do you know that he also has a criminal record?¡± ¡°Criminal record? What?¡± Jason¡¯s eyes turned wider than almost ever, ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡± ¡°Kane¡¯s a PI, a pretty good one at that. He insisted on doing a background check on Boss when he learned that I¡¯ve been living in the place I work.¡± Caroline shook her head and laughed: ¡°He¡¯s kinda protective - and he pulled some strings and files. Turns out he was in prison for five years, multiple accounts of aggravated assault.¡± ¡°Ah. I¡­ I actually can see that.¡± Jason almost laughed out loud: ¡°He looks like he will lash out and beat someone¡¯s ass if he¡¯s really pissed.¡± ¡°Did you know that two of the guys he assaulted died?¡± Chapter 113 Another depressing afternoon in San Francisco, the thick clouds made it look like it was about to rain anytime. The drivers on the road turned on their head lights hours earlier than usual. ¡°This is one of the reasons I hate coming into San Francisco.¡± Caroline complained to Jason before they stepped into the SFPD precinct to meet Erika and Jeremy: ¡°The winter cold, the wind, the gloomy shy...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget about the smell...¡± Jason joked and sipped his coffee: ¡°Coffee¡¯s good though. ¡± ¡°Please, almost 10 dollars for a cup of barely decent cappuccino.¡± Caroline rolled her eyes as both of them entered the precinct. ¡°Yeah, if you don¡¯t mind, we have coffee in the precinct. ¡± the officer at the front desk told them with a smile as Caroline and Jason signed in: ¡°Everyone¡¯s pulling late nights recently, so the captain hauled us some pretty good coffee. Too bad he wasn¡¯t able to get us an espresso machine though.¡± ¡°Yeah. That¡¯d be good enough. I¡¯ll definitely have a taste.¡± Jason laughed: ¡°Have a good day.¡± They went straight to the forensics lab and met Erika and Jeremy, who already had a compiled list and some printed documents prepared for them. ¡°Thanks for coming. Sorry we cannot send you any digital version.¡± Erika handed them two binders, one marked ¡°Grave Defilings & Desecration¡± and the other marked ¡°Cultish Killings¡±. ¡°And even though you must have already known this, I do have to stress this - please keep this confidential until the case detail is published.¡± Jeremy told them with a serious expression: ¡°We had leaks before, so everyone¡¯s hyper sensitive about information security. Not to mention a few weeks ago some reporter tried to sneak in and steal case files and take pictures of the bodies in the morgue.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll keep it as safe as possible, and we will destroy it when we¡¯re done.¡± Jason nodded and opened the ¡°Grave Defilings & Desecration¡± binder: ¡°Which ones do you think are the most suspect and weird?¡± ¡°Actually, they are all really suspect. ¡± Jeremy put down his coffee mug after a long chug: ¡°The grave defilings and religious desecrations started happening around two weeks ago - some time after Dr. Nguyen. And the cultish murders - they started a few months back.¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Let me guess, Los Diablos?¡± Caroline looked up from the binder of ¡°Cultish Murders¡±. ¡°Yeah. They are the primary suspects. I heard some detectives are also investigating other angles, because even though the Los Diablos are a cultish gang, they don¡¯t usually do things on this scale. Still their M.O though.¡± Erika frowned and sat down. ¡°But. I heard you were pretty badass though.¡± Jeremy operated on his laptop and projected a police report with some pictures on the TV in the lab, ¡°You and your brother fought off five cultists? That¡¯s some action movie shit.¡± ¡°Wait, you guys know? How?¡± Caroline was surprised. ¡°Yeah, well, the police departments in the bay have a pretty good information sharing network. Especially on high profile cases.¡± Erika gave Caroline a thumb up: ¡°We don¡¯t know the details since we don¡¯t have that much clearance. But we read what went down. And it seemed pretty awesome!¡± ¡°Geez, thanks.¡± Caroline shook her head: ¡°Glad we didn¡¯t end up like some of these victims.¡± ¡°Yeah sure. We saw one of the victims when we were helping another precinct with their scene.¡± Erika picked up her coffee mug and frowned because it was empty: ¡°How are you doing mentally by the way? If you need some help I can recommend a wonderful shrink.¡± ¡°I¡¯d take the offer.¡± Jeremy chuckled: ¡°Her shrink is pretty great.¡± ¡°Thanks! Let me think about it.¡± ¡°Look, a few of the religious sites that were desecrated also held remains of saints. Including some buddhist temples with sarira towers - their sariras were also stolen.¡± Jason pointed at one page in the binder: ¡°Same thing missing from Dr. Nguyen¡¯s apartment.¡± ¡°Yes. We noticed that as well. And since you guys were the ones that found the bones in Dr. Nguyen¡¯s department, we¡¯d think you might be able to find something with this. Or at least tell us something different than what the detectives told us.¡± Jeremy extended his hand to Erika: ¡°I¡¯m gonna get some coffee, you guys want some?¡± ¡°Thanks, Jeremy, a full mug for me.¡± Erika handed her mug to Jeremy. ¡°A full cup for me if possible.¡± Jason threw his empty paper cup into the garbage bin and said. ¡°Same.¡± Caroline did not even raise her head from the pages in the binder. ¡°On it.¡± Jeremy walked downs the stairs to the first floor and to the coffee station in the precinct. ¡°You guys pulling late nights like the others?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Yep. And I heard that the captain was starting to piss some people off because we haven¡¯t found a forensic scientist and he still refused to move the body from Prime Royals.¡± Erika sighed: ¡°¡°The 57th precinct¡¯s captain was pretty pushy - apparently their lead forensic scientist was REALLY interested and impatient.¡± ¡°Yeah. One week is just two more days away.¡± Jason smiled and said: ¡°It¡¯s almost over.¡± ¡°Hey, you guys wanna go grab some food with us in a bit? We have started eating dinner early and have some additional food late in the evening.¡± Erika asked all of a sudden. ¡°Yeah. Sure. Why?¡± Caroline flipped to a page with some notes about the symbols left at the cultish murder scene. ¡°The more the merrier.¡± Erika laughed: ¡°And plus I don¡¯t want it to get awkward¡­ with Jeremy, you know.¡± ¡°Ah, and you want us to be the third and fourth wheel.¡± Jason laughed: ¡°Duly noted. You have nothing to worry about.¡± ¡°No, no! It¡¯s not like that.¡± Erika blushed and said: ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ I am still thinking...¡± ¡°Coffee¡¯s here!¡± Jeremy used his back to push open the door of the lab. Chapter 114 ¡°Mmm, this sushi is really good!¡± at a small sushi shop near the precinct, Jason gave Jeremy a thumb up: ¡°You really know your stuff, Jeremy.¡± ¡°Thanks! I¡¯m glad you like it!¡± Jeremy looked at Jason and then looked at Erika and forced a smile: ¡°Do you like it Erika?¡± ¡°It¡¯s really delicious. I don¡¯t know how I missed this place.¡± Erika nodded and quickly turned her eyes to Caroline: ¡°Maybe I should start looking around the precinct, instead of just focusing on the places near my apartment.¡± ¡°Yeah. We should ask Boss to put sushi on the menu.¡± Caroline picked up a thinly sliced piece of salmon: ¡°I bet he could find some good fish if he really tries.¡± ¡°Not sure he would do it though. Sushi does not exactly fit his style.¡± Jason swallowed a piece of surf clam: ¡°He likes his food stewed or barbequed - and plus he doesn¡¯t cook fish very often.¡± ¡°But his matcha cake is the killer though. I would sure love a piece next time I visit you.¡± Erika laughed: ¡°Jeremy you should visit them at the inn in San Jose if you got the chance - it is even better than Momma Becky¡¯s.¡± ¡°Better than Momma Becky¡¯s? Really?¡± Jeremy looked at Erika and turned to Caroline and Jason: ¡°Don¡¯t mess with me on this - I am a big fan of Momma Becky.¡± ¡°Huh. Let¡¯s go there and buy a slice when we have the chance.¡± Caroline sipped her tea with a smile: ¡°Where can we find that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s actually a bit far from here. Better take a rideshare.¡± Erika answered: ¡°It is good, a bit on the overpriced side. But - at least to me, your boss¡¯s matcha cake has that distinct sense of clear and calming smell. I haven¡¯t been able to find it anywhere else.¡± ¡°That might be because of the flowers in and around the inn.¡± Jason chuckled: ¡°Which still baffles me till this day - how come we have so little guests?! I mean half our rooms are empty all the time.¡± ¡°And the reason for the lack of a good smell could just be San Francisco.¡± Caroline raised her brows and said. ¡°Hey, hey, hey!¡± Erika acted as if she was a bit offended: ¡°Don¡¯t talk shit about my city! Even though you might be kinda right.¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I think it is definitely San Francisco. Not the cake.¡± Jeremy joked, which earned him an elbow jab from Erika. ¡°You guys sure you wanna go to the cemetery by yourself?¡± when they were almost done with their food, Erika asked Caroline and Jason: ¡°I can ask some officers to accompany you. You guys are consultants, you are entitled to some level of protection when you are helping us with cases.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. Officers need time off too. We¡¯ll call.¡± Caroline said: ¡°It¡¯s a cemetery, I don¡¯t expect anyone to bother us there.¡± ¡°Yeah. But this is San Francisco. We have hardcore gangs here in close proximity. Gang wars actually happen.¡± Jeremy cautioned: ¡°This is not like San Jose or Irvine, where a gang practically owns a zip code.¡± ¡°Come on Jeremy, why are you trying to freak them out here?¡± Erika hit Jeremy on the shoulder and asked. ¡°No worries. We can handle ourselves.¡± Jason gently tapped the table with his fingers: ¡°If you guys need our help, call us. And call Boss if necessary - you have his number.¡± ¡°Yeah. But isn¡¯t he in San Jose?¡± Jeremy asked: ¡°What if something urgent happened?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just say he can help with much more than we could, when he has the time.¡± Caroline shrugged. ----------------------------------------------------- After the sushi dinner, Caroline and Jason jumped on a rideshare car to a local cemetery that was recently defiled - by the name of Blessed Light Cemetery, a historic cemetery that held the remains of a locally famous saint, who organized charities and civilian rescue operations during and after the second world war, and whose grave was defiled. ¡°Saint Ackermann was a civil leader of the local church, and an international philanthropist who organized multiple war refugee and civilian rescue operations with his immense political connections and expended almost all of his family wealth doing so.¡± on the rideshare car, Jason found a wiki page on the saint that once resided in the now defiled grave. ¡°Wait, you guys are actually going to the cemetery?¡± the rideshare car driver asked Caroline and Jason with a shaking voice. ¡°Well, that¡¯s what we put in the app.¡± Caroline asked. ¡°Oh, god. I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t send you all the way. That place is too creepy.¡± the driver whined: ¡°Can I just drop you guys off a few blocks away? I ¡­ I don¡¯t wanna drive there.¡± ¡°Creepy? Creepy how?¡± ¡°Creepy like¡­ creepy!¡± the driver sounded like he was about to cry any minute: ¡°I know a few drivers that got close to it and all got into terrible accidents on their way back! Plus people been seeing some crazy shit around there man!¡± ¡°Tell us more about it, and you can drop us two blocks away.¡± Caroline said. ¡°Yeah, just two or three days ago.¡± the driver was happy to hear that his passengers were willing to negotiate the dropoff location: ¡°A buddy of mine dropped off some young people at the cemetery. My buddy thought they were gonna do some ghost hunting or doing some big dare. But these fucking psychos - they were going there camping. And THAT is not the crazy part - the crazy part is that my buddy later got a pickup request from the same group at the cemetery - he went back and picked them up - there were four of them going in, and when they came back there were only three of them. So my buddy asked them, right? ¡®Where is that other friend of yours?¡¯ ¡®Where¡¯s that scared little guy?¡¯ And these people were acting like they¡¯re tripping on some hardcore drugs, they didn¡¯t even know they lost a guy back there! And their face, my buddy said, it¡¯s like they lost a ton of weight and aged 10 years in just a few hours, their face got all wrinkled up and shit, their eyes were all droopy¡­ I gotta tell you, from my buddy¡¯s description, it¡¯s like they¡¯re possessed or zombified!¡± Chapter 115 When Erika and Jeremy went back to the precinct, they brushed through someone wearing a grey trench coat. ¡°Guys, you¡¯re back.¡± the officer at the front desk greeted them with an insinuating smile: ¡°This time it¡¯s longer than usual, what happened?¡± ¡°Thank you Lorene. The sushi place was just very full. ¡± Jeremy shrugged: ¡°And we had friends with us. So we spent some time catching up and chatting.¡± ¡°Your friends, meaning the two civilian consultants we have here about the occult stuff?¡± the officer at the front desk asked: ¡°Geez, captain was not happy about having them here. I overheard him complaining about not finding a forensic scientist and yet we have paranormal consultants like a Hollywood movie set.¡± ¡°Well, interesting story. I just learned that they are actual paranormal consultants on a movie.¡± Erika laughed. ¡°Well, don¡¯t let the captain know that!¡± the officer at the front desk also laughed, ¡°Have a good one y¡¯all. They just delivered a new bucket of cold brew. Fresh and chill.¡± ¡°Thanks Lorene. I¡¯ll not miss it this time.¡± Jeremy¡¯s tiny bit of frustration was relieved by a little, ¡°What¡¯s one more late night when we have cold brew nitro, huh?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the spirit.¡± When Erika and Jeremy got back into the precinct and got their coffee, the first place they went to was the morgue - apparently a body of a young woman was found somewhere near the precinct and the officers sent it in for further examination. ¡°Hmm¡­ take a look here.¡± Erika gently raised the hair from the body¡¯s neck, revealing two round puncture wounds: ¡°We have seen this before, haven¡¯t we?¡± ¡°Let me see...¡± Jeremy came over and examined the wounds a little bit: ¡°Hmmm, interesting. Yes we have, and this is where the feds took over last time. ¡± ¡°Have we heard back from them?¡± ¡°Not that I remember. I remember Dr. Nguyen made an inquiry to follow up. But I am not sure if she had heard anything back.¡± Jeremy took his notes and snapped a picture of the wound with his phone: ¡°Now this time I¡¯m gonna back up the picture on my drive - ain¡¯t no one¡¯s gonna take it from me this time...¡± ¡°What do you think caused this? I remember last time the feds said this is some sort of drug injection wound - some bullshit about this new kind of street drug with a new kind of injector.¡± Erika gently squeezed the wound and felt the texture of the tissues around the wound: ¡°This is definitely not an injector wound. Whatever caused this wound nipped the artery, can¡¯t imagine someone stupid enough to do that.¡± Just when Erika and Jeremy were further examining the body and the wound on the neck, a group of people barged into the precinct. ¡°Commissioner, I¡¯m sorry, but they just started examining the body...¡± Lorene followed the four people into the morgue. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± the police commissioner of the SFPD barged into the morgue with 3 strong-looking men in dark clothes behind her.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Commissioner Wolfe! We are ... forensic technicians here.¡± Jeremy looked up and was surprised: ¡°What are you doing here?¡± ¡°Okay. I don¡¯t care. Just get out of our way! We need to move this body.¡± Commissioner Wolfe looked at the operating table on the side with a piece of white cloth on top covering something that was laying on it, snapped her finger and pointed to the door. ¡°But, Commissioner Wolfe, we can¡¯t move it until the captain gives the order.¡± Erika hesitated and said: ¡°We¡¯d have to call the captain first. And he ordered that it can¡¯t be moved until next week.¡± ¡°Too bad. I am the commissioner.¡± Commissioner Wolfe said and turned to the three men behind her: ¡°Take it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea, commissioner.¡± Lorene took out her phone: ¡°If possible, could you wait a bit, let me get the captain on the line and ask him first...¡± Before Lorene can finish, one of the men behind Commissioner Wolfe whipped out a long katana from his back and swung the silvery red blade across Lorene¡¯s hand and throat. Lorene¡¯s hand flew off from her wrist along with her phone still in her palm. Her facial expression indicated she wanted to scream, but the blood gushing out of her throat completely muffled her voice. All she could do was choke on her own blood while trying to not suffocate. Erika and Jeremy almost screamed but Commissioner Wolfe just extended her hand and an invisible force locked them in their places, pushed them down on their knees and bent their head down. Erika started crying, but she could not make a noise and her tear drops just rolled all over her face. ¡°Get rid of the others and lock the place down.¡± Commissioner Wolfe¡¯s voice changed into a different woman: ¡°I¡¯ll finish the circle.¡± Two of the three men went out of the morgue and to other places of the precinct. The force that locked Erika and Jeremy in their places loosened, which allowed them to move their heads up and see what¡¯s going on - the woman wearing Commissioner Wolfe¡¯s clothes was someone they don¡¯t know, and now she was hanging Lorene¡¯s body in the air with her magical power, while the man was also using some kind of power to control Lorene¡¯s blood to draw some kind of circle around the operating table that was covered with white cloth. Erika and Jeremy looked at each other, all they could read from each other¡¯s face was despair, dread and fear. They tried to speak, but they felt like the air inside their lungs froze and their throat, tongue and mouth were numbed. Erika and Jeremy tried their hardest to attempt to break free, but the invisible force still locked their movements in almost every angle, as if their whole bodies were put into a block of cement. Gunshots were fired from the other rooms but the sound died down as quickly as they emerged. In less than three or four minutes, the two men that went out came back, with blood on their clothes. ¡°What about them?¡± one of the men pointed at Erika and Jeremy. ¡°It may take a couple of tries.¡± the woman answered, without even a hint of remorse or any emotion at all: ¡°Just be quick. She¡¯s gonna notice it and come for us.¡± ¡°Alright, quick.¡± the man who drew the circle around the desk ripped the white cloth away from the operating table unveiling the mummified corpse in chains underneath, then he and the rest of those who stood around the table extended their hand forward, revealing some special symbols tattooed on their palms: ¡°Stand ready. Three, two, one...¡± The air and the ground shook and the table banged, a smell of burnt flesh came off from around the table - for a brief moment Erika saw the blood circle light up in bright red light but then it instantly died down and started smoking. ¡°No. Not strong enough.¡± the woman shook her head: ¡°This sealing spell is much stronger than expected - how could she...¡± ¡°Again.¡± the man with the silvery red katana walked towards Erica. ¡°Nonono, him.¡± the woman pointed at Jeremy, ¡°The virgin.¡± Erika tried to yell and scream and beg them to stop, her tears seeped into her closed mouth and her nose as she tried. But the swing of the katana was just as fast as the time it ended Lorene - blood jetted from Jeremy¡¯s throat while his eyes opened wide in fear and helplessness. And just like what happened to Lorene, his blood was collected onto the circle on the ground. Another more powerful shock shook the whole morgue. Erika could hear the sounds of things broken: wood, metal, flesh and bones. She closed her eyes and dreaded what might be about to come. But things went quiet, and none of the four murderous individuals said or did anything. After a while, Erika opened her eyes, wondering what happened. This time, it was four individuals around the operating table that were locked in their places. And inside the circle, the chains on the corpse were all broken and their pieces were scattered on the ground and on the table. A small piece of the wooden coin was laying right in front of Erika, and its inside was tainted black by something unknown. Two completely dark hands, looking completely covered in black tar like liquid reached out from the center crack of the corpse and pushed the two halves of the corpse sideways, as if they were pushing open a door. And in the next moment two halves of human heads emerged from the corpse that was open from the middle, dark and dripping dark liquid just like the hands. Two eyes, one blood red and one grey, looked around the room but did not stop for a moment. Then the two half a heads spoke simultaneously, in different but similarly hoarse, cold and echoey voices: ¡°Beverly¡­ how you tortured us so...¡± Chapter 116 Caroline and Jason kept their promise and let the rideshare driver drop them off a few blocks before they reached the cemetery. The road was not only chilly, dark and creepy, the city smell somehow started getting worse as they walked down the road. There were not many people along the way, aside from some apparently homeless guys and some homeless looking but still drunk or drugged out of their minds people passed out on the road. Some stray cats startled Caroline and Jason when they emerged from the darkness, but all of them turned out to be just normal cats. With their current abilities, it did not take them long to get to the cemetery from where they were dropped off. And at this time of night, there were only a few street lights providing a very limited amount of light for the area. And right beside the entrance of the Blessed Light Cemetery, was a tall, ugly and creepy looking tree. Under the dim lighting, one might even mistake some of the patterns on the tree bark as crying or yelling human faces. ¡°There.¡± Caroline pointed forward, at a grave that was dug open and its tombstone tossed to the side, and whose surrounding areas were enclosed by police tapes. The police tapes would have marked the off-premise areas clearly, if not for the fact that some of the tapes were broken and left flailing in the early evening wind. ¡°This is pretty bad.¡± Jason circled outside the police tapes, ¡°But I don¡¯t really sense anything here¡­ yet. ¡± ¡°Let me try the true sight spell first.¡± Caroline raised her hand and joked: ¡°Give me a chance to play detective.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Jason knelt down by a piece of broken police tape and lowered his body while using his phone as a flashlight to closely observe the patterns on the ground: ¡°Holy crap¡­ these are ...¡± ¡°Claw marks.¡± Caroline¡¯s eyes glowed in faint orange and red light: ¡°Looks like from human hand - what the fuck?!¡± ¡°This is definitely not normal.¡± Jason stood up and looked at the pieces of broken coffin tossed to the side: ¡°I¡¯d expect shovels or at least some other tools.¡± ¡°Jason, look to your right.¡± Caroline pointed at a bigger piece of broken coffin beside Jason: ¡°The big board by your side.¡± Jason looked where Caroline was pointing at, and he sensed that something was not right with the broken wooden board - it was as if it was touched by something grim, dark and¡­ unclean.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. In Caroline¡¯s sight, the trace was very clear: it was a partial hand mark, with traces of dark green energy residue. What was also almost clear as day, was the dark green and black smoke rising from the hole that once held the coffin. ¡°Something unclean dug the grave up.¡± Caroline told Jason: ¡°Can you build me something so I can look over the inside? I don¡¯t wanna leave my shoe marks inside the grave.¡± ¡°On it.¡± Jason extended his right hand towards the ground right in front of Caroline, a silver ladder with a platform on top appeared right in front of her. Caroline jumped on the ladder and climbed to the platform, then from the top she looked down on the insides of the grave. At the root of the dark green and black smoke, there were also something like worms and bugs that were crawling all over the root of the grave. And through the effect of the true sight spell, Caroline felt like she could ¡°hear¡± the crackling and squishy sounds from their movements. ¡°Jason?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯m gonna burn this grave down. You might wanna help me with it.¡± ¡°What!? Why?¡± Jason cast a true sight spell on himself, built himself a similar ladder and climbed on top of it to look down on the grave. After a short hesitation, Jason nodded, took out his wooden pen from the backpack and said: ¡°Yeah do it. I¡¯ll keep an eye out for you.¡± ¡°Thanks. ¡± Caroline¡¯s both hands formed a circle with her fingers, a small and bright fireball emerged from within the circle, then Caroline tilted her hands and let the fireball roll into her right palm. She closed her right palm into a fist and within seconds her entire fist was on fire. With a swift jab in the direction of the grave, an orange and red shadow of a fist shot down into the bottom of the grave. A loud boom exploded from within the empty grave, a fireball rose to the sky and fiery energy tore through the surrounding ground. And at the same time, hundreds or even thousands of voices from all around them let out ear-piercing screams. ¡°Go! Go!¡± now realizing that they practically poked a hornet¡¯s nest, both Caroline and Jason started rushing towards the entrance through from which they came in. The creepy tree, though once tall and firm, was now shaking and moving like a moving creature and its branches were flailing like the arms of a pissed off mad man. Since they both had their true sight spells active, they saw the true appearance of the tree - it was no longer covered in simple tree bark, but dark red and green flesh of some kind; the tree branches were made of bones and sinew; and from all of the tree branches, countless shrunken and wrinkled human heads were hanging down with their long hair tied on the branches. Not only that, there were also three huge pale faces with different facial expressions on the trunk of the tree - one face looked angry, one face looked terrified and sad, and the final one had a creepy smile. Countless moving roots, made of bloody flesh, skin and sinew burst out from the ground, just like dozens of tentacles trying to surround Caroline and Jason. At the same time, a lot of the heads hanging from the tree branches started shouting, crying, moaning and being shot towards Caroline and Jason through the air. Caroline lit up her wooden axe and unleashed a full force swing against the roots in front of them. Jason swung his wooden pen in the air, writing a complicated symbol in the air with his Xuanli. The fiery energy blade released from Caroline¡¯s swing cut through half a dozen branches of tree roots and exploded midair, damaging some more roots and flying human heads. On the other side, Jason took a jab at the symbol with his wooden pen, causing the symbol to explode unleashing tens of silver energy shards onto the roots and incoming flying human heads. ------------------------------------------- Happy Turkey Day! Chapter 117 With two strikes, Caroline and Jason expended quite a lot of their Xuanli, and the now animate tree lost a good chunk of its roots and flying human heads. Caroline and Jason¡¯s way towards the entrance of the cemetery instantly become much more clear. But immediately, a lot of the surrounding graves exploded, and skeletons shrouded in black smoke jumped out and lunged towards Caroline and Jason. Without much hesitation, both Caroline and Jason activated their wooden card - Caroline¡¯s card conjured giant translucent orange praying mantis made of Xuanli, which, upon its appearance, started attacking the roots of the tree and even the tree itself right away. Meanwhile Jason¡¯s wooden card conjured a normal sized silver cicada, which started shaking its wings and making loud and high-pitched noises. The orange praying mantis cut down a small batch of moving tree roots with one front claw and swung its other front claw and left a huge cut on the tree¡¯s bark. And the noise from the silver cicada seemed to emit waves of purifying energy pulses that washed off the black smoke around the skeletons and the protective energy layers on the surface of the tree roots. The use of two wooden cards instantly drained half of Caroline and Jason¡¯s Xuanli reserve, which brought them on their knees and they had to take out their flasks to recover. The ferocity of the giant praying mantis and the intense energy pulses from the silver cicada bought them some time to breathe, but they were still being surrounded by the smoke-shrouded skeletons and the moving roots of the tree. ¡°Go, go!¡± Jason stood up and pulled Caroline up with her hand, ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Right after helping Caroline up Jason jabbed at a skeleton remotely, unleashing a silver energy spear and impaled the skeleton on a tombstone. The tree gave out a roar from the three faces on its trunk, then it turned and swung the branches on one side at the direction of Caroline and Jason, launching all the human heads at them like a giant slingshot. Jason conjured a silver energy shield in front of them in an attempt to block the human heads. And the moment the silver energy shield appeared, two human heads landed on it and bounced away, cracking the shield up. Both of them held onto each other and moved step by step towards the entrance, while using all the attack methods including spells, melee attacks and Demon Suppression Sigils to clear their path.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. The orange praying mantis flew to the air, but it was immediately pulled down by the movie roots from the tree around its hind legs. It used its front claws to cut the roots that entangled its hind legs. But then its front claws got caught by the roots as well, and it was pulled down to the ground. The silver cicada started losing its power, and its energy pulses started waning and becoming less frequent, which allowed the skeletons to come around closer to both Caroline and Jason. ¡°Focus on one last strike, and we can make it out.¡± Jason supported Caroline by her arm and tried to continue on their way to the entrance, ¡°And call Boss for help.¡± Meanwhile, his energy shield endured another strike from a flying human head, and this time the strike made the cracks on it even bigger and deeper, pushing it closer to the brink of collapse. Both of them infused more Xuanli into their wooden cards and tried to control their respective insect constructs. Bright orange and red fire burst out from the praying mantis¡¯s body and scorched the roots of the tree, which caused the tree to scream in pain. The silver cicada started making louder noises and releasing more and more intense energy pulses, pushing the skeletons back and giving Caroline and Jason room to move and escape. The giant praying mantis spun its body vertically in the air, freeing itself completely from the now burnt entangling roots of the tree, then it rushed to the tree and delivered two heavy blows to the tree¡¯s trunk with its front claws, leaving two deep burning cuts on its bark near the creepy smiling face. A foul burning smell filled the air, thick and dark liquid dripped from the cuts like blood from a wound. The three faces on the tree yelled in pain and threw a batch of human heads at the praying mantis. The praying mantis was not able to dodge all of them and got knocked out of the air with three huge holes on its body. But the next second, the silver cicada controlled by Jason flew straight towards the tree, aiming for the deep cuts left by the praying mantis. The tree noticed the danger incoming and tried to swipe the cicada away, but a fiery energy blade aiming straight at its angry face forced it to retract its branches and roots to protect itself. The cicada was able to fly past the blocking branches and roots, and landed on a cut on its bark. Silver shockwave exploded from the cicada, shaking the air and the ground with a deafening screech, all the Xuanli infused in it was expended in one hit. Chunks of bones, dense and foul-smelling flesh and tissues splashed in the air. The bloody roots started flailing aimlessly as the tree screamed and writhe in pain. The praying mantis hopped in the air and struck down with full force, sinking its scythe-shaped front claws into the face with a creepy smile. The tree screamed and shrunk in size, a batch of its roots swung towards the giant praying mantis in retaliation, but the body of the praying mantis had already dissipated due to it having exhausted all of its Xuanli. ¡°Boom!¡± with two folded Demon Suppression Sigils exploding right in front of Caroline and Jason, a small batch of roots got shredded into pieces and there went the final piece of obstacle to the entrance of the cemetery. The tree shrunk to a human size as it screamed and squirmed, then it burrowed into the ground underneath and disappeared. It seemed to have escaped underground. The skeletons, on the other hand, chased after Caroline and Jason out of the cemetery just like a group of flesh hungering zombies. Chapter 118 Bruce Shaw was having a terrible day. As if it weren¡¯t bad enough that he was sent on a surveillance duty, another task that was given to him directly by his boss - Bay Area real estate mogul Carol Summers, to investigate the ¡°influencers¡± that stumbled upon the secret buried literally in the Prime Royals Hotel went nowhere even after a few days of focused digging. Branston, Brian, Adam, these three were the members of a relatively well known video channel on the internet, who rose to internet fame doing all kinds of ¡°challenges¡±, ¡°pranks¡± and ¡°adventures¡±. There was not much about these three and no signs of any supernatural involvement, not to mention powers to detect a hidden corpse. And according to the records from the hotel and the police documents, there were two other young people at the scene of the Prime Royals Hotel. But strangely, all sorts of evidence seemed to be somehow obscured, damaged or even completely missing in the first place. It was like someone had systematically tampered with all of the private and important information about them. He tried to find the recordings from the livestream the influencers did at the Prime Royals Hotel, but even those ¡°certified¡± videos were nowhere to be found. He even utilized his divination spells and limited usage fortune telling cards, but none of which actually showed him anything useful. As Bruce Shaw frustratedly wandered on the street around the SFPD precinct where the corpse from the Prime Royals Hotel was stored, he brushed against a young man and a young woman who seemed to be coming back from a sushi place nearby. And still with a little bit of residual effects of his divination spells still lingering, he had a rush of gut feelings, upon which he decided to turn around and follow them. The young man and the young woman walked right into the SFPD precinct, to Bruce Shaw¡¯s total surprise. But when he hesitated whether he should just go in there to ask for the two young people pretending to be someone who knew them, he saw a familiar figure going into a dark alley on the opposite of the street. ¡°Fucking Crows.¡± Bruce Shaw cursed, turned to the side and discreetly crossed the street to follow the figure. The Alley was dark and narrow, there was a dim and almost broken light overhead, providing barely enough lighting to prevent the average pedestrian from tripping over the cracks on the ground. There was a metal dumpster down the alley with some empty beer bottles by its side, and it was giving off a musty garbage smell. Bruce Shaw walked down the alley with a heavy frown, both his hands were in his coat pockets but with magical energy concentrated in his palms and ready to cast an attack spell anytime.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. A small cracking sound came from a head, and a shadowy figure emerged from behind a metal dumpster. Bruce Shaw immediately pointed his right hand at the figure, a light blue energy bolt shot from his fingers and landed on the figure. The figure was hit on the shoulder and exploded into hundreds of pieces of flesh and bones. It was not something Bruce Shaw was expecting to see - the figure was clearly just a civilian and not someone with powers. And before he could figure out what was happening, he felt a chill on his left shoulder - after which he felt that he could no longer feel his left arm. A sharp pain came from Bruce Shaw¡¯s chest and he felt something cold pierced through his chest from his back. When he looked down, he saw a long silvery red katana blade protruding out the left side of his chest, and down on the ground, was his left arm. Blood started pouring out of his wound, and Bruce Shaw started feeling his strength and magical powers slipping away. Then, the one holding the katana pulled it out of his back and tossed him to the side. ¡°Well well Mr. Shaw. Looks like you could use a hand.¡± a woman in a police officer¡¯s uniform walked right in front of Bruce Shaw and looked down on him: ¡°How¡¯s work today? And how¡¯s your bitch of a boss?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know ¡­ who you¡¯re messing with.¡± Bruce Shaw felt that the blood was seeping into his lungs and making his breath short. ¡°Oh, I know.¡± the woman in a police officer¡¯s uniform knelt down before Bruce Shaw and said with narrowed eyes: ¡°And now, you just need to chill, when we do to you what you did to my students and sisters.¡± Bruce Shaw struggled and came out with some final curse words: ¡°You filthy witches...¡± and before he could finish, the woman already rammed her hand into his chest through the katana wound and got a hold of his heart. And with a violent pull, his heart was removed from his chest. The man with the katana swung twice, Bruce Shaw¡¯s left ear and head were cleanly cut off. Another man in all black took out a cardboard box and put the head in it, while the man with the katana took the left ear, gave it a quick smell and put it into a small pouch. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± the woman in a police officer¡¯s uniform ran her right hand down her face, she instantly gained the facial appearance of someone else. ------------------------------------- Just about half an hour later, the body of Bruce Shaw was found, by a young man in a similar colored trench coat. ¡°Ms. Summers.¡± the young man got on the phone: ¡°Bruce¡¯s dead ¡­ yeah¡­ someone cut off his head and ripped out his heart ¡­ I think they might be coming for that corpse from the hotel ¡­ understood. I will wait for you.¡± Just as the young man in a trench coat hung up the phone, a wave of incredibly dark energy exploded from the inside of the SFPD precinct across the street. Shortly, a low muffled and dual-toned voice came from the precinct: ¡°Beverly¡­ WINTERS!¡± Countless black shadows started flying out from the windows of the precinct, screaming, crying, moaning and immediately started attacking people on the streets and in the buildings nearby. Naturally, chaos ensued. Cars and buses ran into each other, people abandoned their vehicles and even homes to escape the attack. In a couple of brief moments, there were already dozens of people dead or even ended up as broken pieces on the streets, there were even more being dragged into the air or thrown into abandoned cars and buildings. ¡°Shit!¡± sensing the impending danger, the young man quickly disappeared into the night, away from the surroundings of the precinct. Chapter 119 On a remote planet with a terrible climate, Jianmen was floating in the air, right above a huge jellyfish monster with many wounds on its body that was flatly lying on the ground. The still moving three eyes and three mouths facing up indicated that the monster was still alive. After a thorough visual examination of the monster¡¯s body, Jianmen spoke, in an ancient tongue, to the monster: ¡°You¡¯re lucky. You did not indulge too much. And you¡¯re way too dumb and naive to be fully tempted.¡± The monster squirmed, making a string of weak sounds to Jianmen. ¡°Interesting. Using negative emotions from intelligent beings to calm the whispers? It¡¯s kinda genius.¡± Jianmen chuckled, ¡°But you¡¯re now grievously wounded, do you still want to live?¡± The three giant eyes facing the sky twitched, and the monster made another string of noises. ¡°Alrighty, let¡¯s begin.¡± Jianmen switched to a sitting pose in the air, intense orange and golden lightning shot from the sky and landing on both his palms. He clenched his fingers, and the lightning bolts were caught in his hands, forming into two orange and golden balls of energy. Jianmen raised his right hand up and paid his left hand down, the two orange and golden balls of energy started spinning vertically, and as they accelerated in their spin, a small energy vortex started forming at the center of their circular trajectory. He then pushed both of his hands forward, making the balls of energy spin horizontally. The energy vortex grew exponentially in size in a matter of seconds, turning itself into an energy tornado connecting the grey yellow sky and the grey and rocky land. Being in the center of the energy tornado, the jellyfish monster looked mostly unaffected, but with the scouring washes of the energy, its body started shrinking and becoming lighter and even transparent in color. The energy tornado also shot out countless bolts of orange and golden lightning through the sky, which forked and branched out into a sky full of thin and barely individually visible energy bolts. In Jianmen¡¯s senses, minuscule particles of karmic pollutants were targeted one by one by the tiny bolts of energy. And one by one, those karmic pollutants were being cleansed. Jianmen¡¯s right arm and right chest started displaying symptoms of karmic burn as the energy tornado continued to spin and shoot out orange and golden lightning bolts. The familiar sense of pain once again struck Jianmen from every angle, just this time was much lighter than the last. After a while, the jellyfish monster started rolling on the ground and making high pitched noises. Jianmen nodded and retracted his hands to let the energy tornado gradually die down. At this time the jellyfish monster was already less than half its size.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Yep, it¡¯s probably time to take a break.¡± Jianmen let out a long exhale, then conjured a protected array around the jellyfish monster: ¡°I gotta head back to cook and give my students a lesson. You stay here and don¡¯t move.¡± The jellyfish monster raised one of its tentacles and made a weak squeaky sound. ¡°You¡¯re welcome. Just take care and be careful what you eat next time.¡± Jianmen stood up and opened a portal by his side, then before stepping into the portal he turned to the jellyfish monster: ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± --------------------------------------------------------- ¡°Now, now, stop whining, you think I like this?¡± on the third time Jianmen teleported to the remote planet, the now dramatically shrunken jellyfish monster floated in the air and made a high pitched sound, ¡°Lay down and get prepared. This should be our final session. Afterwards you can eat all the sadness you¡¯d like. ¡± The jellyfish monster, now with the rough size of a basketball, floated back in the air while making a string of whiny noises. ¡°And we¡¯ve gotta hurry. Something tells me troubles are ahead.¡± Jianmen raised both hands to the sky, and two blinding bolts of orange and golden lightning descended from the sky and landed on his palms. Still for a moment, Jianmen held his face up to the sky: ¡°You better pay up quickly and not mess with my students, you cowardly bitch.¡± Two orange and golden balls of energy formed from the bolts of lightning, just like the last two times. But this time, Jianmen did not utilize them to create an energy tornado, instead he merged the two energy balls into one, condensing it into a smaller and smaller size. Shortly, the single ball of energy became crystalized into a solid, shiny and completely translucent tiny ball. Silver and blue lightning shot from Jianmen¡¯s right hand, and a light yellow and green energy stream shot from his left hand. Both hit the translucent crystal ball, and the energy both coated the surface of the crystal ball and seeped into it. Just this moment, Jianmen sensed something had gone wrong on earth - the energy cleansing coin he placed in the mouth of the stitched together corpse in SFPD, just got forcefully destroyed. ¡°Fucking hell. I¡¯m gonna beat you to death with your legs!¡± Jianmen cursed, yet he was in no position to head back and help - his spell of condensing karmic energy and turning the raw karmic energy crystal into an ingestible ¡°pill¡± has just started and could not be stopped without causing some serious damage to him and the jellyfish monster. All he could do now, was try his best to speed things up. ¡°Stay inside the circle.¡± when the jellyfish monster floated around and seemingly tried to leave the protective circle on the ground, Jianmen stopped it with a stern order. And at the same time, his phone rang. He then used a little bit of power to raise the phone up from his pockets and up to his right ear: ¡°Caroline, what happened? This is not a good time.¡± ¡°Finally, Boss. You should come back. We are in San Francisco.¡± Caroline¡¯s voice sounded like she was a bit out of breath: ¡°We just fought a fucking creepy tree monster and some cursed skeletons in a religious cemetery. We killed all of the skeletons but the tree monster ran away, and we¡¯re gonna need some new cards with bugs on them. ¡± ¡°Not a problem, sounded like you are still not compatible. But I can¡¯t be back for at least half an hour.¡± Jason nodded as he continued with his spell: ¡°Did you say you are in San Francisco? If you are, stay away from the corpse.¡± ¡°What happened? We¡¯re actually heading to the precinct right now!¡± Jason¡¯s voice came from the phone, sounding like he was yelling: ¡°We both had a terrible feeling that Erika and Jeremy were in danger.¡± ¡°My coin broke. Everyone in the precinct will be in grave danger.¡± Jianmen answered: ¡°Be careful! Wait for me to come back.¡± ¡°What happened? ¡± Caroline asked: ¡°Who could¡¯ve broken YOUR coin?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not easy to break, but not that hard if one tries.¡± Jianmen said: ¡°If the coin breaks, it might break the power balance of the seal as well - ¡± ¡°Holy shit! There are obscured spirits everywhere!¡± Jason yelled over the phone: ¡°What the fuck!?¡± Chapter 120 Caroline and Jason were still two blocks away from the SFPD precinct, and they were already met with the flood of local residents running away. And in the sky, countless black shadows and even possessed humans were flying in the sky, screaming and diving from the sky to attack the civilians. Also in the air and on the surrounding buildings, were roughly a dozen people wielding different kinds of superpowers or magical spells and combating the shadows and poor possessed civilians. ¡°Um, Boss, a bunch of people were fighting the obscured spirits. ¡± Caroline spoke into her phone: ¡°Are they the Division?¡± ¡°Very likely. Don¡¯t do anything stupid around them.¡± ¡°How about saving some people?¡± ¡°Do what you¡¯ve gotta do. But be careful. If they¡¯re there it means the threat is real and serious. I¡¯ll be back soon. Again, be careful!¡± Jianmen emphasized once more and hung up the phone. On the other side, Jason already clashed with an obscured spirit, his wooden pen sliced the spirit in half just like a sword, and the spirit cashed into the side of the road and turned into ashes. A possessed overweight man with eyes rolled to the back of his head gave out a muffled cry and dived from the sky in an attempt to attack a group of young men and women who did not get a chance to get properly dressed before they escaped. Just when Caroline was about to jump in and defend them, a tall man in a long dark blue robe on the top of the building beside her tossed out a projectile with electric sparks jumping off of it. The energy projectile hit the possessed man on his trajectory, which made a sound like that of metal objects clashing into each other, the possessed man was blasted into the ground, with a sharp energy blade impaled through his body and nailing him on the ground. ¡°Civilians, leave the area, immediately!¡± the man in a long dark blue robe standing on the top of the building said, with his voice amplified like through a magical loudspeaker: ¡°And take shelter when you get the chance!¡± Just two blocks down the road was the SFPD precinct Caroline and Jason were heading towards - but as they looked in its direction, it was nowhere near the way they had remembered. Just a few hours before, it was a dusty and slightly old building with the sign ¡°San Francisco Police¡± hanging over the front door. Now, the building looked as if it was covered with a godly amount of messy and dirty black hair, with traces of blood running down its walls and exterior windows.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. And vaguely but somehow easily recognizably, two huge shadows of two women with only half of their bodies stood tall on the top of the precinct and they were turning around in perfect sync as if they were one whole person looking for something. ¡°Beverly¡­ Winters...¡± a hoarse and dual-toned whisper came from the shadows, even though it was not particularly loud, it sounded very clear to Caroline and Jason. And somehow, the whisper sent chills down their spines and into their stomach. ¡°Beverly Winters. Why does that name sound so familiar?¡± while helping a group of civilians escape, Caroline said to Jason. ¡°Beverly Winters...¡± Jason looked back at the shadows and some of the flying obscured spirits, ¡°Yeah that sounded extremely familiar¡­ I just can¡¯t remember where I heard it.¡± ¡°Bang!¡± a sewer cover was blown open, a chain of faceless and skinless spirits connected together bottom to mouth like a huge human centipede busted out the sewer. And just like a real centipede, it curled its body and aimed its head and its mouthparts, which were made of sharpened human arm bones, at the screaming and crying civilians. A loud and explosive clash sent Caroline into the inside of a building, a wooden tomahawk got embedded on the obscured spirit centipede¡¯s head, the fiery energy scorched half of its head into burning cinders and caused it to back off and scream in pain. Jason raised his wooden pen and stabbed at the obscured spirit centipede from a distance, unleashing a condensed silver energy blade at his target¡¯s body. The silver energy blade struck the spirit centipede at one of its segments, slashing through the black smoke surrounding its body and a layer of protective energy shield under the smoke. Think and dark liquid gushed into the air and onto the buildings around, a few civilians were unlucky and got the liquid splashed all over them. ¡°Good work!¡± two men and one woman in tight battle suits came from behind Jason and leapt into the air, ¡°Lead the civilians to safety!¡± ¡°Caroline!¡± Jason cast a crude and simple cleansing spell to help the unlucky clean up the dark liquid on their bodies, and then started calling for Caroline at the top of his lungs: ¡°Caroline! Where are you!?¡± ¡°Jason!¡± Caroline¡¯s voice came from the building she was sent flying into: ¡°Here! A little help here!¡± Jason rushed into the building, and found that Caroline was half buried under a large chunk of cement block fell from the ceiling. ¡°Oh my god! Are you okay?!¡± Jason immediately ran to Caroline¡¯s side. ¡°Just help me with this.¡± Caroline coughed and said. Jason mustered up his full force to lift the cement block up, while Caroline roared and pushed the cement block up. And inch by inch, the block was lifted off Caroline¡¯s lower body, and she was finally able to get out from under it. ¡°You okay?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Yeah, should be just a few scratches and small bruises. But I¡¯ll be fine.¡± Caroline patted her jeans and shirt to get rid of the dust, then she tried moving her legs and checked on her knees: ¡°Guess all those body tempering showers and Kung Fu moves really worked quite well.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go. Civilians on the streets.¡± Jason exhaled in relief: ¡°You want another Xuanli axe?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Caroline nodded and raised her wooden shield, ¡°Can¡¯t just fight with a shield.¡± ¡°Well, comic books disagree.¡± Jason handed Caroline her flask, which was lying on the ground. Chapter 121 Caroline and Jason weren¡¯t the only ones that saw the shadows of two halves of two women above the SFPD precinct. Three figures in full body cloaks stood on the tops of three buildings around the precinct, staring at the shadows and chanting in very low voices. And further away, under the protection of several layers of protection spells and disguise spells, Carol Summers was observing what was happening at the precinct, from the top of a business building. A group of seven followers were standing behind her, waiting carefully and silently for her commands. ¡°So this day finally came, and much earlier than I was thinking.¡± Carol Summers sighed, ¡°I thought I had more time.¡± ¡°Ms. Summers. Shall we ready the cylinders?¡± one man in a black suit asked. ¡°Let¡¯s wait for now.¡± Carol Summers said: ¡°Let the Division handle it first. They are the ones supposed to protect the civilians.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t they come for you? We filed several official inquiries and complaints and tried to retrieve it.¡± the man asked again. ¡°If anything, it will be the fault of the Crows.¡± Carol Summers narrowed her eyes and said: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll handle the communication with the Division. You just focus on preparing the ritual for me.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Just this minute, the young man in a grey trench coat jumped onto the business building. ¡°Ms. Summers.¡± the young man was a bit out of breath as he knelt down on one knee and presented a pocket watch to Carol Summers: ¡°This is the watch of Bruce Shaw. I couldn¡¯t retrieve his body, it happened too fast...¡± ¡°No worries. Keep the watch.¡± Carol Summers did not even look at the young man. ¡°This¡­ Thank you so much!¡± the young man was shaken by what he heard, he immediately put the pocket watch back into his trench coat: ¡°I¡¯ll be at your command anytime!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be so happy yet. I have a dangerous task for you.¡± Carol Summers said, ¡°Go find Jackson. He will hand it to you and brief you on what to do. ¡± ¡°Understood, thank you Ms. Summers!¡± the young man stood up, cast a spell on himself and jumped off the building. ¡°Poor kid.¡± one of the followers couldn¡¯t help but say. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Opportunity. I started out the same way.¡± Carol Summers took out a cigarette and lit it up with her finger, right now the shadows on the top of the SFPD precinct were finally under attack from members of the Division: ¡°What¡¯s the status of the artifacts?¡± ¡°The artifacts are ready. ¡± a short-haired woman in black trench coat answered: ¡°We can strike anytime, just give the word. ¡± ¡°Good.¡± Carol Summers nodded and started staring at the battle far away. After a while, she told her followers with a serious voice: ¡°If the Division failed to contain it within their second circle, fire up all the cylinders and artifacts, strike them immediately. ¡± ¡°All of them?¡± a couple of her followers were surprised at what they heard. ¡°Yes, all of them.¡± Carol Summers sighed and shook her head: ¡°How unfortunate, just when we managed to stall the new liaison and her core team to deal with the Crows...¡± Before she could finish, Carol Summers noticed that the two shadows had two differently colored eyes that were emitting faint light in the night sky: one grey, and one blood red. ¡°Looks like I¡¯m not the only one that benefited from the bind.¡± Carol Summers continued with a frown: ¡°The Division might not be able to hold them for much longer.¡± ¡°Understood, on it.¡± ------------------------------------------------ ¡°Stay away! Help!¡± in a dark and smelly alleyway, two young college girls were boxed in by groups of zombie-like individuals from both ways. These were the unfortunate casualties of the supernatural battles nearby - they were attacked or just simply infected by residual or escaped energy from the dark shadows and monsters that appeared out of nowhere, and became half human half spirit monsters themselves. One of them had its throat almost completely ripped out, one could even see his spine from the neck. Right this moment, two folded pieces of paper dropped from the sky and exploded in the middle of the hordes, silver and orange red lights burst from the explosion, those half human half spirit monsters were instantly annihilated. ¡°Go! Go! Get outta here!¡± the ones that saved these two college girls were none other than Caroline and Jason, the two college girls struggled up and ran away, without even saying a thank you. ¡°Boss! Pick up! Come back here ASAP!¡± Jason tried to contact Jianmen once again, but Jianmen still did not pick up. The situation got worse for everybody, except perhaps the two shadows that were floating on top of the SFPD precinct. More and more dark shadows started coming out of the precinct, not only could they attack civilians and gifted individuals directly, but also could they merge together or affect their enemies to morph into stronger monsters. The spirit centipede they took great pains to finally kill was one example, and right now the three or for bird shaped shadows with four or six wings were some others. Good thing was, after a while of fighting and rescuing, they were confident they got at least half of the civilians in the area out of danger. Yet, the casualties were huge as well, aside from the many that were dead, there were also those like the infected individuals they just annihilated. At first, they were really hesitant to attack any of those infected by the dark energy, for they still appeared to be humans. But after defeating at least a dozen hordes of them in order to save the civilians, and witnessing the fact that these infected individuals morphing into rabid skeletons or other types of unclean beings, they had become temporarily desensitized. Keep their minds focused on the problems now, they told themselves. A cracking sound exploded from the buildings nearby like that from a sudden and powerful lightning. Three bright light blue energy beams shot through the sky, from three different angles onto the two shadows. These beams of energy pierced through the shadows, which seemed to have caused the two shadows a great deal of pain, as they gave out an ear-piercing scream and tried to move away. But the three energy beams stopped their movement, as if they were metal rods that actually impaled human bodies. Loud, stern and echoey chants came from the three directions from which the energy beams emerged. Caroline and Jason could tell that these were chants of some large scale and meticulous spell, since they sensed that intense energy waves were radiating from those directions as well. The two shadows squirmed and cried, their bodies shaking and twitching, but the beams of energy were still powerful and sturdy enough to keep them in their places. The chants grew louder and faster, and it did not take long before the spells to come close to completion. The two shadows raised both their half a head to the sky, took a long inhale and screamed at the top of their non-existent ¡°lungs¡±. While almost at the same time, three energy chains shot from the same directions as the energy beams and wrapped around their whole bodies, binding them together and locking their movements some more. Chapter 122 The screams from the two shadows were powerful on a scale that Caroline and Jason would have never expected. Not only did it generate a gigantic shockwave, shattering windows and breaking down thin walls from the nearby buildings, but also created a sudden sense of pressure and tension in the air, just like the time the giant grey cat did to them, but this time about twice as intense and powerful. What was more, was that the scream seemed to have caused both Caroline and Jason to start hallucinating and hearing things - this was because a strange and cold energy radiated from the scream invaded their mind, infecting and twisting their senses. Both Caroline and Jason had to sit down where they were and conjure up their Xuanli and power of mind and will to resist the invading energy, For Caroline, it was her first time dealing with a strange external energy invasion, so though she knew in theory what she needed to do, she was having a hard time organizing her power to fight the invading energy off. Jason, on the other hand, had dealt with similar situations twice before, so he was able to get the strange power in his body and mind under control and repel it. And just when he opened his eyes and stood up, he saw that a bird shaped dark shadow with four bat wings and three glowing red eyes flying towards Caroline with its beak aiming at her head. A high speed crescent shaped silver energy blade stopped the bird¡¯s dive attack and forced it to change its trajectory to land on top of a two-story building nearby. Yet, it still had its eyes on Caroline, even when Jason stood beside Caroline pointing his wooden pen at it. Jason was worried about Caroline, but he knew that there was not much he could do for her - she was literally fighting a battle inside her, and it was a battle almost no one could help her with unless it was from someone immensely more powerful than her and one who has perfect control over one¡¯s power. ¡°Keep calm and focus. I¡¯m by your side.¡± Jason said to Caroline calmly and slowly: ¡°Remember, don¡¯t rush it - keep your mind clear, your stance firm and your visions true. ¡± Flame burst out from Caroline¡¯s shoulders and the top of her head, as if three invisible oil lamps were lit up at the same time. Slowly but steadily, flames spread to her arms, face, chest and then her whole body. Jason, while still keeping an eye on the bird, saw what happened and felt both relieved and slightly envious at the same time - though he was not very familiar with how fire Xuanli typically manifests its evolution, he knew very well about the importance of the positions of both shoulders and the top of one¡¯s head. These positions were called ¡°three lamps¡± of a person¡¯s body in traditional Chinese folklore. According to the traditional tales and lore, the brighter the fire on these ¡°lamps¡± burns, the more positive energy and Qi flows in one¡¯s body; and conversely, if one has dim ¡°lamps¡± or even had one or more of the lamps burnt out or blown out, they will become prone to sickness and possession by evil. And just now, the fire on three of Caroline¡¯s ¡°lamps¡± burnt bright and hot, which meant she not only won the battle against the invading dark energy, she also probably made quite some progress on the cultivation of her Xuanli.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. To Caroline¡¯s, however, the process was far from as breezy as it appeared on the outside. The invasive energy seeped into both her body, mainly her meridians, and her mind. Caroline¡¯s Xuanli was quick to respond to the external threat, as it condensed and solidified itself to form ¡°walls¡± of defense against the cold and dark energy that attempted to take over her meridian and in turn her body. Her power of mind and will, however, seemed somewhat slow and clueless in responding to the threat, which started making her head cloudy and dizzy like she was getting drunk. She had to muster up every last bit of her strength and harden her defence and even organize her counter assault on the invasive energy. The bird with three eyes quacked and launched itself at Jason, and at almost the same time, a couple of dark obscured spirits with torn human skin and flesh attached to their surface body areas dived from the sky and shot itself at both Jason and Caroline. Jason swung his wooden pen in full force and full speed, five crescent shaped energy blades shot up at the bird with three eyes and the dark obscured spirits. The three eye bird tried to dodge the two blades shooting at it, but all the energy blades exploded in mid air, releasing hundreds of tiny and sharp energy shards in almost all directions. A few of those energy shards penetrated its wings and caused it to crash on the ground. But the same energy shards proved too weak to penetrate the defenses of the dark obscured spirits, as they continued with their attack with only minor impact on their momentum from the energy shards. The scream from the shadows floating on top of the SFPD precinct was followed by a self-implosion from them - the shadows expanded to two or three times their sizes and then shrunk into a center point in less than half a second. The energy beams and chains that locked their movements just a few moments ago were now shattered into useless shining pieces of energy constructs floating in the gloomy night sky. Two human figures floated up into the air, arms wide open and facing up the sky. Streams of dark energy emerged from the air and seeped into their bodies. One was a young girl in casual clothes, and one was a woman in a police officer¡¯s uniform. Both of them were motionless and showed no signs of any struggle or signs of consciousness. The three figures in full body cloaks were knocked on their backs when the energy chains and energy beams were shattered. Their last spells being forcefully interrupted during the chanting process caused their flow of magical power to violently go off the rails and lose control, dealing great damage to themselves. And now, all they could do was to watch what was going on in almost total helplessness, for the damage they just endured made it so that any usage of magical power could be fatal. Shortly, a third figure started rising to the sky in a similar way - it was a skeleton surrounded by black smoke. As it got closer and closer to the figures of the two women, small white and light yellow fragments of some sort shrouded in black mist left its body and rose to the sky along with it. ¡°Are those...¡± one member of the Division, who wields a long sword with light green energy circling around its blade asked. ¡°Yes. Looks like bones.¡± another member, who had a giant shotgun in his hand answered: ¡°Guess we know what those grave defilings are for now.¡± Just this moment a big round portal with light blue frozen lightning edges appeared in the distant sky, shining figures with different colored energy surrounding them flew out from the portal, and headed straight towards the SFPD precinct. The two figures that were up in the sky earlier started moving, one of them was using only the left side of her body, and the other was using only her right. Both of them extended their hands at the third skeletal figure, now rose to right in front of them and had hundreds of pieces of bones floating around it. ¡°Fire the cylinders and artifacts! Now!¡± Carol Summers yelled her orders at the followers behind, since she clearly sensed the frightening dark energy being infused into the third skeletal figure. The figures emerging from the portal and shrouded in energy were apparently able to deduce the same thing, as they flew across the sky aiming at the flying figures above the SFPD precinct. Chapter 123 Orange and red fire burnt bright and lit up the entire small alleyway, Caroline¡¯s motion of standing up was so powerful and sudden that the ground cracked beneath her and she launched herself in the air. She roared at the top of her lungs, which caused the fiery energy around her to explode. Two obscured spirits with human¡¯s flesh and skin on their bodies were instantly knocked away by the shockwave. Before they could adjust their positions in the air, one huge burning energy blade struck them both in the air, and both of them were cut in half and almost completely incinerated. ¡°Yeah!¡± Jason cheered, then he almost fell to the ground, since he just exhausted all of his Xuanli. ¡°Thanks a lot, dude, I owe you big time now.¡± Caroline swung her silver Xuanli axe around and sliced through two more obscured spirits that tried to enclose on Jason: ¡°Let¡¯s get away from here. Any more civilians around?¡± ¡°Not alive ones.¡± Jason coughed, and blood came out of his spit. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Caroline supported Jason up by his shoulders, Jason started drinking the last bit of wine from his flask, and after just a few mouthfuls, his flask was empty: ¡°Empty already? Hang in there, let¡¯s find a safe place, you can have a bit of mine.¡± ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t think yours is gonna help me much.¡± Jason wiped his mouth and put his flask back in his pocket: ¡°Boss is still not here.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he¡¯ll come.¡± Caroline shook her head as she carried Jason through the alleyway and away from the direction of the SFPD precinct, she also took a few mouthfuls of drink from her flask - her minor but not unimportant breakthrough left her feeling weak because of the increased density of her Xuanli and thus her meridians felt less filled up, which also had some temporary negative effect on her flow of Xuanli as well. ¡°Help! Please help!¡± Just when Caroline jumped over a pile of cars and buses crashed into each other, she heard a young girl¡¯s voice calling out from a half collapsed building on her right side. ¡°Let¡¯s take a look.¡± Jason sighed, his Xuanli has recovered just enough for him to function normally - he was not confident he¡¯d be much use in a fight, but he couldn¡¯t just leave someone in this situation either.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Careful and stay behind me.¡± Caroline cast a true sight spell on herself and carefully walked to the entrance of the building. Just before they completely set foot in the building, powerful beams of energy tore through and lit up the sky from different directions and converged onto the space above the SFPD precinct. Bright light from the subsequent powerful explosion made Caroline and Jason think the sun had risen already for a brief moment, then painful loud screams and shockwaves followed. Building scraps, bricks flew from the center of explosion into the surrounding area - yet, it was something else that caught Caroline and Jason¡¯s eyes: from the explosion, countless pieces of unknown object drenched in cold and dark energy shot through the sky and dispersed far and wide into the night. The explosion affected this building as well, it was already in really bad shape, and when the shockwaves hit, more of its upper parts started falling down from above. Jason conjured an energy blockade above them in time, but he was not able to cover much space as his Xuanli reserve was close to depletion. ¡°Are you okay? Are you still there?¡± Caroline pushed some fallen debris to the side and asked loudly. ¡°Please help!¡± the young girl¡¯s voice was cracking like she was really shaken and started crying: ¡°I¡¯m here! Please! I am scared!¡± Both Caroline and Jason were able to notice a foul smell as they walked to the inside of this building, it was the typical smell of unclean presence, so they both raised their weapons and walked in with extreme caution. ¡°Please! I¡¯m here!¡± judging from the direction of the sound, Caroline and Jason knew they were close. When they pushed a fallen shelf and fridge aside, they finally saw the one calling out to them - it was a bloodied and pale teenage girl hanging from the broken ceiling in front of them. Only her upper body was visible to them, and she was waving her hand at Caroline and Jason: ¡°Help! Please! Help me! I am scared!¡± ¡°Just hang on a second! We¡¯ll be over!¡± Caroline was just about to go over there, but Jason grabbed her arm and stopped her. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Jason gave Caroline a serious and cautioning look, then asked. ¡°Help me! Please! I am scared!¡± the pale and bloodied young girl continued waving her hand. Caroline¡¯s eyes narrowed, her true sight spell was still in effect, though she was not good a spell caster as Jason, when she focused and looked carefully she could still tell that the young girl did not look normal at all - she was shrouded with dark and unclean energy, black veins were crawling all over her face, neck and arms and her pupils were not focused at all. Before Caroline could ask her question, the girl was dragged away by a sudden force, and a monster burst through the wall on Caroline¡¯s right side and lunged at Caroline. Caroline swiftly turned around and faced the monster with her wooden shield. The attack from the monster clashed with a fiery energy shield, and both Caroline and the monster were knocked back. It was a mutated lizard monster grown to the size of a tiger, its claws were sharp and tainted with blood, its scales and shells were rotten and half of them seemed to have dropped off, and its tail was abnormally long, with an additional segment at the end: the upper half of the young girl that just called out to Caroline and Jason. Even now, the half a teenage girl was still crying for help and waving her hands. Chapter 124 ¡°Beverly¡­ Winters!¡± from behind the sphere shield weaved from bones and skeletons, the two figures cried out in excitement, and a thirst for vengeance. The concentrated energy attacks from the wizards and powerful individuals that appeared from the distant portal, and the flurry of other attacks from the tops of some far away buildings were not able to do enough damage to the bone shield, much less deliver any significant impact to the two figures behind it. Nor were these attacks successful in attempting to stop what these two figures were doing - the skeletal figure that was just floating right in front of them was successfully detonated from within, thereby sending all of its bones, along with many other bones it collected that had some sort of power resided within, to a wide range of places around the whole area. These bones and bone fragments of power, now corrupted by the dark energy wielded by the two floating figures, started morphing into monsters and terrifying creatures by infecting any kind of living creatures in their vicinity. The bone shield exploded, dispensing more bones and bone fragments at the position of the three buildings and the remote attacks that came out from a portal. These bones and fragments directly turned into crows, bats, snakes and centipedes with wings with blood red eyes or grey eyes in mid air, and launched their crowd attacks on the two directions from which the previous heavy energy attacks came. ¡°Where¡¯s the rest of the cylinders?¡± Carol Summers yelled at her followers: ¡°I said all of them! And what about the artifacts!¡± ¡°Ms. Summers, looks like the controllers on the other two buildings were not responding.¡± one man in black suits said. ¡°Go check on them.¡± Carol Summers finally showed signs of stress and pressure, as she had her hands on the rails of at the edge of the rooftop, and after a short hesitation, she ordered: ¡°Fire this place up, retreat back to the tower.¡± ¡°Understood!¡± three followers behind her heeded her order and one of tem lifted up three metal rods in the air, the metal rods all had symbols engraved on them, and at one end of these rods, were clusters of red and green crystals. Four other followers dispersed into two directions and flew towards the buildings on both sides of the current rooftop. Another follower opened a long box and took out an ancient looking long metal sword, he then mounted the sword onto the rail of some kind of device that looked like a small scale cannon.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. The final follower started infusing her power onto a metal seal behind the device, the device started lighting up, as magical energy flowed into it and powered it up. ¡°Beverly¡­ Winters!¡± before any of the people on the roof could react, the two figures appeared right above the rooftop, and looked down on Carol Summers and her three remaining followers behind her. The flying monsters transformed from the bones and bone fragments were floating behind them, like loyal familiars awaiting their masters¡¯ orders. What¡¯s more, the four followers Carol Summers sent to check on the status of other two buildings were also floating behind the two figures, their eyes turned blood red and grey, looked like they were under the control of these two figures. ¡°Abigail, Mary. It¡¯s been a while.¡± Carol Summers stepped back, let out a long exhale and said. ¡°You¡­ tricked us. ¡± the two figures said in unison: ¡°You¡­ tortured us!¡± ¡°And you tried to use me as your sacrifice to your mojo daddy in hell.¡± Carol Summers gently took off her necklace with three spindle-shaped pendants and said: ¡°Guess it didn¡¯t work out for either of you huh?¡± ¡°You¡­ will¡­ pay!¡± the two figures screamed at the same time, and an energy shockwave blasted onto the dome of protective energy shield on the top of the building. The several layers of magical shields flashed and flared, but they were able to keep everyone on the roof intact. ¡°You see this?¡± Carol Summers raised her hand and showed the two figures her necklace with the three spindle-shaped pendants: ¡°These are your fingers¡­¡± Then she clenched her fingers: ¡° ¡­ AND MINE!¡± The necklace was shattered by Carol Summer¡¯s powers, two of the three pendants on the side glowed in silvery blue and shot at both the figures in the air like two bullets. And the middle pendant remained in Carol Summer¡¯s hand. The two figures were not prepared, and the pendants penetrated their energy shields surrounding their bodies and embedded into their stomachs. Two silvery blue energy chains emerged from the trajectories of the pendants - one end embedded at the stomachs of the two figures and one end held in Carol Summer¡¯s hand. ¡°Now!¡± Carol Summers shouted. The tree metal rods with crystals at one end and the device with the ancient sword mounted on it it fired up. Beams of red and green energy blasted at the two figures, and the ancient sword crumbled into dust and cinder in the cannon-like device¡¯s rail, its internal magical power was absorbed into the device, and one molten cannonball fired from its barrel. All of these attacks struck true, the two figures were blasted away with their bodies broken into pieces. A lot of the flying monsters were also pulverized in the attack, turned into ashes and simple pieces of crumbled bones and fell to the ground. ¡°Go! Go!¡± Carol Summers did not show any sign of relief, instead, she urgently ordered her followers to leave : ¡°Go and hide!¡± The remainder of the flying monsters started attacking the protective magical dome covering the top of the roof with no concerns for their survival. The dome flared in different colors and was continuously shaken from the attacks, looking like it could break any time. The broken pieces of two figures - Abigail and Mary, stopped at their course midway, and started gathering together again. At the same time, hundreds of obscured spirits and flying monsters in a huge surrounding area were also pulled towards them and turning into raw dark energy to mend their bodies. But Just when they were about to strike at Carol Summers again, a young woman glowing in purple, and a middle aged Chinese man emerged from two portals, blocking their paths from in front of them. Chapter 125 In a loud boom, the half collapsed building exploded into oblivion and left nothing but a burnt hole on the ground where it was. Caroline and Jason stumbled out of the premise of the building with disgusted and slightly traumatized looks on their faces. ¡°Let¡¯s just go.¡± Caroline stood still for a brief moment with her left hand covering her nose and mouth, then she wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes and said to Jason. A door glowing in orange and golden light appeared right in front of them, and the door was pulled open the instant its presence solidified. Jianmen walked out of the door, with a small glass jar filled with water and a small jellyfish inside on his left hand, and dark blue, dark green and dark red stains all over his clothes, which actually gave off quite a thick, irritating and pungent smell. ¡°Hey.¡± Jianmen looked tired and battle worn, ¡°You guys okay?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Caroline and Jason each answered and then looked at each other. ¡°Yeah. My apologies I¡¯ve been busy squashing bugs¡­ lots of them and nasty as fuck.¡± Jianmen sighed and handed them the glass jar with a small jellyfish inside, ¡°But like I told you before, the world is changing fast, and not necessarily for the better and safer. Just keep this and find a place to hide, it¡¯ll keep you safe.¡± ¡°We think someone may have broken the seal on the corpse. ¡± Jason took over the surprisingly heavy glass jar and said: ¡°There are many¡­ casualties.¡± Jianmen sighed, looked like he wanted to say something but he then decided to hold back for now: ¡°Go, find a place to hide.¡± Caroline and Jason nodded, and just before they were about to head to a safer direction, Jianmen gently patted on their shoulders - in an instant, their wounds were healed, their exhausted Xuanli were almost entirely recovered, and even their flasks were fully filled. Without saying more, Jianmen went back into the door and the door disappeared. This time, the destination of the portal was right before the two possessed individuals that were just sent flying from powerful attacks. Almost at the same time, another portal opened up beside Jianmen¡¯s and Josephine Wong came out from it.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Tough day on the job?¡± Jianmen smiled and asked. ¡°I am filled with regret.¡± Josephine Wong sighed. ¡°Boom!¡± the two possessed individuals clashed with an energy wall constructed by Jianmen, the wall cracked up and they were knocked back, and Jianmen looked at both of them with a frown: ¡°This is not good.¡± ¡°Should we team up?¡± Josephine Wong asked. ¡°No. You lead your team and take care of the spread.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°Leave them to me. I am partially responsible for the situation, so let me take care of the heavy lifting for you.¡± ¡°Always so knightly.¡± Josephine Wong chuckled wryly, her weariness was even on a similar level to Jianmen¡¯s, though she did not have blood stains on her clothes: ¡°Thank you. I owe you a big one this time. Be careful.¡± ¡°I¡¯m always careful.¡± Jianmen extended both of his arms to the side, a rattan broom appeared on his left hand, and a short but heavy looking traditional Chinese meat cleaver appeared in his right: ¡°And you be careful too. Battles are one thing - but politics ¡­ ¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me.¡± Josephine Wong smiled and flew away towards the ground below to join the fight against the rogue monster hordes. ¡°Who¡­ are... you?!¡± the two possessed individuals asked Jianmen: ¡°Stay¡­ out...¡± ¡°Sorry, can¡¯t do that.¡± Jianmen twirled both the broom and the meat cleaver in his hands: ¡°If you¡¯re just going for revenge, I wouldn¡¯t be standing here. But you just had to drag innocent people into this.¡± The possessed girl on the left, now with a pair of blood red eyes, was none other than Erika, the forensic technician who visited the inn one time and befriended both Caroline and Jason. Jianmen then turned his eyes on the woman on the right - she was wearing a police officer¡¯s uniform, and looked like it was a high ranking officer. With a quick read, Jianmen got to know that the original owner of the body was Bridget Benson, a practitioner of various mystic arts including witchcraft and voodoo. And now the spirits that possessed their bodies were too powerful for him to read at this short amount of time, all he could tell, was that they were full of grudge and a thirst for revenge. Seeing that intimidation and negotiation did not work, the two spirits lunged at Jianmen with full force, each extending one arm forward with dark energy covering their arm and palm, forming into giant claws of dark energy. And at the same time, the flying monsters under their command all shot at Jianmen from all angles. Jianmen¡¯s body disappeared in a blink of orange and golden energy, and almost at the same time he reappeared a short distance behind. Then he swung his broom in his left hand across the space in front of him. A wall of wind swept through the bodies of the monsters and the two spirits, no slashing effects like from energy blades, no direct impact like from blunt energy attacks, and no heat and explosion like from energy blasts, yet the dark energy that formed the monsters were instantly dissipated and neutralized and cleansed. With one sweep, hundreds of flying monsters turned from aggressive and bloodthirsty dangers into ashes and small pieces of crumbling bone fragments in the air. Similar things happened to the two spirits as well - their energy claws were shattered as they were pushed back by the wall of wind, same were the unused halves of their bodies. The skins and surficial flesh of the other half of their bodies were torn up and flew off from the wind, revealing the rotten and corrupted flesh and bones underneath. Jianmen disappeared from where he was once again, and before the two spirits could turn around and defend themselves, two special energy seals were placed on the backs of their half heads. Chapter 126 Jianmen was knocked back by an explosion and attacks from tens of locks of hair, his clothes were slashed and showed his shallow wounds underneath. It had been quite a while since Jianmen was injured by someone or something other than himself using the Law of Karma. Though he was in a weakened state due to his battles in some galaxy far far away against a couple of space worms and star devourers and cleaning up their karmic pollutant, he was still very confident in his own abilities to deal with these two spirits. And now, his confidence was shaken a bit. The spell he casted on the two half bodies possessed by the spirits were two binding spells, which will not only bind them for a short period of time, but also forcefully teleport them to somewhere far away. But the attempts failed as the forced teleportation spell failed and the seal was forcefully shattered. The two spirits wailed, their hair extended and shot at Jianmen from every corner, and dark energy spikes were launched from around them aiming at him. Jianmen was not going to be overly reckless at this time, and he blinked away from the direction of the spirits¡¯ attacks. Three multi-head beasts with malformed bodies that were merged from other humans human bodies were roaring on the grounds below, Jianmen swung his broom again, another wall of wind descended onto the ground, locked these monsters in their places and crushed them into harmless pieces of bones and flying ashes in the air. Two hands the sizes of SUVs made of dark energy were thrown at Jianmen, with an enormous mouth on its palm and sharp fingernails at the tips of their fingers. The mouths at the centers of the palms gave out hoarse and chilling cries and moans, Jianmen clearly sensed that the sounds coming from these mouths had an direct impact on the minds of those that heard it, if one was weak willed or not experienced in the combat with the power of mind and will, they will surely perish under such attacks. But Jianmen was no such individual and he was able to dodge the attacks of both hands, and with the swift swings of the huge meat cleaver, both the dark energy hands were sliced open from the middle. Not only that, the two energy blades unleashed by Jianmen also continued to cut through the arms behind those two hands and continued their assault against the two spirits. The spirits screamed and cut off their connection to the dark energy hands and flew to the side to avoid being chased up to by the two energy blades. But with this move they already lost their advantage, as Jianmen already flew to their side. Jianmen had his meat cleaver behind his back freeing his right hand, and with a shining ball of lightning at the tip of his right hand index and middle fingers, he delivered a finger blast right at the space right between the two half bodies possessed by the spirits.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. An explosive cracking sound shocked the whole San Francisco, and a sudden flash of blinding blue light lit up the ground below and the gloomy sky above, as if tens of thousands of lightning bolts struck at the same time. The two spirits were sent flying into two different directions. Their bodies did not show many signs of damage, but their power was greatly weakened. And from the center of the explosion that blasted them into different directions, countless shards of dark energy shot out in all directions. Jianmen backed off right at the moment of the explosion and swung his broom, a tornado appeared right at the center of the explosion and pulled almost all of the dark energy shards into the middle. And under the immense cleansing power from within the tornado, these dark energy shards were purified and scattered into the air. ¡°Holy SHIT!¡± the thunder almost made Caroline and Jason fall on the ground as they were escorting a group of civilians out of the danger zone. All the civilians fell on the ground and cowered in fear, and when Caroline and Jason looked back at the sky, they were just in time to see the two half bodies being sent flying in two directions. Other people wielding their powers to combat the spirits and corrupted individuals were also shocked by the explosion. But compared to their simply being shocked by the light and sound, the unclean entities seemed to be temporarily paralyzed by the explosion - they cried, wailed and moaned while rolling on the ground, thus leaving their positions completely open for attacks. And just as it followed, the people in the city fighting against the non-human creatures gained a lot more ground than they¡¯d ever got ever since the battle broke out. Two golden portals appeared right in the paths of the two half bodies, and both of them were not able to resist this time. And the exits of both the portals opened up in the sky above Jianmen. The two spirits were wailing as they fell from the exits of the portal, and their dark powers within their bodies somehow started to consume their own souls, minds and wills. They did not appear to know what was happening to them as to why their only hands and only legs became twisted and crushed by invisible forces in the air. Jianmen, on the other hand, was quite aware of what was happening - the spells that bound these two spirits together were particularly vile and insidious. They linked the two partial souls together and merged them into a semi-unified state, where each partial soul¡¯s power served as the restrictor and limiter of the other¡¯s, and their existence was also co-dependent and could not be separated. What his finger lightning blast did, was striking at the core of the spells that bound them, partially separating them from each other and breaking major parts of their connection with each other, which caused the dark power and energy of the souls to lose control and started corrupting the wielder. And now, the spirits, though still possessing immense dark power capable of great destruction and ruin, were incapacitated and crumbling. As they fell closer to Jianmen, Jianmen whipped out his meat cleaver and readied his position, with orange and golden energy concentrated on the edge of the blade. Strong wind blew across the whole city, but no explosion, no lightning, no light, nothing dramatic. A gentle buzzing sound echoed at the ears of all the supernatural power wielders in San Francisco city, and they felt a sudden sense of relief, seemingly out of nowhere. Caroline and Jason looked back once again at the sky above the city. The sky was still gloomy, but a fissure appeared in the middle of the thick clouds, separating the entire skyful of clouds in half. The moon, the stars, and the signal lights of a distant plane were ever so clear in their sight. Chapter 127 The weather had gone much colder in the last few days. And with the dropping temperature, it might even snow in the next few days. If this were to happen, it would be quite a scene for the bay area in a much needed time: it was almost Christmas. The disastrous supernatural battle in San Francisco caused an unspeakable shock in the Bay Area. A huge part of San Francisco, centering around the police precinct where the body was stored, was almost completely decimated by the dark energy outburst. The civilian casualties were in the thousands, the government and the Division also lost many capable people serving under them. The government and the Division tried their best to cover as much as possible, but now it was the age of the internet and cheap photography technology, people were not so easily fooled by any lame excuse. Not to mention, when it happened, there were many people with smartphones and other recording devices and got a lot of footage on camera. Then these footage were shared on the internet and almost instantly became trending all over the world. Although before that fateful night, there were already rising levels of talks, rumors and theories about paranormal activities and ghostly entities on the internet, the occurrence of the incident and the video footage instantly made the theories and speculations about the hidden world of ghosts, spirits and monsters thousand times more believable. And on a related note, similar discussions and speculations about alien invasion and underground kaijus were also pushed to the top of the trending topics list. But those were no longer the concerns of Jianmen¡¯s two students. They were personally affected, yes, but they also were also aware that dealing with the cleaning up and the aftermath was something way out of their hands. Jianmen could possibly be of great help should he offer, but he seemed mostly disinterested. ¡°I would help with a price if they asked me.¡± when Caroline asked Jianmen for the second time, in a more casual manner, this was Jianmen¡¯s answer: ¡°But I will not just do it for free. People will think you¡¯re weird and have ulterior motives.¡± ¡°And why would they do that?¡± ¡°You can try to get out in the world more, and you¡¯ll see.¡± Jianmen shook his head while playing with his phone, then he looked up at Caroline: ¡°Are you going out with you friends?¡± ¡°Yeah, well. They were pretty shaken up by what happened. And I am supposed to be the level-minded and calm-mannered one, to be there and comfort them.¡± Caroline shrugged and pulled her purse higher on her shoulder: ¡°If Kane or Alex come looking for me, can you tell him I am at Samantha¡¯s?¡± ¡°Will do. Have fun.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°Don¡¯t forget to come back in time. ¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Yeah, of course. A visit to the farm!¡± Just when Caroline walked out of the door, Jason came into the lounge with a box of fish food and headed towards the water tank placed on a table near the entrance of the lounge. Inside the water tank, was the small and almost completely transparent jellyfish and nothing else. ¡°I thought you were preparing to start your new channel.¡± Jianmen asked: ¡°What are you here feeding the jellyfish for?¡± ¡°I want to get to know more about the latest member of the inn here.¡± Jason smiled and shook the fish food in his hand: ¡°Looks like ¡®Rushmunba Declare¡¯ likes fish food. Who knew?¡± ¡°It¡¯s ¡®Rashmumba D¡¯Eclaire¡¯.¡± Jianmen looked up at Jason and corrected Jason with squinted eyes and an ¡°okay¡± hand sign. ¡°Alright. Rashmumba D¡¯Eclaire.¡± Jason mimicked Jianmen''s mannerisms with a sarcastic flare: ¡°At least it sounds better than what it means.¡± ¡°That¡¯s your American brain thinking. In its native tongue it''s quite an elegant and prestigious name. You can think of it like Helios, Apollo or Tyrael.¡± ¡°Yeah, but I can¡¯t think of any other languages on the earth where the name ¡®He Who Sucks Negativity¡¯ sounds good.¡± Jason chuckled. ¡°You forgot the pause. The pause is really important.¡± Jianmen made another hand sign: ¡°It¡¯s like ¡®The Honorable¡¯, or ¡®The Great¡¯. So the name is actually ¡®He who sucks ¡­ negativity¡¯.¡± ¡°That¡¯s ... even worse!¡± ---------------------------------------------- ¡°Okay, Boss, when you say visit the farm. I was thinking of something else.¡± standing right in front of the two plots of land in the garden, where the rosebud and the cuddly minor spirit Snowball resided, Jason asked: ¡°Are you telling me this is one of those places where it appears small on the outside but is actually big on the inside?¡± ¡°Bingo. Since you are far enough along your cultivation path on the second layer, it is safe enough to visit it now.¡± Jianmen extended his hands to Caroline and Jason: ¡°Now, hold my hand and be prepared to land.¡± ¡°Why would it be unsafe?¡± Caroline frowned but still held Jianmen¡¯s hand. ¡°Normal people can¡¯t set foot in spaces with this kind of enchantment. And unfriendly individuals will face the same crushing force as well as the wrath of my protective array.¡± Jianmen explained: ¡°They simply cannot enter. And even if they do, they¡¯ll be crushed. You guys can enter anytime because I granted you the permission and registered your Xuanli with the protective seal. But it may still feel a bit strange for the first time.¡± ¡°Sounds like a hell of a place..¡± Jason laughed. ¡°Oh you¡¯ll love it.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°You know, for cultivators, even the ones that are most adverse to chores and busy work, having a private farm, or at least a garden where one can grow their own tea or raise their own familiar or spirit animal companion, is as important as having a nice set of weapons, or a set of well crafted cultivation methods. You know, as cultivators, we gotta grow some stuff! Now, take a deep breath and prepare yourself for some incoming dizziness, one foot at a time into the garden, you¡¯ll get a feeling of how to best control your Xuanli in order to make your landings more stable. ¡°Ready? Three, two ¡­ one!¡± Caroline and Jason raised their legs and moved them into the garden with Jianmen, but as they tried to step down, they felt the scenes swiftly change before their eyes and their feet stepped on nothing but air. They almost lost balance and fell, but an invisible force helped them maintain their standing position. When they recovered from this strange feeling and looked down, they were already on the ground. A pleasant and calming smell was the first thing they felt as they entered this place. And the next was the sound of flowing water nearby and breezy wind on their skin. Right in front of them was two pieces of land, with two homesteads on the side. And in a bit of distance, was a huge mountain with a small house on top and a waterfall. Chapter 128 ¡°These two pieces of land are yours. They are practically the same. So choose who owns which by yourselves.¡± Jianmen led Caroline and Jason around the two pieces of empty land, then proceeded to a forest on their left side: ¡°This forest is ¡­ well, a forest, with some magic inside. Do note that you can find a lot of interesting stuff in there. You just need to look for them and maybe hit the library often to know what they are. You can ask me but I¡¯d expect you to try to get to know them by yourselves first. So far you can only find plants, fruits and mushrooms there. When you are ready you can bring in spirits and spirit animals or even your familiars and let them stay there.¡± ¡°How can we find them?¡± Caroline asked: ¡°Spirit animals and familiars, I mean.¡± ¡°Well, usually you can find them in magical places and special realms.¡± Jianmen answered as he brought his students into the forest: ¡°And here¡¯s some motivation for you: in the audit program at Grant Academy you¡¯ll get a chance to visit some of their magical realms. It is like this place but much much bigger in terms of scale and much more dangerous.¡± ¡°Oh! Okay, I thought I couldn¡¯t be looking forward to it more! ¡± Caroline laughed: ¡°Will you teach us about it before we go?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ no.¡± Jianmen shrugged: ¡°Spirit animals and familiars are not my forte. I¡¯ve never had one and I haven¡¯t cared enough to read about them in detail.¡± ¡°What? How can you not?¡± both Caroline and Jason asked. ¡°Just haven¡¯t met the right one. I guess.¡± Jianmen shrugged, then he pointed at a piece of black fungus on the ground near the root of a pretty tall tree: ¡°This is the Obsidian Lingzhi, a kind of semi-magical ganoderma fungus. Kind of a signature product of this forest. If you look you can find quite many. In the future when I teach you about basic Xuanli medicine, you¡¯ll get a chance to learn more about it.¡± ¡°What does it do?¡± Jason asked: ¡°Lingzhi is pretty widely used in Chinese medicines right? Does it have the same effects in Xuanli medicine?¡± ¡°Similar but not necessarily. It has the basic property of enhancing your bodies and can help restore your Xuanli. It is the main ingredient of your medicinal bath water, and is also in your wine.¡± ¡°Hah, so it is edible what does it taste like?¡± Jason picked up a small piece of the Obsidian Lingzhi and sniffed it. ¡°You can take a bite and see.¡± Jianmen smiled. With Jianmen¡¯s semi-affirmative answer Jason did not think about it too much and took a small bite. ¡°Ah! Phew! Pft pft pft!¡± bitter, sour, dry and burning hot tastes assaulted Jason¡¯s entire mouth at the same time and almost made him fall on the ground, all he could do was spit the small piece out and use the wine from his flask to cleanse his tongue: ¡°Boss! Why!? What the hell?!¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°It¡¯s an acquired taste. I can tell you that.¡± Jianmen was laughing loudly, but still helped Jason cleanse his palate with a snap of his fingers. ¡°Is it really that bad?¡± Caroline picked up the piece of Obsidian Lingzhi Jason dropped on the ground and took a close look: ¡°I mean¡­ it looked bad but your reaction¡¯s a bit much.¡± ¡°It tastes like - burning coal powder mixed with metal.¡± Jason took a few more sips from his flask: ¡°This is in the wine? I can¡¯t taste it at all!¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s processed.¡± Jianmen also picked up a small piece of Obsidian Lingzhi, crushed it with his hands, then raised the black and shiny powder gently before Caroline and Jason¡¯s eyes: ¡°It contains very small traces of natural Xuanli inside, with some additional nutrients and some other substance that can be of medicinal use. It can also be found in the wild in Asia. And some of the traditional superstitions proved to be true - when properly processed, it can be used to improve and enhance even normal people¡¯s health and vitality. And thus some other slightly unrelated superstition arose - that it contains some male enhancement properties. While in fact it is just a byproduct of health and vitality.¡± As he spoke, some light brown liquid seemed to be extracted from the black powder, while the black powder slowly turned to dark red in the process. ¡°Eww.¡± Caroline shook her head and threw the piece back to Jason. ¡°What happens if it is not properly processed?¡± Jason asked, out of curiosity. ¡°For cultivators on layer two and above, your Xuanli is already able to filter out and burn the toxins away, so it won¡¯t cause any harm to you.¡± Jianmen gently turned his hand, the light brown liquid was sealed into a small crystal vial that appeared from thin air, and the dark red powder formed into a small solid cube: ¡°But for normal civilians, it will cause severe liver damage. Liver cirrhosis is one of the common effects.¡± ¡°Well, at least it can always make SOMETHING hard.¡± Jason winked at both Jianmen and Caroline, but was met with a prolonged moment of silence. ¡°Let¡¯s go and see the creek and lake, shall we?¡± Jianmen pretended to shiver at Jason¡¯s bad joke, then extended his hand in the direction from which the water sounds came. ¡°Oh, come on, that was at least a little funny!¡± When they reached the side of the creek, Caroline and Jason finally saw animals in this big ¡°farm¡± - there were a lot of fishes in the water, big and small, simple and colorful, innocent looking and ugly and dangerous. ¡°Now, here is the one of two only sources of danger in this farm.¡± Jianmen said: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, neither of them is lethal, but if you¡¯re not careful, they will give you a lot of pain.¡± ¡°Okay, which one?¡± Caroline knelt down by the coast of the creek, staring at a fish with camouflage, rocky and rough scales and spiky fin. ¡°That one¡¯s poisonous to normal civilians but harmless to you, and really tasty.¡± Jianmen waved his hand, and a small white fish was trapped inside a bubble of water and picked up while still in the water bubble by an invisible force out of the water and into the sky: ¡°I was referring to this one - cover your faces, well, infact, cover your entire body.¡± Caroline and Jason were confused, but they did what they were told just the same. Jianmen twisted his hand, the water bubble broke, the small fish dropped on the ground and thus exposed to air. It immediately ballooned up to the size of a large dog with the five fins on the lower part of its body turning into short legs with claws. Just within a few seconds, the cute looking little white fish turned into a pale ugly hybrid monster between catfish and lizard. The monster flopped and hopped on the ground and squealed at three of them. Then, seemingly out of fear or preference for water, the monster turned around and jumped into the creek and turned into its previous form the moment it entered the water. Caroline tilted her head and asked: ¡°That¡¯s it? Doesn¡¯t seem too dangerous...¡± Jason was about to say something, but then he saw that Caroline started diffusing her Xuanli protective shield around her: ¡°Nonono, don¡¯t ...¡± The moment Caroline lifted part of her whole body Xuanli shield, a pungent and noxious smell hit her eyes and nose at the same time, which made her backoff by several steps and had to reconstruct her energy shield in embarrassment. ¡°Yeah well, it farted. Normally it pees and it¡¯s much, much worse.¡± Jianmen was once again laughing loudly on the side. Chapter 129 In the underground practice room during a sparring session, both Caroline and Jason were attacking Jianmen with full force. And this time, their weapons were no longer made of wood, but of a kind of light grey metal with not much shine. These metal weapons were heavier than the wooden ones, and they seemed to conduct Xuanli better. These metal weapons were also able to change their shapes with the control of their power of mind and will, and as they continued their spar with Jianmen, they eventually locked into the shapes of they were most comfortable with. Caroline¡¯s final shape for her field was a plain shield shape but with the outer edge sharpened so she could deliver cutting attacks with the shield; her final shape for her right hand weapon actually became a battle axe with bulging blade on one side and long slightly curved blade on the other. While Jason¡¯s pen-shaped weapon turned longer and the handle gradually became thicker the closer it was to the tip, and its tip became a two-pronged blade that sort of looked like a fountain pen. Jianmen, on the other hand, was using only his signature bamboo stick, and with it he was able to parry and block all attacks from both Caroline and Jason. Not only that, he was also able to launch counter attacks at them, forcing them to adjust their fighting style and positions. Caroline¡¯s axe was deflected in its path of attack by a jab of Jianmen¡¯s bamboo stick and ended up slashing the ground, and Jason¡¯s quick jab was then whipped to the side by a swing attack from the bamboo stick. Caroline roared and swung her shield at Jianmen, the sharp edges of her shield unleashed three fiery energy blades at a time aiming at Jianmen¡¯s chest and neck. This forced Jianmen to fall back and lowered his body while facing up so that he could evade the attacks. And the next moment, Jason kicked the handle of his long spear back to its original position and then swung the spear at Jianmen¡¯s legs. Jianmen hit the ground with his bamboo stick and used the reaction force to backflip in the air and dodged Jason¡¯s attack in the process. Jianmen extended his left hand at Caroline and Jason while he was still in the air, releasing two small balls of lightning at them. Caroline was able to block the ball of lightning with her shield up infused with her Xuanli, while Jason was able to hop to the side and concentrate his Xuanli and launch his next attack. Jason concentrated his Xuanli on his spear and condensed his power in order to unleash a multi-angle attack, and soon he gained a vision of what he might want to do. But just when Jason had this vision in mind, he felt a strange sense of resonance from within his meridian, which then spread to his whole body and his mind. ¡°Time out! Time out!¡± Jason immediately laid his spear on the ground and started meditating. And after only a few seconds, his skin started shining in metallic light, a small spinning and boiling ball of liquid metal appeared on top of his shoulders and his head, and light silver shadows started emerging from his body and dissipated in the air, as if he was emitting silver ripples in the air.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°So this is his time.¡± Caroline laid her axe and shield on the ground and sat beside him: ¡°I wonder how I looked when I had my mini breakthrough. Too bad mine was on the battlefield.¡± ¡°These kinds of mini breakthroughs usually happen ON the battlefield.¡± Jianmen waved his hand, at the entrance of the practice room, three bottles of wine flew into the room. He then placed the bottles on the ground and sat by Caroline¡¯s side: ¡°Cultivation is not something you learn by just theorizing. You need to hone your skills in various trials. And one important kind of said trial is battle.¡± ¡°When will we expect our first ¡®official¡¯ tribulation?¡± Caroline took a small gulp from her bottle of wine and asked: ¡°You know, when we make it past the second layer?¡± ¡°Soon. And you will feel it when it happens.¡± Jianmen smiled and answered: ¡°I would assume, maybe the start of next year. ¡± ¡°Well, as long as it doesn¡¯t happen on Christmas.¡± Caroline chuckled and shook her head: ¡°Can¡¯t have some random waves of lightning striking our house in the middle of gift giving.¡± ¡°Yeah well, be prepared. It might just happen.¡± Jianmen finished half of his bottle and scratched the back of his neck. ¡°What are your plans Boss? I¡¯m spending Christmas with Kane and Alex for the first time in - I forgot how many years. Jason¡¯s spending his time with his family. What about you?¡± ¡°I usually just go to the farm or travel the world for some adventure and discovery on holidays. But not on Christmas.¡± Jianmen said as he observed Jason¡¯s situation: ¡°This year I am spending my time with a grumpy old lady.¡± ¡°Grumpy old lady? Josephine Wong?¡± Caroline turned to Jianmen and asked in an insinuating tone. ¡°Well, no. ¡± Jianmen laughed gently and said: ¡°Don¡¯t say that in front of Josephine - or you can just try, I¡¯ll try to keep you alive. And that grumpy old lady is much younger than Josephine, she¡¯s a civilian.¡± ¡°Civilian? Now I finally know that you have a civilian friend.¡± Caroline nodded: ¡°Who is she? Someone important to you? Why not teach her to cultivate?¡± ¡°Quite important.¡± Jianmen said: ¡°And unfortunately not everyone is cut out to be a cultivator. Even if I tried, she could not be one. It¡¯s a long story I can tell you later.¡± Just this moment, Jason opened his eyes and stood up. His spear rose up by an invisible force into his hand, with silver light shining through his eyes, he unleashed a full force thrust to the direction in front of him. The moment Jason¡¯s spear almost reached the end of its trajectory, two faint and translucent silver shadows of Jason appeared on his two sides, and thrusted their silver energy spears at the same spot as Jason. ¡°That is ¡­ very cool!¡± Caroline couldn¡¯t help but applaud. Chapter 130 In another training session, Caroline and Jason were both trying to construct a special Xuanli seal right in front of them. But no matter how hard they tried, they still could not form a complete seal in the air. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If you cannot finish the seal in this session, you can always bring it home with you and I can give you a quiz on our next session.¡± Jianmen walked around them with his hands and the bamboo stick behind him. ¡°Homework and quiz?¡± Jason took a long drink of his wine and shook his head with a wry smile: ¡°I thought I¡¯d dropped out of engineering school for a good reason.¡± ¡°And here you are again.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°You know, constructing a sealing spell is very much like doing an engineering project. If you treat it like building a circuit board or writing a piece of program, you may have a better time.¡± ¡°Yeah. But you¡¯re also teaching someone who barely graduated high school.¡± Caroline frustratedly waved away the crumbling Xuanli seal she was not able to construct fully: ¡°How did you first learn to do this?¡± ¡°Well, the initial elemental property of my Xuanli is thunder. So the first day I tried, I electrocuted myself so many times I smelled like barbeque chicken.¡± Jianmen said: ¡°And then my Shifu beat my ass for frying his precious fish in the pond. If not for one of my peers who knows some healing spells, I¡¯d be lying on the bed for a month.¡± ¡°Yeah. Tiger Shifu. I can relate.¡± Jason sighed at the sight of his crumbling seal and said: ¡°Is that why you chose a broom and a meat cleaver as your weapon?¡± ¡°No. That¡¯s more of a combination of personal choices and a tragic history of being sent to the kitchen on cooking and cleaning duty for my mistakes.¡± Jianmen answered: ¡°It is also a product of self discovery and self improvement. You will get your own soul-weapon as you progress on your path of cultivation. But first you need to have a better connection with your Xuanli and have a better control over it. And there is no shortcut, practice, practice, practice. Just like exercise and sports.¡± ¡°Yeah. Now you¡¯re speaking my language.¡± Caroline chuckled: ¡°But normal sports don¡¯t have complicated constructs like seals and arrays.¡± ¡°Well then, better start working on the science and engineering part of your brain.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°There are cultivators who relied too much on instinctual path of cultivation - normally the kind that focus way too much on body tempering and close quarter combat. But most of them couldn¡¯t progress past the fifth layer. And as far as I know, none of them ever made it past the eighth layer.¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°But the eighth layer is good enough right?¡± Caroline sighed and sat down on the ground to take a break. ¡°Good enough. But barely strong enough to survive big catastrophes.¡± Jianmen sighed: ¡°You remember the vision you saw? It was a real battle in my last world. In that battle, layer eight cultivators were just slightly more expensive cannon fodder.¡± ¡°And which layer were you during the war?¡± Jason also sat down. ¡°I was a ninth layer freshman. I was barely above cannon fodder level. And I was lucky to have survived.¡± ¡°What is that monster that you were fighting again?¡± Jason scratched his nose and asked. ¡°I told you five times already.¡± Jianmen shrugged: ¡°But you know - when you¡¯re not at at least layer seven, any description or name I gave you will either hurt you or just gradually fade away from your memory.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah, I think I forgot about that too.¡± Jason thought for a few seconds and said. ¡°You and me both.¡± Caroline stood up again: ¡°What are the other benefits of making it to higher layers of cultivation again?¡± ¡°You live longer; You can survive more dire situations; You have better abilities to protect your families.¡± Jianmen counted with his fingers: ¡°And, you get to know about the secrets to the universe.¡± ¡°Yeah well¡­ that¡¯s not appealing enough. You¡¯ll need a better PR slogan for the Mr. Yu¡¯s School of Cultivation.¡± Jason joked. -------------------------------------------- ¡°Thank you everyone!¡± at the set of The Haunting Crescent, where the big hole made by the Nekomata was not too subtly fixed, Benny the director was standing on a prop chair and ready to give a toast to all the set staff, including paranormal consultants like Lady Manzene, Caroline and Jason: ¡°For your timeless hard work and for your dedication! Today is the final day at this set, and it was the final big milestone of our movie! All that is left, is post shot production!¡± ¡°Yay!¡± ¡°Hear hear!¡± ¡°Now! Since it is close to Christmas already, let us have a pre-holiday celebration. All drinks on me!¡± Benny opened up a bottle of champagne and poured himself a cup: ¡°To completing the shoot! And to a great movie!¡± ¡°To a great movie!¡± Everyone started the celebration, and while Caroline and Jason were about to simply drink a little, steal some snack and leave, Lady Manzene and Madison came over to them, and Lady Manzene extended a hand to Caroline and Jason: ¡°Hey, haven¡¯t seen you for a while. How are you guys?¡± ¡°We¡¯re good. We¡¯re good.¡± Caroline shook hands with Lady Manzene and tried to keep the interaction casual: ¡°Just um¡­ preparing for Christmas.¡± ¡°And uh...¡± after shaking hands with Jason, Lady Manzene struggled for word, even though she appeared to have thought about what she was about to say: ¡°I ¡­ I just wanna say, thank you for the other day. For saving us from those cats.¡± ¡°Yeah no problem. How are you feeling?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Kinda lousy. That kind of ¡­ power was not something meant for humans to take.¡± Lady Manzene sighed: ¡°How were you guys able to fight them off?¡± ¡°This may be a surprise. But they were not dangerous ¡­ at least not the source of danger that day.¡± Jason took a shot of supposedly high degree vodka he grabbed from the bar, yet was left wondering why he wasn¡¯t feeling the buzz at all. ¡°Is ¡­ is that true? Can you tell me more about it?¡± Lady Manzene stammered while looking Jason in the eye. Both Caroline and Jason noticed, with a little bit of surprise, that there were a little tears in Lady Manzene¡¯s eyes. Chapter 131 ¡°You know ¡­ when I was young...¡± while sitting around a temporary plastic table at the corner of the set, Lady Manzene told Caroline and Jason in a reminiscing tone: ¡°I started seeing things that were ¡­ unexplainable by any means. Later in my years, I came to know that those were ghosts, spirits that I occasionally heard about from reading and listening to tales. ¡°And I wanted to learn more. But I was also very, very afraid. I also wanted to find people like me, with special gifts that can see the world through a different lense. But even though I grew up here, the land of open-mindedness, they freaked out the moment I describe what I see to them. And they sent me to a children¡¯s psychiatric hospital. Which actually worked out for me, because I met a like minded young man at the hospital, who could see exactly as I saw. ¡°We bonded over similar childhood experiences. And then one day. A lady in dark green and black came to the hospital and met with us. She had these¡­ mystique around her, like someone who has seen ages of time and events but yet still remained young. She somehow examined us, and gave us these weird tests - like making us guess what was inside of a jar, making us see what was the thing floating in her hand, and making us attempt to move and bend a small metal spoon.¡± ¡°That sounds weird and ominous. Do you know who she was?¡± Madison asked: ¡°That was like something right out of a movie.¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t know who she was till this day.¡± Lady Manzene sighed: ¡°In the end, she took the boy away, and left me at the hospital without saying anything. So I went back home, without any more information on her or the boy. But I was more stern in my belief that I was not seeing things in my head. What I was seeing was really there, it¡¯s just that normal people can¡¯t see it.¡± ¡°Have you tried to follow up with either of them?¡± Caroline asked with a frown. ¡°I tried to find the boy for a few years, his name was Roy. But I didn¡¯t get to know his last name.¡± Lady Manzene sighed and drank up half her glass of cocktail: ¡°And I learned to hide my feelings and the fact that I could see things. I wasn¡¯t able to share it with anyone until years later, I met a bunch of like minded girls who were curious about the paranormal and the occult. They introduced me to the world of ¡­ magic, spell and all of these supernatural forces.¡± ¡°That¡¯s where you learned your spells? It was a pretty impressive spell, revealing the trails of those spirits that we missed.¡± Caroline smiled and said. ¡°Sort of. And after the group eventually came to an end, I became on my own and started doing exorcism and fortune telling for a living. And with my gift, I was able to stand out amongst most of the people in my field.¡± Lady Manzene shook her head: ¡°But that was it, the development of my gift and my knowledge hit a dead end - I have tried for years to get my hands on all the useful ancient literature and relics to the best of my abilities and my resources. But it seems like I have found myself standing in front of a thick and heavy veil - there¡¯s much, much more on the other side, but without anyone to guide me or usher me in, this is as far as I could get all by myself.¡±Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°I see.¡± Jason laid down his drink and looked Lady Manzene in the eyes: ¡°You think we¡¯re the ones beyond the veil?¡± ¡°Yes. You would have my utmost gratitude, if you could just show me even a flicker of light from behind it. ¡± Lady Manzene¡¯s voice was shaking, but she was still trying to remain as calm and not overly eager: ¡°I am sure you can relate to it - to know that there¡¯s a path ahead but you need someone else¡¯s help to find it and even to start making the first steps?¡± Caroline and Jason exchanged looks, then Caroline said: ¡°I¡¯m afraid you mistook us for people we¡¯re not - Lady Manzene. We¡¯re not ¡­ we don¡¯t have connections to the people - whoever they may be - that stand beyond this veil. We¡¯re just students, apprentices even, of someone who is not even of that world which you try to enter. And it¡¯s not even our place ...¡± ¡°But you know about that world.¡± Lady Manzene swiftly caught a lead from Caroline¡¯s words: ¡°At least you have seen it?¡± ¡°Yes. But it¡¯s not the point.¡± Jason sighed: ¡°This world beyond said veil, it¡¯s terrifying. I guess you would know, that what happened in San Francisco was related to something of that world.¡± Madison gasped: ¡°What? For real?¡± Before they could continue, Garret, Josephine Wong¡¯s driver and errand boy found them and interrupted them with a light cough: ¡°Hey, sorry to interrupt. But this is kinda important, Ms. Wong has something for you.¡± ¡°Ms. Wong? Josephine Wong? Why?¡± Lady Manzene asked. ¡°Sorry, not you, Lady Manzene. It¡¯s for Jason and Caroline. She insisted they have to come over immediately.¡± ¡°Got it. Thank you.¡± Caroline was a little relieved: ¡°Excuse me. I am so sorry, Lady Manzene, but I wish we could help you.¡± ¡°I am sorry too.¡± Jason did not know what to say to Lady Manzene either and followed Caroline and Garret to the outside of the movie set. ¡°What does Ms. Wong have for us?¡± before getting onto the SUV parked outside of the movie set, Caroline asked. ¡°Your approval notice of applicants to the Grant Academy Audit Program.¡± the inside of the SUV was much more spacious than it looked from the outside. It looked like a small modern night club, with a bar, a few tables and a tall ceiling through which one can see the sky. And sitting at a table right in front of them, was Josephine Wong herself in a dark purple robe: ¡°Welcome, why don¡¯t you come here and have a drink with me?¡± ¡°Thank you! Ms. Wong.¡± Jason went to the side of the table and said down nervously. ¡°Josephine is fine.¡± Josephine Wong smiled and poured a glass of wine for each of her guests: ¡°And per the tradition of the academy, I will meet with you myself first as the recommender and give you a debrief on the basics of the program. I don¡¯t suppose Jianmen give you a lot of information?¡± ¡°No he hasn¡¯t. He said he doesn¡¯t know much detail about it.¡± Caroline sipped her wine and applauded the quality of the wine: ¡°This is really good! Holy crap!¡± ¡°Thanks. It¡¯s one of my personal favourites.¡± Josephine Wong chuckled and said: ¡°It¡¯s understandable, even though he was in the program, but he only lasted three days.¡± ¡°Oh, really?! Please, do tell!¡± Jason felt there was some really juicy gossip incoming. ¡°Yeah. He beat up the vice principal.¡± Josephine Wong tried to contain her smile. Neither Caroline nor Jason could control their laughter and had to put their glasses down. Chapter 132 ¡°Hmm¡­ yeah that IS a tough one. But it¡¯s good that you haven¡¯t promised anything.¡± after hearing about Caroline and Jason¡¯s interaction with Lady Manzene, Josephine Wong nodded and said: ¡°And the ¡®veil¡¯ is just all too good a metaphor. There are quite a few factions and organizations of supernatural power individuals, but still, even if all of them added up the number it is still a tiny portion of the general population. And some of the strongest organizations took great pains a while back to keep the knowledge of the supernatural world buried and underground. And in the age of information technology, this job has become harder. Not to mention there are newer organizations, factions and clans that recruit elites from both gifted and nongifted individuals into their ranks. But still, it is conventional wisdom to keep the presence of the supernatural from the civilians. And people like Lady Manzene were those who are halfway in and halfway out - and the decision generally rests on you whether to let them in or keep them out.¡± ¡°On us? That sounded like a huge responsibility.¡± Jason hesitated. ¡°Indeed it is. I believe you have dealt with the Division before?¡± Josephine Wong poured both Caroline and Jason some more wine: ¡°It is the ¡®official¡¯ agency with a governmental background that deals with things of this sort. The fighters that fought alongside you in San Francisco, the people in black that helped you and your friends out of the Clearwater Municipal Hospital...¡± ¡°Aha, that¡¯s what I thought!¡± Jason slammed the table and stood up in excitement: ¡°I knew it! Who else has the authority to go around and wipe people¡¯s memories!?¡± Then he realized his action appeared a bit rude, so he sat back down: ¡°Sorry¡­ I¡¯m just too excited.¡± ¡°No worries. I heard of your experience there - it must not be pleasant.¡± ¡°Boss might have mentioned the name ¡®the Division¡¯ once or twice. But he said nothing in detail.¡± Caroline took a few sip of the wine and said: ¡°He just said to be careful and vigilant.¡± ¡°That wouldn¡¯t surprise me.¡± Josephine Wong nodded and smiled: ¡°His distaste of bureaucracy is pretty well known. That¡¯s why we tend not to bother him unless we have something to trade.¡± ¡°¡®We¡¯? Are you working for the Division as well?¡± ¡°With, working with.¡± Josephine Wong corrected Caroline: ¡°For people like us, it is not really a wise idea to work FOR an organization like the Division, if they could offer a good contract, then you can work WITH them for a while. But never, I mean NEVER, work for them.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Understood.¡± both Caroline and Jason nodded. ¡°Now, back to the reason I came find you.¡± Josephine took out two fur pouches and handed them to Caroline and Jason: ¡°Within these pouches are your Audit Scholar ID, some basic documentation on the terms of your eligibility of staying in the program and completing the program with honor, and some basic information about the Grant Academy. I also added some notes on what to expect, and of course some foundational knowledge that is expected of the students. If you want to learn more, better be prepared.¡± ¡°Yeah, this is getting more and more familiar to my life before I attended engineering school.¡± Jason joked: ¡°Will we be required to write a thesis in order to complete the program with honor?¡± ¡°Yes and no. There are several ways to complete the program with honor. All of which will require at least one basic thesis. But depending on the focus you pick, you¡¯ll have different requirements.¡± ¡°What if we failed? ¡± Jason asked, with a bit of embarrassment. ¡°Well, first of all, don¡¯t fail.¡± Josephine Wong answered half seriously: ¡°And the punishment for failing is that you will never be invited back again, unless you made some significant contributions to the Academy. You will also have a hard time trading and dealing with any institutions affiliated with the Grant Academy. And of course, for other applicants in the Audit Program, failing will lead to embarrassment for your teacher and your own academy. But since you two are not from an academy and your Shifu beat up the vice principal, that wouldn¡¯t be your concern. Finally, you will be denied the reward of completing the program, not to mention the extra reward of completing with honor. The reward is very generous, so please DO work hard for it.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Caroline sighed. ¡°Ms. Wong, we¡¯re almost at the inn.¡± Garret¡¯s voice came from a magical speaker on the ceiling. ¡°Before we leave, can I ask a question?¡± Jason lowered his voice and try to be discreet: ¡°Garret¡¯s not just some random driver and errand boy right?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he can¡¯t hear you. And no, he¡¯s my apprentice. He¡¯s training to be an arcane knight.¡± Josephine Wong looked at Caroline while she answered: ¡°You guys may have a lot to talk about.¡± ¡°We¡¯re there.¡± Garret announced again. ¡°Okay, nice chatting with you. And you have my number. So you can reach me. I also blessed our connection, so under normal conditions you can always reach me.¡± Josephine Wong stood up and conjured two bottles of wine from her hands, then she laid the bottles on the table: ¡°These are for you. Consider it a gift. Don¡¯t overindulge though, it doesn¡¯t have any magical properties but can still make you drunk.¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± the SUV door opened, and Caroline and Jason got out of it and went back to the inn. When they walked in the lounge, they saw that it was Dave taking over Jianmen¡¯s shift again. ¡°Hi Dave. Is Boss here?¡± ¡°He went out about ten minutes ago. He said he wanted to do some Christmas shopping.¡± Dave was focused on looking at the jellyfish from a distance: ¡°Hey, you guys know this is a seriously dangerous guy right there right?¡± ¡°Maybe a little bit. Boss guaranteed it¡¯s harmless now.¡± Jason went into the kitchen and put his bottle of wine into the fridge: ¡°And why are you so careful around it? I thought you are basically immortal?¡± ¡°Yeah but I still won¡¯t wanna mess with it.¡± Dave laughed nervously: ¡°It¡¯ll hurt like hell if you get stung by it. I heard it can make even the most powerful power wielders cry like a baby and ask anyone to end their suffering and meaningless existence.¡± ¡°What?¡± just this moment, Jason¡¯s younger brother walked right into the conversation: ¡°What are you talking about? Sounds very dangerous.¡± ¡°That.¡± Dave pointed at the jellyfish tank. Chapter 133 Time flew, especially when both Caroline and Jason had been extra busy learning about the foundational and basic knowledge that was required of all Grant Academy audit program participants. It was only a week away from Christmas. The weather had become colder and traffic everywhere became worse Somewhat to Caroline and Jason¡¯s surprise, the knowledge was not that out of their pre-existing domain - though Jianmen¡¯s teaching methods were quite unorthodox, he did indeed help them establish a good foundation of knowledge about the supernatural power in this world. What was more interesting was that, through all the reading and experimentation of the basic spells listed in Josephine Wong¡¯s notes, they found that their experience of casting the spells in Xuanli, constructing Xuanli array and seals was able to translate to casting the basic spells that were required of the students by the Grant Academy. This made them feel like that maybe, just maybe, Jianmen had the right to be as cocky as he was when talking about his teaching methods. But they also found one thing - the basic curriculum included a chart of elemental properties of magic, yet for some reason Jianmen almost never taught them anything in detail about the elemental properties of Xuanli. They knew that Caroline¡¯s Xuanli was fiery and had the properties of the stereotypical fire magic properties; Jason¡¯s Xuanli was metalic, and its lack of explosiveness was made up for by the fact that it was easier to control, maintain and form constructs and therefore he was able to create Xuanli weapons for himself and Caroline. But all this time, besides some vague inspiration and basic tips on how to take advantage of some of the properties of their Xuanli, they were unable to get any more detailed guidance from Jianmen. ¡°Because I don¡¯t want you to get biased.¡± when they went to ask Jianmen about the chart, this was the answer Jianmen gave while sitting in a chair in the diner, with a pot of tea in his hand: ¡°What does this chart say now?¡± ¡°Well, there¡¯s fire, water, wind, earth, as basic elements. Then there¡¯s other special elements ¡­ thunder, metal, light, darkness¡­ time and space.¡± Caroline looked at the chart and said. ¡°Huh, so they still haven¡¯t added wood, flow, and Xen.¡± Jianmen laid back in his chair and scoffed: ¡°Don¡¯t bring this up in the program, but viewing Xuanli, magic and other sorts of power through the lense of the elemental chart is quite stupid. I had quite an argument with their professor when I was there and eventually had to talk this out with the vice principal. They are simply vague categories to help you, but not limit you. If you think ¡®Oh, my Xuanli is water, that means I must be focusing on healing and protection spells.¡¯ Then you are already stepping on the wrong path, have you seen how crazy water cutters are? Sure, you can¡¯t usually light something on fire with water, but why the rigid classification?¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s great and kinda scarily confusing.¡± Jason exchanged looks with Caroline and chuckled: ¡°But how do we answer the professors when they asked?¡± ¡°There should be a small book in the library, named ¡®Elemental Proficiency¡¯ something something, by Josephine Wong and Shah Bee Tamil. It should help you with this prerequisite and more. I¡¯d planned to introduce it to you someday. But today¡¯s as good as any.¡± Jianmen thought for a while, then shrugged and said: ¡°We actually collaborated on the book, Shah Bee Tamil was my one time pen name.¡± ¡°And you think insulting someone named Tamil was a good pen name.¡± Jason tried not to laugh but still started giggling. ¡°Hmm? Is this name some kind of joke I am not aware of?¡± Caroline was confused. ¡°Just say it in Mandarin.¡± Jason continued to giggle. ¡°Aaaanyway.¡± Jianmen forcefully changed the topic: ¡°When do you guys have time this week? It¡¯s time for me to take you Christmas shopping.¡± ¡°I¡¯m free right now! What kind of shopping are we talking about?¡± Jason was stunned for a short while, then answered almost jumping up and spilling his tea. ¡°The cultivation related type, of course.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°And of course, this is also to help you prepare for your upcoming back-to-school life.¡± ¡°How long would it take? I am meeting my friend for a midnight sale.¡± Caroline checked her phone but immediately set it down: ¡°But you know what? I can just tell them I¡¯ll be late.¡± ¡°It won¡¯t take too long, if we are efficient enough.¡± Jianmen stood up: ¡°But you can stay longer if you want - you can practically spend a few days there if you are so inclined.¡± ¡°Cool cool cool, let¡¯s go now!¡± Jason rubbed his two hands together, but then he realized something: ¡°But Boss, do they take credit cards?¡± ¡°The place we¡¯re going, anything you can buy with civilian money is in most cases not worth buying.¡± Jianmen led both of them out the diner door into the lounge: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I am not entirely a cheap ass boss, I¡¯ve been saving another portion of your paycheck for you. So you have enough money for necessities and some pleasantries.¡± ¡°What? And I know I¡¯ve asked this question a thousand times - why are you telling us this now?¡± Caroline scratched her head and said. ¡°Hey, you need to take pace. It takes other people years before they can save up enough for their first time for something at the Christmas Fair of Thousand Moons.¡± Jianmen smiled and brought out two small cloth pouches out of thin air and handed them to Caroline and Jason: ¡°Each of you have seventy three gold coins inside. And seven platinum coins. Gold coins are the common currencies, and platinum coins are the premium currencies. The gold coins are your accumulated wage, and platinum ones are your interest, plus my Christmas gift to you.¡± ¡°Damn, Boss, are you a retired assassin with boxes of weapons buried underground?¡± Jason looked into the pouch and said. ¡°What?¡± Caroline looked at Jason with a clear expression of judgment. ¡°... no, and I don¡¯t have a dead wife and a dog either.¡± Chapter 134 ¡°Hey, are you guys going for Christmas shopping?¡± Dave came in through the front door and saw Caroline and Jason checking on their gold and platinum coins: ¡°Hope you have a good time!¡± ¡°Dave, are you planning on going?¡± Jason asked: ¡°Sounded like it would be fun.¡± ¡°No. It¡¯s enough excitement for me this year already.¡± Dave shook his head: ¡°Maybe next year - from what I heard things don¡¯t change much year over year, so I¡¯ll save some excitement for next year.¡± ¡°O¡­ K...¡± neither Jason nor Caroline could not comprehend what Dave meant. ¡°Yeah. If you thought of something you might want, you can just call or text me.¡± Jason nodded, then closed the diner door and re-opened it, the door now led to an entrance of some sort of giant multi-layered building. ¡°Go in, don¡¯t start wandering right away.¡± Jianmen made a ¡°please go in¡± gesture at the diner door. Caroline and Jason went in, and were instantly amazed at what they saw. They were on a giant ring, floating in the air with quite a distance from the ground below. The floor under their feet was the upper surface of the floating ring, which seemed to be made of some kind of matte marble with meticulous patterns. On both sides of the walkway in front of them, were various stores just like a shopping mall, just that these stores were floating houses connected to the upper surface of the ring through various floating materials like carpets, wood panels, stairs, or even nothing at all. And in the space beyond the current ring they were on, were other floating rings all over the vast space, each interconnected with each other with bridges constructed by magical energy with different colors. The place is spacious, and thus not as crowded as the shopping malls of the civilian world. This gave both Caroline and Jason a lot of time and clear space to marvel at the sheer wonders in this place. ¡°Nice right? This is way better than any shopping mall with a crazy sale. And less people too!¡± Jianmen joked and patted on both his students¡¯ backs, ¡°Hold onto your coins for now. Just like what you would see in a normal shopping mall, and with much less room for return or refund and much more need for a buyer beware attitude.¡±Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°Okay, so what are worth buying and what are not?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°So, first, to a store that I trust.¡± Jianmen led Caroline and Jason forward and towards a floating store, in a house built like a temple but with modern design and a lot of electric lights. A simple wooden sign that said ¡°Wen¡¯s Miscellaneous & Everything¡± stood on the side of the walkway. The store was connected to the ring with floating batches of bamboo, which sunk a little bit every time someone stepped on them and it was quite a thrill for both Caroline and Jason when they first walked on them. ¡°Jianmen! Long time no see.¡± an Asian man with a Van Dyke greeted Jianmen and his students at the front door: ¡°And these must be your apprentices! Welcome! What can I help you with?! We have a bit of everything and for a cheap price of three gold coins, you¡¯ll have the wonderful holographic figure of the world famous half human half Siren performer ...¡± ¡°Wen, I have young students here. Save your not safe for work products in the back of your store.¡± Jianmen shook his head and shook hands with the man: ¡°We¡¯re here for some basics for a visit to the Grant Academy.¡± ¡°Hey Boss, we¡¯re adults, what is this not safe for work stuff? I want to see!¡± Jason opened his eyes a little wider. ¡°Young students. Better not to see it then.¡± Wen¡¯s smile made him look like an over friendly insurance salesman: ¡°But no problem! Come on in! We have all the basics and for the best prices in the entire realm! From automatic note taking pens, to quick documentation reference pointers, and spell recorders that can record a spell and replay them at one one hundredth the speed, perfect for learning the intricacies of a spell.¡± ¡°I¡¯d recommend a spell recorder.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°Not just for learning and revisiting spell presentations, you can record yourself and find out where you went wrong.¡± ¡°Can I use it for video making?¡± Jason asked. ¡°If you use the one that comes with video recordings, yes. If you are interested in more detailed learning, you can definitely try it. Only one platinum coin and two gold coins!¡± Wen said with a passionate tone. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ really expensive. Maybe just the normal recorder then.¡± Jason roughly calculated the cost in his mind, then declined hesitantly. ¡°Good choice.¡± Jianmen approved: ¡°The price is indeed high for you guys right now. It¡¯s normal price for the products of its grade, but you don¡¯t need it right now.¡± ¡°What¡¯s this? ¡± Caroline pointed at a luxurious looking broadsword on the side of the wall. ¡°This is a Thomas Easy-charge Sword of Long-range Aviation. It can fly up to six hundred and fifty kilometers with one full charge and takes only five minutes to charge. It has a built in hidden space array for its spacious internal room and an auto navigation system that can be integrated with all kinds of maps - whether it is star maps or civilian smartphone maps.¡± Wen walked to the sword and lifted it up from the wall and presented it to Caroline: ¡°For an incredible price of three platinum coins and five gold coins! It is one of the most cost efficient models in the market! Imagine that! When your classmates are still riding brooms and carriages to school, you rode in on a sword! How cool is that!?¡± ¡°Ooh, sounds like something you would need. You know, to pick up a moderately cute sorceress.¡± Caroline chuckled and patted Jason on the shoulder. ¡°Indeed it is!¡± Wen turned to Jason and mimicked a bad British accent: ¡°What say you my handsome lad? Care to have a jolly ol¡¯ride?¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather ride a bike, for now.¡± Jason couldn¡¯t say he wasn¡¯t tempted, riding a flying sword was one of the coolest things he could think of when it comes to cultivation, yet the price was just too expensive for him. Chapter 135 When all three of them left Wen¡¯s Miscellaneous & Everything, Caroline and Jason each had an automatic note taking pen, a spell recorder, a magical notebook with two thousand pages but only looked like a small brochure, and a quick documentation reference pointer which is a device that can temporarily store scanned contents of books and can help the reader find the references to certain words and phrases, a handy tool for finding things in thick and non-spell-protected physical books. Caroline got herself a small and sturdy enchanted dagger for one gold coin, it was a multi-use tool dagger and had a good affinity towards her Xuanli, which also turned out to be something Jianmen was quite impressed by. Jason bought an enchanted drawing board, with which he could even design animations and draw in 3 dimensions. Jianmen on the other hand, bought a ton of raw material from Wen, ranging from scrap metal, raw mineral, crystal shards to small grains of gem. Wen was so happy with Jianmen¡¯s business, that he gave Caroline and Jason some coupons with no expiration date. ¡°Thank you! Come back next time!¡± when they left the store, Wen was behind them sending them off with a bow: ¡°And enjoy the festival!¡± ¡°What next?¡± Caroline played with her dagger as she walked by Jianmen¡¯s side: ¡°Are these enough for the audit program?¡± ¡°Oh, right before I forget.¡± Jianmen reached into his cloth pouch and took out two small hollow metal balls with holes on them on the upper half and support on the lower half: ¡°These are for you. It¡¯s good for any condition, even in your room. Just put food and ingredients in, it will cook with the best combination to your taste. It will not recycle the extra ingredients and will just burn the leftover up entirely, so use with caution. Hope they¡¯ll make the school life more tolerable. Just imprint on it with your Xuanli and tell them your taste.¡± ¡°Thank you Boss! Early Christmas present? What¡¯s the occasion?¡± Caroline took the metal ball with a wide smile: ¡°You know¡­ besides Christmas?¡± ¡°My students are off to another school to audit. It¡¯d be quite thoughtless and rude of me to not give you anything.¡± Jianmen smiled and pointed forward at an energy bridge that was shining in light blue and yellow light alternatively: ¡°Let¡¯s head to another ring - we still have a lot of time. Why don¡¯t we go around and see what you might want, maybe something for pleasantries.¡± The feeling of walking on the energy bridge was like they were walking on a patch of hardwood floor, and when the color of the light changed, the bridge would gently vibrate and make a soft chiming sound.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°This is the ring of fun stuff.¡± Jianmen led them through the bridge and onto a floating ring with much bigger and fancier shops and even some small humming birds flying around in the air: ¡°You have designer clothes, magical candies, even some useful weapons if you want. But just like the fun stuff stores in the civilian world, things are overpriced and overly fancy.¡± ¡°What are overly fancy? Can you give us some examples?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Like a bag with some shiny Siren-sewn patterns and scales from some deep sea magical whales whose name I can¡¯t remember. They cost at least one hundred platinum coins each. And a lot of them don¡¯t even have their internal space enchanted.¡± ¡°Damn, it is indeed the same with the civilian world. I remember my mom¡¯s friend spending 12 grand on a designer bag with a bunch of holes. It can¡¯t even hold a box of tampons.¡± Jason shook his head: ¡°What else? Do we need robes for the program? Or do we need to get an owl?¡± ¡°Nah, that¡¯s some British crap, Grant Academy¡¯s mostly American, so just bring your attitude.¡± Jianmen joked and pointed to a castle-shaped shop: ¡°And that one over there, if you want to feel like a peasant.¡± ¡°Where can we feel like we are talented cultivators with a bright future?¡± Jason jokingly asked. ¡°Well, that would be the Grant Academy.¡± Jianmen pointed at another store that looked like a house made from shiny towels and curtains: ¡°Let¡¯s go to that one. Not the fanciest place, but you can still get something you might like.¡± ¡°Welcome to the Manimo¡¯s Boutique of Beyond.¡± when three of them entered the store made from towels and curtains, a tall woman in dark blue satin dress welcomed them with a sultry and ethereal voice: ¡°My name¡¯s Felma, what can I help you with?¡± ¡°Hey Felma, do you have anything of reasonable price for a couple of students to the Grant Academy?¡± Jianmen asked. ¡°We have formal clothing for social occasions, well made robes for ceremonies. Mind clearing scented candles for late nights and enchanted lamps with an adjustable lighting array. ¡± Felma did not appear dismayed by the humble ask, and she just led the three of them to the inside of the store: ¡°If any of you are into plants, we also have some Cactus of Resonance from the Mojave Desert, they emit gentle waves of hypnotic energy at night, it can help you sleep if you have trouble sleeping.¡± ¡°So it doesn¡¯t work with the candle?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°Actually, when you have both of them, the effects will resonate and actually clear your head while making you relax.¡± Felma smiled politely and said: ¡°We are always cautious of our products¡¯ interactions with each other.¡± ¡°Oh, that reminds me. Pick something for the social occasions.¡± Jianmen went to the side with some suits and robes floating in the air like some invisible mannequins were spinning with them on: ¡°Oh, and don¡¯t worry too much about cost. I can help cover some of it. I won¡¯t want my students to look bad on the dancing floor or social gatherings. If you decided to attend, that is - no pressure.¡± ¡°New clothes for Christmas? What is happening to you Boss?¡± Caroline chuckled and said. ¡°Well, what can I say? It¡¯s holiday season, and I am feeling generous.¡± Chapter 136 ¡°Boss, care to tell us about this grumpy old lady you¡¯re gonna spend Christmas with?¡± when Jianmen, Caroline and Jason were sitting in a house that looked like a floating cupcake eating frozen yoghurt and ice cream, Jason asked Jianmen: ¡°Is she someone from your past? Since ¡­ you know, now that we both know that almost everyone you know is magic or even immortal, it¡¯s kinda hard to imagine that you still have a close civilian friend, and it is someone whom you are going to spend such a family festival with.¡± ¡°Yeah, is she your family? I thought you¡¯re ¡­ you¡¯re not from around here?¡± Caroline asked: ¡°What made her so special? ¡± ¡°She¡¯s not my friend ¡­ well, at least she wouldn¡¯t call us that. And it¡¯s a long and complicated story. And if I tell you in detail, I¡¯m afraid it might be the same case with the time I gave you a knowledge dump - because it had to do with how I first got here.¡± Jianmen sighed and ate a spoonful of his bowl of ice cream that looked like a ugly haunted mountain with blood red lava dripping down the top: ¡°But ¡­ maybe I think hard before I try - she¡¯s a normal civilian, immigrated from China a long while back with her grandson. And ¡­ umm¡­ her grandson died not long after I met them.¡± ¡°Oh my god, what happened?¡± Caroline almost dropped her spoon. ¡°Like I said, it was quite complicated. Well - complicated in the sense that it involved some very hard to handle truths about the world.¡± Jianmen hesitated for a short while, then continued: ¡°So, let me ask you this: you know about the butterfly effect?¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s like a butterfly flaps its wings in one place and then a hurricane hits a place on the other side of the globe.¡± Caroline nodded. ¡°It¡¯s a way to describe the extent of chaos that exists in a complex system, where the change in initial condition or chronologically upstream events can lead to drastic change in the downstream or the final product of the entire complex process.¡± Jason added to the answer while digging a hole on the skull of his green zombie coke with purple cream brains, and when he pulled the spoon out, a big jiggly piece of purple and red jello shaped like blood stained brains was stuck on his spoon. ¡°Woah woah, professor, there should be only one smartass here.¡± Caroline nudged Jason with her elbow: ¡°And that is Boss.¡± ¡°She¡¯s right. I have a world class super computer right here.¡± Jianmen laughed and pointed at his temple: ¡°Anyway, the point of me bringing up the butterfly effect is, when I came into your world, even though I tried my hardest to be discreet, I unavoidably caused some disturbance in the flow of this world¡¯s karma. ¡°And speaking of karma, let me tread carefully here, I don¡¯t want the insecure manipulative bitch to mess with what a nice time we¡¯re having here.¡± Jianmen continued slowly and with seconds of thought before each sentence: ¡°Okay, do you know the wave-particle duality of light?¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°Holy crap Boss, I feel like I¡¯m dragged into Jason¡¯s engineering school lectures.¡± Caroline banged her head on the table and said: ¡°Can you make it simpler? For non-STEM kids like me?¡± ¡°Basically, that light has both the properties of waves, and the properties of high speed particles.¡± Jason explained: ¡°And what does that have to do with karma?¡± ¡°Simply put, karma flows are like light - they are both continuous streams and flows like water and air, and they are also chains with individual links.¡± Jianmen explained: ¡°And each being in the world has at least one chain of karma flowing through them. But if you¡¯re a complete out-of-worlder like me, your existence will disturb the normal karma flow. And the process of correction will create one for you, and thus changing the karma flows of those around you. Think about it this way - you need chains to hang things on the wall, then something new comes into the picture, and you don¡¯t have any new chains. So you have to remove some links from this chain, then remove some links from that chain, and make a new chain from the links to hang the new thing on the wall.¡± ¡°So when you came, you broke some other people¡¯s karma flow - chains?¡± Jason asked: ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound good, or fun for anyone else.¡± ¡°Not exactly, I am pretty familiar with how this works.¡± Jianmen gently tapped his spoon on his bowl: ¡°So when I started my travel, I brought plenty of raw materials with me to help the correctional forces to construct the flow for me - you know, like something that came with the chains.¡± ¡°And then what happened?¡± Jason swallowed a mouthful of his ¡°zombie brains¡± and asked. ¡°Well¡­¡± ------------------------------------------- It was a windy and rainy night. Thunder rumbled and lightning shot down on the ground from the thick clouds above, the sky was completely obscured and neither the moon nor a star could be seen. In a dark and empty parking lot, a red, hot, and round metal door with arcane symbols and relief sculptures of heads of dragons and lions carved on it appeared out of thin air. Then the next second, the door opened from the middle, and Jianmen, now with burn marks all over his body and his clothes torn up and bloodied, was thrown out of the metal door like a rag doll. The metal door disappeared as swiftly and seamlessly as it appeared, leaving only Jianmen lying on the ground as the sole proof of its existence. Jianmen struggled to face up to the sky, then he tore the small round jade coin with a silver metal frame from his neck and swallowed the coin in whole. This was his insurance policy - an extremely powerful one time artifact he crafted for himself, whose only purpose was to seal his power as much as possible when the worst that could happen actually happened and heal his injuries as much as possible. The sealing of his power was to lessen the disturbance he would cause to the destination when he could not do it by himself, thereby minimizing the power of reaction forces the destination¡¯s universe could fire back at him. It also had the benefit of enhancing its own healing effect and almost any other healing spells - for something was true for almost all universes: the weaker the injured, the easier it was to heal it with spells. After he swallowed the coin and pushed the coin to his stomach, a soft and soothing energy started flowing from his stomach - the position of the coin, which started healing his severely injured internal organs and meridians, as well as the burn marks on his skin. Jianmen laid on the ground in the rain for a few hours before he could even get his upper body up, and before he could get up he fell two times, once on his back and once on his face. Blood was coming out of his mouth, eyes, ears and nose but was quickly washed away by the rain. ¡°Fuck your mom.¡± after giving up and starting staring at the sky after the entire agonizing process, Jianmen cursed in Mandarin, with steam and smoke coming from his mouth. Chapter 137 The rain finally stopped, when the sun came up from the edge of the sky and started warming up the weather as well as burning away the mist and thick clouds in the sky. Throughout the whole night, there was not one person passing by, and the only people who were remotely close to finding Jianmen were a group of teenagers who were driving by the side of the parking lot like crazy and then stopping to drink by the side of the road. After a whole night of rest and healing, Jianmen was finally able to stand up. He was also finally able to use his Xuanli without feeling a great deal of pain from his meridians and his bones and muscles. By his rough estimate, he was now roughly at the power level of a cultivator at the midway from the second layer to the third layer, which was quite a significant drop from where he was. But that was indeed what was expected to happen when he swallowed the entire jade coin with silver metal frames and consumed it in whole - now he had a powerful seal within his body and soul, which will gradually peel itself away and restore his power in the process while he heals himself. The only thing that was not impacted as hard, was Jianmen¡¯s connection to karma flows, which meant he was still able to gain knowledge about the world through his usual means as long as he was cautious. And throughout the whole night, besides focusing most of his mind on the process of healing and sealing his own power, he also utilized his connection with Xuanli to learn about the world he was in. But now that he was in a weakened state, this kind of means to gain knowledge about the world also led to quite some cost: his head became cloudy and he started having headache - he knew that he couldn¡¯t use the power again anytime soon. And the ¡°Fuck your mom¡± was for a reason - from the information he gathered, he was able to recognize that this was not his world. For one, he did not find the trace of his karma at all - if this is his original world, he would have picked up his own traces of karma flow when he came back; For two, though this world had many similarities to his world before he left, he also picked up some key differences from various points of this world¡¯s history, like how the events of some of the famous wars went, how some of the famous people ended up, which also fascinated him on how this world became so similar to his original world. The clothes he wore were broken, torn up by the turbulence of energy from his travel, but they remained dry and relatively clean - something perhaps only the best fabrics from the world of cultivation from which he came through the door could do. Jianmen waddled to the outside of the rundown parking lot, the streets were not busy as it was still relatively early in the morning, but there were already people on the street who gave Jianmen the side-eye and avoided him when he came close. Hunger struck him as he waited on the side of the road for the light to turn green by himself - a feeling he had never felt in quite a while, when he was at his full power, he only ate for pleasure and not for sustenance. He would love to experiment sealing his power away to feel the corporeal needs of the mortal if he could, yet he just never had the chance to do it, because the world of cultivation was already dangerous enough, not to mention for someone who made his fair share of enemies along the path to where he was. It¡¯s just that now, the feeling came at a terrible time.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Never thought I¡¯d be troubled by food someday.¡± Jianmen scoffed at himself and his terrible luck, and when the light in front of him turned green, he walked onto the zebra crossing. His head still felt cloudy, making it hard for him to concentrate and react to things in a timely manner, which was made worse by the sudden hunger. Loud engine blasts came from not too far away, a sports car with metallic black and yellow paint swirled through the road and sped towards the left side of Jianmen and did not even stop at the red light on its way. Before Jianmen could even realize, due to him being preoccupied by his newfound source of worry, he was sent flying through the air. By the time he realized what happened to him, he was already a few inches away from the cement pedestrian walkway with a rusty old fire hydrant. ¡°Shit! Shit!¡± a group of teenagers or young adults in relatively low profile but still expensive looking clothes got out of the sports car, two of them rushing to Jianmen¡¯s side, while the boy driver and a young blonde girl first stopped at the front of the car and checked on the human-shaped dents on the bumper and hood of the race car: ¡°What the fuck! Look what happened to my fucking car!¡± ¡°Brad! Look what the fuck you¡¯ve done! ¡± the boy from the other couple that rushed to Jianmen¡¯s side yelled at the teenage boy who was driving: ¡°I told you not to run the fucking light! I fucking told you!¡± ¡°Oh, god, what should we do?¡± the girl from the couple by Jianmen¡¯s side started panicking: ¡°Are you alright, sir? Do you need to go to the hospital?¡± ¡°Of course he needs to go to the hospital!¡± the boy by Jianmen¡¯s side said loudly: ¡°Brad! Come over and call 911!¡± ¡°Quiet, please, my head hurts from all your yelling.¡± Jianmen was not hurt or injured by the crash, it was just that the impact made him feel a little bit dizzy and his pre-existing injuries started acting up a little bit, and the talking and yelling from these young folks were really making his already bad day worse. So he said, in English, something he just picked up: ¡°And please get out of my way.¡± ¡°Sir? Sir? Are you sure?¡± the driver and his girlfriend finally came over to Jianmen¡¯s side and asked: ¡°Do you need to go to the hospital? How you¡¯re feeling?¡± ¡°Better if you just get out of my face.¡± Jianmen got up and groaned. ¡°Okay, sir. I am so sorry. Let me pay for your injuries...¡± the driver and his girlfriend half-assedly apologized to Jianmen: ¡°Can you forgive us and let it go?¡± Jianmen was still not entirely aware of the situation yet: ¡°I¡¯m not...¡± ¡°Here! Here!¡± the boy who ran to Jianmen¡¯s side opened up his wallet and took out a few big green bills and shoved them into Jianmen¡¯s hands: ¡°Please, go check with a hospital, if it¡¯s not enough I think Brad has more. Right Brad?!¡± The last two words were yelled out, as he stared at the driver of the sports car. ¡°Oh! Right right right!¡± the driver was pinched by his girlfriend, and he opened up his wallet and took out a bigger wad of bills and shoved it in Jianmen¡¯s hand: ¡°Please take this, and we forget this ever happened, okay?¡± Jianmen now realized what was going on, he laughed and accepted the money while rubbing his temple: ¡°I understand, thank you for the payments. I will forget this ever happened.¡± ¡°Thank you! Let¡¯s go!¡± the first boy that ran to Jianmen¡¯s side nudged the driver by the arm: ¡°We should go.¡± These young people drove away as fast as they could, leaving Jianmen by the side of the street and some pedestrians on the other side of the street staring and pointing. Chapter 138 ¡°My man, you¡¯re sure you don¡¯t want to go to the hospital? I saw you flying man.¡± the owner of the food truck at a street corner asked Jianmen in a concerned tone: ¡°I mean, people die from that. I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re on, but I¡¯ve seen people walking away from shit like that because they¡¯re on meth, and they just die half an hour later.¡± ¡°Yeah. I am sure. And I am not on anything.¡± Jianmen had ten hot dogs, one can of each kind of soda and five sandwiches in front of him and he already had five hot dogs and one sandwich in his stomach: ¡°I just do a lot of Taichi.¡± ¡°Is Taichi some kind of new superman drug? ¡®Cause if it is, I need to get me some of that.¡± the owner looked at how fast Jianmen was consuming the food he bought with the hush money from those rich kids and was somewhat relieved. ¡°No, just Taichi. The kind of stuff that you can see on the internet.¡± Jianmen smiled, then drank up one full can of fruit flavored soda in one gulp: ¡°And a balanced diet with lots of good meat.¡± ¡°Sure. Sir. Looks like you have a good appetite as well.¡± the owner of the food truck joked. The hush money the rich kids gave him looked like a lot, but it was actually not that much - it added up to $2350 dollars in total, and Jianmen just spent around $300 on the food from the food truck, and he finally stopped feeling the almost debilitating hunger. He was still feeling hungry, but it was not as serious anymore. ¡°Thanks for the food.¡± Jianmen gathered all the wrappers and empty soda cans and threw them in the garbage bin inside: ¡°Now I just need a place to stay.¡± ¡°Good luck my man.¡± the owner of the food truck nodded at Jianmen with a wide smile: ¡°And be careful when you cross the road! Or don¡¯t, I don¡¯t know how bad you need the money.¡± Jianmen laughed and waved the food truck owner goodbye. Now with around two thousand dollars in hand and a barely a third full stomach that just stopped feeling hungry, Jianmen started thinking about what the next steps were for him. From the information he gathered, he knew that he could not just simply work for anyone because he did not have the necessary papers and even the basic identification - he needed to find a place that hires people for the short term with relatively loose background checks. After thinking for a while, he decided that maybe the local Chinatown will be a good place to start. For this is the edge of the famous city Los Angeles, and there was a pretty big local Chinese community and a Chinatown with quite a lot of history. And with his being able to communicate in Mandarin, Cantonese, English and Spanish, it shouldn¡¯t be that hard for him to find somewhere temporary to lay low and maybe not be the first ever layer nine cultivation master to starve to death. Two thousand dollars was not even that much, and with Jianmen¡¯s current appetite, his cash on hand would probably only last him at most a week - which means unless he was about to commit crimes, he would face money problems real soon.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. But when he went to the streets of Chinatown, he found out that he was sorely mistaken - he visited a chain supermarket, a few restaurants, and a bakery shop, all of which responded to him that they were not hiring. ¡°Nonono, go away.¡± the owner of a big restaurant yelled at Jianmen in Cantonese: ¡°We can¡¯t just hire any random guy off the streets. You don¡¯t even have actual clothes!¡± ¡°I am just a bit down on my luck, and I have several years of experience working in the hospitality industry. I cook a mean radish beef belly stew!¡± ¡°Haiyah, radish beef belly stew is our signature dish, don¡¯t even think about impressing us with it. Go away!¡± the owner became more pissed. ¡°Okay, okay, don¡¯t get mad. How about I buy some clothes first?¡± Jianmen backed off and asked, trying his hardest to be friendly. ¡°Nonono, go away!¡± ¡°Motherfu - ¡± walking away from yet another failed attempt, Jianmen was finally made aware that his broken and torn clothes were the issue, he had been in the world of cultivation for too long and forgot almost completely about some of the basics when it comes to functioning in a modern civilian world, like having to change into something more appropriate before applying for a job. Even information gathering through his connection to karma had its limits and blind spots. Jianmen had no choice but frustratedly spent another fifty dollars at a cheap attire store in a mall to buy a whole set of clothes. And the quality of the clothes was quite horrible - he was worried that even the most minor of moves from him would break the fabric. And when he came out of the attire store, he found a small grocery store nearby with simplified Chinese ¡°Hiring¡± posters on its door. ¡°Hello, I saw that you¡¯re hiring for help?¡± Jianmen went into the store and asked in Mandarin: ¡°I am here to apply for the job.¡± ¡°Welcome.¡± behind the counter was a young Chinese man that looked like he was in his early 20s: ¡°And yes we¡¯re hiring for someone who can just help around the store and watch the store when I am not at the store. How much work experience do you have?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve worked in hotels and inns for many years.¡± Jianmen tried his best to act natural: ¡°I can cook, I can clean, I am strong and I am very good with hard labor.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ good!¡± the young man looked surprised: ¡°Good that you can cook. I can pay extra if you can cook some meals for me and my grandmother. How many languages can you speak? Do you speak English?¡± ¡°Besides Mandarin, English, Spanish, Cantonese.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°Even a little bit of Hakka, but I can learn if you require.¡± ¡°Nice! Final question: are you okay with 18 dollars an hour in cash? Save us both the trouble.¡± ¡°That¡¯d be nice. Thank you!¡± Jianmen shook hands with the young man: ¡°My name¡¯s Jianmen.¡± ¡°May name¡¯s Shanyi, or you can call me by my English name Shawn.¡± the young man smiled: ¡°When can you start?¡± ¡°I am hoping tomorrow? Unless you know a place I can stay.¡± Jianmen acted slightly embarrassed: ¡°I am still new here, so I need to find a place.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s not a problem. We have an unused back room. If you want you can stay in it. It¡¯s quite small though. If you don¡¯t mind you can stay in it. No rent needed, but can you make dinner on Fridays and weekends?¡± ¡°Not a problem. Deal.¡± Chapter 139 ¡°So, Boss. Shawn is the old lady¡¯s grandson?¡± on a new ring that looked like it was made of green marble with forest like patterns, they wandered into a shop that looked like it was built with giant moving rocks that looked like pieces of turtle shells and strangely shaped trees that looked like shiny bird feathers. ¡°Welcome to Jayn¡¯s Exotic Pets. ¡± a young man by the door welcomed them in: ¡°My name¡¯s Francis, I am in charge of the store today. Anything I can help you with? What kind of pets are you looking for? If you are not sure, we can even do a quick test for your mana, your aura and even your fortune to let you know what is best.¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± Jianmen asked the young man: ¡°Do you have any that can become familiars?¡± ¡°Ah¡­ ¡± Francis was apparently stunned for a minute: ¡°I am so sorry. But if you want familiar-grade pets you need to make a reservation three days in advance - and we are not carrying any at the store right now.¡± ¡°No problem. I¡¯ll just take my students to look around. Maybe we can find some that might have potential.¡± Jianmen smiled and nodded: ¡°What about food or other sustenance for minor spirits?¡± ¡°I think I have some in the back, let me go check on them. Excuse me.¡± Francis chuckled nervously and went to the back of the store. ¡°You¡¯re really looking for a familiar Boss? Or are you just saying that so that the sales guy can leave us alone?¡± Caroline whispered her question to Jianmen. ¡°A bit of both. Remember what I told you?¡± Jianmen also whispered to Caroline and Jason: ¡°This ring is all about status and symbol over substance - you can buy an Amber and Obsidian Dung Beetle that costs a fortune because it was once put inside the coffin of a Pharaoh. But all it does is roll and eat shit all day.¡± Jason snorted from the laughter, and almost choked on the peppermint enchanted soda he was drinking. ¡°But it still has magical properties right? It¡¯s been in a Pharaoh¡¯s coffin after all.¡± Caroline laughed and asked. ¡°Not really. I had one and it was useless besides it lives up to a thousand years in the right condition.¡± Jianmen shook his head while he took his students to check out a small sleepy bird with color changing feathers on its wings and two silver and orange-red feathers on its tail: ¡°So I sold it to a rich and fancy British wizard for his personal collection. Then I traded some of the gold coins for a lot of US Dollars to redecorate the inn.¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Smart. ¡± Caroline finished her cup of apple and pumpkin spice soda: ¡°And how did you find it? I don¡¯t suppose you still have a way to find more of them? You know, asking for a friend here.¡± ¡°No. I was just helping an archaeologist with his quest of digging a hidden pyramid.¡± Jianmen knelt down and took a look at a six-legged lizard in a glass box, which was repeatedly blinking from one corner to another but still was not able to escape: ¡°Yanked it out of a murderous mummy¡¯s stomach, the smells were terrible.¡± ¡°So what happened next? You started working for Shawn¡¯s store?¡± Jason brought the topic back on track. ¡°Well, I finally settled down a bit. The store was a small and humble grocery store that sold cheap snacks, some small items and some imported goods like spices and sauces from China so most of the time there was not much to do besides watching it. And I had time to recover and restore my strength. It started quite slow - the travel burns left me quite weak and I had to sneak out from time to time to look for things that could help me heal. From simple herbs with small traces of Xuanli or other magical energy inside, to some fresh and potentially hazardous supernatural pests that I wouldn¡¯t feel guilty killing and extracting power from. And in the day, I helped around the store - I cleaned, I moved the important boxes and helped organize the inventory. And then one day I noticed something strange.¡± ---------------------------------------------- ¡°Hi Shawn, good morning.¡± on a Friday morning since Jianmen started working in this small grocery store, he was already at the store organizing the inventory and preparing to open the store: ¡°You¡¯re here early.¡± ¡°Yeah, today we have some special customers. ¡± Shawn lowered his body and opened the locked up drawer and took out a few boxes of cigarettes and showed it to Jianmen, ¡°Someone named Mr. Wu is coming over, and this is what he ordered. If he came to the store, don¡¯t let him take it yet. I¡¯ll speak with him first.¡± ¡°Understood. ¡± Jianmen nodded, and for some reason he had a strange feeling about the boxes of cigarettes and the upcoming visit from this Mr. Wu. ¡°Oh, and there¡¯s chicken and beef in the fridge. Grandma told me she has a sudden craving for porridge. She likes both beef and chicken porridge but she¡¯s very picky about it, so try your best for your first time cooking porridge for her. ¡± Shaw said: ¡°I¡¯ll need to run some errands later, if Mr. Wu is here early then tell him to wait for me. ¡± ¡°No problem. I¡¯ve cooked it before. ¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°What kind of porridge does she like? Thick or thin? Which style? ¡± ¡°Yeah. No need to be too fancy.¡± Shawn hesitated for a while: ¡°Just make it a bit saltier than you normally would - her taste buds deteriorated a bit so she could not taste anything if it is not strong enough. ¡± ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll make some Cantonese style beef porridge with chicken soup for us.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°And I¡¯ll call you when Mr. Wu is here.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯m off.¡± Shawn nodded and put on his coat, ¡°I¡¯ll be back as soon as possible. Remember, tell Mr. Wu to wait for me!¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Barely half an hour and three groups of customers later, a middle-aged man with a buzz cut entered the store with two men wearing matching jackets behind him. ¡°Hi. My name is Wu.¡± the man with a buzz cut was fidgeting a bit as he spoke accented English to Jianmen: ¡°Shanyi has some cigarettes for me and I¡¯m here to take it.¡± ¡°Hi. Are you Mr. Wu? Shawn is out running some errands, he told me to wait for him when you¡¯re here. Let me call him right now.¡± Jianmen nodded and took out his cheap and simple phone, which he bought with a little over thirty dollars. The Man with a buzz cut looked at the two men behind him then turned and leaned in over the counter and said: ¡°I don¡¯t have time, just give it to me right now!¡± Jianmen was confused, but he still quick-dialed Shawn¡¯s number: ¡°Sorry sir, I am new here. Boss told me to call him and he will be back immediately, please be patient.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have time for patience right now!¡± the man with a buzz cut looked back at the two men behind him again: ¡°Just give it to me, now!¡± Chapter 140 ¡°Hello, Boss? ¡± Jianmen already got Shawn on the phone: ¡°Mr. Wu is here already.¡± ¡°Really? I thought he¡¯d come later.¡± Shawn sounded confused over the phone. ¡°Shanyi ah, things are really bad right now.¡± the man with a buzz cut immediately said loudly in Mandarin: ¡°Yewei got into some serious trouble and he cannot come right now. Please come back right away!¡± ¡°Hey hey hey!¡± the two men in the back yelled in English at the man with a buzz cut: ¡°Speak English! What did we tell you?!¡± ¡°Okay! Okay!¡± the man with a buzz cut seemed really scared of the two men behind him. Jianmen was not quite sure what was going on, so he turned on the speaker mode and placed the phone on the counter: ¡°Hey Boss, you¡¯re on speaker now. ¡± ¡°Yedong Wu, is that you? ¡± Shawn apparently knew the man with a buzz cut, and he asked in Mandarin: ¡°Where¡¯s your brother?¡± ¡°Wo bu shi gao su guo ni ¡­ I mean ... He got into some serious trouble! I am here to take the goods for him!¡± the man with a buzz cut switched from Mandarin to English while he complained: ¡°Where are you? Come back now!¡± ¡°Just wait a few minutes! I am on my way back!¡± Shawn seemed to be worried as well, he said loudly through the phone and then hung up. ¡°Hey! How long would it take him?¡± one of the two men with matching jackets asked Jianmen: ¡°We are not here to wait for your boss to come back. If he¡¯s gonna take forever, I¡¯m just gonna take the goods from you.¡± ¡°Please, just a little time he¡¯s not that far away.¡± even though Jianmen had spent too much time in a world of cultivation and the going ons in this world were still quite strange to him, he was still able to recognize roughly what was going on in this grocery store - Shawn and this Mr. Wu were in some kind of shady or even illicit business, and the two men in matching jackets were either their superior or their competitors here to bust their business. ¡°I¡¯ll give him five minutes.¡± the man said and then found a place to sit down with the other, while he sat, Jianmen saw something slightly bulging from his jacket.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°Thank you!¡± Jianmnen quickly turned around and found two small shot glasses and a bottle of alcohol of unknown brand, they were hidden in the back by Shawn, and he still did not know that Jianmen knew about them: ¡°Do you gentlemen care for a drink? It¡¯ll be quite boring just waiting for Boss to come back.¡± ¡°Mydmar Whiskey?¡± one of the men in a jacket saw the logo on the bottle: ¡°That¡¯s not good enough. Unless you have some better stuff - then I¡¯ll consider putting in a good word for you and your boss.¡± ¡°Ah ¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I think this is the best we have.¡± Jianmen looked at the bottle - there was still so much knowledge he did not get a chance to read, but knowledge about wine and alcohol was never going to be a priority. ¡°Yeah, sure, that¡¯s the best you¡¯ve got.¡± the other man in a jacket scoffed. Jianmen looked at Yedong Wu, and found that Yedong Wu was looking at him as well. He saw that Yedong Wu appeared both confused, worried and somewhat grateful that Jianmen was somehow able to stall the two men that practically armed-escorted him here. ¡°Hello, I would like to buy some loose cigarettes ...¡± a really young looking teenage boy with a scruffy look entered the store and asked Jianmen: ¡°Give me 4 of them.¡± ¡°Um, aren¡¯t you a bit too young to smoke?¡± Jianmen asked with a suspecting look. ¡°Haha, how flattering of you. But I recently had my 21st birthday. Here¡¯s my ID.¡± the teenage boy fake laughed and presented a driver¡¯s licence to Jianmen. Jianmen picked up the driver license and examined it closely for a short while, then he threw it back at the teenage boy: ¡°This is fake, get back here when you have a legit one.¡± ¡°What? What the fuck!?¡± the teenage boy picked up the driver license in anger, frustration and offence: ¡°How could you say that? This is a legit license!¡± ¡°The number combination doesn¡¯t match the year of your birth year or your age.¡± Jianmen said with a straight face: ¡°And your name is Loumou Lei. That means either you underpaid your license dealer or your parents hate you, very very much.¡± ¡°What? I am Cantonese!¡± the teenage boy whined. ¡°Exactly. ¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°At least learn Cantonese before using a fake ID with an insult as a name. Now, out, unless you want something more of your age, like chewing gums with anime stickers or something healthy like whole grain cereal with cute anime girl cards.¡± One of the men with matching jackets snorted from laughter and looked at the teenage boy with a mocking look. ¡°Hey! I want to talk to Shawn! Where¡¯s Shawn!?¡± the teenage boy was officially pissed, and he yelled and slammed the diver license on the counter. ¡°I¡¯m here. I¡¯m here.¡± just this minute, Shawn¡¯s voice came from the outside of the store: ¡°Yedong, are you okay?¡± ¡°Shawn! I¡¯m here!¡± Yedong jumped and was about to get outside the door, but one of the men in matching jackets grabbed him by the back of his collar: ¡°It¡¯s people from the Zhangs!¡± ¡°The Zhangs? What the hell...¡± Shawn came into the store and was instantly perturbed by the presence of the two men with matching jackets: ¡°What ¡­ What are you doing here? You can¡¯t just randomly come here!¡± ¡°Wrong.¡± one of the men told Shawn: ¡°You should know that, the Lok family is no longer in charge of this area. The Zhangs are in charge now, and we are ¡­ re-evaluating the business credentials of the local associates. That means we need to examine your inventories as well.¡± ¡°Yeah... my driver license is fake. I should go.¡± the teenage boy felt the tension and the basic indications of the conversation and started weaseling his way out. Chapter 141 ¡°What are you talking about? No, you cannot do that!¡± Shawn was a bit scared but he maintained his posture and asked the two men in matching jackets: ¡°And what did you do to Yewei?¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Jacob, his English name¡¯s Jacob! Jacob Wu!¡± Shawn pointed at Yedong Wu: ¡°His brother! His older brother!¡± ¡°Oh, him. Yeah he¡¯s at the Zhangs¡¯ place.¡± one of the men in matching jackets said: ¡°Just know this - we¡¯re here as a courtesy and a polite request. You should submit some samples from your inventory and the Zhangs will evaluate how much you¡¯re worth as local associates. So you better listen up and just give us the goods. We don¡¯t have all day.¡± ¡°No. I demand to talk to the one in charge of this area. And let me speak with Jacob.¡± Shawn almost backed off. ¡°Bang!¡± this time, the man in a jacket inside whose pocket Jianmen saw a bulge earlier slammed the counter with his fist, breaking the wood frame of the counter top and shattering the glass, but his hand was totally unscathed: ¡°Enough! We are not here to negotiate with you! This is Lok¡¯s turf no more. It belongs to the Zhangs. And while the Zhangs are not here, we represent them. And if you¡¯re disrespecting us, you¡¯re disrespecting them. So think about what you¡¯re gonna do carefully and watch that attitude, grocery boy!¡± ¡°I need to speak with Jacob.¡± Shawn insisted and tried not to look at the broken countertop. The two men in matching jackets exchanged looks, then as one of them intended to reach for something in his jacket. But Shaw was quicker in his actions - he whipped out a small hand gun from the back of his pants and pointed at the two men in front of him: ¡°Freeze! Don¡¯t move!¡± Jianmen was not expecting this, and he was a bit stunned at the moment as he did not know what to do - all the knowledge he gained from some time ago did not prepare him for this kind of situation. But his guts told him that in this case he probably should have waited on the side and let things work out however they would. ¡°Listen up Shawn, you are making a terrible mistake here.¡± the man on the right slowly raised his hands up: ¡°You don¡¯t want to piss us up. And you sure don¡¯t wanna piss the Zhangs up.¡± ¡°Shut up and get the fuck outta my store!¡± Shawn yelled: ¡°You came into MY store, and you dare threaten me with your fucking bullshit requests?! You get outta my store! You get outta my fucking store now!¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Calm down! Calm down!¡± the man in a jacket extended his hands at Shawn: ¡°What the fuck are you thinking pulling a gun here like this?¡± ¡°Shawn, calm down. Don¡¯t do anything stupid.¡± Yedong said with a trembling vice: ¡°It¡¯s true, they took over the whole turf, and Yewei¡¯s at their place but he¡¯s okay. He asked me to come here on behalf of him and took his goods. He said he would be very happy to work with the Zhangs.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound like him, you fucking useless imbecile!¡± Shawn became more agitated and pointed his gun at Yewei: ¡°You think I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re up to? You jealous little fuck! You sold him out didn¡¯t you!?¡± ¡°Shawn, you¡¯re fucking nuts!¡± Yedong yelled: ¡°He¡¯s my brother! How can I ever harm him?¡± ¡°Oh is that right? What about your fifteen thousand dollar debt at Reno Tahoe? What about your five thousand dollar credit card debt huh?¡± Shawn seemed way more angry at Yedong than at the two men that brought him here. Just this moment, the men who had something in his jacket pocket reached inside his jacket, and took out a silver grey pistol. And without thinking too much, Jianmen threw his phone from over the counter at the man. Jianmen¡¯s phone was cheap and had very limited functionalities, but it had a thick and smooth shell, a thick and scratch resistant screen and a very sturdy keyboard. Jianmen had been using it for a while and found that the only thing not reliable about it was its signal reception. Combine this with Jianmen¡¯s inhuman strength and aim, the phone landed at this man¡¯s wrist, knocking the pistol out of his hand and almost dislocating his wrist. The pistol fell on the ground, its handle hit the ground and somehow triggered the hammer and caused a misfire on the level of everyone¡¯s ankle. The bullet did not hit anyone, but just went through the wooden wall and penetrated the side of a garbage bin with metal and hard plastic exterior, and just stayed inside the bin. ¡°Hey! What the fuck do you think you¡¯re doing?!¡± Shawn was not hurt, but he was startled by the gunshot and he immediately pointed his gun at the two men with matching jackets: ¡°Thank you Jianmen, you¡¯re a good friend. Now all of you, get the fuck out! Get out now!¡± The man hit by Jianmen¡¯s phone peeked at Jianmen with anger and resentment, but now he did not have a gun and Shawn was the only one with firepower. So both of them went out the door with arms raised above their heads. And before they left, they still remembered to leave a threat: ¡°This isn¡¯t over. You¡¯ll be hearing from us soon. And next time, we won¡¯t be so friendly.¡± ¡°Shawn, Shanyi. My big brother. Why are you doing this?!¡± Yedong still tried to talk to Shawn: ¡°You¡¯re killing me here! And you¡¯re killing Yewei! You better prepare to apologize!¡± ¡°Out. OUT!¡± Shawn lowered his gun, but still pointed at the door while staring at Yedong in the eyes. ¡°Boss. What are you involved with?¡± when the two men with matching jackets and Yedong Wu all left and Jianmen were sure they were far enough away, Jianmen asked: ¡°The ¡®cigarettes¡¯ are not actually cigarettes right? What are they?¡± Shawn sighed and shook his head: ¡°It¡¯s not something you should worry about. Let me handle this for now. You just need to watch the store and prepare dinner today.¡± ¡°Okay. ¡± Jianmen also sighed and pointed at the gun on the floor: ¡°What about that?¡± ¡°Let me take care of it. You just go and wipe the security camera footage.¡± Shawn retracted his hand into his sleeve and picked the gun up with his hand wrapped in his sleeve so that his fingerprints wouldn¡¯t be on the gun: ¡°It¡¯ll take me at least the whole day today. Just call me if you need any help. And thanks again for what you did.¡± Jianmen nodded and did not say anything. For some reason, he had a really bad feeling about everything that happened. Chapter 142 Shawn left with the gun and the boxes of ¡°cigarettes¡±, and he did not tell Jianmen any more. Jianmen did not have the heart to ask for more. He was not too worried about himself, because he had no one that was very personally close in this world, and he knew that the normal kind of ¡°trouble¡± this world can inflict upon him, he could easily evade. But the bad feelings he had about what just happened were not eased by these factors of consideration. In fact, the more he thought about it the less it seemed to be about his own immediate wellbeing, but more about something that shouldn¡¯t have happened. Jianmen himself was somewhat familiar with the feeling, yet from what he remembered, this kind of feeling generally does not occur unless it was something really substantial - it was the feeling of disturbance in the flow of karma, something that generally leads to unwanted outcome of events. But from what Jianmen understood about karma and the Will, trivial actions like this, even from an out-of-worlder with power, should not have had this kind of effect. It must have been something worse - with the experience and knowledge from his previous world, this must have something to do with some other factors. But with Jianmen¡¯s current power level due to his sealing his own power, he was not able to peek into the details. After standing behind the counter and thinking about his options for a while, Jianmen decided that he should try divination. Divination had always been sort of a ¡°loophole¡± when dealing with karma for those with a good connection to it and had a good understanding of it as well as the Will. It was like taking a picture of something from far away with a long range but low resolution and small angle camera - one can tell shapes and colors but the signals were mixed and vague, but if the one doing it had the knowledge and experience of interpreting it, they would have the chance to read a lot from very little cost. And seeing that the shop stopped having guests after the kerfuffle anyway, Jianmen immediately proceeded to action. There was already an incense burner in the store, which was on the small altar in the store right in between two fake plastic candles with red small light bulbs on top faking as the ¡°candle fire¡±. The incense burner had no ashes from actual incense in it, which was not ideal - according to traditional wisdom, the right amount of incense ashes in the burner is a symbol of respect for the gods and heaven, but according to Jianmen¡¯s own experience, in the ashes of incense that were used for past divination attempts lies the residual energy of enlightenment and revelation, which would in turn help subsequent divination attempts. Jianmen grabbed a handful of rice, gently blew on it and put it in the burner. Then he took out some incense sticks from the shop¡¯s inventory and put some money in the cash register to show that he actually bought them and did not steal. Jianmen lit up three incense sticks and carefully concentrated his Xuanli and power of mind and will on the incense sticks and tried his best to connect to the karma flows around him but not activate the Law of Karma - he was too weak to bear the cost of using such a powerful but costly cultivation method. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Jianmen stayed silent for a while as he completely infused the incense sticks with his powers, when the incense sticks started glowing and cracking, Jianmen stuck them into the rice in the incense burner. With the three incense sticks burning, Jianmen then took out a small knife, infused a bit of his Xuanli on it and gently cut a small wound on the tip of his middle finger. Then he dropped a few droplets of his blood onto the rice. Jianmen¡¯s power level was still on that of a second layer cultivator, but it was because he sealed his own power, which meant that his physical body still retained many characteristics of a much more powerful cultivator - and one of which was that his blood can be served as really valuable sacrifice for certain rituals, divinations included. Being infused with Jianmen¡¯s power, the three incense sticks were burning in orange and golden light and much faster than normal incense sticks. Before long, all three completely burnt up and left only the thin and short red bamboo sticks at the end and some ashes scattered on the rice. Jianmen picked up and threw away the bamboo sticks, then he started observing the patterns of the grey ashes on the white rice trying to find some recognizable pattern. And after staring at the burner for around five minutes, he noticed that a simple symbol - a True Word made of the incense ashes, was right at the center of the rice pile. Jianmen was not unfamiliar with the symbol - it was something he got to know when he first traveled to this world and used his connections to karma to gain knowledge about this world. --------------------------------------------- ¡°And what does the True Word mean?¡± Jason asked, while Jianmen was taking them around yet another floating ring, where shops on both sides of the road were selling magical enchanted potions, various kinds of special drugs and small magical gadgets. One short man in a dirty brown robe in front of a store that looked like a giant brown khaki backpack even bragged that the store behind him had the exclusive supply of a new type of mana potion that could permanently increase the size of a magic user¡¯s mana pool and enhance their natural mana recovery. But Jianmen promptly dismissed their claim, with a simple phrase: ¡°All that claims to be a magical pill that requires no work on your part tend to be poison¡± ¡°Well, it was basically something like ¡®Fuck off¡¯, or ¡®Stop meddling¡¯.¡± Jianmen sighed: ¡°And that was the moment I knew that I fucked up.¡± ¡°How so? Because Shawn was supposed to die that day?¡± Caroline asked as she glanced over a shop that looked like a giant metal box with nails and patches on the exterior and had a sign that said ¡°Mystique Barron¡¯s Items of Trickery¡±, which had a tall woman in heavy makeup and a skimpy dress standing in front of it who was basically flirting with any customer that passed by. ¡°Well, let me put it this way.¡± Jianmen thought for a while and said: ¡°You know, when a bullet is shooting your way, and it is already a few inches away from your face. If you¡¯re¡­ you know, not me, the bullet would¡¯ve hit you right?¡± ¡°I guess so. But I can try to conjure my fire shield and burn it up.¡± Caroline shrugged and said. ¡°Yeah, true.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°But if it was a heat resistant bullet, it would still hit you on the head.¡± ¡°Damn, Boss, how much do you hate us?¡± Caroline giggled, she was in a good mood because she just picked up a really good looking leather jacket, which had internal temperature control and a really deep pocket. ¡°It¡¯s just a metaphor.¡± Jianmen shook his head but still smiled at the teasing: ¡°And you acknowledge, that the bullet will hit you, even though it will take a few milliseconds.¡± ¡°Right.¡± ¡°But suppose there are some kind of creatures in this world, with the lifespan of less than one millisecond. So a few milliseconds would be ¡­ a few generations of them. To them, it took several generations of their lineage for the bullet to hit you. And to them, intuitively, they may have the idea that you have all the time in the world to dodge that bullet, even though to you who¡¯s being shot at, you really don¡¯t have the chance. So when we consider it from the prospect of the universe, our notions of chances of change may seem just like these creatures thinking you could dodge that bullet.¡± Chapter 143 ¡°Jianman ah, this is really nice porridge!¡± on the dinner table, Shawn¡¯s grandmother, Nan, was really appreciative of the food: ¡°How did you do it?¡± ¡°I cooked the rice with some chicken broth, and then I made the chicken soup with the chicken broth.¡± Jianmen smiled and explained: ¡°And I minced the beef, mixed it with garlic and white pepper and light fried it so that it could have a nice taste.¡± ¡°So Shanyi totally made the right choice hiring you.¡± Nan also smiled: ¡°And you let me know if he bullies you. I¡¯ll teach him a lesson with my bamboo stick.¡± ¡°Grandma, how come you never got my back?!¡± Shawn whined. ¡°What did you say!? I brought you here and got you the store! How could you be so heartless and say I never got your back?!¡± Nan raised her chopsticks like she was about to hit Shawn with them. ¡°Alright alright! Grandma¡¯s the best! ¡± Shawn flinched and raised his hands up to protect his head: ¡°How¡¯s the steamed fish from Chef Yuan¡¯s? Don¡¯t you love it? That¡¯s how much I respect you!¡± ¡°Hff, that¡¯s more like it.¡± Nan retracted the chopsticks and picked up a piece of steamed fish from the plastic takeout box: ¡°Jianmen, eat some fish, it¡¯s good for you.¡±A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Thanks! ¡± Jianmen also picked up a small piece of the fish. ¡°How¡¯s the shop today? Is everything okay?¡± Nan looked at Shawn and Jianmen then asked: ¡°How much stuff did we sell today? The canned beans in the inventory - they better go as fast as possible. There¡¯s only a few months on them before they expire.¡± ¡°I think we sold more than half of them already.¡± Shawn gave Jianmen a ¡°cover me¡± look and said: ¡°And we had quite a lot of customers today. So business is good.¡± ¡°Good, good. I heard Yewei and Yedong¡¯s car repair shop went in some trouble.¡± Nan shook her head: ¡°Apparently some people were directly looking for trouble in their shop, smashed a lot of car windows and slashed a lot of their tires.¡± ¡°Oh my god, what happened?¡± Shawn did not appear to be too surprised, but still asked in a surprised tone. ¡°I heard they owed some money.¡± Nan shook her head and sighed: ¡°Luckily we don¡¯t owe any loan shark or any other shady people.¡± ¡°Yeah of course.¡± Shawn lowered his head and continued with the food in his bowl: ¡°Lucky us. Our store is doing quite well.¡± ¡°Can you tell me what the hell happened today now?¡± Jianmen asked Shawn when he was cleaning up the dishes in the kitchen with Shawn: ¡°What are in those cigarette boxes? Are they drugs?¡± ¡°What did you say? Of course not!¡± Shawn immediately went into denial mode: ¡°Who told you that? Did Yedong tell you that?¡± ¡°Well, what those two men said and what you and Yedong said at the store - that sounded awful like you were talking about drugs! It¡¯s not cigarettes in those boxes right?¡± Jianmen asked with a stern tone: ¡°What¡¯s in them?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not drugs!¡± Shawn insisted but then lowered his head: ¡°It¡¯s prescription grade meth.¡± Jianmen frustratedly rubbed his temples. ¡°... and an antique scroll some underground buyer in the old part of Chinatown is asking for a ridiculous price.¡± ¡°... what antique scroll?¡± Chapter 144 ¡°What do you mean why did I do this?! How long have you been in the store!? Do you think with our current traffic grandma and I are able to survive with that amount of shoppers?!¡± Shawn was not happy when Jianmen asked him why he would involve himself and Nan into these illegal, unethical not to mention extremely dangerous trades: ¡°We don¡¯t have any money saved up for backup and we have a hefty bank loan on both this house and the store. We don¡¯t necessarily have a choice here!¡± ¡°Okay, understood. But do you have an exit strategy?¡± Jianmen sighed, he was never the judgmental type, especially now that the bad choices were made already: ¡°I mean, at least have a plan to have a foot out the door?¡± ¡°No.¡± Shawn sat down by the side of the kitchen with his head low and eyes staring at the ground: ¡°And I checked out what that son of a bitch Yedong said - it¡¯s true, the Zhang family mob took control over this part of town. They¡¯re now sending their goons to visit all of the dealers and even suppliers in the area, calling it ¡®regrouping and reorganizing¡¯ their resources. And those two we sent away were sent by them for real - they actually held Yewei hostage and I had to buy them off with the meth and some cash.¡± ¡°But not the scroll?¡± Jianmen asked with a frown: ¡°Did you give them the scroll?¡± ¡°No! Of course not!¡± Shawn shook his head then looked up at Jianmen: ¡°Why are you so concerned with the scrolls?¡± ¡°Well¡­ ¡± Jianmen thought for a while, then decided to come up with a simple answer: ¡°Antique smuggling and trading can be a pretty serious crime. And the appraised value of them can often be inflated and become a terrible card against you in court.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d think about that when I get caught. But now I am still trying to feed myself and grandma.¡± Shawn sighed: ¡°Tomorrow I¡¯ll go to the old Chinatown and contact the buyer. Then I¡¯ll see if I can get enough cash to please the Zhangs and not mess with our supply channel.¡± ¡°Okay. Do you need me to accompany you?¡± Jianmen sighed and asked. ¡°What? No! You don¡¯t need to, that¡¯ll be a bad idea.¡± Shawn immediately refused: ¡°None of them know you, and it will raise a lot of suspicion.¡± ¡°You can say I am your bodyguard.¡± Jianmen shrugged: ¡°I can fight. Normal spec op guys are no match for me.¡± ¡°Woah, cooking, selling, accounting and fighting, what can¡¯t you do?¡± Shawn chuckled and asked: ¡°But no. Thank you. I¡¯ll need to go alone, they won¡¯t take it well if it was not someone they know already.¡±Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Okay. Understood.¡± Jianmen nodded and stacked the already clean dishes by the dish rack: ¡°And do be careful. Grandma is worried about you.¡± ¡°Yeah. She¡¯s always worried.¡± Shawn sighed. --------------------------------------------- That night, Jianmen sneaked out per usual, but this time he did not go for material gathering. He headed straight towards Yedong Wu¡¯s place - during the day, he casted a small tracing spell and placed tracking symbols on him and the two men in matching jackets just in case he would like to find them. And right now at least one of these tracking spells proved useful - during the day, Shawn took the antique scroll in a cigarette box to a secure place and he would not tell Jianmen where it was. So Jianmen decided to go and check out Yedong and Yewei¡¯s place and see if he could find it there - it was a long shot, but he had to at least try. Jianmen knew that even though he found the scroll, he could not actually do anything lest he incite the fury of the Will and bring blowbacks on himself. But he would like to at least know what was going on. Yedong Wu¡¯s place was not that far away from where he stayed and Shawn¡¯s grocery store, at least to Jianmen, and with around 15 minutes of sprinting, he was already one block away from the location of the tracking symbol. But to his surprise, even though it was already 2 A.M, Yedong still didn¡¯t seem to be in his place. And following the tracking symbol, Jianmen found himself at a street of bars, liquor stores, pawn shops and random people drinking, smoking and fighting on the road. When he finally got close enough, he realized that Yedong was in a night club, named ¡°Hot & Spice¡±. The night club was crowded and loud, luckily enough there was no line at the door, so Jianmen was about to walk right in without having to wait. But then, he was stopped by the bouncer. ¡°You sure this is the place for you, Ojisan? ¡± the bouncer had two full arms of tattoo and a teardrop tattoo at the corner of his left eye. ¡°Yes. I am looking for someone. Don¡¯t worry, I will pay for my drinks. ¡± Jianmen did not want to make a scene, so he took out a fiver dollar bill and handed it to the bouncer. ¡°Alright.¡± the bouncer stepped to the side and let Jianmen in: ¡°Just don¡¯t drink too much, can¡¯t have any more old men dying here again.¡± -------------------------------------------- ¡°He called you Ojisan?¡± inside a very vintage looking bar, Jason asked Jianmen while sipping his glass of glowing and reflective cocktail. ¡°Yeah. I did look old...er. I looked older due to the injuries from the travel to this world. And the entrance of the night was very dark. So I might look even older than normal.¡± Jianmen shrugged and asked the waitress walking by: ¡°Excuse me, can I have another round of this? What¡¯s it called?¡± ¡°It¡¯s called ¡®Enchanting Silver Moon¡¯, one of our specialties.¡± the waitress smiled and picked up the empty wooden mug from before Jianmen: ¡°Coming right up.¡± ¡°And did you find him? Did you find the scroll? ¡± Caroline was not drinking this time, but she seemed to have found her new favorite snack - the purple, red and green chips made from the powder of unknown grains and vegetables: ¡°By the way, can we have some of this at the inn? This is delicious.¡± ¡°Unfortunately no ¡­ and you may want to hold your horses on those chips.¡± Jianmen shook his head and said: ¡°Those are made from a kind of addictive and even slightly toxic yam commonly used by a lot of wizards, witches and alchemists to craft some basic potions. It could have some weird effects on the consumer.¡± ¡°Toxic? But it tastes so good!¡± Caroline immediately laid back on her chair. ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s meant to be a bit addictive, and you can actually get a bit drunk on it as well. But you¡¯re already a pretty solid layer two cultivator now so don¡¯t worry about it too much.¡± Jianmen smiled and took another wooden mug from the waitress: ¡°So you won¡¯t get addicted easily. The worst you¡¯d have is a stomach ache and diarrhea.¡± ¡°EW ew ew. Thanks.¡± Caroline immediately pushed the chips away. Chapter 145 ¡°Does this bar have a regular place when it¡¯s not the holiday season?¡± Jason asked: ¡°You know, so we can visit when we¡¯re not working? Because I don¡¯t know about you Boss, but I am loving this cocktail.¡± ¡°They are usually members only, and are only open for the public during the holiday season.¡± Jianmen answered: ¡°And to get a membership, you¡¯ll need to talk to the owner or be introduced by an existing member.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you a member Boss?¡± Caroline asked, and signaled to the waitress that she would like to order. ¡°No. Their drinks to me are like occasional guilty pleasure.¡± Jianmen took a big gulp from his wooden mug: ¡°They taste nice and all, but way too fancy for my taste for regular drinks. And I think you have already noticed the difference between their drinks and the wine in your flasks - they don¡¯t restore your power, in fact they drained your power while you¡¯re drinking them because your body needs it to process them.¡± ¡°Yeah. So just like normal drinks.¡± Caroline chuckled, then she turned to the waitress and pointed at Jason: ¡°Can I have a glass of cocktail like his?¡± ¡°Sure. Coming right up.¡± ¡°So what happened when you found this guy Yedong? And how was your first experience at a nightclub?¡± Jason laughed and asked. ¡°Loud and unsanitary with people doing illicit dealings in the corners.¡± Jianmen answered with a slightly judgmental smile: ¡°And if you have ever been to a vampire nightclub or a wizard pub, you¡¯ll notice that no matter what kinds of individuals we are, powered or unpowered, nightclubs and bars are all the same.¡± ¡°Well, can we visit either of those today? That sounds really fun.¡± Jason asked while looked up in with a day dreaming expression: ¡°It¡¯s interesting, till now we encountered several kinds of ghosts and spirits, Nekomatas, a high witch action starlet, but we¡¯ve never met any of the popular monster sex symbols yet. Horny vampires, werewolves with ripped abs, sexy succubuses¡­ ¡± ¡°The owner of this bar is a half succubus.¡± Jianmen shrugged: ¡°If you¡¯d like you can try ask for him - quite a nice guy and a good wizard, a little too flirty for me but hey what can you do, he¡¯s half succubus.¡±Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Caroline almost spilled her drink when she heard this and then started giggling: ¡°Wow! For real Boss?! That sounds like someone I gotta meet! Is he hot? Is he athletic? How is he with a gun?¡± ¡°Woah woah woah.¡± Jason chuckled: ¡°Looks like someone was drunk on those chips.¡± ¡°Yeah ... how many baskets did she order?¡± Jianmen asked. ¡°I think just three, counting this one.¡± Jason finished up his cocktail and said: ¡°And I don¡¯t feel anything.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because ¡®Mirror of Minds¡¯ is non-alcoholic. ¡± a husky male voice came from behind Jason: ¡°And we adjusted our recipe for the chips, they now have none of the side usual unpleasant side effects and are blessed with the qualities of fine wine. Have a taste and you¡¯ll like it.¡± Before Jason could turn around, a tall, built and handsome man in a clean white suit walked to the side of their table and greeted all three of them: ¡°Hello, good afternoon, my name is Fernando Backley, the owner of this bar. How are you doing on this wonderful afternoon?¡± ¡°We¡¯re ¡­ we¡¯re fine!¡± Jason was a bit embarrassed, and then he had to slap Caroline¡¯s hand to stop her from ogling at Fernando. ¡°Hey Fernando. How¡¯s business?¡± Jianmen raised his empty wooden mug. ¡°Doing quite well, actually, much thanks to you and your recipe.¡± Fernando¡¯s smile seemed natural and warm: ¡°I take it, these are your students?¡± ¡°Oh, you flatter. Jianmen laughed and said: ¡°And yes - this is Jason and this is Caroline, this is their first time at the fair. I brought them here to buy some necessities before sending them to Grant Academy.¡± ¡°Good! And I assumed you¡¯re just getting started? Because I just met Mr. Brooke about half an hour ago, and he had a whole sled of things for his third son.¡± Fernando nodded and said. ¡°You¡¯d think that ¡­ but no! We¡¯re¡­ we¡¯re already done!¡± Caroline said while still staring at Fernando: ¡°Just the bare¡­ bare necessities.¡± ¡°Yeah. But it¡¯s the Brooke family - everything we could have is trivial to them and their necessities are luxuries for us.¡± Fernando shrugged and said. ¡°Still filthy rich and still the one with a cocky attitude and lifestyle?¡± Jianmen asked. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t speak ill of our customers. But the soon to be enrolled student did hit on one of our waitresses and almost threw a tantrum.¡± ¡°And we¡¯re going to be in the same school.¡± Caroline turned to Jianmen and asked: ¡°Boss, I know you¡¯re not the gossip type, so who else can we ask about the people to keep an eye out for? Like different houses in the school, clubs and schoolyard politics?¡± ¡°The only one I can think of is...¡± ¡°Josephine Wong.¡± Jason and Caroline said at the same time: ¡°Yeah, Boss, you need to go out more.¡± ¡°Hey, I just paid for your drinks. Tread lightly there.¡± ¡°Oh, speaking of Ms. Josephine Wong.¡± Fernando said with a smile: ¡°She came here earlier as well. Looks like she brought her own students here as well - they looked kinda old to start enrolling, but you know, it¡¯s Josephine Wong, who am I to question her choices?¡± Chapter 146 ¡°Josephine Wong¡¯s students will be enrolled? That sounds like people we should meet.¡± Jason looked at Jianmen with an insinuating look: ¡°Are you gonna tell us about them? Boss? I trust that you would know about her students?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know about them.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°Maybe new students? We don¡¯t know each other that well.¡± ¡°Mhm.¡± Fernando put his left hand over his mouth to half-assedly cover his wide smile: ¡°Yeah, we all know.¡± ¡°But can you ask her to introduce us to her students? It¡¯d be really nice to have more friends when going to a new school.¡± Jason asked Jianmen: ¡°We could stick together on the campus and help each other out and support each other. Maybe ACTUALLY share the work assignments in group projects?¡± ¡°Oh geez, I can already feel your painful and traumatic engineering school experience.¡± Caroline laughed out loud and said: ¡°But yeah Boss, you should introduce us so we can socialize early and have a group of friends early, you know, just in case we have some bullies. The son of that Brooke guy seemed like he would be.¡± ¡°I think they are new to our world as well, so I am pretty sure you will bond.¡± Fernando added: ¡°Well, just let me know what I could do for you. Next round of drink¡¯s on me, and welcome to our world.¡± ¡°Thank you! That¡¯s so kind of you.¡± Caroline gently patted Fernando¡¯s elbow: ¡°My friend Jason here just asked how he could become a member - he likes your drinks so much and would like to visit on non-holiday occasions.¡± ¡°Thanks Fernando and Caroline, and please don¡¯t order more chips now that they¡¯re not toxic.¡± Jianmen facepalmed and chuckled: ¡°But yeah, a membership would be nice.¡± ¡°Our membership condition is based on two things: either you pay a high price for it, or you make a contribution to us in other ways. ¡± Fernando answered with a smile: ¡°The membership price is ten platinum coins or one ruby coin, which I strongly discourage but would not refuse. And the normal forms of contribution would be something like selling us the exclusive right to a special wine recipe, like Mr. Yu your master did, or any other things that would help the bar¡¯s business and mystique.¡± ¡°Wait, I thought Boss is not a member?¡± Jason turned to Jianmen. ¡°Well, memberships are transferable. Mr. Yu here gifted his membership to a valued customer of ours Dave.¡± Fernando nodded: ¡°And when you are ready, I am happy to help you with your membership applications. ¡±If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°What? You gave your membership to Dave? Why Boss? Why?¡± Jason whined: ¡°He¡¯s immortal? Why does he even need to drink?!¡± ¡°Okay, that was way before I met you.¡± Jianmen chuckled and said, seemingly enjoying Jason¡¯s frustration: ¡°And Dave being immortal doesn¡¯t mean he would abstain from worldly pleasures - he enjoys the little things in life like a true normal, calm and a little geeky guy.¡± ¡°And he can take a LOT of drinks.¡± Fernando giggled: ¡°The dwarves are very impressed.¡± ¡°Oh...¡± Jason gently played with his empty glass: ¡°Yeah well, nevermind then - I¡¯ll try again next time.¡± ¡°No worries. We welcome members who can contribute, and it won¡¯t just be a mere membership - Mr. Yu here still receives royalty when his drinks are sold. ¡± Fernando patted on Jason¡¯s shoulder: ¡°Now if you¡¯ll excuse me, I am needed in the kitchen.¡± When Fernando left, Caroline kept ogling at his back until he disappeared into the kitchen. And when she turned back to Jianmen and Jason, she immediately frowned and gasped like she just broke free from an illusion: ¡°Wait, what just happened to me?¡± ¡°You¡¯re charmed.¡± Jianmen answered with a smile: ¡°Fernando¡¯s half succubus bloodline granted him an aura, not that unlike that of Snowball but to a much greater scale. And when your power of mind and will is not strong enough and under the influence of alcohol and these chips, it is very easy to be affected.¡± ¡°Woah - that is - crazy.¡± Caroline frowned and then shook her head: ¡°How do I stop this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s hard, and there is no shortcut. The simplest answer is to meditate more and practice it with harsher True Words that apply more mental pressure on you. ¡± Jianmen raised his hand to the waitress and signaled that he would like to order: ¡°This will be important for you as you progress. Just like in the hotel you were pulled into the limbo and practically had to fight in the enemy¡¯s home turf - first you must be able to realize this kind of mind and consciousness manipulation and saw them coming; then you will be able to fight it.¡± Caroline and Jason nodded and stayed silent for a while - that experience still brought chills, and it was the first time they felt they were close to the brink of death. When the waitress came over to their table, all three of them ordered a new round of drink and their conversation continued. ¡°So, Boss, what happened after you got into the nightclub?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Well, let¡¯s just say better go home timely at night even if you¡¯re a naughty boy.¡± ---------------------------------------- Jianmen stayed in the nightclub for a few hours while keeping an eye on Yedong Wu. And how Yedong Wu behaved perfectly suited what Shawn said about him - he was drinking with his punk-looking buddies all night, harassed almost every girl that walked past him and snorted some kind of powder with his buddies from the table. ¡°Hey hey hey! Bluey hottie over there!¡± after the third bottle of cheap alcohol of some sort, Yedong turned on the full douchebag mode as he whistled to a girl in blue dress: ¡°Why don¡¯t you come over here and hang out with us, so we can all get less blue?!¡± ¡°Fuck off, you limp dick motherfucker!¡± the girl in the blue dress was in no mood to take it and responded with a middle finger: ¡°I ain¡¯t in no mood to get poked by a needle today!¡± ¡°WOOOOAAAAH! She burnt you bro!¡± Yedong¡¯s buddies started yelling at Yedong and mocking him. But just when Yedong was about to say something, a man in black leather jacket standing near them pulled his hand from the inside of his jacket, revealing a gun. And before any of them could react, the man pulled the trigger three times. Screams from both men and women broke out and people started running away in panic. The man in the black leather jacket took his time to confirm that Yedong was lying on the ground bleeding out, then started running away with the other people in the nightclub. Chapter 147 ¡°Shit!¡± Jianmen rushed to Yedong¡¯s side, all of his ¡°buddies¡± were either scared and incapacitated on the ground or had already run away. And with a quick look at the bullet wounds and a finger test of Yedong¡¯s pulses and breathing, Jianmen was able to tell that there is no way Yedong would be able to make it, if he was lucky enough to even not die right away. The next action from Jianmen was to immediately run out in pursuit of the man in the black leather jacket. He did not get a chance to cast tracking spells yet, but he remembered what the man looked like and he was able to locate the man from inside the fleeting crowd. When the man got outside of the nightclub, he immediately started going into a small and dark alleyway. Jianmen followed, and started preparing for a tracking spell and he would place it on the man the moment he had a clear shot and the man was in range. But the man was quick on his feet, and he clearly found out that Jianmen was following him, so the moment he got out from the alleyway, he dived into another alleyway with a lot of houses and buildings on both sides and hopped over a fence to his left and ran into an apartment building community with a lot of buildings that were built close to each other . Jianmen cursed at the man in his head, and hopped over the fence as well. But the next moment, he saw that the man just ran upstairs and busted into one of the apartments. And the moment Jianmen followed into the apartment, three shots were already fired his way. Swiftly lowered his body and evaded the bullets, Jianmen then lunged towards the room from which the man in the black leather jacket opened fire at him. This was an empty apartment with no one inside so the scuffle did not cause third parties physical harm, though Jianmen clearly heard people living in the nearby apartments screaming. Seeing that his shots did not land, the man in a black leather jacket slammed the room door shut against Jianmen but the next minute Jianmen just threw his body against the door and completely knocked it down. Even though the man in a black leather jacket was somehow prepared, he was still hit on the left foot by the flying door which then swiped him on the ground. His gun flew off from his grasp to a corner of the room before he fully dropped on the ground. Jianmen¡¯s right hand slammed the wall on his right side and made use of the reaction force to launch his body towards the man he was chasing. The man in a black jacket tried to reach for the gun but Jianmen already locked his fingers around his neck and threw him against the wall to his left. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The man¡¯s back left a big dent on the wooden wall, and he was barely able to move a muscle when he slid down from the wall onto the floor. ¡°Okay, tell me, who do you work for? And why did you kill that man?¡± Jianmen asked and kicked the gun away: ¡°And let¡¯s not go with the hard to crack charade. It¡¯s very tiring and bad for you. ¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know whose business you¡¯re messing with.¡± the man in the black leather jacket was out of breath from his injuries and all the running: ¡°They¡¯ll gut you like a pig!¡± ¡°Yeah yeah. I¡¯d be more worried about you.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°They neighbors are calling the police now. And I wonder what happens to you when you end up in police custody right after killing a man, and apparently for hire.¡± ¡°Go ahead, you can leave me to the police. I¡¯ll go out in a week, and then I¡¯ll hunt you down and kill you with my bare hands!¡± ¡°Big talk for a guy who can¡¯t even kill me with a gun.¡± Jianmen shook his head and then reached to the man¡¯s jacket and took out his wallet and his phone: ¡°Such a thick wallet you¡¯ve got here. And this is a nice phone! I¡¯ve always wanted one but can¡¯t afford it. What¡¯s your passcode? Let me see, your birthday¡¯s November eleventh¡­ ah! It¡¯s indeed 1111. Even an Ojisan like me knows that¡¯s dumb.¡± ¡°Wait. What are you doing?¡± the man in a black leather jacket saw Jianmen scrolling on his phone and panicked a little. ¡°Oh, so you do have sensitive information on the phone.¡± though the man in a black leather jacket was able to gather himself, Jianmen still caught his brief moment of panic: ¡°Okay, let me see your call history ¡­ four calls to the burger joint in two days? You gotta be kidding me, I thought you hitmen need to stay in shape. Oh, this 408 number is interesting, it called you three times in one week, let me see if I can call back.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t get nothing. I ain¡¯t no snitch!¡± the man in a black leather jacket spoke through his teeth. ¡°Tell me who hired you and what you know about the target, and I won¡¯t press the call button.¡± Jianmen waved the man¡¯s phone in front of his face. ¡°Alright.¡± Jianmen pressed the call button. ¡°What?!¡± a muffled male voice answered the phone. Before the man in a black leather jacket could answer, Jianmen already covered his mouth and spoke in a pretend heavy Cantonese accent: ¡°Hello Mr. Employer, I have your hitman right here. He does not have his ID with him so I¡¯ll call him Mr. Hitman. I am just calling to let you know I took care of your hitman¡¯s job for him. He¡¯s so useless, you should hire me instead for your next job.¡± ¡°Who the fuck is this?¡± ¡°How rude of me. Let me introduce myself. My name is Lei and my family name is Diu. I am new to Chinatown, so I would like to do business with you. You know, even as gangs, we should keep our jobs professional. You can¡¯t afford to have some sloppy butthole who don¡¯t know how to keep his mouth shut ruin your business. I did not even slap him and he told me more about the Zhang family, the drugs and some other things. Haiyah, you hired a terrible guy!¡± The voice on the other side went silent for a few seconds, then asked: ¡°What did you do with him?¡± ¡°Depending on whether you are willing to accept my business proposal. I can either kill him for you, or beat him half dead and let the police take him. You know, I am actually a very very nice guy.¡± ¡°Do whatever you want with him. It doesn¡¯t matter to me. I don¡¯t do business with strangers.¡± then the man on the other side just hung up. ¡°Mobsters nowadays are so impatient.¡± Jianmen sighed and threw the phone back on the man¡¯s stomach: ¡°Okay play yourself some internet video while you wait. The police are coming.¡± Chapter 148 ¡°Wait wait wait!¡± just when Jianmen was about to leave, the man in a black leather jacket called out to him: ¡°Please ¡­ bring me with you. I¡¯ll tell you anything.¡± ¡°A bit late for that. You¡¯re ready for my price hike?¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°What can you tell me? Give me something useful first.¡± ¡°The people that hired me! They are not the Zhangs!¡± the man said in a hurry. ¡°Not the Zhangs?¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°That¡¯s not useful at all, the Zhang family basically had him in their palms. One last chance to tell me what you know.¡± ¡°But .... what do you want to know!? You already know about the drugs!¡± ¡°Who hired you? And the guy you killed - his associate had something secret item your employer is looking for, do you know where that item is?¡± ¡°Okay, I don¡¯t know who hired me. They contacted me through a burner phone. Nonono don¡¯t leave! I am pretty sure they¡¯re one of the new players in Chinatown. Either the Xuanwu Clan or the Claymore family - they¡¯re not Asian but they¡¯re eyeing the turf as well! And and and the item you asked about. I don¡¯t know what it is but I know it is in a warehouse near the north side of Chinatown! I think some people are trying to hit that place!¡± ¡°Okay, that¡¯s some nice info. Can¡¯t imagine a gang will be so arrogant to name themselves Xuanwu. I will bring you outta here.¡± Jianmen threw the man in a black leather jacket onto his shoulder and headed towards the room¡¯s window. ¡°Wait wait wait what are you doing!? You can¡¯t just jump out the window like this!¡± ¡°Watch me then.¡± Jianmen opened the window wide and dangled the man on his shoulder out of it. And while the man was screaming and yelling, he hopped out of the window himself and with two steps on the side of the exterior wall, he was able to lighten his fall from the second floor. ¡°Okay. You¡¯re on your own now.¡± Jianmen placed the man on the floor and said: ¡°Now I will need to find the warehouse and maybe take the time to visit your employer.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°What? You can¡¯t just leave me here!¡± the man was sitting on the ground, his whole body was still in a great deal of incapacitating pain. ¡°Too bad man. Should''ve talked to me when you¡¯ve got the chance. ¡± Jianmen stood up and whipped out the man¡¯s gun: ¡°But hey, I also did you a solid, at least you don¡¯t have the murder weapon on you.¡± ¡°Fuck you! Fuck you!¡± the man realized that Jianmen was serious about leaving him here, ¡°You better hope I¡¯m not gonna find you next! I¡¯ll fucking kill you!¡± ¡°Keep talking. The police are near.¡± Jianmen waved his hand and the man¡¯s gun and left the scene. The next destination would be the warehouse at the north side of Chinatown - he was a bit regretful that he did not place a tracking spell on Shawn due to courtesy, and now he needed to find a place Shawn had been to and he expected that he would have some trouble finding the right warehouse. But his gut also told him that he should try to locate the warehouse and thus the antique scroll - it would not only be good for Shawn and Nan, but it would also be good for him. With his current speed, it only took him about ten minutes to reach the north side of Chinatown. But he was then hit with the frustrating sight of four different signs of four different warehouse companies. ¡°Old Earl¡¯s Personal Storage ... Uncle Luo¡¯s Warehouse ¡­ General Tso¡¯s Stock and Store, and ¡­ Bulky Stud Storage Space.¡± Jianmen was almost amused by the names of the warehouse companies, and then he decided to go cast a crude detection spell. A small silver ball of light rose up from his right hand and spun in the air, then it flew towards the sign of Bulky Stud Storage Space and exploded into a tiny silver firework right in front of it. ¡°The place with the weirdest name it is.¡± Jianmen chuckled and went to the back of Bulky Stud Storage Space and tried to find a backdoor into the building. And it turned out to be not that difficult to find - it was just a metal door with a rusty lock and a ¡°Authorized Personnel Only¡± sign. And with barely any effort, Jianmen picked the rusty lock with his Xuanli and walked in through the metal door. The inside of the building reeked of a certain smell - the kind of smell from dusty old wood, paper and furniture. Jianmen paid slightly more attention and he also smelled the stench from rodents: rats, mice and possums. It seemed that the building was not only old and smelly, it was also not well protected and maintained. Jianmen cast another small detection spell, another small ball of light rose from his hand and slowly flew through the internal walkways of the building and up the stairs to the second floor, then the third floor. The moment Jianmen stepped onto the third floor, he immediately detected a distinct smell - not the smell from the other floor, but a faint smell that was similar to that of rotten meat and egg but with a pungent touch. ¡°Shit.¡± Jianmen cursed and hastened his steps and rushed behind the silver ball of light, and then turned right at a fork, as he proceeded he felt that the smell getting less and less faint. He was not unfamiliar with the smell - it was the smell of unclean presence, like vengeful ghosts, violent spirits or other kinds of similar beings. The silver ball of light stopped and exploded right in front of a loose shutter door. With extreme care and caution, Jianmen lifted the shutter door. And with a few loud screeches and screams, a rat and a possum with grievous wounds on their bodies and bloodshot eyes jumped towards Jianmen. Chapter 149 Jianmen swiped his right hand in the air, the two rodents were instantly incinerated in mid air, and from their ashes, small traces of clear smoke arose and dissipated. This particular storage unit was very likely the one Shawn used to store the antique scroll - but all signs in the storage unit showed that it was likely no longer there: things were scattered all over the place like somebody went through them looking for something and without putting anything back. There was an opened thick lead box on the ground with its lock completely broken, and from it Jianmen could sense a small trace of the unclean energy that he detected earlier. The two rodents he just anihilated were clearly under the influence of this unclean energy, yet the lingering energy was so weak that it only increased their ferocity but did not change or mutate them any further. Jianmen picked the lead box up and examined it closely - the box was well crafted per civilian standards, and it was quite heavy due to its being completely made of lead. There were two magical arrays that seemed like they were supposed to seal the energy radiated from whatever¡¯s inside the box. Jianmen sighed then tried to cast the detection spell again, but this time the silver ball of light rose into the air and just exploded - this was a sign of the small traces of energy and other kinds of track left in the space had already depleted or clouded by noise and was no longer detectable by this spell. Jianmen was trying to detect the tracks of Shawn before because he was familiar with the ¡°energy signature¡° of Shawn - this is something everyone has, civilian or powered, which comes from their innate Qi and lifeforce and/or the kinds of power they wield. And everyone¡¯s ¡°energy signature¡± is unique enough for someone who knows how to read it to distinguish it from those that were leftover from other people, or just generally left by other things. But the problem Jianmen had now, was that the leaked energy from whatever that was inside of the lead box had clouded the traces of other energy signatures. But this was definitely not the end of Jianmen¡¯s search - Shawn¡¯s energy signature disappeared, but the traces of the unclean energy was very clear and very traceable. So he cast another detection spell, and followed the silver ball of light out the building of Bulky Stud Storage Space. The silver ball of light flew through the street, under the sky that was starting to light up. And shortly it flew into an old and rundown building between the signs of Old Earl¡¯s Personal Storage and Uncle Luo¡¯s Warehouse. The building did not have any signs or even one unbroken window on it, which was representative of the state of the neighborhood he was in.Stolen story; please report. Jianmen followed the ball of light into the building, and after walking by some marks of urine by the feet of some pillars and walls, broken rags, empty cheap alcohol and beer bottles on the floor, he was met with the sight of stains of blood on one of the dirty walls. The stain was dark red but still red, meaning that the stains were not too old. And by the wall that had the stains of blood on it, laid two broken glass bottles and pieces of broken glass all over the floor. The ball of light continued on its trajectory, then took a sharp turn to the left and led Jianmen into a spacious empty room. The room was no cleaner or tidier than outside, plus, there were a few bigger pieces of blood stains on the floor: it was as if someone was bleeding on the floor and some other people just dragged them away on the ground, and the people doing the dragging did not care enough to come back and clean up the blood. The stains of blood led to a nearby room - seeming like the person who got beat up was dragged into it. Jianmen did not know what to make of this, but the silver ball of light was already at the end of its effective lifecycle and exploded. Jianmen cast another detection spell, and another silver ball of light just floated around the air and then flew towards the door to a nearby room, the same room the stains of blood led to. Before he followed up on the ball of light, Jianmen knelt down and picked up a very small piece of white fragment. It was a piece chipped from a human tooth, which indicated that there was a brutal beating going on, and the one getting the beating was possibly dead. And now Jianmen became worried about Shawn. The silver ball of light exploded in the other room, right before the pillar at the center of the room. And at the foot of the pillar, was a man in bloodied and torn up clothes lying face up. Jianmen immediately rushed to the side of the man to check on him - it seemed that the man was alive, but barely. His eyes were two bloody holes and his eyeballs were missing, and his chest area was exposed due to his clothes being torn up, and a symbol was carved into it. ¡°Help me...¡± the man spoke in an extremely low voice and air inside of his lung was seeping through his mouth like he was a loose balloon. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Jianmen sensed the man¡¯s condition with his Xuanli and power of mind and will - there was nothing he could do for the man now with his current level of power, and he was not sure he could even if he recovered to a better state and regained more of his power. ¡°Help ...¡± the man did not event get to finish his next plea, the last droplet of his life force was finally spent, and Jianmen could see the faint glimmer of light, that was an indication of a person¡¯s soul, left the man¡¯s body and dissipated into the air. ¡°I wish I could help you. And I am so sorry.¡± Jianmen sighed, stood up and bowed to the dead man¡¯s body, then he knelt down and placed his right index and middle finger on the man¡¯s right temple, and slowly, he pulled out a thin, light blue ribbon made of energy. Chapter 150 The thin light blue energy ribbon was the dead man¡¯s last bit of memory, and since he was already dead and thus not fighting back, Jianmen was able to pull the full piece of memory before he got beat up and abandoned at this place. With a certain level of respect and awe, Jianmen closed his hand that held the ribbon, and visions of the man¡¯s brutal beating and what happened before starting flashing right in front of his eyes. The man¡¯s eyes were indeed removed by the mob that beat him up, and it was a mob led by a tall, bald and bulky man with a scar on above his left brow and a knife tattoo right below his neck. The main one that beat the dead man was another bald man with piercings on both of his ears and his nose, and the same knife tattoo on his left forearm. Jianmen then fast-forwarded through the memory, and he found that the man indeed was the one who broke into the storage unit and stole the box. But he was way too curious, so he decided that he wanted to open the lead box and take a peek inside. There was indeed an old-looking scroll inside the box, and the man¡¯s eyesight blurred for a second the moment he had his eyes on it, and then he instantly felt a sense of chill, anxiousness and fear of impending danger. So he decided to call up his associate and asked to meet up earlier than previously agreed. Jianmen fully knew what the feeling meant - it was one of the many kinds of reactions someone can have when they come into contact with a very small amount of unclean energy - not enough to change or mutate them or heavily impact their behavior, but enough to weaken them and make them more prone to possession and other kinds of direct or indirect paranormal harm. But the moment the man walked out of the building of Bulky Stud Storage Space, he was snatched by the mob that beat him up and dragged into this very building. He tried to fight back once but the mob shattered two bottles on his head and pulled him back. They then proceeded to take away the scroll from him and opened it up in the previous room. The man tried to get away again, and then the mob jumped on him, broke a few of his teeth and dragged him to the current room. The mob then held this poor man down by his hands and feet, the leader of the mob opened the scroll narrowly, seemingly only reading a very small portion of the content, and then he took out a dagger with magical symbols and patterns engraved on its blade and handle. The leader of the mob started chanting some sort of spell, it was the first spell that wasn¡¯t cast by himself. He was not familiar with the language of the spell, and since this is the memory of a dying man with no knowledge of supernatural power, he was not able to sense the nature of the spell. All he could feel, was that the man had a terrifying feeling about what the spell may do, and that the dagger started dripping some kind of thick and dark liquid, which actually bubbled and burnt the man¡¯s clothes when it landed on the ground and splashed on impact. And when the mob finally got complete control over the man¡¯s movement, they tore up his shirt and exposed his chest area.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. With a careful hand and the help of the other goons, the leader of the mob started carving the symbol on the man¡¯s chest. The man initially felt an intense pain and could not contain his cry, but then the liquid from the dagger seemed to have completely numbed the pain, yet the symbol was still cut and burnt into his chest. And the moment the symbol was completed, streams of energy were drained from the man¡¯s body and onto the dagger, and from the dagger, a tiny and concentrated stream of energy flowed to the scroll and was absorbed by it. From the point of view of the man lying on the ground, Jianmen was not able to see what the scroll looked like and how it changed or behaved after absorbing the energy. When the whole absorption process finished, the mob proceeded to remove the poor man¡¯s eyes. At this point, the man¡¯s life force was already almost fully drained and his life was already hanging by a thread. Jianmen stopped the replay of the dead man¡¯s memory, since there was no longer any more useful information for him. And judging from the effect of the spell on the man, it was quite clear that the whole process just happened not too long ago, since the poor man only just died in front of him in that extremely weakened state. The dagger from the eyeless poor man¡¯s memory was also quite concerning to Jianmen - it was definitely something infused with some kind of evil power. He could not tell anything in detail since it left very little residual energy in the air and the dead man was a civilian, yet he had a gut feeling that it, like the antique scroll, was something way troublesome that any of the mob members thought. Jianmen cast another detection spell, but this time it could not find anything - seemed like whatever the mob did with the scroll either changed the energy signature of the scroll, or removed the residual energy in the air. Full of worries and concern, Jianmen left the building and found a payphone nearby - it was strange that at the age of widespread cell phones there still were functioning payphones. He called 911 in the payphone booth, then swiftly left the area. The sky was getting brighter and it was close to the time to open the grocery store. Jianmen kewn he had to go, but he still did not know what he should do when he¡¯s there. All he had in mind was that he hoped that Shawn would give up the idea of selling the scroll to some unknown and shady buyer when he found out that the scroll had been stolen. With his full speed, it did not take long for Jianmen to get back to the grocery store. Shawn was not in the store, so he then went to Shawn and Nan¡¯s place. ¡°Ah, Jianmen, here you are.¡± Nan was happy to Jianmen at the door: ¡°Are you looking for Shanyi? He left earlier to get more inventory. Didn¡¯t he tell you?¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Jianmen kept his ¡°Fuck!¡± to himself: ¡°He did! He did ¡­ I think I misunderstood him, I thought we¡¯re going together and we¡¯re supposed to meet first. No worries! I¡¯ll go find him! What time did he leave?¡± ¡°Well, about twenty to thirty minutes ago. But don¡¯t rush! You can wait for him back at the store or here. Did you have breakfast yet? I have some porridge and soy milk prepared. Might not be as good as your porridge but should still be really good! If you want you can come in and have some!¡± Nan asked with a wide smile on her face. ¡°Ah, thank you! But I really need to find him. Maybe next time! ¡± Jianmen nodded and refused: ¡°I¡¯ll see you tonight! I¡¯ll have some other dishes prepared! You¡¯ll definitely like them!¡± With a heavy sigh, Jianmen discreetly cast another detection spell, this time he used more Xuanli, and the silver ball of light was expectedly flying towards the direction of the north of Chinatown. ¡°Fuck!¡± Jianmen looked up at the sky: ¡°It¡¯s hard not to take this personally.¡± Chapter 151 As Jianmen followed the silver ball of light to the north side of Chinatown, he had a worse and worse feeling in his gut. He couldn¡¯t help but feel something wrong was going to happen, and his search for the scroll and then Shawn turning into a runaround only made things more concerning for him. He was aware that the Will did not want him to meddle with whatever was going to happen with Shawn, but he was worried that what was going on with Shawn would be something dangerous, like serious injuries, or death, or even worse. And thinking of death, Jianmen revisited what happened the other day at the store - if he hadn¡¯t thrown the phone at the man that was about to pull his gun on Shawn, Shawn might have been shot because the way he was holding his gun showed that he did not have much experience with using it, or that kind of confrontation; and on the other hand, the man with a matching jacket was fast and assertive in his movements, which showed that he not only had plenty of experience, he was also prepared to use it. Building on this, Jianmen had a really bad feeling that this would be one of the things he feared the most, and if his suspicion turned out to be true, it would be really bad not only for Shawn, but also for Jianmen himself and even Nan. It only took less than ten minutes of full speed run for Jianmen to reach the warehouse and storage area again. And as Jianmen followed the little silver ball of light, he found that he was going in the direction to the rundown building again. When the ball of light finally reached the end of its lifecycle, he found that one police patrol car was parked in front of the rundown building, and there were some tire tracks on the road - looked like a car was there earlier and drove away. By Jianmen¡¯s estimation of the timing, maybe it was the car that moved the body away. The next ball of light conjured by Jianmen flew into a narrow but deep alleyway between the buildings of Uncle Luo¡¯s Warehouse and General Tso¡¯s Stock and Store. And when Jianmen entered the alleyway, he heard a faint but painful moan of a man. ¡°Fuck, Shawn, this better not be you.¡± Jianmen rushed to the source of moan. Indeed, the one making the noise was not Shawn, it was another Chinese man lying on the ground, in a bloody mess and with a knife in his hand. And on his side, was another man - with clothing that looked strikingly similar to Shawn¡¯s style. Jianmen flipped the other man over, and indeed, it was Shawn. On his neck, there were two huge slash wounds, aside from various bruises showing what a brutal beating he endured. Jianmen gently lifted Shawn¡¯s pale left hand and took a look - it was still warm, and all five of his fingers were bloodied or broken. And at the same time, Jianmen felt a strange ¡°yanking¡± feeling, like some kind of invisible leash was placed upon him. If it was any other cultivator, they most likely wouldn¡¯t have a definite idea on what this was. But with immense knowledge of the flow and mechanism of karma, Jianmen was able to tell what happened right away - it was the broken chain of karma being connected to him, and thus making Jianmen the ¡°inheritor¡± of some of Shawn¡¯s karma.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it This kind of thing happens all the time, from Jianmen¡¯s experience, one typical example of which is the relationship between parents and children - the birth of children means that the children will inherit some of the parents¡¯ karma. And the inheritance of karma among non related individuals, though not as common, was nothing unheard of. After a long sigh, Jianmen cast a small healing spell on the man lying beside Shawn, enough to keep him alive but not enough to raise suspicions when the help comes: ¡°What happened? Tell me what happened.¡± ¡°Fuck ¡­ fucking De Niro.¡± the man coughed then answered: ¡°He¡­ he accused us of killing his man ¡­ his fucking man stole from us!¡± ¡°But you didn¡¯t kill him right?¡± Jianmen asked. ¡°No! Of course¡­ of course not! I just came here to get the ¡­ wait, who are you?¡± the man coughed up some blood as he struggled to sit straight up, and when he realized the bloodied knife in his hand he promptly dropped it: ¡°And what¡¯s this knife?! Did you put it in my hand?!¡± ¡°No, it was there when I saw you. I am Jianmen, Shanyi¡¯s new help at the store. You¡¯re Yewei Wu right?¡± ¡°Yeah! Yeah. What the hell!¡± Yewei turned to his side and saw Shawn¡¯s dead body then screamed: ¡°Oh my god! Oh my god! Shanyi¡¯s dead! And these fucking bastards tried to frame me as well!¡± ¡°Quiet!¡± Jianmen slapped Yewei: ¡°Tell me what happened!¡± ¡°Can we¡­ can we leave first?¡± Yewei started shaking, ¡°They might be back if anyone heard me!¡± ¡°There¡¯s a cop car outside, I doubt they¡¯d be so bold to come back here.¡± ¡°These cops are in De Niro¡¯s pocket!¡± Yewei grabbed onto Jianmen¡¯s right hand sleeve: ¡°Please! I don¡¯t know how you came here, please get me outta here! I don¡¯t wanna die!¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jianmen sighed again and nodded. --------------------------------------- When Jianmen paused for a brief moment to lead his students onto another shop - one that was selling books, also one that Caroline and Jason never expected Jianmen would take them to when they were almost ready to leave. ¡°So indeed Shawn¡¯s the unfortunate grandson who died.¡± Caroline asked while shaking her head: ¡°How did Nan deal with it? And who¡¯s this De Niro? Another mob boss?¡± ¡°Not yet a mob boss, but the leader of a medium sized gang. ¡± Jianmen took them directly to one of the shelves that was marked ¡°Runes Research and Practices¡±: ¡°And here, some of the additional learning material for you - I¡¯ll cover some of the basics I chose for you, and you look around and find something for yourselves. ¡± ¡°Boss, you know that you¡¯re asking us as students to choose textbooks for our upcoming studies trip?¡± Jason said while laughing: ¡°Oh, I remember I had a professor that let us pick our own textbook once. And then half of us picked the catalogue of our library.¡± ¡°Okay, then choose one book each at least.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°Do pay attention and choose, the research and study of runes is of grave importance to your understanding of the rules of Xuanli and supernatural power in this world. And just like in the civilian world, a lot of times you can¡¯t just punch your way out of things and you need to use your knowledge and experience to decipher a hidden solution.¡± ¡°Yeah, Jason, you hear that?¡± Caroline joked: ¡°You leave the punching to me, you and your engineering school experience and knowledge can do the deciphering.¡± ¡°Everyone says that about anything powerful - you can¡¯t buy your way out of things, you can¡¯t pull your political strings out of things. But having money and political strings can still help - a lot too!¡± Jason chuckled, but still he started to browse through the books: ¡°And can you continue with your story Boss? Tell us about how you didn¡¯t punch your way out of things when you found your friend dead.¡± Chapter 152 ¡°De Niro¡¯s the leader of some gang, used to do the dirty work for fees and take their business from the Lok family. We used to deal with them from time to time. ¡± at a temporary hiding place in central Chinatown, Yewei told Jianmen while sipping on some energy drink: ¡°The antique scroll was kind of an insurance policy for me and Shanyi. But somehow they found out and tried to steal it from us. But looks like somebody else got to it before they could and killed their man that tried to steal it. And when Shanyi and I went to retrieve it, they thought Shanyi and I did it...¡± ¡°So there¡¯s another group of people that knows about the scroll.¡± Jianmen asked with a frown: ¡°Who could that be?¡± ¡°I ¡­ I don¡¯t know. Could it be the Zhangs?¡± Yewei movied his hands and legs while he was lying on an old mattress: ¡°Wait, what did you do to me? I thought I was going to die when they left me there.¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s the adrenaline. You need to go to the hospital or at least get some medical care or you¡¯ll really die.¡± Jianmen said: ¡°Don¡¯t you guys have some mob doctors?¡± ¡°I ¡­ I know someone. Let me call her.¡± Yewei struggled to reach his phone on a small table near his mattress: ¡°I can¡¯t go to a hospital! If they find out, I¡¯m dead!¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be dead soon if you don¡¯t have anyone tend to your wounds. I¡¯m no doctor but you may have some internal bleeding.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°Also, did you tell the Zhangs about this place when they held you hostage?¡± ¡°No no no! What are you, fucking crazy?! How dare you question my loyalty!?¡± ¡°Just asking, since I¡¯ve never met you.¡± ¡°And I¡¯ve never met you! Why are you interested in all of this anyway? Normal people would¡¯ve run away like hell already!¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just say I am interested in getting into some business.¡± Jianmen took out his phone and was ready to call 911. ¡°Wait wait wait what are you doing?¡± Yewei yelled at Jianmen: ¡°Who are you calling? It better not be the police! If you¡¯re calling them you¡¯d better use the payphone! And it probably wouldn¡¯t help at all, because De Niro has people in the LAPD! If they found out where we are, we¡¯re dead!¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°No worries, I can handle some ordinary goons.¡± Jianmen said and then laid down the phone, ¡°Hurry up and call your mob doctor, I will go out there and find a functioning payphone.¡± ¡°While you¡¯re at it, can you bring me some food? I am starving right here.¡± ¡°No. ¡± ¡°Oh my god. You¡¯re killing me right here.¡± Yewei frustratedly dialed a number on his phone. Jianmen changed his looks with a simple spell, then he sped to the same payphone where he called in about the dead man earlier - where he could actually see the parked police car in a distance but according to Yewei, the officers in it are in De Niro¡¯s pocket. The 911 call was swift, because the dispatcher told Jianmen there were already officers near the site. And right after the call, Jianmen saw that the officers in the distant police car got out and went into the building in which Shawn¡¯s body still lay. Jianmen waved his hand in the air and cast another simple spell, and the conversation from those two police officers was carried over to his side as if they were talking right next to him. ¡°What the fuck is with this place?! Two bodies on the same day?¡± this was the voice of a female police officer. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but sounded the gangs at this place had gone wild after the shakedown at Lok¡¯s.¡± this was the voice of a male police officer. ¡°Let¡¯s check this place out and call it in.¡± the female police officer said: ¡°I wonder if it was the same guy that called about that body earlier.¡± ¡°If it was then we really need to find this guy. He seemed to be really connected to both dead guys.¡± ¡°Fuck, there¡¯s the body.¡± after a short silence, the female police officer said: ¡°Really, the gangs in this place. I hate to even think about living in this area.¡± ¡°Looks like he was flipped over, and there¡¯s blood marks beside him, so there was probably another guy here.¡± the male police officer said: ¡°And this knife here¡­ let¡¯s bag it for prints.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll call it in, I got a feeling that this would end up with Major Crimes or the FBI. Word is they¡¯re also interested in the Lok family shakedown, and there are some pretty high up Lok members found dead already all over the bay.¡± ¡°All over the bay? How many turned up already?¡± ¡°Johnson, in a ditch; Sabrina, found hanging in her own house; Charles, shot in the back of the head in an alleyway. And word on the street is Benedict has gone into hiding. Captain is gonna have a hard time for the next few months.¡± When the two officers were calling it in and Jianmen was carefully listening to their conversation from afar, a person in a tight black jacket, black leather pants and wearing a pair of black tight gloves came up from Jianmen¡¯s behind, held one hand over Jianmen¡¯s mouth and ran a sharp knife through Jianmen¡¯s neck. The person¡¯s pull on the knife was so forceful, the knife¡¯s edge turned dull and even a little flat in an instance. But Jianmen being Jianmen, though he was surprised at the fact that he let himself be taken by surprise, he still immediately came to himself, turned around slowly and looked at the person with a smile on his face. The assassin seemed much more surprised than Jianmen, and when she saw the residual dust of metal on Jianmen¡¯s neck, she was horrified. Chapter 153 ¡°Oh my god that poor assassiness!¡± Jason said in an empathetic tone and looked at Jianmen from another side of a book shelf: ¡°What¡¯d you do with her?¡± ¡°Come on, Shawn just died!¡± Caroline stared at Jason for a short while, ¡°Can you miss the point by any further?¡± ¡°Well, yeah! But it¡¯s kinda obvious that he would die.¡± Jason shook his head and said in a minorly insensitive manner: ¡°And to be in a mob shakedown as a low level dealer? Not to mention he basically single-handedly pissed off his new management. And just like Boss said, he could¡¯ve died earlier in the store if not for the flying brick phone.¡± ¡°Still, a bit of sympathy?¡± ¡°I do feel bad for Nan.¡± Jason let out a long sigh and looked at Jianmen: ¡°But at least you¡¯ve been taking care of her all these years, so we know she¡¯s fine, well at least physically. But please continue, Boss, what¡¯d you do with the assassiness? ¡± ¡°Not gonna lie, that kinda sounds like a real meet-cute.¡± Caroline giggled: ¡°You know, from one of those cheap rom-com TVs and movies. But with a dark twist.¡± ¡°Huh, didn¡¯t know you watch rom-coms.¡± Jason chuckled and said: ¡°I¡¯ve always taken that you are the no pop culture type.¡± ¡°I am. I just had a childhood and I was nine.¡± Caroline shrugged and picked a book of medium size from the book shelf in front of her and asked: ¡°Boss, what did you do with the assassin? You didn¡¯t torture her did you?¡± ¡°What? Who do you take me for?¡± Jianmen shook his head and explained: ¡°I just asked her a few questions about why she wanted me dead, who her employer was and what else she knew about the Lok family shakedown in Chinatown.¡± ¡°Yeah, you didn¡¯t really deny it.¡± Caroline flipped the book open and took a look at the content: ¡°What¡¯d you do with her?¡± ¡°Well, I am not quite sure of the conventional rules of using power with hostility on civilians, be it Xuanli, or magic, or mojo or voodoo.¡± Jianmen answered as he also took a book and started reading it: ¡°So I just dragged her to a more discreet place and asked her, with nothing but bare physical power and a simple binding spell. ¡± ¡°And then?¡± ¡°And then I used a simple hypnosis spell and asked her the questions I wanted answers to. It turned out that she was hired by some anonymous employer to watch over the scene and ¡®deal with¡¯ anyone who might be a witness to the crime there. But there were two different crimes committed by two different gangs or mobs that day, and she did not know which one she was supposed to watch over and clean for. Really, really sloppy job and communication if you asked me.¡± Jianmen flipped over a page whose content described the mechanism of resonance among different symbols in a magical array, since he already knew about the basics: ¡°She¡¯s technically a professional, but she was only good with the assassination part and not good with the other parts like intel gathering and doing scouting. She had this gift that somehow allowed her to almost not draw any attention to her while she activated it, kinda like an intuitive cloaking spell, which turned out to be the reason for why I did not know she was coming. She used to work in Florida but she got into some trouble and fled to LA and it was her second case here.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°That¡¯s a lot of information from an assassin that wanted you dead.¡± Jason said in an insinuating tone: ¡°I bet she¡¯s pretty¡­ pretty?¡± ¡°Um, why the sudden interest in my personal life?¡± ¡°Because it is Christmas season and we sorta kinda want you to be happy?¡± Caroline put the book in her hand back onto the shelf: ¡°You don¡¯t have your family here and you¡¯re spending your Christmas with Nan, right? That doesn¡¯t sound like it¡¯s gonna be nice - it sounded like it¡¯s gonna be hella awkward. ¡± ¡°Not to mention sad and angry. Sounded like Shawn was the only family for her. I hope she recovered from Shawn¡¯s death.¡± Jason shook his head and said. ¡°Yeah, well. Maybe next year it¡¯ll be different.¡± Jianmen picked another book from the shelf: ¡°But all these years I¡¯ve lived, festivals are hardly personally relevant or important anymore.¡± ¡°Aaaand what about Josephine Wong? You don¡¯t wanna spend Christmas with her?¡± Jason asked: ¡°I bet she¡¯ll be happy to. ¡± ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re not in that kind of relationship. And it¡¯s ¡­ complicated.¡± ¡°Well, isn¡¯t everything complicated with you Boss? I think you may need to relax a bit sometimes and just appreciate the small things with people in your life.¡± Caroline winked at Jianmen and Jason with a coy smile. ¡°You wanna continue to hear the story or not?¡± Jianmen rolled his eyes. ¡°Alright, alright! Please continue. And please tell me that you hunted down Shawn¡¯s killers and bring justice.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you define as ¡®justice¡¯, but ...¡± ----------------------------------------------------- When Jianmen went back to Yewei¡¯s hiding place, he saw that a woman in scrubs was in Yewei¡¯s room, tending to his wounds and scolding him for his carelessness and recklessness. When Jianmen entered the room, the woman immediately pulled a gun on Jianmen. ¡°Relax, I am here because I called the cops on Shanyi¡¯s body, and I brought you a burger.¡± Jianmen waved a paper bag in his hand and threw it onto the mattress Yewei was lying on. ¡°Who the fuck is this?¡± the woman still had her gun pointed at Jianmen: ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me someone else also knows this place!¡± ¡°What can I do? You are so beautiful, I am so happy you¡¯re here, and my wounds were killing me!¡± Yewei picked up the brown paper bag and took out a burger: ¡°Eww, pickles, this is why you need to ask me first before you order.¡± ¡°Just shut the fuck up and eat your burger.¡± Jianmen sighed and turned to the woman in scrubs: ¡°Hi, my name is Jianmen, I know Shawn and I saved this guy¡¯s ass.¡± ¡°Angela.¡± the woman put her gun down and looked at Yewei: ¡°And seriously? It wasn¡¯t enough you dragged me and Shawn into this, you had to pull in someone else too? Don¡¯t you ever learn?¡± ¡°In all fairness to him, I was kinda dragged into this by Shawn.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°And I just got to know some interesting information - apparently whatever that scroll is, quite a lot of people are looking for it. I just encountered a cleaner for one of them, and even she was a little confused which of the crime scenes she was supposed to cover for.¡± ¡°Yeah. The area¡¯s getting less and less safe. The piranhas came when they smelled blood in the water.¡± Angela sighed, ¡°If not for my mom I¡¯d be outta here a few years back.¡± ¡°Tell me what you know about this buyer. I need to know everything you know.¡± when Yewei finished his entire burger, Jianmen asked: ¡°And you, you better find another place to hide and have someone treat your potential internal bleeding.¡± ¡°You have internal bleeding?! What the fuck?!¡± Angela immediately turned to Yewei: ¡°We¡¯ve gotta send you to an actual hospital.¡± ¡°Relax! He¡¯s not even a doctor!¡± Yewei threw the paper wrappers for his burger to the side and stood up: ¡°I really need a nap here. Let¡¯s go after the nap can I?¡± While Jianmen was still considering whether he should drag Yewei up or slap him into submission, Angela grabbed him by his collar and told him sternly: ¡°You need to go to a hospital right now, motherfucker. You¡¯re not dying on me here. And I don¡¯t know who this Jianmen is, but you are telling him, and me about this ¡®buyer¡¯ that you have! Got it?¡± ¡°Okay! Okay!¡± Yewei was apparently quite afraid of Angela. Chapter 154 ¡°So, I have no idea who this buyer is, we just connect and communicate through a middleman, some Canadian dude with a scary scar on his face.¡± while Angela was considerately helping Yewei get dressed, he started telling Angela and Jianmen about the buyer in Chinatown: ¡°The middleman¡¯s name is Tianyu, okay? You need to go to the Szechuan Wondrous Delight restaurant and ask for him, and ask him to deliver a message to the buyer. He told us the buyer did not want to talk unless we have the scrolls, but I guess you can try. Oh, right, you can also go to the Szechuan Wondrous Delight and ask for Timothy Chang, he¡¯s the intelligence guy in Chinatown, and he should be able to help you out, if you give him enough cash.¡± ¡°Okay. And the people who want to steal that scroll from you, what can you tell me about them?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know! Besides De Niro, I don¡¯t even know who else could have even known about the scroll!¡± Yewei moaned in pain as Angela helped him put on a shirt: ¡°There are a few gangs in the area that are small to medium sized, the Taichi Gang, the Dry Cleaner Crew, the Viators, the Bleeding Daggers...¡± ¡°The Bleeding Daggers, what do you know about them?¡± Jianmen immediately cut Yewei off when he was about to continue listing names. ¡°Not much.¡± Yewei tried to shrug but he immediately had to stop because of the pain: ¡°Ouch, ouch ¡­ they¡¯re more of a small time player, I just know the leader is quite mysterious and apparently a little nuts. I heard he stabbed a guy and cut him 99 times just because the guy owed him a few hundred bucks. A bit of an overkiller even by Chinatown gang standards.¡± ¡°Where do they operate?¡± ¡°North side of Chinatown, actually not that far away from the warehouse¡­ oh!¡± Yewei realized mid sentence the reason Jianmen asked about this gang: ¡°You know something I don¡¯t?¡± ¡°Just go to a hospital. You know how to find me.¡± Jianmen nodded and left the room. ¡°That guy¡¯s some serious player, no?¡± after a few seconds, Angela asked Yewei. ¡°I have no friggin¡¯ idea, I just met him today!¡± Before Yewei and Angela even left the hiding place, Jianmen already found the Szechuan Wondrous Delight. As he entered the front door, he got a text message from Yewei: ¡°Before you start asking, order a pot of Tieguanyin tea, a small cup of honey and a bowl of grass jelly with coconut milk. They will know that you come for business.¡± ¡°Interesting, noted.¡± Jianmen replied and walked into the restaurant. He then found a table near the internal stairs. ¡°Hello, what would you like for today?¡± the waitress walked over, placed a small paper menu on the table and asked Jianmen: ¡°It¡¯s still kinda early, so we only have lunch items, and we only have very limited options. We do have the full drink menu though, what would like first?¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°I would like a pot of Tieguanyin tea, a small cup of honey.¡± Jianmen flipped through the menu and said: ¡°A bowl of grass jelly with coconut milk.¡± The waitress¡¯s eyes quickly blinked for a few times, and then she gently bowed and told Jianmen: ¡°Thank you for your order, I will ask them to prepare your drink and desserts immediately.¡± When the waitress left, Jianmen sensed that atmosphere in the whole restaurant changed instantly, some of the guests already in the restaurant started staring at Jianmen discreetly like they were trying to read something from him. And with this simple reaction, Jianmen was able to conclude that possibly a lot of these ¡°guests¡± in the restaurant were actually undercover employees of this restaurant. Seeing that this was a hub of criminal activity, he was not that surprised. After only a few minutes, the waitress came back and told Jianmen: ¡°We¡¯re ready to serve you, can you come upstairs with me?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Jianmen stood up and followed the waitress up the stairs and entered a spacious and luxurious looking room at the end of the hallway. Inside the room, there was a desk at the back of the room and a couple of obviously armed men in suits standing on both sides. The waitress led Jianmen to the front of the desk and told him in a low voice: ¡°Please wait here a little bit, our handler will come in shortly.¡± Right after the waitress left, a side door opened and a middle aged man in red traditional Changshan walked in, carrying a small brochure with a close resemblance to some traditional Chinese books: blue covers and bound together by threads, with a couple of traditional Chinese words written on the cover. The man sat down by the desk, laid down the brochure and took out an inkstone and a Chinese writing brush. And without acknowledging Jianmen at all, the man started grinding the instone for ink. Out of courtesy, Jianmen waited patiently for the man to produce enough ink from the inkstone and finally dipped his writing brush in the ink. ¡°What business do you have here?¡± ¡°I want to deliver a message to Tianyu, about the acquisition of an antique item. And if possible, I would like to deliver the message in writing.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°And, uh, I would like to talk to Timothy Chang. I would like to inquire some information from him.¡± ¡°Okay, this is your first time here right? Are you aware of the rules?¡± the man asked. ¡°No. I was sent here, they didn¡¯t really tell me...¡± ¡°There¡¯s a message delivery fee. And you have to tell us who sent you here. Failing either, you will not be able to walk through the door.¡± the man leaned forward and said in Cantonese: ¡°I hope whoever sent you at least told you what kind of establishment you just walked into.¡± ¡°Money is not a problem.¡± Jianmen calmly brought out a small stack of cash - it technically did not belong to him but to the unfortunate assassin that tried to slit his throat: ¡°How much? And I was sent here by Shanyi Qing.¡± ¡°Shanyi Qing huh? His body is not even that cold yet.¡± the man scoffed, ¡°But whatever, his name is still good here until everything is finalized.¡± ¡°Finalized? Finalized how?¡± ¡°His area still needs to be claimed and managed, his supply chain is still up for grabs.¡± the man shook his head: ¡°Gone are the good old days where business transfers were much less dramatic and bloody. And the cost is one grand for a newcomer like you. You¡¯ll get a discount rate when your business is proven to be good.¡± ¡°Okay, you got it.¡± Jianmen counted the cash in his hand, and one thousand dollars took up the absolute bulk of the cash from the cash he took from the assassin. ¡°Just write your message here. ¡± the man passed Jianmen a piece of paper and his writing brush. ¡°Thanks.¡± Jianmen took the piece of paper and writing brush, then after some careful thought, he wrote in English: ¡°Merchandise compromised. Don¡¯t use.¡± And then he left his temporary phone number below. ¡°Nice old school hold of that writing brush.¡± the man nodded and said: ¡°And you wrote in English and in regular script, that must be weird for you.¡± ¡°Yeah well, I know enough to adjust.¡± Jianmen shrugged. ¡°Nice, keep working on it, not many people nowadays still appreciate the old styles.¡± the man smiled: ¡°And you know what? For the sake of the appreciation of the old styles, I¡¯ll give you a discount on the intel you wanna buy. Tell me, what¡¯d you wanna know?¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re Timothy Chang? Nice to meet you!¡± Chapter 155 ¡°So, you wanna know about the Bleeding Daggers?¡± the man nodded while scratching his beard: ¡°I think it¡¯d be just a matter of time till someone asked about them. But unfortunately even we don¡¯t know a lot about them. What I can tell you is that they¡¯re a bunch of nutbags that worship their leader as some kind of messenger from some kind of god. They operate mainly in the north side of Chinatown in the warehouse district. They also frequent a bar named ¡®Blue Voyage¡¯. If you want to find them, you can find them there, or in a red brick building with the creepy dead tree in front of it on 4th Elma Street.¡± ¡°Thank you very much. How much do I owe you?¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°The address and the bar would be enough for me.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re looking to deal with them, be careful. They¡¯re not the most¡­ stable type.¡±the middle aged man behind the desk sighed and said: ¡°Just an additional note for you: we¡¯ve heard that they are going after something big, and the buyer of the merchandise you just wrote a note about, might be the target. So if you¡¯re planning to act against them, better be prepared and use the element of surprise.¡± ¡°Understood, thank you.¡± Jianmen heard all he wanted to hear and was ready to leave: ¡°How much do I owe you?¡± ¡°How about a favor? Some small deed I may require of you at a later date?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I can¡¯t do that. At least not yet.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°Or if you need something right away, can you name it?¡± ¡°Smart man. ¡± middle aged man behind the desk shook his head with a smile: ¡°Then, if you want to act against the Bleeding Daggers, bring me their ledger. They should have one at least somewhere. You can bring me the ledger as payment.¡± ¡°... okay.¡± Jianmen thought for a while and then agreed. Right after the visit to the Szechuan Wondrous Delight, Jianmen got a call from Nan. ¡°Hi, Jianmen, I couldn¡¯t find Shanyi, he¡¯s not returning my phone call, have you found him?¡± ¡°No I haven¡¯t, don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll look for him.¡± Jianmen sighed silently and answered. ¡°Okay, just give me a call immediately when you hear from him, okay? And tell him to call me as well!¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°No problem, I will give him a stern talking to when I find him.¡± After hanging up the phone, Jianmen headed straight towards the north side of Chinatown, in search of the location of the Bleeding Daggers. To be honest with himself, at this point, Jianmen was not too clear on what he could do when he found them. All he knew was that he was quite upset over the murder of Shawn - not just at the fact that it happened, but also at himself. If he had recovered faster, this might not have happened, because he¡¯d be in a better negotiating position with the Will. Still, his gut feeling, which was never horribly wrong before, told him that he should try to locate this actually powerful cult operating under the cheesy gang name Bleeding Daggers. The sun had risen up high and it had been way past Shawn¡¯s grocery store¡¯s opening hours. But right now, Jianmen was on Elma Street, biting down on a three-layered breakfast burger with a cup of coffee in hand. The reason he did not go directly into the brick house on the 4th with indeed a creepy dead tree in front of it, was that he sensed something quite unclean from the house - it was guarded with some sort of magical array, which, according to his reading of its energy signature, would alert the people who crafted the array in an event of an intrusion and curse the intruders. Jianmen was not afraid of the curse, but he was a bit worried about the alert - he did not want to cause a big havoc yet, since there were some people on the street and a couple of cars parked nearby. ¡°Hey man.¡± Jianmen asked the food truck owner: ¡°You ever feel that the tree over there is super fucking creepy?¡± ¡°I ¡­ I don¡¯t know man.¡± the owner of the food truck stammered for a brief moment: ¡°I think it¡¯s okay.¡± ¡°What? It doesn¡¯t even bother you? ¡± Jianmen looked at the owner up and down: ¡°Alright, if you say so, you¡¯re the one with a food truck here. If I lived anywhere nearby that would give me nightmares everyday. The only thing that¡¯ll make it creepier is a dead body hanging from it or a bunch of dead cats or birds.¡± ¡°Dude, you don¡¯t know the owner. Just finish your burger and leave.¡± ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll tell you what? I¡¯ll have a roast beef sandwich with egg to go. And while you prepare I¡¯ma gonna snap a few picks of the house. I can scare my kid with it.¡± Jianmen smiled and reached into his pocket, and when he took out his cash, he ¡°accidentally¡± dropped a metal piece that looked like some kind of badge: ¡°Oh! Oops! Sorry!¡± The owner of the food truck¡¯s left eye corner twitched a bit, but kept his silence while he prepared the sandwich. When Jianmen walked across the street to take pictures of the brick house and dead tree, he pushed a small button under his food preparation table and leaned on his table to whisper to a small gap on the wall on the right side the window: ¡°Zeke, some dumbass is there taking pictures of the house. He has a badge, so be sure to handle with care.¡± Jianmen heard what the owner of the food truck said and couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit frustrated - he wanted the Bleeding Daggers to move on him and took him to inside the house, but his fake badge actually made them more careful, so if he did not pose an actual threat in order to be ¡°forcefully¡± taken into the house. Shortly after he started taking pictures, a young looking man in a hoodie and beanie also crossed the street and walked slowly towards Jianmen¡¯s position. When the man was getting close, Jianmen pretended to take a call and started ¡°arguing¡± with someone: ¡°Yes! I am here! What the hell do you expect? ¡­ no the guy did not come! I¡¯ve waited for thirty minutes! ¡­ If the guy didn¡¯t come, we won¡¯t have a warrant! What the hell are you thinking!? ¡­ Alright, I¡¯ll look around for things we can use as probable cause...¡± ¡°Hang up the phone.¡± the man told Jianmen in a cold and emotionless voice, with the muzzle of the gun pressing on Jianmen¡¯s back: ¡°If you don¡¯t want your guts spilled all over the street, you¡¯ll come with me.¡± Chapter 156 ¡°Get in there! Don¡¯t try anything funny. ¡± as the man in a hoodie and beanie pushed Jianmen into one of the lower level rooms in the brick house, he was not fully aware that even though Jianmen let him push him around, Jianmen did not stop looking around at the environment of the house. ¡°There¡¯ll be people looking for me, you know.¡± Jianmen tried a bit to act as if he was acting tough: ¡°You should know that I am a federal agent, and if you inflict harm on me, you¡¯ll all regret it!¡± ¡°Just go in, you fucking whimp of a narc.¡± the man pushed Jianmen towards a chair with rope wrapped around it, making him turn around while still pointing the gun at him: ¡°Sit down on the chair. And be quiet, you don¡¯t wanna be a federal agent with a hole on the forehead.¡± ¡°I understand, you¡¯re just a low level goon for the Bleeding Daggers and you wanna impress your boss because you caught a supposedly federal agent. But can I at least meet your Boss before you kill me?¡± Jianmen faked a begging tone. ¡°He¡¯ll deal with you when he is back. Right now you just sit tight, and tie yourself up with that rope.¡± the man in a hoodie said: ¡°And when he¡¯s finished with you, you¡¯ll be wishing you¡¯re dead.¡± ¡°Ah, so your boss is not here and left you house sitting? I bet that food truck guy is also house sitting right? Why are you not in on the action?¡± Jianmen sat down by the chair but still did not even touch the rope. ¡°Shut up! Tie yourself! I will not repeat it!¡± the man in a hoodie yelled, with veins popping out from his face. ¡°This is gonna sting a bit.¡± Jianmen chuckled, then slapped the gun out of the man¡¯s hand with a backhand, then gently struck the man¡¯s forehead with his palm. The man instantly passed out with his eyes rolling back, then Jianmen held him and placed him on the chair and tied him up with the rope. After Jianmen took the keys and his phone from the man in a hoodie and beanie, he followed the traces of unclean energy in the building out of the room and down a flight of stairs to an even lower level of the house. This was probably the ¡°official¡± basement in the house, and there were no other rooms in this layer, only one giant spacious room with pillars in all four corners and an altar at the far end of the room. Jianmen took a look at all four of the pillars, all of which had relief sculptures of some kind of monster on - from the looks of them, they were depicting the same multi-faced monster with five or seven hands and a long exposed spine in different poses. From these sculptures, Jianmen sensed something quite unusual, but was not entirely certain about his suspicions. Just this moment, a wave of energy emerged from the altar, the density of unclean energy instantly increased by hundreds if not thousands of times. And shortly, a multi-tone voice resounded in the basement: ¡°Powerful mortal, for what purpose have you come here?¡± This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°I am here for the Bleeding Daggers, they have been performing unclean rituals everywhere in town. Are you the one for whom they provide sacrifice?¡± ¡°The sacrifice, it is not for me.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe it. I¡¯ve seen these rituals performed by the ones that own this place. At least tell me your name.¡± ¡°Nice try, mortal. ¡± the voice seemed agitated, when it spoke, the entire room started shaking. ¡°So you do have a name that you¡¯re not willing to tell. Never thought the first time I met a Daimon would be in someone¡¯s basement.¡± Jianmen chuckled, but still prepared himself for a fight. ¡°I am a GOD!¡± the voice said loudly, shaking the entire house even more violently: ¡°And I will not be disrespected by a mere mortal like you!¡± ¡°You¡¯re not a god. A god will have its own kingdom or its own realm, and will not be bound to a simple altar. A good altar, but still an altar.¡± ¡°Your insolence will not be tolerated. Prepare to die, Mortal!¡± The room shook violently, and all four of the pillars started cracking up, and the relief sculptures on them started moving and moving as if they were about to come into life. Jianmen concentrated two balls of blue energy in his palms then pointed them at two of the pillars that were further away from the altar. Lightning shot from his palms and struck the two moving relief sculptures, the moving relief sculptures exploded into hundreds of flying debris that was dripping with dark thick liquid. ¡°So, you¡¯re a fallen god, not just any daimon.¡± Jianmen¡¯s eyes narrowed, then he slammed both his hands on the ground, the huge wave of dirt, stones, rock and stone spikes hidden inside emerged in front of him and blew towards the altar and the last two pillars with relief sculptures on, ¡°Too bad, we have so much in common.¡± The back wall against which the altar was placed turned from brick and cement into a huge mirror of bubbling and moving shining dark liquid. The wave of dirt, stones and rocks crashed upon the last two pillars in the room and crushed the relief sculptures into pieces, but was not able to shake the wall of dark liquid. From the wall of the dark liquid, a huge body burst out and hurled three dark green energy spikes at Jianmen. Jianmen¡¯s whole figure became a blur as he dodged the energy spikes, and while he prepared for his counter attack, he got a pretty good view of the thing that came out from the wall of dark liquid: this was a monster with an exposed human like rib cage and a long spine that still connected to something behind the wall of dark liquid; it had five long arms with both human and non-human structures made of dark green and red bones and solidified dark substance of some kind as sinew and muscle attached to its rib cage and shoulder; it had two heads, one was right above its broad shoulder but it was thick and wide like that of an exaggerated hammerhead shark, and the other was a small and human like skull locked within its rib cage. On the wide head above its shoulders, four faces that seemed to be ripped off from the heads of real humans were attached, yet for some reason, each of these faces seemed to be crying, cursing and moaning just like they were real and alive. Jianmen held a ball of lightning between the palms of his two hands, in the center of which was a piece of folded Demon Suppression Sigil made with completely red paper and written with black ink. And when he lowered his body and hopped to the monster¡¯s lower left side, he pushed the ball of lightning out, aiming at the monster¡¯s long spine drenched in the dark liquid it came out of. The ball of lightning struck true onto the monster¡¯s long spine, and instead of exploding, it turned into the shape of an arrow-shaped drill bit and started spinning. The long spine of the monster looked brittle, but when the energy drill started spinning it sounded like it was drilling on a piece of metal. The monster screamed in pain and used one of its hands on the rib cage, Jianmen again hopped to the side and conjured up a spinning stone spike from under the monster, its tip aiming at the head residing within the monster¡¯s rib cage. The monster¡¯s body was pushed into the air from the impact, the strike from the stone spike cracked the rib cage but was not strong enough to penetrate the monster¡¯s defenses. Just when Jianmen started preparing for another attack, the monster¡¯s big head turned to his side, and one of the faces on the head lit up in ominous cold blue light, and a tingling chill just ran through his whole body. The face gave out a loud and grueling cry before it shot out from the monster¡¯s flat and wide head and at Jianmen, its cries turning into disturbing waves of power of mind and will, instilling feelings of fear, despair and disorientation in Jianmen¡¯s mind. Chapter 157 There was not much distance between Jianmen and the bigger and flatter head of the monster, and it was only a matter of milliseconds before the glowing face landed on Jianmen. Right before the glowing face hit Jianmen, he converted his next attack spell into a defensive spell and formed an energy shield right in front of him. The glowing face latched onto the shield, toxic and corrosive energy instantly started seeping from its empty eyes, nose, ears and mouth. Jianmen was also propelled backwards at the wall behind him, and without a doubt, his body broke through the wall and the wall behind the wall. Before being pushed any further, Jianmen concentrated his Xuanli on both his hands and unleashed a flurry of palm strikes at the glowing face from a small distance. The glowing face¡¯s energy and power was swiftly swept away by these palm strikes, and when it fully dissipated, Jianmen unleashed the final strike onto the ground a few steps before him. Three stone golems with the same height and general built as Jianmen emerged from the ground and started advancing on the monster¡¯s position. Each of these stone golems had a different weapon in its hand: a stone meat cleaver, a stone broom, and a stone sword. Jianmen jumped up and followed, and he took out another carefully folded Demon Suppression Sigil and embedded it inside of a stone meat cleaver he conjured from the ground. Jianmen busted into the room in which the monster resided just at the same time with the three stone golems and lunged towards the monster from four different directions. The monster cried out, then turned his head and the three remaining faces started lighting up in green, red and light purple respectively. Before Jianmen and the three golems were able to launch their attack, the remaining faces shot at Jianmen and two other stone golems. This time Jianmen was ready, and with full force swing of his stone meat cleaver, a silvery blue crescent-shaped energy blade clashed with the red face with a furious facial expression and dripping burning blood like liquid from its mouth. The next moment, Jianmen was not going to stand there and wait to see the result of the clash, with a quick twirl of the meat cleaver, the folded Demon Suppression Sigil was wrapped around its handle. As Jianmen infused the sigil and in turn the meat cleaver with his Xuanli, a thin layer of light silvery blue energy coated the entire meat cleaver in entirety. The monster, on the other hand, started growing four different faces on its flat head again. The monster extended one of its hands at Jianmen trying to grab or claw him, and Jianmen countered it with a palm strike with his left hand. While at the same time, the final stone golem that was not destroyed by the three faces swung the stone broom in its hand at the deep wound on the monster¡¯s long spine left by the earlier lightning ball drilling attack. Jianmen got knocked back and almost sent flying when his palm strike collided head to head with the monster¡¯s claw attack, and the monster was just shaken a bit and had to retract the hand. The next moment, the remaining stone golem¡¯s broom just slammed onto the wound, and a lot of the dark energy was instantly dispersed as with the dark liquid that was covering most of the surface of the spinal bones.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! The broom strike caused the monster much greater pain than any of Jianmen¡¯s previous attacks, and forced it to stop with its next attack on Jianmen and try to target the last stone golem wielding the stone broom. With this immediate opening, Jianmen threw his meat cleaver out in full force at the monster¡¯s rib cage. The meat cleaver spun in the air as it flew, fast enough that it turned into a flying ring of silvery blue light. The monster noticed what kind of threat this spinning meat cleaver posed to it and tried to block it with two of his arms, but the meat cleaver just cut through its boney arms and struck true on its rib cage. A huge cracking sound louder that from a thunder exploded in the room, the monster¡¯s whole body was knocked to the side, almost hitting the wall and the stone meat cleaver got embedded into the rib cage. The remaining stone golem raised its stone broom again, and struck down on the same wound on the monster¡¯s spinal bones like it was smashing a poisonous spider. With a loud cracking sound, more bone fragments flew from the wound, and even more dark liquid gushed out from the hollow space at the center of the bones. Jianmen raised both hands and held two balls of lightning in both his palms, then he threw one at the stone golem, and threw one at the monster on the floor. The stone golem received the ball of lightning with his broom, and absorbed it fully. The other ball of lightning, on the other hand, exploded in mid-air and forcefully pushed it back down a little. The stone broom in the golem¡¯s hand was swung one last time, and it was so forceful that it completely shattered on the wound. This time, all the dark energy that was once infused in the spinal bones were completely swept away. Jianmen jumped in the air, with almost all of his remaining Xuanli concentrated on his right hand and unleashed a palm strike from above. A silvery blue shadow of a huge palm appeared out of thin air and struck down with Jianmen¡¯s own palm. The monster curled up its arms trying to defend itself, but the huge palm shadow still almost crushed it entirely onto the ground, and pushed the stone meat cleaver deeper into its rib cage. The stone golem¡¯s entire body shattered into pieces of splinter, when it delivered its final blow in the form of a hand chop onto the deep wound on the monster¡¯s spine. The bones on the spine shattered along with it, finally cutting the monster off from the world behind the dark liquid wall. The monster screamed and started rolling on the ground while cursing at Jianmen: ¡°You¡¯ll pay for this! You¡¯ll pay for this! You can¡¯t kill me! You don¡¯t have the power!¡± ¡°Still being a hard-ass, huh?¡± now that the monster¡¯s cut off from the world behind the dark liquid wall, and the wall started getting back to normal, Jianmen took a few deep breaths and said: ¡°How¡¯d you like it with a fucking blade on your core? Your fucking fanatics are doing it all over town!¡± ¡°You can¡¯t kill me! I will come for you! I curse you! I curse you!¡± the monster¡¯s body started shrivelling up while leaking the same kind of dark from the wall. Jianmen could tell that it was because the loss of its power source and its grievous injuries from the fight caused the monster¡¯s body and even its entire existence to start crumbling and imploding - like a supernatural version of starvation but at a much faster pace. ¡°I know I can¡¯t kill you - yet.¡± Jianmen kicked the monster¡¯s body over and exposed the stone meat cleaver with its blade fully cut through the monster¡¯s rib cage and the tip of the edge sunken into the skull of the head within the rib cage, almost splitting the forehead open: ¡°You think this is my first time dealing with fallen gods? But thanks for the altar, it¡¯s quite nice and I think I¡¯ll just keep it for myself.¡± A bolt of lightning was released from Jianmen¡¯s hand and landed on the stone meat cleaver¡¯s handle with the Demon Suppression Sigil still wrapped around it, an energy blade instantly extended from the stone meat cleaver¡¯s edge and sliced up the head in the rib cage completely into two different pieces. Chapter 158 The monster screamed and cried, but it could not help with the decay and dissipation of its essence. Jianmen was fully aware, almost all gods, even fallen gods that lost absolutely most of its power like this monster, have many avatars walking around the universe. And this monster he just defeated, was only one of many avatars of the fallen god. He did not yet know what kind of fallen god it was, but from the foul stench, its horrifying appearance and its unclean energy and power he was certain that it was no friendly deity. Now that this avatar of an unclean fallen god was annihilated, Jianmen couldn''t¡¯ help but notice its power still lingered in the room, and the source of which seemed to be the altar. Jianmen walked over to in front of the altar and carefully observed it from a short distance for a short while: the altar had definitely been drenched in the monster¡¯s power for quite some time, yet even though the monster¡¯s power had proven to be extremely corrosive and toxic, the integrity of the altar still seemed largely intact, which, to Jianmen, was quite a nice surprise. He had been looking for a while around the place he stayed at for things that had affinity to his Xuanli so that he could utilize them to heal his injuries and recover his power. But he was unfortunately not able to find many things that were useful - the two pieces of red paper that he used to craft two high quality Demon Suppression Sigils were the best things he could find so far, and they were made from the leaves of a small poisonous and partly carnivorous plant he found from under a ditch. And right now, the quality of the altar made Jianmen feel as if he was in a video game - he just beat the boss, and the boss left him with treasures and nice equipment. Jianmen sat down and mediated for a short while so that he could recover his Xuanli of which he just expended almost in entirety during the fight. Then he stood up, cut the tip of his left index finger up a bit and dripped a few droplets of blood onto the altar. When his blood started boiling on the top of the altar, Jianmen slammed both of his hands on the altar and started violently pushing his Xuanli into the altar and brushing and sweeping the residual unclean energy away. Faint screams and cries filled the air, the power left by the fallen god was reacting in some kind of conscious way trying to resist being swept away and neutralized by Jianmen¡¯s power. Dark red and green liquid started seeping out from the sole of the altar, but it was not as thick as the liquid with a similar look and smell when the fallen god was still in the room. This kind of liquid will surely cause corruption to the area if left unchecked, but Jianmen was still trying to purge the fallen god¡¯s power from the altar and could not spare any attention on the liquid. ¡°Crack¡± a mechanical sound came from the entrance of the house, somebody came into the room. Jianmen was immediately on alert, but his unclean power purging process just reached a critical moment, so he could not do anything but muster up more of his power in hopes of speeding the process up. ¡°Fuck! What happened!¡± a man¡¯s voice came from upstairs, and Jianmen could easily recognize that this was the leader of the mob that performed the ritual on the first dead man he found this morning. ¡°Fuck!¡± Jianmen cursed in his head, and still continued to rush the process.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°Zeke! What happened here!¡± the man seemed to have found the man that brought Jianmen into the house, ¡°Wake up!¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡­ ¡± Zeke seemed to have woken up, which was a bit odd to Jianmen, since the battle between him and the fallen god was not only extremely loud, but it also literally shook the entire house with the clashes of energy attacks. ¡°Tell me what happened.¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡­ I don¡¯t remember...¡± Zeke¡¯s voice sounded confused and shaky, then he suddenly started moaning loudly and pleaded to the man who came in: ¡°Boss¡­ Boss¡­ get out! Leave! Please!¡± The next moment, Zeke¡¯s shakily moaning voice changed into a deep, painful and inhuman low roar seemingly from the depths of his belly and gut. The man that came in gasped and cried out in fear. And from the subsequent footsteps it sounded like he tried to escape, but he could not even make it to outside of the room in which Zeke was locked, and the next sounds he heard was that of human flesh and organs being torn apart and ripped from their original places, and that of someone, or something, chewing up and devouring these body parts. ¡°Fuck!¡± Jianmen immediately stopped the residual power process midway and rushed to the upper floor, and the moment he came right up from the staircase, he saw what the unfortunate man that just came back saw - a monster with only a vague human shape. This monster still had parts of Zeke¡¯s hoodie and trousers on so that Jianmen could tell this monster was once Zeke. This monster¡¯s upper body was like a cactus made from human flesh and mutated, bloody and protruding bones as its spikes. Running from the top of this human cactus to its root, which was the waist of the monster¡¯s roughly human-shaped body, was three cracks that looked like they could open up at anytime; the monster had two long and thick tentacles of different length for arms and two bird-like legs that folded backwards and also had different length and thickness. It had no eyes, but it sensed the presence of Jianmen and immediately lunged towards him. While the monster was on its way, its upper body shaped like a cactus opened up from the three cracks, revealing that its whole upper body was a big mouth with three pieces of jaws and malformed and crooked teeth scattered all over the interior. Without much of a thought, Jianmen concentrated his Xuanli on his left hand and unleashed a palm strike at the monster¡¯s wide open mouth. Even though it had a terrifying and ferocious look, the monster¡¯s body was extremely fragile, only slightly tougher than that of an average human. But while the palm strike pulverised the monster¡¯s body, it also exposed something that was buried inside its body - the antique scroll. Waves of whispers hit Jianmen the moment the scroll was revealed, the absolute majority of which was nonsense, and a tiny portion of it was seductive messages telling Jianmen to hold and open the scroll. ¡°Karmic Pollutants¡±, Jianmen was instantly aware of what it was, and looked like it was sealed inside the scroll. And from what Jianmen gathered, it seemed to him that the Bleeding Daggers had been performing the crude and uninspired sacrificial rituals and used the power from the rituals to chip away the sealing power of the scroll. Of course, Jianmen¡¯s palm strike also possibly damaged the seal even more. Jianmen knew fully well that at his current stage, he was far from an optimal position to utilize the power of The Law of Karma. He also knew fully well, that at a different universe where he was not fully connected to the Will and the flow of karma, using its power will incur much greater cost to him than before. But even knowing all of this, he still could not just stand by and let the karmic pollutant just take effect, especially right this moment he could himself be a victim of such influence and corruption. Orange and golden lightning lit up in Jianmen¡¯s right hand, and an orange and golden shadow of a palm shot from his right hand landed on the scroll that was floating in mid air the next moment. The explosion and its shockwave rocked the brick house one last time, breaking almost all the windows within a one block radius. The entire house crumbled from within right after the explosion. Chapter 159 When Jianmen woke up, it was already night time as he could see the sky filled with stars from the small gaps in the debris above him. He tried to move but was immediately hit with a grueling pain from his right arm - as he turned his head and checked, he found that his entire right hand was gone, same with the lower half of his right forearm. The self healing ability of his body sealed the wound up and stopped the bleeding, but it was neither possible to completely numb the pain or grow his forearm and hand back, at least not without some time and some conscious effort from Jianmen himself. After pushing some debris aside, Jianmen found a small translucent crystal ball the size of pea by his side - and he was not surprised but still couldn¡¯t help feeling a little bit disappointed. This was the product of cleansing karmic pollutants, kind of like the scar tissue of humans when their wounds heal. It basically served no purpose for the absolute majority of sentient beings in the universe. But for someone who had good connections to karma flows and understood the mechanism of karma, it could be used in a number of ways. And one of these ways, though quite wasteful in Jianmen¡¯s opinion, happened to be the healing of wounds caused by the usage of the Law of Karma when one¡¯s not powerful and in tune with karma flows enough to use it. And when he crawled out of the debris, he saw police tapes all around the outer perimeter of the house. There were a few police cars and one black car with two federal agents in it in the surrounding area, but seemed like all of the officers were more concerned with preventing people from outside of the circle coming in and damaging the scene, than anyone actually making it out. Jianmen found the altar from which he was purging the fallen god¡¯s power, before he got interrupted by the poor leader of the Bleeding Daggers, in the now completely broken building. It seemed like along with the destruction of the scroll and the cleansing of karmic pollutants inside, almost all of the residual power from the fallen god seemed to have dissipated. Jianmen had to be extra careful when he left the scene with the altar on his shoulder - the injuries he inflicted on himself again made his sub-optimal condition even worse. He was debating in his mind whether he wanted to use the small crystal ball on himself - it would be a hell of a waste, and probably wouldn¡¯t even heal his hand to the bare minimum level of basic functionality. He was lucky, that the karmic pollutants sealed in the antique scroll were far from powerful, and he was able to conjure what little bit of the power of the Law of Karma and cleanse them in entirety. The cost was high, but from past experience, long term wise it¡¯s almost always worth it, and the crystals tend to be the center of the ¡°payback¡±. After hiding the altar in a relatively safe place and sealing it with a spell just in case there was some more residual power from the fallen god seeping out of it, he immediately headed for Shawn and Nan¡¯s place. On his way, he checked his old style, cheap but extremely sturdy phone - it was already almost midnight, and he had around thirty to forty missed calls from Nan.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. When he reached the place and knocked on the door, he found that the door was open. Before he entered, he cast a simple illusion spell on his right arm so that Nan wouldn¡¯t see his missing hand and forearm. When he slowly walked into the house, he heard a low weep coming from the center of the living room, and bottles, vases, dishes were broken and scattered all over the floor. ¡°Anyone home?¡± Jianmen carefully walked into the living room and asked. ¡°Oh, Jianmen! You¡¯re alive!¡± Nan stopped weeping and tried to stand up from the ground where she sat: ¡°I¡­ I called you so many times...¡± Jianmen could not say anything, so he just walked over and knelt down by Nan¡¯s side. ¡°Shanyi.... Shanyi¡¯s gone! Shanyi¡¯s gone!¡± Nan grabbed onto Jianmen¡¯s shirt and cried loudly: ¡°My Shanyi¡­ he¡¯s not with me anymore!¡± ¡°I¡¯m so sorry...¡± Jianmen lightly patted on Nan¡¯s back: ¡°So sorry...¡± ¡°Wait, how did you make it back?¡± Nan seemed to have realized something all of a sudden: ¡°They said they found him in a building ¡­ the gangs ...¡± Jianmen went silent, he had a feeling about how this was about to go. ¡°It¡¯s your fault! Isn¡¯t it?! It¡¯s your fault!¡± Nan screamed with tears running down her faces and she used all of her forces to pound on Jianmen¡¯s chest: ¡°My Shanyi would never get involved with gangs!? It must be you! It must be you! You¡¯re the one that pissed off the gangs! It¡¯s your fault...¡± Jianmen sighed, and after a brief moment of thought he decided to let silence be his only answer. ¡°Get out! Get out!¡± Nan¡¯s hands almost tore up Jianmen¡¯s shirt: ¡°Give me back my grandson¡­ You give me back my grandson...¡± ---------------------------------------------- ¡°Damn, Boss.¡± Caroline and Jason looked at each other and said: ¡°That¡¯s rough.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, what can you do?¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°All she knew was that her grandson was a standup young man running a grocery store she started with all her life savings. I came to the store after only a few months and then that happened.¡± ¡°I¡¯d take it that she still doesn¡¯t know till this day?¡± Jason asked. ¡°I think so.¡± Jianmen sighed: ¡°And she doesn¡¯t have to. ¡± ¡°But why do you spend Christmas with her? Why does she even let you?¡± Caroline handed her chosen books to Jianmen. ¡°She didn¡¯t have other relatives, she just had some neighbors she occasionally talks to. And I sort of¡­ inherited some responsibility from Shawn, so I need to take care of her. ¡± Jianmen nodded at Caroline¡¯s choice: ¡°I can¡¯t visit too often - it will bring her much pain. So I had to find a balance, to make sure that she¡¯s taken care of and she¡¯s not too lonely. I also made sure that she stays healthy so that she wouldn¡¯t be tormented more by her loss.¡± ¡°And this Christmas you¡¯ll spend it with her, even though she probably still hates you?¡± Jason shook his head and handed his choice of books to Jianmen: ¡°Yikes, rough holidays, Boss!¡± ¡°Yeah well, I¡¯ll see if the neighbors would invite her.¡± Jianmen chuckled and shrugged: ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me. Just enjoy yours.¡± Chapter 160 All good things must come to an end, even if it was Christmas. After taking them browsing at a floating ring with all kinds of fancy decorations and even enchanted weapons with crazy high prices, it was finally time for Caroline and Jason to leave and go back to their plans. ¡°Damn Boss, how can we make that much? And how to even earn those kinds of special crystal coins?¡± Jason shook his head: ¡°And I¡¯m never going to look at the world with the same eyes again.¡± ¡°Well, just like ruby coins and sapphire coins, they¡¯re special currencies, only this one¡¯s slightly rarer. The best way is to sell valuable merchandise to those who are willing to buy, do some contract work, or be born into a family that own a couple of special material mines.¡± Jianmen chuckled: ¡°And don¡¯t worry, you¡¯re not missing out on much. The things that can be sold tend not to be unique enough.¡± ¡°Hmm. I wonder how much does this cost?¡± Jason brought out his flask and asked jokingly. ¡°I know you¡¯re joking, but if you dare sell anything I give you for your training just for some extra money, I will beat you up.¡± Jianmen looked at Jason and in turn Caroline with a serious expression and said: ¡°But last time I decided I wanted to try and sell one, someone was willing to pay about five sapphire coins for it.¡± ¡°Holy crap! When are you gonna teach us that?¡± Caroline was just giggling on the side when she heard the price someone was willing to pay for her flask. ¡°If you¡¯re interested, I¡¯ll teach you once you reach the fourth layer. It¡¯s really not that difficult, just that you need to find some good material.¡± Jianmen smiled and led them back to a door, when he opened it, the door now led to the diner. ¡°And are you gonna teach us how to get here Boss? So maybe I can come next time?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll give you a key in a bit. But fair warning: don¡¯t buy anything without a price tag; don¡¯t take any loan from anyone; don¡¯t eat or drink anything that looks and smells funky and be very careful with dangerous looking artifact shops. The rest of your money is good for a few things you like, but remember, buyer beware. Don¡¯t be afraid to use your power to examine things.¡± Jianmen stood by the door to let Caroline and Jason through. ¡°That¡¯s a lot of things to take note of, can things really be that scary?¡± Caroline walked through the door first. ¡°Oh, it could be very scary. If you¡¯re not careful it can be the wild west. The rings I brought you to are the safer ones. There are ones where people can literally start a fight over bargaining disputes.¡± The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Huh, sounds like a Christmas fair in my hometown.¡± Caroline chuckled. ¡°Okay. Here.¡± Jianmen walked over to the reception¡¯s desk, took two small and golden keys from a drawer and handed them to Caroline and Jason: ¡°I just locked the location they lead to, just stick them into a normal keyhole and you can go through the door to the same entrance we just went through. ¡± ¡°Thank you Boss, this was really cool.¡± Caroline took her key and looked at Jianmen in the eyes: ¡°The gifts, the¡­ allowance and this shopping trip. It¡¯s really nice of you.¡± ¡°Yeah, and thanks for sharing that story with us too!¡± Jason took his key and nodded: ¡°I really appreciate it.¡± ¡°Actually, before you go.¡± Jianmen turned back and took out two glass jars of tea leaves and gave a jar to Caroline and Jason each: ¡°I want you to know that - if you wanna talk about some things that are bothering you, I am here. I may not be able to give you straight answers because of - you know, complicated business with truths and all that, but I¡¯ll be here for you. No promises on the judgment on my part though.¡± ¡°... thank you Boss, this is really cool.¡± Caroline went silent for a while then nodded: ¡°But I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°Yeah. Boss, don¡¯t worry.¡± Jason exchanged looks with Caroline, then nodded. ¡°If not me, I can recommend someone you can talk to. Kinda like therapists of the supernatural world.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°You don¡¯t have to answer right now. Just know that the option¡¯s there.¡± ¡°Gee, Boss, I don¡¯t know what to say.¡± Jason chuckled nervously: ¡°Maybe...¡± ¡°We¡¯ll think about it.¡± Caroline cut Jason off: ¡°Thanks again, Boss.¡± ¡°Of course. To be a good cultivator, one must not let the horrors one encounters the path cloud their mind and stifles their growth.¡± Jianmen nodded. Overcoming trauma from battles and recovering from them were critical aspects of any cultivator¡¯s path forward. ¡°Demons of the Mind¡± was a term commonly used to describe latent and unresolved past traumas, grudges and obsessions. If a cultivator didn¡¯t resolve their Demons of the Mind, or at least keep them in check, they would not only face significant challenges as they progress further on their paths, but they would also very likely be haunted by their these Demons during tribulations or other critical moments where absolute concentration and focus was required. Should this to happen, not even one out of a thousand cultivators could make it out of the situation alive. ¡°If not me or a therapist, you can talk to Dave. He¡¯s pretty interested in stories, and you can count on him to not pass any judgment. ¡± ¡°... sure. But our gossip will live forever.¡± Jason smelled his jar of tea and made a satisfied sound. --------------------------------------- ¡°Oh, here you are again.¡± when Jianmen knocked on Nan¡¯s door, Nan greeted him with the same cold, uncaring and slightly angry demeanor. ¡°Yes. Here I am. I bought some really nice beef and chicken for porridge.¡± Jianmen raised the two plastic bags in his hand. ¡°Doctor said I shouldn¡¯t eat too much porridge. It¡¯s a potential cause of diabetes.¡± Nan stepped to the side and let Jianmen in, yet her tone did not change one bit. ¡°I¡¯ll cook you anything you want.¡± Jianmen nodded with a smile and walked in: ¡°And if you want I can make you some nice stir fried beef or chicken. Or Szechuan style if you like.¡± ¡°No. I¡¯m afraid of the gout.¡± ¡°Okay. Just let me know what you want to eat.¡± Jianmen put the two plastic bags on the kitchen counter: ¡°You want tea?¡± ¡°Yes. ¡± There was already some tea in the teapot in the kitchen - this was something Jianmen got for Nan, as long as it was plugged in it could keep the tea in optimal temperature. So he just simply took out a small teacup and brought it to Nan. ¡°This is old tea. Make me a new pot.¡± Nan tasted the tea, then handed the teacup back to Jianmen: ¡°And use new tea leaves, my are all old and taste funny.¡± ¡°No problem. Coming right up.¡± Jianmen nodded. ¡°When you¡¯re done. Come and watch TV with me.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± now Jianmen was surprised, for in the past Nan never made this request. Chapter 161 A new pot of tea was quickly brewed, and using a new jar of tea Jianmen brought here himself - it was his enchanted tea infused with very small traces of Xuanli, enough to enhance any normal drinker¡¯s health and make, but not enough to give them any powers or cause them to react badly to it. Nan laid the pot on the small table beside her chair, and poured herself a cup of tea. Jianmen sat down by her side and started watching TV with her. The TV was very old, but still functional. Jianmen did buy Nan a bigger flatscreen TV a few years back, but Nan decided not to use it and still stuck to this old, bulky and low definition TV. In fact, not just the TV, everything in this house remained mostly unchanged for all these years, it was as if Nan was trying to preserve the looks of this place. The wallpaper, the kitchenware, the tables in the dining room, even the old and worn out lamps in the dining room, were all still kept in their places just like before. The TV was playing some very old Chinese New Year program from some very old DVD. The DVD machine was making a lot of noise due it having been used for many years - it was not the one that was originally here before Shawn¡¯s death, but a replacement with the same brand and same model, and even one with the same kind of Chinese user manual and UI. This was partially because the old one was too old to use, and partially because Nan still couldn¡¯t speak or read much English, she let Shawn handle most of the business and communication with people outside of Chinatown, and she couldn¡¯t care less about learning it after Shawn¡¯s death. When the host on the TV started to introduce the audience to the next show, Jianmen turned and took a look at Nan, with a flare of orange and golden light in his eyes. In Jianmen¡¯s sight, there were thin threads and colorful chains connected to Nan¡¯s body, but they were much fewer than the average person¡¯s - from Jianmen¡¯s experience, this was mostly because of Nan¡¯s isolated life, as these chains and threads represented the main flows of karma that went through and around a person¡¯s life and time. And among these chains and threads, there was one chain that was the thickest. It shined red and was connected to the back of Nan¡¯s head. Jianmen sighed in his heart - this was the chain of mortality, in theory everyone has one, and it was basically the way in which the Will stays connected to the soul of a person, and eventually claims their soul when they die. And from the looks of the chain, the Will was about to claim her. And there was not much anyone could do, without actually disrupting the karma flow. Jianmen could help, at least now he was able to offer greater help now, unlike the case with Shawn, where his unknowing intervention led to much more violent snapback. And in Nan¡¯s case, her fate was not tied to any karmic pollutants, which meant even if Jianmen interfered, the snapback at Nan or the cost to Jianmen wouldn¡¯t be as harsh and violent. But after some consideration, Jianmen decided not to intervene. As a matter of fact, Jianmen already sort of intervened - by his taking care of Nan all these years and making sure she was in good health, her fate was already altered, bettered.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Jianmen was quite sure, that back in the day when he threw his phone and stopped Shawn from getting shot by the goon sent by the Zhangs, he actually interrupted the plan by which the Will attempted to keep the karmic pollutants sealed in the antique scrolls in hidden and their corruptive power slowly being chipped away by time. Then almost seeming like a form of punishment, Shawn died, and Jianmen lost his right hand. If he had his current strength back then, he would have seen it coming and handled the whole situation in a much more graceful way. ¡°I want steamed fish for dinner.¡± Nan said: ¡°Go buy me some fresh live bass and steam it for me, Cantonese style.¡± ¡°The Chinese supermarkets are almost closed. There won¡¯t be live fish.¡± Jianmen said. ¡°I don¡¯t care, I just want steamed bass.¡± ¡°Okay, just wait here.¡± Jianmen stood up and walked out the house. A live bass was not much of a trouble for Jianmen, he just needed to act like it was a difficult thing, so that Nan would take the chance to be hard on him. Swiftly teleported back to the inn and grabbed a normal bass from the lakes in his farm, then Jianmen waited a short while before he went back to Nan¡¯s place so that it wouldn¡¯t raise any suspicions. ¡°They actually still have the fish, I¡¯ll prepare them. Cantonese style, yes?¡± ¡°I also want frogs. Make me a spicy frog pot.¡± ¡°Will do. I think the supermarket I went to still has some frogs.¡± They ended up having too many dishes for dinner - a steamed bass, a spicy frog pot, a plate of stir fried vegetables, and a plate of barbeque short ribs. Nan didn¡¯t have much appetite, so Jianmen cleaned up all of the leftovers by himself. ¡°Jianmen, you have a plan to marry yet?¡± when Jianmen was doing the dishes after dinner, Nan asked from the living room. ¡°No. Not in the near future.¡± ¡°Do you at least have a girlfriend?¡± ¡°... No.¡± ¡°What a pity and a shame.¡± Nan said after a short moment of silence: ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted a grandson, or a granddaughter. It¡¯s just¡­ well, you should have someone someday. ¡± ¡°Thank you, but I¡¯m not in a rush right now. I still have a lot of time.¡± ¡°Yeah, right. You¡¯re what? Thirty five? Forty? You should hurry before all the good girls who might be interested in you are gone. It¡¯s not easy for men your age right now.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, I have my plans.¡± The evening quickly flew by, and Jianmen helped Nan onto her bed and adjusted the temperature in her room to make sure she was warm. ¡°You can make me that beef porridge tomorrow morning.¡± before Jianmen left the room, Nan told him: ¡°And some warm soy milk.¡± ¡°No problem.¡± Jianmen nodded and went to the living room, then he sat on the sofa and started meditating. About three or four hours into the night, Jianmen felt something from Nan¡¯s room. When Jianmen went into Nan¡¯s room with the same orange and golden flare in his eyes, he saw that the thick red chain once connected to the back of Nan¡¯s head started pulling a small shining ball of light up towards the ceiling, and in turn, the sky above. ¡°Farewell, Nan.¡± Chapter 162 ¡°Clap!¡± a forceful slap made a loud sound that filled the room, and left a red hand mark on the face of George Corin¡¯s face. ¡°You ¡­ fucking useless imbecile!¡± Walt Coring cursed at his second in command in name, his younger brother: ¡°Do you know how much we had to pay for those three gifteds? What were you thinking?¡± ¡°I¡­ I just got the intel that those two cops are in Emilia¡¯s pocket so I wanted to send a message...¡± George Corin stammered with his left hand on his cheek: ¡°I didn¡¯t know she¡¯d hire someone else to ambush them!¡± ¡°And how many times have I told you not to do anything with any supposed intel about Emilia that just happened to surface on the street? ¡± Walt Corin¡¯s finger pointed at George Corin was shaking due to his anger: ¡°And how many times have I told you that you can¡¯t run a plan with the gifted mercs without consulting me?! Now not only did you waste three of our best mercs, you also wasted another chance to get some intel from that bitch¡¯s operation! Have you even considered for one minute that we could use those two dirty desperate cops as our way in?¡± ¡°No...¡± ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯re the fucking imbecile and the shame of the whole fucking family! ¡± Walt Corin was almost jumping and stomping when: ¡°From now on, you stay out of the business, you continue with your little dispensaries on the streets and leave the fight to the seat of the table to me! You understand?¡± ¡°... yes.¡± ¡°Boss, Ricardo just called for you.¡± just this moment, a middle aged man in a grey suit went into the room and interrupted the conversation: ¡°He has only five minutes.¡± ¡°On my way.¡± Walt Corin raced out of the room. George Corin watched as Walt Corin left. Shortly after the door was closed, he frustratedly yelled and flipped the expensive coffee table in the room, shattering the glass tabletop. ¡°Roland, who is that contact that we have to buy the red crystals?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea sir.¡± the middle aged man in a grey suit said: ¡°If you put orders on the market for the crystals, it might create the unwanted image that our family is lacking in it. This will be a sign of weakness.¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°I don¡¯t care! Just tell me the goddamn contact!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t tell you that, sir. That contact is still in the hands of Mr. Walt Corin.¡± the middle aged man in a grey suit shook his head: ¡°You¡¯ll need to ask him for it.¡± ¡°Fuck you! Fuck you, you little spineless piece of shit!¡± George Corin stormed out of the room. In the other room, Walt Corin connected with Ricardo Corin via a landline phone, who was locked in prison and serving time for conspiracy of murder. ¡°You got the intel I want?¡± this was the first thing Walt asked. ¡°Yes. And more.¡± Ricardo answered: ¡°Took a whole lot of effort, but I got what you were asking for.¡± ¡°Tell me.¡± ¡°There¡¯s this really nice hipster coffee place in Palo Alto, where the rich and boring kind go to get their coffee and pumpkin spiced lattes and apple fritters.¡± Ricardo paused for a short moment, then started speaking very carefully: ¡°You¡¯ve gotta be invited or have a membership card to ask for anything on the hidden menu. From what I heard, they can make you a fine cup of drip coffee with the best cocoa beans.¡± ¡°... understood, thank you for the recommendation.¡± Walt Corin wrote some notes on a simple piece of notepad: ¡°Palo Alto warehouse, need contact.¡± then he asked: ¡°Do you know where I can get a membership?¡± ¡°Ask Rose. She knows.¡± Ricardo answered simply then asked: ¡°Have you found the man that put me here?¡± ¡°No. ¡± Walt sighed: ¡°I¡¯ve been looking and asking all over, there was almost nothing about the man on the street. No one has heard of this Chinese man who can take away people¡¯s powers. It¡¯s like he¡¯s a ghost.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not possible. He must have left some tracks.¡± ¡°If you can think of anything, call me again. You didn¡¯t really give me much to go on. There¡¯s like a million and a half Chinese men in the bay.¡± After hanging up the phone, Walt Corin walked back to the previous room where Roland was still waiting for him. He took a disgusted and frustrated look at the broken coffee table, then asked: ¡°Roland, you know something about a warehouse in Palo Alto? I just got word from Ricardo that I¡¯ll need to talk to someone there.¡± ¡°There are no warehouses in Palo Alto anymore. The place is too expensive for that kind of business.¡± ¡°Come on, Roland. Throw me a bone here.¡± Walt Corin shook his head impatiently: ¡°I know you¡¯re not supposed to start serving me until I¡¯ve got the seat at the table, but right now I¡¯m practically there. There¡¯s nothing Emilia can do to replace me. So why don¡¯t you do me a solid and let me in on the need-to-know so I can wrap this whole charade up?¡± Rolland stayed silent for a while, then nodded: ¡°Okay. It¡¯s not a warehouse. It¡¯s a nightclub. You¡¯ll wanna ask for the manager. And when they say the manager is not there, tell them you¡¯ll look for them in the loft.¡± ¡°Noted. Thank you.¡± Walt Corin took out his cellphone and diabled a number: ¡°Hey, Ira? The plan¡¯s a go. Let¡¯s set it up.¡± ¡°You¡¯re sure Emilia will fall for this ¡®deal¡¯ you have?¡± after Walt Corin finished with his phone call, Rolland asked: ¡°I want you to know, sir, that employing an external arms dealer in this kind of operation is very unorthodox and could be ¡­ frowned upon by people at the table.¡± ¡°Well, then the table could use some out of the box thinking.¡± Walt Corin shook his head: ¡°And as a back up, I will get some more help from the warehouse - nightclub. ¡± ¡°Good luck with your plans.¡± Rolland nodded. ¡°Oh, and¡­ just out of curiosity.¡± Walt Corin was just about to walk out of the room before he turned to Rolland once again: ¡°Do you happen to know some ¡­ expendable small time players. Like a dive bar motorcycle gang or a smaller Los Diablos?¡± Chapter 163 In a quiet and luxurious high end restaurant, Emilia sat down on the opposite side of the table to Carol Summers. She was wearing a simple coat, a long sleeve shirt and wearing jean trousers, and she appeared a bit unnerved because she appeared to be slightly underdressed for the occasion, while Carol Summers was wearing a tidy and well-designed white suit. ¡°Thanks for meeting me here.¡± Carol Summers nodded and Emilia Corin: ¡°How have you been?¡± ¡°I am feeling underdressed. ¡± Emilia Corin chuckled nervously, ¡°What¡¯s the occasion?¡± ¡°Just have something I want to talk to you about.¡± Carol Summers flipped open the menu placed in front of her: ¡°Oh, you should really try the foie gras or duck confit at this place, it is to die for. And order away, it¡¯s my treat.¡± ¡°Thank ¡­ thank you?¡± Emilia Corin also opened the menu, but still looked at Carol Summers from time to time: ¡°I think I¡¯ll have the duck confit then, I could never get used to foie gras.¡± ¡°Hmm, touche¡¯.¡± Carol Summers closed her menu and handed it to the waitress: ¡°I¡¯ll have the venison steak, medium rare.¡± ¡°Excellent choice, what about you, miss?¡± the waitress asked Emilia Corin. ¡°Duck confit, please.¡± Emilia Corin also handed in her menu. ¡°So, how have you been?¡± after the waitress left, Carol Summers asked. ¡°Good, good. Trying to stay out of the spotlight and prepare for my thing.¡± Emilia did not get into details: ¡°And I am very grateful for the wonderful man power you brokered for us. I hope you¡¯ll know that I look forward to more of our collaborations.¡± ¡°Thank you. I am just glad you liked our services. ¡± Carol Summers smiled: ¡°You know, being the biggest broker in the area means I¡¯ll be taking most of the heat, it¡¯s nice to have appreciative customers.¡± ¡°And I don¡¯t presume you invite all of your appreciative customers to expensive dinners at a place where all your employees are guarding us while we eat.¡± Emilia Corin took a gentle sip of the ice water and said: ¡°May I know what this is about?¡±Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°I like your eagerness and caution.¡± Carol Summers shook her head: ¡°Why don¡¯t we talk it over during the entree?¡± ¡°Yeah, I am just extremely curious. Otherwise it might kinda ruin my appetite.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s nothing.¡± Carol Summers chuckled: ¡°And you¡¯re right, I don¡¯t just invite any customer to dinner at this fine place. And my employees here are just for my - our safety. You know, being the biggest broker, and being a real estate investor and developer can bring about a fair share of dangerous threats.¡± ¡°Hopefully one day I¡¯ll have to worry about my safety like that.¡± Emilia Corin smiled. ¡°Oh, you will, perhaps even more than me. You¡¯re competing for a seat at your family¡¯s highest table, no?¡± Carol Summers waved at a man in suit standing behind her: ¡°And from what I heard, the competition¡¯s pretty stiff for you.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if I should discuss family business here -¡± ¡°If you must know. This once belonged to a pretty interesting individual.¡± Carol Summers told Emilia Corin as the man in a suit brought a piece of jewelry with very long metal chains on the table: ¡°If you don¡¯t know what this is, it¡¯s fine. Just know that the previous owner wrapped it around her whole left arm.¡± ¡°... I¡¯m sorry I am not sure what you meant?¡± ¡°I¡¯m still getting there.¡± Carol Summers gently pushed the jewelry to Emilia Corin: ¡°Like I said, I heard that you¡¯re dealing with very stiff competition. And I am more convinced, as I just recently came across a witless group of man children on motorcycles who intended to do me harm. And when I asked very nicely who hired them, as they could have never pulled off such a plan by themselves, guess who they told me it was?¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°They told me it¡¯s you.¡± ¡°What? How? I¡¯ve never...¡± Emilia Corin stammered and almost stood up: ¡°You must believe me, Ms. Summers, I could never...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I know it¡¯s not you.¡± Carol Summers shook her head: ¡°It¡¯s indeed quite a bold but creative solution. This interesting individual I just mentioned? Her specialty was creating false memories. And for a group of simpletons like those man children, manipulating them was a piece of cake for her. If it was anyone else, then I would¡¯ve probably bitten the bait. But your competition clearly underestimated my capabilities. So I took away some dear possession of hers and decided maybe you should have it. If you¡¯re as resourceful as I thought you were, you¡¯ll find a use for this.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Emilia Corin exhaled in relief. ¡°It was your cousin Walt, isn¡¯t it?¡± Carol Summers looked at Emilia Corin deep in her eyes and asked: ¡°The two brightest next generation leaders, competing for one seat amongst a bunch of old timers who will not die.¡± ¡°... he tried to lure me in with a fake deal with an arms dealer. I guess that¡¯s his backup plan.¡± Emilia Corin sighed and answered: ¡°I am sorry, I didn¡¯t know he¡¯d go this far.¡± ¡°And as a retribution for your competition, I¡¯d like to provide you with more of my support. ¡± Carol Summers nodded at Emilia Corin, at the same time the waitress brought over the food they ordered: ¡°Consider this dinner, pitch dinner for this business proposal.¡± ¡°Okay. Thank you.¡± Emilia Corin took a deep breath and asked, then she picked up the silver utensils: ¡°What do you propose?¡± ¡°I offer you with more of my help. Not just the talented contractors I can broker for you. But my personal help.¡± ¡°And what would your price be?¡± ¡°Simple, I would like your allegiance in my future business and endeavors.¡± Chapter 164 ¡°Aimee, you¡¯re ready?¡± Thomas knocked on the door to Aimee¡¯s room: ¡°The coffee¡¯s getting cold and your donuts are gonna get gone and I don¡¯t wanna run across the street and buy more.¡± ¡°Okay, okay. I¡¯m done.¡± Aimee opened the door and came out in her clean and tidy suit: ¡°Let¡¯s go find the captain and get this over with.¡± ¡°And after all that business I¡¯ll start tasting donuts differently.¡± Thomas laughed out loud, and when met with Aimee¡¯s judgmental look, he shrugged: ¡°What? We¡¯re still cops! I can¡¯t make a donut joke?¡± ¡°We¡¯re making a decision today, Thomas.¡± Aimee looked at Thomas¡¯s clothes and sighed: ¡°And please tell me you have an idea how to tell Dad.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m just thinking: ¡®Hey Dad, guess what? We don¡¯t wanna be cops anymore! The crimes still suck, and the funding¡¯s shrinking. So we¡¯re out!¡¯¡± Thomas waved his hands in the air and said. ¡°Ha-ha.¡± Aimee shook her head and walked over to the kitchen to eat her donuts, ¡°Umm, Jen¡¯s Donut¡¯s still good.¡± ¡°Well, look who¡¯s talking.¡± Thomas laughed and finished his coffee. After both Detective Chavers finished with their breakfast, they drove to the SJPD precinct in which they worked for several years. The last few weeks was the first time they ever took a leave from work, and they were feeling quite uneasy about delivering their letters of resignation right on the day they¡¯re back. Not to mention many colleagues came to visit while they were on leave and wished them a soon recovery and expressed that they were missed at work. The only ones who might be able to understand were probably Caroline and Jason, who dropped by about a week ago. ¡°You¡¯re sure we¡¯re making the right choice?¡± when both of them were standing right in front of the captain¡¯s office waiting for the captain to come back, Aimee asked Thomas nervously. ¡°Sis, you¡¯ve asked this question a few dozen times.¡± Thomas took a big gulp from his thermal mug: ¡°But you know we¡¯re making the correct choice. It¡¯s the right thing to do, SJPD will no longer be a right place for either of us.¡± ¡°Yes. I know, I know, it¡¯s the logical choice.¡± Aimee sighed: ¡°It¡¯s just ¡­ this wasn¡¯t how I pictured my life would turn out! You know? I was expecting a few more years and I¡¯ll make it as a lieutenant, then after maybe a decade of struggling and hard work, I will become a captain.¡± ¡°Then you¡¯ll be the first ever captain to get bitten by a freakin¡¯ vampire!¡± ¡°Aimee, Thomas, I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re here already.¡± at this very moment, the captain came back to his office with : ¡°You remember the ¡®Drainer¡¯ case you worked on a few years back? We believe the killer was back, or maybe a copycat. Whatever it was, I want you both back on this case ASAP.¡± Thomas tried to interrupt: ¡°Actually, Captain...¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°Yes, I know you¡¯re just back and need to get up to speed. But this is kind of a crisis situation - with all the related gang activities on the rise, we are extremely short on officers and detectives. So please, get on this right away. You know the ¡®Drainer¡¯ the most, we have no one to count on but you.¡± ¡°We¡¯re on it.¡± before Thomas could attempt to object, Aimee already acknowledged the request from the captain. ¡°What? We are?¡± Thomas stared at Aimee. ¡°Yes. We are.¡± Aimee gave Thomas a warning look then turned to the captain: ¡°Where¡¯s the body?¡± ¡°In the morgue, I think Rob has . A young girl, same M.O., but this time the scene was messier, which is why we suspected it might be a copycat.¡± the captain handed them one of his many folders in his hand: ¡°Figure this out, as soon as possible. It¡¯d be great if we can wrap this up before Christmas. I know it¡¯s weeks away, but we could really use a break before then.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Aimee nodded nervously as the captain went back into his office. ¡°What the hell Aimee? What happened to doing the right and logical thing?¡± Thomas asked Aimee in a low voice when they walked away from the captain¡¯s office. ¡°The department¡¯s underhanded! Plus we still have a few months of time, we could still do this.¡± Aimee¡¯s facial expressions showed that she was not so sure of her answer either: ¡°I mean¡­ we CAN do this.¡± ¡°Alright, it¡¯s your choice.¡± Thomas sighed: ¡°But we¡¯ll need to leave the force eventually.¡± ¡°Alright, alright, I know!¡± ------------------------------------------- ¡°Hey Rob, we¡¯re here to check on the body, suspected killed by the ¡®Drainer¡¯. ¡± when Thomas went into the morgue with Aimee behind her, there was already someone they knew there waiting for them. ¡°Thomas, Aimee, welcome back. How you¡¯re feeling?¡± Rob laid down the tablet in his hands and walked over to greet the detectives: ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be back so soon. You need more rest!¡± ¡°Thank you, Rob. But duty calls.¡± Aimee sighed asked: ¡°So, I trust that you already had your preliminary examinations of the body? Anything stood out to you?¡± ¡°Alright, hopefully this doesn¡¯t bring back any bad memories. But this is exactly what I read from the past notes on the ¡®Drainer¡¯. So, Captain thinks this is some copycat, but I think this is definitely the same killer from years ago.¡± ¡°Okay. What makes you think so?¡± Thomas asked. ¡°I took some samples of our poor Jane Doe¡¯s blood. ¡± Rob walked over to a body on an operating table covered by white cloth: ¡°Our victim, Pamela Higgins, fitted the Drainer victim profile almost perfectly - young and troubled girls with no close family and involved with the wrong gang, and also a drug addict - you see these needle holes on her arms? ¡± ¡°Okay, but those details are public .¡± Aimee flipped the white cloth over and looked at the young girl¡¯s pale body: ¡°Oh, and she¡¯s a redhead, like two of the previous victims.¡± ¡°Yes, it definitely fits the Drainer¡¯s preferences, the list of victims doesn¡¯t limit to only redheads, but consists mostly of them. And this is one of the reasons I think this is the Drainer, not the copycat.¡± Rob walked to the right side of the body and pointed at the body¡¯s neck and wrist: ¡°You see these? These are puncture wounds on the body, NOT on the arteries and teeth marks around them, the same kind of wounds on the past victims. This is not public, right?¡± ¡°Yes. But it was leaked on the news anyway. Some tabloid ran the leaked document, and Captain was really pissed¡± Aimee shook her head. ¡°Okay, then what about this?¡± Rob was surprised by what Aimee said, but then he turned back and picked up a small vial of red liquid: ¡°This is the victim¡¯s blood, you see, after all this time it was still mostly liquid? I was wondering, with these couple of small puncture wounds, and not on the arteries no less, how the hell can someone kill a person just by draining them? The answer? Blood thinner, and a very potent kind.¡± ¡°Which is the same thing that remained in the previous victim¡¯s bodies. And just like previous victims, their wounds were not on any major arteries. This info is still not public till this day.¡± Thomas looked at Aimee with grave concerns in his eyes. ¡°Yes. The records didn¡¯t say what kind of blood thinner the Drainer used, and just documented some chemical characteristics. At first I thought it was a mistake.¡± Rob continued, with excitement and not noticing the worried looks on Thomas and Aimee¡¯s faces: ¡°But when I double checked, it turned out they didn¡¯t know what it was! So now I¡¯m gonna run a deeper match against all known blood thinners, thanks to development of tech, this is possible now.¡± ¡°Thank you Rob. Great work!¡± Aimee headed to the exit of the morgue: ¡°Please let us know what you find.¡± Chapter 165 Thomas and Aimee arrived at the scene where the poor girl¡¯s body was found - it was at the corner of the street in a pretty run down neighborhood at south San Jose. According to field officers, the body was found by some early morning pedestrians. From the signs of the scene, there was not much useful evidence at the scene, and since it had rained lightly the night before, what evidence that might have remained could have already been swept away. What made matters worse for both Aimee and Thomas, was that the neighborhood was not only pretty run down, it was also a notoriously high crime rate neighborhood. The area had its fair share of street punks and drug dealers roaming around almost all the time and was technically the edge area of some local gang¡¯s turf. ¡°Nah, I ain¡¯t heard nothing.¡± when being interviewed by Aimee and Thomas, the owner of a cigarette store shook his head and answered with an empty and slightly dismissive tone: ¡°I don¡¯t know what to tell ya. At night I usually get waaay high with my boys and and hit the nacho and burrito store down the road, so I ain¡¯t know nothing about your dead girl.¡± ¡°Okay, thank you for your cooperation. If you can think of anything, call us.¡± Aimee sighed, and passed over a piece of note with her and Thomas¡¯s phone number on it. ¡°Yeah, sure officer.¡± the owner went back into his store, and didn¡¯t even wait till Aimee and Thomas left to throw the note away. ¡°So, like I said. The people are not willing to just talk to cops. We need to find the CI first.¡± Thomas almost gave the cigarette store the finger: ¡°That is ¡­ if he¡¯s still willing to talk.¡± ¡°Oh, he¡¯s willing to talk.¡± Aimee said: ¡°He¡¯s gonna talk.¡± ¡°Yeah? Let¡¯s hope he forgave you for arresting his cousin and not letting the unpaid tickets slide.¡± ¡°No. Nonono. Get out!¡± when Aimee and Thomas found the place at which their CI, or to be more accurate, their former CI, worked, the man they were looking for almost threw them out immediately: ¡°I don¡¯t wanna talk to you. Either of you! Especially you, Miss, Ma¡¯am! You pretentious, stone-cold, up tight cun - bit - pig!¡± ¡°Yeah. The first two would¡¯ve been less hurtful.¡± Thomas had his left hand on the store¡¯s door to not let their former CI close it on them: ¡°Listen, Stuart, please just hear us out first. I promise you it¡¯s for a really good cause.¡± ¡°Yeah. Tom, you know, I¡¯m just some guy on the streets barely getting by, good causes don¡¯t agree with me and don¡¯t pay the fucking bills. You see my fucking store?¡± Stuart opened the door slightly to show them the insides of his store: ¡°This is a fucking grandpa and grandma store that sells canned fruit, pickled eggs and beef jerkies that taste like shoes. And grandpa and grandma fucking cheap as hell ¡®cause I can¡¯t pass a fucking 25 dollar background check!¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°This is your store. You don¡¯t do background checks. And no background checks cost only 25 dollars.¡± Aimee said. ¡°Oh, fuck me, man!¡± Stuart stared and pointed at Aimee: ¡°You¡¯re a piece of work, you know that lady?¡± ¡°Okay. Calm down Okay Stuart? ¡± Thomas pushed Stuart¡¯s hand down and said in a more serious tone: ¡°Can you at least hear us out? We¡¯ll pay you, and we¡¯ll pay extra, just in case you need to remodel your store.¡± ¡°Thomas, you know we can¡¯t just randomly up the CI payments.¡± Aimee grabbed Thomas by the arm and said: ¡°We need Captain¡¯s approval.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s some stupid fucking rules ¡­ to bring up right now. We¡¯ll cover it first. The Captain should reimburse us later.¡± Thomas shook his head, then he turned to Stuart: ¡°We¡¯ll cover it, just hear us out.¡± ¡°Okay. But I¡¯d like some payments up front.¡± ¡°Here. You fucking blood sucker.¡± Thomas pulled out his wallet and handed a 20 dollar bill to Stuart: ¡°We¡¯ll pay when we have the information we needed.¡± ¡°A 20? What am I, a fucking peasant?¡± Stuart was unimpressed and sounded offended, but it didn¡¯t stop him from taking the money. ¡°Here¡¯s another. Your information better be good.¡± Thomas let out a long exhale and gave Stuart another 20 dollar bill. ¡°Just 40? I...¡± ¡°Stuart? I swear to god ¡­ ¡± ¡°Okay, okay, you drive a hard fucking bargain, come on in.¡± ------------------------------------------------------------- ¡°Well, not the worst two hundred dollars we¡¯ve spent.¡± when Thomas and Aimee found the place the victim was staying at when she was alive using the information provided by Stuart, Aimee finally stopped cursing at Stuart internally, ¡°Living with in a crowded apartment building, using an alias and paying mostly cash, it could take weeks to track her down through the normal routes.¡± No one actually knows what the unfortunate girl¡¯s real name is, the only traces of her identity they could find so far were a few fake IDs with mediocre quality. And one of which happened to seem really familiar to both Aimee and Thomas, because it was very likely the work of Stuart himself. The alias she used to stay in this apartment was Tracy Lane. Though often late, she managed to be mostly up to date with her rent, which was apparently one of the reasons that the management at this apartment building knew about her when Aimee and Thomas asked. ¡°Thank you sir.¡± Thomas nodded at the old man in charge of managing the apartments: ¡°Do you happen to know who she hanged out with? Any frequent visitors? Friends?¡± ¡°All I know is she seemed to hang out with some rambunctious and troublesome young people her own age. But, I hardly know any of them because none of them live here. I just know their faces and what they like to wear. I am quite good with these.¡± the old man was slow to respond but he had a soothing voice: ¡°It helps, but probably not as much. If you have pictures of someone you suspected, I can tell you if they showed up here before.¡± ¡°Thank you. That¡¯s very kind of you.¡± Aimee thanked the old man again as he opened the door for her and Thomas. ¡°Always happy to help. ¡± the old man stepped to the side to let the detectives in: ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting outside for you. Take your time.¡± A strange smell hit both Aimee and Thomas when they entered the apartment, it was not a good smell and it was not something either of them had experienced before. Aimee and Thomas exchanged looks, then they started looking around in the living room. ¡°Uh. What do you think this is? Crack? Meth?¡± Thomas picked up a small piece of rolled up paper with a little bit of residual white powder inside when he looked under one of the dirty couches. ¡°So not just needles.¡± Aimee sighed and as she opened a drawer, she saw an empty syringe inside, as well as a broken piece of tooth: ¡°Now that we know what we know - what do you think these ¡­ people want from girls like her?¡± ¡°Well, my first thought was that the drugs changed their blood chemistry.¡± Thomas looked under a table and found a boba rewards card: ¡°Pity, she was only three more drinks away from a free waffle.¡± Just this moment, a cracking sound came from the bathroom, it sounded like someone was trying to open the window from inside. ¡°I thought there¡¯s no one else here?¡± Aimee and Thomas immediately drew their guns. Chapter 166 ¡°Police! Hands on your head and walk out slowly!¡± Aimee said loudly to the bathroom door: ¡°Walk out slowly, NOW!¡± The other side of the bathroom door stayed silent for a while, it seemed like whoever was in there was not willing to respond to Aimee and Thomas¡¯s orders, either it was out of fear, or it was because the person was trying to figure something out. ¡°Get out! NOW!¡± Thomas yelled: ¡°Or else we¡¯re coming in!¡± The door burst opened the next second, and apparently not in the direction it usually opens, a man wearing an old and worn out hoodie and a whole head of messed up hair rushed out in a surprising speed. Before neither Aimee or Thomas could point their guns at him, the man already shoulder bashed both of them out of his way and seemingly with inhuman reaction speed, knocked their guns away. ¡°Fuck!¡± Thomas cursed out loud, and before his body hit the ground, he was able to take out his taser gun and aimed at the man, who was still close up but was trying to run away. Aimee was able to do the same thing - something not many could do, and with two almost simultaneous clicks, two pairs of taser probes shot from their taser guns and landed on the man¡¯s back of his waist and his butt. ¡°Shiiiiiieeeeeeet!¡± the man cried like he was singing in a broken tone, his whole body was twitching as he fell down on the floor. Even when the man was lying on the ground, Thomas still pressed the electrocute button on his taser to make sure that the man could not get up. ¡°Officers? Are you okay? What happened?¡± the old man waiting by the door looked into the apartment and asked. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re fine. ¡± Aimee stood up and answered: ¡°Actually, can you give us a moment? We caught this perp running around in the victim¡¯s apartment, and we want to ask him some questions before bringing him in.¡± ¡°Okay. I¡­ I¡¯ll wait from the hallway. Be careful officers.¡± the old man appeared scared and tried his best to move away from the scene. When the man was still incapacitated by the taser, Aimee and Thomas held him up and cuffed him to a chair in the room. After the old man out the door walked away, they examined the man¡¯s mouth, and saw that the man had several bizarrely sharp teeth in his mouth, while a few of his normal looking teeth on the upper jaw was loose and were almost falling out.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Okay. You just assaulted two police officers on duty. We¡¯d really appreciate your cooperation unless you wanna face some jail time.¡± Thomas asked: ¡°Who are you? What are you doing in this apartment?¡± ¡°Do you know the girl who used to live in this place?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°Please let me go¡­ please let me go!¡± the man cried: ¡°You¡¯re making a big mistake!¡± ¡°Tell us what we wanna know first, then we¡¯ll determine if it¡¯s a mistake.¡± Thomas said. ¡°These people after her - they¡¯ll kill me! And they¡¯ll kill you!¡± the man¡¯s face was dripping with tears and snot: ¡°They¡¯ll kill everyone! Even if you¡¯re cops! Even the feds! They don¡¯t care!¡± ¡°Who are these people?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know! I don¡¯t !¡± the man lowered his head and started sobbing: ¡°Please¡­ just let me go. They¡¯ll fucking kill me! Please¡­ please let me go...¡± ¡°Answer the fucking question! Who are these people?¡± Thomas asked loudly and sternly. ¡°I don¡¯t know! I don¡¯t know! Please...¡± ¡°Are they vampires?¡± Aimee asked in a cold, calm and emotionless tone. The man raised his head and stared at both Aimee and Thomas with his eyes opened wide as if he was staring into something horrifying: ¡°What ¡­ why¡­ HOW did you¡­ Oh my god! You¡¯re them! You work for them! Please don¡¯t hurt me¡­ please! Please don¡¯t hurt me!¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± Thomas stomped the ground to knock the man out of his frantic cries and pleas: ¡°We¡¯re not them. And we don¡¯t work for them. Tell us what you know about them.¡± ¡°They ¡­ they¡¯re on the streets! They¡¯re everywhere! ¡± the man started babbling about everything he knew - or everything he thought he knew: ¡°They gave us drugs, and told us to sell them for cheap and hook more people up. All we need to do for them, is give them blood once every few weeks...¡± ¡°Fucking blood suckers - they¡¯re running a free range farm here!¡± Thomas kicked a small coffee stool to the side, almost shattering it on the wall: ¡°Is this what they¡¯ve been doing here? What the fuck!? What the actual fuck!? What - ¡± ¡°Calm down, Thomas.¡± Aimee slapped Thomas on the back of his head: ¡°Get it together, we have a perp on drugs here.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Tell us then, what about the girl? Why¡¯d they kill her and leave them on the street?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know. Some fucking youngsters went rogue and some shit¡­ please, you gotta help me. Please let me go! They¡¯ll fucking kill me!¡± ¡°Sorry. But we can get you into protective custody.¡± Thomas nodded: ¡°And you better clean yourself up before we call you in.¡± ¡°No! Nononono No! Please don¡¯t send me in! They have people in the police departments! They¡¯ll fucking kill me if they know I talked!¡± the man begged: ¡°I¡¯ll tell you everything right here right now! Their fucking heroin supply chain, their operations, everything! Please let me go!¡± ¡°Okay, talk.¡± Thomas gave Aimee a look, then asked: ¡°Where do they operate? What¡¯s their agenda? And tell us why you¡¯re here.¡± ¡°Okay ¡­ okay¡­ they operate in this neighborhood. They have a nightclub called ¡®Night Dwellers¡¯ Hangout¡¯, it¡¯s the center of their operation and they have a lot of contacts with the local gangs - in fact they¡¯re the biggest buyers with a fucking wholesale discount! They¡¯re pumping us with drugs so our blood tastes sweeter - Tina and I were going to run away from this whole shit, but ...¡± Before he could continue, his mouth started foaming, his whole body started twitching and trembling and his eyes were rolling back. ¡°Fuck¡­ Aimee, call the ambulance instead!¡± Thomas turned back and said loudly. The man growled in a low tone from his throat and opened his mouth wide. Thomas just turned back and took one look, and he saw that the loose teeth from the man¡¯s upper jaw fell out from his gums. Then just like some kind of freak sci-fi show, he saw that some pointy fangs were poking out from the bloody holes where the man¡¯s normal teeth were. ¡°Motherf - FUCK!¡± Chapter 167 Within just about twenty minutes, an ambulance arrived at the front gate of the apartment building. Four EMT workers went in and took the still twitching and trembling man away. Aimee and Thomas insisted that the man remain cuffed and that they escort the ambulance when they¡¯re done with the preliminary check of the apartment. ¡°Teeth in the sink.¡± Aimee took a few pictures of the bathroom: ¡°I feel like this is gonna be some kind of trend - have you read the case files from SFPD on their missing lead forensic scientist? ¡± ¡°Yeah, I am pretty sure you¡¯re the only one who¡¯s not involved with the case reading it.¡± Thomas bagged the syringe, broken tooth and folded paper with residual power as evidence: ¡°What¡¯s it said?¡± ¡°When they entered her apartment to see if they could find any clues, with Jason and Caroline. And they found her freshly removed teeth in her sink, as well as her hair and pieces of her skin.¡± Aimee came out from the bathroom and said: ¡°I wonder if it was the same case with Dr. Nguyen.¡± ¡°Speaking of Jason and Caroline. Do you think we should ask them for help on this?¡± Thomas asked when he opened another drawer and found some messily folded up store receipts in it. ¡°They did seem knowledgeable enough regarding things related to the occult. At least they seemed more helpful than the other previous consultants the SFPD had. But this is way too dangerous for civilians - we¡¯re talking about actual vampires here.¡± Aimee sighed as she was ready to head out the door: ¡°Let¡¯s go and come back later - I am worried about the guy. If he actually turned, one pair of cuffs might not be enough.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Thomas sighed and followed Aimee: ¡°But regarding Jason and Caroline - they seemed to know a few things about vampires, no? I mean they didn¡¯t seem too surprised when we told them about it.¡± ¡°Yeah. But they¡¯re still civilians, hell, I am not sure even the normal feds can handle this.¡± Aimee sighed. ¡°Maybe we could call Gar - ¡± ¡°Bang!¡± their conversation was cut short by a sudden vehicle crashing sound from just outside of the apartment building. ¡°Shit!¡± Aimee took her gun out and started running towards the entrance of the building.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. When both of them got to the outside of the apartment building, they saw that the ambulance was knocked over to the side of the road not that far away from their car, its backdoor open wide and the medical trolley and the handcuffed man on it were gone. ¡°What the fuck - it was only a few minutes!¡± Thomas rushed to the side of the ambulance to check on the EMTs and the driver. ¡°What happened? Where¡¯s the man?¡± Aimee held up an EMT that was lying on the side of the road and asked. ¡°Some freaking truck hit us...¡± the EMT seemed startled but was not badly hurt: ¡°It was a black truck, they came and took him away.¡± ¡°Did you happen to get the plate?¡± Thomas asked another EMT, who was also scared but not terribly injured. ¡°No¡­ I just know that it looked weird.¡± the EMT¡¯s arm was hurt and Thomas could see it was swollen due to some impact injuries. ¡°Let¡¯s call this in.¡± Aimee sighed. ---------------------------------------- ¡°What did these men look like?¡± before being put on another ambulance, Thomas and AImee asked the ambulance driver, who was injured the least: ¡°And did you catch the plate?¡± ¡°No! No¡­ I just remembered they were wearing these jackets with some kind of weird symbol on it, it looked like a knife with blood on it - looks like they also had it on their license plate.¡± the driver shook his head with a confused look on his face: ¡°To be honest, I¡¯ve never seen anything like this - who the hell attacks an ambulance like that? ¡± ¡°I¡¯ve already requested for security camera and traffic camera footage around the area. We¡¯ll find them.¡± Aimee gently patted the driver on his shoulder: ¡°If you could think of anything, please don¡¯t hesitate to contact us.¡± ¡°Thank you, detectives.¡± ¡°So, what do we know about this symbol of a knife with blood on it? Is it some kind of new gang symbol?¡± when the scene was being cleaned by technicians and other staff from SJPD, Thomas asked Aimee. ¡°Yeah, I just found it - but I am not sure it is the one we¡¯re looking for.¡± Aimee showed Thomas her phone, there was a tattoo on her screen: ¡°This is the symbol of the Bleeding Daggers, more of a cult than an actual gang. They used to operate in the greater Los Angeles area, there¡¯s no record of them ever being in the bay.¡± ¡°Used to? Are they defunct now?¡± Thomas frowned: ¡°Can you send that to me?¡± ¡°Yeah. From what I read in the database - they went defunct at least a decade ago. Most of the cult members were dead from some gang street war, their main center of operation was completely ruined in a gas explosion.¡± Aimee shook her head and swiped on the web page: ¡°And apparently they were operating in some kind of local haunted house.¡± ¡°Hmm, looks like they were the centers of a lot of urban legends as well.¡± Thomas searched for related information on the Bleeding Daggers and said: ¡°Human sacrifice - dark magic - demon worship and¡­ blood rituals? You think this could be related? This being a cult of blood suckers?¡± ¡°So it could be some last surviving members.¡± Aimee nodded: ¡°It¡¯s a good theory - if the drainer was actually a member of this cult, the surviving members came to the bay and continued their operations. We could check on old cases from Los Angeles and see if they had any similar cases, and maybe dig up some more information regarding the Bleeding Daggers.¡± ¡°Okay, should we ask Jason and Caroline about it? This sounded like something we could use some help on.¡± Thomas asked. ¡°Let¡¯s dig into our database and files first.¡± Aimee sighed: ¡°I have a really bad feeling about all of this.¡± Chapter 168 ¡°What? You wanna know about the Bleeding Daggers?¡± when Thomas and Aimee got to the police file archive the next day, and asked the receptionist about it, they got a much more surprised reaction than they¡¯d expected. ¡°Why? Does it ring any bells?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°Well - I¡¯d be a bit embarrassed to say, but it¡¯s kind of a cool urban legend!¡± the receptionist displayed a keen sense of enthusiasm when he started searching for the related documents on his computer: ¡°When they were still operating in Los Angeles, they were quite a fearsome group - they didn¡¯t have many people but they were quite ruthless. Even the bigger local gangs were not willing to mess with them. And all of a sudden they were just gone, no one knows what really happened.¡± ¡°Hmm, could there be surviving members still operating under their name?¡± Thomas said while thinking: ¡°If it was some normal gang, probably no one will do that. But if it¡¯s a cult with devoted followers, they¡¯d probably still use the name.¡± ¡°Good call, good call.¡± the receptionist nodded: ¡°... unfortunately, looks like we don¡¯t have any of their physical files in our archive, we have some digital copies I can print for you. But I can¡¯t guarantee if that¡¯ll be all of it. The digitizations of decade old case files were not done very thoroughly.¡± ¡°No problem. Just give us everything you have. Much appreciated.¡± ¡°By the way, detectives, are you or anyone in the department happened to be investigating the serial killer the department unofficially named ¡®Drainer¡¯?¡± the receptionist asked. ¡°Umm¡­ maybe, why?¡± Thomas asked, surprised. ¡°Well, not sure if this was an angle, but I think the Bleeding Daggers were behind it.¡± the receptionist clicked his mouse, and the printer by his side just started printing: ¡°From what I¡¯ve learned, they did some pretty nasty blood rituals back in the day, and traumatised even some officers handling their cases. Draining their victims to death doesn¡¯t exactly fit their M.O. But they¡¯re the only one whose M.O. even came close.¡± ¡°Woah, that¡¯s a lot of redactions.¡± Aimee picked up some of the printed files and pointed at some of the black bars across the texts: ¡°That¡¯s not normal.¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Yeah. Of all of the years working for the department, this is the most redacted file I¡¯ve ever seen.¡± the receptionist looked at the documents in Aimee¡¯s hand and frowned: ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t remember much since last time I read it - but it looked like there¡¯s more redactions.¡± ¡°Page 33 was missing.¡± Aimee raised two different pages: ¡°Looks like this one has been tampered with.¡± ¡°Yeah. ¡®Tampered with¡¯ might be too strong.¡± the receptionist appeared uncomfortable with Aimee¡¯s use of verbiage: ¡°They probably just removed the whole page in the redaction process.¡± ¡°Hey¡­ um... Matt?¡± Thomas had to read the tag placed on the reception¡¯s desk to get to know the reception¡¯s name: ¡°How do I get the unredacted version of this file?¡± ¡°Yeah. You¡¯ll have to apply for clearance on them. That means you¡¯ll have to file an application through the DOJ, and they may require additional information.¡± the receptionist answered: ¡°For normal cases, it¡¯s usually a few days to two weeks. But this one may take a while - there¡¯s clearly too much information we normal staff working for the department are not supposed to see.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. Mind giving me a copy of the application form?¡± Aimee sighed. -------------------------------------- ¡°We could¡¯ve asked for help, you know. And I don¡¯t just mean asking Jason and Caroline.¡± when Thomas and Aimee finally left the archive after wasting almost a whole afternoon filing for a redacted file access application, Thomas said: ¡°This is clearly no longer a normal police investigation, we should use all the help we can get.¡± ¡°I know. I know. It¡¯s just¡­ I don¡¯t feel like it. I thought I still wanted to look into this case, knowing what we know now. But it¡¯s just too much.¡± Aimee sat on a chair by the side of the road. ¡°Yeah I understand. It¡¯s all very¡­ overwhelming. And this case pulling late nights probably won¡¯t help much at all.¡± Thomas sighed and sat besides Aimee: ¡°It¡¯s like you¡¯ve known all the rules and playbooks and strategies to handle all kinds of things all your life. And all of a sudden something happened and made it useless and meaningless. But whatever the case may be, you know I¡¯m here for you. I know we can¡¯t change what happened, and we¡¯ve made our risky and unpredictable promises which you¡¯ll definitely keep. But we can definitely deal with this together. ¡± ¡°Okay then. You want me to call now? Or you wanna do it yourself?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s grab some food first. I¡¯m starving.¡± Aimee stood up: ¡°We could also ask Captain for a letter, stating that the file is of concern to an ongoing investigation. That could speed things up, you know, just in case our call doesn¡¯t pan out.¡± ¡°Sure. You want ramen? I know a really nice ramen place around here.¡± ¡°Yeah. I want some tonkotsu ramen before heading back.¡± When Aimee and Thomas came back to their precinct from the ramen store, they saw that everyone was gathering around the TV screens hanging on different parts of the common area. ¡°What happened?¡± Aimee asked one of the officers staring at the TV. ¡°It¡¯s the SFPD, they said it¡¯s a terrorist attack. But no one has any clue yet. A whole precinct just went dark.¡± ¡°Holy shit! What the fuck was that!?¡± multiple people gasped. Aimee and Thomas turned to the TV, and on the live footage, they saw a huge human-shaped shadow appearing right above an SFPD precinct building. Chapter 169 It was a sunny AND rainy day in some remote waters somewhere in the middle of a vast and peaceful ocean. There was one and only one huge piece of dark cloud up in the sky, with silver lightning shooting out from the center the sound of thunder rocking the whole sky. All Jason and Caroline knew, was that they were no longer on earth - because there were three suns in the sky - one big orange sun with two smaller blue suns circling around the orange one. At this very moment, Jason was standing alone on a small island, surrounded by weird looking grass and trees and clear blue ocean water. Caroline was standing very far away by Jianmen¡¯s side on a platform made of magically solidified yet not frozen sea water, and with a magical screen in front of her showing the close-ups to Jason. This was the second tribulation of Jason, which if he got past, he would be officially a cultivator of the third layer. Caroline recently got past hers two weeks before, and it was not a pleasant experience for her - her Xuanli was fiery, but on that day, the fire and brimstone that ravaged the sky and scorched the earth she was standing on really forced her to gain a new understanding of her own Xuanli as well as the power of the fire element. And right now, just like what Jianmen told them, that each tribulation had its own theme revolving around the cultivator¡¯s Xuanli and the general patterns of their power, the cloud spiraling and roaring right above the island on which Jason was standing started raining down silver energy shards and even swords, knives, axes and spears at Jason. Jason took a long breath and stared at the spiraling piece of cloud above him as well as the silver energy shards and weapons that were coming his way. With his metal spear that was shaped like a pen in hand, Jason drew up a circle around him - this was his version of a protective array, and one over which he had gained the best grasp. Jianmen nodded in approval - Jason did a really good job crafting this protective array, he would make some small alterations to deal with the weapons from above, but that was because he had more experience and knowledge with the law and mechanism of tribulation. And he would¡¯ve taught Caroline and Jason more about the tricks of dealing with the kinds of tribulations they would be facing. But the law and mechanism of tribulations would actually punish this kind of deeds quite severely - during a tribulation, the cultivator could only bring all the things they gained by themselves or at least made the majority of the effort in obtaining - like one¡¯s knowledge, one¡¯s skills, and even enchanted weapons one had enough control over. The first wave of silver energy shards and weapons crashed onto the bubble shield from the protective array, the protective bubble flickered and was shaken, but it remained in its place and unbroken. Jason sweat a little, but still looked like he was in good condition. ¡°Okay, first wave done. Easy enough.¡± Caroline became only more nervous, ¡°Two more waves to go.¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. The cloud in the sky stopped spiralling for a brief moment, then it shrunk in size and was condensed into around a quarter of its former size and in the shape of a gigantic sword. ¡°Shit! That¡¯s different from mine!¡± Caroline gasped. Jianmen watched the formation of the cloud sword with a concerned look on his face, but he didn¡¯t explain anything specific to Caroline when met with Caroline¡¯s inquiring look: ¡°Just watch, I¡¯ll explain later.¡± Just this moment, the sword of cloud rose higher into the sky, as if there was an invisible hand on its handle and readied it for an attack. Jason first released his Xuanli to recharge the protective array, then his whole body started shining in silver light, especially both his hands holding the long pen-like spear. ¡°The first ¡®official¡¯ tribulation would be all about the basics. Just bear in mind, you need to know the ways of your Xuanli enough so that you have some ideas and instincts on how to deal with different kinds of scenarios. Each cultivator would face different things in this cultivation, based on their own characteristics and personalities. It will test your strength, your resolve, your determination and how fast you can think on your feet. ¡± Jianmen¡¯s advice resounded in Jason¡¯s head: ¡°So first, try to see what the tribulation is throwing at you - if it it¡¯s a wide area attack, then shrink and harden your defenses; if it¡¯s a concentrated attack, then diffuse it bit by bit and parry or break it at the right moment; if it¡¯s a strong flurry of attacks, then keep your eyes open, be ready to parry and fight like you¡¯re up against several foes.¡± Just this moment, the sword of cloud rose to the peak of its trajectory, its blade completely blocking the view of the three suns from Jason¡¯s position. Jason closed his eyes and sunk into his thoughts, then as the sword of cloud swung down, about six silver shadows of him appeared around him, with the same posture, same outfit and same weapon as Jason. Jason lowered his body with his silver shadows around him, then leapt into the air, right at the downward swinging sword of cloud. The six silver shadows leapt higher and faster than Jason, and formed a straight line right in front of him against the edge of the sword of cloud. A loud sound of thunder broke from the air, the sword of cloud reached the lowest part of its U-shaped trajectory and started rising up again, but in this process, a crescent-shaped silver energy blade was released upon Jason and his silver shadows. The shadows of Jason kicked the air below and on their side, silver energy exploded and launched three of them to the upper left side and three to the upper right. Then almost at the same time, his shadows started launching volleys of high speed flurry of thrust attacks at the energy blade above. Silver shadows of tips of spears shot up at the sky like concentrated machine gun bullets. And when coming into contact with the downward flying energy blade, these shadows of spear tips crashed and dissipated into harmless energy shards in the air. But in this process, the integrity of the energy blade was gradually chipped away. ¡°Break!¡± Jason roared in mandarin when all six of his silver shadows exhausted all their power and disappeared from above him, his pen-spear finished a 3D drawing of a large drill bit with three spinning cones with sharp teeth, and at the command of his roar, the drill bit shot up at the silver energy blade. Right after this final counter-attack at the silver energy blade, Jason fell back down to the center of his protective array. ¡°Holy shit - he¡¯s creative. An oil drill bit against the tribulation?¡± Caroline laughed out loud. ¡°Boom!¡± even against the incredible destructive power of Jason¡¯s silver drill bit attack, the energy blade still won - though broken, a final piece of energy blade landed right onto Jason¡¯s protective bubble. And this time, the protective bubble just flickered once, before the last bit of the energy blade shattered and was reduced to harmless energy in the air. ¡°Last wave.¡± Jianmen regained the rhythm of his breaths, then he looked up at the sky, with nervous anticipation. The sword of cloud morphed back into its original shape, but this time, the size was bigger than it had ever been. Chapter 170 The cloud expanded in size, with the center of it getting thinner and eventually opening up a hole just big enough for Jason to see the three suns. ¡°Hmm, interesting.¡± Jianmen nodded and said. ¡°What is it?¡± Caroline asked, while looking at the magical screen in front of her with a deep frown. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since I saw this kind of tribulation attack, but then again, it¡¯s also been a while since I saw tribulations bringing up a literal volcano.¡± Jianmen was also frowning: ¡°If I wasn¡¯t mistaken, Jason¡¯s gonna get really, really confused.¡± ¡°Shit, Boss. Don¡¯t ever mention volcanoes again.¡± Caroline couldn¡¯t help but shiver for a bit - during the last wave of her last tribulation, countless bolts of lightning struck the ground around her protective array, and the next moment, the ground below her exploded, with smoke, beams of burning energy, shockwave and magma shooting from the hole in the ground. It was a powerful and unexpected attack and one for which Caroline was not well prepared. After this tribulation, she had to lay in bed for around two days before she could resume her normal activities, and some of the burn scars on her body were still not fully healed till this day. Sunlight shone onto Jason through the hole in the cloud, Jason was not aware of how this would turn out, so he readied his protective array to allow him to protect himself if there was a surprise attack. The inner edge of the hole in the cloud started shifting in color. It was grey as the other parts of the cloud, then as the sunlight shone through, it gradually became lighter and began flickering in blue and orange. Jason narrowed his eyes - he sensed there was something odd about the ring of light around the hole in the cloud, but he was not able to pinpoint it yet. From Caroline¡¯s point of view, all they could see was that a beam of sunlight shone on Jason through the hole in the cloud, and Jason was standing with his spear in his hands prepared for attacks that might come his way. But everything remained still for almost a couple of minutes, and nothing changed. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Caroline turned to Jianmen and asked. ¡°Third wave has already started. But the battlefield is not entirely here.¡± Jianmen nodded, ¡°Look at the space before him.¡± When Caroline focused on the screen in front of her, she finally noticed that there was a patch of space right in front of Jason, where something seemed to have twisted the light going through the area - just like the cases with hot air released from a burning fire twisting the path of light and making the scene behind look distorted. ¡°Is he in a limbo? Is this a tribulation in limbo?¡± Caroline immediately realized what was happening.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°Partially. And you¡¯ll soon see the difference. The sunlight and the hole in the cloud were just bait to lure him in and to trap him inside - the longer he was able to resist the pull and the faster he could get out, the more he¡¯ll benefit from it. But the longer he stays in the limbo, the more danger he will be in.¡± Just this moment, Jason started moving, with the pen-spear in his hands, he started unleashing attacks against his surrounding areas, as if there were invisible enemies around him. ¡°This is a crossover limbo - where the flow time inside is roughly the same as our world and the elements inside will manifest in our realm. It is one of those more dangerous types. I will teach you how to deal with those. Shortly, but basically it requires you to be well trained in managing your power of mind and will.¡± Jianmen explained to Caroline: ¡°If you look closely around him you will actually see some shadows he¡¯s attacking and at the same time trying to attack him - these are projections of the beings and elements in the limbo - and his attacks, if they land, would damage those shadows.¡± ¡°But what¡¯s the point? In theory, when his mind is in the limbo, his body still remains in our realm, right? If whoever or whatever that is in charge of the limbo attacks him in our realm when he¡¯s defenseless like we were back in the Prime Royals Hotel, he¡¯d have no chance.¡± Caroline asked: ¡°You know¡­ not that I would want that to happen.¡± ¡°Good question.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°I¡¯ll explain this in our upcoming sessions - but to put it simply - most sentient beings don¡¯t have the ability to operate inside limbo and in the realm outside of limbo simultaneously. To achieve this it requires a trick called mind-split - meaning that you¡¯ll need to seamlessly split your consciousness into multiple entities, let them operate on their own and but your one true mind still remain the same.¡± ¡°That sounds like ¡­ having multiple personalities.¡± ¡°The key is that they have the ability to operate on their own, yet they are still one with the other, just temporarily separated.¡± Jianmen continued: ¡°So in this way, if I want to pull off what you described - I will need to create a limbo, split my mind and trap my enemy¡¯s mind in the limbo, then my other consciousness can attack his defenseless body in the current realm.¡± ¡°... or we can stab the body of your enemy for you.¡± ¡°Yes, and believe it or not, it is a pretty common trick when lower layer cultivators fight in groups. This would require some protective artifact to prevent one from being dragged into the limbo or help them break away from its trap easier. But this is not a trick the tribulations for a second layer cultivator will employ - otherwise almost no one will survive it. It could appear on tribulations of higher layers though.¡± Jianmen answered: ¡°And mind-split is no simple trick, it requires years and even decades of cultivation of one¡¯s power of mind and will through visualization and meditation. So sometimes lower level power wielder with a good spectral connections can employ a new trick - with the help of some artifact of course - to create a special limbo, where its flow of time is roughly the same with the flow of time in the external realm, and it has a closer connection to the realm outside of it. This is a bit like illusion magic - these kinds of power wielders will try to trap their opponents ¡®half in half out¡¯ inside this limbo, and they can engage their opponents in a similar way. And if they¡¯re able to succeed, they could use their advantage against the opponents disadvantage: if the opponent is skillful at the combat of the mind but is physically weaker, which means this kind of opponents are usually hidden from afar, they can use this trick to try and make time to locate the opponents and physically defeat their foe; if the opponent is bad at combat of the mind, then you can win by focusing more on using the battle of mind, without actually having to leave yourself defenseless in the process.¡± ¡°So - it¡¯s like going to a battle and forcing everybody to wear the same kind of vision distorting glasses.¡± Caroline scratched her lower jaw and said: ¡°Except that YOU are the designer of the glasses and you are more familiar with how it distorts your vision. So it¡¯d be easier for you to win.¡± ¡°Kinda, yeah. And looks like Jason¡¯s tribulation is employing a similar tactic, though the form seems reversed - this kind of limbo combat starts from our realm and expands into the limbo; while what Jason is facing right now seemingly starts from the limbo and expands into our realm. Thus those projections¡± Jason backflipped two times on the island and unleashed three lightning speed jabs at three shadows in front of him. All three jabs landed on their targets - the vague shadows were sent flying by the impact, and exploded in mid air before they could even touch the ground. But right at the next moment, something hit Jason, creating a puncture wound on his left shoulder, and several deep cuts on his left waist and thighs. Chapter 171 ¡°Shit! ¡± Caroline saw ¡°up close¡± on how Jason got wounded, even though she was somewhat accustomed to the sight of different kinds of wounds, she still could not easily get over how bad Jason¡¯s injuries were: ¡°Boss! Do something!¡± ¡°I can¡¯t now. If I intervened he would fail instantly and he would have to try again. Let¡¯s be patient.¡± Jason, with one knee on the ground, swung his pen-spear horizontally from left to right, but he didn¡¯t seem to have hit anything. Something else attacked Jason, and two more deep cuts appeared on Jason¡¯s back and shoulder. More of Jason¡¯s blood spilled on the ground, but still they did not bring him down. In Jason¡¯s mind, he knew fully well that he was in trouble. Just a few minutes ago, while he was staring into the hole in the cloud with a shiny internal edge, he felt a sudden pull on his whole body, and before he could resist, the scenery around him already shifted in color. And when he checked out the direction of Jianmen and Caroline, he could no longer see the remote water platform. ¡°Fucking limbo!¡± Jason twirled his pen-spear a bit and tried to infuse it with his Xuanli, his weapon still felt the same but his Xuanli is not usable here. So after a short sigh, he tried to use his power of mind and will as his source of power. A strange feeling came over him - it was similar to when he was using his Xuanli, though the power he was trying to use was not. But before he could put any more thought into this feeling and his presence in this limbo, nine faint shadows shining of blue and orange appeared around him. These shadows had human shapes but had smooth faces like mannequins in clothing stores. They were also not wearing anything and had mannequin-like bodies, the only things that made them stand out were the different weapons in their hands: long swords, dual daggers, spears, maces and staves. ¡°Shit!¡± before Jason could even get familiar with his power, the shadows started attacking. He was lucky that not all of them attacked at the same time, instead it seemed only three of them moved first, then the others started launching their attacks three at a time.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. The movements of these shadows were slightly slower than Jason, but they were well coordinated and sharp in their angles of attack. For quite a few times Jason had to expend a lot of his power in order to push back the shadows and maneuver out of harm¡¯s way. On the eleventh or twelveth wave of attack from three shadows that were wielding dual daggers, dual maces and a longsword, Jason found a chance to backflip away from the shadows¡¯ attacks aiming at his lower body, then he focused his power and unleashed three rapid jabs at these three shadows. Silver shadows of spear tips landed right on the throat, forehead and chest of each of these three shadows. These shadows were knocked back by the attacks, and exploded into shiny pieces of energy shards in the air. This move was risky, because this kind of attack took time for Jason to recover. And now he immediately paid the price for his risk taking move - the next wave of attack from another group of three shadows caught him at a bad time, he was able to move away from the attack from the potentially fatal blows, but his left shoulder was punctured by a shadow¡¯s spear, his waist and thighs were cut by the other two shadow¡¯s swords. Jason swung his pen-spear in front of him to force the three shadows to back off, then he concentrated his power of mind and will onto his arms and legs to prepare for his next attacks. Two of the three shadows that were just forced to back off flanked to Jason¡¯s both sides, and one of them attacked Jason from the front. Jason conjured up a thin energy shield to protect his upper body, then constructed an energy seal in his left hand. The two flanking shadows struck him on his back and shoulder, they cut through his energy shield and into his flesh, but still not enough to bring him down or incapacitate him. Jason raised his pen-spear with his right arm to block the attack from the front, then his left hand slammed on the ground. Silver energy spikes shot up from the ground around Jason, all the three shadows that were positioned around him got instantly impaled and thrown in the air. And just as the final three shadows started moving to surround him, Jason swung his pen-spear around and launched the energy spikes out in a circle. One shadow that was holding a long staff was struck in the abdomen and crumbled into energy shards shortly after. The other two shadows were forced to dodge and block the spikes coming their way, thus giving Jason plenty of time to close in on one of them. An orange glowing head was sent into the air by a powerful swing of Jason¡¯s pen-spear, then the last blue shadow was bashed by the headless orange shadow¡¯s stave on the shoulder, then impaled by Jason¡¯s pen-spear. Cracks appeared in the space around Jason the moment the final shadow turned into floating energy shards, then he felt another pull on his body and the scenery around him went back to normal. ¡°Did I pass? I felt like I passed.¡± Jason asked Jianmen and Caroline, who came to his side the moment he fell face up on the ground, with a wry smile on his face. ¡°Yes you passed. Flying colors and all. Good job.¡± Jianmen extended his hand to the air above Jason, a gentle flow of energy stitched up Jason¡¯s wounds and stopped his bleeding, but it did not fully heal him or completely numb his pain: ¡°Let¡¯s head back so you can rest.¡± ¡°Cool. I have this sudden craving for rib soup.¡± Chapter 172 ¡°Hey, is this a good time?¡± one late night, when Jianmen was alone on his night shift at the reception¡¯s desk, Josephine Wong, wearing a jacket over a purple dress, came into the inn: ¡°I could have called first, but you know me ¡­ I don¡¯t wanna.¡± ¡°Hey, always a good time for you. What brings you here?¡± Jianmen put down his phone and stood up: ¡°Care for some wine or tea? To celebrate your progress?¡± ¡°Aww, you can tell?¡± Josephine Wong chuckled and spun around like a young girl who just got a new dress. ¡°Well, tribulations have their special scent and radiation.¡± Jianmen waved his hand in the direction of the diner, a special hand-crafted clay bottle appeared in the mid air, as well as two modest looking mugs. ¡°Oooh, this is one of your special brews?¡± Josephine sat down by Jianmen and asked. ¡°Indeed it is. This is made from some of the rare fruits I have in my personal farm, and stored in my personal time cellar for a year. I gave my students the same thing after they just went through their tribulation - diluted, of course.¡± Jianmen smiled and poured the wine in both the mugs. ¡°Hmm. Thanks.¡± Josephine Wong took one of the mugs and took a quick whiff: ¡°Is the recipe for sale?¡± ¡°Not right now, I still need to adjust it a bit to taste - what¡¯s the word - less spicy.¡± Josephine Wong took a sip, then covered her mouth with a smile: ¡°Yikes, it¡¯s like drinking wine made of pepper and Szechuan Buttons - what kind of fruit did you put in there?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s the taste of Abyssal Thunder Cherries mixed with Viper Melon Seeds.¡± Jianmen looked at Josephine Wong in the eye: ¡°Could you taste them?¡± ¡°Taste them? I couldn¡¯t even taste anything!¡± Josephine Wong chuckled and took another sip: ¡°But it works though - I can feel that the punishing power remained in my wounds is fading away. Slow, but it¡¯s definitely something.¡± ¡°Hmm, glad I can help. I hope the taste won¡¯t dissuade too many if I can¡¯t tune the taste down.¡± Jianmen shook his head and took a drink from his mug. ¡°Well, it¡¯s definitely gonna sell, regardless of the taste.¡± Josephine Wong showed some slight discomfort when swallowing her drink: ¡°There¡¯s not many options out there for power wielders to alleviate the residual punishing powers of the tribulation, and this tastes way better than the blood of abyssal squids or cloud whales, you can believe me.¡± ¡°Huh, I¡¯ve only drank the blood of cloud whales once. It could use less salt.¡± Jianmen joked.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°And some water too. Imagine having to chew your drink.¡± Josephine Wong chuckled with a hand over her mouth. ¡°How long did it take you? Did anybody try to sabotage you?¡± Jianmen asked. ¡°It took three days, and some indeed tried.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head, and the looks in her eye instantly turned sharp and a little furious: ¡°It¡¯s good that I prepared for them, so I was able to defend myself, AND I was able to deliver some devastating blows to them using my traps.¡± ¡°Congratulations, again.¡± Jianmen raised his mug. ¡°Thanks. ¡± Josephine Wong took another sip: ¡°But I am not here for your thanks. Here.¡± She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a small scroll and an envelope with a magical seal on it: ¡°Here¡¯s your approval notice, for your applicant status as a visiting scholar. Your name is¡­ Mr. Lun Wang.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Jianmen nodded with a smile, and he brought out a small black box with satin exterior and handed it to Josephine Wong: ¡°This is for you.¡± ¡°You know, the shape of this box is very misleading.¡± Josephine Wong smiled and opened the box, then she saw a small piece of translucent crystal inside: ¡°So you think this is it?¡± ¡°At least, part of it. I¡¯ve had this for a while, just never thought this being perhaps the ingredient of the mysterious ¡®Stone of Negation¡¯.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°It is quite intuitive to use - if you could establish a connection with it. But it requires quite a lot of power and energy to use properly without wasting its potential - so consider this as an added note of caution in the user¡¯s manual: use with caution and tremendous preparation.¡± ¡°Will you be able to help us? You know, this is actual Division work, even if it failed you still get paid handsomely.¡± ¡°Probably not immediately. Unless you are willing to wait until I finish my ¡®visiting scholar¡¯ studies and projects.¡± ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll see. I¡¯ve been quite busy with Division work, and also need some time helping my students get everything started as well. So it probably will take some time before we actually get to it anyway.¡± ¡°Let me know then.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°I heard about the students after all these years. Good luck!¡± ¡°Thank you! I¡¯ve been thinking about it for quite a while. And in part thanks to you, I found a couple quite talented young people so I just took them in. And I will need more people by my side in a not so distant future. Speaking of which, I think I¡¯ll need your help on the tutoring - I am confident in my abilities, but could always use extra help.¡± ¡°Of course, of course. Always happy to help you.¡± ¡°Okay, what can you tell me about this? I mean, I trust you with all my heart, but I still have some explaining and convincing to do.¡± Josephine Wong examined the small piece of crystal closely and asked. ¡°Watered down version? It¡¯s like a scar of the universe, and sort of a token of gratitude from it. It¡¯s like the universe saying: ¡®Thank you for fixing up something of me, here¡¯s a piece of my personalized coupon.¡¯¡± ¡°Okay. Try hit me with a not so watered down version? I mean I just got to a higher level. I could be the Grand Witch of a coven if I want to.¡± ------------------------------------------------------ ¡°How are you feeling?¡± standing right by the entrance of Xianshi Inn, Jianmen asked his two students: ¡°How long ago did you last go to school?¡± ¡°Umm, just barely over a year ago?¡± Jason shook his head and raised the straps on his backpack: ¡°I am half excited and half terrified - what if this is just another engineering school for me?¡± ¡°Jason, we¡¯ve talked about this a thousand times - it IS definitely just like engineering school.¡± Caroline rolled her eyes and laughed: ¡°Plus the magic, the learning of spells, the practice of combat and even duels, and the occasional concoction of poison pills and you-know-what potion.¡± ¡°Look, I know you¡¯re joking, but I¡¯m not talking about the school per se, I¡¯m talking about me.¡± Jason scratched the back of his ears and then nose: ¡°I just don¡¯t know if I can handle the pressure of school life again.¡± ¡°Well, this time it is something you are actually interested in and good at.¡± Jianmen patted Jason on his back. ¡°Damn, Boss. ¡± Caroline laughed out loud. ¡°What about those magical school shenanigans? Like a secret room with a monster inside, or some professor being infected by an evil dark lord?¡± ¡°Yeah - I can¡¯t guarantee anything about it not happening, but I promise you I¡¯ll be there.¡± Chapter 173 ¡°Okay. That answers the question of how you¡¯re gonna fool the people in the academy who have seen you before. But this is equally impressive and disturbing.¡± looking at a man looking slightly shorter, younger and chubbier than Jianmen standing by Jianmen¡¯s side, Josephine Wong shook her head and looked at the man from up to down: ¡°I guess this way they cannot tell that Mr. Lun Wang is actually you. But ¡­ yeesh.¡± ¡°Oh come on, it¡¯s just an avatar. I am quite proud of it, but why so creeped out?¡± Jianmen shrugged and asked: ¡°It¡¯s still technically me with the same memory and skills, just a different look and less powerful.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s not that simple. For example, how do I know you¡¯ll be able to maintain it for the entire duration of the audit program? ¡± Josephine Wong gently poked the man¡¯s face and nose with her finger: ¡°Long duration mind split is no joke.¡± ¡°Yeah, no worries about that. The longest I¡¯ve maintained multiple avatars was a few decades in earth years, and I was maintaining at least a dozen.¡± Jianmen said and laid back on the reception¡¯s desk. ¡°Yeah, Josephine, don¡¯t worry about me.¡± the shorter and chubbier man spoke out, with a laughter inducing and cartoonish high pitched voice. ¡°Uhuh, I think this might be the real you. ¡± Josephine Wong stepped back and said: ¡°And this grumpy old man who can¡¯t take anything seriously is the avatar.¡± ¡°Or, how about the thought of neither of us is real?¡± Jianmen and Lun Wang spoke at the same time: ¡°This is freaky, huh? What if the real me is a big brain monster with ten thousand tentacles?¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll never barter with you again.¡± ¡°How cold of you.¡± Jianmen shook his head and stopped the action of Lun Wang by retracting the part of his consciousness from the shorter and chubbier body. ¡°Well, thanks for the show. I¡¯m gonna get to San Francisco. ¡± Josephine Wong smiled and gave Jianmen a light hug: ¡°Pleasure doing business with you, as always. And don¡¯t forget to call if you need anything.¡± ¡°And the same to you.¡± Jianmen looked patted on Josephine Wong¡¯s shoulder: ¡°I¡¯m always here to help.¡± ¡°How long is always?¡± Josephine Wong laid down her mug on the reception¡¯s desk and waved Jianmen with a smile: ¡°See you around, Jianmen. ¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Always as always.¡± Jianmen also waved Josephine Wong goodbye. ---------------------------------------- ¡°Hello Good evening Ms. Caroline Baker, Mr. Jie Lin. And Mr. Yu!¡± a dark purple SUV stopped at the front door of Xianshi Inn, Garret stepped out of the car and greeted the three people standing at the front door: ¡°I am here to take Ms. Baker and Mr. Lin to the academy.¡± ¡°Alright, drive safe Garret.¡± Jianmen smiled and said. ¡°Of course, Mr. Yu.¡± Garret appeared nervous when talking to Jianmen: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they¡¯ll be fine. It¡¯s not everyday Ms. Wong asked me to drive audit students to the academy. I¡¯ll treat this task with the utmost caution.¡± ¡°Thank you Garret.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°And Jason, Caroline, no worries at the school. If you need anything, just call me. I¡¯ll be there in a second, if I¡¯m not busy.¡± ¡°Thanks Boss.¡± Jason waved at Jianmen before entering into the spacious SUV. ¡°Alright, thank you Boss.¡± Caroline threw his luggage and backpack into the SUV, then gave Jianmen a light hug. ¡°Be good, do your best and enjoy.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°And don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll take care of Kane and Alex.¡± After Caroline went into the SUV and closed the door, Jianmen handed Garret a wooden coin: ¡°You know, Garret, it¡¯s a tradition of mine and my culture to give the members of a younger generation a gift upon first acquaintance to show good will. I was not able to do that, so I¡¯ll give you this now as a first-meet gift and a thank-you token.¡± ¡°Thank you sir!¡± Garret bowed and said: ¡°It¡¯s really an honor!¡± ¡°Thank you. And say hi to Josephine for me.¡± When the SUV drove off, Jason and Caroline were already settled in the SUV¡¯s comfortable seats and started drinking the wine that was placed in a bucket of ice with a note addressed to them. ¡°Okay. Ms. Baker and Mr. Lin, we are about to enter Carver Street. And we will make a turn on Creek Avenue. ¡± Garret¡¯s voice came through the loudspeaker in the room: ¡°Interesting note, do you know that Creek Avenue does not exist in the civilian world? To civilians, it¡¯s just an invite-only parking building near a business building belonging to Foreseer Corp.¡± ¡°Yikes. Does Foreseer Corp work with the Division now?¡± ¡°A little bit, yeah. Ms. Wong¡¯s not very fond of it, and I didn¡¯t know any of the civilian tech stuff so I have no opinion.¡± ¡°Yeah. They have a reputation of selling old and expensive technology solutions to other giant companies who don¡¯t know better, and suing other companies with patent lawsuits.¡± Jason chuckled: ¡°I used to wonder how¡¯d they survive this long, not having any major innovation in over a decade.¡± ¡°Well, contracts from the Division are quite generous.¡± Garret said: ¡°Many big families like to do business with them. My family too.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your family like Garret? Can you tell us a little about it?¡± Caroline asked: ¡°You know, for us half civilians?¡± ¡°Umm¡­ sure, why not? But there¡¯s not much to talk about though.¡± Garret chuckled: ¡°We¡¯re a small family, we own and run several small businesses. Our biggest business is material purification and priming, we had decades of experience and knowledge on that. We also do magical tools and weapons maintenance and simple fixes. My father is a master of material and weapons priming, he wanted me to continue on his footsteps. But I just don¡¯t want to - that¡¯s why I am taking my third year off from the academy and training with Ms. Wong to be a knight.¡± ¡°A knight? Nice! What¡¯s that like? Are there many knights in the world?¡± ¡°It¡¯s tough, you know. Running errands for Ms. Wong is actually me being on break. And unfortunately there aren¡¯t many actual knights left. I¡¯m afraid we might face a similar destiny of the paladins, if my generation of knights don¡¯t work harder and continue this legacy.¡± Chapter 174 The dark purple SUV made a right turn on Creek Avenue, with a sudden change of lighting - mainly from the dim light of evening from when they left, to a much brighter street view. For a supposed avenue from the magical underworld, the street view did not look that much different from the view of the civilian world - aside from a few of the meticulously designed magical street lamps that were floating in mid air and had small humming birds flying around. ¡°Now, this is the insides of the Creek Avenue, do you want me to slow down or even take you on a small tour? Or do you just want to head to the academy directly?¡± Garret asked. ¡°Are you kidding? There¡¯s an option for a tour?¡± Jason jumped out from his sofa: ¡°Tour please!¡± ¡°Yeah, from my estimation, we still have an hour before we have to go to make it in time. So we have some time to take a tour.¡± Garret slowed the SUV down and turned right again: ¡°Let me know if you want to head down and walk - there¡¯s a lot of side roads connecting to other streets, you may get lost if you are not familiar with the area.¡± When the SUV pulled into a small side street with small wooden stores and houses on both sides, Jason and Carolin couldn¡¯t help but open the side window and look out. The first thing that caught Jason¡¯s eyes was a two storey store with a sign that said ¡°Artistic Elements¡±, and there was a tree near the door of the store, which was actually waving at walkers-by like a human street sales promoter. The tree had different colored ribbons on its branches and trunk, which gave off faint but pleasant glows around the whole tree. On the other hand, Caroline was drawn to a store that with matte silver grey metal exterior and a sword in a tall dark stone. There was also a slowly horizontally spinning shield on near the entrance, and under the sunlight, the shield reflected a nice dark red shine. ¡°Can we get off here? I wanna take a look at that weapon store.¡± Caroline said. ¡°Sure, just in a moment.¡± Garret slowly pulled the car over to the side of the road. ¡°You sure it¡¯s okay if we parked here?¡± when Caroline got off the SUV, she saw that it was still partially parked on the normal road. ¡°Yeah it¡¯s fine. The road will push the car away and expand when there are other cars driving this way. One thing the non civilian world doesn¡¯t have as much is traffic jams.¡± Garret smiled and said: ¡°And feel free to take a look, but hold off on buying anything - they can smell inexperienced buyers from miles away, and you¡¯ll get ripped off in no time.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°Understood. Boss told us this multiple times - he told us to consult a friendly guide on shopping advice before making a big purchase.¡± Jason smiled and said: ¡°I just wanna take a look at the ¡®Artistic Elements¡¯.¡± ¡°And I wanna check this one out, it¡¯s a weapon store right?¡± Caroline pointed at the shop with a sword in a stone in front of it. ¡°Yes. But let¡¯s stick together. Which one first?¡± Garret asked. ¡°The weapon store looks fun. Let¡¯s try that one first.¡± Jason nodded. There was no one inside the weapon store, there were only racks on and by the wall, with weapons placed on them. Most of them were swords and short knives, and some of them were shields and arm braces. ¡°Hmm, there¡¯s no one here?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°Yeah some weapon shops do like this kind of feel. If you actually picked something they would come assist you. But they usually don¡¯t have anyone pushing their products in shops. It¡¯s kind of a branding thing.¡± Garret looked at some of the broadswords and long swords on the wall and said: ¡°It¡¯s a weapon, not car insurance.¡± ¡°Well, to be honest, we had the wrong first impression when we went to Wen¡¯s Miscellaneous & Everything.¡± Caroline chuckled: ¡°The owner there pushed kinda hard, on everything.¡± ¡°Yeah that¡¯s kinda different. Wen¡¯s is a very peculiar store.¡± Garret smiled and said: ¡°First thing is they sell a little bit of everything - and if you don¡¯t know the owner or know someone who knows the owner you might get ripped off. And the weapons there are almost always second-hand. My family sometimes sells our excess standard issues there, the owner really knows how to appeal to customers.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t this Mr. Garret Peyton?¡± right this moment, an old woman with a slight slouch walked out from behind the shop: ¡°What brings you here?¡± ¡°Hello.¡± Garret appeared surprised to be recognized: ¡°My apologies, I didn¡¯t mean to intrude. I was just showing my friends around. They¡¯re new here.¡± ¡°Oh no, don¡¯t apologize. We welcome everyone here.¡± the old woman nodded at Caroline and Jason with a smile: ¡°So, what do you young masters have in mind? Usually we let the customers choose first, but since we have a Peyton in our store and we have some really good products in stock, I decided to come out here and help you. So what kinds of weapons are you looking for?¡± ¡°We¡¯re actually not looking for anything ¡­ just taking a look and trying to see what options are out there.¡± Caroline smiled: ¡°But what do you have here??¡± ¡°Well ¡­ I was thinking something like small daggers, throwing knives and maybe even guns?¡± Caroline scratched her head and said. ¡°So small weapons with capability of long range attack? We do have some. But I¡¯m afraid not many.¡± the old woman smiled and shook her head gently: ¡°But let me see, we have some small arm crossbows with pretty good range and damage. As for guns, the Peytons are the expert on it.¡± ¡°Really? ¡± Caroline and Jason both looked at Garret at the same time: ¡°I didn¡¯t know your family builds guns.¡± ¡°Well, yeah, my brother was very interested in magical or enchanted guns.¡± Garret scratched his nose with a hint of embarrassment: ¡°He¡¯s getting pretty good, but it is still considered side business.¡± ¡°Here it is, we call it ¡®Hawk Strike¡¯. ¡± just after a few seconds, the old woman pulled out a small one-hand crossbow from one of the boxes behind the counter and handed it to Caroline: ¡°It shoots our customized short bolts, and the bolts can have special heads and shafts, you could combine different heads with different shafts for different scenarios. It¡¯s pretty good for hunting and even combat.¡± ¡°Nice. ¡± Caroline tried aiming with the hand crossbow and played a bit with the string: ¡°How is it against ghosts and apparitions?¡± ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s a tough one, this one was not designed for those.¡± the old woman appeared quite surprised by the question: ¡°Why, do you have this special need?¡± Chapter 175 When Caroline, Jason and Garret left the weapons shop, none of them got anything, just like what they¡¯d expected. The old woman who ran the store was very friendly and completely okay with them not purchasing anything - though she insisted on giving them her business card - turned out this store was named ¡°Nameless Sword¡±, and it was also a supplier for the Grant Academy. ¡°Yeah I wouldn¡¯t advise you to buy your weapons there.¡± right after they left the store, Garret said with a low voice: ¡°Their weapons are okay, but a bit overpriced - it¡¯s like buying hot dogs in a theme park and popcorns and drinks in the movie theater.¡± ¡°What kind of weapons does your family make? That old lady seemed genuinely impressed with your family.¡± Jason asked. ¡°Yeah well, we do a lot of standard issue weapons. And they are selling mostly variants of standard issue weapons. So they might have dealt with us.¡± Garret said: ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t really know why she¡¯d recognize me.¡± ¡°Wait a minute, what is this, you¡¯re humble bragging?¡± Caroline jokingly backhanded Garret¡¯s arm: ¡°Are you humble bragging? Jason? I think he¡¯s humble bragging.¡± ¡°Yeah dude, you¡¯re humble bragging.¡± Jason laughed and put her arm on Garret¡¯s shoulder: ¡°Tell us, how much allowance you get from your family per month? You don¡¯t have to tell us the exact number, just the ballpark.¡± ¡°Well ¡­ I¡¯m not sure I feel comfortable...¡± ¡°No problem. Maybe another question, how many weapons does your family sell per month? And on average how much does one piece cost?¡± Caroline also put her arm on Garret¡¯s shoulder and asked with a cunning smile. ¡°Well¡­ on average we sell around ten thousand sets per year, but those are very different sets, ranging from hunting sets to combat sets, it¡¯s kinda hard to come up with an average number for now...¡± ¡°Woah! ¡± Jason did some quick math in his head, then patted Garret on his shoulder: ¡°If my math is correct - don¡¯t put too much faith in it - your family¡¯s fucking loaded! ¡± ¡°Well - I don¡¯t like to talk about my family¡¯s business too much¡­ shall we check out ¡®Artistic Elements¡¯? This is a pretty famous chain store, they sell all kinds of art related artifacts and materials, even materials for magical circles and arrays. Why don¡¯t we go in and check it out.¡± ¡°Yeah. Of course!¡± Jason smiled, he was just messing with Garret and was not really trying to pry: ¡°And tell me about this store, what do they offer?¡±This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Well, it depends on what kinds of art you want.¡± Garret exhaled in relief: ¡°If you like drawing or sculpting, it is a pretty neat place to start. I have a sister who really loves sculpting golems and gargoyles, she visits this chain a lot.¡± ¡°Huh, interesting, never thought the magical underworld also has chain stores.¡± Caroline followed a very enthusiastic Jason and Garret into the store. ¡°Welcome to ¡®Artistic Elements¡¯, what can I help you with?¡± a short, cute and bubbly girl wearing a cartoonish wizard hat and with her hair braided and stuffed inside the hat. ¡°Hi, I am trying to show my friends around. What products do you have here?¡± Garret asked, then he turned to Jason: ¡°What are you interested in?¡± ¡°Umm¡­ animations?¡± ¡°Cool! We have a lot of things for you. How about an enchanted drawing board you can draw in three dimensions and zooming functionalities?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve already got one of those. Do you have ¡­ clay for sculpting? But reusable and maybe not too expensive?¡± Jason thought for a while and asked. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re looking for practice golem clay. We don¡¯t keep those in display, so please wait for me while I bring it out.¡± the girl nodded and rushed to the back of the store. ¡°Man. I know why artists are almost always starving.¡± Caroline chuckled: ¡°You just can¡¯t help yourselves.¡± ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t say I am definitely buying it.¡± Jason also chuckled: ¡°But yeah, something like that would be pretty great to have.¡± ¡°I can vouch for the quality of their practice clay - it¡¯s pretty nice, at least that¡¯s what my sister told me. And they give you a manual on how to best use them. If you are indeed interested in sculpting you should try it. ¡± Garret said: ¡°And the price is quite reasonable as well.¡± ¡°Tada!¡± the bubbly girl with a wizard hat came back with a small wooden board and a small lump of light grey clay on it: ¡°This is one of our more cost-efficient versions. It can be reused up to a thousand times, provided you don¡¯t use any final priming spells or materials on it. What do you think? You wanna try with a small clump first?¡± ¡°Yeah! Yeah!¡± Jason looked at Caroline then Garret: ¡°How much is it?¡± ¡°One gold coin for two standard lumps, which is about one liters in total.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not expensive at all. I¡¯ll have two liters.¡± Jason hesitated for only a second. ------------------------------- When Caroline, Jason and Garret finally left the side road and drove back to Creek Avenue, about an hour and a half had already passed. Jason had a bag of clay with him and a thick manual about how to properly use and maintain it, and Caroline got herself a pair of Garret-approved boots, which were said to endure even the most severe climate and had the ability to adjust temperature and exterior color per the wearer¡¯s needs. ¡°Yikes. Neither of us can control ourselves. Let¡¯s just head to the academy now.¡± weighing the remaining coins in her pouch, Caroline said, then she asked: ¡°Garret, do you know if the Grant Academy has part time jobs for students like bookstore organizer or ceremony receptionist?¡± ¡°Umm¡­ yes but not those - those are civilian jobs. I guess you can try to apply for some temporary positions in the library or the training ground - but those are pretty hard to get because you can earn credit from those and the competition¡¯s pretty stiff. If you¡¯re good enough in some aspects you can try to be a TA, it¡¯s a lot like the TA in civilian colleges and universities, but there''s a requirement on basic knowledge and training.¡± ¡°So no good temp jobs for us then?¡± ¡°I could ask around for you. But you shouldn¡¯t need to worry. Everything necessity-wise is free in the academy, including regular meals, normal clothing, housing, basic travels. You only need money for the extra stuff.¡± ¡°So what¡¯s the extra stuff?¡± ¡°Things like parties, drinks, game tickets and equipment.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you have some kind of ball games where players ride brooms.¡± ¡°Actually we do, several of them.¡± Garret sounded a bit embarrassed: ¡°Well, it¡¯s actually a lot of fun. Not that unlike in the movies.¡± Chapter 176 The dark purple SUV sped up on Creek Avenue towards a tunnel from under a giant tower. Along the way, Caroline and Jason saw quite a lot of things they had imagined they would see, and some things they had not expected to see, in the magical underworld. People were riding on different tools of transportation - which include brooms, flying discs that gave off a slightly annoying buzzing sound when they flew by, giant smooth stones with insides hollowed out and windows opened like a car, flying carriages with horses and other unrecognized beasts mounted in the front, and cars just like the SUV Caroline and Jason were riding in. ¡°I¡¯m curious now, why are there still cars?¡± Caroline asked: ¡°Shouldn¡¯t there be more, like, magical vehicles?¡± ¡°Well, cars are an incredible invention in itself, it¡¯s also purely mechanical and doesn¡¯t need much magical renovation. So a lot of people still use cars to go around if it is relatively short distance. Just that most of the car owners will use permanent spacing spells to enlarge the interior like this one.¡± Garret answered: ¡°And I know what you may be thinking, long running portals are extremely expensive. So they¡¯re reserved for a few places where there''s a decent amount of traffic. For other types of commute, we still travel like civilians where we have vehicles that carry us from one place to another through normal means of travel. And for destinations with decent traffic, we have jump points - which are basically entrances to magical highways, but everyone travels in similar routes going at the same speed. We¡¯ll enter one next.¡± ¡°That sounds fun. ¡± Caroline chuckled and looked out from a window by her side. ¡°Hey Garret, you seem to know quite a lot about our world. How¡¯s so?¡± ¡°Well, to put it simply, I am a member of the Anderson House in the Grant Academy, as was Ms. Wong.¡± Garret answered: ¡°There are other two houses, Hellbruck House and Martin House. One of our primary fields of studies is civilian technology. Which is itself an interesting story, because my great great great grandfather used to be a civilian, and he was a pretty handy weaponsmith during his time. He was always fond of technology, so when he was taken into the Anderson House, he focused on adapting civilian technology for magical uses. And then he laid the tradition of studying civilian technology and sciences - his insights were that the civilian societies are just as intelligent as the magical world.¡± ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t imagine his message would be well received.¡± Jason chuckled. ¡°He did okay, the Anderson House was always the place for the tech and handy types. You know the Dark Practitioner Revolt or Horror in Europe during the 50s and 60s?¡± ¡°No¡­ our history lessons are really lacking.¡± Caroline frowned: ¡°But the story sounds quite familiar - like one of those movies Jason likes to watch.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°Yeah yeah yeah, indeed, it impacted the civilian world quite heavily and spread to America as well. And it was one of the events that triggered the founding of the Division.¡± Garret chuckled: ¡°It¡¯s kinda funny though, these dark practitioners did not gain too much ground in the U.S, they sent two plattoon of infiltrators here. But they were pretty arrogant and careless when choosing the first place to infiltrate - one of the platoons tried to take over a local neighborhood in Texas as their first base, and they were met with fierce resistance and counter attack from some organized locals and were beaten by this group of farmers and merchants with their guns and drove back to the sea.¡± ¡°Holy cow, how is that possible?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know. Rumor was that some local wizards and witches helped the counter attack as well, portraying themselves as traveling preachers.¡± ¡°Now, that is getting hilarious.¡± Caroline chuckled. ¡°Yeah, and the other platoon gained some success initially, but was also anihilated soon after. But it was quite a shock for a lot of people in the magical world, that a group of trained magical infiltrators could actually be beaten by some armed civilians with guns. Granted, that these infiltrators were unprepared and the civilians were, and the leaders were later recruited by the Division. But still, this is an incredible feat, and one that really sticks out to a lot of people in the magical world that the non-magic civilians possess much more intellect than they previously give them credit for. I mean, civilians invented the internet and absolute majority of the information technology. And up to today there are still people in the magical world writing a lot of their information on paper scrolls.¡± ¡°Hmm, thanks Garret. ¡± Jason thought for a while and said. The purple SUV soon reached one of three lines before a bridge - only half of the bridge was clearly visible to Caroline and Jason, and the other half seemed to be obscured by a giant wall of slowly moving silver blue wall of liquid. The travelers in different kinds of vehicles and carriages are waiting in the lines to go into the wall of liquid. And shortly after going into the liquid, a wave emerged from below and swept them up and they just disappeared in an instant. ¡°This is the jump point we will be going through. We only need to go three quarters of the way, then we will drop down to the Anderson Plaza.¡± Garret sounded excited: ¡°Hold onto your seats, going for the first time through a jump point might feel shaky.¡± From a giant TV screen in the room, Caroline and Jason could see that a male wizard wearing a grey suit and wearing a pair of glasses on a broom was waiting in front of them. ¡°Is that guy gonna get wet?¡± Jason joked. ¡°Probably not - there was a girl on a horse in the other line.¡± Caroline shook her head. ¡°The liquid looking thing is actually not liquid, it is a wall of energy generated from the array underneath. When combined with the energy the riders or the vehicles released into the wall, it will produce a special tunnel through which we will travel at high speed to our location.¡± Garret explained: ¡°This is actually an invention inspired by the civilian theory of vacuum tunnels.¡± Right after Garret¡¯s answer, the man in front of them already disappeared behind the wall of liquid, and it was now their turn. ¡°Ready? On the count of three.¡± when the dark purple SUV pulled into the wall of liquid, all the open windows automatically closed up, and Caroline and Jason could see that the whole SUV was now surrounded by bubbles and flowing liquid that was emitting light blue shine: ¡°Three ¡­ two ...¡± ¡°One!¡± The entire SUV was pushed forward and upward by a tremendous force, which also locked Caroline and Jason in their sofas for a brief moment. And through the screen in the room, they saw that the SUV was shooting through a light blue tunnel, and judging from the blurred shining ripples on the tunnel wall they were traveling at a significant speed. The travel in the tunnel took around one minute before the SUV started decelerating. And when the SUV exited the tunnel, Caroline and Jason saw that they were airborne and tumbling down towards the ground beneath them. And their destination, was a giant round plaza with fountains and trees, positioned right in front of four very distinct buildings. Chapter 177 ¡°Greetings! Welcome to the Grant Academy!¡± by the time the dark purple SUV landed on the plaza beside a tall and well-trimmed tree, a girl in a green robe and wearing a golden and green brooch was waiting on the ground for them: ¡°Can I have your enrollment letter or badge?¡± ¡°Here.¡± Garret handed two small scrolls to the girl: ¡°I am just bringing them here and helping them with their enrollment. ¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± the girl opened the two scrolls and her face lit up even more: ¡°So you¡¯re audit students, and recommended by Ms. Josephine Wong no less! Welcome! Welcome!¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± Caroline and Jason pulled their luggage out: ¡°So um, what should we do next?¡± ¡°I will be your campus guide, so I will walk you through the process, and I will be your point of contact if you have any questions regarding any questions or issues you have regarding your life at the academy, including housing, food, entertainment, so on and so forth.¡± the girl smiled and shook hands with Caroline and Jason: ¡°My name is Tonya, Tonya Evergreen. May I know your name?¡± ¡°My name¡¯s Caroline, this is Jason.¡± Caroline nodded at Jason: ¡°Thank you Tonya. And thank you Garret for bringing us here. It¡¯s safe to say we¡¯ll be very lost without you.¡± ¡°No problem. And if you¡¯ll excuse me, I need to run to do my next errand. ¡± Garret waved at Caroline and Jason before he got back into the SUV: ¡°You know how to reach me, please don¡¯t hesitate to call.¡± ¡°No problem. Thanks again Garret.¡± Jason also waved Garret goodbye. ¡°Okay, Caroline, Jason, let me first bring you to the place you¡¯ll be staying at during the audit program.¡± Tonya smiled and extended her arm at the direction of the four buildings. ¡°So Tonya, how long have you been in the Grant Academy?¡± while walking alongside Tonya, Caroline asked: ¡°And how¡¯s the life here?¡± ¡°Well, I am still a student here, and this is my fourth year, so two more years to go on a regular schedule.¡± Tonya answered while waving at some other students with similar brooches on their clothes walking over to the plaza: ¡°Life here can be pretty fun if you choose the right thing to focus on. And it could be a bit stressful if you cannot make up your mind, so be careful and clear your head. I am a member of the Martin House, and that¡¯s the place I am staying at.¡± Then she pointed at a tall castle-like building floating in not too far away from the ground: ¡°That¡¯s our floating castle, rooms are a bit small because it¡¯s kinda old. But at least we¡¯ve got good artistic hallways and places for theater.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°So I heard there are three houses? What¡¯s each house like?¡± Jason asked: ¡°And how do you get into a house? Do you have some sort of magical hat that dictates it?¡± ¡°Hahaha, no. ¡± Tonya laughed and said: ¡°We actually need to apply separately, and have interviews with all three of the houses - each house has its specific set of requirements on top of the basics. And you can only become a student if one or more houses are willing to recruit you. I applied to all three and got the offers from the Martin House and Anderson House. Hellbruck House has always been a long shot.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the difference between the houses?¡± Jason followed up with his question. ¡°Yeah, sorry.¡± Tonya cleared her throat: ¡°Forgive me, we shouldn¡¯t really bad mouth other houses, so let me just give you the neutral version. Let¡¯s start with my house: the Martin House is known for its magical theoreticians and especially arrays, we have more of those intellectual types and we have the best research facilities and library collections. Andersen House is more about the application of magic, they like to build stuff, and we actually collaborate a lot. They have a lot of testing facilities for various gadgets. And the Hellbruck House was more about fighting and combat, they¡¯re the¡­ what¡¯s a better word for it? Aggressive? Passionate type?¡± ¡°Bullies?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°Yeah, you said it, not mine.¡± Tonya chuckled. ¡°And what about us audit students? I don¡¯t remember submitting any applications to any of the houses.¡± Jason asked: ¡°Or do we get to learn a little bit from all three houses?¡± ¡°Good question! And the answer is yes.¡± Tonya smiled: ¡°For the first three weeks, you will spend time listening to the public classes and lectures of all three houses as well as the required classes. Then you will need to choose the curriculum provided by at least one house as your focus. To finish with honor, you will need to successfully complete all of your completion requirements from all of your focuses. And my advice is, choose wisely, don¡¯t choose more than one unless you¡¯re really sure of yourself.¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± Jason looked at one giant building that seemed like it was a hollowed-out red rock mountain with orange shining windows: ¡°And that? I assume it¡¯s the place for Hellbruck House?¡± ¡°Indeed, it was a whole piece of volcano, dug out by the founder of Hellbruck House from the mountain of Brimms, and the founder of Anderson House helped fashion it into a castle, containing both the living spaces and training grounds for the students of his house.¡± then Tonya pointed at a building that looked like an observatory with three telescopes: ¡°And that is the place for the Anderson House, it¡¯s the only place that constantly changes its exterior shape constantly - they have contacts in the civilian world that learn about technological advancements and combine those technologies to reshape the exterior every five years.¡± ¡°Okay, those are very impressive, Tonya, what about the place we¡¯ll be staying at?¡± Caroline pointed at the building at the center, which looked like a citadel with three domes: ¡°Is this it? Looks way too big and formal for us.¡± ¡°No, that is the main building, where we have our general courses and training. The place for audit students to stay at is behind it. It¡¯s a little small, hope you don¡¯t mind.¡± Tonya smiled and led them to a giant round piece of marble on the ground: ¡°Now, stand here. It¡¯d be faster. And it¡¯s usually frowned upon to fly over the main building, so...¡± ¡°Okay?¡± Jason stood on the marble with Caroline in front of Tonya. ¡°Mica, take us to the audit student quarters.¡± Tonya stomped her feet on the marble and said. With a gentle chirping sound, the piece of round marble tablet under their feet rose from its place, then started flying in low air and carrying three of them through a route plotted on the ground. Chapter 178 ¡°Who¡¯s Mica?¡± while traveling on this round piece of marble, Jason asked. ¡°It¡¯s not a person, and not an AI either. ¡± Tonya giggled: ¡°It¡¯s just a command to use these traveling tablets. This is one of the products of the collaboration between Martin House and Anderson House, they actually learned from the smartphones in the civilian world.¡± ¡°Yeah, I recognized the pattern, but this is way cooler.¡± Jason looked around as the marble tablet brought them through between the major buildings - there were some small pavilions along the way with other students reading or chatting inside. They could also see some younger students practicing flying spells on an empty ground nearby. ¡°If you go from here and straight down the route, you will reach the public training ground.¡± right after the marble tablet made a turn, Tonya told Caroline and Jason: ¡°In the academy, all of us are encouraged to practice combat skills on the training ground in a friendly manner. We are also allowed a monthly hunting quota in the school¡¯s hunting ground, which applied to audi students as well - so if you would like to taste some magical wild game and sharpen your skills, you could go do some hunting.¡± ¡°Interesting, but isn¡¯t that a bit risky for some students?¡± Caroline asked: ¡°What if the animals hurt the students?¡± ¡°The academy has people maintaining the species and population of the hunting ground, to make sure that there¡¯s no beasts and animals that are too dangerous. Also based on their progress in their training, each student has only access to parts of the hunting ground. You can go check it out with the hunting department and go through some tests to see which areas you qualify for.¡± ¡°Oooh, I might wanna go there next.¡± Caroline chuckled: ¡°What can we hunt there?¡± ¡°Oh, there¡¯s a lot, we have Highland Snow Elk, Shape Shifting Boar, even some carnivorous plants if you¡¯re so inclined. ¡± Tonya scratched her head and answered, seeming like she was not quite sure of her answer: ¡°To be honest I am not too familiar with it - if you would like to know I can bring you to the administration and ask.¡± ¡°No worries, I can go by myself. Just show us our living quarters.¡± Caroline waved her hand. The marble tablet continued to move, after taking the turn, and soon it made another left turn, heading straight towards a building that looked like something that was floating in the air and hidden by a huge piece of cloud.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Is that the place? It¡¯s kinda ¡­ strange.¡± Jason said. ¡°Yes. It was the latest building on the academy campus, and thus it has the latest designs.¡± Tonya smiled brightly: ¡°It¡¯s actually pretty brilliant design, you¡¯ll see when you get close enough. It has a special obscuring spell around its perimeters, and people far away will only see a huge piece of cloud. Only when you get really close, or when you are well-trained in seeing through illusions can you see its inside.¡± ¡°Yeah, I kinda can see something inside: are those floating land and houses in bubbles? That¡¯s very interesting!¡± Jason pointed at the top of the cloud. ¡°Ooh, not sure if that one¡¯s taken, I want that one.¡± Caroline pointed at a bubble with a mansion and a lake. ¡°Wait? You can see the bubbles through the clouds?¡± Tonya¡¯s eyes widened and appeared genuinely surprised: ¡°That¡¯s¡­ so surprising! Where did you say you get your training from ?¡± ------------------------------------ ¡°Hello there, Mr. Lun Wang.¡± on the Anderson Plaza, the shorter, chubbier and younger version of Jianmen got off a flying gourd and was greeted by another girl wearing a golden and purple brooch and a light blue robe: ¡°Hope you had a nice trip. My name is Dolores and I am Professor Atkinson¡¯s assistant. Is this the first time here?¡± ¡°Yeah, first time at your fine institution. ¡± Lun Wang, or Jianmen said while smiling: ¡°Thank you for giving me the chance to visit.¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re most welcome.¡± the girl nodded as she saw Jianmen shrunk the gourd and put it on his waist: ¡°Let¡¯s head directly to the place you¡¯ll be staying at, and then visit your lab! I believe Professor Atkinson will be here tomorrow, so you¡¯ll be able to start your research pretty much right away.¡± ¡°Thank you! And I heard I will be staying in the same building as the audit students right?¡± ¡°Yes. And you¡¯re sure you don¡¯t want to request for your individual accommodation? We could easily make that happen. And you can easily have access to more testing and experiment facilities.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, I¡¯m here to research the magic of faith and flow, there¡¯s not much need for experimentation anyway. Plus I¡¯d like to meet more people here as well.¡± When both Jianmen and Dolores went on a floating marble tablet, three young men flew to their side using their special black leather shoes with a golden wing shaped symbol on the side. ¡°Hey, Dolores! Fancy seeing you here.¡± the leading young man appeared to be a bit frivolous and arrogant: ¡°How¡¯s your research with Professor ¡­ what¡¯s his name? Matkins? Atkenzie?¡± ¡°It¡¯s Professor Atkinson.¡± Dolores was smiling, but when she saw the three young men, her face immediately turned emotionless and distant: ¡°And what brings you here?¡± ¡°Nothing, I just finished the enrollment.¡± the leading young man of the group didn¡¯t even acknowledge Jianmen: ¡°And I figured I¡¯d like to take these new shoes for a spin, you know, these new hovering shoes are really good, much better than their previous models.¡± ¡°Good, I¡¯m glad you liked them.¡± Dolores nodded: ¡°I guess uncle Tamil must¡¯ve treated you very well because you got into the Martin House.¡± ¡°Well, you know. It¡¯s just the right house for me.¡± the young man finally turned his attention to Jianmen: ¡°And who are you?¡± ¡°My name is Lun Wang, I am a visiting scholar.¡± Jianmen extended his hand for a handshake. ¡°Yeah well, so you¡¯re here to collaborate with Professor Atkinson? Does he still have the funding?¡± the young man did not acknowledge Jianmen¡¯s gesture for handshake: ¡°Dolores, you gotta consider switching to a different focus.¡± ¡°It¡¯s my field of study, so it¡¯s not your concern.¡± Dolores said: ¡°You could just worry about yourself, Andrew.¡± Chapter 179 ¡°Sorry you have to witness that.¡± when Dolores and Jianmen got away from the scene on the marble tablets, Dolores apologized to Jianmen: ¡°I promise you that the absolute majority of the students and staff here are not that unpleasant.¡± ¡°Is he someone in your family? ¡± Jianmen asked: ¡°Because I noticed you share a last name.¡± ¡°Unfortunately yeah. He¡¯s my cousin.¡± Dolores sighed: ¡°His father, Tamil Brooke, is a board member of the school, and used to be a vice principal of the academy. My father and his father do not get along too well, and then we kinda inherited the bad relationship. Of course, the attitudes didn¡¯t help. Again, my apologies.¡± ¡°Yeah it¡¯s fine. I have my own unpleasant experience of family drama.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°You are related and will probably run into each other more often than you¡¯d like, what can you do?¡± ¡°Yeah. What can anyone do?¡± Dolores shook her head and sighed, then she gathered herself and extended her arm in the other direction after a right turn: ¡°If you don¡¯t turn here and head straight down, you will find our public training ground. And if you turn a bit to the left, you will find the common experimentation field. You can try some basic spells and arrays there. But you just need to bring your own material.¡± ¡°What about the library? ¡± Jianmen knew the answer, but he had to act as if he did not know. ¡°It¡¯s in the main building when you get a chance to take a look you will easily find it. Literally almost half the building is a library. And as a visiting scholar, you would have direct access to almost all books in there, except for some classified ones. And you would need to file applications with different houses separately if you want to access books belonging to the houses. I have filed an application for you in the Martin House already. It should be approved anytime. But you¡¯ll probably need to do it yourself for the other two.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great, thank you! For my time here the books in the Martin House would be more than enough.¡± Jianmen looked at the large piece of cloud in front of him and said, from his point of view, he could see through the cloud completely and check out the floating bubbles in the cloud. ¡°Hmm, interesting building you got there. Who designed it?¡± Jianmen asked. ¡°It was designed by a couple of the best architects that graduated from the academy, a few of them were actually the first proponents of the audit and visiting scholars program.¡± Dolores smiled: ¡°And Professor Vaughn, one of the original architects is actually still teaching here in the academy! I really recommend you listen to his lectures if you got a chance - it really helped me look at the mechanisms of arrays from a different light.¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Sounds interesting. I will definitely check it out once I get the chance.¡± Jianmen nodded. The marble tablet arrived at the small platform in front of the huge piece of cloud floating about two storeys high above ground. ¡°Here¡¯s your key.¡± Dolores handed Jianmen a small teardrop sized blue crystal: ¡°It¡¯s very easy to use - just infuse it with a bit of magic, and your place will come to you. In actuality it constructs a small jump point for you and transported you to your place.¡± ¡°Inspired design! And from what I can tell, very energy efficient as well!¡± Jianmen looked up and down at the piece of cloud with floating bubbles inside. ¡°Glad you like it.¡± Dolores smiled and bowed lightly: ¡°Again, I am very glad you can join us for our research here. Would you like me to show you our other facilities? Our labs and experiment grounds?¡± ¡°That would be all, thank you! I would bug you later if I have something I¡¯m not able to figure out.¡± Jianmen nodded at Dolores. ¡°Okay. Then, you know how to contact me. Hope you have a great visit here, looking forward to collaborating with you.¡± Dolores smiled and watched Jianmen infuse a small trace of his power into the teardrop shaped crystal, and a bubble with a small tree, a small lake and a tower made of bamboo and wood. ¡°Ah, nice. You got the house I asked for? That¡¯s so considerate of you!¡± Jianmen chuckled. ¡°Yeah! We hope you like it. ¡± Dolores laughed and clapped her hands: ¡°We don¡¯t have much experience with these kinds of houses - so all the interior and exterior design components are all very modular. Very easy to rearrange if we didn¡¯t do a good job.¡± ¡°I trust that you did. But I¡¯ll let you know.¡± Jianmen gave Dolores a double thumbs up: ¡°Thanks again!¡± ----------------------------------------------- ¡°Dolores, how¡¯s our guest?¡± when Dolores went back into her and Professor Atkinson¡¯s office, she found that an old man with a long white beard and a black suit was there waiting for her. ¡°Professor Atkinson! He just settled down.¡± Dolores put down her handbag and brooch: ¡°How¡¯s our next excavation site?¡± ¡°Pretty dangerous, and too close to the civilian world. We could really use some help.¡± Professor Atkinson sighed and sat down by a chair by Dolores¡¯ table: ¡°I hope Mr. Yu won¡¯t mind us taking him directly into action when he just got here.¡± ¡°Wait, Mr. Yu?¡± Dolores narrowed her eyes and was a bit flustered: ¡°Holy shit! Did I get the wrong guy?¡± ¡°What? Did I say Mr. Yu?¡± Professor Atkinson appeared surprised himself: ¡°I ¡­ I mean Mr. Sun?¡± ¡°Mr. Wang. Mr. Lun Wang.¡± Dolores spoke one word at a time and with suspicion in her eyes: ¡°What ¡­ Why can¡¯t you remember the name? I thought you yourself approved the application?¡± ¡°Because...¡± Professor Atkinson was stumped for an answer for a while, then he just gave up: ¡°Okay, keep this between us, okay? This can¡¯t leave this room.¡± ¡°Okay, so ¡­ this Mr. Lun Wang, or Mr. Yu, is not a visiting scholar?¡± ¡°Well, he IS a visiting scholar. It¡¯s just that Lun Wang isn¡¯t his name.¡± the old man sighed. ¡°What!? That¡¯s really bad! That¡¯s one of the highest forms of ethics violation! You could get fired for this! WE could get fired for this!¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay! It¡¯s okay! Alright!? It¡¯s just a few months, he¡¯ll help us, collect his payment and get out. No one should even be the wiser!¡± ¡°But you just misspoke his name! How are we supposed to keep this secret?¡± ¡°Okay, I can definitely do better than that. I¡¯ll read his profile again.¡± Professor Atkinson sighed and started pacing in the room. ¡°Okay, but who is this Mr. Yu? Do you know him? Who the hell is he?¡± Dolores was starting to freak out. ¡°Yes! I know him, not super well, but enough to vouch for his integrity ¡­ okay? And it was technically Josephine¡¯s recommendation.¡± Chapter 180 ¡°Okay okay okay, don¡¯t tell me about him. I don¡¯t feel comfortable with this. My uncle¡¯s on the board, my father¡¯s almost made tenure - I can¡¯t get involved with this!¡± Dolores stood up and paced behind her desk: ¡°Just tell me, are you sure he¡¯s the right person? ¡± ¡°Yes. He¡¯s very knowledgeable on some of the areas on which we¡¯re doing research. ¡± Professor Atkinson sighed and said: ¡°And please keep this between us, and don¡¯t let it affect our collaboration with Mr. Yu. The board keeps cutting our funding, he¡¯s all we have.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ okay... What qualifications does he have? ¡± Dolores finally stopped pacing and asked: ¡°I mean, you mentioned payment, what kind of payment does he want? ¡± ¡°He wanted some access to some books in our libraries.¡± Professor Atkinson sighed. ¡°That¡¯s way worse! Do we know what kind of books he¡¯s after?¡± Dolores scratched her head and almost yelled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m not interested in your secret theories and spell development.¡± a familiar voice came through the office door, which startled both Dolores and Professor Atkinson. ¡°How¡­ Did anyone break the soundproof spell in the office?¡± Dolores looked around, while Professor Atkinson opened the door and let Jianmen¡¯s shorter, younger and chubbier avatar in. ¡°I am sorry to barge in.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°I was about to introduce myself tomorrow, but I realized that I was being referred to in an angry manner, so I had to come here and see if I can help.¡± ¡°What?¡± Dolores stammered: ¡°That¡­ That¡¯s not possible unless you¡¯re a grand...¡± ¡°Dolores! Let me introduce you to Mr. Jianmen Yu.¡± Professor Atkinson immediately closed the door and tried to save everyone the embarrassment: ¡°He¡¯s worked with us in the past, and he¡¯s been kind to work with us on our upcoming excavations and research.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± Jianmen extended his hand at Dolores: ¡°And sorry I had to come in like this ¡­ because I was technically on the academy black list, and the reason to which is kinda hilarious.¡± ¡°Mr. Yu had some very strong disagreements with the vice principal during his time here as an audit student.¡± Professor Atkinson explained: ¡°He reached out to Josephine earlier, and Josephine reached out to me. We came up with this collaboration, and since didn¡¯t really have a lot of funding, we just made the collaboration project really inexpensive.¡± ¡°Okay...¡± Dolores was hesitant, but still shook Jianmen¡¯s hand: ¡°Why does that sound very familiar?¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Yeah, that vice principal was your uncle, Tamil Brooke.¡± Jianmen shrugged: ¡°And Professor Atkinson was putting it generously, I got into a physical altercation with your uncle. So I got expelled immediately and was put on the black list. But something from our earlier interaction tells me that you won¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true!¡± Dolores protested, but then couldn¡¯t help but chuckle and smiled: ¡°Okay I lied, I totally won¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Phew, so we¡¯re good? ¡± Professor Atkinson exhaled in relief, then asked. ----------------------------------- In the academy hunting ground. Caroline and Jason just finished their first hunt. It was not Caroline¡¯s first hunt per se, but it was definitely Jason¡¯s. ¡°Never have I ever thought that my first hunt would be in a magical boarding school hunting ground.¡± Jason told Caroline when dragging an ugly dead boar with red and black furr, two asymmetric horns that looked like two bulging tree roots emerging from the center of its forehead and the side of its face and two lion-like front paws. The boar¡¯s two fangs in its lower jaw were exposed and were leaving a trail of scratch marks on the ground. ¡°Yeah, well, I¡¯ve always hoped Boss would take us to hunt sometimes.¡± Caroline smiled and dragged another boar of the same species and similar size with her: ¡°Consider this being the first time for me as well - I¡¯d never hunted with an axe and a shield before. Hell, I¡¯ve never even used bows or crossbows before, I¡¯ve always used rifles.¡± ¡°Yeah. I think that wouldn¡¯t be too useful in this case.¡± Jason chuckled: ¡°I¡¯ve always heard some boars are able to withstand bullet impacts. And these ugly pigs could definitely take normal hunting bullets in the face.¡± ¡°I wonder how the bacon tastes.¡± Caroline laughed: ¡°I wouldn¡¯t expect much though, judging from their ugly faces and tough skin. Come to think of it. If possible, I would ask Boss to make a gun for me. Looks like I am somewhat lacking in attacking remote enemies.¡± It did not take long for them to reach the hunting ground checkpoint, where one young man was there waiting for them already. ¡°Good hunting day!¡± the young man had a bright smile when he greeted Caroline and Jason: ¡°Just two boars? You can hunt more if you¡¯d like. You still have some time.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright, it¡¯s our first time here and I can¡¯t wait to check out our first lunch.¡± Caroline threw her boar onto a magic scale on the side of the checkpoint. ¡°Yeah. How good does this taste?¡± Jason also threw his prey on the scale. ¡°Terrible but still edible for the most part.¡± the young man wrote down some notes on a clipboard: ¡°The best tasting part is its liver and heart, and aside from them everything else chews like wood and sponge and tastes like old cloth.¡± ¡°Ew.¡± Caroline shook her head. ¡°Liver and heart sounds good enough for me.¡± Jason looked at Caroline and chuckled. ¡°Yeah, too bad the academy always claims them.¡± the young man sighed, gently pressing a diamond shaped pendant on his bracelet: ¡°Okay, for your hunt today, according to academy policy, the academy owns most of their fur, their hearts and livers, their all but one nail from each of their front claws, all of their hooves ¡­¡± ¡°Just tell us what we can take with us.¡± Caroline shook her head and said, she knew that all the wild game from the hunting ground belonged to the academy, so this was not a surprise to her. ¡°You are entitled to their lower fangs, their horns, one tenth of their blood and their tongues.¡± the young man gave them a ¡°yikes¡± facial expression: ¡°You could buy some other stuff for cheap if you want, since you are the hunter. And if you want you can sell your shares to the academy.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jason and Caroline exchanged looks: ¡°I would just keep the fangs. Sell the rest. ¡± ¡°Same for me. Just the fangs.¡± Caroline sighed. Half an hour later, Caroline and Jason walked into the school canteen, each half a gold coin richer. ¡°The school¡¯s kinda cheap. Only half a gold coin for everything? I didn¡¯t even know they can be divided!¡± Jason chuckled wryly when he was standing in the line with Caroline. Just this moment, a man and a woman standing in front of them turned back and looked at Jason and then Caroline with shock on their faces: ¡°Jason? Caroline?¡± Chapter 181 ¡°Such a small world. What the hell!?¡± when Aimee and Thomas found a table and sat down with Caroline and Jason, Aimee still couldn¡¯t get over the fact that they would meet at the Grant Academy. ¡°Man, you gotta tell us what you¡¯re doing here.¡± Thomas was still smiling. ¡°We¡¯ll tell you, when you tell us.¡± Caroline chuckled. ¡°Wait, it¡¯s Josephine Wong isn¡¯t it?¡± Jason slammed his hand on the table and said, attracting the attention of a few other students and staff walking by. ¡°Well yeah!¡± Thomas laughed happily: ¡°How¡¯d you know? ¡± ¡°Well, I just put the dots together.¡± Jason shook his head and was slightly embarrassed by the attention he attracted: ¡°Remember that piece of paper flower you asked us about? Wondering whose flower it was? The color was purple.¡± ¡°And you pieced it together just with that? ¡± Aimee smiled and placed her mug on the table: ¡°I don¡¯t suppose a person can actually own a color, can they?¡± ¡°Well, not just that.¡± Jason explained: ¡°When we went to the Christmas fair, the bar owner, what¡¯s his name? Fernando? He mentioned that Josephine Wong was taking her students along to buy preparations for the school. And as far as I know, your only connection to this world is through our inn. And if our boss did not bring you in, the next best guess is Josephine Wong.¡± ¡°Okay, okay, that¡¯s a lot of information.¡± Aimee waved both her hands: ¡°Your boss, Mr. Yu, is the one who brought you into this world?¡± ¡°Oooh, maybe not the best idea to utter his name right now.¡± Caroline immediately did a ¡°shhh¡± gesture: ¡°But yes.¡± ¡°Holy ¡­ and please tell me this¡­ he does speak English, right?¡± Aimee laid low and asked Caroline and Jason in a low voice: ¡°The whole ¡®I no speak English¡¯ stuff is just an act right?¡± ¡°He speaks it well. And he can also speak Spanish.¡± Jason chuckled.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. The lunch took four of them much longer than they previously expected, due entirely to the nice surprise of them meeting at the most unexpected place. Through their conversation, Caroline and Jason heard about the story of Aimee and Thomas, about how they were responding to two officers in distress and were attacked by what they assumed to be vampires; then Aimee got a magical paper flow put into her hand when she was still in coma; and when they came out of the hospital, they were greeted by Garret and Josephine Wong in a dark purple SUV. And everything just went from there - Josephine Wong told them about the magical underworld, and offered to bring them into it, as her students. They considered long and hard, and when they finally decided to hand in their resignation, and in effect leaving the civilian world behind, they were hit with a resurfaced murder case, evidence to which actually quite fit what they learned about vampires and other night dwellers from Josephine Wong. They did not consider vampires in the past for obvious reasons, but now that they heard about it, they started looking into that direction. Though they still had much doubt and somewhat in denial, they decided to take the case before they officially resigned. And after spending only a few days, they were able to obtain quite a lot of information when they decided to think outside the box. One of the main breakthroughs was that they decided to take a frantic and scared man seriously enough when he was mumbling about vampires and a potential blood farm in a poor, run down and high crime rate neighborhood. The other, was that right before they decided to ask Josephine Wong and Garret for help, the crisis at San Francisco happened. Aimee and Thomas were beyond shocked to learn, that Caroline and Jason were present when San Francisco happened. And to their further shock, they learned about the root cause of it - a stitched up human corpse comprising two half bodies. After San Francisco, everything was in chaos, they tried to contact Josephine Wong and Garret but they were not responding. It was around one and a half weeks later, that Josephine Wong gave them a callback. ¡°I¡¯m telling you, it was the second most shocking conversation I had with her.¡± Thomas said while cutting his steak: ¡°She said, thanks for our input, she was very busy because of San Francisco. But people will handle it, and a semi governmental department called the Division will handle the investigation. She told us to stay on the side for a bit and try not to get into trouble.¡± ¡°And I assumed that you did not do as she told you, isn¡¯t it?¡± Caroline asked with a smile. ¡°Well, no.¡± Aimee sighed: ¡°I don¡¯t wanna just give up the case - the killer of this case, we called him ¡®the Drainer¡¯, was sort of like an archenemy of ours. He first appeared a few years back, killing young girls and leaving them almost completely dry.¡± ¡°So Aimee insisted we still do the police work like we¡¯re supposed to.¡± Thomas said: ¡°Which actually got us in a great deal of trouble, and quite a lot of danger if we¡¯re honest. But luckily we figured out something that could help us - our blood.¡± ¡°Yeah. Apparently, our blood was really like - a tasty and poisonous lava for vampires.¡± Aimee laughed, with a bit of tears in her eyes: ¡°We decided to drain some of our blood and store them in small vials. Then we tried patrolling the neighborhood where our latest victim was found with it.¡± ¡°Yikes. Bad idea.¡± Jason inhaled through his teeth, ¡°Vampires have better noses than dogs. They could smell you from afar.¡± ¡°Yeah, which kinda worked out.¡± Aimee looked at Jason with a felicitated smile: ¡°One day when we waited by the street, pretending to be lost tourists, one guy found us, all¡­ drugged out vampire-like. Oh, did I mention that vampires had a special smell?¡± ¡°Do they?¡± Caroline and Jason exchanged looks: ¡°Interesting...¡± Chapter 182 On the early morning of his second day at the Grant Academy, Jianmen went to the public library in the main building, and showed the librarian a written note from Professor Atkinson. ¡°All volumes of ¡®Ruptured Heavens - An Investigation of the Fall of ChanderEx¡¯. All volumes of ¡®The Forbidden Tombs¡¯. And all volumes of ¡®Lost Time of the Ages ¡¯.¡± the librarian in a red coat and a small red beret gently pushed her glasses upward: ¡°You¡¯re looking into Godfalls? Are you working with Professor Atkinson?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Jianmen nodded. ¡°That¡¯s quite an obscure field to research on. I applaud you.¡± the library operated on a small crystal ball on her desk, then looked up at Jianmen: ¡°Please wait a few seconds before they get here. They are incredibly heavy, are you sure you brought your carriers or containers?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I had all things prepared.¡± ¡°Okay. These books are of sealed knowledge.¡± the library pulled out a stone and metal tablet from one of her desk drawers and started reading it to Jianmen: ¡°Please be advised, that the knowledge contained in these books is secretive. So please exercise your best judgment when disclosing the content to other members of the academy, and it is strictly forbidden to disclose the information to anyone outside of the academy. Be also warned that the nature of sealed knowledge dictates that the learner of the knowledge must possess a certain level of strength in their power of the mind. If you are unable to withstand the knowledge you are to return the books immediately. And it is also forbidden to disclose this kind of knowledge to students or faculty that are not ready.¡± ¡°Understood. ¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°Trust me, I have plenty of experience handling that kind of knowledge.¡± ¡°That would be good. Can¡¯t have any more reckless scholars passing out and going into coma because they just can¡¯t wait.¡± the librarian sighed. Just this moment, the bookshelves by her left side opened up, several flocks of metal birds with shiny red eyes and glowing blue wings flew out carrying three huge metal boxes. The three boxes were tossed by the metal birds at Jianmen¡¯s direction, and without any trouble, Jianmen conjured up some invisible forces and held them in mid air. ¡°Nice. I guess we¡¯ll wait for the good news. ¡± the librarian smiled at Jianmen.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Thank you, and I hope so too.¡± Jianmen nodded and took the three metal boxes away. These were some of the books that he intended to read here. From what he knew, these were the works of some great scholars that have dedicated most, if not all of their lives studying the phenomenon of Godfall. In the world from which Jianmen came, there was a similar phenomenon, the great cultivators from that world called it ¡°The Breaking of Flow and Lineage¡±. But they essentially referred to the same thing: that powerful beings in the world, be it gods of immense power, or cultivators that have made it to the ninth layer or even beyond, be suddenly struck with severe calamity, that they instantly lost almost all power and even had their lives and souls shattered or annihilated. And its influence was not limited to the god or powerful cultivator themselves, it also devastated the realm in which the god or cultivator resided in, causing massive disasters and leading to loss of countless lives. Nobody really knows what the exact causes of it were, for those who survived it all endured great loss of their power, and could not bear the knowledge with this kind of scale, so they either ended up crazy, or not remembering anything about the calamity. From the research and investigation done by Jianmen and his past clan members and friends, it appeared that it had something to do with karma flows. However, through their hard work and dangerous investigations and excavations, they were not able to figure out much in detail. They did find traces of karmic pollutants at each scene of it happening they could locate, and they were even able to trace these pollutants to a few powerful and aggressive monsters that seemed to be roaming around and spreading destruction wherever they wandered to, but traces just subsequently ended on those monsters. When Jianmen recovered a lot of his strength and felt confident in exploring the world a little, he accidentally went into a dark and deep ocean pit at a remote planet. And to his worry and surprise, he sensed karmic pollutants, with a somewhat familiar aura and twisted forcefield around it. Knowing that his current power was not enough to deal with karmic pollutants this potent, he marked the planet and placed a simple observation spell in a distance. After a period of time, Jianmen was happy to find that the karmic pollutants did not spread, nor did it show any symptoms of potential spreading. But he was still too weak to deal with it, so he just regularly dropped by and made preparations for when the day comes that he needs to cleanse it. And the reason Jianmen wanted to come to the Grant Academy to take advantage of the facilities, aside from that he would like to be there in the background watching over his students, was mostly the sudden rise of karmic pollutants under his radar that made him feel compelled to investigate. AeixiiMhundu Tunnel was one instance, and the jellyfish monster that was still swimming and healing in his fish tank was another instance. From what he knew and experienced, frequent occurrence of karmic pollutants tended to correlate with cosmic level changes or shifts of energy levels in the universe. And there were no greater indicators to this kind of shift or change than Godfalls - even if it happened quite a while back, it could still be related, since gods and high layer cultivators, while powerful, are easily the ones most affected by even the smallest changes and shifts of this kind. It¡¯s a long shot, since Godfalls are also extremely rare, but it¡¯s still a valid option for Jianmen, as he couldn¡¯t possibly afford the cost of getting this kind of knowledge through the Law of Karma. Right when Jianmen got the three metal boxes back to his place, he got a message from Dolores and Professor Atkinson. ¡°Mr. Wang, do you have time? We¡¯d like to discuss with you about our upcoming excavation.¡± ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll see you at your office?¡± Jianmen put a protective and camouflaging spell on the three boxes and headed out the door. Chapter 183 ¡°There you are.¡± after the first round of new student orientation, Caroline and Jason found Aimee and Thomas from the other section in the giant debate auditorium. According to the orientation, this is where some of the greatest debates about magical theories and their applications took place, because the by-laws dictated, that all parties in this debate will remain anonymous and their voices should be clouded by special magic, which in turn allowed the theories to be examined and evaluated regardless of the stature of the speakers. ¡°Hey, sorry we couldn¡¯t join you.¡± Thomas scratched his head: ¡°They told us we have to stay with our house during the orientation. And everyone¡¯s so¡­ young.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because most of the students come from pre-existing magical families. And even the ones coming from the civilian world are mostly around college age.¡± Thomas shook his head and sighed: ¡°I wonder what Ms. Josephine Wong saw in us.¡± ¡°How about your poisonous lava blood?¡± Jason joked: ¡°That must account for something. Maybe you¡¯re the descendants of half dragons.¡± ¡°Well, they¡¯re only effective against vampires as far as we know.¡± Aimee chuckled: ¡°We¡¯ve donated blood before, and it¡¯s not like somebody would call us and thank us for vampire-proofing them.¡± Different from Caroline and Jason, Aimee and Thomas were here as formal students - they were recommended and brought in by Josephine Wong, and they were accepted at the Anderson House directly. According to Aimee, they could¡¯ve gotten into the Hellbruck House if they wanted to, because that one is more about combat techniques and strategies and they were police officers. ¡°Did or Garret tell you anything about your special blood?¡± now that Thomas brought it up again, Caroline asked. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know. I asked, they didn¡¯t exactly give me any clear answers.¡± Thomas scoffed: ¡°I mean ¡­ Garret I get, but Ms. Josephine Wong, whoof, it¡¯s harder to get in touch with her than an actual celebrity.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not fair. She did take time to give us the whole talk about this world.¡± Aimee patted on Thomas¡¯s back while they were walking out of the auditorium: ¡°And that time she took us shopping for the necessities and paying for almost all of the stuff.¡± ¡°Yeah well, but she was doing all of the talking. And¡­ and world shattering.¡± Thomas laughed: ¡°Not that I mind, but there was just not enough room for questions, you know? I asked about the blood thing, but her words were: ¡®It¡¯s probably something dormant in you all along, and something happened to awaken or revitalize it.¡¯¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°That¡¯s vague and esoteric as hell. Do all high power folks talk like this?¡± Jason chuckled. ¡°You know what? Things got a lot better ever since San Francisco.¡± Caroline smiled: ¡°And I think I¡¯m beginning to understand the way Boss was behaving. It annoyed the shit outta me, but I understand more of it now.¡± ¡°Hmm. Do tell.¡± Thomas looked at Caroline curiously. ¡°Well. Knowledge has weight.¡± Caroline felt like she was put on the spot, so she started struggling a little bit: ¡°It ¡­ well¡­ truths are difficult to hear. It literally hurts.¡± ¡°Yeah. She¡¯s not joking.¡± when Aimee turned to Jason, Jason shrugged: ¡°When Boss told us about some things we¡¯ve always wanted to know, and something we¡¯ve never asked for. There''s this¡­ force and pressure surrounding my head and my whole body. I felt like the more I listened, the greater the force became. And my head hurt, my heart started racing, the blood in my body felt like boiling...¡± ¡°... and your bones felt like they¡¯re being squeezed in all directions - like wood or metal being pressure treated.¡± Caroline continued: ¡°It was not fun ...¡± ¡°Holy crap, just some information can cause that?¡± Thomas frowned: ¡°What did he tell you? What did he say?¡± ¡°Well, he was telling us about some of the basic forces in the world, and magical elements. ¡± Caroline scratched her hair: ¡°Shit ¡­ I¡¯m feeling like I have it in my head but I can¡¯t express it! He told us about there being a grand, unmeasurable force, or being in this world called the Will, and its senses, thoughts and actions formed into things like a river, or stream that starts from everywhere and at the same time ends everywhere...¡± ¡°Hold up, hold up.¡± Thomas cut Caroline off, with a trembling voice. ¡°I ¡­ I don¡¯t feel so good.¡± Aimee said. When Aimee and Thomas started feeling weak and almost could not feel their legs, Jason and Caroline held on to them and prevented them from falling on the ground. ¡°Holy shit. I understand it more now.¡± Caroline lifted Thomas up: ¡°Thomas you¡¯re feeling alright?¡± ¡°Shit. What the hell happened?¡± when they found a place to sit Aimee and Thomas down, Thomas asked. ¡°Knowledge has weight. And it fucking burns.¡± Caroline answered as she paid close attention to both Thomas and Aimee, while offering her flask to them: ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, I didn¡¯t know even this bit of information is enough to cause this much trouble. Here, if you still don¡¯t feel well drink some of this.¡± ¡°Thanks. I¡¯d like some.¡± Thomas¡¯s face was now all red like he was splashed in the face with boiling water. ¡°Slow and small sips, don¡¯t chug.¡± reminded by Caroline¡¯s action, Jason also offered Aimee his flask. It took quite a while for both Aimee and Thomas to feel better and be able to get back on their feet. The wine from Caroline and Jason¡¯s flasks made them cough heavily, but it at least ease their bodily and mental pain. ¡°Holy fuck. What the hell was that? How is that forbidden knowledge? ¡± Thomas breathed heavily after a small sip of the wine from Caroline¡¯s flask: ¡°I swear I¡¯ve heard that kind of stuff from stoners and junkies before. Why didn¡¯t any of it hit me like this?¡± ¡°I think the simple answer is that it comes from someone who actually knows.¡± Aimee shook her head and looked at Caroline and Jason with mixed feelings in her eyes: ¡°This is crazy. The owner of an around-the-corner inn being a high level wizard.¡± ¡°Cultivator.¡± Caroline and Jason said at the same time. Chapter 184 It¡¯s another dreadful morning for Stacy Brown, for she just had another terrible nightmare. Although the details were still fuzzy, she could still clearly remember what happened to her in her dreams: a shadowy figure, which constantly changed its shape and position, but always remained on her tail and wouldn¡¯t stop following her, while constantly switching from giggling and moaning in pain. No matter how hard she tried to run, escape or hide, the shadowy figure seemed to always find her. She dared not face it or even look at it directly. But she felt that she somehow knew the figure from somewhere. And she also felt like the figure also knew her. In the final moment of her nightmare, the shadowy figure came within an arm¡¯s length to her. She could practically feel its foul and cold breath and the chill and dread radiating from its constantly shapeshifting body. When she woke up, she actually could feel the soreness on her back and shoulders. And after checking on the mirror, she found that there were bruises and light scratches on her back and shoulders. To her great horror, the bruises on her back looked a bit like hand prints. Stacy put on her clothes, then immediately picked up her phone and dialed the number of one of her friends. ¡°Hey, Amanda? Can¡­ can you come over?¡± Stacy tried not to weep on the phone. ¡°Yeah, I am coming right over, what happened?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°I¡­ something terrible happened to me.¡± Stacy sniffled. When Amanda came over, Stacy almost broke down by the sight of her friend immediately. ¡°What happened? What¡¯s happening?¡± Amanda was scared, she never saw her friend in such a frantic and freaked out state. ¡°The dream I told you about, it never stopped! It still haunts me to this day¡± Stacy answered while crying: ¡°And this morning when I woke up, I found this!¡± Then Stacy turned around and showed Amanda her back. ¡°Holy crap, did that son of a bitch do this to you?¡± Amanda stood up and took her phone out: ¡°We should call the cops!¡± ¡°No! No! You don¡¯t understand!¡± Stacy grabbed Amanda by the arms: ¡°It¡¯s not him! It¡¯s not anyone! It just appeared when I woke up!¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°What do you mean? You mean...¡± Amanda stammered: ¡°This was ¡­ from your sleep last night?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Stacy cried: ¡°I think it¡¯s from my dreams! I ¡­ the shadow keeps chasing me and it gets closer and closer - every time it gets too close to me I wake up. But every time I dream, it gets even closer! Last night¡­ last night in my dream, it almost touched me! It almost fucking touched me!¡± ¡°Okay. Okay.¡± Amanda held Stacy in her arms and tried her best to comfort her shaken and trembling friend: ¡°I ¡­ I think we need help. We should find a medium.¡± Stacy did not answer, and just kept sobbing on Amanda¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Look, Stacy.¡± Amanda gently helped Stacy sit straight and looked her in the eyes: ¡°Are you sure this is not from that fucking jerk or anyone? ¡± ¡°No.¡± Stacy sniffled and shook her head: ¡°It definitely is not.¡± ¡°Okay. Let me see if I can find someone.¡± Amanda sighed and started scrolling through contacts on her phone, and before long she already found a name: ¡°We could ask Caroline.¡± ¡°Car ¡­ Caroline?¡± Stacy stayed silent for a brief moment, then nodded: ¡°Yeah, can you call her? I¡­ I don¡¯t want her to hear me like this.¡± ¡°She¡¯s doing some training program overbroad, so she can¡¯t run back and give your man a hard time even if she tried.¡± Amanda patted Stacy on her shoulder, then tapped on the name of Baker, Caroline. ¡°Amanda? This is not a good time.¡± Caroline sneaked out of one of the reading rooms in the common library in Grant Academy and answered the call in a low voice: ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Hello Caroline, where are you? Why are you whispering?¡± Amanda asked with a frown. ¡°I¡¯m in a library. So I can¡¯t talk loud.¡± Caroline said: ¡°What¡¯s up? Anything urgent?¡± ¡°Kinda ¡­ ¡± Amanda looked at Stacy, who shook her head at her: ¡°We¡¯ve had some trouble, we think it¡¯s possibly¡­ probably ¡­ maybe¡­ related to¡­ something unusual.¡± ¡°Something unusual?¡± Caroline spun her pen in her hand: ¡°What kind of unusual?¡± ¡°Like ¡­ constant nightmares, weird scratches and bruises on the body, unusual.¡± Caroline almost dropped her pen: ¡°When did this happen?¡± ¡°I just this week. Right after you left for your training.¡± Amanda sighed: ¡°I remember you told us you are into the paranormal and occult stuff, do you know anyone from that circle that can help us? Like a medium or an exorcist?¡± ¡°Okay. Let me ask around, but first tell me everything.¡± Caroline let out a long sigh and asked. ---------------------------------------------------------- After around fifteen to twenty minutes, someone knocked on the door of Stacy¡¯s apartment. ¡°You¡¯re expecting someone?¡± Amanda asked Stacy with a frown. ¡°No¡­ I don¡¯t know who that can be.¡± Stacy appeared a bit scared. Just this moment, Caroline called Amanda back. ¡°Hey, sorry that took a while. But I found someone who can help.¡± Caroline sounded like she was still worried: ¡°His name is Dave, he agreed to help but you¡¯ll have to promise me and him that you¡¯ll never speak of this to anyone, got it? He may or may not ask you to sign an NDA...¡± ¡°What? Is he some kind of big shot?¡± Amanda was a bit weirded out by what Caroline said. ¡°He¡¯s really good, and really¡­ nice. But he told me he would only require that if he would help.¡± Caroline said: ¡°He should find you soon.¡± ¡°Any chance he¡¯s just nearby? ¡®Cause there¡¯s someone knocking on the door right now.¡± Amanda asked. ¡° ¡­ yeah I think he¡¯s nearby.¡± Amanda looked through the peephole on the door, and saw a nerdy and dorky looking young man outside, holding a big glass jar in his hand. ¡°Hello? Stacy and Amanda? My name is Dave. Mr. Yu¡­um, I mean Caroline said you could use my help. May I come in?¡± the young man asked through the door. Chapter 185 ¡°So Caroline said you could help. How can you help us?¡± Amanda was quite protective of Stacy. ¡°Well, I am a medium¡­ exorcist ¡­ demon hunter ¡­ ish.¡± Dave was apparently not used to being questioned like this, so all he could do was answer awkwardly and scratch his head: ¡°I¡¯ve worked with Caroline for some time, she trusts me and my abilities. So you can trust me.¡± ¡°Hmm. Okay. What kind of exorcisms have you done before?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°Actually not that much¡­ Um... I helped some common family with some poltergeists in their new home?¡± ¡°Okay. I¡¯m not gonna just buy it. But you can try.¡± Amanda thought for a while, then also realized that there was basically no way for her to verify anything. ¡°Cool, thanks for letting me help.¡± Dave chuckled: ¡°New year, new excitement for me.¡± ¡°So dealing with things like this is exciting for you?¡± Amanda became a bit worried again. ¡°Yeah, kinda. ¡± Dave nodded: ¡°It only excites me when I succeed, so no worries. I¡¯ll be very responsible.¡± ¡°Okay ...¡± Amanda frowned: ¡°I guess that¡¯s okay ¡­ you wanna put down the jar? And is¡­ is that a jellyfish in your jar?¡± ¡°Ah, no. I¡¯d better not. It¡¯s very heavy.¡± Dave shook his head: ¡°And this one here can help ¡­ it can feed on the negative energy radiated by unclean presence.¡± ¡°Okay. Follow me.¡± Amanda finally decided not to engage in too much smalltalk with Dave as she felt that there really wasn¡¯t anything they could connect on. Sitting on her sofa all curled up in a blanket with cat figures on it, Stacy took a look at Dave and only greeted him with a nod: ¡°Hello, Dave, right? Caroline told you to come?¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± Dave sat down on the floor beside Stacy: ¡°Well not exactly, Caroline asked her boss for help first, he wasn¡¯t available so he asked me instead. ¡± Stacy looked worried by Dave¡¯s answer.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°But worry not!¡± Dave chuckled: ¡°I¡­ I may not be as amazing as Caroline¡¯s Boss, I am still very¡­ uh very good!¡± ¡°Okay, Dave, buddy. Just help us and let us decide, shall we?¡± Amanda pulled a chair and also sat beside Stacy. ¡°No problem!¡± Dave smiled and looked at Stacy: ¡°So, Stacy, tell me everything about these nightmares you have.¡± ¡°It¡¯s ... it¡¯s a shadow that keeps following me.¡± Stacy thought for a while, took a long inhale and said: ¡°Sometimes I am in some corner of a street ¡­ Sometimes I am in a hallway that has no end ¡­ sometimes I am in a staircase. And last night, I was on an empty street, and, and and it was following me, sometimes giggling and laughing, sometimes crying like it¡¯s in pain ¡­ and when I woke up, I...¡± Stacy turned around and started unbuttoning her blouse. ¡°Woah, woah woah.¡± Amanda stopped Stacy and continued her story: ¡°She had scratches and bruises on her back.¡± ¡°And one of the bruises looked just like a hand.¡± Stacy was trembling: ¡°And last night in my dreams, the shadow was really close to me, I could feel it was reaching out to me ¡­ I think I¡¯m haunted, something must have latched onto me...¡± Dave thought for a while, then nodded: ¡°Okay, I understood. I won¡¯t need to look at your back. But can you turn around? I need to sense it a little. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t need to touch you.¡± ¡°... okay.¡± Stacy hesitated for a while, then turned around. Dave extended his spare hand at Stacy¡¯s back, then he switched his hand and let the jar with a jellyfish inside close to her back. The jellyfish twiched its tentacles a little bit when it got close to Stacy¡¯s back. ¡°So, you sensed it too?¡± Dave said to the jar of jellyfish, with no consideration of how Stacy and Amanda would see him at all, then he turned to Stacy: ¡°Okay, I think the best course of action for now, is for you to try and sleep right now.¡± ¡°What? I .. I don¡¯t understand.¡± Stacy grabbed onto her blanket. ¡°Yeah. She just had a nightmare, you can¡¯t ask her to do that.¡± Amanda said. ¡°You¡¯ll need to. Like you said. This thing has latched onto you.¡± Dave said to Stacy directly: ¡°Well, not to you directly, it¡¯s actually latched onto your thoughts. That¡¯s why you only see it in your dreams.¡± ¡°But ¡­ the bruises and scratches ...¡± Stacy grabbed onto her shoulders. ¡°They¡¯re from you.¡± Dave answered: ¡°They¡¯re the manifestation of your thoughts. Um, to be precise - extreme thoughts. You ever heard of the story of a serial murderer¡¯s wife? She fed him soup and told him that there was poison in the soup. And he indeed died, showing symptoms of poisoning. But when the police checked the soup, there was no poison in it at all.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± after thinking about it for a while, Stacy sighed and conceded. ¡°Okay. If you¡¯re okay with it, I¡¯m okay with it.¡± Amanda also sighed: ¡°What do you have, Stacy? Do you need help sleeping? I can see if I have any pills...¡± ¡°No worries. I can help you.¡± Dave smiled, ¡°Just find a place to lay down.¡± ¡°O¡­ okay, here¡¯s fine.¡± Stacy laid down on her sofa and covered herself with her blanket, then she looked at Dave and Amanda with worries in her eyes: ¡°What¡­ what should I do next?¡± ¡°Okay, look at my hand.¡± Dave placed his spare hand in the space above Stacy¡¯s head, ¡°Focus on my palm, and listen to my instructions: first, take a deep breath.¡± Stacy did, with her eyes focused on Dave¡¯s palm. ¡°Now, I want you to keep imagining this, while looking at my palm, no matter how sleepy you¡¯ve got. ¡± Dave continued: ¡°Imagine that, your fears, your worries, your stress, and the thoughts that prevent you from being relaxed and content be materialized into some objects in this world, something you can throw away or set aside. ¡°Then, take another deep breath, hum the chorus of your favorite song, then take another deep breath, hum again. Repeat this process and keep imagining. Remain focused on my palm.¡± It didn¡¯t take long before Stacy started snoring. Chapter 186 Amanda was quite surprised when Stacy fell asleep under the guidance of Dave, she did not see what Dave¡¯s palm looked like, and before she could check it out, Dave already retracted. ¡°How did you do that?¡± Amanda snorted in disbelief: ¡°That¡¯s really impressive.¡± ¡°Yeah, a small trick I picked up from my family.¡± Dave chuckled and sat back down, ¡°Now we wait.¡± ¡°Wait for¡­ what?¡± Amanda asked. ¡°Wait for the unclean presence to manifest itself.¡± Dave said, still holding onto the jar in his hand: ¡°Like I said, it latched not onto her physically, but onto her thoughts. I need her to fall asleep and re-trigger these thoughts. Actually, do you know if there might be something that could be it?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Do you know something that might be the source of this unclean being?¡± ¡°Umm¡­ not really.¡± Amanda thought for a while: ¡°I guess¡­ her ex boyfriend just disappearing all of a sudden a couple of weeks back could be something.¡± ¡°Okay. Can you explain?¡± Dave nodded and asked. ¡°Well, her ex boyfriend - he kinda just dropped all contact a few months back. She was really super in love with him, like an idiot. ¡± Amanda took a look at Stacy, making double sure that she was still asleep, and said: ¡°And she tried to find him after he''d gone completely radio silent, and dragged us along as well. Such a douchebag and a creep. When we went to his apartment, we found some pretty creepy and cult-y stuff in his place. But we were not able to find him anywhere or hear from him. Oh¡­ oh my god! Could it be the cult stuff?!¡± ¡°Maybe. ¡± Dave nodded: ¡°If this ex boyfriend is indeed a cultist of some kind, he could have been messing with power he could not comprehend and infect everyone around him, especially the ones close to him. What was the cult¡¯s name? Do you remember?¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± Amanda shrugged and shook her head: ¡°Some really cheesy and on the nose name, I think it¡¯s Spanish...¡± ¡°Hmm, look.¡± before Amanda could finish her thoughts, Dave cut her off by pointing at the space right above Stacy¡¯s head. Following the direction of Dave¡¯s finger, Amanda saw a faint and vague shadow floating above Stacy¡¯s head, spinning, twisting and changing in shape. And at the same time, Stacy started squirming on the sofa, with a heavy frown on her face, she started mumbling something: ¡°Tuch-Tach-Saaash ¡­. Tuch-Tach-Saaash¡­ Tuch-Tach-Saaaash !¡±This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°What the fuck is that? What¡¯s she saying?¡± Amanda was a bit freaked out. ¡°It means ¡®to witness¡¯. It¡¯s an ancient word.¡± Dave frowned: ¡°What do you know about her ex boyfriend and this cult of his?¡± ¡°What do you mean? Is it related?¡± Amanda stared at Dave: ¡°Holy shit! Do something!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not time yet.¡± Dave shook his head, then he clenched the jar in his armpit and took out his phone, and started dialing a number one digit at a time. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Amanda asked, a little freaked out. ¡°I think I need to report this to Mr. Yu¡­ I mean Caroline¡¯s boss.¡± Dave sighed, while still paying attention to the shadow. ¡°Why? Can¡¯t you handle this first?¡± Amanda yelled. ¡°This is bad ¡­ not for Stacy, but for a lot of people.¡± Dave shook his head, ¡°Stop yelling, she¡¯s gonna be okay. Let me make this call first.¡± Then he finally finished tapping in all the numbers on his phone, he waited for almost a minute, the one he called still did not pick up. ¡°That thing looks like it¡¯s getting bigger and darker, is it time now?¡± Amanda paced in front of the sofa while staring at the shadow: ¡°What the hell are you waiting for ? When are you gonna do something?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not time yet.¡± Dave shook his head and looked at his phone with a frown: ¡°How come? It¡¯s a blessed line...¡± Stacy¡¯s mumbling became louder, and her squirming became slightly more violent. The shadow finally manifested into a clearly visible shape: it was like a grey, ugly, deformed or mutated baby that had a large head, small eyes, big mouth and huge chunky body with no neck; its all four limbs were small and short, and on its belly it had a twisted umbilical cord connected to Stacy¡¯s forehead. ¡°That¡­ oh my god!¡± Amanda almost screamed, but she could not contain her disgust and started retching. Seeing that he could not get a hold of Jianmen at this moment, Dave gave up and put the phone back into his pocket. Then as he looked at the ugly shadow infant that was floating and screaming silently in midair right above Stacy¡¯s head, he scoffed: ¡°Huh, just a piece of it. I thought it¡¯d be ¡­ more.¡± ¡°What do you mean more!? Do something!¡± Amanda cried and grabbed onto Dave¡¯s sleeves. ¡°Relax. ¡± Dave got away from Amanda¡¯s grasp, Amanda just felt that Dave¡¯s sleeves slipped away from her fingers like a piece of slippery silk. Dave then twisted open the jar in his hand, and extended his spare hand at the shadow infant. The infant seemed like an immaterial entity consisting of smoke, fog and some other kind of dark energy, but somehow Dave¡¯s fingers still locked onto it. The infant struggled and twitched as if it was touched by pieces of hot iron. But hard as it tried, Dave still successfully grabbed it in his hand. And just like an extremely irresponsible midwife, he just yanked, fast enough that Amanda almost didn¡¯t see what he did. Before Amanda could process what was going on, Dave already shoved the infant into the jar, and snipped the dark umbilical cord connecting to Stacy¡¯s forehead with his fingernails. ¡°... Tuch-Tach-Saaash¡­ AAAAAHH!¡± Stacy was mumbling when the umbilical cord was snipped, and she woke up screaming and crying. Amanda was shocked at first, but was quick to rush to Stacy¡¯s side and held her friend in her arms. ¡°It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s okay...¡± Amanda tried to console Stacy, then she looked up at Dave, just in time to see Dave twisting the jar close, and the ugly infant being torn apart by something inside the jar: ¡°...What¡­ what did you do?¡± ¡°Evil spirit-ectomy.¡± Dave chuckled, but then realized it was no time to joke: ¡°Sorry, my apologies. I just removed the spirit latched onto Stacy¡¯s thoughts. The procedure is quite simple - I hypnotized her and constructed a temporary small crossover limbo for her to dump the most negative of her negative thoughts - then the spirit was drawn to it and fell into the trap. I then removed it almost entirely.¡± ¡°... I don¡¯t get it. But, almost entirely? Is there something left?¡± Amanda asked while patting Stacy on her back. ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s impossible to cleanly remove this kind of evil spirit.¡± Dave raised his finger and gave Amanda a ¡°hold on¡± gesture: ¡°Sorry, I gotta answer this first.¡± Chapter 187 ¡°Hello Mr. Yu. It¡¯s handled. I¡¯ll clean up soon and go back to the inn.¡± Dave answered the call and said. ¡°Thank you Dave. My apologies for missing your call. Was in an important meeting with Josephine Wong, and I figured you would never be in danger.¡± Jianmen said. ¡°Yeah no problem. I was just about to tell you about Caroline¡¯s friend - it was not as serious as I thought. So I might be overly cautious.¡± Dave took a look at Stacy and Amanda: ¡°But still it is the same kind of thing and quite weird. Her friend was mumbling ¡®TuchTachSash¡¯ in her sleep. It turned out to be a corrupted and broken piece of soul, I think it might be from her ex boyfriend. I just ripped it off and fed it to Mr. Sucker here. It was twisted and corrupted to an absurd degree - if it was left unchecked it might become something quite troublesome. I want to say it¡¯s close to demonization, but it felt a bit different.¡± ¡°Okay, that was nice and quick. Thank you for handling it.¡± Jianmen went silent for a few minutes and said: ¡°But that word ¡­ it¡¯s definitely not overly cautious for you to call. Can you do me another favor and ask how she learned that word? I¡¯ll upgrade your cruise, with a better buffet and better room and more scenery stops.¡± ¡°Can I have some roast ducks?¡± Dave asked, ¡°Or better, roast geese? ¡± ¡°Yeah, I am in San Francisco so I can drop by Chinatown and check for ducks.¡± Jianmen said: ¡°But I am not sure if they¡¯re still open after what happened. But for geese, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m going to take you to China. I will do that but you¡¯ll need to wait and get a passport and visa.¡± ¡°Oooh, nice, I¡¯ve never had a passport and visa before.¡± Dave giggled: ¡°That¡¯d be nice. Thank you Mr. Yu, I¡¯ll clean up, take note of everything and let you know.¡± ¡°Thank you Dave. I¡¯ll let you get to it.¡± When Dave hung up the phone, Amanda and Stacy looked to Dave and asked with awe and fear, apparently they heard parts of Dave¡¯s conversation with Jianmen: ¡°What¡­ what was that? What do you mean you¡¯ll clean up?¡± ¡°Well, just clean up.¡± Dave sat down in front of the two girls, reached into his pocket with one hand and took out a folded piece of yellow paper, and a long paper bag: ¡°Okay, this piece of paper is a sigil, made by Mr.Yu, according to his usual instructions, you can find a small pouch and keep it with you at all times for three days. Then it should be safe enough to throw it away or burn it. Three days is a bit of overkill, but better safe than sorry. And these are special incense sticks to cleanse your house, burn one in your apartment everyday for seven days. Don¡¯t mess with it, but if it stopped burning mid way, especially during the first few days, just call me and let me know.¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°O¡­ Okay, that¡¯s it?¡± Amanda asked: ¡°I thought it¡¯s gonna be more ... serious.¡± ¡°Nonono, you¡¯re good. That¡¯s all, just do these as I told you and you¡¯ll be fine.¡± Dave shook his head: ¡°Now, Stacy, can you tell me a little bit about your ex boyfriend? In particular this cult he¡¯s in.¡± ¡°What? What about it?¡± Stacy¡¯s eyes opened wide: ¡°Are you saying this has something to do with Nick?¡± ¡°It does.¡± Dave nodded: ¡°Not directly, I think it has more to do with the cult he got involved with.¡± ¡°Okay. But do you know how I can find him?¡± Stacy asked, her voice was shaking and she looked like she was about to cry again: ¡°I¡­ I haven¡¯t seen him in quite a while, I needed to know why he just dropped all contact like that¡­ I just¡­ I just need to talk with him...¡± ¡°I ¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡± Dave was not sure how to properly respond: ¡°I¡¯m afraid you can¡¯t talk with him anymore¡­ he¡¯s dead.¡± ¡°What? How? ¡± Stacy immediately broke down sobbing: ¡°How¡­ how¡¯d you know?¡± ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. ¡± Dave shook his head: ¡°But what¡¯s been haunting you¡­ it¡¯s actually a piece of his soul. Normal human¡¯s soul can¡¯t be torn up like that. So there¡¯s very little chance that he¡¯d still be alive...¡± Before he could finish, Stacy was already devastated and could not stop crying. Amanda moved to her side and held her and tried to console her friend, then she whispered to Dave: ¡°You should leave. Let me call you.¡± ¡°Okay. Okay. ¡± Dave sighed, stood up and was ready to leave. Right after Dave walked out of the apartment, Amanda caught up to him and tapped him on the shoulder: ¡°Hey, Dave, sorry about that. But we forgot to take your number, can you give me your phone?¡± ¡°Um¡­ yeah, sure.¡± Dave gave his phone to Amanda, and turned around ready to leave again. ¡°Wait, nonono!¡± Amanda grabbed onto Dave¡¯s arm, almost laughing out loud and handed him back his phone: ¡°I just put my number in your contact and sent myself a message. So¡­ you know when I call you.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Dave hesitated and put his phone back in his pocket: ¡°I thought you just needed a phone.¡± ¡°Um, no, I have mine, bought it just last month. But thank you for offering.¡± Amanda smiled and went back into Stacy¡¯s apartment: ¡°Or¡­ you can call me.¡± ¡°Sure. Will do.¡± Dave waved Amanda goodbye and waited till Amanda closed the door. From a portal with dark edges and made of dark smoke that occasionally shot out small bits of electric spark, Dave came back into the inn, and just in time to see Kane and Alex staring at him and his portal. ¡°Holy crap Dave, you¡¯re one of them as well?¡± Kane¡¯s voice almost made the windows shake: ¡°Caroline didn¡¯t tell us¡­ What?!¡± ¡°Shhh, sorry you have to see that.¡± Dave scratched his head: ¡°I¡¯m very very sorry you had to see that. But no I am not one of them. I¡¯m not like Caroline or Mr. Yu. I¡¯m not a cultivator.¡± ¡°But what are you then, Dave? A wizard?¡± Alex asked: ¡°A sorcerer?¡± ¡°No. Alex, I am a Depth Dweller.¡± Dave smiled and poured the jellyfish back into the tank: ¡°You can see me as .... one of those¡­ long living beings.¡± Chapter 188 After hanging up the phone, Caroline exhaled in relief and came back into the library. ¡°Hey, how¡¯s your friend?¡± Jason was waiting for her to come back: ¡°Did Dave do it?¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s kinda amazing to hear on the phone, actually.¡± Caroline smiled: ¡°He just flat-out yanked an evil spirit from Stacy¡¯s head and put it inside the jar with Rashmumba D¡¯Eclaire.¡± ¡°Yikes, that¡¯s gonna be one tough bath for the ghost.¡± Jason chuckled and shook his head. ¡°What? What do you mean? Who¡¯s this Rashmumba D¡¯Eclaire?¡± Aimee scratched her hair and asked. ¡°It¡¯s a jellyfish monster. Boss brought it from somewhere in outer space.¡± Caroline shook her head and said, ¡°It¡¯s in a tank like a small floating harmless little jellyfish, but once it shows its true form - whew, one of the ugliest and most traumatising things I have ever seen.¡± ¡°Hmm, I thought it was kinda cool.¡± Jason said: ¡°I mean, a space jellyfish monster with human-like faces on its body, when has anyone seen that?¡± ¡°Well, I want to see it next time when we¡¯re in your inn.¡± Thomas laughed while still considerately keeping his voice down: ¡°So Caroline, what happened with your friend there? You seemed really worried earlier so I didn¡¯t dare ask.¡± ¡°She was haunted by some evil spirit. She reached out to Amanda, who then asked me because I told them if they encountered something paranormal I could help them.¡± Caroline sighed and answered: ¡°And I asked Boss for help, he said he¡¯s not available and I should ask Dave, so I did. Dave then went to Stacy¡¯s place and handled it. Glad it all worked out.¡± ¡°Dave, he¡¯s the temp guy at your inn right? Is he a cultivator as well?¡± Thomas asked. ¡°No no.¡± Jason chuckled: ¡°The official name of him and his people was in our language Depth Dwellers, they are a group of immortal - well, almost immortal beings. It¡¯s kinda fascinating, they kept track of a lot of historical stories throughout their lineage, and they apparently do get involved with our normal daily business. But I guess we can talk about that later because Aimee is staring at me.¡± ¡°Thank you Jason. I¡¯m so glad your friends are okay, Caroline. And I want to learn about these stories. I really do. It¡¯s just that this is our first research project together. I really wanna have a good grade.¡± Aimee smiled, nodded and said. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Yeah I agree. We can talk about these stories later. Let¡¯s finish this project first and analyze the crap out of some magic world serial killer. ¡± Caroline agreed with Aimee. ¡°I like the fact that we¡¯ve progressed from ¡®oh my god there¡¯s vampires in this world¡¯ to ¡®yeah I know there is an outer space jellyfish monster and an immortal being currently in your inn but let¡¯s talk about our research project on serial killers because we want good grades.¡¯¡± Thomas chuckled, but when he saw Aimee¡¯s stare, he immediately switched gears: ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s finish this project first!¡± ¡°Sure, why not!¡± Jason chuckled. Their first research project was on the course ¡°Introduction of Demonology¡±, and the topic of it was to do an analysis on one of the three monsters provided: the notorious carnivorous mushroom cluster that existed under an old sewer tunnel in London; a mutated Bear that tore through several villages, leaving countless bodies in the Midwest during the 1950s; and a serial killer that was believed to have a body count of thousands whose identity was yet to be revealed. They did not actually coordinate to take the course together - Caroline and Jason agreed that they would take this course together, and Aimee and Thomas made the same choice, thus the happy coincidence - Caroline and Jason were clearly more knowledgeable on demons, unclean presence and generally all things concerning monsters than Aimee and Thomas, while Aimee and Thomas have more criminal research experience because they were detectives before they came into this world. Their final choice object of analysis was decided unanimously to be the serial killer - the supposed hardest one to analyze because of the lack of definitive evidence about their identity, but it was also by far the most interesting one for all of them. In the library, each of the collaborate tables has an soundproof array underneath, and can be activated by the occupants. But all four of them still tried to keep their voices low out of habit. ¡°Okay. So, we cannot find anything that resembles an obvious pattern of all of these murders.¡± Thomas scratched his head while he was tracing through his notes: ¡°There¡¯s not much of an M.O either - the lack of traces of magical power is one thing, but that¡¯s not really anything.¡± ¡°We have that case where civilians beat trained magical combatants right?¡± Caroline asked: ¡°Could it be a civilian?¡± ¡°Several of the victims have some kind of magical defense system in their homes. I don¡¯t think normal civilians can do that.¡± Jason: ¡°Not to give civilians too little credit, but it¡¯s not like the magical world is a well known place for civilians.¡± ¡°Well, it could be a civilian who¡¯s familiar with the magical world. And maybe familiar enough to bypass them.¡± Caroline wrote on her notes: ¡°Or, it was someone who knows about the magical world but well trained in civilian assassination techniques?¡± ¡°That¡­ that could be an angle.¡± Thomas nodded: ¡°Do we know any ¡­ what¡¯s the term¡­ the ones who are born into the magical world but was shunned by the communities for some reason? Someone like that would be kinda perfect for this kind of crime - they¡¯d have enough access to knowledge about this kind of magical defense systems, and if they¡¯re shunned, they would have to seek employment¡± ¡°Yeah. Yeah. If civilians can give birth to individuals of power, then the reverse could definitely happen. And since the magical world knows about the civilian world while most of the civilian world have no idea the magical world exists, being shunned will definitely bring about some kind of shame and humiliation that breeds hatred.¡± Aimee quickly wrote things down: ¡°Umm, not to be a buzzkill, did any of the documents mention this theory?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t remember seeing anything¡­ so it could be new.¡± Jason quickly flipped through his notes and found one page: ¡°Okay, the most prominent theories include: someone who was really good at erasing traces of magic, which will require the magical levels that only a few of the greatest wizards and witches, but that was ruled out because, none of them at the time had any clear motives; another possibility was a mutated shapeshifter, but shapeshifters tend to leave strong smells and bodily fluids, which was present in none of the scenes; a vampire or lycan, but no smell, and some of the victims had vampire detection arrays that were not triggered.¡± ¡°So, at least it¡¯s not a prominent theory.¡± Aimee nodded in excitement: ¡°I think this is a good theory. They¡¯ve never taken this possibility seriously enough, probably because they¡¯ve never thought this could ever happen.¡± Chapter 189 ¡°So, please don¡¯t mind. But our funding is limited and we could only afford this kind of simple portal.¡± standing before a small and slightly dusty round platform, Professor Atkinson told Jianmen: ¡°The place has strange force fields around it, and it took us a lot of effort to make this portal work. It might feel a little uneasy, but just hold on and you should be good.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. You can go first and I¡¯ll follow, save you some energy and money.¡± Jianmen nodded. ¡°You¡¯re sure? That¡¯s really dangerous.¡± Dolores asked with a frown: ¡°The force field is quite powerful and dangerous, if you¡¯re not careful you can get injured.¡± ¡°What special materials did you use to build this portal? ¡± Jianmen asked. ¡°We used quite a lot of Ethereal Crystals, Jade from the Nixta River, and lava rocks from beneath the Kano Volcano for stabilization. ¡± Professor Atkinson answered: ¡°You¡¯re sure? I can give you a piece of Jade from the Nixta River, so that you can at least be kicked back to here if you¡¯re not able to locate the landing spot.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Jianmen did not refuse, as it would appear too cocky if he did. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll go first, Professor, Mr. Yu.¡± Dolores nodded and stepped onto the small round platform. The platform lit up in blue light, Dolores¡¯ body gradually became transparent and in under half a minute she disappeared, and after about five seconds, the light from the platform dimmed. ¡°Okay, you wanna go first? So I can at least guide you if you find it too difficult.¡± Professor Atkinson asked Jianmen. ¡°No worries, let me follow you. ¡± Jianmen smiled. When Professor Atkinson¡¯s body started getting transparent, Jianmen also started creating his own portal where he stood, following the traces of energy from the travel of Dolores and Professor Atkinson. The feeling of being ¡°squeezed¡± and ¡°pushed¡± came from the portal, the force field around the landing spot was indeed strong and bizarre, and it could even seep through the portal itself and apply its forces on Jianmen himself. ¡°Okay. Interesting.¡± Jianmen nodded and pushed harder on his portal, in less than half a minute, his portal with orange and golden edges appeared right in front of him, stable and connected right to a place beside the landing spot.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Dolores and Professor Atkinson were both surprised when Jianmen created and went through his own portal, just by following the traces of energy they left behind. ¡°Now, let¡¯s get down to business.¡± Jianmen rubbed his hands and looked around with a satisfied smile on his face: ¡°So this is your new excavation site? For the limited funding you guys have, this is quite a nice discovery.¡± Jianmen was being sincere - they were standing in the ruins of what looked like a huge ancient city, there were broken pillars the width of a dozen men standing side by side; tall, spacious and collapsed buildings with ridiculously thick walls; and from where they were standing, they could see a dried up fountain with a square footage of the size of the entire Grant Academy. ¡°Something tells me this is a land of giants.¡± Jianmen joked: ¡°What have you found?¡± ¡°We have found a lot of things, but sadly, nothing the academy deemed worthy of increased funding.¡± Professor Atkinson shook his head: ¡°When we first came to this place, we found some bones of huge size, we figured they might be animals kept by the original inhabitants, because they were all concentrated in certain areas, and those areas didn¡¯t look like tombs or burial grounds. But we didn¡¯t find any bodies left by the original inhabitants. So we theorized that they probably moved away from this place due to some disasters.¡± ¡°But if that is the case, you¡¯d still have burial grounds of some sort, right?¡± Jianmen asked. ¡°Yes. Which is why we think that this might be the central place of either worship or commerce for the inhabitants, and their residential area was out there.¡± Dolores pointed at the direction behind her: ¡°But the outer areas are all sealed off by the surrounding energy storm. I know what you¡¯re thinking - how did we find this place, for this answer you can look up.¡± Jianmen looked up, and he saw that the area of sky right above was bright and clear, but the further areas around were all dark, grim and filled with all kinds of visible streams of energy turbulence flowing and clashing with each other. It looked like the only way for anyone to safely land on this place without a portal was to head straight from above. ¡°This is a small, distant hidden planet, somewhat buried inside of a floating realm, location wise it¡¯s actually not that far from Earth.¡± seeing that Jianmen figured everything out, Professor Atkison continued to explain: ¡°The academy found this realm and claimed it, there are a couple of other excavation teams exploring this realm, and I was outcompeted and landed here - dangerous, but could be of high potential. It¡¯s just that we¡¯re short on both funds and helping hands.¡± Professor Atkinson sighed, Dolores did not say anything, she did not stop reading the screen of a tablet in her hands. Jianmen looked around and took a few seconds to feel the vibrations and energy fields around him, then he turned to Professor Atkinson: ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go. I don¡¯t imagine this is where you do your excavation?¡± ¡°Please come with us.¡± Professor Atkinson nodded and headed for the giant dried up fountain. Jianmen followed him, all the while constantly checking out the broken buildings and pillars on both sides of the way. ¡°These pillars and buildings were some kind of stone that we¡¯ve never seen outside of this place. We¡¯ve analyzed the content, and found that they were close to a mixture of quartz and marble, they¡¯re sturdy enough to hold the weight, and conductive enough for magic to flow through.¡± Dolores stayed behind and beside Jianmen to explain the discoveries they¡¯ve had so far: ¡°When we first got here, there was some strange residual energy lingering on the surface. But when we started the excavation, it became very hard to detect, it was as if the presence on the lower level sucked it dry.¡± ¡°The presence on the lower level?¡± ¡°Yes. Right here.¡± Professor Atkinson went onto a broken altar at the other side of the giant fountain, then he pressed his hand on one of the stone tablets still standing and mostly intact from the damages that left the entire place in ruin. A hidden gate opened from the middle from underneath the altar revealing a flight of stairs leading to underground. Each stair was around three times the height of normal stairs in the human world - which constituted another proof that this was once a place for giant intelligent creatures. Chapter 190 ¡°Let¡¯s go inside, and you can see what¡¯s there.¡± Professor Atkinson extended his hand at the direction towards the stairs: ¡°I need to warn you, Mr. Yu, there are things we did not tell you about before you came here. They are our biggest discoveries in this site - but the sad thing is, we have great difficulties in telling you about them. And I meant literally. I trust that you would understand when you see them.¡± ¡°Now you¡¯re talking. I am quite experienced in dealing with things that can¡¯t be mentioned lightly.¡± Jianmen laughed, in his current chubbier and shorter avatar, his laughter sounded brighter, happier and warmer than it normally would. When the Jianmen descended the stairs with Professor Atkinson and Dolores, he found himself in some kind of underground temple. Aside from the magical lights held by Professor Atkinson and Dolores, the walls and pillars in this underground temple were also emitting red light that provided limited visibility. There was another wide and tall altar at the center of the underground temple, and there were some kind of texts engraved on the pillars around the altar and standing by the walls. In the four corners of the temple, stood four statues of four creatures that look very distinct from each other, whose height was more than double the average height of all three people in this room. ¡°So, here it is.¡± Professor Atkinson couldn¡¯t contain his excitement: ¡°Mr. Yu, what you¡¯re looking at, is at least in part, the residence of a powerful being that once existed in this world, I might say, even a ...¡± ¡°A god.¡± Jianmen continued, and tossed a piece of rock at Professor Atkinson, who caught the rock just in time, and when he took a look at the rock, he found that the rock had a crack in the middle: ¡°This is something I picked up near the entrance. I suppose you are aware that the god that once resided here had fallen.¡± Professor Atkinson cracked the rock open, and found that the rock seemed to be scorched from the inside - there was a hole in the middle, and the internal wall of the hole seemed to have been turned to glass. The rock¡¯s outer layer was intact, yet somehow the inside was burned, and the temperature of which was high enough to turn parts of its interior into glass. ¡°¡®The rock that was burned from within¡¯.¡± Professor Atkinson recited from one of the many books he read with a smile: ¡°So I guess you¡¯ve been doing quite a lot of prep work before coming here. Thank you!¡± ¡°Yeah of course.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°I really want to help as well - I too am extremely curious about Godfall.¡± ¡°Well, then I hope what we¡¯re about to do won¡¯t bore you.¡± Dolores giggled: ¡°We¡¯re going to transcribe some of the texts on the pillars and walls, and if possible, we would like to record the appearance of those statues as well.¡±This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Okay, untranscribable text and undepictable statutes?¡± Jianmen narrowed his eyes and walked in front of one of the statues - this statue was one of a tall and slender slightly humanoid monster, with six arms on its upper body, exposed rib cage with two layers of bones and three legs and one tail; the monster had a long head but it barely had a face, for it had no eyes, but a whole head of tentacles with different lengths and thicknesses. Its head didn¡¯t have a mouth either, but there was a strange crack on its creepily long and slim neck. ¡°This one looks fun. Must be a good one for video games.¡± Jianmen chuckled. ¡°We theorized that these four statues were the avatars of the fallen god, probably just the four. We don¡¯t know what kind of god it was, but from the very little traces of residual energy we detected when we first found this place, it was either very weak, or very ancient. From the size of these altars, and comparing to the height of the stairs, it could be both.¡± Dolores said. ¡°We¡¯ve been careful. The whole temple was protected by some kind of magic ingrained in the walls. We tried to chip off some small pieces of the wall and pillars for further study, but turned out much harder than we¡¯d expected. ¡± Professor Atkinson continued: ¡°What¡¯s worse, was that the material that we chipped off went up in flames the moment it left the wall or the pillars. Until we find a way to peacefully disable the protective magic, we cannot bring anything back. That¡¯s why we resorted to transcribing the texts and trying to record the statues.¡± ¡°That might just be the residual Godwill.¡± Jianmen nodded and said, with his hands hovering over the statue before him: ¡°It is not technically magic, because most likely this is not intentional - if this was really a god¡¯s altar, or a place of worship or even its residence, then this god will have some of its will ingrained within the very fabric of this place. The god did not even have to intentionally infuse the material or its building blocks - it just needs to will it this way, thinking about how this place was perfect the way it is, how it suits its taste and stature, then the power will automatically bless and reinforce this place.¡± ¡°Interesting¡­ then how do you suppose to disarm this¡­ Godwill so we can bring back something to examine?¡± Dolores asked. ¡°It depends on what you wanna bring back.¡± Jianmen sighed: ¡°The side effect of Godwill is that it dissolves and homogenizes the material it blesses and reinforces. So what you encountered - the chipped off material burning in flames, I¡¯d imagine it was because of that. In order for us to bring anything back for research and study, we¡¯ll need to find a way to keep a portion of the power intact when we separate it from this place. ¡± ¡°Understood. I think we might need to bring more equipment for that.¡± Professor Atkison sighed while scratching his beard: ¡°That¡¯s¡­ fine, we can concentrate on transcribing and recording for now.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a gate here. Have you ventured through it?¡± Jianmen went before the wall that was furthest from the staircase, and found that there was a gate made of the same material as the walls and pillars, that seemed to be embedded right in that wall in a semi-hidden way. And when he extended his hand to get a feel of it, he sensed that there were very small traces of energy flowing into and out of the gate. ¡°Better not do that.¡± Dolores saw that Jianmen was about to push the gate, and immediately jumped to Jianmen¡¯s side to stop him: ¡°There¡¯s another flight of stairs leading to further below. We tried walking down a couple of times, but we were not able to - something quite dangerous is lurking down there - the presence on the lower level we mentioned earlier.¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t get a full view of what it was, even with our various attempts. Last time we tried, it almost completely destroyed our artifact of defense with just one blow.¡± Professor Atkinson walked over and said: ¡°The unimaginable sheer power, and hidden in the darkness and the thick fog. Luckily for some reason it never seemed to come up to the upper levels, and from what we could tell - it was sucking the energy from above. I¡¯d imagine it is feeding on the residual energy of this place.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°Let me go and have a look.¡± Chapter 191 Having acknowledged the concerns of Dolores and Professor Atkinson and reassured them that he would be okay even if the presence in the lower levels possessed great power, Jianmen pushed open the gate and went in, after asking Dolores and Professor Atkinson to be prepared to escape. Before going into the gate and descending the stairs to the lower level, Professor Atkinson asked Jianmen to carry a special artifact with him - it was a magical probe that could record signals and energy signatures from the surrounding area, and it had a magical version of video streaming functionality, which allowed him and Dolores to see what Jianmen was seeing on two different magical tablets. The stairs leading to the lower level were higher than the stairs before, and the walls seemed to be made of different material - the walls seemed denser, thicker and smoother than the walls in the temple and the upper stairs. There were also relief sculptures on the wall - some of them depicted the same avatars of the god as the statues in the temple, and some of the depicted shapes of creatures that looked like their bodies were made of wind, some kind of cloth or fog. The air also felt chillier and a bit harder to breathe, when Jianmen concentrated for a brief moment, he could make out the reasons for it: the air behind the gate was quite a bit denser than it was on the surface and in the temple, and there was some kind of cold, grim and somehow sense-depriving energy radiating from the depth of the space below. There was visible fog in the air, and the fog was not made of water, but some kind of high density and energy absorbing liquid. ¡°The fog seemed to be getting thicker, how far away can you see? ¡± Jianmen asked. ¡°Visibility is not that bad. Be careful, looks like you¡¯re still in the safe area. We will let you know when we¡¯re having trouble, or you¡¯re stepping into danger zones.¡± Dolores replied through the probe. ¡°Thanks. I¡¯ll keep going then.¡± The further Jianmen treaded down the stairs, the thicker the fog and denser the air around him. What was more, cold energy radiated from the depths also grew stronger, and Jianmen had to use more of his Xuanli to resist the sense-depriving effects of the energy. ¡°Hey, professor, Dolores, are you aware of the energy radiation here? It seems to have the effect of depriving you of your senses, and that includes the sensing ability of your power of mind and will. It¡¯d be really deadly if you¡¯re not careful.¡± Jianmen said to the probe. ¡°There¡¯s this kind of energy down there?¡± Dolores asked: ¡°I guess that kinda explains how we¡¯re getting less and less visibility down there, and we didn¡¯t even see or hear someone trying to ambush us.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Be careful, Mr. Yu. You are getting closer to the place where we got attacked last few times.¡± Dolores reminded Jianmen. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve been resisting this energy ever since I walked through the gate.¡± Jianmen continued: ¡°You guys recording anything useful or valuable, tell me if you want me to slow down.¡± ¡°Just be careful.¡± Dolores and Professor Atkinson said simultaneously: ¡°You¡¯re in the danger zone.¡± Jianmen continued walking down, and before long, the fog was thick enough that Jianmen felt like his clothes were getting wet from the liquid that the fog was made of. And out of nowhere, he started seeing streams of even thicker fog flowing around, and some of those thicker streams even formed into different shapes: some of them looked like humans, some of them looked like monsters and weirdly shaped animals standing on their hind legs. ¡°You guys seeing the shapes in the fog?¡± Jianmen asked. ¡°No, what do you mean?¡± Dolores sounded equally confused and concerned. ¡°Here.¡± Jianmen pointed the probe at the direction of some of the shapes of thick fog that looked like a tall and slender humanoid monster with no arms: ¡°Can you see it now?¡± ¡°No¡­ all we¡¯re looking at was fog and an empty space.¡± ¡°Just one second. Let me do a quick experiment.¡± Jianmen said, then he conjured up his Xuanli to form a transparent bubble in his left palm. And inside the bubble, were some reflections of the shapes of fog. ¡°Interesting, so these shapes of humans and animals are actually there, and they¡¯re not illusions from the surroundings.¡± Just this moment, a giant figure with a wide body, four arms and a long neck appeared in midair, wielding one humongous black scythe with two arms on its right and swung it at Jianmen. Jianmen swiftly turned the probe away from the edge of the scythe, and raised his left arm to block the incoming attack. A loud metal crashing sound exploded when the edge of the scythe connected with Jianmen¡¯s left forearm. Jianmen was immediately sent flying back, but before he collided with the wall behind him, he adjusted the position of his lower body and landed on the wall and on his feet. The figure made of fog bursted towards Jianmen and swung the scythe at Jianmen again, aiming directly at his head. And before this strike could land, Jianmen already hopped to the side and ascended the stairs back through the gate. ¡°What happened? Were you attacked?¡± Dolores asked as Jianmen closed the gate and sealed it with a spell. ¡°Well, what do you think?¡± Jianmen smiled and showed her and Professor Atkinson his left forearm, there was a straight, bruised red line on it, ¡°This is quite a fierce one. Almost got me by surprise there. But what¡¯d I tell you? I¡¯ll be okay.¡± ¡°Wow. I thought Josephine was exaggerating, I¡¯ll never doubt her again.¡± Professor Atkinson looked at Jianmen¡¯s arm with amazement and then turned to Dolores: ¡°Are you seeing this Dolores, the same attack that almost broke our fully charged Ring of Guardians!¡± ¡°Yeah, this is¡­ ridiculous.¡± Dolores was struggling for the correct adjective: ¡°Did you see what attacked you? We didn¡¯t see anything through the probe. Oh by the way, thank you for protecting it. It¡¯s immensely costly.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a figure made of the fog. A bit like other shapes in the fog that you couldn¡¯t see.¡± Jianmen made sure that there was not anyone or anything trying to push open the gate from the other side, then he pointed at a statue in the corner of the temple to his left: ¡°It looked like that - so I think I know now what attacked you, and why you didn¡¯t see it coming.¡± Chapter 192 ¡°How much do you know about Fog Dwellers?¡± sitting on the ground, Jianmen asked both Professor Atkinson and Dolores when they asked him about the details of his encounter with the fog figure that looked like one of the statues in the temple, he did not answer but asked: ¡°I mean, I don¡¯t know too much about them. But I can¡¯t shake this feeling they might be related to this place...¡± ¡°I ¡­ I don¡¯t know much, I just know that my uncle Tamil works with someone who works with them - I think his name is¡­ Paul? Raul? No...¡± Dolores scratched her head. ¡°Paulo Chang?¡± Professor Atkinson and Jianmen asked at the same time. ¡°Yeah yeah yeah! That¡¯s it! ¡± Dolores nodded: ¡°I think he¡¯s a leader from one of the Elemental clans ¡­ but I don¡¯t know much, you know I am not interested in or familiar with my uncle¡¯s business.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard of him, but I¡¯m not that interested in them either.¡± Jianmen sighed and shook his head with a smile: ¡°I should probably pay more attention to the power gossips around the magical world. What about you professor?¡± ¡°Well, I worked with Paulo Chang a long time ago.¡± Professor Atkinson said: ¡°And I don¡¯t really know much about Fog Dwellers either, so probably I¡¯ll have to contact him.¡± ¡°Okay, but what do you know? Even a little bit can be helpful.¡± Jianmen asked: ¡°For example, I just know that they are similar to Elementals and their bodies are made of fog - which leads to why I asked, it¡¯s because the things in the lower level also have bodies made of fog.¡± ¡°Yeah. And from what I know, it is theorized that they are related to Depth Dwellers, because they¡¯re also almost immortal beings, and they have the power of conjuring ancient weapons and artifacts from the fog.¡± Professor Atkinson said while thinking: ¡°That¡¯s all I can think of right now. We can go back to the academy and try and see if we have any related documents in the library.¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°Then let¡¯s transcribe and record first. It¡¯s definitely not a good time to try to investigate the lower level.¡± ¡°Um. Forgive me for asking.¡± after a short hesitation, Dolores asked Jianmen: ¡°But can you tell us what happened down there? You didn¡¯t tell us, and if I may be so curious and bold: is there anyway that you go again after I make some tunings on the probe? You know, if you don¡¯t mind and if it¡¯s not too dangerous for you...¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s not gonna happen today.¡± Jianmen sighed and sat down on the floor: ¡°So, the thing, monster, fog avatar of the god that attacked me still retained quite a lot of power. And what¡¯s worse, was that it still has a strong connection to the power that holds this whole building in place. I found this out when it attacked me and I unleashed a little bit of counter attack and felt my power being dispersed to the air, the fog and the walls. So, I¡¯ll need some tools to restrain it without hurting it in any way.¡± ¡°Hmm, but why be so gentle? We can afford to hurt it for a little bit right?¡± Dolores asked: ¡°Plus it¡¯s an avatar? The god itself has fallen already.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, it¡¯s just a hunch. But I don¡¯t think this is an evil god. The avatar is probably one that embodied its punitive or defensive side.¡± Jianmen shook his head and reached into one of his pockets to take out a small vial of some kind of green oil: ¡°Here, rub this on the pen and paper when you¡¯re transcribing, it helps.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Professor Atkinson took the vial of green oil, ¡°What do you think it¡¯s doing down there? We think there must be some remnants of the god¡¯s artifacts and relics in the lower levels, and it¡¯s guarding them. But it¡¯s strange that it doesn¡¯t chase us when we¡¯re out here on the other side of the gate. It¡¯d make more sense if it comes out and chases everyone out of this place.¡± ¡°Which is one of the reasons I felt this god might be more benign than we thought.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°But anyways, that would be the problem for another day. Let¡¯s transcribe and record as much as possible.¡± ¡°If you really think this is possibly related to the Fog Dwellers, we could try to compare these texts to some samples of ancient Fog Dweller text.¡± Professor Atkinson said: ¡°I don¡¯t know if the academy has this kind of documents, but it wouldn¡¯t hurt to try - we haven¡¯t had any luck deciphering what these texts meant.¡± With the help of Jianmen and the limited but extremely useful tools he brought, Professor Atkinson and Dolores were able to transcribe much more ancient text on the pillars than their previous visits. The small vial of green oil served as some kind of force or power insulator, which blocked off a lot of the power that existed on these texts preventing them from being transcribed. With their previous attempts, Professor Atkinson and Dolores were using certain enchanted pens and clay tablets that had a similar insulating characteristic, but they required a lot of magical energy input from the transcriber, which made the processing extremely difficult and tiresome. And the oil Jianmen brought was infused with enough power to lighten more than half the burden. ¡°Mr. Yu, did you make this oil?¡± Dolores gently wiped off some sweat on her forehead and asked: ¡°This is super nice. Thank you very much. I hope it doesn¡¯t cost too much.¡± ¡°Yeah I made it. It¡¯s fine, I have a lot in stock. It¡¯s kind of a niche thing and is only useful for folks who deal with this kind of knowledge and information. ¡± Jianmen was also transcribing the texts with a clay tablet of his own. ¡°Wait, I think I found something.¡± Professor Atkinson was taking a break by the altar located at the center of this underground temple after finally finishing transcribing all the texts on the first pillar: ¡°Come take a look.¡± When Jianmen and Dolores came over to the professor¡¯s side, they also saw what Professor Atkinson saw moments earlier: transcribed texts on the clay tablet Professor Atkinson used earlier were glowing in faint white light. ¡°Interesting, so at least we know that these texts are a part of the scriptures, and not some doodles from the believers.¡± Jianmen chuckled. Chapter 193 Professor Atkinson, Dolores and Jianmen brought the clay tablets with texts they transcribed near the altar at the center of the temple, and they didn¡¯t find any other texts that glowed. Professor Atkinson and Jianmen¡¯s guess was that these were probably texts containing some information that resonated with the residual energy in the altar. And since it was an altar, a place of worship and prayer for grace, the texts were probably either about how the fallen god blessed its believers, or about what kind of god it was. The avatar of the god stayed behind the gate the whole time the three of them continued their transcribing work. And they were able to finish transcribing the texts on three pillars, before an alarm clock of some sort started ringing. ¡°Okay, we gotta go.¡± Dolores laid down her clay tablet, ¡°Storms are coming and we don¡¯t wanna get caught within.¡± ¡°Storm? What storm?¡± Jianmen was a bit surprised. ¡°Even though this place was temporarily protected by the powers that be, there are still regular energy storms that sweep the surface and disrupt the functionalities of the portals.¡± Professor Atkinson explained: ¡°We have some detectors on the perimeter monitoring the energy flow on the outside, if it turned violent or had any strange flows, it usually means that an energy storm might be coming. So we will need to leave before it hits us, we can stay here and hide but who knows how long it¡¯ll last. We need to come back when it calms down.¡± ¡°Do you feel like the storm is hitting more and more frequently, Professor?¡± Dolores asked: ¡°We¡¯ve been here for what, less than twelve hours?¡± ¡°Nine hours and forty three minutes.¡± Jianmen sighed and said: ¡°I¡¯d like to experience this storm sometime. But maybe when I¡¯ve recovered more.¡± Jianmen sighed and shook his head, ¡°But still, I will need to leave a mark here and see how violent the storm can get.¡± ¡°Um. Now you¡¯re just showing off.¡± Dolores said: ¡°But seriously, how did you block a strike from an avatar of a god and only get red on the skin?¡± ¡°Meh, I¡¯m a cultivator, my major is spells and laws of order, and my minor is body tempering and close quarter combat, it¡¯s like bodybuilding and martial arts on a grander level.¡± Jianmen joked: ¡°I can¡¯t teach you any of that - you¡¯re already practicing magic, it¡¯d take some time to adjust your magical power and not Xuanli. But you know, I am trying to adapt it to the training disciplines and methods of paladins, so it can be better fitted to the natures of your power.¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s different for gods. The attacks of ANY god, even the avatar of a fallen god, possesse immensely suppressive and crushingly destructive power against normal forms of defense from entities without godhood. You can¡¯t possibly defend yourself against that avatar unless¡­ ¡± ¡°... unless you also possess some kind of godhood.¡± Professor Atkinson stared at Jianmen: ¡°Holy shit¡­ what kind of god are you?¡± ¡°Relax¡­ it¡¯s in the past.¡± Jianmen scoffed: ¡°Right now the only thing that¡¯s remotely related to godhood is a piece of jade currently sitting in my heart.¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m just not gonna pretend I understand any of that. ¡± Dolores blinked her eyes and asked: ¡°But holy crap! You used to be a god?! How? I thought gods can¡¯t descend into our realm willy nilly?¡± ¡°Yeah. Rules are a bit different back then and back there.¡± Jianmen sighed and pointed at Professor Atkinson: ¡°And to answer your question - I possessed the godhood of hospitality.¡± ¡°Ew?¡± Dolores frowned. ¡°Not that kind of hospitality.¡± Jianmen almost laughed out loud: ¡°The innocent kind of hospitality - like hotels, hostels, inns - and my job was to cook, host and ensure a good night¡¯s sleep. ¡± ¡°That¡¯s kind of a niche and unique godhood to have - you gotta tell me more about it. ¡± when three of them packed everything and were ready to leave, Professor Atkinson told Jianmen: ¡°I didn¡¯t know godhood can come in that form.¡± ¡°You know what''s interesting about godhood?¡± Jianmen said: ¡°That any concept, even the most trivial, can be a source ¡­ oh I better stop.¡± ¡°Thanks. ¡± Dolores was struggling breathing when Jianmen stopped talking: ¡°Yikes, I now know that you know your stuff. And that¡¯s some great knowledge, which can actually help our research.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go. Looks like there¡¯s hail coming our way.¡± Professor Atkinson was less disturbed by the weight of knowledge shared by Jianmen: ¡°Be careful.¡± Dolores went first, Professor went second. Before Jianmen left, he left a Xuanli mark near the portal and extended his hand to the sky and took three pieces of translucent and iridescent hail from the sky. ¡°And you brought some hail back.¡± when Jianmen came out from his own portal, Professor Atkinson chuckled happily: ¡°Yeah, Dolores was just saying we should¡¯ve caught some more pieces of hail for research. Thank you.¡± ¡°Hehe, no problem.¡± Jianmen handed the three pieces of hail to Professor Atkinson: ¡°I was curious so I took them. ¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go to the lab and test them right away. ¡± Dolores¡¯ voice was shaking with excitement: ¡°These pieces are huge and pure and nicely sealed, we could take a much better look now!¡± ¡°Yeah, would you join us, Mr. Yu¡­ I mean Mr. Wang?¡± Professor Atkinson asked: ¡°This could be really interesting - and we¡¯d really like your insight and experience.¡± ¡°My pleasure, just show me the way.¡± Chapter 194 ¡°... the killer¡¯s methodical approach showed immense preparation before each of the murders. It¡¯s calculated, clean and meticulously planned. And given the fact that all of these murder victims were magic wielders on the mid to lower tiers, it would make perfect sense that this could be the work of someone who was born into the magical world, but for some reason was shunned by all.¡± standing in front of a podium, Aimee finished the last bit of their study group¡¯s project presentation. ¡°Hmm, okay. ¡± Professor Dawson, who was the main lecturer of the course they¡¯re taking said: ¡°What¡¯s your theory on the killer¡¯s ability to bypass a lot of the magical lock and other home defense systems employed by a lot of the victims? If the killer was indeed someone who¡¯s familiar with the magical world and familiar with the practices, they would still need to be able to perform some kind of meticulous enchantment sabotage, and it is impossible to pull that off without the use of magic.¡± ¡°Yes, we did think of that, and there¡¯s actually a perfectly plausible explanation - ¡± Jason continued: ¡°Bear in mind that these serial murders were committed more than eighty years ago, and in the civilian world, it was way before the invention of sensors. And in the magical world, it was before the invention of passive sensing arrays like motion sensing arrays and heat sensing arrays. Most of the commonly used magical home defense systems were actually made to resonate with the radiation of magic - meaning, it will trigger if the attacker possessed magical power and it had energy radiation. For magic wielders, unless they are really really good at concealing their magical power, it is almost impossible to hide your magical energy radiation.¡± ¡°So under normal circumstances - these systems were able to detect and defend against normal assailants, but if these assailants actually did not possess magical power, then they would almost not work at all.¡± Professor Dawson nodded: ¡°Very good.¡± ¡°Aaand, without magical power, a lot of these magical defense systems would just be simple mechanical locks and traps, and not even good ones.¡± Thomas added to the answer: ¡°In fact, I think that some of the examiners actually considered this possibility, because there were scratch marks near the windows and doors, which would make sense if these systems were bypassed using mechanical means.¡± ¡°But what about the possibility of shapeshifters or vampires?¡± another student asked: ¡°Since - if we¡¯re talking about non magic users, isn¡¯t it still possible that it¡¯s them?¡± ¡°Yeah, turns out, vampires and shapeshifters are technically still magic users.¡± Aimee said: ¡°They just don¡¯t wield the kinds of magic that were common at the time. As it turned out, the powers they have that was kinda within their bodies also radiate energy signatures. We¡¯ve not looked into whether they would trigger the defense systems. But it still could still be a possibility - they could just be anyone that was not welcome by, but familiar with the magical world. We lean towards the possibility of someone who could not wield magic and not shapeshifters or vampires, because this looked like more of an indiscriminate murder targetting magic users. It showed a kind of deep rooted grudge and hatred against the magical world. And reading up on the kind of treatment this kind of unfortunate people received, it is to be¡­ expected.¡±The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. This statement obviously made some of the students in the room a bit uncomfortable, but then another student raised his hand: ¡°What do you think the murder weapons are? Even if the killer was able to sneak into their victim¡¯s place, they would still need to use some kind of tools to kill their victims - they¡¯re not magic wielders, so they¡¯re at a disadvantage if a fight broke out. ¡± ¡°Yes. That¡¯s a good point. And we actually don¡¯t have a very good answer for that.¡± Aimee admitted: ¡°The records in the library did not include too much detail on the possible murder weapons. For one, we know that there are some enchanted weapons that did not radiate too much magical energy, thus much easier to conceal and bring into the victims¡¯ residence. And there¡¯s some evidence that the murderer used civilian weapons like guns and crossbows.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not possible. No civilian weapon can penetrate magical shields made by mid tier magic wielders, that¡¯s preposterous!¡± just this moment, a student with neatly combed hair , in a straight and organized robe and wearing a ring with a shiny blue gem on it yelled out. ¡°Yeah, well. Almost all of the victims were taken by surprise. The few of them that actually managed to survive the ambush and fought back - they were soon overpowered. We¡¯re still not sure how, but our theories include debilitating poison and multiple assailants.¡± Thomas sighed. ¡°That¡¯s not a theory. That¡¯s a guess! A baseless hunch at best!¡± the student with combed hair said loudly: ¡°Just educate yourself on the average powers of energy shields - even the weakest mid tier wizard can easily conjure a shield that can protect them from the blast of a civilian grenade.¡± ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s still something that requires concentrated effort, and these victims were all non combatants - so they might lack fighting experience. And when people are attacked, even those with combat experience tend to have slower response time and have trouble concentrating, not to mention civilians - I mean non-combatants.¡± Thomas frowned and said. ¡°Mr. Jensen, please refrain yourself from making these kinds of remarks - they¡¯re not arguments.¡± Professor Dawson said: ¡°If you have an objection to their theories, please feel free to submit your rebuttal, as per course guidelines.¡± ¡°Even when the theory in question is as poorly organized and sourced as this one we just heard?¡± another student, with a slightly tilted wizard hat and holding a short wooden wand and sitting on the right side of this Mr. Jensen asked. ¡°And you too, Mr. Hendricks. Critical rebuttals are welcome as long as you submit a sourced and research based thesis. You should not just denigrate any theories presented by your classmates without providing one just because you do not agree with the reasoning.¡± ¡°Okay, okay, we¡¯ll follow the course guideline. ¡± Mr. Jensen raised both his hands and pretended concession. ¡°Any other questions?¡± Caroline decided to ignore those two students, whom she only knew by last name just now. Chapter 195 ¡°Hey! Hey hey hey!¡± when the class was over and Aimee, Thomas, Caroline and Jason walked out of the classroom after a semi-successful presentation on their first course project, they were stopped by the two students that sort of heckled them during their Q&A time, and their entourage: ¡°Stop there! We want a word with you?¡± ¡°What¡¯s up? Mr. Taylor Jensen and Mr. Robert Hendricks?¡± Caroline sighed and turned to the two hecklers and their entourage. ¡°Cool, you learned our names huh?¡± Taylor Jensen chuckled and shook his head: ¡°That¡¯s even better, makes things easier for us.¡± ¡°For you to do¡­ what?¡± Thomas stepped forward. ¡°We¡¯ve come to know that the four of you all came from civilian backgrounds. And surprisingly but not so surprisingly, the great Josephine Wong brought you here.¡± Robert Hendricks said: ¡°I don¡¯t know if you know, but our mentor, her name¡¯s Dorothea Clarkson. And she¡¯d be proud to know, that we¡¯ve challenged you to a student duel.¡± ¡°Student duel? Is that even a thing?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°It is. It¡¯s something that the academy encourages in order to boost up positive student rivalry and competitiveness.¡± Taylor Jensen explained with a smug smile: ¡°Maybe it¡¯s not covered in the new student orientation - that kind of information can be too daunting for students who do not yet possess the required fighting capabilities.¡± ¡°Well, they¡¯re detectives before coming in here.¡± Caroline pointed at Thomas and Aimee: ¡°And Jason and I are¡­ well trained.¡± ¡°Yeah we don¡¯t really care. We just want to challenge you to a student duel. The proposed terms are: best of three, two rounds of one on one, and the final round two on two.¡± Taylor Jensen said: ¡°Or, if you want each of you to have a chance to shine on the duel ground, we can do best of nine and with a final group fight of four on four, anyway, your choice.¡± ¡°What if we don¡¯t accept?¡± Aimee asked: ¡°You can¡¯t duel us by force, right?¡± ¡°Yes. The Grant Academy is a warm, open and friendly place where you don¡¯t have to engage in student dual if you don¡¯t want to.¡± Robert Hendricks said with a smile: ¡°But, beware, since you¡¯re the first group of students coming from the civilian world that we have for some time, this is not a good look on future students with civilian backgrounds.¡±Stolen story; please report. ¡°Really?! We¡¯re the representation of students with civilian backgrounds?!¡± Aimee asked: ¡°I don¡¯t think the students of Ms. Clarkson have to worry about that, since I¡¯m pretty sure she has other students that can bring in a good light.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re unsure of yourselves, you have time to think about it. ¡± Robert Hendrick¡¯s eyes twitched: ¡°We will book the duel ground - one week from now, same time as today. Come or don¡¯t, it¡¯s up to you. ¡± ¡°Oh, thank you for being so considerate.¡± Aimee shook her head and signaled the other three in the group to leave. ¡°Okay. You guys have a plan?¡± when all four of them sat down in the school canteen for lunch, Caroline asked: ¡°If not, Jason and I could teach you some close quarter combat art training...¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s a good idea.¡± Thomas immediately said. ¡°But¡­ we have our daily training with Glenda.¡± Aimee nudged Thomas with her elbow and said: ¡°Ms. Wong introduced us to her - we just had two sessions, maybe today we can ask her about combat training? Do you guys wanna join?¡± ¡°Glenda? Who is that?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Glenda Grimes, she¡¯s a TA here, and she used to be Ms. Wong¡¯s student. Since we never had any experience with magic, she arranged some additional training so that we can catch up.¡± Aimee sighed: ¡°We could have started earlier - but we haven¡¯t completely made up our mind until it was days before attending ...¡± ¡°YOU haven¡¯t made up your mind. I was all in from day one.¡± Thomas chuckled with mockery but still held onto Aimee¡¯s shoulder: ¡°But it¡¯s okay, at least we took one last shot at the Drainer case - even though we didn¡¯t catch the killer, we know who did it.¡± ¡°Hmm. Is it possible if we join you in training?¡± Jason thought for a while and then asked: ¡°I mean, if that¡¯s okay.¡± ¡°Sure. I don¡¯t see why not, I can ask Glenda.¡± Thomas nodded and turned to Caroline: ¡°I think she¡¯d like that - we could use some people to spar with.¡± ¡°Great, then it¡¯s settled, we¡¯ll ask Glenda. And we¡¯ll take the duel. No matter what, at least put up a good fight.¡± Aimee said: ¡°You guys got any tips on fighting obnoxious magic wielders?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ come to think of it, we don¡¯t actually have any experience fighting actual magic wielders.¡± Jason laughed out loud: ¡°We¡¯ve fought ghosts in limbo, ghosts in real life, monsters mutated from paranormal energy, but no, no actual magic wielders. That gangster with super power is the closest thing we ever got.¡± ¡°So, why don¡¯t you come when we ask her? Since you were also recommended by Ms. Wong, I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll mind.¡± Thomas said. ¡°Let¡¯s hope we¡¯re not being too forward.¡± Jason nodded: ¡°Thanks!¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± Thomas chuckled, then realized that Jason was not paying full attention and was staring at somewhere behind him and on his right: ¡°Huh? What are you looking at?¡± ¡°Hey Caroline, you see that guy there?¡± Jason hesitantly pointed at the direction. The other three all turned to look, and all they saw was a chubby Chinese man eating two big piles of food, and on his side there was a small tower made of chicken and turkey bones. The chubby man saw that they were staring, and responded to them with a happy smile, then he just lowered his head and continued his battle against the food in his plates. ¡°What about him? Is it the amount of food?¡± Aimee asked with a low voice: ¡°Isn¡¯t that a little ¡­ insensitive?¡± ¡°What? No!¡± Jason waved his hands to signal his denial: ¡°Do you feel like you¡¯ve seen him somewhere else before Caroline?¡± ¡°Yeah, a little bit. He looks kinda¡­ familiar.¡± Chapter 196 ¡°So, you wanna train with them?¡± in a faculty training ground, a sorceress wearing a green robe and had rapier whose blade was made of some kind of translucent material asked Caroline and Jason: ¡°Because you are in the same study group with Aimee and Thomas, and you were challenged to a student duel with them?¡± ¡°Pretty much, yeah.¡± Caroline nodded: ¡°Can we join?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, can you?¡± Glenda Grimes smiled and drew her rapier and pointed at the ground in front of her: ¡°I know Josephine recommended you, but I know your master. So I am curious, are you up to the challenge? Thomas and Aimee never trained before, so however they do in the duel or if they do not take part in the duel at all, any reasonable people would have nothing to say about that. But you are actually trained, and having you in the team will mess up the optics, so I need to make sure you are at least able to hold your own.¡± ¡°Yeah, Glenda, you don¡¯t HAVE to spell it out...¡± Thomas gently rubbed his temples and said. ¡°Well, let¡¯s try.¡± Caroline chuckled and took off her leather leather jacket, after she took out a red crystal ball from her jacket pocket. ¡°And Jason, you as well.¡± Glenda smiled and pointed her rapier at Jason: ¡°I¡¯ll evaluate your skills individually and collectively - they demanded a group fight, after all.¡± ¡°Okay. ¡± Jason took out a silver ball that seemed to be made of some kind of shiny metal from his jacket. Caroline clenched the crystal ball in her hand, the crystal ball glowed and turned to two fireballs in the air, and before Aimee and Thomas could tell what was going on, the two fireballs turned into a translucent shield, and a translucent red one hand axe. Jason¡¯s silver metal ball expanded in one direction, and turned into a spear that was shaped kind of like a giant pen. Caroline and Jason walked onto the training ground to stand before Glenda, with their weapons in position and Xuanli flowing in their meridians. The visuals around Caroline¡¯s body started getting twisted like that around a hot burning fire. The air around Jason¡¯s body seemed to be sprinkled with very small grains of flickering silver particles. ¡°Good, good. You definitely don¡¯t look like you weren¡¯t born in our world.¡± Glend pointed her rapier forward and gently leaned forward to get into a battle pose: ¡°Come on, ready when you are.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Okay. Here we go.¡± Caroline twirled her single handed axe, then swiftly swung her single handed axe at Glenda. Fire emerged from the single handed axe and made it look like the axe grew twice in size, and Glenda¡¯s response was a swift parry using her rapier. Strong and swift Caroline¡¯s attack was, it was not able to break the light green bubble around Glenda¡¯s rapier and the attack was parried to the side. Jason unleashed his attack the moment Glenda moved, with three quick jabs, three silver shadows of the tip of his spear shot at Glenda in quick succession. Glenda raised her left hand, a light green dome-shaped elastic energy shield appeared and bounced the shadows to the side. Caroline retrieved her axe, and at the same time swung her shield at Glenda, and before the hit actually connected, two shadows of her shield made of fire appeared on both sides of her actual shield and crashed against Glenda at the same time. All three shields were blocked by Glenda¡¯s rapier, the strong force of the attack forced her to back off a few steps. And at this time, Jason already floated in the air and wrote two silver Mandarin characters in the air: ¡°Sword¡± and ¡°Rain¡±. And with a horizontal slash across these two characters, silver energy exploded in midair, hundreds of shadows of swords shot from the explosion at Glenda. Some of the swords flew in curved trajectories while spinning, and some of the swords flew in straight trajectories with their sharp tips pointing at Glenda. While Glenda conjured a whole body green energy shield to defend herself against the barrage of flying swords, Caroline hopped back to stay away from the attack of these silver energy swords. And with a short charge, she unleashed a horizontal energy slash at Glenda. Before the energy slash could hit Glenda, Glenda let out a loud roar, her rapier pointed forward, and a shining green shadow of a falcon struck forward, destroying all the silver energy swords and Caroline¡¯s energy slash along the way the exploded midway. The shockwave from the exposed threw both Caroline and Jason in the air and against the protective energy walls behind them. ¡°Stop, stop!¡± seeing that Caroline and Jason still wanted to get up and fight, Glenda raised her voice and called the sparring to a stop: ¡°That¡¯s good enough.¡± ¡°Holy crap. Can we fight like that if we try really hard this week?¡± Thomas asked Glenda while laughing. ¡°I can train you enough so that you don¡¯t lose too badly against that.¡± Glenda needed some time to smooth her breaths, ¡°And yeah, I think they¡¯d do very well as your spar partners. They can definitely hold their own against magic wielders - don¡¯t get cocky there Caroline and Jason, when you¡¯re facing students of Dorothea Clarkson, it¡¯s best not to underestimate what they can do and the number of tricks up their sleeves.¡± ¡°Understood. Thank you Ms. Grimes.¡± Caroline stopped her confident laugh and nodded. ¡°So, about the duel. ¡± Aimee asked: ¡°How should we train for it?¡± ¡°Well, you only have one week, and they have at least years of official training. So, you cannot win by normal means. And the only way for you to win is to strike them with surprise.¡± Glenda sighed: ¡°So tell me now, what are some combat relative skills you think that are of worth to you in a fight like we just had?¡± ¡°Um¡­ my first thought was having a gun would be useful.¡± Thomas said: ¡°I¡¯m quite good with guns, many kinds of them.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah yeah yeah. You can use guns!¡± Jason clapped his hands: ¡°Have you brought your guns here?¡± ¡°No¡­ we handed our department issued guns back when we resigned.¡± Aimee sighed: ¡°And our personal ones were locked in our safes, at home.¡± ¡°Jason, how long can your constructs last?¡± Caroline scratched her lower jaw and asked. Chapter 197 ¡°It¡¯s strange, that your spell can block off all the stench in the air and the residual dark and corruptive energy in the air, but it just can¡¯t block the smell of the food coming out from your takeout bag.¡± when standing on the top of a building staring at a crater that was once an SFPD precinct, Josephine Wong said to Jianmen: ¡°What¡¯s that? Roasted duck?¡± ¡°Roasted goose.¡± Jianmen laughed and said: ¡°One of my favorites, the key was to dip the meat with skin in sour plum sauce. And apparently it¡¯s becoming a lost art in the US - the owner was about to close up, move and retire to be with his grandsons and granddaughter. So I bought the last bit of it, and I bought all of his equipment as well - I can start serving it at the inn, if you want some you can drop by some time.¡± ¡°Sure, smells appetizing enough.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head: ¡°What do you think? You¡¯re up for a temporary contract? The way you like, no further strings attached, small but challenging job, good pay in both cash and in resources, and uh, access to intel.¡± ¡°Yeah. Thanks for making the job appetizing as well.¡± Jianmen smiled and nodded: ¡°Can you give me the details?¡± ¡°Here.¡± Josephine Wong readily handed over a scroll: ¡°It¡¯s all the information we have on the job and the requirements. Currently our regular contractors are swamped, and we have just too many red tapes and bureaucrats in the division, so everything¡¯s a bit too slow for anyone¡¯s benefits.¡± Jianmen held the scroll in his hand for a brief moment, during which his power of mind and will already read through all of the things detailed in the scroll. ¡°Okay, sounds fun and small enough. And what a happy coincidence that the job starts today!¡± ¡°Yeah, well, like you said. What a happy coincidence.¡± Josephine Wong chuckled. There were no civilians around, so the two of them just walked in the air towards the site of the job while chatting. And during the time, the fragrant smell of the roasted goose roamed around the air around them. ¡°Okay, you gotta give me some of that roasted goose when you¡¯re done.¡± when two of them arrived at the space right above a half destroyed building with an exposed basement, Josephine Wong laughed. ¡°Yeah, this is for Dave. Sorry, but maybe next time I can cook it for you?¡± Jianmen scratched his hair. ¡°Okay, you better keep that promise.¡± Josephine Wong smiled, but when she turned to a division agent that was guarding the building, her voice turned cold and authoritative: ¡°Report, anything new?¡± ¡°Nothing particular about this this area, Ms. Wong. We were able to find the information about the former tenants of this house.¡± the agent nodded and answered: ¡°It¡¯s a West Miller, and his family of four, one college age daughter, one high school age son, and his wife Angela Miller.¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Okay, this rate of destruction, I¡¯d guess all of them are dead?¡± Jianmen sighed. ¡°Technically yes. But there¡¯s some disturbing factors.¡± the agent answered, with a perturbed tone: ¡°This whole household seemed to be infected by the dark energy radiated from a piece of knee cap that landed nearby, and at the time, the family had a pet lizard, which was the first to get infected. From the remains we found, looks like the lizard mutated and tore the whole family apart.¡± ¡°Let me take a look.¡± Jianmen walked into the building, and he instantly sensed a very faint trace of some familiar energy signature, so he turned to Josephine Wong: ¡°Hey Josephine, per the job description, I am in charge of cleansing and investigating the area, that means I have full discretion in handling the scenes, right?¡± ¡°Not full discretion, technically major decisions still have to go through me. But if you are certain just do it and tell me later.¡± Josephine Wong handed a small scroll to the agent: ¡°What do you see here?¡± ¡°I¡¯m about to see.¡± Jianmen snapped his fingers, then a small ball of orange and golden energy rose up from his hand into midair. The ball of energy exploded and created some kind of hologram in the room. And Josephine Wong could make out that the two people in the hologram standing in the room were Jianmen¡¯s students, Caroline and Jason. And hanging from a broken ceiling above them, was a young girl. From the information about the tenant, this must be the college age daughter. ¡°Holy...¡± the agent was stunned at the sight, but he was stopped by Josephine Wong from saying anything further. ¡°Just hang on a second! We¡¯ll be over!¡± Caroline seemed like she wanted to help the seemingly stuck young girl, but she was stopped by Jason. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Jason gave Caroline a serious look, then asked, while his hand clenched his weapon tighter. ¡°Help me! Please! I am scared!¡± the girl just kept waving her hand. At this point, neither Caroline and Jason moved a muscle to help the young girl, but stared at the young girl with shines of energy from their eyes. A giant mutated lizard burst through the wall and lunged against Caroline, Caroline infused her Xuanli into her wooden shield just in time to defend herself, the mutated lizard and Caroline were both knocked back. This gave time for everyone, including the people watching the hologram, to see the full body of the mutated lizard: besides growing to an enormous size and having all the common monster features, it also had half a human body attached to the end of its tail, as some sort of bait to trap unsuspecting people. Jason threw two silver energy spears at the lizard, which was able to deflect one with its tail but still got hit in the waist by the other. ¡°Fuck you!¡± Caroline cursed with disgust and fury, the silver energy axe in her hand lit up in blinding orange flame, the lizard¡¯s left front claw was sliced off and burnt up in midair. Then a heavy shield bash connected with the lizard¡¯s head - the impact was so strong, that the lizard¡¯s lower jaw almost completely fell off from it. The lizard flapped its tail at Caroline trying to attack her, but the tail was cut off by a flying silver energy blade unleashed by Jason. The half of the young girl¡¯s body flew up due to its inertia, hit the ceiling and dropped into the first floor kitchen. Caroline¡¯s next axe attack almost completely chopped off the lizard¡¯s head and cut its spine into two pieces. After this strike, the lizard had lost its ability to move, not to mention to fight back. ¡°Die! Rot in hell you sick, disgusting piece of shit! ¡± the death of the lizard did not calm Caroline down, she just kept bashing its body with both her shield and her axe, until the body of the lizard became a barely recognizable mess of bones and flesh. ¡°Hey hey hey! Caroline!¡± Jason stopped Caroline¡¯s further attack: ¡°Save some energy.¡± ¡°Okay, but one last thing.¡± Caroline took a few seconds to smooth her breath. A fireball the size of a basketball was left by Caroline, and when it exploded, the entire building was flattened and there was nothing but a burnt hole on the ground. ¡°Huh? How?¡± the agent couldn¡¯t control himself, as he looked at the half destroyed building up and down: ¡°What the ¡­.¡± Chapter 198 ¡°Shhh! Quiet!¡± Josephine Wong waved her hand to shut the agent up. Shortly after the entire building was flattened, broken pieces of bricks, drywalls and wood pillars that were blown far away started moving back to the place where the building once was. The burnt hole on the ground somehow started ¡°growing¡± back to what it was, but the material that filled the hole looked like some kind of black and dark green goo. The pieces of brick, wood pillars were also put back in their original places, and for those that were too severely damaged, they were replaced by the goo that changed into their shapes. ¡°Hmm, I thought I missed something. Oh well.¡± Jianmen shook his head and turned to Josephine: ¡°I think I know how to deal with the issue now - I need to prepare a bit. The kneecap you mentioned and described in the job description, the landing site is still sealed off right?¡± ¡°Yes. It¡¯s completely sealed off, not only did we block off the three block radius, we also sealed the sewers underground, to prevent the dark energy from seeping into the ground and polluting the water system.¡± the agent answered. ¡°Okay. Nice. But I am not fully prepared today, in order to correctly handle the situation as gracefully as possible - I will need to do some preparation - from enchanted artifacts, to material for certain circles and arrays, and some gems and herbs, if that¡¯s possible.¡± ¡°Whatever you need, just talk to agent Hall here.¡± Josephine Wong nodded: ¡°He would assist you in this case. And if you have any informational requests and questions, you know how to find me.¡± ¡°No problem. Thanks. ¡± Jianmen walked out from the building, and with a clap of his hands the half destroyed building crumbled onto the ground then imploded, leaving nothing but a burnt hole on the ground and ashes spread all over the place. ¡°Agent Hall, it¡¯ll be your duty to assist Mr. Yu on all matters, be it material requirements, requests for access and other privileges or anything having to do with processes and procedures. That¡¯s an order, am I clear?¡± Josephine Wong said to the agent.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am.¡± the agent nodded. ¡°Okay, Jianmen, I¡¯ll leave you to it. I know I can count on you.¡± Josephine Wong gently patted on Jianmen¡¯s arm: ¡°Now, before I¡¯m off to my things, can I have a word?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Josephine Wong pulled Jianmen to the side and cast a spell around them to prevent anyone from overhearing their conversation. ¡°How long is it gonna take?¡± Josephine Wong asked: ¡°You know, with safety concerns addressed and complete resolution of the issues we have here.¡± ¡°I¡¯d say five days to a week.¡± Jianmen answered: ¡°And that¡¯s considering the requirement that we need to keep the additional collateral damage to a minimum.¡± ¡°What about three days?¡± Josephine Wong asked. ¡°Three days - how do you feel about me leveling a few more buildings like that?¡± Jianmen pointed at the burnt hole behind him: ¡°From what I can tell, there¡¯s quite a lot of historic buildings in the area - ¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about those - this entire area¡¯s gonna get completely rebuilt anyways. And no one¡¯s gonna live even close to here in a few decades.¡± Josephine Wong sighed and said: ¡°And there¡¯s also another thing I think you should know, it¡¯s kinda serious.¡± ¡°Okay. What is it?¡± ¡°The federal government has something that could repair the results and aftermath of severe catastrophic events and disasters. They¡¯d been saving it for quite a while for special circumstances, and what happened in San Francisco sort of cut it as one of these circumstances.¡± Josephine Wong slightly tilted her head: ¡°Sound familiar?¡± ¡°Stone of Negation, they have the Stone of Negation.¡± Jianmen scoffed, rubbed his temples and looked up: ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°I know, I was shocked too.¡± Josephine Wong sighed: ¡°And they¡¯ve been debating whether they wanted to use it for this. From what you told me about it, they will need to have someone who knows what they¡¯re doing in order to use it.¡± ¡°Okay, but if they were planning to use Stones of Negation to fix this mess, why are you coming to me?¡± ¡°Because I am pretty sure the people they were about to commission, don¡¯t know what they will be doing.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head: ¡°But their backers, who have a lot of influence over how this decision will be made, had been pushing really hard. Now, I don¡¯t want them to create another disaster just to fix one disaster - so I would need some proof that we are able to handle this situation and resolve them, without employing some kind of galactic scale eraser and commission it to a group of shaky hands.¡± ¡°Understood. Consider it done in three days.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°And uh, can you ask them when they¡¯ve got the chance: what¡¯s the price of a piece of Stone of Negation?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to ask them for you.¡± Just when Josephine Wong retracted the spell, Jianmen¡¯s phone started ringing, it was Caroline. Chapter 199 One Saturday morning, Dave got off from a comfortable short nap, took out a piece of matcha cake from the fridge and sat down with a pot of tea behind the reception¡¯s desk. It was still relatively early in the morning and only a few people checked out, so Dave had time to enjoy some early snacks. Or, so he thought. When he was savoring a small bite of the matcha cake, he got a text on his cellphone. When he checked his phone, it was from someone named Amanda. ¡°Hey, Dave, what are you doing?¡± Dave thought for a while, and then he remembered that Amanda was Caroline¡¯s friend from the other day, when he went to do an exorcism for Caroline¡¯s friend Stacy. ¡°I am just doing my shift at the inn. Why? Is Stacy Okay? ¡± After a short while, before Dave could finish the next bite of the cake, another text from Amanda came: ¡°Nothing serious, Stacy¡¯s fine. Just wondering how you¡¯re doing. I think I might have some questions about the paranormal. Do you have time to help me with it? We can talk it over coffee.¡± Dave was a bit confused by this text, he had a gut feeling that something was going on and was implied in the texts, but he was not sure what it was. After thinking about it a little bit, Dave pulled up the numbers of Jianmen, Jason and Caroline, and was about to text them to ask about this weird gut feeling of his. ¡°Hi Dave, good morning.¡± just when Dave was about to send a text message, Jason¡¯s younger brother Mack walked into the inn: ¡°Is Mr. Yu here? Is my brother back yet?¡± ¡°No, it will take more time. I¡¯ll be here for another week or so, then Mr. Yu may come back and take over the shifts.¡± Dave answered: ¡°But I guess if you want to call them they might be able to answer.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s fine. I¡¯m just here to check on the inn and ¡­ maybe check on you.¡± Mack pretended to be casual and leaned on the reception¡¯s desk: ¡°How are you doing? You looked tense earlier, what happened? I can¡¯t imagine someone immortal can even be tense.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, I¡¯m not tense, I just got a strange message from a young human woman I helped the other day. I was doing Caroline a favor, but one of her friends contacted me, and seemed like she was just talking nonsense.¡± Dave scratched his head and said: ¡°I¡¯m not sure what this means. Can you help me?¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Okay, what you got?¡± ¡°This.¡± Dave handed his phone to Mack: ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening, why is she asking me for coffee? I can¡¯t make coffee! And there¡¯s no coffee in the inn!¡± ¡°Dude, she¡¯s flirting with you. She wants you to have coffee with her.¡± Mack scrolled through Dave¡¯s text conversation with Amanda: ¡°She likes you. Apparently quite a bit, girls don¡¯t just ask you out for coffee like that.¡± ¡°Huh? Why would she like me? I barely know her and she barely knows me.¡± Dave appeared even more confused. ¡°Okay, how much do you know about romantic relationships between humans?¡± Mack asked. ¡°Oh, wow, is this what it is? Some kind of romantic proposition?¡± Dave appeared to have realized the insinuations from the text. ¡°Well, I¡¯d take it that you don¡¯t know anything about it?¡± Mack asked. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m ¡­ really not that into romance and human emotions.¡± Dave started typing on his phone: ¡°Yeah I know just who she should talk to, Franco is the one with the interest in romance, maybe she could...¡± ¡°Wait wait wait, what are you doing?¡± Mack immediately slapped Dave¡¯s hand and stopped him from sending a message recommending Amanda to connect with his friend named Franco: ¡°No! She¡¯s interested in you! You can¡¯t replace you with Franco!¡± ¡°Why? I¡¯m a Depth Dweller, he¡¯s a Depth Dweller. I¡¯m into small things in life in the human world. He¡¯s into emotions and romance in the human world - we¡¯re basically the same!¡± ¡°Wow - okay - first of all - don¡¯t you Depth Dwellers have romantic relationships?¡± Mac scratched his nose and asked: ¡°And secondly - you said you are into the small things in human life, what does that even mean?¡± ¡°Well - it¡¯s sort of a theme for us.¡± Dave proceeded to explain: ¡°Well - we¡¯re technically immortal, but if you think about it, we¡¯re really not. We do go through the circles of life, minus the actually dying part, and when we reach the end of one cycle, our existence goes into the void, to be later reborn. Hence the name - Depth Dwellers.¡± ¡°Okay, that¡¯s¡­ what does that have to do with romance and your thing for little things?¡± ¡°Well - when we¡¯re reborn, we carry all the knowledge and experience into the void, where the information is stored and secured. When we¡¯re reborn, we sort of need to ¡®download¡¯ the information from the void and continue what we wanted to do in the last cycle.¡± Dave gently explained: ¡°But, life gets really, really boring after just a few cycles. So we eventually started having our ¡®thing¡¯ - we just found something we can enjoy and we savor it in our cycles, and we held off downloading the memory for as long as possible. Each Depth Dwellers has a thing for a few cycles, then they may want to move on to another. For me, in this cycle, it¡¯s the small things in life, like these delicious cakes, warm and fragrant tea, working at a minimum wage job, and so on. And I¡¯d prefer if the things don¡¯t have magic or any other kind of supernatural energy involved.¡± ¡°Wow, thank you.¡± Mack nodded and couldn¡¯t help but express his gratitude: ¡°So¡­ I understand now. And your lack of knowledge and experience was because you haven¡¯t downloaded the knowledge right?¡± ¡°Yeah - it¡¯s hard to control what to download. ¡± Dave shook his head: ¡°That kind of flow of information - even if I started downloading, I may not be able to find the knowledge and experience I need. And if I keep the flow open for too long, things will get really boring for me.¡± ¡°Understood. So you don¡¯t know much about romance and human emotions. I guess it will suck for Amanda then.¡± Mack clicked his tongue to show his pity. Chapter 200 ¡°So, how do I let her down gently?¡± Dave asked Mack. ¡°Yeah... I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve never got a chance to reject a girl before.¡± Mack chuckled: ¡°Does she know who - what you are?¡± ¡°Yes. I kinda told her after I ripped a piece of corrupted soul from her friend Stacy.¡± ¡°Holy ¡­ nice, at least we know why! So what are you going to do with this? It¡¯s kinda rude to ghost someone on text. If you¡¯re not interested, just tell her.¡± Mack patted Dave on his shoulder: ¡°I envy you guys, with all the magic and cultivation...¡± ¡°Sounded like you really want to come into this world.¡± Dave chuckled: ¡°But trust me - it¡¯s not easy. I think your best shot is ask Mr. Yu.¡± ¡°Yeah I kinda did. He just told me it¡¯s not the right time for me yet.¡± Mack sighed: ¡°I asked Jason as well, and even he¡¯s being kinda hush hush - I don¡¯t know what to think at this point.¡± ¡°Mr. Yu always has his reasons.¡± Dave said: ¡°Don¡¯t worry. And be glad that you are not exposed to this world in some other horrible way. And - I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯m in the place to give you this advice - don¡¯t have any naive fantasies about this world. It can be exceedingly cruel, cold and Darwinian.¡± Mack almost laughed out loud: ¡°You know what Dave, Mr. Yu told me almost the exact same thing.¡± ¡°Well, good. Because it¡¯s true, and it¡¯s something of grave importance - every year, there are some wide-eyed newcomers with hopes and dreams wind up in the meat grinders, most of whom are from the civilian world.¡± Dave finished typing his message to Amanda and showed it to Mack: ¡°How does this sound?¡± ¡°¡®Hey Amanda, thank you for the invitation. But I have to let you know that as Depth Dweller I am incapable of forming any kinds of romantic relationships with mortals. I wish you good luck on your next romantic endeavor and please don¡¯t hesitate to reach out to me if your or your friends are to encounter unclean presences.¡¯¡± Mack read the message out loud: ¡°Well, uh¡­ that¡¯s uh¡­ that¡¯s something.¡± ¡°It¡¯s no good, isn¡¯t it? Can you help me word it better?¡± ¡°Hey Mack, hey Dave. ¡± Kane, Caroline¡¯s older brother also came into the inn.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°Kane. What brings you here?¡± Mack turned around and asked. ¡°Nothing, I¡¯m just here to drop off some invitation to my housewarming party - I set the date to over two months from now, because I want Caroline to be there.¡± Kane laughed and put down a pile of cards, ¡°And since Mack you¡¯re here, do you mind bringing these invitations to your parents? I was thinking the more the merrier.¡± ¡°There¡¯s one for me? Thank you!¡± Dave appeared surprised as he had an invitation as well, and when he opened it up, it looked like it was handwritten: ¡°Did Alex write it? That¡¯s so nice!¡± ¡°Yeah. He said there is nothing more sincere than handwritten notes, with all the e-cards that everyone can download and send in bulk.¡± Kane explained: ¡°So¡­ um, how have you been?¡± ¡°I¡¯m doing really good.¡± Dave chuckled, and he seemed really delighted because of the invitation: ¡°And Mack¡¯s here helping me reject a girl!¡± ¡°What?¡± -------------------------------------------- ¡°Hey, do you know? You guys are famous now.¡± at dinner time, Tonya Evergreen, Caroline and Jason¡¯s guid when they first came to the Grant Academy, sat down with Caroline with a friend of hers: ¡°I just passed by a group of students, they¡¯re offering wagers for your duel against Robert Hendricks and Taylor Jensen.¡± ¡°Oh, well? I¡¯m gonna go out on a limb and say that we don¡¯t have many people betting on us.¡± Caroline chuckled and shook her head. ¡°And you guessed right.¡± Tonya¡¯s friend extended her hand at Jason and Caroline: ¡°Hi, my name¡¯s Kaitlin, Kaitlin Corr. I¡¯m Tonya¡¯s roommate.¡± ¡°Roommate? I thought we all have different places to live?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s actually pretty flexible. We¡¯ve basically grown up together so we decided to stay close to each other.¡± Kaitlin smiled: ¡°So, how do you feel? You still have two days - if you need help finding some handy and inexpensive gadgets, we¡¯re happy to lend you some. ¡± ¡°Thank you! But we brought our own weapons and they are really good. I¡¯m not sure if we can get used to using other things in two days.¡± Caroline said: ¡°I¡¯m not sure what their plans are, but I am very certain we can handle ourselves.¡± ¡°Hey, don¡¯t worry. If you need something, just let us know. ¡± Tonya said: ¡°And, I am not sure what kind of weapons you brought with you - but you might not be able to use them in actual duels. Because student duels should be guaranteed safe and should impose no danger of death or maiming to anyone.¡± ¡°Hmm. I¡­ we hadn¡¯t thought of that.¡± Jason exchanged looks with Caroline: ¡°How does this work? What should we do? If we can¡¯t bring our weapons, then do we need to face them empty handed?¡± ¡°God, they didn¡¯t even have the decency to tell you this? What a bunch of losers.¡± Kaitlin frowned: ¡°In student duels, you can¡¯t bring weapons that are enchanted or too sharp. They will need to be either made of certain material or they can be temporarily locked with a stifling lock that prevents you from seriously injuring your opponent. Basically, anything that does not directly come from your power or magic will be subject to this kind of vetting.¡± ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t think our weapons will cut it.¡± Caroline scratched her lower jaw: ¡°Does the academy provide some kind of weapon-rental? Or do you have some eligible weapons you can lend us?¡± ¡°Yeah. Good call.¡± Kaitlin said: ¡°We don¡¯t have any weapons, we¡¯re not into combative arts - like at all...¡± ¡°But the academy has a place to lend weapons for student duels. It¡¯s free and open almost all the time. They have almost every kind of weapon you need - let¡¯s go there after dinner.¡± Tonya nodded: ¡°It¡¯s better if you get some practice beforehand.¡± ¡°Yeah. I wonder if they have giant pens...¡± Jason was slightly frustrated and started playing with his food on the plate. Chapter 201 ¡°Didn¡¯t take you to be the axe and shield kind of girl.¡± when Caroline picked up a single handed axe with a relatively small edge and a round shield from the academy¡¯s practice weapon armory, Tonya said. ¡°Yeah, well among the few dozens I¡¯ve actually tried, these feel right.¡± Caroline chuckled and twirled the single handed axe and tried waving the axe - these weapons seemed to be mainly made of a special kind of wood, and the edges of the axe and the shield were made of some sort of dull and soft metal: ¡°Feels too light - but I think I can get used to it.¡± ¡°They don¡¯t have a giant pen or good spears. But they did have a lance that¡¯s okay.¡± Jason played with a lance he got from the armory for a while and jabbed at the air in front of him: ¡°Quite balanced - not as thick as my pen-spear. But usable.¡± ¡°Do you wanna spar? I think they still have room available for sparring.¡± Kaitlin took a look at the sign in sheet near the entrance of the weapon armory: ¡°They have some dummies for you to try - or if you want to spar with each other we can go to the training grounds.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go to the training ground.¡± Caroline tilted her head and smiled: ¡°You¡¯re sure you wanna come with us, Tonya? Kaitlin? ¡± ¡°Oh, yeah, sure, I want to see how you¡¯ll be beating Hendricks and Jensen.¡± Tonya chuckled and grabbed Kaitlin by the arm: ¡°Come on, Kaitlin, this would be fun.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ sounds exciting.¡± though seemed to be a bit uncomfortable, Kaitlin still nodded in agreement: ¡°I do have to warn you though - I won¡¯t know what I¡¯ll be looking at.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not a problem.¡± Jason went onto a piece of round marble on the ground with the three girls: ¡°Mica, bring us to the public training ground.¡± As the round marble hovered through low air and taking all four of them towards the Academy¡¯s public training ground, Jason noticed that there seemed to be more students wandering around the campus at this time than a few days before. These are students walking and chatting in groups with excitement in their voices. What was more, these students all seemed to be carrying some kind of small magical fireworks. ¡°What¡¯s the occasion?¡± Jason asked pointing at some groups of students: ¡°Some kind of festival? Celebration?¡± ¡°Oh that. Yes, it¡¯s a yearly activity, students challenge themselves in using the basic fireworks in the store and trying to make a combo firework, and make them as creative and shiny as possible. It¡¯s actually just five days from now. So I guess you guys can still participate.¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Sounds fun - but first things first.¡± Caroline saw that Jason was intrigued, so she patted on Jason¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Yeah, well if we¡¯re not too humiliated from the duel.¡± Jason shook his head with a wry smile. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be like that.¡± Kaitlin said: ¡°You¡¯ll do fine!¡± ¡°Yeah. Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t know how good of combat wizards Jensen and Hendrikcs are, but their grades are mid tier in the Martin House at best.¡± Tonya scoffed: ¡°From what I heard, their parents have close relationships with Ms. Clarkson, that¡¯s why they¡¯re getting training from her. I doubt Ms. Clarkson saw much in them.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, we¡¯re here because our master - I mean teacher knows Ms. Josephine Wong.¡± Jason scratched his nose: ¡°I don¡¯t know what she saw in us either.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Caroline slapped Jason¡¯s arm: ¡°Speak for yourself! I single handedly smashed and burned some fucking cultists threatening my family, I¡¯m a badass!¡± ¡°Okay, okay.¡± Jason laughed out loud: ¡°That¡¯s pretty badass, I agree.¡± ¡°But I did not save a couple of my moron friends from being killed by a haunted hospital. So give yourself some credit.¡± Caroline nudged Jason with her axe. ¡°Alright, alright.¡± Jason smiled and pointed forward: ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± It¡¯s already evening, but there were still some lights on floating platforms shining down the training ground to provide ample lighting so that anyone who would like to use it late in the day were still able to. ¡°Here.¡± Caroline picked an area that looked like a square dirt platform, the upper surface of which was already quite uneven, possibly due to the wear and tear from other students¡¯ training activities. In some of the areas nearby, there were other students still using the training ground as well - some were practicing close quarter combat techniques also using rented weapons from the academy armory, and some were practicing their aim by shooting magic bolts at floating targets in the sky. ¡°Hewh, this is probably my third time here. ¡± Kaitlin chuckled kinda nervously. ¡°Huh? Why?¡± Caroline stretched as she walked on the dirt platform, while Kaitlin and Tonya still remained on the round marble. ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t like combat arts - I kinda feel weird even getting close to the usage of combat arts.¡± Kaitlin said: ¡°But it¡¯s okay, I can watch you guys from afar.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll stay here with Kaitlin, don¡¯t worry, we can still see you from here.¡± Tonya said. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s just be quick?¡± Jason went to the opposite side of Caroline. ¡°No problem, you go first.¡± Caroline raised her axe before her shield and readied her battle pose. Jason retracted his lance, then unleashed a swift jab at Caroline. Caroline instantly raised her shield to block the jab, then turned to the side and swung her axe at Jason. Jason twirled his lance and parried the axe away with the backend of his lance and swung the tip of his lance from the side aiming at Caroline¡¯s shoulder. Caroline was able to swing her shield up and parry this strike as well. As two of them became more and more familiar with their rented weapons, their sparring actions became faster and faster, and their attacks were infused with more and more Xuanli: silver shadows of swords, tips of spears, and spinning blades were shot out by Jason, and Caroline started unleashing fireballs, fiery energy slashes and even clones of herself with fire energy. Their sparring not only impressed Kaitlin and Tonya, but it also attracted some other students in the training ground. Chapter 202 ¡°Hey. You¡¯re the ones that challenged Hendricks and Jensen right?¡± late into the evening, Aimee and Thomas finally made it to the academy canteen after a whole day¡¯s training and learning. But when they got their food and sat down at one of the empty tables, a sweaty, muscular tall young man approached them and asked: ¡°You¡¯re the civilian-born students.¡± ¡°Look, dude, we¡¯ve just had a really long day.¡± Thomas sighed with a bird¡¯s leg still in his hand: ¡°So please, we¡¯d like some quiet time if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Ah, okay, how impolite of me.¡± the tall young man bowed and apologized: ¡°My name¡¯s Ian, from the Hellbruck House. I just finished my training today. And I just want to let you know that I¡¯m rooting for you. And a lot of my friends are rooting for you. And if you¡¯d like some help - sparring buddies, usable equipment, or intel, we¡¯d like to help you. It¡¯s not fair, for them to challenge you like that. And it shows great integrity that you are willing to answer and stand your ground in a duel.¡± ¡°Wow, thanks.¡± Aimee looked at Ian right in the eyes: ¡°Sorry, we just thought you were gonna taunt us.¡± ¡°Ah, I see. I apologize if that¡¯s what you¡¯ve been facing.¡± Ian bowed again: ¡°I guarantee you there¡¯s more people on your side than you think - but since it¡¯s a duel, it¡¯s frowned upon to directly interfere as outsiders. But I still, I want to offer you my goodwill.¡± ¡°Thanks, and my apologies as well.¡± Thomas rubbed his temples and said: ¡°If you¡¯d like you can join us for some late dinner.¡± ¡°Thanks! But I¡¯ll just grab some and go. ¡± Ian responded with a bright and wide smile: ¡°I heard some students are having an amazing spar in the training ground, so I¡¯ll go and have a look. Maybe I¡¯ll learn something.¡± Just this moment, a plate that was floating in the air flew to the space right in front of Ian. Ian grabbed the plate and waved Aimee and Thomas goodbye: ¡°If you feel like I could be of help to you, just come by the Hellbruck House and ask for Ian Lang.¡± ¡°Thanks, we will.¡± Aimee said. ¡°I think we should take the offer.¡± when Ian left, Thomas told Aimee while chewing on a piece of bread: ¡°It¡¯s two days away, I don¡¯t know how much we can improve - but at least we can try to gather some intel. They don¡¯t know much about us, and we don¡¯t know much about them. So a little intel can get us a long way.¡±This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Hmm, you¡¯re not confident in our chances?¡± Aimee asked, slightly sarcastically. ¡°Well, I am not confident in OUR chances.¡± Thomas pointed at Aimee and then himself: ¡°You saw what Caroline and Jason could do - I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll lose to those shitheads.¡± ¡°They¡¯re just teenagers. They¡¯ll grow up.¡± Aimee said: ¡°Remember your teenage years? I remember quite clearly having had to fish you out of fights that would get you expelled from high school and police academy several times.¡± ¡°Yeah, well. What do you want me to say? I was a shithead too. ¡± Thomas laughed and shoved a piece of steak in his mouth. Just this moment, Aimee got a call, it was from someone marked as Detective Lee. ¡°Hey Lee, what¡¯s up?¡± Aimee put the call on speaker and asked: ¡°Thomas is here with me, you¡¯re on speaker.¡± ¡°Hello Detective Chavers, sorry to bug you at this time. But I have some questions regarding the drainer case - the feds took all of your cases. But it¡¯s been a while and looks like they¡¯re not doing anything.¡± Detective Lee said: ¡°And we don¡¯t have anything leftover - so I¡¯m just calling to ask, do you happen to still have any files and documents? ¡± ¡°You wanna investigate the case again?! No! That¡¯s a baaaaad idea, that¡¯s a terrible, horrible idea!¡± Thomas immediately voiced his objection. ¡°Please, at least tell me something.¡± Detective Lee pleaded: ¡°You know what we just found in our precinct last week? Two more bodies, all young girls that are drugged up and almost completely drained.¡± ¡°Fuck. I thought they¡¯ve got it covered.¡± Aimee covered the phone and looked at Thomas. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t quite catch you.¡± Detective Lee asked: ¡°I beg your pardon?¡± ¡°Nothing, we were just wondering what the hell the feds¡¯ been up to.¡± Aimee sighed: ¡°But also Detective Lee, please don¡¯t pursue this case - it is very dangerous. It¡¯s some kind of underground organized gang - please, just let the feds handle it and be safe yourself. Okay?¡± ¡°... sorry, but we can¡¯t do that. ¡± Detective Lee hesitated for a short moment: ¡°I¡­ I¡­ can¡¯t really say too much. But the SJPD will be focusing a lot of its resources on this case. So, I am asking for your help, please, just give us any information you have.¡± Both Aimee and Thomas sighed, then Aimee said: ¡°Please let us think about it for a bit. Detective Lee, please be careful and don¡¯t do anything rash. They are a group of dangerous criminals, and with gifts. Okay? They¡¯re a bunch of gifteds!¡± Detective Lee also went silent for a short while: ¡°... we actually had that suspicion already. But do you happen to know what kind of gift?¡± ¡°Well...¡± Thomas shrugged and answered: ¡°Super speed, super strength, ability to detect scent, super endurance and night vision, the usual creepy night stalker setup.¡± ¡°That sounds¡­ like you know quite a lot. Why didn¡¯t you tell the captain any of these?¡± ¡°Bye Lee, we¡¯ll call you later.¡± Aimee immediately hung up the phone. ¡°Oh my fucking god. What¡¯s with this fucking Division!¡± Thomas banged the table to vent his frustration: ¡°How long has it been? I thought they¡¯re elite gifteds and wizards!¡± ¡°We should call Ms. Wong, isn¡¯t she like a liaison or something?¡± Aimee said: ¡°SJPD can¡¯t handle it - they almost have no experience dealing with gifteds, not to mention dealing with blood suckers.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s call her right now.¡± Thomas started dialing on his phone. Chapter 203 ¡°Okay, did anyone remember the things we discussed in the last lecture?¡± in a course about apparitions, ghosts and paranormality, the lecturer, Assistant Professor Urkel Jackson stood nervously behind his podium and asked the students without much anticipation of getting a response. ¡°... the similarities and differences between different kinds of spirits and ghosts?¡± seeing that no one answered and it is kinda embarrassing the assistant professor, Jason raised his hand and answered: ¡°Especially the basic characteristics of spirits that were born of grudge, hatred, despair and dread.¡± ¡°Exactly, thank you Mr. Lin.¡± Assistant Professor Jackson nodded and smiled: ¡°And, one of the key points I stressed in the last lecture, was that the contagious nature of these negative emotions that beget vengeful spirits. And in the reading material for today¡¯s lecture, the essay authored by paranormal scholar Styrn Carpenter: Fundamentals of Malicious Contagion, this theory was proposed: that negative emotions, like dread, despair, purposeless, not only beget vengeful spirits, they also link and bind spirits together, like some kind of self-fueling binding curse. ¡°Not that unlike the psychological phenomena caused by strong social sentiment amongst sentient and intellectual beings like human, and in some extreme cases, mass hysteria, these negative emotions drove the spirits further into the depths of these emotions, twist them, corrupt them, deprive them of what¡¯s left of their individuality and reason. And given enough time, spirits that are lured into these traps and bind by these emotions will integrate and form what are essentially spectral abominations. Carpenter gave this kind of spectral abomination a name: clustered malice, or hived malice. It endangers innocent spirits and corporeal creatures alike - by consuming their essence, their energy and sanity. ¡°Carpenter traveled through a lot of places in the world and had documented a lot of instances of clustered malice. One of the common factors is: that it tends to occur naturally when there are large scale disasters like war, famine and plague, where there were a lot of casualties and thus high levels of these previously mentioned negative emotions. And wherever whenever clustered malice appeared, the harm and hurt brought by the pre-existing disasters will be exacerbated. And even when the disasters had passed, the healing of these wounds would be stifled purely because of the presence of the clustered malice in the area. ¡°But, I guess you would have this question: if the clustered malice is such an ever growing and ever spreading danger, how come we¡¯ve not seen more of it? If no one interfered, it should just be able to keep growing right? If it was just able to grow by absorbing more and more spirits and negative emotions, surely someday it would grow to a stage where no one would be able to ever face it.¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Assistant Professor Jackson looked over at the students in the classroom, most of them were still paying attention but not enough to answer the question, and a few of the students were actually looking down at something beneath their desks. And then he looked over to Jason and Caroline again, expecting that they might at least have something meaningful to say. ¡°Well...¡± Caroline scratched her hair and said hesitantly: ¡°There must be a natural limit to how much the abomination can grow right? I am not sure what constitutes this kind of limit...¡± ¡°Probably the ¡­ the ¡­ the emotions themselves?¡± when Caroline looked over to Jason, Jason stammered: ¡°You can¡¯t just stitch these many similar things - spirits together and expect things to just work out. You¡¯ll need some kind of internal communication and¡­ maybe like a skeleton of some sort, if we can use real life corporeal creatures as an example ¡­ without a skeleton and the nervous system we¡¯re just blobs of flesh. And we will just crumble and cannot do anything.¡± ¡°Pretty much, you two got the right idea.¡± Assistant Professor Jackson appeared quite glad that Caroline and Jason were able to give an answer: ¡°The natural limit to the growth of clustered malice comes from the very nature of these negative emotions - they needed to grow in order to to exist, but when they grew to a certain extent, they uncontrollably turn into madness, insanity and chaotic rage, which in turn will destroy the cluster from within. Eventually, without any external intervention, these instances of clustered malice will invariably implode.¡± ¡°Hmmm. I have a question, Professor Jackson.¡± Jason raised his hand. ¡°Yes, Jason?¡± ¡°For these spirits that are trapped and bound by the negative emotions and being integrated into the clustered malice - you mentioned they would lose individuality, does that come with some visual representations? Like becoming disfigured, distorted and maybe a little slim, and...¡± ¡°... and sort of faceless and sometimes dark, sometimes pale like their skins have been peeled off and their bodies were burnt?¡± Caroline continued Jason¡¯s question. ¡°Um¡­ as a matter of fact, those are pretty typical examples.¡± Assistant Professor Jackson nodded at Caroline and Jason: ¡°What, have you had encounters with them?¡± ¡°Oh god, multiple times.¡± Jason exchanged looks with Caroline: ¡°And¡­ and my question is how can clustered malice be present among normal living humans and not cause havoc all the time?¡± ¡°That would probably fall under the scenario of external intervention.¡± Assistant Professor Jackson thought for a short while and answered: ¡°Clustered malice does not have any coherent thought, it just has instincts. But due to its power potential, there have been many cases of necromancers and other dark wizards and witches who attempt to gain control of it. And sadly, some of them did succeed - the details vary, but the one thing in common is injecting a core - something that can tune down the negative emotions, balancing them and even organizing them.¡± ¡°Holy - do you remember the core of that spider? That sleeping girl?¡± Caroline smacked Jason¡¯s arm. ¡°Oh god - I feel like I have to call my friends - my ex friends. But still.¡± Jason shook his head and turned to Assistant Professor Jackson: ¡°Professor, I¡¯m really sorry, but we need to make a call. We just realized something, it¡¯s kind of an emergency.¡± ¡°Umm, yeah sure. Just come back when you¡¯re done. Okay?¡± Chapter 204 ¡°Hello Caroline, how¡¯s school treating you and Jason?¡± Jianmen picked up the phone as he waved Josephine Wong goodbye and started walking around in the job site with Agent Hall behind him. ¡°Pretty enlightening, and we just realized something. So we were wondering if you can help us with something?¡± Caroline answered: ¡°By the way you are on speakerphone - Jason is right beside me.¡± ¡°Sure. Name it, I¡¯ll see to it that it gets done. ¡± ¡°Look, I know you assigned us the case with Dr, Nguyen and by extension the thing with the Prime Royals Hotel, and the deserted hospital was also kinda Jason¡¯s responsibility as well.¡± Caroline said: ¡°But since we have some time at the academy, can you help us keep an eye on both of these places just in case things start to get weird or dangerous?¡± ¡°Yeah sure. No problem. I am helping Josephine Wong with some things so I may end up doing that anyway.¡± Jianmen smiled and said: ¡°What brought this up? Did you take a class about necromancy? Looks like I¡¯ll be learning from you when you come back.¡± ¡°It¡¯s something called clustered malice.¡± Jason said: ¡°Apparently, it¡¯s a bunch of spirits bound together by negative emotions like dread and fear - it sounds an awful lot like what we encountered in the hotel and what happened at Clearwater Municipal Hospital. Have you encountered something like that?¡± ¡°Well, yeah. I¡¯ve dealt with them in the past but not that often.¡± Jianmen stopped to look at a tall, classic style three storey house that somehow appeared to be not heavily damaged in the disaster. Agent Hall hesitated and seemed to be a little creeped out by this house, and Jianmen just picked up a rock from the ground and threw it at this house: ¡°I can¡¯t say I remember much about it though, when I was dealing with them I just threw them in a nearby sun, or if I want to be restrained and meticulous I¡¯d have to concoct some custom poison - from what I understand they tend to be really unstable when getting close to fire, light, lightning or strong illusions.¡± ¡°Okay, that¡¯s fire, light, lighting, these three I get. But why strong illusions?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Is it because the negative emotions are stimulated by the strong illusions and speed up into early implosion? ¡± Caroline asked. ¡°Something like that.¡± Jianmen watched the rock he threw crashed against the wall facing him, exploding on impact and destroying almost the entire wall: ¡°But don¡¯t try it just yet, strong illusions only work best when you¡¯re combatting an instance of this ¡®clustered malice¡¯ that¡¯s being controlled by someone. The stimulation could buff up its power for a short period if you don¡¯t know what you¡¯re doing.¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Right, this reminds me - there might be someone controlling the clustered malice in the hotel and the hospital.¡± Jason immediately said: ¡°The thing in the hotel - if it was a natural clustered malice there¡¯s no reason that it won¡¯t target every guest there. But it remained in control all this time. And the hospital, when I was in there, I got a sense that something gigantic was staring at me - it doesn¡¯t sound like something an aimless thoughtless blob of angry spirits could do. ¡± ¡°Okay. Understood. I think some of the Division might have a contract job regarding the hospital that they want to commission someone to do. If they asked me I¡¯d take a look.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°And also, since you¡¯re both in school, I¡¯ll check on your friends and family for you if it worries you. Good on both of you to still keep those in mind.¡± ¡°That¡¯s very kind of you. Thanks Boss. ¡± Caroline smiled and exchanged looks with Jason, who appeared really relieved to hear what Jianmen promised: ¡°We¡¯ll get back to class now. Just wanted to let you know.¡± ¡°Alright, no problem. Stay safe.¡± When Jianmen hung up the phone, Agent Hall asked: ¡°Mr. Yu, were those your students?¡± ¡°Yes. They¡¯re attending school.¡± Jianmen smiled and looked at the building, whose wall he just completely destroyed. Some kind of dark liquid seemed to be crawling up the interior of the house, carrying pieces of broken bricks, clay plates and other material in order to ¡°rebuild¡± the wall. ¡°Which - which school?¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather not say.¡± Jianmen chuckled: ¡°You wanna come into the magical underworld as well Agent Hall?¡± ¡°I¡­ I...¡± Agent Hall hesitated: ¡°Yeah. But I am not sure if it¡¯s possible. I¡¯m not an experienced agent, I¡¯ve only been in the Division for a little bit over a year. And I don¡¯t really have a very impressive gift to climb faster ...¡± ¡°And your gift has to do with sound and hearing, right?¡± Jianmen asked. ¡°Yeah. How¡¯d you know sir?¡± Agent Hall appeared to be more respectful, and even started using ¡°sir¡±. ¡°Well, I just can tell.¡± Jianmen chuckled as he watched the wall get completely ¡°rebuilt¡± by the dark liquid: ¡°You know, I have this uh ¡­ ability, to know that when someone is talking about me, or trying to dig up information about me, or simply trying to understand me, like trying to hear what kind of sounds I make when I use my power.¡± Agen Hall froze for a short moment then immediately bowed: ¡°Oh my god. My apologies for my insolence!¡± ¡°No, no, it¡¯s okay. It¡¯s only natural.¡± Jianmen waved his hand: ¡°Just a word of warning - this kind of ability - it¡¯d be very useful in almost all scenarios, but also very dangerous. You keep practicing, but be careful. When the business here gets rowdy, that suit and the charm in your pocket won¡¯t be able to help you if you¡¯re not careful.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Agent Hall wiped away a bit of sweat from his face. ¡°You have earplugs or something?¡± ¡°Yes, sir. Here.¡± Agent Hall reached into his pocket and took out a pair of metal earplugs. ¡°Standard issue ear protection from the Division, huh?¡± Jianmen grabbed the earplugs handed to him by Agent Hall: ¡°It¡¯s okay quality wise, but won¡¯t be much help when we get down to business.¡± Some kind of shiny dirt appeared in Jianmen¡¯s hands and covered the earplugs completely, then with a flash of some electric sparks, the dirt disappeared, and the metal earplugs seemed to be covered with some kind of light orange but mostly transparent coating. ¡°Thank you¡­ ¡± Agent Hall took the earplugs back from Jianmen: ¡°Should I put them on now?¡± ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m gonna do some initial probing and dissecting before doing the cleanse full on.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°Now follow me, if you feel too much pressure then call out to me.¡± Chapter 205 Agent Hall followed Jianmen as he jumped and ran around the site, seemingly looking for something. And after a few turns and hops over some buildings, they reached a place where some historic buildings resided. Just like many other buildings in the area, these buildings looked like they were not heavily damaged, but reeked of something unpleasant. Agent Hall was feeling more disturbed when he approached these buildings - he came to this area before and was creeped out by them, but the feeling back then was not even half as strong as today. It was as if the area around him was reacting to the presence of this Mr. Yu in front of him. The creepy feelings these buildings gave him were due to his gift - he could hear the flow of energy, especially supernatural energy, if he paid close attention, he could even hear the ¡°sound¡± of sunlight and the gravity pulling big objects down. Usually, the sounds he heard all had some kind of rhythm or flow to them, and in the case of sudden energy bursts like lightning strikes or explosions, the sound would be sudden jolts of loud or high pitched noises. But when he got close to these buildings, all he could hear from them were voices of intangible mumbling, low screams and occasional painful moans. And right now, even with the protective earplugs on, he could still hear these disturbing sounds, only they sounded somewhat different than last time he came here - the voices seemed to be angrier, more fearful, and - ¡°Angrier, isn¡¯t it?¡± Jianmen smiled at Agent Hall: ¡°It doesn¡¯t want us here.¡± ¡°What is it? Why is it making these kinds of noises - why is it rebuilding the houses and even placing the trash back in their places? ¡± ¡°The job description mentioned that the graves of past saints and other esteemed figures were vandalised before the catastrophe happened.¡± Jianmen snapped his fingers, and an energy bubble appeared around Agent Hall and kept him inside: ¡°And it¡¯s kind of a by-product of corrupted remains of saints and esteemed individuals. Stay where you are. This should be over quick.¡± Three streams of dark liquid broke the ground around Jianmen and gushed into the air. Countless cries, angry curses and moanings instantly struck Agent Hall like someone turned on hundreds of loudspeakers around him at the same time. Agent Hall covered his ears instinctually, but that did not help at all. ¡°Hell.¡± Jianmen snapped his fingers again, the energy bubble around Agent Hall became thicker and blocked off all of the voices.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The three streams of dark liquid shot up into the sky and rained down in droplets. These droplets turned into leeches, snakes, flies, snails and all other kinds of bugs and poisonous creatures in the air. The dark liquid was also starting to flood the ground around the holes and moving to surround Jianmen. Jianmen waved his left hand and took a few balls of liquid from the main flow, and a rattan broom appeared in his right hand. ¡°Back off, fucking filth!¡± Jianmen slammed the broom against the ground, a ring of shockwave exploded from him, impacting everything around him except the protective energy bubble and Agent Hall. The dark liquid around Jianmen all got burnt and turned to ashes and smoke in an instant. The ground beneath cratered and collapsed. A loud rumble came from the ground under Jianmen, and no more dark liquid appeared or remained around him. A few other buildings around them collapsed, which included the building at which Jianmen threw a rock at earlier. ¡°So, to answer your question - this is the power of ¡®memory¡¯.¡± Jianmen retracted the spell that constructed the energy bubble around agent hall and let him land on his feet: ¡°This might be surprising to you, but sometimes things can have memories just like us. And corrupted remains of saints and esteemed individuals could have this effect - it kinda ¡®remembers¡¯ the area in which it resides in a certain state, and that memory itself has the power to maintain itself and keep things the way they are remembered to be. I won¡¯t bore you with the details - just think of it as one of the weakest forms of ¡®one wills it and thus it be¡¯.¡± ¡°Shit.¡± Agent Hall only had one word to say. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ve got my samples.¡± Jianmen showed Agent Hall the three balls of the dark liquid he collected earlier: ¡°Let¡¯s head back. We¡¯ve got work to do, I will analyze the contents of these, and I will make a list of all the material I¡¯ll need you to put out an order for me. I¡¯ll need them all collected within 12 hours.¡± ----------------------------------------------- ¡°... and typically for all of these kinds of controlled clustered malice, they impose a great toll on the controller as well.¡± the call with Jianmen did not take long, so when Caroline and Jason went back to their class, the topic Assistant Professor Jackson was discussing did not shift too much from that when they left for the call: ¡°And we know, that there are actually many cases where the controller ended up getting consumed by the clustered malice. So in more recent documented cases, it became quite common that the controllers of clustered malice will employ some kind of strong hypnotic spell to force the entire instance of clustered malice to go into a dormant state - this means that the instance will ¡®go to sleep¡¯ just like animals and us. ¡°When clustered malice lies dormant, it will become less dangerous and harmful and the process of overgrowth will slow significantly, which allows the controller to rest, regain strength and make use of its power when the opportune time comes. But again, this comes with a problem in itself - anyone wants to take a guess?¡± The entire classroom went silent for a while, then finally someone other than Jason and Caroline raised their hand and asked: ¡°Does it dream? Since cluster malice has some kind of primitive hive mind and integrated consciousness - it could still have the ability to dream right?¡± ¡°Indeed, yes, very nice, Mr. Anderson.¡± Chapter 206 One day at noon, even though the sun was supposed to be shining high in the sky, the day was still gloomy, chilly and dark. This is particularly true for the area around the Clearwater Municipal Hospital. The visuals around the hospital building were distorted to the normal eyes, just like that around a hot fire. There was some kind of grey ashes floating in the air, and the ground appeared to be slowly moving and squirming like it was made of thick liquid, or flesh and skin. An explosion broke out from behind one of the doors in the hospital building¡¯s north wing, two men, two women and a tall and muscular half wolf half man creature burst out of the broken door and out into the open. All of these individuals were injured, each to a different degree. A tall and buff man holding a broken broadsword leading the escape was injured the most - he was missing his left arm and there were puncture and slash wounds all over his body. The tall half man half wolf creature had various bloody wounds on his chest and back as well. And the one that was injured the least was a woman holding a silver metal cross in her hand. ¡°Did anyone see Anthony?¡± the leading man with only one hand looked back and asked. ¡°He didn¡¯t make it, he was impaled.¡± the half man half wolf shrunk in size and shed his fur, slowly becoming a completely naked man. ¡°How¡¯s everyone?¡± the woman with a silver metal cross raised the cross and emitted beams of light from it and started healing her teammates with the most grievous wounds: ¡°If you sense some kind of numbness in your spine or start hearing things, please let me know.¡± ¡°Hold on Aerith, you¡¯re overexerting your power.¡± the other woman, who had a pair of enchanted pistols in her holster and had a bloody hole where her right ear once was: ¡°We¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°No we¡¯re not.¡± a bald man with tattoos on his head and wearing a chain of wooden beads on his neck looked around and said: ¡°No, they¡¯re out here as well. We must leave!¡± Just this moment, two three hands shot up from under the slowly moving and squirming ground and grabbed onto the man who was once a half man half wolf creature, and started pulling him in three directions. The woman with a silver metal cross waved her cross at the man, and a golden energy bubble appeared around the man, protecting him from any further external harm while chipping away the power that formed the three hands. ¡°Hehehehehe!¡± creepy laughter seeped out from the ground under the bald man with tattoos, a giant centipede-shaped monster emerged from a hole on the ground. The monster¡¯s main body was made of a wide and long human-like spine, its feet were made of boney human hands and animal claws, its head, or heads, were clusters of distorted, twisted human heads with some kind of bloody cord connecting them to the tip of the giant spine, like some kind of horrifying bouquet.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Shock!¡± the bald man with tattoos shouted, and as the word came out of his mouth, electric flares exploded on the bone centipede monster¡¯s body. But with its deafening cracking sound, it did not do much damage to the monster. The monster¡¯s humongous body curled, and spikes made of dark crystals shot out from its feet and gaps between sections of the spine at the bald man. ¡°Shield!¡± the bald man conjured a thin layer of light blue energy shield between him and the monster, in hopes that he could defend himself from the monster¡¯s attack. The spikes were sharp, fast and heavy, the bald man¡¯s energy shield broke almost immediately on impact. And just when the bald man was about to become a piece of sponge, an explosion of purple energy occurred somewhere in midair. A huge shockwave swept through the air, which was fast enough to blow all the dark spikes away and crush them into harmless grains of dark sand and dust in the air. The monster was knocked back, and the three hands that tried to pull the half wolf man apart were incinerated. ¡°What happened? I thought this was a routine check and seal maintenance?¡± Josephine Wong came to the scene with a man with a long sword behind his back and a sorceress in light green robe. ¡°The building ¡­ it absorbed two pieces of bone from San Francisco. We think the dormant one inside might be about to wake up soon.¡± the woman shot at the bone centipede monster with her enchanted pistols to cover her teammates escape, ¡°We lost half the team. Please, Ms. Wong, we need to get outta here now.¡± ¡°Simmons, cover them till they make it to safety. There might be other dangers lurking around. ¡± Josephine Wong took off her dark purple robe, which floated in the air behind her when she let go, ¡°Robinson, you go up and watch over, let me know if there are possible survivors.¡± ¡°Roger.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± The man with a long sword went with the escaping team, and the sorcererss flew up in the sky while chanting a long and powerful spell. The body of the bone centipede monster jolted up and tried to reach for the sorceress that flew up in the air, but its body broke from the middle before it could fully extend its body - it was not a cut, nor a puncture wound nor a blunt force wound. It was the crushing force of a small purple energy ball, controlled by Josephine Wong¡¯s right hand extended forward in a claw shape. Under Josephine Wong¡¯s control, the purple energy ball expanded more than hundreds of fold in size. It became sort of a ¡°black hole¡± that absorbed and crushed only certain things in its perimeter - the monster¡¯s body made of bones, dark crystals and liquid from under the ground and even bricks and other material from the hospital building. But the sorceress that rose up in the air remained unaffected. The purple ¡°black hole¡± raged on, the monster¡¯s entire body was crushed by its gravitational force, and along with it, a huge piece of the surface of the ground. ¡°I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s no survivors nearby.¡± the sorceress¡¯s voice reached Josephine Wong. ¡°Okay.¡± Josephine Wong sighed: ¡°Let¡¯s send a team and block off the area within a half a mile radius.¡± With a wave of her arm, the purple ¡°black hole¡± flew towards the hospital building, and with a loud cracking sound, it imploded and took almost half the north wing with it. Dark liquid appeared from the edge of the damaged parts and the ground, and just like the buildings in San Francisco affected by the corrupted bones dug up by the possessed Dr. Nguyen. Chapter 207 ¡°Hello, students, welcome to the first battle arts and practical combat tactics seminar of this seminar.¡± in a spacious hall with a high dome ceiling inside of the castle of the Hellbruck House, a slim, short man with a pair of kind of goofy goggles stood on a stone platform and announced to a full hall of students: ¡°And my name is Pratt Patterson, I will be your speaker for today.¡± ¡°Yo, Mr. Patterson, when are you gonna show us something explosive?¡± some of the students heckled. ¡°Maybe later this semester, when I have the details ironed out.¡± Pratt Patterson smiled and waved to the hecklers: ¡°Stay tuned! And today, I am going to present to you, something I promised many of you the last time: practical combat arts that we developed from researching various combat arts during our visits around the world, and even studying from some of the martial arts and combat methods from the civilian world.¡± ¡°Woohoo! Mixed combat arts and new experimental moves!¡± a group of students cheered. ¡°Never thought that combat art researchers can be this popular. I thought it¡¯s just gonna be like nerds surrounded by jocks.¡± Thomas clapped along with the crowd and said to Aimee, surprised: ¡°I mean, I like the academy much more now. It¡¯s much more fun than the police academy, I¡¯ll say that.¡± ¡°Yeah, I wonder how it is in the police academy here in the magic world. Or do they even have police here? Since almost everyone has the ability to fight with magic.¡± Aimee nodded and asked. ¡°Well, I heard that they do have their own kinds of law enforcement agencies, not that unlike the police and the feds.¡± Thomas chuckled. ¡°... now, let¡¯s take a look!¡± the slim, short man with goggles snapped his fingers on both of his hands, and two fire pillars shot up towards the ceiling from two altars on both of his sides. When the pillars of fire dissipated, two human-shaped shadows made of fire sparks and burning cinders appeared in the air, the one on the slim, short man¡¯s left side was holding a two handed staff, and the one on the slim, short man¡¯s right side was holding two short stick-like weapons: ¡°Now, on my left side, is the shadow of someone holding a staff, he¡¯s holding your standard battle staff. And on my right side, do any of you recognize what kind of weapons he¡¯s holding?¡± ¡°Nunchucks!¡± ¡°Two smaller sticks!¡± ¡°Batons!¡± the students were shouting their guesses, but looked like none of them got it right.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Do those look like ¡­ short barrel shotguns to you?¡± Thomas squinted his eyes and asked Aimee. ¡°Yeah¡­ kinda¡­ like the ones we confiscated from the¡­ what was the name of the drug ring again?¡± Aimee snapped her fingers trying to remind herself of the details from one of their past cases: ¡°Corner boys? Side street pals? I remember it¡¯s kinda cliche and lame.¡± ¡°Cul De Sac Gang. I think that¡¯s their name.¡± Thomas snapped his fingers and chuckled. ¡°Okay, and here¡¯s the answer, for those of you who had taken my class before, you¡¯d know that I am a firm believer of the potential of civilian combat arts and civilian technology. And these two weapons, are just a pair of new inventions of mine. They¡¯re based in a couple of civilian technologies, it¡¯s a combination of civilian shotguns with slugs as ammunition, artillery with shaped charges and flash grenades. And behold, my presentation.¡± The two shadows charged at each other with their weapons drawn, the shadow holding two short sticks put the two sticks forward against his opponent, one in a higher position and the other in a lower position, and opened fire from both his short shotguns. The higher gun launched a small slug, which exploded midway and released a concentrated beam of bright light right at the staff-holding shadow¡¯s head and shoulders. The shadow was instantly paralyzed by the beam of light, and the slug shot from the lower gun struck him right on the abdomen. The crowd cheered, leaving Thomas and Aimee quite confused. ¡°What¡­ what are they cheering?¡± Aimee asked: ¡°That¡¯s like a cheating weapon - ¡± ¡°I - I have no idea. ¡± Thomas shrugged: ¡°Is this like a ¡­ ritual or a show?¡± And it was indeed a show - right after this presentation, the lecturer Pratt Patterson started discussing all the different kinds of pragmatic combat methods, combat arts and tips for defending oneself or attacking one¡¯s opponent under different conditions. The weapons and tactics talked about in detail and weapons recommended, to the surprise of both Aimee and Thomas, were not as far fetched or out of their depths as they thought - they managed to learn quite a bit and even got somewhat inspired, that the practical experience they gained from their former detective lives could still apply in the magical world. The highlight of the seminar was the introduction and explanation of the tips on how close quarter combat focused power wielders like knights and paladins can counter ranged opponents like wizards, sorcerers and witches. Judging from the fact that most of the attendants were members of the Hellbruck House and more than sixty percent of them were at least partially close quarter focused, though neither Aimee nor Thomas had much real experience to judge the quality of the tips, Pratt Patterson sure knew how to cater to his audience. ¡°I think this is good enough. Let¡¯s discuss it over at training tonight. ¡± Aimee was holding a magical recorder, with which she tried to record all of the visual presentations shown by Pratt Patterson: ¡°You think Caroline and Jason could help us with it? They will come tonight right?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see why not.¡± Thomas was writing some notes down, ¡°After all, we have just tonight for some last minute training.¡± ¡°Well, then, I hope you¡¯ll kick their asses.¡± the voice of Pratt Patterson came from their right side: ¡°I recognized you, you¡¯re the civilian born students that got unfairly challenged by the jerk-offs from Martin House, right?¡± Chapter 208 ¡°Good morning! How are you doing there professor?¡± Jianmen pushed open the door to Professor Atkison¡¯s lab and saw that the professor and Dolores were operating on a huge machine with a huge transparent hollow crystal ball. And at the center of the crystal ball, was a piece of the iridescent hail which they collected from their last trip to the underground temple on some remote realm. Right now, eight probing metal rods inside the giant crystal ball were shooting lightnings of different colors at the piece of hail, and the hail was emitting steady and colorful energy shockwaves, which were then absorbed by the crystal ball. ¡°Still analyzing the piece of hail? Did you guys pull an all-nighter? What did you find? Can I help with anything?¡± ¡°Yes, turned out this piece of hail has some kind of regenerative outer shell, which blocks our probes from drilling in and extracting its internal content and looks like it can only be disabled by strong suppressive rays.¡± Professor Atkinson wiped off the sweat from his forehead: ¡°And from my calculation, the energy flows within this piece of hail has reached some kind of equilibrium - if we are not careful, it could break the entire piece and could explode and damage the lab.¡± ¡°There were some signs of instability earlier, but we managed to keep it down.¡± Dolores nodded at Professor Atkinson and Jianmen: ¡°We would¡¯ve asked you for help but we haven¡¯t got the chance to reach you.¡± ¡°Hmm yeah, probably it¡¯s nice that I¡¯ve finally completed this piece of true craftsmanship then.¡± Jianmen laughed out loud and showed Professor Atkinson and Dolores something in his hand - it looked like something decorative made of interwoven red threads. ¡°An enchanted Chinese Knot? What can it do?¡± Professor Atkinson asked. ¡°Looks like some kind of lock?¡± Dolores asked: ¡°Something to seal power and energy.¡± ¡°Precisely.¡± Jianmen went to the side of the giant hollow crystal ball with the Chinese Knot in his hands: ¡°It should help your case as well, just let me know when you want me to do it. Looks like your machine is reaching some kind of balance, I don¡¯t wanna just put this in and mess it up for you.¡± ¡°Okay, how much do you think your lock can suppress the energy shell?¡± Professor Atkinson asked: ¡°Right now we are at around seventy percent full output, which is just enough to gradually chip away the outer shell without letting the internal energy flood out, if you can gradually ease your lock in, we can put more energy into absorbing the internal energy signatures and analyzing them. And please let us know what kind of energy output your lock has - so that we don¡¯t mix the signals.¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Okay, just be careful. And the wonderful thing about this lock is, it barely has any energy signature - I can tell you what to watch for later but unless you are doing some super detailed observation you have nothing to worry about.¡± Jianmen cast a protective spell around the hollow crystal ball, then he extended his hand forward and let the Chinese Knot float into the inside of the crystal ball. Some of the red threads unwove themselves and wrapped around the piece of hail at the center. A few waves of stronger shockwave were released from the hail, but they were absorbed by the crystal ball. ¡°Decreasing power output to the suppressive ray by ten percent, shifting five percent to the protective and absorption layer.¡± Dolores exhaled in relief and said: ¡°This is good. We are saving on our energy reserves while doing the same kind of analysis.¡± ¡°If you want I can increase the power. ¡± Jianmen said: ¡° In fact I insist - this is only a teensy tiny bit of its power - it took me quite some time to make this. So I am perfectly happy to show you what it can do.¡± ¡°Okay. Can you increase the suppressing power by five percent at a time? We don¡¯t want to do anything too drastic.¡± Professor Atkinson could tell that Jianmen was in a good mood and wanted to show off a bit. ¡°Noted. Be careful now.¡± Jianmen gently controlled the Chinese Knot with his hand. The process went smoothly, but it still took them around half a day to complete this round of analysis. The good thing for Professor Atkinson and Dolores was that they saved a lot of cost on energy, since they stopped using their suppressive rays to disable the protective energy layer around the piece of shield pretty soon and just relied on Jianmen¡¯s Chinese Knot to do the work for them. And all of their energy cost was on the absorption of the energy shock waves emitted by the piece of hail, which they then used to analyze the energy signatures. ¡°Let¡¯s take a break.¡± Professor Atkinson told Dolores and Jianmen as he slowly turned down the machine: ¡°Thank you Mr. Yu. It¡¯d be a lot harder without you.¡± ¡°Glad I could help.¡± Jianmen chuckled and stretched his shoulders and his neck: ¡°Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me, I¡¯ll be off for a bit today. If you need me, you can just call or text me.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not joining us for lunch? We¡¯d really like to pick your brains on some of the interesting energy signatures.¡± Dolores asked. ¡°Maybe after - I have to go watch the first student duel of this semester. ¡± Jianmen laughed: ¡°I¡¯ve heard so much about the tradition of student duels in the Grant Academy, never thought I¡¯d have a chance to actually see one this early on.¡± ¡°Oh, yikes.¡± Dolores shook her head: ¡°I thought for someone that had godhood before, these kinds of things would seem too childish and meaningless.¡± ¡°Well, it sounds intriguing enough to me - a couple of civilian born students versus arrogant teenagers from known families? That would be quite interesting.¡± Jianmen answered: ¡°Also, not to bad mouth anyone, but some insufferable brutish gods did enjoy duels, especially to the death and in their names.¡± Chapter 209 ¡°Alright, alright, quiet, quiet!¡± in the student¡¯s dueling ground, a tall male professor in dark blue armour stood in the middle of the central right, which was elevated above ground so as to make sure there was maximum visibility from all angles: ¡°Quiet! Everyone quiet! The duel¡¯s about to start!¡± A lot of the audience cheered, while some of the concerned students and faculty members stayed silent and some even booed. ¡°So, today, it¡¯s a group duel. Four versus four.¡± the professor in dark blue armour announced, his voice was amplified by magic, so even the ones that were furthest away were able to hear him: ¡°The challengers are on my left side - they are students from the Martin House, Mr. Robert Hendricks, Mr. Taylor Jensen, Miss Laura Jensen and Mr. Caleb Hoffman.¡± Many in the audience cheered, while an equal amount of, if not more students booed at the same time. The four students on the professor¡¯s left side appeared unphased, but the tapping right foot of Laura, the only girl among them, was a clear sign of their nervousness. ¡°And on my right side, are the students facing the challenge. What¡¯s notable about them, was that two of them were freshmen students at Anderson House, who came from civilian backgrounds and were previously crime fighters in the civilian world, let¡¯s welcome Detectives Aimee Chaver, and Thomas Chaver!¡± A lot of the students cheered, while the students that cheered for the previous four were either silent or making rude gestures at Aimee and Thomas, some even pointed at the professor and yelled something - apparently this differential treatment on their introduction was obviously biased. ¡°And the next two, are audit students at the academy! They are recommended by none other than our wonderful Josephine Wong. Please give a shoutout, to Mr. Jason Lin, and Caroline Baker!¡± Caroline and Jason were a little embarrassed when the professor introduced them - before they came up to the ring, this professor asked them some details about themselves, and they hesitated and decided not to provide anything crucial, which worked out for them. They didn¡¯t want to disclose too much of their information, because they needed this element of surprise. ¡°Now, per the rules of student duel, the challenged students would be able to dictate the basic rules. You would have priority claim of two of the three options: the choice of whether the duel should include weapon usage, the choice of face-off order, and last but not least, the right of one dismissal draw, which, just in case anyone is not familiar with the rule - the one with this option would be able to dismiss a fight and claim it as a draw for both sides.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°We¡¯ve already decided on our options.¡± Aimee looked at Thomas, Caroline and Jason: ¡°We would like to take the first two options, the weapon usage and face-off order. We would like the duel to be armed, and we would like to face them in a randomly shuffled order.¡± This quick answer triggered quite a reaction amongst the audience. All four of them knew exactly why - for those challenged and at a disadvantage, the option of choosing a dismissal draw was a good tactical play. But Aimee chose the most aggressive combination, and actually introduced randomness to the face-off. ¡°Are you sure? Is this the consensus?¡± the professor was also surprised, so he asked again. ¡°Yes. We are sure.¡± Thomas nodded, and Caroline and Jason also acknowledged that the choice was their consensus. ¡°Okay. Then the rule to the duel is this: both sides will be armed, and for the face-off order would be entirely randomized, including the group fight! Everyone, let me hear how much you are looking forward to the duels!¡± The audience cheered, supporters of both sides responded passionately to the start of the actual duel. The professor took off a thin golden chain around his neck, then he raised his arm up holding the pendant on this chain. The pendant rose up and expanded in size, eventually coming to a size where even the audience from the furthest distance can see what it was - a sphere-shaped metal cage. The next moment, all eight students in the ring each raised one of their hands above their heads, and one silver ball of light appeared from each of their palms and went into the metal cage. The silver balls of light solidified into some kind of metal balls when they entered the metal cage. The cage started spinning with the metal balls inside. The collisions between the cage and the balls made pleasant clanking sounds as the cage spun. After a short while, two metal balls flew out from the cage, and the professor in a dark blue armour caught them with his hands. ¡°The first two that will face off...¡± the professor read the two metal balls and intentionally paused for some additional dramatic effect: ¡°Mr. Taylor Jensen¡­ versus, Mr. Thomas Chaver!¡± Those among the audience that were in support of Jensen and Hendricks cheered, one young sorceress wearing a skimpy robe and armor even yelled: ¡°Hey Taylor, you can come and wreck me after you¡¯re done with him!¡± Thomas shook his head and signed, then gently felt the silver guns in his holsters and the handle on his shoulder. ¡°Now, before we start, put these on. ¡± the professor handed two tiny necklaces to Thomas and Taylor Jensen: ¡°Let it sit for a short while, then on my mark, you can start your duel.¡± ¡°Are these the protective necklaces I heard about?¡± Thomas put the necklace around his neck and asked. ¡°Yes. It basically protects you from being killed.¡± Taylor Jensen scoffed and said. Thomas sighed, and he felt that some kind of warm protection energy layer was placed onto his whole body. ¡°Now, looks like the protective force field is in place.¡± the professor gave out a long exhale and placed his right hand in the space between Thomas and Taylor: ¡°Ready on my mark! Three, two ....¡± ¡°... one!¡± all the audience chanted at the same time as the professor. Chapter 210 ¡°Remember, if you let them pull up a full protective shield. You¡¯re gonna be toast. ¡± on their training ground, Glenda Grimes told Aimee and Thomas: ¡°Now, I know that you two used to be police officers, and pretty good police officers as well. That means you have way better battle reflexes and intuitions than these students, even students of Dorothea Clarkson.¡± ¡°Okay. But our magical powers are still very weak.¡± Aimee tried her best to conjure up a small light blue spiked ice ball from her right palm to make her point: ¡°They¡¯re wizards right? So I guess by video game logic, we need to get close and beat them physically?¡± ¡°Not necessarily, we can use guns.¡± Thomas was playing with a small ball of light blue fire on his fingers: ¡°I mean, I can use guns - perhaps.¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m gonna suggest. Did you bring your guns? ¡± Glenda Grimes asked. ¡°Well, Jason gave us these.¡± Thomas took out two silver handguns from his pocket: ¡°He can explain when he gets here - but basically, these are his ¡®constructs¡¯ he constructed using his ¡®Shrine - Lee¡¯.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Xuanli. It¡¯s Mandarin.¡± Aimee rolled her eyes and said. ¡°These are very well constructed.¡± Glenda Grimes nodded in approval when she took the two silver guns from Thomas: ¡°Is he familiar with the internal mechanics? Does it work?¡± ¡°Well, no. But he said it doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Thomas chuckled: ¡°He just told me ¡®Thomas, Caroline, tell me how a gun is supposed to work from the outside. No need for the internal details.¡¯¡± ¡°Wow. Who taught him that?¡± Glenda Grimes pointed the silver guns at the ground and pulled the trigger a few times, feeling that the hammer indeed struck the back end of the barrel where the bullets would be placed: ¡°That¡¯s a lesson we actually teach in our advanced courses on magical constructs.¡± ¡°They asked us not to disclose, maybe you can ask them when they get here.¡± Aimee shook her head: ¡°I wonder how long they¡¯ve been training.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. ¡± Glenda Grimes handed the silver guns back: ¡°This is actually perfect - the rules of student duel, especially those of a group duel, specifically allow and even encourage the use of magical constructs instead of magical or enchanted weapons. Now that they can make high quality weapons for you, it¡¯d be your advantage.¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Okay. But as far as I know, the power of attack still depends on my power, right?¡± Thomas scratched his head. ¡°Yes, but there¡¯s a catch.¡± Glenda Grimes smiled: ¡°From what I know about guns, the actual part that hurts the opponent is the bullet, right? Given your natural affinity to fire magic...¡± ¡°I can just use my power as the gunpowder.¡± ------------------------------------------ ¡°Pleasure to be the one to teach you a lesson, please bear in mind, that what you are doing today, is a clear sign of your boldness and...¡± ¡°Bang! Bang!¡± ¡°Boom!¡± Two small explosions and a big one later, two sphere-shaped energy shields appeared around Thomas and Taylor Jensen, not only protecting them from the heavy attacks they just received, but also sending them to the outside of the ring. After that, the sphere-shaped shields returned to their necklace form and flew back to the hands of the professor in dark blue armor. Aside from the professor in the ring and the two who got sent out, it appeared that almost no one present really knew exactly what happened. ¡°The first round, two definitive blows at a close succession. It¡¯s a draw!¡± the professor in a dark blue armor announced. This was no doubt an explosively surprising result, all of the audience that were either on Thomas¡¯s side or at least not on Taylor Jensen¡¯s side burst into cheers, even though all of them were at least a little confused. But at the moment, none of them cared anyway: all this time, though they were rooting for Thomas, they knew full well that it¡¯d take great luck for Thomas, someone who came from a civilian background and had only been training for a few months, to even have a chance against Taylor Jensen, who was born into a family of wizards, sorcerers and conjurers and had been receiving training his whole life. ¡°What happened? Are you okay?¡± Caroline rushed to Thomas¡¯ side as he walked over to the side of the ring. ¡°Two fast shots to his face and chest.¡± Thomas handed two silver guns to Jason, one of which looked like a high caliber long barrel handgun, while the other looked like a short dual-barrel shotgun: ¡°Thanks for the guns Jason, these are pretty awesome.¡± ¡°So it really worked.¡± Aimee exhaled in relief and patted Jason and Thomas on the shoulder: ¡°Too bad he was still able to fight back...¡± ¡°Hey, at least I didn¡¯t lose.¡± Thomas laughed out loud. On the other side, Robert Hendricks came at Taylor Jensen and asked with a sour face: ¡°What the fuck!? What happened?¡± ¡°He used some kind of weapon.¡± Taylor Jensen seemed like he was still in shock: ¡°Two strikes¡­ he used two strikes - I - I really didn¡¯t know what happened ¡­ I ...¡± ¡°He used a kind of civilian weapons called ¡®guns¡¯.¡± Laura Jensen impatiently cut Taylor Jensen off: ¡°I told you to treat this seriously but you just wouldn¡¯t listen. His first attack was some kind of splash attack with a lot of projectiles, which triggered your passive shield. Then almost at the same time he unleashed another attack with high speed and high penetrative power. If not for the necklace Nana gave you that reflected the projectile back, you¡¯d have lost this fight.¡± ¡°Nana¡¯s necklace? ¡± Taylor Jensen came to his senses: ¡°Right! The necklace! That means I didn¡¯t get hit! The protection spell was triggered by mistake! I didn¡¯t get hit! I need to tell Professor Barnes!¡± ¡°Hey, hey! Calm the hell down!¡± Laura Jensen elbowed Taylor Jensen on the chest: ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing? Have you no honor? You got hit and Nana bailed you out of an embarrassing loss! Deal with it!¡± ¡°The next face-off ¡­ Laura Jensen, versus Jason Lin!¡± Professor Barnes didn¡¯t take time to wait for them to finish their conversation. Chapter 211 ¡°So tell me. What do you expect to get out of this fight?¡± when the face off between Jason and Laura Jensen started, Laura Jensen asked. ¡°You guys challenged us. We¡¯re just fighting back.¡± Jason held his lance forward and answered: ¡°And it should be our question for you.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t challenge you. Taylor¡¯s my brother, and I am here because I had to support my family.¡± Laura Jensen glanced at Jason¡¯s lance and nodded: ¡°So you don¡¯t have your own weapons¡­ may I know why? I heard you¡¯re not entirely from the civilian world. And I heard from some of my friends in the Hellbruck House that you are quite the capable fighter.¡± ¡°So word travels.¡± Jason was not sure what Laura Jensen¡¯s game was, but he still maintained his cautious composure: ¡°Are we gonna do this or not?¡± ¡°Just a moment.¡± Laura Jensen sighed and reached into the inside of her robe, then she took out two wands, one that was made of some kind of wood and the other seemed to be made of some grey metal. Then she threw the wooden wand away and sent it outside of the ring: ¡°That is my wand - my grandmother made it for me, she was one of the best artifact makers of the world. It was not restricted by the rules of student duel but it is still quite powerful.And this is already not an honorable fight, I don¡¯t want to make it more unfair. This is my practice wand, it¡¯s basically the same with the ones in the academy armory, just more durable. ¡± ¡°That¡¯s so nice of you. But you don¡¯t need to do that.¡± Jason shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve made up my mind. Let¡¯s do this.¡± Laura Jensen held the metal wand in her hand and pointed it at Jason. ¡°When you¡¯re ready. You could start.¡± Professor Barnes reminded them from the side. ¡°Careful.¡± Laura Jensen warned Jason, then shot a small light blue energy bolt at Jason. Jason was ready and he just side-stepped to get out of the way and unleashed a silver shadow of the tip of his lance. Laura Jensen floated backwards and parried the shadow away with her wand. Jason stepped forward and unleashed a few more jabs at the direction of Laura Jensen, shooting high speed silver shadows of the tip of his lance at her. And Laura Jensen maneuvered her wand, launching small energy blasts to counter the shadows. After around the tenth shadow, Laura Jensen lit up the tip of her wand and threw a ball of lightning at Jason.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. With a sweep of his lance, the ball of lightning was sent to the side and crashed against the protective magic array, which was there to protect the audience. ¡°So the guns your friend used came from you.¡± Laura Jensen smiled: ¡°Very meticulous constructs - you should take some course in our house - Martin House. We¡¯d appreciate talents like you.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Jason chuckled: ¡°But let¡¯s get this over with first.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Laura Jensen¡¯s eyes started glowing in light blue, her whole body was surrounded by a light blue aura and she floated in the air: ¡°Heads up.¡± Sensing that his opponent was casting an immensely powerful spell, Jason concentrated his Xuanli on his lance and swung it forward. A crescent-shaped silver energy blade shot through the air and was advancing at Laura Jensen at great speed. Laura Jensen pointed her wand forward, a blinding lightning bolt was unleashed from her wand, clashing with the silver energy blade within a close range from her in the midair. The clash between two attacks caused an explosion that even shook the stance of Professor Barnes and the protective array around the ring. The silver energy blade disintegrated in the clash, while the lightning bolt was split into several much smaller bolts and redirected to different directions, and all of them ended up hitting the protective array around the ring. Having paid no attention to the explosion behind him, Jason rushed to Laura Jensen¡¯s right side, with his lance raised up high and in a downward swing. Two silver shadows of Jason appeared on both his sides, with their silver shadow lances swinging down at the same time. A light orange sphere energy shield was conjured at the last minute by Laura Jensen, using two rings on her index fingers from both hands. The two shadows completely dissipated when their attacks landed on the shield, while the lance in Jason¡¯s hand was completely broken from the impact. The energy shield exploded as its protection energy was exhausted, Jason was thrown backwards into the air. But he was still able to adjust his position while he was in the air, and threw three silver daggers at Laura Jensen while the angle was right. Laura Jensen infused her magical power into her wand, but she was not able locate where Jason was right after her shield exploded, so she pointed her wand forward and caused an explosion of electric energy in the direction in front of her in hopes of hitting Jason with a wide area attack. Jason took the blast from the explosion, and the feeling of electric shock ran through almost his entire body, and he was not able to moved a muscle for a short time. A sphere energy shield appeared around Laura Jensen¡¯s body and shattered the silver energy daggers almost touching her left eye and her abdomen. ¡°The winner is Jason Lin!¡± when Jason was lying on the ground still in the ring struggling to get up, he heard Professor Barnes announcing the result of his fight, and the subsequent cheer from the audience. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re alright?¡± when Jason finally got up with the help of Professor Barnes and Thomas, he heard Thomas asking. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m good, I¡¯m just ... numb.¡± Jason tried to move his neck, arms and legs to make sure he didn¡¯t break anything when he landed on the ground like a thrown away rag doll. ¡°The necklace did not trigger, so it wouldn¡¯t cause serious damage to you. Which means you won.¡± Professor Barnes patted on Jason¡¯s shoulder: ¡°Good job!¡± Chapter 212 ¡°What a fight! What-A-FIGHT! What an incredible fight! Please, dear audience, let¡¯s cheer for both parties! Jason Lin and Laura Jensen, what you just did perfectly exemplified the spirit our founders wanted to see and encourage in our students when they started building this school, and enshrined the rules for student duel, even when they were faced with the harshest of criticisms and mockery. Let¡¯s give them a round of applause!¡± Professor Barnes¡¯ excitement was palpable, and the audience was mostly receptive and he had to increase his volume in order to make his announcements heard: ¡°Now, let¡¯s proceed to the next round!¡± The metal cage started spinning again, and two silver balls were soon thrown out of the metal cage. Professor Barnes caught the two metal balls and read them, with all of the audience waiting for him to tell them the result of the next face-off. But before Professor Barnes could announce the result, there was a big piece of cloud that suddenly appeared in the sky, almost right above the student duel ring. Professor Barnes noticed the cloud and stared up at the cloud as if he was waiting for something. Same did a lot of students in the audience. ¡°What was that? ¡± Thomas asked. ¡°That¡¯s an emergency announcement. I read it in the academy¡¯s introduction manual.¡± Aimee answered with a frown: ¡°Something happened?¡± ¡°All students and faculty, please immediately return to gather in the common auditorium or the auditoriums in your respective houses.¡± The voice of the Principal, whose name neither Caroline nor Jason remembered came from the cloud: ¡°We have an emergency announcement. I repeat: All students and faculty, please immediately return to gather in the common auditorium or the auditoriums in your respective houses. We have an emergency announcement.¡± ¡°You heard the principal. Go now! We will continue with the student duel later.¡± Professor Barnes put the two metal balls in one of his pockets and clapped his hands to remind the audience, then he walked over to Caroline, Jason, Aimee and Thomas: ¡°Alright, nice job all. You really showed your strength. But we¡¯ll need to continue another time. Be even better prepared next time, and keep a low profile if you can, alright? And the random face-off strategy is really genius, huge kudos to that.¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Thank you Professor.¡± Jason said, raising his broken lance: ¡°What should I do about this though?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, these practice weapons for lance break all the time. Just bring it to the armory and provide a written explanation.¡± Professor Barnes laughed out low and extended his hand at the direction of the common auditorium: ¡°Now go. ¡± All four of them followed the crowd and headed to the nearest auditorium, which was the common auditorium. A huge screen like those in movie theaters was hanging on the wall, with the principal and four professors or school administrative leaders behind him. ¡°What¡¯s the principal¡¯s name again? I¡¯ve practically never heard anything of him since I¡¯ve been here.¡± Caroline asked. ¡°It¡¯s uh¡­ Professor Hawke?¡± even Aimee, who seemed to be relatively well-read on the general information about the academy was not sure of her answer. ¡°Hello, students, thank you for coming. Our announcement is urgent, so we will cut to the chase.¡± the principal said to all the students and faculties standing in front of the screen: ¡°This emergency announcement is about the upcoming fireworks festival and the competition. Let me provide everyone listening with a little bit of background. About a few months ago, the government was alerted that there was some forbidden or heavily restricted toxic and corruptive material circulating in the underground black market. And as they moved on their investigation, they had the conclusion that this might have been a coordinated effort to sabotage the normal market for a lot of material that is commonly used for potions, arrays and even weapons crafting. ¡°And just now, we received an urgent alert from the government, that some of the material had flown into the market of all the material that was used for the fireworks that are on sale in our campus and could have polluted the fireworks. Currently known forbidden materials that are suspected to have corrupted our fireworks include powder of swamp serpent teeth, power of spinal and tail bones of Kandera Wyvern, pellets of Kekugora Mushroom and unpurified deep volcanic obsidian. Being exposed to these materials, especially through inhaling, would cause severe long term and even permanent damage to the victim¡¯s internal energy flow and reserves, their meridians and brains. ¡°So as measures of caution, I hereby announce that the firework festival, and all sales of fireworks and related material are suspended indefinitely, and all possessions of fireworks and related materials be subject to inspection. We wish all students and faculties to fully cooperate with these measures, for the sake of the safety and health of everyone in the academy. Detailed information regarding these measures will soon be announced. But first things first, we encourage everyone who has purchased fireworks to submit your possessions for inspection and schedule a thorough health checkup with the academy¡¯s health department.¡± Students in the auditorium immediately started chattering and complaining. While Caroline and the group did not participate in the firework festival at all, so they were about to leave the auditorium. ¡°... And all professors that are managing and supervising student activities, please see to it that all of these activities are able to proceed with related safety measures in mind, and halt if necessary. The academy will also be asking all of you for help on implementing these measures and enforcing our rules of safety and health.¡± ¡°Too bad. I was kinda looking forward to it.¡± Jason sighed. Chapter 213 ¡°So tell me Mr. Yu, why are you even interested in the student duel anyway, if you are confident that you can completely block off the attack from an avatar of a god.¡± asked Dolores when she saw Jianmen stepped out of his own portal and joined her and Professor Atkinson on yet another trip to the underground temple. ¡°Well, I have my reasons, I can tell you later. Also I just feel like it. You can always learn something when watching someone else¡¯s fight.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°Now, let¡¯s go down and brave a fallen god¡¯s temple.¡± ¡°Here¡¯s the probe.¡± Professor Atkinson handed Jianmen an eye-shaped artifact: ¡°I improved it a little since we were last here - hopefully this time it can catch whatever was down there.¡± ¡°If not, I can still put this on it.¡± Jianmen took out a golden metal ring and showed it to Professor Atkinson and Dolores: ¡°But it might make the video feed a little blurry and the footage might even hurt a little to watch. Hopefully it¡¯ll never come to that.¡± ¡°Understood. We should just be cautious first. It¡¯s not cheap to repair.¡± Dolores shook her head: ¡°Though, if we got some footage, we might have a better standing to ask for funding.¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me being a little direct - but your funding situation makes no sense to me. Did you piss off anyone from the funding committee?¡± Jianmen asked. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s not ruin our day where we can make some important discoveries.¡± seeing that Dolores was about to complain, Professor Atkinson promptly said: ¡°Let¡¯s go make history - I don¡¯t think there¡¯s many alive that could say that they¡¯ve ventured into the temple of a fallen god.¡± ¡°Have you heard back from the library or Paulo Chang? About Fog Dwellers?¡± Jianmen asked. ¡°Well, no. We¡¯re still waiting on the administration. Turns out rules have changed and we cannot just simply contact individuals from the elemental world anymore, especially now Paulo Chang is an Elemental Lord.¡± Dolores sighed: ¡°These red tapes, I swear to god...¡± ¡°Hey, if we found anything, the process could go faster.¡± Professor Atkinson shook his head and said. ¡°Be careful.¡± when Jianmen was about to venture through the stairs leading downward behind the gate again, Dolores said to Jianmen: ¡°Not that we don¡¯t trust you, but this is an avatar of god we¡¯re talking about.¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°No worries, even if I fail to contain it I could still easily escape.¡± Jianmen nodded, with his Chinese Knot in hand. This was the second time Jianmen went down these stairs, and just like last time there was still a lot of fog around, and it got thicker the deeper Jianmen went. When Jianmen got close to the edge of the ¡°safe zone¡±, he readied his Chinese Knot and asked Professor Atkinson and Dolores through the probe: ¡°I am already at the place where I got attacked last time, can you see anything? I can see a lot of shapes of humans, animals and other creatures made of thick fog.¡± ¡°Well ¡­ I can see pieces of thicker fog.¡± Dolores answered. ¡°The same with me. I can only see some pieces of thick fog, but I can¡¯t make out what they look like and can¡¯t see the details.¡± Professor Atkinson answered: ¡°Looks like the probe would need more calibration.¡± ¡°I think you may need a better probe to get more detailed footage. I can sense that this probe may not have enough energy spectrum range.¡± Jianmen stood where he was for a short time to allow himself and Professor Atkinson and Dolores to observe the surroundings: ¡°Or you can come down and take a look yourself later.¡± Out of nowhere, the giant figure with a wide body, four arms and a long neck appeared again and charged at Jianmen. Jianmen immediately backed off and pointed the probe at the figure: ¡°Can you see it? Tell me if you can see it!¡± ¡°No! Just a big thick piece of moving fog! Are you getting attacked again?¡± Professor Atkinson asked, with concern: ¡°Be careful! ¡± ¡°Looks like it¡¯s not always respecting the ¡®safe zone¡¯.¡± Jianmen hopped on the wall and evaded one swing of black scythe from the figure, the scythe swept through the air and actually did not touch any parts of the wall or the stairs, even though it was a huge swing. Hands of fog came out of the wall and tried to grab onto Jianmen¡¯s ankles, but Jianmen was fast enough to make them miss at the last minute. The giant figure opened its mouth and seemingly let out a soundless roar, one of its arms expanded in size and tried to claw Jianmen from the wall. Jianmen jumped from the wall while holding the Chinese Knot in front of him with his right hand, red threads shot from the knot and circled up the figure¡¯s arm like countless red snakes. The figure swung the scythe again at Jianmen from below, aiming at Jianmen¡¯s waist. Jianmen placed his left hand down to guard. The edge of the scythe almost inched closer and closer, but it was also facing the exponentially stronger squeeze and friction of an invisible force field, which chipped away its momentum and its force bit by bit. When the scythe finally made contact with Jianmen¡¯s palm, it already lost most of its power. The hundreds, if not thousands of red threads that shot from the Chinese Knot, on the other hand, already roped around most of the figure¡¯s fog body. And as Jianmen pushed the knot forward with his right palm, the threads glowed in orange and golden light, forming some kind of special seal that tethered the movements and flow of power of the figure, freezing it in its place. ¡°Hey Professor, Dolores, you can come in now, I think the avatar is contained.¡± Jianmen said to the probe. There was no response. ¡°Hey, Professor?¡± Jianmen sensed that something was wrong, he was certain that the Professor and Dolores were not harmed, because his protection spell did not trigger, ¡°Come in, can you hear me?¡± Still, there was no response. Jianmen took a look around, and he sensed that the flow of fog around him had all stopped, it was as if the freeze of the avatar also had the same effect on everything around. Jianmen rushed back to the underground temple above with a frown on his face. And there he saw it, both Professor Atkinson and Dolores were also frozen in their places, their lives not in any sort of danger, but just frozen, without any hint of the ability to move or function. Chapter 214 ¡°You - are - STRONG! Not just strong. In fact, you are AWESOME, really.¡± walking down the stairs, Jianmen laughed out loud and rubbed his hands: ¡°Hey, I know you can hear me, why don¡¯t you show yourself and let¡¯s have a chat?¡± But his calls seemed to have fallen on deaf ears, no one responded, and nothing was moving. ¡°You know, having your own realm, your own temple and residual Godwill after all this time is one thing. It¡¯s pretty common and even cliche for gods. But having your own flow of time? Whew, that¡¯s some crazy skill and knowledge. You¡¯re sure you don¡¯t wanna come out and talk?¡± Jianmen asked again, and he raised his right hand, showing a ball of orange and golden energy: ¡°I¡¯m here in peace. You can just show an expendable avatar my way or send a minion to talk for you. I am fine with either.¡± Then finally, a stream of energy made of almost solidified power of mind and will projected to the space right in front of Jianmen, forming into a ¡°voice¡± that made no actual sound, but still conveyed its message to Jianmen loud and clear. ¡°What do you want?¡± the voice asked. ¡°Greetings. You mighty being.¡± Jianmen bowed towards the source of the voice: ¡°I actually didn¡¯t think you¡¯d still be here. Or at least, I didn¡¯t think a conscious piece of your will would.¡± ¡°What do you want?¡± the voice became a bit more impatient. ¡°I want to know how you fell. WHAT caused you to fall.¡± Jianmen narrowed his eyes, and then he pointed at the Chinese Knot: ¡°You answer me, you can have that. I believe you can tell its true power - it may not help return you your past glory, but it can slow the process of you losing your power. Gives you more time to figure things out.¡± The source of the voice went silent for a short minute, then answered: ¡°You are not my descendant - you are not entitled to my secrets and my legacy! LEAVE!¡± ¡°I think you need to take whatever time you have and reconsider my offer. I don¡¯t want anything you have for your descendants, I don¡¯t even know what they are. I don¡¯t even know what YOU are.¡± ¡°I am Xyn, the first who ascended beyond the binds of the void and time, I am the origin fire of the void-born and the decreer of all realms of living aspects. Show yourself, mortal.¡± ¡°My name is Jianmen Yu. The upkeeper of the inns in the Clan of the Golden Feather, and retired Abbot of The Idea of Hospitality. ¡± Jianmen bowed again: ¡°Pleasure to meet your acquaintance. Unlike you, I did not encounter the calamity of Godfall but I chose to retire by my own will. And I am here to inquire on the circumstances of your fall. I don¡¯t know how much attention you paid to the outside world, but I don¡¯t think anyone will be here anytime soon. So if you don¡¯t mind, you can take my offer, and maybe I can help you to find your descendant.¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°Are you sure you can handle it?¡± the voice asked: ¡°Knowledge has weight, and it has a responsibility. If you can¡¯t bear the burden of such knowledge, I would not waste more of my time and effort with you.¡± ¡°Try me.¡± Jianmen¡¯s eyes narrowed. -------------------------------------------------- ¡°What happened? Why are you up here all of a sudden?¡± Professor Atkinson asked Jianmen as he started moving and saw Jianmen coming out from behind the gates: ¡°Looks like we just lost connection to the probe ¡­ did something happen?¡± ¡°Looks like the connection to the probe was cut. ¡± Dolores looked at the control panel and direct video and audio screen of the probe: ¡°But ¡­ we didn¡¯t see anything.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because you didn¡¯t.¡± Jianmen sighed and handed three things to Professor Atkinson: a small and heavy scythe, made completely of some kind of dark and translucent crystal, an orb with some kind of grey fog flowing and rolling inside, and a thin metal plate with a map engraved on it: ¡°I¡¯m afraid the one that resided in this temple would not allow us to continue anymore - unless we find a suitable descendant for him.¡± ¡°Say that again? ¡± Professor Atkinson frowned and asked: ¡°You communicated with the fallen god here? Of this temple?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Jianmen sat down on the ground, shaking his head while sipping a flask he brought with him: ¡°The scythe, it¡¯s the symbol of a contract. And feel free to read its terms. I¡¯ll leave it to you to decide whether you want to take it.¡± ¡°Contract?¡± Professor Atkinson and Dolores looked at the scythe with concern and even a little bit of fear: ¡°This is¡­ this is a god¡¯s contract. How are we even to accept it? This is too big and too dangerous!¡± ¡°A former god, who had fallen eons ago. No worries. I had a talk with him, he had to make the terms more fair and the acceptance non-mandatory because I asked him very nicely.¡± Jianmen chuckled and took another sip: ¡°Just infuse a little bit of your magic into it, and you can read the terms. Read carefully, don¡¯t treat it like some App you just downloaded on your phone.¡± Professor Atkinson and Dolores exchanged looks, then looked at Jianmen, they were still so hesitant that they didn''t even dare to approach the scythe. ¡°Can¡­ can you share with us some more information?¡± Dolores asked: ¡°You know¡­ before we mere mortals read a contract from a god?¡± ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± Jianmen stopped his sipping and nodded: ¡°My apologies¡­ I got a bit carried away in my own thoughts and wants should¡¯ve been more considerate.¡± Then after weighing the information he just got from Xyn, and organizing his thoughts, Jianmen explained what had happened behind the gates and on the lower levels of the stairs. Xyn, the god that fell during an ancient time, but comparatively not that long ago when taking the history of Godfalls into consideration. He rose to Godhood from the void, and apparently was the first one to do so. And as a God who rose from the void, he established this whole realm, where his fellow void-borns and his descendants could come and worship him. But, he encountered Godfall, and like many of the gods in this world before. And he could not remember much from the fall - but being an especially powerful god, who with his sheer will could create his own flow of time, he was able to remember WHAT was the first domino chip of the that eventually lead to his demise - he was trying to meddle with something he deemed trivial, but was instantly struck with some horrifying knowledge. Of course, Jianmen did not disclose all of this information to Professor Atkinson and Dolores, he only explained to them in relatively vague terms about Xyn¡¯s origin, his wishes and the scale of his power, and not even his name was shared, out of caution. ¡°Void-borns. What are void-borns?¡± Dolores looked at Jianmen. ¡°Elementals. ¡± Professor Atkinson explained with sweat on his face: ¡°Well ¡­ not exactly normal¡­ mostly some of the oldest elementals and some that share some similarities with. Like Fog Dwellers, Light Walkers, and ...¡± ¡°And the fearsome hive minded creatures like the Aspects of Fear and Aspects of Dread, and the mysterious Depth Dwellers. ¡± Jianmen nodded, but did not disclose his theory that the Depth Dwellers, just like Fog Dwellers, may have the closest ties to the descendants of Xyn than any other elementals and void-borns: ¡°I don¡¯t know if I should congratulate you or offer you my thoughts and prayers.¡± ¡°I ¡­ I think we should take some time to think about it.¡± Professor Atkinson wiped off some of his sweat, and stared at Jianmen earnestly: ¡°Thank - thank you, sir.¡± Chapter 215 Professor Atkinson¡¯s personal portal in the Grant Academy lit up, Dolores and Professor Atkinson walked out of it with serious expressions on their faces. Jianmen followed them back to the academy through his usual means - a portal with orange and golden energy edges. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go to my place and read the books I borrowed.¡± Jianmen smiled and said to Professor Atkinson and Dolores: ¡°Take some time to think it over. And let me know how I can help.¡± ¡°Mr. Yu.¡± before Jianmen walked away, Dolores stopped him: ¡°I - I have a question, the information you gave us, that couldn¡¯t be cheap. If you don¡¯t mind me asking, did you strike some kind of deal with him?¡± ¡°Oh yeah. ¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°The knot I showed off earlier? I traded it with him for some critical information regarding Godfall, especially about his own fall.¡± ¡°Is it¡­ is it worth it?¡± ¡°Well, if you¡¯re asking whether I feel ripped off, my answer is absolutely, that knot took me a lot of time, and I had to buy a lot of the material again.¡± Jianmen laughed out loud: ¡°But, if I were to make that decision again, I absolutely would. That kind of information, little and vague as it was, was the best I¡¯ve got since ¡­ ever.¡± ¡°Okay. ¡± Dolores let out a long exhale: ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Alright, I don¡¯t wanna say too much, because this is your decision. I¡¯m off to my place now. You know how to find me.¡± Jianmen stepped onto a piece of round marble and waved Dolores and Professor Atkinson goodbye: ¡°Mica, take me to the visiting scholar living quarters.¡± ¡°What do you say, Professor?¡± Dolores walked to Professor Atkinson¡¯s side and asked. ¡°I - I think I¡¯ll sit on it. ¡± Professor Atkinson looked over the black crystal scythe and the orb: ¡°Do you think we¡¯ll even be able to find the suitable descendant? If we don¡¯t find them we¡¯ll practically have to face the fury and even the curse of a god.¡± ¡°The contract only asked for the return of all our knowledge. The cost to us might not be that high.¡± Dolores said. ¡°Yes, but this is still a god we are talking about.¡± Professor Atkinson sighed and shook his head: ¡°The force and execution of the contract basically hinges on and only on his will - if he breaks his promise, or deliberately misinterprets the terms, we¡¯re screwed.¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°... yes you are right. We should sleep on it.¡± Dolores thought for a short while and agreed. ¡°Let¡¯s take a break today. This is ... just way too much.¡± Professor Atkinson patted on Dolores¡¯s shoulder: ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, I am beyond thrilled. I¡¯m just ¡­ concerned.¡± ¡°Me too, Professor. ¡± Dolores answered with a tired smile: ¡°Me too.¡± ------------------------------------------------------ San Francisco, the day was a little cloudy and windy. The several agents of the division were offloading some wooden stakes from trucks. And with some pretty accurate hand drawn maps in their hands, they were also nailing these wooden stakes into the ground, to the depth marked on these stakes. ¡°Agent Hall, looks like it may take longer than expected to put all of these stakes in place.¡± an agent walked to the side of Agent Hall: ¡°Looks like the whole area is becoming more and more unstable the more stakes we put in.¡± ¡°That means we¡¯re doing the right thing.¡± Agent Hall nodded: ¡°What about the reinforcements we requested? When will they be here?¡± ¡°Mr. Byrm told me he would be here soon.¡± the agent answered: ¡°But he didn¡¯t give me any specific time. And Agent Jill told me she¡¯s gonna be here any minute. She¡¯s stuck in traffic.¡± ¡°Agent Jill? Who¡¯s that? ¡± Agent Hall asked: ¡°And who has Jill as their last name?¡± ¡°It¡¯s me. I¡¯m the 137th field agent of the Division. And I am technically an exorcist.¡± the voice of a young woman came from behind Agent Hall: ¡°And I don¡¯t wanna disclose my last name to those I do not report to. So I just used my first name.¡± ¡°My apologies, Agent Jill. I didn¡¯t know you¡¯re here already.¡± Agent Hall immediately turned around and apologized: ¡°Thank you for coming to help.¡± Agent Jill was a short and slightly nerdy looking young woman wearing a pair of glasses, who had some kind of a no-nonsense attitude: ¡°No need to apologize, Agent Hall, I¡¯d have the same question myself.¡± ¡°Thank you for coming, Agent Jill. How are you going to help us? Mr. Yu told us he needs time before he can come here and help us speed things along.¡± ¡°I am an exorcist. So I am able to help you deal with any paranormal shenanigans that might occur.¡± Agent Jill said with a bland and serious tone: ¡°I read the brief on this task on my way here, may I know what is causing the trouble?¡± ¡°A couple of sites for the stakes. ¡± the agent behind Agent Hall answered: ¡°We¡¯ve been trying to nail the stakes into the ground in several places, but something keeps coming up from the ground and stifling our progress.¡± ¡°Okay. Lead the way for me Agent Connor.¡± Agent Jill nodded. Agent Hall and Agent Jill followed Agent Connor to a dried up and cracked up fountain, where three agents wearing protective suits and with special made charms around their necks were trying to put three wooden stakes into the ground, and two other agents were standing on the side with some kind of special flamethrowers in their hands. ¡°What¡¯s the situation here? Even the Wyvern Breath didn¡¯t help?¡± Agent Hall asked, and as he paid attention to the sound of energy flows nearby, he could hear faint moans and cries coming from under the ground. ¡°There are things under the earth that keep pushing back the stakes. And everytime we¡¯re almost in, things come out of the ground and try to attack us.¡± one of the agents holding a flamethrower answered: ¡°Wyvern Breath can temporarily drive those things away and burn some of those things down, but it¡¯s like playing whack-a-mole.¡± ¡°It appears that they¡¯re burrowed underground.¡± Agent Hall knelt down and listened for a short while: ¡°We need to either drive them away from this place, or lure them out and burn them all.¡± ¡°Lure and destroy, it¡¯s my forte.¡± Agent Jill nodded and laid her backpack on the ground. Chapter 216 Agent Hall and Agent Conor watched as Agent Jill drew a complicated circle with arcane characters and symbols inside using a brush pen with red paint. Agent Connor was confused, but Agent Hall could clearly hear the sound of some steady and powerful flow of energy from the red paint. ¡°Okay.¡± Agent Jill finished the circle with a small circle shape in the middle, then she reached into her backpack and took out a small pouch of powder: ¡°Okay, be careful everyone, I am going to draw those things up and trap them inside this circle.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it ¡­ a bit too small?¡± Agent Connor asked, sizing the circle with his hands. ¡°Yeah well, if it¡¯s too big it can¡¯t hold for too long.¡± Agent Jill stood up and said: ¡°Two and a half meters, that¡¯s a bit more than 8 feet. That¡¯d be enough to hold them. Hopefully.¡± ¡°Okay. What can Agent Connor and I do?¡± Agent Hall asked. ¡°You have your guns?¡± Agent Jill tossed them a small bottle of oil: ¡°Rub this on your guns. Be careful because it is flammable. If you spill it inside of the barrel or on your bullets it could be a lotta trouble.¡± ¡°What is it? What does it do?¡± Agent Conner and Agent Hall started rubbing the sticky white oil with a strange smell on their guns. ¡°A kind of ¡®Holy Oil¡¯ made from a mixture of cactus oil, olive oil and venom from two headed rattlesnakes.¡± Agent Jill took out her gun, which had a dark red barrel and completely black handle: ¡°It¡¯s not poisonous to humans, but it sort of blesses or curses your weapon - depending on your point of view, allowing you to do damage to spectral beings and bodies with said weapons.¡± Agent Connor chuckled: ¡°Hard to tell why that would be a curse¡­ ¡± ¡°Human souls are also spectral bodies.¡± Agent Hall gently nudged Agent Connor with his elbow. ¡°Yikes, so now my gun can hurt ghosts AND hurt even more if I got my own toe.¡± Agent Connor joked. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°Actually if you shoot yourself with your gun now, you probably won¡¯t feel a thing because your soul would be damaged.¡± Agent Jill stood up and rolled up her sleeves, revealing her tattoos of arcane symbols and Chinese and Japanese characters. ¡°That¡¯s unsettling, and pretty cool!¡± Agent Connor chuckled and double checked his gun. ¡°Be careful and be prepared.¡± Agent Jill also double checked her gun, then she raised her hands and let her palms face the circle: ¡°Here goes.¡± Then, she started chanting some kind of ancient knowledge, which sounded strange and weird to Agent Connor, but to Agent Hall, each syllable, each sentence of the chant caused some kind of vibration in the air that became heavier and heavier. The energy flow in from the circle also started speeding up, at first slowly, and then accelerating in greater and greater pace. Then, Agent Hall started hearing moans and cries from all around him, so he ordered loudly: ¡°Prepare! Stand ready! Everyone stand ready!¡± The next minute, streams of thick, foul-smelling dark liquid with a creepy dark green shine burst out from holes on the ground and flowed towards the center of the circle. The two agents with special flamethrowers in their hands. backed off and were ready to open fire at any time, and somehow the three agents trying to nail the wooden stakes into the ground finally faced no resistance from under the ground. ¡°We¡¯re in!¡± one of the three agents said: ¡°Please let us know your next orders, Agent Hall.¡± ¡°Head to the next sites on the map, don¡¯t worry about us.¡± Agent Hall nodded with his gun pointed at the dark liquid at the center of the circle. The streams of dark liquid merged together into a huge blob and started rolling, turning and squirming. Agent Hall and Agent Jill could tell there were shapes of human hands and human faces appearing on and disappearing from the surface of the blob of liquid, it was as if there were countless desperate men and women trapped inside the blob and they were trying to get out. Agent Jill started chanting louder and faster, then she clapped her hands a few times and made a few hand seals in the air. The circle drawn with red paint instantly lit up, and some kind of energy cage formed around the edge of the circle. ¡°Wyvern Breath! Now!¡± Agent Jill yelled. The two agents holding the flamethrowers opened fire, and two streams of light blue fire shot out from the muzzle of the flamethrowers with some kind of high pitched sound that was like the roar of real wyverns. The fire lit up the surface of the blob, and Agent Hall immediately started hearing deafening screams and curses, from hundreds if not thousands of voices, of different ages, tones and even different languages. When under the fiery attack, the blob of liquid started shooting out in different directions. But the energy cage stopped it from getting out. Yet at the same time, the fire from the two ¡°Wyvern Breath¡± could shoot right in and continue ashing and vaporizing the dark liquid. ¡°Bang! Bang!¡± the dark liquid formed into fists and banged onto the energy cage, making clashing sounds like real fists on real metal or glass cages. And Agent Hall could see other angry faces from the liquid. ¡°Don¡¯t stop! Continue!¡± Agent Jill yelled: ¡°Agent Hall! Agent Connor, hold your fire for now. This cage only allows the inflow of fire.¡± ¡°Boom!¡± the liquid formed into a huge hand holding a spiked mace and bashed the energy cage with the spiked mace. The energy cage was shaken like it was going to fall apart and countless cracks appeared on it, like what would happen to a hard piece of glass when struck with an actual mace. Yet, the speed in which the blue flame consumed the dark liquid was not fast enough to prevent it from unleashing another strike against the cage. Chapter 217 Deep down underground somewhere in Central California, the surface of which was a giant flat land with vast fields of automatic farming and wind farms. Josephine Wong walked an office guarded by two tall and stoic agents, whose power, though hidden and suppressed by their intentive control, was enough to make a normal civilian or even the most vicious animal in the wild flee in fear without knowing for sure why. ¡°I am here to see the Commissioner.¡± Josephine Wong raised her hand at the two agents guarding the office, showing them a ring with a special symbol on it. ¡°Welcome, Ms. Wong. The Commissioner has been waiting for you.¡± the agent on the left showed Josephine Wong the door. When Josephine Wong walked through the abnormally thick door made of metal and dense crystal, she saw two men and one woman were already inside of the office, who all turned to look at her when she came in. ¡°Commissioner.¡± Josephine Wong nodded at the man sitting behind a wide and luxurious looking table with a ferret sitting on the side: ¡°I am here to talk about the proposal for the resolution of the situation in San Francisco.¡± ¡°There is no proposal. There¡¯s only a decision.¡± the other man in the room sitting on the other side of the table stood up and said to Josephine Wong while tidying his suit made of some kind of enchanted silk: ¡°The Commissioner just agreed to our plan. My dear long time friend and partner, a member of the Great Mage of Seattle, Paige Williamson, would be the one wielding the stone of negation to cleanse the paranormal corruption in San Francisco. And in term relieving you from the undue burden of dealing with a catastrophe of such a scale for a newly appointed liaison for the Division.¡± ¡°I¡¯d appreciate your concern more if it had come at a better time or had you shared some of your prized intel with me before my appointment, Tamil.¡± Josephine Wong looked at Tamil Brooke with her eyes narrowed, then turned to the Commissioner: ¡°Commissioner, you promised me three days for the demo of site cleansing. We still have one day for it to be done.¡± ¡°But from what I know, your agents had basically wasted two days not accomplishing anything. All they did was put a bunch of wooden stakes in the ground, like some kind of premature exorcism ritual.¡± Paige Williamson was the other woman in the room, in a red and white robe and her hair braided showing some kind of royal style: ¡°Or worse, mistaking the ground and the corrupted soil as the root of the paranormal pollution.¡± ¡°Our people are doing exactly what they are supposed to do. And I have full faith in them in completing the job at hand.¡± Josephine Wong said: ¡°We don¡¯t need to utilize a crude and violent solution, with an artifact basically no one really knows how to use.¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Maybe YOU don¡¯t know how to use the Stone of Negation.¡± Paige Williamson shook her head: ¡°Which wouldn¡¯t be a surprise to me. The education of Grant Academy can be a bit ¡­ too focused on practicality and not enough on the intricacies of advanced laws and principles of magic and power and the complexities that come with them.¡± ¡°Save your pomposity for the high society parties.¡± Josephine Wong waved her hand to shut Paige Williamson up and leaned in on the Commissioner: ¡°Commissioner, please hold off the decision for now. I won¡¯t mind if they start preparing right away, but please don¡¯t greenlight the usage of the stone until three days are due.¡± ¡°That sounds like a reasonable request. What do you say Tamil? Paige?¡± the Commissioner asked. ¡°We don¡¯t have much time to waste. The stone must be prepped before use, and the longer we wait, the harder it becomes for us to use the stone to heal the event.¡± Paige Williamson went to Josephine Wong¡¯s side and said: ¡°What Ms. Wong is doing here is letting her ego get in the way of a speedy resolution of the problem in San Francisco. And we can¡¯t afford to let this doomed to be fruitless effort for a non-solution delay our plan just so that you can say sorry to us at the last minute, to which you just wholeheartedly agreed.¡± ¡°Our solution will work, without having to subject all people, civilians and power wielders alike to the potentially catastrophic side effects of the stone. We are advised by top experts in cleansing this paranormal pollution, and I am personally assured that the cleanse would be done in time, without any unwanted consequences.¡± Josephine Wong scoffed and said: ¡°And forgive me for being blunt - none of us in the room has actually dealt with the full scale power of the Stone of Negation. Even you, Ms. Williamson, being taught to complexify relatively simpler mechanisms of magic does not mean you have what it takes to wield that kind of power, if anything it makes you more unfit, with your inflated ego and the conceit that comes with it.¡± ¡°People have always done things for the first time throughout history.¡± Paige Williamson said: ¡°And I am an actual expert in manipulating complex and intricate magical energy, and I lead a team of highly esteemed individuals with similar expertise. May I know who your advising expert is? Have they any publications?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think you or Mr. Brooke there will like the names of my experts. And yes, as a published expert of magical power manipulation myself - I trust my experts¡¯ abilities.¡± Josephine Wong answered with a slightly snide tone: ¡°And I think even a non-powered civilian would know that you don¡¯t solve a house rat problem with bulldozers.¡± ¡°Commissioner, with all due respect to the Division and all departments, but Ms. Wong here is clearly motivated by her ego and self interest and was trying to save face by dragging the solution to the very last minute.¡± Tamil Brooke said. ¡°Alright! Enough!¡± the Commissioner raised his voice: ¡°I¡¯ve made my promise to Josephine, and as the Commissioner I don¡¯t intend to break my word. So Josephine, you can have your deadline, and the stone will not be greenlit until the deadline, or when you concede.¡± Tamil Brooke and Paige Williamson tried to say something: ¡°Commissioner, this is preposterous...¡± ¡°And I will prepare the final order to prepare the stone and have it on standby.¡± the Commissioner continued: ¡°The second we¡¯re past Josephine¡¯s deadline, you will have access to the stone. This is my final decision, and we shall see tomorrow.¡± ¡°Understood. Thank you Commissioner.¡± Josephine Wong nodded and exhaled in relief. ¡°Don¡¯t thank me. Your expert better be right.¡± the Commissioner waved his hand at them and signaled them to leave his office. Chapter 218 ¡°Help! Help!¡± inside of the student hunting ground, a young couple were holding each other and running away from a wild boar with protruding fangs in its mouth, hardened and fiery bristle on its back and red, bloodshot and bulging eyes that looked like they would fall off anytime. ¡°Try sending a signal again.¡± the boyfriend in the couple said: ¡°I¡¯ll distract it.¡± ¡°Okay, hold on.¡± the girlfriend lit up a small red fireball in her hand and threw the fireball in the air, while the boyfriend raised his hand crossbow and aimed at the boar¡¯s head. The girlfriend hurled the fireball up at the sky, and at the same time the boyfriend fired his hand crossbow and an especially loud bolt shot at the boar. The boar sniffled and roared, releasing some kind of eerie and even haunting soundwave from its mouth and throat. The loud crossbow bolt was knocked to the side and lost almost all of its strength, and the fireball was impacted by the soundwave in midair and somehow got distinguished without a sound. ¡°Fuck! Help! Help!¡± the boyfriend yelled: ¡°Help! Is someone here?!¡± ¡°Help!¡± the girlfriend also yelled, while struggling to conjure another fireball. A crescent-shaped fiery energy blade shot to the boar¡¯s side, and before the boar could react, the energy blade already struck it on its waist and sent it tumbling to the side and left a bloody and deep wound. The boar screeched in pain, and was still down on the ground even after taking a few moments trying to get up on its feet. ¡°Are you okay? What happened?¡± a blonde girl wearing combat boots and leather jacket, with a bright orange and translucent axe and a shield with exactly the same color as her weapons. ¡°Careful! That Shape Shifting Boar¡¯s on something strange! ¡± the girlfriend from the couple warned the girl in combat boots and leather jacket: ¡°It can make some kind of magic breaking sound!¡± ¡°Please, can you send a distress signal? We¡¯ve exhausted all of our power.¡± the boyfriend asked. ¡°Okay.¡± just when the girl in a leather jacket was about to send a fireball upwards, the injured boar unleashed another soundwave. When the soundwave struck, Caroline sensed that her Xuanli was being corroded and her power of mind and will was being shaken and consumed by an eternal source. But she was soon able to shake off the effect and regained her composure.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Seeing that its soundwave attack did not take effect, the boar shook its body, its hooves became claws, its legs became longer and its tail became longer and grew a curved spike at its end, like that of a scorpion. Caroline bashed hershield with her axe, and an orange bright red shockwave exploded from her shield. And before the boar could stand up fully, the shockwave already struck its whole body and tore up the ground it was on. While the boar was screaming in pain and tumbling on the ground from the impact of the shockwave, Caroline rushed towards it and swung her axe downwards. The became longer and its blade became bigger but no less sharp in the process, after a short squeal, the boar¡¯s head was separated from its body, with orange and red fire charring the wound and barely any blood was spilled. ¡°Okay.¡± Caroline turned around, walked to the young couple¡¯s side and handed them her flask: ¡°Drink a little, it helps.¡± ¡°Thank¡­ thank you.¡± the boyfriend took the flask and handed it to the girlfriend, while Caroline threw a bright red fireball up in the sky. ¡°What happened? Why did you send the signal while you¡¯re already here?¡± in less than half a minute, a tall man in a hunting ground ranger¡¯s uniform cloak appeared on their side. ¡°The Shape Shifting Boar chased us here.¡± the boyfriend from the couple stood up and apologized: ¡°I¡¯m sorry, this is our fault, please understand that this is none of her responsibility - we asked her for help.¡± ¡°The boar seems to be on something.¡± Caroline nodded at the couple then turned to the man in the hunting ground ranger¡¯s cloak. ¡°Understood. Please stay here while I take a look. If there¡¯s anything unusual we¡¯d need to report to the academy.¡± the man nodded and rushed to the corpse of the Shape Shifting Boar. ¡°Are you two okay? ¡± Caroline asked as the couple handed her back her flask. ¡°Yeah¡­ thanks to you. If not for you we¡¯d be in grave danger.¡± the boyfriend shook his head and said: ¡°By the way, my name¡¯s William, William Jacobson. This is my fiance¡¯ Rose.¡± ¡°Thanks for saving us, if there is anything we can do to repay you...¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. ¡± Caroline nodded and took a look at the direction of the man that just came to their assistance: ¡°Excuse me, I think I need to take a look at the boar - something feels quite wrong here.¡± Caroline didn¡¯t wait for the couple to say anything back and headed to the side of the corpse directly. ¡°You did this?¡± the man was examining the severed head of the boar and asked: ¡°This is quite a chop, not many students can do this.¡± ¡°Thanks. My master trained me well.¡± Caroline knelt down and carefully scooped up some blood from the boar: ¡°This foul smell - it¡¯s poisoned?¡± ¡°Yes. The only question is what.¡± the man frowned and took out a dagger: ¡°We may need to look at its stomach. Do you know how to gut it?¡± ¡°Yeah sure. Let me know what you wanna do.¡± ¡°Okay, I will cut its stomach open, you help me hold the cut open, be careful of the smell and acid.¡± the man infused his power into the dagger, and the dagger started shining in dim silver blue light. With her Xuanli protecting her hands, arms and face, Caroline held the two sides of the belly of the boar open while the man slid his dagger down the boar¡¯s stomach to slice it open. Hot, moist steam with a pungent smell and looked as if it had a light green color released from inside of the boar¡¯s stomach. The inner content of its stomach spilled out, and the first thing Caroline noticed was some small but unmistakable chunks of mushroom. The man in a cloak also noticed the chunks of mushroom, as he picked a small piece up using his dagger and carefully smelled it: ¡°Kekugora! This should be forbidden! How...¡± Just this moment, a few more staffers of the hunting ground came to the scene. Chapter 219 Inside one of the academy¡¯s public labs, Jason was in his area testing his protection array. Thanks to all his practice, he is now able to construct some pretty sizable stable protection arrays that could withstand the impact of some of his own attacks, not full on concentrated and charged attacks, but still pretty powerful attacks from him. After a short concentration, a dome that was big enough to cover himself and maybe two extra people formed right in front of him. If anyone paid close attention, they would see that the dome had small pieces of hexagon scales all over the surface and an internal structure like rebars inside of a building. ¡°Hmm.¡± Jason circled his work for a short while, then he formed a silver sledge hammer using his Xuanli, started swinging it at the dome. ¡°Bang! Bang! Bang!¡± with three full force swings, the dome was shaken and cracked up a bit, but the integrity of the whole dome was still mostly intact. Then Jason altered the shape of the sledge hammer, and made the end he smashed the dome with a bit more pointy. Another three full force swings, the dome was shaken and there were three holes on the dome with cracks around it, quite similar to what would happen if he had struck something made of glass with a pointy sledgehammer. Jason examined the three holes on the dome, as well as the remaining power in the array that created the dome. The stability of the array and the remaining power of the entire dome gave him confidence that he had made pretty good progress on the skill of constructing a stable array, and a powerful protection array no less. Jason stood up and ran his palms through the silver sledgehammer and converted it into a sharp broadsword. With two steps back, Jason charged at his own dome and with the sword pointing forward. High-pitched and slightly torturing metal scratching sound filled the room when the broadsword penetrated the entire dome and with the tip of its blade also damaging the opposite side of the dome. ¡°Nice protection array you got there.¡± a slightly chubby and nerdy student standing outside of Jason¡¯s area told Jason: ¡°Your structure is pretty good - with some resemblance of chain mails and scale mails. But the energy connection among the scales is a bit weak, making it more vulnerable to piercing attacks.¡± This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Thanks. I figured as much - it¡¯s not easy to harden the entire shield though.¡± Jason sighed, and when he pulled the broadsword out, the entire dome flickered and collapsed: ¡°Looks like I still need to practice some more.¡± ¡°Well, if you¡¯re interested, we have a small arrays and circles club that meets twice a week to discuss arrays and circles. It¡¯s mainly for freshmen and juniors, but I don¡¯t see a reason talented audit students such as yourself wouldn¡¯t qualify.¡± the chubby student smiled and extended his hand at Jason: ¡°My name¡¯s Carl, pleasure to meet you Jason.¡± ¡°Hi! Thank you!¡± Jason was surprised someone would knowingly approach him: ¡°And I would love to join your club! I would probably just listen - I¡¯m not sure if I have anything interesting to share.¡± ¡°Oh, nonsense, everyone has something to share.¡± Carl laughed widely and handed Jason a small card made of some kind of very elastic metal: ¡°Our next meeting is tonight, please feel free to drop by! I¡¯m sure a lot of the members would be thrilled to know that you¡¯ll be joining us!¡± Jason took a look at the card, which had meticulous symbols and a moving figure of an array, which was constantly changing in shape. The center of the card was a countdown timer and an address, presumably showing where the meeting would take place. ¡°... help...¡± a weak and throaty call came from the side, when Jason and Carl looked to the one making the call, they saw a student squirming and struggling on the ground choking on something, with small streams of dark blood coming out of his nostrils and eyes. ¡°Holy shit! Call the doctor!¡± some other student in the lab started yelling. Carl immediately rushed to the choking student¡¯s side and cast a simple yet fast healing spell on his fellow student in distress. The choking student seemed relieved for a short time, but then he continued choking and struggling. ¡°He¡¯s under the effect of something toxic. His throat is closing up¡± Carl examined the student and said: ¡°We need to bring him to the school hospital. But first we need to help him breathe. Jason, can you make some kind of elastic tube?¡± ¡°Will do.¡± Jason rubbed his hands and constructed a long silver tube. Carl took the tube and placed his magic on it, but his magic was repelled. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ll make it enchantable.¡± Jason infused his Xuanli into the silver tube, and Carl immediately enchanted the tube and stuck it into the choking student¡¯s throat. This made sure that the student was able to breathe even though he was in clear physical distress. ¡°What can we do?¡± another student on the sideline asked. ¡°Help me carry him, and use any detoxifying spells you might know.¡± Carl cast a spell on the student, which elevated the student in midair and everyone started pushing the student out like some kind of magical patient transport trolley. A few students cast their detoxifying spells on the choking student, which seemed to ease the symptoms of the student a little bit. The scene made Jason feel that he needed to learn a few healing spells from Jianmen - if he knew something he would be able to help now. And he made a decision that he would like to call Jianmen the moment he got some free time. ¡°Jason, can you make me a long hollow needle. I think we need to release some air from his lungs.¡± hearing that the student was having trouble breathing as well, Carl asked Jason. ¡°Here it is.¡± Jason immediately handed one to Carl, then he tossed a ball of silver energy forward, which turned into an actual patient transport trolley: ¡°Put him on the trolley, save your power!¡± ¡°Do it!¡± Carl said to the students who were helping him with the elevation spell: ¡°Focus on your detoxifying spells!¡± Chapter 220 When the student was sent to the academy hospital and put in what basically was an emergency room, Jason ran into Caroline, who was accompanying a few other staffers of the school in escorting two students to the hospital. ¡°Geez, what happened?¡± Jason asked Caroline. ¡°Hunting accident - something happened to some of the wild game in the hunting ground, they seemed to be under the effect of a mushroom called ¡®Kekugora¡¯. They started rampaging and hurt these two students - and it looks like they were able to inflict poison on the victims of their bites and bristles.¡± Caroline sighed: ¡°Kekugora - it¡¯s one of those forbidden ingredients in the firework isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Jason thought for a minute while scratching his jaw: ¡°I just helped bring someone here, who seemed to be suffering from some kind of toxin, you think that¡¯s related?¡± ¡°It¡¯s definitely related.¡± Carl stepped out of the hospital and said: ¡°I just talked to the doctor, they think it¡¯s exposure to very small amounts of swamp serpent teeth. And the students from the hunting accident? They have some Kekugora poison in their blood, they believed that it was because of being bitten by the wild game that ingested Kekugora. Kekugora has been banned from common use in the academy for years, there¡¯s no reason they just appeared in the hunting ground out of nowhere. Something must have brought it into the hunting ground and in term poisoned the food source or drinking water of those wild game. And get this, there are already some students and even faculties being treated for exposure to the forbidden material, all from the last few days - too much of a coincidence if you asked me.¡± ¡°Holy shit. The pollution has already spread this wide?¡± Caroline scratched her head and then rubbed her temples: ¡°But how though? If the pollutants are mixed in the material of fireworks, they¡¯d have no ways to reach the hunting ground right?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no logical reason there. No one would actually play fireworks in the hunting ground.¡± Carl nodded and said: ¡°Let me go report this to the academy. Thanks for your help Jason, maybe we have to cancel tonight.¡± ¡°No problem.¡± Jason waved Carl goodbye then turned to Caroline: ¡°And this just reminded me: I think we need to learn some healing spells for cases like this. The super basic first aid and negative energy cleansing tricks using Boss¡¯s wine aren¡¯t just gonna cut it for this kind of thing - toxins and poison.¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Yeah I agree.¡± Caroline nodded: ¡°I don¡¯t like this - I have a really bad feeling about this. I am sensing some kind of ...¡± ¡°Conspiracy?¡± Jason let out a long exhale and said: ¡°I¡¯ve got the same feeling about this as well - what¡¯s with magical schools and secret dark conspiracies? Why can¡¯t the magical criminal minds keep it on the street like real world gangs?¡± ¡°I think we need to warn Thomas and Aimee - and maybe they would have some clues. They¡¯re detectives after all.¡± Caroline said: ¡°I¡¯ll call Thomas now.¡± ¡°Sure. And l¡¯ll call Boss and see if he could send us some instructions on those healing spells - if those things can even be taught wirelessly.¡± Jason said: ¡°Ordinary delivery just seems way too slow.¡± ¡°Yeah, almost three weeks for an invitation card?¡± Caroline scoffed and shook her head. ¡°Hi, Boss.¡± this moment, Jason reached Jianmen through a phone call: ¡°We¡¯re doing fine, thank you¡­ Yes, we are helping Aimee and Thomas ¡­ Yes the duel was quite an awesome experience, but that¡¯s not what I¡¯m calling about. We just encountered some cases of poisoning - a few of the students here seemed to be affected by some kind of poison. And there will likely be some kind of small scale outbreak of this kind of poison. So we¡¯re thinking if you can teach us some healing spells? Because they sound like they require some complex Xuanli control and the lectures here might not be too much help¡­ okay, and it¡¯s kind of an emergency, so delivery is not an option¡­ oh wow really? Umm okay, we¡¯ll be there.¡± ¡°What did he say? ¡± Caroline asked. ¡°He said uh¡­ he would deliver a scroll to each of us in an hour or less - he would text us the location when it¡¯s done.¡± Jason shrugged and said: ¡°And he said we need to get it as soon as possible when the instruction drops.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not gonna break into the academy and deliver them himself in person right?¡± Caroline frowned: ¡°I thought he wanted us to keep not too high a profile and avoid revealing our connections to him. If he comes breaking into a magical academy, that¡¯s ¡­ that¡¯s like the exact opposite of what he told us to do.¡± ¡°I guess he has his ways.¡± Jason shook his head and laughed: ¡°What did Thomas say?¡± ¡°They want to meet up in the library in about half an hour. They don¡¯t know about this yet. But they sounded interested.¡± Caroline said: ¡°Let¡¯s meet up with them first?¡± ¡°No objections.¡± ¡°Make way! Make way!¡± just this moment, another group of students were carrying a professor and rushing towards the hospital: ¡°Professor Norin was poisoned!¡± People made way for this group of students, and staffers from the hospital rushed out to take the professor in. With a quick glimpse, Jason and Caroline could tell that the young professor was not only having similar symptoms of the students they helped: shortness of breath, choking, but she was also experiencing some kind of very visible cue of acute reactions to high concentration poison: the skin on her face, neck and hands turned dark and swollen, various students tried casting detoxifying spells on her but to very little effect. ¡°She¡¯s the professor of Chemistry and Potions right?¡± Caroline asked Jason in a low voice: ¡°What are the odds...¡± ¡°Call me crazy, but this looks like a murder attempt.¡± Jason replied, also in a low voice. Chapter 221 ¡°Hey Thomas, Aimee, thanks for coming.¡± in the public library, Caroline and Jason sat down at the table where Aimee and Thomas were already waiting: ¡°How was your class?¡± ¡°Ugh, slightly better than the police academy.¡± Thomas shook his head and rubbed his face: ¡°I am so not the theory type, I think I¡¯ll need more of your help. But - let¡¯s talk about your story first? You were saying students and even a professor got poisoned?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m not sure what the academy will do regarding the situation - but looks like they¡¯re related to the forbidden ingredients that were reported.¡± Jason said: ¡°I was just testing spells in the public lab, and someone was having some kind of reaction and almost choked to death. They said it was because he was exposed to small amounts of swamp serpent teeth.¡± ¡°And I was in the hunting ground just doing some catch and release practice. And I ran into a Shape Shifting Boar that had Kekugora in its stomach, which caused it to go into rampaging mode and almost severely injured some students.¡± Caroline said: ¡°Then I ran into Jason while we¡¯re both at the hospital.¡± ¡°At the same time? That¡¯s too much of a coincidence.¡± Aimee asked with a frown. ¡°Yeah, I know. And what¡¯s freaky was that Professor Norin was sent to the hospital at almost the same time.¡± Jaosn said: ¡°It doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± ¡°No it doesn¡¯t.¡± Aimee said: ¡°If the forbidden material has been circulating, we would see some kind of build up at first, instead of this kind of sudden outbreak.¡± ¡°Yeah, Carl told me there were already some students being treated for the exposure, and all from the last few days ...¡± Jason thought for a few seconds, then he took out his notebook and started taking notes and drawing diagrams: ¡°Okay, let¡¯s list all the details out: first is the guy from the lab, then the young couple from the hunting ground, then Professor Norin ¡­ these all happened today, so I would assume, we can find the rough time of their exposure if we know the time it takes for the victim to show symptoms.¡± ¡°For those I know, the effects usually range from three days to a week.¡± Aimee said, taking out her notebook and showing everyone on the table a page filled with all kinds of notes and even some pictures: ¡°I actually researched some basics on some of the forbidden material - which documented only the bare minimum of information.¡± ¡°Hi guys, meet my sister, she¡¯s a nerd.¡± Thomas joked, and got elbowed by Aimee.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°This is great. Thank you Aimee.¡± Jason chuckled and scanned through Aimee¡¯s notes: ¡°Oh here, swamp serpent teeth, symptoms include loss of senses, stroke and choking due to throat swelling, takes up to a week for minor exposure to manifest into symptoms. Can affect through touch and ingestion through breathing and food.¡± ¡°Kekugora.¡± Caroline gently tapped her finger at a picture on the note, which depicted a mushroom with some kind of patterns on its cap that looked like a hissing cat: ¡°This looks¡­ almost ¡­ I wanna say cute?¡± ¡°Keku is a word from one of the fair languages, it means ¡®cat¡¯. And these fairies are quite small in size and cats actually used to be one of their major sources of danger.¡± Aimee sighed: ¡°They used this kind of mushroom to craft darts and spears to repel cats.¡± ¡°Yikes.¡± Thomas scratched his nose and said. ¡°¡®It can cause hallucination, amplified sense of danger and therefore paranoia, uncontrollable flows of magic power which could damage the internal organs of magic wielders...¡¯¡± Jason continued reading Aimee¡¯s notes: ¡°¡®And combined with other hallucinogens it can be made into Berserker Drug¡¯.¡± ¡°So that answers the question of why it¡¯s on the forbidden list.¡± Caroline frowned: ¡°But looks like it should be instant effects, right? I don¡¯t imagine it would lay dormant in the victim¡¯s body?¡± ¡°Which would explain your situation earlier.¡± Jason looked at Caroline: ¡°The students are bitten by the boar that¡¯s under the effect of Kekugora - and through the bites the effect transmitted to the students?¡± ¡°Umm¡­ It¡¯s not a zombie virus. It¡¯s just a strongly toxic mushroom.¡± Aimee shook her head. ¡°Unless the boar was just eating it and had some remnants in its teeth.¡± Thomas realized something: ¡°This is interesting - it¡¯s forbidden no? The rangers and the maintenance staff would definitely report it if they found them. So assuming that the rangers are doing their jobs - it must be brought in the hunting ground recently.¡± ¡°Okay, this is good.¡± Jason wrote these points down on his notebook: ¡°So, another magical school conspiracy.¡± ¡°All students and faculties, please head to the common auditorium or the auditorium of your own houses immediately.¡± the voice of the principal echoed through the library: ¡°I repeat, all students and faculties, please head to the common auditorium or the auditorium of your own houses immediately. We have another emergency announcement.¡± ¡°Holy - again?¡± Thomas whined. ¡°I think it¡¯s because of the sudden cases of exposure and poisoning.¡± Jason sighed. Just this minute, Jason and Caroline got the same text message from Jianmen on their phone: ¡°Check library history section, shelf 8A, below the shelf.¡± ¡°Excuse us.¡± Caroline frowned: ¡°We need to check something, be right back.¡± ¡°Is it something wrong?¡± Thomas asked: ¡°Do you need help? I¡¯m happy to help.¡± ¡°No ¡­ just something weird.¡± Jason chuckled. When Jason and Caroline left to look for the bookshelf, Aimee slapped Thomas by his arm: ¡°Keep your head in the game a bit, okay? We¡¯re here to learn and train.¡± ¡°Geez, sis.¡± Thomas laughed: ¡°I am just doing that? But what¡¯s a little bit of effort spent trying to impress a girl?¡± ¡°You call that trying to impress a girl? I¡¯m fine with it as long as you try being less desperate.¡± Aimee slapped Thomas on the arm again: ¡°Get good before you seriously start trying.¡± ¡°Okay, okay.¡± Thomas laughed out loud: ¡°But seriously, you don¡¯t need to worry about me - last time I checked I¡¯ve been on way more dates than you.¡± Chapter 222 ¡°Well, that was unexpected.¡± after hearing about another emergency announcement, Caroline walked out of the auditorium with a frown: ¡°How would this even work? I guess it wouldn¡¯t impact us that much.¡± ¡°I guess it¡¯d impact me a little bit - I¡¯d have to practice my array creation with the chemical labs and the reserves for magical material closed.¡± Jason sighed, ¡°I wonder when the audit program finishes would we be able to go back.¡± The emergency announcement was a bit of a shock to almost everyone, because the message of the announcement was that the Grant Academy was going into lockdown effective immediately. This meant that no one would be able to go in or out of the academy without explicit permission from the administration; and the importing of all goods, including food, and other material used for research and student use, would be halted for a short period until a strong and strict vetting process was established. And this would not be a full lockdown internally, because Principal Hawke assured everyone that all school utilities that are deemed safe from the pollution of the forbidden material would remain functioning per usual, and all activities in academy that do not have to do with any kinds of magical material would still be able to continue. ¡°Yeah, I wonder what would happen to our duel.¡± Aimee sighed and asked Caroline and Jason: ¡°Have you heard anything? Either from Professor Barnes or those two that challenged us.¡± ¡°Strangely, no.¡± Caroline scratched her head: ¡°I would think maybe that needs to go on hold - I do wanna kick those little shits¡¯ asses though.¡± ¡°Yeah, but you¡¯d still need to think of a tactic for my sister here.¡± Thomas said: ¡°It¡¯s been a few days, I think they¡¯d have plenty of time to research guns and detectives and have a plan ready. The surprise gun tactic would not work next time.¡± ¡°How about a much stronger crossbow?¡± Jason asked: ¡°I mean, if you¡¯re fast enough you can still hit your opponent with a strong shot. Too bad your specialty is not fire, otherwise there¡¯s just multiple kinds of modern civilian weapons I can try to make for you.¡±Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°How about just swift and brute force? I mean, screw magic, just go in with your weapon of choice and bash the shit out of him, before he can even conjure up a spell.¡± Caroline asked: ¡°You are police officers so you have the advantage here. And since the fight starts with both people in close proximity it actually makes more tactical sense that way. You have a training session tonight right? Can we try that?¡± ¡°Well, that would be very neat if it worked. They¡¯re just wizards with limited combat experience right? Applying a similar tactic to the serial killer - go with the unexpected non magic attack. If they¡¯re expecting you to use a gun, then you can use a knife, a hammer, or a baton or something.¡± Jason thought for a short moment and smiled: ¡°I don¡¯t suppose the academy-wide lockdown would forbid us from training together - let¡¯s try that this time.¡± At the same time, Professor Atkinson and Dolores were having a rough time accepting the news. ¡°This is bullshit! We have energy stones and gems incoming, without them we literally can¡¯t proceed with our research!¡± Dolores cursed when she walked out of the common auditorium: ¡°It¡¯s supposed to be here just next week! And we can¡¯t even go out without some kind of permission? What the fuck!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I think we still have some reserves of energy stones.¡± Professor Atkinson tried to console Dolores: ¡°If we use it with caution and frugality it should be enough to last us till the lockdown is lifted.¡± ¡°No, professor, we don¡¯t.¡± Dolores sighed: ¡°We increased our use of the energy stones because of the analysis of the hail - at our current rate we¡¯d be out of energy stones in less than a week unless we cut our usage.¡± ¡°Okay. So we need to apply for some extra support or temporary loan from the academy while we conserve our resources.¡± Professor Atkinson went silent for a short moment, then sighed and said: ¡°It¡¯d be better if we completed the analysis, so we can present this to the funding committee.¡± ¡°Would that help?¡± Jianmen asked: ¡°Professor, I have read some of your reports - with results and theories like that, as I said before, your funding situation made no sense. There are some hostile individuals in the funding committee that are working against you aren''t there?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± before Professor Atkinson could stop her, Dolores answered without hesitation: ¡°It¡¯s Lauren Biggins, she used to be Professor¡¯s rival scholar, until she got into administration and became a political hack with power trips for years and axes to grind. ¡°Dolores, stop, Lauren is a fine scholar.¡± Professor Atkinson voiced his concern, yet even Jianmen could tell from his tone that he did not truly mean the word ¡°fine¡±. ¡°Okay, is there a way to ask for department aid then? The department should have some reserves, if the administration has been following resource reserve and conservation guidelines. I think this lockdown can qualify as an unintended and unpredicted shortage. And they should accommodate short term research needs. ¡± Jianmen thought for a while and asked. ¡°That - that¡¯s a good idea. Dolores, let¡¯s start with that.¡± Professor Atkinson nodded in slight relief: ¡°And let¡¯s prep some demo for our Department Head - to make a better case if needed.¡± Chapter 223 ¡°Caroline: Here¡¯s a list of some simple healing spells for you. Feel free to share with anyone since this is not some exclusive knowledge. Be familiar with the first two to establish a firm foundation, then choose any other you¡¯d like.¡± this was the first paragraph in the orange and red scroll Caroline and Jason found at the library. ¡°Jason: Here¡¯s a list of some simple healing spells for you ...¡± the silver scroll for Jason had basically the same first paragraph, except Jianmen told him to grasp only one spell before moving onto other spells. ¡°Flame of Vitality¡±, ¡°Inner Fire of Three Suns¡± were the two spells Jianmen picked for Caroline, the first of which was a buffing spell to boost up one¡¯s self-healing ability and could even stop severe internal or external bleeding if one¡¯s good at it; And the second one was a spell that infuse special forms of fire Xuanli into a person¡¯s body, which would then neutralize harmful substance inside of the persona¡¯s system by consuming them and burning them up from inside. Jason¡¯s first spell only had a very simple name: ¡°Internal Fortification¡±, which was a defensive spell from within - it required the user to be familiar with all the major meridian points on the human body, or any other creature¡¯s bodies should the user want to use it on them. This spell requires the user to insert tiny hollow needles into the patient''s body and infuse thin but potent and active metal Xuanli into the patient¡¯s meridian through the needles. The Xuanli would then fortify the patient¡¯s internal organs and make them resilient to harm, and it also had some level of self-healing boosting properties as well. All three of these spells require the user to have meticulous control over their Xuanli, and have the ability to alter the quality and ¡°texture¡± of their Xuanli so that it could manifest differently. Both Caroline and Jason had some levels of mastery over this kind of skill, but they still felt like they needed some more practice before they could actually pull their first spells off. But luckily, this is a kind of skill they can practice relatively casually, like whenever they have some spare time to kill, they could just conjure a blob of their Xuanli and try to change its shape, quality and texture into as many different and distinguishable forms as possible. ¡°I am not sure I would be the right trainer for this kind of tactic for you.¡± in their training session, Glenda Grimes told Thomas and Aimee: ¡°I may have a rapier for a weapon, but I am still mostly a mage and not the close quarter combat type. What you need is a warrior type trainer - like Caroline and Jason there.¡± ¡°Yeah, we could help them with that. But like we said before, we don¡¯t have too much experience battling magic wielders.¡± Jason said: ¡°Maybe just tell us about the kind of precautions and tactics mages use to defend themselves from sneak attacks and rush attacks using melee weapons?¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Okay. ¡± Glenda Grimes sighed: ¡°The thing is, different mages use different tactics. Who are the last ones you haven''t faced off against? Do you know what kind of magic they use?¡± ¡°So we¡¯ve just faced off against two Jensens. So the remainder would be Robert Hendricks and ¡­ some guy named Caleb.¡± Jason thought for a short minute and answered. ¡°From what I¡¯ve heard. Robert Hendricks is a mage of fire and wind. He¡¯s skilled in fire spells and other wind related tricks like fireballs, rain of fire, wind blades and tornadoes.¡± Thomas scratched his hair and said: ¡°And Caleb Hoffman, like Aimee here, is an ice focused fighter who uses some kind of sword as his weapon. I heard he¡¯s quite known for his blizzard spells.¡± ¡°Hmm, this is not good. Neither is an easy target for sneak attacks.¡± Glenda Grimes thought for a short while, shook her head and pointed at the central training area: ¡°But let¡¯s mimic that for now. Aimee, pick your weapon, and see how you would attack me if I used wind magic.¡± Jason slightly tilted his right hand, and the blob of silver Xuanli floating right above his palm slowly became solid and its shape morphed into that of two scimitars with especially long blades that had some kind of patterns engraved on both sides and special hand guards that looked a bit like those of rapiers. ¡°Thanks Jason.¡± Aimee took the two scimitars and looked at them up and down: ¡°Just like what I asked for, thanks a lot!¡± ¡°No problem. Let me know.¡± Jason smiled, and another blob of silver Xuanli appeared above his palm. Glenda Grimes discreetly raised her eyebrows when she saw the two scimitars and especially the patterns on the blades - though she was judging from afar, she could still tell that the patterns were pretty well tuned for energy infusion, especially ice magical energy infusion. Per her experience, this was something usually only a relatively well trained power wielder with some experience could do. Aimee twirled the two scimitars and swung it a few times just to get a feel of their weight and maneuverability, then she infused her magical power into the blades. The blades lit in a beautiful flickering sky blue, the frost started building up around the edges. Aimee stood in front of Glenda Grimes and waited for her trainer¡¯s signal. ¡°Let¡¯s start.¡± Glenda Grimes took out her translucent green rapier. Aimee rushed forward the moment Glenda Grimes¡¯s ¡°start¡± dropped, her rapier in her right hand swung in a curve from upper right to lower left, aiming at Glenda Grimes¡¯ shoulder and chest. Though having trained Aimee for quite some time, Glenda Grimes was still surprised by the swiftness of Aimee¡¯s attack. She had to raise her rapier to defend in a hurry, and light green energy exploded from her rapier the moment their weapons clashed. Aimee was knocked back by the energy explosion but she took advantage of the force to turn her body around and unleash a side slash using the other scimitar against Glenda Grimes¡¯ waist. A light green energy bubble shield appeared from Glenda Grimes¡¯ belt buckle, Aimee¡¯s scimitar cut embedded deep in the bubble shield but she was not able to slice it up, and she ended up being thrown off her balance when the bubble shield bounced back. ¡°Nice and quick, but you are still holding back a little. Again.¡± Chapter 224 Somewhere in the remote corners of Los Altos Hills, just right outside of a luxury mansion with high metal fences around its perimeters and two sets of metal gates on its front and right side. There were many cameras and motion sensors placed on and around the fences. Two small groups of people in camouflage were advancing the front and side gates through the forest, and they stopped when they got to a certain distance from the fences. Then, a delivery van with a big online shopping website logo drove up to the front gate. The van driver got off and pressed the intercom button at the gate. ¡°Who is it? What do you want?¡± the security guard on the other side of the intercom asked. ¡°Is this the residence of Mr. Vornaux?¡± the driver asked. ¡°No.¡± ¡°I got a delivery for him. And here¡¯s some packages for a Miss¡­ Tarnoil and Miss Benxer.¡± ¡°Get lost.¡± the security guard directly cut the communication off. The driver pressed the intercom again. ¡°What?!¡± the security guard¡¯s impatience almost flowed through the speaker. ¡°You¡¯re sure? Vornaux, and Tarnoil, and could you please tell me how to find them? And Miss Benxer.¡± ¡°Fucking get lost, before you get hurt!¡± ¡°Vornaux, Tarnoil, Benxer!¡± the driver said the names loudly again. The intercom went silent, then with two buzzing sounds, both the front and side metal gates sprung open, the motion sensors and hidden cameras were all disabled and disconnected. The delivery van and the two groups of people immediately moved into the perimeter of the mansion. ¡°How long is it gonna last?¡± a man in a dark red coat approached the delivery van driver and asked.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°At least fifteen minutes, enough for everything.¡± the delivery driver wiped the sweat from his face: ¡°I¡¯ll be just a normal gunman for around five minutes, you guys better be quick.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be over well before that.¡± Emilia Corin walked past these two men with a fully automatic machine gun in her hands and wearing a wireless headphone: ¡°All units, go in now. Be careful of the dogs guarding at the side door. Neutralize them if you must.¡± ¡°Remember, Uncle Arthur always travels with two of his closest bodyguards. I am pretty sure both have some kind of superpower. The tall one with a mustache can shoot lightning from his hands.¡± a young man followed Emilia: ¡°I can try to take one of them out, but I don¡¯t think I will get good shots at both of them.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry Rufus, we¡¯ve got powers for hire.¡± Emilia Corin said, with the people in suits and jackets behind her splitting up and advancing on the mansion itself from different angles. Rufus Corin, Emilia Corin¡¯s younger cousin from another of her uncles nodded and carried his long rifle with a high precision scope into the mansion. He was also not in the running for anything close to the center of power in the Corin family, until Emilia found and recruited him for his marksmanship. ¡°Bang!¡± ¡°Bang!¡± sounds of gunfire emerged from the other side, at the direction of the side gates. ¡°Fuck! They actually opened fire this early? I thought they said they¡¯re good with dogs!?¡± Emilia Corin swore and rushed towards the mansion: ¡°All of you! Keep up and speed up! They¡¯ll know we¡¯re here soon!¡± Just when Emilia Corin and the team behind her got to the stairs at the front door of the mansion, a few of the security guards at the second floor started opening fire at them from the windows. Several silver blue energy shields appeared in mid air right in front of these windows and started deflecting and reflecting bullets almost the moment they came out of the muzzles. The bouncing bullets and the huge noise from the clashing bullets on the energy shield instantly drew the shooters back into the back of the windows. ¡°Die!¡± a man in a dark green suit waved his hands and crystalized green energy spikes appeared out of thin air and shot towards the windows. They penetrated the windows made of bulletproof glass and walls with metal plates inside, violently impaling and shredding and the shooters behind them. Another man with bullet belts wrapped around his torso threw two grenades through the broken windows, and the room from which the shooters fired their guns at Emilia Corin and her team was instantly lit up in fire. ¡°Who dared attack a Corin residence!?¡± a loud roar came from the mansion as it was being attacked from two fronts, a middle aged man in a suit of fancy light blue armour burst through the ceiling of the mansion with a shield and a scepter in his hands, and looked down on all those men invading the mansion from the roof. Rufus Corin opened fire at the man from the top of a tree in the area. His high caliber bullet shot through the air aiming straight at the middle aged man. But the man just simply waved his scepter, and the bullet was smashed into broken pieces of metal in the air. ¡°Rufus, Emilia.¡± the middle aged man recognized two members of the Corin family that were among the attackers: ¡°Have you no shame? Have you no honor? How dare you attack the residence of an elder, and a center of operation for the family?!¡± ¡°Attack!¡± Emilia Corin did not respond at all, she just yelled her orders at the team around and behind her. Several of the attackers brought by Emilia Corin retargeted their gunfire at the man in a suit of armour, who leapt from the roof downward at Emilia Corin with his shield in front of him. All those bullets aiming at him either missed or were deflected by this shield and did not break his form in any way. Yet when this man raised his head from behind the shield and swung his scepter downward at the ground, he noticed that Emilia Corin already moved further away from him than he¡¯d expected. When the scepter hit the earth and grass and released a ring of shockwave that tore through the ground in its close proximity, this middle aged man saw something lit up in Emilia¡¯s pupils, which then faded away in less than half a second. Chapter 225 ¡°A knight! Working for a mob boss. How ironically dishonorable!¡± a dusty and slouching old man in a dirty brown cloak with a staff made of old, crooked, dirty and even creepy wooden staff following Emilia Corin¡¯s team laughed loudly and said. And before the middle aged man wielding a scepter and a shield could offer any kind of retort, the old man pointed his wooden staff at the middle aged man, skulls made of dark smoke came out from the tip of his staff and started surrounding himself and several members of the team including Emilia Corin herself, then he waved his hand, releasing three arrows made of the same dark smoke at the middle aged man. ¡°Necromancer!¡± the middle aged man was so angry that he ended up scoffing: ¡°Emilia, I was wrong to underestimate you - you and your blind, naive ambition, and the levels you are willing to stoop to in order to get what you want.¡± ¡°Oh the sanctimoniousness. A fond memory of my childhood.¡± the old man in a dirty brown cloak laughed in a bizarre and even creepy tone, ¡°And the priests and knights ended up immortalized in my dungeon. I wonder if you would like to join them?¡± ¡°You¡­ you are Timothy Durbin!¡± the middle aged knight was shocked to learn the identity of the old man in the dirty brown cloak: ¡°How are you still alive!?¡± ¡°I think you already answered your question - I¡¯m a necromancer now, and death treats us differently.¡± Timothy Durbin laughed out loud, his laughter and his grim voice seemed to even make the sky darker, ¡°Now, make way!¡± As Timothy Durbin raised his staff up high and concentrated his dark and grim magical power, a giant shadow of some kind of humanoid skeleton monster in a grey, torn up cloak wearing a chain of human skeletons around its boney neck like a chain of rosary beads, holding a huge sword with a curved blade and nine rings on the blade¡¯s back. When he swung his wooden staff down like a long sword, the huge shadow of the skeleton monster also swung its sword down along with Timothy Durbin with barely recognizable speed. The middle aged knight working for the Corin family could not dodge the attack in time and had to block the attack with his shield. Even the explosions of grenades and other explosives used both by Emilia Corin¡¯s team and the defensive forces in the mansion could not cloud the sound from the clash between the huge shadow sword and the knight¡¯s shield. The middle aged knight was knocked into the ground when the blade continued striking down. Timothy Durbin laughed hysterically and slammed his left hand on his staff - the giant shadow of the skeleton monster slammed its left skeleton hand on the handle of the sword. This move caused the blade from the shadow sword to fall off and exploded, with its release of explosive energy mainly concentrated on the direction downward.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. A fissure was created by this strike, with dirt, rocks and sand being thrown to the sky. Inside of the mansion, three members of the attacking team were thrown in the air and struck by bolts of lightning bolts and in term exploded into chunks of burnt flesh and bones in mid air. A tall, bald man in a grey suit with dark blue tattoos on his forehead and both of his arms and hands stood in a hallway right in front of a panic room, with electric flares popping out of both his palms. Some more people flooded into the hallway and were ready to breach the panic room, but the bald man¡¯s lightning strikes pushed them back and they sustained heavy damage. ¡°Bang! Bang!¡± two grenades were tossed into the hallway from the corner, which bounced on the wall and exploded in midair. One was a high explosive grenade with small metal balls within, and the other was a stun grenade, which released deafening noise and blinding strong flash of light when it exploded. A lightning bolt pierced through the wall on the corner and the grenadier who threw the two grenades was struck on his shoulder. The electric shock not only burned a hole through his chest cavity, but also set off the grenades on his belt. The lightning bolt only pierced through the wall, but the explosions from the grenades completely destroyed the whole corner, and now there was a portion of the wall in the mansion that was completely missing. More attackers from outside were brought down because of if. ¡°Useless chumps.¡± a man in the dark red coat rushed through the hallway, and headed right towards the hallway that was half destroyed, his sleeves still dripping with blood. The bald in a grey suit frowned as he saw the man in a dark red coat incoming at inhuman speed. His two hands turned to claw shape, his palms facing each other and with a short period of concentration he conjured a ball of lightning in the space between his palms. Just when the man in a dark red coat appeared around the corner, the bald man in a grey suit pushed the ball of lightning forward with both his hands. The ball of lightning started deceivingly slow, but flew with unparalleled acceleration, so much so that when it reached the corner, it was already at the speed of a standard pistol bullet. The man in a red coat leapt into the air, and two long red chain blades shot from his palms at the bald man. The ball of lightning expanded to dozens of times its initial size, the man in a red coat¡¯s body from the chest down was instantly burned into charcoal and crushed into ashes and dust. The bald man, on the other hand, got his head and neck impaled by two red chain blades. The upper body of the man in a red coat fell to the ground, his hands still holding the red chain blades. Seemingly out of nowhere, the bald man¡¯s whole body started shrinking like it was drying up - his blood, his body fluids, his bone marrow and his life force was being sucked dry by the two chain blades. The man in a red coat crawled up, his lower body regrew to almost functioning levels while the bald man was being drained. In less than ten seconds, he was able to stand up and walk, though his lower body and legs were still raw, pale and covered in slime. Emilia and Rufus Corin were in the hallway just in time to see the man in a red coat put on his now dried-up opponents¡¯ pants and shoes. ¡°Your uncle¡¯s in the panic room. I¡¯ll open it for you then it¡¯s your problem.¡± the man looked back and smiled: ¡°It¡¯s probably not that big a deal for you though. I can smell his fears through the reinforced steel door.¡± Chapter 226 ¡°What do you want? Emilia?¡± when forcefully pulled out of the panic room, whose steel had been cut open by the man in a dark red coat, Arthur Corin was shaken but still tried to maintain his composure. Then he was forced at the opposite side of the table Emilia Corin with her gun also placed on the table: ¡°You know, is this how you think you¡¯re gonna get your way? By attacking a center of operation and threatening an elder like me?¡± ¡°What I want has always been the same. Had you and the others stuck to your duty and our precious process and maintained a fair game instead of turning a blind eye to Walt¡¯s bullshit. It wouldn¡¯t have come to this.¡± Emilia Corin remained a faint sense of formality and respect for Author Corin when she spoke: ¡°So, I am just here to let you know, that I am still in the running for my seat at the table. That seat will be mine when the run closes, and you are going to help me.¡± Rufus Corin put a piece of paper with the official Corin family letterhead and some pre-printed texts down on the table and a luxury pen on the side and slid it to Arthur Corin. Emilia Corin then leaned in and said: ¡°This is your letter of reaffirmation informing the other elders and those who sit at the table that I, Emilia Corin, is still in the run for that vacant seat, with Rufus here as my candidate for lieutenant. And even if no elder is backing me from the shadows, I am still going to beat that imbecile Walt and that shame and embarrassment of a Corin George.¡± ¡°And you want me to acknowledge you as an official candidate for the seat and submit your name officially.¡± Arthur Corin looked at the letter and looked up from it with a concerned look: ¡°Which means I will be your official backer. That¡¯s not possible, even - ¡± ¡°Even Walt doesn¡¯t have an official acknowledgement. I know, even with the guards willing to execute me on sight, I still have sources of information.¡± Emilia Corin smiled: ¡°But I suppose you already know, that this acknowledgement is nothing but a ceremonial process, a meaningless rubber stamp, and a fucking sham. Because if that were true, Walt wouldn¡¯t have the backings of TWO ELDERS! AND HE WOULDN¡¯T HAVE ACCESS TO ROLAND¡¯S FILES!¡± At Emilia Corin¡¯s last sentence, she slammed her hand on the table so hard that she cracked the wooden table and left a dent on it. Arthur Corin flinched, and muttered: ¡°Is¡­ is that what this is all about? It¡¯s about that girl¡­ Kathy?¡± ¡°Uncle Arthur, I wonder - I just wonder, if you would ask Walt the same question, if it was my men that shot up HIS supposed safe house and leaving - what¡¯s her name? Amber? In a fucking pool of blood.¡± Emilia Corin¡¯s eyes narrowed and slightly adjusted her gun, ¡° Just sign the letter and stamp your seal.¡± ¡°Okay. But you know this won¡¯t be enough.¡± Arthur Corin sighed and shook his head, then he picked up the pen and signed his name on the letter: ¡°You know - this letter won¡¯t mean anything if you can¡¯t have the majority of the elders on your side. You¡¯d also need to have the majority members of the table to acknowledge you for you to gain that seat. And to do that, you will need to have Roland on your side.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°That would be my concern.¡± Emilia Corin took the letter from Arthur Corin, then she nodded at a smelly and dirty old man wearing a dirty brown cloak. The old man let out a creepy laugh, then he pointed his fingers at Arthur Corin, a stream of dark smoke shot from the tip of his finger and struck Arthur Corin¡¯s left arm. Arthur Corin pulled back his arm in pain, and when he checked the area that got hit, he saw the figure of a snake embedded on his arm, like a really lively tattoo using dark ink. ¡°What¡¯s this? What have you done to me?¡± ¡°Insurance policy.¡± Emilia Corin stood up, turned around and left: ¡°So that you wouldn¡¯t cross me. Don¡¯t even think about doing it, or it¡¯s gonna be nothing but pain and torture for you.¡± ---------------------------------------- ¡°Professor Harmon is ready to see you. Please come in.¡± after waiting outside of the department head¡¯s office for nearly forty minutes, the secretary finally came out and informed Dolores: ¡°Thank you very much for your patience.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Dolores stood up and went into the office following the secretary. ¡°Dolores, it¡¯s been too long!¡± Professor Harmon stood up from his chair to greet Dolores: ¡°How are you? And how¡¯s Professor Atkinson?¡± ¡°I¡¯m doing good. And so is the Professor.¡± Dolores shook hands with Professor Harmon: ¡°How are you doing? How¡¯s Mrs. Harmon?¡± ¡°We¡¯re doing okay, considering the complete lockdown of the academy and all. Thank goodness for the civilian techs, we could still meet and talk using video chats. When I am not running around to track down the forbidden material and confiscating illegal fireworks from students, that is.¡± Professor Harmon smiled and joked: ¡°So let¡¯s get down to business, why don¡¯t you tell me what brought you here?¡± ¡°Professor Atskinson and I, with the help of Mr. Wang, our visiting scholar, have made some really interesting discoveries from visiting that excavation site.¡± Dolores took out a crystal ball and handed it to Professor Harmon: ¡°This is a sample recording - we¡¯ve stabilized a piece of the hail we collected from the site, and we are able to extract some really interesting, and even eye-opening energy signatures from it. The site is - just as we suspected before, a place of residence from an ancient god. And we believe that the potential discoveries of this site would not only be of great benefit for the research of Godfalls, but also for the research and development of modern magic and power theories.¡± ¡°Yes. Interesting indeed.¡± Professor Harmon picked up the crystal ball and examined it using his magical powers, the crystal ball started shining in different kinds of light and even started making an arcane humming sound: ¡°You and Professor Atkinson are definitely on to something here - so, what can I help you with?¡± ¡°So, in order to fuel the energy signature analyzer and the suppressive rays that we used to break down the protective energy shields from the objects recovered from the excavation site, we ordered a lot of energy stones from European vendors and Australian vendors. But due to the academy lockdown, they won¡¯t be able to make it in time.¡± ¡°Yes, that I am aware. I personally guarantee you, that your stones would be tall on the top of our vetting list. But I hope you¡¯ll understand that vetting material, especially material like energy stones, takes a lot of time. It¡¯s not exactly a stamp and go process.¡± ¡°Totally. Which is why I am here. I would like to formally request for some allocation from the department¡¯s energy stone reserves, because a situation like this constitutes an unpredicted shortage of our research material.¡± Dolores looked at Professor Harmon earnestly: ¡°Without these energy stones, our research would not last three days.¡± Professor Harmon went silent for a while, then sighed and said: ¡°I am so sorry Dolores, but I can¡¯t help you with that. The department¡¯s energy stone reserves - it¡¯s pretty dry right now. We don¡¯t have much for ¡­ pretty much anybody.¡± ¡°What?!¡± Chapter 227 ¡°How could this be? I thought under the academy guidelines the energy stone reserves should ALWAYS be filled unless there are extraordinary circumstances that called for its allocation.¡± Professor Atkinson was confused and even a little angered by the news Dolores brought. ¡°Professor Harmon was very not receptive of any probes or questions into that.¡± Dolores sighed: ¡°I guess we can file an open accounting request to see and track the allocation of those energy stones. But that¡¯ll just piss him and all the department administration off.¡± ¡°Has there been any¡­ extraordinary circumstances that could have caused this?¡± Jianmen asked. ¡°No. ¡± Professor Atkinson and Dolores answered at the same time. ¡°Before the start of the semester, we¡¯ve all read through the previous year¡¯s annual reports from both the academy and the department.¡± Professor Atkinson explained: ¡°If anything, last year was a pretty good year for us - we¡¯ve got cheaper supplies of high quality energy stones, more donors and more research contract revenue. It just makes no sense.¡± ¡°I think your academy may have an embezzlement problem. But that¡¯s something for another day.¡± Jianmen scoffed: ¡°How about this - I sneak out and bring those energy stones back for you? I can vet the stones myself before bringing it in - and you can vet it with me. You know how good I am with portals.¡± ¡°No, no no no.¡± Dolores immediately refused this proposal: ¡°That is extremely dangerous, we could face severe consequences and punitive measures from the academy, not to mention borderline illegal.¡± ¡°Okay. So you¡¯ll have to cut your usage of the energy stones then.¡± Jianmen scratched his head and said: ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you have some of those energy stone purifying devices with you? It would really help. I mean, even a low grade ten percent increase in energy efficiency would make your reserves last much longer.¡± ¡°I wish - but there are only two of those devices in the academy. And one was reserved for the core research labs. I asked Professor Harmon about booking some time to use the other. He said it already has a one month backlog. So we would not be able to do that any time soon.¡± Dolores rubbed her temples then looked at Jianmen: ¡°I think we need to plan our rationing.¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Do you have any simple devices that could do some rough purifying?¡± Jianmen thought for a while and asked: ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be as efficient as an actual full blown device, maybe three to five percent increase in energy efficiency?¡± ¡°Uh - I think I have some dusty old models of small purifiers.¡± Dolores snapped her fingers and said: ¡°But it was quite old - it was one of my older birthday gifts. I¡¯ve never used it in some years...¡± ¡°Then get it! That could be something we could try!¡± Professor Atkinson urged Dolores: ¡°Now come to think of it, I should go and see if I have anything in my warehouse.¡± ¡°Okay. Let me know if I can help with anything.¡± Jianmen shook his head with a wry smile, as Professor Atkinson and Dolores rushed outside of their office. Then he headed to his temporary personal lab and continued with yet another of his artifacts - somewhat coincidentally, it was also one that can purify energy sources, too bad it was nowhere close to his standard of completeness. Should the artifact be completed, it would not only be one that could dissect most, if not all kinds of energy signature and even the traces of residual energy from Godfall. If it was before, this kind of artifact would be useless because none of the Godfalls he tracked down left any traces of energy. But this time, there was a fallen god who had some vague recollection of what happened, and even some remnants of a wound from the fall, this could very well be the only chance for him to figure out the reasons behind Godfalls. The artifact looked like a long glass tube with metal laces wrapped around the exterior, and there were also arcane patterns engraved on the tube and the metal laces, which were emitting faint pulses of energy waves. Jianmen activated the artifact then picked up a piece of rock laid on the side of the artifact and dropped it into the top of the artifact. As it fell through the tube, its surface began to ash and melt and its size began to shrink as a result. Some sort of force field was also slowing its fall, as the closer the rock got to the bottom of the tube, the slower its fall became. Eventually it stopped - the rock was reduced to a barely visible shiny grain of sand and floated somewhere near the bottom. Though not expecting much, Jianmen was still disappointed by the final size of the sand - the purification process burnt away too much of the desired ingredient from the piece of rock, which meant the artifact was not energy efficient as Jianmen hoped it would be. After some fine-tuning and re-engraving of some of the patterns, Jianmen decided to try again. This time, the piece of rock exploded before it could reach the bottom of the tube. Jianmen frustratedly scratched his head and let out a super long exhale. Just this moment, his phone buzzed, from the buzzing sound Jianmen knew it was some kind of general academy public notice notification he set up for himself. When he checked his phone, he found out that the student duel, which was interrupted last time due to the emergency announcement, would continue next Monday. And as a show of confidence from the academy administration to the whole academy in their ability to maintain peace and normality, the principal and the vice principal would be there to watch the duel. Chapter 228 In a session of ¡°Introduction of Demonology¡± lecture, Professor Dawson came into the classroom with a bright and warm smile: ¡°Hello class, welcome to today¡¯s lecture. And I would like to let you know, that I have finally finished evaluating your first group projects. Sorry that it took so long, it¡¯s because we have some really interesting projects, and I would like to make sure that all the groups that have done good jobs would receive their due recognition.¡± ¡°Is that good news? I think it¡¯s good news.¡± Aimee was nervous: ¡°Oooh, it¡¯d better be good news for us.¡± ¡°Relax, sis, it¡¯s just a group project from an introduction class.¡± Thomas chuckled. ¡°So here.¡± Professor Dawson reached into her bag and took out three scrolls: ¡°These are certificates from the academy¡¯s Office of Publication. These are offer letters, letters showing that three of this class¡¯s projects have caught the eyes of some of our best reviewers and editors, and they are willing to publish these projects as official papers in our official academy digest.¡± ¡°Oh my.¡± Jason fake gasped then started laughing softly: ¡°That¡¯s good - I mean, that¡¯s really good. My engineering school had one of those, and having a project thesis published was quite an achievement.¡± ¡°It¡¯s exactly like a civilian engineering school, Mr. Lin.¡± Professor Dawson walked by and dropped one scroll by his table: ¡°Only it¡¯s quite a bit more prestigious, because it¡¯s literally magical, and we don¡¯t have an over publishing problem - yet, so it¡¯s even better. Because your project thesis actually has a non-trivial chance to get quoted. So congratulations, Mr. Lin, Ms. Baker, Mister and Miss Chaver, your work on the serial murderer proved quite inspired, insightful and full of potential. Just beware that the academy will need all of your consent to publish, so talk it out if that¡¯d be an issue for any of you.¡± ¡°Oh my god. This is awesome!¡± Aimee couldn¡¯t control herself and grabbed the scroll directly from Jason¡¯s desk and opened it: ¡°Holy shit! My first published thesis!¡± ¡°Khmm.¡± Thomas cleared his throat: ¡°OUR, first published thesis.¡± ¡°Okay, okay, fine. You did the work too.¡± Aimee was embarrassed by her own action, and she laid the open scroll down on Jason¡¯s table so everyone in the group could see it: ¡°¡®... in recognition of your inspired and insightful thesis on the identity of the suspected serial murderer from the cases of Burr, Hamilton, Clover etc. We the Grant Academy Office of Publication are hereby offering to publish your thesis in the Academy¡¯s Official Magical Theories Digest...¡¯ Holy shit! I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m just so excited.¡±Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Congratulations again. Good work everyone. But please do remember, this is still an introductory class, and chances like these aren¡¯t just handed out like candies.¡± Professor Dawson went back to the podium: ¡°Now, let¡¯s begin our lecture. Everyone please turn to page 445.¡± Caroline looked around the room, it looked like the group of Taylor Jensen and Robert Hendricks also got a scroll of their own. ¡°Ugh, is this actually that prestigious? Or is it a glorified line item for the privileged kids?¡± Caroline sighed and shook her head. ¡°Hey, look at the bright side.¡± Jason nudged Caroline gently: ¡°Our theory totally rocks, but theirs isn¡¯t so bad either - so let¡¯s just enjoy the fact that our thesis got published.¡± --------------------------------------------- In the Grant Academy principal¡¯s office, Tamil Brooke as the representative of the board, Principal Hawke, Professor Barnes as the headmaster of Hellbruck House, and the Headmaster of Anderson House, Professor Randall Collins, and a woman in dark blue robe, who happened to be the renowned sorceress and also the known rival of Josephine Wong, Professor Dorothea Clarkson, were discussing the situation at the academy. ¡°... I agree with Professor Barnes. We should take the student¡¯s welfare seriously and consider sending them home for the time being.¡± after a short pause, Professor Dorothea Clarkson said: ¡°We should send them home.¡± ¡°I still maintain that this would be a terribly bad idea.¡± Professor Randall Collins shook his head and said: ¡°We still have no clear idea on how much of the contaminated material is still in the academy - and we all know that a lot of it is still in the students¡¯ hands. And if we let them go home, they are just going to go back to their places to spread it around. With the dormant cycles of some of those materials on the list - they might be facing some more danger.¡± ¡°We can establish a proper process for going home. And we can search the students.¡± Professor Randall Collins said: ¡°We could make it conditional - if anyone wants to go back home, they need to consent to a thorough medical examination and search and vetting of personal items.¡± ¡°That would be a PR nightmare, we can¡¯t do that.¡± Principal Hawke sighed: ¡°We¡¯re not law enforcement, we¡¯re just an academy. We do not have any authority to impose this kind of measure on our students. Not to mention it would be a severe violation of the privacy of the students.¡± ¡°Yeah yeah, the rules.¡± Professor Randall Collins sighed: ¡°But we¡¯ve already had what, almost thirty cases of exposure? And we still have no clear leads into where those contaminating materials came from and thus, we¡¯re nowhere near getting rid of them. We¡¯ve gotta do something. Not letting anyone leave is not going to hold up forever - sooner or later the students would come and ask for their kids back.¡± ¡°Which is why we could just send them home early.¡± Professor Barnes said. ¡°Which would be terrible for us and anyone trying to establish a trace of this contamination, and it would basically mean that the whole investigation would be a bust.¡± Professor Randall Collins said: ¡°If we really plan to send everyone home, I¡¯d recommend locking the academy up entirely and ban all public activities for a short time in order to isolate the paths for further exposure. All we need to do is wait it out and treat the ones who developed symptoms and then we can let the rest go.¡± ¡°It is not practical, not to mention way too disruptive for the normal functions of the academy.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson shook her head: ¡°And we don¡¯t have that kind of authority either - we¡¯ll need the approval of the board, and we¡¯ll need greenlight from the Department of Education and the Center of Hazardous Material Control to enact something like this.¡± ¡°Alright, professors. I¡¯ll need some time to think about this.¡± Principal Hawke started rubbing his temples: ¡°Let¡¯s hope the investigation would lead to something soon.¡± Chapter 229 San Francisco, the ¡°site of demo¡± that Josephine Wong contracted Jianmen to cleanse. It was just early morning, yet the sky was cloudy, windy and the air was slightly more humid than usual. All of the agents from the Division assigned to the site were gathered at a small deserted plaza at a relatively safe distance from the site. ¡°Alright, agents of Division. Thank you for answering my call to gather.¡± Jianmen stood on a temporary pedestal made from broken rocks nearby so that he could see everyone and appear humble and not too demanding: ¡°I know you are assigned to this site and you are under orders to help me, but I still appreciate your cooperation for these two days. And today is the last day of the whole endeavour. Before we start today, I want to remind everyone one more time that today would be the hardest day yet. As you can tell from your debrief, you are to be stationed around the area, at respective areas to guard the perimeter, and to prevent anything from escaping. Any questions?¡± ¡°Mr. Yu, we don¡¯t have a lot of manpower here to cover the entire surrounding area.¡± one of the agents raised her hand: ¡°And according to the map of our stations, there are large gap areas no agents would be covering.¡± ¡°Nothing would make it out of there..¡± Jianmen explained: ¡°The stakes you put into the ground - when I activate them, they would form a huge labyrinth and a prison to trap the unclean presence inside. They would try to escape, but they would only be directed to a limited number of ¡®exits¡¯, where all of you would be stationed at. When the unclean presences inside made it to these ¡®exits¡¯, they¡¯d still get blocked. Even if they were able to break through the area, they would all be severely weakened, and I would intervene myself. So all you need to do is clean up any loose ends if there is any. I believe everyone¡¯s got my metal amulet for you, with which you would be invisible to them should anything bad happen. You can also activate it using a bit of your blood to conjure a shield to protect yourself. You mostly likely won¡¯t need it at all, but just keep in mind that you still have it as a safety measure.¡± ¡°Sir, how are you going to cleanse this big of a site without enraging the evil that remained here without it fighting back?¡± Agent Jill asked with a curious tone: ¡°I know you¡¯re really good ¡­ but you only have less than one day left, normally it would take months to slowly chip away this much evil power before anyone can cleanse it all.¡± ¡°Well, desperate times.¡± Jianmen smiled and nodded: ¡°Also I am assured that the place would need to be rebuilt anyway, so I would employ some moderately drastic measures. To put it simply, I¡¯d be poisoning the unclean presence here, think of it as a kind of chemical warfare on the spectral battlefield. And don¡¯t worry, the ¡®poison¡¯ is completely harmless to humans, it would just be a bit salty and bitter if you got it in your mouths. Please be assured, my methods might be unorthodox, but it¡¯s completely safe to you, and it could even be a little¡­ romantic.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°What?¡± this answer confused the agents even more. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get to work my dear agents. We have work to do!¡± Jianmen laughed widely and clapped his hands. ¡°I thought you already sort of knew what the stakes are for?¡± when heading towards their station, Agent Hall asked Agent Jill. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m just confirming.¡± Agent Jill giggled: ¡°I¡¯ve never seen one of these big wooden stake arrays up close. This is kinda awesome. No scratch that, it¡¯s really awesome. I wonder if he would be willing to be my master.¡± ¡°Well, good luck. He seems nice, I would think he¡¯d be happy to take you in.¡± Agent Hall said. ¡°I mean¡­ He clearly thinks quite highly of us - he assigned us the biggest exit.¡± Agent Jill walked up to a temporary watchtower they built overseeing the site, with protective sigils hanging over the ceiling and on the handrails. ¡°But I still want to see this - how is he going to poison the evil presence here?¡± Agent Jill looked over the vast areas with her binoculars: ¡°Is he gonna pour something in the underground water?¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound romantic.¡± Agent Hall shook his head: ¡°And how the hell do you even poison a haunted place and evil energy like this?¡± As Jianmen was walking towards the center of the area, some very old memories came back to him. ¡°Have you heard of the tale of the pious eminent monk?¡± sitting over a piece of bulging boulder hanging over a giant volcanic lake in the mountains, Yanyu Shi, a beautiful woman with unparalleled power had a special Guqin on her lap and a small fox with silver fur sleeping next to her. ¡°No.¡± Jianmen was sitting on the edge of the boulder with his legs dangling in the air: ¡°But I guess it¡¯s gonna be one with great sacrifice and devotion?¡± ¡°What¡¯s it called again? A stereotype?¡± Yanyu Shi chuckled as she looked to the serene waters of the lake: ¡°Yeah. But this one is particularly romantic - he figured out the circulation of water, and that the water would flow through all lives. So he started chanting the most arcane, divine, and powerful scriptures of virtue, faith and light by the sea. He hoped that by blessing the entire ocean, the water in it would come to cure and bless the world and thus relieving all lives off their pain and suffering.¡± ¡°Wow, that¡¯s ...¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Yanyu Shi gently played her Guqin and let her gentle and calming melodies roam the air: ¡°And I¡¯ve got an idea like that recently, and I would like your help.¡± ¡°Of course. Anything.¡± Jianmen reached the center of the area, and he opened a china bottle. Some kind of light brown power came from the bottle and shot up into the sky, right at the thick clouds above. ¡°Alright, all agents, please stand guard.¡± Jianmen¡¯s voice was not loud, yet it reached all agents of the Division surrounding the area loud and clear even without an enchanted earpiece and blessed connections: ¡°And please feel free to share in the public comms channel if it reminded you of anything.¡± ¡°What?¡± Agent Hall was more confused. ¡°I heard the drums echoing tonight ...¡± Jianmen started softly singing. Orange and golden lightning exploded from the clouds above, the clouds right above the area seemed to be lit up from within, as if a particular bright sun was just right behind them. Then within a few seconds, rain started pouring from the cloud. Vapor rose from the ground as the raindrops hit the ground, faint screams, cries, moans and curses from thousands of voices erupted, but they were soon clouded by the sound of the rain. The buildings in the area, which were kept in their places by the unclean energy that resided in this place, started softening in their integrity, dissolving, falling apart and eventually washing away. ¡°Holy fucking shit, he blessed the rain.¡± Agent Jill reached outside the shade of the watchtower to catch some rain water: ¡°He blessed the fucking rain!¡± Chapter 230 All the agents of the Division were stationed at temporary watchtowers around the area which this Mr. Jianmen Yu was commissioned by Josephine Wong to cleanse. When the rain started, they all started seeing the same thing: the buildings in this area started crumbling into smaller and smaller chunks, and eventually became ashes and colorful sand on the ground, while at the same time steam started coming out of different parts in the area. Some of the agents were keen enough and lucky enough to see some monsters made of dark liquid or shadows made of dark smoke trying to crawl out from under the ground, but most of them were barely able to come up in full and solid shape, and none of them was able to make it very far under the rain. ¡°Stay in position, this is just getting started.¡± Jianmen¡¯s voice reached all agents of the Division at the same time: ¡°When you see the wooden stakes lighting up, be prepared to use your weapons. I am quite a fan of your Wyvern Breath flamethrowers, so feel free to use it if needed. Don¡¯t worry, the rainwater wouldn¡¯t affect the flammability of the unclean presence.¡± The moment Jianmen finished the sentence, three long tentacles burst from the ground around Jianmen, and some of the agents paying attention to the surroundings of Jianmen immediately called out to him. Three lightning fast finger strikes landed on the three tentacles and obliterated all of them before they could get close to Jianmen. The next moment Jianmen slammed the ground with his right palm, causing the ground beneath him to crater and exposing some kind of rough underground tunnel system. When he fell into the underground tunnel, he saw that there were monsters of all shapes and sizes surrounding him from underground. These monsters¡¯ bodies were made of the same dark liquid or dark smoke, but in much higher density and they were using some kind of shells made of actual rock to block off rain water so they were able to remain in shape underground for now. ¡°Clever.¡± Jianmen scoffed: ¡°But not clever enough.¡± Jianmen raised his hand, a blinding bolt of lightning shot from the clouds above and struck his hand, then smaller lightning bolts shot from his body in all directions around him at all the monsters around him. Some kind of clustered explosion erupted from the crater into which Jianmen fell, earth, sand and body parts of different creatures were thrown into the air. A few more orange and golden lightning bolts lit up the sky some more, and the rain just kept getting heavier, it wasn¡¯t long before the agents stationed around the area lost most of the visibility into the inner parts of the area.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I¡¯m hearing abnormal noises from inside the area. Everyone stand guard! All agents be on alert!¡± Agent Hall all of a sudden started hearing some strange yet disturbing energy flow. Two agents behind Agent Hall and Agent Jill readied their Wyvern Breath and aimed them at the direction they were supposed to guard against. It was silent for a while, then they all heard a loud and disgusting belching sound - a large seven legged monster with bricks, wooden boards and normal debris from buildings, roads and other types of civilian constructions on the surface of its body and thick solidified dark liquid and smoke as its body ran towards their position while its body was chipped away by the rain. ¡°On my mark!¡± Agent Hall raised his handgun and was ready to open fire when the monster got in the optimal range. But the monster made a left turn when it got near one of the wooden stakes, before it even got close to their optimal range and started running towards a different direction. ¡°Welp, at least we know the wooden stakes DO work.¡± Agent Jill laughed in relief. Holes opened up on the ground, and more of these monsters started crawling up - all of them also had normal material covering their bodies to minimize their exposure to the rain. Yet these monsters were still under the influence of the giant array formed by the wooden stakes, even though from the agents¡¯ view they almost made it out of the area by just minimal distance, they were still directed back into the area, and were directed to keep running aimlessly while the rain kept washing their evil energy and existence away. ¡°Help! Help!¡± a pale woman in broken rags and with a head of long hair ran towards the position of Agent Hall and Agent Jill. She seemed weak and sick in the pouring rain, and she didn¡¯t seem to be too impacted by the rain, besides getting wet. When she moved, both Agent Hall and Agent Jill could see that she seemed to have a big belly. ¡°She¡¯s pregnant.¡± an agent behind Agent Hall and Agent Jill said: ¡°I think we should help her.¡± ¡°Stay where you are, agent, this is not a human.¡± Agent Hall immediately responded: ¡°We wait here.¡± ¡°I agree. She doesn¡¯t seem right.¡± Agent Jill said: ¡°Hold your position - I don¡¯t think there could even be a human here.¡± ¡°Help me! Please!¡± the woman cried and looked at the direction of the watchtower: ¡°Please help me! Please! I was imprisoned - I just escaped!¡± ¡°She could see us!¡± the other agent behind Agent Hall and Agent Jill spoke with a raised voice: ¡°We should help her now!¡± ¡°Stand down!¡± Agent Hall was the second in command in this whole operation, so he immediately dismissed the suggestion of the two agents behind him: ¡°This woman doesn¡¯t look right, we will wait here!¡± ¡°Uh¡­ Agent Hall, this is Benjamin, we saw a woman heading our way asking for help. We think she¡¯s pregnant.¡± another agent asked Agent Hall through the comms: ¡°Looks like she¡¯s not impacted by the circle from the wooden stakes. Please advise.¡± ¡°Stand down, stand down.¡± Agent Hall ordered: ¡°All agents, stand down, no matter what you see coming out of the area. Stand DOWN!¡± ¡°Mr. Yu? Can you hear us? We need your help here.¡± Agent Jill asked through the comms. Chapter 231 ¡°Stand your ground. Stay where you are and do not enter the circle.¡± Jianmen¡¯s voice reached all agents: ¡°There¡¯s something underground, I think they might be way above your paygrade. Do NOT act without my order. Stay in your positions.¡± ¡°Agent Hall, we see a pregnant woman too.¡± this time, another agent reported from a different position: ¡°What should we do?¡± ¡°Stay in your positions. I repeat, stay in your positions!¡± Agent Hall screamed through the comms, while he was carefully approaching the woman. No matter how hard he tried, he still could not make out what was wrong with this woman - on the surface that is. When he got closer, he could hear very vague traces of the creepy negative energy flow coming from the woman in front of him, and it was his suspicion that the source of the negative energy might not be the women themselves, but the babies in their bodies. ¡°Listen to him. Everyone, stay in your positions.¡± Agent Jill said: ¡°These women are not right - stay in your positions! This is an order, all agents, confirm you are back in your position immediately!¡± ¡°There¡¯s something wrong with their babies.¡± Agent Hall decided to say it through the comms: ¡°There¡¯s something wrong in there - it might not be human at all! I can hear something wrong coming from them! All agents stand down!¡± ¡°Help me! Please! I am in so much pain.¡± the woman in front of Agent Hall and Agent Jill cried and tried to crawl towards them. ¡°Agent Hall, they¡¯ve been soaked in this supposed holy rain for a while, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything wrong with them.¡± an agent in the comms said. ¡°THEY are not the issue. It¡¯s what¡¯s in their bodies!¡± Agent Jill agreed with Agent Hall: ¡°Stand the fuck down!¡± ¡°Screw you!¡± some agent cursed through the comms. ¡°Get back! Get back!¡± Agent Hall yelled at the comms, but no one responded. The woman in front of Agent Hall screamed and lunged forward all of a sudden at Agent Hall and Agent Jill. Her hands and arms reached outside the edge of the circle, but her chest and stomach was flattened by some kind of invisible wall. And through the abnormally thin skin on the woman¡¯s abdomen, all four agents could see something with claws was inside the woman¡¯s body. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. The sound of Wyvern Breath rang through the comms, and every agent could hear a devastated agent screaming: ¡°Agent Down! Agent Down! Do not approach the women! Die! You fucking bitch!¡± Agent Hall, Agent Jill and the two agents immediately backed off. ¡°Help...¡± the woman continued banging on the invisible wall, and her skin finally started to break off and shed, revealing slightly darkened and dead flesh underneath, the blood in her body was no longer flowing, but became some sort of foul smelling thick tar. Disturbing high pitched sound struck Agent Hall like a huge hammer to the head, if not for the enhanced earplugs he had on he would have fainted right on the spot. A piece of paper sigil burst into flames in Agent Jill¡¯s right hand, with the cover of her left arm, then she flung the burning sigil at the woman. The sigil ignited the woman¡¯s leg, and the heavy rain did not put the fire out. ¡°Wyvern Fire! Wyvern Fire!¡± Agent Jill yelled. The two agents behind Agent Jill and Agent Hall immediately opened fire - blue and purple flame shot from the nozzles of the flamethrower and engulfed the woman, who already lost half her skin by banging over the invisible wall. Jianmen was fond of Wyvern Flame for a good reason - the woman was not able to back off in time and only a small portion of her body remained when she fell down on the ground. Though none of the four agents were able to tell what the part that remained was, they could easily tell that it was definitely something unclean, because the moment it touched the rain it started to ash and emit smoke. A loud scream exploded from the small part that remained as it somehow leapt towards the invisible wall. This allowed the four agents to see what it was: a monster made of darkened flesh, in the shape of a human heart with three claws of different sizes and a long spine-like tail that allowed it to jump. They could not make out the details because the monster was still covered in flame. ¡°Fire! Fire!¡± Agent Jill and Agent Hall yelled at the comms at the same time. A huge bolt of orange and golden lightning struck the ground, dozens of holes opened up on the ground and hot spring water jetted from under the ground. One of these holes was right under the monster facing Agent Hall and Agent Jill, and instantly turned the monster into ashes and sprayed it all over the four agents. ¡°Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck!¡± the agents scrambled to get rid of the ash on their faces and clothes. Shortly after this, the rain stopped, the cloud cleared and the sun shone on San Francisco once again. The whole operation was an overwhelming success, one agent got injured by the monster, who actually had her heart impaled by the monster¡¯s long tail. If not for Jianmen immediately coming to her aid, she would¡¯ve died of bleeding. ¡°You¡¯ll be fine.¡± Jianmen told the injured agent before sending her to the hospital for follow-up: ¡°I left you a bit of a scar to remind you that you should always listen to me.¡± ¡°So, sir ¡­ is this done?¡± looking over the area, now a complete empty space with almost no buildings remaining and holes and craters everywhere, Agent Jill asked Jianmen. ¡°Yeah it¡¯s done. ¡± Jianmen shook his head and took out his flask: ¡°Tell Josephine I owe her dinner, I promised her this would go smoothly without a hitch.¡± ¡°It¡¯s as flawless as anyone could get done in three days sir.¡± Agent Hall said: ¡°We should have listened.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t blame you. I should¡¯ve added some more material, and a little bit of dye in there.¡± Jianmen said: ¡°I expected the evil here might take advantage of the dead bodies. I wanted to avoid damaging them too much so that maybe their families can one day come get some closure ¡­ but that ¡­ You¡¯ll have to forgive me, I haven¡¯t dealt with necromancy and evil spirits in quite a while.¡± ¡°I am still gonna say this is wonderfully done.¡± Agent Hall hesitated for a second, then said: ¡°And thank you Mr. Yu, I hope you realize how much we appreciate your help.¡± Chapter 232 ¡°No.¡± when Agent Jill asked if Jianmen could take her in as his student, Jianmen immediately shook his head: ¡°I would not be a good teacher for you. I think Josephine would be able to introduce you to a suitable mentor, so you could ask her if possible.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Agent Jill was calm, but she still seemed very disappointed: ¡°Thank you¡­ I¡­ I¡¯ll try.¡± ¡°If you have a P.O. box or a mailing address, you can send it to me.¡± Jianmen thought for a short while and said: ¡°I have some very basic documents I think could be of use to you. But remember, choose the path you want to go carefully, the art of exorcism and purification is one of faith and devotion, there¡¯s very little room for mistakes.¡± ¡°But, sir, you just blessed the rain and cleansed the evil in this place.¡± Agent Hall said: ¡°If you consider yourself unqualified, I don¡¯t know who would be.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a difference.¡± Jianmen sat down and took a sip from his flask: ¡°I did not ¡®bless¡¯ the rain per se, I just laced the cloud with a combination of enchanted materials, let it interact with lightning and dissolve in the rainwater. It¡¯s basically a kind of poison specifically concocted to target the unclean presence in this place. It would¡¯ve worked better if I had more time to analyze what we were dealing with. It does not heal anyone and does not grant goodwill or good luck, which would often come with blessings.¡± ¡°... sounds still like some kind of blessing to me.¡± Agent Jill said. ¡°Read the things I¡¯ll send you, and you¡¯ll see the difference.¡± Jianmen nodded and said: ¡°By the way, Agent Hall, you may wanna call a cleaning crew here. There are a lot more bodies than any of us previously expected. Just look into the crater in the middle of the area.¡± ¡°Understood, on it.¡± Agent Hall nodded and delivered several orders using the comms. ¡°Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me, I am going to look around and make sure there aren¡¯t any loose ends.¡± Jianmen patted on Agent Hall and Agent Jill¡¯s shoulders, then walked away from the area. ¡°Agent Hall, let me go and take a look at these bodies.¡± Agent Jill thought for a while, then walked up to Agent Hall. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go then.¡± Agent Hall already gathered a few volunteering agents by his side, and armed with refilled Wyvern Breath, they advanced on the position of the crater at the center of the area.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. When they reached the edge of the crater, they were able to see how big a crater it was, and that it exposed some underground chambers and tunnels. There were piles and piles of grey and white ash below, quite similar to the situation above on the ground, but to a much greater degree. It was understandable, because when the rain started falling, the monsters and other creatures roaming the area all burrowed below the ground. ¡°This is some disturbing shit down here.¡± an agent saw the claw marks on the stone and earth walls around them. ¡°Here, let¡¯s get down there.¡± Agent Hall found a tunnel leading to somewhere deeper, and signaled the agents to follow him. The agents descended the curling tunnel, and before long, they found an underground chamber, which looked like it was clawed out by monsters, but in an organized fashion. Inside the chamber, there were a few rectangle stone platforms, looking like beds. And on each of these stone platforms, was a full skeleton, almost completely buried in ashes. Agent Hall hesitated for a while, then turned to Agent Jill: ¡°Do you think...¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Agent Jill sighed with an upset look. With just a quick look, she was able to deduce that these were probably the same kind of pregnant women they saw on the ground: ¡°I ¡­ I can¡¯t imagine how fucked up this is.¡± ¡°Agent Jill, there might be other chambers like this.¡± Another agent on the side looked around and found another tunnel. When the agents walked through the tunnel, they indeed found another room, but it was a room with only one stoned bed, with one skeleton on it - but the skeleton did not look like that of a human. Because the fingerbones and tone bones looked particularly long, and the skull looked like the body had longer and wider jaw bones than human. ¡°Lycan.¡± Agent Jill gasped: ¡°We need to report to Ms. Wong.¡± ------------------------------------------------------------ Right in front of the Clearwater Municipal Hospital, Josephine Wong was waiting to enter through one of the wings, while a buddhist monk with a tall metal staff in hand and in a robe, and a middle aged Chinese woman in an ugly Lunar New Year sweater knitting a wool sock behind her. ¡°Are you sure you wanna go in alone, Ms. Wong?¡± the monk asked: ¡°This monk believes Simmons and Robinson could just watch the surroundings by themselves, and Pei and this monk could go in with you.¡± ¡°No need, I can safely handle myself.¡± Josephine Wong smiled and said: ¡°Plus, I don¡¯t want Pei to ruin her sock - it looks too comfy.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you nice. But I could just put it outside and come back to it.¡± Pei laughed and continued knitting: ¡°I can feel that this is way too dangerous for any of us to go in alone.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I am pretty good at stealth spells and hiding myself in hostile situations.¡± Josephine Wong showed off a silver color bracelet on her right wrist: ¡°And I have this, it¡¯s from Jianmen, the man I told you about. I was told it could basically make me invisible to all the unclean presence in there. So you just need to worry about the perimeters, I¡¯ll be fine. If it gets too dangerous I am still very capable of escaping.¡± ¡°If you insist, Ms. Wong, then may you be safe and blessed. This monk will be here and await your command.¡± the monk gently bowed and said. ¡°Thank you, Nameless. ¡± Josephine Wong nodded and faced the hospital building with a stern look: ¡°Okay, here we go.¡± Josephine Wong cast a simple spell to float herself a short distance above the ground, then she went into the building through a door on the north wing. Chapter 233 When Josephine Wong came inside of the hospital building, she realized that it was actually more lively than she expected. Maybe ¡°lively¡± was not the right word - in fact, if anyone thought about it, it would be a terrible word for it. The proper word should be ¡­ crowded. As Josephine Wong looked around, there were countless people in the hallway - nurses in scrubs, patients waiting and being treated in different rooms, a janitor cleaning up the ground near the elevator shaft, a doctor talking to some person in a suit. But the problem with these ¡°people¡±, was that they were not alive, they were not even there - they were like grey, old, dirty and sometimes broken mannequins moving like humans. Some of them even had huge strange gashes on their bodies from which ashes and crumbs of some sort were falling out. There were also no colors on these ¡°people¡±, whether it was skin tones or colors on their clothes, only different shades of grey. Josephine Wong floated slowly to one of the moving ¡°people¡± with a gash on its face and caught a tiny bit of the ash and crumbs. It turned out, that the ash and crumbs were some kind of construct from the dark energy that filled this entire hospital building, not that dissimilar to the dark liquid that maintained the integrity of the building. ¡°Memories.¡± Josephine Wong frowned and turned around, trying to find some patterns in the scene before her eyes. This was something she learned and studied while she was in the Grant Academy, this was something clustered malice that had been present for a while could do: dream. The collective consciousness and its need to maintain the most basic of sanity in order not to implode meant that clustered malice needed constant sleep, and in said sleep, the collective memories would play, just like some sort of holographic movies. Normally these memories were invisible to the human eye and would only be revealed under special circumstances, but as a skilled sorceress and spell caster, Josephine Wong could easily see all that was being projected from memories. The gashes on the ¡°people¡± and the lack of details were just symptoms of memories fading and deteriorating. The more these memories faded and deteriorated, the less sane this instance of clustered malice became, and judging from the state of decay of these memories, Josephine Wong could tell that there was still some time before it would implode and consume itself. The pattern was vague, but it was not that difficult to find: in the direction down the hallway and up a flight of stairs halfway across leading to the upper levels, the ¡°people¡± seemed more lifelike and had less damage to their mannequin-like body. So she just floated in that direction.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. When Josephine Wong made it to the second floor of the north wing, the ¡°people¡± in the area had basic facial features, fingers and hair, some of which even had eyes with pupils. When Josephine Wong looked around and tried to find further patterns, a bald man in a suit walked down the stairs from the third floor with two men and a woman behind him. This bald man in a suit seemed to be the only one with detailed facial features, even his hair, his beard, his eyebrows and a small scar on his face were clearly visible. This man turned around, and yelled at two men and a woman behind him, his angry face seemed to indicate that he was quite upset with something these two men and a woman had said or done. The two men and a woman, on the other hand, though without detailed facial features and therefore whose facial expressions were hard to tell, clearly seemed to be unfazed by the man¡¯s angry reactions, instead, they each had a pen and a small notebook in their hands, and one of the men even seemed to be writing things on his notebook while being yelled at. ¡°Journalists.¡± Josephine Wong had a rough idea on who those two men and a woman were. The man saw that his anger did not serve him in any way, decided to go back upstairs and into his office, and before he did so he called on the security guards to have the three journalists removed from the premises of the hospital. Josephine Wong followed him to the third floor, and saw that the third floor, aside from this man¡¯s office room, only had a few rooms with ¡°people¡± in it. And the other rooms, while under the effect of the memories, were clouded with shades of dark red, just like dried blood, which seemed to be another of these rare instances where something in this hospital had colors other than grey on them. And amongst those rooms, there was one room with particularly vivid colors - the red marks around the room had layers, and even some particularly dark hand prints on its walls and dripping dark red liquid on its door. The man in a suit picked up a phone and dialed a number, which was memorized by Josephine Wong. She also clearly memorized the appearance of this bald man by heart, and decided that she would look up the information on this man immediately when she got out. Before she came here, she already ordered some of her most trusted team members to dig into the history of the Clearwater Municipal Hospital. The investigation was still incomplete when she came here, but from what she heard, there were some major gaps in public records about this place, apparently there was some cover up on the businesses that were going on in the hospital. When the bald man hung up the phone, he seemed to have heard some disturbance from the hallway outside, so he rushed out of his office to check it out. Josephine Wong followed the man outside, and the man ran to room 3-5-13, just when a nurse, whose face was somehow severely scratched, burnt and bashed to disfigurement was being dragged out of the room by a group of tall and buffed hospital staff. The man then burst into the room, just in time to see a mess - three patients that were tied to their beds were dead. And there were traces of dark liquid flowing from their bodies onto the ground. The faces of the three dead patients were seemingly intentionally blurred and only had the vague shapes of human faces. And as the streams of dark liquid from the dead patients¡¯ bodies slowly continued their flow towards the corners of the room, the memories being replayed in the room started getting more and more blurry. And without any sign or indication, the memories just stopped replaying. Chapter 234 Nameless and Pei waited outside of the building of the Clearwater Municipal Hospital for a while, both of them could sense the flow of dark energy inside of the building, and the presence of some dormant but still dangerous and deranged clustered malice inside. The malice and dark energy inside the building and buried underneath the ground around it seemed to have even polluted the air and the sky above. The sky was almost always grim in the area around the hospital. And if one listened carefully, they could tell that there were also faint cries, moans and curses in the air. Even when the sun rose, the sunlight seemed to have trouble reaching the surface of the building and even the ground, which made the air always chilly, even numbing. ¡°Nameless, what do you think we should do to deal with this?¡± Pei continued knitting, when she finished one sock she just moved on to another sock: ¡°To be honest, I am curious why this was never seriously reported and we just heard about it recently. If this thing woke up, we¡¯d probably have another San Francisco at our hands.¡± ¡°Namo Amitabha.¡± Nameless gently bowed towards the building: ¡°This monk dares not presume the undercurrent of our current situation. Ms. Wong is blessed and devoted, she will persevere. As for the means to cleanse this building, this monk thinks it requires ninety-nine virtuous monks to gather around, form a grand Demon Suppression Array and chant the scriptures in unison for ninety-nine days to weaken its influence on the environment, its foundation and integrity. Then we should tear down the ceilings, non weight bearing walls and windows to expose it to sunlight for a whole year, with a constant flow of virtuous monks chanting different Demon Suppression scriptures this whole time.¡± ¡°Yeah I was thinking that I would do something quite different. I would install nine blessed and enchanted swords at nine spots around the whole area, then build a tall metal tower using special alloy with engravings on its body on the top of the entire building. Then I will have the metal rods from the tower run through the main body of the building and connect them to the swords. The tower will attract lightning just like a lightning rod, then purify and condense the energy, directing the energy flow through the entire building. And this would allow us to cleanse the building with the power of lightning.¡± ¡°Pei, this method is indeed well thought out - the punishing power of lightning will surely disintegrate the unclean presence from inside and through its core. It would strike the evil down with the gods¡¯ fury and grace.¡± Nameless thought for a while, then conceded: ¡°At the time of grave impending danger, the more time it takes, the more potential danger we impose on the innocent people around.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°No no - your method is more stable and cautious.¡± Pei put down the half-finished sock and said while shaking her head: ¡°Swords are sharp, lightning bolts descended from the sky are explosive. But neither is defensive enough to guard the world from the backlash of this clustered malice. Even with the smallest miscalculation, the sword array could break and all our efforts would have just served as the jolt that woke the malice up.¡± ¡°The monks could have served as a suppressive seal instead.¡± Nameless said: ¡°We could try to figure it out - this monk thinks it¡¯d be a case where the secrets of our Demon Suppression Array should not be kept. For the peace and safety of the innocent, there¡¯s little to value in keeping this a secret.¡± ¡°Thank you Nameless, and I¡¯d be happy to share with you all I¡¯ve had.¡± Pei chuckled: ¡°But, that aside, let¡¯s discuss this with Ms. Wong, she¡¯s out now.¡± Through the same door she went in, Josephine Wong came out of the hospital building while floating at a small distance from the ground. To the relief of both Nameless and Pei, she was not harmed in any way. ¡°What did you find, Ms. Wong?¡± Pei asked. ¡°Lucky for us - this thing dreams and its dreams are quite coherent and¡­ interesting.¡± Josephine Wong said while drowned in her thoughts: ¡°And unlucky for us, this is someone else¡¯s mess that we would have to clean up. Pei, what do you know about some of the malice cultivation experiments that went on in the past couple of decades?¡± ¡°I am not an expert, but I know a thing or two. And I may have heard of some occurrences from the old days.¡± Pei thought for a short moment and answered: ¡°So, is it true? The clustered malice here ¡­ is cultivated? Who could have done it?¡± ¡°WAS cultivated.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head and said: ¡°From what I can tell, the core is no longer being maintained, the maintainer either died, or more likely, was consumed by it and might have even become one with it. So its sanity is deteriorating, I am not sure how long it can hold itself together.¡± ¡°We need to construct a protective array around the area right away. If it imploded, we would at least be ready to prevent the malice from spreading.¡± Pei exchanged looks with Nameless: ¡°Nameless and I were just discussing this - we could collaborate and make this protective array, and at the same time prepare for cleansing this entire building.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go back to our headquarter first.¡± Josephine Wong took out a piece of paper and lightly tapped on it, a portrait of a bald man started appearing on it. It took a short while, but the portrait eventually became detailed and lively just like a high definition picture. ¡°Ms. Wong.¡± Robinson and Simmons landed right next to three of them: ¡°No disturbance in the surrounding area.¡± ¡°Good, at least it hasn¡¯t spread yet.¡± Josephine Wong sighed in relief. Chapter 235 ¡°Now, welcome back everyone! ¡± in the student duel ring, the referee was still Professor Barnes. The difference between this time and last time, was that there were floating chairs, benches, sofas and even carpets in the air with students and faculty on them watching over the student duel ring, and there were members of the school administration watching the duel along with other audience members: ¡°Thank you very much for your patience! Today, before we start, let me we have three distinguished guests among us - let me proudly pronounce them: Professor Randall Collins, headmaster of the Anderson House, and Professor Dorothea Clarkson, headmistress of the Martin House, and Mr. Tamil Brooke, here as the representative of the academy board!¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson was the beautiful sorceress wearing a red robe with white stripes on it standing on an invisible platform near the duel ring; Professor Randall Collins was the wizard wearing some kind of clothing that seemed to be a combination of a suit and a wizard robe. Both of them waved at the audience as the audience cheered at them. ¡°Now, all of you should know me already, my name is Professor Barnes, headmaster of Hellbruck House, here at your referee and announcer.¡± Professor Barnes slowly walked through the center of the duel ring, ¡°Now, without further adieu, let¡¯s see who will be facing off next!¡± There were only four more silver balls in the metal cage, and before long, two more metal balls fell from the cage. ¡°Our next face-off is¡­ Aimee Chaver versus Robert Hendricks!¡± ¡°Boooooo!¡± this time the majority of the audience were not happy with the face-off pairing, and waves of boos and curses exploded from the audience. ¡°Silence!¡± Professor Barnes shouted with a stern tone, and a ring of shockwave burst from where he stood, instantly silencing the booing audience: ¡°The chances are decided at random, and we are all bound by the rules of the student duel. The challenged party chose random face-off, and randomly chosen opponents both parties will face. No dispute is going to be admitted. Ms. Chaver and Mr. Hendricks, please be ready.¡± Robert Hendricks flew onto the ring wearing a suit of dark red leather armor and holding a red crystal ball in his right hand. While Aimee came onto the ring with two shining silver scimitars in her hands and one silver hand crossbow hanging by her leg. Professor Barnes skimmed at the silver scimitars and hand crossbow, then he subtly turned around to give Jason a thumb up. ¡°Are you ready for your defeat?¡± Robert Hendricks started trash talking when standing If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Alright, on my mark! Three¡­ two¡­ ¡°... ONE!¡± When Professor Barnes¡¯ countdown was done, Aimee immediately lunged forward wielding her two silver scimitars, one scimitar swinging from up high aiming at Robert Hendricks¡¯ head, and the other swinging horizontally, aiming at Robert Hendricks¡¯ waist. As the two scimitars cut through the air, small traces of light blue magical energy concentrated on the edge of the scimitars, coating the blade in a very thin layer of ice. Last time when Taylor Jensen faced off against Thomas, he was taken down by a quick and sudden attack using two civilian weapons. So this time, Robert Hendricks came more prepared - the moment the fight started, he spared no time to guard himself per the coachings of Professor Dorothea Clarkson, by conjuring a thin fire shield using a simple but instant spell. ¡°Poof!¡± when Aimee¡¯s scimitars collided with the thin fire shield, the two silver energy construct blades simply sliced through the shield like a piece of cardboard paper. The thin fire shield did not even last for one second before it was struck to four pieces and scattered into the air into tiny sparks. Though prepared to see this kind of result, Robert Hendricks was still shocked that the shield was broken so easily. And in a moment of rush and haste, he waved his crystal ball in front of him and unleashed a wave of scorching flame. Aimee slammed her right feet against the ground, and just like someone with the training of kung fu, she was able to swiftly move to the side and was only barely touched by the edge of the wave of fire, with parts of her clothes charred. With her body in a slightly lower position, Aimee spun her body and delivered a sweeping kick against Robert Hendricks¡¯ ankles. Robert Hendricks seemed way too inexperienced to deal with close combat martial arts moves like this, and he was thus swept down on the ground. ¡°Now!¡± Aimee roared and swung her scimitar in her right at Robert Hendricks¡¯ chest. The dark red leather lit up in red light, a sudden force pushed Robert Hendricks away, and Aimee¡¯s scimitar cut into the ground, with almost the whole blade sunken in. Aimee tried to pull the scimitar out, but she had to jump to the side then back off because of an incoming fireball and a spinning wind blade. Aimee retrieved the hand crossbow from her back and pulled the trigger, a short silver bolt with a piece of ice embedded in the head of the bolt. Not able to conjure another fire shield, Robert Hendricks tried to block the bolt using his red crystal ball. And when the tip of the bolt clashed into the crystal ball, a fiery shockwave erupted, knocking the silver bolt to the side and sending Aimee in the air. The piece of ice in the head of the bolt exploded shortly after impact, releasing dozens of sharp ice shards in all directions. They would have caused Robert Hendricks a lot of trouble, if not for the fiery shockwave melting and evaporating them in midair. ¡°Rain of Fire and wind blades, now.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson¡¯s voice resounded in Robert Hendricks¡¯ ears. Robert Hendricks was barely able to stabilize his position, and when he heard his mentor¡¯s voice, he raised the red crystal ball in the air and infused it with his magical power without a moment of hesitation. The red crystal ball lit up once again, and hundreds of shrapnels of fire rained down from the sky, covering a large area right in front of Robert Hendricks. And with a small delay, he extended his left hand forward and shot three wind blades at Aimee¡¯s direction, just to cover any angles in which she might escape. Aimee tried to get away from the area targeted by this attack, but the area was way too big for her to get away with such a small time window. What made the situation worse, was some of the shrapnels seemed to have the ability to target her specifically and changed their course while still falling. And with three wind blades advancing on her position, she had practically no chance of getting out of these attacks. It was not long before the protective shield was auto-triggered and Aimee was sent safely outside the duel ring. Chapter 236 ¡°It¡¯s okay, you did good.¡± Glenda Grimes patted on Aimee¡¯s shoulder when she walked to the sidelines: ¡°He¡¯s wearing a full suit of armor made from some kind of monster hide - it borders on cheating. The rules of student duel have some very strict and detailed restrictions on what kind of weapons students can use, but there¡¯s not much on what kind of armor they could wear. Without that armor, you¡¯d have won.¡± Aimee sighed and shook her head: ¡°Didn¡¯t change the fact that I lost - there¡¯s no fair fight.¡± ¡°And what a great gift you have in learning martial arts.¡± Caroline hugged Aimee gently and looked her in the eye: ¡°You did good.¡± Now, with four face-offs, the side of Jason, Caroline, Thomas and Aimee had one draw, one win and one loss. The final face-off would be between Caroline and Caleb Hoffman. After announcing the results, Professor Barnes walked to the side and said to Aimee and Thomas: ¡°You two did good, and as headmaster of the Hellbruck House, I now announce that our training facilities would be open to you. And if you would like, I can offer you some training courses from our house.¡± ¡°Thank you Professor Barnes, we would need to think about it, and discuss with Ms. Grimes.¡± Thomas exchanged looks with Aimee, then turned to Professor Barnes and replied. ¡°No problem, take your time.¡± Professor Barnes laughed and went back to the center of the duel ring: ¡°That was a wonderful fight! And just to remind everyone, who might, or might not be keeping scores. We have one win for the challenger, one draw, and one win for the challenged. Now we have our final face-off, please welcome Ms. Caroline Baker and Mr. Caleb Hoffman!¡± Caroline walked into the ring, holding the training axe and shield borrowed from the school¡¯s armory. And Caleb Hoffman simply hopped onto the ring, with a long single edged sword shaped like a katana. ¡°A pleasure to make your acquaintance.¡± Caleb Hoffman gently bowed towards Caroline, then took out his long sword and displayed it on his hands: ¡°My name¡¯s Caleb Hoffman, this was my sword before I came to the academy. My current sword does not fit the requirement of the student duel, therefore I bring this with me. I practice my family martial art - Sword of Hail and Snow, and my power elementals are wind and ice.¡± ¡°Nice¡­ nice to meet you.¡± Caroline was confused for a brief moment, then she also gently bowed and said: ¡°My name¡¯s Caroline Baker, I practice a martial art named Skill and Form of Flow and True Self, and the cultivation method of Scripture of Jade and Amber. My power is fire. Pleasure to make your acquaintance.¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Alright! You two have met! Start on my mark!¡± Professor Barnes nodded at Caleb Hoffman in approval: ¡°Three¡­. two ¡­ one!¡± Caleb Hoffman moved, leaving a trail of fog and mist behind. The speed of his movement was so fast, that even when prepared, Caroline still could not catch up to him in time. ¡°Clank!¡± the edge of Caleb Hoffman¡¯s sword clashed with Caroline¡¯s shield, but when Caroline swung her axe at the sword attempting to knock the sword out of Caleb Hoffman¡¯s hand, he already backed away and sidestepped with the sword drawn and ready to deliver another attack. When the long sword cut through the air, it made a kind of pleasant sound. And when it reached the end of its trajectory, a thin ice blade shot through the air, aiming right at Caroline¡¯s leg. Caroline lowered her shield just in time, with fiery energy coated on the surface of the shield, making the shield extra sturdy and resilient. With a loud cracking sound, the ice blade was completely fractured when it connected with the fiery shield, turning into thin pieces of ice everywhere. Caroline¡¯s arm shook lightly, and thus the impact from the ice blade was no more. Caleb Hoffman narrowed his eyes - he expected that his ice blade attack would not have much effect, but he did not expect that Caroline would be able to handle the attack with such ease. After only a brief moment of hesitation, Caleb Hoffman ran across parts of the duel ring swinging his long sword. A flurry of Ice blades and wind blades started shooting at Caroline from different angles. Caroline held her shield before her, with her Xuanli fully activated. A much bigger fiery shadow of her shield emerged from the shield, and none of the wind and ice blades were able to break through or disturb her stance. Seeing that his flurry attacks were not able to do much, Caleb Hoffman lunged at Caroline with the long sword held up high, and with a full force downward swing, he unleashed one much bigger and sharper wind blade, with hundreds of smaller and thin sharp ice shards embedded within. ¡°Boom!¡± the wind blade exploded on impact with the fiery shield, Caroline¡¯s stance was finally shaken, forcing her to take a few steps backwards. But when Caleb Hoffman was about to take another swing, Caroline bashed her axe on the shield, unleashing a huge fiery shockwave in his general direction. Fiery shockwave left quite a mark on the student duel ground, but it did not affect Caleb Hoffman, because he already leapt to the side using his superior speed. Almost right at the exact moment Caroline pulled her weapons back into positions, Caleb Hoffman took a swift and sudden stab aiming at Caroline¡¯s left shoulder, which happened to be exposed due to Caroline¡¯s prior movements. Caroline lowered her body and raised her shield to deflect the stabbing attack. Then she felt that her shield took a heavy strike on the corner, and though she was able to deflect the stab and pushed the long sword a short distance up, a big chunk of the shield cracked and flew off behind her. Caroline¡¯s axe swung semi-horizontally from low to high aiming at Caleb Hoffman¡¯s wrist. Caleb Hoffman reacted in time and switched the position of the long sword - with its edge facing Caroline¡¯s axe head on. After a deafening sound of metal cutting and breaking, the blade of Caroline¡¯s axe was cut in half, with its upper half directly flying off to the edge of the duel ring. Even though Caleb Hoffman was able to destroy Caroline¡¯s axe with this strike, his sword-holding arm still absorbed a lot of the impact from Caroline¡¯s swing. This caused his arm to be thrown to the side, and the sword almost flew off from his grasp. Seizing the opportunity, Caroline let go off the broken axe and shield. Both her hands turned to fists and struck forward at Caleb Hoffman¡¯s chest in unison. ¡°Boom!¡± Caroline was thrown back into the air by some kind of sudden explosion, while Caleb Hoffman¡¯s whole body was enclosed inside of a protective bubble, which floated in midair and sent him off to the outside of the duel ring. Chapter 237 ¡°It is my honor and pleasure to announce, the first student duel of this semester and this year. The winner is the challenged team! Let us offer our applause and congratulations to them - Ms. Caroline Baker, Ms. Aimee Chaver, Mr. Jie Lin and Mr. Thomas Chaver!¡± Professor Barnes seemed genuinely proud and happy for the results: ¡°Thank you everyone for coming to witness this, dare I say, historical event!¡± ¡°Now, let¡¯s continue with the final stage of our duel!¡± Professor Barnes continued: ¡°Though never specified, it is still the convention of student duels for the losing party to offer spoils to the winner party upon defeat. But, since this was not agreed upon by either party, the school administration offered to provide the spoils on behalf of all three houses. As the Headmaster of Hellbruck House, I am offering full access to all training facilities and two training methods for everyone of the challenged party. I sincerely hope, that they would be able to make good use of what we have to offer and get plenty out of it.¡± ¡°As the Headmaster of the Anderson House, I am offering full access to our libraries and labs, just like Professor Barnes did. And I am also offering one private course from our House to each individual of the winning party. May you take full advantage of the knowledge. As knowledge is the only thing of great and unparalleled value that you can always carry with you.¡± Professor Randall Collins laughed and peeked at Professor Dorothea Clarkson with a cunning smile and said. Dorothea Clarkson knew this was some kind of a trap the moment Professor Barnes said about facilities and courses, but this trap was not something she could get out of. So after a short hesitation, she said: ¡°Since two headmasters offered their facilities and private courses, it will be redundant of me to offer the same thing. But it does not matter - I am offering each of the winning party one second tier artifact of their own choosing from the Martin House¡¯s collections. You have till the end of this year to claim it. May you choose wisely and may it help you on your path to wisdom and greatness.¡± Some from the crowd cheered while others booed, as Professor Dorothea Clarkson and Professor Randal Collins turned and walked away while waving their hands at the audience. The challenger team rushed away from the duel ring, following the lead of Taylor Jensen. ¡°Hold on! Hold on for a second.¡± before Aimee and Thomas were about to leave with Caroline and Jason, Professor Barnes called out to them. ¡°Professor Barnes, can we help you?¡± Jason asked. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°First of all, I would like to congratulate you on your wonderful performance during this duel.¡± Professor Barnes laughed and said: ¡°And I would like to remind you, though the spoils offered by the three houses are binding, you should still choose wisely and seek advice if you are unsure. Especially the artifacts offered by the Martin House, don¡¯t get tricked. Even though they¡¯re gonna be artifacts of the second tier, if you just choose randomly without careful consideration you might still end up with a useless piece of garbage.¡± ¡°Understood, thank you.¡± Caroline nodded, while thinking in her head that she may need to do a video chat with Jianmen in order to make the right choice. ¡°And just to remind you. I meant what I said, about offering you training.¡± Professor Barnes turned to Thomas and Aimee: ¡°You two are indeed talented, and I would love to help you become better warriors and fighters. I heard that you used to be police officers, which is quite a coincidence, since I also came from a family of law enforcement. I read your thesis on the identity of the serial murderer, the detective work is truly awesome.¡± ¡°Thank you very much professor.¡± Aimee nodded and said: ¡°We really appreciate it.¡± ¡°And you. Mr. Lin and Ms. Baker.¡± Professor Barnes turned to Jason and Caroline: ¡°I¡¯d like to offer you the same thing - but I could tell that you already have a trainer who spent time crafting and tailoring your training, so I would not presume it appropriate of me in offering such the same thing. But I¡¯d assure you, if you two want sparring partners, you can always find them in our house.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± Caroline and Jason said at the same time. ¡°And Ms. Baker, please answer me this - let me preface by saying, that if you don¡¯t feel comfortable answering, just let me know and I won¡¯t pry.¡± Professor Barnes¡¯ facial expression was slightly serious when he asked. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ okay, but we might not be able to give you a definite answer.¡± Caroline exchanged looks with Jason, then said. ¡°I understand, I definitely understand.¡± Professor Barnes took some time to organize his thoughts and question: ¡°Ms. Baker, can you tell me, if you happen to be training with the guidance of a Paladin tome?¡± ¡°Paladin tome? What ¡­ what is that?¡± Caroline was a bit confused. ¡°You don¡¯t know about Paladin tomes?¡± Professor Barnes scratched his jaw. ¡°No...¡±Caroline and Jason exchanged looks again, both confused. ¡°No matter, no matter. I am just curious, because your shield stance and axe skills kinda remind me of some of the old lore and legends¡­ It just looked very similar.¡± Professor Barnes nodded, then patted on Caroline and Jason¡¯s shoulders: ¡°Thank you very much for your honest answer. And uh, please be careful not to mention anything about Paladin tomes to other people lightly.¡± ¡°No problem. Thanks again, professor.¡± Caroline and Jason both nodded and said. Just this moment, Glenda Grimes walked up to Aimee and Thomas and stepped up to Professor Barnes: ¡°Professor Barnes, anything else we can help you with?¡± ¡°Glenda, it¡¯s been a while.¡± Professor Barnes appeared embarrassed: ¡°It¡¯s okay, I just have a few questions. Now that I have my answers, you are free to go. Just don¡¯t forget to claim your spoils.¡± ¡°Surely we will.¡± Glenda Grimes appeared cold and distant when talking to Professor Barnes: ¡°We¡¯ll see you around, Professor Barnes.¡± Chapter 238 Inside the principal¡¯s office, Principal Hawke, Professor Dorothea Clarkson, Professor Randall Collins and Professor Barnes were gathered once more. And along with them in the office, were a tall and slim man wearing a pair of glasses and in a grey robe, and a similarly tall red headed woman in a dark blue robe with a full suit of tight leather armor underneath. Each of them was wearing a pair of glasses, and under the light on the ceiling of the office, their glasses were showing a light blue shine. ¡°Agents, thank you very much for coming.¡± Principal Hawke said to the slim man and a woman, while handing them two full folders: ¡°Your enrollment and registration papers are now fully prepared. You now have full access to all facilities in the entire academy. This should aid you in your investigation, please let us know what else we can help you with.¡± ¡°Thank you Principal Hawke.¡± the slim man took the folders from Principal Hawke and said: ¡°So first things first, we would like to have access to all of your documents and evidence from your internal investigation.¡± ¡°All of them?¡± Principal Hawke frowned, looked at the two headmasters and one headmistress in the office and asked: ¡°I¡¯m afraid we can¡¯t authorize that - we¡¯ll need to redact certain records because they contain certain sensitive information - ¡± ¡°We¡¯ll need all of them, without any redaction. That¡¯s non-negotiable.¡± the female agent said in an emotionless tone, without even looking at Principal Hawke: ¡°If you want our help, you¡¯ll need to come completely clean with us. All evidence and records should be open to us. And we will need full access to all students¡¯ living quarters and personal matters, even private rooms and private storage places.¡± ¡°No. That¡¯s grossly inappropriate.¡± all three top administrators from the three houses objected simultaneously. ¡°Agents, please understand that the academy takes in students from various prestigious families.¡± Principal Hawke said: ¡°And it¡¯s very common for all of them to carry secretive personal belongings when they come to the academy. So it¡¯d be highly offensive to these students and their families if you just invade their spaces like this.¡± ¡°That¡¯s easy, just give us a list of these students.¡± the male agent said: ¡°We¡¯ll know who to avoid.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°What, so the students with normal backgrounds should just let you go into their places and submit to your search?¡± Professor Hellbruck crossed his arms and asked: ¡°That¡¯s not it, we can¡¯t have that. You can have your investigation in our facilities and common area, but I¡¯ll not have you just blatantly prying around in our students¡¯ living quarters.¡± ¡°I agree. This is way over the line.¡± Professor Randall Collins nodded in agreement with Professor Barnes: ¡°We have the authority and even duty to decide for our facilities and our records, but we can¡¯t just decide for the students.¡± ¡°If not for your students, you wouldn¡¯t even be in this mess.¡± the female agent said. ¡°I agree, we could just provide a list of off-limits students. So that we could stay away from the potential backlash from those families and still keep the investigation as thorough as possible.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson said. ¡°That¡¯s an unfair proposition.¡± Professor Barnes said: ¡°More than half of YOUR students are from traditional and somewhat privileged families, but the absolute majority of our students are either from normal families or from civilian backgrounds. They would not be snooping around and disrespecting your students¡¯ privacy.¡± ¡°And most of the students from my house are not interested at all in fireworks or low level craftings that require the contaminated materials.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarks scoffed and said: ¡°We should just go with the most effective route and get this over with. Do you want this thing to drag on forever? Or do you want to get it over with?¡± ¡°And what? If you want this over, why don¡¯t you just do a mandatory search on all students and faculty and their personal belongings?¡± Professor Barnes scoffed: ¡°What kind of precedent are you trying to establish here? You wanna tell the students personally, that because they are not from prestigious families, they will just have to roll over and deal with the abuses of the administration?¡± ¡°Okay, enough!¡± Principal Hawke raised his voice and stood up from his chair: ¡°Agents, please excuse us. But can we set this issue aside for the moment? You are now granted full access to all facilities and libraries in the academy, as well as all of our notes and evidence from our own internal investigation. We will definitely let you know when we¡¯ve reached an agreement. In the meantime, agents, please feel free to contact any of us directly.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± the two agents exchanged looks, then the male agent nodded and said: ¡°We will start right away. But before that, please first take us to the living quarters.¡± ¡°Noted, please follow me.¡± Principal Hawke walked to the door: ¡°Let me take you there personally.¡± The two agents looked around the Principal¡¯s Office for a quick moment, then followed Principal Hawke out of his office. Professor Barnes shook his head, then walked out of the office without acknowledging either of the two professors still in the room. ¡°Headmistress, I¡¯ll go back to my experiment now.¡± Professor Randall Collins nodded at Professor Dorothea Clarkson, then headed out of the Principal¡¯s office following Professor Barnes¡¯ footsteps. Professor Dorothea Clarkson sighed, then went out of the principal¡¯s office, and started heading towards her own office. Chapter 239 It was lunch time, Jason was eating at the canteen alone this time, because Caroline just had another certain urge to go hunt in the student hunting ground and she just took off without eating anything. Jason was not adverse to hunting, but he was not as enthusiastic as Caroline, so he decided to come to the canteen and have lunch while reading the scroll documenting the healing spells Jianmen chose for him. ¡°Internal Fortification¡± was his first healing spell and was like the bottom node of a skill tree. And with ample practice on animals in the academy hunting ground or lab for practicing healing spells and even sometimes himself, Jason was confident that he was at least able to stall the effect of poison in a victim, should he be unfortunate enough to encounter another one. This spell did not seem to work too well with Caroline¡¯s healing spells when they tried on the same animal subject, mostly because their Xuanli seemed to have some minor conflict with each other. Whether it was ¡°Flame of Vitality¡± or ¡°Inner Fire of Three Suns¡±, Caroline¡¯s Xuanli seemed to ¡°melt away¡± the effect of Jason¡¯s spell, and Jason¡¯s Xuanli seemed to ¡°waste¡± the effects of Caroline¡¯s spells. They had the feeling that there was a way for their spells to synergize with each other, it was just that they didn¡¯t know what it was yet. ¡°Hey! Is this seat taken?¡± a familiar female voice asked. ¡°Umm, no.¡± Jason answered without looking up, at least not until the one with the voice sat down in front of him. When Jason looked up from his scroll, he saw that the girl who sat right in front of him was none other than Laura Jensen, the one he faced off against during his round of the student duel. ¡°Hi, can I help you?¡± Jason closed his scroll and asked. ¡°Yes and no. Depends.¡± Lauran Jensen chuckled and picked up a piece of meat from her plate: ¡°For example, how about we re-introduce ourselves? I believe we got off on a horribly wrong foot back there.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jason laughed and put down his fork and held his fist in front of him: ¡°My name is Jie Lin, you can call me Jason. I am a cultivator and I¡¯m here as an audit student.¡± ¡°Cultivator? I may be too out of touch, so I haven¡¯t heard of it. ¡± Laura Jensen scratched her jaw with a smile and said: ¡°My name is Laura Jensen, from the Jensen family. I am a sorceress, and by sheer luck, am also blessed with great affinity to the power of lightning.¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Nice to meet you Laura. ¡± Jason nodded: ¡°Sorry for being a bit ignorant - I came from a civilian background so I haven¡¯t heard of any prestigious magical families. May I know a thing or two about your family?¡± ¡°Hehe, it¡¯s okay.¡± Laura Jensen took a bite of her meat: ¡°It¡¯s nothing to brag about - we¡¯re just an old family with many branches and members in a bunch of different businesses. But our main expertise is arrays, contraptions and seals. What about you? You said you are a cultivator, and you possessed a kind of power I¡¯ve never seen before.¡± ¡°Well, I am not at liberty to say who my teacher slash tutor slash master is. But I can tell you this, it¡¯s just another kind of training. We practice martial arts, we meditate, we learn about our spells and arrays.¡± Jason answered with a smile on his face: ¡°We call the source of our power Xuanli, not mana ¡­ mojo¡­ or whatever you call them.¡± ¡°We just call it magical energy. ¡± Laura Jensen laughed out loud: ¡°You civilians and your video games - those names are fine and well, just kinda childish.¡± ¡°Why us civilians? You don¡¯t play video games?¡± ¡°Well - I¡¯m sure you can tell from the behavior of my younger brother that magical families are kind of condescending and not exactly the biggest admirer of civilian inventions.¡± Laura Jensen shook her head and said: ¡°I apologize on his behalf, by the way. And I want to thank you and your friends for giving him and his shithead buddy a lesson.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Jason also laughed: ¡°And it¡¯s fine, I¡¯ve been a teenager once as well.¡± ¡°So, how long have you been training?¡± ¡°If I estimate it fully, it¡¯d be a little over a year.¡± Jason scratched his face and said: ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°Just a little over a year?¡± Laura Jensen raised her voice unintentionally: ¡°How? Why? How is that possible!?¡± ¡°Well - I have a really good teacher.¡± Jason chuckled and took a bite: ¡°But to be honest, I don¡¯t even know much about the fighting style of the magical world? Are they just like the duels we had?¡± ¡°Meh, sometimes.¡± Laura Jensen made a ¡°kind of¡± hand gesture with her left hand, while she had a piece of melon on the fork in her right hand: ¡°You know, there¡¯s a ton of rules to duels already, not to mention student duels in the academy. But in real fights - bear in mind that even in these peaceful years there could still be many, things can just get much dirtier and nastier in a minute. I¡¯ve been in a few of them, one particular son of a bitch almost broke my spine even when I spared him.¡± ¡°Yeesh, sounds nasty, what happened?¡± ¡°Some fight against a group of rogue vampires and lycans.¡± Laura Jensen shook her head: ¡°They massacred a few civilian villages, even women and children. And I was accompanying my family on some field investigation, so we basically took law into our own hands and cornered them until the authorities came.¡± ¡°Wooh, nice!¡± Jason said, with a sense of approval and admiration: ¡°So, you Jensens are like one of those heroic families from my childhood stories.¡± ¡°Well, thank you. But we¡¯re not as heroic as you¡¯d think. ¡± Laura Jensen sighed and hesitated for a while: ¡°To be honest, most of us are still trying to live up to our good name and trying to outlive the bad reputation left by SOME members in our family tree.¡± ¡°Well, isn¡¯t it the same case for everyone with a big family tree?¡± Jason went silent for a while, then chuckled: ¡°I have an uncle, who sells drugs in San Jose. And he¡¯s not even that good of a drug dealer. And he could never keep his books in check.¡± Laura Jensen looked at Jason in the eye, and they laughed together. Chapter 240 ¡°Wait, what do you mean I can¡¯t go in?¡± at the entrance to the student hunting ground, Caroline asked the ranger on duty when she was handed her credentials back and was denied entrance. ¡°Sorry, Ms. Baker.¡± the ranger sighed and said: ¡°But this is the order of the principal and headmasters of all three houses. For anyone to enter the hunting ground, all parties must have at least three teammates for even the most basic game. And for your requested area, you¡¯d need at least five members in your party. And at least one member of your team should have the school¡¯s certificate for basic first aid knowledge and experience. This is because per the school administration¡¯s estimation, this is the safest way for students to continue their hunting activities without having to face too much danger. You can find your friends or classmates to come back with you. But I¡¯d recommend that you join a hunting group with enough people with experience.¡± ¡°Ugh, okay.¡± Caroline scratched her head: ¡°And how do I find these kinds of hunting groups? Is there some kind of message board, or forum, or is it some kind of exclusive invite only club?¡± ¡°Well, if you don¡¯t want to form a group on your own, there is indeed a hunting club you can join.¡± the ranger thought for a while then said: ¡°They¡¯re pretty strict on their recruiting standards, so you can try your luck there.¡± Then he handed Caroline a piece of metal card: ¡°This is their recruiting card. They¡¯ll be holding a meeting soon, you can go and ask them.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Caroline took the metal card and carefully examined it, it had the patterns of a bow docked with a few arrows, and a crossbow with a few bolts laid around it. On the center of the card was a countdown clock, and under the clock was an address - it pointed to a meeting room in the Hellbruck House, which interested Caroline even more, because though she was granted full access to the facilities of the Hellbruck House, she had yet to visit the huge castle made of an entire piece of volcano. ¡°Sounds fun, I will go and have a look.¡± ¡°Good luck.¡± the ranger nodded and waved Caroline goodbye. After grabbing a quick bit at the canteen, Caroline headed directly to the building of the Hellbruck House. Maybe it was because the entire building was made from an entire piece of volcano, or maybe it was because of the gentle bright yellow and orange lights hanging from the ceiling, when Caroline entered the building, she felt a sense of warmth radiating from all corners of the interior. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. It must have taken the original builders of this castle a lot of work to make the whole castle what it was today - the hallways and lounges were quite spacious with ceilings that were on average about two times the height of Caroline; the walls were slightly rugged but looked like it was by design; and the pillars inside the building all had very well crafted relief sculptures depicting different heroic battles on them. ¡°Hi, welcome to the Hellbruck House, what can I do for you?¡± there was a temporary information stand at the entrance, with a few students and faculty in dark red robes and wearing shiny red brooches greeting wandering passers by. ¡°Yes, thank you!¡± Caroline showed one of the students the metal recruiting card: ¡°I¡¯m looking for this room - looks like the meeting starts in about half an hour? I want to try and see if I can join a hunting group.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah yeah yeah not a problem. Let me take you there.¡± the student stared at Caroline for a few seconds the said while extending his hand towards Caroline: ¡°I think they¡¯ll be happy to have you on board, Ms. Baker. My name is Grayson, pleasure to meet you.¡± ¡°Thank you, and nice to meet you!¡± Caroline followed the student while feeling a bit embarrassed that the student recognized her: ¡°What¡¯s the occasion today? I don¡¯t presume you have information stands every day?¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing special.¡± Grayson laughed out loud: ¡°We have that for two days every week. It¡¯s sort of a tradition of our house, because we have the best training grounds in the academy, and we rent some of those training grounds out to students of other houses. So the house administration recruits students to serve as guides and free training consultants to answer simple questions from all students regarding battle tactics, martial arts and all the related stuff.¡± ¡°Interesting. Do all houses have this?¡± ¡°No, just us. Because - I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve heard, but we are kinda known for being the ones passionate about battle tactics and training.¡± Grayson answered: ¡°We actually have more training grounds than classrooms, and many of them can actually be kinda dangerous if you¡¯re not ready.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s good. I wonder how good they are? And how much do they cost?¡± ¡°Professor Barnes already granted you full access to all our facilities, that includes the training grounds. So you just need to sign in and wait your turn for most of them - there are a couple of especially popular or dangerous ones you¡¯ll need to apply for just like students of our house.¡± Grayson stopped at a meeting room with an arched door and shining obsidian door frame: ¡°Now, here you are, you can wait inside.¡± ¡°Thank you Grayson.¡± just this moment, male student who was a bit shorter than Caroline but had wide shoulders and muscular arms came out of the door and nodded at Grayson, then he turned to Caroline: ¡°Ms. Baker. Welcome to Daryl¡¯s Hunting Club. My name¡¯s Marco, I am a coordinator of the club.¡± ¡°Alright, good luck!¡± Grayson bumped fists with Marco and waved Caroline goodbye. ¡°Um, you can just call me Caroline.¡± Caroline chuckled and said: ¡°Ms. Baker seems way too formal.¡± ¡°No problem, Caroline.¡± Marco showed Caroline into the meeting room and led her to a table: ¡°Are you here because of the new restrictions on entry to the hunting ground?¡± ¡°Well¡­ yeah.¡± Caroline was a bit embarrassed by her answer. ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay.¡± Marco gently patted on Caroline¡¯s shoulder: ¡°But, as per the by-laws of the club, we¡¯d need to put you up for the same tests as the other applicants.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. Thank you very much for the opportunity!¡± Chapter 241 ¡°Greetings everyone, thank you all so much for coming.¡± inside of a reservation-only spacious lab with a lot, Carl stood near a podium and announced to all members of the arrays and circles club with Jason by his side: ¡°And today, we have a new member to our club, you may have already recognized him from the previous student duel - please welcome Mr. Jason Lin!¡± ¡°Woo!¡± ¡°Jason! Welcome!¡± the members in the room cheered and welcomed Jason. ¡°Thank you everyone. And thank you Carl for introducing me. I¡¯m just here to learn. So please continue.¡± Jason stood up and gently bowed to everyone. ¡°Alright.¡± when Jason went back to his seat, Carl clapped his hands, and a giant silver screen dropped down on the wall behind him. Then, someone from behind the sitting members of the club placed a projector and started projecting onto the screen: ¡°Now, everyone, we¡¯ve brought a recording of an old lecture from Mr. Patterson, on the basics and common areas of mistake in crafting and utilizing purifying arrays. We all know that Mr. Patterson is one of the best scholars on the art of purifying arrays in the world, and he¡¯s arguably the best in the academy. So this might just be one of the best gifts a club could have to welcome a new member. Now, please sit tight and enjoy!¡± The countdown started on the giant silver screen, which gave Jason a feeling as if he was watching a movie. ¡°Now, everyone, welcome to my lecture.¡± Pratt Patterson showed up on the screen, with a poof of smoke and some kind of fiery special effect around him, wearing a bright red suit with a shiny blue gem on his chest and a pair of sunglasses with a golden frame: ¡°I hope you¡¯re ready for a wonderful presentation! And in this presentation, I will be imparting about one percent of my knowledge and experience on the crafting and utilization of purifying arrays. I will be using simple terminology and simple analogies to make sure it will be as accessible as an instant noodle cooking manual. If you¡¯re watching this, hope you¡¯re not too stupid to have trouble with what I¡¯m about to say.¡± This attitude was rather arrogant yet somehow it worked for Pratt Patterson, maybe it was because of his flamboyant clothing, or maybe it was because of his bright smile and white teeth. ¡°... So before we dive into the details, let me ask you this - what is purification? Why do we need purification? To answer the first question, you would first need to understand the answer to the second one.¡± Pratt Patterson sat down by a chair made of a whole piece of red crystal and pointed at a celestial globe made of gold to his left: ¡°I trust that you all know some kinds of method for purification, but I think some of you - yeah, you! You! And YOU! Some of you may have already realized that purification was all about two things: one is to extract the things we want from the impurities, the other is to filter the impurities away from the core material we want.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°And do note this - the more complex the composite, the harder it is to actually purify. And thus, the practice of purification had advanced way more on the front of simply extracting the material, and less about filtering the impurities. The reason being, it is way simpler to have the arrays to resonate with the few things we want than to have them resonate with the impurities.¡± ¡°But here¡¯s my first lesson to you - don¡¯t restrict yourself to one thing - make sure you understand the composite before you start the purification. You may have heard of unwanted but similar kinds of materials resonating with the array and being extracted with the material you want, which lead to the requirement of further purification. Now, think of this another way - if you know a thing or two about some of the impurities, and you make your array resonate with them to filter them out, you¡¯d end up filtering more than what you may be planning for. ¡°And, here¡¯s another thing you may find interesting ¡­.¡± -------------------------------------------- ¡°Now, welcome to the first of three rounds of tests to determine your eligibility into Daryl¡¯s Hunting Club.¡± at the entrance of a very wide training ground with bows, crossbows, targets and various melee weapons lying around on the ground, Marco said to all ten of the candidates applying for a membership of the hunting club: ¡°And we will keep scores for everyone. Don¡¯t worry we won¡¯t be selecting only the top contenders. You will accumulate at maximum ten points at each test, and if you have twenty four or more points at the end of all three tests, you would be granted our membership.¡± ¡°Now first up, bow skills.¡± a girl in a grey blue hood with two daggers strapped to her left leg told the contenders: ¡°You can choose any bow here you¡¯d like. But you can¡¯t use any of your powers, which includes magic and other gifts. You each have five shots, each shot is worth two points, and as long as your arrow touches the targets, you will get your points.¡± Then, she raised her right hand and ten round wooden targets with the diameter of coffee cups rose from the ground and were stabilized on the wall behind her. ¡°Stay behind the yellow line on the ground, please take your time to choose your bow.¡± Caroline thought for a short while, then she picked up a wooden longbow, then she picked up five arrows and started testing the bow¡¯s pull strength and tried aiming it at her target. ¡°Ting!¡± when all ten contenders went behind the yellow line, one girl wearing a light blue sorceress robe already shot her first arrow, it landed on the wall just a few inches away from her target, and was bounced off the wall on which the targets were hanging. ¡°Fire your arrows carefully. ¡± the girl in a grey blue hood reminded all contenders. Caroline took a deep breath, slowly pulled the string back, then gently released her string. ¡°Crack!¡± the metal arrow head scraped the edge of Caroline¡¯s target, knocking the target a bit to the side and leaving a white mark on the target. ¡°Two points to Ms. Baker.¡± the girl in a grey blue hood smiled. Chapter 242 Caroline took about five minutes to fire all five of her arrows, which made her the third last one of the contenders to finish the first round of her tests. ¡°Ms. Caroline Baker, ten points.¡± the girl in a grey blue hood announced with a wide smile, when the last arrow from Caroline landed bounced off the wooden target, just a few hairs¡¯ width away from the center: ¡°Now, everyone, take your time with your bows, but don¡¯t take too long.¡± When the first round of tests was done, Marco led the rest of the contenders to another training ground - there were only five contenders left, because all the other five contenders either landed only one arrow or did not land any arrows at all - the points they lost already disqualified them, thus it would be pointless for them to continue. The next round was hosted by someone who looked quite a bit like Marco, but was more muscular than Marco and was wearing a sleeveless leather vest, revealing his tanned and scarred arms. ¡°The next round is not about battle skills. But about field processing and butchering skills.¡± Marco told the rest of the five contenders: ¡°And the judge to hold this round of test, would be my brother Paulo. Paulo, take it away.¡± ¡°Alright, folks. ¡± Paulo walked to the five remaining contenders: ¡°Our club is a hunters¡¯ club, which means our passion is not simply about hunting down game and bringing them to the rangers at our academy student hunting ground. It¡¯s also about actually hunting in the actual fields, and even in special magical realms. In our academy hunting ground, you can just kill your game and bring it to the rangers, the rangers will handle some of the most important tasks for you, just to make your lives easier while you hunt. These tasks include basic field processing, butchering of your prey for long term storage, and your knowledge and experience in safety precautions when dealing with dangerous game. So for this test, each of you would be assigned a simulated game and a set of tools, you are also given a scenario. You are to field process or butcher your game accordingly, keep the scenario you¡¯re assigned in mind. For example, if you¡¯re assigned a wild boar and your scenario requires you to preserve the bristles, then think about making sure the bristles are intact when you process them. In this round, you are allowed to use your powers but there¡¯s a catch, the more power you use, the harsher we will judge you. And you are guaranteed five points if you do not use any power at all. Now, behold your test subjects.¡± When Paulo finished his last sentence, members of the club pushed out five wooden boxes onto the training ground. Each wooden box had a number on it. ¡°Now, come over here and draw your number.¡± Paulo took out a cloth pouch and said. Caroline took the first draw because Paulo handed her the pouch first, and she took out a round marble with number ¡°3¡± on it. The box with number 3 on it contained a simulated body of a wolf. To say it was a dummy would be a gross understatement, because it not only looked very livelike, when Caroline touched and felt its texture, it was almost just like the body of a real wolf. The box also contained several knives, a pair of gloves, a pouch of salt, a box of ginger and garlic, a metal tube and a rubber tube and a metal clamp. There was a small piece of paper with texts on it describing her scenario: ¡°You are in a wild hunt and you are at least two days of traveling away from the nearest human town. This is the body of a Swamp Serpentine Wolf - a kind of poisonous wolves with poison glands in their throats and tails. You are tasked with delivering at least one of these poison glands to the town. Its teeth, fur and spine are also worth quite a bit on the market. Preserve as much as you can.¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°You¡¯ll have twenty minutes to do as much as possible.¡± Paulo said, ¡°Starting right now.¡± Caroline thought for a short minute then looked at each of the other contenders - it looked like each of the remaining five contenders got a different simulated game and a different set of tools, which made sense because this way they would not be able to copy each other¡¯s actions so easily. Caroline first ran her hands through the simulated wolf body, especially its throat and its long and extendable tail - she could feel that there were indeed two glands underneath. Then, she looked over at the tools she was given and chose a knife with a long straight blade and the smallest knife with a curved edge. First is the gland in the throat, Caroline used the knife with a long straight edge to create a thin long opening on the wolf¡¯s neck, then pulled the opening apart using her hand in gloves. The internal parts of the wolf¡¯s body were not as well simulated - they showed a rubbery texture, and there was some red thick liquid to simulate blood but not enough to cloud the visibility. This was quite friendly to the contenders, since per Caroline¡¯s experience blood was one of the biggest source of imprecise cuts for newbie hunters. And even for relatively experienced hunters, blood still made it hard for them to process unfamiliar game. After pulling the shallow parts of the opening apart, Caroline continued to cut deeper using both knives: the straight long knife for creating new openings, and the small curved knife for separating tissues and to widen openings. It wasn¡¯t long before Caroline found the poison gland - it was thin, long and had a dark green color. And since the gland looked quite fragile, Caroline decided to carve the whole surrounding area out instead of separating only the gland within the time limit. The whole process took a bit over twelve minutes, which was more than half the time limit. But now that she was more familiar with the rough structure of the simulated wolf body, she was able to do it much faster when it came to the gland in the wolf¡¯s tail. By the time she was done with the tail, she still had about half a minute to double check. ¡°Times up, stop what you¡¯re doing.¡± Paulo was already checking up on all the contenders while they were trying to process the simulated game, and on the twenty minute mark, he walked to the front and announced. ¡°Number One and Number Four, your processing technique needs improvement, you damaged the parts of value beyond salvaging. So I regret to inform you, you¡¯re out.¡± Paulo sighed and looked at a young man wearing a thin leather armor and a young woman in civilian style clothes: ¡°Better luck next time.¡± ¡°Thank you for the opportunity.¡± the young man stood up and stepped to the side, while the young woman just threw down her tools and stormed out of the training ground. ¡°Number Two, you did mostly the right thing. But you forgot that you¡¯re processing a snake with corrosive and volatile poison. Your choice of not using face protection and gloves could be lethal. Unless you are immune to poison, you would have only five points this round.¡± The contender with the number 2 box was the oldest looking contender of the five, with a beard and a red tattoo on his cheek, he sighed and shook his head: ¡°Thank you for the opportunity. I got only eight points last round, can I stay and watch even when I¡¯m disqualified?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Paulo smiled then turned to Caroline: ¡°Number Three, you did the right thing mostly. Can you tell me why you chose to carve the entire part out?¡± ¡°I figured I only had twenty minutes, and I don¡¯t have time to perform high precision surgery.¡± Caroline answered: ¡°And since I have one day of traveling, I thought leaving it in the tissue could help preserve it for longer.¡± ¡°You are on the right track. But the best practice is to use salt.¡± Paulo nodded: ¡°Swamp Serpentine Wolf¡¯s poison gland could best be preserved in salt - it will dry the gland up but still preserve its poison in best condition. Storing it in its own flesh is feasible, but it will still lose its potency with time. You have eight points. Good job. ¡°And Number Five. Nice job on the Crier Spider. It¡¯s the hardest of all five, and you did everything correctly. Ten points for you.¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± this was a particularly young boy, who had quite noticeable calluses on his fingers: ¡°Thank you very much! I was so nervous, I thought I did something wrong for a moment...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t relax just yet! There¡¯s a final round!¡± Marco stepped in and cut the young boy off: ¡°Ms. Baker, Mr. Srivanti, please follow me.¡± Chapter 243 ¡°Alright!¡± the whole lecture was just about a few minutes shy from a whole hour, when it finally finished, Carl walked back to the podium with two other students by his side and asked the audience: ¡°Any questions you wanna ask? We will try our best to provide you with satisfying answers.¡± Someone from the audience behind Jason raised his hand. When Jason looked back at this audience member, he found that this was the chubby and food-loving Chinese man he and Caroline saw once in the canteen, who seemed really familiar to Jason and Caroline at the time and still did now to Jason. ¡°What¡¯s Mr. Patterson¡¯s advice on preventing over-filtering when it comes to close-binding target material and impurities?¡± this chubby Chinese man asked: ¡°He mentioned it briefly during the lecture, but did not elaborate very much.¡± ¡°Yes, good question. Actually I believe Mr. Patterson touched more on this in the following lecture - he explained that if you know and understand the binding force enough, and you have the ability to create an array that resonates with neither the target material nor the impurities but only the binding force itself, you can neutralize the binding force thus forcefully separate them. This is in theory achievable, but we have the ability to create arrays that resonate with less than five kinds of binding forces.¡± the student on Carl¡¯s left side explained: ¡°I believe Mr. Patterson himself is still trying to develop a more general solution but I think he is still in the initial phase of that research.¡± ¡°Thank you! That¡¯s¡­ very inspired.¡± the chubby Chinese man thought for a short while then said. ¡°How to best stabilize the array when the purification is in its most volatile phase?¡± another student asked: ¡°When I try to purify Oceanian Crystals from the rough stones, I always seem to encounter a phase where the half-purified material breaks apart into very small grains and even droplets, which causes the whole process to become extra unpredictable and prone to failure. I have tried many techniques but all ended up me using more energy stones to forcefully contain the volatility. Mr. Patterson also briefly mentioned the general principles of dealing with this phase during the lecture, but I was wondering how to operate based on them.¡± ¡°Yes, that is definitely quite common, especially when we¡¯re dealing with highly volatile material like Oceanian Crystals and Brimstone Amber.¡± Carl answered with a smile: ¡°From my experience working with Mr. Patterson and reading his research notes, the easiest method would be to first understand the source of volatility and locate them, meaning different kinds of impurities and how they may interact with the array; then, we could pre-prep the composite with some de-volatilizing agents; and finally when crafting the purification array, we can try to make sure the array interacts with the de-volatilizing agents to maximize the effect. As for what kind of de-volatilizing agents to use, it would be on a case by case basis. All in all, you need to take time to understand the material you¡¯re dealing with, and find the most effective ways to deal with all the components. And everyone, please bear in mind - we may call them impurities and target material, but when it comes to the process of purification, they are just components that need to be separated. ¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ------------------------------------ In his office, Professor Atkinson was pacing near his own table, and Dolores was sitting in front of hers. ¡°It¡¯s been days, Mr. Yu still hadn¡¯t come up with his device. I think we may need to halt our research. Our remaining energy stones will last at most one day if we use them very carefully. It¡¯s kinda surprising that we lasted this long with our rough purification methods.¡± ¡°Even if he was able to bring us the purification device - we won¡¯t be able to fully complete our research - we could first try to decipher the message inside the energy signature. And maybe wait until the academy is open again.¡± Professor Atkinson sighed and said. ¡°It would take quite a while. We just had another three faculty members and about five other students showing symptoms of exposure.¡± Dolores sighed: ¡°And I heard from sources close to uncle Tamil, some investigative agents from the government had come into the academy to investigate the matter, while the administration is still trying to cover everything up. I don¡¯t think those energy stones will be here soon.¡± ¡°So¡­ I think either we halt our research and try to scrap for resources while we can, or we find another way.¡± Professor Atkinson stopped at his desk, reached into one of the drawers and took out a dark and translucent scythe. ¡°You¡¯re thinking about accepting it.¡± Dolores stood up from her chair. ¡°Yes. Even if we¡¯re not in the current position, I would still be very tempted to accept it.¡± Professor Atkinson said: ¡°This is not just any contract anyone powerful was able to offer. And you know, as a scholar, I spent all my life trying to understand Godfalls and gain as much knowledge as I can about the old gods. This contract, with its terms so favorable to us, presents a chance to us almost too good to be true.¡± ¡°And hence it worries me.¡± Dolores sighed and said: ¡°Professor, I know you trust Mr. Yu, I trust him as well. But this contract is only offered to us, he merely negotiated the terms for us. They are both on a level that we could barely understand, I¡¯m afraid...¡± ¡°You¡¯re afraid that the terms might have some hidden meanings that we are not yet familiar with or we do not understand, and they could affect us in a negative way?¡± Professor Atkinson asked, then after thinking about it for a short while, he raised the scythe and let it float around in midair: ¡°Let¡¯s check the terms out again.¡± When Professor Atkinson infused his magical power into the scythe, the hologram a huge blob of grey cloud appeared in the room. And from inside of the grey cloud, a vague humanoid shape started to speak, slowly and clearly: ¡°I, the first ascender from the void, the origin fire of the void-born and decreer of all realms of living aspects, hereby offer this binding contract to mortals James B. Atkinson and Dolores J. Brooke. It will be by my will and decree, that the common knowledge, access to temples and rituals afforded to my followers and children of the old days be fully imparted upon the contracted mortals without holdback, in exchange for their aid in locating the inheritor of my knowledge, power and throne. This agreement shall be bound by the purest and straightest of my will, and shall be violated or disrespected by none.¡± Chapter 244 ¡°I think I am ready to take on it now.¡± after watching the same hologram message for the third time in the same office and during the same day, Professor Atkinson let out a long sigh and said. ¡°Professor¡­ ¡± Dolores sighed: ¡°I ¡­ I don¡¯t know what to say ...¡± ¡°Then don¡¯t. And trust me.¡± Professor Atkinson looked at Dolores in her eyes: ¡°And don¡¯t think for a minute that this is just because of the energy stone shortage - it actually has very little to do with that. With our discovery these days - I just have this unshakable feeling that we are close to something big here. The secret message in the energy signatures - I don¡¯t think anyone else in the world saw something like this before - it¡¯s, it¡¯s ¡­ almost irresistible.¡± ¡°I understand, Professor.¡± Dolores sighed: ¡°You said this for a thousand times - and I won¡¯t complain if you say it one thousand more. I get it, the site of a fallen god, I don¡¯t know about the world, but in the academy, I am certain that no one has seen something like this before.¡± ¡°Do you think we consult Mr. Yu for a final check before?¡± Professor Atkinson held the dark and translucent scythe in his hands and hesitated for a brief moment: ¡°I think we need to consult him on it more - I know that he might not be too willing to discuss this. But he might be the best consultant we¡¯ll ever have on this. I don¡¯t think either of us will ever know as much as he does.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t sell yourself short. You have your chances with this.¡± Jianmen appeared at the door of the office: ¡°If you choose to go with this contract, you¡¯ll have more opportunities than the absolute majority of people in this world to gain better and deeper understandings of Godfalls and almost everything else about this phenomenon.¡± ¡°Mr. Yu. Here you are just in time.¡± Dolores walked up to Jianmen: ¡°Professor Atkinson was thinking about taking the contract from the god in the temple.¡± ¡°I know, as the broker and negotiator of the contract, I can sense that you have re-read the contract several times today.¡± Jianmen sat down and put a box of food on the table: ¡°Now, eat something before making such a big decision - and sleep on it. Don¡¯t make this decision when tired and on an impulse.¡± ¡°Smells nice, what is it?¡± Dolores asked.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Tea cakes.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°Your academy kitchens and gardens had a ton of stuff, just not quality matcha. So I just picked the best green and black tea leaves and made some cakes for you.¡± ¡°Thank you. ¡± Professor Atkinson took out a brown cupcake with no cream and frosting on top: ¡°I¡¯d assume this is black tea cake?¡± ¡°Indeed, and the green ones are green tea cakes.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°I have to apologize, the purification device is still not ready - I made almost no progress on it for a few days, so it won¡¯t be able to help you with your energy stone situation. I just had some nice inspirations I would like to try out, but I¡¯d need more time.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, even if we purify them to the maximum degree, what we have would last only a few days more.¡± Professor Atkinson took a bite from his black tea cake and sighed: ¡°And don¡¯t worry, I am not making the decision on the progress of the research. I am making the decision, because the recent discoveries we had showed us quite an exciting new path with great potential. Just like what I told Dolores, even if we are not facing the energy stone issue, I would still be making this decision.¡± ¡°Good, with decisions this big, it¡¯s of great importance to think thoroughly and carefully.¡± Jianmen smiled and nodded: ¡°Sounds like you have some questions for me? Feel free to ask, I¡¯d be happy to answer where I can.¡± ¡°The one thing that kinda left me uneasy, is the thing about the contract being bound by his will and shall not be violated or disrespected. This is a little too vague for my taste.¡± Dolores worded her question carefully: ¡°There¡¯s no specification on what kinds of punitive measures will be imposed if we or him decide to break from the deal, and what will the end results be if we are not able to do it.¡± ¡°Oh, these I can answer you honestly.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°So, should you take the contract, when you take knowledge from him, he will also examine your sincerity and effort in finding his descendent. Thus the knowledge you take will also be your handcuffs - if you intend not to uphold your end of the deal, the knowledge will become curses, and you will have to wander the realms until you fulfill your end of the deal. If you are not able to do so, then it would be a waste of both your and his time, so you will forget the knowledge you gained.¡± ¡°And, what if he decides to not uphold his end of the deal? What if he gave me false knowledge or withhold knowledge?¡± Dolores asked. ¡°Then he¡¯d have to answer to me and the natural binding power of the contract, and he would pay his debt in time and the power of his will, which are things he doesn¡¯t have a lot of. ¡± Jianmen said: ¡°You should know, these kinds of contracts are also blessed by the universe, a bit like ¡®True Words¡¯. And when contracts offered by Gods are bound by their will, it means that they made a promise to you and the universe, you can pretty much take it that the cost of their breaking the promise is far greater than you could imagine.¡± ¡°Is that so...¡± Dolores thought for a while, then looked at Professor Atkinson. ¡°Oh, here.¡± Jianmen presented them a small piece of blue crystal: ¡°Take this.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Professor Atkinson asked. ¡°My explanation of the contract. I as well am bound by the promises I made and the advice I gave to you. You¡¯ll know how to read and enforce it by simply infusing it with your power.¡± ¡°Okay...¡± Professor Atkinson held the crystal in hand and felt it with his power, then he handed it to Dolores: ¡°I¡¯ve made up my mind. I¡¯ll do it.¡± Chapter 245 ¡°Now, repeat after me, just replace my name with yours.¡± Jianmen stood before Professor Atkinson and Dolores, all three of them had their left hand on the dark translucent scythe: ¡°I, Jianmen Yu.¡± ¡°I, James Brennan Atkinson.¡± ¡°I, Dolores Jaye Brooke.¡± ¡°Hereby pledge my will in acceptance of the contract of Will offered by Xyn, the first ascender from the void.¡± ¡°Hereby pledge my will in acceptance of the contract of Will offered by Xyn, the first ascender from the void.¡± ¡°Till the end of time and the death of my mind, body and soul, shall I see to my duties be completed.¡± ¡°Till the end of time and the death of my mind, body and soul, shall I see to my duties be completed.¡± ¡°My will be with this covenant.¡± ¡°My will be with this covenant.¡± It took only four simple sentences. When the last syllable dropped, both Professor Atkinson and Dolores felt a sudden inflow of information in their heads: first it was the true form of the god¡¯s name, Xyn, in its original lingo and written form. Secondly it was the visuals of the temple before it became deserted like it was today, when the buildings stood tall with shines of magical energy flowing on the surface; the thousands upon thousands of followers of different shapes, colors and sizes bowing towards the position of the temple, and a planet-scale shadow of an avatar floating right above the temple, looking down at the temple and the followers. What came after the visuals was the sound of chanting in some kind of ancient language from these followers. Even though neither Professor Atkinson nor Dolores could understand a word from the chants, they felt that they still understood the meaning of the chants - they were praises of the God Xyn, prayers for blessings and protections, and pledgings of their faithfulness and piety. Three streams of energy flowed into the hands of the three individuals in the office that just accepted the contract. As the broker and negotiator of the contract, Jianmen was fully aware of the terms. He was also glad that he was able to uphold his end of the deal made with Xyn this soon.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. That day at the temple, beside the contract he negotiated for the benefit of Professor Atkinson and Dolores, he also struck a deal with Xyn - his deal with Xyn was quite a bit similar to the deal Xyn made offered to the professor and Dolores, which was that he would assist in the search and locating of the descendant, and he would need to protect the descendant from harm when this descendant was found. This descendant could be anyone who was born from the void, it could be any of the relatively commonly seen elementals, or it could be mysterious beings like fog dwellers and depth dwellers. If Xyn had commissioned some other people to find his descendants, it would be a headache for Jianmen because he would need to find them first and had to collaborate with the people he didn¡¯t know or trust. And right now, Professor Atkinson and Dolores were recommended and vouched for by Josephine Wong, he had no better people to assist in fulfilling both deals, and he could think of no other people more deserving of the knowledge Xyn had to impart. While Professor Atkinson and Dolores were still standing in their places, receiving and digesting the information beamed from Xyn and the temple. Jianmen helped them back to their seats and left the office. Before he left, he cast a simple spell on the cakes - which would preserve them in their best condition. Just the moment he went out of the office, Jianmen sensed that there was some faint but still noticeable energy flow that affected a large portion of the karmic flow in the universe. Some of which actually had an influence on him. He could not tell whether this change was beneficial to him yet. But at least from the initial sense, he could tell that it was not harmful to him or anyone he cared about. Before he closed the door, Jianmen took another look at Professor Atkinson and Dolores - it looked like that some kind of blessing was cast on them from Xyn, granting them some kind of unknown abilities. It was not permanent, but should be strong enough to hold for a sufficient amount of time until they find the descendant. ¡°Xyn, you generous and honorable fella.¡± Jianmen looked up at the sky and chuckled: ¡°Looks like I need to protect your descendent with full force now.¡± ---------------------------------- It was a sunny afternoon at Xianshi Inn. Dave was sitting at the reception¡¯s desk, eating a bowl of ramen with Mack by his side, and watching a movie on a tablet placed in front of them. ¡°Damn, this Chashu.¡± Dave swallowed and said: ¡°I think this is the best one yet - aside from Mr. Yu¡¯s of course.¡± ¡°Yeah well, it¡¯s the one with the second highest rated ramen place in all of San Jose.¡± Mack laughed and said: ¡°Next time we can try the highest rated one - too bad their owner just went back to Japan so we may have to wait a while.¡± ¡°That won¡¯t be a problem for me at all. I¡¯ve got all eternity.¡± Dave laughed, both at his own joke and a funny scene from the movie. ¡°I¡¯m sure you do. I¡¯m sure you do.¡± Mack also laughed. ¡°Daekan-Velliander, are you here?¡± just this moment, a tall man with wide shoulders and wearing a grey hood came into the lounge. Dave paused the movie with a frown on his face and stood up: ¡°What? Who¡¯s asking?¡± ¡°Xyankor.¡± the man in a grey hood answered: ¡°You may not recognize my current face yet, but please excuse my dropping by without notifying you first, but I need your help - we need your help.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s not urgent, you can make an appointment on my calendar.¡± Dave shook his head: ¡°You know the rules.¡± ¡°Yes, I know. But this is urgent.¡± Xyankor said: ¡°And I am not saying this because of my ¡®thing¡¯. I am here to summon you.¡± Chapter 246 ¡°Hello contenders. You have reached the last round of the test. If you passed this round, it means that you have accumulated enough points. And you would officially become a member of our club.¡± inside of another training ground with six pillars standing on the edge of the main training area, Marco said to Caroline, and the one other contender, Mr. Srivanti, as well as the audience who were watching the tests with a wide smile: ¡°Please bear in mind that the purpose of these tests are not to trick the applicants, nor were they intended as a means to haze you before you join us. If you think about it, the previous two rounds were all about basic hunting skills that a hunter would need to have in their arsenal in order to be successful. And the same theme goes with our next test as well. Everyone, please take a look at these pillars.¡± Caroline looked around, all six of the pillars were made of some kind of dark rock, and each had a full set of detailed engravings of different kinds of aggressive animals on them. And when she paid closer attention to the pillars, she could sense that they were all radiating some kind of aggressive energy wave. ¡°I will be the assistant judge of this round of test.¡± Marco continued: ¡°And as for the main judge, it will be these pillars. You might wonder what this round of test would be - it¡¯s quite simple, look at all these aggressive animals and even magical beasts on these pillars. They were the works of legendary craftsmith, Master Butana, and our very own Mr. Pratt Patterson. What they will do, is that they will project energy constructs that mimic the attack patterns of some of the dangerous game in the world. What you¡¯ll need to do in this test is very simple: evade all simulated attacks from the construct animals. You are not to parry or block. The only action you can take is evasion and dodge. You will face ten attacks in three waves, in the first wave you will face one attack, three in the second wave, and six in the third wave. The more attacks you evaded or dodged, the more points you will get. Now, just a quick demonstration.¡± Marco walked to the center of the training ground, then all six of the pillars lit up in different colors of light. The next moment, six shadows of different glow, in the shapes of different animals and beasts shot from the pillars in rapid succession, all aiming right at Marco. Marco¡¯s body also lit up, his movement speed was elevated, and with a swift hop into the air, all the animal shadows were not able to touch him even in the slightest. ¡°See? Should be simple enough.¡± Marco smiled, then he asked Caroline and Srivanti: ¡°Which one of you would like to go first?¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Caroline and Srivanti looked at each other, seeing that Caroline was older, she stepped forward and said: ¡°I¡¯ll go first.¡± ¡°Alright, Ms. Baker. You¡¯re up.¡± Maro extended his hand at the center of the training ground. Apparently, since Marco used his power, it would be okay for Caroline to also use hers. So without any hesitation, she stimulated her Xuanli and let it flow through her meridians, which caused her body to start glowing in faint orange and red light. ¡°Alright, heads up and watch out.¡± Marco said: ¡°Pay attention to the pillars that light up, it¡¯s a warning of from which direction the attacks will come.¡± The pillar on Caroline¡¯s left side lit up in light blue light, the shadow of a giant blue rabbit leapt out of the pillar, with its front claws extended in her direction and with its mouth wide open, exposing all the sharp teeth inside. Though surprised that a rabbit would be this vicious looking, Caroline did not sweat at all in dodging the attack. The blue rabbit landed on the ground beside her, and disappeared. Three pillars behind Caroline lit up next, in red, yellow and green, and with the intervals of less than a second, a red ox bull with fire on its hide, a yellow bat with a long tail and a long pointy snout and a green badger with forked bristles on its back lunged from the pillars at Caroline. Caroline stomped on the ground and moved to the side, then she ducked and rolled on the ground just to avoid the swinging spiked tail from the green badger. There was a brief pause between the second wave and the third wave, it was just enough for Caroline to regain her composure. All six of the pillars lit up, in dark red, yellow, brown, orange and red, dark blue and pale white. And in this order, the shadows of an ape with four arms, a scorpion the size of a huge labrador retriever, a centipede whose length was around two normal person¡¯s height, a monkey with wings, a giant wolf and a three headed lizard launched their attacks at Caroline. These animals were coming at Caroline at all six angles, so Caroline was not able to see and gauge the movements of all of them with her eyes, so all she could do was open up all her senses and extend her power of mind and will to the space around her and use this power to detect the movements of these shadow animals and beasts and their attacks. ¡°Bang!¡± Caroline stomped the ground again, with a force so hard that she made a hole on the ground. Her body flew into the air from the stomp, leaving all the shadow animals below her. But just when she thought she could relax a little, the monkey with wings raised its head , seemingly let out a roar and flapped its wings to change the course of its flight. Caroline immediately conjured a fireball to her left side and let it explode beside her, and the shockwave from the attack instantly pushed her to the right. The monkey with wings just missed Caroline when she rode the shockwave through the air. ¡°Nice!¡± ¡°Woohoo!¡± the audience cheered, as Caroline landed on the training ground. Even Marco was smiling and nodding at her. ¡°Ms. Baker, ten points to you. Welcome to the club.¡± Chapter 247 When the questions and answers session finished, Carl and the three students behind him announced that the arrays and circles club had booked some of the labs in the same hallway, and the members could experiment with what they had just learned from the recorded lecture from Pratt Patterson and the following questions and answers session. Jason was not that familiar with purification arrays, nor was he too interested in it. But he was still able to learn quite a lot from the lecture and the answers provided by Carl and his friends. Jianmen did teach him and Caroline before during his defense array sessions, that the fundamentals of defense arrays can be applied to almost any other kinds of arrays - because they were about the most basic technique of manipulating energy inside of arrays and circles: energy flow, texture and structure of energy constructs and their resonance with the materials used in the array. And if one tested these principles on purification arrays, they would still apply and make sense. Jason found a spot that was not taken by any other members from the club. Then he sat down and used the metal rods and nails to build the foundation for a simple defense array. ¡°Hmm, you¡¯re not trying to test what you learned on an actual purification array?¡± the voice of Laura Jensen came from behind. ¡°Oh, hey, didn¡¯t see you there.¡± Jason turned around and noticed that Laura Jensen and the chubby Chinese man were standing behind him looking at his array foundation: ¡°I ¡­ I hope you wouldn¡¯t mind. I¡¯m mostly interested in defense arrays, and I was sorta inspired by the lecture, so I wanted to try...¡± ¡°Ha, no matter. Good understanding of the fundamentals can serve all.¡± the Chinese man smiled and nodded: ¡°Why don¡¯t you just go right ahead with what you were planning to do? Don¡¯t let the epiphany elude you.¡± ¡°Yeah, I agree with Mr. Wang. Go ahead and let¡¯s see what you¡¯ve got.¡± Laura Jensen giggled and said. ¡°Okay. ¡± Jason did not intend to waste any more time, as he started infusing the foundation with his Xuanli right away. A small silver dome appeared right above the foundation of Jason¡¯s array. When Laura Jensen and this Mr. Wang looked closer, they could see that the dome had three translucent layers, the outer layer was one that was formed by a lot of overlapping hexagon scales partially overlapping with each other; the middle layer was a thin but elastic and sturdy membrane; and the inner layer, was a skeleton like an upside down metal colander with hexagon holes. The dome was still flickering when Jason first molded it into shape. But as Jason hovered his hands over it and infused more of his Xuanli and balanced the flow and structure of energy inside of the array, the shape of the dome started stabilizing and solidifying.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Jason felt that never had he been more focused on an array than he was right now. Because this time, he had a feeling that he was on the verge of something that could be a game changer for him. Under Jason¡¯s control, the dome finally came into shape. The scales on the outer layer also formed some kind of spiralling pattern, when looking from top down, it was like the scales are scattered and put in place by a spinning center. This dome was in many ways similar to the product from many of Jason¡¯s previous attempts before. But this time it was the first time for Jason to feel a sense of completeness and pride when he was done - he felt that he could still improve its quality, but he was able to do almost exactly what he was set out to do with this array, with nothing missing and nothing short of his expectations. ¡°Nice.¡± Mr. Wang nodded in approval: ¡°Looks like it can take at least a few very powerful hits.¡± ¡°Too soon to say.¡± Jason chuckled, then he constructed a silver hammer on his right hand and swung it at the dome. ¡°Bang!¡± the collision between the hammer and the dome made a sound of metal objects crashing into each other, the dome¡¯s shape changed slightly due to the impact, but it was still standing where it was. ¡°Wonderful blunt force resistance!¡± Laura Jensen sounded genuinely impressed: ¡°Now I know how and why you could make those powerful constructs that gave my brother and his friend a good beating - looks like not only is your power well suited for constructs and defense arrays, but also you seemed to have grasp the core of power resonance quite well - your array absorbed and the shock in full and distributed it evenly among its parts. This is something even a graduate of the academy can have trouble doing.¡± ¡°Thanks. Now for the harder test.¡± Jason patted on his silver hammer, causing a long pointy spike to grow from one side of the hammer. Then he swung the hammer at the small dome again, with the spike aiming at the top of the dome. ¡°Ting! Crash!¡± though Jason was confident he aimed the point of the spike almost perfectly at the top of the dome, the spike still slid to the side upon impact and ended up leaving a hole on the ground on the side of the dome. The dome, on the other hand, seemed to still suffered some amount of damage from the spike, with quite a few silver scales peeled off from its surface. ¡°Good, good.¡± Jason smiled and turned around, just in time to see Mr. Wang already leaving while nodding his head, while Laura Jensen already came forward and sat beside him. ¡°So, tell me a little bit about your array.¡± Laura Jensen took out a small notebook: ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen this kind of defense array before, what is it? How did you know about it?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s just something I have been experimenting.¡± Jason thought for a while: ¡°I was taking inspiration from chain mails and scale mails, with some introductory knowledge of building structures about rebars...¡± ¡°Hmm. This is interesting - so you were aiming for the shock absorbing internal structure of modern civilian building, and the impact dispersing properties of chain mails and scale mails.¡± Laura Jensen smiled, then knelt beside the silver dome: ¡°But looks like there¡¯s still a little bit of change that you could do to make it more resilient to - may I?¡± ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± When Laura Jensen ran her fingers across the silver dome, some sort of electric energy went into the dome: ¡°Now, try your spikey hammer again.¡± This time, when the pointy spike came into contact with the dome, some sort of electric sparks burst from between the scales, which were not enough to completely derail the momentum of the spike, but just enough to redirect the direction of the spike. And this time, the spike did not even damage one bit of the scales as it slid onto the ground. ¡°Nice. Reactive armor?¡± Jason laughed out loud: ¡°Nice, nice!¡± Chapter 248 Inside of a training room in the common building booked by both Caroline and Jason, both of them were sitting on the ground face to face in meditative poses. On their side, laid two wooden dummies with meridian lines and dots plotted on their bodies. Earlier in the day, both of them were once again testing their healing spells, when they had some kind of sudden inspiration. They couldn¡¯t find a more suitable place for meditation, so they just sat down where they were and started their own process of meditation and visualization. What triggered the sudden inspiration was just an unintended utterance of thought from Jason - because even after quite a number of tries, they were still not able to combine their healing spells and make them synergize without their Xuanli colliding with and consuming each other while the power could be turned into healing forces. Both of them felt that they were missing something, and that they were close to finding it out. ¡°Could it be that we need some sort of extra elemental power to mediate our spells?¡± Jason scratched his head and asked: ¡°Or, do we need to rethink how our Xuanli manifest in the spell?¡± ¡°Boss did stress many times that we should think outside the norms of our power¡¯s elemental manifestation.¡± Caroline opened her scroll of healing spells: ¡°I think you¡¯re onto something some of these spells do seem to require that my Xuanli possesses some other elemental properties to grasp - look at this: Breath of Reinvigoration, it requires that my Xuanli be light, soft and loose, it doesn¡¯t seem like something fire Xuanli could be, unless - ¡± ¡°... unless you have air Xuanli.¡± Jason thought for a short moment then opened his scroll: ¡°I think this might just be it - we can try to sense if we can make our Xuanli to manifest other elemental properties - ¡± ¡°... it just might be the time.¡± Caroline closed her eyes and tried to make some of her Xuanli to manifest in elemental properties other than that of fire. When both of them were drowned in their meditative state, their scrolls lying on their side also started glowing in different colors. Not only this, the frequency in which the scrolls were flickering were also resonating with the energy pulses radiating from Caroline and Jason¡¯s body. In Caroline¡¯s mind, she had a vision of herself being transported to a completely different realm, as if she started reliving the day of her last tribulation - a volcano was erupting right under her feet, lava was shooting towards the sky, bubblin in the air and exploding due to the volatile energy inside. When she looked up at the sky, she could see that there were several suns with different colors in the sky. And in the far away distance, she could also see a few other stars with some kind of mysterious aura around them. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. With her current strength and power, the power of the volcano could no longer hurt her, so she just let herself be submerged inside the flow of lava, while still paying attention to the energy waves released from the several suns. There was a dark blue sun, a light blue sun, a purple sun, a light green sun, a light brown sun, an orange and red sun, and then lastly, a silver sun. Caroline felt that she already had a great connection to the orange and red sun, and right here right now, it was her chance to find the connection to the next sun. As she glanced through the different suns wondering what kind of connection she could have established with each of them, the volcano under her feet was rumbling louder and shooting lava higher up into the sky. The temperature was also climbing higher, and Caroline felt as if she was about to sweat. Just this moment, she felt a gentle breeze blowing through her hair. She turned around, and saw that the droplets of lava and burning sparks were floating up in the air, spinning around her up and down like they were doing some sort of cheery dance. In Jason¡¯s mind, on the other hand, he was having a vision where he was in a giant temple, or palace, where there were a few doors around him with different kinds of locks and engraved patterns on the door. One of the doors was already open, which had a silvery grey color and the symbols of a sword and a traditional Chinese painting brush on its door. Jason pushed the silver door open and looked inside - he saw a flight of stairs leading to somewhere above. Then he walked back and tried to open a red and orange door, but the door had half a sphere crystal as the lock, which looked like it could be opened by infusing it with Xuanli. But when he tried, the half a sphere crystal lock did not respond at all. Then, Jason tried the door with the light blue color and a bowl of water or some other kind of liquid as the door lock - looked like he would need to create some sort of special flow inside the bowl to unlock the door. But hard as he tried, he could not seem to make it work. The third door he tried was the one that was all dark brown and had a relief sculpture of a smiling man on it. The smiling man was holding a wide piece of board in his hands horizontally. And on the board, it was a lump of clay. Jason poked the lump of clay - it was firm, cool and heavy. But to his surprise, it seemed to be easily moldable, and it could even respond to his thoughts and change its general shape and texture with his will. So after a brief moment of hesitation, he molded it into the shape of a cup, then a sword, and finally, a plane. ¡°Click¡± the door opened. ¡°So, how was it?¡± Caroline asked Jason the moment they opened their eyes and looked at each other. ¡°Look.¡± Jason smiled and held up his hand, showing Caroline a spinning blob of brown energy, then in a few seconds, it turned into a tea cup. ¡°Earth. Works with metal, nice.¡± Caroline nodded, then raised her right index finger, conjuring up a small tornado from her fingertip: ¡°And look at that - I connected with the power of wind.¡± Chapter 249 It was almost the perfect timing - as audit students, Caroline and Jason were already almost halfway done with their time in the audit program, which was about the time they would need to start thinking about their final thesis. Although they had some rough ideas ahead of time, they were still quite uncertain on what they wanted to write about. Now that they connected with their secondary elemental power, they would have more sources of inspiration. ¡°Congratulations Caroline/Jason.¡± Jianmen¡¯s voices came from the two scrolls at the same time, with almost the same proud and happy tone: ¡°Looks like you have connected with your secondary elemental power, which means that you would be treading onto a new path forward. Now, I hope you understand that the use of Xuanli is much more than as powers to use on the battlefield. Healing is also of critical importance to you, whether as normal power wielders or as cultivators. Now, take some time to stabilize your new found power and proceed with care. I will be waiting for you at the inn.¡± ¡°Thanks Boss.¡± Jason chuckled. ¡°Yeah, thank you Boss.¡± Caroline smiled and shook her head, while still playing with a ball of wind energy with her fingers. Without saying anything else, both of them got right back into meditative states - this time they were not trying to connect with new elemental power, but were instead heeding to Jianmen¡¯s advice and trying to stabilize their grasp and control of their new power. This time the process did not take them that long, in only around twenty minutes, both of them came to from their meditation and visualization. But, just when they were about to open their mouths and exchange some ideas, a sudden strange feeling dawned on them. It was a vague sense of an impending happening, their next tribulation. It was similar to what they felt merely days before their last tribulation. The difference was that right now, this feeling was still quite distant, hazy and barely tangible, so it did not seem to be something that would happen right away. ¡°So you feel it too?¡± Jason asked. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Yes.¡± Caroline nodded, then she picked up her scroll: ¡°Feels like something we need to ask Boss about. But luckily, there¡¯s still a lot of time for us. So ... what do you say now? Should we keep trying?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go back and try the new spells first.¡± Jason thought for a short moment: ¡°Then we can meet up later and see how to combine our spells. What do you think?¡± ¡°Sounds good. But it might be a while. I just joined a hunting club recently, and they will be organizing a hunt tomorrow. It might take all day.¡± Caroline giggled: ¡°You know, if you¡¯d like to join us, I can refer you.¡± ¡°Thanks. But maybe not right away.¡± Jason shook his head: ¡°I have my arrays and circles club session as well.¡± ------------------------------------------- In the public library of the academy, the librarian in a red robe and a small red beret on her head was approached by a young man. ¡°Hey Camile, how are you doing?¡± the young man came with a smile and a rose with shiny petals like they were made from pure and well crafted crystals. Camile sighed unnoticeably, turned around to face the young man still with two books in her hand and a smile: ¡°Hi Andrew, what brings you here?¡± ¡°I, am, here, to - read.¡± Andrew Brooke smiled and slowly pushed the rose forward: ¡°I would like some research paper or journal on herbology, and not the introductory type, I want specialty research documents.¡± ¡°Oh, and you suddenly developed an interest in herbology and book reading because - why?¡± Camile asked with a flirtatious smile: ¡°I¡¯ve never taken you as the reading type.¡± ¡°Probably because there¡¯s a beautiful librarian who, could never seem to put her herbology books down before she came to the academy.¡± Andrew Brooke smiled: ¡°And I heard she likes the Roses of Ackama Valley.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you sweet Andrew. But it would take a lot more to get what you¡¯re asking for.¡± Camile chuckled and picked up the rose: ¡°For example, high end herbology research papers belong to their respective houses and you would need to file applications for them. And one single flower prepared in an incorrect way is not gonna work. For example: to properly preserve a Rose of Ackama Valley, you should have coated it in high density oil with fire elemental energy, then put it in filtered water enchanted by an experienced herbalist. Right now you are just wasting your money on something that will fade to ashes in under five hours.¡± ¡°Then I guess I can bring a fresh new batch to you.¡± Andrew Brooke leaned in over the counter: ¡°Or, you can come to the batch. What do you say? Ms. Jensen?¡± ¡°Hmm, and why would I do that? ¡± Camile asked: ¡°The only place in the academy with Roses of Ackama Valley is the greenhouse, and I moonlight there to help cultivate them. So you¡¯re not gonna impress me by taking me there.¡± ¡°Oh, nonono, that¡¯s far from it.¡± Andrew Brooke shook his head then leaned in further, signaling Camile to come close to him as he was about to spill out a secret: ¡°You might have heard of it already, but my pops is on the school board. And as a board member, he has certain privileges like having a private luxurious living quarter, having access to all facilities and documents, and lastly, private and secure channels of import and export, where you can basically get anything from outside the academy, without having to go through the official channel. This includes energy stones, alcohol, even the best quality Roses of Ackama Valley. So, how¡¯s that sound?¡± ¡°Ooh, tell me more.¡± now Camile finally appeared interested. Chapter 250 Inside of their own living quarters, Caroline and Jason were both meditating in their respective normal places for meditation. Normally at this time of day, they would meet up with Aimee and Thomas to help the detectives with their training, but this time they had to cancel because of their newfound elemental power, and their sudden inspirations with their healing spells. All the living quarters that are located in magical bubbles had their respective individual small training rooms in them. And these training rooms were built with sturdy materials and some other basic facilities and appliances depending on the design of each quarter. Caroline¡¯s living quarter was a brick house with a lawn outside, and the training room was a room with exposed red bricks and a small pool at the center of it. Right now Caroline was doing her meditation in the pool filled with water. As she was submerged deeply in her meditative state, her body with only a swimming suit on was glowing in orange, red and light green. Streams of two different kinds of energy flowed from her skin and along her meridians, some of those energy heated up the water around her, and some of those energy turned into bubbles and floated up to the surface of the pool water. Jason¡¯s living quarter, on the other hand, was a quiet little bamboo house with bamboos around. His small training room was also a room made with bamboo with a carpet and an incense burner inside. When he was meditating, there were three incense sticks burning in the incense burner releasing very small traces of smoke. Similar to Caroline¡¯s situation, small traces of energy were flowing on his body - they were mostly silver, and some light brown. And with the flow of energy, different kinds of thin coatings started appearing on and then disappearing from his skin - sometimes like a layer of silver paint, and sometimes like scattered dirt. After a while, the pool in which Caroline was sitting started bubbling more, and the temperature of the water just kept rising to the point of boiling. Steam was coming from the pool and started fogging the entire room. Yet these factors did not affect her meditative state in any way, aside from the fact that her exposed skin turned slightly red like a normal person¡¯s skin when exposed to warm water. Silver and light brown shadows started appearing and disappearing around Jason, sometimes they were like a suit of armor on his body, sometimes they formed weapons like swords and spears, sometimes they were like Jason in various battle poses, and sometimes they became daily mundane things like tables, tea cups and chopsticks. Stolen novel; please report. After a short while Jason extended his hands in the air with palms facing up - silver and light brown energy concentrated on the space right above his palms and slowly formed into two balls of energy spinning the mid air. Water started going into cycles around Caroline and thus forming a small vortex with Caroline at the center. The flow of water also seemed to have affected the fog in the room, where a fog cyclone appeared above the pool, with Caroline also at the center. Some kind of energy pulses were released from within their personal training rooms, and they were actually not from Jason nor Caroline themselves. With their eyes still closed, Jason reached into his pocket, and Caroline extended her hand at her clothes placed at the corner of the room. Jason took out a tiny clay bottle from his pocket, and a similar clay bottle flew from Caroline¡¯s clothes and reached into her palm. ¡°As I promised, these are a part of your rewards from completing your whole sets of moves.¡± some time back in the inn, this was what Jianmen told them when he handed the two bottles to Caroline and Jason. ¡°What is it?¡± Caroline shook her bottle and felt that there was some jelly like things inside. ¡°Well, to normal people and power wielders, they are poison. Not terrible, but diarrhea and vomit inducing, could also be a cause for headache and nosebleed.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°But, you can¡¯t open it right now, but they will call out to you when they sense certain changes of energy signature radiated from you and call out when it is time to use them.¡± ¡°So what would happen when it¡¯s time for us to use them?¡± Jason asked. ¡°There are three sips for each of you.¡± Jianmen answered: ¡°The first sip is an inspirational sip, which would be the most painful sip for you. But when you power through it, you will be rewarded with your Xuanli being more in-sync with your mind and your internal organs, bones and your entire body; the second sip is a relaxing and restorative sip, and the sweetest sip of all three, take it when you power through the first to let your body relax and rest; the third sip you can do as you please, because it¡¯s a healing sip for when you¡¯re injured. Don¡¯t waste it on small cuts and common cold, but don¡¯t hesitate to use it when you feel like you¡¯re in trouble.¡± The first sips from their bottles felt disturbingly the same: the medicine/poison inside was like two long live worms, and without them doing anything, they just crawled into their mouths, through their food pipes and down to their stomach, and just when they were feeling that they may throw up, the worms dissolved. A burning and bloated feeling radiated from Caroline¡¯s stomach and onto all corners of her body. Within a few seconds, she felt as if every single cell in her body was being burnt and bloated from the inside. And for Jason, it was a feeling of his whole body being hammered, squeezed and poked, and as if every tissue in his body was being pressure and heat treated like a piece of metal or wood material. The clay bottles dropped onto the ground as both Caroline and Jason clenched their teeth and remained in meditation poses. Dark blood was seeping from under their skin, and they both had the feeling that salty and bitter blood was about to come out of their eyes, nostrils, ears and mouths. Chapter 251 It was probably at maximum one minute, but for Caroline and Jason, it was probably the longest minute of their lives so far. When the pain finally went away and all they could feel was the weariness and fatigue from enduring through the process, both of them took the second sips from the clay bottles. The second sips did not have the gross feelings of the first sips, they were just chewy and had a light sweet taste, not that dissimilar to the taste of a single boba pearl. A warm and fuzzy feeling filled their tired bodies with a sense of joy and comfort, and with it an overwhelming sleepiness. The last moment they remembered staying awake, was that where they were crawling towards their beds. Both of them dreamed while they were asleep though, and their dreams were quite memorable. Caroline¡¯s dream was quite simple - she was sitting on the branch of a tree, with warm winds blowing around her. There were sparks and cinder in the wind, and when she looked up at the sky, she could see a distant flying figure - a bird of fire and light, with long tails and three claws roaming the sky, cutting through the clouds with its bare body as it flew. She reached out with her hand and grabbed some cinder in her hand, and she could see that the cinder was actually hair from some kind of fiery feather. And even when separated, the hair seemed to be growing and emitting orange and red light. Jason¡¯s dream on the other hand was a bit abstract and vague - he sensed that he was in an empty room with a high dome. There was nothing significant in the room, aside from a floating crystal shard above him near the center of the dome. When he looked up, the crystal shard projected out a beam of light to the ground near him, and shadows of people and things began emerging on the ground, like a hologram. He walked close to the shadows, and he started hearing the people¡¯s conversation, and sounds made by the objects. When they woke up, they were filled with a strange combination of the feeling of restoration and relaxation after a great night of sleep, and the stiffness in their bodies when they did not sleep in proper sleeping positions. And when they checked the time, it turned out they were almost late for their weekly meeting with Aimee and Thomas in the library. ¡°Hey, calm down. What happened?¡± when they came to the library around twenty minutes late and in a rush, Aimee closed her note and asked.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Yeah, sorry, I had some sort of epiphany and passed out on the side of my bed.¡± Caroline sat down and said: ¡°Almost had no time to clean up.¡± ¡°Same. I passed out right after I made it out of my personal training room.¡± Jason rubbed his neck: ¡°We can let you know if you want - it¡¯s just kinda messy. And how¡¯s it going with you guys?¡± ¡°Mostly fine.Glenda recommended that we take the lesson offering from Professor Barnes.¡± Aimee nodded and answered: ¡°She seemed kinda upset at Professor Barnes for some reason - but she still recommended it. So if you don¡¯t mind, we would like your input on it. The martial art moves you taught us for the duel were really helpful, I don¡¯t wanna give you guys too much trouble, but...¡± ¡°We would still like your help.¡± Thomas said: ¡°And - maybe we should talk about claiming the artifacts we were promised by Professor Clarkson? We have till the end of the year, which isn¡¯t much time. And since we wanna claim them before you guys leave, we have way less time.¡± ¡°Yeah, our audit program is already halfway done. We should at least think about what we want.¡± Jason scratched his head and said: ¡°For example, what do you think you need? Has Ms. Wong told you anything?¡± ¡°Well, I want my guns here.¡± Thomas chuckled. ¡°Seriously, Thomas.¡± Aimee slapped Thomas¡¯ arm with the back of her hand, then she turned to Caroline and Jason: ¡°What do you think? I kinda think we need ¡­ well everything. Like a sorcerer¡¯s cloak, some kind of wand, or at least a ring or a bracelet.¡± ¡°Well, I am no magic wielder, but I suspect any of those things would help you with your path of magic.¡± Caroline smiled and said: ¡°Jason and I spend a lot of time doing martial arts moves and bathing in huge buckets of medicinal soup before we ever got our first artifacts. And even now we don¡¯t have many significant things. Just our weapons and our flasks - and some pretty nasty medicine we took yesterday.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget our mirrors.¡± Jason said: ¡°But I think for you, Aimee and Thomas, did Ms. Grimes tell you anything? Did she give you any tips, or guidance on what you could use?¡± ¡°Nothing in particular, she said it would be highly frowned upon for her to tell us directly what to choose. She did teach us some kind of observance spell. But we need to master it first.¡± Aimee sighed: ¡°It¡¯s quite complicated, I don¡¯t think we can come close to mastering it before the end of the year, which is why I - we, are asking for you help.¡± ¡°Oh, no worries. ¡± Jason waved his hand: ¡°We can actually choose first, then we can test it. If OUR appraising skills can be trusted, then we can help you. Since we are students and your teammates, there shouldn¡¯t be any restriction on us in providing our help that way.¡± ¡°So, what do you say? Caroline?¡± Thomas looked at Caroline in her eyes and asked. ¡°Huh? Oh, sure, why not.¡± Caroline was a bit distracted while she watched a tiny and barely noticeable spark of fire dancing on her fingers: ¡°In fact, if my artifact is not a good fit for me, you guys can have it.¡± ¡°That ¡­ that¡¯s way too generous, we can¡¯t take that.¡± Thomas tried to refuse. ¡°Oh, please, it¡¯s fine.¡± Caroline shook her head and smirked: ¡°Just think of it as a gift from me, someone who¡¯s earlier on this path.¡± Chapter 252 A portal with orange and golden edges opened up in the ruins on the remote planet, and Jianmen, in his original form instead of his avatar Mr. Lun Wang, walked out of it. ¡°Xyn, thank you for being this generous.¡± when he descended down the stairs leading to places below the temple, Jianmen raised his head up and said. ¡°It¡¯s been some time since your last visit. And why have you chosen this form?¡± a face made of fog appeared in midair and asked Jianmen. ¡°This is my true form - the chubby one¡¯s my avatar, since I am trying to do multiple things at the same time. Don¡¯t be surprised if you see more of my avatars in the future.¡± Jianmen said: ¡°So, how are you doing? I am still having trouble with the purification device, so it might take a while before we can start with analysis of your wounds.¡± ¡°No matter, as long as you fulfil your part of the deal.¡± Xyn answered: ¡°And I would have to warn you - that something is changing in the void. I am not certain how the changes will impact us, as I have lost most of my connection to the void during my fall. So when you go in search of my descendant and inheritor, be prepared for unexpected¡­ turbulence.¡± ¡°Understood. But to be honest. I¡¯ve never ventured deep into the void or any of the elemental realms. So surprises are what I would be expecting.¡± Jianmen chuckled: ¡°Do you know roughly where your ideal descendant will be?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just know that it will surface some time. What is also unknown to me is if the changes in the void have to do with it. I would divine it if I could. But it would be a cost I cannot afford.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jianmen thought for a brief moment while he continued on his way downstairs: ¡°What else can you tell me about this descendant of yours? I suspect it will be another Depth Dweller or Fog Dweller? Or could it be something else?¡± ¡°Based on what you told me about these Depth Dwellers and Fog Dwellers of the current age, I would assume so.¡± Xyn answered: ¡°But, it would depend on what I wanted before the fall. I must have been on to something to stress the importance of this descendant so...¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Hopefully we can find out why when we''ve found it.¡± Jianmen reached the end of the descending stairs and was faced with a stone gate: ¡°But first things first, let¡¯s get you bandaged up. Maybe you will remember something once we get rid of some of your pain points.¡± ¡°Be careful.¡± Xyn said: ¡°The negative energy lying beyond these seals is beyond disrupting and destructive - they would even distort the flow of time in certain areas and on certain objects. Powerful as you are, I can¡¯t guarantee you that you would be immune to such influences and affects.¡± ¡°Good thing I am here in my true form then.¡± Jianmen let his Xuanli flow through his body and got ready for entrance through the gate. But just this moment, his phone started buzzing. Jianmen took a look at the phone, it was a call from Dave. ¡°Sorry, Xyn, I gotta take this.¡± Jianmen said: ¡°It¡¯s from one of the Depth Dwellers I know. He usually doesn¡¯t call unless it¡¯s kinda urgent.¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± Jianmen rushed to the surface so that his connection would not be interfered by the protective energy from within the temple. ----------------------------------------- ¡°Summon? What do you mean summon?¡± Dave asked with a frown and a serious tone. ¡°I don¡¯t know how connected with the void you are in this cycle. But something in the void is changing.¡± Xyankor said: ¡°We don¡¯t know what caused it. And nobody seems to have any idea on what other kind of implication it will bring to our world and this world. All we know is that it¡¯s of great importance ...¡± ¡°Okay, that¡¯s just a lot of descriptions.¡± Dave took a sip from his ramen soup: ¡°Yikes this is salty! But can you elaborate to me what it is? Telling me ¡®this is important¡¯ doesn¡¯t help me understand what you¡¯re trying to say at all. And do I have to remind you that I am a captain just as you. You don¡¯t have the power to summon me.¡± ¡°I am invoking the emergency summoning power granted by the ancient laws. And I cannot just directly tell you because there¡¯s a mortal here.¡± Xyankor took a peek at Mack who was listening to their conversation while holding his chopsticks: ¡°I¡¯m not sure spelling it out right in front of a civilian mortal is a good idea - even for a place like this inn.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s safe to share what you have to say here.¡± Dave took a look at Mack and said: ¡°If it¡¯s not some super big secret or some kind of weighted or forbidden knowledge you can just spell it out.¡± ¡°Okay, it¡¯s not a secret per se.¡± Xyankor hesitated and sighed: ¡°The disturbance in the void, we believe that it¡¯s a sign giving birth to a Depth Dweller for the first time in - in a very long time.¡± Dave went silent for quite a while, then asked: ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure. I consulted with many who retained knowledge about the void, like Franco and Lenox, all seem to agree.¡± Xyankor answered when looking at Dave right in the eyes: ¡°And that¡¯s the reason I¡¯m here.¡± ¡°Okay. Hold on, I¡¯ll need to call Mr. Yu and ask for someone else to take care of the inn.¡± Dave sighed and turned around to Mack: ¡°Sorry Mack, this is indeed huge. I may need to leave for a while.¡± ¡°Huh, I can watch it for you.¡± Mack said. ¡°Sorry Mack, but you can¡¯t, at least not yet.¡± Dave took out a phone and dialed Jianmen¡¯s number. Chapter 253 ¡°Report, Agent Hall, Agent Jill, how¡¯s the cleanup in San Francisco?¡± inside of a secret site of the Division, Josephine Wong was hosting a meeting with some of her most trusted agents and other teammates. ¡°We detected no further paranormal occurrences in the area, no residual negative energy.¡± Agent Jill answered: ¡°The whole area was washed clean. Our injured agent has fully recovered and will be on probation and evaluation soon.¡± ¡°Good. How about the prepping for further cleanse?¡± ¡°We still have two more areas that need cleansing. And we are preparing materials. But it will take at least a week.¡± Agent Hall answered: ¡°We¡¯ll need more manpower if we want to speed things up.¡± ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll need to budget our resources for that.¡± Josephine Wong sighed, then she turned to Nameless and Pei: ¡°How¡¯s your preparation going? Do you need more resources?¡± ¡°This monk thinks patience is the only thing needed right now.¡± Nameless answered: ¡°A word of notice has been put out in search for accomplished and virtuous monks. This monk will also travel to my past temples for help.¡± ¡°Same with me. My contacts are bringing the swords and chains in. And we can only wait.¡± Pei sighed: ¡°The delivery services we have right now are just not cut out for urgent matters like these.¡± ¡°Okay. ETA?¡± ¡°One week.¡± ¡°Drew, how¡¯s the external sourcing application process?¡± Josephine Wong turned to a female agent sitting on the side. ¡°They are still verifying the details, but they are not giving us any timeline.¡± Drew answered: ¡°They stressed that the matters of the Clearwater Municipal Hospital are top classified and should be off limits for all those that are outside of the Division. Even if you requested as a regional liaison, they still need to submit it to the committee headed by the commissioner. We are looking at scheduling a session with the committee here.¡± Almost everyone in the room sighed.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll talk to the commissioner again if need be.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head: ¡°Any updates on the dig into the hospital¡¯s history? And the experiments on patients?¡± ¡°We suspected some kind of cover up. But it looks like it¡¯s something of wider scale.¡± Drew answered: ¡°We tried searching for some of the related governmental documents and official records. But a lot of them are missing or damaged, there are a few that we are able to gather, and we are gathering as much as we could from them.¡± ¡°Can you elaborate on what you¡¯ve found?¡± Pei asked: ¡°I tried asking around for the related information, but only got really fragmented information back. If there was a cover-up, it must be really good.¡± ¡°And what about the man I asked you to find? Did you find anyone matching that depiction I gave you?¡± Josephine Wong rubbed her temples and asked: ¡°In the memories of the malice, he seemed like a person of significant position. I am not entirely sure what kind of position he was in, but there should at least be some kind of records of him.¡± ¡°Yes. That was the Chief Administrative Officer Eric Shaw.¡± Drew tapped on her tablet to find her notes: ¡°He was in charge of the executive matters of the hospital at the time. We found some traces of paranormal experimentation, and remember the short video clips we got from some internet influencers¡¯ livestream? Their researcher actually did some good digging - may I?¡± Then she pointed at the screen behind Josephine Wong. A video was projected onto the screen, where a young asian man was speaking directly to the camera: "... And the mass hysteria? Get this: for several days, people saw themselves or people around them differently in the mirrors whenever they were in the hospital. For example, one old lady who was just visiting her son in law in the hospital, said she saw herself with bandages on her arm and her head, just for a brief moment. The other example was a young man in his 20s, he saw that a young woman was standing beside him, holding his arm ...¡± Josephine Wong frowned, because she then saw Jason¡¯s face appearing on the screen. ¡°... hey Branston Gang, we are currently inside of the hospital¡¯s main building. We have your favorite guest and suspected medium Jason here with us. We are definitely getting an edge on filming the first ghost footage!¡± right now, it was a young man with an obnoxious attitude talking directly to the camera. ¡°And that¡¯s about it.¡± Drew stopped the projection: ¡°Then their stream cut off around five minutes, and there¡¯s very little information in the footage so I¡¯ll save everyone¡¯s time. So my team went with the previous research guy¡¯s route and looked up some archives of local newspapers - looks like there are a lot of seemingly paranormality related incidents happening around the hospital right about the time it went defunct. We are compiling a timeline of different reported incidents and we would be following up with some locals.¡± ¡°Hmm, I think I need to head to the Grant Academy to pay someone a visit.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head with a wry smile: ¡°And who handled them?¡± ¡°It¡¯s uh - when you were the newly elected liaison here.¡± Drew hesitated and said: ¡°I think a team selected mainly by the Browns and Clarksons handled the case. They didn¡¯t really leave a lot of records. But if you¡¯d like I can try to take a look. I think they might¡¯ve handled it as a hush-hush operation.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a really serious accusation, Drew.¡± Agent Hall said in a stern tone, ¡°And one that would need substantial evidence to back up.¡± ¡°Not an accusation, just a suspicion.¡± Drew looked at Agent Hall in the eyes: ¡°It¡¯s just quite interesting, because civilian crossing over to a paranormal site is a serious incident. And yet we just found out about it when we¡¯re dealing with this time bomb of a hospital.¡± ¡°Oh, Ms. Wong?¡± another agent in the room raised his hand: ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea to visit the Grant Academy right now. I¡¯ve heard they went on lock down, due to potential circulation of some highly dangerous material and are restricting travel.¡± Chapter 254 ¡°Hello, Ms. Wong¡­ how can I help you?¡± when he got the phone call from Josephine Wong, Jason was surprised and nervous as he did not ever expect such a call would happen. ¡°Just call me Josephine, how¡¯s school?¡± Josephine Wong asked. ¡°Yeah, good, I learned a lot - we both learned a lot.¡± Jason stuttered: ¡°And how¡¯s - work?¡± ¡°Work¡¯s good. Thanks for asking.¡± Josephine Wong chuckled: ¡°And sorry to call you out of the blue like this - but this is for work as well. Do you have a minute?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah sure. I have some time now.¡± ¡°Okay, I wanna know about your experience with these ¡®influencers¡¯ going into the Clearwater Municipal Hospital.¡± Josephine Wong said: ¡°Specifically, the kind of things you encountered in it. Don¡¯t worry too much about secrecy, this line is blessed and protected, so feel free to tell me everything you know.¡± ¡°Um¡­ okay...¡± Jason thought for a while: ¡°Yeah, so the thing is, at the time I didn¡¯t know about the Division at all - so when those influencers looped my friends in this adventure into the haunted hospital, I kinda had no choice but to follow them and tried to stop them from getting into too much trouble - so I followed them into the hospital. Then everything was kinda normal for a while, it was only until we reached the third floor did things start going wrong.¡± ¡°Yeah. Room 3-5-13?¡± ¡°Yeah! Yeah!¡± Jason nodded even though they were speaking through the phone: ¡°Wait, how¡¯d you know? Did you go in there as well?¡± ¡°Yes, I went in there for work.¡± Josephine Wong said: ¡°And you said you didn¡¯t have much trouble before reaching the third floor? Did you notice anything?¡± ¡°Just the mirrors and windows felt weird - I couldn¡¯t tell what it was, but there was something really unsettling about them.¡± Jason thought for a while, then said: ¡°And when we reached room 3-5-13, we saw some kind of memory hologram replay - ¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Memory replay? You saw it too? What did you see?¡± ¡°A nurse - I think her name was Nurse Shirley, went into the rooms and poured some powder into three patients¡¯ mouths. I remember they seemed to be some gangsters, but I couldn¡¯t tell from the memory I saw.¡± ¡°Okay ¡­ interesting.¡± Josephine Wong went silent for a short while: ¡°You should know, when I went in there, I seemed to have seen the memory from a different perspective. I saw the Chief Administrative Officer berating two journalists and sending them out of the hospital. Then the CAO went into his office, then he seemed to hear some struggle outside and then I saw the security guards dragging the nurse away.¡± ¡°So it must be the same incident.¡± Jason immediately said: ¡°Did¡­ did you see the nurse¡¯s face?¡± ¡°No.¡± Josephine Wong answered: ¡°In the memory I saw, the face of the nurse was severely damaged. I don¡¯t think that¡¯s what she looked like when the incident happened.¡± ¡°Yeah, I might be totally wrong here, but I think you and I saw two different pieces of memory from two different spirits trapped in the insanity of the clustered malice.¡± Jason said. ¡°Mhm.¡± Josephine Wong acknowledged: ¡°Go on.¡± ¡°I forgot to mention this, but when we were in there, we were actually helped by the spirit of Nurse Shirley. If not for her help, we might not have been able to make it out alive.¡± Jason said: ¡°I remember I could see her face quite clearly, and she even prayed after putting the powder into the three patients¡¯ mouths. It¡¯s quite clear that the memory belongs to her, at least the major parts. And what you saw, is clearly at least for the most part the memory of the CAO. Now, I don¡¯t remember seeing the CAO in Nurse Shirley¡¯s memory, but from what you said, looks like at least this CAO is in charge of some kind of sick experiment, and Nurse Shirley foiled the experiment by feeding them poison and granting them mercy. I suspect these memories have something to do with the reason the hospital is haunted. I was thinking the other day I may need to dig into the history a bit. If you need my help with anything, please feel free to let me know.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s poison.¡± Josephine Wong said: ¡°When I saw the memory, there was some kind of strange dark liquid flowing on the ground. That was some kind of medium substance - it might even be liquefied malice. And this reminded me of some kind of past evil practice, where live animals and even humans are used as subjects and incubating vessels to cultivate malice. I don¡¯t have a lot of evidence to back this up, so don¡¯t treat it like a definite theory. We¡¯ll definitely let you know if we find something that can be disclosed. Also we will send some people to check on your friends.¡± ¡°Thank you very much, Josephine.¡± Jason said. ¡°Now, I heard that the academy went on lockdown due to the circulation of some dangerous substance. How are you doing? You have something you need?¡± ¡°Oh! No, thank you so much. We¡¯re doing really good.¡± Jason chuckled and felt flattered by this sudden offer, ¡°I don¡¯t think we need anything for now - we may need some help choosing some tier 2 enchanted artifact from the Martin House though.¡± ¡°Yeah, I heard.¡± Josephine Wong laughed: ¡°I would love to help you. Especially with Dorothea being the Headmistress. But unfortunately per the rules of the student duel, people like me cannot offer you any direct assistance, otherwise serious consequences would befall you. But I can tell you this - there are no rules forbidding me from teaching you a few things on judging and appraising the quality of artifacts - I taught Jianmen this, and I can teach you this. I¡¯ll have some reading material delivered to you in a few days. Don¡¯t make any rash decisions until you receive them.¡± ¡°Got it, thanks again!¡± Chapter 255 ¡°What, you¡¯re serious?" when he heard what Dave told him, Jianmen was indeed stunned for a short while: ¡°It must have been¡­ how long was it? At least a hundred thousand years?¡± ¡°Something like that, I don¡¯t remember much from this part.¡± Dave answered: ¡°Xyankor is here with me - he told me he connected with a few others who retained more memory and knowledge about the void and they were certain.¡± ¡°Okay, this is beyond interesting.¡± Jianmen thought for a while and said: ¡°Dave, wait there for a bit, I will be back in a bit. You may go with him, but wait for me to come back.¡± ¡°Thank you Mr. Yu. You are beyond generous.¡± Jianmen rushed back to the stairs leading to the further levels below the temple: ¡°Hi Xyn, sorry about that, but I had to go back. I¡¯ll come back and patch up your wounds later.¡± ¡°This must be important, I could sense that it¡¯s related to me.¡± Xyn asked: ¡°Could you spare any details?¡± ¡°Voidborn.¡± Jianmen chuckled: ¡°A new voidborn, in who knows how many years. I am not what I once was, and my powers are far from what they used to be. But I can still tell that it might be from the ripples released from your - and our contract.¡± Xyn laughed out loud: ¡°Good, good. Very good. Off you go then. I can still manage.¡± ¡°Okay, stay strong, and keep your back straight.¡± Jianmen gently bowed towards Xyn¡¯s fog face and rushed to the outside of the temple, and leapt into a portal with orange and golden edges. ¡°Boom! Clank!¡± while Dave, Mack and Xyankor waited in the lounge of the inn, they heard a loud bang in the kitchen, then followed by the sound of utensils and cookware falling on the ground and clashing with each other. ¡°Phew, that¡¯s one hell of an unstable portal.¡± Jianmen walked out of the kitchen with messy hair and ashes on his face and clothes: ¡°Dave! Mack! How you¡¯re doing? And Xyankor! Long time no see!¡± ¡°Mr. Yu.¡± Xyankor bowed: ¡°It¡¯s been only two years and three months. It¡¯s my pleasure and honor to see you again.¡± ¡°Eh, stop with the fancy greetings, you know I¡¯m not a fan of it.¡± Jianmen shook his head to clear out the dust from his hair: ¡°Sorry I had to come here like this, the first portal I opened was in the center of some planet a few lightyears away, had to calibrate it again.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°So, Mr. Yu, I am really sorry, I know I promised to take full shifts for two whole months.¡± Dave apologized. ¡°No apologies needed.¡± Jianmen waved his hand: ¡°Just think of it as taking a sudden sick leave - it¡¯s pretty standard nowadays. The Xianshi Inn might be small, it¡¯s still a tax-paying corporation. So take all the time you need. You might not always get paid, but don¡¯t worry about having to deal with a situation like this.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great. Thank you very much.¡± Dave smiled and asked: ¡°Can I take some cake with me? And soup?¡± ¡°You can take everything from the kitchen.¡± Jianmen smiled, ¡°Now, the reason I asked you to wait for me, is that due to some reason whose details I cannot fully disclose, I have something to offer you and ask of you.¡± ¡°Please elaborate.¡± Xyankor asked with a frown. ¡°So, there¡¯s something I cannot tell you. And believe it or not, I am also somehow tied to this matter.¡± Jianmen opened a drawer and took out a jade figurine. This figurine was that of a tall and slim man, wearing a straw hat and a pair of glasses. ¡°Mr. Yu, where we¡¯re heading to - it would be the deep, deep places of the void, reserved for only high voidborns. I¡¯m afraid we can¡¯t bring you in.¡± Xyankor said. ¡°Yeah I understood that the first time I came around. I will be waiting for you in the edgelands.¡± Jianmen cut the center of his right palm, then rubbed his blood on the figurine. The figurine glowed in orange light, then slowly grew to human size and covered in lifelike colors. Jianmen¡¯s face became pale in the process, and when the figurine started moving just like a real person, he had to sit down on the side and take some time to adjust himself. ¡°This is Fubei Li. You can call him Mr. Li, or you can continue calling him Jianmen Yu.¡± Jianmen smiled and said: ¡°This is another one of my avatars, a more independant one. He possessed a good chunk of my powers. I would like him to accompany you and wait for you in the edgelands. Should you find this voidborn and decide to bring it out from the void, he would serve as your aide in protecting the new voidborn. How¡¯s that sound?¡± ¡°Well¡­ ¡± Xyankor was a bit hesitant. ¡°That would be fine.¡± Dave acknowledged on Xyankor¡¯s behalf: ¡°Are you worried about something?¡± ¡°Just in case.¡± Fubei Li opened his mouth, his voice was deep and gave off a sense of cunningness: ¡°I suspect that there would be forces out there that would be interested in this new voidborn. ¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Xyankor sighed and said: ¡°We don¡¯t have much of a protocol for situations like this - consider what almost happened last time, it helps to have some friendly forces nearby.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Fubei Li and Jianmen bowed as a sign of thank you at the same time. ¡°This is waaaaay beyond creepy.¡± Mack sighed on the side: ¡°Can you teach me that Mr. Yu?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not your time, nor your place.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°Be patient, and be devoted to your life and purposes.¡± ¡°Oh man, this again?!¡± ¡°Do you have anyone to watch the inn for you?¡± Dave asked: ¡°If you don¡¯t have anyone, I can try and see if I can find someone.¡± ¡°Not a problem. Not a problem.¡± Jianmen waved his hand and took in a long inhale: ¡°I can stay here for a few days until I find someone. You go ahead. And let me know, let Fubei Li know what you need.¡± ¡°My most sincere gratitude.¡± Xyankor nodded and headed out with Dave. ¡°Wait, Mr. Yu.¡± Dave walked backwards back into the lounge: ¡°Were you serious saying I can take everything from the kitchen?¡± ¡°Yeah, I was serious.¡± Jianmen laughed out loud and threw a key at Dave: ¡°And here¡¯s the key to the back of the fridge. Take as much as you want.¡± ¡°Nice, thank you so much sir!¡± Dave dragged Xyankor and Mack along with him: ¡°Come on, let¡¯s have some food!¡± Chapter 256 ¡°Special delivery for you.¡± at lunch time, when Aimee and Thomas were having lunch together with the friends they made at the academy, a staff from the academy dropped an envelope at the table, right in front of Aimee and Thomas. ¡°What? Special delivery? How is that a thing?¡± a young bald man by the name of Ash in a suit of training leather armor took the envelope away from Thomas¡¯s hands and tried to open it: ¡°How could you? The entire academy¡¯s on lockdown, how can you even get delivery?¡± ¡°It¡¯s vetted and inspected by the academy¡¯s customs.¡± the staff said: ¡°And it¡¯s a designation envelope. Only the designated recipient could open it.¡± ¡°Open it, unless it¡¯s super secret, I would like to take a look at it.¡± a young woman by the name Dora with a pair of goggles with markings on the lenses and most notably had a holster with a gun inside patted Aimee on her shoulder. ¡°Okay, okay.¡± Aimee chuckled and ripped the envelope open. ¡°Artifact Appraisal 101.¡± what Thomas had in his envelope was an old text book, and when he opened the book, he could see a lot of old notes written on the sides of the pages: ¡°These notes look really¡­ how do I say...¡± ¡°Familiar?¡± inside of Aimee¡¯s envelope, was another old book: ¡°Energy Signature 101¡±. ¡°I think someone¡¯s tryna help you find that artifact from Martin House.¡± Dora said with a slightly coarse laugh: ¡°You better read up on it before you head to their vault!¡± ¡°But who could it be? Who could¡¯ve sent these to you?¡± Ash tried to look at the back of Thomas¡¯s book. ¡°Yeah, no need to think, it¡¯s gotta be Ms. Josephine Wong.¡± Aimee flipped to the end of her book and tried to see if there was a signature somewhere: ¡°She¡¯s the one who introduced us here, and she told Jason that she would have something sent to us. So it all makes sense, it could only be her.¡± ¡°And she sent you her old introductory textbooks. So she wouldn¡¯t be giving you any direct or extra help.¡± Ash nodded and looked at Thomas right in the eyes: ¡°Nice, this is nice. I¡¯m telling you, Thomas, Aimee, choose wisely and nicely. Tier 2 artifacts are not super exclusive or expensive, but it¡¯s not like something you can find in a shop by the side of the road. Look at this - ¡± then he showed his pair of metal knuckles to Thomas and Aimee: ¡°This is a pretty good pair of knuckles, but they¡¯re still just barely over the bar of tier 2.¡±Stolen novel; please report. ¡°My gun¡¯s also tier 2, almost at the bar of tier 3. It cost me quite a fortune to get it.¡± Dora shook her head and said with a wry smile: ¡°I¡¯d tell you all about the hoops I had to jump through, the trades I had to make. But that will take hours. So don¡¯t underestimate how much a good artifact would help you on your path to power.¡± ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll add these to my nightly reading list.¡± Aimee let out a long exhale and chuckled: ¡°I was kinda worried that we won¡¯t have much time.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, you¡¯re the bookworm of the family. I¡¯ll wait for your notes and digest.¡± Thomas laughed out loud and put the book back into the envelope, and what he said just earned him a backhand smack from Aimee. -------------------------------------- ¡°Welcome to the Martin House Artifact warehouse.¡± a week after their special delivery, Aimee and Thomas came to two tall gates inside of the floating castle while accompanied by Jason and Caroline, and were greeted by a male student receptionist. ¡°Hello, we¡¯re the winning team from the last student duel.¡± Thomas said: ¡°We¡¯re here to redeem our spoils - we are each entitled to one tier 2, I mean second tier enchanted artifact.¡± ¡°Understood, welcome, please wait here for a brief moment.¡± the student nodded and walked down the hallway into an office. Shortly, a male staffer from the Martin House wearing a light blue robe walked up to the team of four her to claim their spoils with the the male student receptionist: ¡°Hi, Detectives, Mr. Lin and Ms. Baker, my name is Cristian, this is Michael, I am a student counselor of the Martin House, and we are tasked with aiding Headmistress Clarkson fulfilling her promise to you and the student duel.¡± ¡°Thank you, Cristian.¡± Thomas nodded: ¡°Can we go in there now?¡± ¡°Just a minute. It¡¯s been a while since anyone¡¯s visited the second tier artifact warehouse.¡± Cristian took out a small wooden stick and tapped the lock on the gates with it. With a squeak from the stone gates, a spacious warehouse appeared right in front of everyone¡¯s eyes. There were many shelves just like a normal civilian warehouse, and they could see all kinds of different items placed on them. And without even stepping in, they could see items like small curved daggers, crystal balls and even decorative metal helms. ¡°Are these it?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°No, it¡¯s on another floor.¡± Cristian chuckled: ¡°This is the warehouse for the artifacts that are first or second tier. We store higher tier artifacts somewhere else with higher levels of security and tracking measures. The artifacts of the first tier are placed here. We have many of them thus we place them kinda messily. The second tier artifacts are upstairs. Please follow Michael to the second floor.¡± All of them did as they were told. The second floor had a different layout than the first, where each individual item had its own layer on the shelf instead of sharing layers with other items. The positions of the items also seemed more organized, where items with similar looks and shapes were placed close to each other. Caroline and Jason took a short moment to sense the energy waves and fields emitted from the items, they were indeed slightly stronger than that from the items on the first floor. ¡°Now, these are all the second tier artifacts.¡± Cristian said: ¡°Headmistress Clarkson tasked us to answer basic questions regarding them, so please feel free to ask if you have any questions. We cannot tell you what to choose or what kind of magic was used to enchant them, but we can tell you very basic information, like their usage and simple summaries of their history.¡± Chapter 257 All four of the student duel winning team - Aimee, Thomas, Caroline and Jason started walking around the shelves and examining the items along the way. ¡°Let me remind you, that the use of appraisal and inspection spells are allowed, but please make sure your spells won¡¯t be damaging to the items. Otherwise you¡¯ll need to take it or be charged with the repairs.¡± Michael said: ¡°So please feel free to use your spells to help you decide.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Thomas nodded, and a small ball of fire lit up between his palms, an inspection spell with the most basic inspecting power was readied and could be cast at any time. ¡°What is the history of this pair of binoculars?¡± Caroline stopped her footsteps and asked. ¡°It has no name. They are the work of Pratt Patterson while he was still a student at the academy. He gifted them to the academy when he graduated and they were eventually collected by the Martin House.¡± Michael answered: ¡°Mr. Patterson was a talent with whom none could compete, but he¡¯s always had a hard time naming his works. Call it a humble brag, he said that he has too many nice things to name and he ran out of names a long time ago.¡± ¡°What about this vest?¡± Jason had his eyes on a thin vest that looked like it was made of some kind of thick paper. ¡°That¡¯s a protective vest made of the bark and branches from a Dragon Beard Willow.¡± Cristian answered: ¡°It was a simple experimental work. Because in most cases Dragon Beard Willow materials are used for crafting tools and even sturdy clothes for physical laborers like miners and blacksmiths.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Jason focused his Xuanli on his eyes and stared at the vest for a short while, his facial expression seemed to have made Michael and Cristian uncomfortable: ¡°I like this one, if there¡¯s nothing else like this vest, I¡¯m gonna take it.¡± ¡°Really? What made you feel this way?¡± Cristian asked. ¡°It has some kind of energy absorbing property, looks like it¡¯s able to take a beating.¡± Jason smiled and said: ¡°Even if I¡¯m wrong, it still looks like it could be an interesting example. Something I can learn from.¡± ¡°What about this one?¡± Caroline pointed at a fancy looking metal crown with a light golden shine. ¡°That is a Crown of Wisdom and Peace.¡± Cristian immediately answered: ¡°It¡¯s slightly different from the standard-issued ones that could be purchased from the major artifact shops. It was made by one of the top students from around a decade ago, it was the product of a final thesis.¡± ¡°Hmm, interesting.¡± Caroline walked around the crown, then moved on to another item. ¡°Geez, do you guys have some sort of obscuration spells on it?¡± Thomas released his inspection spell on a pair of metal gloves, the energy from his spell slid to the side like water on an oily surface. ¡°We don¡¯t have those. But we do have multiple layers of protection spells placed on the artifacts to ensure that they don¡¯t get rusted or damaged due to long time storage.¡± Cristian answered with a hint of delight and gloat: ¡°Some of those protections may also have spell-repelling properties.¡± ¡°How thoughtful.¡± Caroline stared at a pair of white and red gloves with light silver threads interwoven into the fabric and leather, with her eyes glowing in orange and red light: ¡°These look nice. What are they made of?¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°They¡¯re made of the belly and chest wool of Prancing Llamas.¡± Michael said: ¡°It¡¯s masterfully made and cared for. Once a pretty sought after artifact due to its tender texture. They were donated to the academy as a ceremonial gift and collected by our house.¡± ¡°Prancing Llamas, you say.¡± Jason raised his head with a frown, ¡°Why does that sound so familiar? Caroline, have we heard it somewhere?¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m not sure what you meant?¡± ¡°It does sound kinda familiar. I think I¡¯ve definitely heard of the name before¡­ ¡± Caroline thought for a while: ¡°What ¡­ don¡¯t they have a nickname ¡®Shadow Boxer-Spitter¡¯? They¡¯re rivals of the Thunderfoot Kangaroos right?¡± ¡°Well¡­ uh¡­ it might be so.¡± Michael stammered and looked at Cristian. ¡°Yeah, but we prefer to call them Prancing Llamas, because this name¡¯s more intuitive.¡± Cristian immediately said. ¡°I¡¯ve heard of ¡®Shadow Boxer-Spitter¡¯ .¡± Thomas scratched his jaw and said: ¡°They¡¯re quite ferocious right? I heard from Ash that they could knock out a trained fighter if the fighter¡¯s not prepared and careful.¡± ¡°So their belly and chest wool, might just be a sturdy and durable material for crafting personal items.¡± Aimee looked at Michael and Cristian with a smile. ¡°Yeah! Yeah, that would be¡­ quite a reasonable conclusion.¡± Cristian forced a smile on his face. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s this?¡± just this moment, Thomas found himself standing in front of a shelf at the most inner corner of the room, which unlike other shelves, had two items on it. One of the items was a glowing and color changing crystal shard on a small pedestal, and the other was a small metal box with a strange symbol engraved on it. ¡°Are they a set?¡± Jason walked up to Thomas and asked. ¡°No, they¡¯re not a set. It¡¯s a¡± Cristian frowned: ¡°The box ¡­ weird, I don¡¯t remember seeing it.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jason¡¯s eyes glowed in silver light as he set his eyes on the metal box, but something immediately pushed back at his probing attempt, as a small wave of energy exploded from it almost completely breaking his spell. ¡°Woah, are you already?¡± Thomas held Jason¡¯s shoulders as he stepped back from the collision of energy. ¡°Now I¡¯m taking it.¡± Jason laughed out loud. ¡°Nonono, that thing - we don¡¯t recognize that item. That may belong to someone else of the Martin House.¡± Cristian immediately said. ¡°What, is this not something from this warehouse? Are you storing things that are not second tier artifacts in this warehouse? If this is the case, how can I trust that the items here are all of the second tier as you claimed?¡± Jason grabbed the silver box and held it in his hand and wouldn¡¯t let go. ¡°It might have been misplaced. Please give it back to us so we could inspect it.¡± Cristian tried to walk up to Jason, but Caroline stepped in front of Jason and blocked his path. ¡°Hold on there Cristian. How about we keep this for now, and you tell us when you schedule a time to inspect it when we have faculty on our side helping us out?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°Ms. Baker, I assure you that you can trust us...¡± ¡°To be fair, you¡¯ve been purposefully withholding information regarding these artifacts ever since we came in here.¡± Thomas said: ¡°How about you give us a little trust, huh?¡± ¡°Mr. Chaver, this is not - ¡± ¡°This is not what?¡± just this moment, the sound of Glenda Grimes came through the door. ¡°This is not that we don¡¯t trust you. But we don¡¯t recognize this thing.¡± Cristian said. ¡°How often do you check your inventories again?¡± Glenda Grimes asked. ¡°Every month...¡± Michael answered hesitantly. ¡°And if I¡¯m correct, you¡¯re still less than one week till your next sweep right?¡± Glenda Grimes said: ¡°Maybe someone put it here without documenting it or handing in the notice. Maybe they can have it for now, and you can check your books to see what it is later. ¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Cristian sighed and relented: ¡°Okay, okay, fair enough. You can take it away, for now. But please don¡¯t damage it before we find out, okay? It could have been someone else¡¯s personal item that got misplaced.¡± ¡°How about we wait one week? Until such time that you finish your sweep?¡± Glenda Grimes asked. ¡°Fine.¡± Cristian shook his head: ¡°Fine. One week, and you can do whatever you want with it.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Glenda Grimes came into the room and asked Thomas and Aimee: ¡°How¡¯s your choosing? Feeling overwhelmed?¡± ¡°A little bit yeah.¡± Aimee chuckled: ¡°Thank you for coming this fast.¡± ¡°Well, I could¡¯ve come here with you if you told me sooner.¡± Glenda Grimes said while pointing at Aimee with an approving smile: ¡°But quick thinking with the text.¡± ¡°We thought we could not ask faculty for help, so...¡± Thomas sighed: ¡°Thank you for coming anyway. Aimee when did you text Ms. Grimes here?¡± ¡°The Llama Gloves.¡± Aimee smiled: ¡°I figured we¡¯d need someone to help us with basic, rule-conforming information, since we might get misleading info.¡± Chapter 258 Another day, Josephine Wong took another visit into the buildings of Clearwater Municipal Hospital, just this time, she was entering from a different wing. Before coming in, Josephine Wong did not expect to learn much from this visit. This was mostly because she didn¡¯t hear much about anything different from anyone about its West Wing - not from her previous teams that got into it, and not from the team of ¡°influencers¡± who can¡¯t remember much if anything from their visit anyway. The main site of concern was still room 3-5-13, in which some kind of inhumane paranormality related experiments were done. Yet, when Josephine Wong set foot in the West Wing of the hospital, something already felt different - and not because of there being more dark energy here or the difference in energy signature or quality manifested by it; instead, it was because there was hardly any noticeable traces of dark energy in the air, when compared to the North Wing. For any other normal place, this would be a really good sign, as it would be an indication that there was almost no dark energy at all. But for a place that was heavily contaminated and even was made of pure dark energy, it was a terrible sign - because it indicated that the dark energy was concentrated and solidified, that every little portion of it escaped into the air and space around. Josephine Wong took a look at a broken window nearby, and instantly caught something wrong with the reflection - the reflection was abnormally bright, and she saw a vague shadowy figure standing behind her. Josephine Wong stood where she was and thought for a short moment - she remembered something said by the ¡°influencers¡± on their broken and chaotic footage while they were in the West Wing, thinking they were live streaming but in fact their recordings never made it onto the internet and were only stored on their devices as temporary files that would have been deleted if not for the team from the Division making copies of them after the rescue operation. She took out a small stone tablet from her pocket and started infusing her power into it - it was a simple note taking artifact, where she could record her notes just by using a small amount of effort, without her having to write or speak. And with just a small touch, she recorded some notes about the reflections in the windows. Gently rubbing on the bracelet from Jianmen with one hand, Josephine Wong tapped her forehead with fingers from the other, her eyes lit up in a silvery purple light, while the power of the bracelet concealed the escape energy released from the spell. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. This was a complicated version of the True Sight Spell, which would grant her the ability to see past deep illusions and powerful obscuration spells, without causing the observed entities to be on alert about being probed into. It was a spell still with room for improvement, because it was a mash of several different spells and with stealth casting taken as a priority, yet it still required the caster to use extra concealing spells to obscure its energy signature. What was more, was that this spell tended to reveal too much detail and not enough of the general picture - it was a common flaw amongst true sight spells - it was like looking at a person through their nostrils and pores, but not through their facial structure, height and body shape. Under the effects of the spell, Josephine Wong was able to see a totally different picture from what it appeared on the surface: shadows of people seemed to be lurking, wandering and banging their heads on various things in the reflections on the windows in the hallway. These ¡°reflections¡± did not have their real-life sources, and were like as if something was projecting video footage onto their respective reflecting surface. The walls, pillars and floor seemed to be vibrating and shaking and squirming, with small ¡°waves¡± rippling through the surface. There was a watermark up on the ceiling right in front of Josephine Wong, and it was dripping some kind of clear but thick and sticky liquid onto the ground. Whenever a droplet of liquid hit the ground, some kind of low and faint cry was raised and sent through the air. When Josephine Wong got close to a window that was the least broken, she saw that all the shadows of people seemed to be wearing some sort of restraining clothing, some were wearing straight jackets, and some were even chained to a wall with hands and thighs all tied up and mouth covered and could only walk around. These shadows seemed to be locked inside of some rooms with padded walls. As she looked closer, some of the shadows in the ¡°reflection¡± seemed to have noticed the presence of Josephine Wong somehow, and they rushed to the position of the ¡°camera¡± and acted like they were trying to yell at whoever¡¯s watching them or at least to gain the attention of the observer. Their eyes were hollowed out, their teeth all gone, and their faces were covered with cracks and scars. This immediately made Josephine Wong back off - though she was unclear how those shadows sensed her, where they were or who they were, it was a really bad idea to draw any sort of attention to herself at this moment. She stayed where she was for a short moment to make sure her actions did not awaken anything in this hospital, and when she felt certain that she was safe, she took down some more notes and floated to the staircase, heading towards the upper floors. The first thing she saw when she floated to the second floor, with her True Sight Spell still active, was the shadow of a young girl sitting on the corner of a hallway with her back facing Josephine Wong, playing with something. As Josephine Wong carefully and slowly floated over, she noticed that the second floor was quite messy, unlike the first floor, with dirty shoes, blankets, pieces of paper, broken coffee mugs and broken and discarded medical tools and supplies on the ground. The young girl was playing some kind of tiny wooden sticks - she was rubbing heads of the sticks against a small box, and watched them burst into flames. She was playing with matches. Chapter 259 The young girl¡¯s face was completely flat, with no eyes, no nose, no mouths, just like an egg with a wig on. But somehow, Josephine Wong was able to tell that she was enjoying herself while she played with the matches. After a short while, the shadow of the young girl started flickering, then just in a few seconds, the shadow crumbled and dissipated like a pile of ashes, leaving a small and simple rag doll on the ground. Around the time the shadow of the young girl started to flicker, another shadow appeared on the hallway of the second floor, this time it was a man also without a face, who seemed to be walking along the hallway holding someone¡¯s hands. But she could not see the person with whom the man was holding hands with. As Josephine Wong floated down the hallway, she saw more of this kind of shadows - each one seemed to be a brief piece of memory from a person¡¯s life. Each piece of memory seemed to be stuck inside some kind of cycle of replaying, stopping and crumbling. Josephine Wong also noticed that these memories seemed to be bound to specific items scattered on the ground. Just when Josephine Wong floated back to the position of the staircase, the memory of the young girl playing with matches started replaying again. This time, Josephine Wong noticed something different about this girl - she seemed to be missing some hair. From the knowledge she gained from past readings and experience dealing with malice and its memory replays, this would be a pretty normal phenomenon - memories fade and get distorted over time. But she couldn¡¯t help but have a tingling sense of troubling unease at the sight of this young girl¡¯s memory replay. Josephine Wong stayed where she was and upped the power level of her True Sight Spell, intending to grasp what the source of the feeling was. ¡°Poof¡± the young girl¡¯s shadow collapsed into ashes once again. This time, with increased power of the True Sight Spell, Josephine Wong was able to notice, that a miniscule and dim ball of energy seemed to come out of the ashes and started floating through the air to downstairs. Josephine Wong immediately followed, while maintaining the power level of her True Sight Spell. The ball of energy was tiny, but its trajectory of flight was steady and smooth. When it finally reached the first floor, it just continued on its way downwards. And at the bottom of the staircase, a dark pit appeared out of nowhere, and swallowed the ball of energy like a big hungry mouth.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Josephine Wong rushed to the side of the pit as it was about to close up in an attempt to glance at what was underneath. She did not see anything fully nor clearly, but the mere quick peek of what was under the pit sent a sudden chill down her spine - she saw a vortex of blood red energy and dark smoke, spinning around some kind of pale white energy core. Even from quite a distance, she could still feel the cold and corrosive energy radiated from the core. Just this moment, some more balls of energy floated down the stairs, the pit opened up again and swallowed them all. And with every ball of energy swallowed, there seemed to be some faint growling noises coming from whatever was under the pit. When she dispersed the True Sight Spell, the pit disappeared right before her eyes, as with the balls of energy released from the memories. ------------------------------------------- ¡°Hi, is Mr. Yu here?¡± a portal opened up right in front of Xianshi Inn, Josephine Wong leapt out of the portal and rushed into the lounge. The man behind the reception¡¯s desk was someone she¡¯s never met before - the man was tall and thin, with long arms and legs, he had a smiley face and was sitting on the chair, petting a white fur ball that was sitting on the desk. ¡°Oh, hi. Can I help you?¡± the man spoke with a strange accent. ¡°Is Mr. Yu here?¡± Josephine Wong asked the tall and thin man: ¡°I tried calling him, but he did not pick up. So I was thinking if he would be here.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± the tall and thin man stood up, his posture was as strange as his accent: ¡°He went away for some urgent business. He also told me that the place he went to might be a bit ¡­ unstable, even blessed communication lines might not work. Are you a friend of Mr. Yu?¡± ¡°My name¡¯s Josephine Wong.¡± ¡°Oh, oh, it¡¯s you! Sorry about that - I¡¯m new here.¡± the man recognized the name and apologized: ¡°My Apologies. Can I take a message from you? I don¡¯t know when he¡¯ll be back.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Josephine Wong sighed and sat down by the reception¡¯s desk: ¡°Can you tell him to find me immediately? There¡¯s a serious matter I need his help with. I will be filing an emergency plea for access to files on his behalf so he won¡¯t need to worry about the policies and access. Just tell him to come find me immediately.¡± ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll tell him to find you immediately.¡± the tall and thin man tried to write something down on a piece of paper, but his arms kept wailing and flopping around uncontrollably and he ended up leaving ink marks on the desk and not writing anything down. ¡°Are ¡­ are you okay?¡± Josephine Wong asked: ¡°I can write it down for you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay, let me try.¡± the man laughed out loud: ¡°Sorry, I ¡­ I haven¡¯t been in this form before.¡± ¡°Human form?¡± Josephine Wong asked: ¡°I was just wondering, may I know your name? I don¡¯t remember hearing about you.¡± ¡°Oh, actually I haven¡¯t been in this inn for very long, and I was in recovery most of the time so I haven¡¯t the pleasure of actually meeting you.¡± the tall thin man said: ¡°My name is Rashmumba D¡¯Eclaire. Or you can just call me Rash.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Josephine Wong turned around to look at the fish tank, yet all she saw was an empty tank with nothing in it, not even water: ¡°Also, I am going to leave some notes, can you pass them to him for me?¡± ¡°Not a problem, Ms. Wong.¡± Chapter 260 ¡°How serious are things? You look really concerned.¡± Rash asked when he took a small piece of note paper from Josephine Wong: ¡°I¡¯m not good at reading facial expressions yet. But I can sorta tell you are worried.¡± ¡°Yes, I am worried. You can read the notes and see why.¡± Josephine Wong sighed. ¡°I wish I could help.¡± Rash petted the white fur ball for a brief moment and said: ¡°Too bad I am still recovering - eating the wrong stuff is hella hard to recover from. You wanna pet Snowball here? It¡¯d give you a good mood and brighten your day a bit.¡± ¡°Huh. This is a minor spirit isn¡¯t it?¡± Josephine Wong ran her fingers through the soft white fur on the fur ball¡¯s body, the fur ball purred comfortably and rolled around on the desk like an actual animal. ¡°Yeah, apparently it¡¯s brought here by Mr. Yu¡¯s students.¡± Rash chuckled: ¡°It¡¯s quite¡­ wonderful we could still have these. In the wild they¡¯d just been killed or eaten.¡± Snowball turned its big and shiny eyes on Josephine Wong and blinked a few times, as if it was a cat enjoying the touch of its owner. Josephine Wong chuckled and shook her head, then she stood up and went into the kitchen and found a clay jar from under one of the counter drawers: ¡°Rash, when he¡¯s back, tell him that I had to borrow this jar.¡± ¡°Okay, sure, what is it?¡± Rash asked. ¡°It¡¯s his mixed oil. Tell him I¡¯ll pay him later.¡± ¡°No problem, he told me you can take anything.¡± Rash nodded: ¡°But I¡¯ll be sure to pass your message to him. Anything else I can help you with?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take some of these as well.¡± Josephine Wong put the clay jar into her tiny purse, then she proceeded to take a few bottles of wine stored in the most inner corners of the fridge with paper coverings on the openings. The paper coverings had all sorts of hand drawn patterns on it, and with some Mandarin texts describing the purposes of the wine. ¡°No problem. I - I think Mr. Yu will surely be okay with you taking those as well.¡± Rash nodded. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Thanks Rash.¡± Josephine Wong put all the bottles into her little purse and said: ¡°Please be sure to tell him - find me immediately. If he can¡¯t find me, tell him to go to Clearwater Municipal Hospital. There¡¯s something he¡¯ll definitely be interested in.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± ¡°Thank you Rash. And congratulations.¡± After Josephine Wong left, Rash started reading the notes she left for Jianmen, as she indicated that it would be okay for him to do so. ¡°Clearwater Municipal Hospital. ¡°Located in the deserted plains at the edge of San Jose, at least one hour drive from the closest civilian areas. In the surrounding areas, three sealing arrays were placed to prevent the dark energy from spreading. ¡°Official records about the operations of the hospital were mostly damaged or corrupted beyond recovery. The rest are missing, classified or permanently redacted. There are ongoing investigations into the operation history of the hospital, the Division will also start collecting records from side sources like local newspapers and local civilian government archives. ¡°The Division suffered five casualties during a routine investigative and dark energy suppressing operation. The site seemed to be the place of dormancy belonging to an instance of clustered malice, which is beyond unconventional since the Division has the duty to document all instances of clustered malice with sufficient details, especially for instances of this kind of scale. ¡°Yet, the documents and records are mostly missing. The Division didn¡¯t even have an official entry in the database or archives. The previous team that were in charge of the maintenance of this site were disbanded due to multiple resignations before the current liaison took office. ¡°From two personal visits into the site, I was able to witness a few pieces of memory replay, and thus was able to deduce some information regarding its past, combining some other pieces of information my team found. ¡°First is Eric Shaw, the Chief Administration Officer of the hospital. He graduated with mediocre grades from a well known medical school, and got selected as the Chief Administration Officer through some kind of personal connection. There was very little indication that he was aware of the true nature of the paranormality related experiments that were being done in the hospital. ¡°Second thing is Nurse Shirley, from multiple records, including some second hand gossip gathered from Jason Lin¡¯s friends and some real life experience from Mr. Lin himself, she was the one that tried to stop the experiment by feeding some unknown substance to three of the subjects. My team was able to find interesting records regarding this nurse. She has an aunt who acted as a medium and fortune teller around the San Jose area around the same time the hospital remained operational. Judging from the memories replayed in and around the room 3-5-13, she may have found some kind of substance that acted as a repelling agent to repel malice being cultivated inside these subjects. ¡°The third thing is, the memory replays aren¡¯t normal and natural occurrences due to the energy fields present on site. They seemed to be periodically triggered, and some kind of energy seemed to be extracted from each replay. The thing that keeps triggering the energy replays seems to be utterly unclean,corrupted and corrosive, and it shows some distinct features from the normal core of an instance of clustered malice. Judging that the maintainer of the core of the clustered malice residing inside the hospital is absent, there might be something else maintaining it, and seems to be far more dangerous and insidious. I suspect it could even be a living source of karmic corruption.¡± ¡°Crap.¡± Rash closed the note, thought about it for a while, then he ran his hand across the pages, then he took out a piece of paper and with a wave of his hand the texts from Josephine Wong¡¯s handwriting was somehow copied onto that piece of paper. Next, Rash folded the paper up and put it right into his mouth. After a short moment, he spit the folded paper out of the window and up towards the sky. The piece of paper turned into a light green energy arrow and disappeared into the clouds in a blink of an eye. ¡°Hopefully it could reach you in time, Mr. Yu.¡± Chapter 261 A beam of light descended from a vortex of thunder, fire and tiny meteors onto a piece of land floating in space. A golden protective bubble appeared before the beam of light, yet it just let the beam of light pass through, with only a few ripples of light appearing around the intersection. Dave and Xyankor walked out of the beam as it hit the ground with Fubei Li, Jianmen¡¯s second avatar behind them, and was greeted by the individuals on this piece of floating land. ¡°Daekan-Velliander, Xyankor, what brings you to the edgelands?¡± a centaur whose body was completely made of fire and magma walked up to Dave and Xyankor and asked: ¡°And who is this? He¡¯s not a voidborn.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you sir. I am just here to assist them in their mission.¡± Fubei Li gently bowed and said. ¡°This is Mr. Fubei Li. He¡¯s a friend of ours with knowledge and experience we could really use and depend on.¡± Dave said: ¡°I can vouch for him. He could stay here and come with us if that¡¯s okay with you. He won¡¯t need access to the void.¡± ¡°There¡¯s plenty of precedence on non-voidborns being in the edgelands. If you vouch for him, he could come with us.¡± the magma centaur nodded and said. ¡°We¡¯re here because of the changes in the void.¡± Xyankor answered: ¡°Do you happen to know where Paulo Chang is? We want to talk to the leaders of Fog Dwellers.¡± ¡°He¡¯s in the edgelands as well. I believe he¡¯s in the central bastion.¡± the magma centaur answered: ¡°Please, allow me to lead the way. There¡¯s been changes in the void, as there had been here.¡± The magma centaur started running, and Xyankor and Dave followed by flying at a low height behind him, leaving two trails of grey smoke behind. Fubeli Li was just running behind them, leaving a trail of deep footprints in the dirt. Before long, a dark grey stone bastion built on the top of a hill appeared in their sight far away. There was a strange force field around the entire hill, which was there to serve as protection against unfriendly forces and all kinds of teleportation. ¡°The Bastion of Gwai-Mon. I thought I¡¯d come here later, when I¡¯ve had my fun.¡± when they stopped right outside of the force field around the hill, Dave shook his head with a wry smile: ¡°I haven¡¯t spent much time in this current cycle yet.¡± ¡°There¡¯s plenty of ways to speed up your cycle.¡± Xyankor said: ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go in. Can you open the gate?¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. The magma centaur extended his right hand forward, his palm glowed in a white light, and a tall gate made of bright white energy appeared before them. Then the gate opened, showing a long hallway on the other side. ¡°Please go in. I just notified them that you want to find Paulo Chang. Be cautious when talking to him. You¡¯ve met him before - so you knew. But he¡¯s extra grumpy these days. So be careful.¡± the magma centaur said. ¡°Thank you, Isidus.¡± Xyankor nodded at the magma centaur. ¡°My pleasure, Xyankor. I¡¯ll be back to my duties.¡± the magma centaur bowed and started running back the way they came. Fubei Li went into the gate just behind Xyankor and Dave. He had memories from Jianmen, who had been in the bastion before, so he knew a lot of interesting information about this bastion. For example, its name, Gwai-Mon is an ancient word for ¡°crossroads¡±. And another example, was that the bastion was built with a kind of special stone material named ¡°Muto¡± that only existed in places that were close to the void like the edgelands. Muto had an extremely unique property, its physical properties would change with the shape it takes: if it was in the shape of a cube or a cuboid, it would be hard, sturdy, pressure resistant and extremely light; if it was in the shape of a sphere, it would be bouncy and elastic like a ball; and when it was in the shape of long and sharp objects like swords, knives or pedals, it would be soft but extremely heavy like a piece of dense and long tofu, which also made it so that it would be a terrible material for sharp weapons crafting. ¡°What¡¯s your business here?¡± a very small human-shaped fairy with two bird wings and her whole body made of energy of air appeared in front of Dave, Xyankor and Fubei Li. ¡°We¡¯re here to see Paulo Chang. We would like to talk to the leaders of Fog Dwellers.¡± Xyankor answered. ¡°Noted, please wait in one of the side rooms. ¡± the air fairy flapped her wings and a piece of her feather shot through the air and disappeared somewhere deep into the bastion. Dave, Xyankor and Fubei Li followed the fairy into a room with a pretty tall ceiling and tables and chairs made of rattan and stone. As they found their seat, the air fairy got her feather back: ¡°Mr. Chang would be with you shortly.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Dave nodded at the air fairy as she flew out of the side room. A few minutes past, the three in this room heard the sound of electric flares and thunder cracks coming from the hallway outside the room. Then next moment, a ball lightning flew into the room, and after a loud crack, a bald old man in blue clothes and blue eyebrows appeared from the ball lightning and sat on the back of a stone chair. ¡°What up, y¡¯all?¡± Paulo Chang took a sip of his drink from his gourd: ¡°Xyankor, you missed the last meeting of all the high brokers. That Summers chick shared some interesting intel. It probably wouldn¡¯t be useful to you though. So, what do you want to talk to me about?¡± ¡°The changes in the void. A new voidborn is about to be born.¡± Xyankor answered. ¡°Yeah, that I heard.¡± Paulo Chang chuckled: ¡°Didn¡¯t think I¡¯d live to see this day. And I guess this is why you wanna meet with the Fog Dwellers right?¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have any objections to this request. But I won¡¯t be on your side either. So you¡¯ll need to make your plea to them instead. Remember, though we elementals are technically voidborn, we don¡¯t concern ourselves with business concerning the void anymore.¡± Paulo Chang shook his head and said. ¡°We understand, which is why we bring our payment for this introduction.¡± Xyankor reached into his pocket and took out a piece of shiny red crystal the size of his palm: ¡°Consider this the pre-payment.¡± ¡°Very well.¡± Paulo Chang laughed and extended his hand at Xyankor, with his fingers curled like claws. The red crystal was brought into the air by a suction force and flew right into his palm: ¡°I¡¯ll go tell them. It¡¯ll be a couple of Earth days, so if you don¡¯t mind you can just stay in the bastion.¡± ¡°That would be fine. But please, do convey the urgency to them.¡± Chapter 262 Behind the stone gates at the bottom of the stairs below the temple of Xyn, was a vast space with no edge in sight and no clear directions of up or down, left or right. All anyone could see were floating pieces of mini-realms shrouded by fog. Without needing to go into any of the particular realms, Jianmen could already tell that a lot of these floating realms were slowly collapsing and dying from within. From what Xyn told him, these realms were manifestations of some of his power, each realm represented his connection to a group of his past followers and indirect descendants, which were maintained by Xyn¡¯s power and the followers¡¯ faith. Though not entirely visible, Jianmen could still sense that there was a tear somewhere in this vast space, though he was in a space where the idea of location was starting to make less and less sense to anyone. And this was precisely the reason why Xyn was having a hard time healing his own wound - as a god who once had control over his own space and still had much control over his own flow of time, this space was also a part of his ¡°body¡±. But now that Xyn had lost a lot of his control over the space, the wound left by his fall would also be hard to locate, as it started drifting from coordinates to coordinates along with the flow of space. Xyn still had some control over the flow of time in this space, so Jianmen could still use his powers to help Xyn find that drifting wound and thus aiding him to patch up the wound and stop the loss of power, even start healing. This attempt was not without its risks and costs, of course. The most simple cost was that the flow of time and space was quite different from that outside of this space, and thus when he remained in this space, all of his communication with the outside world would get severely affected, even blessed lines of communication wouldn¡¯t work as they should. And the most intuitive risk was that if they were not careful in finding and locking up the drifting wound, they could make matters worse for Xyn. After ¡°standing¡± in the space for a short while, Jianmen¡¯s eyes locked onto something that was generating some kind of rippling waves across the space from a distance. He immediately leapt forward and instantly closed the distance between him and the source of the space ripples. The core of the source of the ripple was a single dark and dense particle, which was constantly absorbing the surrounding space, time and all sources of energy around it. This absorption of the sources of energy caused the fabric of space to be broken, thus it kept drifting. Xyn¡¯s power was not strong enough to lock it down or isolate it, therefore he needed Jianmen¡¯s help.Stolen story; please report. Jianmen¡¯s left hand started gathering and concentrating energy, while his right hand started delivering a flurry of finger strikes at the space around the dark particle, all the finger strikes were like sharp and high speed drill bits that left ¡°holes¡± in the space around the particle. Next, Jianmen¡¯s left hand unleashed a palm strike, orange and golden energy shot towards the dark particle as well as the ¡°holes¡± in the space left by his finger strikes. The orange and golden energy cocooned around the dark particle and at the same time connected each of the ¡°holes¡± by forming into energy rods and ropes going through them. ¡°Ding.¡± Jianmen uttered a single Mandarin word, which meant ¡°freeze¡± or ¡°still¡±, and a wave of energy permeated through the entire cage formed by the orange and golden energy, causing the cages to crystalize into hardened constructs, while the energy that wrapped around the central dark particle to start spinning and slowly chipping away at it. Three streams of light grey energy shot from behind Jianmen, aiming at the dark particle now locked in its position. A meat cleaver appeared in Jianmen¡¯s right hand, and a rattan broom in his left. When the three streams of energy reached the dark particle at the same time, an energy explosion erupted, and the energy shockwave instantly swept through Jianmen¡¯s position. The dark particle reacted quite violently to the assault and the restriction by the orange and golden energy cage - right after the explosion, it released some sort of force field and expanded in size to become some sort of mini-blackhole, swallowing the orange and golden energy cage in whole and started absorbing more energy with greater force and higher speed. Another three streams of energy shot from the space behind Jianmen at the mini-blackhole. Jianmen also swung his meat cleaver at the mini-blackhole. ¡°Ting!¡± when the edge of Jianmen¡¯s meat cleaver collided with the mini-blakchole, Jianmen could hear a sound that was similar to that of collision between metal objects. This was no surprise to him, as he kept on swinging his meat cleaver. In less than a second, the meat cleaver already collided with the mini-blackhole more than a dozen times. With each slash from the meat cleaver, the structure of the mini-blackhole became more and more unstable. One more stream of light grey energy shot from the space aiming right at the mini-blackhole. Jianmen heard a small but clear cracking sound when the new stream of energy landed on its target, and he immediately pulled back. The mini-blackhole expanded once more in size, but its edge was shaking and flickering, with strange cracks of golden light crawling all over its surface. ¡°Boom¡± a low but heavy soundwave exploded from the mini-blackhole, the mini-blackhole imploded, leaving a spinning ball of fog behind. ¡°I think you can patch this up yourself?¡± Jianmen wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked: ¡°Looks like the procedure left you bleeding huh?¡± ¡°I can handle it. ¡± Xyn¡¯s fog face appeared beside Jianmen: ¡°My gratitude for your help, please feel free to check out any of the stable realms here if you¡¯d like. Hope they could help you.¡± ¡°Not a problem. Stay alive.¡± Jianmen chuckled and was about to find a realm to go into. ¡°Something is trying to reach you.¡± Xyn said: ¡°It¡¯s halted by the protective power of the temple. You want to go and see what it¡¯s about?¡± ¡°Hmm. Okay.¡± Jianmen took out his phone and saw that it had no bars of signal: ¡°Be right back.¡± Chapter 263 The sound of hundreds of monks chanting holy scriptures filled the air around the building of Clearwater Municipal Hospital. Even Division agents without any kind of supernatural gifts could feel some kind of solemn and dignified power and energy when they got close to the monks sitting on the ground, forming a giant circle surrounding the entire hospital. There were four heavy duty helicopters in the sky, hanging in their respective places in the air, each carrying a folded up metal rod underneath. Three of the helicopters formed a triangle, and the last helicopter was in the center, all four of them in turn formed some kind of array just waiting to be deployed. The clouds above the hospital building were particularly thick and dark today, and there were hundreds if not thousands of dark spots on the clouds. If anyone looked carefully, they would see that these dark spots were actually all human faces formed by clouds that are tainted by dark smoke. These faces were crying, screaming, agonizing or vomiting, forming a horrifying picture that could make nightmare fuel for almost anyone. ¡°All drops are on standby.¡± one of the two pilots in the helicopter flying in the middle communicated with someone through the comms: ¡°Say the word, and we will deploy the layload.¡± ¡°Remain on standby. The swords are still getting ready.¡± Pei¡¯s voice came from the comms. Pei was not lying, when she put down the microphone, started concentrating her powers on her palms and projecting dozens of threads with different colors made of her unique energy onto the handle of a green sword with translucent blade. And on her side, Nameless was chanting Buddhist scriptures while pointing his fingers at the blade of the sword, beams of golden energy shot from the tips of his finger and merged into the blade, blessing and strengthening it. ¡°How you¡¯re holding up?¡± Pei asked Nameless. ¡°This Monk is doing fine. Take care, haste does not a good enchantment make.¡± Nameless said, as he started conjuring more of his power and helping Pei enchant the green sword. ¡°Gosh, if it had given us just one more day...¡± Pei sighed: ¡°Even if it had given us half a day - it¡¯d been much better.¡± When the energy threads finally wrapped around the handle, and all of the streams of energy released by Nameless finally covered the entire edge of the green sword in a thin layer of golden coating, both of them stopped what they were doing, and stuck the sword into the ground, near a ground of three chanting monks.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Okay. One more sword to go.¡± Pei picked up her microphone: ¡°Birds, report. Simmons and Robinson, how is the surrounding area?¡± ¡°All clear, no sign of civilians or unfriendlies.¡± ¡°All clear.¡± ¡°Blue, Alexander, Vivian, what about your positions?¡± Pei asked. ¡°No indication of any unfriendly forces.¡± the voice of an old man replied, this was Blue. ¡°I smelled nothing.¡± this was a grumpy and hoarse voice from a man with an accent, this was Alexander. ¡°No targets.¡± this was a sharp female voice, from Vivian. ¡°Okay, keep watch. If anything should happen, report first and do not be hasty to engage.¡± Pei said: ¡°Especially you, Vivian.¡± ¡°No need to worry, Pei.¡± When Pei and Nameless rushed to the position of the last sword - one with a bamboo and wooden blade, no sharp edges and metal handle, a loud, cold and grudgeful cry with multiple voices inside came from the hospital building. Apparently the chantings of Buddhist scriptures caused the unclean beings in the hospital pain, and it was starting to fight back. The heads made of tainted clouds up in the sky started moving, shaking and growling. Their cries and curses even formed into visible waves of corrosive rain. ¡°Faster!¡± sweat started dripping down Pei and Nameless¡¯s forehead, as they tried their best to enchant this final sword that would complete the entire array. ¡°All units, put on your cloaks. The tainted clouds started raining.¡± Agent Jill informed all Division agents present: ¡°And all units, watch out for your team. If anyone shows any symptoms of paranormal influence or corruption, report and send them back immediately.¡± At this point, neither Pei nor Nameless thought it was time for them to conserve any energy, when they sped up with their final enchantment of the sword with wooden blade and metal handle. The shadow of a humanoid monster with a spike on its head and a long and forked tail made of dark ashes and small particles peeled from the ground and the surface of the building appeared above the top of the hospital building. While everyone watched, the shadow monster raised its head and opened its mouth towards the sky. The droplets of corrosive rain from the cloud covered with tainted cloud faces all changed their courses midway, and started falling into the mouth of the shadow monster. Not only this, with the monster¡¯s voiceless roar, small pieces of rock, dirt and even worms and insects burrowing beneath the ground started floating up into the air and flew towards the shadow monster. ¡°Shit! Birds! Deploy the stakes! Deploy the stakes right now!¡± Pei yelled at the microphone, then she turned to Nameless: ¡°Go and deal with that - I¡¯ll finish the enchantment!¡± ¡°This monk shall go. Take care.¡± Nameless shot his final stream of energy at the sword, then leapt into the air at the shadow monster. The monster only had a rough shape and barely had a body, and thus it seemed to be the case that it did not have any ability to do harm - yet. Nameless flew into the air with his whole body shrouded by golden energy, and his metal staff floating right above him. ¡°Be gone.¡± Nameless unleashed a palm strike while still still at some distance away from the shadow monster. A huge golden shadow of his palm landed on the monster¡¯s chest. The shadow monster¡¯s body instantly exploded. But after only a short moment, the shadow reappeared at roughly the same position, this time, it turned its face at Nameless. And even though it did not have eyes, Nameless could still sense that it was looking right at him. Chapter 264 Under the order of Pei, the four helicopters dropped the folded metal they were carrying beneath them. The folded metal rod from the helicopter at the center was one that when fully extended became an extremely long spike, with a length that was well beyond the height of the hospital building. And those from the surrounding three were forked and attached to the center spike in midair, forming into a spike with extended branches. The next moment, the three branches shot out chained hooks at the position of the swords. Pei didn¡¯t have time to fully complete her enchantment of the last sword. But when the chained hooks got close, she had to stick the sword into the ground like she did others. ¡°Ka-chin!¡± the chained hooks locked onto the handles of the sword. ¡°Blue, now it¡¯s your time!¡± Pei shouted at the microphone. At roughly the same time, the long metal spike penetrated the top of the hospital building, its body fully sunk into the center part of the building, right between the crossover section between North and West Wings. Some mechanical parts in the lower parts of the spike activated once the spike was fully locked in - other branches of spikes sprung out from the main spike and stuck into other parts of the building. Another distinct chant from an old male voice appeared on this site, and with the chant, a piece of cloud above the hospital building started rolling and lighting up from within from the electric arcs inside. Something in this particular piece of cloud was also repellant to the clouds with faces on them, as wherever it grew, the clouds around it shrunk. ¡°Boom!¡± the entire sky was covered in silvery blue from a lightning bolt shot from the rumbling cloud. And the metal spike now protruding from the top of the hospital building was the target of this lightning spike. When the lightning bolt connected with the metal spike, the entire spike and its branches and chains lit up in blue. At the same time, the nine enchanted swords placed around the hospital building also started resonating with the electric energy from the lightning, thus the array made by the metal spike, metal chains and the swords was activated. The peaceful, solemn and powerful chants of the monks formed a translucent golden energy dome, with golden ancient words and characters floating on the surface. Warm energy that was full of light, peace and righteousness was radiating from the dome - waves and waves of it, crushing against the ground and the hospital building. The array formed by the swords, on the other hand, was beginning to act like some sort of electrocuting attack array powered by lightning. The bolts of lightning constantly shot from the sky were absorbed by the tall metal spike, some of its power turned into energy that fueled the array formed by the swords, the rest of it flowed directly into the body of the hospital building and started to cleanse the dark energy that inhibited inside. Each of the nine swords absorbed the electric energy flowing through the chains, and in turn changed and purified the energy before sending it back. The changed and purified energy became a part of the cleansing forces that struck the dark energy inside of the hospital from both inside and outside.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The shadow monster floating above the hospital building roared once again - this time it indeed made a noise, as it absorbed more dark energy infused substance from the building, its body became more solidified, and was armed with more functions. Nameless stood where he was and focused on the monster but did not do anything to it - for he knew very well that no matter how many times he beat this monster it would just regroup and regrow from the dark energy that laid in this place. His job for now, is to stall the monster long enough so that it won¡¯t have a chance to disrupt the formation of the array. ¡°How¡¯s the array? Pei.¡± Vivian asked Pei through the comms. ¡°The last sword was not fully enchanted, it would be a weak point in the array. We need to keep a close eye on it.¡± Pei answered: ¡°Alexander, status?¡± ¡°Things are starting to stir.¡± Alexander replied: ¡°We¡¯d better tell the agents to be on alert.¡± ¡°Understood, Robinson, Simmons, anything in the air?¡± Pei asked. ¡°The clouds are shaking and changing in shape. There were traces of strange energy flowing in the sky. Which is weird because the source of dark energy should be somewhere in the building right?¡± ¡°Same observation in my position, strange flows of energy seemed to be triggered. I¡¯m gonna get closer and take a look.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t, not yet, stay in your positions and let us know if anything happens.¡± Pei ordered. ¡°Understood.¡± ¡°Roger.¡± ¡°Hey, where¡¯s Ms. Wong?¡± on the side of Agent Jill and Agent Hall, an agent asked: ¡°The big guys and gals are all here. But she¡¯s not here yet.¡± ¡°She¡¯s at the commissioner¡¯s office. ¡± Agent Hall sighed. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Emergency plea for access.¡± answered Agent Hall: ¡°The commissioner and the committee called her in right before we had to activate the quick reaction plan.¡± ¡°Yikes. I absolutely do not wanna be in her position right now.¡± Agent Jill shook her head. ¡°So we need to wait for her to come back.¡± Agent Hall looked at the building of Clearwater Municipal Hospital from a far, while still paying attention to the flow of energy from all directions using his gift. ¡°Master Blue is awesome.¡± another agent said, while staring at the bolts of lightning hitting the metal spike and didn¡¯t show any signs of stopping or slowing down. ¡°And he¡¯s British.¡± a bald agent with a cigar in his mouth joked as he pointed at the sky: ¡°Can you hear the accent from the chant?¡± ¡°It¡¯s kinda hard to tell with all the monks chanting.¡± said another agent drinking from his flask and with two hanguns hanging on his suspender holsters. When the shadow monster¡¯s body became semi-solid, it let out a loud scream and lunged at the position of the last sword at full speed. Nameless stepped up, leaving a few after images behind, to block the monster¡¯s path. His right palm glowed in golden light as he pushed it forward at the monster¡¯s right claw. ¡°Boom!¡± the monster was sent flying backwards and rolled on the ground, its right chest, right shoulder were completely scattered. Chapter 265 ¡°Ms. Wong, I¡¯ve looked through all the documents and records you submitted to this committee regarding your emergency plea for access.¡± a woman in her 50s with her grey hair in a lob, round face, round glasses sat behind a committee member table and said to Josephine Wong in a slightly high pitched voice and a slow pace: ¡°I notice that this is the only application for emergency plea of access you¡¯ve filed so far every since you became a regional liaison, am I right?¡± ¡°Yes, that is correct.¡± Josephine Wong nodded. ¡°And this¡­ Jianmen Yu, he¡¯s not collaborated with any agency of the Division before, is that right?¡± ¡°Yes that¡¯s right.¡± ¡°And have you considered employing members from other departments or sections of the Division instead? This would make sure that the sensitive case information would still largely remain inside the main body of the Division without any extra risk of leaks.¡± ¡°Ms. Swanson, though Mr. Yu hasn¡¯t been very friendly with the Division, he and I have a pretty good relationship and I trust him and his expertise in handling the situation with Clearwater Municipal Hospital.¡± Josephine Wong answered: ¡°He¡¯s the one that helped me resolve the paranormal pollution of a large area in San Francisco, which was marvelously done, I believe the Commissioner could attest to that.¡± Then she laid her eyes on the Commissioner, who was also a member of the committee. ¡°Yes, yes, you submitted that in the records.¡± Ms. Swanson nodded and crossed her arms: ¡°But one could argue that the situation at San Francisco, and the problem we¡¯re facing with the Clearwater Municipal Hospital, can both be assigned to our internal departments. Especially our newly founded internal paranormality quick response units with recruits from our California State Associations of Supernatural Gifts.¡± ¡°Thank you for the suggestion Ms. Swanson, I¡¯d take that into consideration for our future missions. But for the current mission at hand and with the extreme volatile situation at the hospital, I¡¯ll have to insist employing Mr. Jianmen Yu, because of the urgency and my past experience of working - and fighting with him.¡± ¡°Well, I still think it¡¯s a good opportunity for you...¡± while Ms. Swanson was still trying to push Josephine Wong to commission the task to her organization, her line of questioning was cut short by another member of the committee.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Tell me, Ms. Wong, what is your relationship with this Mr. Yu like? How did you know him? How do you know he¡¯s legit?¡± this was a middle aged man wearing a black and dark blue tie and a suit. ¡°We got to know each other around several years ago. I could not remember the exact time because we met at a place where the time flow did not flow as our world. He was searching for something, and I was on the run from some enemies of mine.¡± Josephine Wong frowned lightly and said: ¡°I asked him for help, with a price, and he was happy to oblige. That was the beginning of our cooperative relationship. For all this time he¡¯s also helped me with quite a few official operations and a few off the books business - the job for him did not require clearance until now.¡± ¡°And if we measure by the scale of ability with which we measure other contractors and individuals with power and gifts, what would you rank him as?¡± ¡°He¡¯s ¡­ at least at my level.¡± Josephine Wong hesitated for a short while, then answered: ¡°But I cannot tell you more. We have a tacit understanding - he would like any discussion and gossip about him and his powers be kept to a minimum and only when necessary.¡± ¡°Why hasn¡¯t anyone been notified about him yet?¡± this was a sharp man with wide shoulders and an eyepatch: ¡°For individuals with this kind of power level, we do have a duty to at least know about him and keep track of him.¡± ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be wise, General.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head: ¡°He is quite¡­ idiosyncratic, to say the least. He¡¯s usually friendly and I would implore you, and other members of this committee, that we treat him as an anonymous asset and do not try to probe too much.¡± ¡°And are you sure he can keep a secret?¡± the General asked: ¡°The Clearwater Municipal Hospital, strange and volatile it is, still calls for all personnel to keep a tight lid on whatever happens during the operation. And from what you have reported back to the Division, looks like whatever lies inside of the hospital would be of great concern and we simply could not have any of the information leaked to the outside world.¡± ¡°I guarantee that he is one of the best secret keepers I know. And General, I don¡¯t think your expectation of secrecy would be met - due to various reasons, the records of and about the hospital were mostly missing and damaged. We had to resort to side records scattered in the civilian world to do a lot of our research and investigation. So people are going to be aware of something, and I can only promise that the information we found during the operation would not leak, not if I can help it.¡± Josephine Wong sighed and said, at the same time silencing that her buzzing phone. ¡°You have other important business, Ms. Wong?¡± Ms. Swanson asked Josephine Wong with slanted eyes and an unpleasant tone: ¡°You DO know this is an emergency meeting called just for you, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m aware. I told my team to only call me if things at the Clearwater Municipal Hospital become too serious or unstable to handle.¡± Josephine Wong said: ¡°And I would like reiterate the urgency of my request - for now, Mr. Yu is the best and only person that I know and trust to help with the situation.¡± ¡°Thus I would like to urge all members of the committee to grant Mr. Yu the emergency access.¡± the Commissioner voiced his support for Josephine Wong: ¡°I can attest to the quality of work done by Mr. Yu, as I have been to San Francisco myself to inspect the results. And I am beyond happy with it, even a fully formed team with experience couldn¡¯t have done a better job.¡± ¡°Wait - I still need to ask you this, again.¡± Ms. Swanson leaned forward and asked: ¡°Are you absolutely certain, that your plea for this emergency access and clearance is warranted, but also necessary. I would like to stress again, that the quick response team - ¡± ¡°Yes, I am very certain, Ms. Swanson.¡± Chapter 266 After the fifth collision, the shadow monster was again sent flying back and falling into the ground right before the building of the Clearwater Municipal Hospital. Its body almost completely shattered into pieces due to the attacks from Nameless, but it still stood up and regrew its broken body. Nameless narrowed his eyes to have a better look at the monster - he noticed that every time the monster regrew its body, some kind of energy core within its body became brighter and stronger. This was not like the rest of its body, where the same dark energy contaminated substance got cleansed, and shattered, then the monster just re-collected them from the hospital building and the ground around it. This time the monster stood up, its eyes lit up in a strange silvery blue light for a brief moment, and it spoke in a strange hoarse voice: ¡°You need to stop what you¡¯re doing - you don¡¯t know what you¡¯re up against!¡± ¡°Oh, so? Who are you?¡± Nameless asked, then he spoke through his microphone: ¡°Pei, this monster seemed to have gained some consciousness - this monk will open the mic up, do say so if you want to ask anything.¡± ¡°I ¡­ I don¡¯t know...¡± the monster seemed to be having a painful headache as it scratched its head and its tail was wailing in the air: ¡°I don¡¯t know who I am ¡­ I made¡­ a mistake... I am¡­ Adam ¡­ Noreen¡­ no, no, no, I am¡­ I am¡­ No! You need to stop! You¡¯re endangering us all! Stop! Stop! STOP!¡± ¡°Talk to this monk then.¡± Nameless said while he readied his stance: ¡°The malice inhibiting this hospital is imploding - its core of sanity grows weak. No one would be able to maintain its sanity for long, and when it implodes, it will spread the malice to the surrounding area, harming innocent people. Tell this monk why we should stop.¡± ¡°There¡¯s something inside! There¡¯s something inside!¡± the monster cried, while rolling on the ground and scratching his head, and when it looked up, Nameless could see traces of blood-like liquid seemed to have started seeping into its silvery blue eyes, and in turn tainiting it with touches of fervor and madness: ¡°I ¡­ I made a mistake! Leave! Run! I¡­ I can¡¯t¡­ I couldn¡¯t¡­ Arghhh!¡± The monster could not finish his sentence, as madness and insanity took over again and made him launch its entire body at Nameless, attempting to attack and slay him where he stood. ¡°Namo Amitabha.¡± Nameless held his metal staff in hand and his whole body glowed in golden light, and his skin covered with a layer golden energy coating, with a buddhist symbol on his forehead. ¡°Nameless, be safe, but try to see if he could regain consciousness and tell us more.¡± Pei told Nameless through the comms: ¡°Remember the dark energy pit Ms. Wong told us about? I think it¡¯s related.¡± ¡°This monk is on it.¡± before Nameless could answer, he already exchanged a few blows with the monster, each clash between him and the monster letting out the sound of metal objects colliding into each other. The monster was not able to hurt Nameless while his whole body was protected by the golden energy, and at the same time Nameless was not able to deal any permanent damage to the monster.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°Boom!¡± Nameless pushed both his palms forward, knocking the monster back and pulverizing its limbs and tails. The next moment, his index finger on his right hand lit up and pointed forward, a stream of golden energy shot through the air like the attack of some high power laser weapon and struck the monster right in its forehead. The shadow monster¡¯s entire head was obliterated into ashes by this finger strike, except for one part: a small piece of blue gem was sent flying back into the air, but it seemed to be unharmed by Nameless¡¯s attack. Before the monster could regrow its body and take the gem back, Nameless extended his hand in the gem¡¯s direction, and the gem was sucked into his hand. When Nameless grasped the irregularly-shaped gem in his hand, he could sense something, or someone, was sending a stream of chaotic information to him via some kind of telepathic ability: ¡°No¡­ stop ¡­ danger ¡­ ¡± ¡°Pei, this monk will pass you a gem that seems to have absorbed some pieces of consciousness from someone related to the history of the hospital. Catch and try to see if you could read anything from it.¡± Nameless said and used his power to form a seal around this blue gem to prevent it from being attracted or corrupted by the dark energy in the hospital. Then, he threw the gem in the direction of Pei, with his power enclosing the gem to help it fly across the distance. Pei¡¯s right hand glowed in light green and yellow and she caught the gem without an issue. Then she focused what was left of her power onto the gem and tried to decipher the chaotic and cryptic information from it. ¡°Boom!¡± something blew up from the North Wing of the hospital, and created a hole whose diameter was around the height of two floors. After a short moment of silence and unsettling peace, mutated humanoid creatures with broken clothes which resembled that of patients, nurses, doctors, administrators rushed out from the hole. ¡°The malice has started going loose, the malice has started going loose.¡± Nameless and several agents monitoring the situation immediately started reporting: ¡°All agents and personnel, on your guard! On your guard!¡± Right after Nameless sent out his warning, the ground around him started rumbling and exploding. Bone spikes and claws came out of the ground, in the form of waves of indiscriminate area attack against anyone in the area. Before the bone spikes and claws could touch him, Nameless already leapt in the air. With his power manifesting in full force, his body stayed up high in the air, and he closed his eyes and started chanting scriptures with the rest of the monks around the hospital. Nameless¡¯s whole body began releasing waves and waves of energy, the energy was not immediately destructive to all the bone spikes and claws and the humanoid creatures coming out of the hospital building, but they had a cleansing quality that could melt away the bodies of these creatures and the bone spikes and claws bit by bit. ¡°Don¡¯t stress yourself, Nameless. Let the array do its job.¡± Pei said to Nameless through the comms. Pei was not wrong, though the outpour of mutated creatures from the hospital and the sudden emergence of looked intimidating, the array formed by the enchanted swords and the chanting virtuous monks had yet to display its true power - when the constructs of malice started showing themselves, they were in turn directly exposed to the cleansing energy waves released by the array. After chanting for a short while, Nameless opened his eyes and flew to the outside of the array beside Pei. ¡°These seemed to be remnants of memories and lost souls, corrupted by the malice and went mad.¡± Nameless sighed and asked Pei: ¡°What have you found?¡± ¡°Bad news.¡± Pei wiped away some sweat on her face: ¡°The malice was not the only thing unclean in this hospital, something else resides in it. This gem - believe it or not, was the relic of a powerful individual. Perhaps a Grand Wizard, or even beyond that.¡± ¡°So he fell here.¡± Nameless said. ¡°He fell here.¡± Pei said: ¡°I think he¡¯s responsible for the malice in this place.¡± Chapter 267 ¡°Good morning, how are you feeling?¡± Jianmen came into the office of Professor Atkinson with two metal jars in his hand and a wooden takeout box. ¡°Woah, woah. Too bright. And ouch ouch ouch, my head....¡± Dolores just woke up and found herself sleeping on the ground, while Professor Atkinson was flipping through books and records on his desk with bloodshot eyes and jittering hands. ¡°Take a break, Professor, this rush of knowledge and inspiration doesn¡¯t help you understand anything. You need to have the knowledge fully broken down and digested before you can come up with anything new.¡± Jianmen put down the jars and takeout box: ¡°And Dolores you looked like you passed out for the entire 3 days. You must be hungry, here, have some cake and steak.¡± ¡°I was out for three days?¡± Dolores struggled to sit up and was having a hard time moving her numb tingling limbs: ¡°How did that happen?¡± ¡°Because you accepted the contract from Xyn, he shared some of his knowledge with you.¡± Jianmen poured a cup of hot liquid with amber color and handed the cup to Dolores: ¡°Here, drink some of this. It¡¯s my signature brewed black tea. I would¡¯ve made you coffee, but I am still having trouble cultivating the coffee beans.¡± ¡°Oh, Dolores, you¡¯re awake.¡± Professor Atkinson raised his head above the mountain of books and records on his desk and said to Dolores with a weak and soft voice: ¡°Come here, help me find some records - I just had an epiphany, we need to find the records of blaaaaa - blooooooo ----- cork hay - hay - haven.¡± He even started slurring his words. ¡°Take a break, Professor - or you¡¯ll burn your brains.¡± Jianmen frowned and poured another cup of brewed black tea intended for Professor Atkinson. ¡°Nononono, you don¡¯t understand! This new knowledge - it¡¯s - it¡¯s groundbreaking! It will change everything we know about - about everything!¡± Professor Atkinson coughed and said to Jianmen while staring at him: ¡°This cannot wait! I can¡¯t wait! This is too great to sleep on! I ¡­ I need to find the records and recompile everything!¡± ¡°Okay, you¡¯re out now.¡± Jianmen unleashed a soft and slow-looking palm strike, the energy released from his palm crashed against Professor Atkinson¡¯s face like a splash of warm water. Professor Atkinson was instantly pushed to the back of his chair, his eyes closed, his limbs rested on the edge of his chair, and within just a few seconds, he started snoring.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Jianmen did not stop with this simple palm strike, he continued his ¡°attack¡± with a flurry of finger strikes from a distance, Dolores could see that some kind of light-bending transparent streams of energy shot from Jianmen¡¯s fingertips and went into Professor Atkinson¡¯s torso, limbes and eventually temples and forehead. When he was done with the finger strikes, Jianmen snapped his fingers, and Professor Atkinson¡¯s body slid onto the ground and laid down in a comfortable pose. ¡°What did you do to him?¡± Dolores asked. ¡°It¡¯s an old trick of mine. I call it the nap nap combo.¡± Jianmen shook his head and chuckled: ¡°I used to use it to help my nervous and neurotic friends sleep better and relax, while also making sure they get enough rest. It could also work on situations like Professor Atkinson here - he was under the effect of ¡®Knowledge Rush¡¯, it¡¯s like the information version of sugar rush. So he must be stopped and put into a sleeping state, for now, so that he won¡¯t be bleeding through his nose and eyes and have trouble remembering things later.¡± ¡°What about me?¡± Dolores took a drink of Jianmen¡¯s black tea, and felt that her headache was showing signs of going away: ¡°Why did I pass out for three days?¡± ¡°Same root cause, different symptoms.¡± Jianmen answered: ¡°I think Professor Atkinson woke up sometime last night, maybe I should¡¯ve kept a monitoring spell here next time you take on the contract from a god.¡± ¡°Yikes, hopefully there¡¯s no next time.¡± Dolores rubbed her temples and drank up her whole cup of tea: ¡°Thanks for the tea.¡± ¡°Have some more. These are all for you - I¡¯ll come back and bring some more for the professor tomorrow or the day after, depending on when he wakes up.¡± Jianmen smiled and asked: ¡°So, how are you feeling? Got anything interesting from Xyn?¡± ¡°I ... uh¡­ a lot, actually.¡± Dolores continued rubbing her temples for a short while and answered: ¡°I got some knowledge about the edgelands, and how to get there. Looks like if we want to find his descendant, we¡¯ll need to start from that place. But it seems like we need to head to a place called the Unnamed Mountain first.¡± ¡°That¡¯s quite an interesting name for a mountain.¡± Jianmen chuckled: ¡°But bear in mind, that his information could be very outdated, and it¡¯s also based on his translation so the mountain could very well be called something else. I know a way to the edgelands, and it¡¯s not a mountain, but a giant lake that is on a distant planet. Did he mention any specific reason you need to go through this Unnamed Mountain?¡± ¡°No. But from what I got from him - the edgelands is a very very vast place. Maybe if we go through the Unnamed Mountain we will be closer to the place we¡¯ll be looking for?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ not good, not good.¡± Jianmen frowned and shook his head. ¡°What? Why?¡± ¡°Edgelands is not that big a place - it¡¯s merely a jump point from our world into the void.¡± Jianmen scratched his jaw: ¡°Looks like the place Xyn remembered to be the edgelands had changed. We need to find this out first.¡± Dolores sighed and lowered her body, then slowly banged her head against her desk. ¡°Tell me more then, maybe he shared more information with you that could be a clue.¡± Jianmen sighed and poured himself a cup of tea: ¡°Think about it, how did he describe the edgelands and the Unnamed Mountain...¡± Before Jianmen could finish his question, he started coughing out of nowhere, then his hold body fell onto the ground, and with his wheezing and heavy breathing, blood was coming out of his eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Chapter 268 ¡°Boom boom boom!¡± the array formed by the chanting virtuous monks and nine enchanted swords chained up to the long metal spike in the hospital building started raining down small droplets of energy from the sky. These energy droplets did nothing to the uncontaminated ground or any other thing that was not affected by the dark energy, but they instantly exploded when they got into contact with the mutated humanoid creatures and other monsters of malice coming out from the hospital, as well as the hospital building itself. These explosions were not big in terms of scale of impact, yet the energy released was weirdly concentrated, and nothing of malice that was touched by them could endure more than a couple of hits without falling apart. Some of the creatures of malice were able to get closer to the edge of the array and were almost able to reach the chanting monks. But the air around them just became thicker and thicker the closer they got to the edge, thus their movements were more and more impeded and eventually completely halted due to the almost solidified air. Not only that, the cleansing energy in the air also became more and more intense, the creatures and monsters of malice that were not destroyed by the energy droplets started burning away when they approached the edge. By the time the rest of the creatures and monsters of malice got to their respective places just a few meters away from the chanting monks, all of them had lost their power to do any damage and fell on the ground, slowly melting or crumbling from the outside. ¡°Pei, we have suspected hostiles coming from the sky.¡± Robinson and Simmons reported to Pei through the comms. ¡°Suspected hostiles on the ground approaching as well.¡± Alexander also reported to Pei. ¡°Nameless, go and see if you can help with them.¡± Pei said to Nameless through the comms: ¡°I¡¯ll be managing the array. Agent Hall, Agent Jill, ready the artillery and cover the air and ground.¡± ¡°This monk understood.¡± ¡°Roger.¡± ¡°Roger¡± A faint and low pitched roar came from the distant sky, and a long winding shadow was approaching in a wiggly fashion as if it was swimming in the clouds. ¡°Fuck, is that a dragon? A fucking dragon?¡± Agent Jill was keeping an eye out on the sky, and she almost completely lost her temper and mind when she saw the long and winding shadow in the sky in the clouds.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°It¡¯s indeed a dragon.¡± Robinson said to everyone on the ground through the comms: ¡°Pei, I¡¯m afraid we¡¯re gonna have to engage.¡± ¡°Pei, ground hostiles approaching. Seems to be some mutated insects. I think they¡¯re scavengers trying to pick up escaped malice to fuel their growth and mutation.¡± Alexander said: ¡°Ground team, ground team, be on alert.¡± ¡°Scavengers are cowardly, don¡¯t waste your firepower on eliminating them. Just thwart them.¡± Pei said as she infused her power into the sword with a wooden blade and a metal handle. The chains now lit up in a yellow and green color, and the entire array started converting the energy from the continuous thunder bolts into some kind of low pitched concussive energy waves. This new form of energy attack was less explosive than the droplets, but it was reaching deeper into the ground below and the inside of the hospital building. These energy waves seemed to be dealing less damage to the creatures and monsters, which led to the situation that more and more creatures and monsters were flooding to the edge of the array. But, the thick wall of air and the intense cleansing energy was able to hold these creatures and monsters at bay, as their fallen bodies piled up more and more near the edge, yet none of them was able to pose any threat to the monks, not to mention agents of the Division far away from the area of the array. ¡°Boom!¡± something exploded in the clouds - it was Robinson and Simmons being casually attacked by a long-bodied dragon with a blind eye, dark scales and countless gruesome looking scars on its body. ¡°Mortals! You will not touch the core that was buried beneath.¡± the Dragon glanced at everyone underneath with a scornful look, its voice seemed to even make the clouds shake and the ground tremble: ¡°This turf belongs to me!¡± ¡°No it doesn¡¯t.¡± a portal opened up in the sky and Josephine Wong stepped outside of it with a dark purple orb floating around her left hand: ¡°You will leave this be, or you will help us quell the evil inside of this place. You have nothing to gain here.¡± ¡°Josephine Wong¡­ ¡± the dragon narrowed his only working eye: ¡°I know you are too slow and out of tune with the signs and omens of presence of the most arcane nature. But don¡¯t you try to stop me.¡± ¡°There¡¯s great evil here. I know you are not one with the passion for doing good. But this is a kind of evil that is way beyond your control. You will not and cannot master it.¡± Josephine Wong said with a warning tone. ¡°Boom boom boom!¡± some of the ground forces already opened fire on the approaching hostiles on the ground and low air - these were mutated insects, crabs, centipedes, frogs and toads of astonishing sizes, sharp fangs and claws and dangerous colors. ¡°Your friend is not here.¡± the dark dragon sneered at Josephine Wong and asked with contempt: ¡°What makes you think you can stop me?¡± Just when Josephine Wong was about to answer, the entire West Wing of the Clearwater Municipal Hospital went up in some kind of dark flames. The metal spike at the center of the building was instantly softened and melted. The chains connecting the metal spike and the enchanted swords were in turn melted and broken. What was worse, was that those dark flames started spreading through the ground, swallowing up all the creatures and monsters of malice as its fuel. The explosion of dark flames also emitted a shockwave from its center of explosion, which not only leveled the entire West Wing and broke down more than half of the North Wing, but also shattered the piece of cloud that was shooting down lightning bolts, conjured by Blue. ¡°Robinson, Simmons, Blue, are you okay?!¡± Pei did not expect that the array would take such a hit and sustain this kind of damage, and all she could do now was ask. Chapter 269 ¡°Pei, I¡¯ve got a hostile with no ID.¡± Vivian reported to Pei: ¡°He seemed to be some kind of spy, but no forms of any noticeable identification. He off-ed himself when I got to him so there¡¯s practically nothing I can ID him with.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about him then.¡± Pei was panting, as she tried her hardest to maintain the broken array, which was draining her power at an alarming pace. Nameless dived back into the inside of the array, he was not familiar with the dark flame, but he did recognize what it was after observing it for a short while. ¡°Everyone back off, do not get close to the flames!¡± Nameless¡¯ voice was slightly trembling, showing a hint of fear that almost no one from the Division had ever heard from him: ¡°All personnel, if you are not actively engaging enemies, recite the scriptures of Demon Suppression Sutra after me - Namo, I hereby offer my life and soul to the blessings.¡± ¡°Namo, I hereby offer my life and soul to the blessings.¡± ¡°And submit myself to the teachings and guidance of Tathagata.¡± ¡°And submit myself to the teachings and guidance of Tathagata.¡± As the chant went on and more people joined in, the invisible wall of energy at the edge of the array was expanded, and its cleansing power got strengthened. The creatures and monsters of malice, while not under the attack of the energy droplets, were further pushed back and crushed under the weight. This invisible wall of energy also showed some level of resilience against the dark flames - as it spread across the entire area, consuming almost everything including rocks and bricks from the hospital building and dirt and contaminated grass growing on the area around the building, even the creatures and monsters of malice, but they were still not able to spread beyond the edge of the array. Sweat could be seen on the faces of the virtuous monks, as they were still affected by the heat radiated from the flames, but they were not directly harmed, at least not yet. ¡°So it was finally revealed.¡± the dark dragon adjusted its position in the sky, diverting most of its attention to the dark flames on the ground: ¡°And yet, you have absolutely no idea how to deal with it.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Josephine Wong remained her composure while still facing the dark dragon, but anxiety and worry already filled her mind - the committee meeting for an emergency plea of access to secret information she called for responded at a very inopportune time. Though she was able to maneuver her way out of the bureaucratic meeting with granted permission, she could not manage to get a hold of Jianmen, which was a sign that he was in somewhere where the space and time was heavily disconnected from the current world. ¡°And I don¡¯t think you can handle it either. ¡± Josephine Wong took a look at the dark flames below: ¡°How did you plan to master it, huh? You wanna use your old trick again? Or you can just face it - you cannot control this, I don¡¯t think anyone in the world can. If left unchecked, this would become a threat even for you and your kin. Extinguish it here with us, and you¡¯ll be doing yourself and your kind a favor.¡± The dark dragon let out a low growl, but it did not do anything. ¡°Just as I thought.¡± Josephine Wong felt a minute sense of relief that this dark dragon seemed to be hesitant to act, or at least act against her and the operation. Then she dived towards the ground with her hands making several hand seals in preparation for a spell. A gentle buzz resounded in Josephine Wong¡¯s ears - it was due the energy waves released by the synchronized chanting of all the monks and the Division agents led by Nameless. Josephine Wong took the energy waves into account and adjusted her spell, then she pushed both her hands downwards. Light purple energy shockwave shot from above, two palm-shaped craters appeared on the ground, countless creatures and monsters of malice were instantly crushed and pulverized. The energy Then, the dark purple orb floated before Josephine Wong¡¯s eyes, and she extended both her hands in claw forms at the orb. A small sword with the length of Josephine Wong¡¯s hand made of purple energy appeared in front of the dark purple orb, and started spinning along the direction of the blade. Just when Josephine Wong was about to fire the small purple energy sword at the hospital building, the entire building collapsed - first is the West Wing from which the dark flames came, then the North Wing, from which the creatures and monsters of malice poured out. A dark pit made of energy appeared where the West Wing of the hospital once stood, and Josephine Wong could clearly see that those dark flames were coming from the pit. ¡°Pei, Nameless, Blue, Robinson, Simmons, Vivian, Alexander.¡± Josephine Wong called out to all members of her team: ¡°Be ready to attack the thing that comes out of the pit.¡± ¡°Understood, Ms. Wong.¡± Pei backed off from the array and put a round white pill with cloud patterns into her mouth. Nameless opened took a look at Josephine Wong and the pit from afar while still leading the chant of scriptures. The shadow of an arrow made of contained lightning appeared in the sky - this was the doing of Blue. Alexander blasted a few leading insect monsters away with a loud roar, then he started running towards the array, his whole body transforming into that of a wolfly beast with silver and brown fur in the process. Vivian¡¯s whole body lit up in a dark red color, and without almost anybody noticing, she was already right at the edge of the array. A tornado with sharp pieces of ice flying along with the violent currents inside appeared in the air. It carried significant destructive power inside, but it was still maintained in its place with its energy contained. This was the work of Simmons and Robinson. Then, something came out of the pit, it was not some huge scary monster, but a completely naked man, with an unsettling smile on his face, and a third eye on its forehead. Chapter 270 When the naked man walked slowly out of the pit, the dark flames that almost flooded the entire area started shrinking back, and just like a movie being played in reverse, the flames were sucked back and condensed into the naked man¡¯s clothes, armor and a dark longsword. ¡°I¡¯m finally out.¡± a message was delivered to everyone, apparently from the man now covered in some kind of tight fit armor and a longsword in his hand, without the man actually uttering anything with his mouth. ¡°Now!¡± without saying anything, Josephine Wong ordered. The first attack that approached the man¡¯s side was the arrow of lightning, the next is the tornado with ice shards inside being sent his way. The man shifted to a different position without moving any major parts of his body, the arrow of lightning landed on the ground behind him, causing a huge explosion of electric energy, and with a swing of his longsword, the tornado was slashed in half and the energy flow inside of it was disrupted and it just turned into two bags of air that went out in a ¡°poof¡±. Alexander, now completely in wolf form, leapt into the air and unleashed a flurry of claw attacks before he even got close to the man, each claw attack shooting out a red energy shadow claw at the man. But the man just twirled the sword and casually diffused the attacks. ¡°Pei, Nameless, try and lock him.¡± Josephine Wong changed her plan of attack, and hid the purple sword inside of her right palm: ¡°Vivian, standby and wait for opportunity. Alexander, Blue, Robinson, Simmons, help them restrain the target.¡± Nameless leapt forward, with his whole body once again glowing in blinding golden light, and with Pei maneuvering the broken array formed by the swords, his entire body was also shrouded by a thin layer of protective energy. Nameless¡¯s two hands turned to claw form as he began his assault on the man with a dark longsword. The man tried to back off and create more distance before him and Nameless, but somehow Nameless was still able to catch up whenever he moved, and he was barely able to evade several close claw attacks. ¡°Dragon Snaring Claw¡± was the martial art being used by Nameless against the man with a dark longsword, it was a special art developed specifically for restraining and controlling movement, which allowed the user to keep close track of the enemy even when the enemy is faster. Pei extended her hands at the sky, focusing on the broken array¡¯s restraining ability and targeting everyone¡¯s common target. And at the same time, several restraining spells were cast, aiming also at the man with a dark longsword. The man¡¯s armor lit up in blood red, the restraining spells locked onto him all slid to the side without taking any effect, like water falling onto oily surfaces. But these spells still distracted the man and forced him to slow down for just a brief moment, which gave Nameless the opportunity to land his claw attacks.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Nameless¡¯s right hand grabbed onto his opponent¡¯s right elbow, and his left hand grabbed onto his opponent¡¯s right wrist, and with a twist with almost his full force, his two hands left two golden claw marks on the man¡¯s hand. Nameless¡¯s eyes widened for a brief moment - this combo was a disarm attack aiming to rid the man of his longsword by exploiting certain bone structures and weak points on tendons inside of a human arm, but the man¡¯s body, though looked and felt almost completely like that of a normal human, did not have any of these structures inside. Thus his attack only left two energy seals onto the opponent¡¯s body, but was not able to make him drop the longsword. But still, the two golden claw marks and the claw marks full of Nameless¡¯s golden energy seemed to have impacted the man¡¯s movement more than Nameless thought they would. And within a very short moment, Nameless changed his arts and launched two palm strikes onto the man¡¯s chest. The reaction force from the strikes sent Nameless flying back and both his arms were dislocated from multiple joints, he was choking blood before he hit the ground and in this single instant all of his golden energy protecting him became useless and weak. The two palm strikes worked - to an extent. The armor on the man¡¯s chest caved in and the impact from the strike made him bleed from his nose and mouth - his blood was thick like tar. And just like his armor, his blood also glowed. Pei expended all her remaining power into the array and pushed the entire broken array to overload, and all nine enchanted swords started burning up, each projecting an energy chain onto the body of the man, binding all his limbs, his neck and his waist. These energy chains formed by the enchanted swords, at the expense of damaging the swords themselves, were much stronger than all previous binding attempts thrown at the man, and indeed it took effect - the man¡¯s movements were restrained severely, and when a flurry of ice spikes and wind blades shot down from above from Robinson and Simmons, another arrow of lightning from Blue, another powerful claw attack from Alexander, and a flying dagger from Vivian, who, out of her assassin experience had been waiting for the perfect chance to unleash her strike since the battle began. ¡°Boom!¡± all the attacks landed. But when the dust settled, the man was only lightly injured, not critical at all - there were scratches on his face, a few pieces of his armor was damaged and fell off completely, revealing some ¡°flesh wounds¡± underneath, but these only seemed to have made him more mad. The man set his eyes on the one who controlled the energy chains - Pei. The next moment, he broke off four of the energy chains, and rushed towards Pei without even considering cutting off the remaining five energy chains. Josephine Wong appeared right in front of this man, with purple energy concentrated on both her hands. And when she clapped her hands, a powerful purple shockwave tore through the ground, aiming at her opponent crushing against him head on. With five energy chains still on his body, the man was not fast enough to evade the shockwave. Thus his assault attempt on Pei was halted, which left him open for a joint attack from Alexander, Nameless and Pei. Alexander¡¯s giant mouth bit onto the man¡¯s shoulder, where he had a small piece of armor missing; Nameless, with both his arms dislocated, unleashed a kick against the man¡¯s left temple; Pei, while all her energy was expended trying to control and manage this huge array, still managed to shoot a simple enchanted hand crossbow bolt at the man¡¯s chest. The man shook his head, roared and released a shockwave from his body to blow Nameless and Alexander away. Then, he waved his longsword and knocked away three purple energy spears shot at him by Josephine Wong. But next, Josephine Wong swiftly extended her right arm at the man, with something hidden in her palm, in a long awaited sneak attack. The man, having sensed something that was truly dangerous to him coming from Josephine Wong, immediately swung his sword across the space before him. Josephine Wong¡¯s right hand and right forearm flew away and into the air, blood was spilling everywhere. And before Josephine Wong could react to the pain, the dark longsword pierced through Josephine Wong¡¯s abdomen and came out from her back. Josephine Wong instantly lost much of her power, and she grabbed onto the man¡¯s sword holding arm, seemingly trying to pull the sword away. But she was then tossed on the ground by the man, and left to die on the ground as the man continued walking towards Pei. Chapter 271 The man swung his sword at Pei, unleashing a blood red crescent shaped energy blade at her. The energy blade tore through the ground and cut into the invisible energy wall surrounding the array and standing between him and Pei, but with its energy still being washed away in the process. When the energy finally reached the position of Pei, it was nothing but a poof of foul air. The invisible energy wall healed when it completely stripped the energy blade of its power. As the man turned his head towards the chanting monks, he recognized that they were the ones who were generating the powerful energy wall shielding the outside world from what was going on inside, as well as the aura of energy within the array that had some suppressive effect on his power. So he lit up his sword and threw it right at the monks closest to him. A wall of ice appeared right in front of the sword, which instantly shattered upon contact with it, absorbing a lot of its momentum and impact. After destroying the wall of ice, the sword continued on its trajectory and sliced through the bodies of three chanting monks before its blade sunk into the ground. The man looked up and saw the two mages that created the ice wall, with a very short moment of preparation, he spit out two blood red energy daggers into the sky. And without even a chance to dodge or evade, the two mages lost their heads and fell onto the ground. Vivian roared and lunged towards the man¡¯s back from behind, her dagger pointing at the back of the man¡¯s neck. At almost the same time, Blue appeared teleported from afar to the space above the man, and with his full force, another arrow of lightning was thrown out aiming at the man¡¯s head. ¡°Bang!¡± Vivian¡¯s dagger sunk into the man¡¯s neck, but she was instantly knocked flying into the air by a shockwave that erupted from the man¡¯s back. The man also caught the lightning arrow with his bare hands, and crushed it with his fingers. The subsequent explosion of electric energy in turn sent Blue flying in the air, with his clothes and beard all severely burnt and smoking. ¡°You¡­ pests!¡± the man cursed and broke off a few more of the energy chains from the enchanted swords, then he forced himself onto the invisible energy wall in front of him, trying to break out with brute force and attack Pei, who was kneeling on the ground due to extreme exhaustion, directly. But just when he raised his right hand and was about to bash the invisible energy wall with it, something inside of his right forearm exploded and released hundreds if not thousands of small but sharp and incredibly dense energy blades within his body, tearing his body from within. The man screamed in agony, for the first time since the battle started, and knelt on the ground holding his entire right arm. The unknown source of tiny energy blades started moving up to his arm and heading towards his torso, while still continuously releasing the ruthless energy blades.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Within just a few seconds, the man¡¯s right hand and right forearm disintegrated and turned to broken pieces of cinder and ashes. He immediately ripped his entire right arm off and threw it far away, the arm did not even land on the ground, instead, it just turned to ashes in midair. ¡°You!¡± the man turned his head towards Josephine Wong, who was lying on the ground unresponsive, but just when he tried to run towards her, his right shoulder started showing signs of the same destruction. The man cursed once again, this time in some kind of arcane language no one understood. The next moment, he plunged his left hand into his chest and took out a dark red orb, and by crushing this red orb with his teeth, he was able to conjure up a dark red portal despite the thwarting power from the aura created by the array. ¡°Ms. Wong!¡± after the man escaped through the portal, Vivian rushed to the side of Josephine Wong. ¡°What happened?¡± a stern, calm but cold voice came from behind. ---------------------------------- The whole process took Jianmen quite a while, even though he was in a realm where the flow of time was disconnected from that to which he was used to. When he finally came out from behind the stone gates at the bottom of the stairs below Xyn¡¯s temple, the space behind him was in a much more stable state than when he came in. ¡°My sincerest gratitude.¡± Xyn¡¯s voice was weak, just like a normal human recovering from a big surgery: ¡°Now, I will need some time for rest and slumber. Please tell your friends that I may not respond to them anytime soon - and when I come back, I would be in a much better state and hopefully would be able to aid them better in their quest.¡± ¡°Hopefully it won¡¯t take too long.¡± Jianmen walked up the stairs with casual but still lightning speed and entered the temple above the stairs. A strange and uneasy feeling arose inside of Jianmen¡¯s mind, he could not tell what it was, but it worried him. ¡°Xyn, forgive me. I think something¡¯s come up and I need to head back.¡± Jianmen gently bowed to Xyn¡¯s face made of fog: ¡°I¡¯ll come back and check on you. If you need anything, you¡¯ll know how to find me.¡± ¡°Go ahead. I shall go into my slumber now.¡± Xyn¡¯s face slowly faded away. A light green energy arrow fell from the sky above and stopped right above Jianmen when he stepped out of the temple and onto the surface of the remote planet. Jianmen sensed that the arrow contained information inside, so he grabbed it the moment it stopped moving. Inside the arrow was a piece of note, judging from the neat handwriting, Jianmen could definitely tell that it was from Josephine Wong. And with just a quick glance he was able to memorize everything by heart. But after reading through this note, the uneasy feeling got worse. Without hesitating, he took out his phone, and was just in time to receive a few dozen notifications on the phone about missed incoming calls, all of which were from Josephine Wong. ¡°Fuck!¡± Jianmen called Josephine Wong, and did not even wait for her to answer, the second the line connected, he opened a portal right in front of him and rushed through it. There Josephine Wong was, lying on the ground, barely hanging onto her life. Her right hand was sliced off and her abdomen had a gruesome wound. Jianmen could still sense the residual corruptive and corrosive energy on her wounds. Jianmen felt as if his heart and his stomach was suddenly grabbed by a pair of forceful hands, and as if his blood started boiling. ¡°What happened?¡± Chapter 272 ¡°Defiler.¡± Nameless walked over to Jianmen¡¯s side, limping as his leg was injured from the previous attack against the man: ¡°He possessed the power of the defiling dark flames. And Ms. Wong was injured by it. Can you save her, Mr. Yu?¡± Jianmen knelt down by Josephine Wong¡¯s side, and in a brief moment, both of his hands were enshrouded by orange and golden lightning. ¡°You could¡¯ve used the mortality scapegoat.¡± Jianmen said with a slightly shaky voice, then he shoved his left hand towards the wound on Josephine Wong¡¯s abdomen, with his entire palm somehow buried inside of Josephine Wong¡¯s body: ¡°What happened next? Why did the defiler escape? He could have killed you, or at least had his fun toying with you first.¡± ¡°The blade.¡± just this moment, the dark dragon descended from the sky, turned into human form and stood behind Jianmen: ¡°She used herself as bait in order to land her attack. Did¡­ did you give her that blade.¡± ¡°One-Eye. So you witnessed the whole fight, yet you are still unharmed.¡± Jianmen coughed heavily as if he was enduring some kind of pain, and within a few seconds, a sharp penetrative wound appeared on his abdomen, blood was gushing out from his front and back: ¡°And no I did not give her that, all I gave her was the material and some basic information. She must have figured everything else by herself.¡± ¡°Things haven¡¯t improved for me. Therefore I still have the responsibility to carry on the bloodline. ¡± the one-eyed man bowed and said: ¡°You would understand - I can¡¯t afford any more injuries.¡± ¡°And yet here you are. The memories full of anguish and pain buried deep inside of the malice must be quite tasty for you.¡± Jianmen concentrated his power on his abdomen, and stopped the bleeding on his puncture wounds. At almost the same time, the wound on Josephine Wong¡¯s abdomen seemed to be healed, almost to the fullest extent. ¡°The wounds from the old days - I need to recover from them, before I could continue with my search and my path to revitalizing the bloodlines of the Omen Dragons.¡± ¡°Yes. I know.¡± Jianmen pushed his healing spell more, the orange and golden lightning on his right hand intensified, and with a few cracking sounds, his right forearm and his right hand turned to cinder and dust, a clean slashing wound appeared on his elbow. Meanwhile, orange and golden lightning lit up around the wound on Josephine Wong¡¯s elbow, the energy formed into the shape of a forearm and a hand. In a few seconds, the orange and golden energy dimmed and everyone around could see that a piece of hand-shaped rock appeared where Josephine Wong¡¯s broken right forearm and right hand used to be. The surface of the rock cracked up, when Jianmen concentrated his power once again on his broken right arm and stopped the bleeding. As more and more cracks appeared on the hand-shaped rock, more and more thin pieces of stone shed, just like the outer shells of a cocoon. And within less than a minute, all of the stone shells shed, revealing the forearm and the hand of Josephine Wong, as if it was never injured.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Master Yu, what did you do?¡± Nameless asked. ¡°No worries, Nameless.¡± Jianmen took a deep breath and waved his left hand to signal he didn¡¯t care too much about the injuries being transferred onto him: ¡°If it is the wound of a defiler, this would be the quickest way to heal her. I can¡¯t let her suffer because I wasn¡¯t here.¡± Everyone around stood in silence for a brief moment, as Jianmen closed his eyes and collected himself, while getting his wounds under control. When Jianmen opened his eyes, he raised his left hand, a shiny meat cleaver appeared in his hand. Then, he swung the meat cleaver coated in orange and golden energy against the wound on his abdomen. ¡°Ting!¡± when the blade made contact with his body, it made a sound that was like that from a collision of metal objects. --------------------------------------- The man who almost killed Josephine Wong, a defiler by the account of Nameless, who escaped earlier using a dark red portal created by him at the cost of consuming one of the important orbs within his body. The portal might have led him away from the danger of being under siege, but it did not rid him of the source of critical danger that was inside his body - the small energy sword, made of a kind of crystal that bore great threat against beings like him. Right now, most parts of his body had been disintegrated due to the thousands of tiny energy blades released by the energy sword. He constructed a line of defense within his own body against this energy sword, at the cost of another precious and powerful orb within his body, leaving him a final one, which he could not afford to use. ¡°Father!¡± the man called out to the universe, using an ancient language, while the defenses he constructed inside of his body were buying him more time. Right now, all he had left was his head, his neck and his left shoulder, if the energy sword was not stopped, he would be completely annihilated and there would be no means of revival. ¡°Father! Save me!¡± Two energy spikes appeared out of the vast void in the space and impaled the man on his neck and shoulder. And from afar out of the darkness, a barely visible human-shaped figure appeared and walked slowly towards the man with only a head, a neck and the left shoulder. The figure¡¯s walk was slow, but each step covered a great distance that would take even the fastest rocket months to travel. Within the time span of a few seconds, the figure stopped in front of the impaled defiler, its face slowly changed in shape and color, completely mirroring his appearance. ¡°So you are finally free, yet you are unable to hold your own.¡± the figure said, also in an ancient language: ¡°What injured you so?¡± ¡°A mortal. Wielding the power I was sent to collect - but much more refined, much more¡­ graceful.¡± the defiler answered with a trembling voice: ¡°Please¡­ save me...¡± Just this moment, the two energy spikes impaling the defiler broke and shattered, the energy blades released by the energy sword inside his body seemed to be absorbed by them, as he felt that the grinding powers in his body were somehow sucked away by the spikes right before they broke. An orange and golden energy blade shot from the void, seemingly coming out of nowhere. Before either the defiler or the figure could react, the energy blade cut into the defiler¡¯s body, completely disintegrating what was left of his body and breaking the last orb in his body into smithereens. A man with only his left hand stepped outside of an orange and golden portal from afar, and had his eyes locked onto the final remains of the defiler. The figure also had its eyes on the man, its face changing in shape, slowly turning into that of a middle aged Chinese man. The man was shocked by the figure¡¯s presence, but just for a very short moment. And the next moment, his lips moved, and uttered an ancient word. After a blinding flash of orange and golden light, almost everything around the chest area of the figure collapsed in an instant, even the space itself. The figure¡¯s body was torn into thousands and thousands of tiny reflective pieces, a small portion of them was sent far away due to the explosion of energy, and the majority of them was sucked into the hole created by the utterance. Jianmen¡¯s blood shot out from almost all pores on his body, and his body flew backwards with unimaginable speed, as if he just fired the biggest cannon in the entire universe and was suffering from the recoil. Luckily, he fell right into the portal behind him, the same one he used to come here. Chapter 273 The speed in which Jianmen fell back was great, yet it was mitigated when his body fell through the portal. When Jianmen fell out from the other side, his fall was broken by a soft purple energy cushion. ¡°Jianmen? Can you hear me?¡± Josephine Wong, now awake but still pale and out of breath, called out to him from where she was previously laying. ¡°My god, what happened to him?¡± Vivian was the first to get to Jianmen¡¯s side and to have witnessed the egregious wounds on Jianmen¡¯s body: ¡°Is he alive?¡± ¡°He is.¡± Josephine Wong rushed to Jianmen¡¯s side: ¡°This is bad. I¡¯ve seen him suffer worse but that was quite a while back. We need to hurry and stabilize his condition for now. How¡¯s everyone? Is there anyone that could help me with his wounds? ¡± ¡°We couldn¡¯t save Robinson and Simmons.¡± Vivian sighed and said: ¡°Alexander was knocked out and has a dozen broken bones. Blue was able to recover, but he was preoccupied with helping the other departments and injured agents. Let me go find him.¡± Then, she rushed to the exterior of the array. ¡°How could he still be alive?¡± Pei stumbled to Josephine Wong¡¯s side, holding Nameless with her: ¡°No one could survive that - all his limbs were burnt beyond healing, and that hole on his abdomen - looks like the aftershock of some kind of spell.¡± ¡°Do we still have any Deep Sea Amber?¡± Josephine Wong thought for a while, then asked. ¡°Yes. I still have some.¡± Pei ruffled through one of her pouches and took out a small piece of amber that glimmered in dark orange light: ¡°But Deep Sea Ambers are mainly for attack arrays, how is this going to save him?¡± ¡°This is not our kind of injury.¡± Josephine Wong took the small piece of Deep Sea Amber from Pei and gently placed it in the burnt hole on Jianmen¡¯s abdomen, then she formed a hand seal and dripped a droplet of her blood from the tip of her finger onto the Deep Sea Amber. The piece of amber started glowing in a warm orange light, and it started radiating a warm energy from inside the hole. Some kind of thin crystal layer seemed to start forming from inside of the hole on Jianmen¡¯s abdomen. ¡°Okay. That should help¡± Josephine Wong seemed to have used quite a bit of her powers with that seemingly simple enchantment: ¡°Have someone over here put him in a cryo healing chamber. It¡¯s gonna take a while, so move him to Xianshi Inn, where he would be better rested.¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Understood.¡± Pei nodded and started calling the other agents also active in the field. The defiler escaped, and none present but Jianmen knew what happened to him. The array formed by the enchanted swords were completely broken, but the remaining virtuous monks were still chanting their buddhist scriptures, thus the residual energy in the area was unable to spread. ¡°The levels of malice in the area had diminished by a great extent.¡± Nameless, now still limping due to his injured leg and with his two arms put back into their sockets told Josephine Wong: ¡°The defiling flames - it could have brought us great peril, but it burnt away most of the malice that inhibited this place.¡± ¡°Do we know why there is a defiler in this place?¡± Pei asked. ¡°Defiler? Is that what that man is? Anyone explain to me what a defiler is?¡± Vivian came back from the outer parts of the array, bringing a wizard in a blue Robe, Agent Hall, Agent Jill and some more agents with her. ¡°It¡¯s an enigma of a race of beings.¡± Pei thought for a while and said: ¡°It is said that they would be present whenever there is a catastrophe, or there is great calamity looming. They wield the power of corruptive and corrosive dark flames, and they take forms that are similar to their victims. It is also said that they feed on the sufferings and pains from these disasters.¡± ¡°Which is why he was a naked man when he came out.¡± while Agent Hall and Agent Jill were aiding Blue in their preparation for additional healing spells in order to help stabilize Jianmen¡¯s condition, Vivia shook her head and sat on the side because healing or even medical first aid was not her strong suit: ¡°Why is he here?¡± ¡°He was trapped by the malice.¡± Pei answered: ¡°This is quite obvious, though it remains a mystery who would¡¯ve trapped him here. And who could¡¯ve done so.¡± ¡°This monk reasons, that it must be someone that was related to the hospital.¡± Nameless said. ¡°I would assume so.¡± Blue finished a spell that sealed Jianmen¡¯s entire body in a block of ice: ¡°Agents, this is all I could do for now. Please carry him to a portable cryo healing chamber.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± both Agent Hall and Agent Jill passed the block of ice to some lower level agents and gave them some detailed orders on transportation, it almost had no weight thanks to Blue¡¯s enchantment. ¡°This could be a useful clue, if we can sort the information out.¡± Pei took out the piece of crystalized relic, showed it to Blue and Josephine Wong and said: ¡°I was unable to read too much useful information from it. But I am positive that we could read more with more time and more delicate measures.¡± ¡°Looks like a work of alchemy.¡± Blue examined it for about half a minute and said: ¡°Looks like it is intentionally crafted, rather than the product of natural crystallization like that of powerful monks.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s bring this back to the lab.¡± Josephine Wong sighed: ¡°And let¡¯s finish up the cleanse here. I don¡¯t suppose with the major portions of the malice gone, it could go any worse.¡± ¡°Ms. Wong, I¡¯d like to propose that we pause the cleansing if the residual malice proved to be relatively harmless.¡± Pei hesitated and said. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Memories still exist in the residual malice. It could be useful in us figuring it out.¡± Pei answered: ¡°Granted, with most of it gone, the memories would be chaotic and more extremely fragmented. But it¡¯s better than nothing. If it was any other types of clustered malice I would advise against it. But since the malice was here to trap a defiler, the memories could be of use. We weren¡¯t able to find much regarding the hospital¡¯s history, this would be another revenue we could pursue.¡± Josephine Wong went silent, and everyone present started considering the proposal. Chapter 274 ¡°Let¡¯s do so.¡± Josephine Wong sighed and said: ¡°Nameless, Pei, I trust that you would be able to craft an array strong and thorough enough to prevent any leak of malice. Agent Hall, count the casualties and kick off the process. I will attend to them after wrapping up the business here.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Agent Hall nodded and went back to the exterior with Agent Jill. ¡°Thank you for your help, Blue. Please continue as you were.¡± Josephine Wong said. Blue nodded and flew to the exterior of the array - just now during the fight, while they were trying to combat the defiler, the presence of the defiler seemed to have riled up the monsters that were somehow attracted to the site. And though the agents on the exterior were able to keep them mostly at bay and out of the vicinity of the array, the agents also endured quite a bit of damage and had suffered some casualties - there are many agents who needed magical medical attention. ¡°Vivian, can you head back to the bunker and bring out some more medical supplies and more reinforcement.¡± Josephine Wong had to sit on the ground, but she was too weak to finish her move, and she just fell onto the ground, and fainted. ¡°Ms. Wong!¡± When Josephine Wong woke up, she was in a medical tent, located in a temporary medical facility established at a safe distance away from the site where Clearwater Municipal Hospital was. She had a special IV drip connected to her arm, which is filled with some diluted healing potion. ¡°Ms. Wong, so glad you¡¯re okay.¡± a healer in a white and green robe came over to the side of her bed and said: ¡°You passed out in the field, looks like you were extremely exhausted. So we consulted with Blue and Nameless, and we decided to just give you some simple restoration drip. Our healers also did a check as thorough as possible on you, since we heard from them that you almost died - if not for a mysterious outsourced contractor of yours. Turns out you are completely fine, aside from your extreme exhaustion. If that kind of healing spell is anymore widely known we¡¯d be out of a job.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t think anyone else could learn that spell.¡± Josephine Wong sat up from her bed and asked the healer: ¡°What about the others? How many injuries?¡±Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°We have 37 injured agents, from all kinds of sources.¡± the healer sighed: ¡°And 10 deaths, unfortunately.¡± ¡°Is Ms. Wong awake.¡± just this moment, Vivian came into the medical tent Josephine Wong was in, with Nameless, Pei, Alexander and Blue behind her: ¡°Ah! Good! You¡¯re awake!¡± ¡°Hey, Vivian, everybody.¡± Josephine Wong greeted the remaining members of her team with a wry smile: ¡°Sorry, looks like I missed a lot of things.¡± ¡°Oh, no worries. You need to rest after¡­ well after all that.¡± Vivian took away the chart from the healer and smiled in relief when she saw that Josephine Wong would be okay: ¡°And the teams seem to have things under control now, so we¡¯re here to check on you.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Josephine Wong coughed lightly: ¡°What about Jianmen? Was he sent to the inn?¡± ¡°Yes, Agent Hall and Agent Jill decided to send him there themselves, and they said they would report back when done.¡± Alexander was not wearing anything on his upper body, revealing all the bandages that covered up his upper torso: ¡°I¡­ I heard some crazy stuff from Nameless and Pei about this Mr. Jianmen Yu, are those true?¡± ¡°This monk does not speak in falsity or exaggerations.¡± Nameless shook his head: ¡°Master Yu possesses great and unparalleled power, he could be the only one in the world that could relieve one from that kind of wound.¡± ¡°Hehe, he could just be.¡± Pei chuckled, her voice was also weak due to exhaustion: ¡°But the thing is - who he is to you, Ms. Wong. I mean I know a handful of very powerful mages, exorcists and Daoists, but I don¡¯t think any of them would just transfer the wounds on their body if I was the one injured by the defiler.¡± ¡°Oh, Pei, your gossipy grandma self is showing again!¡± Vivian laughed out loud. ¡°Well, to be fair, I would be quite curious as well.¡± Blue raised his eyebrows: ¡°I mean, I think most of us have heard of him from time to time. I think we all assumed that you were quite close with him and he is an immensely powerful individual. But this close? I would be lying if I were to say I am not interested in learning a bit about him, and how you met.¡± ¡°What? You guys don¡¯t have anything better to do right now?¡± Josephine Wong chuckled and asked. ¡°We¡¯ve been busy for quite a while, you were out for more than 15 hours.¡± Pei shrugged: ¡°Now that everything¡¯s more or less in order, we actually don¡¯t have anything terribly urgent to do. And come on, we could use a story break. Or a gossip break.¡± ¡°What are you, still a highschooler?¡± Alexander scoffed, but he still sat down on the ground by the bed: ¡°Buuuut, I do love a biographical story of a powerful individual. So I wouldn¡¯t mind if you can share that with us.¡± ¡°Woohoo!¡± Vivian decided to join in on the fun, and started to lead a chant: ¡°Story! Story! Story!¡± ¡°Alirght! Alright!¡± Josephine Wong shook her head and smiled, as the leader of the team, she could easily tell that their request for gossip and story was due only in part to curiosity, it was also a need for distraction, and something to lighten the heavy mood, due to their heavy losses - losing teammates and friends in a battle against malice and ancient evil like a defiler is not something anyone would encounter everyday: ¡°If I want to tell the story in full, we will need to go back to a time of over a decade ago, while I was still serving as a researcher at the Grant Academy...¡± Chapter 275 Realm Greenrock, named after its looks from afar, was a special realm roaming in a space somewhere inside of the Solar system. No one knew exactly where it was yet, due to it being a floating realm only loosely connected to other realms outside. There were a couple of relatively stable connected portals, one seemed to lie somewhere in the Saturn Rings, and the other was somewhere quasi-deep in the Pacific Ocean, less than a hundred miles from the coast of California. A giant metal capsule, enclosed with several layers of severely damaged, expensive but still expendable protective wood and bamboo was pushed to the surface of a lake with beautiful blue water. Several fish with giant razor sharp fins and knife like teeth tried to take a bite at the metal capsule, but a sudden shock of electric energy drove them away. When the capsule¡¯s position was stabilized, all the damaged wood and bamboo layers were released from the body of the capsule. Then engraved enchanted patterns on its body lit up and started jetting compressed air through small holes, pushing the capsule to the closest shore. It was not long before the capsule was pushed onto the ground. Then a door opened up, and a team of mages and a knight walked out of the capsule. ¡°Area seems to be secure.¡± the only knight in the team conjured a broadsword and a tall shield from his belt and looked around him: ¡°Area¡¯s secure!¡± ¡°Thank you, Tony.¡± a tall woman in a robe that was styled like a full saree walked out of the capsule with three other female mages behind her: ¡°But unfortunately, this place is suboptimal for a campsite, even worse for an outpost. The energy field in the area - it¡¯s way too volatile, violent, even. We can¡¯t build a portal here, not one that could last anyway. Let¡¯s scout the area and find another place. Josephine, Dorothea, Glenda, be prepared and let¡¯s move away from the area. From what we learned from the initial scouting team, some pretty dangerous beasts were roaming in the area around the lake. Once we get further from it we would be safer.¡± ¡°Yes Professor. Kapur.¡± Josephine Wong jumped from the capsule and onto the ground, but then she smelled something and turned back to the team: ¡°Any of you smell something? Something animal-like.¡± Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Probably this.¡± Tony Barnes knelt down and pointed at a footprint on the ground before him. The footprint was from some kind of monster with four and a half toes, the footprint was still relatively fresh, and it had some blue blood in it: ¡°Not sure about what it looked like, but this footprint does fit their description.¡± ¡°Let me try something.¡± Dorothea Clarkson tried casting a spell on the footprint, a white shadow made of energy started growing from it, but before it could grow any bigger, it just fell apart and dissipated in the air. Dorothea Clarkson sighed and said: ¡°Whatever it was, it¡¯s gone for more than half an hour. So I don¡¯t think we are going to run into it if we don¡¯t linger.¡± ¡°Yeah, I bet she¡¯s right, let¡¯s go.¡± Glenda Grimes looked back at the lake, making sure that there were no dangerous creatures creeping up on them from the water, and she was met with the disturbing sight of a giant shadow slowly floating up to the surface: ¡°Let¡¯s go, the water is not as peaceful though. We have something incoming, let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Go, gogogo!¡± Tony Barnes also sensed something approaching from their back, and thus he immediately rushed to the position behind the four mages, and an energy shield made of golden light formed right before him: ¡°Before it¡¯s too late!¡± ¡°Boom!¡± a giant head of some kind of worms rose from below the surface of the water, its hundreds of eyes, shimmering of red, blue and green were staring at all five members of the team, its mouth was wide open, revealing layers and layers of crooked teeth inside, with dozens of tentacles extending from inside of the its mouth, flailing about like uncontrollable whips made of flesh and tendons in the air. ¡°Go!¡± Tony Barnes pushed his shield forward, the energy shield he constructed exploded and released an extremely bright beam of light onto the monster. The monster was instantly stunned and shocked by the light, its head backed off and fell back into the water. The team did not stay and fight, instead they took advantage of the window of opportunity created by Tony Barnes and just escaped the area. Before they completely left the area, Glenda Grimes cast a disruptive spell to clear out most of the traces of their energy signature, along with most of their scent and footprints. The team rushed away from the lake and into a mountain forest. This forest was not like those on earth, where trees were relatively closely grown and sometimes the tree branches and roots intertwined with each other. In this forest, the trees grew really far apart, and each of them had abnormally big tree crowns that are not very far from the ground. And strangely, the leaves and branches of these trees were not that dense, allowing a lot of sunlight to hit the ground directly. Normally this wouldn¡¯t be the case in any other place, if not for special soil conditions. When Professor Kapur took time to examine the soil, she found out the reason for this: most of the ground below were either hardened rocks or consisted of thick and sticky clay-like soil. Tall vegetation only grew in the large spots of cracks in the ground, and these spots were few and far between. The trees took up the especially big spots along the cracks, which were even more thinly distributed across the land. ¡°Be careful of the trees.¡± Josephine Wong reminded everyone from the team: ¡°The first scouting team reported that some of the trees are poisonous and could trigger some pretty serious reactions.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve all read the same reports, Josephine.¡± Dorothea Clarkson walked to the head of the team: ¡°We better hurry, the energy fields seems to become less and less stable around us.¡± Chapter 276 As the team marched along the direction shown by the map drawn by the first scouting team, they sensed that the earth started shaking beneath them, while a huge thunderstorm was rumbling in the skies ahead. ¡°Well, they did say this place has really bad weather and earthquakes.¡± Glenda Grimes chuckled and said: ¡°Seems like this planet is quite new, I wonder if this is the center of the realm, or is it just a small entry point.¡± ¡°The first scouting team was not able to move too far beyond the surface.¡± Professor Kapur said as she carefully picked up a broken branch from the ground: ¡°The density of all things here indeed feel a lot higher than they are on earth. This branch, for example, weighs like a spike of metal.¡± Josephine Wong and Glenda Grimes took the broken branch from Professor Kapur and felt it on their hands - the branch was indeed quite heavy for its size, and when Josephine Wong and Glenda Grimes tried to bend it with magic, the branch was able to bounce back like it was made of high quality steel. ¡°If we could enchant its seeds, we could probably get some pretty nice lumber out of it.¡± Josephine Wong said, while trying to infuse it with some of her magical powers, the branch vibrated and emitted a gentle buzzing sound, and as she infused more of her powers, the branch started to glow in light purple. ¡°Nice affinity to magical energy. I wonder if it was elemental specific.¡± Glenda Grimes took the branch back from Josephine Wong when she was done experimenting with it - when she infused her powers into it, the branch also displayed a similar behavior, just in her case, the branch was glowing in light green. ¡°Same with the rocks here.¡± Tony Barnes started playing with a piece of rock in his hand, when he tossed the rock into the air, the rock glowed in golden light, and even displayed some kind of patterns: ¡°I assume this was because the elemental volatility of this realm, all the substance in this realm, even organic life, seemed to have gained elemental affinity. This would make this realm a great source of magical material, but too bad it would be hard to find a place to place our portal.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go deeper and see. The first team mentioned that they found some relatively stable locations, but they were more or less guarded. So conceal yourselves.¡± Professor Kapur stood up after examining the ground for a while. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Dorothea Clarkson used her magic to produce a few cracks on the ground in front of her, then she took the small pieces of chipped rock and dense dirt from the cracks and put them inside of a small bottle. When thrown into the bottle, the dirt and the pieces of chipped rock started to glow in different colors and flew around inside of the bottle. ¡°Interesting, they seemed to be reacting kinda violently to the my Beckhom¡¯s bottle.¡± Dorothea Clarkson frowned and said: ¡°Looks like they¡¯re extremely resilient against powers and energy fields that are intended to break them apart. ¡± ¡°It¡¯s probably what happens when things formed under this extreme elementable volatility.¡± Professor Kapur walked over and took a look at the bottle in Dorothea Clarkson¡¯s hand: ¡°Beckhom¡¯s bottles are gentle but, but it¡¯s only the case for the observer. For things that are placed inside, the energy fields are like thousands and thousands of high speed rotating grindstones trying to chip them into smaller fragments and particles. This would work fine for other kinds of material, but for things formed under this kind of conditions, it¡¯s only reasonable that they have a different reaction.¡± ¡°When we find a place where the energy fields are more stable, the things in the fields would be easier to analyze. At least I hope.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head and said. ¡°Sure, I would presume so as well, let¡¯s go?¡± Glenda Grimes picked up a small piece of white rock from the ground and put it in a cloth pouch. A loud thunder crack exploded right above them, and pieces of ice started falling from the sky. And different from normal kinds of hail, these pieces of ice falling from the sky took the form of regular polyhedrons - it was as if they were crafted and shaped by someone intentionally. ¡°Well, they didn¡¯t mention this in their reports.¡± Glenda Grimes caught a piece of the hail and said: ¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye out for them. Maybe we can run some tests and analysis later.¡± The team continued to move forward, under the protection of their respective protective and concealing spells. The closer they got to their destination marked on the map, the more stable the energy fields became. Their road was rocky and mountainous, and just when they were barely outside of the mountain forest. They found themselves at the edge of a small plain of swamps and tar lakes. ¡°This was not on the map.¡± Professor Kapur frowned and said: ¡°According to the map, this should just be a plain, a piece of grassland.¡± ¡°Which means this is newly formed.¡± Josephine Wong used a long tree branch she picked up from the forest and scraped some tar from a tar lake that was closest to her: ¡°And just like things in the forest - the tar is really dense.¡± ¡°So was the mud in the swamp.¡± Glenda Grimes also tested one of the swamps with her tree branch: ¡°And - be careful, the mud in the swamp seemed to have some sort of magical energy devouring and corroding properties.¡± ¡°Careful. There could be something inside.¡± Tony Barnes frowned as he walked behind the team in order to watch the team¡¯s back: ¡°I don¡¯t like this - this place just reeks of potential existence of swamp creatures and monsters.¡± ¡°I smelled something like blood in the air.¡± Dorothea Clarkson was walking at the front of the team: ¡°There might have been some fights amongst the creatures of this realm.¡± ¡°Too bad we are in swamp land. The one who lost might have already drowned in the tar lakes or swamps.¡± Glenda Grimes sighed and said: ¡°Let¡¯s speed up. The blood might attract something else.¡± Chapter 277 ¡°Everyone, careful, I think we¡¯ve got something.¡± just when Glenda Grimes warned everyone of the team about potential monsters of beasts being attracted to them due to the scent of blood in the air, Dorothea Clarkson called out to the team using magic, which delivered her words to the team¡¯s ears without making a sound: ¡°One of the tar pools in front of us - something¡¯s in there.¡± ¡°Ready your spells and weapons.¡± Professor Kapur immediately ordered. The tar pool referred to by Dorothea Clarkson was not too far from them, and right now, there was a constant stream of bubbles coming up to the surface from below. And right on the surface of the tar, was a pair of small reptilian eyes. The team halted their footsteps and started backing away from the tar pool, if they were to go by their previously planned route they would get quite close to it. And now they would have to circle around it just to avoid whatever creature that was lying inside the pool. While they were circling, the pool grumbled and growled like a filthy creature¡¯s stomach, the pair of eyes floated higher, revealing more of its head: a wide jaw, no neck, and a small part of its warty body. It seemed like a giant toad, one that had its eyes fixed in a certain direction. Even when the team of five went around the tar pool it was residing in, it didn¡¯t turn at all, and just kept floating up. But in less than ten seconds, the toad¡¯s body seemed to have been turned over by something underneath, and its entire body floated up to the surface of the tar, or to be more precise, what was left of its entire body. The toad only had one claw - its left front claw, and almost no parts of its torso. It had a grievous and gruesome wound just right below its fat neck, its bones and spines all broken, torn up, to splinters and what was left of its insides were exposed and floated along with it. Each of the team members let out an exhale in relief, but then was struck with a pretty scary thought: something else was around this place just now, at least not too long ago, something more dangerous and more powerful. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°We better hurry.¡± Professor Kapur frowned. ¡°We should check the body.¡± Tony Barnes said. ¡°No way, are you crazy?! That¡¯s too dangerous.¡± Dorothea Clarkson objected: ¡°We should leave this place right away! The blood and the smell will attract other creatures here - and probably not just regular scavengers.¡± ¡°No, we should at least check the body out. Whatever did that to this toad could still be out there. We at least gotta know what we¡¯re up against.¡± Josephine Wong insisted. ¡°I agree with Josephine.¡± Tony Barnes thought for a while and said: ¡°Something¡¯s here, we at least need to have an idea on what it is. If it¡¯s too dangerous, it won¡¯t be too late for us to pull back.¡± ¡°What do you think, Glenda?¡± Professor Kapur thought for a moment and asked the last of her students in the team. ¡°It¡¯s a risky move, if we could be quick and conceal our scent and the traces of our magic I suppose we can try.¡± Glenda Grimes sighed and said: ¡°Concealing spells - we¡¯ll need more of them, and we¡¯d better be careful.¡± Dorothea Clarkson scoffed in disbelief, but she was still ruled out. The team swiftly gathered around the tar pool, and each with a simple spell, they pulled the body of the toad monster out of the tar pool and onto a piece of solid ground. Professor Kapur tried to examine the terrible looking wound, but the moment her examination spell touched the body of the toad, her spell faded into the air and dissipated. Professor Kapur gasped lightly and leaned a bit closer to the body: ¡°This¡­ this is some kind of terrible magic - I¡¯ve never seen magic this malicious, this¡­ full of grudge and ill will.¡± Tony Barnes constructed a small light dagger and tried to poke the wound with it, but the blade of his light dagger was immediately corrupted by a dark blue energy. The amount of residual energy was not enough to completely ruin the blade or harm Tony Barnes through it. But it did reveal what vengeful and spiteful power that still lingered on the body. ¡°What kind of magic is this?¡± Tony Barnes was also alarmed at the sight of his light dagger: ¡°I¡¯ve never seen this kind of magic - it¡¯s¡­ well, evil¡¯s sorta not the right word, it¡¯s angry, and dark, and full of grudge.¡± ¡°Well, the good thing is we don¡¯t have to worry about wiping our tracks.¡± Josephine Wong also examined the residual energy signature on the toad and said: ¡°It seems to be radiating some kind of destructive and disruptive force field, normal magic would not have much effect while this kind of power still lingers. In fact, I have reasons to believe this whole body was deeply affected by this magic, which means...¡± ¡°Our time estimate could be wrong - we don¡¯t know how long this body¡¯s been here.¡± Glenda Grimes nodded while exchanging looks with Josephine Wong: ¡°It could be as early as since the first team¡¯s scouting.¡± ¡°But still, we should leave.¡± Dorothea Clarkson rushed everyone: ¡°If whatever did this is wielding this kind of terrible magic, we¡¯d be no match for it if it sets its eyes on us.¡± ¡°The question is, should we still continue on our way like what the map shows?¡± Glenda Grimes asked: ¡°These tar pools and swamps - they¡¯re not on the map. Which tells us that things have changed since the last team¡¯s been here. If we are to continue, the map could only serve very limited use. We will be faced with more unknown.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s find a place to regroup first.¡± Professor Kapur sighed. Chapter 278 ¡°I think I¡¯ve heard some versions of this story before.¡± Blue nodded and said: ¡°Dorothea Clarkson, she¡¯s a professor at the Grant Academy right? I heard she¡¯s Headmistress of one of the houses now.¡± ¡°Yes, Martin House, it¡¯s her own house.¡± Josephine Wong answered: ¡°And Professor Kapur was also from the Martin House. But she was one of the few professors that was open to take on inter-house teams for research and expedition missions. And the team eventually ended up having quite a mix - I and Glenda were from the Anderson House, Tony Barnes was from the Hellbruck House, and he¡¯s the Headmaster of his house now, just like Dorothea Clarkson.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard plenty about Headmaster Barnes, he¡¯s quite the legend around my circles¡± Alexander took a gulp from his flask and said: ¡°Just didn¡¯t know his first name is Tony, I was expecting he would have a more epic or at least a cooler first name. Tony - makes him sound pretty generic.¡± ¡°Or he could be a rich guy in a full metal suit of armor, you don¡¯t know.¡± Pei smiled. ¡°Well, he is a knight from a wealthy family, so you¡¯re not totally wrong there.¡± Josephine Wong chuckled. ¡°And - sorry for the repeated questions, is this the realm later renamed ¡®Jade Pit¡¯?¡± Blue asked: ¡°During my time being a visiting scholar, Professor Clarkson was pretty proud of her accomplishments and contribution in scouting and stabilizing that realm.¡± ¡°Yes. And she was not exaggerating. Each member of the team did great things in that realm. The first scouting team did their very best in documenting what they found. But they were not familiar with the best practices in tracing the movements and changes in the environment when it comes to a realm of this level of energy volatility - even our team, we only had theories in our heads and almost no practical experience.¡± ¡°Ms. Wong, you¡¯re awake?¡± just this moment, an agent went into the medical tent: ¡°Just to report that we have everything in order. The material and equipment for the malice containment array are mostly ready, can we proceed when we¡¯re go?¡± ¡°Yes, just go ahead.¡± Josephine Wong nodded. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Thank you. Ms. Wong.¡± the agent looked around in the tent and asked: ¡°Hope I won¡¯t disturb you anymore. Just that things are finally on track and totally under control, if ...¡± ¡°Out! We¡¯re listening to a story here!¡± Vivian threw a folded up empty snack bag across the tent. ¡°Yeah, come back when you have something urgent.¡± Alexander stared at the agent: ¡°We¡¯re busy here.¡± ¡°Okay! Okay! Sure! My apologies...¡± the agent immediately backed out of the tent. ¡°So, what happened next?¡± Vivian laid back and stretched her arms: ¡°I don¡¯t suppose this Mr. Yu was in this realm with you? He¡¯s not a member of the academy right?¡± ¡°He¡¯s never been. The closest he¡¯s been was being an audit student, and he didn¡¯t even get to finish his audit program.¡± Josephine Wong smiled and shook her head: ¡°But that was something for another time, and it¡¯s probably more entertaining hearing it from him.¡± ¡°But what was he doing in that realm?¡± Blue asked: ¡°Also - if he played a part in scouting and stabilizing that realm, wouldn¡¯t he qualify for at least some access rights according to the International Treaty on the Discovery of New and Unexplored Realms?¡± ¡°Well yes, technically. And he still has free access rights to it today. He even forged his own realm - he calls it his farm, based partially on the environment properties of that place, and using some material harvested from it.¡± Josephine Wong checked her phone - she just received a notification from an agent that he would be exchanging shifts of taking care of Jianmen at Xianshi Inn with another agent, everything seemed stable and Jianmen¡¯s condition did not seem to get worse. Also mentioned in the notification was that the healing materials she requested on Jianmen¡¯s behalf were on their way: ¡°But you know how things can go - after his relationship with the academy went a bit unfriendly, it would still be a lot of trouble for him to actually go there. So whenever he needs some material from the place, he would just barter them from me. ¡°And, as for what happened next -¡± -------------------------- ¡°Should we continue?¡± when the team found an empty cave near the ridge of the mountain, a good and safe distance away from the plain of swamps and tar lakes and pools, Professor Kapur sat down and asked: ¡°That body back there - it gave me a really bad feeling. So I want to take your concerns into account before we go any further - if any of you want to halt this mission and go back for a regroup. It would be okay with me.¡± ¡°I think we should continue.¡± Dorothea Clarkson said: ¡°This is a good chance for all of us, and completing it would serve as a big step for all - either for our careers as researchers, or even our path to professorship.¡± ¡°Seconded.¡± Glenda Grimes nodded: ¡°I mean - I don¡¯t care that much about potential Professorship, but this place, this realm is truly unique, and I would hate it if we just stop here on some potential danger and possibly hand it to somebody else.¡± ¡°Fine with me.¡± Josephine Wong said: ¡°I¡¯m worried, but I believe if we¡¯re careful we could still get a lot out of this realm.¡± ¡°And you? Tony? Any objections?¡± Professor Kapur turned to Tony Barnes. ¡°I¡¯d say we go slowly.¡± Tony Barnes thought for a short while and said: ¡°Scout wide and carefully before we proceed. If the volatility of the environment would cause terrain changes in this short a time between us and the first team, then it¡¯s safe to assume other pretty big changes could happen even while we¡¯re here. We could only be more careful.¡± ¡°So keep going it is for us.¡± Professor Kapure smiled: ¡°Let¡¯s rest here for an hour. Then we continued on the general direction of the map.¡± Chapter 279 When the team of five went over the ridge of the mountain, what lay in front of them was a basin, one they could not see clearly partially due to its long distance from where they were, and partially due to the clouds blocking their view. The position of the basin seemed quite a lot deeper than the team¡¯s starting place when they started ascending the mountain from the other side. ¡°Well, this is still the same as the map.¡± Tony Barnes laughed: ¡°That¡¯s a good sign at least.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Professor Kapur let out an exhale in relief: ¡°I know the reports say the way down is safer for some reason. But still, be careful.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t we use magic?¡± when the team started going down the slope, Dorothea Clarkson asked: ¡°We don¡¯t need to fly, but we could at least try something like creating a sled.¡± ¡°That might still be too wasteful of our powers. Just try gently lifting your bodies up and lighten the load on your bodies.¡± Josephine Wong said: ¡°This basin is deep, the slope is also deep. With all the disrupting energy fields in this place, I don¡¯t think a magical constructs like a sled, or shoes would last you very long.¡± ¡°Give it a try, a floating spell would be less affected by the energy fields around here.¡± Professor Kapur nodded: ¡°Also - the energy fields seem to be less powerful and chaotic around here. This proves what the first team documented remained unchanged.¡± ¡°The rocks and sand - they¡¯re different from what they were near the shore, and different from what they were near the swamps and tar lakes.¡± Glenda Grimes slid down the slope while the weight of her body was mostly lightened by her floating spell, which allowed her to focus more on analyzing the ground: ¡°The density of the rocks seemed slightly higher though.¡± ¡°So is the case with the affinity of energy.¡± Tony Barnes grabbed a handful of rocks and sand in his hand. When he tried infusing them with his energy, golden light seeped out from the gaps between his fingers, and a buzzing sound was released by the sand and rocks. ¡°Be on alert. This means that it would be a safer place for both us and other creatures.¡± Dorothea Clarkson looked down on the basin, the clouds were blocking her view, but she was still trying, by concentrating her power on her eyes, which sharpened her eyes, allowing her to see further and more clearly.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I smell blood again.¡± about an hour and twenty minutes since they started descending from the ridge of the mountain, when they got quite close to the height of clouds that obscured their view, Dorothea Clarkson alerted the team again: ¡°Something¡¯s close.¡± The team immediately readied themselves for an incoming fight and slowed down their steps. As they descended, there was more and more moisture in the air, and the visibility became worse and worse due to the mist and fog. After a short while, the other team members, including Josephine Wong, also smelled blood in the air. And when Tony Barnes advanced forward to the head of the team in order to guard the mages, they started sensing the same kind of magical energy that remained on the body of the toad monster. It did not take long before they saw where the smell of blood and the negative magical energy came from. It was another body, from another kind of giant monster - it was but a broken tail. Yet, from its length and girth, as well as the size of its scales and shells, they could easily tell that whatever creature that once had its tail must be tremendous in size as well. This time, the magical energy that remained on the tail was more intense that it was on the body on the toad monster. So much so that it formed an aura of dark energy around it, like countless streams of dark smoke circling the tail. ¡°This is fresher.¡± Glenda Grimes was able to derive the conclusion by merely poking the aura with a long green energy blade: ¡°Based on the chaotic energy fields and the intensity of this aura, I¡¯d say this part was around a quarter or a third old as the toad. So, I¡¯d say it¡¯s much fresher.¡± ¡°No footprints.¡± Tony Barnes¡¯ eye glowed in golden light: ¡°But I can see droplets of blood everywhere, different in sizes but mostly fit a single pattern, so I would assume - ¡± ¡°It¡¯s tossed here.¡± Josephine Wong and Glenda Grimes picked up what Tony Barnes was trying to say. ¡°It simply makes the most sense.¡± Tony Barnes nodded: ¡°And from the patterns, it looks like it''s tossed up here from below.¡± ¡°Fuck.¡± Dorothea Clarkson cursed: ¡°So the thing that killed the toad and whatever this thing is, could still be down there.¡± ¡°Wait.¡± Professor Kapur walked up to a spot beside Tony Barnes and lowered her body: ¡°This here - somebody did something here.¡± ¡°What?¡± the other team members rushed to Professor Kapur¡¯s side. Professor Kapur was looking at the mark of a large drop of blood. And different from other blood drops in the surrounding area, this mark had very smooth edges and had a weird shape. There were also small and barely noticeable scratch marks on the rock around it. ¡°Someone scraped some of the blood away.¡± Josephine Wong said: ¡°This is clearly the work of an intelligent being. Which means someone else was also here.¡± Professor Kapur sighed and went silent, then she started casting a spell on the mark of the blood. Faint white energy shadows started appearing around the mark, but they swiftly crumbled and dissipated before they could form any kind of meaningful shapes. ¡°They¡¯re careful.¡± Professor Kapur sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s hope they¡¯re not hostile.¡± Glenda Grimes said. Chapter 280 After scraping some blood off the ground, just like the unknown intelligent being did, the team carefully continued with their descent down the slope towards the basin. Aside from continuously more stable energy fields, the team also noticed that the air and the mist seemed to get denser, which caused the visibility to become lower and lower, and the gravity was also getting noticeably stronger. This was probably partially due to the increasing density of materials and substance down the slope, it could also be the thin aura that was present and covering everything beneath the clouds. ¡°What could be the source of this aura? Could it be the same thing that killed those two beasts?¡± Tony Barnes asked. ¡°It¡¯s possible, but it¡¯s a little bit too unrefined to be the case.¡± Professor Kapur scraped some moss from under a rock and put it inside of one of her many enchanted silk pouches: ¡°Normally, auras released by living creatures, including humans and elementals, tend to be more pure and single purposed, it¡¯s mostly due to expediency and energy efficiency. But the aura here, it seemed to be more or less chaotic and purposeless. So my guess is this is an aura naturally released by the special energy environment here, or it could be the remnant of something quite powerful.¡± ¡°Yeah, but what could be this powerful?¡± Glenda Grimes also took some samples of local vegetation: ¡°This realm is still very close to Earth, if something this powerful had been here, it would have had some impact on Earth directly or indirectly.¡± ¡°Which is the reason I lean towards the first possibility.¡± Professor Kapur cast another floating spell on herself, since the increasing pull of gravity made the previous one lose power too quickly. ¡°Keh keh keh keh¡­¡± a strange sound suddenly appeared from a distance not that from where the team was. This caused Tony Barnes to immediately draw his blade shield forward and readied his battle position. ¡°What is that?¡± asked Dorothea Clarkson: ¡°That¡¯s not a normal sound.¡± ¡°No it¡¯s not.¡± Tony Barnes hesitated for a short while and said: ¡°Sounded like¡­ like the sound a person would make after his throat has been slit.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ oddly specific.¡± Glenda Grimes and Josephine Wong looked at Tony Barnes with a weird look. ¡°Past battlefield experience. Nothing fancy, whole lotta trauma.¡± Tony Barnes shook his head with a serious frown on his face: ¡°That aside, this sound does sound awfully like it.¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Keh keh keh keh keh...¡± the source of the sound came closer, and they saw some kind of shadow with a bizarre shape walking towards them, in an equally bizarre fumbling way. The team immediately kept the bodies low and hid behind any obstacles they could find, while still keeping an eye on the bizarre shadow walking towards their position. After around half a minute, they finally had clear visibility on what it was: it was some kind of creature made of bones, rocks and slime, the main part of its body was a giant bone, like a tall animal¡¯s shin bone, and its manly ¡°limbs¡± were made of smaller bones, rotten tree branches and round stones. Thick slime of colors dark green and dark red was all over the bones, rocks and tree branches, connecting them and helping them move like a whole organic body, like the tendons and muscles of this creature. ¡°What the ...fuck?¡± Josephine Wong cursed with confusion. And all other team members seemed to share her sentiment, knowledgeable and experienced as they were, none of them could make out what this creature is on the spot. The creature stopped when it got to a place, then it turned to another direction and started walking that way. Thus the team of five was able to see the back of it - it was similar, that the back of its body was also made of bones, tree branches, rock and slime, only mushed together differently. The strange sound came from the ¡°head¡± of the creature, where air was coming out from a hole on the top of the shin bone and producing bubbles of the dark green and dark red slime, thus the sound was similar to that of someone with a slit throat. ¡°It¡¯s not dangerous, is it?¡± Glenda Grimes said: ¡°I felt like it¡¯s¡­ just wandering around like some kind of zombie.¡± ¡°There is no part for a brain, nor is there any energy core like the elementals.¡± Professor Kapur had her eyes fixated on the weird creature, now slowly wandering away from them: ¡°The only thing I can think of, is that this is some kind of magical construct, just happened to gain the ability to move and wander around.¡± ¡°The slime.¡± Dorothea Clarkson and Glenda Grimes said at the same time. ¡°Yes.¡± Professor Kapur said: ¡°Let¡¯s follow it. Be careful and keep our distance.¡± The team moved out of their hiding places, and proceeded along the trails of that bizarre creature. Luckily, the creature was not that fast on its ¡°feet¡±, the team did not have to go any faster than they¡¯re comfortable with in order to catch up. ¡°Click, click, click...¡± another periodic strange sound came from something ahead, and the team of five saw another strange shadow beyond the mist - it also had an irregular shape, and also seemed to be moving in a strange way. When the team got closer, they found that the other strange shadow was also a creature of bones, tree branches, moss and the same kind of dark green and dark red slime. The clicking sound it made, was from the two pieces of bone that collided into each other every ¡°step¡± it took. ¡°Okay. This is just crazy.¡± Josephine Wong chuckled, she was utterly confused and slightly amused at the same time: ¡°Is someone playing some kind of game here?¡± ¡°Look, there.¡± just this moment, Tony Barnes pointed at something in the direction towards the center of the basin. Something seemed to be disturbing the ¡°peace¡± of the mist in this place - it repeatedly gushed out streams of air, clearing out a lot of the mist in the air, then it created some kind of vortex and sucked the mist back to the same place. ¡°Boom!¡± a loud thunder cracked above the basin, and rain started to fall. The rain was not heavy, but it was enough to clear the mist out, making the environment much more visible. What the team saw first, was that there seemed to be around ten to fifteen strange creatures of slime wandering across the slope around the center of the basin. The second thing they saw, was that there was a creature with a long body, four claws and dark scales, coiling at the center of the basin. Strong gushes of hot air were shooting out of this creature¡¯s nose every time it breathed. Chapter 281 ¡°Dragon.¡± Professor Kapur gasped lightly: ¡°This is bad, we¡¯re in way over our heads. Team, prepare to head back and find shelter¡± ¡°It looks injured.¡± Tony Barnes said: ¡°What kind of dragon is this? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen his kind of dragons before - it has no wings and a long body. Looks more like eastern kind of dragons depicted in legends and folktales.¡± ¡°It is indeed that kind of dragon.¡± Professor Kapur silently cast a concealing spell onto the whole team in order to be extra sure that their presence would not cause the dragon to wake up: ¡°Let¡¯s find a place of shelter first, then we can head back and regroup. This is definitely not something we¡¯d wanna mess with right now.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a wounded dragon right?¡± Josephine Wong asked: ¡°What¡¯s such a big deal about it though? Is this dragon particularly dangerous?¡± ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t be sure, but this might be one of those more dangerous ones that only lives in legends.¡± Professor Kapur tried to rush the entire team away: ¡°Let¡¯s go now, let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t move, professor.¡± Tony Barnes saw something behind Professor Kapur and immediately said in a low voice: ¡°Professor, slowly walk forward towards us, don¡¯t make any sudden movements.¡± Professor Kapur went silent for a shortment, then started walking towards Tony Barnes and Glenda Grimes slowly and carefully, without looking back or making any other uncalled for movements. ¡°Yeah, okay. ¡± Tony Barnes slowly also walked towards Professor Kapur and eventually came to the place behind her, into the space between her and whatever was behind. ¡°Okay, you¡¯re safe now.¡± Glenda Grimes nodded at Professor Kapur: ¡°Though I am not entirely sure from what.¡± The thing behind Professor Kapur was another one of those creatures of random things on the ground and dark green and red slime. This one looked even weirder than the others, because this one had extra slime on its body, which seemed to have formed something like an eye without eyelids. ¡°Careful now. Don¡¯t touch it.¡± seeing that Tony Barnes was ready to make a move against the creature, Professor Kapur warned: ¡°Let¡¯s just leave this place first - that dragon down there, if it is what I think it is, would be the creator of these things. If we attack these creatures, or just merely touch them, it could alert that dragon.¡± This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Okay, professor, care to tell us what it is?¡± the team gathered together and started moving away, while the creature with an ¡°eye¡± made of slime was still staring at them while they left. ¡°I will tell you when we are further away.¡± Professor Kapur shook her head: ¡°If I am right, this would be a tremendously powerful dragon, with a similar ability to many grand wizards and witches. If we utter its name, or speak of its identity in this close vicinity, our words or even thoughts will alert it of our presence. ¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Glenda Grimes exchanged looks with Josephine Wong and Dorothea Clarkson: ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Just when this moment, the dragon rolled around on the ground while it was still asleep, and with a loud cough and snort, it spit out phlegm with traces of blood inside from its throat at the ground nearby. The phlegm reacted to the environment around and started moving on its own, first it darkened in color and became thicker by releasing a lot of the moisture from inside. Then, it sucked in rocks, broken tree branches and dirt from the ground, turning them into solid parts of its ¡°body¡±. In less than a minute, the spit of phlegm became another one of those strange creatures around the area, and started wandering around in the area. ¡°Boom!¡± another loud thunder cracked in the sky above, and a ball lightning appeared high above the sky. ------------------------------------- ¡°Thank you very much for coming!¡± after another evening meeting at the arrays and circles club, Carl was finally able to send off the half a dozen members: ¡°I know, I know, information about proper establishments of array foundations can be quite boring. Hope you enjoyed what I¡¯ve demonstrated, let me know if you have any questions¡± ¡°Not boring at all. It¡¯s quite interesting, actually.¡± Jason smiled and waved Carl goodbye: ¡°I find it quite useful. And I¡¯ll bug you with some questions later, hope you won¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Oh, I won¡¯t mind at all. You¡¯re perfectly welcome to send me questions you have.¡± Carl laughed out loud: ¡°And Jason, I knew you¡¯re gonna fit in here perfectly. I think with any more sessions, you could get on here and do your own presentation.¡± ¡°That might be too far for me. But I would be happy to share if I have something.¡± Jason chuckled: ¡°Alright, I¡¯m gonna go back and maybe experiment a bit with what you just showed me. See you next time and have a good night.¡± ¡°Good night Jason, and thank you again for coming.¡± When Jason walked out of the meeting place and started heading back to his living quarters, he had a strange feeling - that someone, or something was following him. This tingling feeling was very vague, and he even started suspecting if he was being overly paranoid. After turning back and trying to check the directions behind him in order to spot the potential stalker twice, Jason decided that he might need something more discreet to detect if he was actually being followed. With only a short moment of consideration, Jason decided to go old school - by kneeling down and pretending to tie his shoes. And at the same time, he left a few metal balls and a few droplets of clay on the ground. When he was done with setting these small traps and continued his way forward with increased speed, Jason also turned up his power of mind and will to a maximum degree, greatly enhancing his senses and enabling him to sense much more than he normally would. Someone of unknown identity was indeed following Jason, who was smart and cautious enough to circle around most of the metal balls and clay droplets left by Jason, but was partially exposed because they had to catch up to him and for a very brief moment became visible. ¡°Who the hell are you...¡± it wasn¡¯t long before Jason reached the entrance of the living quarters, when he sensed that the stalker seemed to have given up. Now that the stalker was gone, he tried looking back at the way in which he came using the True Sight Spell, yet he could not see anything - apparently the stalker was concealing their tracks. Chapter 282 ¡°Team members and registration please?¡± when Caroline came to the entrance of the hunting ground with a team of four, the ranger in charge of admissions asked them with a curious look on his face: ¡°Daryl¡¯s Hunting Club, I¡¯m assuming?¡± ¡°Yes. And it¡¯s the first hunt for one of our new members.¡± the team leader was a girl in a grey blue hood by the name of Emily Carter, who also happened to be the judge of the first round of club membership eligibility test, and the team lead. ¡°Oh, you¡¯ll be helping us with the nuisance of Blinker Racoons, thank you! And you¡¯ll be going on an overnight hunt right? Do remember that the maximum time limit is 24 hours.¡± the ranger looked at the teams¡¯ papers and asked: ¡°And you don¡¯t have your names or photos on these approval papers. Per the new group hunting policies set by the administration, you need to provide me with your names and your respective roles.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Emily Carter asked: ¡°When did this happen?¡± ¡°Just last week. Because another group of students were attacked just two weeks before, and all of them were the fighting kind, the few of them who knew first aid knew nothing more than that. And none of them was even remotely experienced in tracking the routes in the woods. We had to go get them with a rescue team and they needed to pay a hefty fine because of the reckless disregard for safety guidelines.¡± the ranger sighed and answered: ¡°And now the school requires that each team document their team members¡¯ names and roles. If you¡¯re going into a far or dangerous location to hunt, the school will require that you have at least one member who is a tracker and someone who can actually heal instead of just performing first aid.¡± ¡°Ugh. Okay.¡± Emily showed her longbow from her back and said: ¡°I am Emily Carter, I am the team lead on this hunt, and I am the tracker. I am registered in the academy¡¯s regular hunter¡¯s list as a tracker. So you can be certain we can find our way.¡± ¡°My name¡¯s Paulo Benjamin. I am the ¡®fighting type¡¯, and I am also registered as a tracker.¡± Paulo, the guy that led Caroline through the hunting tests and the judge of the last round answered: ¡°So you can double sure.¡± ¡°I am Michael Cooper.¡± the third and slightly timid member of the team was a guy in a casual looking blue and white robe: ¡°I am the healer, I am also the one who can perform first aid.¡± ¡°And I am the new member. Caroline Baker.¡± Caroline said: ¡°I am also quote - unquote ¡®fighting type¡¯, and I can do a little bit of healing when required. But I am not familiar with first aid protocols.¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s roughly the same with the civilian world. But I do recommend checking those out, could be quite useful.¡± the ranger recognized Caroline, and he just stamped on their paper: ¡°Alright, you are free to go in. Be back in 24 hours, or we¡¯ll have to go in and search for you. The trolleys are on the right side of the entrance. I trust that being old hunters you know how to find them.¡±Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Understood. Thanks.¡± Emily nodded and led the team into the hunting ground, and started walking to the right side of the entrance. ¡°Trolleys? What trolleys?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°Well, nothing special, just something hunters can pay for when they will be hunting at a relatively remote location.¡± Paulo explained: ¡°The hunting ground is a big place, if you spent most of your time trying to find it that would make it quite wasteful. Since this is just an overnight hunt, it would be more cost effective to pay for trolleys.¡± ¡°Here.¡± Emily led the team to a place and waved her hand in the air, a wooden structure started rising from below the ground. And when it came completely to the surface, Caroline could see that it was a trolley made with wood and bamboo, and very little metal. The team went inside the trolley, and Caroline was a little bit disappointed to find that the interior of the trolley was magically enhanced like the insides of Josephine Wong¡¯s SUV, it was just a normal trolley, at least it looked to be so. ¡°The trolleys are fortified against most forms and sources of damage.¡± Paulo continued to explain: ¡°Common game won¡¯t be able to damage it. But also as a policy, they can¡¯t go in too deep. So this trolley will remain outside of the forest. But it can¡¯t go in any further. And if we are in need of retreat, we just need to go back in here.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Caroline nodded: ¡°As for the targeted game - Blinker Racoons are just our main targets right? They¡¯re not our only targets? Are we allowed to hunt other game if we encounter any?¡± ¡°Yes, all the tagless huntable game in this season can be hunted. If you have your own hunting tags with you, you can hunt specific game as well. A lot of teams they just do as such - each member carries their own tags and collaborates on the hunting activities.¡± Emily answered as the trolley started moving towards their destination: ¡°Last year I hunted a rogue Electric Worm Drake with Marco, and in exchange I helped him with his hunt for a Brim Toad.¡± ¡°A drake for a toad? Doesn¡¯t sound fair.¡± Caroline chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s okay. Electric Worm Drakes are not like other drakes, they¡¯re ugly but not vicious.¡± Emily smiled: ¡°They¡¯re just hard to track down.¡± ¡°Yeah, I remember that story.¡± Paulo laughed out loud: ¡°You guys spent three days tracking it, and you ended up hunting down the Brim Toad first because you just ran into it while tracking the damn drake.¡± ¡°Click.¡± the trolley was stable, but it was quite fast - in just about twenty minutes they were already at their destination - somewhere right in front of a forest. ¡°Alright team.¡± Paulo hopped off the trolley with Michael Cooper, who barely said a word the whole trip: ¡°Let¡¯s kill some racoons.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that smell?¡± Caroline frowned as she left the trolley: ¡°It¡¯s like a very light flowery smell, but a little...¡± ¡°Dangerous?¡± Michael Copper nodded: ¡°It¡¯s the Serpentine Lilies. They¡¯re slightly toxic, but they usually grow around the territories of toxic beasts and monsters. Blinker Raccoons are not toxic, but other beasts and animals that roam this place could be. Like Brim Toads.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not worry about Brim Toads.¡± Paulo laughed and shook his head: ¡°I was still hoping to get back early and have a nice bath and a feast. Oh my gosh, what a week I just had.¡± ¡°Dude, you¡¯re not supposed to talk like that.¡± Emily rolled her eyes. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s like the guy in a war movie saying he will marry his girl when the war¡¯s over.¡± Michael Cooper scratched his nose and said. ¡°Superstitious, are we?¡± Chapter 283 With a quick swing of her Axe, Caroline was able to bash a few small snakes with green, yellow and black scales on their bodies away from her - shortly after she came into the forest with the team, they were met with a small nest of these snakes. According to Paulo and Emily, these snakes were a kind of tree snakes that like to hunt in packs and they possess a kind of paralyzing poison that could temporarily disable a normal human male with just one drop. But these snakes were not too dangerous to experienced and powered hunters with basic first aid or medical knowledge. So they had no trouble just dispersing them and driving them away from their route. Blinker Racoons, they were not as cute as their names suggest, at least not from what Caroline had read - they were quite destructive to the natural order of the environment they were in if their herd grew too large, and due to their affinity to some tricky space magic, namely short to mid distance teleportation, their population was also quite hard to manage. What made them more troublesome to even the hunting ground rangers, was that they had a highly intelligent social structure, which made it so that just simply eliminating a few hunting packs of them would not make too much of a difference in controlling their population. The core of their herd needed to be broken up, which meant the breeders and the core protectors, while the hunting packs that almost always caused great damage to the environment were just made of drones and workers and could be replaced easily by a fertile group of breeders. ¡°So, beside their names, they¡¯re nothing like actual racoons.¡± this was Caroline¡¯s reaction after reading the pamphlet given to her prior to this hunting trip. ¡°Well, most of them still look like racoons.¡± Emily chuckled at Caroline¡¯s reaction: ¡°Just be ready. I believe racoons are a nuisance in the civilian world as well, no?¡± ¡°Yeah. But they can just be dealt with using a shotgun.¡± ¡°You¡¯d be surprised how useful shotguns are when dealing with THESE racoons.¡± Back to the hunting trip, when the team of four cleared the nest of snakes from their path, they finally saw tracks left by their targets - trees with a lot of their tree barks chewed off, bodies of animals with their chest and abdomen cavities emptied and organs ripped off. These, according to the pamphlet Caroline read were the classic signs of a Blinker Racoons pack was nearby. Though it was not unknown to her before hand, Caroline still felt a bit disgusted when she saw the emptied out bodies of animals - they did not just consist of small animals like squirrels, birds and gophers, they also consisted of bigger animals, like bears and hogs.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Huh, they didn¡¯t even spare one of their own.¡± Paulo lifted up a body from beneath a pile of leaves and broken tree branches - it was a body of a huge rodent, with prickly fur, bristles on its back, and razor sharp claws. It also had its body torn open and organs all ripped away. ¡°So this is the body of a Blinker Racoon? It¡¯s bigger than I imagined.¡± Caroline went to Paulo¡¯s side and examined the body for a short moment, ¡°This is almost the size of a medium sized dog, could even be bigger when it was alive.¡± ¡°It¡¯s definitely on the bigger side.¡± Emily said while nodding: ¡°The body is still quite fresh and bloody, which means we¡¯re close. Let¡¯s be careful.¡± Just this moment, Caroline saw a few ripples of energy waves in the air right before her, and right out of the center of the energy waves, a racoon with silver hair on its face and with claws reflecting a shine like that of polished metal lunged at Caroline¡¯s face. ¡°Bang!¡± the racoon¡¯s face clashed with Caroline¡¯s translucent shield glowing in orange and red light, and with Caroline¡¯s arm swinging to the side, the racoon was bashed out of its original trajectory and was sent flying against a tree on Caroline¡¯s left side. ¡°Poof¡± the racoon¡¯s body disappeared in a puff of smoke. ¡°This is their teleportation spells?¡± Caroline asked, ¡°They¡¯re not that impressive.¡± ¡°Hard to impress, huh?¡± Paulo laughed out loud: ¡°Well, be glad that they¡¯re not jumping out of the air in packs.¡± ¡°No no, what I mean is, I thought by teleporting they¡¯re able to get rid of some unfriendly energy on their bodies - like in some of those video games. I can kinda sense my power left over on its body.¡± Caroline pointed to her front-left side: ¡°It¡¯s there - and it¡¯s moving, I think it¡¯s trying to find the way back into its pack.¡± ¡°Nice! Didn¡¯t know you can do that. You¡¯d make a great tracker.¡± Emily smiled and said to the team: ¡°Let¡¯s follow it, be careful and on alert.¡± The team started following the direction led by Caroline¡¯s sense of the remnants of her power, left by a simple shield bash. ¡°Stop! Stop!¡± just when they were about to go past a small patch of heavily damaged trees, Michael Cooper raised his hand and said: ¡°There are hostile forces closing in on us, they¡¯re trying to surround us.¡± ¡°Fuck! It¡¯s a trap!¡± Emily cursed and hastily ordered: ¡°Fall back! Fall back!¡± Just when the team was about to turn around, more of these ripples of energy waves appeared in the air around them, and more Blinker Racoons leapt out from thin air and started attacking them from all angles. ¡°Boom!¡± Caroline swung her axe against the largest Blinker Racoon in front of her, and after a loud and fiery explosion, the racoon¡¯s entire body was torn in several pieces and flew across the air. Emily shot an energy arrow at the sky, the arrow exploded in the air and turned into a few dozens of balls of lightning and started falling around them. At the same time, Paulo swung his sword and released a green energy blade at the racoons right in front of him. Michael concentrated power and conjured an energy dome to protect himself, just the moment the dome was complete, the claws of two raccoons collided with the dome and made a deafening scratching sound. Chapter 284 Since they are in a forest, Caroline was mindful that she would limit the use of her fire elemental power. So instead she started relying more on her new elemental power in her attacks and defenses - wind. Different from that of fire, the power of wind had comparatively less attacking power, at least against these Blinker Raccoons, but it granted Caroline more and finer control, as well as more defensive abilities like constructing walls of wind, which seemed to cost less Xuanli and concentration to do, to block and thwart incoming attacks. ¡°Go! Go back! Let¡¯s break out of here first!¡± Emily shot more arrows into the air and conjured more falling balls of lightning around the team to strike down and push back incoming attacks from the Blinker Raccoons. These racoons all seemed to come from positions some distance away from them, and with their short and mid distance teleportation ability, they were able to come at the team of four from all angles, and sometimes they could even come out from close and unexpected angles, causing the team quite a lot of troubles with their razor-sharp claws and some kind of instinctual metal magic. Michael formed a couple of hand seals, then an energy seal appeared in his hand. Then he threw the energy seal into the air. When the seal exploded, some kind of dome-shaped energy seal appeared right above the team¡¯s heads and covered them inside. ¡°Bonk!¡± ¡°Bonk!¡± funny clashing sounds started coming from around the team, several Blinker Raccoons seemed to have bumped into an invisible wall and bounced off through the air when trying to teleport to positions close to the team. ¡°Anti-teleportation seal is in place, we¡¯re good to move.¡± Michael said to the team: ¡°Don¡¯t use space magic if you don¡¯t have to - it will break the seal.¡± ¡°Not gonna be a problem.¡± Paulo laughed as he swung his swords and sliced through the bodies of more Blinker Raccoons. The team of four started moving in the direction from which they came, with the invisible dome over their heads, the Blinker Raccoons were no longer able to teleport to positions that were too close to them - they were still able to teleport to places that were further away and launch their attacks on the team, but the elements and advantage of surprise was just simply lost. The team was finally able to move relatively unhindered under the protection of the anti-protection seal. Caroline, Paulo and Emily formed a triangle and kept Michael who maintained the seal at the center, which was a strategy they only briefly discussed before the hunting trip, and yet right now their teamwork was going quite smoothly, considering the circumstances.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. A couple of big ripples of energy waves appeared right above the team, and a Blinker Racoon with the size of a bear, especially long arms, spiky hair and bristles on its back and fierce eyes came out from thin air and fell down with great speed aiming at Michael. Caroline rushed to Michael¡¯s side and raised her shield up in the air. Her shield glowed in orange, red and light green, and an energy shield appeared right above her, just in that giant Blinker Raccoon¡¯s way. The energy shield cracked up on contact with the giant Blinker Raccoon and made a high pitched scratching sound as the Blinker Raccoon tried to claw it open. The impact was transferred to Caroline, who had to lower her body and get down on one knee to absorb the shock. The weight and velocity pressed against her whole body, especially her arms and legs, to the point of almost making her puke. But she was able to withstand it, and with a full force roar, she was able to push the giant Blinker Raccoon back into the air. Emily¡¯s bow string shook with great force as she unleashed three powerful shots at the Blinker Raccoon¡¯s face. And Paulo swung his sword downward, releasing an energy blade at it. The Blinker Raccoon was smart enough to protect its face with its forearms and claws, yet the three arrows still pierced through them and hit it in the face, while the energy blade from Paulo cut into its lower body like a giant chainsaw. It cried in pain and just teleported away. No more Blinker Raccoon came after that, and the team of four was able to retreat to a relatively safer place. ¡°They¡¯re still following us.¡± Michael sat down on the floor and said, holding his water bag in hand and trying to recover his magic: ¡°Looks like we went in too deep, they¡¯ve sent out a protector after us. And now they probably won¡¯t give up easily.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t know...¡± Caroline sighed. ¡°No, not your fault. ¡± Emily said: ¡°We¡¯re just following their tracks, no one could have expected them to function in such a way.¡± ¡°Yeah. This is quite unusual.¡± Paulo added more dried tree branches to the small bonfire they created in a contained portable array: ¡°How did they do this anyway? I mean setting a trap like that, luring us in and then surrounding and attacking us in waves. That¡¯s like the attack patterns of wolves, I¡¯ve never heard of it from Blinker Raccoons.¡± ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m gonna need a minute before I can attend to your wounds.¡± Michael saw that Emily and Paulo started patching their wounds by themselves and was a bit embarrassed: ¡°That seal was quite draining.¡± ¡°No worries. We can make do with these simple...¡± Emily was about to patch up a wound on her leg, and was surprised how deep it was and it was still bleeding. ¡°Here. Let me help you with that.¡± Caroline approached Emily, her hands lit up and a breath of warm energy was projected onto Emily¡¯s wound. Emily felt a warm wave of energy spreading across her leg, and her wound grew itchy and slightly numb. Within seconds, the bleeding stopped, and the wound slowly stitched itself up without the need for actual needles, and eventually what was left was only a piece of pink scar. ¡°Nice this is a nice healing spell. It enhances the self healing properties and lets the body heal itself - nice.¡± Michael¡¯s eyes opened up: ¡°It¡¯s really good, even for actual healer standards. What¡¯s it called? You gotta teach me that someday.¡± ¡°Flame of Vitality.¡± Caroline shook her head: ¡°Too bad I¡¯m not that good at it, I wasted more power than I should.¡± ¡°It takes practice.¡± Michael said: ¡°The spell I know that functions like this - Reinvigorating Touch can also be a bit wasteful if not well practiced. Please, I insist, teach me that when we¡¯re done with the hunt. I can teach you a spell or two in exchange.¡± Just this moment, Caroline¡¯s phone rang, it was from Jason. Chapter 285 ¡°Hey Jason, this is not a good time.¡± Caroline held her phone with her chin and her right shoulder, while concentrating her Xuanli on her palms with Michael watching on the side: ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Yeah I know, hunting trip, hunting teleporting raccoons and stuff. But I¡¯m just giving you a warning here.¡± Jason said: ¡°I was just followed, by someone who really knew what they were doing.¡± ¡°Followed? What do you mean followed?¡± Caroline released her Xuanli from her hand and projected onto a slashed wound on Paulo¡¯s arm and shoulder, the warm and gentle fire energy was absorbed by Paulo¡¯s skin, soft tissue and muscles, thus was temporarily granted with enhanced ability to heal themselves. ¡°Stalked, tailed - whatever words for that, basically someone was keeping tabs on me while I was getting back from a meeting at the arrays club.¡± Jason answered: ¡°I was not able to take a good look at him - it¡¯s a pretty shady guy. And I don¡¯t know what he wants. It¡¯s definitely not friendly, so I¡¯m just calling you to warn you, some pretty shady people are out there somehow interested in us, be careful.¡± ¡°Thanks. That does sound a bit worrying.¡± Caroline saw that the wounds on Paulo¡¯s body were healing nicely and let out an exhale in relief: ¡°But right now I have something else to worry about - we are having some raccoon troubles. Looks like they are smarter than we thought.¡± ¡°Okay, need any help? ¡± ¡°No, I doubt they¡¯ll allow you in when we are in the middle of a hunt.¡± Caroline chuckled: ¡°Thanks, but I think we¡¯ll have to figure things out by ourselves. You be careful though, do not engage if you have other options. Maybe let the academy know.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be informing the academy, but I seriously doubt they¡¯ll get anything out of it.¡± Jason sighed and said: ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll try to find out as much as possible - and I will let you know.¡± ¡°Alright, keep me posted.¡± Caroline hung up. Right now, the wounds on Caroline, Emily and Paulo¡¯s bodies were mostly healed, and they were able to fight as normal. Yet the day is getting late, and the sun had already set, it was no longer opportune for them to keep on looking for the pack of Blinker Raccoons. The team had a planning meeting around the bonfire with everyone about the strategies to take the next day. They all realized that the situation was not what they planned for, yet they were not entirely unprepared. For one they still had the strength and basic supplies to fight, for two they did not come here to quell all the Blinker Racoons, they need only to provide enough proof that they had hunted down a decent amount, or provide detailed information on the pack to the department in the academy that managed the hunting ground, their mission here could be considered complete.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Let¡¯s rest. Michael needs way more rest than us to construct the anti teleportation seal. So we should let him sleep through the night.¡± after the meeting, Emily sighed and said to the whole team: ¡°We will each take turns in keeping watch. Let¡¯s make each turn 2 hours. As the lead of the team, I will take the first turn. Paulo, you take the second and let Caroline take the last turn.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Paulo nodded. ¡°Thank you.¡± Caroline did not object to this arrangement as well, with the amount of energy she spent in the earlier fights and healing Emily and Paulo¡¯s wounds, four hours of sleep might be barely enough. But this was an overnight hunting trip, being tired and and even exhausted was nothing unexpected. Four hours of sleep seemed to have gone by really quickly. When Paulo woke Caroline up, she felt that her muscles were still sore, and the weariness was still fresh as it was yesterday. This kind of tiredness and sore was from that of an intense battle and fight and not was not simply caused by expending Xuanli, and even though Caroline drank a bit of wine from her almost empty flask before she went to sleep, they were only relieved and not completely cured. ¡°Sorry to wake you. You want some chocolate?¡± Paulo asked while still holding his sword. ¡°Thanks Paulo, I¡¯m good. Sleep tight.¡± Caroline stretched and patted on Paulo¡¯s shoulder. The night was still quite dark, and Caroline took out some special chocolate from her own pouch - this was something mentioned in the hunting club¡¯s pamphlet and she simply took note of it. This kind of chocolate was made with milk, specially enchanted cocoa beans and enchanted coffee beans. It was more bitter than sweet, but could serve as a good source of energy while in the field. She took her time with the chocolate, as keeping watch could be quite boring and eating chocolate that was not exactly tasty was her only way of relieving the boredom for now. When she finished half a block of chocolate, something disturbed the trees on Caroline¡¯s right side. She immediately raised her axe and shield in that direction, ready to strike and alert the team if anything dared come out. ¡°Caroline...¡± a whispering and echoing voice came out from the woods. Caroline was immediately on alert, activating her Xuanli and was ready to attack at any minute. ¡°Caroline.... Caroline...¡± the voice continued, drifting in directions: ¡°Where did you hide it? ¡­ Where did you put it?¡± Caroline¡¯s thoughts slowly became fuzzy and blurred as she looked around trying to locate the source of the voice, pieces of past memories started somehow flashing back right before her eyes. The flashbacks started small and unimportant, like the food she ate earlier in the day, the books she read and preparations she made for this trip. Then the pieces of memory became more important, like the moments filled with excitement and sense of accomplishments - like the day she became a member of Daryl¡¯s Hunting Club, the moment where she knew she passed the test, and the moment she knew she was able to master another element - wind. Then, the memory replay seemed to have concentrated on one thing - the clay bottle, with three sips of medicine inside that helped her with the breakthrough. ¡°What is this? Where did you put it?¡± ¡°I shall be the fort. I shall be the rock. Sticks and stones and blades, firm stand till I fall.¡± sensing this was extremely unnatural and dangerous, and out of the self protection instinct of not getting spied on and pried, Caroline started chanting her first personal scripture. A sharp headache struck her, as the fuzzy and blurry feeling in her mind was swiftly swept away. When she came to her senses, she immediately looked around at her teammates, luckily they didn¡¯t seem to be harmed in any way. Cold sweat started running down her face, a severe sense of mental fatigue rose up from her head. But just when she was about to wake up the others, a strange piece of memory that did not belong to her appeared in her head. ¡°Bring the codex out, by any means necessary.¡± an old woman with a cold and even dangerous smile on her face said to the person to whom this piece of memory belonged: ¡°There will be contacts on the inside that would help you when you ask. Threaten certain board members, bring down more faculty to force them to send everyone home, I don¡¯t care.¡± Chapter 286 After drinking all of the wine from her flask, Caroline decided to wake everyone up from their sleep, just to make sure that the thing that just happened to her did not happen to other members of the team. ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound natural, or safe.¡± when Caroline explained briefly to the team about what she encountered, Emily said with a big frown. ¡°So, none of you encountered that?¡± Caroline scratched her jaw, also frowning: ¡°So it¡¯s either targeting me, or targeting the one who happened to be on the night watch.¡± ¡°That sounded like a kind of psychic attack.¡± Michael said: ¡°And looked like you fought it off with your mind. But to be safe, you¡¯d better have someone take a look when we¡¯re done.¡± ¡°Psychic attack? How is that done?¡± Caroline nodded and asked: ¡°Is that an attack using some kind of psychic power or magic?¡± ¡°Precisely.¡± Michael said, his hand glowing in a gentle blue light: ¡°Caroline, please focus on my palm and relax. I¡¯ll give you some basic examinations - just to make sure your soul and mental state is not severely impacted.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Caroline focused on the light shining from Michael¡¯s hand, the light was bright but when she stared into the light her eyes did not feel even s bit of unease. ¡°You¡¯re good. No apparent injuries to your mind. Just make sure the attack didn¡¯t leave any lingering harm.¡± Michael looked at Caroline¡¯s pupils and nodded: ¡°Now, do you know what the attacker wants? You said you were asked ¡®where did you put it¡¯. So I would assume that the attacker wants something from you, or us.¡± ¡°I ¡­ I don¡¯t think I have anything.¡± Caroline said: ¡°This axe, and this shield are my most valuable items - maybe this flask, and the tier 2 artifact from Martin House.¡± ¡°Hmm, neither do I, at least nothing outside of the family artifacts and enchanted items I brought to the academy with me.¡± Emily thought for a while: ¡°And my personal artifacts and items are not of that much value, there is no reason a psychic mage would make all these efforts just for these.¡± ¡°Beats me as well.¡± Paulo sighed and said: ¡°I didn¡¯t bring anything here beside this sword.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°Could it be just randomly looking for something, and you are just one of the suspects?¡± Michael asked: ¡°The thing with this hypothesis is, last night we were all asleep, in theory it would be easier to target us instead of you. And psychic attacks were stealthy by their very nature, and since you don¡¯t have much experience dealing with psychic attacks, you wouldn¡¯t have much of an idea if we¡¯re under attack.¡± ¡°Thanks everyone. Let me worry about it instead.¡± Caroline sighed: ¡°Sorry to have woken you. Why don¡¯t you go back to sleep? We still have some time.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. This is a pretty serious attack.¡± Emily looked at Caroline in the eye: ¡°You¡¯re sure you feel okay? We can make the move earlier and strike at their nest.¡± ¡°Sounds good, I¡¯m in.¡± Caroline nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s not delay further.¡± Paulo said: ¡°I¡¯m in as well.¡± ¡°No objections from me.¡± Michael said. ¡°Great, let¡¯s move early.¡± ------------------------------------------------------ Another night, Jason ordered quite a lot of evening snacks at the academy canteen, and he seemed to be having a hard time dealing with the homework he was given. ¡°Holy crap. This is just too much!¡± Jason complained loudly, tossed all of his work onto the canteen table and packed up all of his books and notes. Without even finishing all of the snacks on the table, he just flung his backpack onto his back and stormed out of the canteen. Just when he walked out of the canteen, a shadowy figure appeared behind him, and started following him from a distance. This was a man, in a grey robe wearing a pair of glasses. The pair of glasses gave of a strange blue shine when he walked past the road lights. He also had something hidden in his leg pocket, could be a weapon, could be something else. Jason walked with a limp and started wailing his arms around like he was drunk, or on drugs. ¡°Fucking Professor! Fuck your homework and reports!¡± Jason shouted with slurring words and bumped to the side: ¡°I¡¯m not gonna do it! I¡¯m ...¡± Just when he was walking through a corner, he fell on the floor on his side. Seeing that Jason seemed to be asleep on the ground, the man following him came closer and closer with caution. And eventually he came within just a few meters from where Jason was lying. ¡°Stop right there.¡± just this moment, a male voice came up behind this man in a grey robe: ¡°Raise your hands above your head, don¡¯t do any sudden moves.¡± The man in a grey robe was stunned for a brief moment, then he did as Thomas demanded. ¡°Now turn around.¡± Thomas said: ¡°Don¡¯t do anything stupid, or I¡¯ll strike you like you¡¯ve never been struck before.¡± ¡°Clever, find someone to tail the follower.¡± the man¡¯s glasses shone of blue when he looked at the silver guns in Thomas¡¯s hands: ¡°How did I not see you?¡± ¡°That¡¯s your problem.¡± Thomas said: ¡°Now talk, what are you following him.¡± Jason walked up from behind the man and walked to his face, with his pen-spear pointing at the man¡¯s face: ¡°Now talk, glasses, why are you following me?¡± Aimee silently walked to the man¡¯s back, with two silver scimitars in her hand, ready to strike if the man dared make a move. ¡°It¡¯s quite simple, actually. You took something that you shouldn¡¯t have.¡± the man said with a smile, looking Jason right in the eyes, his glasses giving off a weird glow, which made Jason felt he was being carefully observed and examined, or, to use a proper word, scanned: ¡°Give that back, and you¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°You¡¯re here to take the artifact for Martin House? How pathetic can you be?¡± Thomas asked. Chapter 287 ¡°Nonono, you got it all wrong, tough guy and sweet boy.¡± the man in a grey robe and with the glasses chuckled: ¡°I am not talking about anything belonging to any house. I am talking about something of great importance - a key.¡± ¡°Key? What key?¡± Jason asked. ¡°So you don¡¯t know.¡± the man in a grey robe gently clenched his fists, Just this moment Jason sensed that the man concentrated his powers into his palms, and without a moment of hesitation, he rushed in front of Thomas and conjured a silver energy shield. The man in a grey robe released his fists while his hands were still in the air, a shockwave consisting of some kind of shadowy energy exploded from his hands and clashed with Jason¡¯s silver energy shield. ¡°Boom!¡± Jason was sent into the air and crashed into Thomas, Thomas was about to open fire on the man but his guns were almost knocked out of his hands. The man then turned around, just in time to block Aimee¡¯s scimitar with his bracers made of metal and dark leather, then he pushed back at Aimee and released another shockwave, knocking Aimee back and tumbling on the ground. ¡°Hey! I¡¯m here!¡± Jason yelled at the man to stop him from following up his attack on Aimee, then he jabbed his silver pen-spear forward at the man¡¯s back. ¡°Ting!¡± the tip of his pen-spear and the man¡¯s bracers made a pleasant metal ringing sound, the man¡¯s arms were bumped back and hit himself on his own chest, then Jason swung his left hand and threw out three silver energy shurikens. The man clenched his fists again and projected an energy shield in front of him using his shadowy energy. The shurikens pierced through the energy shield, but also lost their momentum and power. The man in a grey robe took advantage of this opening and tried to run away from the fight, but Aimee¡¯s scimitar attack stopped him on his way. With two consecutive swings, AImee almost sliced through his man¡¯s arms and chest. But the man¡¯s shadowy energy seemed to be protecting him even when he was not casting a spell, and the energy always pushed away her blade at the very last minute. ¡°Seems to me that your fighting could use a bit more energy.¡± the man chuckled and tried to cast a spell with his hands, but his moves were instantly interrupted by Jason¡¯s attacks with his pen-spear.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Trash talk is kinda tasteless and uncool for this kind of situation.¡± Jason stared at the man as he twirled his pen-spear in an attempt to intimidate the man away from Aimee, while his hands were slowly infusing his Xuanli into his weapon. ¡°I would agree. But it¡¯s not tasteless and uncool if you used it to prepare for an attack.¡± the man¡¯s glasses kept shining in the weird blue light: ¡°You¡¯re an experienced fighter, but I can kinda tell that you don¡¯t have much experience with this kind of fight. You see, one needs to do everything one can to have an advantage over the opponent. Like this - ¡± Before the man in a grey robe even finished his sentence, he extended his palm at the ground and conjured an energy wave from the ground just beneath Jason. Jason also cast his spell and released a ring of silver shockwave from his hands. Jason was pushed to the air by the energy wave, he instinctively created a silver energy shield below him to protect himself, while his spell was still slowly taking effect. The man in a grey robe felt something was different with the spell cast by Jason, but for now he just could not tell what it was. A silver shadow of Jason rushed from behind the man with his spear pointed right at the man¡¯s back. The man waved his hand and sent a shadowy energy blade at the shadow, but the only thing the energy blade cut was air as the shadow just dispersed like it was made of a herd of fireflies Three more shadows appeared from three different directions and launched their attacks at the man in a grey hood. He tried to create a shockwave at the shadows but was stabbed in the arms by one of the shadows - the attack was not heavy and had some of its power absorbed by the shadowy energy around his body, but it still left quite a bleeding wound. This was the moment when Jason¡¯s attack also descended from above, Jason did not intend to kill or maim this man, so he simply unleashed a heavy palm strike from a distance, which struck the man on his left shoulder. The man¡¯s shoulder plate absorbed some of the impact, yet his shoulder was still dislocated by the hit. ¡°Stand down! You are going to the academy with us.¡± Aimee and Thomas walked up and said: ¡°And you¡¯ll explain to the academy why you are following Jason, and why you would attack us like that.¡± ¡°Sorry, can¡¯t do that.¡± the man panted as he held his dislocated shoulder in pain. ¡°You don¡¯t have a choice there.¡± Aimee frowned. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± the man let out a laugh: ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± The next moment, he took something from his pocket with his right hand and pointed at Aimee. Barrel, muzzle, metallic body, a black grip and a trigger, it was a handgun. ¡°Bang! Bang!¡± the man opened fire, but it was Jason who was hit, as he pushed Aimee away from the man¡¯s aim at the last moment. Utilizing the moment of shock, the man unleashed a wide shockwave that pushed Aimee, Jason and Thomas back and made them fall on their backs, then he jumped up from the ground and disappeared into the night. ¡°Oh my god! Jason!¡± Aimee rushed to Jason¡¯s side: ¡°You¡¯re hit!¡± Jason coughed and ripped open his clothes to check on his wound in a moment of panic. The first thing he saw, was two mushroomed bullets rolling down from his chest and left shoulder. There was dirt and shattered pieces of metal on his body where the bullet hit, but the bullets did not pierce through his skin, they only bruised him, quite badly, as both Aimee and Thomas could tell that those areas were swollen up in purple. ¡°Oh, my god.¡± Aimee sniffered and chuckled: ¡°Oh my god, I thought you...¡± ¡°Yeah, I thought so too.¡± Jason laid down on the ground and laughed out loud: ¡°Guess body tempering does work huh?¡± Chapter 288 Somewhere underground, inside of a wine mansion in Napa Valley. Two prisoners were kneeling on the ground, with all their limbs in metal cuffs and other metal chains wrapped around their torso and legs, one in a suit of leather armor, and one in a broken trench coat. Both of these prisoners had their heads shaved and face severely beaten up and swollen. Six men in black suits were standing behind these two prisoners, with guns in their hands and knives in their pockets, just in case either of these prisoners tried to escape. ¡°Sorry to have kept you waiting.¡± an old lady walked out from one of the luxurious looking side doors, slowly with a young but sharp looking woman in a full body skin tight suit and two short daggers strapped around her thighs: ¡°But you know, I am getting there with my age, and you¡¯d have to bear with me.¡± The two prisoners raised their heads and looked at the old lady. ¡°Please, Lady Vyn.¡± the prisoner in leather armor said, her voice was trembling and she made a wheezing sound when she spoke, as if there was something wrong with her lungs, ¡°My brother and I¡­ we didn¡¯t know it was yours!¡± ¡°Oh, you didn¡¯t know?¡± the sharp looking young woman helped the old lady into her chair that looked somewhat like a throne, made of expensive wood which gave out a nice calming smell: ¡°Then tell me, whose artifact did you think it was? When you took it from my shelf, inside of my store, on a street I owned?¡± ¡°We - we¡¯re new in town. We¡¯re just trying to get by.¡± the female prisoner said: ¡°My brother and I just escaped from our family, and we¡¯re just trying to find the best player in town and serve him - or her.¡± ¡°Well, you found her.¡± Lady Vyn took a cup of tea from the young woman by her side: ¡°Now, give me a reason not to hang you somewhere on the hills.¡± ¡°We -we have skills!! We¡¯re very good with our hands, and we could sneak into almost anywhere!¡± the male prisoner frantically explained: ¡°We - we can work for you! We can steal for you!¡± ¡°It¡¯s true, if it weren¡¯t for the new security system we installed, they might have already got away with it.¡± the sharp young woman by Lady Vyn¡¯s side whispered into Lady Vyn¡¯s ear: ¡°Our security guards could not stop them - or even catch up with them.¡± ¡°Okay, indeed, quite useful.¡± Lady Vyn smiled at the two prisoners: ¡°So, I guess do know what you¡¯re doing huh? And you wanna serve? Serve¡­ like a person? Or a purpose?¡± ¡°Yes! Yes!¡± the female prisoner nodded her head like crazy: ¡°We¡¯d do anything, to serve you! And to serve your causes!¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Lady Vyn thought for a while, then said to the sharp young woman by her side: ¡°Bring the daggers and let them try.¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Try? We can try! We can try whatever you want!¡± the male prisoner said, his eyes glimmering with hope, blood and tears. ¡°Daggers. The gold ones.¡± the sharp young woman said to the men in black suits. Two of the men nodded and left the room. After just a few minutes, both of them came back with boxes made of the same wood that made the throne on which Lady Vyn was sitting on, they were also decorated with well crafted pieces of jade, amber and meticulous gold linings. ¡°These daggers. They were forged by one of the most powerful and capable weaponsmiths in this world.¡± Lady Vyn explained as the two men in black showed the two prisoners what was inside the boxes: ¡°They were sharp, sturdy, and they can cut through almost anything just like hot knives through butter. Were, that¡¯s the key word. They lost power, as my most trusted warriors fell with them in battle.¡± ¡°I have been searching for suitable warriors to replace them for quite a while. Alas, my men are strong, but none qualified.¡± Lady Vyn walked down from her throne: ¡°And here¡¯s the opportunity for you - if you qualify, you will be free from these cuffs, you just have to serve me for five years, after which you will be truly free.¡± ¡°What if we¡¯re not?¡± the female prisoner asked. ¡°Then you¡¯ll die, a horrible death.¡± Lady Vyn smiled and turned to the men in suites: ¡°Uncuff their hands.¡± With their hands free, but the rest of their bodies still in bind, the brother and sister prisoners looked at each other and hesitated for a while. ¡°Yes, take your time.¡± Lady Vyn chuckled: ¡°Why not? You can either die a horrible death, at the hands of my men, at the daggers, or you can be free and have a nice contract from me, one of the high brokers of the Exalted Bondsmen.¡± ¡°Sis?¡± the male prisoner asked: ¡°I...¡± ¡°Something¡¯s not right.¡± the female prisoner said. ¡°But¡­ we don¡¯t have a choice.¡± the male prisoner said: ¡°We should at least try...¡± ¡°Try...¡± the female prisoner sighed. The two prisoners looked into each other¡¯s swollen eyes for a bit, then they seemed to have reached an agreement. ¡°Let¡¯s count to three.¡± the female prisoner said. ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°One, two¡­ Three!¡± The two prisoners grabbed the golden daggers from the boxes held right in front of them. Veins started popping up on their hands that held the daggers and their wrists, the two prisoners gasped and moaned in pain. Then after just a few seconds, both of them lowered their heads and seemed to have passed out. ¡°Okay, uncuff them.¡± the sharp woman by Lady Vyn¡¯s side said. The men in black suits unlocked the chains and cuffs on the two prisoners¡¯ body. Then, they raised their guns at the two prisoners as they were still lying on the ground face down. The female prisoner woke up first, the wounds on her face all healed, but her eyes became dilated and empty, like she did not remember who she was. ¡°Splash!¡± the female prisoner swung her dagger, and the male prisoner lost his head before he even got a chance to wake up. ¡°Not totally unexpected. ¡± Lady Vyn watched with a smile on her face: ¡°It¡¯s always, well, ALMOST always the older ones of the siblings.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the sense of responsibility, and the grudge of having to take care of the annoying youngster.¡± the sharp young woman said. ¡°At your service, your wish is my command, Lady Lucias Vyn.¡± the female prisoner took the dagger from her dead younger brother¡¯s hand and knelt down before the throne. ¡°Thank you, my child.¡± Lucias Vyn said: ¡°You shall remain nameless for now. And your first target: a bitch named Carol Summers. Kill her and bring her head back. My men will provide you with the details.¡± ¡°Understood. It will be done.¡± the female prisoner stood up and walked out of the room, in the company of three men in black suits. ¡°Carol Summers is not an easy target.¡± the sharp young woman said. ¡°No matter, we don¡¯t actually need her head.¡± Lucias Vyn stood up and was ready to leave, as her men started cleaning up the body on the floor: ¡°We don¡¯t even need her dead. We just need to stall her.¡± ¡°Will she be able to tell?¡± ¡°No one¡¯s gonna be able to prevent it from self-destructing. What¡¯s the use of an assassin if you can¡¯t even die promptly when you¡¯ve failed?¡± Chapter 289 Inside of a fancy and reservation only restaurant located in a remote place, Carol Summers and Emilia Corin were sitting on two sides of a round table, each of them enjoying a nice piece of steak. Emilia Corin¡¯s steak was medium to medium rare, while Carol Summers¡¯ was really rare, which made her whole plate look somewhat bloody. ¡°So, how¡¯s the recruitment going?¡± Carol Summers asked when she was gently cutting into a piece of her charred broccoli: ¡°And you¡¯re confident you¡¯ll be ready for war in time?¡± ¡°It¡¯s uh¡­ it¡¯s good.¡± Emilia Corin nodded and said: ¡°Thank you very much for the introduction - the pool¡¯s really limited without your help.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. But you do wanna be careful though.¡± Carol Summers looked up from her plate and smiled: ¡°I¡¯d say that it¡¯s similarly dangerous to dealing with crime bosses and their lackeys, but let¡¯s be honest, normal crime bosses and lackeys can¡¯t kill you with just their fingers or eyes.¡± ¡°I practically grew up listening on the doors when my father and uncles are negotiating with other families.¡± Emilia Corin chuckled: ¡°Too bad that didn¡¯t last long, I would¡¯ve learned more, and be more capable.¡± ¡°You are already quite capable. ¡± Carol Summers shook her head: ¡°Don¡¯t sell yourself short. When I was your age, I was still a dumb broad thinking that a couple of witches that snatched me from the arms of my parents were going to raise me as their precious apprentice, and I was bound for greatness under their guidance.¡± ¡°So¡­ what happened? If you don¡¯t mind me asking.¡± Emilia Corin asked, slightly nervously. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s okay to share that now. All my close associates know this story.¡± Carol Summers laid back on her chair and laughed: ¡°You know, with all their lies, they were telling me the truth about one thing - that I am talented, I am powerful, I am smart, and I am bound for greatness. Too smart, actually. I was able to tell that they were raising me, not because they wanted me to be the grand witch of their coven, but because they needed a sacrifice.¡± ¡°Sa¡­ sacrifice?¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s really cliche¡¯ if you think about it.¡± Carol Summers raised her glass to her side, and one of the men behind her poured her more wine from an old-looking bottle: ¡°Twenty three years old, the first full moon since the 23rd birthday, a virgin, sacrificed on an altar to a demon lord in hell, in exchange for immortality.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°Immortality? Is that ¡­ even possible?¡± Emilia Corin muttered. ¡°Who the hell knows. They never got what they wanted.¡± Carol Summers gently twirled her glass of wine: ¡°All I know, was that the demon they were trying to sacrifice me to was definitely real. Actually ¡­ I¡¯m actually not that sure that it was a demon, it didn¡¯t have horns or wings or anything. It was grotesque and gnarly, for sure, but it was a lot different from what we mere mortals think are demons.¡± ¡°But¡­ you¡¯re here, so you foiled their plans?¡± ¡°Not as simple as you¡¯d think, and not as simple as I¡¯d hoped.¡± Carol Summers put down her glass and showed her right hand to Emilia Corin: ¡°You may wonder why I don¡¯t have this pinky - it¡¯s actually an interesting spell - one could even be made by a powerless child - it¡¯s a pinky bond, or pinky swear. When done right, this can form the most powerful of contractual bonds. And I barely squeezed myself out of the sacrifice and made a new deal with that ¡®demon¡¯ by killing one of the witches that tried to trick me and offered her body and soul in place of mine. But that was not enough, she was not a virgin, nor as young as I was, or as full of potential as I am. So I tricked the remaining two witches into sacrificing half their souls to that entity for my way out.¡± Emilia Corin went silent, she did not know what to say to that. ¡°And you know one thing that¡¯s quite hilariously ironic?¡± Carol Summers chuckled after a sip of wine: ¡°Being a virgin didn¡¯t even mean anything to that entity - it¡¯s simply a requirement, a box to tick to show sincerity, and faith. It doesn¡¯t mean jack shit to the entity, other than the fact that we as mere mortals are happy and willing to do what is demanded of us.¡± ¡°That¡¯s quite a story.¡± Emilia Corin let out a long exhale, ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not simply sharing because I feel like having a girl¡¯s night.¡± Carol Summers said: ¡°I am telling you this, because I think you¡¯re useful to me, and I don¡¯t want you to die, because you lack experience contending with powers that are beyond your experience or comprehension.¡± Just this moment Emilia Corin¡¯s pupils lit up, and she appeared to be having a brief moment of unease. ¡°Something¡¯s...¡± Emilia Corin squirmed and said: ¡°Something¡¯s coming, something...¡± Carol Summers instantly went on high alert, and conjured a protective energy dome, covering her and Emilia Corin. A wide and thin grey energy blade swept through the entire restaurant and shattered the protective energy dome when it came across the position of Carol Summers and Emilia Corin. All the other people inside the restaurant were sliced into pieces by that grey energy blade. Carol Summers was unharmed, for she was able to protect herself at the very last minute with another small energy shield. Emilia Corin was cut in her shoulder and arms by the scattered energy shards from both the energy blade and the protective dome, but she was able to move the critical parts of her body out of the way and avoid being seriously injured. An assassin in a hood and wearing a piece of face covering cloth jumped into the crumbling restaurant, with two golden daggers in her hands. And without a moment of hesitation, the assassin swung the two daggers towards Carol Summers, one against her neck and one against her waist. Chapter 290 ¡°Kah!¡± Carol Summers uttered a word, dense magical energy was projected to the space in front of her and crystalized into a restraining construct like a block of ice with the assassin in it, locking the assassin inside and even completely freezing her movement. The next moment, Carol Summers took out a small custom-made pistol from her purse and opened fire on the assassin. At this close distance, even a terrible shot would not miss - the block of energy construct instantly shattered and the assassin was sent flying back. But the bullet from the mini pistol was not enough to kill the assassin - it only made a deep dent on the plate of armor on the assassin¡¯s chest. And the restraining magical block did not seem to have any lingering effects on her, since she was already ready to attack again when she fell on the ground and tumbled into a safe corner. Emilia Corin immediately rushed to a safe corner and tried to hide herself while holding her gun - she did not run out of the restaurant because her experience told her that this kind of assassination usually involves at least a small team. If she ran out of the hospital she would likely be just running into a trap or just be ambushed by the parties responsible for cleaning up. Right now, her best choice is to stay in this restaurant and wait, if Carol Summers won, she would be safe; if she lost, then she would still have a chance to sneak away unnoticed since Carol Summers seemed to be the primary target. The assassin concentrated her grey energy onto the two golden daggers in her hands, then she swung her daggers and unleashed two crescent-shaped energy blades at Carol Summers from her corner, then she leaped over a couple of chopped up bodies lying on the ground and prepared for her next attack. Carol Summers raised her hands and created a luminescent energy wall in front of her and in the way of the two energy blades. When the energy blades crashed into the energy wall, they just melted and turned into harmless energy droplets and splashed onto the ground. When the assassin lunged at Carol Summers, Carol Summers already prepared a series of hand seals and tossed out a spindle-shaped energy projectile right at the assassin. The assassin swung the dagger on her left hand at the energy projectile and tried to parry it aside. Yet the energy projectile instantly exploded and shot out thousands of energy threads. The threads curled in the air and started closing in on the assassin like thousands of tentacles. The assassin swung her daggers repeatedly, trying to cut her way out of the encirclement. Yet the energy threads kept regenerating, no matter how many the assassin cut off, more would take their places. After a short while, the assassin was eventually completely restrained and contained by the energy threads. This spell was powerful, and Carol Summers¡¯s face full of sweat was a testament to that. ¡°Is it¡­ is it safe now?¡± Emilia Corin walked out from her hiding corner, with her gun pointing at the assassin.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Not really. Back off, but don¡¯t leave just yet.¡± Carol Summers opened her purse and took out a small medallion made of platinum with a hexagon shaped sapphire in the middle. Then she started silently chanting some kind of arcane spell, and as she continued chanting, the piece of sapphire started to glimmer in blue light. The assassin did not stop struggling while entangled by the energy threads. And while she was struggling, the two golden daggers seemed to be continuously emitting cold, grim and chaotic waves of energy. The energy threads that kept the assassin in bind were thus being gradually corrupted and weakened. ¡°She¡¯s breaking out.¡± Emilia Corin said to Carol Summers: ¡°She¡¯s gonna get out soon. Why not just kill her now?¡± ¡°First lesson on dealing with things like this in our world.¡± Carol Summers finished chanting her spell, and had already started with the final steps as she let the medallion float in midair: ¡°Information is always more important than the fleeting safety of having your assassin killed. I trust that you would appreciate the reason behind it.¡± ¡°Yes. But¡­ she¡¯s almost out.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the daggers.¡± Carol Summers lifted her hands up and sent the medallion to the place in front of the assassin. The sapphire started shining and projected a beam of cold blue light onto the forehead of the assassin: ¡°Remember what you¡¯re about to see - let this be your second lesson: don¡¯t EVER touch an enchanted artifact, be it a simple daily items like jewelry or tools, or weapons like daggers and swords, unless you¡¯re absolutely sure what it does and what kind of magic it was enchanted with.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Emilia Corin glanced over the assassin¡¯s face and locked her eyes on the assassin¡¯s twitching and rolling eyes: ¡°What.... what¡¯s happening with her?¡± ¡°I am trying to salvage what¡¯s left of her mind and soul.¡± Carol Summers said: ¡°This will very likely kill her, but she¡¯s gonna die a gruesome death anyway.¡± Then, she conjured up a transparent energy wall shielding her and Emilia Corin from whatever that might come out from the assassin. ¡°La¡­ lady...¡± the assassin started speaking with a hoarse voice: ¡°Car¡­ Carter¡­ brother...¡± ¡°Who sent you?¡± Carol Summers whispered in a calm and slightly magnetic voice. ¡°Car...carter.... brother¡­ sor¡­ sorry¡­.¡± ¡°Who, sent, you?¡± Carol Summers asked once again. ¡°La¡­ lady...¡± the assassin¡¯s eyes rolled wide and away from the center, her left pupil turning left and her right pupil turning right, and her dropped jaw and frowning forehead indicated she was in immense pain. Then, before Carol Summers could ask again, her entire head exploded, and her body started cracking up like a fragile glass bottle. ¡°Boom! Boom!¡± the two golden daggers exploded and basically flattened the entire restaurant. Carol Summers and Emilia Corin were unharmed, due to the energy wall protecting them from the explosion. ¡°So there it is.¡± Carol Summers sighed and sat down in the air, and she lit up a cigarette from her purse: ¡°Lady¡­ that¡¯s not a good lead. There are at least hundreds of self-important hags that call themselves ¡®lady¡¯.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s a start, yeah?¡± Emilia Corin had to pull a chair that happened to be behind the energy wall and therefore not mostly intact: ¡°I¡¯d assume, you have more men to make up for the losses?¡± ¡°Hmm, yeah.¡± Carol Summers looked at Emilia Corin in the eyes, blowing smoke from her nostrils: ¡°Interesting gift you got there. Is that why you¡¯ve survived this far?¡± ¡°... yes.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a rare gift. You¡¯re wise to keep it a secret.¡± Carol Summers chuckled: ¡°And it¡¯s not easily controllable, right?¡± ¡°Only when I concentrate really hard, or when I¡¯m about to be in danger.¡± Emilia Corin squirmed in unease, it was also rare that someone actually talked to her about her gift. ¡°Hmm. Makes sense. Even highly trained mages would have trouble peeking into the future, even a very very close future, for too long. You¡¯ll need more training if you want more control over it. And you''ll need a lot more training in your body and magic, so you won¡¯t break yourself apart when paying the cost.¡± ¡°I understand...¡± Emilia Corin sighed: ¡°Would¡­ would you train me?¡± ¡°Hmm...¡± Carol Summers did not answer, instead she just slowly sucked on her cigarette. Chapter 291 Some time earlier, before Jason unfortunately getting shot by the man in a grey hood and wearing the glasses with blue shine. It was night time, and there were almost no people in the public areas of the campus of the Grant Academy. If one waited in an area that was crowded during day time long enough, they might encounter one or two students or staff that needed to do work in the night. But that was pretty much it, if some people were up and sneaking around in the campus, they would be having quite an easy time hiding from unwanted eyes. There were teams of armed staff patrolling in some of the common areas, but the Grant Academy had a big campus, and the buildings of the three houses were also incredibly spacious, so the patrols were mostly just theater, and could be easily evaded if the sneakers paid enough attention. Inside of the floating castle, two figures in hoods reached the warehouse where Martin House stored their collection of first and second tier enchanted artifacts. And if anyone was here to witness what was going on, they would see that these were the two investigative agents, invited by Principal Hawke himself. ¡°Alright, locks are your specialty.¡± the female agent said. The male agent nodded, as his hands started emitting waves of shadowy energy. The shadow waves kept brushing on the door made of stone and metal, and some kind of pattern started lighting up on the door, in a manner similar to luminescent materials being exposed to black light, with the difference now with the patterns lighting up dark red. When all of the patterns were revealed, the male agent simply ran his fingers through them, and with a quick clicking sound, the door opened. The two agents carefully pushed the door open, to a width that was just enough for one person to go through. The female agent walked in first, after enshrouding herself with a concealing spell with the help of an enchanted bracelet. ¡°It¡¯s clear here. There¡¯s no other security spells.¡± after going behind the door for around half a minute, the female agent said: ¡°Looks like they don¡¯t even have light detection.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the Martin House, they¡¯re known for being filthy rich. Guess the first and second tier artifacts are just not worth the security measures.¡± the male agent came in and scoffed: ¡°There might be some spells on the second floor though? My contact said she hid it on the second, among the second tier artifacts.¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Let me handle them.¡± the female agent said: ¡°And you could use the time to reflect on the fact that this contact of yours is so cowardly and sloppy that she didn¡¯t dare to meet up with us and deliver the artifact directly.¡± ¡°She only talks to me. And we¡¯re not supposed to act independently, so there¡¯s the bind isn¡¯t it?¡± the male agent paid no attention to the jab: ¡°This place is reliable enough. Just get rid of the security spells so we could be done with it.¡± ¡°Just did.¡± the female agent released a spell on the stairs leading to the second floor, revealing several energy threads floating in the air: ¡°Just don¡¯t touch these and you¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°So basic. Even a civilian museum has better.¡± the male agent almost laughed out loud as he floated pass several of the energy threads. ¡°Guess your contact is at least smart enough to choose this place then.¡± the female agent conjured a ball of light to light up the dark room on the second floor: ¡°Where did your contact say she put it.¡± ¡°The most inner corner. It¡¯s a small silver box.¡± the male agent said. The two agents floated to the most inner part of the room on the second floor. ¡°There¡¯s no silver box here.¡± the female agent frowned at the male agent, ¡°Where exactly?¡± ¡°She said it¡¯s by the Morphing Lumen Crystal, and I won¡¯t miss it.¡± the male agent stared at a crystal shard on a pedestal, which was glowing and constantly changing in color. ¡°Huh, so you¡¯re telling me that your contact is a mage with an incredible grasp on concealing spells.¡± the female agent became agitated and ramped up her her sarcasm: ¡°Because last time I checked, no concealing spells were active in this room, and we¡¯re definitely missing it.¡± ¡°This is not possible.¡± the male agent looked at the table from all angles, and even checked the space below the table on which the crystal was placed: ¡°What the fuck - ¡± ¡°So, someone took it.¡± the female agent said. The male agent went silent for a short second, then he started silently chanting a special spell, then with a snap of his fingers, shadowy energy was released from his hands and flowed into the air around the corner where the Morphing Lumen Crystal was placed. A faint shadow of a human shape formed around the corner, and both the agents could see the shadow doing some kind of grabbing action, taking something from the table. The male agent tried to maintain the shadow, but it still blew up and fell apart. ¡°Having performance issues?¡± the female agent asked with a mocking smile. ¡°No - whoever this person is - there¡¯s a powerful anti spying spell protecting him, or her.¡± the man said with a heavy frown: ¡°My spell was instantly thwarted. If I forced it, it would only alert whoever that placed the spell.¡± ¡°Guess we¡¯ll need to do some investigative job after all.¡± the female agent sighed: ¡°Looks like we¡¯ll need to look at the sign in logs to this place. Hope they keep those here.¡± ¡°Hmm, yeah.¡± the male agent cast another spell on some other places of the room, and this time his spell worked, and the face and body of Cristian, the student counselor, were revealed by the spell, as clear as day: ¡°I guess that narrowed it down - this is Cristian, the student counselor here.¡± ¡°Who would normally have no business here.¡± the female agent said: ¡°It¡¯s an okay lead. But I¡¯d still prefer being handed the key directly. You should consider dropping the contact.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not taking contact related advice from you.¡± Chapter 292 Inside of their own living quarters, the two investigative agents turned on a tablet with an array engraved on its back. Shortly, the screen of the tablet flickered and the face of an old woman appeared on it - it was Lady Vyn, or Lucias Vyn, of either of the agents dared call her by her real name. ¡°Please feel free to share with me the good news, agents.¡± the woman greeted the two agents with a smile: ¡°How far along are we with the codex?¡± ¡°We¡¯re able to locate the key.¡± the male agent said: ¡°But we still need some time to retrieve the codex.¡± ¡°Okay, so you have the key then? I would assume the actual fetching it from the library part would be a piece of cake?¡± Lucias Vyn asked. ¡°We...we do not have the key¡­ yet.¡± the male agent struggled to explain: ¡°We¡¯ve located it. As in, we know where it is.¡± ¡°You know where it is.¡± Lucia Vyn¡¯s smile seemed to darken slightly: ¡°And you will get it, and then you will find the codex and bring it back.¡± ¡°We understand it perfectly, Lady Vyn.¡± the female agent said: ¡°And we¡¯re working on it. The codex will be in your hand in no time.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Lucias Vyn nodded: ¡°Because I¡¯d hate for anything to happen. Just get the codex, everything will be fine. And your debts are gonna be paid with some added bonuses.¡± ¡°Yes, I - I remember our deal, Lady Vyn.¡± the male agent started sweating and started somewhat nervously wiping his face. ¡°Good, good. You see, it¡¯s a perfectly reasonably priced deal.¡± Lady Vyn said: ¡°Also, just a side note - you might already know this, but it bears repeating, Carol Summers and Soren Lupei are working together on this, and it would be just a matter of time before they find out about the codex and where it is. So, utilize the situation wisely, exacerbate it behind the scenes if necessary.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Lady Vyn. You¡¯re sure this won¡¯t get back to you?¡± the female agent hesitated for a short moment and asked: ¡°We have good reason to believe they are doing quite a bit of their own investigation aside from hiring us to do so. They tried to hide it, or at least that Professor from Hellbruck House tried to hide it, but we did notice.¡± ¡°All the more reason to get the codex as soon as possible now, isn''t it?¡± Lady Vyn chuckled and said: ¡°Some people have been hunting me and my family for quite a while now. They¡¯ve never been able to, because my family¡¯s smart, and careful. And we¡¯re ready to do whatever it takes. You should learn from that.¡± ¡°Understood. Lady Vyn.¡± the two agents nodded at the same time. ¡°Oh, by the way. One more thing before you¡¯re off to uphold your end of the deal. Be careful of new people coming into the academy. As you said, you¡¯re not the only one doing investigation. There¡¯s no reason Carol Summers and Soren Lupei wouldn¡¯t take advantage of that like I did with you. As long as you get it in time, that won¡¯t be an issue for anyone. Am I clear?¡± ¡°Clear, Lady Vyn.¡± the male agent promised: ¡°We will bring it back before anyone has an idea.¡± The tablet dimmed and the video stream disconnected. ¡°We probably need to talk to your contact.¡± the female agent said: ¡°We¡¯d need her help tracking down those two audit students. They¡¯re audit students with civilian backgrounds, referred by Josephine Wong, which warrants way more caution than if they came from one of those well known families.¡± ¡°I understand. I will meet up with her immediately.¡± the male agent sighed: ¡°But I can¡¯t push too hard - she¡¯s already reluctant as she is right now, not knowing exactly what we¡¯re after. We need more tact ...¡± ¡°Then get a better grip on her!¡± the female agent started to lose her patience: ¡°If you¡¯ve got a grip on her, then there must be more to find if you are willing to look! Find it and use it! Or if you¡¯re not willing, I will find it for you!¡± ¡°You wouldn¡¯t want to do that.¡± the male agent also became agitated: ¡°She¡¯s smart, and dangerous if you¡¯re not careful. You think I haven¡¯t tried? The situation with her is delicate. And we could not break the hold because we are in a hurry.¡± ¡°Okay, if you say so.¡± the female agent stared at the male agent, while he stared back, and finally she conceded: ¡°I¡¯ll get in touch with my contact. From what we know about those two audit students, he¡¯ll be able to give me an in.¡± ¡°Hm.¡± the male agent stood up and was about to storm out of the room. ¡°All contacts are expendable, if need be.¡± the female agent said: ¡°Especially something as important as this.¡± ¡°... but you wouldn¡¯t wanna get bit when you¡¯re letting them go, do you?¡± Chapter 293 ¡°Agent, are you alright?¡± inside of the office of Principal Hawke, Professor Barnes asked the female investigative agent, as she seemed to be enduring some kind of headache and couldn¡¯t stop rubbing her temples. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m fine. Just a bit spent and overstressed.¡± the female agent said: ¡°Just trying to get everything done so we could be done with everything and the academy can go back to normal.¡± ¡°Well, I for one really appreciate your help here. And I share the same eagerness to make sure our students are safe so we can go back to normal.¡± Principal Hawk said: ¡°Since we¡¯re all here let¡¯s get started. Headmasters and headmistress, thank you for responding so promptly to the meeting request, agents please continue with what you are planning to request of us.¡± ¡°We believe, that we have found a quite promising lead on the inflow of those toxic materials.¡± the male agent said: ¡°And since we have our disagreements on the extent to which we could access the personal effects of the students and their living quarters, I would like to request a formal investigation be open on them, and we would like to request access to their personal living quarters.¡± ¡°Okay, do tell.¡± Professor Randall Collins, headmaster of Anderson House said. ¡°Wait, I don¡¯t think - ¡± Professor Barnes tried to interject. ¡°Just hear the agents out first, Tony.¡± ¡°They are two audit students, so technically they¡¯re not the students of any of the Houses.¡± the female agent said: ¡°They are Mr. Jie Lin, also known as Jason Lin, and Ms. Caroline Baker. From the student enrollment records, it seemed that they are among this year¡¯s audit students, and are doing quite well on the courses. They even led the winning team in the first round of student duel this semester, is that correct?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct, and it was a pretty big deal for the whole academy, as we¡¯re in almost total lockdown, and everyone just needed something like that to cheer themselves up.¡± Professor Barnes answered with a frown: ¡°But what kind of evidence do you have against them? Audit students were specifically vetted before coming here.¡± ¡°And they were vetted by their referrer, Josephine Wong.¡± the female agent said. ¡°I don¡¯t think you realize the weight and seriousness of what you¡¯re insinuating here, agents.¡± Professor Barnes crossed his arms: ¡°Evidence, or no justification at all.¡±A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Please, we don¡¯t mean to insinuate anything.¡± the male agent said: ¡°We¡¯re simply saying, we have a case where the referrer of the audit student was also the one who vetted them before they came in, therefore the strictness of the procedure could be called into question. And if I recall correctly, it wouldn¡¯t be the first time Ms. Wong referred someone without doing a thorough screening on the one she¡¯d be vouching for, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°That was an isolated and politically charged incident, which was the trigger point to some of our recent reformation policies.¡± Professor Barnes looked to Principal Hawke: ¡°And, it was a fight, between two agitated parties. It doesn¡¯t warrant any baseless suspicion about her integrity and professional efficiency and ethics.¡± ¡°She could be fooled, lied to.¡± the female agent said: ¡°I am sure she¡¯s thorough and professional, but we all know that there are ways to bypass the rules against the restricted materials. Ms. Wong seemed to be quite trusting, which means -¡± ¡°What evidence do you have, honestly?¡± Professor Randall Collins asked: ¡°I have no interest in guessing who lied and who was fooled, but what evidence do you have? If it is mere speculation you are offering then I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t go with that.¡± ¡°We have sources that say, they have reason to believe Mr. Lin and Ms. Baker brought poisonous material with them into the academy.¡± the female agent said. ------------------------------- ¡°Call to a hearing? What the fuck?¡± when Caroline and her hunting team came back from the hunting trip with a dozen bodies of Blinker Raccoons, she was met with a messenger from the academy. ¡°Yes. As you know, the administration has been conducting an investigation on the source of the toxic material that seemed to be circulating.¡± the messenger was calm to a point of almost being emotionless: ¡°The administration had suspicion that you may have brought toxic substances into the academy with you.¡± ¡°This is fucking bull, I¡¯ve never brought anything toxic here.¡± Caroline took a look at the letter handed to her by the messenger: ¡°Does Jason know this?¡± ¡°Sorry, Ms. Baker. But I¡¯m just a messenger. Your pleas should be voiced at the hearing and not to me.¡± the messenger said: ¡°There was a different messenger in charge of delivering the message to Mr. Lin, and you will be questioned at the same time by members of the administration.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Caroline shook her head and put the letter into her jacket. ¡°Does she have access to a consultant, or counsel?¡± Paulo asked the messenger: ¡°Even during these hearings, the one being asked the questions should still have the right to counsel.¡± ¡°The position of the administration is, that in these informal hearings, it would be counterproductive to have a defender.¡± ¡°Which means you¡¯d better have someone defending you or help you with the questioning.¡± Paulo patted on Caroline¡¯s shoulder: ¡°Let me know if I can help you. Right now we can¡¯t have anyone come in, but remote consulting should still work.¡± ¡°You are free to prepare anyway you like.¡± the messenger said: ¡°Have a good day.¡± ¡°This is seriously some bullshit.¡± Emily frowned and said: ¡°Let me know if you need help as well. And I agree with Paulo - you should definitely consult someone before you go on that hearing.¡± ¡°Thank you. Let me call Jason first.¡± Caroline dialed Jason¡¯s number. ¡°Hey Caroline, you¡¯re calling about the hearing?¡± this was Jason¡¯s first question. ¡°So, you got it as well.¡± ¡°Yeah I got it.¡± Jason chuckled: ¡°Remember I told you someone was following me? I got the feeling that someone was trying to set us up. I was about to call Boss or Ms. Wong, but I was waiting for you to come back from the hunt.¡± ¡°Where are you now?¡± ¡°In the canteen, with Aimee and Thomas, come join us.¡± Chapter 294 ¡°Oh, dear god, that¡¯s not good.¡± Vivian scratched her nose as the sleeping dragon in Josephine Wong¡¯s story was woken by the loud and violent thunder cracks, ¡°So I guess there¡¯s no reason to hide and keep a hush-hush anymore huh? Did your professor tell you what the dragon was then?¡± ¡°Well, not right away. But she did tell us what she thought it was eventually.¡± Josephine Wong slightly adjusted her position on the bed, she hadn¡¯t felt this powerless and weak in quite a long time, even sitting in the same position for a short while made her feel sore and uncomfortable. Jianmen¡¯s spell did sort of removed her wound created by the defiler, but even the best healing spell in the world could not relieve her of the exhaustion and fatigue, she checked her phone one more time, to make sure that the new agent in charge of taking care of Jianmen is in place, before continuing with her story: ¡°She told us, that from what we were seeing and what the dragon looked like from a far, she thought it as a Nightmare Serpent.¡± ¡°Well, seeing that it was probably the Omen Dragon we saw today. I¡¯d say she was close.¡± Pei chuckled. ¡°Professor Kapur was correct.¡± Nameless said: ¡°If I remember correctly, from the legends and ancient records of Omen Dragons, Nightmare Serpent was just avatars or aspects of them, or they could be the Omen Dragons before they reach adulthood.¡± ¡°Yes, and she realized that when we came back to the academy, after consulting some records on ancient and mythical entities.¡± Josephine Wong sighed: ¡°And you¡¯re right, Pei, that Omen Dragon, is the same one we saw today. His name is Tze Cha, and he was there to hunt, and to rest and heal, believe it or not.¡± ¡°He¡¯s there for the energy field. Isn¡¯t it?¡± Blue said: ¡°His power is very chaotic, very dense and full of anger and grudge, so I would imagine a place with chaotic and volatile energy fields like that could actually be beneficial for him.¡± ------------------------------- ¡°Boom! Boom boom boom!¡± the thunder continued to crack right above the black omen dragon, and awakened it from its slumber. ¡°Fuck, gogogo!¡± Professor Kapur cursed and urged all four of her students: Josephine Wong, Glenda Grimes, Dorothea Clarkson and Tony Barnes: ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the creatures! Go go go! Get outta here!¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The ball lightning continued to grow in size as well as the density of lightning energy it contained. Its color changed as it grew - first it was light blue, then shifted to light green, then as the team for five were almost at the middle part of the slope from which they descended, the ball lightning¡¯s color became light purple, and it began to shift to red. The Omen Dragon rose from the ground and shot up into the sky, flying towards the ball lightning head on, with his mouth open. A dark energy vortex appeared in his mouth, and a strong energy suction force field was created. The ball lightning started to change in shape, a long and liquid-like drip of lightning energy appeared at the bottom of the ball lightning, which was then consumed and absorbed by the Omen Dragon. ¡°Holy crap, is it being serious right now?¡± Glenda Grimes looked back at the Omen Dragon and couldn¡¯t help but cursed out loud. ¡°It¡¯s trying to devour the energy from that ball lightning, gutsy. But kind of reckless.¡± Josephine Wong said: ¡°And it¡¯s not pacing - we better leave, it doesn¡¯t matter if it succeeds or fails, we shouldn¡¯t be here to find out what the aftermath is.¡± ¡°Boom!¡± as if someone in charge of the lightning was eager to please Josephine Wong and Glenda Grimes, or that someone was trying to play a cruel trick on the Omen Dragon, three bolts of lightning with colors green, dark red and and black struck the ball lightning almost at the same time. The energy from these three lightning bolts flowed and merged into the ball lightning, greatly increasing its energy density and changing its energy composition. ¡°Crack!¡± the energy vortex inside of the Omen Dragon¡¯s mouth was disrupted and almost broke down. As a result, the flow control of energy into his body was mostly lost, he practically choked on the energy power. The inflow of energy, with higher energy density and different composition did to the Omen Dragon what anyone with a common sense on magical energy knew it would - it burned his throat and food pipe, as well as other organs, exacerbating the pre-existing injuries in his body, and creating new ones at the same time. The Omen Dragon whimpered and had to forcefully cut off the energy inflow as he fell off from the sky. Cracks appeared on his body, pieces of his scales and shell flew off from him along with droplets of his blood. A dangerous and even tempting smell and energy pulse radiated from the scattering pieces of dragon shells, dragon scales and dragon blood. Dangerous and destructive as they were, everyone who had heard of a thing or two about dragons would know that these things are of incredibly high value, for medicinal purposes, alchemical purposes and for a few hundred other different purposes. Only a fool would think the temptation of dragon parts would affect only humans. As the Omen Dragon fell, the mountains and earth started shaking and the team of five could sense there were a few other giant creatures approaching the bottom of the basin, from several different directions. ¡°Boom!¡± the ground on the higher place of slope and about several yards above the team of five exploded, a giant deep hole appeared, and a foul smell gushed right out of it. A pale, eyeless worm head with slimy rubbery skin with six twitching tentacles made of flesh and skin, a mouth that could open in four ways and the size of a small car slowly revealed itself. The worm head extended in great length and rose to the sky, with nothing supporting its weight; its tentacles flailing and twitching, seemingly trying to catch all of the scent in the air. ¡°Fucking hell.¡± Tony Barnes complained silently. Chapter 295 The team of five would have gotten away from the field and from the monster with a worm head, if not for the unfortunate fact that there were a few more similar but slightly smaller heads back in the hole from which it came out of. ¡°Eeeeee!¡± when a few more worm heads each with six twitching tentacles came out from the hole and instantly caught the team¡¯s scent. The head facing down at the direction of the team started screeching and opened its mouth, revealing the rings and rings of razor sharp teeth in the worm head¡¯s mouth and possibly the entire long neck. ¡°Bang!¡± the worm head launched itself at the team, and it crashed into Tony Barnes¡¯ shield. Tony Barnes was knocked back and almost fell down the slope, the worm head retreated for a short distance, but it continued screeching and positioned itself for another attack. ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!¡± aside from the six or seven heads from the hole, another two holes appeared from explosions on the slope, and more of those worm heads came out from them. ¡°Attack! We¡¯ll fight our way out!¡± Josephine Wong immediately yelled: ¡°Tony, be on guard and prepare to slash the heads; Glenda, attack the hole and either collapse it or threaten its body enough to for it to retreat; Dorothea, help Glenda locate the body of this worm and see if you can take a stab at its heart; Professor, help me construct a disorientation field to direct their attention away from us.¡± Dorothea Clarkson was quite unhappy with the fact that Josephine Wong was now given orders: ¡°What the hell do you think you¡¯re doing? What makes you think ...¡± ¡°Boom!¡± the bite attack from one of the worm heads that almost tore through Dorothea Clarkson¡¯s defenses cut her complaint and protest short. Josephine Wong immediately tossed out a dark purple energy blade that sliced through the rubbery skin on the worm head¡¯s neck, forcing it to retreat in pain. ¡°Bang!¡± Tony Barnes¡¯ shield collided with another worm head, this time he faced off against the head¡¯s attack with a full force shield bash, and his attack left a dark bruise on the worm head, and the impact it brought onto the worm head also crushed quite a lot of its internal parts, which made it scream and spit out a few cracked and broken teeth on the floor. A loud cracking sound came from somewhere close to the bottom of the basin, another long and winding body broke out from beneath the ground and lunged towards the Omen Dragon. It was a giant serpent with dark spiky scales, and the Omen Dragon had to defend itself with its tail. The Omen Dragon roared behind them, as he faced off against the giant serpent that coveted his flesh and blood. The serpent opened its mouth and jetted streams of extremely corrosive poison right at the Omen Dragon¡¯s body. The Omen Dragon flew up in the sky and conjured dark energy shields to protect himself from the poison streams, and he retaliated by spitting dark energy shards and back at the serpent. These energy shards were not explosive but extremely sharp and penetrative, the serpent was not fast enough to dodge all of them in time and lost several big chunks of flesh and scales just in a few short moments.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Dorothea, now!¡± Glenda Grimes focused her power and concentrated them into three green balls of energy right in front of her. These green balls of energy seemed to be immensely unstable, and were shooting out small green energy arcs into the air while constantly rolling and vibrating. Dorothea Clarkson had to concede and follow Josephine Wong¡¯s order for now. After chanting a few lines of spells, a kind of transparent silvery energy appeared on her hands, arms, heart and also formed into an energy seal with the shape of an eye right above her head. ¡°Let thy spells be blessed with my vision.¡± Dorothea Clarkson whispered, and the energy seal projected three beams of silver light onto the three green balls of energy. Similar but much smaller energy seals appeared right at the centers of the three balls of energy. ¡°Thanks, Dorothea.¡± Glenda Grimes closed her eyes, then let her spell loose. The three green balls of energy turned into three green energy falcons, then shot from the space in front of Glenda Grimes and into three holes on the slope in front of the team. A transparent but luminescent energy dome appeared above the team and covered them all under it. This was Josephine Wong and Professor Kapur¡¯s disorientation field. Two worm heads tried to target Tony Barnes and attack him from both sides, but they were hit with a confusion effect before they even started, and for a brief moment they were even about to attack each other. A dark green and dark yellow wasp the size of a commercial plane with two sets of wings on its back and two heads appeared in the sky above the ridge of the mountains, not that far away from the team of five. There were thousands of smaller wasps surrounding the big one, and among them were somewhere around a dozen ones with sharp katana-shaped front claws the size of bears. Two of the green energy falcons collided with other worm heads inside the tunnel below the holes from which the worm heads came, but there was a final one that was able to reach a spacious cave underground, where a humongous creature the size of a football stadium with seven pale claws with different sizes and lengths and a layer of rock hard shell on its back was residing. There were at least hundreds of holes on the shell, and the worm heads were all like tentacles or disgusting moving hair protruding from the holes on its shell. Sensing that it was on the verge of being directly attacked, the creature let out a roar, from a mouth that was not visible from the energy falcon¡¯s position. An energy shockwave was released and the green energy falcon was crushed into energy particles in the air. Glenda Grimes gasped and almost fell to the ground - she was lucky that she cut connections to the energy falcon just in time. If she did not do so she would have suffered a terrible blowback. ¡°This creature¡¯s body is hidden underground deep. We can¡¯t kill it with this.¡± Glenda Grimes used magic to increase the volume of her voice: ¡°We must leave!¡± ¡°She¡¯s right, we gotta go.¡± Dorothea Clarkson said. Under the protection of the disorientation dome, the team of five started moving up the slope. The worm heads were still not letting go of them easily, but their attacks were much less effective. The Omen Dragon flapped its tail and sent out several waves of dark energy shockwave against the wasps attempting to swarm him. This moment of distraction presented the giant serpent with a window of opportunity, and it seized it by shooting two poison fangs from its mouth in a form of remote attack. The Omen Dragon roared in pain, as the two fangs stabbed into its body while he was dealing with the wasps that joined in on the battle. Chapter 296 Under normal circumstances, the fangs or the venom wouldn¡¯t be much of an issue for Tze Cha, probably. But right now, he was already suffering from lingering damages and wounds from his previous misadventures and explorations. And with his power grossly weakened, he was instantly feeling the price of being greedy and careless - the two fangs pierced through his scales and skin and poked into his muscles and tissues, and high density venom was seeping from the tips of the fangs into his body, poisoning his body and corrupting his power. What made the situation worse was that giant wasp monster from afar, who did not join in on the battle by itself but kept sending in minions to harass him in attempts to wear him down. It was preparing for a critical kill strike, he could already feel it. Tze Cha howled, and his eyes and horns lit up in an acane pale grey light, a spell was cast, and an energy seal appeared in the air facing the bottom of the ball lightning. Right now, after absorbing the energy of the additional lightning bolts, the ball lightning started radiating energy waves that made Tze Cha as well as the team of five worried. The energy seal slowly rose and got absorbed into the ball lightning. ¡°Boom - Crack!¡± some disturbing changes took place inside of the ball lightning, and with a swing of two front claws, Tze Cha split up two sizeable blobs of the energy from the ball lightning and with the command of his will, the two blobs of energy became two devastating energy balls flying in the serpent and the wasp monster¡¯s direction. The wasp monster screamed and jetted out of the way, the serpent wiggled its body and lunged over to another position on the mountain ridge surrounding the basin. But the two energy balls still followed them as they fled. They were not too fast for either of Tze Cha¡¯s opponents, which actually made them appear more imposing and dangerous. On the other side, the team of five, made of five members from the Grant Academy were finally able to reach the ridge, despite they were actively being hunted by the creature whose body was lying in an underground cave, while its tentacles that looked like worms with teeth and tentacles of their own were burrowing in the mountains and under the ground. ¡°Boom!¡± the energy ball targeting the serpent ended up hitting it at the end of its tail and exploded. The serpent¡¯s entire body was instantly thrown over the ridge by the shockwaves, the surface of its body being charred and burned to a crisp by the heat coming from the explosion.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. The shockwave spread through the entire area. The impact was no less than an intense earthquake, which almost made them lose their footings. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry.¡± Professor Kapur cast a stabilizing spell that helped her four students stay where they were, while Josephine Wong just focused on her power and patched up the disorienting field that was losing power much faster than it normally would because of the chaotic energy fields around this area. ¡°Boom!¡± the other energy ball exploded in midair, and the wasp monster was thrown across the sky with its wings and legs all shredded and burnt - it had to send thousands of its minions towards the energy ball and trigger the explosion while the energy ball was a far enough distance away from it. But it grossly underestimated the sheer power contained inside of the energy ball, and thus it paid its price. The shockwave from the sky also reached the ground below, which made the entire ring of mountain ridge around the basin shake once again, and the team of five had to stand and hold themselves in their places again. Just when Tze Cha thought he could relax, about a dozen worm heads from the mountains shot from the grounds below, they wrapped their long and rubbery necks around his body like snakes and bit into his body with their razor-sharp teeth. ¡°Fucking damned slug!¡± Tze Cha cursed in his own language, and since his claws and most of its body were tied up by the worm heads, he had to tried one final desperate gambit: he opened his mouth, and a beam of grey energy shot up at the sky and it struck the ball lightning at its base, right where his energy seal was absorbed earlier. Strange, deep and dangerous buzzing sound came from the giant ball lightning, and beams of immense energy started shooting out from the body of the lower part of the ball lightning and onto the ground and mountain slope beneath. Some of the energy beams actually aimed quite well - they either struck right at the holes from which the worm heads came from, or in the general vicinity that was just a few human steps away. These beams of energy did not explode on impact, instead, they just melted through the dirt, the earth and the rocks. But the other beams, they just hit a bunch of random spots on the mountain slope and basin , leaving giant red hot holes in the ground flowing with fresh lava and one could sense the skin-cracking heat from yards away. The ground shook and cracked from the constant assault of the rock melting beams of energy. And all members of the team of five could sense that with the beams of energy shooting into the ground had led to the build up of more unstable energy from under the ground. Almost all of the worm heads were cut off, either they were cut from their long necks in the air, or from the parts that were still underground. Tze Cha was thus able to shake those worm heads off, and he was ready to leave, and find another place to rest and heal. A low rumbling came from the bottom of the basin, the earth and rock started growling and boiling like the entire ground had become liquid. With a heaven-shattering explosion, a volcano erupted right from the bottom of the basin. Thick steam and lava shot up into the sky and collided with the ball lightning, which shrunk in size due to its outflow of energy through the beams, but still retained much of its terrifying power. The ball lightning in turn exploded in the sky, vaporizing all the clouds in the sky, and even left the hole in the entire atmosphere. The team of five were thrown into the air by the violent shockwaves coming from the ground, and were then sent flying in four different directions. Chapter 297 Josephine Wong was prepared to the best of her abilities, but she could still taste the bitterness and saltiness of blood in her mouth and throat when she woke up from the ground. There were small body parts of monsters and strange creatures lying around her, reeking of a rotten smell. Also lying around her were pieces of broken rocks, patches of dirt with grass and moss, and even some very tiny grains of shiny crystals. Josephine Wong cast a simple inspection spell on herself to make sure she did not have any serious internal wounds - turned out she didn¡¯t, but she noticed that after protecting herself from the energy shockwaves released by the explosions, she almost exhausted all of her powers. ¡°Fucking hell.¡± Josephine Wong cursed, and she took out a sheathed dagger from her robe pocket, and she found a broken tree branch from the ground and fashioned it into a walking stick. The ground was still shaking, it was unclear to Josephine Wong whether it was just what happened with the area here, or was it the aftershakes from the explosion and the earthquakes created by it. She did take the chance to salvage some seemingly valuable materials from the ground, which included some monster body parts lying on the ground, and all the tiny grains of crystals she could find on the ground. When she looked around, she saw that she was deep inside a mountain forest, and it was a different mountain forest through which they trod earlier. The trees were different - they were tall, straight, and grew very close to each other. The tree barks on those trees looked strange as well - and when Josephine Wong peeled some of it from the trees and examined what she had in her hand, she found that the tree barks were not only dense, they also seemed to have some energy and shock absorbing properties. So she peeled off more of it and chained them together using some threads she pulled from her robe. And combined with some tree branches tied together into a triangle, she made a very simple wooden shield. While she was deep in the mountain forest, it was quite difficult for her to tell the directions and even where she was. So she decided that her first move was to move up to somewhere high so she could have a better view of the area. The leaves and branches of the trees in this thick mountain forest blocked most of the view into the sky, and Josephine Wong had no clear vision of where the highest point in the area was. She could only find the direction up the slope and just head in that direction. While she was slowly moving up the slope and trying to recover her powers while eating away the emergency food she brought with her- she also started sensing something strange in the area - the energy fields, the density of air, and even the pull of gravity seemed to be somewhat different.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. A loud screech came from the above, and Josephine Wong dived to the side just purely out of instincts. A long spike with a metal shine shot from the sky and sunk into the ground, with only a small part of it left out in the air. Josephine Wong looked up and saw what shot the spike at her - it was a wolf-sized wasp creature, with its wings broken and torn and its belly bleeding with thick brown blood. She could tell that this was one of the fighter minions from the giant wasp monster. If she was at her full strength, it would be a piece of cake for her to handle this wounded creature, alas she was not, and actually quite far from it. Without so much as a warning, the wasp creature with broken wings lept from the tree branches on which it inhibited and lunged at Josephine Wong with its two front claws ready to strike down at her. ¡°Crack!¡± Josephine Wong used her make-shift shield to guard herself, and the razor-sharp front claws cut through the tree barks and tree branches almost without losing any momentum. Josephine Wong was able to see this coming and she let go of the shield in time and swung her walking stick right at the wasp creature¡¯s belly. The wasp creature screamed in pain when Josephine Wong¡¯s walking stick hit it on its belly, where it was wounded and bleeding. But Josephine Wong was not able to get another hit in, as the wasp creature swung its right front claw again and sliced off a large chunk of the stick. Josephine Wong had to back off and repositioned herself, while the wasp creature rolled on the ground with rage and frenzy. Within just a few seconds, the wasp creature regained its composure and lunged once again at Josephine Wong. Josephine Wong threw what remained of her stick at the wasp creature like a short spear and jumped to the side. The wasp monster tilted its body in midair and swung its left front claw at the stick. The stick was again sliced into two parts, the part in the front flew off from above it, and the part in the back flipped in midair and scratched its broken wings. Josephine Wong rolled on the ground and grabbed a rock from the ground, then with full force, she threw the rock at the wasp creature. The wasp creature was about to land on the ground and it was in no position to dodge, therefore it rolled its body in midair once again and tried to slice the rock with its front claws. ¡°Bang!¡± the rock was actually infused with what was left of Josephine Wong¡¯s magical energy and it blew up right in the wasp creature¡¯s face. The shockwave knocked its front claws away and the splinters penetrated the wasp creature¡¯s shell and slashed its eyes and tentacles. The wasp creature was beyond saving at this point, and all it could do was roll on the ground, screaming and screeching in pain while its broken body slowly bled out. Josephine Wong took a while to catch her breath, and when she was finally able to stand up and walk, the wasp creature almost stopped moving entirely. ¡°Hey, you.¡± a male human voice resounded in Josephine Wong¡¯s head, which startled her and almost made her jump: ¡°Come over here and hide. If you don¡¯t wanna get stung to death.¡± ¡°Who is it? Where are you?¡± Josephine Wong turned around and asked loudly. ¡°So you speak English. So that saves the power for telepathy.¡± a man wearing animals¡¯ fur and hide as his clothes with a stone sword on his back came out from a hole in the ground and waved his left hand at Josephine Wong: ¡°Come in here. You killed one of them and you didn¡¯t clean up, the whole horde will come in no time.¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± Josephine Wong asked, though it was nice to see a human here, she was still on alert. ¡°Background check later. You wanna live or not?!¡± ¡°Okay, fine!¡± Josephine Wong looked at the sky and she could see that a horde of flying creatures was indeed closing in like a piece of dark cloud, and she had no choice but to get into the hole in the ground with the man. Chapter 298 ¡°Nice setup you got here.¡± Josephine Wong said to the man as she came into the cave. The inside of the cave was not very spacious, but quite enough to fit two people comfortably. There was a stone incense burner with runes and patterns engraved on it in the center, and there was one crooked, even ugly looking incense stick burning on the stone burner. There was a ¡°bed¡± made of dried grass and tree branches and several layers of fur from different animals. Right above the bed, was a dangling crystal, tied to a rope that was hung from the ceiling. What surprised and impressed her the most was that the energy fields inside the cave were stable and steady, which meant that either this man found and took over a rare natural spot with this kind of highly valuable properties and guarded it from the other creatures that could have coveted this cave, or the man created some sort of special array and stabilized the energy fields inside the cave. ¡°You may wanna get on the bed.¡± the man cast a simple spell at the entrance of the cave and said: ¡°You¡¯re injured, and you¡¯re exhausted. You wouldn¡¯t survive here for long in this state.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Josephine Wong looked at the simple ¡°bed¡± and the dangling crystal, the bed was definitely specifically made, and the crystal was radiating some kind of gentle and soothing aura: ¡°This must have taken weeks to build. How long have you been here?¡± ¡°Not a problem, I built it in a week.¡± the man picked up some broken branches from the ground and started cutting and shaping them using his stone sword, it looked a bit hard for him because his right hand was missing, and he had to use the stone sword with his left hand while holding onto the tree branches with his right armpit: ¡°You could take a minute to meditate and it should help you recover, but don¡¯t get greedy. That crystal is hard to find.¡± ¡°May I ask you something?¡± Josephine Wong sat on the bed and asked. ¡°Um, okay, sure.¡± the man finished sharpening one tree branch, then he just stuck it on the ground, and then he picked up a crude stone grinder set and started grinding some materials inside the stone bowl: ¡°Let¡¯s wait for the horde passes, usually they linger for a few hours to half a day. Next time you kill one of those vicious wasps, you would want to cover its scent and use an isolation spell to cover up the energy signature.¡± Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Ok, noted.¡± Josephine Wong sat on the ¡°bed¡± and took a deep breath, the smell from the incense stick, the soothing energy aura from the dangling crystal, and the barely noticeable array somehow engraved in the layers of fur already started to make her feel better: ¡°Did you find this place the way it is? Or did you do something to stabilize the energy fields here?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a little bit of both.¡± the man smiled and said: ¡°This cave had this kind of energy field stabilizing properties when I found it, so I took it and added some of my tricks to it.¡± ¡°Oh, is it something in the cave? Or is it just in a unique position?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the stones in the wall.¡± the man pointed at the ceiling and said: ¡°There¡¯s some sort of special mineral in the back that generates this kind of chaos neutralizing aura, I could take you there when the horde is gone. You¡¯re gonna want some when you continue on your way.¡± ¡°Okay. Thanks.¡± Josephine Wong got into her meditation pose and tried to speed up her own recovery: ¡°Can I ask you another question?¡± ¡°Sure. And no need to ask before you ask. ¡± the man smiled while still grinding the material in his stone grinder. ¡°Well - uh, it¡¯s actually two questions - may I know your name? And why did you help me?¡± ¡°Well, my name¡¯s Jianmen, Jianmen Yu.¡± the man said: ¡°And I helped you because it¡¯s just what a decent man would do. Plus you¡­ well, you kinda look like someone I know.¡± -------------------------------------- ¡°Lame!!¡± Vivian laughed and booed: ¡°Lame! Cringe and lame!¡± ¡°Well, the man¡¯s gotta step up his game.¡± Alexander also laughed: ¡°I mean, even teenagers nowadays know better than to use this kind of pickup line.¡± ¡°I am pretty sure Ms. Wong quite enjoyed his game.¡± Pei shook her head while continuing with her knitting: ¡°He did save her, I wouldn¡¯t mind even if he farted in the cave or he smacks as he eats.¡± ¡°This monk thinks Mr. Yu was speaking literally here.¡± Nameless said: ¡°For though this monk knows not much about the modern conventions of socializing, he does not think that Mr. Yu would utter this kind of unpolished words of flattery.¡± ¡°Oh, Nameless, even you could tell this is lame huh?¡± Blue chuckled: ¡°But I gotta know, Ms. Wong, what¡¯s he doing there? And why was he missing a hand?¡± ¡°Well, that seemed quite personal a question to ask, and I didn¡¯t ask him until the third day in the cave.¡± Josephine Wong smiled and said: ¡°For the first two days I was basically hogging the bed and trying to recover. He just let me do that and he even went out for a hunt and cooked some pretty nice hot meals - it¡¯s nothing fancy or gourmet, but it¡¯s much better than the emergency food I had.¡± ¡°Oh my.¡± Pei laughed gently: ¡°He hunts, he builds, AND he cooks. That¡¯s husband material right there. Hard to find a man like this these days.¡± ¡°Hey! I hunt and build.¡± Alexander said with a joking frown: ¡°I can¡¯t cook for shit, but¡­ that¡¯s two outta three!¡± ¡°So how long were you in there with him?¡± Blue asked: ¡°I¡¯ve never been to Realm Greenrock, but from what I¡¯ve heard, it¡¯d be quite difficult to leave in the state you were in.¡± ¡°Indeed. But it was still shorter than I was expecting.¡± Chapter 299 ¡°Hey, Dolores, how long was I out?¡± when he woke up and found himself floating in midair, Professor Atkinson asked his assistant. ¡°You¡¯re out for one and a half days.¡± Dolores poured a cup of tea for the professor, then she took out a piece of matcha cake from a mini fridge and served it on a plate: ¡°How are you feeling? Headache? Dizziness?¡± ¡°I - I¡¯m feeling fine. I think the overwhelming rush of knowledge has mostly worn down now.¡± Professor Atkinson stretched and said: ¡°I think - I think I am ready to proceed with my research now. I¡¯ve got a ton of questions to look into and maybe ask Mr. Yu. Where is he now?¡± ¡°He probably won¡¯t be able to help us directly anytime soon.¡± Dolores sighed: ¡°Just shortly after he put you to sleep, he became injured from some unknown sources. It was really, really scary - he just wouldn¡¯t stop bleeding and he choked up his organs. I tried helping but he stopped me. He¡¯s resting in his living quarter now, and he said if we need to reach him he would try his best to answer questions, but he won¡¯t be able to do anything for a while.¡± ¡°Oh my god, what happened?¡± ¡°He told me it¡¯s because his main body was severely wounded in a fight.¡± Dolores answered: ¡°I don¡¯t quite understand it - he told me that since he is just an avatar, he did not suffer a debilitating blow. But still, he was in a terrible state. So I wouldn¡¯t bother him unless necessary.¡± ¡°Okay, okay, understood, let me think about it for a while, and maybe hit the library first.¡± Professor Atkinson used the spoon to put a big chunk of matcha cake in his mouth: ¡°So, have you taken any notes? I mean the information from Xyn, I felt like he gave us way too much information, and I wonder if he had split the information into separate packages and distributed it across the two of us.¡± ¡°Yeah I had. But unfortunately I had to note the information I got on the tablets - the information seemed quite weighted and even the enchanted parchments we have can¡¯t hold it.¡± Dolores said: ¡°If you¡¯re feeling well, we can start with that.¡± ¡°Mmm, no, maybe not right now.¡± Professor Atkinson sipped his tea and thought for a while: ¡°First I¡¯m gonna need some food. I¡¯m starving right here, next, I¡¯m gonna need to find the library and find some documentation and records on the elemental realms and edgelands.¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°I¡¯ve done some of that already.¡± Dolores nodded and picked up a thick pile of notes from her desk and put it onto Professor Atkinson¡¯s desk: ¡°Can you take a look and let me know what else is needed? I can go to the library again and borrow some more books.¡± ¡°What do you think we need?¡± Professor Atkinson nodded and asked: ¡°You know I trust your abilities fully, so pull whatever records you want, I can sign the forms for you if you want restricted records.¡± ¡°Thank you professor. I indeed have some restricted records on my list.¡± Dolores flipped to the third page of her notes: ¡°These are the restricted records I wanna get. Most of them are of normal classification level, and one is highly classified, so we probably need to speak with our department head, which could be an issue for us, since Professor Harmon¡¯s schedule is quite hectic. I¡¯ve scored a meeting with him in a week.¡± ¡°Nice. You¡¯re the one I could always count on.¡± Professor Atkinson finished his matcha cake with a few bites: ¡°This cake is nice, do you have more?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s in the fridge, it¡¯s from Mr. Yu. He also said you should hold your horses with it.¡± Dolores smiled and shook her head. After a hearty meal in the academy canteen, Professor Atkinson rushed to the academy library with Dolores, with Dolores¡¯s list of documents and records. ¡°Hmm¡­ that¡¯s a lot of restricted records and documents.¡± the librarian in red robe and wearing a red beret took a look at the list, and replied with a frown: ¡°I¡¯m afraid only your signature won¡¯t do, Professor Atkinson.¡± ¡°Huh? What do you mean?¡± ¡°You have fourteen items here. And per the library restricted records policy. You can only pull five records with each Professor¡¯s signature.¡± the librarian said: ¡°If you need more records at a time, you¡¯ll need someone from the department of classified records, or you can have a signature from your department head. Or you can finish up with five items first and come back for others. And this¡­ ¡®Memoir of an Elemental Lord¡¯ is highly classified, you would need the signature from your department head, or have a special grant from a qualified project.¡± ¡°Understood, thank you Camile.¡± Dolores sighed: ¡°Then just the first five items then. We have an appointment with Professor Harmon next week, we could ask for that as well.¡± ¡°Good luck.¡± Camile Jensen started operating on a tablet in front of her: ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ ¡®Geographics of the Edgelands¡¯, ¡®Climate of the Edgelands¡¯, ¡®Elemental Beings, Their Politics and Culture¡¯, ¡®Peek into the History of the Void¡¯, and ¡®Sentience in Energy - A Record of the Void and Elementals¡¯. Yep, we have them right here, no one¡¯s pulled them for years. Guess no one¡¯s interested in elementals these days.¡± ¡°Then why are they even classified?¡± Dolores asked. ¡°Well, beats me.¡± Camile Jensen chuckled: ¡°I think the reason is that the elementals interact with us mortals less and less these days. And there is not much we could gain from them either.¡± ¡°Oh ho, that could change soon once we¡¯re done with our research.¡± Professor Atkinson almost laughed out loud in excitement, then he became self-aware and immediately put on a straight face. ¡°Okay, well, I¡¯ll be looking forward to it!¡± two metal boxes appeared in midair to Camile Jensen¡¯s side, and she stamped on the two metal boxes and passed them to Professor Atkinson and Dolores: ¡°Good luck with your research!¡± Chapter 300 ¡°So that¡¯s what he said?¡± inside his office, Professor Atkinson scratched his head while looking at a hand-drawn map laid out on his and Dolores¡¯s desk - in order to fully lay the map down, he and Dolores pushed their desks together: ¡°If this is the full view of the edgelands, then he¡¯s right and Xyn¡¯s information is incorrect or outdated.¡± ¡°Which is the reason I put ¡®Peek into the History of the Void¡¯ on my list.¡± Dolores flipped through several pages on her book while utilizing an enchanted pen to write down her notes: ¡°There must have been some sort of changes that led to this difference. And if the ¡®edgelands¡¯ Xyn wanted us to find is not the edgelands that existed today, what is the place he wanted us to find? And what happened to it?¡± ¡°Well, it says here that there was a legend about there once being a great rupture that tore the edgelands apart. But it was just a legend about ancient history. It also says here that even a lot of elementals don¡¯t remember much about it.¡± Dolores nodded with excitement and said: ¡°So I guess the bad news here is that the advantages Xyn told us about starting with the edgelands would probably not apply.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think the information could apply at all.¡± Professor Atkinson pointed at the center of the map: ¡°Look at the building here: the Bastion of Gwai-Mon, an ancient construct built by some of the most powerful ancient elemental lords as the central pathway for different elementals to travel to the edgelands and even different realms in which they inhibit should the need arises. Xyn told me that all the voidborns live together in the void - this means that the rupture - whatever it actually was, not only tore the edgelands apart, it also tore the void apart and into different realms. And somehow, all the elementals are living in different realms? Looks like we¡¯re still in the blind here even if we have all the information from him.¡± ¡°Hey.¡± just this moment, the door to the office opened, and Jianmen¡¯s avatar Mr. Lun Wang walked in, using a bamboo walking stick and greeted Professor Atkinson and Dolores with a weak and wheezing voice: ¡°Hope you don¡¯t mind my dropping off. I just got a message and wanted to come here and help.¡± ¡°My god, Mr. Yu. You should be at rest!¡± Dolores rushed to Jianmen¡¯s side: ¡°What are you even doing here!?¡± ¡°Well, can¡¯t let the research stop just because. A pesky little wound.¡± Jianmen walked into the room and sat on a spare chair by the door: ¡°Especially after that message I got¡­ from the main body. And I¡¯m afraid we needed to speed up a little bit, so I¡¯m here to help. Help you, and help myself.¡± ¡°But you are in no shape to help anyone, please, just get back to rest. We can wait.¡± Dolores said. ¡°Yeah, my recovery could take a long while, and I¡¯d be wasting both your time and my time.¡± Jianmen coughed and said: ¡°So tell me, what¡¯d you find out? Anything about the edgelands?¡±Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°Nothing useful yet.¡± Dolores sighed: ¡°We just found some restricted records, and we just found out that there could have been a great rupture of sorts in both the void and the edgelands, which tore the realms up, and somehow the voidborns, elementals just scattered across different realms.¡± ¡°Hmm, interesting.¡± Jianmen thought for a while, then asked: ¡°The rupture - did Xyn tell you anything about it?¡± ¡°No.¡± Dolores and Professor Atkinson answered at the same time. ¡°Hmmm.¡± Jianmen went silent for another short while: ¡°So here¡¯s my other question - in the knowledge he shared with you, did any of it mention beings called defilers, or desecrators? Even if translated, the name should match in this case.¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t think so?¡± Dolores exchanged looks with Professor Atkinson: ¡°What are they?¡± ¡°So you haven¡¯t heard of them. At least not from Xyn.¡± Jianmen looked at Dolores and then Professor Atkinson. ¡°Aren¡¯t¡­ aren¡¯t defilers just a myth?¡± Professor Atkinson hesitated and asked. ¡°Not anymore.¡± Jianmen sighed: ¡°My main body encountered two. I suspect they are the reason I am in this state - I asked him, myself, what happened. But all I got was the name.¡± ----------------------------------------------- ¡°How long are they gonna keep us waiting here?¡± sitting inside of a spacious room with floating platforms and drifting crystals in the air, Xyankor complained: ¡°Fog Dwellers, I won¡¯t be surprised, but Paulo Chang?¡± ¡°I guess, even Paulo Chang can¡¯t rush them.¡± Dave shrugged: ¡°And I actually don¡¯t remember much about them, so Xyankor we¡¯d probably need you to take the lead - Mr. Li, what about you? Do you know anything?¡± Fubei Li, another one of Jianmen¡¯s avatars, was sitting on the side with his body laid back onto the chair made from a kind of special clay that was rare in other realms but quite common in the edgelands. He had a few cracks and wounds on his body but they were all bandaged up and patched. He seemed quite a bit weaker than he was when he came to the edgelands, but was otherwise acting normal. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about them either.¡± Fubeli Li shook his head: ¡°All I could gather for now is that either they¡¯re quite slow or they are disrespectful of other people¡¯s time.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not that. They wanted to keep us waiting.¡± Xyankor slammed his hand on the stone table: ¡°It¡¯s quite typical of them - petty and short sighted.¡± ¡°Hey, hey, what are prestigious guests from the depths of the void?¡± just this moment, a giant slug with fog shrouding its body slithered into the room, and when it ¡°saw¡± that the three individuals in the room were taking human form, it morphed in the air and became a fat, hairy and naked man with ten gold chains on his layered neck: ¡°Oops, sorry, I mistook you for something else, let me meet you in your preferred form to show you with proper respect.¡± A ball of lightning appeared in midair, and landed on one of the chairs on the opposite side of Xyankor, Dave and Fubei Li, it was Paulo Chang with a gourd in his hand. ¡°Tamura was dealing with some issues with the magma elementals. He¡¯s the only one who responded to your request.¡± Paulo Chang appeared somewhat angry as well. ¡°Ouch, ouch, my belly.¡± the hairy, naked fat man had his hands on his back and moved slowly towards the table: ¡°You know, this human form is just a pain. Why¡¯d you choose this form anyway?¡± ¡°That¡¯s your back.¡± Dave scratched his nose and said: ¡°Your belly¡¯s in front of you.¡± ¡°Oh, you mean this?¡± the fat man grabbed onto his junk and asked. Chapter 301 If Fubei Li wasn¡¯t on the side of Xyankor and Dave, he would have laughed out loud, and when he turned to Dave and Xyankor, he saw that Dave was somewhat intrigued and even amused, while Xyankor was trying hard to hold back his anger. ¡°You don¡¯t have to use your human form if you don¡¯t feel like it.¡± Dave said: ¡°Tamura, thank you for meeting with us. I can assure you we came here about issues of the utmost importance.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, I heard.¡± Tamura scratched his belly and junk in a manner that few of those present could ever unsee: ¡°A completely new voidborn huh? Not reborn from the ashes or cores, but a completely new birth. We haven¡¯t seen that in ages. It¡¯s indeed a good news for many of us - at least we know that the void is not dead, at least not yet.¡± ¡°Yes. And we¡¯re here to ask for members of Fog Dwellers for help. We¡¯d try to find the location of the new voidborn ourselves, but with our numbers, we could barely cover all the places this newborn could descend.¡± Xyankor said: ¡°And due to our history, I think you would be the ones we could turn to.¡± ¡°Mm, I believe some elementals would be happy to help if you are in such a dire need. But we¡¯re not like you.¡± Paulo Chang took a sip from his gourd: ¡°We lost our connections to the void long time ago. And there are only a few of us that could even sense energy waves coming from there.¡± ¡°And therefore you still need us.¡± Tamura put his feet and legs on the stone table: ¡°You know, Xyankor, Daekan-Velliander, or Dave, and you, mortal, I forgot your name, I would like to help you. But we as Fog Dwellers would require something of you before we could lend you our help.¡± ¡°Okay, we are expecting as much.¡± Xyankor sighed and said: ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°You know what we want, Xyankor.¡± Tamura played with his fingers and his belly: ¡°We¡¯ve fought over it, and you know how much it means to us, how much it could benefit us.¡± ¡°You do know that relics from the void do not have that kind of power right?¡± Xyankor said: ¡°Even with the full knowledge and memories about the void, none of us could get it to do what the legends claimed it could.¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Which is a good reason to give it to us, don¡¯t you agree?¡± Tamura finally sat straight: ¡°I have the knowledge to use it, and you don¡¯t. You have the relic, and we don¡¯t. So we''ll take it off your hands and let you know what happens, how about that?¡± ¡°So with it you¡¯ll aid us in our effort to locate the new voidborn in return?¡± Dave asked. ¡°And why are you not more eager to find the upcoming new voidborn? You know it is just as likely to be one of you as it is to be one of us.¡± Xyankor couldn¡¯t help but slam his fist on the stone table and asked: ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Daekan-Velliander, you have my word.¡± Tamura said to Dave, then he turned to Xyankor but did not answer the question: ¡°The sooner we have the relic in our hands, the sooner we will deploy our troops to search for this new voidborn.¡± ¡°Before you make this deal, how about we formulate a plan first?¡± just this moment, Fubei Li interjected: ¡°To be honest, even with the aid of Fog Dwellers, the unpredictability of the void delivering a new voidborn after all these years could not be underestimated. You¡¯ll need a plan.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, we could definitely plan.¡± Tamura said while looking at Fubei Li through the corners of his eyes: ¡°But I don¡¯t think a mortal like you would be able to contribute or even understand much. Since you are basically more cut off from the void than any other beings that ever existed.¡± ¡°I have plenty of experience handling matters related to the void. Otherwise I wouldn¡¯t be here.¡± Fubei Li smiled and said: ¡°I would just stay silent if I don¡¯t have anything of value to say. But you can be assured that when I do, I would not hold back.¡± Paulo Chang burst out laughing: ¡°You know what Tamura, I like this guy, mortal and all.¡± Tamura rolled his eyes: ¡°Paulo, you should stop hanging around the mortal world so much, being soft and cozy with them has rarely brought us any good.¡± ¡°Agree to disagree.¡± Paulo Chang raised his gourd gently and said: ¡°And Tamura, Xyankor, my finders fee will be that I will be present when you activate that relic. I trust that this is really fair.¡± ¡°No doubt, no doubt.¡± Tamura was rude and vulgar towards Xyankor, Dave and Fubei Li, but when speaking to Paulo Chang one could still tell he had a fair share of respect: ¡°So, let¡¯s map out a plan here, shall we? Mortal, you better listen up, I don¡¯t wanna hear any stupid questions or suggestions. If you have any of those, keep them to yourself, or you can play with rough Muto clay in the side room with the newly reborned.¡± ¡°Thank you for the consideration.¡± Fubei Li smiled. ¡°Tamura, we would also need to be present when you activate the relic.¡± Dave said: ¡°Including Mr. Fubei Li here.¡± Tamura narrowed his eyes at Dave and Fubei Li, then scoffed after a short moment of silence: ¡°Sure, sure. Mortal, just remember to protect your eyes and brain. Unlike us with cores, your meat organs could melt or bake in the face of great knowledge.¡± ¡°That I have learned. Thank you for the heads up.¡± Chapter 302 ¡°Wakey wakey, time for food.¡± Jianmen¡¯s voice woke Josephine Wong from her meditative state. An appetizing smell of charred garlic and seafood crawled into Josephine Wong¡¯s nostrils, and combine this with the fact that she had been in this meditative state in order to heal herself for at least ten hours, her stomach growled and conveyed her a sense of hunger she had not felt for a very long time. ¡°Did you get seafood? How can you get seafood?¡± Josephine Wong asked Jianmen, who was sitting right in front of the fire inside the cave and seemed to be cooking something. ¡°Well. uh, not seafood, but close!¡± Jianmen looked back at Josephine Wong and moved slightly out of the way, showing her the full view of what he was barbequing on the fire - it was a dark red crustacean, with four legs and one front claw that looked like that of crabs on each side. From afar, it looked like a roasted crab with the size of a bicycle: ¡°It¡¯s actually this - if you don¡¯t mind how it looks, it¡¯s actually quite tasty.¡± ¡°Is that¡­ a spider?¡± Josephine Wong felt like she was about to gag. ¡°Yes. I know what you think. But think about this - spiders are just crabs¡¯ cousins. Crabs are just spiders in the water, and spiders are just crabs on trees, and maybe with a bit of venom. I¡¯ve already processed it, so you can eat it with ease.¡± Jianmen broke off one of the spider¡¯s front claws and threw it to Josephine Wong. Josephine Wong was not ready and jumped off to the side, which left the claw to fall on the bed and left a red mark of spice and oil on the animal fur. ¡°Yeesh, what a waste! Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll eat it first.¡± Jianmen came over and grabbed the claw from the bed, broke it apart and showed off the steaming white meat inside of the claw before taking a big bite: ¡°See? Better than Alaskan King Crab, and since it¡¯s from here, it¡¯s much more nutritious.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you just¡­ make some soup like you did yesterday?¡± Josephine Wong was indeed hungry, but she couldn¡¯t just put her mind to eating a spider. ¡°Hrm, you should know that vegetable soups are not supposed to be a long term solution. They can help relieve your hunger, but they don¡¯t provide much nutrition, not to mention energy for you to regenerate your power.¡± Jianmen sighed and said: ¡°Now, if you wanna get outta here early. You better just find it in your heart and eat this. Come on now - it¡¯s better fresh and hot. If it goes cold it will taste like beer corks.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m sorry, I just can¡¯t do this.¡± Josephine Wong took a look at the spider on the fire, and turned her head around. ¡°What? Did you not go through any survival training before you came here?¡± Jianmen shook his head and went back to the fire, after he finished up the first front claw, he put the entire crab aside and put a stone pot on the fire. ¡°I ¡­ I had, it¡¯s just¡­ I have a thing against spiders.¡± Josephine Wong felt a bit embarrassed: ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to...¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Jianmen shook his head again and brought out a stone bowl and poured something from the stone pot into it. It was vegetable soup, with very small chunks of meat inside. ¡°Here. Vegetable soup, with a little bit of ground rabbit meat.¡± Jianmen handed the bowl to Josephine Wong: ¡°Drink some if you¡¯re hungry. It was quite bad outside, so there aren''t many alternatives for food.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± this time, Josephine Wong felt that it would be quite heartless of her to refuse or even show any double, so she just took the bowl and started sipping the warm and fragrant soup from it. The soup had a much better taste, now that it had small chunks of meat in it. Not only that, the small amount of spices in the soup also made it quite appetizing, the more she drank, the more hungry she became, so she finished her bowl of soup in less than half a minute and asked: ¡°Can I have one more?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Jianmen poured her another bowl, and left the stone pot right beside the bed: ¡°Here, take the whole pot. I¡¯ll have the whole spider for myself since you don¡¯t feel like it. And if you are ready, why don¡¯t you come out and take a look - I think it will be safer soon.¡± ¡°What happened?¡± Josephine Wong finished up half a bowl of soup, then asked: ¡°Did the wasps go away?¡± ¡°They finally left the place around four to five hours ago.¡± Jianmen answered while breaking some legs off that barbeque spider and exposing more of the white, fresh and steaming meat: ¡°The huge energy explosion that happened a few days ago - it caused some changes in the environment and shattered a lot of the surrounding landscape. I¡¯m gonna go and check things out after this meal, you wanna come?¡± ¡°Yeah, sure. That would be nice.¡± Josephine Wong poured herself another bowl of soup and said: ¡°You¡¯ve been here for a while - what should I watch out for?¡± ¡°First thing is always concealing yourself and trying your best to avoid fighting unless you are hunting.¡± Jianmen dipped a spider¡¯s leg into some sauces he made and took a big bite: ¡°The area around here is populated with a lot of insect and crustacean type monsters, so if you are so against eating them you would need to face the fact that you will have very very limited sources of food.¡± ¡°... understood.¡± Josephine Wong sighed and put her stone bowl down: ¡°Anything else?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a huge centipede and a multi-tailed scorpion nearby, they seem to have some sort of rivalry going. Both of them seem to have some venomous aura around them, so if you see either one of them, stay away.¡± Jianmen thought for a while and swallowed the spider meat and let out an ¡°ah¡± of satisfaction: ¡°And if you wanna go up high, you may want to take a detour or choose a spot that is not the highest around here, since the straight route to the highest point is blocked by an occupied nest. I¡¯m not sure what kind of creature occupied it just yet, but I don¡¯t wanna find out in my current state.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Josephine Wong nodded and said: ¡°When you went out for the hunt - did you see any other humans?¡± ¡°No. But I¡¯ll be sure to keep an eye out for your teammates.¡± Chapter 303 It did not take long for Josephine Wong to finish the whole stone pot of soup, made with vegetable and small chunks of rabbit meat. She was indeed quite hungry when she woke up, and just like what Jianmen said, the soup was barely enough to keep her from feeling the hunger, but it was more of a ¡°stuffed¡± feeling due to the water and the vegetables, and not a ¡°full¡± feeling after eating nutritious food. Jianmen left two long legs of the crab inside of a thick stone box after heating the stone box on the fire for a short moment, which according to him, was for Josephine Wong in case she changed her mind. It almost took no time for Josephine Wong¡¯s eyes to adjust to the environment outside of the cave, because when they came out from the cave, the sky was grey and gloomy. ¡°What happened to the sky?¡± Josephine Wong asked, as she noticed that the sky was grey not because it was late on this realm, or the sun around which this planet was revolving did not rise yet, but it was because that there were thick clouds up in the sky, so that that almost no sunlight was piercing through. ¡°The explosion, it raised tons of dirt into the atmosphere.¡± Jianmen looked at the sky and said: ¡°The time now is technically noon, and this is the brightest time of a typical day here. Come on, we don¡¯t have a lot of time.¡± ¡°Where are you going? What do you wanna check out?¡± Josephine Wong still needed to use a walking stick when walking uphill: ¡°And is the road safe?¡± ¡°It¡¯s mostly safe. But I¡¯d keep an eye out and have your weapon ready, even with concealing spells.¡± Jianmen was also using a walking stick - it was his long stone sword, and he also had a dark and slightly shiny stone hook on his right hand, like some sort of make-shift pirate hook: ¡°And I was planning to check out the crystal mine in the back of this mountain, where the crystal right above the bed came from. Last time I was there I was only able to get a few very small pieces. Let¡¯s see if we¡¯d have better luck this time.¡± On the side of the road up on a branch of a tall and barren tree, there was a body of some kind of six legged wolf hanging from there. The body was not particularly bloody or gruesome, because it was mostly hollow, it was like someone skinned it and just put the fur and hide on there with its head. ¡°That wolf¡­ did you do this?¡± Josephine Wong asked Jianmen.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Yep, I needed something to scare away the nuisance animals.¡± Jianmen continued walking uphill while keeping his footsteps slow enough for Josephine Wong to catch up, ¡°And it was quite useful! No more annoying gophers and rodents!¡± ¡°You¡­ you skinned it. ¡± Josephine Wong felt that her stomach might start churning: ¡°You didn¡¯t use its meat, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Well, not yet. The meat is a bit toxic, so it needs time to marinate and detoxify.¡± Jianmen shrugged: ¡°It should be mostly ready now. It¡¯s actually really good. Best for hotpot, or slow stew.¡± ¡°Umm¡­ okay.¡± Josephine Wong looked around her and sensed the chaotic energy fields around her that were almost not present in the cave, and she started to realize that the food she had in the cave could be the best that this place and this man named Jianmen had to offer. And which also made her realize she needed to stop with her worrying and pickiness. They continued their way uphill, and Josephine Wong saw more bodies of animals, monsters and other weird creatures on both sides of their way. ¡°I didn¡¯t do all of this.¡± Jianmen explained to Josephine Wong: ¡°This used to be a hotspot, because of the cave and the crystals I was about to show you, there were a lot of fights among different animals and creatures. This is not the only place where one can get a break from the energy fields, but they were all hogged by the bigger ones of this place. So the small ones just fight to the death for a small place like this.¡± ¡°And the body earlier, how long do you think it¡¯ll hold?¡± Josephine Wong let out a long exhale and said. ¡°Unless I can get my hands on some big monster¡¯s waste like shed fur or scales, urine or manure, it wouldn¡¯t last very long. If there¡¯s anything I know about these creatures, it¡¯s that they are not easily intimidated by the bodies of the creatures of their level.¡± Jianmen shook his head and said: ¡°Last time I put up a body like that it lasted about three days before other pests started coming. So I figured either I started killing a whole bunch of them and leaving my scent at the scene, or I need to find some sources of the scent from those bigger guys here that they don¡¯t wanna mess with.¡± ¡°So, are we close?¡± just after a few minutes, Josephine Wong sensed that the intensity of the chaotic energy fields had increased. And it was increasing even more with each step they took in the uphill direction. ¡°Almost there. Just bare with me for a moment.¡± Jianmen smiled and said: ¡°How you¡¯re holding up? Do you need help?¡± ¡°I can still hold on for a short moment.¡± Josephine Wong started panting: ¡°Here¡¯s what I don¡¯t understand - if the crystals radiate chaos neutralizing aura, wouldn¡¯t the energy fields be calmer when we get closer?¡± ¡°When you get closer you¡¯ll find out.¡± Jianmen smiled. And find out she did - when they reached the place Jianmen was leading her to, she found that she was looking at a deep and wide rift in the ground, neither end of which was visible from where they were standing. And at the distant bottom of the rift, they saw rumbling and slowly flowing dark fog. Thousands of luminescent gems and crystals were embedded on the two walls of the rift, and they could even see some gems and crystals floating in the air. The gems and crystals were just like the one dangling on the roof right above the bed back in the cave - they were radiating a soothing and chaos neutralizing aura. But the dark dirt on the ground, the rocks from the wall of the rift, especially the dark layers of lava rock covering the surfaces of a lot of these crystals, were radiating chaotic energy fields with the highest intensity that she had ever sensed since she was here. Chapter 304 ¡°Two sides of the same coin, crystals and gems coming from para-growth.¡± Josephine Wong extended her right hand and grabbed a piece of the gem from the air, which consisted mainly of the crystal that radiated the chaos neutralizing aura, with a very small fragment of the black rock that generated chaotic energy fields at its bottom: ¡°It¡¯s kinda fascinating - and looks like there¡¯s plenty of it just for the taking. Why¡¯d you just bring one piece back?¡± ¡°Because last time I was here, they were all buried deep under the ground. And not just that, the ground was really tough to get through, even tougher than other spots around here. Guess that massive explosion did us a small favor.¡± Jianmen stared into the depth of the rift and said: ¡°I guess the harder the rocks and stones, the easier it is to break them apart with shockwaves.¡± ¡°The bottom of this rift - it looks weird, no?¡± Josephine Wong walked to the edge of the rift and said: ¡°I wonder why?¡± ¡°I could sense something quite powerful down there. If I was anywhere close to my full strength, I would go down there and have a look. ¡± Jianmen said: ¡°But this - it doesn¡¯t look anything like a normal rift right?¡± ¡°Do you know where the explosion was?¡± Josephine Wong took a few more pieces of crystal into her pocket and asked. ¡°Yeah, it was practically on the other side of the planet.¡± Jianmen swung his stone sword down the rift and answered: ¡°This is a really really small planet, in case you haven¡¯t noticed. The explosion that sent you over here almost made you fly halfway around the globe.¡± ¡°Hmm, interesting ¡­ ¡± Josephine Wong nodded and went silent for a short while: ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯re looking at the bottom of the rift here. It¡¯s the other side.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying the explosion tore the entire planet apart, and we are looking at one of the cracks in the body of the planet.¡± Jianmen caught the stone sword when it flew back up from the rift, carrying a few more pieces of crystals and gems with him, and along those, some dirt: ¡°Hey, you look like the research type, here¡¯s some dirt in the deeper part of the rift. It¡¯s¡­ weird, you wanna take a look?¡± ¡°Let me see.¡± Josephine Wong scooped a bit of the black dirt from Jianmen¡¯s stone sword: ¡°This feels like¡­ nothing? But not just any kind of nothing - some special kind of nothing.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Yeah, my thoughts exactly..¡± Jianmen chuckled and said: ¡°It¡¯s devoid of energy signatures, even the basic energy signatures from the things in the normal civilian world. It¡¯s even more plain and humble than a piece of stone from the civilian world.¡± ¡°Which makes it more special than most of the things in the world.¡± Josephine Wong frowned and asked Jianmen: ¡°Can I have some more?¡± ¡°Here, take it all, looks like there¡¯s plenty down there.¡± Jianmen extended the stone sword at Josephine Wong¡¯s direction, signaling her to take more of the dirt from it: ¡°I think it is probably something born out of the two different kinds of crystals we are seeing - one that neutralizes the chaos, and one that generates chaos.¡± ¡°And the grains - they¡¯re so fine.¡± Josephine Wong gently rubbed the dirt on her palm and tried to spread it as thin as possible, which allowed her to take a deeper look at the individual grains, but even with her perfect vision and having spread the dirt extremely thin, she still had trouble narrowing her view down on any individual grains: ¡°We may need some equipment for it - are there crystals of it?¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem like it, at least I haven¡¯t seen any.¡± Jianmen threw the stone sword down the rift once again: ¡°It kinda makes sense though right? With properties like this - no energy signature, little mass compared to other things on this planet, I wouldn¡¯t even be surprised if it got scattered into the void, one single molecule at a time.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying there¡¯s something that sticks its molecules together.¡± Josephine Wong nodded and said: ¡°Or there¡¯s some kind of force that pushes the molecules together to prevent it from completely scattering. Oh, hey, look at that!¡± Jianmen looked to Josephine Wong¡¯s hand, and he saw that the dirt spread across her hand was slowly but still observably moving to a central point, and gradually forming into a single pile of dirt. ¡°So at least these grains tend to stick together.¡± Josephine Wong smiled and nodded: ¡°I think this thing would be of great use someday. And I - I don¡¯t remember seeing or reading about something like this at all. Do you know what this means?¡± ¡°It means we¡¯re rich?¡± ¡°No! Well, yes, maybe a little.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head: ¡°It means we discovered a new substance of amazing energy neutrality. I don¡¯t think we have many of these substances - and certainly not something like this.¡± ¡°So I was right.¡± Jianmen chuckled: ¡°And just to let you know, I am holding my shares to whatever corporation that will own the mining rights.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t work that way in the magical world.¡± Josephine Wong laughed out loud and collected the dirt into a small cloth pouch on her robe: ¡°But yeah, you still get some rights to it.¡± ¡°Boom!¡± an explosion erupted not too far from them down deeper in the rift, which nearly knocked both of them on their feet. ¡°Shit! What now!?¡± Jianmen¡¯s stone sword still hadn¡¯t come back, and he seemed worried that the sword might have been caught in the explosion. The ground started rumbling and shaking, if Josephine Wong didn¡¯t know any better she would have assumed it was the shockwave from the explosion. And when she peeked into the depth of the rift, she saw smoke, lava and fire of several different colors break out from a hole on the opposite wall of the rift. Several creatures of enormous size were caught in a fight, and it was their bodies and attacks that led to the earthquakes. ¡°Nice place you got here.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head and started walking back the way they came: ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Oh, my god. My sword!¡± Jianmen looked over to the deeper part of the rift again, but still turned back and caught up to Josephine Wong on her way back. Chapter 305 Though they were trying their hardest to speed their way back to the cave, the fight amongst the monsters still caught up to them - two monsters of great sizes, one a lizard with two razor-sharp retractable tentacle-spikes on its back and a forked tail, and the other one a slimy octopus-like blob with at least a dozen tentacles fell just behind them while they were entangled with each other during their fight. ¡°Motherfucker!¡± the shockwave from their violent fall sent Jianmen and Josephine Wong in the air, Jianmen cursed and grabbed onto the branch of a tree, and Josephine Wong grabbed onto his left ankle to prevent themselves from being sent too far away. The two monsters paused their fight for a brief moment and stared at Jianmen and Josephine Wong and it was only at this moment did Josephine Wong see clearly what the octopus/blob monster looked like - it had a lot of small scales on its body, which shined in ever shifting colors forming some kind of wave visual effect; it had many small eyes spread across its body and even its tentacles, which made it even more creepy when almost all the eyes are fixated in their direction. After the brief pause, the two monsters continued with their fight, as the octopus monster tried to wrap its tentacles around more parts of its opponent, and the giant lizard continuously tried to jab the octopus monster with the sharp tentacle-spike on its back. Both Jianmen and Josephine Wong took advantage of the fact that these two monsters were preoccupied with their fight, as they got down from the tree and tried to rush back to the cave, while still remembering to use track removal and obscuring spells to clean up the energy signatures, scent and footprints they left behind. ¡°What just happened?¡± the moment they came back into the cave, Josephine Wong asked Jianmen. ¡°What just what?¡± Jianmen asked while sitting down by the fire. ¡°You cursed, and they just stopped.¡± Josephine Wong walked to the bed and sat down on it while keeping her eyes on Jianmen: ¡°Why¡¯d they stop?¡± ¡°But they didn¡¯t stop. They just paused and then just continued trying to kill each other.¡± Jianmen shrugged while he took out the crystals and gems he collected and laid them on the ground around the fire. ¡°Yeah, but they DID pause.¡± Josephine Wong gently narrowed her eyes: ¡°Monsters and creatures like that don¡¯t stop just because you cursed - human pets barely do that. I mean, I am not trying to pry, but I¡¯d appreciate it if you could let me know why it happened. Because I want to leave this place some day with my teammates and I could really use your help if you can do that on a more controllable and prolonged basis.¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Well, that I can tell you - I probably can¡¯t do that.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°Once I recover more I would probably be able to do that more often.¡± ¡°Okay. Let me try to guess then.¡± Josephine Wong stood up and sat by the fire beside Jianmen: ¡°You are heavily injured, by some kind of terrible power. Like your right hand - but I did notice that it is indeed slowly growing back. And though the energy fields being what they were, I still sensed the burst of energy in your curse. It¡¯s a kind of symbolic energy like that of ancient runes and True Words. The thing that still doesn¡¯t fit here, is that a single English curse word like ¡®Motherfucker¡¯ shouldn¡¯t carry that kind of power and energy.¡± ¡°Right, you¡¯re very well read.¡± Jianmen picked up a piece of gem on the ground, and with a wave of his hand, he conjured a small stone knife from the ground and started chiselling the gem with it: ¡°And I think I know where you¡¯re going - I¡¯m not ...¡± ¡°So here¡¯s my wild guess - you were smited by a god, or something that possess god level power.¡± Josephine Wong stared at Jianmen while she continued speaking: ¡°And that kind of wounds don¡¯t heal - for mere mortals at least. But like I said earlier, I noticed that your hand is growing back, which means that you have, or at least you had once been infused with similar levels of power - god level power.¡± ¡°... you are very observant. Good. Nice. Smart. Cool...¡± Jianmen almost dropped the stone knife, but he smiled and nodded in approval and an impressed look on his face. ¡°Thanks, thanks, thanks and thanks.¡± Josephine Wong smiled back: ¡°So, am I right? Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll keep your answer a secret.¡± ¡°I had godhood, once.¡± Jianmen chuckled and answered: ¡°I don¡¯t have it now, and I don¡¯t have it here. And this?¡± Jianmen showed Josephine Wong her right forearm without a hand: ¡°This is somewhat related to a god as well. A pretty nasty one as well.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Josephine Wong nodded, smiled and lightly gasped: ¡°Yeah¡­ good¡­ That¡¯s uh¡­ that¡¯s good to know.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re interested in knowing more about godhood, I¡¯m sorry I can¡¯t tell you anything about it.¡± Jianmen said: ¡°Your power¡¯s very impressive, but godhood¡¯s kind of uh...¡± ¡°...kind of forbidden knowledge that will fry my brain, burn my eyes, tear apart my eardrums and sucking all my nerves dry.¡± Josephine Wong rubbed her temples and said: ¡°Yeah, I know, I know a poor bastard who got touched by that.¡± ¡°How did you come to the idea of godhood in the first place?¡± Jianmen continued chiselling the gem: ¡°I would assume that the academy you¡¯re from doesn''t offer that in 101 classes.¡± ¡°This is gonna be cheesy, but I kinda sensed something ¡­ cosmic the moment I met you.¡± Josephine Wong asked: ¡°That poor bastard I told you about? I was there when he got smited by the knowledge, and I haven¡¯t forgotten anything about that energy signature. You had a little bit of that lingering on your right hand as well.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Jianmen thought for a while, then he said: ¡°Can you show me your hand? I would like to check your pulse if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Umm, okay, what about it?¡± Josephine Wong gave Jianmen her right hand. Chapter 306 ¡°Hmm... ¡± Jianmen had his fingers on Josephine Wong¡¯s wrist for a while, but he still did not say anything, but his facial expressions indicated that he was both confused and a little bit alarmed. ¡°What is it? You¡¯re not gonna tell me that I have some terminal disease right?¡± Josephine Wong asked jokingly: ¡°Or are you gonna tell me that I am actually pregnant?¡± ¡°Well, are you?¡± Jianmen looked at Josephine Wong with a side eye: ¡°If you are it¡¯s pretty reckless to be here. Chaotic energy fields, baaad for the baby.¡± ¡°Mhm, I¡¯d think so. So what did you feel? And why the face?¡± Josephine Wong chuckled and shook her head: ¡°The suspense is kinda killing me here.¡± ¡°Let me ask you something first.¡± Jianmen scratched his jaw with a frown: ¡°Have any of these things happened to you before - first, being struck by a lightning and then when you woke up, your body was either filled with explosive energy or you¡¯re completely drained but when you recovered you felt that your power had greatly increased; second, you fell into a weird dream where everything felt incredibly real but there was still something feeling off, and when you woke up, that feeling just followed you to reality; and third, you felt a crazy headache and you were seeing all kinds of strange colors, your body felt like burning, and when you recovered, you felt that your entire body felt lighter and your eyesight and hearing became much better than they used to be?¡± ¡°Hmm...¡± Josephine Wong narrowed her eyes and thought for a while: ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t think so, what do these mean?¡± ¡°You¡¯re gifted.¡± Jianmen answered simply: ¡°You are quite gifted. Did no one tell you this before?¡± ¡°Well, I am one of the youngest researchers in the Grant Academy, THE Grant Academy, where I graduated Summa Cum Laude.¡± Josephine Wong giggled and said with her head held high: ¡°So yeah, I¡¯ve never heard anyone say that to me.¡± ¡°Very good, cute.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°But no, I was talking about a different kind of gift. Let me try something else, and let me know if it has happened to you but don¡¯t worry about the details: have you ever gone through a really long sleep, throughout which people could even have thought that you were dead?¡± This time, Josephine Wong went silent, and her body started trembling.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°So I¡¯m right.¡± Jianmen sighed: ¡°And when you woke up, what happened?¡± ¡°My parents were dead.¡± Josephine Wong answered with a shaking voice. Jianmen sighed and looked at Josephine Wong in the eye: ¡°...I¡¯m so sorry.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s fine. ¡± Josephine Wong wiped her eyes and smiled: ¡°I was born in a relatively okay family of wizards and mages. And when I was around the age of 17 and a half, I went to sleep one night and did not wake up the next morning. In fact, I didn¡¯t even wake up until almost eighty years later. I was the smallest kid in my family, we mages and wizards have long expectancy, but still, my eldest brother was already around 100 years of age, and my parents - they would have to be somewhere around 150 years old to see me for the last time. But yeah, I think I understand what you meant. There were a few people in the history that had fallen into that kind of slumber - all four of five of them either died shortly after, or went on becoming incredibly powerful power wielders.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Jianmen shook his head and lied back on his back, a stone backrest appeared behind him and he just rested like sitting on a stone chair: ¡°And I assume your abilities to understand magical powers and energies were not what they once were before your long slumber?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t remember much from before I went to sleep.¡± Josephine Wong stared at the fire and answered: ¡°But yeah, neither do I remember learning and casting spells this easily. And I was able to - I mean I became extremely good at this new kind of magic.¡± Then she raised her hand, and a small dark purple ball of energy appeared in the air above her palm: ¡°They called this magic ¡®Xen¡¯, relatively newly discovered, but not officially recognized as an official magical element yet.¡± ¡°And¡­ please don¡¯t take this the wrong way. Do you know what caused the few of the people who fell into this kind of slumber before to die?¡± Jianmen asked. ¡°Two died of uncontrolled energy burst from inside of their bodies; one died of a faulty time and space spell; one died from a quite meaningless fight.¡± Josephine Wong counted her fingers and answered: ¡°Why? As someone that used to have godhood, do you know something about this kind of slumber?¡± ¡°It¡¯s - It¡¯s - I¡¯m not sure how to put it.¡± Jianmen scratched his neck: ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure I could tell you what I know now, since you are still recovering and this knowledge is quite weighted. But I could tell you this - be very careful in fights, especially when against those that wield dark, foul and vile forces. The gift you were given, they¡¯re gifts, but they are also curses, and orders of conscription.¡± ¡°Orders of conscription.¡± Josephine Wong nodded and looked into the fire. Memories from the past few decades flashed before her eyes, her unfortunate adventures, her close encounters with different people, creatures and dangerous and even forbidden knowledge. And a strange feeling, an intuition and somewhat troubling thoughts occured in her mind - that there was a shadow war going on, and she, being a ¡°chosen one¡±, became a soldier in it the night she went into her decades long sleep. ¡°Yeah, but don¡¯t worry about it either.¡± Jianmen stretched and said: ¡°I may just die of a horrible food poisoning one day if you just give up your power and retreat into a life of mediocrity and docile peace because of what I told you.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like some of those spider legs now, if you still have some.¡± Josephine Wong let out a long exhale and said with a wry smile: ¡°I guess - if what I am thinking is right, I¡¯d better get used to it right?¡± ¡°The stone box behind you.¡± Jianmen laughed out loud and said. ¡°Mmm, never thought that the day would come that I munch on a giant spider leg.¡± Josephine Wong took one leg from the stone box and broke it into two pieces: ¡°Cheers, Jianmen. If this tastes like shit I¡¯m gonna slap you so hard.¡± Jianmen laughed out loud and Josephine Wong bit down on the meat from the spider leg. Chapter 307 ¡°So, why are you here? What are you looking for here?¡± when the fight outside of the cave quieted down, Josphine Wong came out with Jianmen asking: ¡°I would assume that a former god like yourself would either stay in a secret place to heal and to recover your power, or you would seek out something that would help you restore your power. And the chaotic energy fields tell me that you are not here to rest.¡± ¡°Well, first of all - I would appreciate it if you don¡¯t mention the former god thing to other people.¡± Jianmen found a long and straight tree branch nearby. He then swung the branch in the air a few times while paying attention to the sound it made when it cut through the air: ¡°Secondly, I am actually looking for a lot of things here, something like that dirt is one of them - but hopefully in greater quantities and in crystal or rock form. They make for pretty good energy absorption material. Good for building my kind of altars.¡± The entire area outside of the cave was a mess - a lot of the trees were broken and torn down, the rocks and boulders that used to provide shade were smashed into pieces and scattered around with green, blue and brown slime smeared all over them. The air was also filled with a hint of bad smell, it was a combination of the smell of blood, the smell of monster drool, and the smell of rotten flesh. It seemed to be the case that at least one of the monsters that fought outside left some body parts laying around. ¡°I think we¡¯ve hit a jackpot here.¡± Jianmen smelled in the air and got a bit excited: ¡°There¡¯s a dead monster nearby. We can try to salvage some useful parts.¡± ¡°So the sword you were so heartbroken over, is it something you salvaged from a monster?¡± Josephine Wong followed Jianmen. ¡°Yeah. I carved it from a gallbladder stone from a dead ape.¡± Jianmen said: ¡°By the time I got there, it was already almost completely cleaned up by scavengers. So I took its spine to build the concealing array for the cave, and I cut off its fur to put on the bed, and I found the stone and fashioned it into a sword.¡± ¡°Will there be anything that could help me recover? I am really worried about my friends.¡° Josephine Wong sighed and said, she was still quite weak, though she no longer needed a walking stick: ¡°You¡¯ve been here longer than I¡¯ve been here, so I could use some more knowledge and experience dealing with the creatures here.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Okay.¡± Jianmen looked back and smiled: ¡°How about this - I tell you about what I¡¯ve learned here, and you tell me a bit about the magical world here. How¡¯s that sound? Like that Academy you mentioned.¡± ¡°Sure. I don¡¯t see why not, as long as you don¡¯t ask for information that I am not at liberty to reveal.¡± Josephine Wong also picked up a long tree branch that was lying on the ground, then she sharpened one end of it using her dagger to make it a wooden spear: ¡°So, let me go first, did you recognize either of the monsters from before?¡± ¡°I recognized the lizard with two spikes on its back. I am not sure it was the same one I saw before. But it was one of the beings here that may have a chance at becoming the alpha of this small place - well at least on the surface.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°So if I was to place a bet on who won that fight, I would put all of my chips on the lizard with a spikey back.¡± ¡°But you may have just lost you chips.¡± Josephine Wong pointed at somewhere up high on their right: ¡°Look at that.¡± Jianmen looked at the direction in which Josephine Wong pointed, and he saw that it was a broken spike on a tree that was still dripping blue blood from the broken end, its main body impaled the trunk of the tree, and with the sharp end pointing upwards. ¡°This doesn¡¯t change anything.¡± Jianmen rubbed his jaw with his right forearm because he did not have a right hand and said: ¡°But let¡¯s find out. Was that answer good for you?¡± ¡°Yeah, sure. What do you wanna know about the magical world?¡± ¡°Okay, so first, how many powered individuals are there in this world?¡± Jianmen continued his search forward and asked. ¡°Well, that¡¯s kind of a tough question to answer.¡± Josephine Wong scratched her head: ¡°We don¡¯t have censuses like the civilian world, because of technical difficulties - a lot of the powered individuals in this world prefer lives of solitude or small communities and away from society.¡± ¡°Okay, how about a rough number? Like in the millions? Also it doesn¡¯t have to include ALL powered individuals, like mages and witches like you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s easier, for us magic wielders, rough numbers wise that would be somewhere around ten million of us all over the world.¡± Josephine Wong looked up at the broken spike in the tree and answered: ¡°Most magic wielders prefer to live somewhere that was adjacent to the civilian world but not too close. Every year there are around seventy thousand to a hundred thousand magic wielders born in the civilian world, and we also have a much smaller but non-negligible number of people that have supernatural powers that are not of a magical nature. But we don¡¯t have concise numbers of those people either. So there you have it.¡± ¡°Thank you, that¡¯s a detailed answer. I¡¯ll try my best to give you that.¡± Jianmen looked to the side and found that a big crater appeared at a distance, and inside of the crater he could see the giant lizard monster lying in there, with both spikes on its back broken: ¡°There - I think you¡¯ve won, looks like the lizard lost. We have another powerful contender for the alpha here.¡± ¡°Okay, here¡¯s a tough one for you.¡± Josephine Wong thought for a while and asked: ¡°Did you know about the dragon here?¡± Jianmen was a bit shocked by the question: ¡°I¡¯m sorry - a dragon?¡± ¡°Yeah. And it¡¯s that dragon that caused the explosion.¡± Josephine Wong followed Jianmen¡¯s footsteps down the slope on the side towards the crater: ¡°It basically - well it basically dropped a giant ball lightning on the ground.¡± Chapter 308 ¡°So, it¡¯s a fucking Om - ugh okay I would refrain from speaking of its name while I am here.¡± after hearing from Josephine Wong what the dragon with dark scales did, Jianmen became visibly frustrated and scratched his head: ¡°You should¡¯ve told me that sooner. We kinda need to hurry up.¡± ¡°I just got to know you. I don¡¯t know if I can trust you.¡± Josephine Wong frowned and jabbed her wooden spear into the ground: ¡°Why the sudden attitude?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jianmen took a deep breath and got himself out of his frustrated state: ¡°My apologies - but this is not a good sign. That dragon - or the presence of it, is a great threat to this already unstable place. The slime creatures you mentioned - do you have an idea what they are?¡± ¡°I am not quite sure - but I sensed malice from them. I don¡¯t think they are normal creatures or even living things at all.¡± Josephine Wong nodded and accepted Jianmen¡¯s apology: ¡°And - I owe you an apology as well - you saved me and provided me with shelter and food. So trust is warranted. Things of this scale are a concern to everyone, and I should¡¯ve told you that earlier.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, really, we should just consider our next steps carefully now.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°So, you sensed malice from those things, what else? Did you hear curses when you got close to them? Do those things make you feel rage or despair for no apparent reason?¡± ¡°Umm¡­ no.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head, while she lowered her body as they were getting closer to the crater in which the lizard monster was lying: ¡°They¡¯re just¡­ weird and creepy.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s good ¡­ at least I think so. I actually don¡¯t have that much knowledge about this kind of dragon - it¡¯s not super related to me so I didn¡¯t ask for it when I got here.¡± Jianmen scratched his jaw and thought for a brief moment: ¡°That kind of dragon is a strange kind of being in the universe - they feast on energy, and have a special taste for the negative energy of malice. And because of it, their flesh and blood became fully infused with this kind of energy.¡± ¡°Makes sense. So the slime and mucus it coughed up would contain malice as well, and if the density of malice is high enough, the insanity COULD - and that¡¯s a big could - it could form into some kind of weird mucus zombie.¡± Josephine Wong stopped near the edge of the crater: ¡°Which makes me think, and understand - that the only good outcome for us here could only come if we get outta here or for it to leave immediately. Whether it died here or it stayed here, it¡¯s gonna be disastrous.¡±The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°My thoughts exactly.¡± Jianmen slowly and carefully set foot into the crater and started approaching the lizard: ¡°Okay, you keep an eye on the surroundings, I will see if it is dead and ripe for salvaging - it looks pretty fresh, so a sign of high risk and high reward.¡± ¡°Okay, wait.¡± Josephine Wong called out to Jianmen and threw her dagger towards Jianmen: ¡°Use this, it¡¯s not as long but it¡¯s sharper and sturdier than the stick.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Jianmen caught the dagger and hid it inside of his fur sleeve. Josephine Wong held her wooden spear in hand and started to watch for potential danger from the surrounding area. If this lizard monster was indeed dead, the quietness and peace of the surroundings would not last long. The other monsters of this place would attack a valuable target even before it is dead, so it is completely expected that other monsters and creatures would swarm the place once the smell of a dead dangerous monster spread out. But, something still bothered her, and she was quite sure it was bothering Jianmen as well, was that the squid monster was nowhere to be seen - there weren¡¯t even any body parts of it around. The only indication of its existence was the splashes of blood, there were several colors, and Josephine Wong was pretty sure one lizard monster wouldn¡¯t have blood with all those colors. Jianmen picked up a long piece of stone from inside the crater and shaped it into three small stone knives and one stone spearhead with his hand - it appeared quite clearly to Josephine Wong that earth was one of his main elemental powers. While Jianmen was still at a distance from the lying lizard monster, he placed the stone spearhead onto his wooden stick, making a makeshift spear. Then without the cliche move of gently and carelessly poking the beast, Jianmen just infused his power into the simple spear and threw it at the lizard monster¡¯s neck with full force. The lizard monster opened its eyes just bare moments before the tip of the spear pierced through its scales and shell. It tried raising its neck in an attempt to evade the spear attack, but it was only able to move its spine out of the way, and the tip of the spear still penetrated the scales and shells on its neck, leaving a bleeding wound on the side of its neck. A long, thick and scaly tail rose from the ground on Jianmen¡¯s left and lashed against Jianmen¡¯s shoulder. Jianmen did not get a chance to dodge and was forced to block the attack with his forearms and hands. Jianmen was thus sent flying through the air, but having raised Josephine Wong¡¯s dagger in front him, he was able to leave a cutting wound on the lizard¡¯s tail. ¡°What the fuck, man!?¡± Josephine Wong cursed and rushed towards Jianmen, while infusing the wooden spear in his hand with her magical power into her wooden spear. The lizard monster was thoroughly enraged, it started growling and screeching, and lunged right at Jianmen with its claws extended. The only spike that still remained on its back was also severely damaged to the point of almost completely broken, but it still had its sharp claws and teeth. And when it started moving, Josephine Wong was able to see that there were quite a lot of wounds on its limbs and tail, and if one paid close attention, they looked quite like those that are left on the human body by octopus suction cups. Jianmen turned his body in the air in order to tuck and roll on the ground to absorb the shock and impact from the strike. And while he was rolling on the ground, he cast a few spells on the ground, which turned into simple magical traps. Chapter 309 The lizard monster screeched and continued its lunge forward towards Jianmen. Jianmen clapped his hands, and in an instant the traps set up by Jianmen became activated. Some of the traps became piles of slippery mud, while the other became stone spikes sticking out from the ground and in the direction of the lizard monster. When the lizard monster¡¯s front claws stepped into the mud in attempts to change the direction of its body, they lost all of their traction and its entire body just simply slid forward against the stone spikes. ¡°Crunch!¡± two of the three spikes clashed with the lizard monster¡¯s body. The tip of one spike penetrated shells on the lizard monster¡¯s left shoulder, and the tip of another stone spike got jammed into the lizard monster¡¯s abdomen. Dark blue and dark green blood started flowing out from the wounds, and dripping on the ground. But though the stone spikes wounded the lizard monster, the wounds they made and the damage they did was not deep enough to incapacitate it. The lizard monster let out a pained roar, its body squirmed and broke the spikes, breaking free from them while still having parts of the spikes left inside its body. Jianmen slammed his left palm on the ground, conjuring more stone spikes from the ground in attempts to follow up with the attack. ¡°Crack!¡± the stone spikes conjured in a hurry were not as sturdy and sharp as the ones that were generated by the traps, and all they were able to do was just leave a few scratch marks on its shell and peel off a few scales. ¡°Hey, ugly over there!¡± Josephine Wong shouted at the lizard monster, and then she threw out her wooden spear in full force. The lizard monster tried to block the wooden spear using its tail - but the spear changed its trajectory in midair, and struck it in the neck, right on the bleeding wound left by Jianmen¡¯s spear. Without the obstruction of the shells and scales, Josephine Wong¡¯s spear just dived right into the lizard monster¡¯s neck without losing much, if any of its power. And the next moment the spear exploded from inside the lizard monster¡¯s body, sharp and pointy splinters shot out in all directions, tearing through all the soft tissues inside the lizard monster¡¯s neck and throat. This strike was probably more devastating than all the other attacks that were unleashed against the lizard monster combined. The lizard monster¡¯s neck started swelling up, and under the influence of the immense agony, it started crying, coughing out thick blood and pieces of broken soft tissues, while struggling and rolling on the ground. ¡°Nice move you got there.¡± Jianmen smiled and leapt to the side, holding one stone knife in each hand, and in rapid succession, the two stone knives were tossed out with great velocity, aiming at the lizard monster¡¯s left shoulder and abdomen. Though the lizard monster was squirming and rolling, the two stone knives still landed right on the wounds left by the broken stone spikes generated from Jianmen¡¯s traps. The two stone knives were infused with Jianmen¡¯s Xuanli, and the moment their blades sunk into the two wounds, several streams of powerful electric current coursed through the lizard monster¡¯s body from one knife to another.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. The lizard monster¡¯s front legs and chest twitched and trembled under the influence of the electric shock, which caused it to stop coughing up blood and broken tissues from its neck and instead, started choking on it. This proved to be a fatal combination, the lizard monster tried to grab its own throat out of pure instinct. It tried several times, but with the lingering effects of the electric shock, it was only able to do so after several tries. But just like choking for humans, grabbing one¡¯s throat couldn¡¯t help the situation at all - the blood and broken tissues flowed into its respiratory tract and blocked the airflow, and the more it struggled, the more it shortened its life by wasting the last bit of air it had. The lizard monster struggled on the ground for more than a minute, and eventually it stopped moving. ¡°Phew.¡± Jianmen wiped the sweat off his forehead, then turned to Josephine Wong: ¡°You okay there?¡± ¡°Tired, exhausted.¡± Josephine Wong expended almost all of her newly recovered magical power with just one strike, and she was finally able to stand up. ¡°Let¡¯s be quick and stealthy, this time it should be really dead, the scavengers will come soon enough.¡± Jianmen cast a concealing spell on himself and then used the last stone knife in his hand to cut through the lizard monster¡¯s jaw socket. ¡°Understood.¡± Josephine Wong also cast a simple concealing spell on herself, then took a few deep breaths and rushed to Jianmen¡¯s side. She took back the dagger handed to her by Jianmen, and started cutting up the chest and belly of the lizard monster. ¡°Ugh, so here it is, if you are wondering.¡± when the lizard monster¡¯s stomach was completely sliced open, a pile of half digested tentacles rolled out from its stomach, giving off a foul acidic smell. ¡°Try looking for weirdly shaped gems or crystals inside, those may be the stones naturally formed inside their bodies. Really useful in almost all circumstances if you ask me.¡± Jianmen cut open the jaw, and almost made his way to the lizard monster¡¯s brain: ¡°Or if you can find the octopus monster¡¯s brain, or beak, then that would be even better.¡± ¡°I know, I know. I¡¯ve dissected a few monsters in my life.¡± Josephine Wong tried her hardest to push her nauseated feeling down: ¡°It¡¯s just that this one¡¯s more gnarly and gross.¡± And thus, both of them started slicing and dicing the lizard monster as fast and meticulous as they could. It wasn¡¯t long before both of them gathered a couple of very sharp teeth, one piece of hardened shoulder blade, a few broken pieces of strangely shaped gems, a tongue and a whole brain from the lizard monster¡¯s body. ¡°Okay, we¡¯d better go now.¡± after carefully placing the whole brain inside of a stone box, Jianmen said to Josephine Wong: ¡°Don¡¯t be greedy.¡± ¡°I know. ¡± Josephine Wong removed a rib bone from the lizard monster¡¯s chest, strapped it on her back and nodded. Just when they were ready to leave, a strange wave of energy came from the space above them. And just after a few seconds, a portal appeared in midair. Josephine Wong looked back in horror, the energy waves radiating from the portal was just way too familiar, less than four days ago, the being that wielded this kind of power brought down almost all of the energy from an enormous ball lightning onto the ground. The head of a dark scaled dragon came out from the portal with its mouth wide open, and without a hint of hesitation, it bit down on the body of the lizard monster and dragged it along into the portal. The lizard monster¡¯s body was too long for the diameter of the portal, and when the head of the dragon retreated to the back of the portal, a part of its head and a large chunk of its tail got sliced off by the edge of the portal. ¡°Holy fuck. Let¡¯s go!¡± Josephine Wong whispered to Jianmen. The dragon seemed quite pleased with what it had, even when they left the scene, both Jianmen and Josephine Wong could still hear a happy roar along with the munch sound of the dragon enjoying its food. Chapter 310 ¡°Here. Make another sword with it.¡± when both Jianmen and Josephine Wong escaped back to the cave, Josephine Wong handed the rib bone to Jianmen: ¡°Don¡¯t know how you¡¯d handle with a bone sword, but in theory this should be better than a gallbladder stone.¡± ¡°Thank you. Here. It¡¯s from the lizard¡¯s brain.¡± Jianmen handed a piece of dark green stone with a blue shine to Josephine Wong: ¡°There¡¯s some kind of energy inside - it felt pretty pure. So it will help you recover once you figure out how to use it.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Josephine Wong took the stone and sat down on the ground beside the bed. ¡°You¡¯re still welcome to use the bed. I¡¯ m not using it at the moment.¡± Jianmen put down his giant stone box by the fire in the cave: ¡°I¡¯m going to prep some food.¡± ¡°Food¡­ you mean that brain?¡± Josephine Wong was ready for this answer, still she felt her stomach rumbling when she heard the definite answer. ¡°Brains are actually one of the most nutritious parts inside of an animal¡¯s body. And for animals and beasts of this place, it¡¯s only gonna be better. For the very least, I would assume they possess qualities to help keep one sane and stable in this realm of chaotic energy fields.¡± ¡°Ugh, okay.¡± Josephine Wong sat back up on the bed, and focused her power of mind and will on the stone. Just as Jianmen said, the energy inside the stone was quite pure, and moreover, it doesn¡¯t seem to be showing any elemental properties, but it¡¯s full of life force, and just by bathing in its radiation, she already started feeling better. And in less than five minutes, the fatigue from the fight and the warmth and comfort brought about by the stone made her fall asleep while still in a sitting position. ¡°Hey, wake up. Time for food.¡± Jianmen woke Josephine Wong with a stone bowl in his hand, inside which was some kind of thick broth and pieces of white tofu-like chunks inside. ¡°How long was I out?¡± Josephine Wong stretched and yawned: ¡°Hmm¡­ I feel a lot¡­ rejuvenated.¡± ¡°About two and and a half earth hours. You look healthier and stronger than before. That gem¡¯s some good stuff huh?¡± Jianmen smiled and placed the stone bowl in front of her: ¡°That¡¯s the gem from a close-to-apex predator, and apparently almost pure life force with no elemental properties, which is extra nice.¡±Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°Yeah - really good. But let¡¯s not try that again unless we have to.¡± Josephine Wong put the stone into her robe pocket, whose energy seemed to be drained a little bit. She then examined her body and her power - her soreness and little wounds from the explosion were mostly healed, and her magical power had restored to around twenty to thirty percent of that when she was at her peak. ¡°Here - these are for you teammates.¡± Jianmen pulled out four little sealed stone boxes from around the fire and handed them to Josephine Wong: ¡°They¡¯re all fully sealed and fully heated and sanitized before preparation. So they should last at least a few months. They¡¯re condensed brain soups, not gonna be tasty as what we¡¯re gonna have, but should provide enough sustenance for a decent recovery.¡± ¡°Wow, thank you.¡± Josephine Wong took the stone boxes and tried to place them into some sort of bags - they were surprisingly light, and only on close examination was she able to tell that there was an anti-gravity array carved on the bottom of each of the stone boxes: ¡°Did you use all of them brain?¡± ¡°Yeah, no parts wasted.¡± Jianmen nodded and pointed at the stone pot placed right above the fire: ¡°The brain WAS big, but once condensed and dehydrated it would shrink like you¡¯ve never seen anything shrink ever before. Come on, have some soup. It¡¯s not as gross as you think.¡± ¡°Yeah, you definitely made it seem much more appealing than I thought.¡± Josephine Wong picked up the stone bowl of soup and looked closely, the little white chunks were definitely the brain. But the way it was cooked, with vegetables, herbs, some small pieces of rabbit meat, made it seem quite normal and even tasty. Josephine Wong took a sip using the stone spoon, the soup tasted a bit fishy and oily, but it was definitely not bad. And after a short moment of hesitation, she scooped up a piece of brain and put it in her mouth. It tasted like a piece of tender but oily tofu with meat and fish flavor, and once she got over the unease that she was eating cooked brain, she found herself to be enjoying the soup quite a lot. And with each bite of brain she swallowed, she felt as if she swallowed a small chunk of sponge soaked in the same kind of energy full of life force from the stone, which in turn dissolved in her stomach, thus releasing the energy from inside of her body. ¡°How is it?¡± Jianmen asked Josephine Wong with anticipation. ¡°It¡¯s good.¡± Josephine Wong smiled and nodded: ¡°Even discounting the reinvigorating effects, it is still pretty solid. You should¡¯ve probably put in some cooking wine though.¡± ¡°Nice catch right there.¡± Jianmen pointed at Josephine Wong and: ¡°It¡¯s pretty hard to find cooking wine here. And I wasn¡¯t able to find ginger either to substitute for cooking wine. Too bad.¡± ¡°Oh, nono, it¡¯s fine. It¡¯s great. I don¡¯t think anyone in the history of the grant academy had food like this before.¡± Josephine Wong soon finished the entire bowl of brain soup and started sensing the life force coursing through her body: ¡°So does this mean that we¡¯ll be ready to leave the cave for good?¡± ¡°I would say so. Let¡¯s take a few hours to recover.¡± Jianmen poured himself another bowl of soup and pointed at a bunch of round and flattened bread lying on a hot and flat stone near the fire: ¡°Thanks to that lizard, I finally have enough supply for the road.¡± ¡°Brain flat bread.¡± Josephine Wong poured herself one more bowl of soup and said: ¡°Nice. Where¡¯d you get the flour?¡± ¡°Not flour, just a combination of crushed mushrooms - non-poisonous ones, of course, and vegetables and starch from some kind of dense starch tree nearby.¡± Jianmen nodded and chuckled: ¡°It¡¯s more of a¡­ naan.¡± Chapter 311 Inside of the grant academy public library, Thomas and Aimee were checking up on two giant catalogs and taking notes while they read. These two catalogues were the schedules for school staffers, including those of school custodians and professors and researchers with public schedules, and some of the school facilities. It was already the age of information technology and cloud collaborative tools, yet the Grant Academy still used these magical catalogs to keep track of this kind of information. And because of this, Aimee and Thomas had to resort to the old style of cross checking information and intelligence. ¡°Here.¡± Thomas pointed at a name on his catalog: ¡°Assistant Professor Brian Young, hospitalized ten days ago. And looks like according to his public schedule, he was in the labs most of the time last week and wasn¡¯t available for any appointments, and then he was available for appointments starting only five days before he was hospitalized.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t remember that name, he was released pretty soon right?¡± Aimee frowned: ¡°Otherwise his name would be on the list of prolonged and intense care watch.¡± ¡°Yes, he was only displaying minor symptoms.¡± Thomas nodded at Aimee: ¡°I remembered him because I attend a class taught by him - the Progression and Adaptation of Enchanted Civilian Tools and Weapons.¡± ¡°So, minor exposure, the dormant period would be much longer, I would assume?¡± Aimee moved over to the side of Thomas to look at his notes: ¡°But that would mean that he was exposed to it while he was still doing lab research.¡± ¡°Which is not too very likely. Because the only things that are contaminated are the firework materials right?¡± Thomas scoffed: ¡°Which, for the record, I am having a harder and harder time believing.¡± ¡°I think the main issue we¡¯re having is that if the narrative is true, then only ones affected by the materials should be students. But we have staffers who have almost nothing to do with the firework festival competition showing symptoms of exposure, and what¡¯s more, they have the majority of the most severe cases.¡± Aimee said: ¡°So, if I am not mistaken, either the contamination is much more widespread, or the contamination story is just a cover-up.¡± ¡°I wonder why nobody questioned the narrative then?¡± Thomas let out a wry chuckle and shook his head, then he tapped his fingers on the catalog: ¡°Umm, sis, do you think that hearing would be just another cover up?¡± ¡°I am thinking about that possibility now.¡± Aimee scratched the back of her head and said: ¡°Remember - Caroline did say that the one that attacked her asked her something about some sort of codex, right?¡± ¡°No, she said that when she fought back, she got a piece of memory about someone asking someone else to bring back a codex.¡± Thomas rubbed his eyes and said: ¡°And the guy that stalked Jason asked him about a key, so - ¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying the hearing could be a setup.¡± Aimee nodded and said: ¡°That¡¯s quite a dangerous move to make - they¡¯re basically getting the academy involved.¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Or - could it be the case they wanted the academy to get involved?¡± Thomas pretended to put on an invisible tinfoil hat. ¡°Hmm, let me check the academy bylaws.¡± Aimee immediately stood up. ¡°What are you looking for?¡± ¡°Access to personal effects. I was thinking - if the hearing goes wrong for Jason and Caroline, would the academy have authority to demand a forfeiture - ¡± ¡°But what could they possibly want - ¡± Thomas frowned and the whole picture dawned on him: ¡°Holy shit, the silver box no one knows what it is for, I gotta call them now.¡± ¡°I will check on academy faculties with similar schedules, once I am done checking the by laws.¡± Aimee said: ¡°Go ahead and tell them to find any help, ask for counsel if possible - I¡¯m no defense lawyer, but if someone from the academy is trying to set them up, they would need additional preparation for everything the hearing committee could throw at them.¡± ¡°On it.¡± Thomas dialed up the number of Caroline. ---------------------------- ¡°Hello Caroline, I¡¯m sorry but I don¡¯t think Jianmen could answer your call right now.¡± after dialing Jianmen¡¯s number three times, Caroline was finally able to get a connected call, but it was not Jianmen who answered the phone, instead, it was Josephine Wong. ¡°Ms. Wong? Hello, what happened? Why can¡¯t we talk to Boss?¡± Caroline had her phone on loudspeaker, and both she and Jason were confused. ¡°He¡¯s injured. Pretty bad this time as well.¡± Josephine Wong¡¯s voice sounded weak and a little ill: ¡°So I would be taking over some of his normal duties for him, and Rash would be looking after the inn while your boss is recovering. So what do you need?¡± ¡°Hold on, hold on, what happened? Is Boss okay?¡± Jason asked: ¡°Should we come back?¡± ¡°Nonono, you will come back once you¡¯re done with the audit program.¡± Josephine Wong said: ¡°Even if you come back now, you won¡¯t be able to help at all - according to his notes, you¡¯ve just started learning about healing spells right? So just be calm, be patient, your Boss is in a stable state, and we have people watching over him and helping him heal. So no need to worry. Just tell me, what do you need?¡± ¡°Oh - okay, please pass on our regards and let him know he¡¯s in our thoughts.¡± Caroline sighed: ¡°Thank you Ms. Wong. I really appreciate you helping Boss out and taking our call.¡± ¡°Of course. Of course. What¡¯s up with you?¡± ¡°So, Ms. Wong, I¡¯m sorry to bother you. But we¡¯re in trouble.¡± Jason said. ¡°Trouble? What¡¯d you do?¡± Then Caroline and Jason proceeded to tell Josephine Wong everything - from the man who stalked Jason and the strange illusion and psychic attack from someone in the hunting ground forest, to the out of nowhere call for a hearing scheduled next week. ¡°Okay, and no one approached you and asked you for any information before this call?¡± Josephine Wong sounded agitated: ¡°This is really far from the standard procedure and protocol. I will contact the academy and express my concerns and see if I can pull some strings to assist you.. But before that, be sure to be fully prepared - do you have any idea or even suspicion of what they might have?¡± ¡°The only thing we could think of would be the medicines Boss gave us a while back.¡± Jason looked at Caroline and answered: ¡°The other things we bought were either from the Christmas Fair or given to us by you or Boss. There¡¯s no way they are contaminated right?¡± ¡°Seeing as Jianmen took you shopping, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s ever possible.¡± Josephine Wong thought for a while: ¡°The medicine Jianmen gave you, it¡¯s slightly poisonous right?¡± ¡°Yes, but Boss told us they are more tailored for us, and we wouldn¡¯t be so stupid to spread it out - we used them already, with nothing left!¡± Jason said. ¡°Well, not entirely - we still have the healing medicine left.¡± Caroline said. ¡°Okay. Do you still have the containers?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Jason and Caroline answered at the same time. ¡°I will send a message to Professor Priya Kapur, K-A-P-U-R. Go find her, she¡¯s a professor of the academy, one of those that don¡¯t work exclusively with any one house.¡± Josephine Wong said: ¡°I¡¯ll ask her to perform a toxicology analysis on the containers, they would serve as evidence in your favor. And try to find out who accused you, I will call you back when I¡¯ve learned more. And starting from now, anyone from the academy ever comes and asks you anything, don¡¯t say anything. Anything at all.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Chapter 312 ¡°Hey Caroline, how you¡¯re holding up?¡± right after Caroline and Jason retrieved the small clay bottles from their living quarters, Caroline got a call from Thomas: ¡°I think Aimee and I found something about your case - do you have a minute? Better find somewhere safe and discreet for this.¡± ¡°Yeah, we have a quick minute.¡± Caroline put Thomas on speakerphone and said to Jason: ¡°Hey Jason, Thomas has something to tell us, let¡¯s find a quiet place.¡± Caroline and Jason found a corner around the academy, and Jason cast a simple isolation spell around them in an attempt to block off their conversation - he was not too well practiced in this spell, so the spell ended up being quite crude and lackluster, but it was better than nothing. ¡°Okay, I think we¡¯re safe - ish.¡± Jason scratched his head in embarrassment: ¡°Let¡¯s make this quick though.¡± ¡°Not a problem. I will be very quick - you guys remember that silver metal box you found in the Martin House warehouse? As your reward for winning the student duel?¡± ¡°Yeah I remember. What about it?¡± Jason asked: ¡°Are you saying it has something to do with the hearing? A bit of an overkill, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°No, the ¡®codex¡¯. The ¡®key¡¯!¡± Caroline grabbed Jason¡¯s arm and smacked her own forehead: ¡°Holy fuck we¡¯re so stupid and blind. The box you have - you weren¡¯t able to figure out what it is, and Cristian and Michael never contacted us with information and have people come and figure out what it is.¡± ¡°So it¡¯s the codex? ¡± Jason thought for a while and said: ¡°I thought a codex would be more of a book. It¡¯s gotta be the key.¡± ¡°So you guys already figured it out huh?¡± Thomas chuckled: ¡°So here¡¯s the thing we suspected, nay, we became kinda convinced of - the hearing is just a setup for you. Aimee is checking the academy bylaws now, and we are thinking that the hearing is an attempt at your personal effects.¡± ¡°Personal effects? What does that mean?¡± Jason frowned and asked. ¡°That means your stuff, your personal things and possessions, they¡¯re trying to get to your stuff.¡± Caroline answered. ¡°Nonono, I know what ¡®personal effects¡¯ mean, I was just wondering why the hell the academy would even be interested in our stuff. We don¡¯t have anything that expensive or valuable - oh - oh oh oh, the silver box? But it was just there in the warehouse!¡±Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Wait, you guys don¡¯t have something someone would covet? You¡¯ve got a mysterious master of a boss!¡± Thomas asked: ¡°But - never mind - our current theory is that the box was never meant for you. You remember how surprised Cristian and Michael were?¡± ¡°Okay. So this is the ¡®key¡¯ my stalker was going after. And it is either the codex itself, or it is a key, which can help one find that codex.¡± Jason said: ¡°This seemed a bit of a stretch, but it makes the most sense right now.¡± ¡°Hey, Jason, Caroline.¡± Aimee came to the phone: ¡°I just checked the bylaws, this kind of investigative hearing or inquiry has its consequences. Should you fail to prove your innocence, the academy could issue a mandate that you forfeit some of your personal effects for evidence of an ongoing investigation. So yes, some people are indeed trying to get at your stuff.¡± ¡°And they just figured it out, it is the silver box.¡± Thomas said to Aimee while still on the phone: ¡°So we will be cross checking the schedules of faculties and even students that were exposed and try to make a solid case for you. But we are not familiar with the rules and practice of this kind of hearings, so as former law enforcement officers I would advise you to please seek counsel to help you build a case of defense. And don¡¯t say anything to anyone from the academy.¡± ¡°Thank you Thomas, we fully understand this.¡± Aimee said: ¡°Actually we¡¯re on our way to do that, we¡¯ll tell you this later, but Ms. Wong helped us get into contact with a professor we could trust and we are on our way to find her.¡± ¡°Good! Good! Let us know what happens.¡± Aimee said: ¡°And we will continue checking on our side for you and ask around a bit.¡± ¡°Alright. Thank you very much for your help guys, really really appreciate it.¡± Caroline said. ¡°No problem, good luck!¡± Right after this call, Caroline and Jason went straight into the academy main building and found an office at the far end of the second floor. ¡°Professor Kapur?¡± the door was open, and when both of them went in, they found that the inside of the office was much more spacious than it looked from the outside, just like many other labs and offices in the academy, and the setups inside were a bit like the forensics labs they saw from the SFPD, which was somewhat different from other faculty offices they¡¯d been to. ¡°Professor Kapur?¡± Jason called out again. Something lit up behind a door inside of the office, from the glass window on top of the door they could tell it was a flash of blue light. ¡°I¡¯m here, I¡¯m. Excuse me, but I was caught up by some experiments in a lab and lost track of time. So I teleported back immediately when I saw you through the lense.¡± the door slid open, and Professor Kapur rolled out on a wheelchair in front of them. Both Jason and Caroline noticed right away that she was missing her left arm: ¡°What can I help you with?¡± ¡°Hi Professor Kapur, my name is Caroline Baker, and this is Jason Lin.¡± Caroline was not quite sure what Professor Kapure was referring to, but still answered: ¡°Ms. Josephine Wong referred you to us - ¡± ¡°Ah, yes, Josephine called.¡± Professor Kapur extended her right hand to the side and pulled out two chairs from under one of the desks in her office: ¡°You¡¯re looking for a toxicology report right? For your hearing?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Jason and Caroline answered at the same time. ¡°Okay, from what Josephine told me, I would need your containers for these medicines you have, and I would need you to give me some blood samples, would that be okay?¡± Professor Kapur nodded and said: ¡°It¡¯s gonna take me one day to finish it. That would be soon enough for you, no?¡± ¡°That¡¯d be perfect.¡± Caroline and Jason exchanged looks and said: ¡°That¡¯s just great. Thank you so very much!¡± ¡°I do have to warn you - this report will probably not excuse you of evidence tampering accusations.¡± Professor Kapur pointed at one of the desks, and two metal boxes popped out, one containing some test tubes and one containing some needles: ¡°So, you¡¯d better prepare for that as well.¡± Chapter 313 ¡°Okay, let¡¯s take a look at your containers.¡± after drawing some blood samples from Caroline and Jason, Professor Kapur nodded and said: ¡°I gotta say, your blood samples are pretty full of life force. This is mostly seen from some of the top students from the Hellbruck House, those who are on the paths of knights, assassins and other close quarter combat focused fighting styles.¡± ¡°Thank you - we did some pretty intense body tempering during our training.¡± Caroline smiled and said: ¡°So the blood samples - what would they do?¡± ¡°If I¡¯m right, they¡¯re going to serve as proof that you are not subject to the exposure to the toxic material, and that you have not taken antidotes to them.¡± Professor Kapur answered: ¡°The academy administration is suspecting that you brought the toxic material contaminants in here. And if that were true, you would very likely have substances from your body indicating prolonged exposure to them. And since you¡¯ve never shown any symptoms of exposure, the lack of residual antidote to those toxins in your blood would serve as evidence for your innocence.¡± ¡°So, there is the presumption of guilt huh?¡± Jason asked and handed his clay bottle to Professor Kapur. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not that bad, but it¡¯s not totally based on the presumption of innocence either.¡± Professor Kapur sighed: ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking, the legal system is a bit different from that of the civilian world. It¡¯s much harder to track down criminals when magic¡¯s in play. And you could also thank the serial killer you wrote that thesis on, the hunt for that killer, or THOSE KILLERS, since no one really caught them, really contributed to how things like this kind of hearings and inquiries work.¡± ¡°Yeesh.¡± Jason shook his head, while Caroline shrugged. ¡°I remember Thomas mentioning that. ¡± Caroline sighed and said: ¡°So¡­ do you know what we will need to prepare? Ms. Wong might have told you that we¡¯re from a civilian background. And even in the civilian world, we¡¯ve never - well, I believe Jason¡¯s never dealt with this kind of proceedings.¡± Jason jokingly looked at Caroline with a side eye, insinuating that he had some questions for her. But Caroline just wagged her finger at her with a warning look on her face. ¡°It would be prudent that you consult with a defender, or what the civilians call a lawyer. I think Josephine would be helping you with that. It will be up to you if you want to bring a defender to the hearing. On one hand you would have someone that answers the questions for you and defends you against tricky and unfair questions; but on the other hand, your bringing a defender will show that you may have something to hide.¡± Professor Kapur used a long metal needle to scrape some residual material from inside Jason and Caroline¡¯s clay bottles: ¡°Oh, you still have something inside.¡± ¡°Shit, I¡¯m sorry, looks like we forgot to mention that. Yeah, there¡¯s still some medicine inside - our last sips.¡± Caroline immediately apologized. ¡°No worries, but if you don¡¯t mind I would need to do and do analysis on them.¡± Professor Kapur poured the last sips from both bottles into two separate testing tubes, and marked Jason and Caroline¡¯s names on the respective tubes: ¡°Interesting - they¡¯re like jelly.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Yeah, do all the analysis you want. We don¡¯t need it - at least for now.¡± Jason said. ¡°Alright, anything you need from us?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°No, not now.¡± Professor Kapur smiled and said: ¡°Why don¡¯t you leave me your contact information, I¡¯ll let you know when things are ready. Now, you should go and prepare.¡± ¡°Thank you so much Professor Kapur. We can¡¯t thank you enough for this.¡± Jason bowed gently to Professor Kapur. ¡°Happy to help. And, good luck.¡± Time flew when Professor Kapur went into the zone of her work - when she was done with her first round of analysis on Caroline and Jason¡¯s blood samples and was about to start on the analysis of the little traces of the residual medicine from the two clay bottles, her stomach growled and begged her to head out for some food. After stretching for a few seconds and organizing her notes, she rolled out the front door of her office and went to the canteen. But when she came back to the back of her office through the simple short distance teleportation device on her wheelchair, she sensed that someone was in her office rummaging through things. Professor Kapur took a look at a special magical device from her robe that looked like some sort of pocket watch. On the screen of the device, she saw that there were two figures in robes in her office. They seemed to be looking for something, while paying absolutely no attention to anything that could be valuable in her office. Having very little experience with this kind of things in the academy, she just rolled out from the back of the door and asked the two figures: ¡°Hey! What are you doing in my office?¡± The two figures got startled and turned to Professor Kapur - they were both wearing some kind of enchanted glasses that gave off some kind of blue shine. ¡°You¡¯re not from the academy, who are you?¡± Professor Kapur finally became alerted: ¡°Maykor¡¯s Sight - those are for licensed secret investigators only. What do you think you¡¯re doing? Do you even have a warrant?!¡± ¡°No. And we don¡¯t need one.¡± the male figure said: ¡°Professor Kapur, we are here to conduct a search and investigation on Principal Hawke¡¯s authority. Yous shall submit to our search and provide us with full and honest answers to all of our questions.¡± ¡°No. That¡¯s not how things work.¡± Professor Kapur narrowed her eyes: ¡°Even with the order from the principal, I as a professor don¡¯t have to submit to that.¡± And without having to say anything, the male figure extended his hand at Professor Kapur, and at the same time, Professor Kapur also extended her hand forward. Two waves of energy clashed in the air, and the male figure instantly fell to a position of disadvantage though he had the element of surprise. The two energy waves were instantly pushed towards him and struck him on the chest, thrusting him onto the wall behind him with a loud bang. The female figure in a robe pointed her finger at Professor Kapur, a psychic spell landed on Professor Kapur¡¯s forehead, putting her in a very short moment of confusion. And taking advantage of this, the female figure threw a silvery blue needle at Professor Kapur, hitting her on the shoulder. ¡°Bitch!¡± the male figure coughed out some blood and locked Professor Kapur on the wall behind her while the paralyzing poison from the needle inconpacitated her with his magical power, and also completely crushed her wheelchair into a ball. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have done that.¡± Professor Kapur coughed and spit at the two figures: ¡°You practically sent the distress signal out in my stead.¡± ¡°... the tubes. Give me that.¡± the female figure thought for a short moment and said. ¡°But they¡¯re...¡± ¡°Give them to me NOW!¡± The male figure handed the two tubes containing the last sips of Caroline and Jason¡¯s medicine to the female figure. ¡°Now, too bad. The civilian born audit students under investigation asked you for help, you refused, so they resorted to force and poisoned you.¡± the female figure forced open Professor Kapur¡¯s mouth and fed her both sips of the medicine, along with a small vial of poison she brought with her: ¡°Enjoy bleeding through your pores to death, professor.¡± Professor Kapur felt an intense pain coursing through her whole body and almost passed out. The two figures just took the two empty tubes and left her office in a hurry. Chapter 314 Professor Kapur lay on the ground, while the effects of all three different substances took effect on her body. She did not know who the two figures were, but she knew full well what they tried to do: they thought that the medicines left by Caroline and Jason was somewhat poisonous, and they fed her a mixture of these medicines with their own poison, which would act as the actual substance that kills her, while the traces of Caroline and Jason¡¯s medicine in her body would be evidence pointing to the two audit students who came here asking for help. ¡°Dammit...¡± Professor Kapur extended her hand at her crushed wheelchair, and tried to activate the actual distress signal - but since her whole wheelchair was heavily damaged, she did not know whether the signal was sent out successfully or not. Some sort of intense and shocking pain started striking her in waves - it was like somebody was electrocuting her repeatedly by flipping the power switch. Even her legs, that had been paralyzed for years, were giving her a feeling as if someone was cutting into the skin and flesh with hundreds of tiny knives and making her bleed. ¡°Tony, Glenda, Dorothea - Josephine, whoever¡¯s there - help me - ¡± Professor Kapur struggled and cried for help in a barely audible voice to the crushed wheelchair. And when she finally succumbed to the pain, the weariness and the fatigue, two individuals, a man and a woman busted into her office. ¡°Professor!¡± the man was Tony Barnes. ¡°She looks poisoned, let me take a look.¡± the woman was Glenda Grimes, and as she held Professor Kapur in her arms, she examined the condition of Professor Kapur with a spell cast through light green magical energy: ¡°Yeah, she was poisoned with some kind of neural toxin. I can¡¯t tell what it is - and there¡¯s, well some kind of medicine counteracting it.¡± ¡°Neural toxins are Professor Higgs¡¯ specialty. But he¡¯s still on sabbatical.¡± Professor Barnes shook his head: ¡°I¡¯ll call Dorothea, she should¡¯ve got the distress signal just like us.¡± ¡°So should Josephine Wong, call her next and tell her to find that special friend of hers for help.¡± Glenda Grimes took out a small transparent glass bottle: ¡°I¡¯ll try to help her stabilize, but we¡¯re gonna need to get her to the hospital. What happened here?¡± ¡°Some kind of fight.¡± Professor Barnes took out a magical device that looked like a medallion and called out to it: ¡°Dorothea Clarkson, come to Professor Kapur¡¯s office this instant. We have a situation. Dorothea Clarkson, come ...¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± with a flash of silvery blue light, Professor Dorothea Clarkson appeared right out of Professor Kapur¡¯s office: ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Professor got attacked and poisoned.¡± Glenda Grimes looked at Professor Dorothea Clarkson and said: ¡°Some kind of neural toxin, but I¡¯m not able to tell what it is.¡± ¡°Let me see.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson rushed to Professor Kapur¡¯s side and pushed Glenda Grimes to the side. After examining Professor Kapur¡¯s pulses, eyes, ears and tongue, she nodded: ¡°It¡¯s high concentration Kandera Wyvern toxin, this is some pretty sneaky and highly restricted shit. She¡¯s taken some sort of general purpose antidote, which slowed down the toxin effect and bought her some time. But we gotta send her to the hospital and put her on intense watch.¡± ¡°Kandera Wyvern toxin?¡± Professor Barnes frowned: ¡°How the hell - there¡¯s no way things like that got sneaked into the academy without raising some kind of alarm.¡± ¡°Guess that secret investigation of yours hasn¡¯t found out much huh?¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson scoffed as she carved a pattern on Professor Kapur¡¯s forehead and both shoulders with a sharp dagger, then she recited a short spell which made the three patterns light up in light red, and Professor Kapur started bleeding from those patterns: ¡°Alright, let¡¯s bring her to the hospital, this should buy her more time.¡± Only very few people were authorized to create portals that could fit more than one people in the academy. But all three of them, Professor Barnes, Professor Dorothea Clarkson and senior researcher Glenda Grimes were all authorized. So they instantly created a portal that led to the academy hospital. It was not that long a time between them handing off Professor Kapur to the healers and doctors, and one of the healers coming out and telling all three of them to come into the room per Professor Kapur¡¯s request. ¡°Professor, what the hell?¡± when they came into the room, which was protected by an obscuration spell, and saw that Professor Kapur was already sitting on her bed looking at them with a smile, Professor Dorothea Clarkson asked with a heightened voice: ¡°How have you woken up so fast?¡± ¡°A combination of the antitoxin serum we have, the general purpose antidote she had ingested before coming here, and some kind of very potent healing potion she took with the antidote.¡± the healer on the side answered: ¡°It was quite close, but she was able to pull through.¡± ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Professor Barnes sat down by the bed and asked. ¡°All kinds of pain.¡± Professor Kapur responded with a wry smile: ¡°On my legs.¡± ¡°How did that happen?¡± Glenda Grimes looked at Professor Dorothea Clarkson, who was just as surprised as she was. ¡°Kandera Wyvern toxin acting with the over potent healing potion brought into my office by two students.¡± Professor Kapur coughed: ¡°One destroys the central nervous system, one rebuilds it. And what do you get? Nerve replacement. I wouldn¡¯t recommend anyone to try that.¡± ¡°And who attacked you?¡± Professor Barnes asked. ¡°That¡¯s something I would like to talk to you about.¡± Professor Kapur said to the healer: ¡°Jasmine, can you make sure the obscuration spell is fully in place?¡± ¡°It is.¡± ¡°Okay. Thank you.¡± Professor Kapur nodded at three of her students, and she held up a phone to her side: ¡°And just to let you know, Josephine is here with us as well.¡± ¡°Hi folks. ¡± Josephine Wong¡¯s face appeared on the screen, who looked tired and a bit ill: ¡°Thank you very much for being there. My deepest apologies for not being able to come.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, Josephine.¡± Professor Kapur coughed again and said: ¡°But be ready to hear what I¡¯m about to tell you. And we may need to make some preparations.¡± Chapter 315 ¡°Tehmann Luis, researcher, displayed severe symptoms of exposure, particularly the symptoms of Kekugora; no events on public schedule outside of lab experimentations and some administration meetings.¡± Aimee was on their second day cross checking the schedules of academy faculties in the common library: ¡°Sandra X. Lee, researcher, displayed mild symptoms of exposure to Kandera Wyvern tail powder.¡± ¡°Hey, sorry I¡¯m late, I needed to take some time to chat with some classmates.¡± Thomas came into the room and sat beside Aimee: ¡°Guess what I¡¯ve heard?¡± ¡°That the academy administration is so annoyingly ineffectual and shady about their ongoing investigation that up to today still no one knows how the contaminated material still seems to be circulating?¡± Aimee sighed and asked. ¡°Yes, that.¡± Thomas chuckled and said: ¡°And there¡¯s more - guess what? A few students told me that they found someone has been visiting some of their labs and even semi private areas like meeting rooms and booked training grounds. And guess what students have in common? They have all been to the Martin House artifact warehouse just like us.¡± ¡°So whoever set up Jason and Caroline, they were suspecting that some other students might have taken the silver box and they searched through the personal properties of those students.¡± Aimee sighed and scratched her head: ¡°But wouldn¡¯t they have searched our stuff as well?¡± ¡°Well¡­ we don¡¯t have things that are stored in semi public spaces - our academy assigned lockers are basically empty, well, mine is, and yours has only notebooks and sticky post-it notes.¡± Thomas shook his head: ¡°And from what I could gather, none of them found their personal items in their living quarters touched. So I would say that these people have access to school facilities, but they don¡¯t have access to student¡¯s private spaces like their living quarters.¡± ¡°Hmm, that sounds like the school investigative protocol. Let me check the bylaws again.¡± Aimee frowned and thought for a while, then she immediately picked up a thick book with a few book tags and opened it up to one of the tags: ¡°Here - it is, under the circumstances of academy-wise emergency or immediate or present danger that could threaten the lives of students and faculties, the academy could conduct internal investigations which would grant the academy and the authorized individuals access to all public and semi public spaces and facilities of the academy.¡± ¡°Hmmm, that¡¯s a bit redundant. The academy already has access to all public facilities and semi-public facilities.¡± ¡°This clause doesn¡¯t seem like it was meant for the academy per se, looks like it¡¯s more about the individuals and parties being commissioned to conduct the investigation.¡± after rereading the clause for a couple times, Aimee said: ¡°I - I don¡¯t like where this is going.¡± A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s park that for now and sleep on it and wait for more evidence.¡± Thomas said: ¡°What do you have, sis? I think I heard you find something.¡± ¡°Yep I agree.¡± Aimee put down the bylaws and showed Thomas her notes: ¡°Look what I have here, I found out two more academy faculty that are just like Assistant Professor Brian Young - they don¡¯t have many events going on during the suspected period during which they were exposed to the toxins, they seem to be mostly doing research and attending administration meetings. So, I decided to see if I could find some ¡®hot spots¡¯ of their areas of activities, and voila I found a few of them.¡± ¡°Public library in the common building, which is here, the big auditorium, and the offices of the department head of the Department of Herbology and Medicine.¡± Thomas saw the words circled by red pen: ¡°Great work, great work. Let¡¯s check it out one by one and ask around?¡± ¡°Yes, but call Jason and Caroline for backup first, I suspect we may need them.¡± ---------------------------------- ¡°Hey, how¡¯s my beautiful librarian?¡± in the public library, Andrew Brooke dropped by the front desk with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. ¡°I am doing good. Thank you Andrew.¡± Camile Jensen, the librarian greeted Andrew with a smile: ¡°Thank you for the flowers - again. But sorry I don¡¯t have too much time, I¡¯m kinda swamped here.¡± ¡°That¡¯s okay with me. I¡¯m just here to see you.¡± Andrew reached into his pocket with a smile on his face and took out a small metal medallion: ¡°And here - it¡¯s your birthday present, I¡¯m not sure it¡¯s gonna be better than mine, but hey.¡± ¡°Oh, my god! You really got it!¡± Camile Jensen took the medallion and held it close to her face, then she looked to Andrew Brooke: ¡°Thank you so much Andrew, that couldn¡¯t have been easy for you.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s nothing. My pops is happy to help me as long as I behave and do the time and work. ¡± Andrew Brooke chuckled: ¡°What¡¯s so special about that medalion? It¡¯s barely enchanted, couldn¡¯t be better than the space bracelet I got you, no?¡± ¡°Well, dear Mr. Brooke, functionality wise, yes, that space bracelet is way more impressive.¡± Camile Jensen smiled: ¡°But this one has more sentimental value, because it was made by my little sister. Didn¡¯t she tell you that?¡± ¡°Well, no. She doesn¡¯t seem to like me very much.¡± Andrew Brooke scratched his head. ¡°Of course, she might be a genius, but she¡¯s still at the age where she hates boys. And especially boys that are too eager to please.¡± Camile Jensen kissed Andrew Brooke on the cheek and said: ¡°Thanks a lot Andrew my knight. I¡¯ll definitely repay you when my schedule becomes less crazy.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll hold you to that.¡± Andrew Brooke tried to kiss Caimle Jensen on the lips but was gently and teasingly pushed away: ¡°I¡¯ll definitely hold you to that.¡± ¡°Sure you will. I don¡¯t expect you not to.¡± Camile Jensen smiled and waved as Andrew Brooke backed out of the library. When Andrew Brooke was out of the library, Camile Jensen looked around to make sure no one was around, then she tapped the medallion three times with her fingernails. A slim and barely gap appeared on the edge of the medallion, from which she flipped the medallion open like a makeup mirror. There were two things in the hidden space inside of the medallion: a small scroll made with a very thin piece of paper and some kind of special high density dark red wood and a small glass vial . Camile Jensen opened the scroll, it had a short message on it: ¡°Extraction set up. Rendezvous tomorrow 11 pm. Burn the tunnel.¡± Before Camile Jensen was able to examine the small glass vial, two people came into the library. Camile Jensen knew who they were, they were the audit student that gave her younger cousins a beating at the student duel, and one of them even seemed to be dating one of her cousins. (I just found that I made a mistake in Chapter 249, where Andrew said that his uncle is on the board, it should be his father. It is now corrected. - Egao Chan) Chapter 316 ¡°Hey, Caroline, Jason, thank you for coming at such short notice.¡± Aimee looked back at those who came to their table and smiled at them. ¡°No, thank YOU for taking this much time to help us. Really really appreciate it.¡± Caroline shook her head and said: ¡°So, you said you guys found something important, what do you have?¡± ¡°Two things actually. Both very telling, one of which is quite disturbing, and the other is a good lead on helping you defend your innocence in the upcoming hearing.¡± Thomas sat down and slid Jason and Caroline Aimee¡¯s notes: ¡°Which one do you wanna know about first?¡± ¡°Well, Caroline¡¯s a sucker for gore and danger, so disturbing news first.¡± Jason pointed at Caroline and said with a pranking smile: ¡°Though, I am very eager to know about your lead. I don¡¯t have much, but I still don¡¯t want the academy to have my last few coins.¡± ¡°So the disturbing thing first. Please bear in mind that it is just a theory of ours after piecing some information and gossip together, so please don¡¯t tell anyone else yet.¡± Thomas said, then he proceeded to tell Caroline and Jason about the theory they had regarding the academy¡¯s bylaws on hearings, forceful forfeiture of personal effects under certain circumstances, protocols of investigation into potential hazards and dangers to public welfare on the campus, and finally, the gossip Thomas heard from other students, about them finding their personal effects stored in semi-public spaces being searched through without their knowledge or consent. ¡°God, this - are we involved in some kind of conspiracy in the academy here?¡± Caroline scratched her head and ruffled her hair: ¡°Okay, how do we deal with this? I think we¡¯ll need Ms. Wong¡¯s help.¡± ¡°I trust that she is already helping us with that.¡± Jason said while scratching his jaw: ¡°She did refer Professor Kapur to us, those toxicology reports could help a lot. But I doubt she could help us any more than that. She¡¯s no longer a member of the academy - not a student, nor a faculty.¡± ¡°Yeah, but she still has a lot of influence here, I - I was thinking, if we told her about this, she¡¯d probably be able to do more, right?¡± Caroline sighed and started speaking with a higher and higher voice: ¡°My, fucking, god, I was hoping Boss could help us - but he¡¯s injured and apparently couldn¡¯t come to the phone, so I don¡¯t think he would be able to help us. If things are already this big, it¡¯s difficult to fight it on our own.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t, just don¡¯t do this to yourself.¡± Aimee grabbed Caroline¡¯s hand in an attempt to calm Caroline: ¡°We can fight this as well - we WILL, I mean we WILL actually get help. But we have our own fight, okay?¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°Yeah, yeah, I understand.¡± Caroline sniffled a bit and wiped her eyes: ¡°Yeah, sorry, sorry - it¡¯s just been a really stressful couple of days.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± Aimee said with a smile: ¡°And we will fight it with you, okay?¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Caroline took a deep breath and looked at Aimee in her eyes: ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°And I¡¯ll fight it with you, don¡¯t you forget.¡± Jason patted Caroline on the shoulder. ¡°Yeah you better.¡± Caroline chuckled and rolled her eyes: ¡°Or else I¡¯ll show Laura Jensen your internet search history.¡± ¡°Geez, there¡¯s no need to play dirty there.¡± Jason also chuckled, then he looked Aimee and Thomas in their eyes: ¡°So, what¡¯s this lead that you mentioned? Give us the good news.¡± ¡°Hot spots of potential toxic material exposure. And very promising hotspots.¡± Thomas said: ¡°Now, I¡¯m no lawyer, Aimee here is probably better at it than me but she¡¯s no lawyer either. But if we could find some evidence or even promising leads on some of those cases of exposure, and cross check these hot spots with your schedules and your areas of activities, we would have more evidence to prove your innocence to that bullshit hearing committee.¡± ¡°But it was meant to be a setup, wouldn¡¯t they try to plant something?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Surely they will.¡± Aimee said: ¡°Which means, we need to be proactive and play offense. One thing we can do is to conduct our own investigation and find out who is responsible for the spread of the toxic material and contaminants.¡± ¡°Yeah, but how long has the academy been doing it?¡± Caroline asked: ¡°I would think it¡¯s gonna be at least equally difficult for us to find anything out.¡± ¡°But we don¡¯t have to find out about everything.¡± Thomas said: ¡°We just need to get close enough.¡± ¡°They¡¯re searching for the ¡®codex¡¯, or the key to something, and consider the fact that we only quite recently got the silver box. I would say they didn¡¯t have that much time to plan the setup, and since their last attempt was to sneak up on us when they thought we¡¯re alone instead of going with other approaches, I would say they didn¡¯t have that much institutional power - yet.¡± ¡°Very clever.¡± Aimee nodded at Jason in approval: ¡°Which means, though they were individuals with connections to the academy administration and have the ability to pull some strings, they still didn¡¯t have all the academy¡¯s power behind them.¡± ¡°Which means they will still need to be sneaky.¡± Caroline flipped through Aimee¡¯s notes: ¡°We prepare both ways, like a complicated and organized hunt - we look into things, and show them that we¡¯re looking. This would flush them out and force their hands. And when we¡¯re ready, we could have traps for them. Sounds like a good plan, where should we start?¡± ¡°We¡¯re already at the first hot spot.¡± Aimee said: ¡°According to the public book and document renting records, at least eight faculty members that showed symptoms of exposure had been to this library before they showed symptoms. And four of them had very similar public schedules - they were either doing research in their labs or attending administrative meetings in the faculty meeting places. ¡± ¡°Okay, then where should we start?¡± Caroline stood up and was ready to act: ¡°Should we just look around in the library? That sounded a little weird.¡± ¡°Actually I was thinking about just asking the librarian first.¡± Aimee tilted her head at the direction of the front desk: ¡°I bet she would be able to help us find out about some of the faculty members.¡± ¡°Okay. Good.¡± Thomas said: ¡°I was thinking the same thing.¡± ¡°Good then.¡± Aimee looked at Thomas in the eyes: ¡°You do it.¡± ¡°What? Why?¡± Chapter 317 ¡°What do you mean why?¡± Aimee asked: ¡°You¡¯re the more talkative one.¡± ¡°Yeah, but you¡¯re the more bookwormy and geeky one, you will have much more to talk about!¡± Thomas said. ¡°Let¡¯s just ask them together, that should be fine right?¡± Jason asked: ¡°I mean, we¡¯re going to ask her about the activities of the faculties in hospital anyway. Better be on point and direct than to feign interest and small talk.¡± ¡°Oh, Jason.¡± Caroline patted Jason on the shoulder: ¡°Sweet and naive boy, please don¡¯t ever change.¡± ¡°Alright alright.¡± Jason shook his head with a slightly annoyed smile: ¡°Then you do it your way then. I¡¯m still for full honesty with our intentions right away, just for the record.¡± ¡°Okay, maybe we go together and slowly ease into the questions. But what do we know about that librarian?¡± Thomas asked: We should at least start with something.¡± ¡°Her name is Camile Jensen. I am not sure if it was the same Jensen as those that we had a duel with.¡± Aimee answered: ¡°She¡¯s the one who¡¯s here the most. At least ever since we¡¯re in the academy.¡± ¡°Alright, then you have something to ask her at least.¡± Caroline chuckled: ¡°At least you could ask her about Laura, or you can play the long game and ask about the Jensen family.¡± ¡°That¡­ why do you have to poison my mind like that?¡± Jason chuckled. Aimee and Thomas ended up leading Caroline and Jason to the front desk, and after a short silent struggle, Aimee was the one who finally started the conversation with the librarian in a red robe and wearing a red beret, who also had a bouquet of flowers on her desk: ¡°Hey, um, I was wondering if you could help us.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Camile Jensen looked up from her desk: ¡°What do you need?¡± ¡°I was ¡­ thinking about renting the original copy of the thesis ¡®Deep Dive into the Neural Toxins of the Bukhan-Kandera Wyvern Family and Their Diet¡¯, I wonder if you still have it?¡±Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Hmm¡­ let me check.¡± Camile Jensen operated on a thin tablet, from the angle of Aimee and Thomas, they could see that the tablet had some kind of classic looking UI, which looked a bit like pages of parchments, just on a flat screen: ¡°Hmm, no, sorry, the original copies were rented by Ms. Sandra Lee. She rented it out for an indefinite amount of time. So if you want to read it I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll have to go check with her.¡± ¡°Huh, interesting.¡± Aimee scratched her head and then asked: ¡°What about ¡®A Brief Breakdown of the Toxins from Swamp Serpents¡¯? Do you still have it?¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t think so. It was rented by Assistant Professor Brian Young.¡± Camile Jensen frowned and said: ¡°And¡­ looks like both of them are in the hospital, due to exposure to contaminated materials that led to our current lockdown.¡± ¡°Yeah. Funny you mentioned that.¡± Thomas came over to the front desk and asked with a smile: ¡°You know, what¡¯s up with that? These two are scholars and researchers who rarely go out right?¡± ¡°O¡­ kay?¡± Camile Jensen looked at Thomas with a slightly confused and annoyed smile: ¡°Why am I getting the impression that you¡¯re not here to rent the books?¡± Jason shrugged behind Aimee and Thomas and looked at Caroline: ¡°Well - I can¡¯t say that I would¡¯ve done better. So maybe full honesty was indeed a better choice, maybe?¡± ¡°Yes. I ¡­ I¡¯m sorry about not being completely honest there.¡± Aimee immediately apologized: ¡°In fact, we¡¯re trying to look into some of the cases of exposure.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ I could understand the curiosity. But may I know why you are looking into it?¡± Camile Jensen nodded and said: ¡°You are not operating with the authorization of the academy right?¡± ¡°No, as a matter of fact we don¡¯t.¡± Thomas acknowledged and acted embarrassed: ¡°We¡¯re just very concerned, for our safety and for our friends¡¯ safety. So we started looking into it. So we were wondering if you could help us with that. Anything you could tell us, we¡¯d really appreciate it, anything.¡± ¡°Yeah. I share your concern.¡± Camile Jensen sighed and thought for a short while and said: ¡°... I was wondering when the academy could have anything done. And this might be the first time someone¡¯s ever come and asked me. So yeah, I would be happy to help. Just that I may not be able to help too much, since I am just a lowly librarian.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sure you can help us plenty.¡± Aimee smiled and said: ¡°For example, we are trying to track down some of the suspicious areas where Ms. Lee and Assistant Professor Young were exposed to the contaminated materials. And we found that they might have both been here before they showed symptoms of exposure.¡± ¡°So you were suspecting that they were exposed here?¡± Camile Jensen nodded and asked: ¡°I think I know what you''re asking - you want the latest time they rented the books here?¡± ¡°Yeah sure, that would be great, thank you!¡± Aimee nodded and said. ¡°Okay...¡± Camile Jensen started operating on her tablet again: ¡°Okay¡­ interesting, the books they rented were the books that you asked for. But they were both quite long ago, they were at least two months from now. So maybe they¡¯ve been here but they weren¡¯t here to rent books.¡± ¡°Hmm, really? That¡¯s quite interesting.¡± Aimee exchanged looks with Thomas, then she asked : ¡°Is there any chance we could ask you a name and you tell us when was the last time he rented a book from here? His name is Tehmann Luis, he¡¯s a researcher.¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­ quite unorthodox. But if the information is public per academy policy, then I could tell you.¡± Camile Jensen continued operating on her tablet, then she turned to Aimee: ¡°The last book he rented was, um¡­ ¡®Physiology of Prancing Llamas¡¯. He rented it about six weeks ago and hasn¡¯t returned it. Must be quite a fun read.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Thomas sighed and looked at Aimee, then turned to Jason and Caroline: ¡°Looks like a deadend - let¡¯s get back to the drawing board. Hard extra credits to earn, but let¡¯s not give up!¡± Chapter 318 ¡°What extra credits? What are you talking about?¡± when Caroline and Jason got back to their table following Thomas and Aimee, Caroline asked: ¡°I¡¯m not sure I¡¯m following.¡± ¡°She¡¯s lying.¡± Jason and Thomas answered in unison. ¡°She¡¯s feeding us fake intel.¡± Aimee looked at Thomas and Jason then said: ¡°I guess she didn¡¯t know, we¡¯ve already found the book rental record from the faculty members we asked about. I asked for the books these faculty members rented a while back, but all of them continued to rent books after that, there¡¯s no reason her records became this dated. So the only explanation is that she¡¯s intentionally feeding us fake info. Which means ...¡± ¡°Which means it is quite possible that there¡¯s something pretty serious going on here.¡± Thomas said: ¡°But, this would be a really serious accusation to make, and we need more evidence, more intel.¡± ¡°If she¡¯s involved.¡± Jason scratched his jaw and asked: ¡°I mean, ¡®if¡¯ she¡¯s involved - wouldn¡¯t she be the perfect candidate to show those in the shadows plotting against us that we¡¯re onto something?¡± ¡°That¡¯s good. That¡¯s good thinking.¡± Aimee said: ¡°So we need to go back and somehow tell her that we are close? That would be a bit awkward isn¡¯t it? We¡¯ll need something to ease us in.¡± ¡°I think I know how.¡± Caroline patted Jason on his shoulder: ¡°But, Jason, you¡¯ll need to approach her first. To make it easier and more natural.¡± After just a few minutes, Jason walked towards the front desk, with a look of hesitation on his face. ¡°Hey, hey, Camile, right?¡± Jason asked with a nervous voice: ¡°I wonder if you could help me with something. I didn¡¯t know who else I could ask this, well, until I saw you.¡± ¡°Well, I am incredibly flattered. But I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re up for a harsh competition here.¡± Camile Jensen smiled and pointed at the bouquet of flowers on her side: ¡°And I am actually not intending to piss off the son of an Academy Board member.¡± ¡°Oh, nonono! ¡± Jason immediately waved his hands: ¡°I was wondering - if you could help me understand a bit¡­ about the Jensen family?¡±Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Hmm...¡± Camile Jense sat straight and leaned back on her chair a bit: ¡°Mind if I ask you why? What makes you decide you want to ask me?¡± ¡°You have the same family symbol on your collar.¡± Jason pointed at Camile¡¯s robe collar and said: ¡°And¡­ I¡­ well this is quite embarrassing - I really like Laura...¡± ¡°Oh...¡± Camile Jensen giggled and then started laughing out loud: ¡°That is - well, very adorable. But I¡¯m not gonna just spill family secrets to someone I just met just because you have a lovely crush on my little cousin. So, tell me a little about yourself, and, uh, don¡¯t treat this question like one from an interview, this is much, much more serious.¡± ¡°Well, I - I faced off against her during the student duel.¡± Jason¡¯s face became red: ¡°And we met later at the academy¡¯s circles and arrays club meetings.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right! No wonder I felt that I saw you somewhere before. You¡¯re the one who gave her a good beating!¡± Camile Jensen laughed out loud again and said. ¡°No - no, that¡¯s not true, I did not beat her. That sounded really bad.¡± Jason immediately denied what Camile was joking about. ¡°Yeah, well, but you indeed left quite an impression.¡± Camile Jensen said: ¡°Okay, Mr. Lin, Jason - can I call you Jason?¡± ¡°Yes, please.¡± ¡°Okay, Jason, first things first.¡± Camile Jensen looked Jason in the eyes and said: ¡°Laura¡¯s the head strong type - she may not seem like it, but she is. And getting to know the Jensen family just to impress her would not work, because she thinks family names are things for one to live up to instead of just wearing like some kind of fancy hat.¡± ¡°Understood, I got it, so no need for Jensen family history.¡± Jason nodded. ¡°And secondly, Laura is kind of a nerd for circles, arrays and magical constructs. From what I¡¯ve heard you¡¯re quite good with those, so you¡¯re in the clear.¡± Camile Jensen chuckled and said: ¡°And in her spare time, she likes sparring, reading, and even a little bit of hunting. So there you go, make of those what you will.¡± ¡°Wow, thank you very much.¡± Jason nodded again: ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s great.¡± ¡°Woohoo! Yes!¡± just right this moment, a cheer came from behind Jason, and Thomas, Aimee and Caroline rushed out from the position of their table and came to Jason¡¯s side. ¡°I think we just figured out something, thanks to you.¡± Thomas patted Jason on the shoulder: ¡°Good solve! Good solve!¡± ¡°Ms. Jensen.¡± Aimee came forward and asked: ¡°I think we may have some lead on how some of those faculty members got exposed to the toxic materials. Do you mind if we look around here for a bit?¡± ¡°Well, of course not.¡± Camile Jensen tilted her head slightly to the side: ¡°What have you got?¡± ¡°That they may have been exposed while they¡¯re here.¡± Caroline said: ¡°We¡¯re not sure how, but from their public schedules - ¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just go around and check for clues first - ¡± Aimee cut Jason off: ¡°It¡¯s a really nice solve, but it¡¯s just a theory for now right?¡± ¡°Wait!¡± just when the four were about to disperse and start their search in the library, Camile Jensen stopped them: ¡°You said, they were exposed here?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s very possible.¡± Jason said. ¡°Hmm, now that you mentioned it, there¡¯s indeed something quite suspicious in one of the side rooms.¡± Camile Jensen walked around the front desk: ¡°You wanna follow me there?¡± ¡°Um¡­ sure.¡± four of them looked at each other and followed Camile Jensen. Chapter 319 ¡°So¡­ what¡¯s so special about this side room?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°It¡¯s one of those ¡®do not disturb¡¯ rooms.¡± Camile Jensen answered while leading the way: ¡°There are books and documents in this library that the academy has banned from renting out. So a lot of scholars just rented the ¡®do not disturb¡¯ rooms and read these books and documents in them. These rooms were also fortified against most kinds of magical impact, so that scholars and students could experiment with the dangerous spells and arrays if they so choose.¡± ¡°And what is suspicious about this one?¡± Caroline played with a translucent orange and red crystal ball with her fingers. ¡°Well, as the main librarian here, I am often in charge of arranging the clean up of these rooms after scholars and students are done with them.¡± Camile Jensen sighed: ¡°One thing I noticed - well, it¡¯s very hard to explain, maybe I should just show you, here follow me - ¡± They stopped in front of a metal gate on the far end corner of the library - none of Aimee, Thomas, Caroline and Jason had been to this place inside the library. And it was pretty clear why - there were not many bookshelves near this corner, and there were only a few magical lamps on the floor to provide lighting while there were no windows on the wall to let the natural sunlight in, which made the entire area dark and even more unwelcoming. The four students walked behind Camile Jensen in a close enclosing formation, they were unsure what Camile Jensen would do, but they were still trying to prevent her from escaping. ¡°Here, let me open the gate for you.¡± Camile Jensen chanted a small spell then placed her hand on the metal gate. With a hydraulic sound like that made by civilian elevator doors, the metal gate opened from the middle, revealing its interior - it was not like any other rooms any of the team of four had seen in the library, but they had seen plenty of similar facilities like this room somewhere else - the student training ground: the floor was intentionally made uneven, with pillars of rock and dirt connecting the ceiling and the floor and strangely shaped boulders and rockeries dispersed through the area. Camile Jensen walked into the room first and pointed at one of the pillars: ¡°This pillar was here, it was not like this last time I was here. Do you wanna come here to take a look? There¡¯s some kind of weird magical material residual - ¡± Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Hmm...¡± Jason walked to the pillar trying to see what Camile Jensen was referring to on the pillar, while the other three still remained behind Camile Jensen and kept their eyes on her. Just when the four came closer to the pillar, Camile Jensen raised her arm, and a small medallion in her hand released a flash of extremely bright white light. All three students behind her were blinded for a brief moment. And when Jason turned around, he was kicked in the chest and was sent flying and banged his back against the pillar. Jason felt that he was prepared, but he¡¯d never thought a librarian wearing a red mage robe would have that kind of power. The next moment, Camile Jensen¡¯s entire body became shrouded by a wall of wind, instantly pushing everyone around her away. Caroline tried to grab her, but the wall of wind threw her into the air and Camile Jensen jetted herself out of the gate and with a flash of some kind of spell, the metal gate closed and was locked from outside. ¡°Holy fuck!¡± Thomas rushed to the gate and banged on the gate: ¡°Camile! Let us out! God fucking dammit!¡± ¡°Mother fucker, did she really just pull a ¡®look what¡¯s that¡¯ on us?!¡± Caroline squeezed on her translucent orange and red crystal ball and had it change into her axe and shield: ¡°Jesus fucking Christ!¡± ¡°Yeah, she pulled a ¡®look what¡¯s that¡¯ one on us.¡± Aimee slapped herself on the forehead: ¡°Let¡¯s call someone immediately. This door looks tough, I don¡¯t think we could easily break it open¡± ¡°You are the actual students here. Go ahead and call everyone you know for help. Jason, let¡¯s try and see if we can break the door open.¡± Caroline said while infusing her axe with her Xuanli. ¡°Alright.¡± Jason nodded, and a silver metal ball floated up from his hand and turned into a long spear that looked kind of like a pen. ¡°Okay, on three - three, two¡­ one!¡± ¡°Boom!¡± a coordinated attack from both Jason and Caroline left a small dent on the metal gate, and the reaction force almost threw both of them on the ground. ¡°Fucking hell! What¡¯s this door made of?¡± it took Caroline many steps backwards to stabilize her stance. ¡°It¡¯s not the material, it¡¯s the protection array.¡± Jason answered with a frown: ¡°There¡¯s some kind of energy and shock absorbent array in this entire room, looks like she was not entirely bullshitting, this room was built for absorbing energy shocks and impacts from within.¡± ¡°How¡¯s the call going?¡± Caroline nodded and looked back to ask Aimee and Thomas, who were both on the phone. ¡°There might be some sort of jamming array here as well.¡± Aimee shook her head: ¡°We can¡¯t reach anyone, even with blessed lines.¡± ¡°Try ours.¡± Jason threw his phone to Thomas, and so did Caroline to Aimee. ¡°Okay, Jason, you¡¯re the array and circle nerd, anyway we can break through the array and get outta here?¡± Caroline turned to Jason and asked. ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell, we¡¯ll need to hit it from different angles multiple times with different kinds of attacks. ¡± Jason thought for a while and said. ¡°Then you say where we hit next, I¡¯ll hit it with you.¡± Caroline¡¯s entire body seemed to light up in orange and red flames. ¡°Shit, maybe it¡¯s them? Who¡¯d you tried?¡± Thomas got another busy line. ¡°I tried Glenda, I tried Professor Kapur - I¡¯m trying Professor Barnes next - ¡± Aimee said. ¡°Boom!¡± Caroline and Jason launched another wave of attacks at the center of the ceiling. Their attacks left another dent on the ceiling, but nothing more than that. The energy and shock was almost completely absorbed and dispersed to all corners of the room. Chapter 320 Just outside of the room, Camile Jensen was not in a calm state either - right after she closed the door to the room and locked it using her librarian¡¯s key from the outside, she started freaking out and pacing in front of the door. There¡¯s no way for her to shut up these four students inside for long enough - the room was equipped with a powerful energy and shock absorbent array that was able to withstand very heavy impacts from the inside, sure, but they would be able to get out after a few hours, because by design there was a limited amount of time the door would keep being locked. In order to keep the door locked, those who rented this room needed to use the official library seal to keep the doors locked. If they did not, or to be more precisely, were not able to do so, the door would be forcefully open, and even the librarian''s key would have to wait for the door to completely open to close it again. After pacing for a few dozen rounds, Camile Jensen picked up her phone and called someone - it was a number she memorized but did not store in her phone in any way, not even a call record. ¡°What do you want? What happened to radio silence before your extraction?¡± a man answered the call with a stone cold hoarse voice. ¡°I¡¯m gonna need an earlier extraction, I need it as soon as possible. Preferably within 4 hours.¡± Camile Jensen said. ¡°That¡¯s not possible, your contract is signed and done, your itinerary is set. We cannot change it for you.¡± ¡°Please! I need an earlier extraction, if I¡¯m going to make it at all.¡± ¡°I fail to see how that¡¯s my problem.¡± ¡°I will pay double.¡± Camile Jensen said: ¡°Just get me outta here as soon as possible. All I need, is an earlier extraction within 4 hours. ¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I cannot help you.¡± ¡°Three times! I¡¯ll pay you three times!¡± Camile Jensen immediately yelled before the man on the other side of the phone: ¡°Plus a piece of my family heirloom - that¡¯s all I have. If you¡¯re not gonna do it, I won¡¯t be able to make it at all, and you won¡¯t get the rest of the payment.¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°... you are a librarian at the academy right?¡± the man went silent for a few seconds, then asked. ¡°Yes.¡± Camile Jensen let out a nervous exhale: ¡°What - what do you need?¡± ¡°The red book.¡± the man said: ¡°THE red book, thick leather cover and the face of a man on the front, I believe you know what I¡¯m talking about.¡± ¡°The Grimoire of Timothy Durbin. ¡± Camile Jensen answered with a trembling voice: ¡°How - how did you know?¡± ¡°Who the hell do you think you¡¯re talking to, young Jensen girl?¡± the man on the other side of the phone started laughing, the psychotic laughter almost made Camile Jensen drop her phone: ¡°You have two hours, and you¡¯d better figure out how to pass that hole. We won¡¯t have everyone to calm the beasts down for you. So you¡¯d better find a way to stay alive.¡± ¡°Understood, 2 hours it is. I will be there.¡± Camile Jensen hung up the phone with shaking hands. Then after sitting on the door for a few minutes, she decided to dial up another number. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve been made, come to the library right now.¡± ----------------------------------- ¡°No one¡¯s picking up!¡± Aimee almost threw her phone on the ground: ¡°Fuck! What the hell?¡± ¡°Why not try some other professors?¡± Jason asked after yet another attack attempt: ¡°Maybe try anyone other than the three Professors?¡± ¡°We¡¯re not sure if we could trust anyone.¡± Aimee shook her head: ¡°Like we discussed, we are probably dealing with someone who has some kind of influence in the academy administration, they¡¯re powerful enough to pull off a witch trial against you. So we can¡¯t be sure any other Professors or some other faculty members wouldn¡¯t be in their pocket!¡± Just this moment, a strange ¡°click¡± sound came from the metal door, and after a short moment, the door started slowly sliding open. ¡°What the - ¡± just when Jason and Caroline were about to rush to the gate, they got a good look at all those outside of the metal door - they were three men, all wearing standard robes from the academy in different colors: one in green, one in blue, and one in purple. Before the door could completely open, Jason pointed his spear at the door, some kind of metal gear and construct instantly appeared in the middle of the gap left by the doors and the space behind and around the doors, sealing the space up and stopping the door from continuing to open. ¡°Quick, anyone answered?¡± Jason¡¯s eyes glowed in silvery light as he was trying to hold the doors as they were and prevent the three men from coming in. ¡°Open the door! Open the door!¡± the three men started banging on the metal construct with their hand and yelling: ¡°We¡¯re here to help you out!¡± ¡°No you¡¯re not! Stop fucking lying you fuckers!¡± Jason yelled and signaled to Caroline, telling her to hide with Aimee and Thomas: ¡°We¡¯re calling someone for help! If you¡¯re smart you¡¯d better leave us alone!¡± ¡°Boom!¡± Jason¡¯s metal constructs cracked up from impact - the three men decided to use magic, trying to force their way in. ¡°Okay! Okay! Silence! Professor Barnes answered!¡± Thomas kept his phone on his left ear using his left shoulder and clapped his hands to gain everyone else¡¯s attention, while looking at the door with concern and worry in his eyes: ¡°Thank god you answered Professor Barnes, this is Thomas, Thomas Chaver, I¡¯ve been trying to reach you! ¡­ Okay ¡­ Yeah, please come to the library right away, we¡¯re in danger here!¡± ¡°Boom!¡± the metal construct was completely broken, but the three men found that behind the door and the metal constructs was a curved stone wall that cut their path into the room completely off, apparently another layer of power construct made by someone inside this room. Chapter 321 ¡°Boom! Boom!¡± with a few spells that were powerful enough to damage the stone wall, but not too powerful to raise suspicion from other people in the library, the stone wall was torn down from the middle and the three men in robes of different colors squeezed through the hole in the middle. After entering the room, they did not forget to leave a soundproof spell at the door to prevent all sounds from going out. ¡°Come out, come out, wherever you are.¡± when the three men went into the interior of the room, they saw a young Chinese man in a beanie standing on top of a boulder saying to him: ¡°You know this? That¡¯s some cartoon villain speak. If you¡¯re gonna say that, I swear I¡¯m gonna kill myself right here.¡± ¡°Okay, are you gonna do that?¡± the man in the front wearing a purple robe asked Jason: ¡°That would save us the work.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re here to murder us.¡± Jason sat down on the boulder: ¡°Does your master know that you are about to do something so incredibly stupid? I mean, c¡¯mon, murder in the middle of a library, in the fucking Grant Academy?¡± ¡°But you are really scared. Otherwise you wouldn¡¯t be talking to us with an illusion while you hide.¡± the man in a green robe said: ¡°Why not just come out and make it easy for all of us? I promise you we¡¯ll be quick.¡± ¡°Ayayayaaah!¡± a loud scream came from above, a young woman holding a giant two handed axe leapt down from the ceiling, and swung the giant axe at them. The man in blue robe flailed his left hand in the air, tossing out a lightning bolt at the young woman. The bolt of lightning went straight through the young woman¡¯s body, leaving only a puff of smoke behind. ¡°Optical illusion with sound effect.¡± the man in a purple robe looked around with his eyes glowing in purple: ¡°You¡¯re good. I don¡¯t know who taught you that, but for a student, that¡¯s impressive enough.¡± ¡°AUDIT student.¡± Jason pointed at the three men and said: ¡°Do you know? Audit students can be just as good and skilled as your normal students here. Just because a student is not from some big magical family, doesn¡¯t mean that they don¡¯t have anything to offer...¡± The man in a green robe threw a green energy ball at the boulder and shattered it completely, and Jason was also turned into a puff of smoke.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Wherever you are, young audit student, maybe it¡¯s time for you to witness what true illusion spells look like.¡± the man in a purple robe conjured up a ball of purple energy between his two palms, then he tossed it towards the ceiling. The ball of purple energy exploded when it got close to the center of the ceiling, and unleashed a purple shockwave that swept through every corner of the room. Thomas, Aimee, Caroline and Jason were hiding under a piece of rock in the middle of the room while Jason was creating and maintaining his illusion spells remotely. Thomas got off the phone right when they smashed the boulder near the entrance of the room and dispersed the illusion of Jason. ¡°Professor Barnes said hang tight, they¡¯ll be on their way soon.¡± Thomas said. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s hang tight until they get here. And remember, if the fight breaks out, you guys stay behind and help us.¡± Caroline nodded and said: ¡°We¡¯ll try to hold them off for as long as possible.¡± ¡°Just be very careful.¡± Aimee said. Right this moment, a strange energy shockwave passed through their body. Caroline and Jason immediately started hearing a strange voice in their heads. ¡°Where are you? Where are you hiding?¡± The voice sounded just like the man in a purple robe, and Caroline and Jason were able to instantly shake it off. But Aimee and Thomas both went into some sort of hypnotized state, as their eyes lost focus and they started looking around aimlessly. ¡°Dad? What are you doing here? How did you come to the academy?¡± Aimee asked with a surprise voice. ¡°Mom? How is this possible?¡± Thomas also asked with a surprised tone: ¡°I - I thought we lost you...¡± ¡°Shit!¡± Caroline realized what was going on, so she immediately slapped Aimee and Thomas on the back of their heads, and she did so with a bit of power of mind and will concentrated on her hands. ¡°Boom!¡± the rock they were hiding under exploded into thousands of little pieces, along with the protective layers created by Jason. ¡°Fuck! Already?¡± Jason grabbed Thomas, who was still in a state of confusion, and jumped out of the space with Caroline, who grabbed Aimee with her. A bolt of lightning and a green energy arrow shot towards them, but Caroline¡¯s shield lit up in orange and red, creating a huge energy shield that stood in the way between them and the two attacks. Another loud explosion, Caroline and Jason were almost sent to the back end of the room by the explosion, but they were mostly unharmed. ¡°You guys alright?!¡± Jason asked while holding his pen-spear and standing in front of Aimee and Thomas: ¡°Wake up - shake it off. Just a mental illusion spell, nothing to be worried about.¡± ¡°Oh hoho, nonono.¡± the three men started forming an enclosing line while they moved towards Caroline and Jason: ¡°It¡¯s an illusion spell and detection spell combined into one. If you answered to the illusion, you would also reveal your position to me. An invention of the great Josephine Wong, and one of my favorite tricks.¡± ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s my master¡¯s wife. And we¡¯re practically her step sons and step daughters.¡± Jason pointed his spear forward and readied his battle position: ¡°If you dare touch us, she¡¯s gonna be pissed.¡± ¡°Bullshit!¡± the three men were about to attack again, but Caroline and Jason attacked first. Jason thrusted his pen-spear forward, shooting out a barrage of silver shadows of speartips like he fire off a shotgun at close range, while Caroline swung her axe horizontally and unleashed a crescent shaped orange and red energy blade. Chapter 322 A green wall of energy was erected in front of the three men, this was the work of the man in a green robe, which was quite clearly made of wind magical energy. It was created in a hurry, and both Jason and Caroline¡¯s sharp energy attack were able to penetrate it. ¡°Shit!¡± ¡°Fuck!¡± the tiny fragments of energy flew off through the holes on the energy wall, and almost hit the man in a green robe and the man in a blue robe. Jason leapt sideways and thrusted his spear towards the three men once again, and this time, with two silver shadows of him making the same attack, and his target was the man in a purple robe this time. Meanwhile, Caroline raised her axe in the air, and behind her, a vague shadow of a bird of fire started forming behind her. The man in a purple robe was knocked back by Jason¡¯s spear attack and his robe was torn up. When he regained his composure and was about to attack again, he saw the fiery bird shadow and yelled in panic: ¡°How the fuck - kill her! Kill her now!¡± Just when the other two men started casting their own attack spells, Jason raised his pen-spear in the air, a beam of silver light shot up in the air and exploded. From the silver energy explosion, thousands of silver swords, spears, darks and shurikens rained down like some kind of meteor shower. ¡°Fuck!¡± the man in a green robe and the man in a blue robe had no choice but to discard their attack spells and conjured up protective ones to shield themselves from the shower of silver energy weapons while backing off from the range of the attack. ¡°You foolish fucks!¡± the man in a purple robe held two purple energy balls in both his palms and cursed: ¡°That attack was mostly fake! You¡¯re fucking duped! ¡± The other two men found this out as well - among the thousands of silver energy weapons, only about thirty percent of them were actually real and possessed the power to actually do damage, the other seventy percent were just illusions and harmless shadows, like the ¡°young man¡± who taunted them when the came into the room. And they had to pay the price - the fiery bird shadow was already fully formed by the time they noticed that they were duped, and as Caroline slammed her axe down on the ground, the fiery bird shadow flapped its wings and thousands of feathers made of pure fire energy shot out at the three men.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Boom boom boom boom!¡± the explosive power from the bird¡¯s feathers were comparable to that of artillery shells. Though the man in a green robe and the man in a blue robe technically had greater power than either Jason or Caroline, their lack of real battle experience made it so that they had to be constantly on the defense. And right now, they could only hide behind their energy shields and try to avoid being hit directly by the feather strikes. The man in a purple robe was the only one with enough time and battle experience to protect himself, evade the attacks and launched his own counter attack - the two purple energy balls on his hands merged into one and turned into a purple snake with wings, and the moment it fully took shape, it coiled up and lunged right at Caroline. Caroline expended a lot of Xuanli with this strike, and when faced with this energy snake she had no choice but to attempt to block it with her shield. But the snake did not crash into her shield, even given its straight and rapid trajectory. Instead, it curled up its long body around Caroline and immediately tightened the wrap, attempting to strangle her. A translucent orange and red bubble appeared around Caroline, and prevented her from being wrapped around by the snake''s body directly. But when the snake continued to squeeze, cracks immediately started appearing on the bubble shield. ¡°Bang!¡± Jason¡¯s feet stomped the ground so hard that the dirt and rocks exploded from the impact, and his body was launched towards the man in a purple robe leaving a string of afterimages behind him. The man in a purple robe raised his arms and crossed them in front of himself, his long and drooping sleeves lit up in purple and turned into an energy shield. When the tip of Jason¡¯s pen-spear got into contact with it, Jason felt as if he jabbed his weapon into a clump of extremely thick clay, which absorbed almost all of the impact from his attack. This did not sway Jason one bit, he immediately freed up his left hand and unleashed a palm attack on the ground. The man in a purple robe immediately leapt backwards when he saw the brown energy from Jason¡¯s palm submerged into the ground. And the next moment, five stone spikes shot up from the ground where he stood and cut his ankles - if he didn¡¯t dodge in time, he would have been impaled. ¡°Jason!¡± Caroline called out for help. Jason¡¯s body flickered in silver light and he left three silver shadows of him behind, which launched another round of attack on the man in a purple robe, while he rushed back in assistance to Caroline. Caroline¡¯s bubble shield was now covered with cracks and looked like it would break at any time. The pressure the purple energy snake put on her shield was finally relieved when Jason came to her and swung his pen-spear at the energy snake¡¯s head. ¡°Ting! ¡± the purple energy snake faced Jason¡¯s attack head on with its bite, and it was able to knock Jason back, at the cost of both its fangs. This clash gave Caroline a brief window of relief, which she took advantage of by detonating her bubble shield and pushed back at the energy snake¡¯s entanglement, and with a slash using her axe, she cut her way out of the position. ¡°You little shits!¡± the man in a green robe flew up in the air with his robe all torn up and a giant wind blade on his hands. ¡°Bang!¡± a gunshot came from the back end of the room, and a silver energy bullet hit the man in a green robe right on the shoulder - this was Thomas, who held a silver rifle in his hand. ¡°Motherfuckers! I¡¯ll fucking tear you up limb by limb!¡± the man in a blue robe saw what happened but still managed to get more agitated instead of cautious, but when he was about to conjure another spell, he sensed that some other people rushed into the room, and the next moment, he felt a cold blade on his neck. ¡°You¡¯d better not.¡± the voice of Professor Tony Barnes, Headmaster of Hellbruck House came from behind. Chapter 323 Inside of the medical tent, some emergency food and medicine were dispensed, and Josephine Wong had some specially crafted chocolate with a cup of tea - the tea was taken from Xianshi Inn, in a cupboard that was designated for her. All the other team members and agents from the Division were also provided with the tea, and were advised to drink it up as soon as possible. ¡°Hmm, I was never a tea man.¡± Alexander took a sip of the tea and said: ¡°But I¡¯ll have this kind of tea any day. This is from Mr. Yu¡¯s inn, no?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s one of his favorites. I still remember him bragging about it non-stop when he first got it working.¡± Josephine Wong smiled and shook her head: ¡°Tomorrow I will order another kind of tea to dispense the team, it should help with our recovery.¡± ¡°How is this kind of tea cultivated?¡± Blue took a very deep breath after his first cup, then asked: ¡°If this was put on the market, it could be worth quite a lot. And the aroma - I¡¯m no tea expert, but it¡¯s definitely one of the best I¡¯ve ever tasted. Someone should recommend it to be on the list of Treasured Enchanted Tea.¡± ¡°Please, Blue, you¡¯re Bri¡¯ish.¡± Vivian rolled her eyes and said with a pretend British accent: ¡°Must be something to impress you so. I really can¡¯t taste tea even if my life depends on it - all I could tell is that it¡¯s hot water with a leafy taste. I mean, I can tell it¡¯s got the magnificent healing properties and all, but isn¡¯t tea just flavorless leaf soup?¡± All in the medical tent started laughing, including Josephine Wong. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. I see you and Jianmen will see eye to eye.¡± Josephine Wong rubbed her forehead and said with a smile: ¡°He did say something like that to me once. And Blue, this tea will indeed be worth quite a lot, but I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t ever be recognized officially to be on the list.¡± ¡°Hmm, why¡¯s that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s cultivation process is not plant only.¡± Josephine Wong shrugged: ¡°There were a lot of crushed bugs and bone marrow in the fertilizer.¡± Blue and Nameless started coughing right away. ¡°Relax, Nameless, it¡¯s only in the fertilizer.¡± Pei laughed out loud.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°This monk was just surprised.¡± Nameless shook his head: ¡°For this monk knows a thing or two about tea also, yet fertilizers with bone marrow are quite unheard of.¡± ¡°Hello?¡± just this moment, Josephine Wong received a call: ¡°Yes, like I asked, half of it¡­ Yes, confirmed, half a kilo of Emerald Dragon Scale, three hundred grams of Phoenix Lily Petals and two jars of Asclepiaca Salve.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a lot of expensive medicinal material.¡± Pei laid down her cup with a surprised look on her face: ¡°For Mr. Yu?¡± ¡°Yes. Though there¡¯s not much anyone could do. But I¡¯ve gotta try.¡± Josephine Wong sighed. ¡°I thought you were not worried?¡± Alexander asked. ¡°Oh, I was worried.¡± Josephine Wong said: ¡°But it¡¯s just like he used to say, if worrying doesn¡¯t help then one should try to stop doing it. Instead, one should try their best to push the situation in the better direction. I will attend to him once I am able to help.¡± ¡°So, I would very much like to know what¡¯s next.¡± Vivian finished her tea: ¡°What did you do after you got your brain takeout food? How did you find your teammates? And how did it go between you two?¡± ---------------------------------------------------------- ¡°So these tracking devices of yours and your teammates, you¡¯re sure they¡¯re working fine? ¡± when climbing over a small rocky hill with Josephine Wong, Jianmen asked. ¡°It¡¯s forged with the best Deep Sea Sapphire, it¡¯s supposed to be able to withstand immensely chaotic energy fields for a prolonged period of time. The energy fields here are no joke, but we¡¯ve been here for what? Barely over a week? They should still work.¡± Josephine Wong answered, while walking with a walking stick: ¡°They might not be always super accurate, but I have faith in their reliability and durability.¡± ¡°Okay, if you say so.¡± Jianmen chuckled: ¡°How are you feeling? If you take on that lizard monster by yourself now, how confident are you in your odds?¡± ¡°Well...¡± Josephine Wong thought for a while: ¡°I¡¯d say 50-50. Considering that I am still nowhere near my peak, and that I would probably not have woken it up with a full force strike. If it was me, I would have done it with a gentle poke like an idiot, which would lose me the element of surprise.¡± ¡°Ah, don¡¯t sell yourself short. You¡¯d be able to create your own advantage.¡± Jianmen chuckled: ¡°And you will leave this place as soon as you¡¯ve gathered all your teammates, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯re here before us, so we will honor tradition and the International Treaty on the Discovery of New and Unexplored Realms, the major access and developmental access and claims would still be yours.¡± ¡°Meh, I don¡¯t have the time or energy to do the developmental work here. You can have it if you want.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°I just want something simple in return.¡± ¡°Wow, okay, why don¡¯t you name what you need?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll make you a list. It¡¯s gonna be quite a lot. Think it over and have a lawyer read it if you want.¡± Jianmen laughed out loud, as he pointed his new bone sword made from the lizard monster¡¯s rib bone forward: ¡°Oh look, you better be careful of what you breathe in, we have a fucking oil swamp slash tar land ahead of us.¡± ¡°Fuck!¡± Josephine Wong frowned at what they were looking at: ¡°Fuck! Fuck! My god, they¡¯d better be okay.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll help you track them down.¡± Jianmen nodded and picked up some dirt from the ground: ¡°This place shouldn¡¯t be a popular place for the beasts either, so don¡¯t worry and let¡¯s get to work.¡± Chapter 324 ¡°The fumes are slightly toxic, if one¡¯s injured it would be pretty hard to make it out. ¡± Jianmen said as he walked first into the land of oily swamp lakes: ¡°Where is your teammate? Let me know when we¡¯re close enough. This place should be mostly safe, but still, be careful.¡± ¡°I think one of the devices should be just around us somewhere. But it might be buried somewhere under this tar pool.¡± Josephine Wong pointed at a tar lake on their right side: ¡°Let me try a bi-directional detection spell - they¡¯ll know it¡¯s me.¡± ¡°Okay. Be careful. You know that a bi-directional detection spell sounds like something a patiently waiting predator would pick up.¡± Jianmen stood beside her and said: ¡°Please proceed. Want me to hold your bag for you?¡± ¡°That would be splendid, thank you.¡± Josephine Wong handed Jianmen her makeshift backpack made with animal fur. After a short moment of concentration, Josephine Wong conjured up a small purple energy snake from her hands, then let the snake slither into the lake. Shortly, a balloon made of some kind of animal hide floated to the surface of the tar lake. And on the top of the animal hide balloon, was a small bracelet. ¡°Hmm, looks like it was used as a distress beacon instead of personal tracking.¡± Josephine Wong frowned and said: ¡°I think this was Professor Kapur¡¯s. Strange thing is that she actually warned us before coming here not to use this method lightly - it would drain the energy and increase risk of the signal being picked up by dangerous entities.¡± ¡°So she¡¯s in danger.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°And she¡¯s nearby. Can you find the clue that could lead us to your professor?¡± ¡°Give me a sec. She did teach us that if we¡¯re about to do anything like this, we would need to leave the teammates some kind of clue on where to find us.¡± Josephine Wong started examining the animal hide balloon, and when she broke it and flipped it inside out, she found some handwriting in it: ¡°I went south, towards the volcanoes.¡± ¡°She went south, towards the volcanoes.¡± Jianmen was standing behind Josephine Wong, and he also saw the writings: ¡°... Wise choice. That place might be dangerous and hot, but it¡¯s closer to one of the jump points one can use to get away from this realm. And the exit is on the dark side of the moon. I meant - the earth moon, not the other hundreds of moons.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡± Josephine Wong nodded and looked in the direction of the volcanoes, they were not that far away, just maybe half an hour to forty five minutes of walking distance on their right. They were able to make their way to the edge of the volcano lands in under ten minutes. The swamp and tar lakes were barren and had almost no living animals, even insects. ¡°Hmm, this might not be the best time.¡± when they set foot on some newly hardened lava rock from one of the small volcanoes that seemed to have become dormant some time recently: ¡°But some of those tar in the tar lakes - they might be the new oil.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah. We¡¯ll be fucking rich.¡± Josephine Wong kept looking around, and started calling out using her magic: ¡°Professor! Professor! Where are you?!¡± Jianmen looked waited beside and did not stop her - this was because though she was worried, she still called out with diligence by applying a special magical encoding to her voice, so that her callings would sound just like normal voice to those who were not paying attention, but to those who were familiar with Josephine Wong¡¯s magical signature, they would be able to easily decipher her call. The volcanoes here were not big, but they still covered quite a lot of land for just the two of them to search. This was of course not without its risk. Just shortly after Josephine Wong started calling, Jianmen sensed that something seemed to be crawling towards their position from underground, and through some of the tunnels in the lava rocks beneath them. ¡°We have something incoming.¡± Jianmen pointed his rib sword in the rough direction of the crawler: ¡°We should go. We should go.¡± ¡°Boom!¡± just when Jianmen grabbed Josephine Wong by her arms and tried to leave the area, a huge chunk of lava rock was broken off from the ground and thrown into the air by a giant snake with red flaring scales and spikes on its back. ¡°Holy fuck!¡± Josephine Wong started running with Jianmen: ¡°Let¡¯s go! Let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Bang!¡± Jianmen took a very heavy step forward, essentially slamming his foot on the ground and delivered a jolt of his energy into the ground. ¡°Shit, shit, shit!¡± Josephine Wong reached into her robe pocket to grab the rib bone shards Jianmen made for her, and she turned to Jianmen to tell him what she felt from the energy in the air: ¡°I think it¡¯s got some kind of tracking spell on us. We need to disable it or it¡¯s gonna be able to track both of us anywhere.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll need to worry about it later. Unless you wanna fight that bastard right now!¡± Jianmen swung Josephine Wong up forward, sending her quite a distance forward: ¡°You go first and find your professor and find a place to hide as soon as possible! I¡¯ll stall it for now!¡± ¡°Fuck! What are you thinking!?¡± Josephine Wong protested, but she also knew that this would be the best option for them for now: ¡°Be safe! I¡¯ll contact you on the way to remove the spell once we figure it out!¡± ¡°Just go!¡± Jianmen turned back and drew his rib sword against the giant snake. ¡°Fuck, Jianmen, you better live.¡± Josephine Wong whispered to herself and started running away from the scene while analyzing the tracking spell placed on her by the giant snake with red flaring scales and continuing the search for Professor Kapur. ¡°Bang!¡± the snake and Jianmen clashed into each other behind Josephine Wong. Chapter 325 ¡°Remember, this is some of my best work. Not my proudest, but my best work.¡± when Jianmen handed the rib bone shards with tiny engravings on to Josephine Wong: ¡°To use them, just lock onto your opponent with your mind - doesn¡¯t have to be the core of the opponent, could be just a limb, a tail or a toe. And this sucker will just auto-locate the core of your opponent and dig a tunnel straight to it.¡± ¡°I can see why you¡¯re not proud of it.¡± this was Josephine Wong¡¯s answer when she chuckled and accepted the shards: ¡°You prefer to fight fair huh?¡± ¡°Nonono, I don¡¯t like to fight fair. There¡¯s a saying I believe in: ¡®Dirty gets you the win and fair gets you a beautiful tombstone at best.¡¯¡± Jianmen answered while shaking his head: ¡°It¡¯s just still a work in progress - its design has a lot more potential, but it needs to be used by someone with a really good grasp of the trick of perception, insight and intelligence gathering. I have my own way to do it, but it¡¯s either very slow, or fast, but very very painful.¡± Right now, Josephine Wong was sitting on the ground inside of a patch of thick forest just outside the edge area of the lava rocks. Looking at the corpse of a crab/spider creature that lunged from the tree top in an attempt to attack her but ended up being hit by one of those bone shards and got fried from the inside, Josephine Wong knew what Jianmen ment: the part of the shard where it was supposed to locate the core and dig through the creature¡¯s body to reach it was somewhat flawed and inaccurate. ¡°Josephine¡­ help...¡± Professor Kapur¡¯s voice resounded in Josephine Wong¡¯s ears. ¡°Professor!¡± Josephine Wong looked up at the tree top from which the Crab fell and immediately flew up. Professor Kapur was lying inside of a nest built on the tree top, built with dirt, tree branches and pieces of light but surprisingly sturdy bamboo. She was missing her left arm, and her legs were bloodied and broken. There were around twenty eggs around her, and a few of them looked like they were about to pop. ¡°Oh my god, Professor.¡± Josephine Wong sniffled with pain and distraught: ¡°I¡¯m gonna get you out. Let me get you out.¡± ¡°The mother¡­ it went out hunting.¡± Professor Kapur wheezed: ¡°Quick...¡± ¡°It¡¯s been handled. Let me get you out, and we¡¯ll - uh, we¡¯ll heal you.¡± Josephine Wong raised Professor Kapur up with her magic gently and grabbed a few eggs from the nest: ¡°Let¡¯s go, relax.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°The mother¡­ be careful.¡± After lifting Professor Kapur from the nest, Josephine Wong conjured up a small fireball on her right palm and tossed it onto the nest. The nest¡¯s materials were mostly dry, and the fireball was all it needed to go up in flames. Josephine Wong landed on the ground, and immediately found a relatively inconspicuous corner on the ground. Then, she took out one of the stone boxes with the lizard brain inside and opened it. The brain was white when it was inside of the soup Jianmen made, but it was brown and gooey when it came out of the stone box. Josephine Wong had no choice but to dig some part of it up and feed it to Professor Kapur, while also casting a basic healing spell trying to stop the bleeding on her missing left arm and legs. ¡°Thank you...¡± Professor Kapur swallowed some lizard brain from Josephine Wong¡¯s finger: ¡°Thank you very much, Josephine.¡± ¡°Shh, Shh, rest here.¡± Josephine Wong looked over to the direction where Jianmen was fighting the snake: ¡°I will need to disable a tracking spell first. Please concentrate and guid the healing energy through your body.¡± Professor Kapur gently nodded, and then closed her eyes and slowly went into a shallow meditative state. Josephine Wong started twirling her fingers at the air, a bright red aura flickered around her, and with each move of her fingers, a purple energy wave just blew through the aura. Sometimes, the energy wave would take a small chunk off the bright red aura, and sometimes it would take a bigger chunk of it. Eventually, after the tenth or eleventh try, she was able to finally exhaust the bright red aura, thus disabling the tracking spell the snake placed on her. A loud and ear piercing scream came from a distance, then came a loud cracking sound. ¡°Jianmen, if you¡¯re there and alive, find me in the forest at the southern side of the lava rocks, somewhere near a tree crab monster fried from the inside.¡± Josephine Wong spoke to a piece of flattened stone shaped a bit like a walkie talkie. There was no response. And Josephine Wong had to feed Professor Kapur more of the lizard brain. Its smell was a bit like that of canned sardines, but Professor Kapur¡¯s facial expression kind of showed her that she was not adverse to the taste. ¡°Who is this Jianmen?¡± Professor Kapur seemed to have recovered a bit, as she opened her eyes and asked: ¡°Is someone already here before us?¡± ¡°Yeah. And quite a lot earlier.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head with a wry smile: ¡°But let¡¯s not worry about that, let¡¯s get you fixed up first.¡± ¡°This is good. But I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll need more than healing food.¡± Professor Kapur was still quite weak: ¡°The crabs - they used some kind of destructive neural toxin to paralyze their prey - I¡¯d better start getting used to wheelchairs now.¡± ¡°We will definitely find a way. But first let¡¯s have that sucker crab mother for lunch, and its fucking eggs for dinner.¡± Josephine Wong showed Professor Kapur the eggs she gathered: ¡°We may need to test for toxins first - but I heard crabs are quite tasty when fried.¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯m sorry. It took a while to settle the snake down.¡± just this moment, the stone walkie talkie finally sounded a response: ¡°Have you ever had snake gallbladder before? It¡¯s bitter as fuck, but good for dealing with poison and toxins.¡± ¡°Gallbladder please.¡± Josephine Wong exhaled with relief and asked: ¡°What else do you have?¡± ¡°Nope, just that. Slippery bastard escaped.¡± Chapter 326 ¡°So, why and how¡¯d you get the gallbladder and not anything else?¡± after cutting a small hole on the gallbladder and started dripping the foul and bitter smelling juice from the inside into a small bowl made of lava rock, Josephine Wong asked Jianmen: ¡°You know, I¡¯m not trying to cast doubt on your judgment, but I¡¯m still curious.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a saying, ¡®Break your opponent¡¯s gallbladder, and the threat they pose shall be no more¡¯.¡± Jianmen smiled while continuing to grind the herbs inside of a rock bowl: ¡°Hmm, that doesn¡¯t translate well. It¡¯s actually a Chinese saying, and the word ¡®gallbladder¡¯ also meant ¡®guts¡¯ and ¡®courage¡¯, and ¡®morale¡¯ ...¡± ¡°Yeah, but - was that just it?¡± Josephine Wong narrowed her eyes and sighed. ¡°It¡¯s a common belief in many Asian countries and regions that the gallbladders of poisonous snakes possess great healing properties and can serve as some kind of general purpose antidote.¡± Professor Kapur said with a weak voice: ¡°It¡¯s even a traditional practice for some Chinese communities to feed their children snake gallbladders soaked in alcohol to give them a detox treatment.¡± ¡°Exactly, Professor.¡± Jianmen nodded at Professor Kapur: ¡°And, uh, since the mother crab got completely fried by one of my awesome yet overly destructive weapon, it¡¯s kinda hard to come up with a direct antidote from the toxin gland. So all we can do is use the next best option - it¡¯s bitter as fuck, but at least we can have some spicy crab later.¡± ¡°Hehe, your new friend here is funny.¡± Professor Kapur chuckled while shaking her head: ¡°But like I said, the neural toxin is pretty destructive, and it¡¯s already been hours, so ... I doubt even the first best option is gonna be good enough.¡± ¡°Why are you talking like that in front of your student hee?¡± Jianmen rolled the crushed herbs into a few tiny balls and gently placed them into the bowl of gallbladder juice: ¡°Have some hope and be a good example.¡± ¡°Sorry, sorry.¡± Professor Kapur smiled and shook her head: ¡°It¡¯s been a painful and really depressing couple of hours.¡± ¡°Okay. I am not a good chemist, but I think we¡¯re good here.¡± Josephine Wong used a simple inspection spell on the gallbladder and the crushed herb balls: ¡°I think the detoxifying properties are setting in. But I think we¡¯re still gonna need something long term...¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°The lizard brains would serve for now.¡± Jianmen gently placed his fingers on Professor Kapur¡¯s ankle and frowned after : ¡°But I hate to agree with you on this one Professor - the toxins had dissolved quite a bit of your nerves, sinews and muscles. We could stabilize your condition for now and counteract the toxin, but I think you might need a complete limb reconstruction, if you want to regain your ability to walk as soon as possible.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do nothing of the sort.¡± Professor Kapur refused immediately without a hint of doubt. ¡°Okay, then open up.¡± Jianmen scooped up a crushed herb ball covered in snake gallbladder juice with a stone spoon: ¡°If you can shut down your taste buds go ahead and do it.¡± Professor Kapur opened her mouth and took in the crushed herb ball, and struggled to swallow it: ¡°Oh my god, it actually burns ...¡± ¡°Take it in, slowly.¡± Jianmen still had his fingers on Professor Kapur¡¯s ankle: ¡°Concentrate and guide it.¡± Professor Kapur coughed, then writhed in pain as the medicine started to take effect. But she placed a small twig in her mouth so that she could bite down on it without letting her screams out. She was able to hold off the pain for a while, but eventually the pain got to her and made her pass out. ¡°We¡¯ll need a place to crash.¡± Josephine Wong said: ¡°This place is not safe.¡± ¡°I think the swamp¡¯s a good option.¡± Jianmen looked to the direction from which they came and said: ¡°This place had that crab mother, but now it has a power vacuum and it¡¯s gonna get bloody and ugly soon.¡± Josephine Wong sighed and said: ¡°Okay, agreed.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s wrap up and go.¡± ¡°Is it really that bad?¡± Josephine Wong asked as she drained the gallbladder and tried to seal it inside of a stone jar: ¡°Professor¡¯s legs, I mean.¡± ¡°It¡¯s indeed a hell of a neural toxin, I suspect the mother crab uses it to not only disable the prey but also to soften them from inside in order to feed her spawn.¡± Jianmen sighed: ¡°By normal measures it¡¯s probably gonna take decades to slowly recover. I know of some ways that could heal it or expedite the process, but they all involve either tremendous cost or really bad side effects, or at least some incredible pain. I¡¯ll maintain that limb reconstruction is probably the best option for her - sounds like you do have that kind of magic right?¡± ¡°Professor Kapur¡¯s faith would not allow her to go through that.¡± Josephine Wong sighed: ¡°And she¡¯s a really experienced mage with tremendous power at her peak, so even if she agreed to it, it¡¯s gonna be beyond difficult to reconstruct legs that won¡¯t be rejected by her body.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Jianmen thought for a short moment and said: ¡°Let¡¯s go, oh, let¡¯s grab some crab legs and save me two of those eggs, I¡¯ll see if any of them is close to hatch. We can probably extract some diluted toxin from them.¡± ¡°And food.¡± Josephine Wong looked at the now red and smoking crab monster with very visible grudge and hatred. ¡°Of course, and food.¡± Chapter 327 ¡°So we have one assistant Professor Robert Harvey, who, according to the footage of the surveillance camera in this room, was the leader of the pact.¡± inside of a secretive room in the academy hospital, Professor Barnes said to Caroline, Jason, Aimee and Thomas: ¡°One assistant Professor Karl Branston, researcher; one dedicated and tenure track researcher Taylor Kim, whom you¡¯ve shot in the shoulder and whose one arm needs a lot of repair. Interesting combination, all from different departments with different accesses.¡± ¡°So, who do they work for? Who does that Camile Jensen work for?¡± Jason asked: ¡°And - I believe that they as school faculty members would know that there¡¯s surveillance equipments here right? So they¡¯re going to bail after they¡¯ve murdered us.¡± ¡°And from what I can tell, Camile Jensen should be already on her way to leave the academy. ¡± Caroline said: ¡°If I am correct about the vibes about her, she didn¡¯t really intend to bring the three with him did she?¡± ¡°From what I can tell, no. And I would even venture to say that the leader, assistant Professor Robert Harvey knew that as well. But he still came here.¡± Glenda Grimes shook her head and said: ¡°Something tells me that¡¯s not love, we need to see what Dorothea could find out.¡± ¡°Aww, I was hoping that there¡¯d be something more romantic going on there.¡± Thomas flipped through some of the documents and records Professor Barnes and Glenda Grimes gave him and Aimee: ¡°But this looks quite innocent - I can¡¯t find a pattern here. I¡¯m afraid our civilian detective knowledge and experience would require more intel, Professor, Ms. Grimes.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, I¡¯m not sure getting you more involved would be a good idea. You¡¯re barely magic wielders yet.¡± Glenda Grimes shook her head and said. ¡°Ouch, Ms. Grimes, that stung a little.¡± Thomas chuckled: ¡°I did just shoot a friggin wind mage, okay? That¡¯s pretty impressive. I could¡¯ve killed him!¡± ¡°Ugh, does Jensen family operate some kind of gang slash underground crime business?¡± Aimee closed the notes and records and asked. ¡°Well¡­ not exactly, why?¡± Glenda Grimes asked. ¡°That¡¯s my suspicion.¡± Aimee scratched her jaw and said: ¡°On the surface they seem to have very little connection with each other. But Camile Jensen - she¡¯s a Jensen, right? I¡¯ve heard something about the Jensen family other than the time we had to face them in student duel. What if Camile Jensen is some kind of handler to these three guys here? And she faked some kind of orders from the higher ups to trick the three of them into taking care of us while she bailed because we somehow spooked her?¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Kind of a cowardly and shitty move for a handler.¡± Thomas scoffed and said: ¡°But that at least tells us that she¡¯s not experienced?¡± ¡°The Jensen family is a family with a really complicated history - they¡¯ve got their fair share of wonderful law enforcement agents, investigators and criminology experts, and their fair share of psychopathic criminals, terrorists and even a few necromancers.¡± Glenda Grimes explained: ¡°And because of that they have tried really hard to stay away from anything that could be construed as impropriety or criminality.¡± ¡°Which means as a general practice one shouldn¡¯t put a Jensen pass on being a potential criminal.¡± Professor Barnes scoffed, but his words only earned him a smack on the shoulder from Glenda Grimes: ¡°What?¡± ¡°You knights are just incredible.¡± Glenda Grimes shook her head then turned to Caroline, Jason, Aimee and Thomas: ¡°Yeah, sorry about that. Hope you understand that we don¡¯t hold individuals accountable for the sins of their family.¡± ¡°Well, Branston talked, they are not trained operatives.¡± just this moment, Professor Dorothea Clarkson walked into the room and threw a pair of gloves into the garbage bin in the corner of the room: ¡°They are just recruits on payroll, constantly stealing precious material and important intel and sending them outside. In the form of returned books.¡± ¡°So Camile Jensen is indeed their handler.¡± Professor Barnes said: ¡°A really shitty one as well.¡± ¡°No, she¡¯s not. Technically she¡¯s the one who handles the delivery of goods and some level of field support, but she was not the one who hands out the orders.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson said: ¡°Still need time to break the other two, maybe we can learn more then.¡± ¡°What is with the name Branston?¡± Jason frowned and whispered to Caroline. ¡°And what is Professor bitchy mc-witchy doing with Professor Barnes and Ms. Grimes?¡± Caroline asked in a low voice. ¡°She and us used to be a team.¡± Glenda Grimes¡¯s voice resounded in Caroline and Jason¡¯s ears: ¡°Also, better use a voice concealing spell next time. I bet she could hear you even if you whispered.¡± Caroline and Jason turned to look at Professor Dorothea Clarkson, just in time to see her narrowing her eyes at them. ¡°Anyways.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson sat down on a chair and asked: ¡°I could let them stew for a while before meeting them again, or transport them to an actual interrogation room - I know there is technically none in the academy, but I have one in my office and I will be happy to lend it out.¡± ¡°Wait, are we keeping this hush hush?¡± Thomas picked up something from the conversation: ¡°Why are we keeping this down? Shouldn¡¯t we alert the academy? I mean, we already have two headmasters here!¡± ¡°The situation here is delicate. And the less people know the better.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson said: ¡°We don¡¯t know how many people are also involved. So we need to keep a low profile for now, until we find out what their agenda is and who they work for, and how they are related to the circulation of the toxic materials - this is assuming that it is indeed your questions that spooked Camile Jensen.¡± ¡°But we¡¯ve gotta hurry right? They still have their day jobs to attend to, people might get suspicious if they¡¯re missing for too long.¡± Aimee asked. ¡°Well, a little side intel could go a long way.¡± Dorothea Clarkson lit up a cigarette and said with a coy smile: ¡°Tony, you have your little side investigation with Randall, why not share a little with the class?¡± Chapter 328 ¡°I can¡¯t tell you anything without Professor Collins agreeing to it.¡± Professor Barnes said: ¡°I¡¯m gonna need to call him.¡± ¡°No worries, I just asked him to come here.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson said. ¡°What? Why involve more people here?¡± Thomas almost jumped: ¡°I thought this needs to be hush hush!¡± ¡°Relax, Randall can be trusted.¡± Professor Barnes nodded: ¡°We already have two headmasters here, so what¡¯s the harm in bringing in a third one? I think if eventually we¡¯re gonna let him in on this, then the sooner the better.¡± Thomas and Aimee turned to Glenda Grimes, who nodded at them and gave them an assuring look. ¡°So, now that¡¯s sorta settled, please let us know something, since we helped catch three potentially very dangerous spies.¡± Caroline stepped forward and asked: ¡°This kinda proved that we¡¯re not responsible for bringing in the contaminated material right? Mind if you could drop the bullshit hearing?¡± ¡°No.¡± Professor Barnes, Professor Dorothea Clarkson and Glenda Grimes said at the same time. ¡°What?¡± Jason protested: ¡°Why? Ask Ms. Wong! She could definitely vouch for us!¡± ¡°It¡¯s not what you think.¡± Glenda Grimes said: ¡°Josephine would be sending someone over as well, as your ¡®counselor¡¯. And you don¡¯t need to worry about it at all - all you need to do is to come to the hearing on time, preferably a bit earlier.¡± ¡°What? She didn¡¯t tell us that.¡± Caroline frowned and looked at Jason, who shrugged with a confused look on his face. ¡°It just happened.¡± Professor Barnes said, and she looked around in the room at Glenda Grimes and Professor Dorothea Clarkson: ¡°And uh, I think I still need to tell you that I would like to thank you for¡­ you know, leaving your medicine in Professor Kapur¡¯s office.¡± ¡°Professor Kapur? What happened!?¡± Caroline frowned and stared at Professor Barnes: ¡°Is she okay?¡± ¡°She¡¯s more than okay.¡± Glenda Grimes patted Caroline¡¯s shoulder and smiled: ¡°In fact, she said she¡¯s feeling quite good after being fed the medicine from both your jars. Which totally makes up for the fact that you led two pieces of shit agents into her office.¡± The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°What?!¡± Caroline and Jason raised their voices at the same time. ¡°Alright my dear colleagues, this¡¯d better be worth my time. Can¡¯t leave a top priority and well funded research project in the hands of research assistants and air head supervisors.¡± just this moment, Professor Randall Collins, the headmaster of Anderson House came into the room in a storm: ¡°Oh, and - students, what can I help you with? And since when do we involve students in top secret stuff?¡± ¡°Professor Collins, these are Aimee, Thomas, Caroline and Jason.¡± Professor Barnes introduced the four students in the room to Professor Randall Collins: ¡°And, uh, students, this is Professor Randall Collins, headmaster of the Anderson House, our best expert in Energy Theory and Energy Construct Theory.¡± ¡°You forgot Theories on Energy Signature and Radiation.¡± Professor Randall Collins nodded at the four students in the room: ¡°Nice to meet you, but can you explain the reason why you¡¯re here? You didn¡¯t get hurt right?¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t, but not for the lack of trying on those suckers¡¯ parts.¡± Professor Barnes said. ¡°Ah, cool, so you¡¯re still up for the hearing right? We can¡¯t do this without you. We¡¯ll need you on the stand to bait them.¡± Professor Randal Collins sat down on the side in the air and asked. ¡°Uh, Randall, we still haven¡¯t told them yet.¡± Glenda Grimes frowned and said. ¡°Oh I¡¯m sorry ... Yikes.¡± ¡°Okay, Randall, I asked you here to give everyone a little debrief on our investigation.¡± Professor Barnes said. ¡°Um, okay? What do you want me to say?¡± Professor Randall Collins took a look at Professor Dorothea Clarkson. ¡°Well, to save time you can skip the part where you are doing this investigation and probing my staff and students without telling me because you¡¯re worried I couldn¡¯t keep a secret.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson blinked at both Professor Barnes and Professor Randall Collins: ¡°And just tell me what you found.¡± Glenda Grimes shook her head: ¡°Dorothea, let¡¯s not...¡± ¡°Oh, nono, I would LOVE to hear about the reasons on why I am not to be trusted with this information, okay? I understand it¡¯s not a good time now, but I would love to hear it some time later...¡± ¡°Assistant Professor Matthew Vyn!¡± Professor Randall Collins sensed the tension and immediately yelled out a name. The room went silent, even Professor Dorothea Clarkson. ¡°Vyn¡­ that¡¯s a rare name right? Why does it sound so familiar?¡± Thomas asked Aimee with a low vice. ¡°The first victims from the unsolved serial murder. Almost half the family got slaughtered.¡± Aimee whispered back: ¡°Not a common name, but not super rare either.¡± ¡°Be extra careful there.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson said very slowly: ¡°You know that you¡¯re talking about a very pristine and promising scholar in my house.¡± ¡°Hence why I don¡¯t want you involved.¡± Professor Barnes sighed. ¡°Okay! Okay! Please elaborate.¡± Caroline had to budge in: ¡°Let¡¯s just talk, and let things out in the air shall we? Nobody gets offended or pissed, okay? At least not while we¡¯re here.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson flicked her fingers and said: ¡°Right, you¡¯re right, civilian girl. Randall, spill.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve started our investigation ever since we heard of that Shapeshifting Hog from the hunting ground with traces of Kekugora in its system.¡± Professor Randall Collins said: ¡°There were two students who were almost fatally injured that day. Not sure if any of you heard of that report.¡± ¡°Yeah, Caroline saved them.¡± Jason chuckled. ¡°Oh, is that you?¡± Professor Randall Collins smiled at Caroline: ¡°Now I¡¯m starting to get it - anyway, we actually started looking into the hunting ground records, including animal and beast population survey logs, plant and vegetation records, even entry records and we actually found a lot of abnormalities and inconsistencies that are not explainable under normal circumstances - ¡± ¡°What Randall was trying to say is that - ¡± Professor Barnes cut Professor Randall Collins off: ¡°Someone¡¯s been cooking the books, starting from hunting ground entry records, to plant and vegetation population records.¡± Chapter 329 ¡°Okay, I could understand the part with plant and vegetation population records.¡± Jason asked: ¡°And even with beast and animal population records, but why entry records? Can¡¯t they just go in without letting the rangers know?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s because a few weeks back the academy mandated that a tracking spell be cast at the perimeter of the hunting ground, as well as the borders of the various regions and areas inside. Anyone comes in or goes out, their entry and exit would be automatically logged. And the normal entry registration measures are just theatre.¡± Glenda Grimes said: ¡°So, it would make sense for anyone trying to do something illicit inside the hunting ground by just forging entry registration, instead of just sneaking in.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± Professor Randall Collins said: ¡°Unless our spies are really really good at bypassing those kinds of spells, forging the records is just the easier option. And by comparing the logs auto generated from the spell and the entry and exit logs from the official books, we found quite a lot of inconsistencies. These inconsistencies include unnatural gaps between the entry or exit timestamps on the logs and the official ranger entries, and occasional omission of entries or exits from the ranger records. ¡°So we tracked down a couple of the most suspicious hunting ground rangers, and we did some digging as well as some surveillance, and we were able to crack a few of them and kinda sorta recruit them. And some of the things they did were extra illegal, compared to their other illegal stuff.¡± ¡°What kinds of illegal stuff?¡± Aimee asked: ¡°And how serious are they?¡± ¡°The less serious offences include letting unqualified groups and individuals go in for a fee.¡± Professor Barnes said: ¡°And with evidence of these, we worked our way up their criminal enterprise ladder and found that - eventually, we were able to take it from them that they had some contact in the Department of Herbology and Medicine, who also seemed to be using, or in more appropriate term, abusing the resources in the hunting ground as a breeding place for restricted and illegal plants and vegetation, like Kekugora and Spinal Oleander.¡± ¡°Okay, so some of the contaminants might have come from the hunting ground?¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson said: ¡°And let me guess, that someone in the Herbology and Medicine Department, you were suspecting Vyn?¡±This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Well, not at first.¡± Professor Randall Collins said: ¡°And no, we still believe that the contaminants came from external sources, by the time we confiscated and destroyed the illegal plants they were still pretty far from maturity - our hunting grounds are fertile but it¡¯s still no dedicated cultivation places. But from the traces of evidence we gathered, we were able to narrow down the prime suspect from almost everyone who has access to the restricted seeds and pollen samples - and it is Assistant Professor Vyn.¡± ¡°But he was later hospitalized along with Professor Felman. So we had to pause and start looking at other angles for now. ¡± Professor Barnes said: ¡°And unfortunately, just when we started on different angles, we found something quite disturbing - there was, apparently, a secret passageway to an unregistered near earth realm. We still don¡¯t know where this passageway is, how to enter it or where and what that realm is, but I¡¯d think it bears sharing.¡± ¡°Secret passageway, huh?¡± Glenda Grimes exchanged looks with Professor Dorothea Clarkson. ¡°What is with the magical schools and these frigging secret chambers and passageways and tunnels man?¡± Jason scratched his head: ¡°Do we have a giant serpent in there as well?¡± ¡°Well, there¡¯s apparently SOME kind of beast guarding it from the inside. From what we¡¯ve heard, there is some kind of way to bypass the beast, but we¡¯ve yet to find out what, naturally, since we are not not certain where it is. We¡¯ve only been able to extract from the dirty rangers that there is probably an entrance to that passageway in the hunting ground.¡± Professor Randall Collins said: ¡°And - I gotta tell you, we need to warn that writer, one just should not abuse the inside scoop this way - ¡± ¡°The Barclay Passage.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson and Glenda Grimes said at the same time. ¡°So - so you knew?¡± Professor Barnes asked with a heavy frown on his face. ¡°It¡¯s always been some kind of a low profile legend in the academy.¡± Glenda Grimes shrugged: ¡°It¡¯s one of those stories, like someone kept a crown jewel of concealing spell theories, or that Venus Flytraps are weirdly sensitive to certain kinds of dark energy, or that certain audit students in the past beat up the high and mighty Tamil Brooke during an argument after a heated debate about magical energy theory.¡± ¡°That ¡­ that might¡¯ve actually happened.¡± Caroline whispered and exchanged looks with Jason. ¡°But the thing is, a lot of these stories have some truths to them. It¡¯s always the case, it was the case with the hidden schematics of the floating castle, and it was almost the case with the presence of Realm Greenrock and the resources in it.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson turned to Professor Barnes and Professor Randall Collins: ¡°People have been casually searching for it based on the theory that it actually exists. I can¡¯t say for sure how close anyone has ever gotten - but if you have reason to believe that the spies locked up in the other room are connected, maybe I can go ask them about it?¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan.¡± Glenda Grimes agreed. ¡°And, Mr. Lin, Ms. Baker, detectives.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson turned to the four students in the room: You can be excused. What¡¯s about to come next will be officially the classified affairs of the Grant Academy administration.¡± ¡°What? No!¡± Thomas and Aimee protested at the same time. Chapter 330 ¡°Hold on there, I think we still have some questions to ask them.¡± before any of the four students said anything, Glenda Grimes walked up between Professor Dorothea Clarkson and the four students: ¡°They were the targets of these spies, and they were possibly involved with the other thing, and they also have their upcoming hearing which might be substantially connected to what we¡¯re dealing with here, so I think they have the right to know at least something.¡± ¡°Glenda, I think they are on a need to know basis here. And please don¡¯t reveal any more information about the hearing.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson said. ¡°I agree with Glenda - I mean Miss. Grimes - they deserve to know, at least about the hearing.¡± Professor Barnes said. ¡°I kinda knew you were gonna say that, Tony.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson sighed: ¡°But for the record there¡¯s no way we should entrust this kind of information to students. It¡¯s a security risk for us and for them - if they¡¯re gonna play their part then they should just play their part as they were supposed to.¡± ¡°Professor, I really don¡¯t appreciate this kind of sudden requirement of secrecy.¡± Jason shook his head and said with a stern voice: ¡°We¡¯ve fought these spies, twice, okay? I think we can definitely handle whatever information you can throw our way. Not to mention the fact that we have some important information you probably need to know as well!¡± ¡°Twice? What do you mean you fought them twice?¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson stared at Jason. ¡°Some guy wearing a pair of freaky blue glasses.¡± Thomas said: ¡°He was stalking Jason, and we helped him corner this guy. A really creepy dude, we didn¡¯t tell the academy because we were suspecting the same - that these people, whoever they are, had some connection to the academy administration, at least enough to call this upcoming bullshit hearing. Oh yeah, and there was another really sick attempt to use some kind of hypnosis spying spell on Caroline here while she was on a hunt.¡± ¡°Blue glasses, you say?¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson exchanged looks with Glenda Grimes and Professor Barnes. ¡°Yeah, some kind of enchanted blue glasses, it¡¯s like it could actually scan me and my information just by looking at me.¡± Jason said. ¡°So it is indeed them.¡± Glenda Grimes nodded: ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone else in the academy has a pair of Maykor¡¯s Sight? What do you say, Dorothea?¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Okay, limited information.¡± Professor Dorothea sighed. Then, Caroline, Jason, Aimee and Thomas told the professors almost everything - about the people that tried to find some kind of ¡°codex¡± or ¡°key¡± from the academy, and their suspicion that they have something these spies want. But they intentionally left out the fact that the silver box they collected from the Martin House Warehouse was probably the one they were looking for, and the reasons are quite simple: they still didn¡¯t trust the academy administration fully, and the headmistress of the Martin House was present, who they had very little doubt would try to confiscate the silver box on the spot. And much to their dismay and disappointment, none of the faculty members in the room knew anything about this ¡°codex¡± or ¡°key¡± they were looking for - they were confused and alarmed, but none of them knew or even had a clue on what the ¡°codex¡± was. ¡°I think this might be the part where we tell you about Professor Kapur.¡± Professor Barnes scratched his jaw and said while looking over the faces of other faculty members in the room: ¡°You remember Professor Kapur?¡± ¡°Yeah, we asked for her help just the other day.¡± Caroline frowned: ¡°I had been wanting to ask this - what¡¯s the deal with the medicine we left at Professor Kapur¡¯s office?¡± ¡°So it¡¯s indeed medicine? It¡¯s not something else?¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson asked. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s medicine from our mas - I meant a power wielder friend of ours.¡± Caroline answered with her arms crossed. ¡°Well, it turns out things sometimes work out in mysterious ways. ¡± Glenda Grimes answered: ¡°Those two spies, did have connections to the administration. In fact, they were hired off the books by the administration to help with the investigation into the contaminants. But as it turned out they had other ulterior motives and they ended up targeting you, presumably due to the ¡®codex¡¯ they thought you had. And they pressured the academy into holding the hearing. Somehow they caught wind that you went to Professor Kapur for help. And for some reason they were under the impression that you left some of your personal effects in Professor Kapur¡¯s office, which they later attempted to tamper with in order to better frame you. They ran into Profesor Kapur and then had to improvise - they seemed to under the impression that your medicines were actually poison, so they forcefully fed Professor Kapur your medicine and mixed it their own poison -¡± ¡°Fuck!¡± ¡°Motherfuckers!¡± Jason and Caroline cursed at the same time as they looked each other in the eyes. ¡°So the hearing was pushed by them? And the academy agreed?¡± Aimee frowned: ¡°That is just so¡­ wrong!¡± ¡°No, they pushed for immediate forfeiture of your personal effects, by invoking the emergency clauses in the academy bylaws.¡± Professor Barnes said: ¡°And the hearing was a compromise.¡± All the four students became visibly agitated and worried at the same time. None of them said a word for about a minute. ¡°So, now that we know this hearing is gonna be bullshit, you instead wanted us to still go to the hearing, play our part and bait them?¡± Jason took a deep breath and asked. ¡°Indeed, and at the same time we will try to have someone break into their personal living quarters.¡± Professor Randall Collins answered with a smile, seemingly completely unfazed by the tension in the air: ¡°I assume that you would be happy to do it right? I mean, who would give up a chance to confront the ones who frame them knowing that it was actually the opponents that are getting screwed?¡± ¡°So, what do you say?¡± Professor Barnes asked: ¡°Are you in?¡± Chapter 331 Grant Academy Hunting Ground, a figure in a cloak was traveling unaccompanied through the woods and grass. This figure was none other than Camile Jensen, once one of the many librarians working part time in the academy library, now a fugitive at large - almost. ¡°Robert, answer.¡± Camile Jensen took out an artifact shaped like some kind of slightly square pocket watch and spoke to the artifact: ¡°Robert, once you¡¯re done, get outta there and meet me in the hunting ground, the spot I told you about. Get outta there and meet me here.¡± No one answered, and there was not even a signal of acknowledgement - the artifact was supposed to blink twice once the other end received the message and the message was heard by whoever held it. ¡°Come on, Robert, you schmuck.¡± Camile Jensen hid behind a tree and tried the artifact once again: ¡°Come on! Robert, answer dammit!¡± Just this moment, something ruffled the bushes on the other side of the tree. Camile Jensen was startled, and she immediately cast another layer of concealing spell on herself, which did not make her feel any relief or relaxation. This was not just because she was on the run, but also because she knew that there were creatures in this forest that could still detect traces of people even when they were under the protection of her best concealing spells. And shortly after her putting another of concealing spells on herself, a fluffy head snuck out from the bushes, with its long nose twitching and sniffing in the air. Camile Jensen looked out from the tree, and all she saw was the angry face of a racoon, the racoon had some silver fur on its forehead, and the size of its head was even bigger than that of a fully grown bear. Even from quite a distance, Camile could smell the foul breath coming from the racoon¡¯s mouth. With a flash of silvery blue light, the racoon appeared right next to Camile Jensen, its tail almost swiping over Camile Jensen¡¯s shoulder. The racoon crouched lower with all its four feet on the ground, its nose still sniffing the air and the ground. Camile Jensen carefully and slowly moved away from her position, then she gently tapped her boots and started backing away from the giant Blinker Racoon Protector. Something looking like black leopard with silvery shine on its fur leapt out from the dark and lunged at the Blinker Racoon Protector. The Blinker Racoon Protector fought back, and the two beasts clashed against each other. The fight between these two beasts was loud and distracting for every other beast around this area, and Camile Jensen took advantage of this opportunity and ran far away.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Fucking hell Robert, answer!¡± Camile Jensen took out the artifact once again: ¡°God! Be a fucking guide like you said!¡± Something inside of Camile Jensen¡¯s pocket buzzed just like a civilian mobile phone, when she took the thing out, it was the medallion she had Andrew Brooke brought in for him. And when she took it out, she saw a countdown number on the back of the medallion. ¡°Robert, you¡¯d better be here in due time.¡± Camile Jensen sighed and sped up her steps. It was only a few minutes before she reached her destination - a small creek flowing on the land of the hunting ground, one of many, not the longest, nor the deepest, but one that had a small vortex, created by two curiously placed rocks in the water. Camile Jensen reached into the water, and after about half a minute she found another rock, shaped quite similar to the two that created the small vortex. Then, she took the rock and placed it into the creek, forming an equilateral triangle with the other two rocks. With the added rock, the vortex made of water started growing both in size and in depth, eventually becoming some kind of energy vortex and portal into a deep hole. It was not long before its diameter expanded over the width of the entire creek, and its depth went deeper than the bed of the creek, which caused the creek to be completely cut off and the water went straight into a freefall down the portal. ¡°Robert, last chance.¡± Camile Jensen took out the medallion, opened it and took out the small glass vial inside. After a few breaths, Camile Jensen opened up the vial, took a small sip, then poured the rest on the ground. The liquid vaporized almost instantly when it touched the ground, and coated her entire body with some kind of strange faint scent. ¡°Okay - 3, 2 -¡± Camile Jensen stood on the edge of the portal and took several deep breaths, ¡° - 1.¡± The fall was long, and a force field was present that gradually slowed Camile Jensen down when she got closer to the bottom of the hole she fell in. When she reached the bottom, all she needed to do was slightly bend her knee to absorb the impact. A low groan came from the inner parts of the cave, and a pair of bright yellow eyes came along with the groan. Then, one more pair of eyes appeared, then another. Four heads - one that of a giant snake, one that of a giant turtle, one that of a really ugly rooster, and one that was barely a head at all, which looked more like a four-lipped flesh eating plant with sharp teeths and long venomous looking tentacles inside, and its eyes were on the tips of two separate tentacles on the top of the plant. Looking right at the four heads, Camile Jensen was pretty certain that any of them could easily devour her without even having to chew. The body to which the four heads were attached to seemed to be just a giant disgusting blob of grey flesh and moving roots and tree branches. Even though Camile Jensen used a spell to help her guard against potential stench from this beast, she could still sense the smell of rotten flesh and drying blood. ¡°Fuck - oh fuck.¡± Camile Jensen tried her hardest to calm down, but her heart was still pounding like a drum: ¡°Fuck fuck fuck fuck...¡± The monster¡¯s three animal heads sniffed the air at the same time, then slowly retreated back to wherever it was before. Camile Jensen looked at her medallion once again, and the countdown continued. Chapter 332 Almost midnight, Grant Academy Hospital, inside of a semi-quarantine room, a man was lying in his bed, reading a book, and on the book cover, was the figure of a woman in skimpy clothing in a seductive pose. The title of the book: ¡°Feverish Night Streaks¡±. ¡°Assistant Professor Vyn.¡± just this moment, two individuals wearing hospital nurse uniforms came into the room: ¡°Sorry for dropping by unannounced, but we needed to talk to you about something - about why we¡¯re here.¡± ¡°Oh, two nurses, but one male nurse, how disappointing.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn laid down his book: ¡°No offense, but I would rather take another load of Kekugora powder than have you serve me.¡± ¡°I am NOT going to serve you. But I can give you a sponge bath if you¡¯re so inclined.¡± the male agent sat down and said: ¡°If I hadn¡¯t known better I¡¯d be fooled. That¡¯s a pretty good pervert act.¡± ¡°Well, nowadays if you want people to intentionally ignore you and not ask many questions, if any at all, this would be a good cover. One of the better ones at least, as opposed to stern no-nonsense investigative agents willing to take a side job.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn handed his book to the male agent: ¡°You want this? Fresh off the black market before the lockdown, one of the better entertainment options since we¡¯re still in lockdown. Unless you got access to one of those board member channels.¡± ¡°No - no, thank you, I am not interested in porn - for now.¡± ¡°You see?¡± Assistant Professor Vyn smiled and flipped open the book, showing pages of array designs and maps inside the book: ¡°Technically I shouldn¡¯t even have this. The perv cover works for almost everything on almost all occasions. Now, what do you wanna talk about?¡± ¡°Some of our contacts in the academy contacted us. We¡¯re afraid our covers are close to being made, or even worse, already made.¡± the female agent said: ¡°We had to pull an inpromptu murder and frame our targets with it.¡± ¡°What happened to the original plan?¡± ¡°We are trying to plant things that would aid us in the upcoming hearing - and with the successful establishment of guilt we can get access to our targets¡¯ personal effects and retrieve the item we were sent here for. The owner of the place we were trying to set our targets showed up unexpectedly.¡± the male agent said: ¡°We saw her leave, but she somehow returned by just showing up inside of her office.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Short distance recall portal - that would be Professor Kapur, right? You killed her and framed it on your targets?¡± Assistant Professor Vyn started rubbing the bridge of his nose: ¡°Are you certain you set everything up correctly?¡± ¡°We are certain, the condensed compound Kandera Wyvern toxin would become incurable after just a few minutes.¡± the female agent said: ¡°Not even the best healer could help it.¡± ¡°You have to be extra certain.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn sighed: ¡°Do you even know who she is?¡± The male agent stammered: ¡°We - we know we should''ve looked into it first - we sorta found out AFTER the fact - ¡± ¡°Okay, so you¡¯d better wrap up early and leave as soon as possible, I can try to help you set those up.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn said: ¡°And you better REALLY hurry up - the passageway is getting more and more unstable by the minute, and there¡¯s only that many energy stones we can get our hands on.¡± ¡°What passageway?¡± the female agent asked. ¡°Think of it as a secret tunnel through which you can get in and out of the academy.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn said: ¡°Not many people know about it, even few know how to pass safely, I happen to be one of them. Whatever that hearing is for, whenever it¡¯s supposed to happen - you better do it well and do it soon.¡± ¡°I¡¯m gonna ask them to move the hearing up, preferably tomorrow.¡± the male agent said: ¡°They¡¯re not gonna like this, but it¡¯s gotta do.¡± ¡°You also have to deal with all those who are potentially aware of your identities.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn said: ¡°Who knows? Who¡¯s suspected you? Who may have suspected you?¡± ¡°Aside from those who are in the administration?¡± the female agent said: ¡°Our targets - they are students, we¡¯ve engaged them previously, quite tough and well-trained for audit students - too well trained actually, for us to be sneaky. We couldn¡¯t really seriously lay our hands on them. And they seemed to have two friends who are also from the civilian world. Our contacts told us they have been doing some kind of investigation on their own, so I would imagine they shared their concerns with each other.¡± ¡°So deal with the other two civilian students, use them as leverage.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn said: ¡°You should know what to do.¡± ¡°Yes, and all we need your help on is our extraction, and a little bit of information.¡± the female agent said. ¡°Shoot, what information do you need?¡± ¡°We want to know who the other players were - it seemed like they¡¯ve messed with one of our contacts and she¡¯s completely offline now.¡± the male agent took a deep breath and said: ¡°They are compromising our mission here - I know it¡¯s against the agreement, the protocol or whatever, but we need to find them, they must know where my contact is, she¡¯s a core piece to our plan, and if they messed with her it puts the whole plan in jeopardy - ¡± ¡°Will do.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll draw up a list of other players in the academy.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn said: ¡°But you¡¯d better complete the mission. My sister - she wanted this for so long, if I could, I would probably do it myself. And if you couldn¡¯t, I happen to know what fresh, juicy carcases of mages and wizards could stabilize and satiate the beast more than energy stones ever could. It was just way too addicting so we had to put it on rehab. So DON¡¯T disappoint my sister, the magic world¡¯s disappointed her enough. The man-hunts, the endless investigation, the secret inquiries and even assassinations - ¡± ¡°... understood.¡± Chapter 333 Inside Aimee and Thomas¡¯ joint living quarters, Caroline, Jason, Aimee and Thomas were sitting around a table, with a couple of takeout boxes from the academy canteen, and a lot of notes. ¡°So, how do you think this will work out?¡± Caroline asked, looking at Jason, Aimee, then Thomas: ¡°That¡¯s a hard trap to set up - I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll buy it that easily. They will definitely try something right?¡± ¡°I still vote that we remain on our own lockdown and let the administration handle it.¡± Jason said: ¡°If what Professor Bitchy mc-witchy extracted from those spies is correct, then there¡¯s apparently more than one hidden society in the academy. And Camile Jensen? Apparently working for almost all of them!¡± ¡°And I would still vote that you should ask your girlfriend.¡± Aimee sighed: ¡°She¡¯s a Jensen, she would know something.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯re that close, okay? And I would say, seriously, I don¡¯t wanna drag her into it. Isn¡¯t being in the Jensen family hard enough?¡± Jason immediately refused: ¡°Also, why do you think she would talk to us?¡± ¡°That depends on how far along this relationship you are.¡± Thomas sighed and scratched his nose: ¡°We do not have to ask for the details of Camile Jensen¡¯s criminality, we can just ask about her daily routines, prefered locations of work and hideout, etc.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think she would be at any of those places, if I were her I would be at the Barclay Passage, trying to get out of the academy.¡± Caroline said: ¡°And I would say that tomorrow¡¯s hearing - if they could really reschedule it to tomorrow, and they end up getting enough information from those two ¡®agents¡¯, it would potentially be a huge concern for all of the hidden players. So I kinda agree with Jason here. Let the administration worry about Camile Jensen and her cohorts. We should be worried about what to do AFTER the hearing.¡± Aimee¡¯s phone rang, and when she pulled it out, it turned out it was a call from Josephine Wong. ¡°Hello Ms. Wong, you¡¯re on speaker.¡± Aimee immediately answered and put the phone on the center of the table: ¡°What do you have for us?¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Just some quick updates.¡± Josephine Wong coughed: ¡°I was just briefed on the plans, and I would be helping you as well. When the hearing is done, immediately head back to your living quarters and lock up. I will be working on extraction details for you and bring you to safety.¡± ¡°Oh god - can¡¯t a cultivator catch a break and finish the audit program for once!¡± Jason joked, but then shut up after seeing the expression on the faces of others at the table. ¡°I appreciate your dedication to the program Jason, but it¡¯s just a degree at the end of the day.¡± Josephine Wong chuckled: ¡°And all four of you will head back to the inn and await further instructions.¡± ¡°What - is this necessary? Are we gonna be in some kind of witness protection program here?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°You can think of it this way." Josephine Wong hesitated for a while, then asked: ¡°Caroline, Jason, how¡¯s your isolation spell? Can you secure and isolate your room?¡± ¡°Ummm - I am ashamed to say, but I am going through an array phase and my non-attack spells are kinda lacking.¡± ¡°Yeah, me too.¡± Caroline scratched her head: ¡°Not - not the array phase, though, I was having a hunting phase.¡± ¡°Arrays are good enough - I will text you a pattern. Just hand write it down on a piece of paper and follow the flow.¡± After just a few seconds, Jason got a text message with a picture inside - it was not a super complex pattern, and he was able to easily replicate it on a piece of paper by hand. When he infused his Xuanli into this piece of paper, a silver bubble appeared and enclosed the space around them. ¡°Okay, I think it worked.¡± Jason said. ¡°Good, good. And keep this among us and do not share with anyone - here¡¯s some sensitive information to help you understand the situation.¡± Josephine Wong paused for a short while and then they heard the sound of a cup landing on a table: ¡°Aimee, Thomas, you¡¯ve heard of the Exalted Bondsmen right?¡± ¡°Yeah - it¡¯s sort of an urban legend right? I remember those FBI agents mentioned it a couple of times before.¡± Aimee answered: ¡°It¡¯s some kind of network of superpowered mercenaries.¡± ¡°They do exist, they are exactly what you¡¯ve heard, and they are in fact semi-legitimate.¡± Josephine Wong answered: ¡°Many in the magical world are connected to it. And since it is - how do I put this - a sewn together abomination of the grey areas between the magical world and the non-magical world, which includes the world of super powered beings that are not magic wielders, there are a lot of outright criminal dealings being brokered in the network. And it is our suspicion that these spies you encountered are connected to some powerful individuals active in the network. And they might even be directly under their employment, instead of plain old contractors. The existence of these spies are no secret, they are usually in charge of recruitment and intelligence gathering, it is however quite rare for them to steal things from the academy directly. So whatever this ¡®codex¡¯ or ¡®key¡¯ is, it must be quite important.¡± ¡°And you are afraid that by helping to set this trap up and in turn potentially foiling the plan, we could face retaliation from other spies even when we¡¯re out of the academy? ¡± Thomas asked. ¡°Yes. And I am not sure what you were planning to do before the hearing, but please be careful of your safety. If you don¡¯t have any plans, stay in a secure location and wait until the hearing starts.¡± Chapter 334 ¡°You look really good in a - well, suit.¡± standing in front of the door to a booked auditorium inside the common building, Laura Jensen helped Jason straighten his tie a bit and said: ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like it fits too well, but - it¡¯s good enough. I don¡¯t think the hearing committee would care anyway - you are innocent and have nothing to hide, just remember that. Be confident in your answers and don¡¯t doubt yourself or your story.¡± ¡°Thanks, Laura, you¡¯re awesome.¡± Jason smiled like a nervous little kid: ¡°Well, I certainly grew in height since my parents bought this suit for me prior to me going off to Engineering School.¡± ¡°Well, I meant mostly the shoulder width and the much tighter arm fit, but sure, the height as well.¡± Laura Jensen nodded and smiled, then she turned around and looked at Caroline, who was talking with Aimee and Thomas: ¡°Not to bring you down, but I think Caroline¡¯s suit looks much nicer than yours. I could seriously develop a girl crush on her.¡± ¡°Laura, I - I have a question.¡± Jason struggled for a while and said. ¡°Really? No comment on that girl crush statement at all?¡± Laura Jensen chuckled: ¡°Sure, what¡¯s up?¡± ¡°I - I wanna know a little bit about Camile, the - the librarian?¡± ¡°What? Why?¡± Laura Jensen narrowed her eyes: ¡°Where is this going?¡± ¡°No, please don¡¯t misunderstand - I am so not meaning what you might think I am meaning - ¡± Jason immediately stepped back, which brought the attention of Caroline, Aimee and Thomas onto him: ¡°The truth is - I am trying to be a good wingman, for Thomas there. He had a major crush on Camile, you know, the red beret, and red robe?¡± ¡°Really, right now?!¡± ¡°Well - I may just get expelled or locked up after this hearing, so I¡¯d figure - ¡± ¡°Okay, okay.¡± Laura Jensen sighed: ¡°I guess you are right, and you are a good guy and a good friend. And, ugh, we still have some time, so why not? Hrmm - what do you wanna know?¡± ¡°Well, aside from the usual ¡®did Camile mention my friend Thomas¡¯ question, I am interested - I mean Thomas is interested in her relationship status, personal interests, some common routines, and - uh, maybe secret love for something weird, dangerous or even unsavory?¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Umm - okay?¡± Laura Jensen played with her hair a little: ¡°First of all, bad news for your friend Thomas, she has been pretty close to Andrew Brooke, the third son of Tamil Brooke, one of the most powerful members in the academy board. So, tough competition there. And she likes excitement, adventures and research. Kind of a ballsy - kickass and badass type.¡± ¡°Adventurous and ballsy type, then why does she work as a librarian at all?¡± Jason frowned. ¡°Hmm - maybe she gets her excitement elsewhere.¡± Laura Jensen narrowed her eyes once again at Jason: ¡°But she IS into research. She¡¯s one the most well-read people I know.. I guess that¡¯s the gist of it all? Free access to books and knowledge?¡± ¡°Hmm - okay. I guess Thomas would need to up his reading game.¡± Jason turned back at Thomas and said: ¡°What else though? Any games she likes? Any favorite hangout spots? Any place she likes to go to when she¡¯s bored?¡± ¡°We¡¯re actually not that close - ¡± Laura shook her head: ¡°We talk sometimes, but it¡¯s not like we¡¯re best friends. She . She mentioned to me once or twice that she likes to go hunting from time to time. And I think she used to go in alone or with a few friends of hers before the lockdown. She¡¯s never taken me though - I asked her a few times and she always refused.¡± ¡°Hmm, sure, I think Thomas would definitely like that. He used to be a gun slinging macho guy.¡± Jason nodded and smiled: ¡°Thank you, Laura, you¡¯ve been a great help.¡± ¡°Okay, anything I should know?¡± Laura asked and looked at Jason in the eyes: ¡°This is not only about helping out Thomas right? ¡± ¡°I - I - ¡± Jason stammered: ¡°I don¡¯t - ¡± ¡°Jason?¡± just this minute, Caroline came over and patted Jason on his shoulder: ¡°The committee is almost in place. We need to go in there now.¡± ¡°Sorry, I will tell you everything when this is over, okay?¡± Jason sighed: ¡°And please, just promise me, go back to your place and stay safe until I call you. Can you do that?¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on -¡± Jason was not able to answer her, as he followed Caroline into the auditorium along with Aimee, and Thomas, who will be serving as their witness. Right in front of the two of them was a tall desk behind which sat the people who were going to question them - Principal Hawke, Tamil Brooke as the Board representative, Professor Barnes, Professor Dorothea Clarkson and Professor Randal Collins. There were two additional seats on the side, still empty, and each of them had a name tag placed before it. On the side, there were auditing seats reserved for others attending the hearing, and currently there were not many people sitting there, probably due to the fact that this hearing was rescheduled at the very last minute. ¡°Agent Bozeman¡±, ¡°Agent Mien¡± so said the two name tags. ¡°Thank you for coming, Mr. Lin and Ms. Baker.¡± Principal Hawke said: ¡°We will start in a moment, looks like the two special investigative agents who will also serve as your inquisitors are having a little bit of a¡­ scheduling issue.¡± ¡°Okay, I thought we¡¯re already ten minutes past the scheduled time.¡± Caroline frowned and whispered to Jason: ¡°This is a bad sign right? This is definitely a bad sign.¡± ¡°Yeah, fatal flaw of the plan - what if they never came?¡± Jason shook his head. Just this moment, a man came in, wearing a pair of glasses with a blue shine, and sat down by the tag ¡°Agent Bozeman¡±. ¡°Agent Bozeman, where¡¯s Agent Mien?¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson asked with a frown. ¡°She¡¯s got a few things to check out, she¡¯ll be here, we can proceed for now.¡± Agent Bozeman nodded and said. ¡°So let¡¯s get started with the hearing.¡± Principal Hawke nodded. Chapter 335 ¡°Fuck!¡± Agent Mien, the female investigative agent hired by the Grant Academy Administration to look into the circulation of contaminated materials in the Grant Academy was hiding in a thick bush beside the the magical bubble in which all the new student private living quarters reside, trying to break into the living quarters of one of the students they were actually targeting, the protective array was hard enough to crack, and the fact that she had to do it in broad daylight did not help at all. A round and silver magical terminal appeared right in front of her after several revelation and decryption spells, then she was about to hack into the terminal, when her bracelet started flickering and gently buzzing. ¡°Bozeman, what?¡± Agent Mien asked in an unfriendly voice. ¡°The hearing¡¯s about to start. When can you be here?¡± ¡°Still need more time.¡± Agent Mien said with a frustrated huff: ¡°My device still needs more work, the protection array has been upgraded since the last time we were here. So ten minutes just aren¡¯t gonna cut it. Stall them the best you can! Tell them I am looking into something, they are the ones who move the hearing up, so they would understand.¡± ¡°Okay, but if I stalled for too long they would get suspicious. So I will give you another 10 minutes, if you still couldn¡¯t make it here I will have to agree to start without you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m gonna need 15, but yeah, do go on without me if you have to.¡± Agent Mien sighed: ¡°It¡¯d be much better if your contacts are here, has any of them contacted you?¡± ¡°No, and I am pretty sure they are still alive, they¡¯re just AWOL for now.¡± Agent Bozeman answered: ¡°Okay, I am going to stall the meeting now, be quick!¡± ¡°No need to remind me.¡± Agent Mien cut off the connection and continued with her hacking attempts. The glove and the bracer on her right hand started glowing in different colors, and very small dots of energy shot from her palm and landed on the silver terminal, triggering all kinds of strange visual effects from the terminal and the air around it. ¡°You fucking nerds, why can¡¯t you use those encryption talents on something else?!¡± Agent Mien cursed and she continued infusing her power into the glove and bracer as well as trying to control these two very taxing artifacts.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. After around 10 to 12 minutes, the silver terminal finally dissolved into the air, and a silver portal appeared right in front of her. ¡°Maintenance and administration backdoor. Rookie mistake.¡± Agent Mien wiped off the sweat on her face and scoffed, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± The first student living quarter that appeared before her, was a small bamboo house on green grounds and near a small creek surrounded by bamboos. ¡°Chinese bamboo shack and a small garden. How stereotypical and uninspired.¡± Agent Mien walked into the living quarter and walked around the surrounding bamboos: ¡°Let¡¯s see.¡± No strong attack spells are allowed in student living quarters aside from some of the personal training rooms, but they are still places where almost all other sorts of non-harmful magical experimentations are encouraged. So agent Mien did not hesitate at all before she cast a powerful detection spell. A light grey energy wave exploded from her palms and swept through all corners of the living quarter. When almost the entire energy wave dissipated, the bamboo house in the center was coated with a layer of light grey energy. Agent Mien walked into the bamboo house, and cast the spell again, only with higher precision and smaller range. This time, the light grey energy coating appeared on a messy bed, concentrated around the pillow area. Under the pillow and mattress, Agent Mien found a hidden compartment on the head of the bed, and in it was a clay monkey figure. She took a look at the monkey figure again and just directly crushed it with her hand. A silver box appeared, right at the place around the monkey¡¯s butt. ¡°Child¡¯s play.¡± Agent Mien smiled and started examining the silver box - it appeared to be quite plain, with very little if any distinctive energy signatures, then she talked to her bracelet: ¡°Bozeman, I think I just found it - turns out you are right, they are not comfortable leaving this key in the administration¡¯s hands, even for a brief moment while they attend the hearing due to them having to leave all enchanted artifacts outside.¡± ¡°The headmasters and headmistress are softballing them. It¡¯s gotta be the softest balls of all soft ball questions. Plant the evidence and get to the hearing as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Let me check Baker¡¯s place to confirm, and then I will be on my way.¡± Agent Mien flew out of the bamboo house, then she conjured a silver portal with her glove and bracer and walked into it. This living quarter was a big spacious two storey brick house with red bricks exposed on the exterior. There was a chimney sticking out on the roof, and there were a few flowers around the brick house. Agent Mien cast the detection spell again, and was somewhat surprised to find that the light grey energy coating also appeared on the brick house. ¡°Another trace found for the key - this doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± Agent Mien spoke to the bracelet: ¡°Bozeman, I¡¯m gonna need you to stall some more.¡± ¡°Be quick. Tell me what you find.¡± Agent Mien went inside the brick house, then she cast another detection spell. This time, the lingering light grey energy coating remained on a weapons shelf, specifically, on a shiny dagger with a silvery metal pommel. ¡°Fuck.¡± Agent Mien looked around to make sure there was no other lingering energy coatings: ¡°False alarm, Bozeman, blame your missing contact for not providing any details other than it being a silver fucking box. I am on my way now.¡± Chapter 336 ¡°Mr. Lin, Ms. Caroline, I found it a little - confused by your answers to our previous question.¡± inside the auditorium where the official inquiring hearing of two students, Caroline Baker and Jie ¡°Jason¡± Lin was taking place, Professor Barnes threw out his fifth question: ¡°So I am going to ask you again, and I would like a full, honest and direct answer. Is that okay?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Caroline nodded. ¡°Now, first, when you came to the academy, you did not bring any artifacts that are on all of the restricted lists, right? I trust that a great ally of the academy, one of the best researchers and scholars that graduated from here, Josephine Wong, informed you as such and prepared both of you beforehand, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Yes¡± ¡°But I did notice that on your registration papers, both of you declared some personal artifacts that are dangerous and are of high value. ¡± Professor Barnes continued: ¡°And according to the records, in the notes under your declarations, you mentioned that these are your personal weapons, and with exemption notes from Ms. Josephine Wong, the academy did not go through them or submit them for in depth check right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Do you mind displaying your weapons to the committee? To showcase the kind of power that you wield?¡± ¡°Headmaster Barnes, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea.¡± Agent Bozeman couldn¡¯t help but budge in: ¡°We cannot hand the subjects of questioning their own weapons, this is definitely against protocol.¡± ¡°Well as it turns out it is not.¡± Professor Barnes said: ¡°It is permitted under the bylaws that the subjects demonstrate whatever they are asked as long as it is under the supervision of one of the armed headmasters. I am armed, and I can supervise them.¡± ¡°Okay, Headmaster Barnes, what would be the purpose of this demonstration?¡± Principal Hawke asked. ¡°A demonstration of their power and weapons can help us learn a lot about a person¡¯s history - their training, their history.¡± Professor Barnes said: ¡°I think, with a simple demonstration we can establish the subject¡¯s character.¡± ¡°That¡¯s propost - ¡± Principal Hawke appeared to be slightly frustrated then turned to Professor Dorothea Clarkson: ¡°Hey, Dorothea - wouldn¡¯t you object - ¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°The theory of connection between personality and power properties is a flimsy one.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson said: ¡°But we can still try, it might not amount to anything, but none of us is the professional inquisitor here - and we are still one short.¡± ¡°It¡¯s more applicable to younger power wielders before they develop a sophisticated power system.¡± Professor Randall Collins yawned and dug into his left ear with his left pinky: ¡°It¡¯s not the most useful thing, but it¡¯s better than just asking meaningless questions.¡± ¡°Okay, so it¡¯s settled.¡± Professor Barnes nodded to a young knight in armor behind him, and then the knight went down to the place where Caroline and Jason were standing, and the young knight presented them with two shiny balls, one seemed to be made of silvery metal, and one seemed to be made of translucent red and orange crystal. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen on the auditing seats, please stand back.¡± Professor Barnes turned back and reminded those who were just here to attend to the hearing on the side. Jason and Caroline took their respective ball that was each of their weapons, and infused them with their Xuanli. A pen-spear appeared in Jason¡¯s hands, and a set of battle axe and shield appeared on Caroline¡¯s. ¡°Well?¡± Professor Barnes looked at the young knight behind him, then looked at Principal Hawke and Agent Boseman. ¡°Nothing more than what I¡¯ve seen before.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson shook her head. ¡°Fire and metal power. ¡± Professor Randall Collins adjusted his eye glasses: ¡°Oh! What do you know?! Wind and earth as secondary elemental power! Nice combinations! Two elemental powers at such a young age, with this little training, very impressive.¡± ¡°Headmaster Collins, your point being?¡± Tamil Brooke shook his head and asked. ¡°My point being, it¡¯s just pretty good, not just for someone with a civilian background, even for someone who comes from a magical family that¡¯s still good!¡± Professor Randall Collins shrugged: ¡°And yeah, personality wise, you can refer to whichever stereotype you like. Like I said, the theory is more applicable to younger power wielders.¡± ¡°Any questions, Agent Bozeman?¡± Professor Barnes asked. ¡°No. Just that I see no point in this demonstration.¡± Agent Bozeman had a hand on his forehead and said. ¡°Alright then.¡± Professor Barnes nodded, and turned to Jason and Caroline: ¡°Jason, Caroline, if you would hand your weapons back.¡± The pen-spear and battle axe and shield glowed in their respective colors and shrunk in size, into two balls. Then Jason and Caroline handed those two balls back. ¡°Agent Bozeman, when will Agent Mien be with us? ¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson asked: ¡°You are the leading inquisitors, it¡¯s a bit - strange that your colleague is taking so much time to be ready.¡± ¡°Excuse me.¡± Agent Bozeman stood up and sighed, while adjusting his clothes: ¡°I think I would need to contact Agent Mien. If you would just give me a few minutes.¡± ---------------------------------------- After hacking into and ransacking the living quarters of Jason and Caroline, Agent Mien rushed towards the Academy common building, where the hearing of these two students, for which she was already late, was being held. But the moment the common building came into sight, she was immediately perturbed by the atmosphere of the common building - it was just a hearing for two audit students, but somehow the atmosphere seemed way too serious and intense. And when she paid more attention to the people in and around the building, she found that there seemed to be multiple very nervous and even tense looking individuals near the entrances and exits, something one rarely saw under normal circumstances. While she was hesitating, she sensed that her bracelet buzzed - but it was not a message from her colleague who was in the hearing, but from one of her artifacts she left in her room. From the message sent by the artifact - her living quarter was being broken into. ¡°Fuck!¡± Agent Mien cursed, then she immediately called Agent Bozeman: ¡°Bozeman, this hearing is a setup, get outta there, now!¡± Chapter 337 ¡°Agent Bozeman, is Agent Mien even gonna join us?¡± when Agent Bozeman walked past the position of Jason and Caroline, Caroline grabbed him by his sleeve and asked. ¡°I am calling her now.¡± Agent Bozeman withdrew his arm and said in a stern tone: ¡°And she will be here soon.¡± ¡°Okay, if you say so, douche.¡± Caroline shook her head: ¡°Just be quick, okay? I have a hunting trip to go to later. I heard some boars are making a nuisance again.¡± ¡°When we¡¯re done with the hearing, Ms. Caroline Baker, you can hunt all the crap you want.¡± Agent Bozeman seemed to have resisted the urge to spit in Caroline¡¯s face. ¡°Even YOU want this hearing to go well, huh?¡± Caroline scoffed. When Agent Bozeman walked out of the door, Caroline immediately talked to her bracelet: ¡°He¡¯s bolting, he¡¯s bolting. That bastard just wished me a good hunting trip.¡± ¡°I¡¯m gonna check on Agent Bozeman to make sure he¡¯s not uh¡­ not bored.¡± Professor Barnes walked out from behind the table and towards the door. ¡°I am going to check on the final toxicology report.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson walked away from her seat and towards the side door. ¡°I uh - I¡¯m just gonna take a leak.¡± Professor Randall Collins walked towards the side door with Professor Dorothea Clarkson. ¡°What¡¯s with everyone? Anything wrong?¡± Principal Hawke looked around, and found that only a very distracted Tamil Brooke was sitting at the table: ¡°Mr. Brooke?¡± ¡°Oh, sorry?¡± Tamil Brooke looked up from his enchanted phone: ¡°Sorry, I was reading some financial reports. But it¡¯s not like the questions are gonna get anywhere, right? Why do I even have to be here?¡± ¡°Because this is a pretty serious hearing about the potential sources of the contaminants?¡± ¡°Then why all the bullshit questions? I don¡¯t want to know how long they took to write that thesis! I don¡¯t even care about the digest!¡±A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Sir, the hearing is still ongoing?¡± following the footsteps of Agent Bozeman, Professor Barnes shouted at the agent, who seemed to be more intent on walking away instead of making a call: ¡°Agent Bozeman? Agent Bozeman!¡± Agent Bozeman sped up his steps, more and more so that he began running. ¡°Agent Bozeman! Stop!¡± Professor Barnes had to start shouting with his power to make his voice louder. Agent Bozemen turned around swiftly, and with his hands glowing from the shine of some kind of shadowy energy, and a strong shockwave was released from his hands against Professor Barnes. But what he was not expecting, was that Professor Barnes already conjured a tough and sturdy silvery white energy shield right behind him. His energy shockwave blast ended up hitting the energy shield and had a lot of its power reflected back at him. With a loud boom, Agent Bozeman was thrown back into the air, with all of the bone sockets on his hands and wrists and even both of his elbows completely dislocated, as well as his nostrils gushing out blood. ¡°Agent Bozeman, you¡¯re going to have a lot of things to answer to.¡± Professor Barnes stepped forward and placed a really simple, crude but powerful locking spell onto Agent Bozeman¡¯s body. ¡°I don¡¯t think you fully understand what you are doing.¡± Agent Bozeman struggled and spoke through his teeth. ¡°Oh, why don¡¯t you tell me then? Start with who you ACTUALLY work for and the REAL reason you are here.¡± Professor Barnes placed another spell onto the agent, then he called two faculty members to his side to help him carry the agent away: ¡°Maybe just wait, tell all of us in a bit, while Dorothea had all of her spell preparations ready.¡± ¡°You have no idea who you are dealing with here - ¡± ¡°Oh, I am currently dealing with you, Agent Bozeman, if that¡¯s even really your name.¡± --------------------------------------------- Inside the student hunting ground, Agent Mien traversed the fields with the fastest speed possible without creating too much of a scene or sight for the animals around. She was aware of the Blinker Raccoons, the roaming Shapeshifting Hogs and even the most dangerous ones - the Silverwing Owls. She was able to make it to the creek with two stones, and like she¡¯s practiced, she started reaching into the creeks to find the third. In less than a few seconds, she found the rock, and placed it in the creek, just in the right place for the vortex to expand. Then she reached into one of her pockets and took out a small vial, she took a small sip, then poured the rest of the vial onto the grass. After soaking herself with the vapor from the liquid, Agent Mien leapt into the portal. Before she could even reach the bottom of the hole, she sensed that there was something quite disturbing below, something continuously twitching and growling with very noticeable frustration and unease. ¡°Shit.¡± Agent Mien raised her head to look above and then looked around her, now she sensed it - something was not right with this portal. ¡°What the fuck - ¡± when Agent Mien reached the bottom, she found herself landing right next to the body of the four-headed beast, and she noticed that the beast¡¯s skin and scales were displaying some kind of dark red color, and slowly but still observably, more and more scales started growing on its pale grey skin, which she knew, was a sign that this particular beast was denied tranquilizing food for quite some time and it started to fully wake up from its relatively dormant and docile state. Just when Agent Mien tried to rush towards the direction of the exit, the turtle head of the beast noticed her, and before she could take another step, the head snapped and bit down on her whole body, the sharp edge of its mouth cut her whole body clean off from her ankles, and her scream was muffled by the thick neck and stomach of the beast. The rooster head looked up at the slowly closing portal and let out a deafening cluck, then, the beast grew four wings and two legs from its blob of flesh body and leapt towards the only direction where light came into this dark hole. Chapter 338 It was a sight that many of those in the Grant Academy that day could ever forget. One reason for this was that though the Grant Academy was a prestigious academy for those who are in the magic wielding world, many, if not most, of the students and staffers were not in the path towards fighting related careers. If anything, most of them were going to be scholars, researchers, developers, defenders or inquisitors and even governmental officials, and only a few of them were going to be fighters or battle mages. Therefore, most of those in the academy, under normal circumstances, would not have come into close encounter with any dangerous magical creatures and beasts. And what would the reaction from these individuals be when they actually got into contact be? Panic and terror. Barely three minutes after the hearing of Caroline Baker and Jason Lin coming to an abrupt and chaotic end, where one of the inquisitors, instead of the two students being questioned under the suspicion that they were responsible for the circulation of the toxic contaminants, were taken into academy custody, a huge monster broken out from the ground inside the academy hunting ground. After devouring the hunting ground rangers on duty, it moved towards the main campus, where it might have sensed that there was some sort of buffet. To say it was a monster was an understatement - yet there were not many suitable words for it. It was a shapeshifting dark red blob of flesh with several heads from different animals and creatures on its body, but as it later turned out, they were not actually heads at all, they were actually constructs from the blob flesh body, like the tentacles on a snail¡¯s head, and each time a new head popped out, it was something different, sometimes it was the magnified head of some plain animal, sometimes it was that of a magical beast, and sometimes it was even a head that looked like a plant, a fern, a dead tree or even a piece of strangely shaped rock or boulder. ¡°Aaaaah! Help!¡± a female student was paralyzed and fell onto the ground just by looking at the monster, and the monster responded to her screams just like any other monster would - it grew a head like that of a giant leech and bit down on the student, swallowing her whole. ¡°Go! Go!¡± just this moment, an academy faculty ran towards a group of students that seemed to have also been paralyzed on the ground, but he was not able to stand up straight either - there was some kind of strange aura around the monster, which seemed to not only have instilled fear, panic and extreme stress in his head, but also seemed to have caused his powers to vibrate and even burst from his pores uncontrollably. A large crow head made a hoarse croak, then long, dark and spiky tentacles shot from behind the beak and wrapped around the academy faculty and the paralyzed students. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Only the academy faculty was able to put up a decent fight - he released a lightning energy blade from his hands and cut off some of the tentacles that were wrapped around the students, two of the students fell to the ground, but the rest were immediately devoured by the crow head. More and more faculty members rushed from the buildings, some of them started casting their attack spells against this monster from a distance, while the others started casting protective and moving spells on those that were affected by the aura in attempts to save them from a horrible fate. The attack spells struck true, and the monster bled, in dark green, dark red, dark blue and just pure black. The monster let out a deep, shakey growl from the center of its blob of a body, then scales and shells started growing around its exterior, forming into a thick protective layer around its body. The attacking spells started getting bounced into the air and dissipated on impact. But this gave the faculty members a much needed chance to rescue the rest of the students and faculty members under the effects of the monster¡¯s aura. ¡°Ka-Ching, Ka-Ching¡± some kind of weird mechanical sound came from behind the thick protective layer, then shortly, something metal rose up from behind it. It was a long metal thing, six thick and hollow metal tubes placed parallely, with a rack placed across the middle section of the tubes, stabilizing all of them. With another ¡°whinsh¡± mechanical sound, he metal tubes started spinning. ¡°Duck! ¡± ¡°Take cover!¡± some faculty members recognized what that metal thing was, and immediately cried out in fear. Fire sparks started bursting from the metal tubes whenever they spun to the top position, and thousands of condensed and explosive energy bolts started raining down on the entire field in front of them, and covering the positions of the majority of the students and faculty members in front of it. Seven energy shields were conjured on the field in order to protect the students and faculty members, and all of them immediately started flickering in different colors, like they were about to break and crumble anytime. ¡°Boom!¡± one of the weaker shields was destroyed, and the four individuals behind it were instantly shredded by the hail of energy bolts, without even a chance to scream. ¡°Crack!¡± a loud sonic boom exploded in the air, a figure shrouded in silver energy leapt into the air and descended from the sky like a meteor in full speed. It was Professor Barnes, with his giant broadsword in his hands. And with a metal crashing sound, Professor Barnes¡¯ broadsword unleashed a powerful energy slash that severed the giant gatling gun made of monster flesh from the monster¡¯s body. Professor Barnes bounced back into the air after the attack, and he released a powerful remote fist strike, a silvery white energy fist shadow shot out and pulverized the gatling gun in midair. The monster groaned in pain, and three tentacles with mouths with sharp teeth inside at the tip popped up from the body and tried to bite down on his body. But he was instantly pulled away by a light green energy rope. ¡°Everyone out! Activate the perimeter defense system!¡± the voice of Glenda Grimes resounded throughout the entire campus. Chapter 339 ¡°Boom! Boom!¡± several blood red and dark green energy bolts landed right on the buildings of the three houses of the Grant Academy. The protective energy arrays around these buildings immediately activated when the first bolts landed on each of the buildings. ¡°All students and faculty members, head to the nearest safety shelter immediately. All students and faculty members, head to the nearest safety shelter immediately.¡± an emergency alert message was broadcasted across the campus: ¡°All safety personnel, activate invasion protocol. All safety personnel, activate invasion protocol.¡± A loud cracking sound came from a patch of dark red cloud that appeared in the sky, and with it thousands of fireballs rained down from the sky and over the area in which the monster was standing, and fighting with Professor Barnes and Glenda Grimes. Professor Dorothea Clarkson reached into her robe pocket and took out a small metal mirror, then she threw it into the air at the fiery cloud she conjured. Professor Barnes and Glenda Grimes backed away from the area just mere seconds before the rain of fire came down on them. The monster was not prepared, and it had to take the attacks head on by growing additional hard shells and scales to guard its body. ¡°What the fuck is this thing!?¡± Professor Barnes looked back at the buildings inside the campus and confirmed that the protective magical weapons were raised from inside the buildings due to the activation of the invasion protocol. ¡°No one knows.¡± Glenda Grimes sheathed her light green rapier, then infused her power into both the sword handle and the sheath: ¡°But looks like it¡¯s adapting - and learning. We cannot drag this on.¡± ¡°Whatever it is, it shouldn¡¯t be able to withstand the weapons. So just lock it in place, and let them strike.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson spoke to both Professor Barnes and Glenda Grimes: ¡°Randall should activate his thing soon. ¡± ¡°Okay. He¡¯d better be quick.¡± Professor Barnes raised his broadsword again, and before the monster could react, he unleashed another energy slash against the monster¡¯s thick shell. The moment the weapons from those buildings became armed, the monster¡¯s whole body shivered as if it sensed a sudden coldness, and before the weapons could open fire on it. And its body swiftly shrunk while growing long like a giant snake or worm, and after curling back its body, like a compressed spring, it launched itself at the closest building to it - a tall watchtower used by some of the researchers when they try to observe the stars. ¡°Fuck!¡± ¡°Fuck!¡± ¡°What the - ¡± Before Professor Dorothea Clarkson, Professor Barnes or Glenda Grimes could react, the weapons from the buildings opened fire, yet the monster blinked, disappearing from where it was and reappearing in the air, leaving the watchtower to be completely decimated by the devastating energy attacks from the academy defense weapons.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°It broke the teleportation barrier. Randall, strengthen it as much as you can!¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson shouted and flew towards the position of the monster. ¡°Lock it down! Lock it down!¡± Glenda Grimes also flew into the air. Around twenty of battle mages and fighters, who are the academy¡¯s security personnel, came out from different corners of the academy campus and started launching their attacks at the monster. ¡°Professor Barnes, any orders?¡± one knight in a suit of dark blue armor with a scepter in his hand came to Professor Barnes and asked. ¡°Send two mages to help Headmaster Collins enhance the teleportation barrier, five of your team members to go to the control panel of the suppression array, activate it in full force to slow it down.¡± it did not take Professor Barnes too long to lay out a plan: ¡°Have people mount those defense weapons and aim carefully, use concentrated beams instead of explosive blasts. All others, go into battle and attack it from all angles to restrict its movement and wiggle room.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± After giving these orders, Professor Barnes flew into the air and joined in on the assault against the beast, which had now taken the form of a giant four-winged and three-headed bat. Two of the bat heads opened their mouths and unleashed two waves of concentrated and directional sonic blasts. Two groups of academy security personnel were hit at almost point blank range and were thus blasted onto the ground. A fire snake shot towards the monster in a curled trajectory, and a light green wind energy eagle glided through the air aiming to strike the monster on its weaker spots. The monster apparently feared the attacks of Professor Dorothea Clarkson and Glenda Grimes more than it did others that fought against it, and it blinked once again to appear on the floating castle that was the official building of the Martin House. A crescent-shaped energy slash drove the monster away from the floating castle, and this time the monster left half a dozen broken windows and several big patches of broken roof. The monster tried to blink once again, but a force field just blasted it out from its original position. ¡°Teleportation barrier is up.¡± Glenda Grimes spoke, and her voice resounded in the ears of Professor Barnes and Dorothea Clarkson: ¡°We¡¯ve gotta be quick - I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s gonna change again.¡± ¡°All security personnel, attack! Now!¡± Professor Barnes roared. While the fight against the monster was happening, several groups of people came out from their shelters and started rushing towards the Anderson Plaza - the place where students coming into the academy or leaving academy all had to go through. ¡°Hey Ms. Wong, we¡¯re in some kind of battle here.¡± Jason was hiding in the underground shelter under the main building with Caroline, Thomas and Aimee while on a call with Josephine Wong: ¡°The hearing¡¯s over, but we¡¯re kinda in a warzone here.¡± ¡°Professor Kapur told me.¡± Josephine Wong answered, she sounded like she was thinking while talking: ¡°Okay, our plan should remain unchanged, bring Aimee and Thomas with you, leave the academy immediately, head to the Anderson Plaza right now, your extraction is en route, and should be there any minute.¡± ¡°What about Professor Kapur? And the others?¡± ¡°Professor Kapur insisted on staying inside the academy, and I could not sway her. She¡¯s an important asset of the academy, so she would be safe there as well. But no one could guarantee yours, while there are some hidden players that may want to harm you. So you need to head out right now and head to the inn. It¡¯s the safest place for you right now.¡± ¡°What about the key? The silver box?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°No one knows jack shit about it while it was there for years. You¡¯d think there¡¯s anyone better to decipher it than me or your master?¡± ¡°Okay, fair enough, let¡¯s go!¡± Jason hung up the phone and held the silver metal ball in his hand. Chapter 340 Right now, the defense weapons of the academy were firing up in full force against the beast. And at the same time, the protective array around the academy buildings were also activated. The invasion protocol was activated, which meant that the normal pool of energy the academy utilized to keep it running was being redistributed - into the defense weapons as well as the core protective arrays that were placed around the main buildings. Also, per the command of Professor Barnes, the array around the area of the main campus, which restricted the use of portals was heavily boosted in order to restrict the movement of the beast, thus much more energy was flowing into it than usual. This meant that the arrays that were previously placed around the academy for other non-battle related purposes, like the array that will scan and log the identities of those who come in and out of the academy due to the lockdown, were now being stripped of their energy sources and temporarily rendered powerless and thus useless. This meant different things for different people. For those in the battle, they wanted this, and they would squeeze more out of the energy pool if they could; for those maintaining and operating the arrays, this meant that they are in emergency mode, they had to operate in high efficiency and accuracy, in order to make sure that the academy would survive the battle; for those who already had reasons to leave the academy but had been waiting for a chance, for example, those on the payroll of factions and groups that were somehow in the shadows and wanted different things from the academy in illicit ways, or those who feared that their lives might be in grave danger if they stayed for any longer, this would be their chance. Jason sent a metal bug to take a look at the battle, and saw that the beast was still in the air trying all it can to dodge the attacks from the academy defense weapons, and pretty quickly he could tell that they had a really good chance to make it to the Anderson Plaza and meet with their escort, so he immediately turned to Caroline, Thomas and Aimee: ¡°Let¡¯s go now!¡± ¡°Hey!? What do you think you¡¯re doing?!¡± before they headed out, a faculty member tried to stop them: ¡°You can¡¯t go out! It¡¯s not safe out there!¡± ¡°Sorry, we have to leave.¡± Caroline looked back and said: ¡°It¡¯s not safe here for us either.¡± The four students left the shelter under the common building in a hurry, and rushed towards the Anderson Plaza on foot - normally they would ask Mica to send them, but right now they already instinctively knew that a vanity feature like Mica would not be functional under this kind of circumstances. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. When they burst out of their shelter, they also saw some other groups of people rushing towards the same direction. Some of them were students wearing luxury robes and armors, some of them were school faculty members, including researchers, custodians and even lecturers and Assistant Professors. Caroline looked at Jason with a concerned look, and saw that Jason also looked at her the same way - they were fully aware that they had to leave because of personal safety, and they would assume that those students in luxury clothing were probably leaving because they were looking for their families to take them back. But when looking at these faculty members - they couldn¡¯t help but suspect if they were also spies that infiltrated the academy, and right now they were just taking advantage of the chaos. Yet they did not have the chance to verify these suspicions, because they were on the run themselves. When they ran past the decorative trees and fountains, they already saw a couple of enchanted vehicles left through the air. ¡°Where¡¯s our extraction?¡± Thomas asked as they got to the Anderson Plaza and found that there were no vehicles waiting for them. ¡°She said they¡¯re en route, and should be here any minute.¡± Jason answered. ¡°Boom!¡± an energy bolt shot by a very modern-looking energy gun on top of the building of Anderson House struck true on the beast¡¯s body, and the monster fell onto the ground not terribly far from the Anderson Plaza. ¡°Hold up there.¡± just this minute, a man¡¯s voice came from behind. All four students turned around and saw two men behind them, one in a dark green robe and holding a small wooden wand, and the other one was in a suit of dark grey armor and holding a short and curved sword. ¡°And who are you?¡± Caroline clenched her fist on her red and orange crystal ball. ¡°That¡¯s not your concern.¡± the man with the wand said. ¡°I am still very concerned nonetheless.¡± Jason said with a tired smile: ¡°Are you gonna attack us on academy ground? At least let us know who the hell you are?¡± ¡°Give us the key now.¡± the man with a short sword said: ¡°And there won¡¯t be any issues.¡± ¡°What key?¡± Thomas scoffed and said: ¡°Caroline, Jason, do you have something you¡¯re not telling us?¡± The man with a wound shot a dark green energy bolt at Caroline and Jason¡¯s feet and blew off a piece of brick and spoke through his teeth: ¡°Not another word of bullshit, give us the key, now! Or you will NOT live to speak another word!¡± ¡°Woah woah woah.¡± Caroline raised her hand and said: ¡°Please don¡¯t hurt us, we don¡¯t know anything about a key - please!¡± The man with a wand opened fire with his wand again, but this time a translucent red and orange shield appeared right in front of him which caused his energy bolt to blow up just inches away from him. ¡°Fuck!¡± the man with a wand backed off a few steps, and the man with a curved sword lunged towards Jason in a curved path, leaving a string of images behind him and with his sword aiming at Jason¡¯s chest. ¡°Ting!¡± Jason conjured up his pen-spear and collided with the man¡¯s edge, then both of them kicked each other in the abdomen and thus sent each other backwards. ¡°Aimee, Thomas, hide!¡± Caroline deflected another attack spell from the man with her axe and yelled. Thomas and Aimee tried but they were unable to, as a third man flew down from the sky and pointed his staff at them. Chapter 341 ¡°Fuck off!¡± before the man even landed, Thomas raised his silver shotgun and opened fire, a barrage of silver pellets shot right at the third man with a staff. The man immediately retrieved his staff into a guarding position when he saw the gun, and a energy shield made of wind magic absorbed all impact from the pellets. Aimee swiftly moved to the side, with her silver crossbow in hand aiming at the man¡¯s waist. When the crossbow bolt was fired, the man already landed on the ground and the bolt was now flying towards his shoulder. The man had to reposition his staff once again to knock the crossbow bolt away from its original trajectory. And he also knowingly conjured a wind energy shield behind him and the next second, the ice shards exploded from the head of the bolt were just blocked in time. ¡°He¡¯s studied us.¡± the same thought occured in both Thomas and Aimee¡¯s heads. The man¡¯s defensive moves were way too specific and prepared - he seemed to know how their ¡°signature¡± attacks were - at least when they were in the student duel. Thomas opened fire two more times, and one time firing pellets and the other time a slug, while Aimee prepared another bolt and shot at the man. Both of them advanced on the man while they were firing at him. The man conjured a spherical wind energy shield and covered up every possible angle around him. The pellets, the slug and the silver crossbow bolt were all stopped in midair and then dropped on the ground. ¡°My turn.¡± the man showed a smug smile, then stomped the blower tip of his staff on the ground, and a shockwave erupted from around him and blasted both Aimee and Thomas away. Aimee and Thomas both felt like they were hit by a truck, and their bones and joints made all kinds of cracking sounds from the shock, like they were going to have all of their joints dislocated. But their trajectories in the air were instantly cut short when the man raised both his arms, while his staff was still standing on the ground. Two invisible ropes made of wind magic energy wrapped around their bodies and pulled them closer to the man.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Tell me, ¡± the man asked with a victorious smile: ¡°Where¡¯s the key?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you like to know.¡± Thomas spit and asked. ¡°Wrong answer.¡± the man clenched his fist extended towards Thomas, and the invisible rope just squeezed in harder like an anaconda was about to kill its prey, which made Thomas moan in pain. ¡°Wait!¡± Aimee begged: ¡°I¡¯ll tell you! Don¡¯t hurt him!¡± ¡°That¡¯s more like it.¡± the man looked back at the fight between Caroline and the man with a wand, and the one between the man with a short sword and Jason: ¡°This could save my colleagues a lot of time and energy. Now, tell me...¡± Before the man finished, Aimee spit at him, and it was no ordinary spit, a dense ice shard with concentrated ice magic energy within was shot out just out of Aimee¡¯s mouth, both made of and soaked in her blood. The man sort of saw the spit coming, but he was never prepared for the blood ice shard, and his right eyeball was never strong enough to withstand this attack at point blank range. The man screamed in pain, and the invisible wind magic ropes disappeared, leaving Aimee and Thomas to fall to the ground. Aimee jumped up and swung her silver scimitar at the man¡¯s neck. Though in pain, the man still raised one arm to guard himself. The force of the scimitar was only enough to cut into the man¡¯s bones after breaking through a wind barrier, which made the man scream again, but it was not enough to completely debilitate him. ¡°Bang!¡± just when this man seemed to be casting another spell with his other hand, Thomas opened fire on him again, even though his body was still in a lot of pain, and the silver slug pierced through the man¡¯s waist, then left a gruesome exit wound on his body. ¡°No!¡± the man with a wand fighting against Caroline cried out, and after shooting a powerful energy bolt at Caroline to knock her away, he rushed to the side of the man who wielded a staff. The man fighting against Jason backed away from Jason to give himself a moment to examine what happened, then he yelled: ¡°Take the fucking key from them! Kill them if you have to!¡± The man with a wand was clearly devastated by his colleague¡¯s grevious and possibly fatal injury - in fact, now that Jason, Caroline, Thomas and Aimee had a chance to look, they looked kind of alike. The man with a wand screamed again after taking a look at his colleague lying on the ground, blood started coming out of his eyes, his nostrils, his mouth and even his ears, and his entire body started radiating unsettling energy waves. At the same time, two more men flew towards their position, neither of them seemed familiar to any of the four students trying to leave as per Josephine Wong¡¯s instructions. Two energy bolts shot from somewhere above and forced the incoming two men to back away, and then another two energy bolts came down on the man Jason was fighting against and the man who was about to explode with power. ¡°Boom! Boom!¡± the man with a short curved sword leapt back to dodge the energy bolt, while the man with a wand in his hand just blocked it without even breaking a sweat - aside from the fact that he was still bleeding through his eyes, nostrils, mouth and ears. ¡°Thomas! Caroline!¡± a dark purple SUV was descending from above, with a loudspeaker on, and a familiar voice was shouting at them through it: ¡°Hang on!¡± Chapter 342 ¡°AAAAH!¡± the man wielding a wand with blood coming out of every hole on his face yelled with anger and anguish, then he pointed his wand at the dark purple SUV that was coming down from the sky. A barrage of silvery green energy bolts shot from the tip of his wand and right at the dark purple SUV, the driver of the SUV tried several maneuvers in attempts to dodge these attacks. A lot of the attacks missed, but a few still landed, and they left some very visible dents and burnt holes on the body of the car. Jason lunged forward and thrust his pen-spear at the man who was trying to shoot down their escort vehicle, but his previous opponent, the man in a suit of dark grey armor and wielding a short sword came from the side and parried his spearhead away. ¡°Caroline! Stop that bastard!¡± Jason swept his pen-spear to the side and knocked his opponent away, but then he had to defend himself again because his opponent threw a knife at point blank range right at his shoulder. A round silver energy shield appeared and then was immediately shattered by the throwing knife, but it served its purpose - Jason¡¯s shoulder was barely missed by the knife. Jason took a few steps back to stabilize his stance, and then with his Xuanli concentrated on the pen-spear he launched another jab at his opponent, silver flashes came off from the tip of his pen-spear and formed into the shadows of three more spearheads, all aiming at his opponent¡¯s different body part. Caroline lunged at the man wielding a wand with her whole body in flames, her pupils shone in orange and red, and her battle axe left a curved bright orange and red shadow in the air as she swung it against her opponent¡¯s head. The man did not intend to defend himself at all, and instead he just aimed his wand right at Caroline, combatting her incoming attack with his own attack. ¡°Boom!¡± the collision of two powerful energy attacks led to a devastating explosion, Caroline was blasted backwards and blood was coming out of her nose and mouth, her hands and arms were hurting so bad that her battle axe flew off from her grip. Jason¡¯s opponent was trying to evade when faced against Jason¡¯s attack, but the sudden explosion just propelled him forward from behind and pushed him directly onto Jason¡¯s pen-spear. ¡°Crack!¡± the silver shadows of Jason¡¯s spearhead penetrated the man¡¯s metal armor, skin and flesh, while the actual head of the pen-spear not only broke a hole on the metal armor, it also sunk deep into his chest. Jason could feel that his spear impaling something soft, and he instinctively loosened his grip and tried to take back his thrusting force. But he was too late, blood started gushing out of the wound on his opponent¡¯s chest, and the man struggled for a brief moment before the light in his eyes dimmed.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Jason, help them!¡± when Jason¡¯s head went blank for a moment, Caroline¡¯s voice brought him back to real life. He then turned the pen-spear into a silver ball again and rushed to the side of Thomas and Aimee, who were sent far away by the explosion. After landing on the ground due to being blasted away by the explosion, Caroline cast a ¡°Flame of Vitality¡± on herself then struggled to stand up and pick up her battle axe from the ground. She then rushed towards her opponent, preparing to strike once again. But she did not deliver her final blow, because her opponent was also gravely injured from the explosion - his wand was shattered, and his wand holding arm was torn beyond recognition. After a quick look, Caroline was also able to tell that her opponent¡¯s chest was also completely caved in, rendering him completely unable to fight any longer - if left untreated, he¡¯d probably die in no time. ¡°Caroline!¡± Jason yelled in concern and distress: ¡°A little help here!¡± Caroline turned around and rushed towards Jason, leaving her dying opponent behind. Thomas and Aimee were not as powerful as any of the members from the fight, and they had not gone through any body tempering process, which would make them especially vulnerable against this kind of energy explosion, even if they were standing from afar when the explosion happened. ¡°Quick!¡± Jason cast his healing spell ¡°Internal Fortification¡± on both Aimee and Thomas, and was now trying to cast some more times on the two detectives: ¡°Use your ¡®Flame of Vitality¡¯ on Thomas - he was closer to the explosion, I¡¯m afraid his lungs are seriously wounded.¡± ¡°On it.¡± Caroline¡¯s index and middle fingers from both hands lit up, then she jabbed Thomas¡¯s chest and abdomen multiple times, infusing her Xuanli into the body of Thomas. Thomas coughed and wheezed, with blood coming out of his mouth and nose. Caroline briefly sensed the condition of Thomas, and was able to tell that his body had started to heal. And to her surprise, the healing spell seemed to have quite a good effect on Thomas, almost as effective as when she cast it on herself. ¡°How¡¯s Aimee?¡± Caroline cast ¡°Flame of Vitality¡± on Thomas once again, then asked Jason. ¡°¡®Internal Fortification¡¯ is not really an ideal spell for dealing with internal wounds.¡± Jason wiped off some sweat from his face: ¡°Fucking God, I wish I had practiced more.¡± ¡°How is she!?¡± ¡°She¡¯s recovering, but I think you will need to help me a bit here.¡± Jason sighed. Caroline took over and examined the condition of Aimee, then she sighed in relief: ¡°Looks like she¡¯s gonna be fine. I¡¯ll wait for your spell to fade away before I use mine.¡± ¡°Bang!¡± the purple SUV landed beside them. Garret Peyton, the driver of Josephine Wong and knight in training that drove Caroline and Jason here, came out from the SUV along with several men and women in some kind of uniform. ¡°Come on, hop in the car.¡± Garret Peyton said to Caroline and Jason: ¡°We¡¯re leaving now.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve got hostiles incoming!¡± one of the men in uniform said, as the group of mages that were pushed back by the attacks from the SUV started advancing on their position again. Chapter 343 ¡°Boom!¡± ¡°Bang!¡± when the four students got into the dark purple SUV and took off from the ground, some quite powerful attacks landed on the exterior of the SUV and shook the entire vehicle like shots from cannons. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Garret Peyton jumped into the driving seat. ¡°What about the others? What happens then?¡± Caroline asked while looking out the window, the agents in uniforms took over the fight against the faculty members and were buying them time to escape. ¡°They can handle themselves.¡± the dark purple SUV engine revved, then it took off from the ground like a rocket in full acceleration. All four of the students were almost thrown to the back of the spacious bar inside the SUV, but a buffering array inside the SUV activated and held them in midair. The SUV swerved in the air, evading multiple incoming attacks. And from the back window, all of them saw that there were two enchanted vehicles chasing after them, one in the shape of a pointy-headed submarine with blue translucent exterior and light blue windows, and one in the shape of a golden luxury car. ¡°Holy fuck the baddies are tacky.¡± Thomas stabilized his body in the air and floated towards one of the side windows like an astronaut and looked out the window, and all he could see was dark blue space with strange shiny lines in far away positions and : ¡°Where are we now?¡± ¡°We are in the tunneling space between the realm where the Grant Academy is and the realm of the civilian world.¡± Garret Peyton answered through the loudspeaker from the driver seat: ¡°This may take a while, without connecting to a speed channel like when I drove you to the academy, it will take us longer for us to travel through the space.¡± ¡°Okay, can we find one of these ¡®speed channels¡¯ now?¡± Aimee asked: ¡°They are tailing us and they¡¯re shooting at us!¡± ¡°The speed tunnels between the academy and the civilian world have been shut down since the lockdown.¡± Garret Peyton sounded like he was almost out of breath: ¡°The nearest speed tunnel is at least one day away, it won¡¯t save us much time if any.¡± ¡°How far away are we from the civilian world?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°At our current speed, it¡¯s about ten hours. But we might need to take a few detours because of the hostiles after us.¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Is there any way to fight back?¡± Thomas asked. ¡°Give me a second!¡± Garret Peyton yelled, then he proceeded with a calmer tone: ¡°All of our weapon systems were damaged in the fight earlier - I am rebooting some of the less damaged weapons.¡± The SUV swerved again, and two energy bolts that gave off blinding shines shot right past them. The students could almost feel the heat waves coming off from the bolts. ¡°Excuse my ignorance, but - ¡± Jason held onto one of the sofas in the bar-like space inside the SUV: ¡°Don¡¯t you have some kind of teleportation device or portal creating mechanism?¡± ¡°The tunneling space is itself a sort of portal-like construct, one that connects large areas together. And only specifically designed devices and arrays can teleport safely while in the tunneling space.¡± Garret Peyton answered: ¡°If we tried to jump, there¡¯s a very good chance we got shredded - Okay! Do you see the aiming screens?¡± ¡°No? What are you talking about?¡± Caroline looked around in the room. ¡°Fuck - looks like its control array is damaged.¡± Garret Peyton huffed with anger and frustration: ¡°Hold on! Let me try manual activation!¡± Two square panels on the ground opened up, and two short pillars with a crystal ball on top rose from underneath. ¡°The aiming screen is broken. So you¡¯re gonna have to make do.¡± Garret Peyton swerved the SUV again and made it fly in a helix trajectory to dodge another barrage of energy bolts from behind: ¡°Put your hands, especially fingers on the crystal ball and focus, it should be intuitive enough!¡± Caroline and Thomas jumped and stabilized their positions in front of the crystal balls, and then they felt that their mind seemed to be transported to a small space with a close up and transparent dome. And on the dome, they could see the space around the SUV as if they were looking through a special camera with 360 degrees angle in all directions from inside the SUV, and they could see the two enchanted vehicles chasing after and shooting at them. When they set their minds on the decision that they would like to attack, Caroline and Thomas were informed through some kind of telepathic means on how to aim and attack just by focusing their vision on a target. And their first targets were one and the same - the golden luxury car. The SUV shook as the defense weapon opened fire for the first time since they went into the tunneling space, and a small flurry of bright red energy bolts shot out from the top of the SUV, aiming right at the golden luxury car. The target did a tactical maneuver and derailed from its path in order to evade the attacks, and it had to stop shooting for a moment because of it. But the energy flurry followed it through its maneuver, and eventually forced it to stay further behind. ¡°Nice!¡± Jason and Aimee cheered. The SUV swerved and flew in a drastic trajectory once again, and around a dozen energy bolts of all colors flew by, then the SUV shook in a loud banging sound, which almost threw Thomas and Caroline off from their positions. ¡°We¡¯re hit! ¡± Garret Peyton said: ¡°Looks like we have more hostiles coming after us!¡± ¡°Anything we can do?¡± Jason asked as he looked out the back window and at another translucent submarine and a spaceship with a very sci-fi look: ¡°Any more weapon stations we can use?¡± ¡°No, but you should take over for them when they¡¯re tired.¡± Garret Peyton answered as he drove the SUV in more drastic ways: ¡°Keep firing!¡± Chapter 344 Somewhere in the sea near the West Shores of the US, debris started falling out of the sky above - they were pieces of shiny metal and glass, many of which had a golden shine on them. ¡°Boom!¡± something punched a hole in the space above the sea, and from behind the spacial hole came a smoking dark purple SUV with many damaged parts and deep dents on the exterior. It was as if the SUV had gone through several car accidents while it was traveling in the space that led it to this space. The dark purple SUV fell towards the sea while leaving a trail of smoke behind like a damaged fighter jet. And just before it crashed into the water, its driver pulled it as much as he could to lessen the impact. When it crash landed on the water, it still created quite a big wave and even knocked some fish out of the water. ¡°Go! Go!¡± Garret Peyton opened the driver''s side door with a scepter in his hand and yelled: ¡°They¡¯re still after us! Go!¡± The passengers¡¯ door opened, Caroline, Jason, Thomas and Aimee came out with their own backpacks and even some tactical gear. Caroline threw a long black tube/capsule-like thing into the water, and it instantly became a dark blue and sharp looking mini submarine with a pointy head. ¡°Should be room for all of us.¡± Garret Peyton nodded and said: ¡°Get in! I will start the self-destruct sequence.¡± The mini submarine looked like it could barely fit one person from the inside, but like all things magical and enchanted, it had a much bigger room inside - it was smaller than that inside of the dark purple SUV, but still enough to fit five adults, just a little crowded like a commercial train cabbin. ¡°Okay, done, go.¡± Garret Peyton came into the mini submarine last, and closed the door. The exterior of the mini submarine started changing in color and almost completely disappeared from sight, then it jetted a stream of water out from its tail and started moving into the water as well as towards the nearest shores nearby. ¡°This thing could only go a few miles.¡± Garret Peyton said to the four students: ¡°It¡¯s designed for maximum protection and stealthiness, so long range travel is not exactly its best suit. But it should be enough to lead us to the safe house.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great.¡± Aimee sighed and laid back on her seat: ¡°Thank you very much, Garret. If it weren¡¯t for you we wouldn''t even be out of the academy.¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it.¡± Garret Peyton smiled: ¡°Since we might be seeing more of each other and might even be working together, I figured that making sure you are alive would be good for our future.¡± ¡°Hmm - what - what do you mean by we working together?¡± Thomas asked while playing with some of the tactical gear he salvaged from the stranded dark purple SUV, Garret Peyton told them to grab as many as they could before the crashed into the ocean, seeing as they were still new to the magical world and had only limited knowledge and experience with magic and magical battles: ¡°Are you going to work with Ms. Wong as well?¡± ¡°Well, since I am her driver and errand boy, I think that¡¯d be pretty obvious, isn''t it?¡± Garret Peyton chuckled: ¡°And what kind of deal did you get with Ms. Wong? I assume you would need to be working for her for a few years right?¡± ¡°... as a matter of fact, she did offer something like that.¡± Aimee nodded: ¡°But - but we didn¡¯t take it right away, we agreed that we would be her student for the time being until we could find better teachers and take courses from the academy, and in exchange we would utilize our detective skills to repay her in the future. ¡± ¡°Better teachers, okay.¡± Garret Peyton snickered: ¡°But still, that sounds like a reasonable deal. And I guess the magical world is still just an option for you right? You still have that bridge leading you back into the SJPD.¡± ¡°Well - I¡¯d call it having a safety net.¡± Thomas shrugged: ¡°You know it¡¯s been months and we are still having trouble casting a decent spell right?¡± ¡°Speak for yourself Thomas, I could make a killer bowl of shaved ice any time I want.¡± Aimee scratched her head: ¡°But Garret, tell me more - does Ms. Wong usually - how do I put this - recruit members for her team this way?¡± ¡°Boom!¡± a muffled but still loud explosion came from the direction from which they came. ¡°Oh, that would be the self-destruct sequence.¡± Garret Peyton shook his head: ¡°Ms. Wong¡¯s gonna be upset. I hope at least it got a few of those bastards.¡± ¡°So, can you tell me - does she recruit like this?¡± Aimee followed up on her question. ¡°Well, sometimes. The thing is - this is the relatively common way to bring civilian-born mages into the magic world. Someone will usher you in, and the ones being brought in usually have to offer something in return, be it going on some excavations, being on certain employment arrangements, or payment through monetary means.¡± Garret Peyton sighed and said: ¡°I know you may have some reservations about this - I would tell you it¡¯s an honor to work for her, but I know in the civilian world she¡¯s just an action actress - ¡± ¡°She¡¯s also very close to our master, we came from civilian backgrounds as well, so no need to beat around the bush.¡± Caroline interjected: ¡°And our master found us basically the same way as the friendly owner of a local inn: ¡®Hey, little girl, I am offering you a chance to reinvent yourself and become much more than you could ever imagine, wanna come into my inn and see for yourself? All I ask in return is you help me in the future¡¯.¡± ¡°Ouch, Caroline, I thought you like your shiny axe and shield.¡± Jason laughed. ¡°I love them. But you gotta admit it was a little weird.¡± ¡°So - how are you liking the deal now?¡± Aimee and Thomas looked at Caroline at the same time: ¡°Any regrets?¡± ¡°No - no.¡± Caroline thought for a short while and smiled: ¡°No regrets - the only regret I have is I didn¡¯t practice and train harder - I almost got a chance to kill my son of a bitch ex who tried to hurt my brother and my nephew.¡± ¡°Woah, woah.¡± Garret Peyton sat straight on his seat: ¡°You didn¡¯t hurt a civilian on purpose right? That¡¯s a really serious offence - ¡± ¡°Nonono, he joined some murderous supernatural cult.¡± Jason explained: ¡°It was like an evil initiation ritual, so if you asked me it¡¯s pretty much a fair game, mostly.¡± ¡°Evil murderous cult, you say?¡± Thomas asked with a curious look on his face. Chapter 345 ¡°So - are those the same crabs that some of our - less dignified colleagues keep in their underground bunkers from whom they extract the neural toxins?¡± Blue asked Josephine Wong with a frown: ¡°Forgive me, but I haven¡¯t bothered to look, it¡¯s just that the horrible effects sounded kinda similar.¡± ¡°No, I think they might be related, but the deal we ended up making made sure that most of the dangerous creatures and their produce won¡¯t leave Realm Greenrock.¡± Josephine Wong took a sip of tea served by one of the healers: ¡°But as we later found, the realm had jump points to other realms as well, so they could be related. Definitely not directly from there though.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Blue stirred his tea and nodded: ¡°But if we go in there and search for it - do you think we¡¯re gonna find things that could serve as an antidote?¡± ¡°We tried - but unfortunately we weren''t able to.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head: ¡°It¡¯s definitely not for lack of trying, perhaps you¡¯d be interested in visiting some day?¡± ¡°Yeah yeah, definitely.¡± ¡°So what happened next?¡± Vivian opened a bag of chips and started eating them with very loud crunches: ¡°I would imagine you found the now-sorta-famous Professor Dorothea Clarkson and Professor Barnes after you found Professor Kapur - I haven¡¯t heard of Glenda Grimes, but I would say she lived?¡± ¡°Yes, all of us lived.¡± Josephine Wong smiled: ¡°I wouldn¡¯t tell you if there wasn¡¯t a happy ending.¡± ¡°But what else is so happy about it?¡± Pei continued with her knitting: ¡°Besides getting to know Jianmen and having some very flirty dialogues? Don¡¯t get me wrong - I just feel really sorry for Professor Kapur.¡± ¡°Well, she¡¯s been slowly healing over the years. We believe she will be able to walk very soon.¡± Josephine Wong sighed: ¡°It¡¯s a slow process. But we are really confident.¡± ¡°So who did you find next?¡± Alexander asked. ¡°Dude, the question you need to ask is - what happened next!?¡± Vivian grabbed a handful of chips and shoved them in her mouth: ¡°I mean why the hell do you wanna know who was rescued next, they¡¯re safe! End of story!¡±If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Patience, young Vivian.¡± Pei chuckled: ¡°The best part about a story is the journey.¡± ----------------------------------- ¡°So, you want the right to purchase materials from this realm at cost, and be on the priority trading list if there should be a shortage.¡± while sitting on a makeshift wooden chair carried by Jianmen on his back, Professor Kapur asked: ¡°That¡¯s a really big ask - usually the academy would want to put a maximum quota on how much you could buy.¡± ¡°And I wouldn¡¯t expect your academy to do anything less.¡± Jianmen stopped as they reached the top of the small mountain ridge they were climbing towards: ¡°And I am willing to negotiate, but your academy better be sure they can meet some of my other demands.¡± ¡°What kind of demands are you talking about?¡± Josephine Wong also stopped at the ridge, and she could almost feel a cool breeze from the lake on the lower ground in front of them, surrounded by green trees that were moving from the wind. By her rough estimate, it would take them around twenty minutes of walking to get to the lakeshore. ¡°This kind of realm is nice and all, but it¡¯s not exactly the kind that suits my immediate needs.¡± Jianmen extended his hand forward and let Josephine Wong go first: ¡°I would like a smaller realm, preferably a near earth realm somewhat adjacent to civilization and human society. It could be close to your magical world, or it could be close to the civilian world, or it could be somewhere in between but reasonably close to either.¡± ¡°Are you looking for somewhere to live? Or are you looking for somewhere to set up shop and do business?¡± Josephine Wong smiled and started walking down the slope. ¡°A little bit of both.¡± Jianmen answered: ¡°I want a place I can call my own and build and decorate myself, stable and upgradable. ¡± ¡°I am pretty sure the academy has some of those.¡± Professor Kapur nodded: ¡°And take this from me - as a token of my gratitude - ask for more and better. The academy has more useless realms than they know what to do with. A lot of realms are just space bubbles with almost nothing valuable inside. They call these realms flavorless real estate.¡± ¡°Huh, to think that my application for my own private realm is still pending.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head and scoffed: ¡°What gives?¡± ¡°Realms that are close to the academy are not flavorless real estate.¡± Professor Kapur said: ¡°They are typically reserved for senior researchers and faculty members who dedicated a lot of their time working for the academy.¡± ¡°So, location location location, just like real estate in the civilian world.¡± Jianmen laughed out loud: ¡°Oh, but I wouldn¡¯t want one that¡¯s close to your academy or any other secret or high value places. Like I said - I just want a simple realm.¡± ¡°Oh, and what else?¡± Josephine Wong looked back at Jianmen and asked: ¡°What else could you possibly want?¡± ¡°I want building materials.¡± Jianmen said: ¡°A lot of them - energy conductive, easy to mold. And I want a lot of materials to craft my protective array.¡± ¡°I think that could certainly be arranged, but you gotta bargain with the academy first.¡± Professor Kapur laid back on the wooden chair so she could get a better view of the sky as Jianmen started following Josephine Wong down the slope. ¡°What do you wanna do with them?¡± Josephine Wong asked. ¡°Nothing too fancy. I wanna build an inn.¡± Chapter 346 ¡°Wait wait wait, I¡¯ve heard of this inn. Or should I say I¡¯ve heard of A mysterious inn.¡± Pei stopped knitting and interrupted Josephine Wong with a surprised look on her face: ¡°It¡¯s in San Jose isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Josephine Wong nodded: ¡°It was completed not too long ago - well, not by our standards. So I¡¯d take it that you haven¡¯t been there before?¡± Of all of those in the room - Blue, Alexander, Vivian, Nameless and Pei, none of them gave an affirmative answer, some shook their heads, while others just went silent. ¡°Some brothers of this monk had the honor of visiting it a few years back.¡± Nameless answered: ¡°They found the brief stay offered to them generous and enlightening, but they didn¡¯t intend to pry on the identity of the owner, as they were on a pilgrimage.¡± ¡°Hmm, I think I have some friends that have been there too.¡± Pei said: ¡°They¡¯re very picky and were not amused by the simple food. But they did mention that they saw a young man and a young woman soaking in some kind of special medicinal bath water, so they figured it might be a front for something else.¡± ¡°Ah, yeah, those would be his students.¡± Josephine Wong smiled: ¡°It¡¯s one of those things he told me he might think about when he¡¯s settled down. And now those two are in the Grant Academy audit students.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Pei asked: ¡°I mean, no offence to the Grant Academy, but can¡¯t he teach them himself?¡± ¡°His explanation was for them to gain practical experience and broaden their horizons.¡± Josephine Wong smiled and laid down her cup of tea by her bed: ¡°Jianmen he - powerful as he may be, he did not like to socialize, and is quite odd and stubborn of a character, no matter who you ask. But young students, even very talented ones, still need to socialize, to see the world on their own, to have a better understanding of how things work. So he traded for an opportunity for them to audit in the academy. And I agree.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, we know he¡¯s a good teacher and a good master alright.¡± Vivian nodded: ¡°What next? Who did you find next?¡± ¡°Well - hang on, sorry, I gotta take this.¡± just when Josephine Wong tried to continue with her story, she got a call from a female agent/healer deployed to Xianshi Inn: ¡°This is Josephine Wong, what¡¯s the status?¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°He woke up for a brief moment, and he asked for you.¡± the female agent said: ¡°I told him that we will find you immediately, but he left a note and went back into the coma.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll be there right away.¡± Josephine Wong sighed in relief and said: ¡°What did he leave me with? What did he write?¡± ¡°I - I can¡¯t tell, it¡¯s a list of symbols. Perhaps you could understand it, Ms. Wong.¡± ¡°Understood. Thanks for telling me. I¡¯ll be right there.¡± ¡°What happened?¡± Alexander asked. ¡°He woke up and left me a note.¡± Josephine Wong struggled to get out of bed and said: ¡°Sorry team, but we should continue next time. Blue, could you create a portal for me? I am not in the best state right now, I will give you the coordinates.¡± ¡°Do you need anyone here to protect you?¡± Nameless asked: ¡°This monk would be delighted to go.¡± ¡°No need. That place is pretty safe.¡± Josephine Wong picked up a piece of paper and wrote down some symbols, then gave the piece of paper to Blue: ¡°And while I am gone, please keep this place running, and update me on what you found out about that relic - anything that could help us understand what that defiler was doing under that hospital.¡± ¡°Noted.¡± ¡°Roger.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± ¡°Now that¡¯s a smooth portal to make.¡± Blue sounded delightfully surprised as he extended his hand and passed a small blue energy ball to Josephine Wong: ¡°Personal tunnel space?¡± ¡°Yeah, personal tunnel space.¡± Josephine Wong smiled and took the blue energy ball from Blue, then she infused a tiny bit of her magical energy into it, and a portal with blue edges appeared right in front of her: ¡°Keep in touch. I¡¯ll keep the communications open.¡± Josephine Wong disappeared into the portal, and her team in the room started gathering their things and were prepared to get back to work. But when they came out of the tent, they saw a one eyed man standing outside the tent waiting for them. ¡°What are you doing here?!¡± all members of the team were immediately on high alert: ¡°You are not welcome.¡± ¡°I am here to offer you a trade, a bargain.¡± the one eyed man narrowed his only eye and said: ¡°The relic, I want to help you figure out where it came from and what secrets were buried inside it, and in return I want you to share all information regarding this hospital with me. ¡± ¡°Why? What do you want with this intel?¡± Vivian asked. ¡°In case Josephine Wong didn¡¯t tell you.¡± the one eyed man answered with a wide and snarky grin: ¡°We Omen Dragons like - nay, LOVE the taste of anguish and pain, especially from memories. And since this so-called hospital is no more, I would like to find out if the one who made this place what it was in the first place, most likely the one who left the relic, had other handy works lying around in other places. How¡¯s this sound? A fair trade?¡± ¡°This will be pure desecration of the memories of the dead.¡± Pei frowned: ¡°No, we cannot agree to it.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t make this harder than it has to be.¡± the one eyed man¡¯s body started radiating waves of terrible energy pulses: ¡°What if I get really angry? What if I decide that with Josephine and her friend being weakened, I am the one with the sharpest claws and no one and nothing to lose?¡± ¡°Is that a threat?¡± Alexander growled, and his fingernails started growing long and sharp, and his arms and back started getting thicker. ¡°Alexander, no!¡± Blue put his hands on the shoulders of both Pei and Alexander: ¡°If we found other sites like this, we will get first say in investigating those sites. You don¡¯t get to do anything before we complete a thorough investigation.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll give you 10 ten days on each site, not a second more.¡± ¡°15 days, and we take an oath.¡± Chapter 347 ¡°Boom! Boom! Crack!¡± three heavy attacks were launched at the giant that could instantly grow different useful body parts that could help it either evade or guard against the incoming attacks. Two of the attacks did not land at all, and one was blocked by a giant turtle shell. A buzzing sound came from below the campus of the acade, countless energy flashes started appearing in the air, and in almost an instance, a large bubble of air around the monster got thousands and thousands of times thicker and even began to crystallize. The monster¡¯s movements in the air were then heavily stalled and thus severely restricted, and taking advantage of this, the weapons on the now damaged academy buildings opened fire with full force at the same time. In this moment, all the monster could do was grow extra shields and thick shells on its body to take the attacks head on. This proved to be insufficient, as the energy attacks exploded upon impact, dark green, dark red and dark blue blood spilled in the air, and huge chunks of its flesh were sent flying through the air and spread to many corners of the academy campus. The monster cried and screamed in pain, then it vibrated its body in an attempt to escape the air bubble that bound it. The movement restricting air bubble started to shake and show cracks on its surface, and thin but bright beams of light started emitting from these cracks. The weapons swiftly went into recharge mode after the previous wave of attacks, and in only a matter of seconds, they opened fire again. The air bubble shattered almost the same moment as the next wave of attacks landed, more parts of the monster¡¯s body got pulverized, but not before it tore its own body apart and exploded its flesh into acidic, volatile and corrosive droplets of liquid and smoke of blue, red, green and purple, all the while propelling a smaller but major and crucial part of its body into the air and disappeared into the spaces around the academy. Trees, bricks and stone panels on pavements and statues were melted and turned into foul puddles of slime and dark liquid when they got into contact with the liquid droplets and the smoke of different colors. Even the protective shields generated from the protection arrays were affected and flickered on contact. What made the situation worse was that the droplets and smoke seemed to be able to reproduce on the chunks of monster flesh that were spread across the campus, and in very little time, smoke and streams of volatile and corrosive liquid almost took over the open spaces of the academy campus. Some of the academy security personnels were exposed to the smoke and corrosive liquid, and they instantly fell ill and displayed symptoms of severe poisoning and required immediate medical attention. ¡°All students and faculty, all students and faculty.¡± the voice of Principal Hawke resounded in the entire campus: ¡°Please remain in your shetler. I repeat, please remain in your shelter, and await further instructions.¡± When this announcement was made, Professor Barnes, Professor Dorothea Clarkson, Professor Randall Collins were on their way towards the office of Principal Hawke, leaving Glenda Grimes and along with some other academy security personnel to protect Professor Kapur.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Headmasters and headmistress, what can I do for you?¡± Principal Hawke was just done signing something on a thin gem tablet when they came in. ¡°I know what you¡¯re told to do by the board. And we¡¯re here to demand that you do NOT do it.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson said. ¡°Professor Clarkson, it is the academy¡¯s first and highest duty to protect the students from harm. ¡± Principal Hawke said while rubbing his temples: ¡°In any event if this duty cannot be fulfilled, we have an obligation to proceed with the emergency evacuation protocol.¡± ¡°That would be a suitable move - a few months ago.¡± Professor Barnes said: ¡°But we just learned something quite troubling earlier, and now that the threat has been repelled, we urge you to hold off on the evacuation.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t help you there - the board has made their concerns very clear, and they demanded that we arrange an evacuation of the students immediately.¡± ¡°For god¡¯s sake, there¡¯s fucking spies in the academy!¡± Professor Randall Collins said: ¡°And not the kind we could normally tolerate!¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Principal Hawke narrowed his eyes: ¡°I am fairly sure you are familiar with the academy¡¯s position on all efforts of spying...¡± ¡°Oh, just drop it sir!¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson cut the principal off: ¡°We all know that there are spies and agents in the academy, and there¡¯s always some level of tolerance from the administration, a line. And that line has been fucking crossed!¡± ¡°Explain.¡± ¡°Well, where do I start?¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson collected herself for a brief moment and said: ¡°First of all, the two fucking agents you and your board member friends hired tried to murder Professor Kapur, and then tried to frame two audit students for it; Second, we have very good reasons to believe that we might have found the source of the contaminated materials, we have a pretty good idea on what for.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Principal Hawke brought up the gem tablet: ¡°What have you found?¡± ------------------------------------- In the office of Professor Atkinson, both the professor and Dolores were taking shelter inside, as was the case for a lot of other professors, because per the building standards of the Grant Academy, all Professor offices were built with shelter level standards. ¡°What looks like the fighting stopped.¡± Professor Atkinson stood up from below his desk and said: ¡°Let me check on the condition of the academy.¡± ¡°Oh god. What happened?¡± Dolores came out from under her desk and looked out the window: ¡°There¡¯s - there¡¯s some kind of smoke outside, I don¡¯t know what it is but I don¡¯t think we can go out just yet.¡± Professor Atkinson took out a small crystal ball from one of his drawers and focused his mind on it - then he shook his head: ¡°Not good, a lot of building damage.¡± ¡°All students and faculty, all students and faculty ...¡± the announcement from Principal Hawke reached the office: ¡°... I repeat, please remain in your shelter, and await further instructions.¡± ¡°What now?¡± Dolores sighed: ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think our application of leaving the academy will ever get processed now.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s wait - this might trigger the emergency evacuation protocol, and then we can get out.¡± Professor Atkinson sighed: ¡°I just hope there weren¡¯t casualties.¡± ¡°Did you see all those people leaving earlier?¡± Dolores asked: ¡°That was¡­ unusual.¡± ¡°Yeah, I noticed.¡± Professor Atkinson frowned and scratched his jaw: ¡°And I believe I saw Lauren Biggins among them.¡± ¡°Lauren Biggins? THAT Lauren Biggins who is part of the funding committee?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Professor Atkinson nodded: ¡°Why would she leave like that? Abandoning her post as a member of the administration is pretty serious.¡± Chapter 348 After the battle in the Grant Academy campus subsided, it took around 12 hours before the emergency evacuation order was enacted. During this time, Professor Atkinson and Dolores were still taking shelter inside of Professor Atkinson¡¯s office - according to the small crystal ball of Professor Atkinson, the air in the campus was filled with some kind of very corrosive and toxic dust, which also seemed to be able to seep into some rooms that were not well sealed off from the outside world. ¡°Well, that was a waste of time.¡± when the emergency evacuation order arrived, Dolores sighed and put down her notebook: ¡°They should¡¯ve enacted it earlier, what caused the delay?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know, but I think it¡¯s good that it is enacted.¡± Professor Atkinson took out a small scroll from one of his drawers: ¡°The teleportation barrier is disabled in areas that are functioning as shelters now, let me send out a note and leave.¡± ¡°I will contact Mr. Yu.¡± Dolores nodded: ¡°He told me he was going to be in the lab continuing with his experiment, so he should be there as well.¡± Just this moment, a somewhat unstable portal with golden and orange edges appeared in the office, and shortly, Mr. Lun Wang, one of Jianmen¡¯s avatars, came out from behind it. ¡°Hey folks, sorry.¡± when the portal closed, a small explosion happened and knocked some books and notes off from both Professor Atkinson¡¯s and Dolores¡¯ desk: ¡°My apologies, I wanted to walk over here but the smoke is in the way. I think everyone will have some trouble with that.¡± ¡°No, no, don¡¯t worry you¡¯re here just in time.¡± Professor Atkinson patted on his suitcase and said: ¡°We were just going to ask you if you¡¯d accompany us on our trip to the edgelands.¡± ¡°Edgelands?¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°So you did find something useful from our library, did you? I can¡¯t say that for my students, but congratulations!¡± ¡°Yeah. They are just very vague tales and lores from some old memoirs and archived documents. But I think we found something.¡± Dolores jumped up a little and giggled with visible excitement: ¡°Apparently, long ago there were some mages and scholars that had pretty good relationships with some members of the elemental world, and in their notes and diaries they mentioned that there were some kind of intertribal conflict amongst many different groups that occupy different realms that were once - well, once one.¡± This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°So you were saying, something tore the void up.¡± Jianmen nodded. ¡°The void - and the rupture. It started to make sense, the more we read and cross reference the knowledge with the information he shared with me, the more sense it makes.¡± Professor Atkinson started getting too excited to speak: ¡°The mages and scholars, they were able to gather some lores and history from the elementals, right? And they were able to find out that apparently after the ¡®rupture¡¯ tore the void appart, the tribes of the voidborns were thus born. The different elementals, the Fog Dwellers and Depth Dwellers. And they - well, how to properly put this - they went on to different evolutionary routes. Also, there are no, I mean absolutely no official ¡®voidborns¡¯ anymore.¡± ¡°No official ¡®voidborns¡¯? ¡± Jianmen went silent for a short moment: ¡°How is that possible? The void got split into different realms, but the void being the void, the pieces should still be able to give birth to their own children.¡± ¡°Yeah, that part IS true.¡± Dolores said: ¡°Except that the elementals mentioned that something seemed to be missing from the elementals after the rupture - they couldn¡¯t tell what it was, but they could sense the absence of it.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s not good.¡± ¡°What made it worse was that it became the course of a few wars, which led to a lot of bloodshed - well, blood in elemental terms at least. And they lost more strong and original voidborns in those wars and they thus had less of a clue on what it was.¡± ¡°So, what¡¯s your theory?¡± ¡°Our theory was that we go to edgelands and find some more historical records about the rupture and the wars, and since it is the descendant of the first one who ascended from the void, then the one we¡¯re looking for definitely has ¡®it¡¯.¡± Dolores answered: ¡°Whatever it was, we can¡¯t really figure it out unless we at least go to the edgelands and meet with some of the elementals. So, would you accompany us?¡± ¡°Ah, bad timing. I am afraid I can¡¯t.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°Believe me, I would really love to. But this injury''s got me pretty exhausted and I am in no shape to travel to the edgelands. So I guess all I can say is good luck.¡± ¡°Too bad.¡± Professor Atkinson said: ¡°Now we should be on our way. Do you know if the elementals still use purified gems, sapphires or rubies as currency?¡± ¡°Yes they still use them. Though they are also open to trading with energy stones, and most of the materials you would need to find when you need to craft any high level arrays.¡± ¡°Noted.¡± Dolores nodded and went back to her desk to take out a few cloth bags of her personal materials. ¡°And, please take some of these.¡± Jianmen reached into his pocket and took out a few pieces of very rough and crude looking dark stones: ¡°These are some of the mid-products of some of my purification experiments. It¡¯s not worth much, but should be alright to serve as pocket change.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Dolores took the rough stones and put them into a cloth pouch: ¡°And thank you for all the wonderful help you¡¯ve given us.¡± ¡°So, would we still see you when you¡¯re back?¡± Professor Atkinson asked. ¡°You could still see ME, as in my main body or other avatars., just ask Josephine.¡± Jianmen smiled and handed them an envelope: ¡°This is for you - some very important information inside for your references. I¡¯d tell you face to face, but this kind of information needs time to prep the listeners. So, be absolutely ready before you open it.¡± ¡°Okay, call me intrigued.¡± Dolores chuckled: ¡°Mind letting me know what it is about?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a clue I recently got synced up from one other avatar.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°It could be helpful, but it could be nothing.¡± Chapter 349 A portal with blue edges opened and then closed inside of the lounge of Xianshi Inn. Josephine Wong walked out of the portal, still trying to catch her breath - she did not expend her own energy in creating the portal, yet travelling through it still required some of it. Before she became weak like she was now, she would not even bat an eye at the energy expense. But now, she felt like she would faint if she tried to squeeze more out of herself. ¡°Ms. Wong! Are you okay?!¡± Rashmumba D¡¯Eclaire, or Rash, rushed over to Josephine Wong¡¯s side with a small white fur ball with two eyes on his shoulder. His legs were wobbly like there were no bones in them which caused him to lose control a few times, but he still managed to hold Josephine Wong by her shoulders and helped her sit down behind the reception¡¯s desk. ¡°You look terrible! You want some of Mr. Yu¡¯s food?¡± ¡°Yes, please.¡± Josephine Wong smiled and said: ¡°Thank you Rash.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll leave Snowball with you.¡± Rash picked up the fur ball with eyes on his shoulder and placed it on the reception¡¯s desk right in front of Josephine Wong: ¡°I - I feel a bit ashamed to say that I ate most of the food Mr. Yu stored in the fridge already. How do you like stir fried beef liver and pig kidney? They are some of my least favorites so there¡¯s still a lot of them.¡± ¡°Might as well.¡± Josphine Wong chuckled and started scratching Snowball, and Snowball responded by letting out a comfortable purr like a cat: ¡°Snowball looks more lively than before, what are you feeding her?¡± ¡°Well, uh. Nothing special.¡± Rash poured some food into a deep plate and then put the plate into the microwave: ¡°Just the regular pet food left by Mr. Yu, and sometimes I gave her some leftovers.¡± ¡°Her? So it¡¯s a her?¡± Josephine Wong smiled while continuing to scratch and pet Snowball: ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s just a matter of speaking, since minor spirits are by their very nature genderless.¡± Rash also poured a cup of tea and delivered it to Josephine Wong while the microwave was reheating the food: ¡°But these kinds of minor spirits can give birth to other minor spirits, so I figured it sounds right this way.¡± ¡°Well, apparently the leftovers have been really good for her.¡± Josephine Wong couldn¡¯t help but smile at Snowball - it was not only because she was adorable, but also that with her power almost drained, she was not able to resist the aura that put everyone around in a good, empathetic mood radiated from Snowball. ¡°Well, I can¡¯t help it.¡± Rash took the plate out from the microwave and handed it to Josephine Wong: ¡°They are weak in terms of power, but they are precious and adorable.¡± ¡°How¡¯s Jianmen? How¡¯s my agent?¡± Josephine Wong took a bite and asked: ¡°I will need to see them in a bit.¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°They are in the healing room. It¡¯s super quiet in there so they must have not heard you coming.¡± Rash said: ¡°Should I call your agent over?¡± ¡°That would be great. Thank you again, Rash.¡± ¡°Alright, hold on.¡± Rash nodded and rushed to the second floor. After a short amount of time, a female healer in a white robe came down with Rash. ¡°Ms. Wong.¡± the healer gently bowed. ¡°Agent Carolina.¡± Ms. Wong sat straight and put down her chopsticks: ¡°Thank you for coming here. How is he?¡± ¡°He¡¯s - stable.¡± Agent Carolina hesitated and answered: ¡°He¡¯s not responding to most of our healing magic. I think until we get those medicinal materials you ordered, he¡¯s probably going to stay that way for a while. And - here¡¯s the note he left you.¡± She handed a piece of irregularly shaped note that seemed to be torn from a notebook in a hurry. Josephine Wong took that note and flattened it in front of her - it looked like some kind of doodle of a complicated word or symbol, with some barely intelligible writings on the side. ¡°Do you recognize what this means?¡± Rash also took a look at the piece of note and asked. ¡°No. But fortunately I do know how to figure it out.¡± Josephine Wong took out a notebook from one of the drawers of the reception¡¯s desk, and started deciphering the doodle. It only took a few minutes, and Josephine Wong was able to figure it out - it was a string of numbers and words in both English and traditional Chinese, and finally a small symbol. ¡°I can kinda read this. But I am more confused.¡± Rash frowned. ¡°This is just coding. He was trying to describe a True Word.¡± Josephine Wong said: ¡°Normal notebook paper couldn¡¯t possibly take on the written form of a True Word, even some vague descriptions would be too much for it. So he used a code that he and I shared to write down the hints to some descriptions. It¡¯s in his basement.¡± After having some food and tea, Josephine Wong seemed to have recovered more of her power, and she was strong enough to stand up on her own and walk without anyone¡¯s help. Rash picked up Snowball and followed Josephine Wong into the basement with Agent Carolina. For them, this would be their first time going down the basement, because doors were locked, and right now it seemed like Josephine Wong had the key. ¡°Woah.¡± Rash exclaimed in excitement and approval as he looked around the interior of the basement, especially the altar and the paintings hanging on the wall: ¡°That¡¯s a lot of True Words here. No wonder I get a little uncomfortable every time I get close to the door.¡± ¡°Yeah, be careful and don¡¯t touch anything.¡± Josephine Wong looked at her notebook then looked around in the room: ¡°Okay, found it.¡± Josephine Wong walked towards one of the paintings, then she knelt down in front of it to examine the flooring. After around half a minute and a few knocks on the tiles, she found one and then placed her palm on one of the square tiles. The tile sensed the presence of Josephine Wong¡¯s palm, and it slowly retreated into the ground, revealing a metal box underneath. ¡°Woo, mysterious.¡± when Josephine Wong opened the metal box and showed everyone what was inside, Rash sounded curious and at the same time somewhat disappointed. It was a folded piece of paper, a small notebook, a small bracelet made of orange and golden metal, and a small scroll. ¡°Alright.¡± Josephine Wong smiled, while her eyes turned slightly red as she picked up the bracelet, put it on her wrist and flipped through the notebook and the folded piece of paper: ¡°Jason and Caroline¡¯s training plan - nice; unfinished recipe for his enchanted coffee - a little disturbing, and - a scroll of really weighted knowledge. I guess I will need to recover before I open it.¡± ¡°What about the bracelet? Something special?¡± Rash asked, which earned him a side eye from Agent Carolina. ¡°It¡¯s uh - it¡¯s my gift to him.¡± Josephine Wong sniffled and said: ¡°And looks like he¡¯s given it some enchanted markings.¡± Chapter 350 The safe house that the crew of Jason, Caroline, Thomas, Aimee and Garret Peyton were looking for was but a small wooden house that looked just like any other houses around in the area - though they were all quite far away and were all separated by the mountainous terrain. The interior of the safe house was not like other enchanted houses or vehicles in which they had been before, for it had exactly the amount of space as it looked from the outside. But Jason and Caroline could both sense that the house was protected by some kind of array, and if not for the key that Garret Peyton brought with him they couldn''t have entered so easily. ¡°Hello, Ms. Wong?¡± Garret Peyton dialed the number of Josephine Wong, but got someone with a different voice answering the call. ¡°Hello, this is Agent Carolina. Ms. Wong is resting and healing and I am in charge of relaying her calls. What can I help you with?¡± ¡°Oh, hi. Agent Carolina.¡± Garret Peyton was slightly surprised: ¡°This is Garret Peyton, I was sent to the Grant Academy to pick up four students from there. We ran into hostile forces and our transportation vehicle was totaled. We are currently in a safe house in the mountains near Half Moon Bay, and we need immediate evacuation.¡± ¡°Understood. How long do you think you can hold there? Do you know who is pursuing you?¡± ¡°I think at best one day. ¡± Garret Peyton answered: ¡°I am not entirely sure who is after us, but it¡¯s pretty clear they are from some of the organizations that had their people in the academy and had people in the academy on their payroll. Please find Ms. Wong as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Ms. Wong is very weak at the moment and she was in no condition to help you herself.¡± Agent Carolina said: ¡°I will inform her right away and arrange some agents to evacuate you, please keep all means of communications open for now.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Garret Peyton sighed and hung up the phone. ¡°What¡¯d she say?¡± Thomas asked, still holding his enchanted gun in hand and wearing the special tactical vest with some sort of protective array on it. ¡°She said Ms. Wong¡¯s resting and healing, that she was in no condition to help us by herself.¡± Garrent Peyton let out a long sigh and said: ¡°Geez, this couldn¡¯t be a worse time, I suspect she was not well when she sent me, but ¡­ damn!¡± ¡°Something happened? ¡± Aimee looked at Caroline and Jason and asked: ¡°First your master got injured and couldn¡¯t even answer your phone, now that Ms. Wong needs so much rest and healing that she can¡¯t come and help us?¡±This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°God, we¡¯re terrible students.¡± Caroline immediately picked up her phone and dialed Jianmen¡¯s number. ¡°Hel ¡­ hello?¡± a strange male voice came from the other side of the call: ¡°Caroline? Caroline? Can you hear me?¡± ¡°Yes I can hear you.¡± Caroline frowned: ¡°Who is this?¡± ¡°Oh, hi, I am Rashmumba D¡¯Eclaire, but you can call me Rash.¡± the strange voice said: ¡°Since Ms. Wong is still healing, I am helping her to take Mr. Yu¡¯s calls, what can I do for you?¡± ¡°How is Boss?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°He¡¯s - he¡¯s doing okay, considering.¡± Rash answered: ¡°But he¡¯s not in the condition to help you himself either. Is this about you needing evacuation?¡± ¡°Yes - how¡¯d you know?¡± ¡°Agent Carolina¡¯s right here, and Ms. Wong is recovering in the inn.¡± Rash said: ¡°And I hope you¡¯ll excuse me, because I am in no condition to help either - I can do some other basic things for you, like sending you something.¡± ¡°Thanks, but that¡¯s okay, Rash.¡± Caroline sighed: ¡°Just let us know when Boss is getting better alright?¡± ¡°Yeah, hold on.¡± Caroline looked at everyone in the house and said: ¡°You said you could send us things, what kind of things can you send? And how fast can it get to us?¡± ¡°With my current condition, if you are not in some obscure remote realm and you¡¯re not asking for something really big, I¡¯d say it can reach you in a few minutes. Oh, from experience, food can¡¯t be sent.¡± ¡°Okay, can you hold for a second?¡± Caroline looked at Jason: ¡°Jason, remember Rashmumba D¡¯Eclaire?¡± ¡°Hmm, that magical jellyfish?¡± ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s looking after the inn for now, and he asked if he could send us something to help us. As long as it is not too big and not food.¡± ¡°Okay then. ¡±Jason nodded: ¡°How about some of those wooden cards Boss once gave us before? Or some powerful paper sigils?¡± ¡°You heard that Rash? Can you find anything like that in the reception¡¯s desk?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve just looked, I found some wooden cards with animals carved on them, do you want me to send you all of them?¡± ¡°No, no.¡± Caroline said: ¡°Send us the ones with the comparatively weak animals on them, like wasps, hornets, toads and the sort. Don¡¯t send the ones with overly powered animals.¡± ¡°Okay, I have here with me, a hummingbird, a crab, a lobster, a scorpion, a hamster, a snail...¡± ¡°All of these! These relatively weak animals, if you can, send us all of these!¡± ¡°Okay, wait where you are, they¡¯ll be there in a minute.¡± Rash said then hung up the phone. ¡°Huh?¡± Caroline was confused. ¡°We have company!¡± Garret Peyton looked out the window and yelled: ¡°Holy shit! How can they find us this fast!?¡± Everyone looked out the window, and they could see a small group of people, in robes and suits of armor walking out of a flying vehicle that looked like some kind of disc shaped spaceship with silvery blue lights on its surface and landed around half a mile away from the safe house. All of them recognized the vehicle directly ¡°Is that Agent Carolina dirty? Did she sell us out?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°No.¡± Garret Peyton, Caroline and Jason said at the same time. ¡°What, why?¡± Thomas asked: ¡°How could you know?¡± ¡°No harm could come to us from within the inn.¡± Jason nodded and said: ¡°It¡¯s - it¡¯s one of the unofficial mottos and - and decrees of Boss.¡± ¡°But who else could have known about this place?¡± Aimee picked up her enchanted gun from the ground: ¡°And who else could have known that we¡¯re here?¡± ¡°Division Agents.¡± Garret Peyton spoke through his teeth: ¡°There are several safe houses here, they must¡¯ve traced us here and are looking at the safe houses one by one.¡± Chapter 351 ¡°Who are these people?¡± Thomas peeked outside the window like he would in any other circumstances of defense against home invasion: ¡°And is there a tunnel or something in this room?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to do that, they can¡¯t see us through the windows.¡± Garret Peyton twirled his scepter and said: ¡°This safe house is protected by sight obscuration spells and various other arrays. So no one can see what¡¯s inside from outside without using invasive detection spells like Piercing Vision or Dragon¡¯s Eye.¡± ¡°Can these weapons hurt them?¡± Aimee checked on her rifle: ¡°I know it¡¯s from the Division, but how powerful are they really?¡± ¡°They¡¯re powerful enough to penetrate MOST passive defensive artifacts.¡± Garret Peyton answered: ¡°I wouldn¡¯t wanna take a hit from it.¡± ¡°And I¡¯ll ask again, is there a tunnel we can use to escape without having to engage them? ¡± Thomas asked: ¡°Or better yet, a portal or something.¡± ¡°These safe houses are relatively old and they don¡¯t have any of those.¡± Garret Peyton shook his head: ¡°We¡¯ll have to wait for rescue, at least they don¡¯t know for sure we¡¯re in here yet. Let me call Ms. Wong and some others for backup.¡± Just this moment, a light green energy arrow descended from the sky and went into the safe house they were in without even triggering the protective array. The light green energy arrow stopped and floated in midair at shoulder height once it reached the inside. Inside the energy arrow was a plastic bag, inside which were a couple of wooden cards with relief sculptures of animals and insects on them. ¡°Timing couldn¡¯t be worse, Rash.¡± Caroline huffed and squeezed the bridge of her nose: ¡°You think they saw it?¡± The people who just deboarded the disc shaped spaceship had their eyes fixated on this particular safe house and they started rushing towards it in an enclosing formation. ¡°Holy fuck. What should we do?¡± Thomas clenched the handle to his enchanted rifle, and he just checked his other weapons and tactical gear again: ¡°Do we fight them? If there¡¯s no way to escape, then we¡¯re practically sitting ducks here!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, these safe houses are fairly robust and have several layers of protective arrays that could withstand some pretty strong attacks.¡± Garret Peyton lifted a wooden panel on the ground, and exposed a piece of dark green stone tablet underneath. Then he placed his palm on it, and the tablet lit up: ¡°Okay, I activated the strongest lockdown protocol that¡¯s in place, all the protective arrays should be ready to activate. This should buy us some more time.¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Meanwhile, Caroline was on her phone, trying to call Josephine Wong. ¡°I know you are in there.¡± right this moment, a man with a strange pattern tattooed on his face, wearing a broken grey cloak and a suit of dark red leather armor underneath came to the front door of the safe house, and said to all five individuals inside the safe house in a voice amplified by magic: ¡°Come out, and we don¡¯t have to make this hard.¡± ¡°Hi, Agent Carolina?¡± Caroline¡¯s call finally made it through, but this time it was still Agent Carolina: ¡°This is Caroline Baker, I am the student of Mr. Jianmen Yu, the owner of Xianshi Inn...¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, I know who you are.¡± Agent Carolina said: ¡°I informed Ms. Wong, but she was still in no position to help you. I arranged for evacuation, but based on your location, it will take somewhere around an hour for our evacuation party to reach you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s too long, can¡¯t the team just teleport here?¡± ¡°Safehouses have teleportation barriers covering the area they¡¯re in, it¡¯s not easy to create simple personal portals.¡± Agent Carolina said: ¡°If you¡¯re in a safe house, activate all protective arrays and hang tight. I will reach out to you as soon as I have any updates.¡± ¡°Alright, it seems like you chose silence.¡± the man with a strange pattern tattooed on his face revealed his bare arms full of tattoos, while other individuals that came along followed his lead and surrounded the safe house: ¡°Then I guess we could only do things the hard way.¡± The man¡¯s tattoos on both his hands lit up in some kind of pale unsettling light, the air around his arms and hands shook as if it was in some kind of frantic panic. When he jabbed both of his fists forward, a pale shadow of the head of a huge serpent with extra long fangs, and one that looked like the head of a deep sea fish with long and curved sword-like teeth, disproportionately large eyes and bony facial structure came out from his left and right fists. The safe house shook when the two shadows crashed into it, as if it was hit by a high scale earthquake, but what was more damaging and disturbing for those inside, was the resounding echo that these two shadows created inside the safe house. It was two deafening high pitched screams exploding at the same time, which also seemed to carry some kind of energy flow disrupting property. All five individuals inside the safe house felt as if hundreds of sharp razors were cutting them from the inside, and their powers were about to run wild and pierce through their flesh and internal organs. This caused Thomas and Aimee to drop to the ground almost instantly, even though they covered their ears with their hands. Garret Peyton immediately knelt down in the center of the room while holding his scepter with both his hands and created a golden energy bubble to block off this kind of soundwave attack. ¡°What the fuck is this!?¡± Jason felt like he could taste blood, dirt and metal, and he had to cast an ¡°Internal Fortification¡± spell on himself so that he could withstand the screeching sound. And after sensing that this was helping, he also cast the spell on Thomas and Aimee, which helped them recover a bit and stay conscious. Caroline¡¯s whole body was engulfed in bright flames and was enclosed by a bubble of wind - one she instinctively created to shield her from the terrible and terrorizing sound. Her skins also showed many small cuts and burns, seemingly from her own powers. ¡°Array resonance spell. The only way to fight it in this kind of old safe house is to deactivate the protective arrays.¡± Garret Peyton coughed and he bled from his nostrils: ¡°How the hell did they find someone who can do that...¡± ¡°How do we fight it?¡± Caroline asked: ¡°This is no ordinary sound!¡± ¡°We need something to prevent the energy resonance between the spell and the protective array.¡± Garret Peyton continued to hold his energy bubble, with no attention paid to his bleeding nose: ¡°I am not good at this, you have something?¡± ¡°Resonance - let me try!¡± Caroline grabbed the light green energy arrow that was still floating right in front of them and started flipping through the wooden cards. Chapter 352 ¡°This looks like what I need, cicada!¡± Caroline laughed while wiping away blood from the corner of her mouth: ¡°Boss, thank you.¡± Then, she infused her Xuanli into the wooden card in her hand - she was not informed by anyone on how to use it, but somehow, she felt like she knew already. An orange and red cicada with light green eyes and wings appeared in the air, and started vibrating its wings and making the normal summer cicada sound. This sound was noisy and annoying, but somehow it completely silenced the deafening screams from the attack unleashed by the tattooed man in a broken grey cloak. ¡°There¡¯s more where that came from.¡± the tattooed man outside of the safe house warned: ¡°Come out now, and hand us the key you found, you will be spared the torture.¡± No one answered him, this was thanks to the energy cicada conjured by Caroline¡¯s use of the wooden card. And with this time and opportunity to breathe, Caroline did not hesitate to cast ¡°Flame of Vitality¡± on Aimee and Thomas to help them recover. ¡°You need help man?¡± Jason looked at Garret Peyton and asked: ¡°I can use my healing spell on you, but it¡¯s not that much of a healing spell and more of a fortification and resilience enhancing spell.¡± ¡°Yeah sure, why not.¡± Garret Peyton took a few deep breaths and cast some kind of simple healing spell on himself: ¡°What is that card? You have any I can use?¡± ¡°I am not sure these cards work with your kind of power. But here.¡± Caroline handed a card with a badger on it: ¡°I think it¡¯s gonna be quite powerful, so be careful.¡± ¡°So, not even gonna come out?¡± while the five inside the safe house were regrouping, the tattooed man outside felt taunted and decided to strike again - he made a few hand seals with both of his hands, then he placed his hands in front of his mouth like he was about to shout, and he blew through the space between his palms.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. This time, the shadow of a giant human head came out from his hands, with quite visible rotten flesh and skin on its face, its left eyeball hanging out from the eye socket, and the lips totally missing, revealing the crooked and sharp teeth. As the shadow head got close to the safe house, it grew in size and its mouth opened up to an extreme angle where if it happened to a normal human it would mean a dislocated jaw, and it just bit down on the top of the safe house. A terrible scream broke out once again inside the safe house, but this time, there was an energy cicada inside to counter it. The cicada¡¯s wings flapped so quickly and violently, that all five people nearby could sense the heat waves being released from its tiny body. The sound waves made by the cicada clashed with those that came from the pale human head shadow crashing into the protective arrays of the safehouse. The collision of energy created countless flashes of energy sparks and distorted sceneries like that around a fire around the five that were inside the safe house. Still, a small portion of the terrible scream from the shadow of the human head seeped through the barrier. Caroline and Jason felt like there were hundreds of hands pinching their muscles, bones and organs from inside their bodies, while Aimee and Thomas were still struggling on the ground. Garret Peyton was in a better condition, and he created the golden energy bubble once again to shield everyone from the influence. The orange and red cicada¡¯s body slowly cracked and crumbled into cinders in the air as the battle of the soundwaves continued. And when the attacks of the screams finally stopped, the cicada was already on its final straw and turned into dust in the air. The wooden card in Caroline¡¯s hand cracked and burst into burnt splinters. Caroline fell on the ground and gasped, then she instinctively grabbed her flask, only to find out it was empty long ago. ¡°If they tried something like that again, I don¡¯t know if I can do that again.¡± Caroline looked at Garret Peyton and Jason: ¡°We must do something.¡± ¡°Please, what can we do?¡± Aimee and Thomas asked. ¡°They are going to attack the safe house directly now.¡± Jason thought for a while and said: ¡°This last attack was probably their last probing attack. I suspect they wouldn¡¯t want to kill us directly, they¡¯re going after the protection arrays next.¡± ¡°That makes sense.¡± Garret Peyton nodded and said: ¡°If that¡¯s the case the best chance for us would be the moment the array collapses. If I remember correctly, the protective arrays have a final outburst mechanism, where if it could not hold any longer they would explode outwards and at least push the attackers away to buy the people in there some time. If we are able to survive the last blow, then we have a chance to burst outta here.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jason rifled through the wooden cards sent to them by Rash, and had his eyes on one card with the relief sculpture of an insect on it. A strange feeling of ¡°this is it¡± occured in his mind, and he felt like he already knew how to use it without even having to try. Then he turned towards Aimee and Thomas: ¡°I think I know what to do, get ready. How many of those enchanted guns did you bring?¡± Chapter 353 ¡°Looks like you¡¯re still not complying. Try to stay alive, for we are going in.¡± the two strikes cost the tattooed man in a broken cloak quite a bit of energy, for he was panting as he spoke, then he just swung his hand downwards to signal to others to open fire. Energy attacks started coming from all those who deboarded the disc shaped spaceship aiming at the safe house. Most of these attacks came from enchanted weapons held by the people surrounding the safehouse, and others came from the few more powerful and prideful power wielders leading the team. A bubble shaped energy shield was revealed by the constant attacks and started shaking and flickering almost immediately. The protective array redirected some of the shocks and impact from the attacks towards the ground, which caused the surrounding ground to crack, break and crumble, and thus the whole safehouse started slowly sinking into the ground. ¡°This is taking too long. We need to focus the attack on a single area.¡± a woman in a suit of black leather armor and two swords sheathed on her thighs, one long and one short, said to the tattooed man. ¡°That will almost surely kill them, we need them alive.¡± the tattooed man said. ¡°If we get the key, then who cares.¡± ¡°We also need them to tell us who else knew about the key.¡± the tattooed man shook his head: ¡°Not to mention, if they hid the key in one of those space magic enchanted storage containers, it could be lost forever if we killed them.¡± ¡°There¡¯s plenty of ways to find it even if it''s lost in a personal spacial container.¡± ¡°But how much time would that take?¡± ¡°Just promise me we are not to fight with our hands completely tied, yeah?¡± ¡°If it comes to it, you are allowed to kill. But why not try removing their fighting parts first, huh?¡± As the siege attacks on the safehouse raged on, the energy shield created by the protective array became weaker and weaker. More and more cracks appeared, and dimmer and dimmer the energy shine from the shield became. ¡°Almost there! Keep firing...¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Boom!¡± Before the energy shield was completely broken down, something else was triggered from within the safehouse. The protective arrays were pushed to their limits and into an outburst of an overdrive, and the energy within the protective energy shield was condensed then released in a single outward explosion. A shockwave was released from this explosion, the attackers who had their focus on the safehouse were not expecting this, and many of them were thrown into the air, some of them that were standing too close to the safehouse even had their hands and arms dislocated by the shock and impact. Something silver rose from the crater created by the explosion, bright sunlight was reflected off of its surface and many of those who were attacking the safe house couldn¡¯t even look at it directly without using their powers. It was a giant rhinoceros beetle that was covered with entirely silver shells. And the moment it came out from the crater, it started moving away from the center of the explosion, with six legs quickly moving and a long and curved horn on its head swiping from side to side, clearing up small trees and incapacitated attackers on its way. The ground seemed to move beneath its legs as well, gradually speeding its traversal across the terrain. ¡°They''re trying to escape! After them!¡± the tattooed man was not knocked away by the shockwave, for he blocked it with his two arms crossed before him and only had to take a few steps back. Seven figures who were also relatively strong power wielders started rushing after the silver rhinoceros beetle, trying to catch up to it. One of them was a mage, and she launched herself into the air, with bright green fire magic concentrated on her palms. ¡°Woosh!¡± two bright green fireballs shot from the mage¡¯s hand and onto the silver rhinoceros beetle¡¯s back. But the fireball didn¡¯t even get an explosion when it landed on the silver rhinoceros beetle¡¯s back, they just slid off like water droplets on an oily surface and exploded on the ground on its side. Two small windows opened on the silver rhinoceros beetle¡¯s back, and two muzzles stuck out, like they were some kind of shooting holes in a bunker. Then the two rifles underneath the thick silver shells opened fire on the flying mage. ¡°Bang bang bang ...¡± a flurry of enchanted bullets pierced through the air and shot towards the general direction of the mage in the sky. The mage did not expect her targets to counter attack at all, and was hit in the legs, chest and shoulder while she was conjuring another spell. Her defensive artifacts were activated by the artifacts she had with her. But the protection was torn through in just an instant, and her unfinished spell ended up engulfing her own body in green flames as she fell down from the sky. ¡°Nice shot! Nice fucking shot!¡± Caroline clapped her hands as the enemy mage fell to her explosive death. The shells one the back of the silver rhinoceros beetle were actually transparent from the inside, and all five escapees from the safe house were able to see what happened outside. ¡°There¡¯re still a few of them behind us.¡± Thomas retrieved his rifle as Aimee did hers, and the shooting holes on the shell closed up again. ¡°Okay, opening the butt for you.¡± Jason held the wooden card in his hand as sweat dripped from his face: ¡°Kill as many of them as possible!¡± Seeing that the escapees from the safehouse still had the weapon and will to fight back, all of the pursuers from behind activated some extra protection for themselves. ¡°Bang bang bang...¡± the detectives opened fire from the butt of the silver rhinoceros beetle on the pursuers behind them. But this time the bullets became less helpful, due to the additional precautions employed by their enemies. The few times they landed their shots on their targets, they only impeded their targets¡¯ movements but did not do any lasting damage. ¡°Let¡¯s conserve the ammo.¡± Aimee sighed and said: ¡°They¡¯re prepared. Jason, how far and long can we go?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how far, but I think another 10 minutes.¡± Jason answered with a wry smile: ¡°Damn it, I should''ve studied harder.¡± Chapter 354 ¡°Boom! Boom!¡± one light blue energy bolt and a fiery bright red one landed on two legs of the silver rhinoceros beetles, one on each side. The two silver legs broke off and shattered into pieces of energy shards and flew off into the air and dirt, the silver rhinoceros beetle stumbled and almost lost balance, but with two legs on each side it was still able to keep on going. ¡°Fucking nimwits, aim at the legs on the same side!¡± the tattooed man yelled and raised his hands in the air as he continued his pursuit: ¡°Attack on the right side! The right side!¡± The woman in a suit of black leather armor raised her longer sword in the air and swung it down, and released a blood red energy blade shot out against the right side of the silver rhinoceros beetle. The tattooed man extended his arms forward, with his hands in claw shapes, two blobs of pale energy were unleashed from his palms and merged together into a giant shadow serpent. The shadow serpent coiled its body in midair, then lunged itself also at the right side of the silver rhinoceros beetle. Just when other pursuers attempted to attack, the silver energy shards from the shattered legs of the silver rhinoceros beetle that were floating in the air and buried in the shallow dirt expanded and changed in shape - some became floating energy balls with spikes like sea urchins or exaggerated naval mines, some became sharp spikes that protruding out from the ground. One pursuing man wearing some kind of enchanted tactical armor was impaled by one of the silver spikes on the ground on his leg, and a pursuing woman got cut on her shoulder by a floating spiked energy ball. The attacks from the leading tattooed man and the woman in black leather armor struck the silver rhinoceros beetle on its right side of the body, creating a huge hole it and stranding it on the ground. The head of the silver rhinoceros beetle opened up like a blooming flower, and all the passengers inside ran out from within, and into the woods and mountains before them. ¡°Boom!¡± the silver rhinoceros beetle exploded, shooting out tens of thousands of sharp silver energy shards in all directions but the direction in which the five passengers escaped. Two more pursuers were hit by the energy shards and became instantly incapacitated. ¡°We need backup. Where¡¯s our backup? ¡± the woman in black leather armor asked: ¡°They have way too many tricks up their sleeves, we can¡¯t afford to lose any more of our men.¡± The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°You think I don¡¯t know that!?¡± the tattooed man yelled: ¡°They¡¯re out of their escape vehicle now, let¡¯s go grab these sons of bitches.¡± With the attackers that caught up with them after a short while, the tattooed man and the woman in black leather armor had five others with them in their attempts at capturing the five passengers from the silver rhinoceros beetle. ¡°They are right in front of us! Not that far away!¡± a red headed woman in a dark green cloak leapt onto the top of a tree and said: ¡°They¡¯re trying to cross a ravine ahead!¡± But just when she was about to say something else, a burst of five bullets were fired at her way and brought her down from the top of the tree. ¡°Melinda¡¯s down, Melinda¡¯s down!¡± the red headed woman¡¯s teammates became even more agitated than before, and they sped up their pursuit: ¡°We need visuals! We need fucking visuals!¡± Thomas turned back briefly and opened fire at one of the closest pursuers again. This time his target grew smarter and held up a small metal shield with a crystal ball pattern before him, and the bullets just bounced off from the surface of the shield, leaving only a few marks. ¡°Bang bang bang!¡± Aimee joined Thomas with his attack and opened fire on the same pursuer. The bullets flew around the man, and one particular one hit the ground and jumped into the man¡¯s left leg. Just when the man¡¯s defenses were down due to the pain, Thomas unleashed another small burst fire and buried one of the bullets in the man¡¯s neck. ¡°Die!¡± a man with wolf-like fur on his forearms and long, sharp fingernails lunged from far away and right at Aimee and Thomas. A spinning energy shadow of a round shield flew in a curved trajectory through the air and struck the man with long fingernails on his jaw and knocked him out of the air. And then came the silver shadow of a tip of the spear, aiming at the man¡¯s chest. But this silver shadow energy attack did not land, for it was blocked by the bare left hand of the tattooed man who launched the first attacks on the safehouse. Then, the tattooed man swung his right hand downwards, and the pale shadow of an arm and hand with sharp claws struck down at Aimee and Thomas. Garret Peyton leapt forward from behind, and jabbed his scepter at the claw shadow, the golden energy concentrated at the tip of the scepter clashed with the pale shadow claw. An explosion broke out and sent both the tattooed man and Garret Peyton back. ¡°Get back! Find a place to hide!¡± Caroline jumped forward and swung her translucent orange and red axe at a female mage in a blue robe. ¡°And use it when you need to!¡± Jason jumped forward and unleashed a flurry of silver shadows of spear tips at the man with long fingernails and fur forearms. Jason¡¯s target tried to block Jason¡¯s attacks with his arms, but the shadow spear tips still cut through his muscles and fingernails, and his blood gushed into the air. On the other side, the energy shield created by the female mage was not strong enough to guard against Caroline¡¯s strike of wind, flame and fury, and though she was not cut in half, she was knocked back and fell down the slope. The woman in black leather armor had her two swords in her hand and came from the side, the longer sword thrusting towards Caroline¡¯s shoulder. Caroline raised her shield and parried the thrust, then she sidestepped to dodge the cut from the shorter sword. But when she turned her at her opponent and was about to strike her with the pommel of her axe, she froze with surprise. Having got a clear view of Caroline¡¯s face, the opponent froze as well. Chapter 355 ¡°You bitch!¡± the female mage in a blue robe came back and shot a bolt lightning from her wand at Caroline. Caroline did not get a chance to block or even conjure an energy shield around her body. Her Xuanli activated instinctively and coat her body with a thin layer of protective membrane, which absorbed a small portion of the power, but she was still knocked back into the air and hit her back on the trunk of a tree. ¡°Fuck YOU!¡± when the female mage tried to score another attack, Jason backed off from his own battle and shot a flying silver energy scimitar at her. When the silver energy scimitar got deflected by the lightning bolt shot from the female mage¡¯s hands, Jason slammed his pen-spear on the ground and a wave of stone, dirt and hidden silver spikes blew towards her. The female mage tried to back off, but the wave still exploded right in front of her right when she took her fist step back. Dozens of spikes made of metal and earth energy burst out like pellets from a shotgun. The protective spell she cast on herself blocked most of them, but her hands and waist were still scratched and cut. Caroline¡¯s body was twitching and shaking, but she pushed through it and sat up the the ground, with her arms and hands still paralyzed, she recited the words of the Flame of Vitality spell and let the spell take effect on herself. ¡°Olivia, lie down!¡± the eyes of the woman in a black leather armor flashed, and she crossed her swords in front of her and yelled. ¡°Bang bang!¡± two gunshots exploded from behind a tree behind Garret Peyton, Caroline and Jason. It was Aimee opening fire on the female mage in a blue robe. The female mage lowered her body to the ground and put up an energy shield in front of her. The bullets ended up bouncing off the edge of the energy shield and flew off. ¡°Woosh¡± a fireball came from Caroline¡¯s left hand and shot right at the head of the woman in black leather armor, but the woman¡¯s armor lit up in dim red light, and she moved away in an instant. The next moment, she lunged at Caroline with the longer sword pointing forward and the shorter sword positioned at her waist. But halfway, she abruptly stopped and flung herself backwards by stomping her feet on the ground in front of her. A stone wall shot up from the ground right before her, and had she not backed off, she would have crashed into it. ¡°You¡¯ve got some skills since the last time I saw you.¡± Jason pointed his pen-spear at the woman in black leather armor and said: ¡°You owe me a camera.¡± Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°So have you.¡± the woman crossed her swords again, and took a peek at Caroline, who stood up from the ground and walked right past the stone wall with her battle axe and shield in her hands: ¡°And I owe you nothing.¡± ¡°Well, we trained for ours, but it looks like you borrowed yours.¡± Caroline twirled her battle axe and said. ¡°You know ¡¯em?¡± Olivia, the mage in a blue robe came forward and caught the conversation among the three. ¡°No.¡± Emilia Corin¡¯s swords lit up in blood red light, and she launched herself right at Caroline. On Garret Peyton¡¯s side, he traded blows with the tattooed man several times. To his surprise and struggle, when the tattoos on the man¡¯s arms, chest and shoulders lit up, they became hardened and fortified by the same kind of pale energy that his opponent attacked with, like some sort of strange armor. He gained his training from some of the best knight trainers in his circle, and he had trained with Josephine Wong for quite some time. But he was still not able to find a way to beat or even suppress this pale energy, much less the one using it. ¡°Ha!¡± the tattooed man unleashed a powerful blow with his two hands shaped as claws, the pale energy from his palms exploded upon contact with Garret Peyton¡¯s scepter. The clash made a sound of two pieces of hard metal clashing together, and Garret Peyton felt like he was hit by a huge truck, and he had to take a dozen steps back just to resolve the impact. The tattooed man leapt forward at Garret Peyton again, with pale energy forming into two construct maces with crooked spikes. Garret Peyton took a deep breath, and coated his scepter with his golden energy and charged right at his opponent. Aimee and Thomas became a small tactical team, and they were taking advantage of the enchanted guns they brought from the purple flying SUV to fight back two opponents that were not in sync but individually had way more powers than them. They ran, hid and shot among the trees and along the difficult terrain, their opponents were one fighter wielding a giant curved sword and one archer wielding a short but surprisingly powerful wooden bow. Thomas opened fire again while Aimee was reloading, the flurry of bullets were knocked away into the air and the dirt by the fighter¡¯s giant sword, and when the enemy archer drew his bow, Aimee opened fire on him. The archer had to release the bow but not with the best and most steady aim, the arrow pierced through the air without making almost any sound and with solidified green energy on its head. It ended up hitting a tree on the side, and the blades from the arrowhead cut through the entire chunk and brought it down on the ground. ¡°Blast them! Blast them!¡± the fighter raised his sword and concentrated his light brown energy on his giant sword, but the flurry of bullets from Thomas forced him to abort his attack: ¡°Dammit Damien! I¡¯ll guard your sorry ass! Just blast them with your fancy raining shot!¡± ¡°On it!¡± the archer jumped behind the fighter, and took out three full sized arrows with extra heavy heads from a very small pouch on his waist and docked them on his bow. The fighter, however, conjured up a full body energy shield made of earth magic energy right in front of him, and the bullets from Aimee and Thomas¡¯ guns could not leave any marks on it. ¡°Struggle some more you little maggot!¡± the man with wolf-like fur on his forearms and sharp long fingernails laughed with a foul breath at Jason, who, though landed several strikes yet still could not do any lasting damage: ¡°Our reinforcements are coming! And when they¡¯re here, you¡¯re gonna wish you¡¯re dead!¡± ¡°Fuck off!¡± Jason cursed and swung his pen-spear upwards, the energy blade extended from the tip of his spear sliced his opponent¡¯s face open from the middle, but the two halves still converged and became one single whole face. All five of them were getting more and more anxious by the second, for all of them heard about their opponents¡¯ reinforcements, and their extraction team were nowhere to be seen or heard. Chapter 356 A few miles away from the now completely leveled safehouse, a small team of six were flying through the air towards the site of the safehouse. They were informed about what happened, and they were on their way as reinforcement to the current location of the team that were trying to capture those who escaped from the safehouse. ¡°Mr. Durbin, I assume you are well¡­, um well fed?¡± a female mage in a white cloak with golden linings asked an old man in a dirty, broken brown cloak. ¡°I think Bloodsucker King Gerald there is well fed.¡± the old man in a dirty old brown cloak had a wooden staff in his right hand while holding a fresh severed human head in his left hand like a floating magical orb - some kind of silvery blue liquid was slowly seeping out from the eye sockets on the human head, and his left hand was absorbing it : ¡°Me - I can hardly be fed or satisfied. Which is why these characters we¡¯re hunting down better be worth the trouble - ¡± ¡°Ms. Summers said they must be kept alive, until she meets with them.¡± a man in a red coat who is riding on a flying vehicle with a chain blade in his pocket licked his lips and said: ¡°I guess they could still spill some blood - I just hope they¡¯re not virgins.¡± ¡°Why NOT virgins?¡± a man flying behind the old man and wearing a red and white half-faced mask and a suit of armor made with scales and shells from some kind of animal scoffed: ¡°I thought you Vamps like virgins?¡± ¡°Some do and some don¡¯t. I in particular loathe them because of the lack of flavor and taste. Some youngling chasing twerps just keep giving us a bad name.¡± the man in a red coat scratched his very much human-like teeth with his fingernails: ¡°And I for one, like blood with a touch of spark and taste - like that of accomplished mages, fighters, knights like our targets we¡¯re tasked with capturing - or, something like some of my favorite youths in the community cooked up, livestocks pumped with different chemicals and special narcotics right before serving.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re into drugs?¡± the man with a half-faced masked asked. ¡°Don¡¯t compare me to street junkies who can¡¯t even keep a clear mind. No human made narcotics or psychedelics work on me.¡± the man in a red cloak said: ¡°But they do leave some interesting residuals inside of human¡¯s bloodstream, it¡¯s like what you humans do with your special meat steaks right? Like aging, marinating and - ¡± ¡°Hello, please pause for a minute.¡± just this moment, a slightly chubby Chinese man appeared right in front of the team, and said to them in a bizarrely clear but weak voice: ¡°I have something to ask of you.¡± The team did not intend to stop at all, but somehow they felt like they kinda had to. And so they did. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Who are you?¡± the female mage in a white cloak asked: ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°My name is Lun Wang, but it¡¯s not that important.¡± the chubby Chinese man looked weak and tormented and he coughed like he had some respiratory disease as he spoke: ¡°And I am here because I am a little ¡­ concerned.¡± ¡°Oh, and how does that make it our concern?¡± the man in a red coat took out his chain blade and started slowly caressing the pieces of blades on the chain: ¡°And if you¡¯re smart, you¡¯d get out of our way.¡± ¡°You look powerful.¡± the old man in a broken brown cloak smiled and said as he played with the: ¡°Your spirit must be tasty. Do you mind cutting off your head for me? You know - as a token of apology for stopping us in the middle of our way like that?¡± ¡°Tim. I know about you.¡± the Chinese man smiled and reached to the back of his waist with his right hand, and slowly drew a meat cleaver: ¡°Formerly a knight, renowned scholar of life and light magic. Then you became a necromancer, and became known for your mastery of necromancy. And I would hate to be apprehended by you.¡± ¡°The last one who dared call me Tim, I locked his soul inside of a burning skull for a month, and kept him alive the whole time. ¡± the old man in a broken brown cloak spoke through his teeth, while raising both his hands into the air. The sky grew grimmer and the air became colder around him, and the shadowy energy released from his body slowly formed into the shadow of a huge humanoid skeleton monster with a sword. The other members of the team backed off in awe and caution, it seemed that they knew what was about to come. ¡°I am sorry.¡± the Chinese man readied his meat cleaver as if he was holding an actual sword and got into a battle position: ¡°But I DO intend to offend you. You could have sent your young students or disciples, and it would have been fair game. But you coming yourself? Now you¡¯re just being a loathsome bully.¡± Timothy Durbin laughed out loud with rage, his laughter gradually became deep and echoey as the shadow of the skeleton monster became more and more solidified: ¡°I don¡¯t know why you crave death so much. But I am just glad you are here.¡± Before Lun Wang could respond, Timothy Durbin swung his wooden staff down, and the shadow skeleton monster behind him swung its sword downwards with him. One could hear countless screeching and deafening cries and moans full of torture and anguish as the shadow sword sliced through the air. Some of the teammates of Timothy Durbin could even see illusions of crying and screaming faces made of fog surrounding the blade. Lun Wang¡¯s figure blurred as the shadow sword came down at him - he instantly moved to his left and evaded the blade by mere inches. His left hand jabbed right in a finger strike, and his right hand flung upward unleashing a slash from his lower left to his upper right. The shadow sword cracked and shattered, just like a hardened metal would when struck with highly concentrated impact. On the other hand, the upward slash attack from the meat cleaver sliced through Timothy Durbin¡¯s body, from his right hip to his left shoulder. The cut was clean, but the residual energy from the slash from it still burst - sharp tiny energy blades coursed through the two chunks of Timothy Durbin¡¯s body, the shadow skeleton monster, and another unfortunate teammate of his behind him, slicing them up from inside into thousands of pieces. All the remaining members of the team froze and utter shock and fear - even though they could see that Lun Wang¡¯s body had already started turning into dust and cinder after delivering this blow. ¡°That¡¯s too bad.¡± Lun Wang coughed while his face was slowly cracking up and turning into dust: ¡°Flesh bound mortality scapegoat?¡± No one answered him - not in time anyway. His body was already gone just after a few seconds. A shining drop of blood floated in the air where Timothy Durbin was, after a short while it started expanding, growing, and eventually growing into the shape of a human. Bones and organs appeared from within the floating blob of blood, then the nerves, then the eyes, then the skin and hair. Timothy Durbin gasped and coughed in blood when he came to - he was naked and severely weakened, his artifacts were almost all destroyed. ¡°Who was that?¡± Chapter 357 A barrage of lightning bolts shot out from the wand wielded by the female mage in a blue robe. And Caroline had to block them instead of dodging them, because she just parried a few hits from Emilia Corin and had no chance. The lightning bolts forced Caroline¡¯s back against a tree. And at the same time, Emilia Corin jumped towards her side and swung her longer sword against her shoulder. Caroline had to explode her Xuanli for the third time today and push Emilia Corin away, while still keeping an eye on the mage with a grudge against her. ¡°Jason! Help here!¡± Caroline stepped on the tree behind her and jumped to the side to give her some distance between her and her opponents. The next moment she banged her battle axe on her shield and released a sweeping fiery shockwave at Emilia Corin and the female mage in a blue robe to force them away. ¡°Busy!¡± Jason also had to pull away from his battle, the man with wolf-like fur on his arms and long sharp fingernails was joined by another man that had similar physical characteristics as him. And appearance was not the only similarity between them, they both had enhanced ability to heal and regenerate, almost unlimited stamina, thick and sturdy bones and superhuman strength. Jason was already having some trouble with one such opponent, for though he was able to create some grevious wounds on his opponent¡¯s body, he could never make them last. Jason swung his pen-spear from left to right, and a long silver polearm with two curved hooks on its blade was shot out at one of his opponents and impaled him through his chest. The blade of the polearm then sunk into a tree behind him, temporarily locking him on the tree. Then he raised his pen-spear in front of him to block a claw attack from his other opponent, which made him back off a few steps. ¡°Use the card! And hide!¡± Thomas found that he was not able to get through the energy shield created by the fighter with a huge sword and stop the attack that was being pulled by the archer, Thomas yelled at Aimee. ¡°Fuck!¡± Aimee¡¯s rifle was empty already, and she had to toss the gun aside, took out a wooden card with a lady bug relief sculpture on it. And when she infused her magical powers into the card, a small lady bug made of ice appeared in front of her, and started circling her and Thomas: ¡°This bug¡­ this is just a small bug!¡± ¡°Then go! I¡¯m out!¡± Thomas fired the last few rounds in his magazine, so he just hung his rifle to the side with the strap and pulled out a handgun to continue firing at their opponents to keep applying the pressure while he and Aimee were getting ready to leave the fight. ¡°Bang!¡± the archer¡¯s bow let out a loud sound from its string, and three arrows were sent into the air. The three arrows were shining in green, and their heads turned sideways midair right at the exact same height, forming into a simple array in the air. Light green energy arrows started raining down from the array in the air, all aiming at the general direction of Aimee and Thomas.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. When the rain of green energy arrows got close, the lady bug made of ice started making a high-pitched screeching sound. A wall of wind started forming around them, and embedded in the wind were hundreds of tiny ice shards, whose numbers were still growing by the second. When the green energy arrows landed on the wall of wind with ice shards inside, they were pushed from the side by the wind while being cut and impacted by the ice shards. These factors were not strong enough to completely shield them from the arrows, but they still made the energy arrows deviate from their original trajectories. Sharp pain started coming from almost all extremities of Aimee and Thomas, none of the energy arrows hit them on the crucial parts of their bodies, but this did not mean they wouldn¡¯t hurt as they left bleeding cuts and scratches on their bodies. ¡°Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck...¡± Thomas grabbed Aimee¡¯s shoulder with his right arm, trying to shield Aimee from the energy arrows. And as the ice lady bug became weaker and weaker, the energy arrows started landing closer and closer. Lucky for them, they were able to find a piece of protruding rock and hid behind it, but not before an energy arrow impaled Thomas¡¯s left leg. ¡°Thomas! ¡± Aimee pulled Thomas under the shade of the rock, and then placed her hand on the wound on Thomas¡¯ leg, trying to use her ice magic to slow the bleeding. ¡°These motherfuckers...¡± Thomas pulled out the wooden card given to him, which had the relief sculpture of an ant on it. The magical power flow into the wooden card was quite quick and violent even, which almost completely drained Thomas in a few seconds¡¯ time. A translucent ant the size of a human thumb appeared then disappeared, and before long they heard a painful cry from the archer: ¡°Fuck! Son of a bitch! Something bit me!¡± Things were not just bad for Aimee and Thomas. Though having landed no less than a few dozen attacks on his opponents, Jason still got hit by a few claw attacks from his opponents, and if not for him having cast Internal Fortification on himself, he would have probably bled out. Caroline was not bleeding as much, but her muscles were aching and her internal organs were burning up due to the many lightning bolts she had to take on without much defense. Garret Peyton was the best fighter among the five, but his opponent was also the best in his own team, and he was struck with several heavy attacks from the fight and was coughing blood. ¡°Stop!¡± two extremely powerful lightning bolts shot down from the sky, one of which landed on the back of one of Jason¡¯s opponents, blasting him away from where he was, the other missed the target, struck the ground and exploded, Emilia Corin evaded the attack at the very last minute, but she was blasted away by the shockwave as well. An old wizard wearing a luxurious blue robe descended from the sky and landed behind Jason and Caroline. ¡°Don¡¯t move a muscle, or you¡¯re gonna see your own head leaving your body.¡± a red headed assassiness wearing a dark red leather suit appeared out of nowhere and had one of her daggers at the archer¡¯s neck, and the other¡¯s tip sunk into the fighter¡¯s back: ¡°And you, big guy, if I pushed, your heart would be shredded.¡± ¡°Master Blue.¡± Garret Peyton leapt back and wiped the blood from his nose and the corner of his mouth: ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Cavalry is finally here.¡± Jason limped backwards from his position - there were two very nasty scratch wounds on his shoulder and his right leg, but he was not bleeding to a dangerous degree: ¡°And sir, can I just tell you, you look dashing and fabulous.¡± ¡°Want me to take a look at your wound, Jason?¡± Caroline was also limping backwards with her shield and battle axe raised before her. Then she turned to Emilia Corin: ¡°Looks like we¡¯ve gotta meet another time. IF you are able to last that long.¡± ¡°Blue.¡± the tattooed man seemed angry and slightly fearful at the same time: ¡°Didn¡¯t expect to see you here.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t suppose I know you, young man.¡± Blue nodded and said: ¡°I am here with my colleague Vivian, and we would like to bring these young people home.¡± ¡°Hold them!¡± the tattooed man yelled to all of his teammates: ¡°Our reinforcements will be here any minute! ¡± Chapter 358 ¡°Do you know who those people are?¡± when the team that had been pursuing them since the safehouse left the battlefield unwillingly, Garret Peyton asked Caroline and Jason: ¡°At least that woman wearing that very expensive looking armor and those two famous slash notorious swords.¡± ¡°That¡¯s - that¡¯s Emilia Corin.¡± Caroline said. ¡°Wait what?¡± Thomas and Aimee both gasped and stood up from where they were sitting: ¡°Emilia Corin? THAT Emilia Corin?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get back first.¡± Blue took out a small piece of paper and conjured up a portal in front of them according to the notes written on it: ¡°This would take you to the inn. Ms. Wong would be waiting for you there. And so would Mr. Yu.¡± ¡°Are you not coming with us?¡± Garret Peyton stood beside the portal, waiting for the rest of the safehouse escapees to go in first: ¡°What happened? Why are you rescuing us and not the other agents? I am not saying I am not grateful, but - ¡± ¡°We¡¯re incredibly understaffed. Young Garret.¡± Blue nodded and said: ¡°You haven¡¯t officially joined the Division yet, so you might not know about all the details - but there is a war going on between two groups of very powerful players. We have plenty of reasons to believe this is some kind of infighting between high level members of the Exalted Bondsmen.¡± ¡°... okay.¡± Garret Peyton sighed and turned to the other four, who were still standing near the portal: ¡°What are you waiting for? Go in!¡± ¡°I just want to say. Thank you very much, Master Blue, Ms. - Ms. Vivian¡± Jason held his fists and bowed towards Blue and Vivian. ¡°Thank you. There¡¯s no words that could explain how grateful I am.¡± Caroline also held her fists and bowed. Thomas and Aimee were stunted for a short moment because they did not know how to properly express their gratitude, so they just bowed like Caroline and Jason. ¡°No worries. Say hi to your master for us.¡± Vivian and waved them goodbye. When all five of them stepped outside of the portal, they found themselves transported to the parking lot of Xianshi Inn. And with enthusiasm and hurry, Caroline and Jason headed first into the inn. ¡°Boss! You alright!?¡± Jason yelled when he got into the lounge: ¡°Boss!?¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Jason, Caroline, glad to see you back.¡± a strange tall thin man stood up from behind the reception¡¯s desk: ¡°I made some tea in the kitchen, you wanna have some?¡± ¡°Um - who are you?¡± Caroline stopped and frowned at the strange tall thin man: ¡°And where¡¯s Dave? And where¡¯s Boss?¡± ¡°My name is Rashmumba D¡¯Eclaire, but you can call me Rash.¡± the tall thin man went into the kitchen and took out a teapot and five cups: ¡°I believe you saw me before, but we¡¯ve never been officially introduced.¡± ¡°So - you¡¯re the jellyfish?¡± Jason took a look at the empty fish tank near the official entrance. ¡°Yep, I was in recovery mode until fairly recently, and helping Mr. Yu take care of this wonderful inn is the least I can do to pay him back.¡± Rash laid down the cups and poured tea in all of them: ¡°Here, have some tea.¡± ¡°How¡¯s Boss?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°And how¡¯s Ms. Wong?¡± Garret Peyton picked up one of the tea cups out of respect and said: ¡°Can you tell us? I am very worried about her.¡± ¡°They are both okay. Not well, not good, but they¡¯ll live. Dammit I forgot to get my own cup...¡± Rash hesitated for a short moment then drank from the teapot directly: ¡°Oh, ah ah ah - hot! Mr. Yu is resting in his own room. And Ms. Wong is taking a bath in the underground library.¡± ¡°A bath in the library?¡± Garret Peyton was a bit weirded out. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s uh - our master¡¯s library.¡± Caroline shrugged and said: ¡°Here, let me open the door for you.¡± ¡°Nonononono!¡± Garret Peyton immediately shook his head: ¡°I¡¯ll - I¡¯ll wait here!¡± ¡°Let me take a look then.¡± Aimee finished her cup of tea and turned to Caroline: ¡°Point me the way please.¡± ¡°Here.¡± Caroline led Aimee to the door to the diner, then she just closed the door and pushed it open again, the diner disappeared behind the door, and the interior of a spacious underground room with some book shelves in the background appeared, then she turned back at Jason: ¡°Jason, can you go check on Boss?¡± ¡°On it.¡± Jason finished his tea and ran upstairs. Aimee followed Caroline through the teleporting door into the underground library. Aimee wanted to ask Caroline about the magical door, but then decided to ask later. ¡°Bath - bath - I don¡¯t remember there being a bathroom here.¡± Caroline looked around at the library in which she spent quite some time before heading to the Grant Academy: ¡°Ms. Wong!? Where are you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± just this moment, a hidden door lit up from a wall to their left, and slowly swung open, Josephine Wong came out from behind, wearing a light purple silk bathrobe: ¡°Sorry to have kept you waiting - I went into an unexpected healing coma while taking a medicinal bath and fell asleep for almost two straight days. I am very glad you are okay, I am right to put my trust into Agent Carolina that she would handle things properly.¡± ¡°Ms. Wong, what happened?¡± Aimee walked up to Josephine Wong¡¯s side and asked: ¡°We called earlier today and heard that you¡¯re injured - ¡± ¡°I WAS injured.¡± Josephine Wong smiled and patted Aimee¡¯s shoulder, then she held Caroline¡¯s hand and said: ¡°Jianmen took my wound away from me and saved me from a horrible death. Now I¡¯m just - tired.¡± The scenery around them shifted, like a movie on fast forward, and Caroline and Aimee found that they were teleported to the diner, with absolutely no sign of any spell being placed on them. ¡°Woah.¡± Caroline looked around. ¡°Your boss granted me full access to all amenities here.¡± Josephine Wong chuckled and showed Caroline and Aimee a simple looking bracelet: ¡°Let¡¯s have dinner together, I¡¯m sure you have a lot of questions, and I will be answering them - to the best of my and YOUR abilities.¡± ¡°Oh, god.¡± Caroline sighed, then shook her head with a wry smile: ¡°It¡¯s weighted information and knowledge, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°You better get used to it.¡± Josephine Wong opened a cupboard and took out a cookie jar: ¡°Coffee cookie?¡± Chapter 359 Before today, none of Caroline, Jason, Aimee and Thomas knew that Josephine Wong could cook. And to their surprise, they were not aware that her go-to was some kind of fusion cuisine. ¡°Baked potatoes with pieces of fish stuffed inside, steamed Manchurian rice with some sticky rice mixed in, fresh tofu soup with seafood made with slow cooked fish bone soup broth and various fish from the lake in the farm, fresh thinly sliced deep water fish from the lake - it¡¯s edible fresh and raw according to Jianmen¡¯s notes. I don¡¯t know what it will taste like, so I¡¯ll just make it a sashimi. Here¡¯ some steamed vegetables, marinated venison steak cooked to medium, and broiled salmon.¡± Josephine Walked stood in front of the table and said: ¡°Most of the food and materials are from the farm here - except for the salmon and the rice. So, eat them slowly, they have the ability to help you regenerate and heal, they are quite potent yet still gentle, but they will also fill you up very quickly.¡± ¡°Thanks for the treat, Ms. Wong.¡± Caroline asked with some level of hesitation: ¡°But - can you tell me anything about Boss?¡± ¡°Patience, Caroline, we went through several traumatic events today, if Boss needs a ton of time to heal, then we¡¯d be in no rush huh?¡± Jason said. ¡°I understand your eagerness to know.¡± Josephine Wong sat down by the table and said: ¡°Believe me, I remember my first time seeing him injured like that. It¡¯s horrifying, but it¡¯s the nature of the kind of power he wields.¡± ¡°And what kind of power is that?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°Karma.¡± Josephine Wong nodded and answered: ¡°The laws of cause and effect. I won¡¯t go into it for obvious reasons. But one thing you should definitely know is that, it is a kind of power that even the gods cannot wield without cost. When that, uh, that ENEMY broke out of some kind of prison and trap established by someone under the Clearwater Municipal Hospital, my team fought against it, and we were losing. I had to use a very powerful one time artifact against it - but I was also severely, and almost fatally wounded. And just like what he had done so many times before, Jianmen came in and saved me and pursued the enemy. Then he encountered something in this pursuit, and he thus got injured, both from the fight, and from using his power.¡± ¡°When will he wake up?¡± Rash asked: ¡°That kind of wound - I don¡¯t suppose very soon?¡± ¡°Not very soon. Unfortunately.¡± Josephine Wong sighed: ¡°And he¡¯s still conscious, he just needs a lot of time to rest and heal. He woke up one time since I¡¯ve been here. All he could tell me was but a few things. And what he told me worried me, which was one of the reasons I had to get you out of the academy the moment I learned that the academy was no longer safe. ¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°There¡¯s so much information there - I¡¯m not sure where to even start.¡± Thomas was chewing a piece of thick venison steak, then he laid down his fork and said. ¡°Start with the most basic of things then, which question troubles you the most?¡± Josephine Wong asked while gently stirring her tea. ¡°Clearwater Municipal Hospital.¡± Jason cut Thomas off with a concerned look on his face: ¡°What was trapped in it? What kind of enemy are we talking about here?¡± ¡°I - I have the same question.¡± Caroline raised her hand. ¡°Defilers.¡± Josephine Wong sighed: ¡°This I CAN actually get into some of the details - because the rules are quite different and tricky regarding this kind of subject.¡± Then she gave Rash a look: ¡°Correct me if I¡¯m wrong or missing something Rash, I think you might know more about them than all of us here. ¡°Think of pollutants or toxic chemicals that are hazardous - they are technically from the very nature in which beautiful organic lives like birds, frogs and dolphins inhibit. But they are processed, and in our case, twisted and born out of some kind of sickness that existed as long as the order that kept the world going and universe functioning.¡± Josephine Wong drew a holographic image of a virus/bacteria in the air with her finger: ¡°One aspect of the core natures of defilers is that they are pollutants, they are born from chaos and nothingness. But they are also much more than that - think of it this way: they are pollutants with minds of their own, they crave chaos, corruption and destruction.¡± ¡°So they¡¯re like walking malice.¡± Thomas said. ¡°No, it¡¯s way worse, because even malice has its own order, its own rules.¡± Rash shook his head: ¡°Malice is born from strong negative emotions and insanity, which is still within the spectrum of order, the kinda order that often escapes sane minds, but still order nonetheless.¡± ¡°They do bear some resemblance to malice, or should I say malice bears resemblance to them.¡± Josephine Wong continued: ¡°Which is, they do need some kind of order and existence to function, even though they spread chaos, corruption and nothingness and their powers come from it. It¡¯s like the relationship between clustered malice and sanity. ¡°The one that was trapped under Clearwater Municipal Hospital, by malice no less, was a relatively young and weaker defiler. And the time Jianmen woke up, he told me that he encountered a more powerful one, one that could only project an avatar here due to the rules of the universe, one that he had never seen before. So he decided to use the strongest spell he could conjure at that instant. And his injuries were the result of that spell. ¡± ¡°... and the fact that we¡¯re all alive is evidence that he did indeed strike that avatar of the greater defiler pretty hard.¡± Rash chuckled. ¡°Wow - okay, that¡¯s depressing to hear.¡± Thomas exchanged looks with Aimee: ¡°And I thought being a Grant Academy graduate was close enough to the power ceiling. But if the defilers are so powerful - how come we¡¯re still here?¡± ¡°Well, as harbingers of destruction and nothingness, they can¡¯t exactly go wherever they want and stay wherever they want.¡± Josephine Wong said: ¡°For example, summoning a portal might not be too hard for a regular power wielder. But for them, they literally had to sacrifice parts of their very being in order to teleport through a short distance.¡± ¡°But - who the hell trapped that defiler under the fucking haunted hospital?¡± Jason asked: ¡°I¡¯ve been in there! The paranormal presence in that place was crazy, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen anything like it. You¡¯re saying someone literally used malice to trap a harbinger of death in there?¡± ¡°Believe me, we are just as confused, if not more.¡± Josephine Wong sighed: ¡°A lot of records about that hospital have been scrubbed, something must have been really, really bad for that amount of cover up to be undertaken. But, before we proceed, I need to tell you something, it¡¯s about your families.¡± Chapter 360 ¡°Well - that was a nice barbeque fish.¡± somewhere deep inside the realm beneath the garden at the back of the inn, Jason¡¯s parents along with Mack expressed their gratitude towards Kane: ¡°I¡¯ve never had this kind of fresh fish before.¡± ¡°No problem. But it¡¯s mostly the fish. I just used some salt and pepper from the kitchen.¡± Kane smiled while helping his son Alex pick up a piece of shiny white rock at the bottom of the creek: ¡°Now, where to next?¡± ¡°I feel like I could still eat, how about we fish some more?¡± Jason¡¯s younger brother Mack laughed out loud and said: ¡°And boy, what do I have to do to get a cold root beer around here? Do I call it out? Do I yell some Latin spell?¡± ¡°Stop drinking fancy sugar water.¡± Jason¡¯s father said while shaking his head: ¡°Why not just drink tea? The tea here is wonderful.¡± ¡°Okay, do you prefer I drink ACTUAL beer then?¡± Mack shrugged. ¡°Little Yan, don¡¯t talk back to your father like that.¡± Jason¡¯s mother sighed. ¡°No, I¡¯m serious.¡± Mack chuckled: ¡°My big brother quit engineering school, started doing art instead as an online content creator and took a job as a waiter slash caretaker at a local inn and ended up becoming a cultivator. I wanna try this rebellious phase thing and see how it works out for me.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how it will work in the future, but right now what you¡¯re gonna get is a good beating from me.¡± Jason¡¯s father pretended to raise his hand with a stern face. ¡°Your father¡¯s kidding.¡± Jason¡¯s mother immediately grabbed the arm of Jason¡¯s father. ¡°Dad?¡± Alex pointed at the sky and said to Kane: ¡°Someone¡¯s coming.¡± Everyone near the creek looked up at the sky, and saw that a portal made of slowly spinning clouds appeared in the sky, and two figures descended from the sky. Their descent was fast but they still landed on the ground without creating any impact to the ground. ¡°Caroline.¡± ¡°Jie!¡± ¡°How was school?¡± Kane and Jason¡¯s parents asked them the same question, just in different languages. ¡°Well, it¡¯s a lot like engineering school.¡± Jason nodded and chuckled: ¡°A lot of experiments, a lot of very technical lectures, and a lot of research projects and late night crunches. The difference now is that I was one of the kids who actually does the work.¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Oh, wow, finally huh?¡± Mack patted Jason on the arm and said. ¡°Hey, I started being that kid when I joined that channel.¡± Jason pointed his finger at Mack and laughed: ¡°I was very much that kid, until the cultivation business forced me to pivot.¡± ¡°I can tell you it¡¯s not like high school, or college, the first year of it any way.¡± Caroline shrugged and gave Kane a very simple answer, then she gently caressed Alex¡¯s head: ¡°But, you know Alex, DO think about it.¡± ¡°Auntie Caroline, is this place yours?¡± Alex asked. ¡°My master¡¯s.¡± Caroline smiled: ¡°But I¡¯ve got a farm here. I haven¡¯t done anything with it, but it¡¯s worth mentioning I guess.¡± ¡°Well, at least you¡¯ve got a piece of serious real estate in San Jose, that¡¯s something.¡± Kane chuckled: ¡°But I thought you wouldn¡¯t come back till a month later? What happened?¡± ------------------------------------ ¡°Dad?¡± inside of a very luxurious suite, a former sergeant of LAPD, Liam Chaver was drinking a glass of champagne by the window and looking at the unrealistically beautiful view outside, when he suddenly heard the doors open behind him and in came a familiar voice. ¡°Aimee! Thomas!¡± Liam Chaver turned around and found that his daughter and son were at the door, and he rushed to them with a limp: ¡°What - what are you doing here? What did they do to you!? Please tell me you are not kidnapped here as well - ¡± ¡°Dad, calm down.¡± Thomas and Aimee hugged their father, both were slightly shaking with the nerves. ¡°Did no one bring you in? Who are these people?¡± Liam Chaver looked to the space behind Thomas and Aimee: ¡°Did the SJPD bring you here? What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°Dad, a lot¡¯s happened.¡± Aimee sighed and held Liam¡¯s arms: ¡°And we need to talk.¡± ¡°Talk?¡± Liam let out a long exhale: ¡°Okay - okay, I¡¯ll talk, but let¡¯s get outta here first.¡± ¡°Sure - sure.¡± Thomas showed his father out of the suite and said: ¡°We¡¯ll talk, and not in this incredibly sweet room you¡¯ve got here.¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t no room sweet enough when you¡¯re kidnapped here.¡± Liam walked alongside his children with a limp: ¡°I don¡¯t know how you got here - but for me, a group of people just came to my door and said that you might be in danger and I need to come with them. And when I refused, I think they used some kind of instant roofie on me and then when I woke up I was already locked in this room.¡± ¡°How long have you been in there?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°About a few hours.¡± Liam shrugged: ¡°The room, the champagne, and the food all seemed expensive, but no one would talk to me. So I figured it could only be because of you.¡± ¡°Yeah indeed.¡± Aimee said: ¡°And we were indeed in danger. Those people that brought you here - they are the ones that saved us and brought us here as well. And I can assure you they meant no harm.¡± ¡°But why the stonewall? They gave me the champagne, the newspapers, phones and internet, and a very costly tasting steak.¡± Liam scoffed: ¡°But none of them would tell me anything - for a bunch of anonymous kidnappers, they¡¯ve really given me a lot of mixed signals.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because they were showing respect for us.¡± Thomas sighed. ¡°Respect? What do you mean?¡± ¡°Dad?¡± Aimee extended her hands at the walls of the corridor in which they were walking: ¡°Have you found this place ¡­ unusual?¡± ¡°Unusual?¡± Liam thought for a brief moment: ¡°Yeah, for starters, I don¡¯t think the view outside of the window back there was real. And the temperature was way too cozy for a room without any air conditioning - ¡± ¡°Yeah, that would make sense. I would expect nothing less.¡± Thomas smiled but was still scratching his face and neck: ¡°A great place huh Dad?¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you just get to the chase here?¡± Liam sighed and asked: ¡°Are you working for some kind of criminal organization? Or are you just friends with some really wealthy but dangerous people? Just tell me, okay? I can take it.¡± ¡°Well - ¡± Aimee still tried to sugarcoat what she was about to say: ¡°The second guess is kinda true - ¡± ¡°Dad.¡± Thomas, on the other hand, just decided to ask the core question: ¡°Do you believe in magic?¡± Chapter 361 ¡°So, like I told all of you earlier. There¡¯s a war coming.¡± in the underground training room, Josephine Wong said to Thomas, Aimee, Caroline and Jason: ¡°And normally, we would have allowed ample time for you to gradually learn, train and adapt to your powers. It¡¯s a very very steady but slow process. But since the war is coming, and you happen to be the ones who took the ¡®codex¡¯ or ¡®key¡¯, or whatever it is out of the academy and out of those henchmen¡¯s hands, your safety is at stake, and we can risk going about it the normal way. So, here we are, in a special room here courtesy of Mr. Jianmen Yu, where time flows much faster than the outside world, but yet not impacting your actual age.¡± ¡°But ¡­ we gave the box to you and Boss.¡± Jason said: ¡°I thought we might be off the hook from here?¡± ¡°Which would prevent, or at least deter the weaker ones from going after it. But it will never stop the stronger, crazier, nastier, and more ambitious ones from using you as potential leverage to bargain with us. Which would make your potential encounters even more dangerous.¡± Josephine Wong walked in a circle, using a thin long sword to draw an arcane symbol on the ground: ¡°And we can¡¯t have that - unless you plan to stay in the inn indefinitely until we decipher the secrets to the silver box, or until the war is over. You will need to hold your own in a fight against stronger and stronger opponents, and make sure that you will be able to make it out alive.¡± Thomas let out a short exhale and said: ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think Jason and Caroline would need to worry about that - ¡± ¡°Thank you - but I think we still do, very much.¡± Caroline shook her head and said: ¡°For example - Emilia Corin, I couldn¡¯t even beat her, when she¡¯s obviously quite new and under trained.¡± ¡°I know, Blue and Vivian told me. ¡± Josephine Wong smiled: ¡°And that¡¯s quite understandable - she was wearing a very powerful and dangerous piece of armor and she was wielding a pair of quite notorious swords. ¡± ¡°Do we have any of those armor and swords?¡± Aimee asked: ¡°I mean - the guns are great, but they are not as powerful as the armor and the swords.¡± ¡°The armor was called Valcox. It¡¯s not exactly what you¡¯d want to wear, ever. ¡± Josephine Wong sighed and said: ¡°The swords are called Bones of Valcox, they¡¯re a set.¡± A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°The names do sound cool.¡± Jason shrugged. ¡°The Valcox was once a very powerful Wyvern. Until his ego caught up with himself. His spine was removed and made into the two swords she used, and his entire body got compressed from both outside and inside of his heart. So when you¡¯re wearing it, you are literally enclosed by the internal membranes of Valcox¡¯s heart.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head and said: ¡°I¡¯ll spare you the gritty details of prolonged contact with it - but if you prefer your sanity and identity, don¡¯t ever do it.¡± ¡°Understood, but can we get the weapons that would turn into a ball at least? Like Caroline and Jason?¡± Thomas chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s still too early for that.¡± Josephine Wong finished the symbol, then threw a small ball of purple flames at it, then the symbol lit up in more purple flames, and all of them felt some kind of energy field radiating from the flames. ¡°Now, before we start.¡± Josephine Wong bent the thin sword in her hand and turned it into a round mirror with fancy edges: ¡°Show me your powers, strike this mirror with your attack, you don¡¯t have to be specific, just do it the most natural way possible. But DO use every aspect of your power.¡± ¡°Guess I¡¯ll go first then.¡± Jason raised his hand and swung it down a silver spike and a rock spike shot out at the mirror. The mirror completely absorbed the shock and energy from the two spikes, then it flared up in silver and brown light. Josephine Wong took a look at the mirror and said: ¡°Metal and earth, good constructs, not particularly explosive, and the ability to create illusions. Nice.¡± ¡°My turn.¡± Caroline simply threw a fireball at the mirror, which caused the mirror to flare up in orange, red and light green. ¡°Fire and wind, very condensed and yet volatile, very nice composition of energy for an explosive attack.¡± ¡°Okay, I guess I¡¯ll try next.¡± Aimee tried her best and conjured a piece of ice spike on her one hand, then she threw it at the mirror. The mirror flared up in light blue. ¡°So - you¡¯ve been practicing your power as that of ice, yeah?¡± Josephine Wong went silent for a while, then nodded. ¡°Yes.¡± Aimee frowned: ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Give me a moment first.¡± Josephine Wong turned the mirror to Thomas: ¡°Thomas, why don¡¯t you give it a try?¡± Thomas threw a small fireball at the mirror, seemingly quite embarrassed after seeing what kind of fire attack Caroline was able to unleash without much effort. The mirror flared up in light orange, as opposed to red and orange. ¡°Huh.¡± Josephine Wong looked at the mirror and started pacing in the room. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s safe to say that your powers are not what they seem right now.¡± Josephine Wong stopped to explain: ¡°I have a suspicion, it doesn¡¯t fully explain things, like why your blood burns vampires, but it does kinda explain why you responded not so well with normal magical training of ice and fire magic. But this is still - a little new. So, I¡¯ll kick off your training and leave you to it, while I go and find some notes and records in the library.¡± ¡°What is new? Are our elements not fire and ice?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°Looks like not - you might be natural civilian born wielders of Flow magic, which I think is unheard of till now.¡± Josephine Wong threw another ball of purple flames at the symbol on the floor, causing the purple fire to burn even brighter and higher: ¡°I¡¯ll check on you in a bit. Just go ahead and practice without me.¡± Chapter 362 Almost on the other side of the globe, Professor Atkinson and Dolores were walking through a crowded night market dressed as tourists. It was just about the time when the night market was at its most crowded and lively, and since this is a civilian area, they were not able to use any spells to find the person they were looking for. ¡°Hello my good sir. You want some cheap El-Lu Wee bags?¡± a sketchy looking Chinese man approached them: ¡°It¡¯s very authentic, very nice looking, sturdier than usual as well! Buy one for this nice lady here! Hey! You want some cheap El-Lu Wee man?¡± ¡°No, no, thank you - we¡¯re just here to look for someone.¡± Professor Atkinson shook his head and his hands. ¡°Jesus, the food does smell good though.¡± Dolores sped along the way with Professor Atkinson, avoiding passionate street vendors and the crowd generally. ¡°It should be right ahead - he said he would be meeting us in a seafood bistro ahead of us.¡± Professor Atkinson checked the map on his phone, then pointed forward. ¡°Of all the places, why a seafood bistro?¡± Dolores asked: ¡°Isn¡¯t Hong Kong also famous for other food as well? Doesn¡¯t sound like something an elemental lord would enjoy.¡± ¡°Paulo isn¡¯t just any regular elemental, isn¡¯t he?¡± Professor Atkinson shook his head: ¡°I heard a few days ago he was still in California, and now he¡¯s here, having seafood and doing god knows what.¡± ¡°Jimmy! Here!¡± in just about five minutes, Professor Atkinson and Dolores saw a Chinese man sitting beside a table with a hotpot on it waving at them. Sweat was coming down from this Chinese man¡¯s forehead, and as Professor Atkinson and Dolores came closer, they saw that this Chinese man was wearing a broken and loose white tank top, a pair of dirty short pants and flip flops. Paulo Chang, a new elemental lord, and one that was active in the human world, both among civilians and power wielders, unlike most of his peers. If the professor and Dolores hadn¡¯t known better, they would just assume he was just another late night foodie out for a snack, or in this case, a seafood feast. ¡°Jimmy, Dolores, welcome to Hong Kong.¡± Paulo Change showed Professor Atkinson and Dolores two chairs: ¡°Sorry to meet you halfway around the globe, but trust me you won¡¯t regret it. Come! Have some food with me. You want some pineapple beer? Some pissing shrimp?¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°What shrimp?¡± Dolores was confused by the name. ¡°Pissing shrimp.¡± Paulo Chang laughed out loud and picked up a fried mantis shrimp glazed with salt and pepper and threw it in his mouth, when he bit and chew it made a crunchy sound like a handful of fresh potato chips: ¡°It¡¯s just mantis shrimp - but I like this name better, more down to earth and sounds funnier. ¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have a beer, please.¡± Professor Atkinson nodded and said. ¡°Same - we ate before we came.¡± Dolores sighed, though she was quite tempted. ¡°That¡¯s a pity.¡± Paulo chang turned back and yelled at the owner of the bistro in Cantonese: ¡°Low-ban - lyong jee bo lwo bear!¡± ¡°Pineapple beer, enjoy¡± the owner served chilly bottles of beer and placed them right in front of Professor Atkinson and Dolores. ¡°So, Jimmy, it¡¯s been a while.¡± Paulo Chang scooped a huge spoon of shrimp from the hot pot and ate them all without even peeling: ¡°What brought you here? And why must it be in person? - not that I don¡¯t enjoy the company.¡± ¡°We want two badges.¡± Professor Atkinson took a sip from his beer and said: ¡°We want to visit the edgelands.¡± ¡°Edgelands huh?¡± Paulo Chang nodded: ¡°Why? Researching godfalls and relics isn¡¯t fun anymore?¡± ¡°It¡¯s somewhat related, and some of our findings have pointed us in this direction.¡± Dolores said: ¡°To be specific, we want to visit some of the archives and libraries in the edgelands if they are still there, and some other historical sites if possible.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, I just came back from the edgelands a few earth days ago, the libraries and archives are definitely still there.¡± Paulo Chang said: ¡°You¡¯d better bring your own codex to read the books if your elemental common language is rusty. If you buy from the locals you¡¯re definitely gonna get ripped off.¡± ¡°That won¡¯t be a problem.¡± Dolores said. ¡°Good, good. ¡± Paulo Chang nodded, his eyes shined in blue and his movements froze for around five seconds: ¡°It¡¯s done. You¡¯ll have your badges tomorrow morning, just let me know where you¡¯ll be staying so it can be delivered. I need to remind you though, these badges can only get you to and from the edgelands, I will encode a message in the badges to let the keepers of libraries and archives know that you are my guests. But for other parts, like historical sites, special passageways, or the Bastion, you will need to talk to the ones in charge.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Professor Atkinson raised his pineapple beer bottle for a toast: ¡°Thank you very much!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it.¡± Paulo Chang bumped his glass with Professor Atkinson and Dolores: ¡°We could use some human guests and scholars in the edgelands. It¡¯s been decades if I remember correctly.¡± ¡°Decades? Has it been that long?¡± Dolores frowned: ¡°My god - I thought I knew things were not well, I didn¡¯t know our relationships had become this bad - ¡± ¡°It¡¯s not our relationships, the relationship between humans, mortals and elementals are mostly the same as they were.¡± Paulo Chang lit up a cigarette and said: ¡°It¡¯s just that the edgelands have become less and less human friendly - mostly the environment. Which reminds me, don¡¯t stay there for too long, if you intend to do more research, either transcribe or come back and rest regularly - you could sustain serious side effects or even injuries if you stayed there for too long. And also there¡¯s the issue of creatures from the gaps appearing in the edgelands - ¡± ¡°Creatures from the gaps?¡± Dolores asked. ¡°Foul and ugly beasts born from the spatial gaps between different elemental realms.¡± Professor Atkinson answered with a frowne: ¡°But how? I thought the edgelands were quite far away from those gaps?¡± ¡°Well, apparently not anymore.¡± Paulo Chang shrugged: ¡°But don¡¯t worry, if you stay within the protected area around the bastion, you should be fine - mostly.¡± Chapter 363 An unstable vortex broke out inside of an empty space, then a portal appeared at the center of the vortex. After around half a minute, the portal stabilized, and a beam of pale energy shot out from the portal, not directly at the land below, but towards somewhere up in the sky. The pale energy beam seemed to have encountered some obstacles in space, and was forced to charge course like a bouncy ball several times. Eventually it was directed at the floating land beneath. Then, after a loud boom, the energy beam dissipated, and from the dust walked out Professor Atkinson and Dolores. Their clothes were clearly ruffled and dirty from the travel, and both of them could not help but start coughing as they walked away from their landing site. Aside from the rough landing, travel was not as smooth as they hoped either - Professor Atkinson felt that the muscles in his whole body were sore and weak, Dolores was even not able to walk properly for a while. ¡°Holy crap, when was the last time someone maintained the portal?¡± Dolores sat on the ground and started rubbing her legs and feet: ¡°It could¡¯ve killed us!¡± ¡°Okay, let me take a look at where we are.¡± Professor Atkinson finished his latest round of coughs, then he took out a folded piece of parchment - it was a map, hand drawn and blessed by Paulo Chang, the latest Elemental Lord. When they first laid their eyes on the map, they found that Paulo Chang¡¯s drawings were somewhat rough and nowhere near detailed, but when they were actually here at their destination, they found that the map was in fact more descriptive than they gave it credit for. For example, right now, the empty land they were standing on matched exactly what was described on the map - an incredibly flat plain, with a thin layer of fine grain sand on top of hardened rock. There were barely any bumps and cracks on the rock beneath, it was as if they were walking on a piece of giant one-piece stone tablet. As Professor Atkinson and Doloers walked towards the little town ahead of them called ¡°Lint Town¡±, they found that the sand below their feet seemed to be gently pushing them towards the direction as well. And at the same time, the footprints they left were being quickly filled up by the sand and thus were disappearing without a trace. ¡°Lint Town, the very town where non-voidborns used to visit at first when they landed in the edgelands. That is, according to Paulo Chang.¡± Professor Atkinson sighed: ¡°But Xyn did not speak of anything like this to me.¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°And neither did he to me.¡± Dolores picked up some sand from the ground, and found that no matter how hard she tried, she could not even keep one grain of sand on her palm without using magic, the fine grains of sand seemed to be drawn to the ground and to a certain state of equilibrium: ¡°I think Mr. Yu is right again - Xyn¡¯s information is very very dated. I mean - I could already see the edge of the land from here. I¡¯d wanna try if I can walk on the other side upside down when I get the chance. But still, the almost infinite land in the vision? This is pretty far from that!¡± ¡°Yes, but at least we are at the edgelands now - somewhere of which I think almost no one¡¯s mentioned for quite a while.¡± Professor Atkinson took a sip from his water bag and said. ¡°Let¡¯s hope the other hints he gave us would hold up.¡± Dolores scoffed then sighed. After just about ten minutes of walking, and less than a third of a mile to the walls that were made of non reflective crystals and some kind of slowly moving and color changing clay surrounding the village, a creature made of blue flames and lightning with the lower body of a deer and the upper body of a beautiful four-armed human female leapt from behind the walls and trotted towards them. ¡°Mortals in the edgelands.¡± the creature also had a pleasant voice: ¡°It¡¯s been too long.¡± ¡°Greetings, my name is Professor James Atkinson, and this is my assistant Dolores Brooke.¡± Professor Atkinson did not know which gesture to use, and he eventually chose to bow. And the creature bowed back. ¡°We are from the Grant Academy, and we are here for ...¡± ¡°Research, yes.¡± the creature said: ¡°Lord Chang informed me thus, and told me to be your guide. It would be my pleasure to be of service to you. My name is Lin¡¯Er, I am Lord Chang¡¯s keeper of one of his many realms. I will be your guide while you are here.¡± ¡°That¡¯s very kind of you.¡± Dolores also bowed, she was not used to doing it and therefore her move was a bit awkward: ¡°Now, can you take us somewhere we can stay?¡± ¡°There was a very old inn in Lint Town.¡± Lin¡¯Er answered: ¡°It could use a little tidy up, but it should still be empty. Follow me.¡± Following the burning and shining footsteps of Lin¡¯Er, Professor Atkinson and Dolores came into the town. It was somewhat similar to a normal human town, except for the fact that there were floating pathways made of clay, crystals and some kind of wood in the air with small shops and stands on both sides, making it effectively more spacious and easier to get lost in. ¡°There is still a lot of trade going on here.¡± Dolores looked around and said: ¡°Is this one of your commercial towns?¡± ¡°Yes. Contrary to what might be told and lied about us, we elementals also have desires and needs, therefore commerce and trade.¡± Lin¡¯Er led them on an old pathway on the ground: ¡°When the humans stopped coming a few decades back, many of us made use of the space and continued to trade. You¡¯ll meet some of our vendors here, some mortals from other realms just like you. I trust that you¡¯ve brought your own money or similar means of exchange?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Professor Atkinson looked around smiling and frequently stopping like a kid on a trip: ¡°But - but we¡¯re here to do research, we¡¯ll only trade when we absolutely have to.¡± ¡°A wise choice.¡± Lin¡¯Er stopped at a roofless and broken down building made of the same kind of clay on the walls and stacked up rocks that gave off warm and comforting auras: ¡°Here, this is the inn, built by the old traders from your realms to ours.¡± Chapter 364 ¡°Good. Good.¡± inside of the underground training area, Jason and Caroline were meditating, with two small metal mirrors placed in front of them. Thin beams of light came from their foreheads and projected onto the mirrors and the mirrors deflected and broadened the beams and turned them into holographic projections in the space in front of them and slightly above their heads. On the other side of the room, Thomas and Aimee were bathing in two wooden buckets, with medicinal materials floating in the bath water. On the two wooden buckets hung two metal pendants. The pendant on Aimee¡¯s bucket had the relief sculpture of a piece of ice on it, while the one on Thomas¡¯ bucket had the sculpture of a fireball on. ¡°This is really burning my butt off here.¡± Thomas asked while rubbing his own shoulder muscles: ¡°How much longer do we have to be submerged in this thing?¡± ¡°Just about ten to fifteen minutes more.¡± Josephine Wong nodded and said: ¡°You will know it¡¯s time to get out when the water starts getting muddy and bubbling. And you, Aimee, same thing with you, except the water will start freezing on the surface instead of bubbling. When this happens, get out of the bucket and don¡¯t take too long.¡± ¡°I thought our powers are not simply fire and ice?¡± Thomas asked: ¡°So if you don¡¯t mind me asking, why the bath water bucket with fire and ice symbols on them?¡± ¡°Flow magic is a bit different from normal magic. The ¡®element¡¯ is not represented by energy particles, but by the pattern of vibration from energy particles.¡± Josephine Wong answered: ¡°Think of it as some kind of magic that is based on waves instead of particles, and the properties your flow energy displayed indicated that it is best to approach its training in ways that are similar to the ways in which we approach fire and ice magic training. Of course, I added some adjustments in the array, and with Jianmen¡¯s special soup recipes, I am confident your bath water is quite suitable for both of you. And with more experience and fine tuning it will be even better.¡± ¡°Soup recipes?¡± Aimee lifted the left side of her eyebrows while looking at Josephine Wong, then she looked down at the floating herbal materials in her bath water: ¡°So we¡¯re bathed in soup right now?¡± ¡°Yeah, minus a few kinds of material and add some spice and salt then you¡¯ll have the soup you love so much from lunch.¡± Josephine Wong smiled, then she seemed to be reminded of something: ¡°Now ¡­ if you¡¯ll excuse me, I have to go check up on the actual owner of this inn.¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°What should we do when we get out of the water?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°Get dressed and wipe yourselves clean. Then check the pendants, you¡¯ll know what to do next.¡± Josephine Wong snapped her fingers and the purple flames burning at the center of the room just got a refuel. Before heading into Jianmen¡¯s room, Josephine Wong opened one of the cupboards and took out a clay jar and two small bowls. ¡°Agent Carolina.¡± when the female agent keeping an eye on Jianmen and monitoring the status and energy flow of the healing array and the medicine gradually administered on Jianmen¡¯s body in rounds and phases was about to double check the array, she heard the voice of Josephine Wong and a knock on the frame of the door: ¡°Can I have a moment with him?¡± ¡°Ms. Wong.¡± Agent Carolina nodded and quickly checked the array: ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll be right outside if you need anything.¡± ¡°Thank you. Take a break.¡± Josephine Wong sat down by the bed and said. About half a minute after Agent Carolina walked out the door, Jianmen opened his eyes and spoke to Josephine Wong in a weak voice: ¡°Hey, how long was I out?¡± ¡°Almost two days.¡± Josephine Wong said: ¡°How are you feeling?¡± ¡°Still very very shitty.¡± Jianmen coughed then coughed: ¡°It¡¯s like I was forced to eat two clumps of burning coal then washed it down with gasoline and hot shrapnels.¡± ¡°How did the tracing and processing go?¡± ¡°Not that good, but better than I¡¯d hoped.¡± Jianmen struggled to sit straight, but without arms and legs he was having a bit of trouble, he could only do so with Josephine Wong¡¯s help: ¡°These fucking defilers - their traces and memories just fade too fast, I did my very best and yet was still only able to gather just a tiny - a tiny and somewhat terrifying glimpse of what they were after.¡± ¡°So, what were they after?¡± ¡°Aftermath of unholy and un-divine intervention.¡± Jianmen frowned: ¡°They are pollutants with minds of their own, after all, and I think they were looking for wounds, bleeding wounds of the world and the universe.¡± ¡°Stone of Negation.¡± Josephine Wong frowned: ¡°Or at least - the improper use of it. But why would we have no almost no record - nevermind, stupid question.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Jianmen coughed: ¡°And I fear, that the wound is not yet fully healed. ¡± ¡°So they might come back?¡± ¡°Before you completely destroyed that sucker with the enchanted blade, it called for something. I think it was calling for its elders. ¡± Jianmen said: ¡°The more powerful one was the one who responded, but it may not have been the only one who heard it.¡± ¡°Your destroying that avatar should serve as a warning.¡± ¡°Or a bigger target, we may yet to know.¡± ¡°So what do we do?¡± ¡°Mend the wounds. Strengthen the chain and flow of karma. When the order of karma is restored, it will make the world harder for them to traverse and act.¡± ¡°We can still fight them if it was the only. We will fight them when they came, won¡¯t we?¡± ¡°No. No, you must NOT.¡± Chapter 365 ¡°I - I guess I don¡¯t understand then - why?¡± Josephine Wong sighed and asked: ¡°If it comes to that, no one will be ready but us. Or people like us. ¡± ¡°I have ways to mend the wound - just give me time.¡± Jianmen coughed once again and said: ¡°Karma, the Will, it should fight its battle on its own. It should fight its fight on its own. We are nothing but pawns and - maybe, maybe agents of its decree and wishes. But we are not to fight its fight. No now, not fucking ever. ¡± ¡°But the Will does not have enough forces to fight this kind of battle. Does it? I¡¯ve learned, from my own studies and research and from you, that those of us who are blessed with this gift, who were touched by the flames of the Will and drank from its hands ARE the embodiment of the forces fighting against this pollution.¡± ¡°Yes, but not like this. You shouldn¡¯t have been picked like this. There are people who would give so much to join the fight. And there are those who got picked just because.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°You know the phrase ¡®karma¡¯s a bitch?¡¯ It indeed is. And this ¡®gift¡¯? A real bitch move.¡± Thunder cracked and the sky grew dim, it was as if the gods and heavens were not happy with Jianmen¡¯s commentary and his display of contempt. But Jianmen merely looked up briefly and then turned back to look Josephine Wong in the eyes: ¡°Please, let me try first - that white crystal I gave you, still I have some more, if the wounds in karma flow are not that bad, I can utilize it to heal them. If those are not enough I could go out and hunt some more simpler and weaker pollutants down - I WILL heal those wounds.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s only a means of delay - even when you have healed the wound, the defilers would still come. We will have to fight them. ¡± Josephine Wong let out a long exhale and laid back into her body and said: ¡°I¡¯ve heard from my team earlier, they made a deal with one eye. One eye will help them find out information about the relic, and hopefully about whoever and whatever created that site. I will get to my team, we can mobilize and be prepared. Blue, Pei and Nameless are absolutely ready to learn about this.¡± ¡°That may be - but this is not your fight - ¡± ¡°Why keep saying that? ¡± Josephine Wong sat straight again: ¡°You¡¯ve told me, the gift was an order of conscription, which means that we are a line of defense. And judging from what you¡¯ve told me, we are possibly the ONLY line of defense. Which means we are the Will¡¯s soldiers. And unless I am missing something, the Will might just not have any other means of directly fighting back - it only has us - its only soldiers. So I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any other choice here, why would you - ¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Because soldiers die!¡± Jianmen cut Josephine Wong off, quite devoid of proper manners and his usual gentle ways. ¡°Okay.¡± Josephine Wong stood up and walked to the corner of the room, with her back facing Jianmen: ¡°I know. Jianmen. I know.¡± ¡°Then you¡¯d know why I - ¡± ¡°You did intend to leave me this, didn¡¯t you?¡± Josephine Wong raised her left hand up, showing Jianmen her bracelet. ¡°Yes. And with all the privileges. It was my intention, with nothing held back.¡± ¡°Then you know, that a certain drawing in the basement would not have escaped my eyes.¡± Josephine Wong wiped her eyes gently and then turned back: ¡°At least you were not lying. It¡¯s like looking at a mirror - a mirror with some artsy filters. The name - ¡± ¡°Shi Yanyu. Yes. My - my elder sister from the clan.¡± Jianmen nodded and went silent, and for a brief moment he felt that he could not, or dared not, look at Josephine Wong in her eyes. ¡°What happened?¡± Josephine Wong sat down by the bed again and asked with a soft voice: ¡°How did she die?¡± ¡°Battle.¡± Jianmen sighed: ¡°The battle against a horde of defilers, carried over by a fell beast from the deepest space and void. She led the charge against the beast, using her musical instrument as her weapon, as the Goddess of Rhythm, Ode and Poetry herself.¡± ¡°And you?¡± ¡°I was amongst the ones in the flank. I was recently awarded with Godhood, and along with other younger Gods, and top cultivators who had yet to contend for Godhood.¡± Jianmen said: ¡°I was lucky to be alive. But she was not. The world grew deaf that day, those still standing lost half of their valor and spirit, and the dust on our monuments, temples and statues grew thick.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s why you came.¡± Josephine Wong nodded with a light and barely noticeable sniffle: ¡°So tell me, Jianmen. Are your plans still ¡­ true?¡± ¡°... I am not sure.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Josephine Wong was silent for a brief moment, then she nodded: ¡°Then I hope you don¡¯t mind this - I¡¯ve proceeded with your plan of training your students, along with mine. I am sure you have much to pay your attention to, so, continue your rest. Your students will be ready, before you know it.¡± ¡°Josephine.¡± before Josephine Wong left the room, Jianmen called out to her. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Josephine Wong smiled: ¡°Trust me when I say this: I understand. I am quite a bit older than you, you know.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°And trust me when I say this as well.¡± Josephine Wong walked out the door and pulled the door shut all but slowly: ¡°That I will do what I believe to be right - and prudent. Like I just said, your students will be ready before you know it.¡± Chapter 366 Inside of the Bastion of Gwai-Mon a few Earth days prior to the arrival of Professor Atkinson and Dolores, Dave, Xyankor and Fubei Li, one of Jianmen¡¯s more independent avatars were standing near a gate that was made of some kind of metal that was translucent and also had the ability to create holographic ¡°reflections¡± if any sentient being came close to it from certain angles. ¡°So we¡¯re here to wait for the deputy of Tamura? I figured we¡¯d need their help to reach the realm of Fog Dwellers.¡± Fubei Li asked while twiddling his thumbs and appearing bored: ¡°I don¡¯t really get it - why is he so unfriendly to you? I get it - you Depth Dwellers and Fog Dwellers have a complicated history, but a new direct descendent of the void, a new actual voidborn and not just by name. It should be big for everyone, whether they still call themselves voidborns or not. I can barely understand the apathy from the elementals.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a long story, about the history of the void.¡± Xyankor looked at Dave, who was sitting on the ground reading a small comic book the size of a human¡¯s fingernail: ¡°It¡¯s quite tragic, if you think about it.¡± ¡°Okay, so do tell.¡± Fubei Li peeked at the comic book on Dave¡¯s hand: ¡°I mean, if we¡¯re going to wait here indefinitely for someone who¡¯s probably going to be intentionally late to piss you off, we might as well hear a story about why they are doing so.¡± ¡°So, the first thing is that there was a great catastrophe a long while back.¡± Xyankor said: ¡°The Rupture, I think you have heard of it.¡± ¡°Yes. But not much other than the fact that it happened.¡± Fubei Li shrugged: ¡°And I happened to know some other random information regarding some other circumstances around it. I am not at liberty to discuss it, but I would like to learn more.¡± ¡°Eons ago, all voidborns lived in the void. And it was THE void, not the void it is today.¡± Xyankor sighed like a human and said: ¡°The rupture was like an earthquake, per mortal lingo. It not only tore the edgelands apart and destroyed the absolute majority of it leaving what¡¯s left of it as you are seeing today - it also broke the void, it shattered the void and broke the entire void down, to millions and millions of pieces.¡± The entire bastion shook, the lights flickered and shifted from dim to blindingly bright and then from bright to dim. Fubeil Li coughed at the hearing of this information and he had to take a step back and laid his back on the wall behind him. ¡°Geez, Mr. Yu are you alright?¡± Dave immediately rushed to Fubei Li¡¯s side to hold him up: ¡°This is the first time I see you affected by weighted knowledge.¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m just in a weaker state. ¡± Fubei Li cast a simple spell on himself to relieve him of the pain and unease: ¡°Yeah, yeah, no worries, my own fault. Sorry to have asked and then have to cut you off Xyankor. But I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m going to take a rain check on the story.¡± ¡°Worry not.¡± Xyankor nodded: ¡°It¡¯s not the best time for this story anyway. Our Fog Dweller friend is here, and I don¡¯t want to get into a debate about history right when we are about to head out.¡± ¡°What? Because you are afraid you will lose?¡± here came a gentle female voice, a humanoid creature with a human woman torso, four arms with two hawk hands and two six fingered human hands, two horse legs and four wings that looked like curved swords with sawtooth edges behind her back, and whose entire body was made of solidified fog came from a pathway on their side. ¡°No Depth Dweller is afraid of losing a historical debate.¡± Xyankor said: ¡°And you are?¡± ¡°Perketta. That¡¯s my - mortal name.¡± the female creature made of fog said: ¡°I am the first deputy of Lord Tamura, leader of the Transcendental Spear Squad. Here to assist you on your quest to find the next voidborn.¡± ¡°And you are only about two Earth hours late. So you did way better than Tamura.¡± Fubeil Li stood up and chuckled: ¡°I guess, for a bunch of potential immortals that counts as being mostly punctual.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not immortal.¡± Perketta said: ¡°Unfortunately.¡± ¡°What? How? I thought all elementals are ...¡± ¡°That means she¡¯s born post-rupture.¡± Dave frowned and said. ¡°Oh...¡± Fubei Li noticed that both Dave and Xyankor became silent, and said: ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but that makes two of us.¡± ¡°It won¡¯t be long though.¡± Perketta looked at Dave and Xyankor with side eyes with a smile: ¡°With what they are giving us, a lot of us who are worthy might just be the first ones to regain immortality.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s not as fun as you¡¯d hoped. That I can guarantee you.¡± Dave shrugged. ¡°Spoken like a truly unappreciative immortal.¡± Perkatta shook her head then turned to the metal gate: ¡°I will open the door now. A word of warning, the bridges are no longer as safe as they used to be. Creatures from the gaps roam and linger, we need to fight our way through. Please let me know that you¡¯ve not left your fighting skills behind in your little meaningless cycles.¡± ¡°Fuck.¡± Dave sighed and put the small comic book back to his personal pouch: ¡°My guy and my gal hadn¡¯t had their first kiss yet - and it¡¯s already time for that to become meaningless.¡± Dave closed his eyes and looked up, the bastion shook, and the lights flickered again. A thin beam of luminescent energy descended from the space above and landed on his forehead. Fubei Li recognized this kind of energy beam - it was a beam of information and knowledge, he experienced something similar when his main body, Jianmen Yu, came to this world. Dave completed absorbing the beam moments before the metal gate was completely open, and Fubei Li could feel that his personality and temperament changed due to the new knowledge. ¡°How¡¯d you feel? Dave?¡± Fubei Li asked. ¡°Joyless and grim. Feels like I want to start talking in riddles.¡± Dave smiled, then moved to Fubei Li¡¯s side in a blink of an eye: ¡°My god, Mr. Yu. I just understood your trauma - if we ever made it back, I will do my best to help you heal.¡± ¡°Thank you Dave, you¡¯re a good friend.¡± Chapter 367 As the metal gate swung open, Fubei Li got a pretty good view of what was behind it. ¡°The Bridges¡± as the locals called it, was a long, winding and twisting land floating in space. From where they were standing, the ¡°upper¡± surface of the land was sometimes on their left, sometimes on their right, and sometimes completely upside down. Yet they could clearly see that the direction of gravity remained consistent with respect to the flat surface of the land where vegetation and even lakes and rivers resided. There were floating energy balls in the empty space around the land to provide lighting, and though they were shining in different colors, when their light reached the winding land it all merged together into some kind of warm white light. This piece of long and winding land might look no different than other floating land one would see in other magical realms or even expensive private enchanted buildings. But Fubei Li knew it was just an illusion, these ¡°bridges¡± were the same kind of construct with the tunneling space around the realm in which the Grant Academy resided - they were a kind of portals, the kind that traveled through much greater distance than any ordinary portals could, and the kind that lived more much longer time than any ordinary portals. The reason that this kind of portals didn¡¯t look like portals at all, was that the cost of creating and maintaining a portal was proportional to the distance it shortened with regard to its internal space. And thus, for use cases that required frequent use, stability and relatively low cost this kind of portals with long internal space became the norm. ¡°This is comparatively the safest detour to our realm.¡± Perketta said as she extended two of her arms at the land outside of the gate: ¡°The creatures of the gaps flooded the other paths, and would require a much bigger team if you want to ever arrive safely. Even Elemental Lords would have trouble dealing with these beasts in bigger hordes.¡± ¡°What are these ¡®creatures of the gaps¡¯ exactly?¡± Fubei Li asked as he followed the team outside of the metal gate: ¡°I have heard of them, but I remain curious on how they could ever come to be. There must be much much more gap space between realms than all the space inside of realms combined. But I¡¯ve never heard of any other cases where the gap space amongst realms gives birth to creatures.¡± ¡°Well, we would like to know as well.¡± Perketta nodded and took a curious glimpse at Fubei Li: ¡°Who are you, mortal? And what are your business with us?¡± ¡°Is that really a polite way to address others with mortality the same way you are?¡± Dave asked.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Dave, I am quite okay with being a mortal and being called one.¡± Fubei Li chuckled and said: ¡°I am just a humble old human scholar here to help. And as for me, for one I am quite curious about the next voidborn and how it comes to be; and for two, I am curious about the elemental realms and some parts of their history.¡± ¡°Just follow us and be careful then.¡± Perketta nodded: ¡°I¡¯ve been to the human world on Earth - and I thought humans stopped being interested in the affairs in the elemental realms ever since the environment started to worsen.¡± ¡°Yeah well, who could blame them?¡± Xyankor was the one leading the team forward, with Perketta right beside him and Dave and Fubei Li behind him: ¡°To conduct successful research or trading quests in the elemental realm, humans would need at least around thirty Earth days in the edgelands and maybe in other realms in order for their journey to bear fruit. But with the current environment, only very few of them could even remain in the edgelands for more than twenty Earth days. Since there were not many traveling scholars and merchants to begin with, it¡¯s really no wonder.¡± ¡°And does anyone know of the reason for this change?¡± Fubei Li asked: ¡°I could sort of sense the environmental properties you were referring to, but I didn¡¯t pay too much attention to it.¡± ¡°Our best theory was that it was because of the regular shifts in the energy fields that happened post the Rupture.¡± Perketta answered: ¡°There were some records of similar changes taking place during ancient times, but back then the elemental realms had almost no interactions with the other realms, so it was unclear.¡± ¡°And since this change only affects voidborns - and post rupture elementals minimally, basically no one took an interest.¡± Dave sighed: ¡°I think many of us - Depth Dwellers had the theory that it was linked to the rise in numbers of creatures from the gaps. But it is yet to be proven.¡± ¡°Speaking of.¡± Perketta stopped and pointed at the piece of land right in front of the team: ¡°There - be careful.¡± It was a lake with a small rocking mountain on its side. But what Perketta was referring to was a round creature with spikes all over its body like a sea urchin, the differences between it and normal sea urchins were that it had the size of a car, its spikes were made of translucent energy crystals and were giving off some kind of energy pulses, and its body was floating in the air. ¡°Road Crawlers.¡± Perketta said to the team: ¡°One of the tamer kind, let¡¯s just walk around it.¡± The team slowly traversed around the lake and the rocky mountain keeping their distance all along the way. The creature was mostly just floating in the air not doing anything. After paying some attention, Fubei Li noticed that it was sucking in liquid from the lake - the lake was not filled with water, but some kind of liquified mineral or gem, and when the liquid was sucked into the air by the creature, it became tiny pieces of pale crystals, and was then slowly absorbed by the spikes. ¡°Fuck.¡± Dave said when they were just about to proceed forward. More creatures like the one they just walked past were floating towards their general direction from the empty space around the land. They varied in sizes, colors and shapes, but there was one thing they had in common - they were trying to escape a creature made of pale green energy that was shaped only like a big mouth with no face, no head and no body, only three long tongues and countless sharp looking forked teeth. ¡°Fuck, someone must¡¯ve cursed us.¡± Perketta said in a hurry: ¡°Hide! Hide!¡± Chapter 368 The team of Fubei Li, Dave, Xyankor and Perketta immediately found shelter under a piece of rock near the lake they were just trying to avoid a few seconds ago. Fubei Li carefully peeked outside of their cover to observe what was happening out there. The big mouth creature made of pale green energy closed its big mouth like a giant bear trap, yet the floating sea urchin creatures caught in its bite did not appear to be affected at all at first. They just stopped floating away and kept at their original positions midair. The mouth creature continued its path of hunting down other sea urchin creatures, leaving its victims in the same status - still, floating, but not doing anything. When Fubei Li concentrated on the status of the sea urchin creatures, he noticed that there was something indeed different about them after they had been attacked by the pale green energy mouth creature, something he felt he might be familiar with but could not tell for now. ¡°What did that thing do?¡± Fubei Li asked with a low voice: ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a normal predator - it was trying to take some other things from its prey. What is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s taking ¡®it¡¯.¡± Perketta answered. ¡°Well, what¡¯s ¡®it¡¯?¡± Fubei Li was both somewhat frustrated and a little amused at the non-answer. ¡°It¡¯s a kind of blessing. The kind of blessing only immortal voidborns have.¡± Xyankor sighed and said: ¡°It¡¯s something that was not that functionally or magically substantial in most areas, but still quite noticeable amongst all voidborns, especially in cases of new elementals and other entities with voidborn lineage. Legend says that after the rupture, ¡®it¡¯ was taken away and was no longer manifesting in newly birthed younglings. This is the main reason that many elementals stopped calling themselves voidborns.¡± ¡°Many of us theorized that ¡®it¡¯ could be tied to how elementals and all voidborns gain immortality. But we have no way of knowing or proving this theory, thanks to the Depth Dwellers.¡± Perketta scoffed and said. ¡°Okay. Someday you¡¯ve gotta explain these to me. Like why would these creatures of the gaps have ¡®it¡¯ and not you.¡± Fubeil Li peeked outside once again: ¡°But it looks like that thing is still here, chasing after the sea urchins. What should we do? Any way to destroy it?¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°It¡¯s not that hard to heavily wound or destroy it.¡± Perketta said: ¡°But it¡¯s tricky - because that thing - it marks its attacker and killer through some kind of curse. The curse served no other purpose than attracting more of its kind even from a great distance. So if you kill one and do not remove the curse soon, you soon will be flooded by a group of them.¡± ¡°Ah, so it¡¯s a curse based on grudge and enmity.¡± Fubei Li scratched its jaw, then asked: ¡°What if it didn¡¯t know who was behind the attack?¡± ¡°I - I don¡¯t know.¡± Perketta thought for a brief moment and said: ¡°I think most of us only engaged in fight against it while we¡¯re forced to, so I guess - ¡± ¡°No one ambushes it?¡± Fubeil Li immediately started searching in his pockets - then he pulled out a folded paper sigil and a wooden doll, which looked like a dog standing on its hind legs and dabbing with its forelegs. ¡°Curse scapegoat.¡± Dave nodded: ¡°It¡¯s risky, but if it comes to it it¡¯s worth a try.¡± Fubei Li pulled six hairs from his head, then he wrapped one around the doll¡¯s neck, one on each arm and one on each leg, then he infused the final hair with his Xuanli, making it as hard as metal and impale the doll¡¯s heart with it, ¡°Okay, done. Now we just need to find a way to get this paper sigil inside one of those sea urchin creatures, without it knowing.¡± ¡°Let me.¡± Dave took the paper sigil, then he looked out from the rock under which they were hiding to look at the situation outside. Before long, his eyes locked onto one of the sea urchin creatures being chased, then he retreated under rock and closed his eyes. With a short moment of preparation, he threw the folded paper sigil out, which then instantly disappeared behind a small and thin portal. ¡°Geez, how much knowledge did you download?¡± Fubei Li shook his head, for he knew full well how difficult it was to create a portal inside of another portal, not to mention one that linked to the inside of a living and moving creature. ¡°Well, enough for me to know the ending to a comic book just by one touch if I don¡¯t control it.¡± Dave sighed and looked outside their shelter again: ¡°Any minute now.¡± In just around three seconds, the mouth creature made of pale green energy caught up to the sea urchin creature targeted by Dave, and closed its bear treap like mouth on it. The ¡°thing¡± that was once possessed by this sea urchin creature was thus stripped away and absorbed by the mouth monster. Only this time, some kind of energy released from the folded paper sigil inside of the sea urchin creature¡¯s body was also absorbed by the mouth creature. A loud and high pitched squeal came from the mouth creature. And when all four members of the team peeked at it from the rock, and found that some kind of orange and golden flare, or fire was burning from inside of the creature¡¯s body. The flare was tearing the creature up from the inside, and releasing some kind of rainbow colored smoke from its wounds seemingly made of tiny crystal grains. The mouth creature continued to squeal and struggled to control its positions in the air, and while the team of four watched, its whole body went up in green and orange flames like a paper plane on fire. And like a paper plane on fire, it flew around randomly in the air, eventually crashing into the empty space beyond the edge of the land. A strange energy wave burst through the air, leaving a barely tangible mark on the sea urchin creature in which the paper sigil was placed. And then, the dog doll on Fubei Li¡¯s hand shook as if it was hit by a shockwave, then, a small green marking appeared on its chest. ¡°Did you feel anything?¡± Fubei Li nodded at the sight of his dog doll, then asked Dave. ¡°No. Nothing spilled over to me.¡± Dave nodded at Fubei Li then turned to Xyankor and Perketta: ¡°Looks like we¡¯re good. Let¡¯s go.¡± Chapter 369 Before they left the rock beneath which they hid, Fubei Li left the dog doll marked with a green curse mark under the rock, and then placed a small array beneath it - it was not an attack or defense array, but a long-living one that had only one purpose: count the same kind of creatures that came to attack the dog doll. Fubei Li also scooped some water from the lake and stored it inside of a small vial - since it was not something that he could see everyday. But the liquid just instantly crystallized when it was away from the lake, and Fubei Li did not yet know why and how to change it back. ¡°That was a pretty neat observation and trick.¡± as they continued on their way, still cautiously avoiding the attacked sea urchin creatures in the air, Perketta looked at Fubei Li and said: ¡°But still, it is quite risky. How did you know the curse would only spill that little amount of energy to you and that simple curse scapegoat was enough to contain it?¡± ¡°Well, I happen to be quite good at the process of tracing things through their causality. And I am somewhat good at divination.¡± Fubei Li smiled and said: ¡°Unless you are utilizing some kind of God level power to tap into the laws of time and cause and effect, tracking remote attacks accurately, whether from a physical distance or from a chronological distance, is still one of the biggest challenge in the art of energy trail forensics. I don¡¯t think that mouth thing could wield that kind of power. So I took a bet - looks like it only had the ability to track the attacker from the energy signature within a physical range. ¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Perketta nodded, then turned her face forward: ¡°So you¡¯re saying you intentionally did not obscure your energy signature on that sigil?¡± ¡°Yeah, but I modified the sigil¡¯s energy signature to be more like that scapegoat¡¯s. So basically no risk to me.¡± ¡°See, I told you he could help.¡± Dave smiled: ¡°There¡¯s more to him than meets the eye - I mean there¡¯s more where that came from.¡± ¡°Geez Dave, watch it with the roast!¡± Fubei Li laughed out loud: ¡°You are all snarky and captain-like now.¡± ¡°Sorry, did not mean that as a roast.¡± Dave chuckled and shrugged: ¡°It¡¯s just the past knowledge, I found that I got to know a lot of very handsome men in my past cycles. So Mr. Yu, unfortunately I have to tell you that you are just barely above average.¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Jesus Daekan-Velliander, even I know that is a roast.¡± Xyankor said. After dealing with the situation near the lake, the team of four did not encounter many obstacles or situations that would force them to pause or stop. They did stop a couple of times, because the scenery along the way piqued Fubei Li¡¯s interest and he wanted to do some quick investigations. These stops and pauses paid off in the end, because at two of the later stops, Fubei Li found some strange small pieces of pale grey rocks that seemed to give off a pale light from the centers and have the ability to turn the land around pale and grey as well. These, according to Perketta, were the droppings of a kind of small but very dangerous creature of the gaps. ¡°How dangerous is this thing?¡± Fubei Li asked when they were on their way again: ¡°And what¡¯s the name?¡± ¡°Its name in our native tongue just means ¡®Pillaging Snails¡¯.¡± Perketta let out a long sigh: ¡°They vary greatly in size. And they are not only extremely dangerous and hard to kill, they¡¯re also very greedy and destructive. Lucky for us, judging from the size of the droppings, they are still very young. And since we are way over half way to our realm, I will arrange for extermination.¡± ¡°What are they like?¡± Fubei Li broke off one of the rocks and tried to look at what was giving off the pale light from the center, but there was nothing in the middle, and the two pieces started shining from their respective centers instead. ¡°They look like - like a bunch of centipedes with their tails tucked in a single snail shell. And they attack with these centipede heads.¡± ¡°Huh - interesting.¡± Fubei Li frowned: ¡°I think I saw one before, very vicious indeed. But the one I saw was quite big. So when are the earliest records of them?¡± ¡°At least a couple tens of thousands of years, according to our records at least.¡± Dave said: ¡°So it must have been even longer since they first appeared.¡± The land narrowed in front of them - by Fubei Li¡¯s measure, the most narrow part in front of them was around the width of three car lanes, and it was thinner than all parts of the land they traveled through. Fubei Li could also tell that they were quite close to their first destination - the gate into the realm of the Fog Dwellers, because he could already see the gate at the end of their path. The gate was light grey, round and slowly spinning. Fubei Li could not tell what kind of material it was, it seemed to be some kind of rock that slightly resembles the visual qualities of marble and quartz. Around the gate, there were a few patches of fog circling it to the opposite direction in which it was spinning. ¡°We¡¯re almost there.¡± Perketta said: ¡°I¡¯ll shine the signal ...¡± ¡°Boom!¡± a beam of bright white energy shot from the space and struck the spinning gate in front of them. The explosion threw the circling patches of fog away into the space around and tore up a few chunks of the land attaching the gate. Chapter 370 ¡°What the fuck - ¡± FubeI Li looked back up, and saw that the thing behind the attack on the gate was a long and winding worm with only a round and wide mouth with layers of teeth within, visible sections on its body, elastic, semitransparent and smooth skins and shaking and twitching black hair coming from the gaps between sections. Under the semi transparent skins, they could see long strings of muscles, tubes and vibrating nodes on these tubes. Fubei Li could not find a better description of this creature, but likened it to a giant tapeworm the size of several commercial planes chained up head to tail, and with a more complex internal organ system. One of the far away sections on the giant worm¡¯s body lit up in bright light yellow, then in around five seconds, the section closer to its head lit up, then the next, then the next. Before long, around a third of the sections on the worm¡¯s body and its head lit up, and another beam of bright white energy beam shot out from its mouth, aiming right at the gate. ¡°Boom!¡± this time the attack tore up more ground before the gate, and the broken pieces of the land got scattered and sent into the space around, leaving the team of four less room to traverse. The attack left a visible dent and several cracks on the spinning gate, and probably because of this, the speed in which the gate spun was slowed and irregular. ¡°That thing¡¯s tearing up the land and breaking the gate! We must stop it.¡± Xyankor extended his hands to the side, and two grey balls of energy appeared on his palms. Without any further calls to action, all members of the team of four started conjuring up their power and prepared for attack. Dave wielded a similar kind of grey energy, and Perketta¡¯s power was unsurprisingly some kind of fog-like magical energy. Fubei Li, as one of Jiamen¡¯s more independent avatars, wielded the same kind of energy as Jianmen but used a slightly different weapon - a traditional Chinese writing brush. Fubei Li waved his writing brush in the air, and his powers were condensed and projected into the air into different symbols and words in different calligraphy styles. Each of the words and symbols launched themselves into space at the body of the giant worm once Fubei Li finished writing, some exploded on impact, some became energy drills drilling on the worm¡¯s skins, and some became curses that took effect on the target areas targeted by him and his other three teammates. The attacks startled the giant worm, but they did not deal too much damage to its body. The giant worm twitched and curled back its body but did not make a noise. The black hairs growing from the gaps between its body sections shot out from their original positions, some into the air, and some aiming at Fubei Li¡¯s team.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Fubei Li wrote a Chinese word ¡°trap¡± in the air and tried to capture one of the black hairs with it, while the other black hairs aiming at them were just buried into the land. The ¡°trap¡± word turned into an orange and red energy web when coming into contact with the hair and wrapped around the hair like a normal capture net on impact. But the speed was too sharp and too fast that the web was impaled and the hair still buried itself beneath the surface of the land. ¡°Be careful of the hairs!¡± Fubei Li yelled immediately: ¡°They¡¯re alive!¡± ¡°Crack!¡± ¡°Crack!¡± ¡°Crack¡± just bare moments after Fubei Li¡¯s warning, black tentacles with shiny eyes and long tongues covered in twitching bristles broke out from the ground, and almost immediately attempted to wrap around and capture the team of four that launched their attack on the worm. Perketta swung her hand horizontally at her left side and unleashed a spinning saw blade made of fog. It made a high pitched metal grinding sound when it ran into the black tentacles along its path. It took only a few seconds for the spinning fog saw blade to cut through the first couple of black tentacles. But the process also exhausted its power, and it ended up dissipating when cutting on a separate black tentacle. Fubei Li wrote a two character word in traditional Chinese in the air then struck the word with his left palm. The characters in the word exploded and turned into an orange and golden energy wave just like a high wave one could see on a beach. The energy wave crushed against three black tentacles that tried to attack Dave and Xyankor, and almost instantly, the three tentacles started cracking up from the points of contact with the energy wave. Dave and Xyankor leapt away from the black tentacles that tried to attack them and unleashed another round of energy attacks on the giant worm. The giant worm curled its body in the space attempting to dodge the attacks, but its body was just way too big to maneuver out of the way of attacks at this close a range and this speed. The attacks struck true, right on the cursed and thus weakened spots on its body, and the team of four could see the burn marks and cracks on the worm¡¯s body. ¡°Call out your fighters!¡± Dave yelled at Perketta as he swerved across the attacks of two black tentacles: ¡°Their gate is under attack, why is no one coming?!¡± ¡°The gate seemed to be quite seriously damaged.¡± Perketta said while conjuring up a shield with spikes protruding out made of dense fog to block an attack from one of the black tentacles coming from the space: ¡°The gate was built to shut down and bar itself when it sustained enough damage. They had to override the array to get out!¡± ¡°So - how quick can they override the array?!¡± Xyankor struck a black tentacle with a curved energy sword in his left hand, tearing it up into thousands of pieces, ¡°We cannot just keep fighting here alone forever. At some point we will have to go beyond the gates or back off!¡± ¡°Let me try something!¡± Fubei Li reached into his pocket and took out a wooden coin, ¡°Cover me for a second!¡± Dave rushed to Fubei Li¡¯s side, and with his two arms turned into dozens of shadows of arms extending from his back and waist, destroying the surrounding back tentacles trying to attack him. Fubei Li closed his eyes and concentrated his Xuanli on the coin, and a marking appeared on the coin - it was giving off a green light. ¡°Holy sh - it¡¯d better work!¡± Dave raised his eyebrows and said. Chapter 371 Fubei Li flicked his fingers and launched the wooden coin at the distant body part of the giant worm. The coin was enclosed inside of an orange and golden energy arrow while shooting through the air. And before the giant worm could defend itself or move out of the way, the orange and golden energy arrow already shifted into a curse and weakened a small spot on its body, and the wooden coin within stuck to the surface of its skin. The mimicked green energy on the wooden coin started releasing energy waves in small bursts into the space around. The giant worm did not know what this meant yet, but the team of Fubei Li, Dave, Xyankor and Perketta all knew full well what those energy bursts meant. ¡°You crazy fuck!¡± Perketta let out a curse, then unleashed a crescent shaped fog energy blade at one of the gaps between the two sections on the giant worm¡¯s body: ¡°You¡¯re gonna doom us all!¡± ¡°Oh yeah?¡± Fubei Li leapt to the side and sent out a symbol to blow up a black tentacle, ¡°Just let you people open the fucking gate! Or we¡¯re doomed anyway!¡± ¡°Open the fucking gate! Tell them to open the fucking gate!¡± Dave spun with two grey energy swords in his hands, blasting several black tentacles around him into smithereens, then the next moment he threw the two energy blades out at the worm¡¯s head, attempting to attack its inside from the mouth. The giant worm¡¯s mouth, which had already opened to the width of its body, opened up even wider like an elastic rubber tube and exposed the wretched insides with layers of teeth, sticky membranes and sinew. Then the next moment, countless tiny flesh colored tentacles made of conjoining sections burst out from its mouth. On the tips of each of the tentacles was a mouth, not that dissimilar to the mouth of the giant worm. And as these little tentacles came out flapping around in the air, all the sections in the tentacles lit up, from the ones closer to the inside of the worm¡¯s body, to the ones near the tips. ¡°Hide!¡± Xyankor¡¯s eyes widened as he yelled, and the next moment, thin but concentrated beams of bright energy shot out from the tentacle tips, just like how it was when the worm shot beams of energy from its mouth. The difference here was that the thin beams of energy shot out from the tips of tentacles had the colors red, orange, yellow as well as the rest of the colors one could see from a rainbow. Xyankor, Dave, Perketta had to dodge and conjure up energy shields of their own, and Dave was considerate enough to cover Fubei Li with his energy shield. Fubei Li, on the other hand, took out another wooden coin and launched it into the space above, placing it on the skin of the worm once again.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°Boom boom boom ...¡± the thin beams of energy might look weaker than the bigger beam unleashed by the worm head, but their energy density appeared to be just as much, if not higher. Even powered up Dave had to push himself harder than he ever had since the start of the fight to maintain his energy shield in order to block them fully. ¡°Mr. Yu, are you okay? Did your coins work?¡± Dave looked at the cracks on his energy shield with worry in his eyes: ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t hold for much longer.¡± ¡°I practically broadcast it as hard as I could. If my mimicry of the energy signature is good enough, it should just work as an amplified curse mark.¡± Fubei Li took out another coin: ¡°I have juice for another coin or two, but that¡¯s about it, if they still won¡¯t work, we have to back off.¡± ¡°We need to fall back!¡± Xyankor said: ¡°The gate¡¯s not opening! We need to fall back! Otherwise we won¡¯t make it to the Fog Dweller¡¯s realm, or worse!¡± ¡°They¡¯re coming!¡± Perketta looked up into the depths of the space behind the giant worm, and reacted in terror: ¡°Fubei Li! What the fuck did you do!¡± A spinning pale green energy vortex appeared at the far side of the space beyond the land on which the team of four stood. And before long hundreds of mouth creatures made of pale green energy came out from the center of the vortex and started swarming towards the giant worm. As Fubei Li watched closer and more attentatively, he found out that many of the mouth creatures that came out of the pale green vortex actually ended up not making it out at all - the tides and waves of energy of space and time that were constantly crashing against the vortex also delivered heavy shocks and blows to the mouth creatures, many of which were not able to withstand the attacks at all. The giant worm seemed infuriated and in fear at the same time when it sensed the presence of the mouth creatures. It adjusted its position in space, then it did a swift shrink-and-bloat move, shooting a lot of its black hairs from the gaps on its body out at the mouth creatures. And at the same time, it turned the tentacles from its mouth against the incoming mouth creatures, and unleashed its energy beam attacks at the mouth creatures. The mouth creatures, on the other hand, were particularly fierce and ferocious due to the presence of the coins with green ¡°curse marks¡± on them attached to the worm creature¡¯s body. Though the attacks from the black tentacles and beams of energy tore many of them apart, they fought on like a pack of fearless wolves. The death of the mouth creatures in turn placed even more legitimate curse marks on the worm creature, which seemed to have aggravated the mouth creatures even more. And with every bite from the mouth creatures, small fragments of energy were torn away like some kind of translucent string cheese. And after a few seconds, the spinning gate connected to the barely hanging ground that was a part of the ¡°bridge¡±, finally opened up from the middle, and a string of seven creatures whose bodies were made of fog and cloud rushed out from behind the gate and to Perketta¡¯s side. ¡°Perketta, you¡¯re finally here.¡± a fog creature that looked like a talking praying mantis took a look at the giant worm and said to Perketta: ¡°Our realm is under attack! And we need all the help we can get, come!¡± ¡°Attacked?¡± Dave asked as he followed the other Fog Dwellers into the gate: ¡°Who dared attack you and your realm?¡± Chapter 372 Lint Town, just right outside a roofless building, Professor Atkinson exchanged a cart full of ¡°bread¡± using a small piece of rough stone gifted to them by Lun Wang, Jianmen¡¯s avatar who was aiding them in their research when they were back at the Grant Academy. ¡°Thank you, Profess-Ah.¡± said the merchant, who was an earth elemental who took the form of a beetle, ¡°Hope you have a nice-Ah day.¡± ¡°Thank you, you too.¡± Professor Atkinson took over the cart and pushed the cart into the building: ¡°Dolores, let¡¯s take a break, and have some food.¡± ¡°Good idea. I¡¯m kinda starving.¡± Dolores carefully laid down a heavy and fragile looking book made of thin slightly elastic clay plates to a wooden table in front of them. But when she came over and lifted the cloth covering on the cart, she could not help but frown: ¡°This is - bread? Or are they dumplings or rice balls?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s bread. At least according to Praxa, this is the same recipe they used to serve the human travelling scholars and traders back in the old days.¡± Professor Atkinson sighed and sat down by the cart. Then he picked up a dirt-colored, roughly round ball made of some kind of flour/rice powder with tiny grains of grass still sticking out from inside. He hesitated as he examined it, but he could not bring it to himself to actually take the first bite. ¡°You say Praxa?¡± Dolores frowned and picked up another piece of the ¡°bread¡±: ¡°I don¡¯t know how I feel about taking a round dirt-like ball made by a brown beetle as food.¡± ¡°Mm.¡± Professor Atkinson took a small piece from the ¡°bread¡± and took a small bite, then he nodded: ¡°You know what - it¡¯s okay. It tastes like rough steamed wheat bread with some really big grains. But it¡¯s not as bad as it looks - and it has a sweet aftertaste.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Dolores also took a bite, and she nodded at Professor Atkinson: ¡°Yeah you¡¯re right, not that bad indeed. The grass is a weird touch though. How long can they last?¡± ¡°According to Praxa, thirty Earth days. But they taste best if kept for less than five days.¡± Professor Atkinson started taking bigger and bigger bites: ¡°So, anything interesting?¡± ¡°Nothing that interesting, unfortunately.¡± Dolores shook her head with a mouthful: ¡°I think we came really underprepared - the records we could read thanks to Xyn were all extremely old and most of the information seemed not to be the case any more. And since we have very limited abilities to read more recent records, I could only tell what some of the records were about and I sorted out some of them. How about you Professor?¡± ¡°I talked to the librarian, she told me that she would track down some dictionaries left by the past scholars and merchants for us, apparently they were mostly written on paper, so they might have disintegrated already. And even if they were still readable and mostly intact, there¡¯s no guarantee that they were written in any language that we can read.¡± Professor Atkinson sighed and took out a small and broken book from his coat pocket: ¡°I got this though - it¡¯s a half finished codex, for the use translating from and to ancient Fog Dweller texts.¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Fog Dwellers? THE Fog Dwellers?¡± Dolores¡¯ eyes widened: ¡°That¡¯s interesting - how do their texts look compared to the old voidborn language used by Xyn?¡± ¡°They share some similarities. But I think we will need to read carefully to see how useful they are.¡± Professor Atkinson said. Just this moment, Lin¡¯Er, the half human and half deer elemental made of blue flames and lightning came down from the sky and landed just outside of the roofless building. Professor Atkinson and Dolores immediately came out to greet her. ¡°Hello, Lin¡¯Er, nice to see you again.¡± Dolores gently bowed along with Professor Atkinson. ¡°And nice to see you.¡± Lin¡¯Er bowed back, then she extended both her arms forward, a spinning ball of flames and lightning appeared in the space above their hands and palms, and in around five seconds, a transparent cuboid piece of light blue crystal appeared and slowly floated towards Professor Atkinson and Dolores: ¡°Here - courtesy of Lord Paulo Chang, this is a copy of the historical records of our realm, which also had some information about the original void. It is also enchanted with the translation spell from Lord Paulo Chang himself, so you should be able to read it perfectly.¡± ¡°Thank you very much. This is a life saver.¡± Professor Atkinson held the crystal with two hands and nodded: ¡°We¡¯ve been having quite a lot of trouble trying to decipher the records from the library and archive. This could just be the break we need.¡± ¡°I have also contacted some of the merchants and asked them for the materials you requested. But for that, you will need to come to the Bastion of Gwai-Mon, they have a trading space there. With your passes you should be able to enter the market.¡± Lin¡¯Er said: ¡°I think you might also want to visit one of the temples there as well - since you¡¯ve mentioned that you have to prepare yourself for some weighted knowledge. Our temple of knowledge could help lighten the weight of knowledge - it works differently on different kinds of knowledge, but it should be able to help. Not to mention, we have some other records stored in the temple - I don¡¯t know why it was easier for you to read ancient texts than more recent texts of ours, but you can try visiting there first if you have trouble with the documents from our library and archive.¡± ¡°That¡¯s wonderful!¡± Dolores almost jumped: ¡°Yes! I think that¡¯s exactly what we need! Thank you!¡± ¡°No problem.¡± Lin¡¯Er smiled: ¡°Lord Paulo Chang said that your mission is of great importance to the elemental realms, so I am fully dedicated to assisting you. If you want, we can be on our way right now.¡± ¡°Ah, okay!¡± Professor Atkinson exchanged looks with Dolores, and headed back into the building: ¡°Hang on, let us pack some food for the road.¡± ¡°Wait, what kind of food are you bringing with you?¡± when Dolores and Professor Atkinson finished packing, Lin¡¯Er asked. ¡°This - ¡± Dolores showed Lin¡¯Er the ¡°bread¡± she and Professor Atkinson were eating earlier. Lin¡¯Er¡¯s facial expressions shifted a few times like a real human¡¯s, then she disappeared from where she was in a flash of lightning. A lousy feeling arose from Dolores and Professor Atkinson¡¯s stomach. Shortly, Lin¡¯Er appeared again, dragging Praxa, the beetle earth elemental with her. Then she threw the beetle down on the ground and said with a stern and echoey voice with lightning shooting out of her body: ¡°You¡¯d better give them a full refund and serve them REAL food right now! How, DARE, YOU!?¡± ¡°We - we didn¡¯t eat sh - I mean garbage, did we?¡± Dolores felt like she was about to puke. ¡°No.¡± Lin¡¯Er said: ¡°They¡¯re just swill for livestock.¡± ¡°That - that¡¯s not that much better.¡± Chapter 373 When Professor Atkinson and Dolores continued on their way to the Bastion of Gwai-Mon following the lead of Lin¡¯Er, they had two bags of much better food made by the local elementals, which included actual pancakes and honey buns made from some kind of special local flour and honey full of fire and life magic energy. ¡°How¡¯d those honey buns taste?¡± Lin¡¯Er asked with her gentle and pleasant voice while she was leading the way: ¡°I believe they¡¯re actually made from the old age recipes, passed down from some of our earlier traders.¡± ¡°They¡¯re much better.¡± Dolores chuckled as she took a big bite off the honey bun in her hand, then she couldn¡¯t help but laugh out loud: ¡°I mean - it¡¯s getting funnier and funnier now that I¡¯ve thought about it - oh my god, why can¡¯t I stop laughing about this?! How come this is so funny and not at all weird or disgusting?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s something in these honey buns?¡± Professor Atkinson only took a small bite and had to look at the bun closely: ¡°Is it because of the life magic energy or something else in the honey? What¡¯s in it?¡± ¡°They¡¯re from a kind of mutated bee that were once endemic to your world.¡± Lin¡¯Er answered with a very human smile on her face: ¡°At one time, a human trader brought some of them here and sold them to a local water elemental merchant. They ended up dying, but the merchant was quite impressed and she bought more bees, and eventually some of the bees mutated and adjusted to the environment of the Edgelands. Quite ironically, though they were bred and nurtured by a family of water elementals, they grew an affinity to fire magic aside from life magic.¡± ¡°And the life magic energy in the honey - it¡¯s the reason that we experience the feelings of joy and funniness when we ingest them?¡± ¡°That would be up to you to find out.¡± Lin¡¯Er said: ¡°It never had that kind of effect on us - we elementals, though we¡¯re blessed with longer life and natural gift of wielding certain magical powers, we don¡¯t have the same physiology as humans or any other flesh based life, thus we don¡¯t experience stimulus to our emotions like you do.¡± ¡°Stimulus - that¡¯s a funny word - ahahahahaha ...¡± Dolores laughed out loud again and said her laughter gradually became uncontrollable. ¡°Okay, that¡¯s enough honey buns.¡± Professor Atkinson stopped and took the almost eaten bun away from Dolores, as well as the bag she was carrying: ¡°You may eat when the effects die down a bit, okay?¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Hold it together, we¡¯re almost there.¡± Lin¡¯Er helped Professor Atkinson take over the bag of food from Dolores: ¡°Just around ten to - to forty earth minutes.¡± On top of a hill not too far away stood a tall bastion built with long and sharp grey stones. There were around twenty large plates of stone and earth floating in the air around the bastion, with some smaller buildings built on each of them. Some of these smaller buildings seemed to be defensive watchtowers, while others seemed to be gateways or portals. There was a giant transparent force field surrounding the entire area, with which the badges given by Paulo Chang to Professor Atkinson and Dolores seemed to be gently resonating. As they advanced closer, Professor Atkinson and Dolores could see that there were pulses of energy coursing through some specialized markings on the walls of the stone bastion. And surrounding the hill on which the bastion stood and still within the protective force field, were many smaller buildings, some residing on concrete land and some floating in the air. ¡°Here, use your badges.¡± Lin¡¯Er stopped in front of the edge of the protective force field. Dolores, who finally stopped laughing due to being forcefully deprived of the honey buns, took out her badge and extended it towards the forcefield along with Professor Atkinson. The two badges shot out two beams of bright blue light at the forcefield, then a round entrance opened up for them. ¡°Follow me.¡± when they were past the edge of the force field and the entrance closed up behind them, Lin¡¯Er nodded at Professor Atkinson and Dolores, then leapt in the air towards some of the small buildings around the hill on which the bastion stood. As Lin¡¯Er led them through some tall buildings, pillars and fountains, Professor Atkinson and Dolores couldn¡¯t help but find the design patterns, the features of the pillars and fountains, and the design of the pathways extremely familiar. ¡°Um, Lin¡¯Er?¡± Professor Atkinson stood beside a pillar, which was decorated with gems and light golden metal linings and relief sculptures: ¡°I¡¯ve got a question - this is your temple of knowledge?¡± ¡°No, this is a rebuilt replica of the Temple of Wisdom.¡± Lin¡¯Er walked towards the pillar Professor Atkinson was observing: ¡°You would find some of the other rebuilt temples here - a lot of our old temples, like the Temple of Wisdom, Temple of Blessings, and Temple of Sight were all lost long time ago and we only had some rough blueprints left. Historical records and legends said that they were lost in the rupture. But it is also theorized that some of them were actually lost during the wars between the different elemental realms after the rupture.¡± A very brief but extremely bright flash of light exploded and disappeared from the sky, Professor Atkinson and Dolores instantly felt a jolt of lighting and pressure striking them from almost all angles. Dolores fell onto the ground, writhing in pain, and Professor Atkinson started coughing like he caught the most severe lung disease in the last second, and he had to sit down on the ground to relieve himself of the unease. ¡°My goodness.¡± Lin¡¯Er rushed to their side, prepared to cast a healing spell on them: ¡°What happened? Are you alright?¡± Lin¡¯Er¡¯s healing spells were quite potent, Dolores¡¯ skin was all red and swollen and looked like blisters were ready to burst, until the gentle flame washed through her body soothed her anguish. Dolores gasped then coughed, then she grabbed the honey bun passed to her by Lin¡¯Er and almost swallowed it whole. ¡°This is crazy.¡± Professor Atkinson and Dolores exchanged looks. ¡°What? Why? This is not common knowledge, sure, but I wouldn¡¯t think it would be weighted like this at all.¡± Lin¡¯Er asked. ¡°We know who caused the rupture.¡± Professor Atkinson coughed some more and said: ¡°Or at least - we know who had almost everything to do with it.¡± Chapter 374 Inside of a big mansion in Woodside California, Carol Summers was lying on the floor of the very spacious and luxurious master bedroom with patterns and symbols drawn with blood but not a piece of cloth on her body, inside of a meticulously drawn array with complex patterns inside, and burning blood red candles on the outside, and with a six pieces of blood red crystals hanging from the ceiling tied on thin ropes. Directly under the six red crystals were six bowls made of metal and holding clear but dense liquid, and as Carol Summers silently chanted an arcane spell, the liquid gently vibrated in unison. A maid stood before the array, holding a crystal ball filled with some kind of bright green energy mist. When the array started lighting up, and condensed streams of liquified iridescent energy flowed from the soles of the six metal bowls along the lines inside of the array and towards the lying Carol Summers, the maid started chanting some kind of spell as well. The crystal ball in her hands started shining, and the light green energy mist seeped through the wall of the crystal ball, and floated towards the array. The streams of condensed and liquified iridescent energy slowly but steadily reached the position of Carol Summers, then a circle pattern right under her body lit up. The drawings and symbols of blood on her body started bubbling, and her skins began being eroded by the blood, like acid on sheets of metal, or hot metal linings placed on sheets of butter. Carol Summers moaned in anguish and pain, but as much pain as she was in, she did not move a single muscle as the patterns of blood cut into her skin and flesh. The iridescent energy streams flowed and climbed onto her body like some kind of anti-gravity liquid, and they started filling the gaps left by the blood drawings and symbols. The streams of energy continued to flow into Carol Summer¡¯s body, and eventually all six metal bowls were emptied, and the streams of energy were absorbed by Caroline Summers. Carol Summers let out a loud cry, and dark red blood infected with some kind of dark and disturbing energy gushed and shot out of her mouth like water from a broken pipe. The six dangling pieces of crystal lit up in bright blue and generated a suction force field in the air, and not even one drop of the dark red blood fell on the ground, instead they were all absorbed and sealed inside each of the six crystals. The patch of green energy mist reached Carol Summers just in time, and the wounds left by the blood markings started healing, with the iridescent energy still inside of them. Carol Summers gasped as her healing completed, while the maid just collected the six dangling red crystal pieces and put them inside of the now empty crystal ball. The pieces of crystal inside of the crystal ball started releasing dark red smoke right after the maid let them rest. Then the maid opened up a metal chest by her feet, and locked the crystal ball inside.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Thank you.¡± Carol Summers stood up from the array as it gradually faded and disintegrated: ¡°You may be excused.¡± ¡°Ms. Winters.¡± the maid called out to Carol Summers by her real name: ¡°The elixir¡¯s effects are fading faster than before. It won¡¯t be that long before it becomes completely useless.¡± ¡°I know, the curse is catching up to me.¡± Carol Summers said: ¡°But she¡¯s not ready, not yet.¡± ¡°Bang bang bang!¡± the door to the room shook as it was knocked by someone on the outside, seemingly without any consideration for the privacy or well being of the people on the inside. Carol Summers summoned a robe from her closet and put it on her body, then the maid walked over and opened the door. A young woman wearing a suit of black leather armor and a tall man in a black suit were standing outside. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Ms. Summers.¡± the man in a suit apologized to Carol Summers: ¡°I tried to stop her, but...¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. I am just about to call a meeting anyway.¡± Carol Summers nodded: ¡°Emilia, what brought you here? How¡¯s your first time on a field mission?¡± ¡°We called for backup, but they never came.¡± Emilia Corin huffed and said: ¡°And I have some questions for you.¡± The maid became agitated by Emilia Corin¡¯s attitude: ¡°Don¡¯t you dare speak to Ms. Summers that way!¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Carol Summers waved her hand and walked out of the bedroom: ¡°Emilia, you said the backup didn¡¯t arrive? Did anyone tell you what happened?¡± ¡°No. And it won¡¯t matter anyway.¡± Emilia Corin wanted to grab Carol Summers by the arm, but something told her not to so she backed off: ¡°They¡¯ve escaped, with the help of a mage who wielded strong lightning magic, and a female fighter, or assassin.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Carol Summers walked to a bar just outside of the bedroom and poured herself a glass of drink, then she turned to the man in a black suit : ¡°Did Master Durbin¡¯s team report back and explain?¡± ¡°They did.¡± the man answered: ¡°They informed us of a very powerful individual - he stopped the whole team midway. And he - ¡± ¡°He what?¡± Emilia Corin scoffed and asked: ¡°He talked them out of the pursuit?¡± ¡°No.¡± just this moment, an old man wearing a grey cloak came to the bar with a young, pale and emotionless woman by her side, limping all the way: ¡°That person cost me a mortality scapegoat. And I intend not to let this go. So if I were you, I would watch what I was about to say, unless you want to be my life bag.¡± Emilia Corin looked at the old man and the young woman, there was a tube connecting them - on one end it was connected to the back of the young woman¡¯s head, and on the other end it was connected to the old man¡¯s chest. And even with her limited training in magic, she was able to tell that the young woman¡¯s life force was slowly fading away, very likely due to it being drained away through the tube and feeding the old man. ¡°Who could have done that to you, Master Durbin?¡± Emilia Corin frowned and asked. ¡°That¡¯s my question as well, for your teacher here.¡± Timothy Durbin narrowed his eyes: ¡°What have you gotten us into, Winters?¡± Chapter 375 ¡°Master Durbin, I can assure you that I have provided you with everything I know about the task and your targets. And I did warn you about the targets being connected to Josephine Wong, the new liaison of the Division in this area. So you should have been made aware of the risks.¡± Carol Summers did not appear pleased by the direct calling out of her real name, she then walked towards a meeting room down the hallway from the bedroom she was just in: ¡°You know she is dangerous, and her associates are capable - and you agreed - ¡± ¡°No, this man is no known associate of Josephine Wong. I am pretty sure of it.¡± Timothy Durbin shook his head and followed: ¡°I don¡¯t know him. And I know most, if not all of her most powerful associates, Blue, Nameless, Pei, that Lycan black sheep Alexander, even those in the Grant Academy and Assembly of Knights. No, I do not recognize this man.¡± ¡°What does he look like?¡± Carol Summers stopped in front of the door to the meeting room: ¡°What kind of power does he wield?¡± ¡°I cannot tell.¡± Timothy Durbin said: ¡°It happened too fast, and it was just a flash of blinding lights - of golden lightning. This is not just me, none of the others, those whom he did not target, could tell what it was, or who he was.¡± ¡°If he¡¯s this powerful. Then how come you are here with your complaint and accusation of incompetence?¡± ¡°I did not see it. But according to the testament of the others - his figure dissipated after he delivered that strike that broke my mortality scapegoat. He either simply left, or that was just a temporary projection of him. Either way, it would be a great concern.¡± ¡°What did he say?¡± Caroli Summers¡¯ frown almost could not get any heavier: ¡°Did he state his reasons for stopping you?¡± ¡°The targets you sent us after, they are his students or his disciples.¡± Timothy Durbin said: ¡°But you told us they were just a couple of talented civilian born mages. This is a gross mishandling of intelligence, one for which you should know that I will hold you accountable. You better - ¡± The glass in Carol Summers¡¯ hand exploded, tiny pieces of sharp glass and droplets of drink shot everywhere. Even the agitated Timothy Durbin was startled by this sudden happening and backed off a little. ¡°No. You¡¯d better listen and listen carefully. I will not be accused, threatened or arbitrarily demanded of by some wheezing old bag of dying flesh that used to be a disgraced knight!¡± Carol Summers¡¯ voice was raised and at the same time became colder, the room grew dimmer and the air seemed to have frozen as she spoke: ¡°You signed the contract, you agreed to the terms and you were made fully aware of the risks. What do you think those materials you are recklessly and foolishly squandering daily with little regard are for? So the way I see it, you were ambushed, you let your guard down and you failed, which cost me a crucial piece of artifact. So you go recover, while we still have use for you, do you understand?¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Timothy Durbin was stunned for a brief moment, then he huffed and walked away. ¡°Anything else you¡¯d like to say, Emilia?¡± Carol Summers turned to Emilia Corin: ¡°Be quick, because I have a meeting with a fellow high broker.¡± ¡°I - I just wanted to say I know them - two of the targets at least.¡± Emilia Corin chose to speak in a softer and calmer tone: ¡°I saw them a few times - they work for an inn in San Jose. And they saved me from the assault of some of my family members. They did not appear to be - to be this strong back then ...¡± ¡°Oh? That¡¯s quite interesting.¡± Carol Summers raised her left eyebrow: ¡°So, even with your ability, and with the leather armor and the swords, they still slipped through your fingers?¡± ¡°I know - I know. Even Beatrice had trouble dealing with them. I just quite don¡¯t understand, how - ¡± ¡°My intel said they were from civilian backgrounds, and displayed no specific magical talents when they were young.¡± Carol Summers nodded and said: ¡°So they must have been wearing powerful artifacts like you were.¡± ¡°Yeah ¡­ yeah.¡± Emilia Corin frowned, she decided not to mention Caroline¡¯s comment on her power being borrowed. ¡°Which inn is this?¡± Carol Summers asked: ¡°Tell me the name of this inn they work for.¡± ------------------------------- ¡°Greetings, Ms. Summers.¡± accompanied by three men in suits, all of whom had a tattoo on their neck, Soren Lupei, one of the six high brokers of the Exalted Bondsmen, liaison for lycans, vampires and netherborn came into the mansion and was greeted by Carol Summers herself: ¡°How is this newly renovated mansion treating you?¡± ¡°Good, and thank you for holding back on the bid.¡± Carol Summers smiled and showed the men the way into the mansion and into their meeting room: ¡°Before we start, can I introduce you to some drinks, or snacks if you¡¯d like?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll have some of your wine, if that¡¯s okay.¡± Soren Lupei sat down with Carol Summers by the central table: ¡°I heard that you¡¯ve had some pretty interesting investments in wineries lately.¡± ¡°And you heard right. But I didn''t do it for the wine, I did it for the soil and the locations.¡± Carol Summers waved her hand at the maid that was in the bedroom with her, and the maid brought out a transparent bottle of chilled wine, along with several glasses. ¡°So. First things first.¡± after taking a sip of the chilled wine, Soren Lupei reached into her suit jacket and pulled out a small folder, then pushed it towards Carol Summers: ¡°Intel sharing, one of my favorite parts of our alliance.¡± Carol Summers picked up the folder and started reading the contents within, something concerning caught her eye, and she started frowning as she continued reading. ¡°Lucias Vyn, that old hag has some tricks.¡± Carol Summers sighed and put the folder down on the table: ¡°Who would¡¯ve thought she¡¯s the one with the second most connections to the Grant Academy? How reliable is this?¡± ¡°Some unfortunate guy stumbled onto our turf and gave us this to keep himself alive. So make of it what you will.¡± Soren Lupei shrugged and looked Carol Summers in the eye: ¡°It did check out with some other things we¡¯ve heard - the tunnel was burnt, by someone unknown. And the beast inside was released.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad we know this before we act. But I didn¡¯t burn it.¡± Carol Summers shook her head: ¡°I still have a lot of use for it, not to mention the fact that I have a lot of vested interest in its establishment.¡± ¡°Well, as far as I know. Tamil Brooke didn¡¯t burn it, and neither did Lucias Vyn.¡± ¡°How can you be sure? She hid her connections pretty well, maybe she had other motives.¡± Chapter 376 ¡°So, if we are indeed heading for war for this ¡®codex¡¯, or at least flexing our muscles and firing warning shots to prevent others from having it, it would be a good idea for us to share what we know about Lady Vyn, don¡¯t you think?¡± Carol Summers picked up the bottle on the table and poured herself and Soren Lupei some more wine. ¡°Thought you might say that. Which is why I¡¯ve come prepared.¡± Soren Lupei smiled and said: ¡°And since I did pass you the first folder, can you tell me what you¡¯ve got?¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s an interesting idea.¡± Carol Summers slightly tilted her head: ¡°But I would argue that my information is gonna be way more exciting and - and explosive. So I don¡¯t think for a minute that you would want to follow that.¡± ¡°Hmm, I¡¯m not very sure. ¡± Soren Lupei smiled: ¡°My information is pretty interesting as well - it could be, what was that you said, explosive? So how about we compare sources, and you can share give me a taste first, or - in terms used by human youths, let me see a trailer or a preview, and I will decide if I want to follow?¡± ¡°Okay, a preview it is.¡± Carol Summers snapped her fingers, an array at the center of the long table lit up, and a hologram of a young girl and a young boy running was displayed right above the table top. ¡°What is it?¡± Soren Lupei narrowed his eyes: ¡°Is that - is that Lucias Vyn when she was younger?¡± ¡°Yes it is, and her younger brother.¡± Carol Summers had a victorious smile on her face: ¡°You know, old butlers and managers of these troubled households could be quite talkative when you are willing to pay the right price or offer the right incentives. And did you know, that Lucias Vyn, the godmother of the Vyn Family and the biggest broker of organized underground super mercs that are not connected to any of the actual magical families, was once a part of the magical world?¡± ¡°Are we talking about the magical world only? Not elementals, not the mutants or the new , not us, the only ¡®legitimate¡¯ magical world?¡± Soren Lupei asked with intrigue. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s indeed interesting.¡± Soren Lupei tapped the table with his fingers as he thought, then after a while, he sat straight on his chair and said: ¡°Here¡¯s a preview of what I¡¯ve found - the guy who stumbled into our turf and traded the intel told us some other intriguing things - things we followed up on. Remember some of those artifacts with kinda illicit sources surfaced in the previous few movie festivals? They were reported to have come from an anonymous seller, who you could¡¯ve guessed, are all connected to Lucias Vyn. And I have quite a detailed list of sources on where those artifacts came from.¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Okay.¡± Carol Summers chuckled: ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s better than mine, but it¡¯s pretty close, I will give you my intel first.¡± ¡°So, family story of Lady Vyn?¡± Soren Lupei raised his glass and made a toast: ¡°Guess I can drink to that.¡± ¡°Lucias Vyn¡¯s original family name is not Vyn, Vyn is the name of the family that took her, her mother and her younger brother in.¡± Carol Summers said: ¡°She took their name to hide, because of her father. A legacy magic wielder with a dreadful talent for magic, but a scary and deadly talent for disabling and dismantling magical arrays, even with the least bit of magical power and even no power.¡± ¡°So what¡¯s her original family name?¡± ¡°Brooke. She used to be a Brooke.¡± Carol Summers smiled wider than she possibly ever did: ¡°She¡¯s the child of the most notorious serial killer, or should I say the leader of the serial killer group in the history of the magical world. ¡± ¡°So, her father is the serial murderer with a body count that was up to a thousand?¡± Soren Lupei¡¯s eyes opened wide: ¡°Well well, she did get her - personality - somewhere. And Brooke, is it the same Brooke as Tamil Brooke?¡± ¡°Same Brooke, different branches of family.¡± Carol Summers snapped her fingers again and the hologram showed a complicated family tree with a lot of parts missing, but with two branches lit up: ¡°If it comes to it, she would be Tamil Brooke¡¯s cousin, many many times removed. And here¡¯s the thing - do you remember the time about one third of the Brookes disappeared due to some kind of intra-family conflict? It happened right around the time when the serial killer stopped.¡± ¡°Are you implying that the Brookes found out and cleansed their own?¡± Soren Lupei frowned: ¡°That - that would actually make a lot of sense.¡± ¡°Okay, I will give you the full report. But do tell.¡± Carol Summers smiled. ¡°Some of the artifacts actually came from the Brookes. And they made quite a big deal out of it at one of the movie festivals.¡± Soren Lupei took a big sip of his drink: ¡°Some came from the Grant Academy itself, while others actually might have come from the victims of those serial murders. I could give you a list of those artifacts - and one thing might be of interest to you - the Blades of Gu.¡± ¡°The blades of Gu? I don¡¯t think I have heard of such an artifact.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not AN artifact per se - it was more of a blueprint and recipe for forging a kind of set artifacts. It was forged with the same philosophy as the curse of Gu, where people put toads, centipedes, scorpions and all other kinds of venomous creatures inside a sealed jar, and let them fight till there¡¯s only one. The only one alive will be the one with the most deadly poison in its body. And in the case of the Blades of Gu, they will infest their wielders, drive them to kill each other until there¡¯s only one remaining.¡± ¡°And why would that be of interest to me?¡± ¡°The blades are used for selecting assassins. The kind of assassins that possess great and almost unspeakable power, and will self-destruct when they finish the mission, either failing or succeeding.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± the smile on Carol Summers¡¯ face faded, ¡°I am quite familiar with a blade like that. Or at least a blade that felt like that when its wielder tried to kill me.¡± Chapter 377 The scenery changed once Fubei Li sped through the gate to the realm of the Fog Dwellers. He had never been to this realm before, for this realm had been quite closed off from the rest of the world. The elementals only gradually opened up their realms to external and non-voidborn and non-elemental visitors in the past few hundred years, with the edgelands as the forefront of this opening up. And amongst all elementals, the Fog Dwellers remain the ones that were the most closed off, the only ones that are more isolated were the Depth Dwellers, whom no one regarded as elementals. The realm of the Fog Dwellers was far from colorful - Fubei Li could only see different shades of grey and almost no other colors. All the light that made the scenery visible to anyone with eyes, including Fubei Li, came from three pale suns that were rotating around a mutual center in distant space. Right around them were pillars, temples, bunker and watch towers made with strange designs with winding and twisting main structures that would surely never work on earth, for example, there was a watchtower on which some magical weapons were mounted that looked like a reversed ¡°L¡± with a round corner; and beside this reverse L shaped watchtower, there was a floating bunker shaped like a triangular pyramid, with a door on each surface, into which he could see some Fog Dwellers who were prepared for war went. There were floating globes, cubes and polyhedrons made of fog and some kind of transparent crystal walls in the air, and within each was a space that only looked small from outside. When Fubei Li looked closer at the floating spaces in the air, he realized that the land they were treading on was also in a floating globe, one that without a doubt would look like just another floating globe when one was looking from inside of other floating spaces. ¡°It¡¯s the creatures from the gaps.¡± the talking praying mantis made of fog told Perketta in their own language, but since it had the same basic origin from the language of the Depth Dwellers, and Dave had already taught Jianmen and therefore Fubei Li the language, all three non-Fog Dwellers present could still understand most of what they were saying. ¡°Speak freely, they can be trusted with this information.¡± Perketta¡¯s eyes glowed in pale white light, and she switched to the common language among the elementals: ¡°How many are there? How are you holding up?¡± ¡°They are still incoming, we estimated the number could be in the thousands, but these are no weaklings, they came from a rather big portal, and most of them came out of the portal unharmed.¡± the praying mantis made of fog said: ¡°Our defences are still holding, but I¡¯m afraid we might see casualties soon.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°We should go and help.¡± Xyankor said to Dave and Fubei Li: ¡°The Fog Dwellers can¡¯t spare any more manpower to help us locate the new voidborn if they¡¯re caught up in a full scale assault on their realm.¡± ¡°I agree.¡± Dave nodded, then looked at Fubei Li: ¡°Mr. Yu, you¡¯d better find a place to take shelter - you¡¯ve expended too much of your power in the previous fight, you need rest.¡± ¡°I¡¯m okay. Thank you Dave.¡± Fubei Li took out a clay jar and took a big gulp from it: ¡°But I need to fight alongside you - I am worried about these creatures of the gaps, so I¡¯d better see them for myself.¡± ¡°Good, mortal.¡± Perketta smiled and turned to the fog praying mantis: ¡°Take us to the front lines, Celian.¡± ¡°On it.¡± the fog praying mantis conjured a small ball of fog with one of its claws, and in the next second, he clenched his claw and sliced the ball of fog. A path made of thick white fog appeared by his feet and rolled forward and upward into the air like a roll of carpet with anti gravity properties, and found its way to one of the floating cubes, then a floating globe, then a few other floating spaces. When the team stepped onto the path, they saw that the scenery around them flashed backwards like they were on a high speed rail. Fubei Li noticed that he didn¡¯t see any gaps in scenery while he traveled, meaning that the path skipped the empty spaces between different spaces directly. Eventually they stopped at a mountainous land, with thick fog and mist covering the bases of the mountains, and defensive magical towers built on several of the mountain tops. Similar paths made of fog stretched among the mountain tops and all of the paths connected back to a base station just in front of them. Fubei Li raised his head to look at the space far away, he could see an energy vortex that was radiating unstable energy as well as shooting out lightning bolts of different colors. Countless creatures of all shapes, sizes and colors were coming out from the center of the vortex, many of which were crushed or shredded by the unstable space around the portal, but more of them made it out and started swarming the mountain tops with defensive magical towers and arrays. The magical powers on the mountain tops were already firing nonstop when Fubei Li and the team arrived, and they could already sense the explosive waves of energy coming from the front line of the battle. ¡°Here. Come with me.¡± Celian went ahead and hopped on one of the paths, and within the blink of an eye, his figure disappeared in a puff of smoke. ¡°Be careful, this is the biggest wave we have seen yet.¡± Perketta nodded and said: ¡°Especially you, mortal, be extra careful. We don¡¯t have a lot of healing material for you.¡± Then, she disappeared on the same path on which Celian jumped on. ¡°I¡¯ll go first.¡± Xyankor looked back at Dave and Fubei Li: ¡°See you there.¡± ¡°Mr. Yu, here.¡± Dave conjured a grey and shiny coin and handed it to Fubei Li: ¡°Keep it with you, and please stay close to me.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got it.¡± Fubei Li chuckled and put the coin in his pocket: ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to leave your side.¡± Chapter 378 The scenery flashed again, and Fubei Li arrived at a mountain top just in time to see a long beast made of silvery blue energy and was shaped like a long and scaley deep sea fish with big eyes all over its body, an asymmetrical face, long and twisted body and many fins of different shapes approaching their position. This beast sustained several shots by the magical defense tower on this mountain top, its body was falling apart, shedding energy scales and burning inside. Aside from this particular creature, there were around ten other beasts glowing of different colors that were in the firing range of this mountain top. And beside the defense tower that was constantly shooting out bolts of energy, there were also Fog Dwellers in their positions behind the protection of walls and magical arrays shooting their energy attacks and spells at the incoming creatures. As far as Fubei Li could tell, some of these Fog Dwellers were using primitive looking weapons like bows, crossbows and javelins, while others were using very sci-fi looking weapons like ray guns and shoulder held torpedoes. But in the end their means of attack were all the same - they launched energy beams and bolts at their targets to do damage to their bodies, and they threw curses and enfeebling spells at their targets to weaken their defences. Perketta raised her hands in the air, six black bows made of unknown material with very long arms were drawn in full pull. Small traces of condensed fog energy flowed from Perketta¡¯s body and onto the arrows. The energy wound up and wrapped around the arrows like threads and strains of cotton fiber, then merged into them. When Perketta swung her hands down, all six bows fired and the arrows shot out in a volley. The long scaly fish creature was shot in its belly, the arrows embedded deep within and then exploded. Fubei Li could see many pieces of unhatched eggs and smaller creatures of its kind were sent out of the wounds from the explosion. This attack apparently caused the creature a great deal of pain, as it twitched in the air and was about to crash into the mountain top on which they stood. A pale grey and slightly glowing creature with smooth and rubbery looking skin, two faceless heads on top of two long necks and three arms with human-like fingers and distinctively different lengths flew towards the mountain top with its two quite human-like mouths wide open. The defense towers shot out multiple energy beams and bolts, and many of the Fog Dwellers on defense also launched their own attacks, but none of those attacks left any significant mark. And before anyone on this mountain top could unleash another wave of attack, each of the two heads of this creature unleashed a shockwave from the depth of its throat. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. The two shockwaves reached the position of the mountain top with almost perfect synchronicity, and the outermost layer energy shield cracked and crumbled almost instantly. ¡°Curses! Curses!¡± Perketta yelled out a command in the Fog Dweller native language. ¡°That creature looked corporeal.¡± Fubei Li frowned as Xyankor and Dave joined in on the attack on this pale grey two headed creature: ¡°And it looked corporeal as well! Is that common for these creatures of the gaps?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so.¡± Dave threw out a flying grey energy sword at the creature, and the creature just twisted its body with incredible speed to dodge the initial jab, but when the sword came back like a boomerang, its back was slashed and Fubei Li could actually see light purple blood being spilled: ¡°It¡¯s blood and skin - they have really strong energy absorbing properties - curses won¡¯t work! Curses won¡¯t work!¡± He yelled out the last few words in the Depth Dwellers¡¯ language, which he was sure that the Fog Dwellers would understand. But another round of energy attacks were already unleashed, the two headed creatures, though seemed not able to travel at very high speed, was still able to twist and turn its body when the attacks approached. And thus many attacks did not strike true at all, and many of those that landed barely left their marks on the creature¡¯s rubby skin. ¡°Do you have physical weapons?¡± Fubei Li rushed to Perketta¡¯s side and asked: ¡°That creature - it¡¯s corporeal, and its skins and blood have energy absorbing properties, the best thing we can try is to use dense constructs or physical attacks like bullets and shrapnels.¡± Perketta took a look at Fubei Li, then turned to the Fog Dwellers beside her: ¡°Use construct attacks! Or use the stone arrowheads!¡± The creature released another synchronized attack of two shockwaves, another layer of protective energy shield was instantly destroyed. And at this moment, it had become dangerously close to the mountain top. ¡°There¡¯s more of them!¡± just this moment, a voice was projected to the mountain top from another battlefield nearby: ¡°Our defenses are falling! We are falling back!¡± Some of the Fog Dwellers looked to their left, and Fubei Li looked with them. They saw two of these pale grey two headed creatures, only with different numbers of arms, tearing down a mountain top with its shockwaves and pale, slender but surprisingly powerful arms. Fubei Li reached into his pocket and took out a small wooden sword, then he infused his Xuanli into it and coating it in a layer of rock as he was running back to Dave¡¯s side. And right after Dave threw out another condensed energy sword, he launched his short sword at the creature, aiming at one of its mouths. ¡°Woosh woosh¡± a volley of arrows shoot out from the Fog Dwellers surrounding Perketta using either bows or crossbows. The arrows were not coated with any energy, but were only propelled forward into incredible speed. Wide, sharp and spiked blades on the arrowheads sliced through the air, and within less than a second, they cut into the skin and flesh of the two headed monster. The monster let out a deep and throaty cry. More shiny light purple blood gushed into the air, the attacks from the Fog Dwellers finally left their marks. Chapter 379 When the first wave of arrows struck, the pale grey two headed corporeal monster let out a cry that closely resembled the cries of human infants, only without any hint of cuteness and brought out a chilly feeling from the bottom of Fubei Li¡¯s heart. ¡°Boom!¡± this time, the two heads of the monster each let out two shockwaves aimed at two different parts of the protective energy shield, which had already cracked in several places. Under the impact of the two shockwaves, the cracks expanded some more, and Fubei Li could sense that the shield had started to lose its power to self-heal and regenerate. The short wooden sword covered with a thin layer of rock and infused with Fubei Li¡¯s Xuanli struck right on the space between the two necks on the monster¡¯s body, and three stream of energy shot out from the end of its handle, causing it to plunge harder into the monster¡¯s flesh while spinning around the central axis to increase the damage that it could do. The two headed monster screamed and cried again, and its writhing and turning in pain just exposed more parts of its body to attacks. A lot of the Fog Dwellers as well as Xyankor and Dave launched yet another wave of attack, and more of the monster¡¯s light purple blood was spilled into the air. ¡°One more volley! One more!¡± Perketta yelled while raising her six bows in the air again and placed six black arrows with a dark metallic shine on their heads and shafts. The two headed monster turned its back on the mountain top on which Fubei Li and the team were standing, and it revealed the tail end of its body. And Fubei Li instantly noticed the long spiky bone tail protruding from a gaping hole on its back, and within just the blink of an eye, the long bone tail cracked like a very long whip and struck the shaken and crumbling protective energy shield. The energy shield was shattered and released a high pitched voice that even hurt Fubei Li¡¯s eardrums, pieces of energy shards from the protective shield flew out along with countless bone spikes and fragments from the monster¡¯s tail, which took out many huge chunks of the mountain, as well as many of the Fog Dwellers standing on the top. ¡°Boom boom boom!¡± the mountaintop lost almost half of its flattened ground on top along with the Fog Dwellers standing on them. Dave raised a grey and shiny curved energy shield that buried deep inside of the earth below, and he held onto Fubei Li with one hand while supporting the energy shield with the other. When blasted by the energy shards and the bone spikes and fragments, Dave couldn¡¯t help but be pushed back step by step and eventually fall off the mountaintop. ¡°Careful!¡± Fubei Li extended his hand at the fog and mist below, and a patch of cloud formed below and floated up towards them and caught them in the air like a cushion: ¡°Thanks for blocking those hits, are you okay?¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Yeah - yeah, mostly.¡± Dave looked up, and he saw that Xyankor was hanging by the edge of the mountain: ¡°Xyankor¡¯s there - can you help him up?¡± ¡°What? Can¡¯t you fly?¡± Fubei Li ripped a small piece of cloud from the cloud on which he and Dave were standing and threw it at Xyankor. The small piece of cloud turned to a small and thin platform under Xyankor¡¯s feet, and with which Xyankor was able to go back on the mountaintop. ¡°Flying here costs more energy than fighting, feels like some kind of anti-air energy field at play.¡± Dave said as Fubei Li raised the cloud up and he readied himself to fight again: ¡°This is how the Fog Dwellers slow down the movements of those creatures. ¡± ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t feel it at all.¡± Fubei Li took a few falling rocks from the higher parts of the mountain, examined them and merged them in his hand into a long javelin: ¡°I think it works only on you and other voidborns and elementals.¡± ¡°Makes sense.¡± Dave held up an energy shield again, and he conjured another grey and shiny energy blade in his hand: ¡°It could be because it affects our bodies, or it could have to do with the kind of energy we used, your Xuanli - it¡¯s a different kind of energy right?¡± ¡°It¡¯s only slightly different, not that much different. ¡± Fubei Li took out his clay jar and took another big gulp from it, then he stepped onto the broken mountain top right beside the heavily damaged defensive magic tower: ¡°I think we¡¯ve gotta shut down that portal-vortex, anyone knows how to do that?¡± Perketta was injured in the previous attack, she lost a leg and two arms and all four of her wings, and she was crawling towards the position of Dave and Fubei Li. ¡°We¡¯ve gotta save her.¡± Fubei Li patted Dave¡¯s shoulder and said: ¡°We¡¯ll definitely need her alive.¡± Dave nodded and covered for Fubei Li while they rushed towards Perketta. Fubei Li collected many broken pieces of high quality stones along the way. And when they reached Perketta, Dave¡¯s hand lit up from a rough healing spell. ¡°Can you talk?¡± Fubei Li asked Perketta, as he merged some of the rocks into hollow needles: ¡°Tell me about the energy flow in your body, so I can seal them and prevent your further loss. Dave here will try to heal you with his Depth Dweller spell to heal you, but the nature of your power, your energy and your beings are quite different, so you¡¯ve gotta help us help you.¡± ¡°Follow the glow.¡± Perketta¡¯s voice was weak and wheezing like that of a sick human, and then some internal parts of her body lit up in a pale light - they were somewhat similar to blood vessels and meridians inside of a human body, only made of fog energy. ¡°Thanks.¡± Fubei Li wiped off the sweat from his forehead, and within just a short moment, nine hollow needles were cast onto Perketta¡¯s body, with Fubei Li¡¯s Xuanli flowing inside of Perketta¡¯s body through the hollowed center. Dave¡¯s energy condensed into a drop of grey liquid, and with a snap of his fingers, the drop was split into many droplets, some fell onto Perketta¡¯s open wounds, and some flew towards the hollow needles made by Fubei Li. ¡°Careful!¡± while Dave was focused on controlling the energy droplets, a pale green creature flew past the other Fog Dwellers and tried to bite down on Dave¡¯s shoulder, Fubei Li dished out a powerful finger strike with a sharp piece of rock between his middle and index fingers. The sharp piece of rock shot out while spinning like a saw blade and tore through the body of this creature trying to sneak up on Dave. The creature was decimated and its body fell down the mountain while screaming and moaning with a familiar voice. A pale green energy wave exploded from the creature''s body, and Fubei Li found that a pale green mark appeared on his chest. ¡°Motherfu - ¡± Chapter 380 The anti-air energy field that covered the entire battle field was quite potent and it affected not only the Fog Dwellers and Depth Dwellers - the two headed corporeal monster tried to escape, but not only was its turn slowed, but also its speed when it tried to flee. Its tail attack did indeed deliver a devastating blow against this particular mountaintop as well as the defensive forces standing on it. But as it turned out, this attack also did quite a lot of damage to its fellow creatures of the gaps, while not completely annihilating all of the Fog Dwellers¡¯ defensive forces. The other half of the Fog Dwellers whose positions were not covered in the monster¡¯s tail attack struck back right away with their arrows, crossbow bolts and spinning blades when the aftershock of the tail attack subsided. The defensive magical tower was still standing even though it sustained the strikes and blasts of countless bone spikes and energy shards from the broken energy shield, and it blast out several energy bolts that turned into sharp and high density energy construct arrows in the middle of its trajectory, just in time to penetrate the skin, flesh and bones of the monster. Light purple blood and some kind of light cyan bodily liquid jetted into the air from the deep wounds left by the physical and energy construct attacks. There were many creatures of the gaps around it while it was struck, and in turn were caught in the rain of its blood and bodily liquid. These creatures of the gaps screamed and squirmed at the contact of the droplets, as if they were like high concentration corrosive acid or poison to them; their body parts touched by the droplets started dissolving and melting, which caused their fellow creatures to flee and scatter in fear. Fubei Li had a brief moment of opportunity while assisting Dave with his process of performing some emergency treatment of Perketta, as he extended his right hand in the air and conjured a gush of strong wind to carry a small droplet of the two-headed monster¡¯s blood to him. He then held the droplet of blood with a piece of curved rock from the mountain, and slowly and carefully rubbed it on his chest, where the pale green mark was. Just like Fubei Li expected, the droplet of blood eroded the pale green mark of curse placed on Fubei Li¡¯s chest, bit by bit, and eventually completely washed it away. The blood also left some kind of rash on his chest, but it would be the lesser of his worries for now. ¡°Okay, you stopped losing your power.¡± Dave finally finished his spell: ¡°How¡¯s your core? Is it damaged?¡± ¡°Fog Dwellers don¡¯t have cores.¡± Perketta crawled up from the ground and laid her back on a piece of rock behind the defensive tower: ¡°We have more similarities to you than to elementals.¡±This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Okay. I didn¡¯t know that, I¡¯m sorry.¡± Dave shook his head: ¡°Let¡¯s head back, you are in no condition to fight. ¡± ¡°No, I must.¡± Perketta concentrated her power, and some other parts of her body started shifting and flowing to the position of her lost leg, and her missing leg was thus regrown: ¡°I am the first deputy of Lord Tamura, I can¡¯t back off from a fight!¡± ¡°You military officials and your honors.¡± Fubei Li sighed and drank up all the wine from the clay jar: ¡°Why the hell is no one shutting the portal down yet?!¡± ¡°We are short on defensive towers and arrays.¡± Perketta launched her six bows again and launched a volley against the incoming creatures, now that the two headed monster was completely debilitated and had fallen to the base of the mountain. Dave sighed and joined Perketta in her fight with Fubei Li and Xyankor. Without the giant two headed pale monster blocking the view, Fubei Li was able to see more of the creatures coming their way. ¡°We have to fall back! We have to fall back!¡± another voice message was delivered to this mountain top, from another battle field. Another mountain top fell to its ruin, but not from other two headed monsters, but from two creatures that looked like ancient fish with legs and claws whose bodies were made of dark blue energy. Fubei Li cut his fingers and ripped his blood on a wooden coin, then he chanted a short spell, and tossed the wooden coin into the air. His blood slowly covered one side of the coin, while giving off a dim orange and golden shine. A thin layer of energy was then coated on the wooden coin, and the coin shot through the air like a self guiding missile. Many creatures of the gaps moved away from the flying coin, in fear that it would be another attack aiming at their lives; some other creatures, on the other hand, tried to swallow the coin in whole as if they smelled something delicious from it. The coin changed its trajectory in the air, accurately and effectively evading all of the creatures in its path and headed straight towards the center of the vortex, from which all of the creatures came. Fubei Li¡¯s eyes were glowing in orange and golden light as the coin traveled through the vast space in between, and his hands and fingers were raised in the air like they were forming some kind of hand seal - this was because he was controlling the flying coin, helping it make predictive maneuvers and transfusing his Xuanli over through his blood. The closer the coin got to the center of the vortex and thus the portal, the more resistance it faced and thus more energy needed to be transfused. When it was just meters away from the center, Fubei Li was already biting his teeth, and blood started seeping from the corner of his mouth. ¡°Just fucking GO!¡± Fubei Li roared and pushed with his full force, the wooden coin cracked and shattered; the splinters flew everywhere, and were immediately crushed by the energy fields around into fine dust. Only the centerpiece of the coin made it forward and past the center of the vortex, which was a portal filled with unstable and chaotic energy fields and flows. Before the centerpiece was completely destroyed, it managed to give out a final flash of bright orange and golden light, and a small piece of information was sent back to Fubei Li. On the other side of the portal, it was not an empty space, nor was it one that was filled with turbulent energy streams and unstable energy fields like Fubei Li was expecting. It was another realm, one that was stable, and growing and most important of all, young. Chapter 381 When the centerpiece of the coin was destroyed by the energy fields and waves from the other side of the portal at the center of the energy vortex, the splinter dust from it started burning in the air right outside the portal. Due to the fine granularity of the dust, all of it burnt in almost one single moment, and the remnant of Fubei Li¡¯s Xuanli erupted into a small energy shockwave. This was but a small shockwave, yet it still created a disturbance in the energy vortex, which caused the already unstable vortex to shake and generate some very powerful turbulence flows within its range. The exit of the portal started flickering and shifting in size, and thus, many creatures of the gaps attempting to cross over to this realm of the Fog Dwellers were impacted by this change, and were either severely wounded or killed instantly. ¡°Aim at the portal! Now!¡± Fubei Li fell to the ground, exhausted, while still calling out to Perketta, Dave and Xyankor. ¡°Command your tower to aim at the portal, I will hold them off for the moment!¡± Dave said to Perketta, then pe picked up the piece of floating cloud created by Fubei Li and ¡°parked¡± by the edge of the mountain and pushed it up to the sky. When the piece of cloud reached to a point half the height of the magical tower, he leapt onto it and concentrated his power onto the two swords in both his hands. The two swords grew immensely in size, to the length of almost the combined height of two adult humans. ¡°Fuck!¡± Perketta cursed in her own Fog Dweller language, then she turned to the base of the tower and tapped on a symbol, which lit up when came into contact with Perketta and her fingers: ¡°Aim at the vortex! Aim at the vortex to disrupt the portal! Do it right now!¡± When Dave swung his energy swords in the air, one could hardly see the blades and their trajectories as their figures were nothing but moving shadows and blur. Crescent shaped energy blades shot out in swarms and waves from his position, and countless creatures of the gaps were sliced into pieces as a result. ¡°Xyankor! Defend the tower with me!¡± The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Xyankor nodde and stepped to the front of the magical tower, he also conjured two extra long energy swords from his hands and started launching energy blades into the air at the incoming creatures, attempting to push them back while making time for the tower to divert its attack at the vortex. A light grey and concentrated energy beam shot from the top of the magical defence tower, aimed right at the vortex. A giant creature that was shaped like a piece of translucent green glowing broccoli with squid-like tentacles that had just come out of the portal was thus impaled and completely penetrated by the energy beam. The chaotic and crushing energy fields around and inside of the vortex wore the energy beam down by quite a bit, and eventually broke the energy beam off into several smaller beams. This caused another round of disruption in the vortex, and the portal was once again disturbed into a chaotic state. ¡°Gah!¡± Dave gasped and had to back off from the piece of cloud on which he was standing and stop with his attack and retrieve into the shelter of the magical tower, due to his overexhausting his energy. A long and slender anglerfish with eyes of different sizes scattered all over its head, whose body was made of green and red orange energy swam over and opened its wide jaws at Dave, revealing its long, sharp teeths with forked spikes on them like antlers. ¡°Away with you!¡± Perketta rushed to Dave¡¯s side and struck forward at the anglerfish with both her fists. The powerful hits from those two fists created a crater on the face of the anglerfish with their impact and ended up tearing the entire fish head apart. The slender anglerfish with many eyes on its head let out a grumbling moan, fell to the side and almost slid off the edge of the mountaintop. Xyankor rushed to their side after fending off a crab whose claws were made of liquid fire. And with one slash from his energy blade, he sliced the multi-eyed anglerfish¡¯s belly open and pushed it off the edge. The magical tower opened fire once again at the vortex, right before two eels made of electric energy with horns on their heads and spikes on their tails wrapped their long bodies around them. Another defense tower at a distance behind fired a beam of energy at the vortex as well. The two energy beams were again worn off by a great deal and broke off when they got close to the vortex. This just proved to be what the Fog Dwellers needed to tip the scale in their favor - even at the expense of one magical defense tower under the attack of the two horned eels made of electric energy, and a lot of casualties due to lack of coverage and support from the two towers with the attacks diverted at the vortex. The portal at the center of the vortex finally collapsed. The collapse of the portal kicked off a domino effect, which in turn caused the entire energy vortex to implode against its center. Then, after just a few seconds, the center exploded and released a massive shockwave. The shockwave blew through the mountain on which Fubei Li and the team stood, and already heavily damaged, the entire mountain crumbled and fell into almost complete ruin. Chapter 382 Temple of New Light, the best preserved temple of all voidborns after the rupture, and one of the biggest open-air temples standing near and under the protection of the bastion of Gwai-Mon. There were pillars with a great variety of relief sculptures on them all over the temple, as well as altars of different shapes and sizes. The whole temple and everything in it was built with the same kind of white sturdy looking rock with a shade of grey, there were only a few visible linings in the entire temple to show that it was not carved out directly from a whole piece of stone, but was indeed built with several carved out pieces placed together in a beyond meticulous way. Professor Atkinson and Dolores walked into the temple, carefully behind their guid Lin¡¯Er, while both keeping their curious eyes on their surroundings. There were countless other elementals in this temple, and everyone of them looked quite powerful or with some kind of noble status, or both. Before they came here, Lin¡¯Er told them that there would be elemental lords attending the occasion, yet none of the attending elementals they encountered or saw reminded them of Paulo Chang - they were all take the shapes of unique fantastical creatures with clear manifestation of their elemental powers, not even one of them took the shape of a human man, not to mention a human man who¡¯s fond of drinking from his gourd and likes eating hotpot. ¡°So, Lin¡¯Er.¡± Dolores asked with a low voice: ¡°Can I ask you a question about Paulo Chang?¡± ¡°Sure, but I might not be able to answer it in full detail. I would suggest you ask him directly if you¡¯d like true and whole answers.¡± Lin¡¯Er nodded and said: ¡°I think he will be coming back to the edgelands for some business soon. You could ask him then.¡± ¡°Nonono, it¡¯s nothing that urgent or important.¡± Dolores shook her head with a smile: ¡°I was just wondering, what made him take the shape he is in right now.¡± ¡°Oh, that.¡± Lin¡¯Er appeared to be slightly embarrassed, a facial expression Professor Atkinson and Dolores saw for the first time ever since they met her: ¡°It¡¯s uh, his personal choice, when elementals got to the level of power as elemental lords, they would have great control over their appearances. Most of the elementals of the same power level simply did not care enough to choose an image. But right after Lord Chang completed his tribulation, he went to the human world and got addicted to movies - and he decided he wanted to take the shape of powerful and mysterious Kungfu masters. So...¡± ¡°I - I could definitely see it.¡± Dolores almost laughed out loud. ¡°I was wondering, how often does this ritual take place?¡± Professor Atkinson looked around and asked: ¡°And how many births will each of these altars give? Because by my count, there¡¯s less than two dozen altars here. So if each of the altars will give birth to one elemental today, then at most, you will have this many newborns. That¡¯s hardly enough for elementals to keep going and keep up the prosperity. I didn''t mean to offend, but this is just my math.¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Keen observation, Professor.¡± Lin¡¯Er shook her head: ¡°This ritual happens every thirteen Earth days to twenty one earth months depending on the fluctuations of the energy fields, and each altar could produce at least one elemental. But you should know that, first we elementals have much longer lives than humans on earth; second we have similar birthing altars in our own realms, and this is not the only source of our newborns. The birthing ritual here is more ritualistic, a way for us elementals to remember the days when we were one, when we were still proud to call ourselves voidborns.¡± ¡°Do elementals born here have different characteristics than the elementals born in their own realms?¡± Dolores asked, but Professor Atkinson immediately stopped her from asking further with a ¡°shush¡± sign. ¡°No worries on the human customs and social sensibilities.¡± Lin¡¯Er nodded: ¡°Yes, there are some differences - the elementals that are born here are more likely to possess the elemental properties of multiple elements, like me. I was born with the power of lightning and fire, and I was born right there.¡± Then she extended her hand at an altar with relief sculptures of fire and volcanoes on the side. ¡°Look! There¡¯s one!¡± Dolores pointed at an altar at the right side ahead, surrounded by an unknown elemental whose body was made of some kind of fog energy, an earth and fire elemental, a wind and water elemental, and another elemental whose body seemed to be completely made of small dark pieces of metal shards: ¡°That one seemed to be giving birth already!¡± Three of them quickly approached the altar to observe the new birth of an elemental. A cloud made of light blue energy appeared on top of the altar, and it slowly started to turn and spin. As the light blue energy cloud spun and turned, it became thicker and a few big droplets of more dense energy started forming. Both Professor Atkinson and Dolores held their breath and had their eyes fixated on the altar as they watched the cloud of energy gradually take shape, as if they were in fear that one breath or one blink could disturb the process or make them miss a major detail. More energy droplets appeared in the cloud, and a lot of them started merging into each other, into bigger droplets. Eventually the whole cloud became a floating blob of light blue energy liquid, which was still slowly growing in size. A dark spot appeared near the center of the blob, and dark streams of energy started growing out from it in expansion, like some kind of nervous system within the blob. The exterior of the blob started to grow into shape as well, they could see two tentacles protruding from inside, the main body became longer, and two fin-like extremities were formed. Before long the blob of energy liquid turned into the shape of a fish like creature, with two tentacles at the head, two fins on the side of the body, and a long tail. The black nervous system inside reached almost every corner of the body - except for one very noticeable hole at the belly. This fish-like creature with two tentacles spun in the space above the altar for a while, then it flapped its tail and ¡°swam¡± away, with no regard to any other elementals around it. None of the elementals around even tried to stop it. The elementals surrounding the altar were murmuring and talking amongst themselves. Though their facial expressions could a lot of times be different from that of humans, both Professor Atkison and Dolores could clearly tell that they were distraught at what they saw. ¡°It¡¯s a husk...¡± Lin¡¯Er¡¯s voice was trembling: ¡°... again.¡± Chapter 383 ¡°Husk? What do you mean husk?¡± Dolores asked Lin¡¯Er, while Professor Atkinson tried to catch up to the fish with tentacles, but then it just turned into a light blue energy bolt and disappeared completely from their sight. ¡°In short, they are elementals born without a core. In your human terms, it¡¯s like someone without a soul, or a heart. They could live, but not for very long. And even if they could survive the earlier days, they would never possess the ability to act autonomously or with reason and individual thought. It¡¯s a worrying phenomenon that has been happening ever since ancient times.¡± Lin¡¯Er sighed: ¡°But it has been happening more and more as time went on - and sadly, there¡¯s very little we could do to help it.¡± ¡°Do you have any clues on why it happens?¡± Professor Atkinson could only help but grabbed in his hand a small trace of remaining energy signatures, then he came back to Lin¡¯Er and Dolores: ¡°This is weird - looks like it¡¯s body is disintegrating already?¡± ¡°That¡¯s because of the absence of a core.¡± Lin¡¯Er answered while trying to distract herself with the birthing of other potential elementals: ¡°Without cores, elementals will never be able to maintain their bodies and grow, and eventually they will fade, like they were never there.¡± ¡°I thought there are some elementals that could live without cores?¡± Dolores asked: ¡°Or did I remember wrong?¡± ¡°You¡¯re talking about Fog Dwellers.¡± Lin¡¯Er said: ¡°Yeah, they are not elementals, they are quite different - you could read about it from the history documented in one of our temples. It¡¯s quite a long story - we have many suspicions, I can tell you about them later.¡± ¡°Hey, there¡¯s another one.¡± Professor Atkinson interrupted Lin¡¯Er and Dolores: ¡°I don¡¯t know, it looks different - special.¡± As Dolores and Lin¡¯Er looked at the direction in which Professor Atkison was pointing, Professor Atkinson took out a small orb from his pocket, and started concentrating his magical power into it - this was one of the ¡°gifts¡± given to him and Dolores by Xyn as a ¡°signing bonus¡±, and as a tool to locate Xyn¡¯s descendant. The orb lit up and glowed in a dim and pale light, but soon before Professor Atkinson could look closer, it went dark again. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°So, no indication of anything here?¡± Dolores noticed Professor Atlkinson¡¯s actions, so she leaned close and asked Professor Atkinson about what he¡¯d found. ¡°It¡¯s weird - it¡¯s not entirely like when we tried back at the academy, but it¡¯s not showing anything obvious.¡± Professor Atkinson sighed and said: ¡°Let¡¯s just keep digging up the history first, that¡¯ll be our best choice for now.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s get back to it after the birthing rituals.¡± Dolores sighed. The altar at which Professor Atkinson pointed earlier started showing something that was different from the earlier birth: there was a small vortex consisting of lightning, wind and ice energy constructs on top of the altar. Small balls of bright blue lightning, crystalized shards of ice were spinning in streams of wind around the central axis, and all slowly growing stronger. The vortex then changed in shape gradually, from that of a tornado that was wide on its top and narrow at its bottom, to that of a spindle where it was narrow on both the top and the bottom, and finally to that of a sphere. As the sphere formed completely, the different sources of energy inside of it were slowly merged together - the balls of lightning, the shards of ice and the streams of wind seemed to have merged into the same currents of energy, and these currents in turn merged into the spinning energy ball as one. The sign was no doubt very promising, and more and more elementals gathered around the altar and watched in anticipation. A small batch of threads grew from the bottom of the ball of energy, and dropped down like a small tail. Even though the ball of energy was spinning, the batch of threads remained stationary and steady. Something round and spherical with visible bones underneath came out from inside of the spinning energy ball, which, like the batch of threads at the bottom, stayed stationary despite being enclosed by the spinning ball of energy. The wall of the ball of energy became thinner and thinner, and the spherical thing with bones inside of it became larger and larger in size. Before long, the ball of energy dissipated, and what remained was only the floating ball inside with signs of supporting bones inside slightly protruding from the surface and with some kind of light at its center. The batch of threads were connected to its bottom like a tail. ¡°That looked like ...¡± Dolores narrowed her eyes. ¡°A Chinese lantern.¡± Professor Atkinson nodded: ¡°Didn¡¯t know that an elemental can look like that?¡± ¡°Boom!¡± one elemental whose body was shaped like a centaur with four arms and was made of burning rocks and red glowing tree roots stomped the ground, like it was angry at what it sensed from this newborn elemental. Other elementals also showed their own expressions of frustration, and left the altar in droves. ¡°What is this¡­ Another husk?¡± Dolores and Professor Atkinson slowly approached the altar, now surrounded by only one elemental, whose body was made of some kind of fog-like energy. ¡°Yes.¡± Lin¡¯Er looked greatly shaken, and did not have the heart to follow them: ¡°This - I don¡¯t ...¡± ¡°You ¡­ are you going to take this?¡± Professor Atkinson walked to the altar and tried to held the lantern in his hand, but he decided to ask the elemental with fog body first. ¡°No - no - you go.¡± the elemental shook his head and answered with a heavy accent of unknown origin: ¡°You study, I look. Me Fog Dweller, no need.¡± ¡°Fog Dweller?¡± Professor Atkinson couldn¡¯t help but have his sight linger on this elemental for a few moments. Chapter 384 If it weren¡¯t for the fact that it was but a husk of an elemental, Professor Atkinson and Dolores would have thought this Chinese lantern, whose entire body and frame were all made of solidified and crystalized energy, with almost perfect blend of lightning, wind and ice magical energy, a well crafted magical construct. There was a source of light at the center of the lantern, but it seemed somewhat distant and fragile. Unlike actual Chinese lanterns, there were no gaps at the top or bottom for one to look inside to place candles as the source of light. And unlike the previous husk made of mostly dissipating water energy, the energy that made up this lantern was barely dissipating, if at all. It was not moving either, and was just floating in the air, like a lifeless balloon. ¡°Its energy is very stable.¡± Dolores examined the lantern and said: ¡°Too stable, I¡¯m afraid.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Professor Atkinson acknowledged with a frown: ¡°It¡¯s like it was never alive. The other husk was at least able to swim away.¡± ¡°Hey, Lin¡¯Er. My apologies for bringing this to you. But ¡­ I think we need to understand this - is this normal?¡± fully understanding that Lin¡¯Er was upset by the sight of husks, Dolores had to ask her the hard question that was starting to bother her and the professor. ¡°Um - no, not really. I have heard of cases like this, but this is the first time I¡¯ve get into contact with one.¡± it seemed that Lin¡¯Er could barely take a direct look at the lantern husk: ¡°Usually, without the core to attract and stabilize the magical energy from the surrounding environment. But this - this barely makes any sense.¡± ¡°My apologies, but I have one more question.¡± Professor Atkinson asked with a soft voice: ¡°Can you tell us how we can find someone who has experience studying and dealing with this phenomenon?¡± ¡°Yes, that - that I can do.¡± Lin¡¯Er sighed and nodded: ¡°Let¡¯s do it after the ritual, shall we?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, of course.¡± Dolores nodded and bowed: ¡°Thank you very much! We really appreciate it.¡± While Dolores and Professor Atkinson slowly backed away in an attempt not to upset the very distraught Lin¡¯Er any more, a cheer came from an altar several altars away from their position. When they turned to that direction, they saw that a butterfly with two wings that were of different sizes and colors rose to the air, and flew around the crowd that were surrounding the altar leaving a trail of sparkling particles in the air.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Oh, finally an actual elemental.¡± Professor Atkinson let out a breath of relief, for even though he was not that familiar with how elemental newborns presented themselves to the world, he could still clearly sense the difference between this butterfly and the lantern in his hands, still silently giving off dim light from its center. ¡°Yes.¡± Lin¡¯Er sounded more cheerful and less devastated: ¡°Finally, let¡¯s hope it continues.¡± The subsequent births of elementals went relatively more smoothly, there were twenty seven new elementals, with different shapes and sizes and manifested elemental power, and three more husks, two of which barely made it through the initial shaping phase and just busted right on the altars, turning into dissipated energy in the air, and the last one became a snake with rough stone and clay scales. With the permission of the elementals, Professor Atkinson also took the snake with them. Dolores was quite surprised by the attitude, since she would imagine with the low ¡°birth rate¡± of elementals they would be much more stringent on the ways in which one should treat the husks. But she did not have the heart to inquire about this of the elementals around, since though they did not appear to care much about how they treat the husks, they still appeared greatly saddened by their occurrence. This ratio of elemental vs. husks seemed to have weighed on Lin¡¯Er, but not to an unbearable extent. When the birthing ritual was over, she took both Professor Atkinson and Dolores to the Temple of Knowledge, one of the few original temples preserved from before the rupture. The temple was half open air and surrounded by bunkers and watchtowers, with one half a dome on top of a pool filled with clear and still liquid at the center. The dome looked like it was damaged, as its edges look crooked, but upon careful observation it seemed that the dome was built this way. There were actual cracks on that half of a dome, but the edges to which a ¡°missing¡± half seemed to be connected, were apparently designed in that way. ¡°Welcome to the Temple of Knowledge.¡± the one guarding the pool was an old elemental taking the form of a tall cyclop with four arms and a hunched back sweeping the ground with a broom, whose body seemed to be made of dark grey smoke, who seemed like a Fog Dweller to Professor Atkinson and Dolores, but they didn¡¯t want to presume so they kept the questions to themselves for now. ¡°This is Bethemox, he¡¯s a Fog Dweller and the guardian of the Temple of Knowledge.¡± Lin¡¯Er bowed to the fog cyclop: ¡°Master Bethemox, I brought the guests here. They have some questions for you. And they are here to try to get the blessings from the pool.¡± The fog cyclop turned to Professor Atkinson and Dolores, his giant eye was at first all blank, then two dark pupils appeared, one looking at the professor and one at Dolores. Both of them felt a sense of unease, and not just because the slightly creepy eye with two moving and twitching pupils, but also that they sensed some information was being found out about them. There was one thing they knew would give them this feeling back home - Maykor¡¯s Sight, a rare but replicable artifact made with arcane magic in the shape of eyewear that shined of blue lights, which allows the wearers to find out information about almost anything they laid their eyes on. Only, the pupils of this Fog Dweller seemed much more powerful, yet much gentler and felt less invasive. ¡°You bear a great task with you, one that concerns the future of all voidborns.¡± Bethemox said with a gentle and old voice and stepped to the side, showing Professor Atkinson and Dolores to the pool: ¡°You shall proceed. May the pool find you worthy.¡± Chapter 385 The pool looked still and serene, and it was not filled with water, but some kind of liquid that had a really high density as well as great surface tension. When Professor Atkinson and Dolores walked into it, their feet were not submerged at all. Instead, they felt like they were walking on the surface of an inflatable playground. ¡°How - how does this pool work?¡± Professor Atkinson asked while trying to stomp the surface of the liquid in the pool, yet no matter how hard he tried, no parts of his body were able to sink into the liquid. ¡°As you might have guessed, the name of this spring is called the Spring of Knowledge, kinda natural and kinda cliche.¡± Bethemox smiled: ¡°In order to get submerged, you need to display your knowledge and wisdom to the pool through meditation. The pool will evaluate your capacity for knowledge and your wisdom, absorb the information and bless you with knowledge and inspiration in return. ¡± ¡°And in that process, the pool will absorb our knowledge and wisdom, making it a greater source of knowledge and inspiration for others?¡± Dolores sat down on the surface of the pool and asked. ¡°That is correct. ¡± Lin¡¯Er said: ¡°And this is the reason that we guard this temple so carefully with this many forces. It is one of one of the few unbroken connections we have to the past. Even the information and memories of powerful and fallen voidborns of old, connecting us to the history prior to the rupture. It¡¯s just that this knowledge is weighted, and was buried deeply with other information and knowledge.¡± Bethemox sighed like an human old man: ¡°That¡¯s true and all, but no one¡¯s ever able to dig that deep - there¡¯s simply too much information and memories buried in it. It¡¯s one thing to dip one¡¯s limbs in for inspiration and knowledge, it¡¯s another to find such old information.¡± Professor Atkinson and Dolores both sat down on the surface of the liquid, and just like Bethemox said, the liquid¡¯s surface tension did not break at all, and their bodies did not get submerged even one bit. ¡°Now, calm your mind, make peace with what questions and confusions you may have.¡± Bethemox said: ¡°Then, ask the answer of the pool.¡± Something with the shape of a scythe lit up from within Dolores¡¯ cloak, then the pool rumbled and bubbled from below, the surface broke and swallowed Professor Atkinson and Dolores whole.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ------------------------------------ ¡°Good, good, don¡¯t concentrate too much on the energy of fire and ice. But in the process of burning and freezing.¡± inside the underground training room with the time speeding properties, Josephine Wong was sparring with Thomas and Aimee, who were actually giving it their all in their magical attacks. Bright bolts and arrows of fire with different colors shot from the palms and fingers of Thomas, while ice shards and spikes were shooting out of Aimee¡¯s. Neither of them had chosen a weapon yet, for they had yet to see anything that spoke to them or caught their eyes. Josephine Wong was not using any weapon either, and was only using her hands to fend off the energy attacks unleashed by her two students, while occasionally shooting out bolts of purple energy to push her students back. Neither Thomas nor Aimee had much experience with this kind of sparring. And Thus for the first few rounds, both of them were knocked on their butts and backs. Each hit from the purple energy bolt was like an especially fast and impactful bean bag shot from the mock guns they used during field drills, which didn¡¯t leave any visible wounds on their bodies, but still hurt. When they checked out the spots on their bodies hit by the purple energy bolts, they could see slightly swollen bruises, just like what would happen if they were hit by real bean bag rounds at close range. ¡°Thomas, you keep on firing! I¡¯ll try something!¡± seeing that both their energy attacks did not accomplish anything they were hoping for, Aimee said to Thomas: ¡°Cover me!¡± The next moment, an ice scimitar appeared in Aimee¡¯s right hand, and the flow of magical power flowing inside of her body received an instant heavy jolt. Aimee lunged towards Josephine Wong with a string of afterimages behind her and holding the ice scimitar in her right hand. Josephine Wong¡¯s eyes opened slightly wider, and she conjured a small purple round shield of Xen magical energy just in time to block the scimitar attack. The scimitar¡¯s ice edge cut into the purple energy shield about an inch and created a few cracks along the dent, which brought a smile on Josephine Wong¡¯s face. On the other side, Thomas took advantage of the time and opportunity bought by Aimee and created a short fiery arrow between his palms. Just when Josephine Wong thrust her energy shield and pushed Aimee to the side, the fiery arrow was launched from Thomas¡¯s hands aiming at Josephine Wong. The fiery arrow expanded in size as it shot through the space, making a sound barrier breaking boom and leaving a trail of sparks behind in the air. ¡°Clank!¡± the small round energy shield shattered when clashing against the fiery arrow. The fiery arrow was deflected and shot up to the ceiling of the room, but still left a small burn mark on the back of Josephine Wong¡¯s right hand. ¡°Good! Let¡¯s take a minute.¡± Josephine Wong let out a wide smile and made a ¡°pause¡± hand gesture: ¡°You¡¯ve made great progress with your training. And I believe you¡¯re ready.¡± ¡°Ready? Ready for what?¡± the fiery arrow cost Thomas a lot of energy, and he already fell on the ground after the arrow was launched. Aimee was in a much better shape, though the previous burst of physical power did cause her some muscle strain. ¡°Ready for a breakthrough.¡± Josephine Wong smiled: ¡°But for that, we will need an open space, some fresh air, some bath water and a couple of sprinklers.¡± Chapter 386 ¡°Yikes - so it¡¯s your turn with this huh?¡± when Jason sorted through the pendants from Jianmen¡¯s box and placed the ones specified by Josephine Wong onto the wooden pillars in the back of the inn, he shook his head and said to Thomas and Aimee. ¡°Yes, I guess so, but what is this?¡± Aimee asked while scratching her head: ¡°And why do we have to be in swimsuits like this?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ever tell our dad about this.¡± Thomas chuckled: ¡°I can¡¯t imagine what kind of heart attack he would have if he saw you like this in the open.¡± ¡°Yeah well, don¡¯t you ever swim?¡± Caroline was pulling out the hoses and connecting them to the sprinklers: ¡°It¡¯s not like you¡¯re in bikinis. And what age is this? Why so uptight?¡± ¡°Hehe, protective dads are the same.¡± Thomas stretched and walked into the space enclosed by the wooden pillars: ¡°If there¡¯s a pool here he¡¯d probably be fine with it, you know, our old man is weird like that.¡± ¡°Shut up, Thomas.¡± Aimee rolled her eyes and asked: ¡°Can you tell me what this is?¡± ¡°We only knew what it was after we went through it.¡± Caroline placed the sprinklers in the appropriate angles just like she remembered: ¡°It¡¯s a compression ritual, and you are going to practice all of your moves inside the circle. The circle will create an energy field that applies immense pressure on your body and your meridians, the sprinklers will sprinkle the bath water onto your bodies as you practice.¡± ¡°That¡¯s - that¡¯s interesting.¡± Thomas nodded: ¡°But how much pressure are we talking about?¡± ¡°Just remember that you should push through, no matter how hard it is.¡± Jason nodded and smiled as he placed the last pendant on the last wooden pillar: ¡°The longer you last, the better it will be for you.¡± ¡°Hmm, I think I¡¯ve got it. But what is this compression for?¡± Aimee looked around at the sprinklers around her: ¡°Will it increase the density of our flesh and bones?¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°Yes.¡± Josephine Wong came to the back of the inn, with a long and thin bamboo stick in her hand just like what Jianmen used to do: ¡°And more importantly, this is the first time you will learn that you will need to condense your power instead of just increasing its flow and quantity. Now that your bodies are more or less getting full with your powers, it would be a perfect time to increase the density of your power, thus creating more ¡®room¡¯ in your bodies for your continuous growth.¡± ¡°Aaaand Ms. Wong here you come with Boss¡¯s bamboo stick he used to beat us with.¡± Jason chuckled and tapped the wooden pillars gently and gave Thomas and Aimee a trolly and pitiful look: ¡°Good luck guys. I¡¯m gonna take my break now and call my girlfr - I mean Laura.¡± ¡°And I am going to go spend time with my nephew.¡± Caroline yawned and said: ¡°Good luck.¡± ¡°So there they go - leaving us behind with our own devices and our own fate.¡± Thomas sighed with a smile and shook his head: ¡°You¡¯re ready there sis?¡± ¡°I just feel like we haven¡¯t checked with Dad for a while.¡± Aimee said: ¡°I hope he¡¯s not bored.¡± ¡°It''s been a long time for you but only a few days for him, and he¡¯s comfortable here.¡± Josephine Wong waved the bamboo stick like a conductor¡¯s wand and both Aimee and Thomas instantly felt a heavy pressure from an invisible source mounted on almost every corner of their bodies: ¡°The moves I taught you, start practicing them on my marks. And in accordance with the training plans and tradition laid out by the owner of this inn, I promise you there will be a reward if you are able to finish the whole set.¡± ¡°Sure. But how hard is it gonna be?¡± Aimee stretched along with Thomas - she felt that the initial wave of pressure was not that difficult, but she would still like to adjust herself to be ready. ¡°You will soon be able to see.¡± Josephine Wong raised the bamboo stick: ¡°Now, get ready - three - two - ONE!¡± As Josephine Wong swung the bamboo stick down, the sprinklers started spinning and spilling the medicinal bath water like what Aimee and Thomas used to bathe in. At the same time, the pressure mounted on their bodies started creeping heavier little by little. And when they started with their moves, they felt that the air around them had suddenly become thicker and stickier, it was as if their bodies were drowned deeply in water, and even the simplest of moves required extra effort to complete. When they went back into the inn, Jason and Caroline did not do what they claimed they were about to do right away, but stayed at the door and watched over both Aimee and Thomas for a while, out of both concern for the detectives, and curiosity for what this compression ritual looked like from the outside. ¡°Time flies.¡± Caroline shook her head then looked Jason in the eye: ¡°I remembered it like it was still yesterday when we were the ones practicing our moves inside that circle.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, I just feel like there are just too many people who got in contact with this inn ended up becoming magical.¡± Jason scratched his jaw with a smile on his face: ¡°First us, then Thomas and Aimee, and even Emilia Corin? Like, what the hell?¡± ¡°Yeah, I was wondering the same thing.¡± Caroline chuckled: ¡°But do you think it¡¯s because we came here that we became magical; or was it because that we were somehow destined to become magical, and we were led here?¡± ¡°A nice question you just asked, young Caroline.¡± Jason deliberately made a weird voice like a classic movie character: ¡°But the question you seek, ask Mr. Yu you shall.¡± ¡°Oh, come on.¡± Caroline scoffed and headed towards the stairs. Chapter 387 If there was something called ¡°getting stuck¡± in cultivation, then what Caroline and Jason were feeling right now would be it. Ever since they had those mini breakthroughs while they were in the Grant Academy, where they gained the ability to command additional elemental powers, they had a feeling that their next tribulations were getting closer and closer. But while they were training with Josephine Wong, they felt that the pace in which they marched towards their next tribulation was getting slower and slower. And right now, they sensed that there was an invisible barrier between them and their next tribulation, they were just not able to get past it, even after spending several weeks of time meditating, visualizing and practicing their battle techniques. Two silver metal mirrors placed right in front Caroline and Jason and glowing in bright light gradually grew dim, and a small trace of power of mind and will came back from the reflections in the mirrors to Caroline and Jason¡¯s foreheads. ¡°Anything?¡± Jason asked Caroline while rubbing his temples. ¡°Almost nothing at all.¡± Caroline sighed and said: ¡°I feel like I was trying to move a whole mountain with just a shovel. Maybe we should ask Boss or Ms. Wong for help. There¡¯s something I think we¡¯re missing here.¡± ¡°Yeah, same. It¡¯s like - like just waking up from a dream and not remembering anything from the dream at all, while the memory feels very real and very fresh in my mind. But I kinda doubt how they could help.¡± Jason sighed: ¡°Do you even know what is missing? ¡± ¡°... no.¡± Caroline thought for a while and answered with visible frustration on her face. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± just this moment, Josephine Wong came into the room, and as she waved her hands, the semi transparent and soundproof walls around Caroline and Jason disappeared, revealing the two exhausted Aimee and Thomas who were lying on the floor panting, sweating and resting. ¡°Still very very stuck.¡± Caroline picked up her metal mirror and sighed: ¡°I think we need help with this¡­ this barrier or gap that we are facing.¡± ¡°Yeah, Ms. Wong. Can you help us? Or¡­ can Boss help us?¡± Jason asked carefully. ¡°He would soon be able to see you. He just needs a little more time to recover.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head with a wry smile: ¡°Right now, he must save his breath, and you have to be ready before you can hear what he has to say.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Caroline let out an extra long sigh and sat down on the ground: ¡°But he¡¯s doing okay?¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°He¡¯s doing okay, and he asked me to send you his regards.¡± Josephine Wong clapped her hands, and a long sword appeared in her hands: ¡°Why don¡¯t we have a quick spar? This should clear your heads.¡± ¡°Might as well.¡± Jason sighed and took out his metal ball, with a quick clench of his right hand, his signature pen-spear appeared. Behind him, Caroline also took out her translucent crystal ball, conjured her battle axe and shield and walked up to Josephine Wong. ¡°Shall we?¡± Josephine Wong leapt backwards while holding the long sword in her right hand. When she stabilized her stance, she raised her middle and index fingers at Aimee and Thomas, a ring of transparent walls rose from the ground around them, serving as a protective watching booth. Silver light radiated from Jason¡¯s body, and orange and red flames burst out from Caroline¡¯s body as they lunged towards Josephine Wong with their weapons in their hands. Though Aimee and Thomas were beyond tired, they still managed to stand up from the ground and start watching the spar. -------------------------------------------- ¡°So - how are you feeling now?¡± while sitting in the diner around a round table having a mid-training day lunch together, Jason asked Thomas and Aimee: ¡°Did you have a tribulation?¡± ¡°Tribulation? What is that?¡± Aimee¡¯s fingers are so sore that she had trouble picking up and maneuvering the chopsticks, and had to use a small spoon to pick up her food instead: ¡°Is that another ritual?¡± ¡°Please tell me this is not another ritual.¡± Thomas was in a similar state as Aimee: ¡°One compression ritual per day is enough.¡± ¡°No, what Jason wanted to ask is, did you go through anything - strange?¡± Caroline asked while looking at Aimee and Thomas in their eyes: ¡°Like being struck by lightning, or having fire or ice burst around you?¡± ¡°No, why? Ugh...¡± Thomas whined with frustration when he dropped a small piece of spare rib on the table due to his fingers being extra clumsy due to the strain from the trainings and daily compression rituals. ¡°Is that something that would happen?¡± Aimee asked with worries in her eyes. ¡°Okay calm down. It probably won¡¯t happen now.¡± Caroline skimmed at the shoulders and arms of the detectives, then nodded and said: ¡°Your powers just had a sudden growth, didn¡¯t they?¡± ¡°Yes - but I thought that was because our powers couldn¡¯t stand to be further compressed.¡± Thomas answered. ¡°That¡¯s actually a correct assumption.¡± Jason handed a pile of napkins to Thomas: ¡°What you just went through - seems like without you actually noticing it - is a phase stemmed from the evolution of your powers. After going through it, your powers become more condensed, and flow faster inside of your body, allowing you to conjure extra powerful spells and ...¡± Thomas¡¯s phone rang, and it was no ordinary ringtone, but that of a hasty and ominous music. The tired expression on Thomas and Aimee¡¯s face instantly changed to a serious one, and Thomas had to stand up and apologized: ¡°Sorry guys, I¡¯ve gotta take this.¡± ¡°Is that Lee?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°Yeah.¡± Thomas nodded. ¡°Detective Lee?¡± when Thomas walked to the side to take his call, Caroline asked Aimee: ¡°That Detective Lee who was investigating the case with vampires? Didn¡¯t you tell him to stop for his own safety?¡± ¡°Unfortunately that¡¯s not how it works, especially when the families of important local politicians are involved.¡± ¡°... okay, just don¡¯t rush to anything alright?¡± Thomas finished his call and came back to the table: ¡°Aimee, I think we need to help him.¡± ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°We lost two officers thanks to this case.¡± Thomas threw his phone on the table with a furious and anxious look: ¡°The same feds that have been looking into the Emilia Corin case are looking into this case as well.¡± ¡°They¡¯re gonna get more people killed. ¡± Aimee stood up: ¡°We should go help them.¡± Chapter 388 ¡°You want to what?¡± when Aimee and Thomas came to Josephine Wong by the reception¡¯s desk with Jason and Caroline and asked if they could go out and help their friend and previous colleagues, Josephine Wong appeared somewhat surprised. Thomas was in a rush to explain: ¡°We want to go out and help our friend at the SJPD ... ¡± ¡°Nonono, Thomas, let me explain the situation first.¡± Aimee cut Thomas off: ¡°Okay, Ms. Wong, I know - WE know full well how the situation is kinda dangerous out there for us. But Detective Lee and Detective Kuhn are our friends, and they are under orders to investigate the Drainer case.¡± ¡°Yeah, they shouldn¡¯t do that.¡± Josephine Wong narrowed her eyes: ¡°Vampire clans are extremely dangerous, especially now that we have a possible war coming among the high brokers of the Exalted Bondsmen.¡± ¡°A war among the high brokers of Exalted Bondsmen? ¡± Aimee and Thomas exchanged looks both with stern and serious expressions on their faces: ¡°How bad is it? Is the Division gonna do anything about it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not happened yet. And yes, the Division will try to get things under control.¡± Josephine Wong sighed: ¡°But don¡¯t have any illusions on the capabilities of the Division, it¡¯s semi governmental, but it¡¯s greatly understaffed and we just went through some very big disasters. San Francisco being one, and then there¡¯s this haunted hospital - ¡± ¡°Is it gonna affect the civilians? Or is it gonna be confined to your - I mean the magical world?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°There¡¯s no clear line between the civilian and magical world, is there?¡± Josephine Wong sighed and pulled out a drawer. Then she took out two pieces of purple paper flower, and two wooden cards: ¡°Here, if you really intend to go and help your friend, I am in no position to stop you. But take these, the flowers are for you, Aimee and Thomas. Jason, Caroline, the wooden cards are for you.¡± ¡°What are these for?¡± Aimee asked, confused. ¡°Mortality scapegoats. Consider them one-off shields that would protect you from a killing blow. And added with a small passive teleportation array.¡± Josephine Wong smiled: ¡°Since you¡¯re still young and relatively less experienced and do not yet possess too immense of powers, I just use some materials lying around and make these for you. When this activates, the teleportation array will activate as well and bring you right back here. But these things could be faulty as well - so don¡¯t be reckless.¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Thank you, Ms. Wong.¡± Thomas took the purple paper flowers along with Aimee, the moment their fingers touched these flowers, they felt an instant sense of connection to them. ¡°Thank you Ms. Wong.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Caroline and Jason took the two cards with them. ¡°These are short term time bound mortality scapegoats, they will remain effective for three months since the moment you accept them. And if it expires or gets activated, it will be some time before anyone could make another one for you.¡± Josephine Wong looked at all four students with a serious face: ¡°So, here¡¯s the thing, if any of you are teleported back due to the activation of your mortality scapegoat, I will forcefully teleport all of you back. Am I clear?¡± ¡°Yes - yes.¡± Thomas and Aimee both acknowledged. ¡°Now, before you go, you¡¯d better choose your weapons, at least for now.¡± Josephine Wong stood up, and started leading the four students to the basement: ¡°And other artifacts as well - to keep you safely prepared.¡± ----------------------------------------- ¡°... and that¡¯s how I sent them on their way to San Jose.¡± sitting beside the bed on which Jianmen was lying, Josephine Wong took a sip of tea and said to Jianmen, whose body had mostly recovered to its previous shape, but still weak overall and could barely walk around with his own limbs. ¡°For a moment there I thought you were about to say how you met one of my parents.¡± Jianmen chuckled and brought his cup of tea to his mouth with his trembling right hand. It took about ten seconds before he could take his first sip of the tea: ¡°Ouch, hot hot hot.¡± ¡°I was looking for your comment on what you think of my letting them go, and not about the temperature of the water.¡± Josephine Wong smiled and put a small china jar on the table: ¡°You want some honey with your tea?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m good.¡± Jianmen put his cup back on the table and took a long breath: ¡°And my only comment is that you did the right thing.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not worried about your students?¡± Josephine Wong asked: ¡°Thomas and Aimee are still new and young, the teleportation array would almost certainly not fail. But it¡¯s another story for Jason and Caroline.¡± ¡°They¡¯ve been stuck for a while, haven¡¯t they? The barrier between them and the next tribulations.¡± Jianmen sighed: ¡°If it was like before with the steady and slow training, they wouldn¡¯t have faced this issue. But since we all need them to be ready sooner, it would be inevitable.¡± ¡°So - you are actually counting on them getting into trouble?¡± ¡°Just battle - they need actual battle to kick off their final epiphanies and help them push through the last barrier and trigger the tribulation.¡± ¡°But this would be the tribulation from the Third Layer to the Fourth, wouldn¡¯t it be quite dangerous? Do you really feel comfortable with the slim but non-negligible chance that they face their tribulations while we are not by their side?¡± ¡°They are going to have to face these kinds of things all on their own sooner or later.¡± Jianmen sighed: ¡°And I would rather they experience it sooner. ¡± ¡°My thoughts exactly.¡± Josephine Wong chuckled: ¡°I mean, the younglings would need to live and lead their own lives. If they can¡¯t even muster up the courage to help a friend in need, they¡¯d better not step into the magical world at all.¡± ¡°But you¡¯ll have someone back them up if things go wrong?¡± ¡°Garret and a disciple of Nameless will be watching over them.¡± Josephine Wong poured a bit of honey into her tea: ¡°One eye¡¯s got my team all occupied, but now that we¡¯ve let the word out that the ¡®codex¡¯ is already in the hands of the Division, I don¡¯t think the high brokers and other players would send their elites after the students.¡± Chapter 389 It would be beyond weird for anyone to go for a long sleep, knowing that your friend was in dire danger and in need of your help, on a bed surrounded by a translucent wall made of magical construct and burning incense sticks inside of an underground room with a purple flame burning in the middle. It was even weirder for Aimee and Thomas, for they knew in their mind that taking a long break in the underground room, where a long ten plus hour sleep would only mean around twenty minutes to the outside world, yet the urge to act right away still kept them on their edge and they could not shake the worries in their minds for a while. Eventually, with the help of the calming incense sticks, the scented beddings, soft and cool mattresses made of some kind of jade-colored material, the cool breeze and fresh air pumped into the room, they fell comfortably asleep. The incense sticks were Spirit Calming Incense, whose smoke and scent bore the ability to soothe and calm the minds of those around and some minor healing power that could mend the trauma to the mind and soul. The bed sheets and duvet were made of cotton and silk made from Jianmen¡¯s personal farm hidden inside the garden at the back of the inn - which also radiated a soothing and healing energy field. The jade-colored mattresses were made of actual special jade, which were processed through various procedures and materials then enchanted and thus became soft and elastic. While Thomas and Aimee were taking a long and much needed nap, Caroline and Jason were meditating in their own spaces created by the same magical construct walls. Both of them were sitting on jade platforms with their respective circles engraved on them and with burning Spirit Calming Incense sticks around them. At their current stage, meditation had become the primary method for Caroline and Jason to grow their Xuanli as well as their physical strength - for during meditation, not only did they need to calm and relax their power of mind and will, they also need to circulate their Xuanli inside of their bodies and meridians, condensing it and increasing its power in the process as well as letting it flow through their bones, muscles and internal organs to strengthen and cultivate them. Though being in a ¡°stuck¡± state, taking full advantage of any chance they got to train and cultivate still served them in two ways: first, it gave them slow and steady progress; second, it provided them a way to consolidate, stabilize and fortify their knowledge, experience and newly gained strength. The four students went on their way to a coffee shop in San Jose after Thomas and Aimee woke up from their nap. By that time, Josephine Wong and Rash had already prepared almost everything they need for them: folded paper sigils and incense sticks, medicine for healing as well as first aid purposes, drinks in flasks and clay jars, and more importantly, blessed phones with enchanted lines of communication, enchanted batteries that could last for months and fortified to the point of almost complete bulletproof and bomb-proof.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°The phones are blessed with my number as well. So let me know if you want me to send you anything.¡± before sending them off, Rash smiled and nodded at them: ¡°You know, just like before.¡± ¡°Thank you Rash, but anyway you could make your means of delivery more hidden - I mean more discreet¡± Jason asked while scratching his head. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Last time you sent the cards to us, the green energy arrow was quite ... visible to the enemies.¡± Caroline chuckled and said: ¡°It would be good if you could make it more shadowy or transparent so that it could avoid detection.¡± ¡°Understood, you can count on me. I will try my best to make the energy capsule blend in with your surroundings.¡± Rash did a clumsy salute and said: ¡°My apologies if that inconvenienced you in any way!¡± ¡°Nonono, you did good. We wouldn¡¯t be here today without your help.¡± Jason and Caroline immediately patted on Rash¡¯s shoulder and said: ¡°Just a - small ask, but if it is too much trouble, just send it the way you are most accustomed to.¡± ¡°So, the drainer case.¡± Jason asked from the backseat of Aimee¡¯s car: ¡°Can you give us a recap? I remember you guys talked about it when we were still in the academy. But I can¡¯t really remember much right now.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s meet up with the Detectives first.¡± Thomas sighed and said: ¡°From what I was told on the phone, the situation progressed quite a lot. There are more victims, and they have found more concrete evidence that the Bleeding Daggers had resurfaced, along with some other cults.¡± ¡°You should get in touch with your ex.¡± Jason nudged Caroline by the elbow, but only got an eye roll as a response. ¡°Detective Lee and Detective Kuhn are two of the best detectives of the SJPD, it¡¯s no wonder that our captain handed the case to them when it became a priority.¡± Aimee with a worried look on her face: ¡°And the two federal agents - yeah, I don¡¯t think they stand a chance.¡± It only took around twenty minutes for them to reach the street where the coffee shop was. This was a Wednesday afternoon, and this was only a one lane street with limited street parking space. There were plenty of cracks and potholes on the street and the buildings on both sides appeared quite old. The day was sunny and there were almost no clouds in the sky. But thanks to the occasional cool breeze the weather did not become too hot. Aimee¡¯s car stopped at a red light, waiting for a signal to turn left. Caroline and Jason rolled down their windows slightly and started looking around. ¡°You smell that?¡± Jason and Caroline looked at each other and asked at the same time. Chapter 390 ¡°What smell?¡± Thomas asked, as Aimee got the green light and made a left turn. ¡°The faint blood smell - but a little less irony than usual, and more foul.¡± Caroline looked around and said: ¡°The whole street smells like this.¡± ¡°Smell of blood, you said?¡± Aimee found a spot just on the opposite side of the street from the coffee shop: ¡°Could it be that your heightened sense of smell is picking up the scent no one notices? This is not exactly a peaceful neighborhood.¡± ¡°Yeah, or something else.¡± Caroline¡¯s frown remained on her face as she hopped off from Aimee¡¯s car: ¡°Jason, what do you think?¡± ¡°I am sensing some faint remnant of unclean energy.¡± Jason¡¯s pupils flashed in silver as he looked around: ¡°But it¡¯s way too unclear to pick up, or trace anything.¡± ¡°Then we can talk about it later.¡±Aimee locked the car and said: ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Aimee, Thomas, thank you so much for coming.¡± Detective Lee was having a cup of extra black coffee, and his partner Detective Kuhn was having a donut coated with dark chocolate. Both of them had dark sagging eye bags. ¡°And, who are these with you?¡± Detective Kuhn took a bite of his donut and asked. ¡°This is Ms. Caroline Baker, and this is Mr. Jason Lin, they are paranormal consultants for SFPD. I¡¯ve told you about them before.¡± Thomas said. ¡°Ah, I remember them, my friend told me they provided them a lot of help, until - ¡± Detective Lee¡¯s face dimmed for a brief moment, but he quickly put his smile back on: ¡°Thank you very much for coming to our aide, we could really use the help from someone with your expertise.¡± ¡°So, update us on the status.¡± Aimee said: ¡°We already know that the daughter of some local politician was abducted, possibly already dead. And we know that there is evidence of dangerous cult activities. Anything else?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Detective Kuhn took out a pretty thick folder and pushed it across the table: ¡°Detailed case information is in here, the captain is okay with us sharing this with parties that we are consulting, but he doesn¡¯t have to know that you know it. Is that clear?¡±This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°Crystal.¡± Aimee pulled the folder towards her and started reading. Thomas leaned over and read with Aimee: ¡°The news said that there are five victims. But according to this list here, there¡¯s much more than that, how many ...¡± ¡°Twelve, maybe more.¡± Detective Lee shook his head and said: ¡°These here are only the ones that are confirmed - their bodies were found fresh, and the forensics team were able to confirm that their blood was almost completely drained. There were also a couple of bodies found in street ditches and lakes and ponds, they were all decomposed to different extent, but our forensics team were able to find some evidence of their blood being drawn before their bodies were ditched.¡± ¡°And just like your notes mentioned - some of the victims showed symptoms of being drugged with narcotics and psychedelics.¡± Detective Kuhn said: ¡°We were able to find one of the potential locations harboring the suspects. But when we tried to raid the place, we were faced with heavy counter attacks and lost five officers in that operation. These suspects, just like you told Lee, have special gifts, enhanced speed, enhanced endurance and strength. We came prepared, but we were not expecting something like that.¡± ¡°Vampires.¡± Jason scoffed then sighed: ¡°What made them think they are able to do this?¡± ¡°What? Vampires?¡± Detective Lee stared at Jason and Caroline for a while, then turned to Aimee and Thomas: ¡°Are you serious?¡± ¡°Actually - Aimee, before you and Thomas resigned, you got bitten when you were backing up two officers right?¡± Detective Kuhn¡¯s eyes lit up and asked: ¡°Was that - ¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Aimee and Thomas acknowledged in unison. ¡°From what I¡¯ve read and learned, the easiest thing one can do to combat them would be to coat your bullets with silver.¡± Caroline said: ¡°They won¡¯t burn their bodies down with just one scratch or bullet wound like in the movies. But they will suppress their natural healing abilities, their special magical powers, and serve as some kind of acute poison to their physiology.¡± ¡°Mr.Lin.¡± Detective Lee scratched his head with an embarrassed look: ¡°You¡¯re overestimating how much funding we have, and how easy it is to pull off a sweeping gear upgrade like this.¡± Detective Lee, Detective Kuhn, Jason and Caroline all went silent in an instant, for a brief moment, only the sound of Aimee flipping through the pages in the folder came from their table. ¡°Would you like some drinks as well?¡± just this moment, a waitress came over to their table and asked with a bright smile. ¡°Just a Cappuccino. Thanks.¡± Jason said. ¡°Can I get a refill?¡± Detective Lee handed his cup and asked. ¡°Sure.¡± the waitress nodded, then turned to Caroline, Thomas and Aimee: ¡°And you? Any drinks you¡¯d like?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have a Cappuccino as well.¡± Caroline nodded. ¡°Not for me.¡± ¡°Not for me.¡± Aimee and Thomas were still focused on reading the files. ¡°Sure, coming right up.¡± the waitress took away Detective Lee¡¯s cup and headed to the kitchen. ¡°Detectives, do you mind letting us take a look at your guns?¡± Caroline suddenly thought of something, and just asked without much hesitation. ¡°What?¡± Detective Kuhn and Detective Lee immediately became nervous and defensive: ¡°Why would you want to do something like that?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I just want to help you.¡± Caroline nodded and patted Jason on the shoulder: ¡°Jason here can help you with this silver bullet business. ¡± ¡°Nice! I haven¡¯t thought of that.¡± Jason nodded and said: ¡°Detectives, whenever you¡¯re ready - I can help you with that.¡± ¡°Hey, Lee.¡± Thomas raised his head with a frown on his face: ¡°Tell me about what you¡¯ve found about bleeding daggers and the cults.¡± Chapter 391 ¡°Oh god, where do I start?¡± Detective Lee rubbed his temples as he answered: ¡°Several ritualistic killings, some of the victims are included here, because the victims seemed to be drained of their blood first and then placed on an altar. So we know that there is at least some kind of cooperative relationship between them and the actual drainer.¡± ¡°They certainly do, I still remember that vampire we tried to capture before we resigned.¡± Thomas scratched his jaw: ¡°Some men with the symbols of Bleeding Daggers cult took him away when we called for an ambulance.¡± ¡°Also, here¡¯s another connection.¡± Detective Kuhn said: ¡°We found through some of the victims¡¯ internet browsing history and social media records, that they were lured into some sort of new age cult and were arranging to meet up with their ¡®referrer¡¯. We will be setting up stings, but we need to study the profiles of the victims first. From the current looks of things, they are targeting young, single, and financially troubled individuals who appear to be suffering from anxiety or depression, mostly women, and some young men.¡± ¡°Here¡¯s your coffee.¡± the waitress brought back three cups, one tall and black, the other two shorter and have cute decorations on them: ¡°Black coffee refill for you, sir; Cappuccino for you two. Enjoy.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Jason and Caroline each took a shorter cup. Jason smelled his cup before taking a sip, and found that his Cappuccino was giving off a strange scent. He then immediately raised his hand and warned the others: ¡°Hold on! Don¡¯t drink yet!¡± ¡°What?¡± Caroline and Detective Lee¡¯s arms froze while they were about to drink from their cups. ¡°This coffee smells weird. Give me a second.¡± Jason looked around and silently cast a True Sight Spell on himself, and at the same time concentrated his Xuanli on his nose. With his two senses enhanced under the influence of the spells, Jason could see that there was something light yellow glowing inside of his drink. When he took the cups from Caroline and Detective Lee, he could also see the same thing: ¡°That is no ingredient for coffee, someone drugged our drink.¡± Detective Lee and Detective Kuhn stood up immediately and headed to the counter. There was no one there, and the waitress that just served them drinks was nowhere to be seen. Caroline and Jason rushed to the outside of the coffee shop and looked around, but they could not find the ¡°waitress¡± that served their drinks or anyone suspicious. ¡°Caroline! Jason!¡± Aimee came out from the front door of the coffee shop and called out: ¡°Come back! There¡¯s something you¡¯ve gotta take a look at!¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. The owner of the coffee shop and the young barista, they both seemed to be frozen in their daily motion without noticing anything - even though they were shoved into the storage room with legs closed and arms tightly stuck on both sides of their bodies and placed beside the shelf in a tilted position like one would put a long bag or a broom, they both had a smile on their faces as if they just saw something cute or funny. ¡°What happened to them?¡± Aimee looked at Jason and then Caroline: ¡°We found them like this - their bodies are entirely stiff like they¡¯re dead, but their body temperature feels normal and they¡¯re still breathing, just very slowly.¡± ¡°I think we should call this in.¡± Detective Kuhn said: ¡°Whoever that ¡®waitress¡¯ is, she¡¯s clearly targeting us. And she must have come into the shop some time between our first orders and you guys coming in.¡± ¡°Wait, I don¡¯t think we should do that just yet.¡± Thomas stopped Detective Kuhn and turned to Caroline: ¡°Can you fix them?¡± ¡°I can try. But I am not sure if my spell will work, since I¡¯ve never tried them in this kind of conditions before.¡± Caroline thought for a brief moment and said: ¡°Jason, can you take a look at them and tell me what seems to be the curse or spell?¡± ¡°On it.¡± Jason extended his right hand at the owner of the coffee shop, his palm turned silver, and shortly a beam of light shone from the center of his palm and onto the face of the coffee shop owner. When the beam of light hit the coffee shop owner¡¯s face, small streams of silver energy came off from the beam and flowed into his body. Some of the streams flowed through the veins, some of them flowed through the skin and soft tissues, and some dived deep and flowed into his meridians. Before long, these streams of energy circled back and seeped through the coffee shop owner¡¯s skin and came back to Jason¡¯s palm like tiny silver liquid droplets. Before long, Jason retreated his hand and nodded at Caroline: ¡°They are under some kind of simple paralysis and numbing curse. I think your ¡®Inner Fire of Three Suns¡¯ should help.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Caroline nodded, then placed her hands on the coffee shop owner and the barista¡¯s left chests. Warm wind blew from both of Caroline¡¯s hands, and the faces and necks of the two victims of the curse turned slightly red, as if they were experiencing heat from a close outside source like the sun or steam from a sauna. Their breaths started slowly pacing up and sweat started to come out from their foreheads and arms. Thomas kept nodding as he watched Caroline¡¯s spell take effect - he could not tell the details yet, but it was clear to him that Caroline sent a stream of gentle but potent energy into each of the victim¡¯s hearts, which then flowed through the victims¡¯ bodies and diffused or burned away the curse. It might look simple for an outsider, but as someone who has crossed over to the magical world, he could really appreciate the meticulousness and usefulness of this spell. The owner of the coffee shop and the barista came to themselves shortly after Caroline retreated her hands. They started coughing and retching right away, and if it weren¡¯t for Thomas and Detective Lee standing by their side, they would have fallen right onto the ground. ¡°Are you okay?¡± after calming the two victims down and letting them rest to a steady state, Detective Lee asked the barista, ¡°Do you remember what happened?¡± ¡°Some - some girl told me she was your friend and wanted to buy you drinks.¡± the barista hesiated and seemed to be having some trouble recalling what went on: ¡°She - I took her order. But then - but then your friends came in and she asked if she could borrow my uniform. I said no - then I don¡¯t remember anything, not even what she looked like ¡± ¡°I don¡¯t remember what she looked like either.¡± the owner of the coffee shop gave the same answer when asked about this mysterious girl. Chapter 392 Neither the owner of the coffee shop nor the barista remembered anything useful - all they could tell the team of six was there was the girl, who came into the shop and spoke to either of them under different circumstances. Neither of them remembered the physical appearance or the clothing of the girl. Caroline and Jason suspected that this may be the after effect of the paralysis curse, about which, as it happened, neither of the two remembered anything. ¡°Do you have any - uh - spells that could help jolt up their memory?¡± Detective Lee and Detective Kuhn were still under shock about the existence of magic, or in this case Xianshu, the magical spells performed by Xuanli. ¡°We could try some mind soothing tricks or use our incense sticks to calm their minds, but there¡¯s no guarantee that they will work.¡± Jason thought for a brief moment and said: ¡°And - it¡¯s also possible that the girl - whoever that is, was using some kind of obscuration spell, which would mean that neither of them had actually seen her real appearance in the first place.¡± ¡°Obscuration spell ¡­ okay.¡± Detective Lee sighed and sat down by the counter: ¡°So what should we do? Can you tell what that drug is? Anything else that could help us identify that girl?¡± ¡°No.¡± Caroline shook her head: ¡°We would need some other equipment - and possibly ask some others who understand drugs better. You¡¯d have a better chance to know what it is than we do.¡± ¡°The thing I find troubling is that whoever that girl is, she was obviously trying to target you. And only after seeing us coming in, did she change course and try to drug us along with you.¡± Jason scratched his jaw and said: ¡°So - I think you guys are onto something important and crucial, that they had to resort to this kind of scheme. What did you find?¡± But the detectives did not answer Jason¡¯s question, they just stared at the ground, their sights unfocused and their minds appeared dazed. ¡°Okay, Lee, Kuhn, look at me.¡± Thomas patted on the detectives¡¯ shoulders and said: ¡°This is still a case that can be investigated, okay? It¡¯s just weirder, and with suspects being non-human. Don¡¯t you worry, we¡¯re here to help.¡± ¡°Yeah. ¡± Detective Kuhn stared at Thomas and Aimee: ¡°This - this is why you resigned right? You saw this - this magical world, and you decided to join in.¡± ¡°... yes.¡± Aimee hesitated for a while and exchanged looks with Thomas, then acknowledged.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. No one said anything for an uncomfortably long moment, Detective Lee and Detective Kuhn seemed to have grown more exhausted from hearing the news. It appeared that they had a lot of questions but they just did not know which to ask first. Aimee and Thomas seemed to be lost for words. ¡°The talk¡± was already an awkward and difficult thing to do, and in this current situation it just became more so. ¡°So, where to next, detectives?¡± Jason decided to break the tension: ¡°You must have some leads or scenes that we could help you with. You did not know about vampires and lycans before, now that you know - maybe there are more things you might have missed because you were not thinking about anything out of the ordinary.¡± ¡°Yeah! Yeah yeah!¡± Detective Lee nodded and stood up: ¡°Let¡¯s go and circle back to our scenes and leads. Thomas, Aimee, let¡¯s split up. I will go back to the scene in the apartment complex and see if you can help us pick up something new. Kuhn, why don¡¯t you go back to the dive bar and ask around again and see if anyone saw anything weird?¡± ¡°On it.¡± Detective Kuhn picked up his car keys. ------------------------------ Back at the inn, Jianmen finally made it out of his room of recovery. But he did not do it all by himself, instead, he was sitting on a crude wooden wheelchair, and it was Josephine Wong who pushed him out and brought him to the garden at the back of the inn. ¡°Ah, fresh air. Finally.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°And my flowers are well taken care of, thank you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t thank me, thank Agent Carolina, and Agent Jill.¡± Josephine Wong chuckled: ¡°Agent Carolina just likes gardening and did not expect anything from you. Agent Jill has become sort of a fan of yours, and she requested that she be a part of your caretaking team. ¡± ¡°I remember her.¡± Jianmen nodded with a smile: ¡°She¡¯s talented, but she¡¯s not exactly fit for the path of cultivators. Didn¡¯t Pei take her in?¡± ¡°Pei gave her a test, and she¡¯s still working on it.¡± Josephine Wong said as she stepped to the garden before Jianmen and gently stroked a flower with transparent and iridescent pedals as if they were made of crystals: ¡°Both of them were especially fond of this one, but they did not have the heart to ask you for it. I¡¯d ask you, but...¡± ¡°... but it¡¯s not time yet.¡± Jianmen and Josephine Wong said at the same time, then he chuckled and continued: ¡°They are yours, and you are free to gift them to whomever you want.¡± ¡°How many times have you tried?¡± Josephine Wong asked with a bright smile: ¡°I remember, you ordered it five times from Realm Greenrock.¡± ¡°Somewhere around fifty times, I don¡¯t remember.¡± Jianmen chuckled: ¡°I only got the chance to test it once, it was quite promising. But it¡¯s still incomplete.¡± ¡°Hehe, when is anything complete to you?¡± Josephine Wong got back to the wheelchair and helped turn Jianmen around to face another direction: ¡°Speaking of, you should try the coffee, I adjusted your recipe. It¡¯s probably not what you were shooting for, but I think you¡¯ll like it.¡± They came into the diner after spending some time looking around in the garden, and Josephine Wong poured Jianmen a cup of black coffee. ¡°This is ¡­ really good!¡± Jianmen¡¯s eyes opened wide after a small sip: ¡°Mm - not that I had low expectations, but this is better than I expected.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad you liked it.¡± Josephine Wong walked to the fridge and asked: ¡°Cream? Milk? Or do you wanna be rebellious and try honey or salt?¡± ¡°Cream.¡± Jianmen took another sip. ¡°Here.¡± Josephine Wong brought a small jade bottle to the table. ¡°So.¡± Jianmen raised the jade bottle and let a stream of cream flow into his coffee cup and spread through the cup from the bottom: ¡°Are we gonna talk about what¡¯s on your mind? Is it one eye?¡± Chapter 393 ¡°How did you know I was worried about one eye?¡± Josephine Wong asked with a smile, with her coffee cup still in her hand. ¡°In that fight, he was the only one who stood on the sideline and did not expend any effort and did not take any damage.¡± Jianmen shrugged: ¡°Knowing him, he¡¯s not exactly one kind of individual to let go of an opportunity like that to strike an unfair and exploitative deal. Since you are still here, and I sensed that your team is mostly intact, I would say that he¡¯s not done anything egregious.¡± ¡°Define ¡®egregious¡¯.¡± Josephine Wong took a sip of her coffee shook her head with a wry smile: ¡°Nameless and Pei were quite upset with the deal he proposed, so much so that they might have already bring one eye down with them if it weren¡¯t for the fact that neither of them was powerful enough to do it at the time.¡± ¡°What did he propose?¡± ¡°He wanted to find other sites of clustered malice like the hospital.¡± Josephine Wong sighed and said: ¡°And he wanted to have earlier access to the sites. And knowing him, it would not be a mystery what he intends to do with those sites. This deal is then sworn on True Words, so it is in effect and basically unbreakable for now.¡± ¡°Thus is the dreaded and disturbing lifestyle of the Omen Dragons.¡± Jianmen also sighed: ¡°And what is he offering in return?¡± ¡°He is offering his assistance in studying and understanding the relic that surfaced from the hospital. We knew that it belonged to a powerful mage, of whom we have almost no information.¡± Josephine Wong took a frustrated deep breath: ¡°They¡¯ve been at work for all this time. But still, the information buried in it is either way too cryptic or just plainly shattered beyond any sense making.¡± ¡°For mages, it will take a pretty powerful one to leave a significant relic right?¡± Jianmen adjusted his position on his wooden wheelchair: ¡°Is it possible for someone that powerful to go unnoticed? Or is it because there is something else at play?¡± ¡°I know what you¡¯re getting at.¡± Josephine Wong frowned: ¡°I can¡¯t say that it hasn¡¯t crossed my mind. But I think we¡¯ll need more evidence. It¡¯s definitely not a theory I want to put out lightly.¡± ¡°Paradoxically, the misuse of the Stone of Negation tends not to leave any concrete and consistent evidence. The more damaging the mistake, the harder it is to prove.¡± Jianmen chugged his cup of coffee in full, and struggled to pick up the coffee pot on the table. Josephine Wong simply picked up the pot for him and poured him another cup full of coffee. ¡°Thank you, I hope these clumsy fingers can work someday soon.¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°That will happen soon enough if you are willing to divert some of your self healing power to them.¡± Josephine Wong chuckled: ¡°But thank you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t thank me yet. I think even at this rate it will take me no less than a week before I can be of any help to you.¡± ¡°But your access to the knowledge in your own head is unhindered, right?¡± Josephine Wong reached into her pocket and took out a small silvery grey metal tablet with the rough length of her palm and the width of half her palm and an arcane light brown symbol on both surfaces: ¡°We DID pull SOME information from the relic, but it¡¯s a hologram of - well, some kind of artifact, and we have yet to found out what it was about.¡± ¡°Happy to help. ¡± Jianmen nodded. And right this moment, Rash came into the diner from the back of the inn, while a fluffy and happy looking Snowball on his shoulder: ¡°And you know what? Maybe Rash could help as well?¡± ¡°I am always happy to help.¡± Rash opened the fridge and took out a slice of chocolate cake, ¡°But what do you need help with?¡± Then he scooped a small piece of the cake using a tiny energy spoon and fed it to Snowball. ¡°Deciphering a cryptic message embedded inside of a powerful mage¡¯s relic.¡± Josephine Wong tapped the metal tablet three times with her fingers, and the arcane symbols on it lit up in bright blue. Shortly, a hologram of an orb was projected into the space above the tablet. It was a mostly spherical orb, with a lot of parts seemingly intentionally carved or hollowed out in order to display a certain pattern to its interior surface. The sphere itself was not made of one single piece of material, but seemed to be carefully welded together using several smaller pieces of different material, which could be recognized from the different shades displayed on the orb. Right now, the hologram of the orb was spinning at a slow speed in the air as if it was a piece of art on display. ¡°Okay I can¡¯t tell anything obvious either, what have they tried?¡± Jianmen stared at the orb hologram for about a minute and asked. ¡°From what Blue and Pei told me, they tried everything obvious.¡± Josephine Wong tapped on the hologram to make it appear larger: ¡°My team tried almost every known magical and non magical cipher and decryption method of complexity. Tze Cha tried several tricks of his own, even some of his Dragon Tongue spells, but none seemed to have worked so far.¡± ¡°The orb was stitched together with different pieces right?¡± Rash asked: ¡°Have you tried breaking the pieces off and analyzing them one by one?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what we are trying to do next, yes.¡± Josephine Wong nodded: ¡°But this is only a holographic image buried within the relic, not an actual orb, so I¡¯m afraid it will require more effort to do that.¡± ¡°The different pieces seemed to be made of different materials as well. ¡± Jianmen said, pointing at a gap between two pieces: ¡°Are you investigating the possibility that this is a blueprint or a recipe?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve considered that, but we¡¯ve not paid much attention to this possibility.¡± Josephine Wong started tapping the table with her fingers: ¡°Do you think this is the case?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a hunch.¡± Jianmen leaned closer with his eyes narrowed: ¡°What else have you found beside this? I would imagine a ton of noise? Did you bring a recording of those?¡± ¡°Yes, I thought you¡¯d wanna try that as well. It¡¯s in this chip.¡± Chapter 394 Inside the basement of Xianshi inn, Josephine Wong was standing in front of the altar, with Jianmen on a wheelchair by her side. The silver box which was brought back from the Grant Academy by the four students of theirs, Caroline, Jason, Thomas and Aimee, was sitting on the altar. There were no magical or electrical lights in there, but the light emitted from the walls and ceiling was just enough to make everything in the room comfortably visible. Purple energy waves pulsated from Josephine Wong¡¯s fingers, each time the waves erupted into the air, the waves collided in the position of her palms, forming into two identical arcane symbols entirely made of purple energy - they were a True Word, not an overly powerful one, but one with very specific powers when conjured. Josephine Wong chanted a spell written entirely of ancient language as she controlled her power and directed it into the two purple True Words. Shortly after a certain strange sounding phrase from the spell, the pulsating energy waves stopped, and the True Words started gradually growing bigger in size floating towards each other in midair. While they were in the air, thin but bright purple bolts of lightning shot from their bodies, releasing small amounts of the condensed and unstable energy concentrated in them. It was not long before the purple True Words got close enough and they started merging together like two drops of water. Before they completely became one, however, Jianmen raised his right hand with a piece of folded paper sigil tucked between his middle and index fingers. Jianmen also chanted a short spell using the same ancient language, and with a flick of his fingers, the folded paper sigil shot out at the center point into which two purple True Words were merging. Josephine Wong swung both of her hands and arms close in front of her, the two purple True Words merged into one just when the paper sigil came into contact with it. The paper sigil was ignited by a purple flame and was burnt up completely without even ashes behind in an instant, and a thin transparent energy membrane was coated on the purple True Word. The energy membrane stopped the unstable energy from the words from dissipating and escaping, as well as the True Word itself from growing in size. But this was definitely not going to last very long, just when Josephine Wong took a deep breath and prepared to perform the next action, cracks already started appearing all across the energy membrane. ¡°Sword!¡± Josephine Wong called out, and Jianmen had already tossed a small chained pendant in the air at her. Josephine Wong grabbed the pendant in midair, and after an explosion of bright white light from her closed hand with beams of light seeping through her fingers, a long sword whose blade was made of two pieces of thin transparent crystal placed in parallel with a small gap in between appeared in her hand. When she infused the sword with her power, a purple energy construct filled the gap and completed the sword. The sword made a sharp but pleasant sound as it cut through the air, and then made a high pitched ¡°Ting¡± sound when its tip struck the purple True Word enclosed by the transparent energy membrane.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The True Word was shattered into hundreds of thousands of pieces from this one strike. The pieces remained in the air, and only when Josephine Wong swung the sword again did they float towards the altar and the silver box. The altar lit up in a faint orange and golden light, some kind of suction force appeared with the silver box at the center, which pulled in almost all of the scattered energy pieces. Before long, the pieces of the shattered True Word had already coated the silver box entirely. ¡°Boom!¡± a small explosion came from the silver box, and the pieces of True Word all disappeared without a trace at the same time. Josephine Wong and Jianmen stared at the silver box with their eyes wide open all the while intentionally not to blink or even take a breath that was too deep, as if for fear of missing something out. After around half a minute, some kind of silver liquid started seeping through the surface of the silver box and dripping onto the altar. This change caused both Josephine Wong and Jianmen to exhale in relief. ¡°Glad it worked.¡± Jianmen chuckled: ¡°How long did it take for it to react?¡± ¡°Forty three seconds.¡± Josephine Wong sat down on the floor: ¡°Definitely longer than anything else I¡¯ve tried the same spell on.¡± ¡°Who could have thought that the Grant Academy had had this thing with them for all this time without even attempting to take a look?¡± Jianmen took out his clay jar and took a big gulp from it. ¡°Or they¡¯re just too hesitant to try anything.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head: ¡°I mean, bypassing the secret spell and decrypting process by extracting the memory of the box itself, that¡¯s weirdly inspired on one hand, and requires a profound knowledge about True Words on another. How much do you expect we have?¡± ¡°Powerful artifacts, especially those that have been placed in environments with ample steady and not chaotic energy flow, can often ¡®remember¡¯ a lot.¡± Jianmen stretched her arms, shoulders and neck: ¡°But let¡¯s not forget objects and artifacts store memory differently from us, so the reading of the memory could be a potential challenge for us as well.¡± Right this moment, the silver liquid stopped dripping, and the altar let out a gentle chime, and some kind of silver energy fireworks started shooting out from the top of the altar. The fireworks exploded in the air, leaving puffs of silver and red smoke behind. When both Josephine Wong and Jianmen looked closer, they saw that the silver smoke seemed to be serving a canvas, while the red smoke was serving as ink, and both of them depicted a three dimensional image. Josephine Wong immediately took out a crystal ball, which under her command started recording the image made of silver and red smoke. Two rows of text, written in plain English, and below this text, was a three dimensional map of a mountainside with a very distinctive looking rock protruding midway up. ¡°Blessed be the blood of meek, cherished be the tome of old. Vengeance shall be cold and sweet, beware, my child, of the Night Wolf¡¯s teeth.¡± Chapter 395 ¡°Night Wolf¡¯s teeth. That sounded awfully familiar.¡± Jianmen scratched his jaw and asked while being rolled out from the basement by Josephine Wong: ¡°That¡¯s something from the folklore right?¡± ¡°Not exactly a folklore, it¡¯s a children¡¯s story, a fable.¡± Josephine Wong answered while recalling old memories of hers while she was young: ¡°My parents used to tell that story to me when I was young, it¡¯s a pretty popular story at the time.¡± ¡°Okay, what is it about?¡± Jianmen nodded and asked: ¡°And what¡¯s special about the teeth?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s a story about a young hunter living in a mountain, whose father was also a hunter, and his mother a handy rug weaver who makes wonderful rugs out of the hairs harvested from their game and fiber from stems of flowers and long weeds.¡± Josephine Wong rolled Jianmen into the Diner again, and poured him another cup of coffee: ¡°And one day, all of a sudden, a Night Wolf appeared and gravely injured his father. The young hunter broke off three teeth from the Night Wolf, and decided to forge three arrows with those teeth and avenge his father with it, because their normal bows and arrows could not do much damage to the Night Wolf. Then when he finally tracked the Night Wolf down and injured her with two arrows, he realized that she was only trying to protect her sick child. So the young hunter showed mercy, laid down the final arrow made with the Night Wolf¡¯s teeth and even brought healing herbs for the Night Wolf to heal her child. Eventually, the child of the Night Wolf recovered, and she took her child away and left the mountain.¡± Jianmen was sipping coffee while Josephine Wong was telling that story, and waited for a while when she was done, but finally came to the realization that it was the whole story: ¡°... wait, that¡¯s it?¡± ¡°Yeah that¡¯s it. What else do you want?¡± Josephine Wong laughed and shrugged with her own cup of coffee: ¡°It¡¯s a child¡¯s bedtime story about the value of mercy and forgiveness, not exactly Shakespeare.¡± ¡°But what about his father though?¡± Jianmen asked: ¡°He¡¯s gravely injured right? What happened to him? Did the Night Wolf bring him some kind of precious mythical healing mushrooms for his wounds, or wild game or food at least?¡± ¡°No, no. Come to think of it, no.¡± Josephine Wong frowned and sat down: ¡°It was quite long a story in its full version. And to be honest, I think for most kids and their attention span, their focus wouldn¡¯t be on the young hunter¡¯s father by the end of the story.¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Hmm.¡± Jianmen thought for a short while: ¡°So¡­ I¡¯d assume that for most people who grew up listening to this story, the teeth of the Night Wolf would be symbols of forgiveness and mercy?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ no.¡± Josephine Wong thought for a few seconds and then shook her head: ¡°The teeth or the arrows were mostly symbols of the story. But mostly people refer to the story as a symbol of mercy and forgiveness. It doesn¡¯t really translate like that.¡± ¡°Okay. So that might be our clue here.¡± Jianmen put down his coffee cup: ¡°Since its meaning is indefinite to the general audience, then it would be something specific for the intended audience.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying - find out whom this codex was intended for.¡± Josephine Wong smiled and raised her cup and Jianmen: ¡°Already on it.¡± ---------------------------------------------------------- After telling the owner of the coffee shop and the barista to file police reports, Detective Lee and Detective Kuhn split up, each taking a former Detective Chaver and a temporary paranormal consultant who could cast spells with them. Detective Lee left with Aimee and Jason and headed back to a crime scene, which was an old apartment complex, while Detective Kuhn took Thomas and Caroline with him and headed towards an area of dive bars and nightclubs for some more information and witness statement gathering. Detective Lee¡¯s car was a second hand car, with a pretty rugged interior and a broken air conditioning system. All along the way to the apartment complex, Aimee couldn¡¯t help but tease him a little about his owning this same car since he was a detective. Detective Lee just responded that he was trying to save up money for retirement and save for a rainy day because of his parents¡¯ health. Hearing Detective Lee¡¯s answer, Jason couldn¡¯t help but start to carefully rethink about what his parents, and his younger brother Mack would do as his cultivation progresses. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± when Jason was still drowned in thoughts, Detective Lee¡¯s car stopped in front of an aged seven story apartment complex. The metal gate was full of rust and the paint was cracked up. ¡°Detective Lee.¡± just this moment, an old man who was watching the gate came over and greeted them: ¡°What brings you here?¡± ¡°Mr. Hoang.¡± Detective Lee shook hands with the old man, and introduced Aimee and Jason: ¡°This is Ms. Chaver, she was a detective at the SJPD, and this is Mr. Lin, he¡¯s our consultant. We would like to come and take a look at that apartment again. Is this a good time?¡± ¡°Sure, sure.¡± Mr. Hoang shook his head and coughed: ¡°The sooner you solve the crime, the sooner the owners can rent it out. The door is still open because all the police tapes are still there. Just help yourselves.¡± ¡°Thank you, Mr. Hoang.¡± Detective Lee nodded and led the way to the elevator. Their destination was on the fourth floor, Apartment 431. The moment the elevator door opened, Jason smelled a gush of bloody smell coming right at him. And as he walked into the aisle, the smell became thicker with every step he took towards the apartment. ¡°Fucking hell.¡± looking at the inside of the apartment with dark and blood red smoke roaming in almost every corner, Jason cursed. Chapter 396 ¡°So¡­ Thomas.¡± when Detective Kuhn merged his car onto an expressway, he asked in a curious, nosy and still careful tone: ¡°What¡¯s with the sudden career change? How the hell did you become a wizard? Is your ¡­ tribe, school, coven, or clan still recruiting?¡± ¡°Well, as you already know, it started with a horrible story of getting bit by a vampire in the line of duty, which forced Aimee to stay in the hospital for almost two weeks. When she was asleep, our mentor came without us knowing and placed a folded paper flower in her hand.¡± Thomas chuckled and said: ¡°Shortly after we came out of the hospital, she came to us and recruited us. I don¡¯t know if she¡¯s still recruiting though.¡± ¡°What about you? Ms. Baker?¡± Detective Kuhn laughed and looked at Caroline through the rearview mirror: ¡°Thomas said you are a different kind of wizard - or witch. What¡¯s that called again? Sorry I¡¯m having a brain fart moment - gardener?¡± ¡°Cultivator.¡± Caroline covered her smile with her hand: ¡°We¡¯re a different kind of power wielder - with some similarities to wizards and witches. We could fight with our weapons, and we could cast spells if we¡¯d like. Then as a result we have to practice both martial arts and spell casting. ¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Detective Kuhn nodded: ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know jack, but I¡¯m sure it¡¯s pretty awesome.¡± ¡°It is.¡± Caroline chuckled: ¡°And no, I don¡¯t know if our master is recruiting. I could ask, but he¡¯s a bit occupied for now.¡± ¡°Yeesh, can¡¯t blame an old nerd for trying.¡± Detective Kuhn shook his head as he merged right and got ready to leave the expressway: ¡°I guess when this is over, I want to pick your brains on the general idea of a cultivator - I¡¯m thinking that I could add a new role in my campaign ...¡± ¡°Detective Kuhn is our head nerd in our precinct.¡± Thomas turned back and explained to Caroline: ¡°He¡¯s the biggest promoter of Dungeons and Dragons in our precinct and the most frequent Dungeon master. So be careful there.¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be careful of!¡± Detective Kuhn smacked Thomas on the side arm: ¡°Who¡¯s to say actual mages and - power wielders cannot play D&D?¡± ¡°I think our master could be quite fond of it.¡± Caroline smiled and acknowledged: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, when you have the character sheet ready I can definitely take a look for you. My younger brother likes to play with his friends so I know a thing or two myself.¡± ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± before Detective Kuhn and Caroline could continue, Thomas pointed at a dive bar at the crossroads in front of them: ¡°Talons & Fangs? That¡¯s just way too on the nose.¡± ¡°So you think we¡¯re going to deal with lycans?¡± Detective Kuhn sighed: ¡°Yeah, daydreams and fantasies of my younger days don¡¯t age well at all.¡±Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. When they walked into the bar, Caroline, and even Thomas could instantly smell the scent of blood, mixed with the smell of perfumes, some random herbs and alcohol. It was still early in the day, so there were only a few people inside the bar, and most of them were just there cleaning and reorganizing the chairs and tables. ¡°Sorry sir, but we¡¯re not open now.¡± the bartender cleaning up her bar was an extremely beautiful brown-haired woman in a skin tight tank top and a pair of black jeans and long black boots with a flirty attitude: ¡°But for two handsome gentlemen, and a beautiful tough girl like you, I could still make you my signature cocktails.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not here to drink.¡± Detective Kuhn showed the bartender her badge: ¡°I am Detective Kuhn from the SJPD, we¡¯re here to ask some questions about a case we¡¯re looking into.¡± ¡°Oh, please, officer.¡± the bartender leaned forward and winked at Detective Kuhn and laid her left hand on Detective Kuhn¡¯s right forearm: ¡°One drink wouldn¡¯t hurt, right?¡± ¡°Well - ¡± Detective Kuhn¡¯s facial expression shifted as if he got drunk or high just from that one wink and gentle touch from the bartender: ¡°I guess one drink wouldn¡¯t hurt.¡± ---------------------------------------------- Inside of Apartment 431, Detective Lee, Aimee and Jason were just looking around in the whole apartment. According to Detective Lee, this apartment was the crime scene, where the tenant was the latest confirmed victim of the ¡°Drainer¡±. The victim was found by the scheduled maintenance crew from the apartment complex who came into the apartment to fix the window and kitchen sink one month late to the victim¡¯s original appointment. By the time the victim¡¯s body was discovered, she was already dead for around three days and started to smell. The forensics team went through the whole apartment carefully three times, and were only able to gather a few hair and fingerprint samples that were not in the SJPD or the federal database. ¡°The smell of blood is definitely strong here.¡± Jason put on his shoe covers and said to Detective Lee and Thomas: ¡°I am not sure how vampires smell, but this kind of strong blood smell just kinda screams vampire.¡± ¡°Has the lab confirmed that the victim was drugged before her blood was drained?¡± Thomas also asked: ¡°That was what we heard from that suspected vampire before he turned and got taken away, possibly by the cult members of Bleeding Daggers.¡± ¡°Yes, they did find traces of a cocktail mix of drugs, which include prescription opiates, cocaine and other psychedelics in her system. So the cause of death could just as likely be overdose as blood loss.¡± Detective Lee led them to a broken cupboard in the kitchen: ¡°This is where we find signs of struggle, we found some skin DNA from the victim¡¯s fingernails, but like I told you, no matches.¡± ¡°I am not sure if vampire DNAs are that much different from human DNA.¡± Jason gently opened the cupboard beside the damaged one, and found that there was a deep claw mark underneath: ¡°So, Detective, do you think it would be appropriate if I cast a spell here that might ¡­ change the crime scene a little?¡± ¡°Change? Change how?¡± ¡°To be honest, I am not quite sure.¡± Jason shrugged: ¡°It would reveal at least some tracks, that I am sure.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Detective Lee considered for a while, then sighed and said: ¡°Okay, might as well - I don¡¯t think they¡¯re gonna do another sweep.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Jason took out his silver metal ball, and with a simple squeeze of his hand, the metal ball turned into a long silver pen. Then, he started writing in the air with this long pen. It was three sentences on top of each other made of Chinese characters, the first two sentences were each made up of four characters, and the last sentence was made of seven. When he finished writing, Jason flicked his fingers at the words. The words in three sentences changed shape and rearranged their positions and formed into a silver pattern like that on a paper sigil. ¡°Cover your eyes.¡± Jason reminded Detective Lee and Thomas before jabbing at the pattern with his long silver pen like a sword. The silver pattern exploded but did not release any shockwave at all, instead, it unleashed a flash of blinding while light. When Thomas and Detective Lee moved their hands away from their eyes, they instantly noticed the silver markings that appeared out of nowhere all around them. Chapter 397 ¡°What was that? What did the words you wrote mean?¡± Detective Lee asked as he was carefully turning around and looking at the silver markings around the kitchen: ¡°And what are these marks?¡± ¡°The sentences were a Chinese phrase, ¡®Gui Ying Mi Zong, Jing Hua Shui Yue, Wu Ling Wei Fa Jin Po Zhi¡¯. Which basically means ¡®Illusions and Shadows, I will break you with my power¡¯. It was a revelation spell.¡± Jason¡¯s eyes glowed in silver when he looked around: ¡°It¡¯s mostly for me, combined with my ¡®True Sight¡¯ spell it allows me to observe the composition and special characteristics of the energy signature residue.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯d like to learn that some day.¡± Aimee knelt down and started examining a long silver marking that looked like a scratch mark from leather boots: ¡°But since it is a revelation spell, you must have sensed something you based it on right? What was it that you picked up?¡± ¡°I just based it on the smell, and some kind of very dark energy that¡¯s still lingering in the air.¡± Jason took a look at the broken cupboard, where a lot of silver markings were present and scattered all over. After observing for a while, Jason scratched one small marking using his right index finger. Before long he was able to pick up a thin piece of silver material from the cupboard, from which he saw some very tiny hairs of dark red linings and some barely visible dark red dots. Beside what Jason picked up, when Detective Lee and Aimee examined the silver markings in the kitchen, they also found that they were like very thin layers of dried paint spilled all over and in different patterns. Some of them looked like hand marks, some of them looked like scratches from shoes and fingernails, and some of them looked like droplets of blood. Having visited and looked at this apartment and especially this kitchen himself, Detective Lee could easily tell that some of the silver markings were in the same place and the same shapes and sizes as some of the blood patterns they found in the scene, thus could not help but get more impressed. ¡°What is it?¡± Aimee and Detective Lee both came up to Jason from behind. ¡°Very small traces of blood, and with the same dark energy from within. I would need to ask for a second opinion but I think this matches what I know about vampires.¡± Jason answered with a frown: ¡°Like you mentioned, there was some kind of struggle here, did you find blood from the perpetrator?¡± ¡°No.¡± Detective Lee frowed and said: ¡°There were indeed splashes of blood in the scene, not a lot and not in the cupboard. And we tested all of them, all of them matched the DNA of the victim.¡± ¡°And the victim¡¯s body, there was nothing weird about it?¡± Aimee asked: ¡°No strange smoke coming from it, no weird glow, no abnormal physiology?¡± ¡°Besides almost all of the blood being drained? No not really.¡± ¡°So this is the blood of the perp then.¡± Aimee nodded: ¡°This - I actually don¡¯t know if we can use this as evidence, since it could easily be called tampered. But at least we know that the perp was injured.¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Yes, but how?¡± Jason asked: ¡°No offence to anyone, but I don¡¯t think a normal human, much less a young girl could even dream of injuring a vampire through normal means.¡± ¡°What about guns?¡± Aimee and Detective Lee asked at the same time. ¡°It depends, I think.¡± Jason shrugged: ¡°But it¡¯s not that easy to withstand bullets without getting injured somehow.¡± ¡°There were no records of the victim acquiring a gun through legal means. But this neighborhood does suffer from illegal gun trafficking.¡± Detective Lee said: ¡°The victim also works night shifts in a bar, and she could have bought one from the street dealers and brought it with her. It¡¯s not that rare to be honest.¡± Just this moment, the elevator dinged, and two footsteps came out of the elevator door. A suspicious feeling hit Jason, and he immediately waved his hand at the kitchen, removing almost all of the silver markings left by her spell, and then he swung his silver pen at a corner and created a thin silver wall: ¡°Someone¡¯s coming, hide behind this wall!¡± Detective Lee and Aimee were confused, but they did not question Jason at all and rushed behind the thin silver wall. When Jason went behind the wall, he knocked on the silver wall with his silver pen. The wall became transparent from their side like a wall of clean high grade glass, while on the other side, it just displayed the visuals of the corner and showed no signs that there were three individuals hiding behind it. Two men busted into the apartment through the already open door, one wearing a leather jacket and a pair of jeans, and the other in a grey T-shirt and a pair of grey blue jogger pants. Both of these men were carrying guns with them, and they came into the room with guns pointing in front of them, as if they were expecting to encounter hostiles. Jason made a ¡°shh¡± gesture, then waved his left index finger in the air, and a message made of silver letters appeared in the air: ¡°Not soundproof, quiet.¡± Aimee and Detective Lee nodded, while both had their guns drawn and were ready to fight. ¡°Kitchen clear.¡± the man in a grey T-shirt and jogging pants came into the kitchen and scanned the space in quite a professional manner. But he did not see the three hiding behind the thin silver wall at all. ¡°Bedroom and bathroom clear.¡± the man in a leather jacket came into the kitchen: ¡°Whoever came here must have escaped.¡± ¡°Should we check the neighbors?¡± the man in a grey T-shirt asked: ¡°Whoever it is, they couldn¡¯t have gone far.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, we¡¯re not here to track people down.¡± the man in a leather jacket said: ¡°Let¡¯s hurry up, before anyone above our pay grade comes.¡± ¡°Hope it¡¯s still fresh.¡± the man in a grey T-shirt took out a rusty bronze device, which looked like an antique compass or a clock with only one hand, and placed it on the ground. The two men each took out a small scroll, and started chanting a spell in unison. The needle in the compass started spinning, initially quite slowly, and gradually accelerating. When it reached a speed at which it was spinning three to four cycles per second, it stopped accelerating and was in a steady state. A vague and blurry shadow of a young woman appeared near the kitchen sink, she was cutting some food, with her purse next to her. Then, she was startled by something coming from behind. She immediately took out a gun from her purse and pointed at something or someone that was behind her. She yelled something, then opened fire two times. The shots did not stop her attacker, the gun was knocked away from her hand and she was grabbed by her neck and banged against the cupboard. Her head hit the cupboard, leaving it what it looked like today, she bled from her head, then she was thrown onto the ground. She tried to crawl away, but was pulled back from her legs. The young woman¡¯s shadow started out vague and blurry, but when its reenactment of the young woman¡¯s death became closer and closer to her final moment, it gradually became clearer. And when she was pinned to the ground with two giant needles shoved into the both sides of her neck, Jason, Aimee and Detective Lee felt like they were watching a 3D movie. ¡°We¡¯ve got it.¡± the man in a leather jacket said, as he pulled out another scroll with an array that was empty at the center on it and opened it at the young woman¡¯s shadow. Some kind of special suction force appeared, and the young woman¡¯s shadow was sucked into the scroll. The shadow became the pattern of a crying face at the center of the array on the scroll. ¡°Not the freshest grudge. But not too bad either. Next time we could be more aggressive and come before the cops found them.¡± Chapter 398 ¡°Wait, Kuhn, what are you doing?¡± Thomas grabbed Detective Kuhn by the arm and asked: ¡°We¡¯re working here.¡± ¡°What? One drink wouldn¡¯t hurt, right?¡± Detective Kuhn looked at Thomas and Caroline, confused. Caroline was quick to catch up that his pupils were dilated, and his breaths seemed to have become shorter and faster. ¡°As it turns out it probably would.¡± Caroline smacked Detective Kuhn on the back of his head with the back of her hand, a small trace of her Xuanli and power of mind and will flowed into Detective Kuhn¡¯s body. Detective Kuhn gasped and his body shook for a short moment, then his pupil shrunk to its previous size, and he had to take a few deep breaths to soothe his own breathing patterns. ¡°What - what just happened to me?¡± Detective Kuhn looked to the bartender, who was in the process of making a drink but stopped due to his getting out from under the influence of her ¡°charm¡±: ¡°What did you do?¡± The bartender immediately threw her cocktail jar at the three and hopped from behind the bar with incredible slickness and momentum, and started running towards the backdoor of the bar. Caroline¡¯s feet stomped the ground so hard that she left two slightly charred dents on the ground she was standing on, and her body shot towards the bartender like a cannonball, before the bartender could even reach the halfway to the backdoor, Caroline already caught up to her, grabbed her by the back of her collar and threw her to the wall on their left. ¡°Shit!¡± Detective Kuhn drew his gun and pointed at the two staff in the bar doing the cleaning and reorganizing: ¡°SJPD! Stand down!¡± But the staff just threw down the mob and the chair, revealed their sharp fangs and claws and lunged towards Thomas and Detective Kuhn. Caroline flicked her finger and shot out a small fireball at one of the staff who was charging at Detective Kuhn, which exploded on his face and sent him into the air and down on the ground. The bartender, on the other hand, though struck with a blow that would easily debilitate a normal human, still leapt from the broken wall and pulled out two daggers from her back and tried to jab at Caroline¡¯s shoulder and neck with them. Before the two daggers got close, their blades were grabbed by Caroline. The bartender tried to pull them back, but was immediately kicked in the abdomen and her body flew back and hit the dented wall once again.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Crack!¡± ¡°Crack!¡± the linings and engravings on the two enchanted daggers, which once pierced through various hard armors and even the hide and skin of some very powerful lycans, were destroyed, broken into pieces, with the blades melted, and the guards softened and twisted due to the heat. And two carbonized and smoking wooden handles were all that were left of them when Caroline threw them away. ¡°Bang!¡± the training and body tempering back at the inn paid off for Thomas, the attacks from the bar staff were fast and powerful for any normal human or even a well-trained human, but he was able to block and parry right away, and in counterattack delivered a heavy blow to his opponent¡¯s face with his fish, breaking and fracturing the nose bones and charring his skin and flesh. ¡°Stand down.¡± Caroline walked up to the bartender: ¡°You¡¯re a succubus right? We¡¯re not here for you.¡± ¡°HALF succubus.¡± the bartender wiped the blood off the corner of her mouth and gave Caroline a resentful look: ¡°So who are you here for?¡± After Caroline proved her ability to subdue the bartender and all of the vampire staff currently working in the bar, the bartender had no choice but to sit down with Detective Kuhn, Thomas and Caroline, with the two other vampire staff tied up on two chairs behind her and the bar. The two staff were still awake and tried to warn and intimidate her from having the conversation, but they were instantly restricted from speaking by Caroline¡¯s rough but effective spell. ¡°As you probably know already, this is an exclusive members only underground bar.¡± the bartender tried to pull another drink, but was refused by all three that were questioning her, so she drank it herself: ¡°It¡¯s run by a bunch my Boss, whom we call Loks. He¡¯s a vamp, and has a few goons under him, all vamps or dogs.¡± ¡°And by ¡®vamps and dogs¡¯, you mean vampires and werewolves?¡± Detective Kuhn asked. ¡°Vampires and lycans, werewolves are something else, newbie. Get with the program.¡± the bartender rolled her eyes and turned to Thomas and Caroline: ¡°They¡¯re in charge of this bar and the entire turf around here.¡± ¡°And why are you working here, half succubus?¡± Thomas asked: ¡°I don¡¯t recall reading about close relationships between vampires, lycans and succubuses.¡± ¡°My other half is lycan.¡± the bartender shook her head with a disgusted look: ¡°And what can I say, I have my debt to pay.¡± ¡°So you have no loyalty to them, why are you running?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°You come in posing as cops and dispelled my charm, do I even need a fucking reason?¡± the bartender threw the empty glass back to the bar counter: ¡°You¡¯re either sent by the Division or by other High Brokers, anyway I don¡¯t want to be collateral damage.¡± ¡°Tell us about the ¡®Drainer¡¯.¡± Detective Kuhn did not respond to the bartender¡¯s probe: ¡°They¡¯re definitely vampires, tell us what we know.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know nothing about whatever the fuck a ¡®Drainer¡¯ is.¡± the bartender scoffed: ¡°But I do know about some dirty side hustle of the owner. They¡¯re in the business of finding single young humans that live alone, hunting them down and harvesting their blood. They say this kind of blood is specially processed, even some high level vamps have become frequent buyers.¡± ¡°Do you sell it here?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°... we do. Hold on.¡± the bartender hesitated for a brief moment, then she looked back at the two tied up vampires, who were staring at her and the three individuals that were questioning her, but still decided to opened up a small door under the bar, and took out a small vial of slightly dark red and liquid blood and handed it to Caroline: ¡°Careful not to burn this one down like you did my knives. This one¡¯s cold, because we keep them in refrigerated units. ¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Caroline took a close look at the vial of blood, then passed it to Thomas and Detective Kuh: ¡°What else do you know about the dealings of this kind of ¡®special product¡¯?¡± The bartender thought for a second, then said: ¡°Come back at 3 this afternoon. I¡¯ll show you the entries of the ledger I found and collected.¡± Chapter 399 ¡°Not the freshest grudge¡±, Jason thought about this particular phrase as the two men in the kitchen wrapped up what they were doing. The study of malice and especially clustered malice was an area of interest for him when he was still auditing in the Grant Academy. It was because of the extremely unpleasant and somewhat horrifying experience at the Clearwater Municipal Hospital. And from what he understood, grudge, being one of the many negative emotions that could contribute to the sprout, growth and spread of clustered malice, the harvesting of which was quite common among the practitioners of dark arts, because it was a useful source of energy for curses. From these factors, Jason could tell two things: the first was that these two men were not on the side of the ¡°Drainer¡±, but somehow they were familiar with the M.O of them; and the second was that they were here as a part of an organization, the collection of the grudge was their only mission here. ¡°I think we should stop them and question them.¡± Detective Lee whispered to Jason in the lowest voice he could muster: ¡°Before they get away.¡± The two men doing the wrap up immediately stopped and started looking around with cautious and suspicious looks on their faces. Apparently, though they were not able to see through the camouflage wall Jason conjured, they still had good hearing ability that enabled them to notice the low whisper from behind it. ¡°Sounds like someone speaking something.¡± the man in a grey T-shirt looked around with his gun pointing at where he was looking at: ¡°But I don¡¯t see anything.¡± ¡°Neither do I.¡± the man in a leather jacket slowly walked towards the position of the silver wall with his gun pointing forward: ¡°But - but what if we can¡¯t see them?¡± Before either of the men could do anything, Jason directly launched a palm strike from behind the silver wall, a silver energy palm was unleashed and broke through the silver wall. The man wearing a leather jacket was hit point blank and was sent through the air. The man in a grey T-shirt was looking at the side, and the moment the silver energy palm broke through the silver wall and sent his partner flying he was not ready for the attack, and was thus bumped back by the man in a leather jacket. ¡°Boom!¡± Jason assumed that with his single strike he couldn¡¯t have debilitated the two men, so he immediately followed up with a swift kick while the man in a leather jacket was still in the air. The man in a leather jacket instinctually conjured a thin rock on the surface of his torso to protect himself, but was instantly cracked and shattered by Jason¡¯s kick.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. The man in a grey T-shirt extended his hands at a wall when he fell to the ground, and ten holes appeared on the wall, like someone tried to grab at it and had all their fingers sunk into it to gain traction. He then pulled himself away from under the man in a leather jacket. The man in a leather jacket moaned in pain as his ribs were cracked, and his organs were shocked from the two attacks. But he had no intention to give up, and still swung his fist at the Chinese-looking young man wearing a beanie that ambushed him. Dirt, sand and rocks were released from his arm, fingers and fist, forming into a giant fist the size of basketball. In his previous missions, he had killed many elite federal and local law enforcement agents and even some agents from the Division with this very strike. But now, the powerful fist, able to shatter thick bulletproof vests and even energy shields, was shattered instead, by a human hand in claw form. Jason¡¯s claw attack split in midair right after tearing up the fist made of sand and rock, into five energy claws, each grabbing one limb of the man in a leather jacket, and the last grabbing him by the neck. The man in a grey T-shirt pushed his hands in claw forms forward at Aimee and Detective Lee. Two bolts of some kind of special were unleashed from his hands, but were only blocked by a shield of ice conjured by Aimee. The next moment, Aimee extended her hands forward and a block of hardened ice was launched at the man¡¯s forehead. With a somewhat funny sounding ¡°bonk¡±, the man in a grey T-shirt was knocked over and fell on his back on the floor. ¡°Stand down.¡± Jason stared at the man who was grabbed by his silver hand constructs: ¡°Don¡¯t try anything funny, and tell us why you¡¯re here.¡± ¡°Too bad.¡± the man coughed and let out a disgruntled and desperate laughter: ¡°Though I am but a lowly man, I am still bound by my oath.¡± Then, he bit something in his mouth, and his body started twitching, and his mouth started to foam. ¡°Fuck! Poison!¡± Detective Lee rushed to the man¡¯s side, and opened his mouth: ¡°Smell of almond - it¡¯s cyanide!¡± Jason¡¯s eyes opened wide and immediately pointed at the man in a grey T-shirt with his left hand index and middle fingers. Before this man could do the same as the man in a leather jacket, a gush of silver energy shot into his mouth, forming a set of silver hardened dental braces and a tongue lock, completely covering his teeth, locking his tongue and jaws in place. ¡°Phew.¡± Jason stared at the man, who looked back at him with terrified eyes: ¡°I will try to remove the poison later, but now this should do - he cannot bite or even lick anything for now, we¡¯ll just have to watch his throat and make sure he can still breathe.¡± ¡°Fuck - FUCK!¡± Detective Lee paced around the body of the man in leather jacket: ¡°We¡¯ve got to call this in - this is just bad - FUCK!¡± Jason quickly made a hand seal and struck the chest of the man with his right palm, leaving a silver handprint on it. Then he stood up and waved his arms, releasing dozens of silver needles in the air, which then fell and penetrated different parts of the man¡¯s skin. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°Internal Fortification.¡± Jason said: ¡°Hopefully he won¡¯t die on us.¡± Chapter 400 Another morning, Josephine Wong woke up from her deep meditation. The purple flame at the center of the room was still burning, but its size grew small like it was about to burn out. She waved her hand at the flame to distinguish it for the time being, and walked out from the underground room. The time array, which accelerated the flow of time in the room while the students were down here training with her, and while she was meditating in there alone like she did the previous night, was burning at the cost of the energy reserves in this inn. There was still plenty in the reserves, but she decided not to expend more than she needed. According to the rule of time magic, the more powerful an the or individual whose time being affected, the more energy it would consume of the caster, and in this case, her and the inn¡¯s energy reserves. When she stretched and came back to the lounge of the inn, she saw that Jianmen was standing by the reception¡¯s desk, chatting with Rash who was sitting on a chair and trying to practice his hand writings. ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re up. How¡¯d you sleep?¡± Jianmen asked with a smile. ¡°I slept well. And I thought it¡¯d take longer for you to stand.¡± Josephine Wong looked at the wooden wheelchair beside Jianmen. ¡°I¡¯ve decided I wanna be able to walk sooner than cook, so my hands are gonna have to wait longer.¡± Jianmen raised both his arms, showing Josephine Wong his trembling hands and numb fingers: ¡°And this is because, I have something to show you.¡± ¡°Hmm, I thought this thing already gave me access to everything you have built here.¡± Josephine Wong tilted her head and asked with a teasing smile: ¡°What have you kept from me?¡± ¡°You have access to it now, take a look.¡± Jianmen chuckled: ¡°Call it a happy loophole, or a surprise gift, but it was only fully built and grown last night, while you were still meditating. Here, you wanna do the honors?¡± He showed Josephine Wong a wooden key, laced with orange and golden engravings. Josephine Wong stroked the bracelet with her eyes closed for a short moment. Then, she opened her eyes, walked up to jianmen and took the wooden key from him: ¡°Let¡¯s go together then. Rash, you wanna come with? Jianmen¡¯s got a pretty cool surprise.¡± ¡°Yeah yeah, here I come.¡± Rash stood up from behind the reception¡¯s desk: ¡°What is it? Mr. Yu? How did you even prepare this surprise at all?¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Well, there¡¯s a certain kind of spell, combining with some very special materials, some of which came from Realm Greenrock, that would automatically build and grow certain constructs according to a blueprint. Things won¡¯t be very refined and will require a lot of work to make them look perfect, but it will at least save me from a lot of the manual labor in building it from the ground up.¡± ¡°Ah, so you have mastered the spell of inorganic genesis.¡± Rash nodded: ¡°At least - I hope that¡¯s the word for it. I think I heard another word from the internet the other day - programmable matter? Or something like that?¡± ¡°Pretty much it, yeah.¡± Jianmen smiled, and slowly led the way to the parking lot. Right now, there were five cars in the parking lot, three of them were old and dusty, one looked relatively new, and the other one looked completely broken down, with its tires deflated, its paint peeled off, its side view mirrors long gone and all of its windows completely broken. Jianmen led Josephine Wong and Rash to the car that was completely broken down, and showed Josephine Wong the driver side door, and pointed at the keyhole on the door, which was a little too big for any normal car key, but just big enough for the wooden key. ¡°I¡¯ve always wondered who the hell owned this car.¡± Rash laughed out loud: ¡°Now I do.¡± Josephine Wong stuck the wooden key into the keyhole, then gently twisted it. ¡°Keeesh¡± hydraulic sound came from the broken down car, then similar sound came from the entire parking lot. A gap appeared from the middle of the ground and gradually opened up. The surface area of the parking lot expanded as the gap continued to open, revealing the walls, towers and a bunker built with metal and tough clay beneath the ground level. The other cars were completely unaffected by this change, they didn¡¯t even shake from the moving ground. When the ground completely opened up, the structures below started slowly rising up. One tall tower on top of a bunker, three shorter towers placed around the bunker, and right in front of the gate to the bunker, was a metal statue of a sword with its blade and tip pointing upwards. All of these buildings were of the same light grey color, of stone and clay. There were patterns and relief sculptures on the walls of the towers and bunker, but they shared the same color with the buildings to which they were attached, there were no differentiating colors, everything looked powerful and sturdy, but bland. ¡°Like I said.¡± Jianmen walked around the hole on the ground, through which the structures were rising: ¡°Still needs refinement, but all fully built. This is truly the last unfinished part of the inn. So Josephine, if you ever need a separate office, or a command center for your upcoming war, feel free to use this place. And Rash, there was a bigger resting place underneath the bunker, so you can go and sleep there if you feel like trying to rest somewhere other than your tank.¡± Josephine Wong walked into the area of the floating structures, the area did not look that big or spacious from the outside, but there was more than enough room for a large army inside of the bunker. Even the small towers around the bunker could fit at least twenty fully armed agents and some equipment. ¡°I love it.¡± Josephine Wong came out of one of the smaller towers with a bright smile: ¡°Thank you, Jianmen.¡± Just this moment, a car drove into the parking lot and parked right beside the completely broken down car. A man and a woman got off and started walking towards the main door, completely ignoring the giant structures just behind their car. ¡°Guests at this hour? I better get back.¡± Rash scratched his head and said: ¡°Mr. Yu, can you keep this open? I want to come back some time.¡± ¡°No worries. This will always be open.¡± Jianmen smiled and sat down on the ground and chuckled. Chapter 401 It would have been a much better ¡°morning¡± for Fubei Li, if the ¡°sunshine¡± shining on his face wasn¡¯t so grey and pale, and he wasn¡¯t lying inside of a pool filled with a kind of chilly half liquid half condensed fog liquid substance. But he could not complain either, because he could sense that the liquid substance was acting as a healing agent, that was both mending the wounds on his body and replenishing his Xuanli in a slow but steady manner. ¡°You¡¯re awake, Mr. Li.¡± a Fog Dweller in the shape of an octopus but with many more tentacles, six eyes on his bald head, no mouth and no ears and three insect-like legs standing beside the pool greeted Jianmen with a child-like voice and an accent, which was strange because it was not spoken through a mouth or through any means of communication through the air but by a special kind of telepathy: ¡°You have been unconscious for about ¡­ about three Earth Days and fifteen Earth Hours and seventeen Earth Minutes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s quite a long time.¡± Fubei Li struggled to sit up from the pool, he could sense that he was in a weakened state, but lucky for him there were no serious injuries or trauma. The slowness of the healing was mostly due to the incompatibility between the power of the pool and his Xuanli, the Fog Dwellers already tried their best, and from what he could tell it was effective enough: ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°The vortex and portal exploded and the explosion swept almost our entire frontier clean.¡± the Fog Dweller said: ¡°We lost many, but thanks to you and your efforts, no more creatures of the gaps were able to advance on our realms anymore - for now that is.¡± ¡°What about Dave and Xyankor?¡± Fubei Li tried to stand up on his feet, but his legs were still too weak for him to stand, so he could only kneel with one leg in the pool: ¡°And what about Perketta?¡± ¡°Deputy Perketta is still in recovery, she had sustained much damage from the battle and it would take her much longer than you to rise again.¡± the Fog Dweller answered: ¡°The Depth Dweller visitors were dealing their own business here, with the help of other deputies to Fog Lords. Lord Tamura just told me that he would like to meet you when you are strong enough to get out of the pool yourself.¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Splash!¡± Fubei Li tried once again to stand up and move, but his legs gave out and he fell face down in the pool and inhaled some of the liquid - it was a mixture of salty, bitter, sweet and light umami, like one of the earlier dishes he cooked up while he was still an apprentice in his clan. ¡°Looks like you still need time to heal.¡± the Fog Dweller grabbed a grey stone tablet from a pile of similar tablets around the pool with one of his tentacles and gently dangled it in front of Fubei Li: ¡°Here, these are some of documents Xyankor and Daekan-Velliander requested and insisted that we put here in case you woke up.¡± ¡°What are they about?¡± Fubei Li took the tablet and skimmed it, the whole tablet was covered with complex symbols that were also slowly turning and moving. These were the words of the Fog Dwellers, where the same symbol could mean different things depending on how it was carved or drawn, or what kind of initial angle it was in, or in which direction it rotated, Fubei Li could understand some verbal Fog Dweller language, but when it came to written form, the limited knowledge he learned from Dave on the language of Depth Dwellers from Dave stopped being helpful: ¡°I - I can¡¯t really read this, do you have a dictionary or something?¡± ¡°They are documents and records of our history and our knowledge and wisdom. You are holding it.¡± the Fog Dweller turned his head and looked at Jianmen in a curious form: ¡°This is a dictionary from Fog Dweller words to that of Depth Dwellers.¡± ¡°I am a human from Earth, so I can¡¯t really read either. Sorry.¡± ¡°That is completely understandable. Do you want me to read it to you then?¡± one of the six eyes of the Fog Dweller dropped down from its original position, then disconnected from the main body and became a floating eyeball with no eyelids and three pupils. ¡°Yes, please.¡± Fubei Li let out an embarrassed smile: ¡°Or if you can, just give me a crash course on how to read your language.¡± ¡°The language of ours is not really easy to grasp for newcomers. And even a ¡®crash course¡¯ could take several Earth Days to explain. But that¡¯s not going to be a problem, I am happy to read it to you.¡± the Fog Dweller grabbed Fubei Li another stone tablet: ¡°This is one of the most influential documents we have in our archive. Almost every Fog Dweller has read it at least once or twice.¡± ¡°Really? What¡¯s it about?¡± ¡°The basics for postpartum care for livestocks.¡± ¡°... anything on the creatures of the gaps?¡± ¡°Oh! Yes, those are relatively new and probably wouldn¡¯t be very organized, thorough or accurate, since we just started encountering them recently.¡± ¡°That would be fine, just tell me as much as possible.¡± Fubei Li nodded, then he stressed: ¡°Find me the records about the realms from which they came - I want to know about every mention of it and every theory about it.¡± ¡°Searching. Please give me a second.¡± Chapter 402 ¡°I¡¯ve only found these.¡± after around half a minute, the Fog Dweller with tentacles and three insect-like legs handed Fubei Li three stone tablets: ¡°If you¡¯d like, I could put in a request for you, and they should be approved and delivered to you in less than half an Earth Day.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Fubei Li tilted his head to soften his stiff neck and asked: ¡°I¡¯ve gotta ask, why this generosity to share? I thought you were quite protective of your knowledge.¡± ¡°We are truly protective of our knowledge. But we are also willing to share it with our friends and allies.¡± the Fog Dweller said: ¡°In recognition of your bravery in fighting amongst our fighters against the creatures of the gaps and protecting our realm, Perketta and other deputies who have witnessed your valor and battle prowess have agreed that you should have the fullest access to knowledge that they can give you, for they were made aware of the purposes of your visit.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Fubei Li adjusted his body once again and asked: ¡°When will Dave and Xyankor come back?¡± ¡°They informed me that they will be doing a sweep with the help of some of our lords and deputies to locate the entity they¡¯ve come here for, and they informed me that they will come back and meet you in one or two Earth Days. Now, shall I start reading the documents on the creatures of the gaps and the realms from which they come to you?¡± ¡°Yes please.¡± During the battle, Fubei Li used the best wooden coin he brought along with him to cast a detection and disruption spell, in an attempt to peek into what the inside of the vortex and the other side of the portal was like. And to his total surprise, and which somehow shouldn¡¯t be that much of a surprise to him, that there was actually another realm, and quite a young one on the other side of the portal - which meant several things: first, the creatures of the gaps actually didn¡¯t come from the gaps between the realms that were all once a whole void; and second, that the occurrence of the new realm proved that the pieces broken off from the void were not the only source of inhabitable realms in this part of the universe; and lastly, and probably most concerning to the Fog Dwellers and the inhabitants of other realms around, the chaotic nature of the energy fields in this young realm had spawned the extremely aggressive, strange and volatile creatures that launched the attacks on this realm of the Fog Dwellers. What was even more confusing and even troubling, was that these creatures, though ferocious, wild and primitive, it was impossible to deny their resemblance to Elementals - their bodies were made of condensed natural constructs of elemental energy, and the majority of them that came through the portals and joined in on the attack all had some kind of primitive and crude center of power and energy, or in other words, cores, just like the elementals.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. As the Fog Dweller with an octopus body, at least a dozen tentacles and three insect-like legs continued to translate and read the information from the stone tablets to Fubei Li, Fubei Li, and in turn Jianmen, became more and more aware of the fact the current power structures of the different voidborns, whether they still called themselves this or not, were about to change. From the records on the stone tablets, some scholars among the Fog Dwellers started looking into the origins and ¡°energy physiology¡± of the creatures of the gaps from quite a while back, and they were even able to capture some of those creatures and keep them alive for short periods of time for research. From these observations, they were able to come to similar conclusions Fubei Li had now, that these creatures were immensely similar to elementals in many ways, and what was more interesting/concerning to these researchers, was that the more intelligent and ¡°higher up¡± in the presumed evolutionary tree the creatures were, the more raw and ¡°primal¡± their powers were, which, according to these researchers, was a characteristic possessed by voidborns of older ages. One of the tablets was a detailed documentation of the work of several scholars on their research on one particular creature of the gap - coincidentally it was one of those pale green mouth creatures that could devour ¡°it¡± from the other creatures of the gap. According to their research, the ability to curse their attacker just by virtue of getting injured was also a long lost ability from the ancient voidborns. In theory, the immortal voidborns who were born during the ancient times should still have this ability if they would like to spend time and effort revisiting and searching through ancient memories, but they had trouble finding an immortal Fog Dweller or elemental that would like to help them with this. One theory proposed by the authors of this tablet, that the creatures of the void must have come from a realm, either an undiscovered piece from the old void, or a new one, which was not entirely unheard of for other parts of the universe. They proposed this theory because according to them, the condition of the gaps would not be anywhere sufficient for this kind of creatures to develop and grow, much less in huge hordes like this. ¡°... this research also brought about, once again, the same question that had been troubling us for ages, that is what is ¡®it¡¯? It¡¯s often regarded as a blessing, yet it served almost no observable effect in helping an individual Fog Dweller or an elemental in their pursuit of power and knowledge. But it must possess some desirable quality for this creature, in order for it to have enough incentive to evolve in such a way. Some call it a curse, and yet there was no obvious evidence of that either. It was from ancient memory and lore that ¡®it¡¯ was somehow connected to immortality, but the path to immortality was basically entirely cut off for all voidborns and descendants of voidborns. And it was as if our elders made a trade to pick either our ability to procreate and have newborns or the gift of immortality.¡± the Fog Dweller with three insect-like legs finished up the last paragraph of the tablet with a very human-like sigh: ¡°This is all from the current record. Would you like me to read you more?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Fubei Li nodded: ¡°Can you find me the records of your ancient lore - about how the void came to be, or who your first god is.¡± Chapter 403 ¡°It¡¯s 2:54, you¡¯re here early.¡± when Detective Kuhn, Thomas and Caroline came back into the bar after carefully investigating the surrounding environment to make sure no one was there to ambush them when they did come in, the bartender greeted them with a teasing and flirty smile: ¡°Guess you¡¯ll have to wait, like I told you, you¡¯ll get what you¡¯re here for at 3.¡± ¡°But why not a few minutes earlier?¡± Detective Kuhn sat down at the second furthest seat from the bartender and asked with caution and a little too much vigilance: ¡°What¡¯s the harm in giving it to us now?¡± ¡°Because timing is everything.¡± the bartender leaned towards Detective Kuhn and said: ¡°Just like asking a girl out, or opening a door for a lady.¡± Just this moment, three men came out from behind her, one started looking for drinks from the bar, one stood on the side and stared at the detective and the two other individuals with him, and the final one was standing beside the bartender, brandishing a gun on his belt. ¡°What is this?¡± Caroline narrowed her eyes while still playing around the translucent orange and red crystal ball with her fingers, and was ready to conjure her weapon and fight should the three men or the bartender dare do anything suspicious: ¡°You wanna try for a round 2?¡± ¡°No. Of course not.¡± the bartender snickered: ¡°These men are here for my protection alright, but not from you. But from the men who are about to come.¡± ¡°Men who are about to come? Who are they?¡± Thomas immediately looked around. The bar was entirely empty, the two cleaning staff earlier were gone, and from their own investigation, there were no one suspicious waiting around. But this would not prevent someone from just coming to the bar from some distance away. Before the bartender and the three men could answer Thomas¡¯ question, a group of five men busted into the bar by forcefully kicking the door open. A foul, sweaty and primal beastly smell gushed into the bar even before the five men came in. None of the three that came in for the bartender had ever encountered this kind of smell from men before. But Caroline was still able to recognize what the three men were based on what she learned from Josephine Wong, and thus immediately used a simple sound propagation spell to alert Detective Kuhn and Thomas: ¡°Lycans! Be careful!¡± ¡°Melinda, you lying half blood whore!¡± the leader of the five that came in, a bald and bearded brute of a man with a scarred face cursed at the bartender with spit flying off from his mouth, and he directly kicked a chair into splinters as he approached the bar: ¡°Who do you think you are, huh? How dare you threaten me!¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°It¡¯s not me that threatened you.¡± the bartender said and pointed at Caroline and Thomas: ¡°It¡¯s them.¡± ¡°Fuck.¡± Caroline sighed, all of them were quite suspicious of this bartender¡¯s offer, but time was of the essence, so they decided to come back to the bar for now after calling back to the inn, leaving a message. But the situation proved that they were wrong. ¡°Who the fuck are you?¡± the leader of the five men turned to the three sitting at the bar and said: ¡°YOU threatened me? A couple of puny humans, what gave you this ridiculous courage?¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t.¡± Thomas looked the man in the eyes, with his magical power ready: ¡°We don¡¯t know why this Melinda told you, but we didn¡¯t do it.¡± ¡°So, you weren¡¯t the ones that demanded to see the ledger? ¡± Melinda chuckled from behind the bar: ¡°Too bad, I forgot to tell you that it is my Boss, the powerful lycan pack leader Zachary, who has the ledger with him at all times.¡± ¡°And why do you want this ledger from me?¡± the leader of the five men surrounded the three at the bar, all of whom started shapeshifting, with their faces being gradually covered with long hair, their shoulders and arms becoming thicker and more muscular, their bodies growing taller, their mouth and nose becoming longer with sharp teeth exposed by the edge of their mouths. The leader of the five men had changed the most, even the scar on his face had grown bigger and fiercer looking. ¡°Now, now.¡± one of the two lycans on the left, who had a strip of blue hair on his shoulder said with a hoarse voice and his tongue licking his teeth and lips: ¡°It¡¯s been a while since we¡¯ve had humans coming in here with no idea whatsoever, shall we open up the pantries?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not scared, young girl.¡± the lycan facing Caroline blew a foul breath onto her face. Caroline sighed, then took a look at Thomas and Detective Kuhn: ¡°We want this ledger, because we would like to know about what the deal with the ¡®special products¡¯ is. If you could enlighten us about it, that would be great, and we would have no use for your ledger.¡± ¡°Ha!¡± the scarred face leader scoffed with his wolf face and mouth: ¡°I¡¯m afraid you are in no place to bargain, little girl!¡± ¡°Guess I¡¯ll have to make my place then.¡± Caroline sighed again. Before any of the lycans could react or prepare, Caroline¡¯s flaming palm had already landed on the pack leader¡¯s chest. This leader¡¯s chest caved in with his hair and skin charred like he was hit by a giant flaming sledge hammer. After a loud bang, he was sent into the air, and the shockwave from the palm strike even pushed the two lycans on his sides away. Thomas also acted at a fast speed. He pushed his hands forward and a flame shot from his palms like that from a short range flamethrower, which pushed the last lycan facing him and Detective Kuhn away. The lycan on the leftmost side facing Caroline lunged at Caroline and tried to get at her with a vicious claw attack aiming at her neck, but a translucent shield appeared on her left hand, and this lycan¡¯s fingernails instantly broke when they touched the smooth surface of the shield. ¡°Bitch!¡± ¡°Die!¡± the two lycans who were standing beside their leader lunged at Caroline again, and this time they did not utilize any physical attack, but roared at the same time and unleashed a powerful blood red shockwave. Caroline raised her orange and red axe in a guarding position in front of her, the shockwave was diffused, but she was also pushed back and forced her back against the bar. Chapter 404 ¡°Bang bang bang bang...¡± Detective Kuhn opened fire with his gun on one of the lycans who had almost fully transformed into the form of a large wolf. Since they were in a battle, with a bunch of lycans no less, he forgot that his bullets had already been ¡°blessed¡± by Caroline. The bullets fired from his gun glowed in bright red, and were not impeded at all by the tough skin and muscles of his target, and dug into his target''s body just like a normal bullet would a normal human body. ¡°Get out!¡± Caroline bashed her shield with her axe, releasing an orange and red energy shockwave as a counter attack. The two lycans that unleashed the blood red shockwave were thus knocked back into the air. But the leader of the pack of five jumped back up, with his caved in chest mostly back to the original state, and before his two lackeys even landed on the ground, he lunged towards Caroline with his muscles all bulged up, his claws fully grown and extended, and his shoulders and chest releasing some kind of red steam seemingly consisted of boiling blood and sweat. Caroline unleashed a series of quick kicks and knocked the leftmost lycan through the walls of the bar, but was not fully anticipating the leader lycan, and had to block this opponent¡¯s attack head on. ¡°Boom!¡± Caroline¡¯s body was also sent through the bar counter and the walls of the bar, and ended up landing and rolling on the parking lot. Her axe flew off from the clash, and its edge sunk into the wooden floor almost completely when it fell, leaving just the handle above the ground. ¡°Caroline!¡± Thomas tried to rush to the outside, but one of the lycans who were sent into the air grabbed onto a pillar in the bar and jumped towards him and Detective Kuhn. He had no choice but to clash with his opponent directly. Detective Kuhn emptied his magazine in shooting one of the lycans, and while he was trying to reload his gun with another magazine, another lycan that was sent into the air by Caroline jumped back up the moment he hit the ground, and leapt towards him with his claws extended forward and his mouth open in bloodthirst. A spinning shield flew from the side with a string of after images behind and knocked on the lycan¡¯s head in a loud ¡°bonk¡± like a cartoon superhero¡¯s shield. The tough and blunt spinning edge of the shield, coupled with high temperature flames engulfing it became quite mighty a blow, and it shattered numerous bones on the lycan¡¯s face and sent him tumbling on the ground. ¡°Die!¡± the leader lycan swung his left arm and left claw at Caroline. This claw attack hit like a truck, and though the sharp fingernails did not pierce through the flaming Xuanli armor too much on the surface of Caroline¡¯s body, the brute force within it still bashed her to the side. Stolen novel; please report. Before Caroline had a chance to stand up, the leader lycan jumped into the air and fell against the position of Caroline attempting another attack. Yet after a loud bang, all he was able to hit was the ground on which Caroline was standing. Caroline was already on the side, around thirty feet (10 meters) away, with her whole body covered in orange and red flames and surrounded by a wall of wind. There were two charred footprints with small pieces of cinder scattered around in the distance between the two positions. When Caroline raised her head and turned towards the leader lycan, shadows of flames were showing in her pupils and streams of hot air gushed out of her nostrils as she breathed. When the leader lycan lunged at her, she also lunged at him. The leader lycan no doubt had tremendous raw physical strength and speed, and his body was coated with a thin layer of semi transparent blood red energy, which boosted the toughness of his defenses as well as the destructiveness of his physical attacks. But his fighting style was nowhere near what anyone would call well trained or skilled. He first launched a claw attack with his right hand against Caroline¡¯s neck, but Caroline just extended her left arm towards the leader lycan¡¯s wrist, grabbed his wrist, pushed left and twisted. The leader lycan¡¯s right arm was thus parried to the side. And the next moment, Caroline turned her body and rolled into his arms, then instantly threw him over her shoulder. Before the leader lycan¡¯s back touched the ground, Caroline unleashed a quick kick onto the back of his shoulder and cracked several bones in the process. The leader lycan turned and adjusted his body while in the mid air, and even though he was injured by the kick attack, he still landed on his feet and backed off a few steps. But Caroline did not intend to give him any chance to recover, and before he could stabilize his stance she already struck forward with a flaming palm strike. A giant energy palm made of solidified fire shot forward and crashed into the leader lycan like a speeding truck. The leader lycan crossed his arms in front of him trying to defend himself, but the flaming palm strike was not like any other spells or special ability energy attack he encountered: the flaming palm was hardened and heavy like it was made of solid steel, yet it radiated an extremely destructive and scorching fire energy. The thin layer of red blood energy was instantly shattered, and the bones in both of his arms were turned into thousands of splinters and his skin, tendons and muscles were burned beyond recovery. He was knocked onto the ground and pushed onto an unfortunate van and some other unlucky cars behind it. He tried to turn around and run, but a sword made of condensed wind energy pierced through his shoulder, and the next instant a rough but effective restraining spell was placed onto his body. ¡°Stop what you¡¯re trying to do, and tell me where the ledger is.¡± Caroline coughed and said. When Caroline dragged the almost half dead but still somehow conscious leader lycan into the now heavily damaged bar coughing and slightly wheezing, she saw that the other four lycans were either dead or severely injured and were left on the ground, while Thomas and Detective Kuhn were tied up and handcuffed to two chairs. Two men who came in with the bartender were standing beside them, each hand a gun to their heads. Caroline¡¯s shield and her axe were picked up by the bartender and last man that came with her and stashed behind them, to be kept away from her reach. ¡°So there is no honor among lycans or half lycans.¡± Caroline threw the leader lycan on the ground and stared at the bartender with frustration and anger: ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°The ledger.¡± the bartender looked at Caroline with a victorious smile. Chapter 405 ¡°What should we do? What the fuck?!¡± after coming to terms with the fact that one of the suspects, who seemed to possess a dangerous super power tried commited suicide on the spot in a crime scene, Detective Lee became agitated, horrified and started pacing in the room. ¡°He¡¯s not dead yet. But regardless, let me take care of him for now.¡± Jason was quite calm, to an extent that he himself was surprised: ¡°Let¡¯s head back to the inn and see if our master or Ms. Wong could save him. And we can interrogate the other one and find out what he knows..¡± ¡°By code we should call this one in.¡± Aimee frowned and said: ¡°But - but we can¡¯t! Fuck!¡± ¡°Something tells me we shouldn¡¯t get the cops involved at all.¡± Jason shook his head and waved his hand at the man in a leather jacket and silver liquid appeared around the body and started cocooning the body, while still leaving a tube out for him to breathe: ¡°Bad things happen when you let the cops handle this kind of business.¡± ¡°...okay. Let¡¯s go.¡± it did not take long or much to convince Detective Lee, for before today, he was still a normal detective of the SJPD, who though might be used to dealing with strange, creepy and weird cases, had never encountered people with superpowers and witnessed their fights this closely. Given this, it would not take a genius to figure out that this problem was well beyond the capabilities of the mere SJPD or any normal hospital: ¡°I¡¯m trusting you with this, please don¡¯t screw this up.¡± ¡°You can count on us.¡± Aimee nodded and looked Jason in the eyes: ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡± Just this moment, the other man who came into the apartment to collect the grudge of the young women who was murdered in cold blood by someone having her body pumped with drugs and then draining her, the one wearing a grey T-shirt, started shaking and seizing the moment Jason and Aimee were about to carry him away. A grey smokey shadow of an old woman¡¯s face burst out from the man¡¯s open mouth and let out a screeching cry. ¡°What the - ¡± just when Jason was about to strike that shadow down and check on this man, he sensed a strange wave of energy sweeping through him. His Xuanli, and his power of mind and will activated automatically to protect him and repel whatever negative effect that might be imposed upon him.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. But Aimee and Detective Lee froze when they heard the cry. When Jason turned around and looked at them, he found that their eyes lost focus as if they were dreaming or hallucinating, and in a few seconds, their legs became uncontrollable and stopped supporting their bodies. Jason immediately extended his hand at the living room and pulled two chairs through the wall and door, just in time to place them behind Aimee and Detective Lee, who fell into them like they just lost their consciousness and fell into a coma. ¡°Fuck.¡± Jason examined the pupils and breathing patterns of his two teammates, then snapped his fingers at the apartment door, which closed up and locked itself. Then Jason drew a small round seal in the air with his silver pen, then placed his left hand on it with his eyes closed. If there was a normal civilian present, they wouldn¡¯t notice anything, but when Jason concentrated, he could see that the minds of Detective Lee and Aimee had left them, and were dragged into something else. ¡°Fucking limbo.¡± Jason cursed as his mind left his body and followed the trail left by Aimee and Detective Lee. And unlike the two on chairs, his body was still standing even when his mind went fully into the same limbo that sucked in Aimee and Detective Lee¡¯s. Jason found himself on a road just under a broken street light and had a dark blue moon over his head. It was a grey world, somewhere suburb, from the looks of the surrounding area, and the skyline beyond, Jason could tell that it was somewhere to the south of San Francisco. But he was not at the limits of the city, and there seemed to be something impenetrable blocking the way into ¡°San Francisco¡±. And all around him, he could see run down deserted single family houses and townhouses, with grass and weed as tall as Jason¡¯s chest and signs of feral animals all around. After looking around, Jason started moving in the opposite direction of San Francisco, and along the road with deserted houses on both sides. Everything was grey, and the environment was quiet, too quiet that it became a bit creepy. There were no light sources around beside the moon, but somehow everything was clear and pale and Jason didn¡¯t even need to cast a spell to help him see. What he did do, was that he chanted a short spell and conjured a silver needle floating above his left palm. Then he poked this needle at the air in front of him - though he was aiming the air, the needle indeed penetrated something and made a ripple, as if he three a small stone into a serene pond. Jason kept his fingers on the silver needed as silver light and shadows of different scenery flashed in his eyes and tens of voices whispered in his ears. This was a detection spell that was designed for navigating the world in the limbo, one he started learning a while back and finally got a hold of when he was in the Grant Academy. After looking for a while, he finally heard the trembling voice of Detective Lee: ¡°What - what are those? Have you seen those things before?¡± ¡°Yeah, I definitely have.¡± this was Aimee¡¯s panting voice: ¡°Stay low - don¡¯t make any sudden moves.¡± ¡°What - what are those things?¡± Detective Lee asked again: ¡°There¡¯s too many of them, we¡¯ll need weapons.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be able to find any here.¡± Aimee said: ¡°I think I know where we are - I¡¯ve read about it, it¡¯s the limbo.¡± Chapter 406 ¡°What? Limbo? ¡± Detective Lee asked while holding his injured arm and hidding in the bushes behind a townhouse: ¡°Forgive me for asking a ton of stupid questions then - like for one, what the fuck is a limbo?!¡± ¡°Calm down. It will literally do you a lot of good here.¡± Aimee tried once again with her spell, just this time she tried to get into contact with her power of mind and will instead of just her magical energy, and this time, a small shard of ice appeared floating above her palm: ¡°Okay, nice, I could still use some of my powers.¡± ¡°Can you try a healing spell on me then? My arm¡¯s killing me.¡± Detective Lee panted and said: ¡°And what IS this limbo?¡± ¡°It¡¯s like a special bubble, a special dreamland, where your mind can get sucked into.¡± Aimee took a deep breath then concentrated her power in her right hand, then placed her hand on Detective Lee¡¯s injured arm. A smooth and soothing chill ran up Detective Lee¡¯s arms, and his painful expression slowly faded away. ¡°This is but an illusion, you¡¯ll get injured, but the pain is not real, at least not as real as it feels.¡± Aimee felt that this spell expended quite a bit of her power, and she had to lay back on the wall of the townhouse: ¡°Tell me, Lee, do you recognize any of this place?¡± ¡°Yeah, kinda, this is - well it looks like the neighborhood my family lived in when I was still a child.¡± Detective Lee looked around: ¡°It¡¯s quite different from what I remember though - not just the color, but the way the street turns, and the streetlights - I don¡¯t think they¡¯re there.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because those are from my childhood neighborhood. ¡± Aimee looked from behind the townhouse to make sure the shadowy creatures from which they were trying to stay away were not following them anymore, but was disappointed and frustrated to see that they were still roaming and gradually approaching their positions. ¡°Fuck, these things are slow but really persistent, let¡¯s keep moving.¡± ¡°So this is a place that¡¯s a mashup of the elements from our own childhoods?¡± Detective Lee helped Aimee up and started moving through the bushes and shadows from the townhouses: ¡°Why?¡± ¡°From what I remember and what I could tell, it¡¯s a trap.¡± Aimee shook her head as she walked in careful but tired steps along with Detective Lee: ¡°Do you remember what we were doing before we got here? Anything at all?¡± ¡°Um...¡± Detective Lee thought for a while: ¡°... no ...¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Almost the same as me, I just remember that we were with a consultant. It¡¯s like I have some weird holes in my memories¡± Aimee said: ¡°I think those memories might be the keys for us to leave.¡± Just this moment, a few branches of pale while lightning lit up the sky, and it just kept expanding in its trajectories and shooting across the entire sky for the next few seconds. And there was all of a sudden a loud rumble from somewhere remote, like a series of explosions, or an earthquake. A wave of wind blew across the entire land, and it was the first wave they ever felt since they had been here. ¡°Let¡¯s get into that old house - it looks unlocked.¡± Detective Lee pointed at a single family house at the end of the townhouse buildings. ¡°No. Don¡¯t.¡± Aimee took just one look at that house, and her face turned even more pale: ¡°Nononono - don¡¯t go in there.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°That¡¯s my childhood haunted house.¡± Aimee frowned and coughed but she could not take her eyes off that house with an open door and cracked windows because of the terrible feeling that house gave her: ¡°Let¡¯s go around it.¡± Just this moment, an old bald man wearing a Plaid shirt and a pair of worn down khaki pants appeared behind the doors, and the face of an old woman appeared behind a broken window, both with an uncomfortably wide smile on their faces and their pupils glowing in green. ¡°Shit!¡± Aimee grabbed Detective Lee and pulled him to the side to hide behind a part of the townhouse beside them. Detective Lee seemed hypnotised and confused when he saw the old man and the old woman in that house. Their glowing eyes and smile seemed chilling and creepy but his mind seemed to be strangely attracted to them, and as he watched for longer and longer he felt that his consciousness withering away bit by bit, and only when Aimee pulled him aside and slapped him in the face a few times did he regained control of his mind, after a loud and long gasp. ¡°Shhhh!¡± Aimee immediately covered Detective Lee¡¯s mouth. A cough and wheezing sound approached, along with slow footsteps accompanied by the gentle stomps of a cane. These sounds were never threatening to either of them before, but now, the hairs on the back of their necks were standing. In the other direction, they could hear the moans of the wandering shadowy creatures with indefinite amounts of arms and legs getting closer and closer. Two loud screams came from the direction of the old house, then they heard something being torn up and ripped into pieces like that from a poked balloon. Then, they saw a familiar figure leapt in front of them and thrust his silver spear to the side, tens of silver shadows of spear tips shot out at the approaching shadowy creatures. Around six to eight shadowy creatures were impaled, then torn to shreds by the silver shadow spear tips. ¡°Okay.¡± Jason sheathed his silver pen-spear and asked Aimee and Detective Lee: ¡°How are you? How long have you been here?¡± ¡°Detective Lee is injured.¡± Aimee let out a sigh of relief: ¡°Can you heal him? I¡¯ve exhausted myself too much.¡± ¡°And we¡¯ve been here for around one day.¡± Detective Lee extended his injured arm at Jason and said: ¡°I - I remember you now. How did you get in here?¡± ¡°A limbo is just a realm of the mind, and if I want I can just come in.¡± Jason¡¯s palms shined in silver, the silver light coated Detective Lee¡¯s arm in silver as well: ¡°But we¡¯ve gotta hurry and get out of here - what have you figured out about this place? Looks like it¡¯s based on your memories?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you break us out directly?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°If I did, I can¡¯t guarantee that your minds will be intact, as this limbo is already slowly decomposing. ¡± Jason sighed and extended his hand at Aimee, projecting the silver light onto her. Chapter 407 Led by a silver pen-spear wielding Jason, Aimee and Detective Lee barged into the room that looked exactly like the childhood haunted house from Aimee¡¯s memories. The old creepy old couple that were once in the house were gone and nowhere to be seen, as they were just destroyed by Jason. ¡°Why are we here? Shouldn¡¯t we find our way out?¡± Aimee asked with a trembling voice. ¡°This is PROBABLY your way out.¡± Jason looked Aimee in the eyes and said: ¡°This, very likely, and I am pretty sure of it, is a memory based limbo. That means that the curse released by the magical trap inside of that man¡¯s body scanned your brains and your memories before pulling you in, and it created a link between your memories and the scenery of this place...¡± ¡°Which means the more concrete and detailed some random elements in the environment are, the closer the link is with my memories, and therefore my mind.¡± Aimee pointed at Jason, nodding: ¡°But how do we do that?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good question.¡± Jason sealed the room with a spell and warned Aimee and Detective Lee: ¡°Don¡¯t split up. Remember to not split up. Don¡¯t ever ever split up! Okay!? Important things are worth mentioning thrice.¡± ¡°Got it, got it. We¡¯re not idiots.¡± Detective Lee was just about to wander to another room before he heard Jason¡¯s warning and turned back, then a wide painting with a dark red and grey theme hanging on the living room wall caught his eyes: ¡°Hey, Chaver, your childhood haunted house - did it have that piece of gruesome painting?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know - I only went in once.¡± Aimee looked around as Jason looked around investigating the furniture and decorations in the living room: ¡°It was when I was still young, I went in with Thomas on a dare, and we had one flashlight with dying batteries we had to share. I can¡¯t remember what the inside was like though. I just remembered an old couple living inside.¡± ¡°Yeah. But I remember a painting like that at my aunt¡¯s house.¡± Detective Lee said: ¡°It¡¯s a gruesome one depicting a wolf man tearing up a lamb on the floor. It gave me countless nightmares when I was still a kid.¡± ¡°So this is a mashup of your childhood nightmares.¡± Jason looked around and said, then he brought out a thin silver needle and poked the painting with it. A different and strange vibe and aura came off from Jason once he poked the painting with his silver needle and his eyes started flashing with silver light, but it only lasted a few, no more than ten seconds.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Looks like this place is quite full of terror from your early memories.¡± Jason nodded and turned around. He then placed a small metal mirror on the floor: ¡°I think this is the suitable place. Let me break you out. Now, sit down, clear your mind and chant this with me: ¡®My heart will harbor fast wind¡¯. ¡± ¡°My heart will harbor fast wind.¡± Detective Lee and Aimee both sat down in front of Jason and chanted with him. ¡°My eyes will pierce the highest sky.¡± Jason continued. ¡°My eyes will pierce the highest sky.¡± Detective Lee and Aimee continued chanting with him. ¡°My ears will hear what¡¯s buried under thick earth. My mind will sense the waves of the lakes and rivers.¡± ¡°My ears will hear what¡¯s buried under thick earth ...¡± before Detective Lee and Aimee could react, the metal mirror all of a sudden flashed a bright white light, which shone through their eyelids and hurt their eyes even when they closed their eyes. The next instant, Jason split his silver pen-spear into two silver Chinese writing brushes and drew two symbols on Aimee and Detective Lee¡¯s stomachs with them. Then, he launched two soft palm strikes at the two symbols. The silver symbols grew and expanded, swiftly covering all of their bodies in silver. Then, with two sounds like that made by the sci-fi ray guns, Aimee and Detective Thomas turned into two bolts of silver light and shot up into the sky through the roof. Jason jumped straight up with his silver pen-spear in hand. When he thrust the pen-spear at the sky, a beam of silver energy shot out and surpassed the two bolts of light. A silver portal appeared in the sky, just in time for the two bolts of light to go through. When Jason fell back down, the house with a big hole on the roof below had already shifted in shape and size, and became a small mansion. But Jason purposely continued his fall even when he entered the house, and after tearing through the brick and concrete floor and the floor in the first level basement, he entered a giant underground room, with a luxurious chair on the far side, and shadows of men and women kneeling in front of the chair. When he concentrated on the chair, he could see the shadows of one young woman standing beside it, and a cloaked figure sitting on it. ¡°Go and collect everything you can.¡± the cloaked figure began speaking, and it was the sound of a distant, cold, emotionless old woman: ¡°And leave no trail behind. If you get caught, you know what to do.¡± Since Aimee and Detective Lee were already gone, it would be quite impossible for a piece of memory this detailed to still remain in this limbo. So this scene could only be the memory of someone else, and judging by what he was seeing, it must belong to one of the two men. Jason slowly walked towards the figure sitting on the chair, the closer he got the slower he walked and the more careful he was being. Eventually he came right up to the old woman and peeked underneath the hood. It was the face of a smiling old woman, yet the wrinkles on her face that made her look like a wooden figure, the lack of facial muscle indications that she was really smiling, and the all black eyes just gave Jason a really uncomfortable feeling. Just when Jason was about to look closer, the old woman opened up her mouth and opened his eyes wider, two forked tongues crawled out of her mouth and two streams of black smoke seeped through her eyes. ¡°Tsk - petty trick!¡± Jason thrust his pen-spear up at the old woman¡¯s lower jaw, and exploded the old woman¡¯s face entirely. A high-pitched scream came from the headless old woman¡¯s chest, but it was instantly silenced by a heavy palm strike from Jason, as the entire torso was blasted into smithereens by the one single hit. Though having stayed in the limbo for a bit longer, Jason turned out to be the first one to fully wake up. Aimee woke up around half a minute later, and Detective Lee three minutes after her. Chapter 408 ¡°You can have the ledger, and him for all I care, but let go of my friends first.¡± Caroline stepped on the almost half dead leader lycan¡¯s chest: ¡°Let go of them, and this doesn¡¯t have to get ugly.¡± ¡°Ugly?¡± the bartender snickered then pointed at the hole on the wall: ¡°Then what do you call this?¡± ¡°Collateral damage.¡± Caroline coughed again, but still keeping her eyes on the bartender and her three henchmen: ¡°Do you want the ledger or not? You can have the ledger, and you can have this entire bar.¡± ¡°How uninteresting of you.¡± the bartender shook her head then laughed out loud: ¡°Aren¡¯t you even a little bit curious what¡¯s on the ledger? ¡± ¡°I don¡¯t give a fuck.¡± Caroline narrowed her eyes at the bartender: ¡°Stop wasting my time.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have any leverage. So you¡¯d better comply.¡± the man standing beside the bartender said in a cold voice: ¡°Be careful with your attitude. With one order, your friends¡¯ brains will be spilled all over the floor.¡± ¡°It¡¯d be a shame if that happens.¡± the bartender chuckled and said: ¡°I mean, it¡¯d be a bitch to clean everything up, but it will be too bad for you.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Caroline took a deep breath, took out her flask and took a big gulp: ¡°And do you think you¡¯ll be able to live if you did that? Let¡¯s not forget, I alone did this to your boss. If you didn¡¯t even dare do it yourselves, what makes you think you can survive my wrath, huh? Would you feel this whole thing worthwhile if I am the one who ends up with the ledger and this bar?¡± ¡°Oh, I am willing to bet that we¡¯d both like to have a friendly exchange instead of a horrible fight like that.¡± the bartender sighed and put up a friendly smile: ¡°What do you say?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve wasted enough of my time already.¡± Caroline said: ¡°Let go of my friends, and you can do whatever you want with this man.¡± ¡°No.¡± finally realizing that her charms and hypnotic spells were not taking any effect on Caroline, the bartender¡¯s facial expression changed and gave Caroline a short, cold and decisive answer: ¡°You hand him over first. THEN we will uncuff your friends.¡± Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°Not gonna happen.¡± Caroline shook her head, while casually stretching and flexing her right fist behind her back: ¡°You let go of my friends first - I have no use for this fucking ledger.¡± ¡°But your friends, who are from the ¡®SJPD¡¯ would still like to have this ledger, don¡¯t they?¡± the bartender said: ¡°Hand him over, NOW! Or I will order my men to shoot!¡± Caroline sighed, then slid the leader lycan forward to the bartender and the man beside her with her foot: ¡°Now, you can have him.¡± ¡°Now, that¡¯s better.¡± the bartender stepped on the leader lycan with her feet in a black leather boot and a bright smile on her face, then she nodded at the two henchmen with their hands pointed at Thomas and Detective Kuhn¡¯s heads. The two men nodded back at the bartender, then laid off their guns and uncuffed Thomas and Detective Kuhn. But the two henchmen immediately pointed their guns at Thomas and Detective Kuhn the moment they were free. ¡°Thank you, young lady.¡± the bartender and the other henchman with her also pulled out their guns and pointed at Caroline: ¡°Get out of my bar, now! And don¡¯t try anything funny, or we¡¯ll open fire. These guns are the same grade with the anti-power-wielder weapons issued to agents of the Division. I wouldn¡¯t want to try if the bullets work.¡± ¡°Fuck, I am so sorry Caroline.¡± Thomas walked to Caroline¡¯s side and apologized: ¡°I was caught off guard - these men, they might not be lycans but they¡¯re insanely strong.¡± ¡°No worries, this is clearly a trap and we¡¯re all duped.¡± Caroline shook her head and said to the bartender: ¡°Will you at least give me my weapons back?¡± ¡°No.¡± the henchman standing beside the bartender said: ¡°Your weapons stay.¡± Caroline sighed and clenched her fist while staring at the bartender and the three henchmen: ¡°You just have to push it, don¡¯t you?¡± Then, her lips moved, but did not make any sound. Thomas, on the other hand, moved his hands behind his back and started preparing a spell. ¡°Give her the weapon.¡± the bartender said. ¡°No.¡± the henchman said: ¡°We can¡¯t. If she has them back we¡¯d be in danger.¡± ¡°She¡¯ll honor the deal if we honor ours.¡± the bartender said to the henchman with a warning tone: ¡°Give, her, back, her, weapons!¡± ¡°No!¡± the henchman still refused. Caroline raised her left arm at the shield and battle axe stashed behind the counter, and her translucent shield and battle axe instantly broke through the bar counter and shot towards her, throwing the reluctant henchman in the air in the process. ¡°Thomas!¡± Caroline caught the shield and axe in her hand, and immediately conjured an energy wall between them and the bartender and her henchmen. ¡°Bang bang bang bang!¡± the two still standing henchmen and the bartender opened fire, the bullets were indeed quite powerful, even with its toughness and sturdiness amplified by Caroline¡¯s shield, the energy wall was cracked up and almost completely penetrated by the enchanted bullets. Thomas clapped his hands in the air, and a ring of flame, light and lightning exploded from his palms. This spell cost Thomas almost all of his power and his power of mind and will, and its power was way beyond he imagined - the ring of various explosive energy blast the bartender and her henchmen away, tore down all the walls of the bar and incinerated almost all the furnitures in the bar. ¡°Holy shit dude.¡± Detective Kuhn looked around at the splinters and debris around them with awe: ¡°You should¡¯ve used that earlier.¡± ¡°Yeah, well...¡± Thomas almost fell to the ground, if not for Caroline catching him in time: ¡°This one¡¯s pretty taxing.¡± ¡°Here.¡± Caroline held Thomas up and handed him her flask: ¡°Drink. You did good.¡± Chapter 409 The liquid in the pool, or the Spring of Knowledge of the Temple of Knowledge did not feel as dense as either Professor Atkinson or Dolores thought. In fact, it was quite light and thin, not that dissimilar from a normal swimming pool with water inside, aside from the strange glowing streams with words, characters and symbols within them, and undercurrents whose trajectories formed into different symbols and words flowing around them. When they were slowly sinking towards the shining bottom, both felt like they were being gently pulled down by an invisible force. Though surrounded by liquid, both Professor Atkinson and Dolores noticed almost immediately that they were totally able to breathe even when their whole bodies were entirely under the surface. Though they were not aware how this worked, they¡¯d decided not to spare any effort on figuring things out, but focused their minds on soaking in the knowledge and information from the pool. The pool was named the Spring of Knowledge, and after Professor Atkinson and Dolores got swallowed by it, they were gradually made aware of what it truly meant. For them, the pool became something like a very responsive Q&A machine, one that as long as they were able to endure the consequences and weight, they could get an answer to almost anything. What seemed strange and inordinary, however, was that the answers provided to them seemed to be uttered by different individuals with different voices; sometimes, the voices that provided an answer could even switch mid-sentence. Professor Atkinson rubbed his temples while his body was still slowly sinking to the bottom, because he just asked what turned out to be a really weighted question of the pool - he asked what the origin of the ¡°husks¡± were - and the answer was quite shocking, but yet not totally unexpected: that the birth of husks were due to the deteriorating condition of the elemental realms to the original void. ¡°Professor, I think - I think this pool water somehow enhanced our abilities to withstand the weight of knowledge.¡± Dolores looked at Professor Atkinson with her eyes strangely glowing in a pale light: ¡°It feels like some kind of blessing.¡± ¡°Yeah, I noticed.¡± Professor Atkinson sighed then looked down at the bottom of the pool: ¡°But be careful, I don¡¯t think we can gauge how much weight this blessing could lessen, or how long it will last.¡± ¡°Of course. You as well - I don¡¯t think I will be able to bring you back if your brains are burnt.¡± Dolores looked at Professor Atkinson with a smile, as she could tell that the professor himself couldn¡¯t help himself and had asked a pretty weighted question already.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. The gentle force that kept pulling them downward was not from the pool, nor was it from anything outside, but something Professor Atkinson brought with him - the black scythe that was the symbol of the contract between them and Xyn. Just when they thought they would keep sinking down until they reached the absolute bottom of the pool, they felt that their descent started slowing down and eventually coming to a stop. The black scythe, on the other hand, got away from Professor Atkinson and kept on sinking, and sunk into the shining and bright and blurry bottom like it was a portal shrouded by thick mist and fog with a strong light source behind. Two thin pale energy chains shot out from the bottom like a couple of grappling hooks and wrapped around the left wrists of both Dolores and Professor Atkinson. Neither of them were prepared for this and tried to shake the chains off, but some kind of extremely cold energy crawled from the other end of the bottom and on their wrists, then into their veins, and then their brains and hearts. Some kind of broken pieces of visions started flashing right before their eyes, they didn¡¯t make much if any sense to either of them at the moment, but that did not stop the terrible feeling effect of being struck with weighted knowledge - they felt as if their skins, their veins, all of their internal organs were burning and churning, extremely powerful electrical currents seemed to be coursing through their whole body while their entire bodies were locked in their places, and they couldn¡¯t even twitch or move or roll around in pain. Both Professor Atkinsonand Dolores saw a giant grey stalactite, hanging from the sky and not attached to anything above. Some kind of condensed and shiny liquid slowly rolled down from the root of the stalactite, and it seemed to be harnessing an unimaginable amount of power and energy with every in it crawled. Though it was just a vision, Professor Atkinson and Dolores could both feel some kind of unknown energy field radiated from the liquid and the stalactite, which pressed upon their chests, shoulders and faces like invisible and untouchable weights. After a few very long seconds, the liquid dripped from the tip of the stalactite, but before it could travel far, a grey hand made of solidified fog caught it and held it in its palm. Then, the hand waved, and the liquid turned into thousands and thousands of streams of energy and shot across the sky, becoming firestorms, blinding thunder, fiery meteors, hail, rolling clouds and countless other phenomena of nature. It might not be totally fitting to call them phenomena of nature, since the professor and Dolores could sense something special and different about them. And on the backs of their heads, they knew what it was. Some kind of dark beam came from the ¡°ground¡± below that giant stalactite and shot into the sky, even though neither Professor Atkinson nor Dolores could see where and what the ¡°ground¡± was, as their angle and area of vision was limited. But what they could tell, was that the ¡°ground¡± was being torn apart, and something dark, chaotic and full of corruption came out, and the large stalactite was directly impacted by this sudden outburst. ¡°Boom!¡± the serene surface of the pool was disturbed in probably the most violent way possible, as something exploded from beneath, throwing both Professor Atkinson and Dolores out into the air and away from the pool. Precious liquid was splashed and spilled on the floor and onto everyone standing beside the pool waiting for the two humans to come out. The next moment, the liquid from the entire pool gushed into the air, to an almost invisible height. Chapter 410 Inside the Grant Academy, or what was left of it. It took more than one and a half months for all the staff and cleaner crews hired by the school administration to remove all of the corruptive and corrosive liquid left by the shapeshifting and almost unkillable monster released from some secret underground passage. But even so, there were still many areas where they had to shut off using expensive sealing arrays to keep the extremely toxic gas and smog released by the flesh of the monster from leaking out and damaging the school buildings and infrastructure some more. Almost no students still remained in the school, almost. All the students that came from rich and privileged families went back to their families, and most of the students that came from normal families went back as well - all those remained were students who came from normal and even civilian backgrounds that were hardworking and willing to take some risk to work for the academy during this time to earn some stipends and lessen the load of tuition - since this was a special opportunity during a dire time, the monetary values of the stipends were quite generous. Under the crimson rock castle of the Hellbruck House, there was a huge spacious dungeon with very limited lighting but an abundance of chains, locks and even instruments of imprisonment, interrogation and even torture. This place was usually locked up behind several doors, not accessible for any students and was restricted for the absolute majority of the staffers of the academy and even those that work for the Hellbruck House. And right now, one man was locked inside of a metal cage with all of his limbs chained up, and a metal medallion with a restraining array engraved on it placed around his neck. On the bars of the metal cage, there were also symbols engraved. Right now, the symbols were giving off a strange purple glow, which was partially fueled by the energy stones buried in the floors and walls, and partially fueled by the energy sucked out from the chained up man. ¡°Agent Bozeman. It¡¯s been a while.¡± a female voice resounded inside the dungeon. ¡°Professor Clarkson.¡± the man answered in a weak and wheezing voice: ¡°I thought this place was restricted for Hellbruck House staffers only.¡± ¡°Well, as a headmistress of the academy, I am able to get around a few rules.¡± the figure of Professor Dorothea Clarkson was soon revealed under the dim torchlights around the metal cage: ¡°Have you thought about our offer yet?¡± ¡°I am going to tell you what I¡¯ve told you and your colleagues a thousand times.¡± Agent Bozeman scoffed and shook his head: ¡°I don¡¯t know anything. Even if I know the answer I can¡¯t tell you. Ask me something else.¡±You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s too bad. But we¡¯re most interested in the answer to THAT simple question. You don¡¯t have to give us the full details on what their names are, what they do and where they live - you can just give us some details that could help us find it out.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson pulled a chair from the side and sat down in front of the metal cage: ¡°We already know about this so-called ¡®codex¡¯ you were looking for, turns out some other groups are also looking for it, surprise, huh?¡± ¡°Not really.¡± Agent Bozeman coughed like he was about to break his lungs, then tried to jiggle the chains to make himself slightly more comfortable: ¡°It¡¯s a highly sought after item, one that the Grant Academy had in its possession for this long and yet known nothing about. Guess the ivory tower does dull the senses of appreciation.¡± ¡°Well, what do you expect me to say to that, sorry for being among the ones with formal training and best equipped to decipher the secrets of the world?¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson smiled and shook her head: ¡°But, do entertain me, what is this ¡®codex¡¯ to you? And be careful with your answer, because we have the answers from other surfaced agents from other groups in our custody as well, and we will be very happy to hold it against you.¡± ¡°Pfft, what do they even know? ¡± Agent Bozeman answered with visible contempt: ¡°Did they say that the ¡®codex¡¯ is a strong spell book? Or did they think it¡¯s some magical sword from some random ancient magical civilization that could rule the world?¡± ¡°Maybe, they gave us some really vivid descriptions on how magical and powerful it is, and how their coven or organization is going to use it to reshape the world in a much better image.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson scoffed: ¡°And what¡¯s your version, I wonder?¡± ¡°Well, sometimes things are not about that big a picture, you know?¡± Agent Bozeman coughed again: ¡°Sometimes it¡¯s just about personal vendetta.¡± ¡°Personal vendetta? Such as?¡± ¡°Such as - being a bunch of privileged dicks and presuming that the pain and suffering you inflict on others is just what your victims deserve.¡± ¡°Oh, and is this about revenge then? How could this ¡®codex¡¯, one that I heard is nothing but a simple silver box, help with such a noble and generous goal?¡± ¡°Too bad, but I¡¯m going to keep you hanging there.¡± Agent Bozeman looked up at Professor Clarkson and said with a smile: ¡°You may have to keep guessing, because this is all I¡¯m going to tell you today.¡± ¡°Well them. I think I¡¯ve got enough already. Thank you for your cooperation.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson did not flinch at Agent Bozeman¡¯s attempt to agitate her, and walked out of the dungeon with a smile on her face as well. ¡°Remind me again why we can¡¯t just use the tools in there?¡± Professor Barnes was waiting outside the dungeon with Glenda Grimes. ¡°Because we still need to hand him to the law enforcement in one piece, mostly.¡± Glenda Grimes sighed and rolled her eyes. ¡°I think he¡¯s telling the truth.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson sighed and said: ¡°The mental block magic is still strong, but we¡¯re slowly getting through - he definitely couldn¡¯t tell us about the personal vendetta thing a few days before...¡± Just this moment, a beam of light descended from the sky and landed somewhere within the main building of the Academy. ¡°What the - who¡¯s using the personnel teleportation portal now?!¡± Chapter 411 When Professor Dorothea Clarkson, Professor Barnes and Glenda Grimes rushed to the common building, they found that it was Professor Atkinson and his research assistant Dolores Brooke. ¡°Professor Atkinson, what brought you back? ¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson immediately walked up to the two who just walked out of the room with a portal inside: ¡°I already approved your application for emergency leave - and you still have time.¡± ¡°Thank you Headmistress, but we have already stayed in the elemental realm for longer than we expected.¡± Dolores shook her head: ¡°And we will just need some time to process some information - what happened here anyway? Anything we can help you with?¡± ¡°You probably missed it while you were taking shelter. But some giant shape shifting monster emerged from an unknown underground passageway, and started just wreaking havoc in the campus.¡± Professor Barnes sighed: ¡°We had some casualties as well. And when we finally drove it away, the body parts and blood it left behind turned corrosive. We¡¯re still trying to clean everything up. Maybe you can help us a bit with that at your convenience.¡± ¡°Yeah, that part I think I indeed missed. I just knew you were fighting a monster and there were toxic fumes everywhere.¡± Professor Atkinson looked confused, and a little lost, and his eyes were shining in some unusual colors: ¡°Have you caught Lauren Biggins?¡± ¡°No, unfortunately. She¡¯s gone for now, along with the information on the whereabouts of almost half of our energy stone reserve.¡± Glenda Grimes sighed with Professor Barnes: ¡°We had to ask Josephine Wong for help on that, but we lost track of her and no one has any clear leads on where she might have gone to...¡± ¡°Hold on, hold on.¡± Dolores and Professor Atkinson tried to ask some more questions about the circumstances in the academy, but Professor Dorothea Clarkson cut them off: ¡°Did you just say the elemental realm? I would like a full debrief or report on what you know.¡± ¡°Understood, Headmistress, but I think we¡¯re going to take some time to rest first.¡± Professor Atkinson nodded and said: ¡°Even with the badge from an Elemental Lord, the effect of the elemental realm on us has been quite ¡­ unpleasant.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. And go to their respective living quarters to rest they did - the effect of the elemental realm struck them the moment they came out of the portal, like some kind of acute infection. The feelings of fatigue, dry mouth, body aches and dizziness gradually grew stronger and stronger as time went by, and eventually Dolores fell into a coma-like slumber when she barely got to her bed, while Professor Atkinson just fell passed out on his desk because he tried to write down something that just came to his mind. Taking notes was one of the things they indeed planned to do before they came back, because of all of the information they gained from the Spring of Knowledge as well as the vision passed to them by the black scythe given to them by Xyn as a token of their contract. The information and knowledge they gained was not without cost, however. In fact, the cost was quite high, it was just that they were not the ones who paid, it was the elementals and the pool that held the liquid from the Spring of Knowledge. After the black scythe sank below the bottom of the pool and they saw the visions that were very likely the metaphorical representations of the root cause and the effect of the rupture, all of the Spring of Knowledge started boiling, rumbling and eventually built up to a violent eruption at the sky. According to Bethemox, the guardian of the Temple of Knowledge and the keeper of the pool, if it was ages before, the eruption would mean that the knowledge contained in the pool be dispersed out into the elemental realms and be gradually revealed to the voidborns who seek the knowledge. But much had changed since those days and now the knowledge practically just became letters written on metal plates and sent into space to float randomly across the vast universe, with a close to nil chance of being received and decoded. Bethemox was perfectly calm and patient and even a bit curious as to what really happened when he explained this to them, but the other elementals who viewed the Temple of Knowledge as a sacred site immediately became concerned, then shocked, then furious. Eventually Lin¡¯Er had to send them back while she and Bethemox tried to calm the crowd down. There was one thing they decided that they would like to investigate if given the chance right after they were ejected from inside the pool, of which they didn¡¯t have to take note, was the information provided to them by Lun Wang, one of Jianmen¡¯s avatars. In the envelope Lun Wang gave them before they departed from the academy to find Paulo Chang in Hong Kong, was but a simple letter, written on a piece of enchanted parchment in some kind of special red ink that read: ¡°Professor, Dolores, this could probably help you with your search for the descendant the one who gave you the contract so desperately wants to find. According to the intel I gathered, the void, or what¡¯s left of it, is about to give birth to a new voidborn for the first time since millennia ago. The timing is a bit too convenient to ignore or treat as coincidence, so I would suggest you do some checking on your end if you feel like you are having trouble finding any leads. Hope this information did not give you too much trouble.¡± When both of them opened their eyes, they found that they were no longer at the Grant Academy, but were on the stairs behind the stone gates under the temple, in which they met Xyn with the company of Lun Wang. A strange feeling filled their senses - they felt like, almost out of nowhere, they had a special connection to the mist and fog on this flight of stairs and in the air. What was more, was that they were able to see Xyn¡¯s real appearance - a giant shadowy and somewhat humanoid figure, with four eyes on his head, several arms connected to his shoulders and his back, with a huge pale white scythe in two of his hands and broken armors and clothing on his body. Under the broken armor, they could see some gruesome looking wounds, some of the more grievous of which seemed to be temporarily stitched up by some red threads. Chapter 412 ¡°Xyn? Is that you?¡± Professor Atkinson asked, while trying to sense his body - his torso, his hands and legs, his pulses and his heart, but somehow, he had no feeling of their presence at all, yet he could still see, hear and feel everything around them: ¡°How are we here?¡± ¡°Professor, I don¡¯t think we¡¯re physically here.¡± Dolores had her eyes on Professor Atkinson, and all she could see Professor Atkinson¡¯s figure - it was not Professor Atkinson himself at all, but that of a body made of mist and fog, and barely looking like Professor Atkinson: ¡°I think - I think only our minds are transported here, but our bodies should still be in our rooms.¡± Professor Atkinson turned around, and he could see that Dolores was behind him - and all he saw was a body made of mist and fog that sort of looked like Dolores, yet he knew in his heart that it was her. ¡°I ¡­ I ¡­ I have something to tell you.¡± though Xyn looked like he was still in his weakened, but still incredibly powerful state, his voice sounded much weaker than he looked, and even with a little emotion of ¡­ sadness and devastation. Dolores, assuming she knew what Xyn was going to tell them, immediately waved her hands: ¡°No - no need, we already knew about it, from the outskirts of the temples.¡± ¡°No - nonono, it¡¯s not ¡­ you don¡¯t understand.¡± Xyn sounded eager and in a hurry: ¡°You have to listen - when I forged the scythe, it was a part of me, and had all of my blessings on it. So whatever situation this scythe finds itself in, my mind, my eyes and ears will be there as well.¡± ¡°So what happened in the Spring of Knowledge, that was you?¡± Dolores asked. ¡°Partially.¡± Xyn answered, his four eyes all showed a painful look: ¡°Am I correct in assuming that you have already known about the rupture, and what has caused it?¡± ¡°You caused it.¡± both Professor Atkinson and Dolores said. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Xyn¡¯s four eyes narrowed at the same time, and both Professor Atkinson and Dolores felt in an instant an invisible force had locked on them and grabbed them up like two giant hands - and even though their bodies were not present in this place, they had no doubt if Xyn wanted he could have caused them real physical harm. ¡°How did you know?¡± Xyn asked with a stern and suspicious voice: ¡°Who told you?¡± ¡°Nobody told us - we just kinda figured it out.¡± Professor Atkinson said: ¡°The preserved and rebuilt temples, the overall structure of their rebuilt ¡®holy land¡¯, and the fact that you told us you built this place, and you were the first one of the voidborns to have ascended to Godhood. It¡¯s an educated guess at first, by connecting the dots - but the more we think about it, the more likely this guess becomes. And eventually, when we were struck by the effect of true knowledge, we just knew this had to be true.¡± Two streams of tears rolled down from the corners of Xyn¡¯s eyes: ¡°I don¡¯t know - I didn¡¯t even know - how could this be? Why?¡± His tears were dense and heated, and when they dripped onto the floor both Professor Atkinson and Dolores could sense the whole temple shakin, and the temperature in the air rising. ¡°Tell me what you saw, when you reached the bottom of the pool.¡± it took a while for Xyn to collect himself: I was so overcome with greed and hunger when that scythe sank deep inside the Spring of Knowledge and even into the core of the entire pool, that I was not prepared for the weight of the knowledge and memories. And thus, even though I am the builder of the pool and the one who collected the first spoon of spring in the pool, all I could do was to seal the knowledge in the scythe and resist the temptation of peaking in.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Professor Atkinson and Dolores exchanged looks, then proceeded to share with Xyn the visions they had. And only through the retelling of their visions did they also realize that their visions had some subtle differences: for instance, the hand that caught the dripping liquid, inside Dolores¡¯ vision the hand was grey and with a shade of dark red, while inside Professor Atkinson¡¯s vision it was grey with a shade of dark green; another example was that the stalactite in Professor Atkinson¡¯s vision was rough on the surface and solid in color, but in Dolores¡¯ vision it was smooth on the surface and had a noticeable transparent membrane on the outside like it was coated with a thin layer of glass or crystal. ¡°I understand now.¡± Xyn¡¯s voice was initially calm, but the he fell back and sat on a broken throne made of grey stone and high density fog energy: ¡°I understand now ¡­ hahahahahaha¡­¡± he started laughing, but neither Dolores nor Professor Atkinson could sense any joy or relief in his laughter. A small portal appeared in the air, and the next instant, the black scythe Xyn gave to Professor Atkinson and Dolores fell out of it and floated in front of Xyn¡¯s face. ¡°I will hold this with me for now - for I have many questions.¡± Xyn said: ¡°Thank you for all you¡¯ve done. Come to me before you embark on your next journey to what once was my realm under my dominion. My descendant is still out there.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ I have a question!¡± Dolores raised her arm, but a strong wind blew a wall of fog through her and Professor Atkinson, and she found out the arm she raised was the one attached to her actual body in her personal living quarters inside of the Grant Academy: ¡°... what is that liquid you collected?!¡± ¡°You already know.¡± Xyn¡¯s voice seemed to have traveled from a distant time and space and resounded inside of her head. Chapter 413 In the same underground room in which Caroline, Jason, Thomas and Aimee spent a lot of time training, the array at the center was burning in a golden and orange flames, instead of purple like usual. The walls of the room were thus coated with orange and golden light, and a different kind of energy aura filled the room - one that would help revitalize the internal flow of energy inside of the bodies of the people in the room, instead of speeding up the time. And on the side of the fire, it was Jianmen and Jianmen alone who were practicing the Kung-Fu moves. Josephine Wong was standing on the side, with the wheelchair Jianmen had been using to roll around inside of the inn and even places nearby, watching his moves. It did not take long before she realized that his moves were quite similar to those of Caroline and Jason - in fact around 80% of these movesets consisted of similar moves, and the other 20% was different and tailored to each person practicing it. ¡°Boom!¡± ¡°Boom!¡± ¡°Boom!¡± with each strike or kick, a small explosion erupted from Jianmen¡¯s fist, elbow, feet or kneecap. Cinders and sparks flew off from the explosions, and kept burning in the air for a short while before they faded away. The first set of moves were done in a little more than five minutes, and it was due to the fact that Jianmen was practicing it slowly, almost as slowly as the Tai Chi practice done by a lot of older folks. After the first set, Jianmen started doing the second set. His moves were a little different this time from the first as well. This time, his moves seemed less aggressive and more defensive, and his movements had become even slower. And this time, only the defensive moves caused movements of energy, his blocks and parries each caused the solidification of some kind of light brown energy shield on his forearms and shins. After he was done with the two sets of moves, Jianmen came back to the wooden wheelchair and sat down. Then with a snap of his fingers, the orange and golden fire died down. ¡°So your physical therapy went well?¡± Josephine Wong asked as she rolled Jianmen out of the room. ¡°It could have gone better. But I¡¯ll try to get more warmed up next time.¡± Jianmen sighed: ¡°How¡¯s the meeting with the Division? Had any interesting meetings?¡± ¡°¡®Interesting¡¯ would be the last word anyone would use to describe any meetings that happened, are happening and will happen in the Division.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head and walked through a door to enter the diner: ¡°But I did receive some kinda interesting intel - the conflicts between some of the High Brokers of the Exalted Bondsmen have continued to escalate - we know that at least two groups of players had been trying to get their hands on the ¡®codex¡¯. It¡¯s an all out war, but luckily we haven¡¯t seen that bleeding into the civilian world - yet.¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°And who are these two groups?¡± Jianmen waved his hand at a pot of coffee, the pot was lifted into the air and filled a cup, then the cup flew to him and landed on the wheelchair¡¯s armrest. ¡°Carol Summers, Soren Lupei in one group, and potentially Lucias Vyn in another group. The high brokers cannot even meet now.¡± Josephine Wong sighed: ¡°But that¡¯s all we were briefed - it¡¯s not that useful in stopping the war¡± ¡°Woah, so you¡¯ve got their names already?¡± Jianmen drank up half a cup of coffee and asked. ¡°Just knowing their names is not gonna help much.¡± Josephine Wong chuckled: ¡°You know that the Exalted Bondsmen existed like it is today because the Division basically lets it, out of operational and executive necessity right? We even have someone from a well known magical family amongst the high brokers. Not to mention - well, not to mention our friends who were not human.¡± ¡°How about the true names? Don¡¯t you have someone who can do something with their true names? For example, Carol Summers and her real name - Beverly Winters?¡± Jianmen shrugged: ¡°Kind of an interesting choice of a name, if you asked me.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have that kind of power wielders amongst us.¡± Josephine Wong said: ¡°Sadly for me and what we want to do now, and luckily for the big picture.¡± ¡°What about the group that attacked our students? Any idea on who they work for?¡± Jianmen sent the cup back to the table where it was placed. ¡°Powered mercenaries, unregistered and not all of them were found in our database. The ones we did find were known to be scoundrels with no loyalty to anyone, so hard to tell who their employer was.¡± Josephine Wong said: ¡°That necromancer you almost killed - Timothy Durbin, he¡¯s gone underground for quite a long while and it¡¯s only recently we found traces of his activities, aside from your report, but we all know how the Division treats your report. He has no known affiliations, so we are operating under the assumption that he¡¯s out for hire.¡± ¡°What about that girl - Emilia Corin?¡± ¡°Young girl from a local crime family - the Corin family, had no records of that kind of superpower or affiliations with any powered groups. Someone must¡¯ve trained her and given her the artifacts she used. It¡¯s got to be one of the unsavory High Brokers. But unfortunately, we don¡¯t have any more than that.¡± ¡°We can try divination when I am fully recovered.¡± Jianmen stretched his neck: ¡°And¡­ you wanna tell me about the war you¡¯ve been preparing for?¡± Josephine Wong sighed, then she grabbed a chair and sat down in front of Jianmen: ¡°I¡¯ve alerted the Division, but unfortunately, not many understand the severity of the situation. I think I am close to running out of favors to call.¡± ¡°Your team¡¯s still with you, right?¡± ¡°Yes, but judging from what happened at the hospital we could barely handle one defiler.¡± Josephine Wong looked Jianmen in the eyes: ¡°I will call people I know from the academy for help - Professor Kapur, Tony, Glenda, even Dorothea if I have to. But it¡¯s not gonna be enough.¡± ¡°You can bring your team to train here. I will share my library with them on how to fight defilers.¡± Jianmen said: ¡°And the crystals - I can break up some of them to help you make a few of those swords.¡± ¡°But - but what about you? Don¡¯t you need them?¡± Chapter 414 ¡°I can find some more, just cleaning up some karmic pollutants would be enough - it¡¯s just paychecks from the Will.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°I¡¯m gonna need to give them back anyway.¡± ¡°Give them back? What do you mean?¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jianmen took a long breath, as if he needed to prepare for what he was about to say: ¡°So, simple introductory lecture on universe-hopping: first, you will need to find an ¡®anchor¡¯ in your destination universe - it could be either a vision, or just a simple piece of memory; second, you need to be powerful enough to create a tunnel that¡¯s steady enough, the tunnel doesn¡¯t have to be all the way through, but it needs to be stable; and third, you will need to have the crystals for two purposes: first, you have to infuse yourself with its energy so that when you break into the other universe, your presence would not be annihilated by the Will of the other universe due to your lack of karma chains; and second, you will need those crystals to mend the damage you did to your previous world, because you have to literally break off from the karma chains of your original universe in order to enter the new one. ¡± ¡°Okay, but what happens if you don¡¯t mend your previous world? Is that part really necessary?¡± ¡°It¡¯s technically not, but it¡¯s a major dick move, and it will very likely cause you more harm than if you did.¡± Jianmen chuckled and laid back on his wheelchair: ¡°You know, breaking the karmic chains has been the major source of my injuries ever since I¡¯ve been in this world - they are corrupted chains, but it still hurts like a bitch to break them off.¡± ¡°And even that - ¡± Josephine Wong sighed and her eyes became slightly evasive: ¡°Even with this hefty a cost - you¡¯d still want to do it again?¡± Jianmen went silent for a while, then said: ¡°Let me know what kind of power you will need and what forces you are trying to recruit so we¡¯re not targeting the same potential allies. I can try to arrange some meetings with some people I know. The Depth Dwellers still owed me some favors, and so do some other groups of power wielders. And I am looking to try to win some favors from a fallen ¡­ well, I mean a very powerful guy who has ties to the elementals.¡± Josephine Wong¡¯s eyes flickered, and she went along with Jianmen¡¯s change of subject: ¡°Speaking of Elementals, I spoke with Paulo Chang, but he - how should I say, he¡¯s not very fond of what I proposed.¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°What can I say, you should¡¯ve sent a foodie in your stead, or a lightning mage, or just an academic with no political ambition.¡± Jianmen laughed out loud: ¡°Did you at least bring wine?¡± ¡°I did, some of the best elixirs we have in storage.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head with a frustrated smile: ¡°But according to him, he as a newly anointed Elemental Lord has no authority to march into war, not with enough forces to help us.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a load of bullshit.¡± Jianmen frowned: ¡°He¡¯s just asking for a price.¡± ¡°Tell me about it. I asked him what he wanted in return, and he just said he would need time to think about it.¡± Josephine Wong took out her buzzing phone and skimmed the various messages she just received. Then her facial expression changed and she had to stand up: ¡°Okay, looks like my team just found something from that relic. But we¡¯re also having a bit of a situation. I¡¯m gonna go and check it out, you wanna come with me?¡± ¡°My pleasure. Is One Eye there?¡± Jianmen rolled himself to the fridge and asked. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Okay, then forgive me madam I¡¯m gonna need a drink.¡± Jianmen opened the freezer on his fridge and took out a spherical glass jar covered with ice and frost filled with some thick dark brown liquid. He shook the jar a few times, seemingly to make sure that the liquid was not frozen solid. ¡°So you¡¯re using this now?¡± Josephine Wong frowned as Jianmen drank from the spherical glass jar and his face all twitched up like he was drinking something extremely spicy: ¡°I thought it was saved for special occasions.¡± ¡°This IS a special occasion.¡± Jianmen let out an ¡°ah¡± like someone who just drank some really cold beer, but his frown indicated that it was not something that he particularly enjoyed: ¡°It¡¯s my first appearance, and our first since the hospital. If there¡¯s gonna be someone on the outside, I¡¯d better appear ready.¡± ¡°Politics, never thought I¡¯d hear this from you.¡± Josephine Wong chuckled as she watched the dark liquid take effect on Jianmen¡¯s body. This was a special oil, the recipe to which was dug out from an old archive and completed by them quite a while back, right after meeting and getting to know each other in Realm Greenrock. Its effect was that it would seal off a major portion of one¡¯s power, but at the same time it would also suppress the injuries, trauma, sickness and even ingested poison inside of one¡¯s body and soul. Thus, drinking this oil would allow Jianmen to move and even use some of his Xuanli relatively freely and without any obvious hint of injuries and his significantly weakened state, but it also meant that he would only be able to use a small portion of his Xuanli, and his recovery would be stifled and even partially reversed course. Yet, this was something Jianmen felt in his heart he must do, not just for himself but also for Josephine Wong. The aftermath of the incident at Clearwater Municipal Hospital was not only that Josephine Wong¡¯s team lost a few powerful teammates and many agents. It was also that the local departments of the Division had shown a sign of weakness, which created a power imbalance in the area. This, Jianmen believed, was one of the key reasons that some of the High Brokers of the Exalted Bondsmen dared to stir up a war at this time. After a few seconds, Jianmen put the jar back into the freezer and blew out a stream of smoke and cinder. The next moment, he stood up from the wooden wheelchair and stretched his body: ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s put on a show.¡± ¡°Rash, can you watch the inn while we¡¯re gone?¡± Josephine Wong asked Rash, who was playing with Snowball behind the reception¡¯s desk. ¡°Alright, travel safe!¡± Chapter 415 It was night time, the weather was nice and the winds were cool. Xianshi Inn was at its normal serene environment, with the light and pleasant smell of flowers in the air. A black car pulled into the parking lot with three women inside. Each of them had a distinct hair color, which also seemed to matched the main theme color of their clothes: the woman with red hair was wearing mostly dark red shirt and long trousers and a black jacket; the woman with brown hair was wearing a suit of brown clothing looking like an army uniform but with only different shades of brown as camouflage; the woman with bright blue hair was wearing a blue T-shirt, a pair of short jeans and white sneakers. ¡°Okay, this is it.¡± the woman in red double checked their location on the car¡¯s control screen against the address shown: ¡°Let¡¯s go in and get our rooms first, then we can try to find out if the codex is here. We must find it, or at least useful intel on where it is, per Lady Vyn¡¯s orders, burn it down if we have to.¡± ¡°Looks like just an ordinary inn. I haven¡¯t seen the traces of any cloaking or protection arrays, so they could be buried beneath the ground. Since this place is open to civilians, It¡¯s safe and prudent to assume they are hidden from plain sight. ¡± the woman in blue said with her eyes narrowed: ¡°The flowers and vegetation around are not from the civilian world, but they don¡¯t seem to be that special either.¡± The woman in brown already got off the car before the other two and started looking around the parking lot with a frown on her face - she sensed that something was a little off with the parking lot but she was having a hard time finding out what it was, or even how to properly describe the feeling she had. ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Nat?¡± the woman in red got out of the car and brought her metal knuckles coated with rose gold: ¡°Something wrong?¡± ¡°This parking lot is freaking me out a little.¡± Natalie, the woman in brown, answered and eventually her eyes landed on a broken down car at the corner of the parking lot: ¡°You don¡¯t feel the creepiness here? ¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Not really.¡± the women in red and in blue shook their heads. This caused Natalie to appear more hesitant. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Nat, I¡¯ll protect you. Keep your eyes open. You¡¯re the perceptive one.¡± Carmen, the woman in red said. ¡°Let¡¯s just go in.¡± Nat sighed and said. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°Hello, welcome to Xianshi Inn, what can I do for you?¡± sitting behind the reception¡¯s desk was a slim man with clumsy arms, and a small white ball of fur on his shoulder: ¡°Our kitchen¡¯s not working at the moment, so I¡¯m afraid we can¡¯t offer you any food, just hot tea and coffee.¡± ¡°Hi, hello, we would like a big room, with three beds. Do you have those?¡± Kate, the woman in blue asked, while her eyes were just fixated on the white fur ball on the man¡¯s shoulder: ¡°And, uh, do you have alcoholic drinks?¡± ¡°We only have civilian drinks.¡± the man¡¯s answer shocked the three women: ¡°Do you still want them?¡± ¡°What do you mean, civilians?¡± Kate forced herself to remain calm and collected: ¡°We¡¯re all civilians, no?¡± The slim man stared at the three women for a brief moment then laughed: ¡°Alright ladies, if you say so. We have different kinds of alcoholic drinks, beer, wine, soju, sake, Chinese white rice wine, Chinese brown rice wine, Chinese plum wine...¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, that¡¯s fine. We¡¯d like three bottles of Chinese plum wine please.¡± Carmen cut the man off while focusing on the man¡¯s name tag: ¡°... Rash?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± the man smiled and stroked the fur ball on his shoulder and shuffled through the drawer: ¡°I got you set up for room 204, that room has three queen size beds, one and a half bathrooms - and by half I mean one without shower. And it has a balcony with a view of the garden in the back. I think you would really like it. Here, your keys. You can go up and take a rest, and I will deliver the wine to your door in a minute.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Kate nodded and took a paper menu from the reception¡¯s desk, then she patted on Natalie¡¯s shoulder, who was still looking around like she was a lost kid in a museum. ¡°Nat, what happened? Anything wrong with this place?¡± Carmen pinched Natalie lightly and asked: ¡°What do you see?¡± ¡°This place - it¡¯s weird, very, very weird.¡± Natalie took a deep breath and said: ¡°That lounge, for example, was built with magical materials, but they¡¯re built in such a way that almost no magical energy is leaking into the surrounding environment. That alone takes a ton of work, unnecessary work, even, not to mention the light collecting qualities which syphons the external light into the room and lights up in all the right places to make a warm and non-sharp contrast that¡¯s easy on the eyes. I mean, shit, it¡¯s impressive art, but why all the work for this?¡± ¡°Flamboyant owner who likes to flex?¡± Kate asked. ¡°Maybe, maybe.¡± Nataline was still looking around when they walked onto the stairs and then into the aisle: ¡°Are you seeing this place? It¡¯s - it¡¯s - ¡± ¡°Beautiful?¡± Kate chuckled widely: ¡°Are you geeking out here? Come on, we will need more than that, like secret passageways and traps and hidden vaults.¡± ¡°No - it¡¯s just - warm and fuzzy.¡± Natalie said: ¡°Whoever did the interior design and decoration must have been really trying to make this place feel comfortable.¡± ¡°While we¡¯re probing this place.¡± Kate was playing with her watch: ¡°We are definitely inside of at least three arrays. One protective array protecting the people within from exterior attacks and forces, another protective array maintaining the integrity of the internal structures, and one spatial array, functionality unknown, but presumably one that allows the employees to travel from room to room without even walking the whole way.¡± ¡°Room 204.¡± Carmen found the room, then gently opened it. Three beds in a room, with screens between rooms for privacy, and the three rooms with beddings whose colors matched them individually: red, brown and light blue. ¡°Anyone have any idea on how the hell he knows that we¡¯re not civilians?¡± Carmen said. Chapter 416 ¡°I am pretty sure that we¡¯re not watched before we came in.¡± Kate was sitting on her bed, drinking Chinese plum wine from a glass: ¡°And I am pretty certain that our energy signature suppression artifacts are not faulty. I triple checked them before we departed, and I checked them again when we parked.¡± ¡°And I can confirm that our energy signature leaks are minimal, by any measures we should be no different than any civilians.¡± Natalie¡¯s voice was slightly muffled, because she was lying face down on the floor, with her palms touching the carpet and her face buried in a soft and furry rug. ¡°Regardless, we should still go out and start looking for it, the sooner the better..¡± Carmen said while chugging from a bottle of Chinese plum wine from the bottle: ¡°There¡¯s not that many rooms here, I think we can search one by one by one night. What else can you sense, Nat?¡± Natalie was silent for a few seconds, then she answered: ¡°The protective energy is particularly strong from under us - I think we should start from the ground floor and maybe the basement. But the lounge is still occupied - that man is still there.¡± ¡°We will need to create a distraction then.¡± Carmen wiped her mouth with her hand directly and said: ¡°I can do that, I can start a fire in the kitchen, or I can light up the garden out there. Just give me a minute.¡± ¡°No - no. Don¡¯t do that.¡± Natalie raised her head and said: ¡°That man¡¯s energy signature is pretty unusual, before we know what he¡¯s capable of, we should tread with caution.¡± ¡°I agree, Carmen, this place is very different from the previous places we¡¯ve been to.¡± Kate said: ¡°The man already knows that we are not civilians, so I would imagine the owner would know about us as well. Since we don¡¯t know how many non-civilians are staying here, if we were to use magic to create distractions, then we for sure need to find someone to take the blame, or at least to share the blame.¡± ¡°Alright, alright.¡± Carmen sighed and shook her plum wine bottle, then put it back on the night stand because it was empty : ¡°How about this? Kate, you and I go and search the basement and the kitchen, Nat, you order something and maybe chat up the man and keep him here?¡± ¡°Sounds like a reasonable plan.¡± Kate handed Carmen her bottle and said: ¡°Nat, you can do that right? You can probe him a little on how he knows we are not civilians, or ask him about some random things like the history of this inn, the clientele, or about the owner ¡­ ¡± ¡°Or you can just bust out the goods.¡± Carmen finished the entire bottle from Kate, then deliberately pulled down the collar of her shirt and joked: ¡°You can do it, I believe you.¡± ¡°I will do no such thing.¡± Natalie stood up from the ground and sighed: ¡°But yeah, I will try to stall him and keep him here. You just tell me when you want to do it.¡± Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Oh, then right now.¡± Carmen smiled, shuffled her shoulders and picked up the phone: ¡°We will head out now, and call for room service when we¡¯re gone.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Natalie sighed and picked up the phone. When Carmen and Kate left the room, Natalie dialed the ¡°room service¡± number. ¡°Hello, front desk, what can I do for you?¡± it was Rash¡¯s voice that came from the phone. ¡°Hi, hello.¡± Natalie stammered: ¡°I - I was wondering if I could order something, we¡¯re out of food¡­ I mean ¡­ any food is okay, and we would like some more plum wine.¡± ¡°Hi, unfortunately we don¡¯t have any food.¡± Rash said: ¡°There should be some paper menus for takeout, maybe you can order from some of those. It is kinda late, so some of them might not be open, but there¡¯s got to be some menus from places that are open 24/7. I can deliver you some more plum wine in a minute, how much would you like?¡± ¡°Three bottles please.¡± Natalie thought for a short moment then answered. After only around half a minute, Rash, who was at the reception¡¯s desk with a white fur ball on his shoulder came knocking at the door: ¡°Hello, Miss. I am here to deliver the plum wine you ordered.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Natalie took the three bottles served in three ice buckets along with three glasses, and immediately called out to the man when he was about to leave: ¡°Wait! Wait! My friends just went out there - can you stay for a while and just - just talk to me? You can talk to me about anything - like - like - like that fur ball on your shoulder, or the history of this inn! Or, or tell me about you? How about it?¡± ¡°Umm - ¡± Rash looked a bit confused: ¡°I¡¯ve never got a request like that before - I don¡¯t know how I can help you with that, maybe I need to ask Boss...¡± ¡°Nonono! Please just come in.¡± Natalie put down the three bottles in ice buckets and grabbed the man by the arm: ¡°Just - just come in here, and just chat with me.¡± ¡°Uh - okay, miss. But I am not sure how I can help you with anything.¡± Rash was dragged into the room in an awkward way and kept looking around for a place to stand or sit. ¡°Then treat this as a special request then - ¡± Natalie sat on her bed and opened a bottle of plum wine and poured herself and Rash each a glass: ¡°Here, have a drink with me, tell me a little about the inn. I am just fascinated by this place, who designed it?¡± ¡°Oh! That I could help you with.¡± Rash took the glass of plum wine but held it in his hand and did not do anything with it: ¡°This place is designed and built from the ground up by the owner, Mr. Jianmen Yu.¡± ¡°Mr. Jianmen Yu? I think I may have heard of this name.¡± Natalie started thinking: ¡°And is he known for something? Is he a famous designer? Because the design of this place is quite amazing.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I can give you a very good answer to that. I am not familiar with the generally accepted standard of measuring what is ¡®famous¡¯.¡± Rash nodded: ¡°But I can agree to your sentiment that this place is amazing. The bricks and wood pillars and panels were all hand-crafted by the owner. He laid them down all by himself. And he picked the carpeting and the lights by himself as well. He really wanted to make sure that all our guests would feel comfortable during their stay.¡± ¡°Sounds amazing.¡± Natalie chuckled, then she was reminded of something so she decided to ask: ¡°Now - I have another question - I know that you know - that we¡¯re not civilians. But I was wondering, how did you tell?¡± ¡°That I could help you as well, seeing as you¡¯re trying to blend in with the civilian world. It¡¯s actually not that hard.¡± Rash chuckled: ¡°First of all, most of the civilian guests we have are younger people, like college students on road trips or families. And there¡¯s one thing I noticed - ¡± ¡°Which is?¡± ¡°Magic wielders - especially female magic wielders. They like to have color themes that match their magical powers in their outfits, and a lot of the time, magic wielders have physical manifestations of their magical power as well.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Natalie stroked her hair: ¡°Guess we hadn¡¯t thought this civilian thing through.¡± ¡°There¡¯s another thing.¡± Rash tried to snap his fingers in a clumsy way but he ended up just rubbing his fingers and not making a sound: ¡°When you came in, there was an aura around you. It only happens to guests with powers - it could help you rest and restore your power slightly more quickly - it¡¯s not much, but it¡¯s enough to make our guests more comfortable.¡± Chapter 417 Carmen and Kate hid in the corner and cast a few obscuring and covering spells on themselves right after they left their room. And when they saw Rash, the man at the reception¡¯s desk came up to their room holding three ice buckets with plum wine bottles inside. Then when Natalie dragged Rash into their room, they immediately headed down the stairs and straight towards the basement. The door to the basement was made of metal and had a metal lock on it. But to their surprise, there were no protective charms placed on the lock, nor were there any arrays or symbols engraved on it. It was a simple thick, heavy solid metal lock, one looked like it could easily be picked. ¡°Should we even try?¡± Kate asked with a frown: ¡°This is just way too easy.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s take a look first.¡± Carmen held up the metal lock and whispered a word, and with the sound of metal gears cracking, it opened without any resistance or friction. The door to the basement swung open with creaks one could expect from that of an old metal door, but Kate immediately threw a soundproof spell at the door and contained any further noise it could make. The space in the basement appeared to be mostly empty, they could see an altar at one end of the room, and there were drawings hung on the walls. Kate, being the one most experienced and equipped to deal with hidden magical traps and arrays, immediately started examining the walls and the floor panels. ¡°Something¡¯s not right with this place.¡± Kate kept looking at her watch and a small mirror she held in her right hand: ¡°The energy signatures showed that there¡¯s at least one powerful array beneath this basement, but I can¡¯t trace its exact location - it¡¯s like the arrays are jumping around.¡± ¡°These drawings are no good.¡± Carmen was looking at one of the paintings, and just within a few seconds she felt that illusions and a sense of dread and impending doom were clouding her mind, so much so that she had to bite her own tongue to pull herself out: ¡°Don¡¯t look at the drawings! Don¡¯t even try to sense them - they¡¯re complex True Words drawings!¡± While Carmen and Kate were occupied, the metal door started slowly closing up, but due to the previous soundproof spell placed on it by Kate, it did not make even one sound to alert the two in the basement. ¡°Fuck! Get the door!¡± Kate sighed and looked up, and found that the metal door was already just a few inches away from completely closing.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Carmen leapt towards the door, but somehow a sense of weightlessness hit her and Kate, and the floor beneath them disappeared. It was not a very long fall, just enough for them to realize they were falling and adjust their positions in the air and land on their two feet. They did not land on solid ground, however. Instead, they landed on water, and using some simple tricks, the water beneath their feet turned into a bouncy surface on which they could simply walk. ¡°Where the hell are we?¡± Carmen looked around, and found that they were in no basement - they were standing on the surface of an ocean, with no visible land in any directions, and just a giant pillar of sky piercing storm clouds in the distance. The sea water below was giving off a light blue glow and quite clear - they could see some fish coursing through deep waters from where they stood. But this visibility into the depths stopped at a certain point, for there seemed to be a dark and light absorbing seabed underneath the water, with spots of dim yellow glow but no visible underwater terrain, creatures roaming near it or vegetation whatsoever. ¡°Did we get forcefully teleported here?¡± Kate checked her watch and mirror again: ¡°The energy signature here is quite different.¡± ¡°Any anti-teleportation fields around?¡± Carmen scooped up some sea water with her palm and examined it. ¡°... no.¡± Kate checked her watch and shook her head: ¡°And no other disruptive energy fields either.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not a problem, I left a coordinate in the car. Let¡¯s just teleport back.¡± Carmen nodded and tried to conjure a portal. But all she saw was sparks jumping out from thin air from the position where she intended to place the portal, the portal failed to take shape and collapsed before she could help. ¡°What the...¡± Before either of them could say anything or complain, they had a strange and creepy feeling of being watched, like prey by a hidden predator, and it came from somewhere below. When they looked down, they saw that the dark and light absorbing seabed opened its eyes - the spots giving off yellow glow opened up one by one, revealing eyes of different sizes and with different numbers of pupils below them. All of these eyes were fixated on both Carmen and Kate the moment they were revealed. The next moment, the giant ¡°seabed¡± turned, revealing a mouth as wide and long as an actual canyon, with countless tentacles as its tongues and teeth that were as long as the height of skyscrapers. A strange suction force came from the mouth, Carmen and Kate not only sensed that their bodies were being pulled, but also their mind and consciousness. ¡°Fuck! Help me with the portal!¡± Carmen yelled. Kate¡¯s watch lit up in blue, and she concentrated her power on a new portal which Carmen was trying to construct, while still trying to avoid being sucked down by the creature below with unimaginable size. The portal kept collapsing on itself due to unknown reasons, and it seemed like the reason was that the portal was not really getting enough magical energy. But as Carmen and Kate strained themselves trying to maximize the energy output, the portal formed with both red and blue magical energy finally took shape. Kate and Carmen leapt towards with the maximum amount of force they could muster and the portal closed up behind them as they landed on grass and some flowers. ¡°What the - ¡± Kate and Carmen found themselves on a small hill with some trees around, there was a creek nearby, and a smoking volcano at a distance. ¡°This is nowhere near San Jose.¡± Kate panted as she sat up from the ground. Chapter 418 Inside of an abnormally wide and tall underground space that had a layout similar to that of a subway station, several members from Josephine Wong¡¯s team - Nameless, Pei, Vivian were standing in front of a sealed off stone gate, along with a man in cloak and only One Eye - the human form of Tze Cha, the last of the dreaded Omen Dragons. ¡°This is the place, I can feel it.¡± Tze Cha tried to remain calm, cool and collected, but his glowing eye and grin revealed that he was beyond excited: ¡°Now, don¡¯t mind me, I am going to go in and take a look. Feels like - what do you humans call it, a buffet?¡± ¡°Just wait, Tze Cha, we have yet to confirm this is the other site.¡± Nameless had a bronze-colored zen staff in his hand and he blocked Tze Cha¡¯s way with it: ¡°This could be just a site of clustered malice, we must not act unless we are certain.¡± ¡°And if it is just another site with clustered malice, it would be under the jurisdiction of the Division, which means we will be the ones taking care of it.¡± Pei said while holding a metal mirror and a wooden sword in her hand and was standing along with Nameless and Vivian, between Tze Cha and two tech and magical signature analyst agents who were doing some final analysis of the surrounding area: ¡°And we should send someone in to scout it first, unless Tze Cha you are willing to do it without causing any damages to the site.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare insult my intelligence with this poor shit of an excuse.¡± Tze Cha pushed Nameless¡¯ zen staff away and walked up to the stone gate: ¡°You think I¡¯m going to let you go in first in the name of trying to confirm what we already know? Your petty human bureaucracy couldn¡¯t mean less to me.¡± ¡°Are you really willing to breach the clear terms of our agreement? ¡± Vivian had both her hands on her daggers and asked with her eyes narrowed: ¡°We swore with True Words.¡± ¡°What if I am?¡± Tze Cha¡¯s voice grew colder. ¡°Then you will be endangering the line of Omen Dragons, just because you can¡¯t keep your claws off some snacks on the table.¡± a familiar voice came from the shadows, and into the light came Jianmen and Josephine Wong: ¡°Don¡¯t be that dragon, Tze Cha.¡± ¡°Yu.¡± Tze Cha¡¯s hands clenched up into claws, and two small explosion of energy waves pushed his sleeves up: ¡°I thought you would have already retired after throwing your back out during your last battle.¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Seriously, you? Making an old man joke?¡± Jianmen chuckled and walked up to Nameless, Pei and Vivian, who all gently bowed to him and Josephine Wong at the same time. ¡°Just tell us, Tze Cha, why are you so eager to feed? And on malice of this kind of intensity no less?¡± Tze Cha stared at Jianmen and Josephine Wong for a short moment, then asked: ¡°How did you teleport here without me noticing?¡± ¡°Maybe I didn¡¯t throw my back out.¡± Jianmen smiled and said: ¡°And I¡¯ve heard about your deal. I think it would be completely reasonable for them to try to scout this place first to make sure that this is indeed a site you¡¯re looking for. If not, then what you¡¯re gonna do is just pure desecration of some poor souls¡¯ memories.¡± ¡°You can drop the pretence of trying to be fair. You can just tell me that you are on her side, as you were in that realm of which I was unjustifiably forced out. And I still carry the scar with me today.¡± the energy concentrated on Tze Cha¡¯s hands intensified, black sparks shot out from his hands like some kind of dark lightning, and an energy storm was about to form around him. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t worry, because I came with a proposal, and I think it would be relatively fair to both sides, without us having to resort to fighting and breaking our contract.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head and said: ¡°You come with us, we go scouting in there together. If we find evidence that this is indeed one of the sites left by the one who left that relic, then we honor our deal.¡± ¡°And if it is not?¡± ¡°Then we will take over, but we will still pay you for all your trouble, how about that?¡± Josephine Wong said. ¡°I doubt you have something that could even be remotely of value to me.¡± Tze Cha¡¯s stance became loose, as he turned down the energy around his hands. ¡°How about the secret substance that made it possible for me to stand here and face you?¡± Jianmen asked with a smile. Tze Cha¡¯s only eye lit up, then he scanned Jianmen from head to toe and toe to head: ¡°Plus one six standard flasks of Elixir of Clarity.¡± ¡°Three standard flasks, and give us thirty days to prepare, and you have a deal.¡± ¡°You better keep your word.¡± Tze Cha retreated from his battle-ready stance and stepped to the side: ¡°I will come with you. But you have to get out, the moment that we can confirm this is the site.¡± ¡°You have our word.¡± Josephine Wong nodded at Nameless, Pei and Vivian. ¡°Ms. Wong, this Monk would like to request to go with you.¡± Nameless bowed and said. ¡°Thank you Nameless, I was just about to ask.¡± Josephine Wong sighed in relief, then she turned to Pei, Vivian and the other two agents: ¡°Pei, Vivian, I¡¯ll count on you to keep this station safe here. Have you requested backup?¡± ¡°Alexander and Blue are trying to locate another potential area. And they will come here when they¡¯re done.¡± Pei nodded: ¡°Please be careful.¡± ¡°Here.¡± Jianmen gave Pei a wooden coin, bronze coin and three folded paper sigils: ¡°The bronze coin will vibrate if anything unclean is approaching, and the others should help you should you be forced to fight.¡± ¡°Are you done? We haven¡¯t got all day.¡± Tze Cha urged from the side. Chapter 419 Jianmen blew on a long piece of light yellow paper, flattened it, and stuck it on the stone gate, right where the gap at the center was. Then he took out a small traditional Chinese writing brush and started drawing some ancient words, arcane symbols and simple arrays on that piece of paper. ¡°Why not just blast it open?¡± Tze Cha asked on the side. ¡°I like the way you think, brute force is almost always the answer to destroying your enemy. But when it comes to gathering information and intelligence from a hostile environment, it is by far not the best option.¡± Jianmen smiled, then placed his right palm on the fresh new sigil he just completed and turned around at everyone behind him: ¡°Remember, keep your energy signatures down, keep communications to a minimum because any information exchange through the door could disturb the instances of clustered malice here. And lastly, we will have a very short window to enter, so once it opens, go in there as quickly as possible.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Nameless said while still holding his zen staff. ¡°And if the wooden coin gets activated, I will be alerted.¡± Jianmen pushed the paper sigil and in turn the stone gate gently, the stone gate gave off a strange squeak like that made by a light wooden door with loose hinges and slowly swung open from the center. Jianmen stepped through the gap at the center and held the gate open from behind, then Tze Cha went in, then Josephine Wong, and finally Nameless. Behind the stone gate was a long and dark hallway. There was practically no light in the environment, but none of the four that came in was completely reliant on light to see things around, so they just started walking down the hallway slowly and with caution. Jianmen closed his eyes and sensed the environment around them - there were used electric wires on the ceiling, connected to dead lights whose fuses were still mostly intact. Behind the windows on his right side were rooms with desks, computers, microscopes and test tubes inside and scattered everywhere in a mess. ¡°Why¡¯d you agree to come in with us?¡± Josephine Wong delivered a message to Jianmen using a concealed telepathic spell: ¡°Will the effect of the oil last that long?¡±Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°It will have to.¡± Jianmen replied: ¡°One Eye would definitely suspect something if we just showed up and left. And we don¡¯t have to show him that we¡¯re at our peak, we just have to show that we have the ability to make him pay should he plot anything against us. And also, enough to convince him that it would be beneficial for him to join us in our fight.¡± ¡°Again with the politics.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head: ¡°You know he would be taking this chance to observe you and try to poke holes in your facade?¡± ¡°Which would give us more time to scout this place.¡± The four reached a fork on the hallway, one way was leading straight right, while the other was leading to a slight left. It would have posted a choice for the four, if not for something they sensed and saw on the far end of the path on the right - bodies, four bodies that were still relatively fresh and free of decay and rot due to their mummification. ¡°Careful.¡± Jianmen said to everyone in the team: ¡°I don''t think they were here when this place became what it is.¡± ¡°Tsk, so, someone found this place first?¡± Tze Cha¡¯s eye glowed in dark orange, and led the way to the four corpses: ¡°Let me see who these unlucky pests are.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t devour anything - we will need the information.¡± Josephine Wong said. ¡°Be wary of your attitude, young witch.¡± Tze Cha humphed and walked straight to the four bodies. Jianmen walked at an arm¡¯s length behind him but did not say or do anything, and when Tze Cha knelt down beside the corpses, he did so as well. ¡°Well, there¡¯s nothing to enjoy here.¡± Tze Cha shook his head and stood up just after barely a few seconds: ¡°Suckers¡¯ are all dry.¡± ¡°Both physically and spiritually, it seems.¡± Jianmen placed his fingers on the wrist of one of the bodies - the hand was light, fragile and empty as if it was made of cardboard, and it was because all the fluids and a lot of the organic substance within the body had been drained, along with the absolute majority of the spirit and memory. ¡°So, integration into the malice?¡± Josephine Wong knelt down and flipped open the robe on one of the bodies and found a metal medallion: ¡°Coven of Crows - that¡¯s interesting.¡± ¡°Yeah, how so?¡± Tze Cha asked. ¡°First of all, their groups tend to work in groups of six.¡± Josephine Wong picked up this metal medallion and examined it from front to back: ¡°And second of all, they are a Coven known to be associated with Lucias Vyn, a High Broker of the Exalted Bondsmen.¡± ¡°It matters not to me.¡± Tze Cha was about to continue walking down the hallway. ¡°They also dabble in the dealings with demons and evil gods, or the evil gods¡¯ emissaries.¡± Josephine Wong continued searching through the body until she found a triangle-shaped tattoo on the corpse¡¯s chest: ¡°And uh¡­ I don¡¯t recognize this symbol, possibly from some lesser known ¡®gods¡¯ who have more bluff than knowledge and power.¡± This information was revealed with clear intentions, and it worked - Tze Cha stopped walking away, came back and knelt down beside Josephine Wong to see what she found. ¡°Hoztang.¡± Tze Cha scoffed: ¡°Self appointed Lord of Dread, immature little demigod who can¡¯t even forge his own realm.¡± Chapter 420 ¡°Who is this Hoztang?¡± Josephine Wong asked: ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of this name before.¡± ¡°And you shouldn¡¯t have.¡± Tze Cha scoffed again: ¡°He¡¯s but a nobody not worthy of anyone¡¯s time or faith. No wonder they ended up like this here, they can¡¯t even find the right demigod to make deals with.¡± ¡°And the right demigod would be you, right?¡± Jianmen said and examined the tattoos on the other bodies - it turned out that all four of the bodies had the same symbols of Hoztang tattooed on them. Tze Cha did not answer, and just stood on the side and said with his One Eye closed: ¡°I¡¯ll give you one more minute. I smelled anguish and horror ahead, and I also sensed something unusual, even for me.¡± Nameless stood on the side in a praying pose and started chanting a mantra of rebirth for these four bodies in a low voice, but Jianmen immediately stopped him. ¡°Master Nameless, I know you have a kind, compassionate heart and you are doing this just out of mercy.¡± Jianmen shook his head and said with a stern look on his face: ¡°But if you do this and you are as good at it as I remember, then you will very likely end up disturbing the malice here.¡± ¡°... understood.¡± Nameless let out a long sigh and said: ¡°It was this monk¡¯s mistake - their minds and spirits are trapped here, and the Mantra of Peace would only be an attempt at ripping them away from the malice.¡± ¡°No problem, we shall deal with this when we have gathered enough information.¡± Jianmen said. Josephine Wong and Jianmen only took around half a minute to fully examine the four bodies, which is a result of both their skills, experience and the fact that not much else remained on these four bodies - the medallions on their bodies were not enchanted and thus remained mostly as they were, and all the other artifacts carried by them were drained of their energy and power and were almost as fragile as blocks of salt and sand. ¡°So they usually work in groups of six?¡± Jianmen asked Josephine Wong: ¡°I wonder where the other two are?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯ve escaped.¡± Josephine Wong said with a worried look: ¡°If that is the case, we would¡¯ve known about it. Plus we haven¡¯t seen any signs of fights and struggles near the gate, so I think these four were the ones who made it out - almost.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°Let¡¯s go in.¡± Tze Cha opened his eye: ¡°I think what happened to the other two would be more interesting.¡± The rest of the group walked around the body out of respect, then proceeded down the hallway. The hallway gradually grew wider, and the rooms on both sides became bigger and their internal structures more complex. Tze Cha was walking in the front, but he was also quite cooperatively keeping it at a steady and cautious pace. But neither Jianmen nor Josephine Wong would be so naive as to assume that he was being a teamplayer, instead, they knew full well that he was taking his time to observe the status of Jianmen and Josephine Wong. One room on the left caught the eyes of Jianmen, Josephine Wong and Nameless: it was a spacious room with a dozen pods attached to the walls. Each of the pods was made of high density fiber glass with arcane symbols engraved on the outside, and inside the pods were real life shaped and sized wooden dolls, with giant metal nails impaling their eyes, mouth, hands, shins and left chest. When they went into the room and examined the pods and wooden dolls, they found that there were also linings drawn on the wooden dolls signifying their meridians, and there were also metal tubes built into the wooden dolls running through the wooden dolls¡¯ spines and extremities. On the opposite side of the pods was a long desk close to the door with keyboards, screens and many buttons of different colors on it, which was also connected to the pods with cables on the ground. ¡°Atrocities have been committed here.¡± Nameless waved his hand in front of his nose as if there was some kind of stench in the air: ¡°This monk can hear the echoes of the screams and cries.¡± ¡°Indeed, but not concentrated enough for a good snack.¡± Tze Cha sighed as if it was a pity, ¡°But sort of an outlier nonetheless - you¡¯d think a clustered malice this strong would¡¯ve sucked everything dry.¡± ¡°Reverse curse dolls.¡± Josephine Wong sensed the energy signatures remained on the wooden dolls then said with a frown: ¡°But they¡¯re definitely not used as they¡¯re supposed to. I think - they might have pumped something through these dolls.¡± ¡°Memory flashback incoming, keep your eyes open.¡± Jianmen looked around and said. The overhead lights in the room flickered on, then the pods lit up from within as well. Then, some shadows of people in lab coats walked into the room, whose faces were all empty and cracked up like old mannequins. Some of them walked behind the long desk, and some of them came before the pods and started putting crystal balls inside the wooden dolls from holes on the top of the head. One of the shadows in lab coats raised its hand and did something with this fingerless hand. Then all of the shadows put goggles on their hands, and with the push of a button on the desk, the wooden dolls started moving, shaking and even mumbling and moaning like confused real humans. Then the next moment, the linings signifying meridians on the bodies of the wooden dolls lit up, and the wooden dolls started struggling, shaking and crying louder like real humans being tortured and tormented. Some kind of light blue energy concentrated on the nails, liquified and dripped down to the bottoms of the pods. The whole scene just lasted a few minutes, but it was enough for everyone present to grasp what went on inside this room - the people who ran this place used to collect the spirits and minds of real humans, contain them, put them inside these wooden dolls and run stimulated tortures on them in order to collect the energy from the torment and agony. Tze Cha turned around and walked behind the long desk and smiled: ¡°Reverse curse dolls and modern human technology, how creative. And your kind called me cruel.¡± Chapter 421 Jianmen walked towards one of the pods, and examined the wooden door closely, then he clenched his middle finger and index finger from his right hand on the metal nail impaling the wooden doll¡¯s left wrist, which was also somewhat loose and rusty: ¡°Okay, folks, I am going to do something that¡¯s probably stupid or dangerous, be prepared.¡± ¡°Huh, what a surprise.¡± Tze Cha hovered his left hand over the keyboard to sense possible memory remnant if there was any, ¡°Did anyone think it¡¯s gonna be me to do it first?¡± ¡°I¡¯m doing it for a good reason.¡± two thin streams of orange and golden energy came from Jianmen¡¯s fingers and wrapped around the loose nail, then Jianmen raised his left hand, and conjured a nail made of stone that was roughly the same size as the metal nail. ¡°Mr. Yu, this monk trusts that you¡¯ve considered the consequences, please enlighten us on what you are planning to do.¡± ¡°I am going to collect this nail, with which the evil scientists used to collect the energy of memory.¡± Jianmen said: ¡°We should be able to collect some residual curse energy from it, or even pieces of memory if we¡¯re lucky. This could serve all of us a great deal, even you, Tze Cha.¡± With the stone nail in one hand and the metal nail in the other, Jianmen took a long breath and started slowly and carefully removing the metal nail, while holding the stone nail right beside the hole. The two streams of orange and golden energy were not only there to maintain the stability of the nail, but were also there to ¡°read¡± its energy signatures, which would then feed into the stone nail to make sure that when the metal nail was replaced with it, the change would not cause much disruption and disturbance. The metal nail was pulled out by Jianmen¡¯s fingers bit by bit, though it was loose already, Jianmen did not dare to pull it out right away. When all that remained was the tip of the metal nail, Jianmen pushed the tip of the stone nail close to the nail hole. Then, after a short wait, with lightning speed, he pulled the metal nail out and pushed the stone nail in. The room shook, then some smoke came from under the pod and all the holes with nails inside. Some shadows of human faces appeared on the wooden doll¡¯s face, seizing and screaming. The four in this room were ready to deal with changes in the room due to Jianmen¡¯s warning. But the changes died down soon with no additional changes to the environment in this room or in this entire underground lab structure.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Okay, nice.¡± Jianmen let out a breath of relief, then handed the nail to Josephine Wong: ¡°Let¡¯s proceed.¡± ¡°Who is there?¡± shortly after leaving this room with the pods and wooden dolls, they heard a mumbling and hoarse voice coming from the depths of the hallway - it seemed to be two voices asking in complete unison, something not at all dissimilar to Jianmen or Josephine Wong: ¡°Who¡¯s there? Come - come to me!¡± ¡°That¡¯s no human voice.¡± Nameless lowered his zen staff and was ready to fight: ¡°It¡¯s trying to hypnotize and disorient us.¡± ¡°The baldie¡¯s right, I smell something tasty.¡± Tze Cha chuckled and started running down the hallway, ¡°Come stop me if you want.¡± ¡°God dammit, Tze Cha! Hold up!¡± fearing that Tze Cha would be unable to help himself when faced with the temptation of high density instances of clustered malice, Josephine Wong immediately started running after him to the best of her abilities - in a speed that was fast enough to not lose him and not too fast so as to cause disturbances in the room. Jianmen and Nameless followed her as well. Along the way, they saw many more rooms on both sides of the hallway that also had pods and desks like the one they were just in, the biggest of which even had a pod that was as tall as a two story house and with a wooden doll of respective size inside, and with many more metal nails impaling many more spots on its body. Before long, Tze Cha stopped at a room that looked like a spacious office break room, with chairs, snack tables, a broken TV and an open kitchen. This room was not devoid of anything living like all the other rooms, instead, it had one huge seemingly living creature inside. It was a huge ¡°painting¡± whose wide side spanned across the whole room, just that it was by no means a regular painting - its canvas seemed to be a piece pale and stretched out human skin, the major shapes and large spots of ¡°paint¡± were cleanly sliced pieces of human still moving internal organs and bones, the linings thin ¡°strokes¡± were made from veins and human intestines, and lastly, the left and right sides of the frame were made of two half naked humans who had been cleanly separated from the middle of their bodies and were clearly not one person¡¯s two halves but the left and right half of two separate humans, whose eyes, noses, and mouths were still moving. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± the two half humans said in unison, and their eyes looked around as if they were scanning the room for any traces of abnormalities, ¡°Come to me! Come to me! I am here ¡­ I am waiting!¡± Jianmen stared at the picture with a frown on his face, it was only partially because of disgust, and more of the fact that he could tell the ¡°painting¡± was manually made, which would have taken quite a long time for anyone. Also, it had a pretty tight connection to almost all of the malice in this underground structure, as if the clustered will of the malice was manifesting through it. ¡°You better confirm your findings soon.¡± Tze Cha rubbed his hands: ¡°Or else I just won¡¯t be able to help myself.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think you would be able to take it.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head: ¡°Careful, it still hasn¡¯t noticed that we¡¯re here.¡± Jianmen knelt down by the corner of the room, and when he ran his finger through the surface of the floor, he picked up some very fine grey dust. ¡°Fuck, Ash of Oblivion.¡± Jianmen sighed and said to himself and Josephine Wong. Chapter 422 ¡°So this IS the site?¡± Josephine Wong kept staring at the ¡°painting¡± whose frame was still speaking with two voices in unison: ¡°That ash is the by-product of karmic flow alterations right?¡± ¡°Right, especially for cases of partial and incomplete alterations.¡± Jianmen sighed then stood up: ¡°But let¡¯s keep looking, this may not be conclusive yet.¡± ¡°This monk senses something - the frame - it is not that old, and it has the same tattoo as the bodies earlier¡± Nameless pointed at the half a human on the right side of the frame: ¡°This monk thinks we¡¯ve found the last two from the coven you spoke of.¡± Josephine Wong walked closer to the ¡°painting¡± with light steps and controlled breaths and looked at the naked half a human at which Nameless was pointing at, and she found the same triangle tattoo of demigod Hoztang on the inside of the elbow. With a closer look, ignoring the materials with which the ¡°painting¡± was constructed, Jianmen could tell that the painting was depicting a scene that looked like some kind of sacrificial ritual: there was an altar, depicted by several pieces of human bones, with a man, or a god sleeping on it, and with offerings of sacrifice laid out on the side. It was vague and abstract, but Jianmen could sense that it was made with a specific intent or mindset. ¡°It¡¯s blocking our way, let¡¯s back out and see if we can walk around it.¡± after confirming that the two half humans on both sides of the frame were actually members of the Coven of Crows, Josephine Wong let out a long breath and said: ¡°This ¡­ thing seems way too peculiar and I have a pretty bad feeling about it. Let¡¯s not engage unless we have to.¡± ¡°I agree - it could be the remnant of the maintainer of the clustered malice of this place.¡± Jianmen said: ¡°If it is the case, I think the maintainer must have been driven mad before they got integrated or completely absorbed.¡± When Josephine Wong, Jianmen and Nameless started slowly backing out of the room, Tze Cha stayed behind and started observing the ¡°painting¡± even more closely - if he got even closer, he would definitely be found, no matter how powerful his obscuration spells were.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Dammit, One Eye, come back and don¡¯t touch anything!¡± Josephine Wong said to Tze Cha. ¡°Shut up!¡± Tze Cha sounded excited, with his finger pointing at the lower left corner of the ¡°painting¡±: ¡°Shut up! I know what not to do, you insolent fools! Have you seen this?¡± The other three from the group concentrated their eyes on what Tze Cha was pointing at - it was a small dark red dot, seemingly made of blood and some other kind of liquid, which would be barely noticeable without anyone pointing it out. And on it, there was a faint trace of energy whose signature was slightly different from the malice energy all around. ¡°What is that?¡± Nameless asked: ¡°Feels like - some kind of mantra¡­ or even True Words.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a signature.¡± Tze Cha and Josephine Wong answered at the same time. ¡°Sick bastard signed his own work.¡± Josephine Wong continued, then she sneaked back to the side of the ¡°painting¡± and took out a small pen-like artifact with a small crystal at the tip: ¡°Let me see if I can record this one ...¡± ¡°Woah woah.¡± Tze Cha put his hand before Josephine Wong¡¯s pen-like artifact and said: ¡°I should do it - a clumsy artifact like that is no way as stealthy as you claim we ought to be.¡± ¡°Alright. Show me what Dragon Tongue Magic could do.¡± Josephine Wong looked Tze Cha in the eyes for a few seconds, then conceded: ¡°Just remember our deal - if this place proved to be related to the information related to the relic, then we will have full access to the information.¡± ¡°Too bad, we aren¡¯t sure yet, huh?¡± Tze Cha answered with a cunning smile, then turned to the corner of the ¡°painting¡± an uttered a word. The red dot lit up in a dim orange light for a very brief moment then went back to its normal state. And after a few seconds, a similar red dot appeared on Tze Cha¡¯s palm, with almost an exact inner pattern and even similar energy signatures. Just when Tze Cha waved his palm with a red dot on it to Josephine Wong, Jianmen and Nameless to show off, the two half humans on the sides of the painting started crying, screaming and shaking. The next moment, foul smelling and obviously corrosive blood squirted out from the walls and ceiling and floor. All four members of the group instantly conjured up their energy shields to protect themselves from the sudden carpet attack. The two half humans on both sides of the picture started crying and shaking more violently, and this time, their cries were enchanted, and for any lesser beings this would be enough to put them in comas. But for the group of four, they only needed a short moment to clear their mind. ¡°Fuck! Prepare to fight our way out!¡± Josephine Wong yelled. ¡°Boom!¡± ¡°Boom!¡± Jianmen was wondering what might have happened to the other two halves of the unfortunate members of the Coven of Crows, and now this question was answered: they were each stitched up together with something, and became full fledged monster that just busted through the walls on the side into the room. ¡°Kill them! Feed on them!¡± the two half humans attached to the ¡°painting¡± had their eyes fixated on the four that just exposed themselves. Chapter 423 The two monsters that were made of the other two halves of the missing witches of the Coven of Crows charged at the group made of Jianmen, Josephine Wong, Nameless and Tze Cha, while each letting out cries and moans of misery and anguish. The monster on the left had the naked left half of a witch that made part of the frame of the ¡°painting¡±, and the other half was made with blood-soaked bed sheets, chairs, and even pillows, shredded pieces of mattresses and even surgical scalpels and clamps; while the monster on the right had the naked right half of another witch, and it was attached to a cluster of broken and torn up human limbs, stitched together by blood red suture threads. Tze Cha was arrogant and reckless when he came in, but when faced with a real fight, he took several steps back and was ready to let the other members of the team engage first. Nameless waved his zen staff and jabbed his staff forward at the monster with half of its body made of blood soaked hospital equipment. Golden light was released from the top part of the staff, and when it came into contact with one of the monster¡¯s claws made of medical gauze, two legs of a chair and two scalpels. The clash resulted in a high pitched metal screech, and both Nameless and the monster were pushed back. ¡°The aura of this area is suppressing this monk¡¯s power.¡± Nameless narrowed his eyes and warned: ¡°Be careful!¡± Jianmen nodded, as he could also sense that the disturbing energy field around them is trying to creep into their bodies and sabotage the energy flow inside of their bodies. The energy flow inside their bodies would of course fight this creeping invasion without them even thinking, yet it still impacts how much power and energy they could exert. ¡°Ting!¡± the other monster also launched a claw attack, and Josephine Wong blocked it with a purple energy sword. The monster¡¯s move did not stop there, however, a string of human limbs with a sharpened bone protruding from a palm at its tip connected by sutures broke from the non-human side of its body and jabbed at Josephine Wong like a curved knife. Jianmen swung his arm at the string of human limbs with his hand in a palm form but facing sideways like a karate chop, a layer of orange and golden energy was concentrated at the edge of his palm, and an energy blade was released towards the sharpened bone when the swing reached the end of its course. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°Bang!¡± the orange and golden energy blade clashed right against the very tip of the sharpened bone, the orange and golden energy blade cut through the bone, shattering the whole bone as well as some of the stitched up limbs connected to it into splintering pieces and coming out from the other side, continuing its way at the bloody ¡°painting¡± behind the monster. The two half humans on both sides of the ¡°painting¡± screamed at the energy blade, and thick, dark red liquid gushed from the ceiling like a waterfall and blocked the trajectory of the energy blade. The energy blade used up most of its energy when it was cutting through the ¡°limb¡± of the monster, and did not make it through the veil of thick dark red liquid. ¡°Let¡¯s retreat and find our way back!¡± Josephine Wong took a step back as well: ¡°We¡¯ve already made it angry, there¡¯s nothing more we could do!¡± ¡°Oh, there¡¯s plenty we could do.¡± Tze Cha chuckled with a gloating smile on his face. But he still maintained his distance from the two monsters as well as the rest of the team, and only did the bare minimum to defend against the other attacks coming from other angles: ¡°It¡¯s just that we have to be willing to do some damage, which you obviously objected to earlier before we came in.¡± ¡°Now is not the time, One Eye!¡± Josephine Wong shot a purple energy spear from her hand at the monster made of half a witch and medical equipment. The monster with stitched up limbs as the other half of its body swung a long bone flail with connected spine sections as the chain and a human rib cage as the striking head at Josephine Wong and Jianmen. Both had to duck as they continued to back away, and the human rib cage just smashed into the wall and left a hole whose radius is as big as an adult human¡¯s height. The head of the purple energy spear sunk into its target¡¯s flesh, but some corrosive energy underneath its skin melted the tip in just mere seconds. The ¡°painting¡± in the room from which they just left continued to scream, cry and moan. So did the two monsters attacking the team of four. And with each moan and cry, the room gets dimmer and darker, as the aura seemed to be growing in strength along with it. ¡°Nameless!¡± Jianmen called out to the warrior monk standing by his side holding a zen staff, while holding a piece of folded up paper sigil between his right hand index and middle fingers: ¡°Dragon Claw Strike the Third!¡± Nameless stuck his metal zen staff into the ground, then his two forearms became covered in golden light, dragon scales and shells made of golden energy started growing on his arms and backs the his hands, and sharp claws made of golden energy construct grew from the tip of his fingers. Jianmen threw the folded paper sigil in the air, which instantly opened up and ignited in bright red flames. Nameless¡¯s two arms swung across the air before him, both striking the paper sigil at almost the same time. The paper sigil exploded into sparks in the air, and a barrage of golden energy claw attacks shot from its previous center at the two incoming monsters, as well as the walls and windows in their general direction. At this close range, it was as if Jianmen and Nameless just blasted the two monsters with a powerful shotgun with burning pellets. The two monsters screamed and fell back as their flesh and bones were scorched, leaving the team of four some room to get out of the fight and escape. But this was to no avail, since a wall of moving flesh, pulsating organs and growing bones cut off their way back. Chapter 424 ¡°My, my, looks like we¡¯re out of room to hide!¡± Tze Cha laughed out loud and extended his two hands in the air: ¡°What say you Josephine? Am I allowed to do a little fighting, wreak a little havoc now?¡± ¡°...yes.¡± Josephine Wong exchanged looks with Jianmen and Nameless, then said: ¡°Just make sure that you will still have enough to eat after the fight.¡± ¡°No promises, but I¡¯ll try.¡± Tze Cha¡¯s body levitated above the ground, and after the chanting of a few arcane words in a low and echoey voice, then he extended his hands in two different directions, one towards the two monsters coming their way and the other at the wall of moving flesh, organs and bones. After a short delay, dark flames that were black as the deepest night with dark blue flares at the edge shot from his palms and against the wall of flesh and the monsters. The surface of the walls along the hallway cracked up and crumbled into dust as the dark flame traveled through the space and struck Tze Cha¡¯s targets. This kind of dark flame did not appear particularly threatening to the other three members of the team, yet the two monsters cried out in pain the moment they were touched by the flames and had to retreat back into the room where the ¡°painting¡± was. The wall of flesh and bones was burnt to a crisp in just a few seconds, as if it was made of highly flammable paper. Jianmen frowned at the sight and the energy signature of the dark flames in slight discomfort and disgust. He knew what kind of power Tze Cha wielded, so he was not surprised at the effectiveness of the dark flames against the monsters and creatures that roamed this place - it was a kind of dark, grim, maddening power that could only be controlled and wielded by Omen Dragons and maybe a few of the deeply mysterious creatures with similar natures. It was a power of utter madness and insanity, filled with pure rage, grudge, hatred and indifference, and it was especially effective against malice, especially large and concentrated instances of clustered malice simply because of the strong destructive negative emotions and ill will it contained could easily melt down the thin fabric of sanity that held the clustered malice together. But effective as it might be, the use of Tze Cha¡¯s power would inevitably mean that they would be doing irreparable damage to the malice and in turn what was left of the victims¡¯ memory here. Tze Cha¡¯s laughter grew louder and wilder, then he clenched his hands into fists, and made the dark flames concentrated around his hands and arms. The next moment, he struck the ground with his two fists.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. The ground cracked up like a fragile mirror beneath them, and in less than five seconds, it broke completely and the team of four started falling through the hole towards the bottom of a dark and empty pit below - no member of the team, even though they did not need any light to see everything in the environment above, could see clearly what was below. Jianmen snapped his fingers and created a bright orange ball of gentle but bright light. And with the lighting it provided, the team were able to see most of the area around them. The space they were in was not that of a regular pit, but a pit with two statues of two tall sitting Buddhas each with three angry and even hateful eyes sitting on cushions that were shaped like a lotus carved into two sides of the wall. One of the Buddha statues had a wide, unnatural smile on its face, and the other had an open mouth with clenched teeth inside, as if it was trying to suppress anger. And when the team of four stopped themselves from falling and started levitating in midair, the eyes of the two Buddha statues moved and focused on them. ¡°We should leave.¡± Nameless raised his voice: ¡°These are blasphemous evil Buddhas, block out their mantras if they start chanting!¡± Nameless¡¯ warning was almost too late - right after giving it, the two statues started giving off chants of ancient language in unison. The Buddha statue with an unnatural smile had a higher voice, while the other with clenching teeth had a more hoarse voice. And even though Jianmen and Josephine Wong concentrated their power of mind and will to prevent themselves from being influenced by the mantras, when the two statues started chanting they still felt that some extremely thin traces of cold and vile energy was trying to seep through their skin, their eyes, noses ears and enter their body to stir up emotional and spiritual chaos. Illusions symbolizing horror, dread, sadness, hopelessness and even lust started appearing around them. Tze Cha was especially affected by this chant of evil mantra in unison, his One Eye started shooting blue flames, his body started squirming and he grabbed onto his own head and squeezed his own temples while biting his own teeth as if he was enduring severe pain. ¡°Nameless, mantra!¡± Josephine Wong waved her hand at the two Buddha statues and conjured up two purple energy swords with wide, flat and long blades: ¡°Jianmen, sigils and words! Pei, Vivian, leave right now and get to safety!¡± Nameless sat in the air with his legs crossed and started chanting his mantra loudly and sternly. As his voice resounded in the air, a golden spherical bubble filled with appeared, enclosing the team inside. At the same time ripples of pale and grey energy waves appeared around the golden bubble, as if there were invisible waves in the air crushing against it from different directions. Jianmen started writing in the air with both of his hands when he heard the order from Josephine Wong. His fingers did not leave anything in the air, but symbols and ancient words appeared on the purple energy swords¡¯ blades as he continued to write. When he was done, the symbols all lit up in orange and golden light, and lightning sparks of the same colors started jumping out from the sword. ¡°Gah!¡± Josephine Wong yelled and pushed her hands outward, the two purple energy swords shot through the air aiming at the foreheads of the two Buddha statues. The pale and grey energy waves concentrated around the two energy swords but then were immediately pierced through and left behind, just like the sound barrier around a supersonic jet. Chapter 425 With two sharp sounds like that made by pieces of metal clashing against each other, the two purple energy swords cut into the foreheads of the two Budda statues, leaving only half of the blades and the handles outside. The symbols and ancient words drawn on the blades by Jianmen shone in blinding orange and golden light, and the two energy blades sunk even deeper into the statues'' foreheads. Countless cries, moans and curses came from the holes on the two statues¡¯ foreheads. And at the same time, dark red blood started coming out from the two eyes of the two statues. When the blood poured down on the faces of the Buddha statues, the monsters and all other creatures and beings of malice became stirred up and all four members of the team could see them closing in on their positions from almost all available angles. ¡°Now¡¯s the time, One Eye!¡± Josephine Wong clenched her fists and the two energy swords sunk just a little deeper. Nameless slowly raised his two arms in the air while chanting the mantra, then he struck the air with his fists with full force, two golden energy fists shot out from his actual fists and struck the pummels of the two purple energy swords, pushing the swords deeper, and at the same time striking the two statues of blasphemous evil Buddhas in the face. ¡°Nameless, I¡¯m going to put something on your back, don¡¯t resist!¡± Jianmen said to Nameless, and when he got a nod in response, he placed a small jade card that was shaped like a tower shield on the back of Nameless¡¯s neck. A gentle and somehow reinvigorating chill flowed into the body and mind of Nameless, providing him with a blessing that helped him regenerate his energy and stamina. Nameless retreated his arms slowly after delivering the two strikes while continuing chanting the mantra that created the golden bubble, the empty feeling he had due to overexerting his power started slowly fading away. Under the protection of the golden bubble, Tze Cha, who was the most affected by the evil mantras chanted by the two blasphemous evil Buddhas, gradually regained his composure and his ability to fight. The dark red blood pouring down from the two Budda statues¡¯ eyes dripped onto the bottom of the pit, and chilling cheers came from the dark ground below. At the same time, hundreds of creatures, including those with taking the shapes of giant four-winged bats, frogs with spikes on the head and multiple eyes on the body and front legs, multi-headed earth worms with sharp teeth and tentacles all over the sections of their bodies started rushing down from the hole through which the team of four fell down the pit.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Jianmen held both his rattan broom and his meat cleaver in his hands, and just when the horde of creatures of malice lunged at the team of four from above, he swung his broom upward, releasing a wall of wind. The wall of wind was not strong or dense or fast judging from the looks of it. Yet when it brushed through the creatures of malice, their skins, and thinner parts of their bodies instantly became fragile and brittle. Some of the weaker and smaller creatures of malice even crumbled in the air completely while still in the air after they barely made it through the hole on the ground. Tze Cha roared with anger, disgust and even a little resentment and fear, the dark scales he used to have when he was in his dragon form reappeared on his face and his arms, his face grew long and his fingernails grow sharp as he turned into a half man half dragon creature, then after a deep breath, a pillar of dark flames came out of his long dragon mouth aiming at the creatures coming from above, right after Jianmen¡¯s wall of wind brushing through them. ¡°Bang bang bang bang ...¡± countless creatures of malice lit up and burst in the air like firecrackers and fireworks - the dark flames were already highly effective against them, and after their being weakened by the wall of wind from Jianmen, their reaction and downfall just became more violent. ¡°Leave! Dangerous enemies coming from below!¡± Jianmen looked down at the pit, which was now filled with boiling dark red blood. ¡°Go!¡± Josephine Wong took one single look down and agreed: ¡°Fly up in formation, now!¡± Josephine Wong, Jianmen and Nameless started ascending towards the hole along the pillar of dark flames all at once, and Tze Cha was left behind at first but then swiftly caught up to them. Jianmen felt a burning sensation along his meridians, this was due to his overusing his Xuanli while he was technically still heavily injured, and the effects of the oil was starting to wear off - the more Xuanli he used, the faster the effect would fade, and the sooner he would get back to his half paralyzed state. Jianmen¡¯s meat cleaver lit up in bright light blue, then he swung it downwards and unleashed a crescent-shaped lightning energy blade aiming at the boiling dark red blood below. Next, he swung his rattan broom down and shot out another wall of wind with thousands of stone spikes inside. A spider with many more than eight legs whose body was made of dark red blood leapt out from the pool of blood at the bottom of the pit, just in time to be sliced in half and then exploded by the lightning energy blade. Right when the wall of wind came down against the surface of the pool of blood Jianmen bit the tip of his own tongue then spit his own blood onto the meat cleaver, then jabbed the meat cleaver down. A beam of orange and blood red energy shot down from the meat cleaver and split into thousands of much thinner beams in midair. Each beam of orange and blood red energy struck the tail of one stone spike and turned to a thin layer of energy coating around the spikes. When the spikes dived into the pool and hit the bottom, they turned into nodes of a large suppression array, which upon activation instantly locked the tens of other creatures made of dark red blood from coming out of the pool. Josephine Wong triggered a burst of her power and unleashed an explosive push, the two energy swords lit up and sunk into the foreheads of the Buddha statues completely, leaving only their handles outside. The walls of the pit as well as the entire underground structure shook as if the area was just hit by a massive earthquake, and giant cracks started crawling all over the two Buddha statues. Chapter 426 With the two energy swords deep inside their foreheads, the two evil blasphemous Buddha statues started crumbling from the head down: the two energy swords with arcane symbols and ancient words written on their blades must have struck something important, something like a power core, and now the energy from inside the statues was leaking out, and thus the statues started losing their structural integrity altogether. Dark smoke came from the giant cracks on the Buddhas¡¯ bodies, the streams of dark red blood also got diverted by the cracks and started splashing everywhere. The suppression array created by Jianmen with his stone spikes coated with energy not only stopped the creatures from the inside of the pool of blood from coming out, but it also stopped the blood from dripping into the pool. But judging from the cracks on the energy wall formed by it, the situation would not last long. Purple lightning started shooting out of Josephine Wong¡¯s eyes and palms, as she triggered another burst of her energy right before the team of four reached the hole through which they fell down into this pit. The two energy swords became slightly smaller but more condensed under Josephine Wong¡¯s control, and then they sliced down from the center of the foreheads to the left chests of the Buddhas, right through the positions of their hearts. The two purple energy swords dissipated due to their losing the last drop of their energy. But they did their jobs: the two evil blasphemous Buddha statues exploded from the positions of their brains, hearts, stomachs and wrists, their mantra incantation stopped with the explosions. But on the other hand, more dark red blood poured out like from two broken water towers and onto the energy wall formed from Jianmen¡¯s suppression array. This proved to have brought additional heavy pressure on the suppression array, and several holes appeared on the already half broken energy wall. ¡°Out we go!¡± Tze Cha laughed out loud because he could no longer hear the remote echoes of the evil mantras. And with a few more breaths of dark fire clearing the way, they were finally about to reach the hole on the ground. When the two Buddhas stopped chanting, Nameless stopped his chanting as well. And with the help of the jade card placed on his back by Jianmen, he was able to recover a lot of his power, and when the team of four were about to go through the hole, he started chanting another mantra and conjured a golden energy shield hovering ahead of them. Several creatures of malice leapt and rushed down from the other side of the hole and crashed against the golden energy shield, breaking their bodies up and splashing all over like giant bugs on a windshield. Despite these simple distractions, the team rushed through the hole.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. But somehow, the team did not reach the hallway, which was where they were before they fell down. Instead, they found themselves somewhere inside of a broken, dirtied and messy room with a high ceiling, with metal walls all around, broken lights on the ceiling, and used up wooden dolls, metal dolls, dried up human and animal bodies scattered all around the floor. When they looked around, they could see that there were at least hundreds of dolls and bodies lying around on the floor, especially in the tall piles in the corners of the room. ¡°They tricked us into a portal.¡± Josephine Wong let out a frustrated exhale: ¡°Fuck! Such a rookie mistake!¡± ¡°But at least we¡¯re safe for now.¡± Jianmen lowered himself close to the ground: ¡°For now I guess - I don¡¯t see electronic doors with limited batteries around here we can close only when needed to to last us through the night.¡± ¡°Yeah I know that game, they should add a ¡®eat the freaking dolls¡¯ option.¡± Tze Cha sniffed the scent in the air: ¡°There is some kind of weird energy around here, but it¡¯s not malice, nor is it necromancy.¡± ¡°I think I know why that fucking painting sent us here.¡± Jianmen picked up the head of a metal doll on the ground, stared into its rolling eyes, the dark and spinning core at its center and said: ¡°This is the ¡®dream hub¡¯ of the clustered malice.¡± All other members of the team went silenced, having ample experience dealing with malice and especially clustered malice, all of them knew exactly what a ¡°dream hub¡± was - the only thing was that it was mostly a theorized section buried deep inside the area in which clustered malice resided, there were very little proof and evidence that it actually existed - until now. ¡°We must leave now.¡± Josephine Wong started conjuring a portal right away, but though she was already trying her hardest, she could not make the portal take shape and become stable - everytime the energy vortex appeared in the air, some kind of force field came from the thin air and disrupted the flow of energy and made the portal collapsed on itself. Nameless chanted his mantra and tried as well, and his power seemed to be collapsing even faster. ¡°Let me try.¡± Tze Cha was cooperative for the first time: ¡°Your powers - Xen magic and Light of Vajra do not jive well with the utter madness and insanity of this place. Because if Mr. Chopper and Broom here is right, utter madness and insanity is weaved into the very fabric of this place.¡± A vortex of dark flames appeared in front of Tze Cha, it took Tze Cha some extra effort, but it did stabilize in the air. But when the space tunnel was about to open up from the center, some kind of energy wave came from two corners of the room and brushed through the vortex and the portal seemed to go into a state of chaos all of a sudden. Tze Cha cut off his energy output immediately, but the aftermath of a failed spell still hit him and pushed him back in the air away from the vortex. ¡°This is not good.¡± Tze Cha wiped the dark green blood off from the corner of his mouth: ¡°The very fabric of reality is full of madness and chaos - anything resembling order and sanity is getting crushed and disrupted. That thing must have been very familiar with this place to be able to construct a portal like that.¡± Jianmen sighed, then he raised his meat cleaver on his right hand and ran his left palm over the edge, letting his blood run all over the blade of the meat cleaver: ¡°Alright, then there¡¯s one last choice - that is to cut through the fabric of reality itself.¡± Chapter 427 Using his blood that was already flowing all over the blade of the meat cleaver, Jianmen wrote a symbol on both sides of the blade. Then, he raised the meat cleaver, let out a long nervous sigh, then swung his meat cleaver at the thin air in front of him. The edge of the blade cut into something in the air and a thin gap was left floating in the space like a piece of light cotton thread, but was glowing in orange and golden light. The dolls lying around in the room started shaking, vibrating and rolling on the ground like they were affected by a violent earthquake. Ignoring all of this, Jianmen raised his rattan broom and bashed the thin gap with the stick. After a few bashes, the thin gap was gradually widened, and through it the team could see the inside of some other room in this underground facility. The vibrations and motions of the dolls and bodies inside the room got bigger and bigger in scale with each bash. After confirming that the team would be able to see through the gap, Jianmen struck the gap once again, causing it to widen slightly further and become stabilized. ¡°Now, this gap is barely enough for us to pass through, so minimize yourself and travel fast.¡± Jianmen stood beside the gap and said: ¡°Go, I will go last.¡± ¡°Wait.¡± Tze Cha was stopped by Jianmen when he tried to go in first: ¡°Ladies first.¡± ¡°Thank you Jianmen, I¡¯ll wait for you on the other side.¡± Josephine Wong nodded and pushed herself into the thin gap without saying anything else. Her body shrunk and into the size of a small pea right before she entered the gap, and disappeared into it. ¡°Benefactor Tze Cha, as you are the last of your line, you should go next.¡± Nameless said to Tze Cha in a praying pose. When Tze Cha was about to shrink himself and go into the gap, a few small portals appeared in the air, and some kind of dark smoke was pumped into the room. Jianmen looked back and swung his rattan broom at the dark smoke, unleashing a wall of wind to push the dark smoke away. ¡°Master Nameless, you should go next.¡± when Tze Cha disappeared into the gap, Jianmen said to Nameless: ¡°I¡¯ll have to stay and hold the tunnel open, go! ¡± ¡°Thank you Mr. Yu.¡± Nameless gently bowed before he turned into a small shining golden ball of energy and rushed into the gap. When Jianmen became fairly certain that all three of the team members had traveled through the gap to another side safely, he looked back once again. The first wave of dark smoke was pushed back by his wall of wind, but there had been subsequent waves that came out from the small portals in the air. The wooden and metal dolls, and the bodies of humans and animals became animated after contact with the dark smoke - they rose from the ground, some started growling from their throats that were made of wood, metal or dried flesh, some started randomly attacking others around them, even the ones that had yet to be animated. He swung his broom at the dark smoke once again, this time releasing three strong gushes of wind that trapped and pushed some of the dark smoke and went straight up at three of the mini portals from which the dark smoke came.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Boom!¡± when Jianmen came out from the other end of the tiny tunnel, a golden fist was just unleashed by Nameless onto one of the monsters with half a human body and half a body made of medical supplies. This attack struck true, and the monster was sent flying through a quarter of the room, knocking a couple of creatures of malice away and rolled on the ground. ¡°Nice destination there.¡± Tze Cha said to Jianmen, then spit two balls of dark fire forward at the back of the ¡°painting¡± with two half human bodies at both sides of the frame at the center of the room. The balls of dark flames found its way through the creatures of malice in between, and almost hit their targets if not for the monster with half a human body and half a body made of limbs blocking their way. These two monsters were already injured when Jianmen came out of the other end of the tunnel, and now with these attacks they were finally incapacitated - the monster struck by Nameless was rolling on the ground writhing in pain due to the residual golden energy left on its body, while the monster ignited by Tze Cha¡¯s dark flames screamed and moaned but was not able to do anything about it. ¡°With the two Buddhas destroyed, their power seemed to be greatly weakened as well.¡± Josephine Wong threw out three purple energy spears and skewed several creatures of malice and pushed them back: ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Could have been better.¡± Jianmen turned around, wiped the sweat from his forehead and blood from the corner of her mouth then struck the tunnel he created with his meat cleaver again, destroying the tunnel completely and let the natural flow of the fabric of reality take its course. Tze Cha extended his two hands in claw forms forward and unleashed two streams of dark flames from his palms, more creatures of malice tried to rush against them but were instantly pushed back. And moreover, a lot of the ignited creatures of malice clashed into each other and spread the dark flames further, which also included the ¡°painting¡± at the center of the room. Nameless recognized the power of the spreading dark flames, and with two Dragon Claw strikes, he broke off two claws from a spider-shaped creature of malice before kicking it back; then he tossed the two claws right at two creatures of malice that were almost dead and were just lying on the ground waiting for the dark flames to consume their bodies completely with full force. The two claws exploded when they struck the two creatures, shredding them into dozens of burning pieces and sending the pieces flying out in a cone-shaped area behind the body, covering also the ¡°painting¡± behind them. The ¡°painting¡± was thus ignited by the dark flames in multiple spots, and just like real oil paintings when coming into contact with fire, it started cracking up and the surface started crumbling. Dark red blood gushed out from the cracks and the edge of the burning spots. The ¡°painting¡± shook up and down and screamed with two voices in unison. Josephine Wong and Tze Cha each unleashed their final blows in this fight to the ¡°painting¡±, and it was immediately torn to burning shreds scattered all over the floor. Screams, cries and moans from thousands and thousands of voices came from all corners of the room, the ground shook with gradually more and more violent force while dark liquid started dripping down from the ceiling and the walls. ¡°Let¡¯s go - this malice is about to crumble.¡± Josephine Wong said. ¡°You go. I think I¡¯ll stay.¡± Tze Cha walked forward and let himself bathe in the dark liquid. Chapter 428 It was the expected kind of price to pay for Camile Jensen, but she was not expecting it to be this heavy, this harsh, and this ¡­ restraining. ¡°How are you doing, young Miss Jensen?¡± the metal door of the room in which she was locked opened up, and a woman with a mask covering half her face walked in, with two figures in cloaks behind her. If one looked closely, the woman¡¯s robe had the symbol of a crow on her left chest, as did the cloaks of the two who were following her. ¡°I don''t know, is this how you treat those who have helped you gather all those spells, codices and enchanted materials?¡± Camile Jensen raised her head and tried to move her arms and legs, which were chained up against the thick metal bars of her metal cage: ¡°I mean, you¡¯re careful, I get it, but...¡± ¡°But you are not the one who has survived centuries in this world, managing to hide from all those who try to oppress us, and flourishing in the moment.¡± the woman said: ¡°And, since you are a Jensen, we¡¯ve got to extend your¡­ quarantine period by a few more days.¡± ¡°What for?¡± Camile Jensen asked with a wheeze: ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve never dealt with Jensens before.¡± ¡°We have, we have, which is why we - uh, we have to lock you in this very very special cage.¡± the woman explained with a smile: ¡°You¡¯ve heard of the name, Abigail?¡± ¡°That¡¯s ¡­ that¡¯s my great grandmother, how¡­?¡± ¡°She used to be one of ours.¡± the woman said and pointed at her mask: ¡°This - this was thanks to her.¡± ¡°She was one of you? How is that possible?¡± Camile Jensen asked with a frown: ¡°She was ¡­ well according to my other family members, she was mediocre at best. She¡¯s sweet - a little distant, but ...¡± ¡°But she was never a good magic user, she was never a good investigator or crime fighter, is that right?¡± the woman chuckled: ¡°Yeah, yeah, you remember that correctly. Her magical powers are, as you just said, mediocre at best. But she made up for it in some other ways, her understanding of energy theories, and as it later turned out, her ability to communicate with powerful beings without being driven mad or permanently incapacitated.¡± ¡°Fascinating, I¡¯ll remember to check my family¡¯s historical records when I have the chance. But what does that have to do with me?¡± Camile Jensen scoffed.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°She was the one that realized the inherent curse inside of your family bloodline.¡± the woman said: ¡°And she was willing to try anything to cure it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a curse, it¡¯s a blessing.¡± Camile Jensen shook her head: ¡°We are the only magical family in the magical world, where every new member of the family gains magical affinity before they are even born.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the story of your parents¡¯ generation, isn¡¯t it?¡± the woman said: ¡°I bet you don¡¯t know this yet - the other benefits of this ¡®blessing¡¯ is that there is a magical bind between your blood and the central altar in your family¡¯s secret chamber, with which your family elders can easily find out where you are, what kind of situation you are in, and even what you have been doing. It¡¯s a very, very interesting spell, one that was developed by dear Abigail to alleviate the result of the curse.¡± Camile Jensen narrowed her eyes and did not respond, she had heard about some rumors about something like this, and though she was never able to find any concrete proof, through asking the elder members of her family she became more and more certain that they were hiding something. ¡°It should be done now. Let her out.¡± the woman told her two followers. The two figures in cloaks walked to two sides of the metal cage and turned two handles at the same time. The metal chains on Camile Jensen¡¯s extremities loosened and eventually fell off. The door at the front surface of the cage opened, and Camile Jensen was able to just walk out. The woman with a mask covering half her face handed Camile Jensen a silver metal bottle and said: ¡°Here, drink this.¡± ¡°This is - this is elemental energy blocker!¡± Camile Jensen sniffed the mouth of the bottle and asked: ¡°Why? Isn¡¯t locking me in this element and energy blocking room enough?¡± ¡°Elemental energy blocker, plus a few things. This is to keep you safe. ¡± the woman said: ¡°And to give you a little taste of what would happen with your ¡®blessing¡¯ if not for your great grandmother.¡± Camile Jensen drank all of the slightly sweet and cool liquid from the bottle, then walked out of the room with the woman and her two followers. The room had two special arrays underneath the room, one of which blocked almost all elemental power and magical energy from the outside world, and the other would sucked the energy and elemental power away and diverted somewhere outside of the room, in turn creating a space that was almost completely devoid of them, and anyone trapped inside would be enduring the effect of their power slowly leaking away from them. When Camile Jensen walked right outside of the room, the magical energy and elemental power that filled the air outside rushed into her body like air and water rushing to fill a void. A sharp pain like that of her flesh and bones being torn apart jolted from all extremities of her body and went up her spine right at her brain. This caused her to fall down on the floor immediately in a fetal position and cried in pain. ¡°Yeah, imagine this kind of pain, but for a newborn baby.¡± the woman knelt down beside her and said: ¡°Just imagine, how¡­ interesting it is for a baby like that to make it to 3 years of age.¡± Camile Jensen stared at the woman in the eyes, but she was not able to say anything because of her tight clenching teeth. ¡°Help her up.¡± the woman said to her two followers, then she looked Camile Jensen in the eye: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you will get through this without much of a scratch, and your family¡¯s elders will only think that you are dead. Join us for dinner, I bet you¡¯re starving.¡± The two figures in cloaks held Camile Jensen up, and practically carried her through a long boardwalk connecting the room, which was on top of a lone stone pillar in a grand underground structure, and the platform of an underground castle. Chapter 429 Fruit plates full of special fruits from an obviously enchanted garden, venison steak, duck breast, poached eggs, grilled asparagus and several bottles of well aged enchanted wine, no one could say it was a less than lavish meal. But of the three sitting around the table, only one person was enjoying the meal - which was the woman wearing a mask covering half her face. The other two - Camile Jensen, and an unexpected ¡°guest¡±: Lauren Biggins, the lab administrator of the Grant Academy, and a member of the funding committee. ¡°You¡¯re probably both wondering, why the funding committee of THE Grant Academy is here.¡± the woman swallowed a bite of venison steak, then asked with a smile while cutting the steak: ¡°And I would say, that this would be the wrong question to ask.¡± ¡°So the correct question is?¡± Camile Jense put down her fork with a piece of duck breast on it: ¡°I know that she¡¯s not on your payroll, because I handled all of your payroll contacts in the academy - at least I think so.¡± ¡°You remember correctly, she¡¯s not on our payroll. But she¡¯s on someone else¡¯s.¡± the woman smiled and looked at the still quite shaken Lauren Biggins with a side eye, who had her hair all messed up and her robe dirtied and broken: ¡°She¡¯s like you, she used to work for more than one group of people, and she has been quite effective in her approach - until that tunnel was burnt and the beast was unleashed.¡± The fork and knife in Lauren Biggins¡¯ hands dropped onto the fine china plate, and she stared at the woman wearing a mask: ¡°It¡¯s you - it¡¯s YOU! YOU burnt that tunnel! Do you have any idea what you have done!?¡± ¡°It¡¯s bound to happen anyway. We¡¯re just ahead of the curve.¡± the woman wearing a mask barely raised her eyebrows: ¡°You think the energy stones you moved out of the emergency reserves to support the tunnel are going to last? There is no more importing of energy stones, and the reserves are dry, so people are asking questions.¡± Lauren Biggins stood up so violently that her chair was pushed back and almost fell down on the ground, but she was not able to do anything before the woman wearing a mask bent her back forward and pushed her upper body against the table, almost forcing her face against the venison steak in her plate with just one finger.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Politics and your desk job has dulled your abilities and your judgment.¡± the woman wearing a mask scoffed: ¡°Too bad, once such a promising scholar.¡± ¡°What, do, you, WANT!?¡± Lauren Biggins asked through her teeth. ¡°What I want, is for you to enjoy your meal in peace. We are nothing but hospitable, especially for fellow witches who are down on their luck and need a place to stay and a way out.¡± the woman wearing a mask snapped her fingers and forced Lauren Biggins back into her chair: ¡°And then, we can talk about how you are going to help me bring down Beverly Winters, or you may know her as Carol Summers.¡± Both Camile Jensen and Lauren Biggins started coughing from almost choking on their food, for they were not expecting the woman wearing a mask to make this ask at all. ¡°You¡¯re kidding right?¡± Camile Jensen had to take a big gulp from her glass: ¡°She¡¯s a high broker of the Exalted Bondsmen, and she has an army of powerful players. How do you even fight her?¡± ¡°Not alone, and with the help of another high broker, of course.¡± the woman laid down her fork and sat back on her chair: ¡°I won¡¯t bore you with the details, but be assured that we already have a plan in place and it is going well. All I need from you, is that we want to be extra careful and when dealing with someone like Beverly Winters, the more insurance policies and trump cards we have, the better.¡± ¡°Beverly Winters? ¡± Camile Jensen asked with a curious frown on her face: ¡°What¡¯s special about her name? And why¡¯d she change it?¡± ¡°She¡¯s still trying to get it back from whatever entity she pawned her name to. One entity whose name we do not know about, but it would explain her sudden rise to power.¡± the woman smiled and took a gentle sip from her glass: ¡°I know, depending on your understanding of the contracts between normal humans and celestial beings, this is either huge, or barely anything. But do keep in mind that there¡¯s more intelligence and knowledge where that came from, plus you can have your freedom when this is done.¡± Camile Jensen sighed and took a look at Lauren Biggins, then realized that Lauren Biggins was already looking at her with exhausted, bland and distant eyes. She gave Lauren Biggins some eye signals, trying to get her to say something or at least show her and the woman wearing a mask where she stood on the ask. ¡°Well, the silence and the lack of enthusiasm is kinda disappointing, considering that my girls and I just saved both of your lives.¡± the woman wearing a mask raised her eyebrows and continued with her food. ¡°No, please, I - I mean WE are definitely grateful.¡± seeing that Lauren Biggins was still too shaken and upset to ask questions, Camile Jensen asked the obvious question: ¡°What would you like us to do?¡± ¡°Simple, give me the details on the supply chains, the name of the contacts she has in the Grant Academy.¡± the woman broke out a smile at the two guests at the table: ¡°Don¡¯t worry about doing it right away, you will have a few more days to decide.¡± ¡°And what if we can¡¯t decide?¡± ¡°Then this place would be closed to you. And you will have to face the world on your own.¡± Chapter 430 On the golf course right outside of a tall mansion, Beverly Winters, mostly known as Carol Summers, was sitting on a lawn chair, watching two people sparring, each with a set of a long and a short sword. One of the two individuals fighting was her unofficial ¡°student¡± or ¡°apprentice¡±, Emilia Corin, and the other was one of her long-time close maids, who was an experienced swordswomen during the days when she was active on the field. Emilia Corin jabbed forward with her long sword while holding the short sword close to her body, but then her attack was parried by the maid using her shorter sword, and with a quick swipe of the shorter sword, her longer sword was pushed away with a great force. Then the maid swung her longer sword down, bashing Emilia Corin¡¯s shorter sword down, and then she thrust her longer sword forward and jabbed Emilia Corin on her breastplate. The hit did not actually cause any harm, and merely just pushed Emilia Corin back. ¡°You¡¯re too hasty with your attacks.¡± the maid stepped back and raised her swords again: ¡°Again, you should find the rhythm of your swords and your opponent¡¯s. Remember, sword fights are like dances, unless you are exponentially more skillful or powerful than your opponent, you don¡¯t want to simply break the rhythm and force through the fight.¡± ¡°I understand, I do - but somehow I¡¯m just having a hard time concentrating.¡± Emilia Corin laid down her swords and started breathing heavily: ¡°The swords - I might have used them too much, and I feel like I might have strained my mind too much.¡± ¡°Then sit down and take a moment.¡± the maid took a peek at Beverly Winters, who was sitting on the side watching them spar: ¡°I am briefed on the huge battle you had yesterday against your family rivals, and you shouldn¡¯t have used as much of your power as you did. For that, you will have to rely more on your skills and the power you own, rather than solely relying on the Bones of Valcox.¡± ¡°She¡¯s right.¡± Beverly Winters sighed from the side and took out a small crystal bottle of light yellow oil from her purse, with small visible silver droplets inside: ¡°You need to watch your state of mind and body when you fight ...¡± Not even patient enough to wait till Beverly Winters finished talking, Emilia Corin tried to reach for the bottle, but Beverly Winters retreated her arm and took it away from her at the last second and said with a stern voice: ¡°Listen to me, Emilia. This cannot last you forever, it could barely hold you up for a few days now. Hollow Oil is a powerful and dangerous substance, you should know that. And if you lose yourself in your battle again, this might not help at all.¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Yes, but affairs with a family as deep rooted and corrupted like mine, time waits for no man, and no woman.¡± Emilia Corin quickly grabbed the bottle and took it away from Beverly Winters: ¡°Walt, my cousin, is now finally dead, he deserved worse, but I am still very, VERY glad that I was there to land the blow that put his pitiful head to rest.¡± ¡°But that fight is over now. Your cousin is dead, no one is competing for that seat at the table. You shouldn''t push yourself.¡± ¡°Family affairs start at the seat at the table. And there¡¯s no way I am going to go about it without showing the mummified ¡®elders¡¯ who lived in the past what I am capable of.¡± Emilia Corin opened up the bottle and finished it in one chug. Beverly Winters and the maid watched on the side as Emilia Corin finished all of the hollow inside of the bottle. And Emilia Corin closed her eyes and froze in place right while she was holding the empty crystal bottle in her hand. After a few seconds, a chill radiating from her stomach sent a shiver to her whole body through her spine; and when she opened her eyes, two light yellow flares remained in her pupils, but they eventually died down. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Beverly Winters looked Emilia Corin in the eyes and asked: ¡°Looks like its effect is weakened.¡± ¡°I think - I am feeling great. ¡± Emilia Corin answered with a smile: ¡°I am feeling more focused and I finally feel that I can concentrate, shall we try again?¡± ¡°No. You go into the house and take a break, no magic practices, no reading, take a break from the use of magic and your power.¡± Beverly Winters sighed and said: ¡°The oil is not a permanent solution, you will need to take time and let yourself heal. You are of no use to me if you are driven mad or into a vegetable by the excess use of your power and the Bones of Valcox. Go.¡± ¡°I think I can still train - ¡± ¡°No, remember your deal with me. You are of no use to me if you cannot join my fight when the time comes.¡± Beverly Winters picked up her cup of tea that was just poured by the maid: ¡°And I am not asking - you will need to be in one piece to negotiate at the table as well. So again, go!¡± ¡°... yes.¡± Emilia Corin sighed and backed away: ¡°And thank you, Ms. Winters.¡± ¡°Looks like the swords are having the right effects on her.¡± the maid said to Beverly Winters as Emilia Corin went into the mansion: ¡°And the Hollow Oil is doing its work. She will be ready before she realizes it. But shouldn¡¯t we push her a little harder instead, in order to make sure she¡¯s ready earlier?¡± ¡°I can still wait a bit longer.¡± Beverly Winters took a sip from her tea and said: ¡°Strains on one¡¯s soul would cause the body irreversible harm if we¡¯re not careful, which would make a subpar vessel.¡± Chapter 431 A car drove into the parking lot of Xianshi Inn. Aimee, Detective Lee and Jason came out of it, and with Jason carrying a man wrapped inside of a silver cocoon over his right shoulder. Detective Lee and Aimee went to the back of the car and took out another man that was wrapped in a silver cocoon. All of them then carried the two men into the inn through a backdoor. ¡°Hey Jason, you¡¯re back.¡± Rash was sitting behind the reception¡¯s desk, and seemingly was chatting with a young woman in brown attire and had brown hair: ¡°What¡¯s with these men?¡± ¡°It¡¯s kinda hard to explain. Sorry, it¡¯s a bit urgent.¡± Jason put one man wrapped in a silver cocoon on the floor of the lounge and asked: ¡°Is Boss here?¡± ¡°He went out with Miss. Wong earlier, he didn¡¯t tell me when he would be back.¡± Rash sighed and shook his head: ¡°It sounded pretty urgent, so I didn¡¯t ask. Do you need help?¡± ¡°Yeah, I think we¡¯d need some help.¡± Aimee came in with Detective Lee carrying the other man wrapped in a silver cocoon and laid the man they were carrying beside the first: ¡°Do you have anything that could help treat¡­ someone who was poisoned.¡± She tried using other words because she saw the girl in brown. ¡°Oh, Natalie here is not a civilian, so no need to hide the existence of magical powers from her.¡± Rash nodded and said: ¡°I think if you need to find something to detox or heal someone, you should try the bath close to the place where you train. You¡¯ll probably need to read the instructions though, since these two men seemed to be civilians - and your friend here is also a civilian.¡± ¡°Yeah, understood, thank you!¡± Jason simply picked up the two men on the floor and apologized to Aimee and Detective Lee: ¡°Sorry about that - I should¡¯ve done this earlier. Aimee can you get the door?¡± ¡°On it, the bath near our training room right?¡± Aimee went to the door to the diner, closed its ajar door and opened again, a dark tunnel with torches on the wall appeared behind the simple non-assuming door to the diner, which made Natalie, the girl in brown open her eyes wide and stare at it with visible amazement on her face. Jason rushed through the door, then Aimee dragged Detective Lee over and pushed in through, and finally she went in herself. When the door closed and swung open again, the tunnel disappeared, and all there was left was but the sight of the humble diner. ¡°Sorry, where were we?¡± Rash turned around and asked Natalie: ¡°You were saying that your friend went out for a late night stroll and did not come back at all? And they didn¡¯t respond to your contact attempts?¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Yes, yes. ¡± Natalie nodded: ¡°And I know that they¡¯re okay - we¡¯re connected via a special artifact where we can tell if any one of us gets hurt - but unfortunately we can¡¯t locate each other through it, all I know is that they¡¯re nearby - and if this, this wonderful hotel has many magical doorways like what we¡¯ve just saw, they could be just¡­ lost?¡± ¡°Oh, that wouldn¡¯t be possible.¡± Rash answered with a welcoming smile: ¡°These doorways can only be opened by authorized individuals, so your friends couldn¡¯t have stumbled into one.¡± ¡°But¡­ but do you have any place that they could have mistakenly stumbled into?¡± Natalie went silent for a brief moment and asked: ¡°Things like - like a wine cellar, or, or something like an underground parking lot ¡­ or a basement?¡± ¡°Well, we DO have a wine cellar, but it¡¯s really small, so I don¡¯t think the two of your friends would end up in there.¡± Rash scratched his jaw and said: ¡°And we only have the outside parking lot - hmm wait, there IS a basement, and the owner doesn''t usually lock it.¡± ¡°Huh, why doesn¡¯t he?¡± Natalie appeared confused: ¡°If so, can we go and take a look? Is it a big basement where they can get lost in?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, let¡¯s go and check.¡± Rash stood up from his chair: ¡°The owner likes to be a bit messy sometimes.¡± Natalie stood up with Rash and walked behind him with no clue of what she was going to do next - she had no idea what she could do if they found her two teammates in the basement. From the stories this man, nicknamed Rash, told her last night when she was trying to stall and make time for her teammates, she became aware that this mild mannered tall and slim man was far beyond what he seemed from the outside, and the owner, who built this inn from the ground up was not one with whom they could mess with. ¡°Ah? What do you know? They fell asleep here.¡± Rash said with a surprised voice: ¡°Miss Natalie, please close your eyes first, there are drawings in this room you should not lay your eyes on lightly, or just to be safe, let me get them out for you.¡± Natalie froze right in front of the door to the basement, still wondering what she should do, and before she could come to a conclusion, Rash already carried her two friends on his arms: ¡°My apologies, looks like this door is unlocked, would you like me to escort them back to your room?¡± ¡°Huh? What? Uh...¡± Natalie was shocked and confused by Rash¡¯s attitude. ¡°Please, allow me to help them and you get back. I will send up some drinks for you as a token of our apology.¡± Rash appeared genuinely sorry and oblivious to the obvious implications here right in front of his face: ¡°I will contact the owner and see if I can comp you for your stay - again, I am really sorry for what happened. Luckily there doesn¡¯t seem to be any serious issues.¡± ¡°What? No!¡± Natalie immediately dragged Carmen and Kate with her from Rash¡¯s arms, lifting their weight using her magic so that she wasn¡¯t incapacitated by the weight: ¡°It¡¯s okay! It¡¯s okay! It¡¯s totally fine! We were not going to stay for too long anyway! Please don¡¯t tell your boss anything! Goodbye!¡± Then she did not even let Rash finish before she bolted out the door. When Natalie finally managed to load her two deeply asleep teammates into the car, she found that they were not able to start the car - even though before they came they were assured that the car could withstand most ordinary damages, and now there was no sign of any on the car. ¡°Need some help?¡± Rash appeared by the car, and Natalie almost jumped out of the car window on the other side. The innocent and warm smile on Rash¡¯s face now seemed extra unsettling and even creepy in Natalie¡¯s eyes. Chapter 432 ¡°Okay! Found it! I think what we need is a detoxing bath.¡± Aimee opened up the manual laid beside one of the ancient-looking bathtub built with a honeycomb-structured metal skeleton inside and the hexagon-shaped bricks on the shelf nearby: ¡°Listen to this: ¡®To detox in an efficient way, one need to go find the right bricks to put into the hexagon holes in the metal structure. For corrosive toxin, make sure the bricks construct an array that would remove the toxin as well as corroded dead flesh from subject and provide sufficient healing power at the same time to stall the process of damage, which require a combination of yellow, blue, red and green bricks (for optimal placement of bricks please refer to detailed instructions); for neurotoxins, isolation is key, so choose yellow, blue and green bricks that would construct an isolation layer to repel, collect and wash away the toxins and help the subject heal ...¡¯¡± ¡°Yes, so yellow, blue, green.¡± Jason picked up several bricks from different places on the shelf and asked: ¡°How do we put them? Are there any instructions?¡± ¡°Yeah yeah yeah, hang on.¡± Aimee flipped through the pages per the instructions on the first introductory page: ¡°First, place the blue bricks close to the main spots of exposure to toxin, they are energy directing bricks which will help direct the energy; then, place the yellow and green bricks around the blue brick, green bricks are healing bricks, while yellow bricks are isolation bricks, so arrange their numbers depending on the subject¡¯s exposure to the toxin. Once the area facing the main spots of exposure is filled, depending on the severity and spread of the toxins, you can place bricks using similar patterns on other parts of the subject¡¯s body. Place white bricks on other slots to hold water, and place a few black bricks close to the spots of exposure that serve as drains for the toxins. When all the slots are filled, fill the bathtub with water, be careful with temperature. ¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Jason immediately started placing the different colored hexagon bricks into the slots, then removed the silver cocoon wrapping around the man in a leather jacket and dumped him into the tub: ¡°Did it say whether we could try and heal two subjects at a time?¡± ¡°No, but let¡¯s try one at a time.¡± Aimee shook her head. ¡°And - and that¡¯s it? Just by putting these men into the tub with bricks?¡± Detective Lee asked with an uncertain voice: ¡°Anything else we could do? Should we ask that guy for help?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll ask him in a bit. He¡¯s not¡­ well I¡¯ve never consulted him on anything like this before, so I don¡¯t know how he¡¯ll be able to help.¡± Jason double checked the bricks, then started filling the tub using the tap: ¡°Aimee, can you watch over the tub? Let me go and ask Rash if he could help us with this.¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°On it. Go!¡± Aimee nodded and took over the position at the tap and watched as Jason ran out the room. The water that came out from the tap was warm, gently fragrant and even a little bubbly. The lighting in the room was slightly dim compared to the outside, which helped make the fact that the tap water was glowing and shimmering more obvious as well. The water soon rose to a level where the man¡¯s head was completely submerged, but he was not in danger of drowning, for there was a natural tube of air formed in the water, connecting his nose to the surface. Some kind of light yellow stream started coming out from the man¡¯s head, specifically from his eyes, his mouth, his ears and even his nostrils, the stream then flowed through the water inside the tub, and was then absorbed by the black bricks, just like the manual said. ¡°Hey, sorry, I was trying to help the guest with her car.¡± Rash was dragged into the room by Jason: ¡°She¡¯s kind of scared for some reason - but she looks okay. What can I help you with? I may need to check back with her - I read that customer service is really important for the hospitality business - ¡± ¡°Can you help us with removing the toxins from these men?¡± Jason pointed at one man who was still wrapped inside the silver cocoon he created, and then the man in the tub: ¡°I am not sure if we are doing the right thing.¡± ¡°I think we are.¡± Aimee looked at the man carefully and turned back: ¡°I saw something yellow leaking out of him - since it comes out of his head I wouldn¡¯t think it¡¯s something else.¡± ¡°Hmm, looks like he is recovering, to be honest I¡¯ve never used this tub before.¡± Rash looked over at the man and the bathtub and said: ¡°I saw Miss. Wong arranged it once, but I am pretty sure what you are doing here is correct, as I can see that the isolation energy is at work and carrying some toxins away from him. I am not familiar with this toxin - what is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s cyanide.¡± Detective Lee shook his head: ¡°This is some kind of spy level crap. We were trying to drill these two, and this guy just swallowed cyanide, and this one seemed to have triggered some sort of - some sort of curse in his head.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a curse of the mind, I suspect it is put there specifically to shut them up if they are in fear of disclosing some secret information.¡± Jason sighed: ¡°This guy had it worse - at least cyanide kills quickly, I can¡¯t imagine what would happen to me if I had this kind of curse planted inside of my head.¡± ¡°With this, I can help.¡± Rash nodded: ¡°But for that cyanide thing I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to do anything. Toxins are not my expertise, I don¡¯t even know what cyanide is. But curses and the mind are.¡± A gasp came from the tub, the man in a leather jacket, whose body was entirely submerged in water, awoke from his coma and struggled to sit up in the bathtub. But when he found that he was in the room with Jason and Aimee, he yelled and tried to run away, but was immediately dragged and thrown onto the ground. Before he could cry out for help, Rash¡¯s right hand went inside of his skull like either his skull or the hand was but an illusion. The next moment, Rash pulled back his arm, with a grey translucent wiggly worm in his hand. ¡°Yeah, nice observation Jason, it is indeed a curse intended to lock information inside one¡¯s brain, and it will destroy the mind if it gets triggered.¡± Rash observed the squirming worm for a short moment, then threw it in his mouth: ¡°Hmm, crunchy, and tastes like chicken - a little bit.¡± Chapter 433 Aimee had a disgusted expression on her face, just for a brief moment. Jason already knew the true identity of Rash, so he was not surprised at the least. But Detective Lee, whose entire view of the world had already been shaken to its core, started retching on the side and could not stand but only knelt on the side. ¡°Okay, Rash, do you know if we have an interrogation room?¡± Jason conjured silver cuffs and chains to restrain the man they practically just brought back to life and said: ¡°And yes, please help us with the other guy - when the curse activated, we were all pulled into a limbo where the things inside seemed to come from our distant memories. And when we came out, he¡¯s already bleeding through his eyes, ears and nose. I used my only healing spell on him several times, but it was not meant to heal this kind of damage.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Rashed swallowed the worm, ¡°Try using blue, and white bricks - and place a pink brick at the center place - if I remember correctly, that is the diagnosis and stasis mode, if you don¡¯t know what to do, then keep the subject in stasis so that at least they won¡¯t get worse. And uh - there¡¯s no interrogation room, maybe try a normal room? It¡¯s quite easy to redecorate them.¡± ¡°What the fuck are you!? What do you want?!¡± the man asked through his teeth while struggling with the silver cuffs and chains on his wrists and his ankles: ¡°Do you know who you¡¯re messing with? Do you know whose plans you are trying to foil?¡± ¡°So you¡¯re quite talkie now huh?¡± Jason shrugged and dragged the man to stand up: ¡°Thanks Rash, before you go back and help that guest, can you help us with this other guy just so that we can be sure that he won¡¯t die on us?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Rash shrugged. The man in silver chains and cuffs watched as Jason released his teammate from the silver cocoon, removed the fake tooth in his mouth that contained a small but lethal dose of cyanide and put him inside a bathtub with different colored bricks as the interior. As the shimmering and fragrant water started filling the bathtub again, he saw that his teammate, who was trembling, shaking and foaming on his mouth due to the remnant effect of the curse, gradually became stable, calm and eventually still, as if there was nothing about him that was moving and in any sort of action. It was exactly like this man ¡°Rash¡± said, the bath put his teammate in a state of stasis. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Rash reached his right hand into the water and held the entire forehead of the man in the bathtub in his palm and closed his eyes. After a short moment, he opened his eyes, pulled his hand back and said to Jason: ¡°You¡¯re right - his mind is severely injured by the curse already. There was very little remaining energy from the curse from his mind, and just by drenching him in the water it was washing away.¡± ¡°Is there a way to heal him? At least heal him to a point where he is able to tell us things?¡± Aimee asked while taking a peek at the man in a leather jacket standing on the side: ¡°I mean - if this guy here won¡¯t talk, we¡¯d at least want to have a backup source.¡± ¡°Forget it. I won¡¯t tell you anything!¡± the man in a leather jacket clenched his teeth, but his white knuckles, slightly hunched back and shifting eyes indicated that his determination was wavering. ¡°Then I¡¯m afraid we will have to either keep you here indefinitely, or hand you to the actual authorities.¡± Aimee shook her head, shrugged and said: ¡°Like the Division, or the SJPD, after we remove your abilities.¡± ¡°You can try using a combination of green and blue bricks to heal him. But it¡¯s going to be slow. There should be some other bricks that could mend minds and souls, but they¡¯re very expensive and really potent, so use with caution. There are a few rooms that are underground, I can help you turn them into temporary holding cells.¡± Rash said while looking at the man in a leather jacket with a curious expression on his face: ¡°Let me know if you need help asking for important information from him - or course, I assume this is for a good cause?¡± ¡°It¡¯s definitely for a good cause.¡± Aimee immediately answered: ¡°We caught these two trying to collect the grudge of a murder victim from a crime scene. They apparently know about the murder and were expcting to collecting the grudge from the victims for some sort of cruel and horrible purpose.¡± Rash nodded and closed his eyes for a brief moment, then he said to Jason, Aimee and ¡°Okay, a room out there on the left is ready for your use. There¡¯s chains, a seat. Just let me know what you need.¡± ¡°Thanks Rash.¡± Jason smiled and started dragging the chained up man in silver chains and cuffs out of the room: ¡°Come on, let¡¯s find you a room to stay, and then we can figure out what to do with you, since you¡¯re not going to talk.¡± ¡°You¡¯re making a big mistake! You will pay for this!¡± the man in a leather jacket yelled, struggled and protested, but Jason simply used the silver chains and cuffs to float him in the air and pulled him out like a balloon hanging from a thread. ¡°Now, Miss. Chaver, is there anything else I can help you with?¡± Rash turned to Aimee: ¡°If that is all, then can I get back to the customer with the car trouble?¡± ¡°Thanks Rash, but I think that would be all for now.¡± Aimee picked up the manual for the bathtub and said. ¡°Alright, let me know if there¡¯s anything I can do.¡± Rash smiled and got out of the room. ¡°Okay, Chaver, I know that I am in a magical world. And - and we¡¯re talking about all kinds of magic here.¡± Detective Lee finally mustered up the courage to ask: ¡°But ¡­ what the hell was that? No one should ever just gobble up anything that was pulled from another man¡¯s brains! Never!¡± ¡°I think the first step of truly understanding the world is to put down our assumptions.¡± Aimee sighed and turned to the bathtub: ¡°But to be honest, that¡¯s still the freakiest thing I¡¯ve ever seen.¡± Chapter 434 ¡°Yeah, that I can understand - sort of.¡± Detective Lee walked to the bathtub and asked: ¡°But this ¡®grudge collection¡¯, I am having a bit of a hard time understanding. What is this collected grudge even used for?¡± ¡°Just like how it is in horror video games, in horror games, grudge is a kind of extremely negative terrible energy, and can be used for terrible things.¡± Aimee found a page on the manual which told her how to heal trauma to the mind and souls, but immediately frowned at what was documented: ¡°As far as I know, it is a pretty dangerous and hazardous process. So as for who the hell would want to collect it and for what purpose - well, we¡¯re trying to find that out aren¡¯t we?¡± ¡°And ¡­ I have a question about your friend there if you don¡¯t mind.¡± Detective Lee took a look at the door and lowered his voice: ¡°This place, is this one of those secret hideouts? Like the place in movies where wizards and witches come and have drinks and food, and - and maybe cross over from our world to the magical world?¡± ¡°Not really, but this place DOES take in both civilian and magical world guests.¡± Aimee dragged the man out of the bathtub and laid him on the side - it took her a bit of effort, but without the silver cocoon, the man in a grey T-shirt appeared to be surprisingly light and she almost threw him onto the shelf when she pulled too hard initially, ¡°I can ask my mentor if I could take you on a tour next time - to be honest, I¡¯ve never been only on one official tour myself - it was Christmas and we were there shopping for school supplies.¡± Detective Lee laid back against the wall and let out a long breath, then said: ¡°Yeah, I would definitely love to. It¡¯s just that I am totally questioning my career choices now.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯re still investigating the case.¡± Aimee chuckled: ¡°And we will still need your help getting into places and access to leads and other information.¡± Just this moment, Jason came back into the room: ¡°Okay, I locked him up there, all chained up, padded walls and other suicide prevention measures - I think Rash really gets it. He¡¯s got the room almost completely ready.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure that¡¯s something to praise someone about, Jason.¡± Aimee squeezed out a forced smile as she pulled green, blue and white bricks from the shelf and put them into the bathtub: ¡°But we can talk about it later. We should plan on what to do next.¡± ¡°I have an idea - please let me know if it doesn¡¯t sound right - do you have any means, like spells or some other power tricks to see if this ¡®grudge collection¡¯ has taken place at a crime scene?¡± Detective Lee asked while scratching his jaw: ¡°We have a few other crime scenes that we believed were linked to the Drainer case. We could take a look at those and see if we could find anything. They¡¯re a bit older, but should be still locked up pending further investigation.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°I have some spells that could do that. But I haven¡¯t tested them in real situations before, so I think we¡¯ll need some extra stuff from Boss¡¯ basement just in case.¡± Jason thought for a short moment and said: ¡°I¡¯ll go check.¡± When Jason went into the basement, he noticed something unusual in the room - there were some faint and barely noticeable traces of energy signatures in the air, if it was anyone else who had not spent a lot of time practicing meditation and visualization in this room, they would have probably missed it. But not for Jason or Caroline, since this essentially what the room felt like, though to a much stronger degree, every time they completed their full visualization and meditation session. With this suspicious feeling in mind, Jason found the hidden storage space under the altar, where Jianmen kept his sigils and incense sticks. He was looking for Illusion Breaking Incense, and Spirit Calming Incense, and some Demon Suppression Sigils. He was not planning on using these to help him with casting the spell - in fact, he did not think he would need the help at all. Instead, he would need these incense sticks and sigils to protect him, Aimee and Detective Lee from potential cases where it could backfire. When Jason came out of the basement and blocked it down like it was before and was about to look for Rash to ask him if anyone had been to the basement, Aimee and Detective Lee already came out from the underground room through the door to the diner. ¡°I locked him in there, he should be in a state of coma until we know for sure what to do with him.¡± Aimee explained: ¡°According to the manual, we need to find out in detail HOW the mind and soul were damaged before trying to mend them, otherwise we might be creating false memories and even split personalities in a subject, or even erasing their memories completely.¡± ¡°We have a scene that¡¯s around a 30 minute drive from here. ¡± Detective Lee said: ¡°Similar profile as the case we just sort of witnessed, a young couple who live alone far from families and with no friends.¡± ¡°Sounds good.¡± Jason asked: ¡°But have you seen Rash? I have something I wanna ask him.¡± ¡°No.¡± Aimee shrugged: ¡°I thought he went to help a guest? Check the parking lot?¡± Jason nodded and rushed through the backdoor and into the parking lot, but Rash was not there either. ¡°Let¡¯s go check the scene out first?¡± Aimee asked when she caught up with Jason: ¡°He¡¯s not going to go anywhere, I think?¡± ¡°Alright, let me leave a note then.¡± Jason clenched his right hand, then threw a piece of silver paper back through the backdoor, which then landed on the reception¡¯s desk. When their car drove away from the parking lot, Rash came out of the room rented by Natalie, Carmen and Kate with a serious look on his face. Behind him, was Natalie sitting on her bed, sniffling and wiping her eyes. ¡°Alright, I will tell Mr. Yu about this.¡± Rash sighed and said to Natalie: ¡°He¡¯s a kind and generous man, so I don¡¯t think he would be hard on you. But I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t allow you to leave before he comes back.¡± Natalie nodded, while Carmen and Kate were lying on their bed, still asleep as if nothing happened. ¡°I will bring you some food, some civilian soup perhaps.¡± Rash said after a short moment of silence, ¡°Please stay in your room, and call me if you need anything.¡± Chapter 435 The next crime scene was in another poorly run small apartment complex, with a tall building, dirty exterior, visible broken windows and a mess of entangled power and cables wrapped around a tormented and slightly tilted wooden pole outside, which looked like it could fall at any time. There was no attendant at the gate, but the gate was already open. And judging by the condition of the gate and the barely standing up fences made with rusty metal nails and broken wood, it was not hard for anyone to sneak in anyway. The smell of neglected garbage bins full of all kinds of waste filled the air, even though it was late in the afternoon and the heat had started to wear off. Aimee and Detective Lee walked into the main building with their hands covering their mouths and noses. This was especially hard for Aimee, for her body was strengthened and so were her senses including smell, but she was not at the point where she could easily block off foul smell in the air with her power. ¡°This is definitely creepier than the previous complex.¡± Jason shook his head and said to Aimee and Detective Lee when they just came through the front door of the building: ¡°And ¡­ have you smelled that?¡± ¡°What? The garbage?¡± Aimee¡¯s voice was muffled by her hand: ¡°Seriously, how could I not?¡± ¡°No! The same smell from the coffee shop.¡± Jason looked around and said: ¡°It¡¯s like a mixture of blood and some kind of magic, but I can¡¯t tell what it is yet. Better keep your eyes open. You want some weapons Aimee?¡± ¡°No, thanks, I¡¯ve got mine from Ms. Wong.¡± Aimee showed Jason a metal ring on her left index finger: ¡°But - what happens if something similar happens, like someone trying to pull us into a limbo again?¡± ¡°The Demon Suppression Sigils I gave you should help, and once we are in the room, I will light these Illusion Breaking Incense with the Spirit Calming Incense. They should help you strengthen the protection of your mind...¡± Jason thought for a while, then turned to Detective Lee and Aimee: ¡°Come to think of it, give me your left hands.¡± Aimee and Detective Lee gave their left hands to Jason, without any hesitation. ¡°Okay, don¡¯t resist, I am going to give you a buff - like in video games before going into a team fight.¡± Jason tapped Aimee and Detective Lee¡¯s palms and wrists and placed an Internal Fortification spell on them: ¡°These are the same spells I used on those two, which will harden your internal defences and give you resistance towards toxins and curses. No guarantees that you won¡¯t get pulled into limbos, but it''s extra insurance.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. The apartment they were looking for had police tapes at the front door, but the police tapes already fell on when they got to it. It was however unclear if it was because of the tapes losing adhesion, or because of the paint on the old door frame peeling off, or because someone ripped it off. ¡°I¡¯ll report this later, ideally when we have found something.¡± Detective Lee took a picture of the tapes with his phone, then led the way into the room to look around: ¡°Looks like nothing changes from this scene.¡± Jason frowned as he looked around, the strange smell intensified when they came into this room, but he was still not able to tell what kind of magic or special power it was. And after sensing the energy signatures in the room, he was relatively convinced that the same ¡°grudge harvesting¡± also happened here. ¡°Where¡¯s the body found?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°The bedroom. ¡± Detective Lee answered: ¡°The two victims were found on the room, very limited signs of struggle. Later forensics confirmed that they had really elevated levels of drug residues in their bodies, though their blood had been drained almost completely. They had to resort to collecting muscle and liver samples to run tests.¡± ¡°Any other differences from the last scene?¡± Aimee asked while looking around in the living room and kitchen. ¡°No guns, but a lot of stashed drugs. That¡¯s the biggest difference.¡± Detective Lee picked up a small sculpture that looked like some sort of monster from a video game. ¡°When did the victims die?¡± Jason looked around the bedroom and asked. ¡°Around three weeks ago, could have been a month. Due to the dryness of the body and that nobody found out about them for more than a week, we can only narrowed down on a rough range.¡± ¡°Okay, understood, incense please, in each corner of the bedroom.¡± Jianmen took out his silver ball, then turned it into a silver pen as he walked into the bedroom: ¡°And we may have to open the window, just a little bit.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t leave burn marks or additional dust in this room.¡± Detective Lee looked around trying to find something to hold the incense sticks. ¡°Here.¡± by simply closing his hands and then pulling them open, Jason conjured up four silver incense burners with dirt inside: ¡°Put the sticks inside the dirt.¡± With burning incense sticks at the four corners of the bedroom, Jason stood at the foot of the bed and drew in the air using his silver pen. A long and slightly asymmetric silver symbol gradually took shape with Jason¡¯s each stroke, and was pulsating some kind of silver energy wave. ¡°Alright. careful.¡± Jason finished the entire symbol in the matter of around two minutes, though the symbol seemed to be relatively simple, Jason was quite spent when he completed the symbol. Unknown to Aimee and Detective Lee, this was a spell he had yet to fully master - it was a powerful spell of detection and revelation, one that seemed to require him to be in a higher layer than he was currently in. ¡°One, two, THREE!¡± A wave of energy pulse burst out from the silver symbol in the air when Jason struck it with the silver pen, just like when he cast other spells to reveal residues of energy signatures. But this time, Jason kept his silver pen on the symbol after the strike, and both Aimee and Detective Lee could see silver shadows that looked vaguely in human shapes moving in the room, as if they were watching a holographic movie in fast backward or forward. They also heard muffled and sped up speech resounding in their ears, most of which was unintelligible. But from the few words they could make out, it seemed to be just daily conversations between a young couple. Chapter 436 For Jason, he could barely take one look at the moving shadows that were moving in the bedroom and the conversations they had. Large flow of information was flowing through his mind and right before his eyes, and he felt as if he was trying to find an exact scene from video that was several days long, and ¡°clicking¡± at a certain point on the ¡°progress bar¡±, fast forwarding or fast backwarding took a lot of his Xuanli and power of mind and will to do. He had to maintain his silver pen on the symbol he drew, and tried his hardest to tune the replay of information to the point in time right before the young couple living in this apartment was murdered. It was pretty clear to Jason that the young couple might have been murdered while they were unconscious, either while they were asleep, or while they were under the influence of drugs, because the ¡°footage¡± that was flowing before his eyes were just fast blurs, and he was relying on the sudden spike of strong negative emotions like dread, fear and horror to locate the time at which the murder happened. But there were no such spikes of emotions, there were only the occasional states of fuzziness, some moments of hunger, lust and purposelessness. So he had to try by the presence of their life force, which, due to their constant malnourished and drugged up state, was not as obvious as he would like. ¡°Gah!¡± Jason gasped and backed off from the symbol after an extremely long couple of minutes, and he had to drink up half his flask to recover: ¡°Okay, keep your eyes open and focused now, we should see shadows of their death replays soon. If there was any grudge collection taking place after they were dead, it should reflect on the replays.¡± ¡°Is this - is this a spell to read the memories of the surrounding environment?¡± Aimee looked at the shadows in the room with surprise: ¡°Holy - you really did work hard while you were at the academy huh?¡± ¡°Yeah, but I am really, really taxing myself here. ¡± Jason let out a long exhale and took a few more gulps from his flask. Two human-shaped silver shadows stabilized in the room and started acting like actual humans. Neither of these two shadows showed any distinctive features on their bodies or faces, but it did not matter to anyone of the three, as they were not here to identify which victim was which shadow. The two shadows hugged one another and rolled on the bed for a few seconds, then they lied on the bed. After around ten to twenty seconds, one of the shadows extended their arm at the nightstand and took something out from the drawer. The other shadow extended their hand at their partner and got something from the drawer as well. Then both of the shadows put the things from the drawer in their mouths, and laid back into their positions in bed.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Aimee, Detective Lee and Jason came closer to the bed and started looking around, the two victims in this case were found lying on the bed, and this scene they were witnessing now looked just like the scene described. They waited for another five minutes for something to happen, and just when Aimee was about to ask if Jason could ¡°speed up¡± the replay of memory, they saw that a group of two silver shadows came into the room. If the two shadows were other young couples, they would have probably reacted to the intrusion of these two people. But they were unresponsive at this time, and the two silver shadows that came in came to both sides of their beds, and both had their hands on the two lying shadows¡¯ heads. The next moment, this replay of memory started flickering and distorting, as if it was a display of poorly rendered footage streamed over a limited internet connection. And when the flickering was over, the two silver shadows were still lying on the bed, while the other two that came in earlier were already gone. ¡°Something extracted the memory of torment from the memories of this place. I think ¡®grudge collection did happen here.¡¯¡± as the two silver shadows started dissipating, Jason said: ¡°Though I don¡¯t think they got a lot - if the victims were murdered while they were unaware, there would be no strong emotions, and therefore hardly any grudge.¡± ¡°Is there a way to tell when the grudge collection happened? And when the two¡­ shadows came in?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°I can¡¯t tell what time the grudge collection happened.¡± Jason sighed and said: ¡°Their action did not leave that much of a mark for me to locate - I can try to do that again, but I don¡¯t think I can do it today. But I think I just got an exact time of death for the two victims, they died around twenty eight days ago, plus or minus a few hours. From the lighting condition of the memory replay, I¡¯d say it¡¯s daytime.¡± ¡°Hey, what is this?¡± Detective Lee knelt down by the nightstand from which the two silvers took the drugs which helped bring about their demise: ¡°This looks like it¡¯s - some kind of symbol?¡± Aimee came over while Jason sat down on the ground still trying to catch his breath. ¡°Fuck.¡± Aimee took a look at Detective Lee and asked: ¡°Lee, please tell me you guys logged this in your evidence when you were looking at the scene.¡± ¡°No, I am pretty sure we did not.¡± Detective Lee shook his head with a serious look on his face: ¡°This looks like ¡­ what¡¯s called?¡± ¡°Bleeding Daggers.¡± Aimee sighed: ¡°This is the cult I mentioned in our notes about the Drainer case - Thomas and I had this theory that they were involved, it did not pan out.¡± ¡°So they came to the scene after the two victims were murdered? Could it be that they were the ones collecting the grudge?¡± ¡°Then why leave this mark at all? Why not just come and go?¡± Jason asked on the side. ¡°I don¡¯t remember seeing this mark in the previous victim¡¯s place. ¡± Aimee said with a frown on her face: ¡°So I am not sure that was the case as well.¡± ¡°If they intentionally left a mark here, then it must be for a reason.¡± Detective Lee said: ¡°We should check this with other detectives and see if anyone else found this symbol in other crime scenes.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll leave a mark here myself.¡± Jason scratched his jaw, then wrote a traditional Chinese word on his palm with his silver pen. He then placed his left palm onto the wall that was on the opposite side of the night stand: ¡°This mark will remain here for about two weeks, if anyone comes in here, I will sense them.¡± Chapter 437 ¡°Gas explosion, really?¡± when Caroline, Thomas and Detective Kuhn met with their captain back at their SJPD precinct, the captain was not too happy about their answer about why the bar they were investigating exploded: ¡°You want me to believe that?¡± ¡°Captain, there¡¯s no other explanation there - we haven¡¯t found any other evidence for explosives.¡± Detective Kuhn was quite hesitant, but yet he couldn¡¯t seem to bring himself to find the right words to obscure the truth: ¡°And it just exploded - we¡¯re lucky we weren¡¯t caught within the fatal blast zone, and neither were the victims or the perps.¡± ¡°None of whom we can take much credit for, because of that big-ass ¡®gas explosion¡¯ attracted the attention of the feds, and now they¡¯re sending some credit hogging assholes to come and take over the case, where our city might just get stuck with the bill for the property damage.¡± the captain waved his hand and continued with his angry rant: ¡°Now, unless you can figure the entire case out in the next - let me see, next three to four hours, whatever hotshot agents that are on their way already will come here and start their work investigating the case.¡± ¡°Is that a challenge?¡± Caroline said to herself and looked up at the ceiling. ¡°Challenge? No! No!¡± the captain hear Caroline¡¯s words, and started shaking his head: ¡°It¡¯s a rhetorical question, this fucking Drainer case has been high profile for a while, but the city kept blocking the feds, because it is reelection season for the mayor. But now with things happening at this scale, then even the mayor cannot block the feds from sticking their noses and their greasy hands in this investigation. ¡± ¡°So what do you want us to do, sir?¡± Detective Kuhn took a look at Caroline and Thomas, then asked: ¡°Organize the material? Prepare to hand them off? I¡¯m afraid we can¡¯t do that! We¡¯ve been working on this case for¡­ ¡± ¡°What are you, first day on the job?¡± the captain scoffed: ¡°You are still working the case, because you are most familiar with it. You¡¯ll just have to work with the feds with it. And yes, you will have to take some orders from them.¡±If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°The SJPD is not the subordinate of the feds, why do we have to take orders from them?¡± Thomas asked: ¡°I - I meant Detective Kuhn and Detective Lee ...¡± ¡°Detective Chaver - Thomas, you know very well things are much more complicated than that.¡± the captain let out a loud blow out of his nose: ¡°You know that some local politician¡¯s kid got involved right? Well, they have connections and strings and now they are gaining an advantage on their push.¡± ¡°Okay. So what should we do?¡± Thomas asked, with a slight hint of impatience. ¡°Date your notes and evidence, make sure on the record that it was you that found them, and hand me a report on what you have found so I have something to tell the mayor. At least that is what he requested.¡± the captain said: ¡°Have that report ready for me in less than two hours, remember, dates and details.¡± ¡°On it.¡± Detective Kuhn stood up and said: ¡°Lee is not here, but we can call him and start first without him.¡± ¡°Yes, call everyone who can help.¡± the captain waved his hand as a gesture of sending them off to their work. ¡°Let¡¯s first review the ledger, that¡¯s the most important piece of evidence from the case so far.¡± Caroline said the moment they walked out of the captain¡¯s office. ¡°I already read through it while we were driving back. It¡¯s all written in codes.¡± Detective Kuhn said: ¡°We could either interrogate the suspects for the means to decode this, or we can have some lab techs to help us figure it out. I¡¯ll send some uniformed officers to do some door duty as well.¡± ¡°Or we could do both.¡± Thomas said: ¡°I¡¯ll talk to the lab techs, I am buddies with a few of them and maybe I could help speed things up a bit. You go ahead and ask what they can tell you. Caroline, can you ¡­ can you watch over Detective Kuhn on the interrogation? ¡± ¡°Sure, of course.¡± Caroline nodded: ¡°I¡¯ll let you know what happened.¡± ¡°... at this rate, we can probably see the Corin crime family be cut in half within this yeah.¡± just when three of them were walking by the desk of one of the detectives, Caroline overheard the detective telling her partner: ¡°I have checked almost every angle possible, to me this looks like some kind of family civil war. But we have yet to find out what the warring factions are. It could well be more than one.¡± ¡°Wait wait wait, excuse me.¡± Caroline immediately rushed to the detective and asked: ¡°Did you just say the Corin crime family is having a civil war?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but who are you?¡± the detective frowned and asked. ¡°Hey, Carter, this is Caroline, she¡¯s with us.¡± Thomas immediately walked over to Caroline¡¯s side and said to the detective: ¡°She¡¯s our consultant and she¡¯s helping us and Kuhn with the Drainer case. And she¡¯s had a previous run-in with a girl from the Corin family.¡± ¡°Emilia Corin, to be precise.¡± Caroline nodded and asked: ¡°Can you tell me, even just a little bit, about what this civil war is?¡± Chapter 438 ¡°Well, long story short.¡± Detective Carter thought for a brief moment then said: ¡°Since a few months ago, we started discovering these really, really brutal sites of gang killings. And it¡¯s not like some one-sided drive by shootings depicted in the movies. These are really brutal attacks, where both sides of the attack used all kinds of weapons, from guns and rifles to machetes and swords. One of the most brutal was at a Corin family mansion in Woodside - there were broken bodies everywhere, and signs of really high grade illegal weapons being used, like grenades, gatlins and rocket launchers ...¡± ¡°But it was just a familial civil war?¡± Caroline asked with a frown. ¡°All the evidence points to this conclusion, yes.¡± Detective Carter shook her head: ¡°But we know too little about the Corin family, all we know is that this is a crucial time for the family''s internal power structure. One of the major leaders at the ¡®table¡¯ was just arrested in Europe, and looks like extradition is in process, so they are looking to fill a seat. Our guess is that some of the major candidates are going all out, and it is kinda tearing the family apart.¡± ¡°Which wouldn¡¯t be bad news for us, under normal circumstances.¡± Detective Carter¡¯s partner said: ¡°Some mafia scum cleaning up their own house? Great! Saves us time and makes the streets safer. But it would be really bad if it bleeds into the streets.¡± ¡°Which it undoubtedly will.¡± Detective Carter sighed and said: ¡°It could be some of the younger generations - like some other crime families, they are much more explicit and honest with their hunger for power. And as the leaders of the older generation take the backseats one by one , the familial bond and decorum of business dealings in the family gradually went out the window.¡± ¡°Alright, thank you detectives.¡± Caroline thought for a while and then nodded. ¡°Wait.¡± Detective Carter took out her business card and handed it to Caroline: ¡°If you have some time later, maybe give me a call and let me know what you wanna tell us - I¡¯ve heard of this Emilia Corin before, but she disappeared from our radar for quite a while now. I would like to know anything you can remember.¡± ¡°Thanks. Not a problem.¡± Caroline took the card and put it in her wallet. Detective Kuhn went into one of the interrogation rooms, in which the bartender was locked, and with a suppression spell mark placed on the back of her neck to prevent her from using her charms by Caroline. ¡°Okay, she¡¯s a half succubus, right? But her powers are suppressed?¡± before going into the interrogation room, Detective Kuhn asked Caroline. ¡°It should be, I placed my best suppression mark on her - she shouldn¡¯t be able to use any of her spells or natural powers for the next few days.¡± Caroline nodded: ¡°Now, how do you wanna do this?¡±Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°She¡¯s definitely afraid of you. You are immune to her charms. So you will ask the questions, and I will take the backseat.¡± Detective Kuhn thought for a brief moment and said: ¡°Ask her about the way to read the ledger, ask her what kind of information is on it.¡± ¡°Okay, and?¡± ¡°Is there some kind of procedural punishment we can threaten her with?¡± ¡°We can say we will be handing her to the Division.¡± Caroline scratched her jaw: ¡°But - but that¡¯s probably the last card we¡¯d wanna play. Do you know of any particular processes where the SJPD or the Feds deal with suspects with superpowers?¡± ¡°Usually the Feds handle cases like this, but that¡¯s really not an option for us now.¡± ¡°Yeah, and I suspect in this case, the Feds and the Division meant the same thing.¡± Caroline sighed: ¡°So - should we keep it short? And if she still refuses to talk, you should really consider letting me take them back to our inn - I mean headquarters.¡± ¡°As much as I would like that, we can¡¯t do that right away, not before we obtain enough information or some leads on where those blood ¡®products¡¯ come from.¡± ¡°Well - we can try.¡± Caroline took at look at Detective Kuhn, who seemed to be become more and more uncertain about everything, including his career choice and the role he played in this world, and decided that she should probably help him with the case at hand as much as she could in a civilian friendly way, instead of directly dragging the bartender and her accomplices away to ¡°do it her way¡±. ¡°Has anyone told you before, that your suppression spell is way too crude and way too harsh?¡± the bartender put herself in a slightly seductive pose while inside the interrogation room even while chained up: ¡°I thought you witches and girl magic wielders would be more meticulous and gentle with their touch, unlike this pig branding iron mark of a curse you just gave me.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll take what I give you. ¡± Caroline sat down and said: ¡°And tell me about the ledger, what¡¯s on it, and how to decode the entries.¡± ¡°Oh ho ho, I thought YOU are the detective.¡± the bartender smiled and looked at Detective Kuhn: ¡°Are you just gonna let an amateur ask the question?¡± ¡°Just answer it.¡± Detective Kuhn shook his head. ¡°What¡¯s in it for me though?¡± the bartender sat back on her chair: ¡°I¡¯m just gonna say it - this is a weird arrangement for all of us, huh? I¡¯m a half succubus, and I work - well, I used to work at a bar run by a lycan, who is a mid to high level lackey of someone high up in the Exalted Bondsmen, if I talked, I¡¯d be dead and sold to some fugly underground worm-man, forced into a pair of golden bra - not that I will complain about that, but - ¡± ¡°You will get to live, you will have a job at a humble but very safe local inn as a bartender, away from it all.¡± Caroline narrowed her eyes: ¡°But only if you cooperate with us. If not, I have a hundred ways to make your death look like an unfortunate cooking accident.¡± Detective Kuhn¡¯s eyebrows jumped a few times when he heard this, and he already started regretting a lot of his decisions up until now. But after reconsidering the fact that this bartender sitting in front of them was a half succubus and half lycan with ties to THE Exalted Bondsmen, the options Caroline gave did not seem too bizarre at all. It was just that the death threat seemed to him a bit out of line. The bartender laughed, then leaned in and tried to taunt Caroline: ¡°Oh, I¡¯m so scared ...¡± But before she could finish, Caroline extended her hand forward as if she was grabbing something, and the bartender¡¯s mouth was sealed shut by an invisible seal of condensed and solidified air, while at the same time the mark on the back of her neck started burning and leaking liquified heat streams into her body. She tried to struggle, but her upper body was restrained by invisible locks consisting of wind energy as well. It was but a very short moment, but felt much longer to the bartender that when she was finally relieved of it, she was sweating through all her pores. The pain was not anything serious, but what served as a stern warning to her was what Caroline was able to do with the mark on the back of her neck. Chapter 439 ¡°You wouldn¡¯t do it.¡± the bartender stared at Caroline, panting: ¡°This is a police station.¡± ¡°Do what?¡± Caroline laid back on her chair and asked as if nothing happened: ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. ¡± ¡°This is a violation of the Division¡¯s code of conduct.¡± the bartender spoke through her teeth and with her hands clenched into fists: ¡°You can¡¯t treat suspects this way.¡± ¡°This is a civilian police station, no one here works for the Division, not even me.¡± Caroline said: ¡°But you did just assault and attempt to kill me and a civilian law enforcement officer. So, what I think is, the battle we had at your bar should be looked at this way: I and Thomas back there were aiding local civilian police investigating a local crime matter that involved superpowered criminals, you attacked us and tried to get us killed. We fought back and kicked all of your asses but still barely escaped. And what you just experienced is probably just the remnant of my power in your body acting up, which I have no obligation to relieve you of, because you¡¯ve been such a pain in the ass to us this whole time.¡± The bartender continued panting while staring at Caroline, her eyes flickering as if she was thinking about something. ¡°So, what do you say?¡± Caroline exchanged looks with Detective Kuhn and said: ¡°You want to do your job for a better boss and better food? Or do you want to try your luck with the actual Division, or be let outta here and see how those who own your former boss will treat you? I am not familiar¡± ¡°What do you need to know?¡± after a long sigh, the bartender relented: ¡°And I want to be safe right away. I don¡¯t care what you offered to the men, when you find out what the ledger says, I want myself out of here and in actual safety.¡± ¡°A wise choice.¡± Caroline smiled: ¡°And I assure you, it will be the safest place for you, more than you will ever imagine. ¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell us how to read that ledger?¡± Detective Kuhn let out a gentle sigh of relief. -------------------------------- ¡°The correct way to read the ledger.¡± Caroline and Detective Kuhn walked into the lab in which Thomas was still talking with some of the lab tech, and with a piece of paper in their Detective Kuhn¡¯s hand: ¡°It¡¯s coded according to an old version of the yellow pages. Do you happen to have one of those at this precinct?¡±If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Yeah, yeah, I believe we have some in the archive room.¡± one of the techs took a look at that piece of paper handed to him by Detective Kuhn and said: ¡°It kinda makes sense now - we thought they were all addresses and phone numbers. Damn you Thomas, you can¡¯t just nerd-snipe us like that.¡± ¡°Hey, when presented with a coded puzzle, just say no!¡± Thomas laughed out loud. With the help of a very old and dusty copy of yellow pages and the lab techs, Caroline and Thomas were able to read through the whole ledger and decipher almost all information written on it - it contained a long list of names to different places, descriptions on their addresses or how to find them, the persons of contact, history of trades and sales, and even potential next points of sales to which whoever that was in charge of the sales of these ¡°special products¡± were planning to expand to. ¡°Wait, this ¡®Corin Place¡¯ in Woodside, is it the same as THE Corin place in Woodside? Where the civil war of the Corin family took place?¡± Caroline pointed at one of the ¡°potential next points of sales¡± entry and asked. ¡°Let me check.¡± one of the lab techs did a search on his tablet and nodded: ¡°Yes, seems so - wow, around twenty bodies found? No wonder they need a lot of tech support backup.¡± ¡°Owen, can you help us put these places on a map?¡± Detective Kuhn said to one of the lab techs: ¡°We¡¯d want to map out some suspected routes of distribution, and see if we can find a central dispensing base.¡± ¡°On it.¡± the lab tech took a few pictures of the notes of which they wrote the decoded address, and then used a handwriting recognition software to convert those note entries to actual texts, parsed them as addresses, then located them on a map and finally projected the map onto a big screen in the lab. This was a map of all the surrounding area, spanning across multiple cities, with red dots signifying different addresses. ¡°Well, I wished Jason could have stayed slightly longer in engineering school.¡± Caroline stared at the screen and chuckled. ¡°Okay - these places are all pretty dispersed, so they could be using some pretty sneaky way of distribution.¡± Owen narrowed his eyes and said: ¡°Where¡¯s the bar where you said that you found this ledger?¡± ¡°Here.¡± Thomas pointed at the screen while looking at a piece of note he had in his hand: ¡°This is also one with a quite a lot of sales - which is understandable, the place is crawling with vamp - I mean junkies.¡± ¡°Yeah - assuming that smaller points of sales are extended from older, more established points of sales, we can add weight to the map.¡± Owen input some more numbers into his tablet, and some of the dots on the map grew bigger while some grew smaller. There was one particular dot that was particularly big. ¡°Hmm, we should look at that. That could be the source.¡± Caroline pointed at the biggest red dot. ¡°Nonono, not there.¡± Owen said and drew on the map, which got displayed on the screen as a blue circle in an relatively empty place surrounded by a few mid-sized dots and had some bigger red dots in the outer layer, including the biggest red dot: ¡°I would check here - organized drug dealers rarely deal drugs in locations close to their source to avoid attracting attention, but they would start with smaller points nearby and then expand from their. This area kinda fits the pattern.¡± ¡°And it¡¯s an area of abandoned warehouses and data centers.¡± the other lab tech said: ¡°Kinda fits the profile.¡± ¡°Good, good.¡± Thomas patted the two lab techs on their shoulders: ¡°You¡¯ve been too helpful, thank you very much!¡± Chapter 440 ¡°Come on, Kuhn, don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re gonna deal with the report first.¡± when Thomas and Aimee came by Detective Kuhn¡¯s desk with the detective himself after they pinned down the locations of the sale of the ¡°special products¡± from the ledger: ¡°Can¡¯t you just show the captain the map?¡± ¡°Oh, trust me, I know what kind of report the captain is asking for. And it¡¯s gonna be a huge pain if we do not deliver in time. This is for the mayor, after all.¡± Detective Kuhn sat down: ¡°It¡¯ll just be a minute, can you contact Lee and your friends and see if they could come back and help with this and do a quick huddle?¡± ¡°I just called Jason.¡± Caroline said: ¡°They might take a while, they are looking at a few crime scenes from the case, and inspecting for some suspicious marks.¡± ¡°Suspicious marks? What are they talking about?¡± Thomas asked. ¡°It¡¯s the symbol of the Bleeding Daggers.¡± Caroline shook her head and said: ¡°They are suspecting that there is some kind of deeper connection there, but they still need more proof. And right now they¡¯re on their way to another, it will take more than forty five minutes¡¯ drive.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t Jason just fly and carry them over here?¡± Thomas shrugged: ¡°Come to think of it, I¡¯ve never seen you fly, how come?¡± ¡°Neither of us is there yet.¡± Caroline sighed and answered with a smile: ¡°Technically I can fly just by an explosion of my powers, but it¡¯s not remotely sustainable, and I can¡¯t carry anything. But we will need to make it past the next tribulation for us to be able to fly and carry heavy things or people with us. And if we make it past the next tribulation, we will be able to engage in sustained flight and even make it to space.¡± ¡°Oof, bummer.¡± Thomas let out a short exhale: ¡°Guess it will take us longer for us to visit our childhood home without buying tickets or driving.¡± ¡°Detective Kuhn, we just came from the area where the bar once was.¡± just this moment, a uniformed officer came to Detective Kuhn¡¯s desk: ¡°We asked around the entire neighborhood surrounding that place, all of them seemed to know something, but none of them was willing to talk at all.¡± ¡°What about the pictures we sent you?¡± Detective Kuhn looked up from his computer and asked: ¡°The bartender? The henchmen? And the owner of the bar?¡±Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°They seemed to have made the people even more nervous. One of the young men even shut his door ¡± the uniformed officer shook his head and sighed: ¡°Looks like a gang area, which is something we already sort of know. But we¡¯re not aware of this kind of influence, or the gang affiliations of these people.¡± ¡°Okay, thank you very much.¡± Detective Kuhn stood up and nodded at the officer to show his gratitude: ¡°Have you noticed anything else? Anything that seems ... off?¡± ¡°Yeah, there is one thing.¡± the officer said: ¡°We also checked the site of the bar - the bar¡¯s completely leveled and it¡¯s totally closed off by the fire department. And as it turns out, it¡¯s not a gas explosion at all - they are not using gas stoves at all in their kitchen, because there is no gas line.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ ¡± Detective Kuhn was only hesitant for a very brief moment: ¡°What did they say?¡± ¡°Unknown, there were no obvious traces of any sort of explosives, no apparent proof of presence of chemicals.¡± the officer said: ¡°It¡¯s just like something just exploded, and it¡¯s quite a miracle that you all escaped mostly unscathed.¡± ¡°Yeah, a miracle.¡± Detective Kuhn took a look at Caroline and said: ¡°Thank you, Officer Lopez. And please let me know if you find anything about that case.¡± ¡°You bet.¡± Officer Lopez nodded and walked away, but just in time to bump into another officer with a metal mug of coffee in his hand, who was walking slowly and slightly dizzy and rubbing his temples with one hand. ¡°Oh god!¡± the other officer¡¯s coffee almost fell to the ground, and Caroline was somehow already by their side to catch the jar. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Caroline handed the metal jar back to the officer and asked. ¡°Yeah, nothing, just felt a sudden dizziness.¡± the officer took the coffee and said: ¡°Thank you. I don¡¯t know what happened to me.¡± ¡°Well, don¡¯t stress yourself. The citizens need you.¡± Caroline nodded and smiled. ¡°Oh! Wait wait wait.¡± Officer Lopez came back to the desk and said to Detective Kuhn: ¡°Sorry, detective, I don¡¯t know what the hell happened to me - I almost forgot this: we went to the place of a local informant and wanted to check with her and see if she was willing to help. But we could not find her at her place, so we just left a note. There was no forced entry or any other signs of struggle so we don¡¯t think she¡¯s in danger.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s kinda important.¡± Detective Kuhn whipped out his notebook: ¡°What¡¯s her name? How do you usually get into contact with her? Is she registered or off the books?¡± As Officer Lopez spelled out the contact information of the informant that lived near the bar that was run by a lycan and exploded in their fight, Caroline looked around trying to sense the energy fields around her - her instincts were tingling earlier when she got into contact with the officer who almost dropped the coffee mug. There was something odd in the air inside of this precinct, but she still could not tell what it was. ¡°Oh my god! I¡¯m so sorry!¡± another two officers just bumped into each other and dropped the things they had in their hands. ¡°I - I assure you that the officers are usually this clumsy.¡± Thomas walked to Caroline¡¯s side and said: ¡°Must be a stressful time.¡± ¡°Yeah, but still weird.¡± Caroline said with a slight frown. ¡°Yea¡­ anyway. You want some coffee?¡± Thomas asked: ¡°There¡¯s a pretty good artisan coffee shop nearby, it¡¯d be my treat if you¡¯d like.¡± Chapter 441 A cup of coffee between Caroline and Thomas lasted longer than either of them thought. It started with both of them just asking each other about what they thought of the case, then the topic turned to their personal experience with training, specifically the difference between the training style of Jianmen and Josephine Wong, and the training specificities of fire Xuanli and the flow magic of ¡°burn¡±. After some fun comparisons of their training experiences and sharing of slightly jabbing jokes and anecdotes about their mentor and master, both of them moved onto non-magic related topics, like childhood stories, family, daily hobbies, etc. ¡°How was your ¡®talk¡¯ with your family?¡± when they were on their way back to the SJPD precinct, Thomas asked Caroline with a smile. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s less of a ¡®talk¡¯, and more of a ¡®trust me, prepare your guns, some bad guys are trying to kill us¡¯ scenario.¡± Carolin shook her head: ¡°Believe me, it¡¯s not a talk you would want to have, while your crazy ex boyfriend led a cult with tattoos on his weak-ass chest tried to bust into your brother¡¯s house and kill you and your nephew.¡± ¡°Yeesh, what happened?¡± Thomas frowned: ¡°And what happened afterwards? Did you file a police report?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s my first time actually killing someone. But you know, what can you do? Some fucking cultist nutjobs tried to kill me, my brother and my baby nephew. The next few days were kinda fuzzy for me, I think I did file a police report, but I must have left out a bunch of details.¡± Caroline scoffed and sighed: ¡°You know, I don¡¯t think anything came of it. What about you? I think your ¡®talk¡¯ would be kind of an awkward moment, huh?¡± ¡°That and times a hundred.¡± Thomas laughed out loud: ¡°You know, it¡¯s my second time telling my father, a no-nonsense cop with not much of a sense of childish wonder, that I am a magic user. The first time, he warned me that doing it will not attract girls like I expected and attract bullies, and he was quite right.¡± Caroline covered her mouth while she giggled: ¡°What about the second time?¡± ¡°The second time, because Aimee was there when I told him, and she told him the same thing. He had to take a long walk in the garden.¡± Thomas took a sip of his coffee: ¡°And boy that walk was long. Only later did we find out that Mr. Yu had opened up the under layers of the garden to our families so that it would provide more context to the message and help them realize that it would be much safer for them to stay at the inn, and they ended up walking into your farm.¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Oh no, don¡¯t tell me he went into the creek. The fish in there is kinda ¡­ creepy.¡± ¡°Yeah, from what I heard, he just got lost in the woods.¡± Thomas chuckled: ¡°You¡¯d be surprised how a bunch of trees that could grow chairs out of their roots and branches for people to sit in and lie on can convince civilians of the existence of magic.¡± When they came back to the precinct, Detective Kuhn had just finished up his report and was on his way to the captain¡¯s office. ¡°That¡¯s fast, did Lee come back at all?¡± Thomas asked. ¡°No, this is just a simple report, with our findings and leads, and of course, some promises that we may or may not be able to keep.¡± Detective Kuhn sighed: ¡°And no, they hadn¡¯t come back yet. I¡¯ll call them in a bit, but it looks like we may have to scout around that area by ourselves.¡± ¡°Not a problem.¡± Caroline nodded: ¡°But we should find a way to get the bartender and the henchmen out first. And we can lock them up in our inn.¡± ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± Detective Kuhn only hesitated for around one or two seconds: ¡°Just let me hand in the report, and we can release these suspects so that you can put these people somewhere safe.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Caroline and Thomas exchanged looks, they did not expect that Detective Kuhn would agree to what they suggested this easily. After the Detective Kuhn handed in the report, three of them went for two roundtrips between their precinct and Xianshi Inn, each time taking someone they just released from their holding and taking them to be contained in some underground room in Xianshi Inn. According to Rash, who seemed to have something on his mind and was extra careful and diligent behind the reception¡¯s desk, Jason, Aimee and Detective Lee already came back earlier to lock some other people up. But they did not have the time to stay and ask about the details, as they needed to rush to that area which they located on the map earlier with the help of the lab techs. The wind was chilly, the day was getting slightly late, but the sunlight piercing from the clouds above still shone upon the buildings of the alleged abandoned warehouse buildings and data centers. The exterior of the buildings was quite clean, as if they had regular maintenance and cleaning. There was a distinct flowery and grassy smell in the air, which seemed slightly unnatural to the place because there was not much vegetation in the area. Even though this was an area filled with mainly warehouse and data center buildings, there were still some residential buildings nearby, which looked much more run down and under-maintained than the supposed abandoned buildings. If it weren¡¯t for the cars and garbage bins outside of the residential buildings, Caroline would have thought that they were abandoned as well. There were also some dirty tents near the streets, some seemed occupied and some seemed full of trash and all kinds of garbage. ¡°This place doesn¡¯t seem properly zoned.¡± Detective Kuhn said: ¡°A mix of commercial and residential buildings like this?¡± ¡°That smell - does it seem weird to you?¡± Thomas sniffed a few times and asked Caroline. ¡°It¡¯s strange - it¡¯s like some kind of air freshener.¡± Caroline said: ¡°Extra strong air freshener.¡± Chapter 442 Some of the buildings had tall, old and rusty metal fences around them, while some of them just had some trees and old wooden or plastic warning signs either staked to the ground or hanging the the sides of the buildings or trees. The artificial flowery scent in the air grew slightly more intense as they walked closer into the area in which the abandoned warehouse buildings and data center buildings resided. There were also some traces of ashes on the ground, some burned up pieces of rags, plastics and even broken metal scraps. And for some reason, their sights seemed to fog up and get blurry when they proceeded - as if they were walking into a field of fog and mist. ¡°What is this - mist? Fog?¡± Detective Kuhn asked while wiping his eyes and looked around: ¡°Is it just me or your visions are getting foggy as well?¡± ¡°Not just you.¡± Thomas blinked hard a few times: ¡°This is definitely not natural - something is weird about this place.¡± Caroline twirled her left hand fingers, then cast a spell on herself, Thomas and Detective Kuhn. An invisible red line appeared in between the three of them, connecting them together, ¡°Don¡¯t wander off, let¡¯s keep it together. If there¡¯s something dangerous, we fall back and regroup, okay?¡± ¡°Yeah, of course. ¡± Detective Kuhn nodded: ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know what to do anyway.¡± Caroline waved her hand in the air, and a bubble appeared in her left palm, inside which was a blob of condensed air separated by a ball of wind created by her Xuanli. Then she gently and firmly clenched her left hand, the bubble gradually became smaller. And with the bubble becoming smaller, the air inside of the bubble became less and less transparent, and eventually when the bubble became around a quarter of its previous size, the air inside was entirely fogged up like it was filled with some kind of white smoke. ¡°What is this?¡± Detective Kuhn stared at the bubble: ¡°Is that harmful to us?¡± ¡°So far I can¡¯t tell.¡± Caroline shook her head: ¡°But still, let¡¯s be cautious and watch out for anything weird. The spell I casted on you could help you deal with any toxic effects if there is any as well.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s take a quick look, and get out as fast as possible.¡± Thomas nodded. Caroline casted a True Sight spell and started examining the bubble of fog in her hand while they tread forward with caution and care, but she was not able to discern anything specific about this fog - aside from the fact that it was some kind of solution containing water, with very weak and non-threatening energy signature.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°I¡¯ve gotta practice this some more.¡± Caroline sighed and looked around while her True Sight spell effect was still active, and just in a few seconds she noticed something unnatural just under a tree in front of them - it was like a small long bag with a color-shifting exterior ¡°Found something?¡± Thomas and Detective Kuhn noticed that Caroline¡¯s eyes were fixated on something under a tree in front of them - but from what they could see, there was nothing there beside some fallen leaves and burnt rags and a small piece of wood. ¡°There¡¯s something there.¡± Caroline said and sped up her steps forward and changed the direction to aim for under the tree. Thomas and Detective Kuhn immediately followed - the environment they found themselves in seemed to be just way too quiet and way too calm and empty that they started to feel a little unease, and it was somewhat reassuring that someone actually found something unusual. When Caroline got to the tree, she looked around one more time to make sure that no other people were around, then extended her hand at the pile of fallen leaves. Her fingers got into contact with something raggidy and soft, then when she grabbed onto what she touched and lifted it off the ground, a bloodied man with ample facial hair appeared beneath it, still breathing but looked like he had passed out. Caroline took a look at the enchanted piece of cloak/rag she pulled off from the man - what was left of its power had started to fade away at an increased rate, and in just half a minute it became nothing more than a regular piece of rag. ¡°He¡¯s still breathing.¡± Detective Kuhn tested the passed out man¡¯s breath and said: ¡°Looks like something happened here? There¡¯s bruises and cuts on his arms and his face.¡± ¡°And he¡¯s a bit¡­ too furry?¡± Thomas picked up the man¡¯s right arm, showing the thick layer of silver grey hair on his forearm and asked: ¡°I¡¯ve seen hairy arms - I¡¯ve never seen THIS kind of hairy arms.¡± ¡°Let me see.¡± Caroline grabbed onto the man¡¯s right shoulder and waist, then flipped him over with ease flipping over a pillow, then placed her palm onto the man¡¯s chest: ¡°Can you check his teeth?¡± When Detective Kuhn and Thomas opened up the man¡¯s bloodied lips, the first thing they saw was a mouthful of sharp teeth and two long fangs. Caroline saw this and lowered the energy input of her healing spell - she did not want to heal him by too much yet, not until they could be sure if this lycan was friendly or hostile. As the Flame of Vitality spell took effect inside of this lycan¡¯s body, he woke up with a string of coughs, spilling out blood and spit. Then he looked at the three strangers standing around him with his yellow-green wolf eyes and asked: ¡°Who - who are you?¡± ¡°You can worry about that later.¡± Thomas said: ¡°What happened? What is this place and why are you here?¡± ¡°I - I must go.¡± the lyca¡¯s ample facial hair started retreating while he tried to sit up, but he was not able to move an inch - partially because of his still serious injuries, and partially because of Caroline¡¯s palm on his chest pushing him back down: ¡°I must - I must report ...¡± ¡°Report what? Talk!¡± Caroline asked. ¡°We¡¯re not hostile to you. We just want to know what happened.¡± Detective Kuhn said with a soft and calming voice: ¡°Maybe we can help you as well.¡± ¡°No! No!¡± the lycan¡¯s eyes went entirely red, and he started growling from his throat: ¡°I need to go! I need to report ...¡± Sensing a sudden rush of energy that was going through the lycan¡¯s body, Caroline immediately jumped forward and dragged Detective Kuhn and Thomas behind her, then conjured up her translucent shield. ¡°Boom!¡± a blood red energy wave exploded from the lycan and shrouded him in some kind of blood red mist, he then crawled up from the ground and transformed fully into the shape of a wolf. But just when Caroline was ready to engage, the wolf leapt towards the side, and started rushing towards the direction of the residential area nearby. Chapter 443 ¡°Shit! Get to him!¡± Caroline shouted and surrounded her body with energy of fire and wind, the road heated up, smoked and cracked as she stepped on them, and the air was so violently pushed away that shockwaves were formed along her way. ¡°Holy fuck!¡± Thomas and Detective Kuhn did not even get a chance to follow Caroline or ask her any questions, before the strong wind created by her movement pushed them back a few steps, and the dirt and ashes were thrown in their faces. ¡°Let¡¯s use the car!¡± Detective Kuhn patted on Thomas¡¯ shoulder while Thomas was stunned where he was. When Detective Kuhn and Thomas got into the car with which they came to this site and started driving to the direction in which Caroline and the lycan ran, the ground in the site started shaking as well. ¡°What the hell is happening?¡± Detective Kuhn looked back and asked with a nervous voice. ¡°Not sure, but let¡¯s follow her and get to her.¡± Thomas looked back, just in time to see the windows on some of the buildings be shattered by some kind of shockwave or force, one of the buildings even started shaking as if it was hit by an earthquake: ¡°Looks like the buildings are shaking as well - it¡¯s not just us.¡± Their car drove onto the road towards the residential area in no time and away from the shaking ground. A loud fracturing sound exploded from beneath one of the buildings behind them, the building and the ground on which it stood cracked in many places, with a lot of and beams of light of different colors shooting out from the cracks. Then, after a short delay, the building exploded, with bricks, blocks of cement and other pieces of the building flying off from its main body and scattered into the area around. What also came out of the building was a few figures of human shapes, shrouded in energy auras of different colors. On Caroline¡¯s end, after the lycan turned into his wolf form and surrounded his body with mist of blood, his speed became unexpectedly fast and even when she was trying her best she was barely able to catch up. Yet this speed definitely came with a price - Caroline could tell from just looking at the lycan that his life force was depleting as he ran. Cars windows were broken, motorcycles and bikes parked near the road were thrown all over the place by the strong wind and shockwaves from their run and even some windows fromfar away buildings were broken in the process, but neither could deal with it now.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The lycan howled, releasing waves of blood red energy waves in the air when he got close to a part of the residential area, in which a few of the better looking buildings stood and the better and richer looking neighborhood resided. ¡°Tsk.¡± Caroline cursed inside and ¡°grabbed¡± some of the blood red energy waves coming her way and quickly sensed its power - it¡¯s not an attack, or an attempt at creating illusions, but a warning of danger, with a message encoded, but the meaning of which was unreadable to Caroline, because it consisted of another kind of language. ¡°Boom!¡± the wolf shaped lycan crashed into one of the bigger buildings, and the next moment, Caroline burst into the building, glowing in an orange and red energy light. The lycan¡¯s body already melted and disintegrated onto a pile of flesh on the ground, surrounded by a few tall, strong and bearded men, and two women with sharp nails and extremely long hair and tattoos on their arms and shoulders, one¡¯s hard was dark purple color and the other¡¯s was silvery white. ¡°Did you do this?¡± the leader of the pack that was standing in this room asked Caroline, with some kind of terrifying aura building up around him, which made Caroline felt that some kind of invisible ¡°lock¡± was onto her, attempting to freeze her in her place. ¡°No. I saved him. He rushed here to warn you about something.¡± the energy surrounding Caroline¡¯s body glowed brighter, shaking off the aura ¡°lock¡± as she stared at the leader of the pack in the room in the eye. ¡°Who are you?¡± the leader asked. ¡°Caroline Baker.¡± Caroline stood straight and said: ¡°Apprentice of Jianmen Yu, the owner of Xianshi Inn.¡± The pack went silent, and the apparent lycans in this room looked around and exchanged looks with each other. ¡°Who?¡± then one of the female lycans in the room, one with a head of dark purple hair asked. ¡°Boom! ¡± a loud explosion came from the direction from which Caroline came. ¡°That¡¯s the plant!¡± one of the male lycans in the room said: ¡°How were we not alerted on anything! Korthal must have come here to warn us!¡± ¡°Contain her.¡± the leader of the pack said to the two female lycans: ¡°We will have questions. Then come with us.¡± ¡°With pleasure.¡± the two female lycans turned into wolf shapes, whose color of the fur matched with their hair while they were in human form: ¡°Now, Caroline Baker, apprentice of an inn owner. Do you want to save us time and do this the easy way?¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± Caroline conjured her orange translucent battle axe and shield, ¡°I am still in the middle of something.¡± The other lycans burst out of the room, and almost immediately clashed with the few figures that came out from under one of the buildings in mid air. Their initial clash created a huge shockwave, and completely tore down four residential buildings nearby. The cries of dogs, people and young children arose, but were instantly drowned out by the sounds of battle between two groups of individuals with super powers. Chapter 444 After visiting the crime scene in which the young couple were killed, the team consisted of Jason, Aimee and Detective Lee went to visit yet another crime scene in which three young women used to live, and one of which was murdered in typical Drainer style, while the other two were lucky to be alive during the time of the murder the other two went out to a dive bar nearby. The presumed time at which this crime happened was much more definite because of that, while they, which also meant that the two roommates of the victim were thus listed as persons of interest. But nothing came of those two roommates just yet. This time, the apartment was located at a lower to middle tier apartment complex, not an entirely run down one. And the inside of the apartment was mostly clean and tidy, even the victim¡¯s room was relatively clean, which was understandably an outlier, according to Detective Lee. ¡°Did the two roommates move out immediately after the crime?¡± when Jason started conjuring a simple spell to detect residuals of energy signatures in the victim¡¯s room like he did in the previous victims¡¯ places, he asked Detective Lee: ¡°If not, I want to check on the roommate¡¯s room and furniture as well.¡± ¡°They moved out, but most of their furniture is still here, because this is still a crime scene and we still need to keep it sealed.¡± Detective Lee nodded and said. When the spell completed and the silver energy wave swept through the room, there were also some very faint traces of energy that were marked by the spell, but the traces were so vague that they basically served nothing besides telling them that there were magical abilities used some time in the room. ¡°Something¡¯s not adding up. If their purpose was to find exploitable targets, drug them and drain their blood, why even pick a time when only the victim is here?¡± Jason asked as they were leaving the apartment complex: ¡°There must be something else in these victims that we¡¯re not seeing.¡± ¡°What did the roommates tell you about the victim?¡± Aimee hopped into the car¡¯s passenger seat and asked: ¡°And is there some kind of connection among all of the victims that we¡¯re not seeing?¡± ¡°As far as I know, there¡¯s not much besides what I¡¯ve already told you.¡± Detective Lee started the car: ¡°They¡¯re usually young folks, all in certain conditions of distress in their lives, either suffering from crippling drug addiction.¡± ¡°Can I take a look at the forensics report?¡± Jason scratched his jaw and asked, ¡°I know it¡¯s not customary or protocol, but maybe when we look at it from a different eye, we could find something. Or maybe I should take a look at the bodies if possible.¡±If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Sorry, inspecting the body will require some paperwork, unless you¡¯re an official registered consultant.¡± Detective Lee said: ¡°But the forensics report is fine. We can get the most recent ones for you, maybe after us taking a look at another scene?¡± ¡°Maybe let¡¯s get back first. Kuhn said he needed help with a report?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°Yeah, well, Kuhn doesn¡¯t really need my help with the report, he¡¯s good with paperwork, and I am just terrible at it. As long as he has all the notes, he will be fine.¡± Detective Lee chuckled: ¡°But yeah, let¡¯s go back and huddle and see what they¡¯ve got. They said they¡¯ve got some interesting leads on the potential route of distribution on the victims¡¯ blood - I wonder what the sickening details look like.¡± When they arrived at the SJPD precinct in which Detective Kuhn and Detective Lee work, they found out that Detective Kuhn, Thomas and Caroline had already left. And on the ground there was a pile of spilled coffee, while the janitor was trying to clean it up with a lot of sweat on his forehead. ¡°What happened Earl?¡± Detective Lee came to the janitor¡¯s side: ¡°You look ill, did anything happen?¡± ¡°Thanks Detective.¡± the janitor wiped off some more sweat: ¡°I don¡¯t know, it¡¯s probably flu or something, I¡¯m just a little dizzy and clumsy. Something must have been going around - a few officers are also not feeling well.¡± ¡°What are some other symptoms?¡± Jason came immediately to the janitor¡¯s side and asked: ¡°Besides dizziness and clumsiness. Are you hearing anything weird? Smelling anything weird?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah! Exactly!¡± Earl nodded and used the mob to support his body: ¡°I - I kept smelling this, this weird smell like something burnt, and a few of the officers smelled it too. And I kept hearing this slow mumbling, rambling voice, like someone¡¯s whispering to me through a wall and trying to call me.¡± ¡°Fuck.¡± Jason raised his hands and conjured a few metal mirrors out of thin air and handed them to Aimee and Detective Lee: ¡°Hand these out and get everyone out of here as fast as possible, there¡¯s something extremely wrong inside of this precinct. ¡± ¡°What? How the hell!?¡± Earl was shocked at the sight of the metal mirrors: ¡°How - what is this magic?¡± ¡°Is it carbon monoxide?¡± Detective Lee asked. ¡°No! Just get everyone out!¡± Jason cast a spell on himself, his eyes flashing in silver and he could clearly see some kind of ominous energy wave radiating from somewhere inside the precinct. As he followed the energy waves to their origin, he found himself in the aisle leading right to the evidence room. ¡°Hey! What are you doing here?¡± one officer saw Jason trying to get into the evidence room, and tried to stop him. ¡°There¡¯s some toxic substance leaking from the evidence! We need to evacuate immediately!¡± Jason made up a random excuse, and with a simple twist of his hand, the evidence room door opened. ¡°Hey! Stop there!¡± the officer seemed to be also suffering from similar symptoms as Earl but to a lesser degree, and he even whipped out his gun and tried to dissuade Jason. But Jason did not budge, and rushed into the room while yelling at the officer telling him to evacuate. It only took him a few seconds before he located the source of the ominous energy wave - it was a dirty wood sculpture of a monster with a wide head and several faces on this head, and several eyes, decorated with blood red paint and animal teeth, wrapped in a plastic bag for preserving evidence. ¡°Sir! Please put down the evidence, or I¡¯m gonna have to use this!¡± the officer was sweating profusely but still tried to keep his gun steady at Jason. Before Jason could do or say anything, an ominous and chilling blue energy wave exploded from it, and swept across the entire precinct in less than one second. Chapter 445 ¡°Clank!¡± ¡°Clank!¡± ¡°Clank!¡± just when Aimee and Detective Lee were still handing out the metal mirrors to some of the officers and detectives at the precinct, the ominous code blue energy wave blew past them. And in a single instant, all the metal mirrors cracked up and shattered into pieces. All those who were handed the mirrors felt a sudden sense of dizziness and lightheadedness, some of those who were already experiencing similar symptoms of more severe degrees even fell onto the ground immediately. With Jason¡¯s Internal Fortification spell still active in their bodies and the effects of the metal mirrors blocking out most of the effect from the cold blue energy wave, Aimee and Detective Lee just experienced some quick flashes of visions and some random ringings and murmurs in their ears, before they regained control over their senses. Due to the suddenness of all of this, they were only able to hand out silver mirrors to four more people at the precinct, one of whom was the janitor Earl and three others were already uniformed officers. And right after the energy wave blew through and its effect already manifested on everyone, they found that everyone that was not handed a mirror went into some kind of instant coma or deep sleep, where their breathings are flat, shallow and in sync. And at the same time, they saw some kind of human shaped faint shadows appearing near the passed out SJPD personnels, moving, looking around and seemingly saying things but they couldn¡¯t hear a word. Blue, green and dirt brown smoke started rising from different corners of the precinct, but they did not trigger the sprinklers at all - it was as if it was some other kind of smoke that did not originate from fires. ¡°What the hell!?¡± Detective Lee asked when helping the three uniformed officers sit down on the floor and a sofa nearby, while Aimee helped Earl sit down on a chair: ¡°What was that? Are they pulled into a - a limbo as well?¡± ¡°No, limbos are not usually like this.¡± Aimee said to Detective Lee: ¡°Hang in here and look after them. I will ask Jason what is hap - ¡± Just this moment, a silver human shape manifested in the thin air and came close to Aimee and Detective Lee, after a short while, the human shape¡¯s face became that of Jason¡¯s and it started talking: ¡°Aimee, Detective Lee, this is a crossover limbo. I don¡¯t have a lot of time to explain, but please lock the doors and windows immediately, no one should come in or go out. And try to see if you can find someone to help us.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Aimee took out her phone, but noticed that her phone had no signal at all, and the screen kept flickering like it was not even functioning correctly: ¡°Shit! Phone¡¯s a bust, where are you? What can we do to help?¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Must be the limbo enclosing you in it and reshaping the environment. After closing all the windows and doors, immediately find a closed space far away from the evidence room.¡± Jason said: ¡°And stick together! I am not sure what kind of things could cross over, but I am sure nothing good will do. And when you lock yourselves in, try to construct a defense array. I will try to help you on my end!¡± ¡°Okay!¡± Aimee stood up: ¡°I will carry as many officers away as possible!¡± ¡°Nonono!¡± Jason immediately waved his hand: ¡°Don¡¯t move anyone! There¡¯s no telling how their minds will get affected if they¡¯re moved! Just keep yourselves safe for now! I will let you know if I figured out anything!¡± After delivering the message, the silver human shape shattered and dissipated in the air - this was because Jason had to discontinue the power input to the spell, and redirect his power into something else - defending some of the shadows of the officers and detectives inside the limbo, against some shadowy creatures that spawned from some dark corners of the limbo. From Jason¡¯s point of view, he was also inside the precinct. But the precinct he was in now was quite different from the precinct he was in before the energy wave exploded. The walls were old and partially covered with some kind of dark vines with prickly flowers and branches, the ceiling was all cracked up and leaking some sort of dark green liquid, and all the people in this precinct, who did not get hist metal mirrors in time, were all pulled into this limbo, all wondering where they were. From one dark corner of the ¡°precinct¡± where some file cabinets were placed came a dark green, long and slippery looking leech monster with the size of a giant dog and a mouth full of razor sharp teeth and tiny human arms on the different sides of its body, looking like some abomination of a centipede. Three uniformed officers who got pulled into this limbo were shocked at the sight of this monster, which presented the monster with an opportunity to lunge at one of them with its mouth wide open. Jason came around in time and launched a palm attack at the monster from several feet away, a silver palm struck the leech monster with human hands on its body, crushing the human hands it touched and thrusting it out of the window behind. ¡°What the hell is happening!?¡± one of the three officers asked: ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°You wouldn¡¯t know my name anyway.¡± Jason asked with a frown: ¡°How are you feeling? Besides all this weirdness, do you see or hear anything weird?¡± ¡°Besides all of THIS?¡± one of the officers looked like he was on the verge of freaking out: ¡°What do you mean besides all of this? Is there anything else?¡± ¡°No time to explain. Just tell me what you see and what you hear?¡± Jason slapped the officer and asked: ¡°Is it dark? Do you hear voices in your ears or in your head? Do you see yourself lying on the floor?¡± ¡°I - I hear a distant voice calling my name.¡± another officer standing on the side with a scar on his left cheek said: ¡°This place has some kind of pale light - can you tell me where we are?¡± ¡°We¡¯re in a limbo.¡± Jason clapped his hands and conjured up three silver guns and three silver long daggers with engravings on them: ¡°Stay here and don¡¯t move! And focus! This place is a mental realm! Remember that you are not here!¡± ¡°Help! Help!¡± cries of help started coming from all over the precinct, and along came roars, grunts and shouts of pain, fear and anger. Chapter 446 Crossover limbos are a special kind of limbo, and the kind that usually requires some special powers to create. When this kind of limbos occur, a whole area could be entirely enclosed in them, which could be entered and exited. The flow of time in crossover limbos was much slower than that in normal limbos, where people could spend days in one while time only lasted a few minutes on the outside. In crossover limbos, under almost all circumstances the speed in which time flowed was the same as the time outside of them. Another crucial difference between crossover limbos and normal limbos was that the constructs and entities in the crossover limbos could ¡°cross over¡± to the real world, and vice versa, which made them somewhat close to an actual realm instead of just ¡°bubbles¡± in which people¡¯s minds got caught. This made crossover limbos especially dangerous, because while people¡¯s minds could get pulled into the limbos, their bodies remain vulnerable because they would have no way of defending themselves, which meant that while individuals who got pulled into the limbos could be physically incapacitated for a longer period of time, the monsters and creatures inside of the limbos could also manifest in the real world and harm the bodies directly. And while Jason knew all of this to his heart and he even asked Jianmen to train him to deal with this a few times, he was still extremely nervous when he actually went into one - he went into this limbo willingly, because he recognized it the moment the energy wave exploded from the little wooden sculpture, after which the sculpture instantly turned to dust and moving shadows started crawling from all corners of the evidence room. After catching the officer who was pointing his gun at him and placing him on the side, Jason drew a silver circle on the ground around him as soon as possible, then he focused his power of mind and will and jumped into the limbo. Just like a lot of normal limbos, the environment of this crossover limbo reflected the environment of the physical world outside: Jason was still in the evidence room, the shelves and boxes looked mostly the same, it was just that the lighting in the environment around was pale and yellow, as if they were all showered in some kind of low power light bulb, or that they were in the footage of an old movie. ¡°Stay in here.¡± Jason took a look at the confused officer, and immediately noticed some kind of energy thread connecting the officer¡¯s back to the ground, ¡°Don¡¯t move, I¡¯ll be back for you.¡± ¡°Wait? What ...¡± the officer still tried to ask Jason about something, but Jason just shut him up by conjuring a silver gun and a silver machete out of thin air and handed them to him: ¡°Stay right here, if you see anything weird, just attack them, understand?!¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. When Jason got out of the evidence room, he saw that many officers in the precinct were indeed pulled into the limbo, many of whom appeared to be either not fully conscious or awake, while the others had started looking around, looking at the cracked walls, broken windows and weird shadowy vines crawling over the ceiling and some of the walls. And before long, he located Aimee and Detective Lee, and perhaps some other officers who were not pulled into the limbo - they appeared in this world as human shaped flickering shadows, not that dissimilar to the shadows manifested in the murdered couple¡¯s bedroom when he tried the spell to replay memories in the room. Sensing some kind of dangerous being is inching closer, Jason cast a spell on himself to manifest himself in the real world through the crossover properties of this limbo to warn Aimee and Detective Lee about this limbo, and instructed them to find a safe place to hide - the metal mirrors he gave them earlier did stop them from being pulled into this limbo, but they did not stop the limbo from establishing certain connections with them, which would mean that they might not be able to just leave the area of the limbo without some sort of unwanted repercussions. After warning Aimee and Detective Lee, Jason rushed to defend three officers close by, who were about to be attacked by a creature of this limbo, but then he heard more screamings from officers in the other parts of this precinct. Several more leech monsters with human arms on their bodies jumped out from the corners of the precinct and started attacking the officers. A group of five officers were able to dodge the lunge attack of one of these monsters, while another two officers who were alone and not able to defend themselves got caught by the dripping hands, who were then pulled into long shapes from different angles and finally torn apart like broken rags and devoured by the leech monsters¡¯ mouths full of razor sharp teeth. ¡°Ricky!¡± ¡°John!¡± the five officers cried out in anger, as they grabbed the chairs and fire extinguishers around them and tried to get into a defense formation to fend off the other attacks from the leech monsters. Jason swung his silver spear in the air and shot out three silver energy spikes, which instantly pierced through the bodies of the three monsters and nailed them on the floor. The leech monsters did not let out screeches like Jason expected, but they cried out in pain in human voices, and even started uttering English words: ¡°It hurts - it hurts! Why ¡­ why hurt us? Why?¡± ¡°What, the, fuck!?¡± one of the five officers lowered the fire distinguisher in his hands: ¡°What is happening?¡± ¡°Take these and stay where you are in defense formation.¡± Jason conjured five silver guns and five long daggers and threw them at the five officers: ¡°No time to explain! Just¡­ just stay alive!¡± Some more screams came from the floor above, and Jason had no choice but to jump directly up, leaving a hole on the ceiling and into the second floor. A chair was thrown his way right after he landed, and he had to twirl his silver pen-spear to redirect it to the side, bashing a double headed leech monster in one of its heads. ¡°Come with us - come home with us!¡± the two headed leech monster also had a much bigger size than the other leech monsters, and it was uttering much more coherent words in several voices in unison: ¡°It hurts! It hurts! Come with us!¡± Chapter 447 ¡°Ting!¡± ¡°Ting!¡± a slim wolf with dark purple fur, and another with silvery white fur tried to assault Caroline from both sides with their shiny claws, but their attacks were instantly stopped by a translucent orange and red shield and a battle axe with the same color. With great surprise, both of these wolves, who were in their female human forms earlier, found out that this only slightly muscular looking blonde human girl was not wavering for even a little bit when facing them at the same time. What threatened their egos more was the energy aura surrounding this girl, which was both burning their fur and skin with a scorching heat, and pressing upon their arms and claws with intense air pressure. Caroline stomped on the ground with her right foot, releasing a ring of fire accompanied by an expanding wall of wind around her. The wolf with dark purple fur was slim and fast, and she was quick to realize what Caroline was going to do and instantly backed away from her. The wolf with silvery white fur was more muscular and thus heavier and slower and found out about Caroline¡¯s move later, the ring of fire and wall of wind hit her when she was trying to back off, leaving some small burn marks and some cuts on her front legs. Caroline then swung her axe forward horizontally and instead of an energy blade, she released a bright moving pillar of orange flames, which was blowing towards the wolf with dark purple fur. While her teammate was trying to dodge the moving pillar of flames, the wolf with silvery white fur lunged at Caroline again with light blue energy concentrated on her right claw. But right at this moment, Caroline already turned around along with the momentum from her battle axe swing, and then unleashed a shield bash aiming right at her claw attack. ¡°Bang!¡± the nails of the wolf with silvery white fur broke and shattered when they came into contact with the blunt surface of Caroline¡¯s shield, and the impact did not stop there - a fiery shockwave pulsed through her right paw and her entire right front leg, and dislocated her wrist and shoulder sockets while sending her flying back. The tail, the back and the eyes of the wolf with dark purple fur lit up in purple light as she sped up and hopped around the pillar of flames and came at Caroline from behind. Caroline was not able to turn around quickly and block the attack with either her shield or battle axe, so she just concentrated her Xuanli on her back and formed into a thin layer of floating armor. ¡°Crack - boom!¡± the armor exploded the moment it was struck by a sharp energy spike emitted from the wolf¡¯s mouth. The wolf was pushed back by the shockwave from the explosion, while Caroline took advantage of it and leapt forward and tried to get away from the fight - there was no benefit of winning it, all she had to do now was get away.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Sounds of super powered individuals clashing against each other and explosions filled the air, and several homes and other residential buildings were already torn down by their fight. Even though the fights between the lycans and another group of individual power wielders created continuous booms and bangs as loud as thunder and lightning, Caroline could still hear the moans and cries of panicked and injured people either buried beneath the fallen buildings or just trying to get away. ¡°Thomas! Detective!¡± Caroline saw the car coming and waved at them: ¡°Go! Go back!¡± ¡°What¡¯s happening here?!¡± Thomas saw the explosions and the individuals that just came from the bottom of the fallen building fighting a small pack of wolves that seemed to come from the center of the residential area, and he had to reached out of the car window and shouted his question at Caroline while they were still some distance away due to the fallen trees and house debris on the road as well as the running people. ¡°We¡¯re caught in a fight!¡± Caroline shouted with a spell, which delivered her voice right to Thomas and Detective Kuhn even though she was relatively far away: ¡°Go! Leave and call for help!¡± ¡°Shit!¡± Thomas was about to tell Detective Kuhn to start driving away, but then he saw that two wolves leapt from somewhere behind the rubbles and fallen buildings and started attacking her both at the same time. ¡°You do whatever you need to do!¡± Detective Kuhn got out of the car and said to Thomas: ¡°I¡¯ll call in some support to evacuate the civilians!¡± ¡°Call in only elites, and mention that there are extremely dangerous people here!¡± Thomas speed dialed the number of Josephine Wong and said: ¡°Tell them do not just send normal cops here, there¡¯d be more casualties!¡± ¡°Hello, Thomas. I have cut off my phone temporarily because I am either in a dangerous place or I am doing something dangerous. If you need emergency backup, please dial 1 to connect to the next available member of my team; if you need help from the Division in general, please dial 2 to get to the incident report department. ¡± Thomas ended up connecting with an automated answer recorded by Josephine Wong, and he dialed 1 immediately. Detective Kuhn rushed to a three story building with a big chunk destroyed, from which people were rushing out carrying all of their valuables. Caroline charged at the wolf with dark purple fur while leaving a trail of burning footprints behind her, the wolf¡¯s body lit up again as she shifted to the side and flailed her tail at Caroline¡¯s left shoulder and neck. But a wall of wind surrounding Caroline¡¯s body cushioned the blow, while a thin layer of energy armor on Caroline¡¯s glowing body scorched the sharp and hardened fur and hair on her tail. ¡°Boom!¡± the silvery white wolf charged at Caroline as she turned around and clashed with the side of Caroline¡¯s battle axe, this time Caroline did not stand firm and take the hit. Instead, she rode the momentum and backed off further away from the residential area. ¡°Who are you?¡± the wolf with dark purple fur landed on the side of her teammate with silvery white fur: ¡°How come we¡¯ve never heard of you before?¡± Chapter 448 ¡°Asking that question now is a bit late, isn¡¯t it?¡± Caroline scoffed and formed her battle pose once again: ¡°But you shouldn¡¯t feel bad - I¡¯ve come to learn that almost nobody knows my master, and he could easily level your whole base.¡± The two wolves hesitated, but as the battle in the battle kept going on, they felt more compelled to complete the task assigned to them, so their bodies lit up, and they charged right at Caroline at the same time. Since Caroline was facing the residential areas, she decided in an instant that she would try to lead the two wolves further away from the area. When the two wolves charged at her, Caroline leapt backwards some more and slammed her battle axe at the ground, and with the edge of her battle axe sunk into the dirt and cement, a powerful burst of Xuanli gushed into the land in front of her then exploded below ground. Pieces of cement, sharp and burning rocks, dozens of wind blades and a flurry of small but highly explosive fireballs shot out from the cracks and holes in the land and at the two charging wolves. The wolf with dark purple fur swung her big, furry and whip-like tail with sharp metal-spike-like hairs to the side and generated an energy blast, the reaction force from which just propelled her to the edge of this area attack. The wolf with silvery white fur howled and covered herself with a suit of translucent armor. The pieces of cement, the rocks, the wind blades and fireballs crashed against this shield but all of them were only able to leave some small cracks and small dents at best. And when the wolf with silvery white fur burst through the wall of broken cement, rocks, wind blades and fireballs which was blocking her view, the first thing she saw was a leg coming at her face from the left. ¡°Boom!¡± Caroline¡¯s kick, glowing in orange and red light, made the wolf with silvery white fur feel like she was hit by multiple sledge hammers swung with full force at the same place at the same time. Just a plain human foot of a young woman, in a plain looking boot made of some kind of unknown animal hide, yet the hit did not break even one thing on the foot and leg, but several broken pieces of teeth flew from their roots and out of the wolf¡¯s mouth, and the lower jaw was almost completely torn away from where it was. If it were not for the fact that her body was still in the midair and her being kicked sideways helped her body absorb a lot of the impact and shock from the explosive kick, the wolf with silvery white fur would have endured much greater injuries than this.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The wolf with dark purple fur bounced on the ground with her feet and changed course to lunge at Caroline. And while she was in the air she just flailed her tail in the air again, her tail sliced through the air so fast that it made a whiplash sound in the air. Countless sharp and needle-like hairs with metallic shine were flung out by this move aiming at Caroline¡¯s face and chest. Caroline was only able to cover part of her chest with the edge of her shield and tilted her head slightly since she was still in midair, and a lot of the sharp hairs struck her. The wall of wind and fiery energy shield surrounding Caroline¡¯s body took effect and minimized a lot of the impact and damage, but they still left several cuts on her face and impaled her right shoulder on three different spots. The cuts on Caroline¡¯s face only bled a little before it started to close up automatically. And her blood seeping through her wounds on her left shoulder burnt down and melted the three sharp hairs entirely just in less than ten seconds. The wolf with dark purple fur rushed to Caroline¡¯s backside, then launched two claw attacks at Caroline¡¯s back. The purple energy shadows released from her claw attacks struck true, and ripped the back of Caroline¡¯s leather jacket into pieces. Caroline swung her shield backwards and released three crescent-shaped fiery energy blades at the wolf that just attacked her from behind. But all three of these energy blades struck only the ground and created three smoking holes. Another round of claw attacks came at Caroline, and Caroline had to raise her battle axe to block the two purple energy claws. But when she swung her battle axe in an attempt at a counter attack, the wolf with dark purple fur had already moved to a different place. ¡°You¡¯re strong! But you¡¯re slow like an old dog! ¡± the wolf with dark purple fur laughed out loud in a high pitched voice like a witch in a cartoon: ¡°Let¡¯s see how long you can keep standing!¡± Caroline blocked another attack from the remaining wolf, and several thoughts flew through her mind. And just when the wolf with dark purple fur tried to slip to her side again, Caroline¡¯s body lit up in light green and her movements sped up. Caroline¡¯s battle axe turned from translucent orange and red into translucent green, and as she swung it down at her target, a distant but majestic bird screech resounded in the wolf¡¯s ears and the air seemed to have turned into soft but elastic walls around her. ¡°Crack!¡± the wolf with dark purple fur was thrown back and rolled on the ground, with two thirds of her big tail completely missing, and a deep cut through which one could almost see her spine on her back. Chapter 449 Caroline walked over to the side of the wolf with a broken tail and bloodied dark purple fur. The wolf tried to move, but her trembling limbs indicated that she was already severely injured from the strike that cut off a large chunk of her tail and the skin and flesh on her back. ¡°Just so you don¡¯t die.¡± Caroline shook her head and cast a Flame of Vitality on this lycan who a few minutes ago was still trying to wound and capture her, because she had a rough idea on how much damage her strike did to her - right now, the wind Xuanli from her last strike had already gone into this lycan¡¯s body and started wounding her from inside. If left untreated she could die: ¡°Tell your people to back off - this is a residential area, there are civilians nearby. Whatever is going on between your kin and the other group, these civilians have nothing to do with it.¡± The wolf with dark purple fur coughed and let out a cynical laughter: ¡°What makes you think you are in a position to say that? These losers enjoyed their peaceful lives living under our shelter, away from crimes, and with generous monthly packages as long as they¡¯re cooperative when we collect a few pints from them each week. And now our enemies are at the gate, do you think they know not what they¡¯ve signed up for?¡± Just when Caroline was about to say something in return, a loud crack exploded in the sky from the clash between a lycan with several locks of golden hairs amongst his dark brown fur and a man wearing a metal mask and a pair of metal gloves and had tattoos all over his exposed skin, escaped energy shot out from the center of the clash like bolts of pale grey and dark blue balls of lightning and energy shards, a few of which struck the apartment complex building from which Thomas and Detective Kuhn were trying to escort the people out. The upper layers of the building cracked and tilted from the damage, and in just a few seconds, the building started falling down, while Thomas, Detective Kuhn and some injured civilians were still not far enough away from the main building. Caroline¡¯s body became shrouded in a thick and turbulent wall of wind as she leapt towards the collapsing building. Her shield became translucent light green when she approached the falling chunk of the building in mid air, and when she thrust her shield at the falling chunk, a giant light green energy shield appeared in front of her. And just like a real shield, the light green energy shield collided with the falling chunk of the building, and with Caroline¡¯s roaring thrust, the chunk was pushed to the side, away from the civilians and Thomas and Detective Kuhn below.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Boom!¡± the large chunk of the building fell onto the broken but empty street. Splinters and debris flew everywhere and some civilians that were close were hit by them, but they were all right compared to what could have happened. This move caught the eyes of both the lycan with locks of golden hairs on his fur and the tattooed man wearing metal mask and gloves. But she had no time to think about this at all - she fell to the ground after the forceful push and left a small crater on the street below. The escaping civilians screamed and tried to backway from the place on which Caroline fell. The tattooed man raised his hands in the air, and a shadowy cloud made of pale grey energy appeared behind him. Before the lycan with whom he just faced off could do anything, seven grey energy vortex appeared in the pale grey cloud behind him, which turned into actual portals in just a brief moment. ¡°Looks like your time is today!¡± the tattooed man wearing a metal mask and metal gloves laughed out loud with contempt and gloat: ¡°I¡¯ve managed to conjure 7 full portals, and out will come the full seven projections of our god! Let¡¯s see if your claws and fangs can chew through them!¡± The lycan with golden hairs on his body howled to the sky, and something vast, heavy and even majestic but yet invisible, shapeless and formless seemed to have descended upon the battlefield. The day was already getting dark and the moon was visible in the sky, with the effects of this howl, the color of the moon became dark red-violet. The next moment, Caroline could see that the dark red-violet moon had started to take effect on the lycans - the wolf with dark purple fur with a broken tail and a deep cut on her back, the wolf with silvery white fur whose lower was almost torn from her head and was unconscious from enduring a direct full force kick by Caroline all howled along with their leader, and the wounds on their body disappeared in almost an instant, and they rose again with their eyes glowing in dark purple and silvery white light, and dark red-violet mist coming out of their noses and mouth with every breath they took. ¡°Fuck.¡± Caroline cursed and shouted at the shaky building next to her: ¡°How many remaining?! Thomas? Detective?¡± ¡°We have a mother and two children trapped under a fallen pillar! We¡¯ll need some time!¡± Thomas yelled as loud as he could in response. Caroline took out her flask and took a quick but deep gulp, emptying two thirds of the entire flask. Bright flame and a wall of wind appeared around her once again, as she charged at the two wolves whose injuries somehow fully recovered under the influence of the moon. Chapter 450 When Jason raised his silver pen-spear in the air and prepared to either strike the two-headed leech monster or defend the officers behind him against the attack from it, a tumor bulged up from the root of the two heads, and within the span of only three to four seconds, the tumor grew into another head, and just as it formed it started speaking in unison with the other two heads: ¡°Come with us! Come with us! Why does it hurt? Why does it hurt so much ¡­¡± ¡°It ate two officers!¡± the officers backed into a corner holding chairs, fire extinguishers and even coffee pots as simple makeshift weapons yelled at Jason: ¡°Be careful!¡± ¡°Come with us! Come with us!¡± the three headed leech monster lunged at Jason with all three of its heads winding in the air and closing in on Jason from three different angles. Jason leapt to the side while swinging his silver pen-spear at the right-most head attempting to bite at him. The silver energy edge extended from the tip of his silver pen-spear sliced through the monster¡¯s neck like a hot knife through butter, and foul droplets of blood were spilled into the air. Jason pointed his left middle and index fingers at the wound on the leech monster¡¯s neck, and a silver kunai rotating along its central axis shot out from the tips of his fingers and into the wound on the monster¡¯s neck. When Jason landed on the side, he thrust his silver pen-spear at the monster¡¯s body with full force. Two translucent silver shadows appeared on his sides and initiated the same thrust at the monster¡¯s body at the same time. Three silver beams of energy shot from the tips of the pen-spears pierced through the meaty and slimy body of the monster and came out from the other side. The three-headed leech monster screamed in pain and squirmed and rolled on the ground, but it was not able to do it anymore after Jason sliced off the other head of its. ¡°Any other officers trapped here?¡± Jason asked the officers as he dispensed the same silver energy construct weapons to them. ¡°There are some suspects in the holding room waiting to be processed on the third floor.¡± one of the officers answered: ¡°Who - who are you? Can you tell us what¡¯s going on?¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°It¡¯s tough to explain, but for now you should defend yourselves and try to stay alive for now. What about other officers?¡± ¡°Most of the officers are downstairs.¡± another officer said: ¡°I think so detectives are taking a break in the break room. Should we come with you?¡± ¡°Just wait here.¡± Jason nodded and said. Just when Jason was about to head to the break room, a stream of chilling laughter came from the floor above them through the stairs. And then, a giant muscular and slimy body of a much larger leech monster broke through the walls and ceilings and reached the second floor - it had but one giant head, a gnarly mouth with several layers of crooked and razor-sharp teeth inside and tiny twitching small and short tentacles on coming out from some cracks that looked like unhealed wounds on its neck. These cracks were all along the same direction, and the space between them were all of similar widths. When Jason looked more carefully, he noticed that these cracks were not wounds at all - instead, they looked like natural pre-existing gaps between different parts of the monster¡¯s body that were slowly merging into each other to form one single bigger body part of greater size. ¡°Come with us. Come.¡± this time, the monster spoke in only one, and much deeper and throaty voice, with a hint of trembling noise like there was polyp in its throat: ¡°Come with us - and it won¡¯t hurt anymore...¡± ¡°Back off! Back off!¡± Jason immediately warned the officers behind him, while he pushed himself to utilize all of his Xuanli to ready himself for a hard fight. The silver kunai he just shot into the three-headed leech monster¡¯s body finally sent the signal it was supposed to send to Jason, which contained some very surface level, but crucial information about the energy signatures and other properties of the internal parts of the monster. Just as Jason thought, these leech monsters had a strong connection to the foul and evil magic that was incubated inside of the ugly wooden sculpture stored in the evidence room, either mistakenly collected as some sort of evidence or intentionally placed there. But one thing about them was unexpected to him - they were not actual evil or vengeful spirits that inhabited the limbo or were sucked into it, nor were they manifestations of the collective nightmare, terror or trauma of those who were trapped inside this limbo, instead, they seemed to be some sort of projections, not that unlike the silvery shape of himself he which used to convey his warnings to Aimee and Detective Lee, but to a finer and much more malicious degree. ¡°Why does it hurt? Why does it hurt so much?¡± the now one-headed leech monster continued its muttering of seemingly meaningless and yet unsettling questions and tried to stand up on its leech body. The bigger leech monster sniffed around in the air while speaking a similar kind of speech. And all out of the blue, before Jason could do anything, the bigger leech monster with only one head expanded its mouth and bit down on the heavily injured leech monster with one still attached head and one sliced off by Jason and tossed it in the air. Before the bigger leech monster could fully gulp down and swallow the small two headed leech monster, Jason charged at the single headed leech monster with a string of afterimages behind him, while his figure split into three, and then five along the way. Chapter 451 The five figures of Jason launched their attacks at the giant leech monster at almost the same time. And unlike his other attacks with shadows of himself, this time the other four figures of Jason launched different kinds of attacks aiming at different parts of the leech monster¡¯s body - two aimed at the monster¡¯s throat, and two aimed at two different spots on the monster¡¯s body, while Jason focused his attack on the one headed leech monster being devoured. The giant leech monster growled and flailed its tail at Jason, all four figures of Jason were hit and crushed into shiny pieces of silver energy in the air, while Jason himself conjured a silver energy shield, which was also shattered by the impact and he was thrown through the room and crashed into several desks and file cabins. ¡°Fire! Fire!¡± one of the officers that were just rescued by Jason yelled as he opened fire with his silver handgun at the giant leech monster. The flames coming out of the muzzles of the gun, just like the guns themselves, were also silvery white in color, and the bullets shot out by the gun were condensed bolts of silvery blue energy. All five of the officers started firing their silver guns created by Jason. For different officers, the energy bolts fired from their silver guns seemed to have slightly different colors and different effects on the leech monsters - some seemed to penetrate the monster¡¯s skin, some seemed to explode on impact and some seemed to lit up in flames on the monster¡¯s body and skin. These attacks seemed to have successfully inflicted some level of pain on the giant leech monster by piercing its skin, burning and breaking the now relatively tiny human arms on the side of its body, which caused it to flinch, squirm roll on the ground while trying to completely swallow the one headed leech monster in its mouth. After being tossed through the room, Jason bashed the ground with his left hand and sprung his body up using the reaction force. The next moment, he leapt on a pillar then charged at the giant leech monster again by launching himself from the pillar. This time, it was not his figure that split into other clones, but his pen-spear. When Jason swung his silver pen-spear in the air, the few dozens of afterimages of the glowing pen-spear became silver energy shadows in the air, and were instantly launched by Jason at the giant leech monster from all different angles. Out of the few dozen shadows of his pen-spear, three of them were actually directed at the giant leech monster¡¯s mouth, while it was still trying to devour the one headed leech monster. When the other shadows of the pen-spear struck the giant leech monster, the three silver shadows of the pen-spears pierced through the one-headed leech monster¡¯s body, and through which they entered into the giant leech monster¡¯s body. And along with the push from the shadows of the silver spears, the giant leech monster finally swallowed its kin fully into its belly. Jason laughed out loud as he launched himself to the side using an explosion of silver energy from his left hand. The silver pen-spear in his hand glowed in silver light and released a silver energy wave that swept through the giant leech monster¡¯s body, and all of the energy constructs Jason launched through his attacks into the one-headed leech monster and thus into the giant leech monster exploded into several spinning saw blades and cut through the internal parts of the monster¡¯s body from inside out.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. The monster cried, wiggled its long and bloated body and flailed its long tail at Jason once again, but Jaosn just leapt to the side and moved out of the range of this attack just in time. Two silver saw blades cut through the skin of the leech monster and exposed their spinning blades. Foul smelling blood came out of the grevious wounds on the monster¡¯s body, but the monster¡¯s crying and moaning did not stop, nor did the movements of its body parts - even when essentially cut into three pieces, the head and tail of the leech monster still moved around like they were individual entities. ¡°Oh man! You did it!¡± one of the officers congratulated Jason: ¡°You killed that thing!¡± Jason did not answer - something still seemed quite wrong here, mostly because even though the leech monster¡¯s life had started withering away, he did not sense any changes it made to the environment around. To his knowledge, the ¡°death¡± of creatures in the limbo tended to leave some kind of mark in the environment, since limbos were, in essence, special realms of consciousness, memory and even minds themselves, and if any of the actual beings in the limbos was eliminated, the parts of the limbos that were reflections or reconstructions of their memories, their minds and even their hallucinations and illusions would be lost. But somehow, the ¡°death¡± of the one headed leech monster and this giant leech monster did not cause even a single change in this limbo. Jason swung his spear again, and a gush of silver energy pushed the head of the giant leech monster out of the entire building. And with a command sent from his mind, the head of the giant leech monster exploded when it was at a safe distance away from the precinct building. Still, no changes in this limbo. ¡°How are you feeling right now?¡± Jason came over and asked the five officers he just rescued. ¡°Tired - these guns - these guns seemed to be draining our energy.¡± a short officer wearing a pair of glasses asked Jason: ¡°Can you tell me what these guns are right now?¡± ¡°They¡¯re actually draining your energy, yes.¡± Jason answered, and after a short moment of hesitation he decided to turn on ¡°speaker¡± mode of these weapons and spoke to all those who held the silver weapons through them: ¡°Everyone listen to me. My name is Jason, I am the one who just gave you these weapons. We are still in danger so I will keep this short. This place is called a ¡®limbo¡¯, and it¡¯s basically a realm of consciousness and the mind. These weapons I gave you literally convert your will power into energy attacks that could help you fend off hostile entities of this place. So, to stay alive, you will need to focus and will your survival through your weapons. They are weapons of will. And to get out of this place, we need to either: find the entry point of the limbo through which your consciousness can all return to your own bodies or find a way to create one; or, we can find the way to crush this limbo at a controlled pace and squeeze you guys out.¡± The officers started murmuring, and Jason could hear some of them asking all kinds of questions through the weapons like they¡¯re walkie-talkies. ¡°For now, officers and detectives, I think it should be safe to gather around, so if you haven¡¯t done so, find your peers and gather around and make yourselves safe through numbers. Oh, and watch out for each other and control the rate you use the weapons.¡± Chapter 452 ¡°Aimee, Detective, how are you?¡± after calling upon the officers and other personnel who were still alive in the limbo to gather in a place and start formulating some defense strategies, Jason found the place where Aimee, Detective Lee and the officers who were still conscious after the initial energy wave pulled all the others that were in the precinct were holding up - it was an empty storage room on the first floor, close to the entrance of the precinct, which had thick doors and a lot of things that could be used to barricade the doors: ¡°Has anything happened yet? Are you still safe?¡± ¡°Yes, we¡¯re still safe, for now.¡± Detective Lee said to the silver shadow of Jason floating in the air: ¡°What should we do next? Should we move the people who are in limbo with us?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid I still don¡¯t have that answer yet.¡± Jason sighed and shook his head: ¡°I just dealt with some monsters in the limbo, but defeating and annihilating them did not change a thing in this limbo, which is an indication that they were not the ones whose memories and terrors this place is based on, and they¡¯re not some kind of manifestations of the elements inside of the limbo.¡± ¡°So - they¡¯re something from the outside, just like you.¡± Aimee thought for a while and said: ¡°This limbo did not have your memories and thoughts as its foundation right? You chose to go in.¡± ¡°... yes! right. This is exactly what they are. Thank you!¡± the silver shadow of Jason nodded: ¡°Since this is a crossover limbo - its creation and existence actually allows some other malicious entities from outside to use it to funnel energy from human minds and emotions out to fuel itself.¡± ¡°Holy shit, how is that possible?¡± Detective Lee asked: ¡°Are you literally talking about soul sucking right here?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m afraid. I realized I just did basically the same thing, or a similar thing.¡± Jason said scratching his jaw: ¡°I gave them weapons of my construct they could channel their power of minds and will through, so that they could use these weapons to defend themselves against the monsters in the limbo. It is fair to say, if I am acting on bad faith the power could be redirected to somewhere else.¡± ¡°Shit.¡± Aimee looked around and the officers who just looked lost and confused - though they were not pulled into the limbo, they were no doubt under some heavy influence of the presence of it: ¡°Okay, but they¡¯re supposed to have something on the outside right? Let me go around the precinct and see if I can find that. Any idea on what it is?¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°I am not sure. I will go to the evidence room and see what¡¯s in there from inside this limbo. The limbo was triggered by a small wooden sculpture stored there that looked like a monster. I went into the limbo directly.¡± Jason nodded and drew in the air with his hand, and three long pieces of identical sigils appeared in the air, which then folded up into small triangles with metallic shine and floated towards both Detective Lee and Aimee: ¡°These are for you, if you need to go out, keep it on you. And put the final one on the door.¡± ¡°Okay, I will check out the evidence room as well.¡± Aimee nodded: ¡°Anything we can do to help you on the other side? For now we have only seen smoke and mist inside of the precinct, nothing else strange yet.¡± Just this moment, strange high pitched scratching sounds came from some of the windows from outside the storage room. ¡°I will get back to you shortly, something is going on here.¡± the silver shadow of Jason looked around and paused for a few seconds when looking at the direction the loudest scratches came from, and dissipated in the air. ¡°Can we leave? Please, can we leave?¡± one of the officers who was sweating through his uniform asked: ¡°I - I don¡¯t feel so good.¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t we leave?¡± another officer asked while wiping her face. Aimee took a deep breath and conjured a floating ice shard in the air, which cooled the air around and generated gentle breezes in the air. ¡°Try to keep them here. I will go out and take a quick look.¡± Aimee took the additional silver triangle given to her by Jason and stuck it on the door of the storage room as she was about to go out: ¡°Restrain them if necessary.¡± ¡°Understood, but can you tell me why we can¡¯t leave?¡± Detective Lee sighed and said. ¡°All of us already had parts of our mind and consciousness integrated into the limbo already, despite the fact that we are still ¡®here¡¯. If we leave, the best outcome would be that those parts that were taken from us would be cut off and lost.¡± Aimee shook her head: ¡°And the worst outcome would be serious trauma to our minds and consciousness because this is the equivalent of cutting our limbs off.¡± When Aimee was about to close the door to the storage room, she noticed a black and furry figure with its tail sticking up towards the ceiling walking through the floor of the precinct. ¡°Um, Lee? Was there a cat in this precinct earlier?¡± Aimee reopened the door slightly and asked. ¡°Fuck! That¡¯s Mr. Night Owl! What the...¡± Detective Lee was reminded of something and tried to come out of the storage room but was stopped by Aimee. ¡°Stay in there and guard the door, don¡¯t open unless you can confirm it¡¯s me.¡± Aimee looked at Detective Lee with a worried and serious expression on her face as she drew two wooden cards from one of her pockets: ¡°Close the door, now!¡± As Aimee held the wooden card in her hands, ice grew from the two cards and into the shapes of two swords - that looked slightly like scimitars but with longer, wider but thinner blades. ¡°Mr. Night Owl¡± turned its head at Aimee and hissed in a hoarse voice, its mouth was open by an unnatural angle, its teeth had become crooked, longer and sharper, while its eyes were leaking some kind of dark green goo, and its tongue had become long, spiked and forked like it had become the combination of snake and tiger tongues. Chapter 453 ¡°Alright, Mr. Night Owl, what turned you into this?¡± Aimee raised her two ice scimitars that grew out from the wooden cards at the centers of her palms and walked carefully by the side while facing the cat with black and white fur, who had grown to a size that was already way beyond the size of any normal pet felines. The cat shook his head, the dark green goo leaking from his eyes was flung into the air and dripped on the floor. Smoke rose from the points of contact, and Aimee had to resist her urge to cover her nose. Contrary to what Aimee expected, Mr. Night Owl hissed at her once again and ran away into the main parts of the precinct. Aimee cursed once again and rushed to follow this obviously mutated cat, presumably due to being under the influence of the limbo and not of other causes. Aimee followed the wet footsteps of the black and white cat into the center of the first floor of the precinct, and she saw the cat standing on one of the desks belonging to an unknown detective, with his hand on a half empty vase with some lilies inside. Aimee seemed to foresee what was about to come: ¡°Holy - ¡± Mr. Night Owl took a look at Aimee, then took a look at the vase with lilies, then looked at Aimee again, and pushed the vase right off the desk and broke it against the floor. Aimee almost flinched when the vase crashed coming into contact with the hard floor, not because she had any attachments to the vase, but because she did not know what to expect of whatever effects this change in environment might bring about. The lilies got into contact with the smoke that rose from different corners of the precinct and instantly started to wither. Before long, the lilies dried up and ashy like really flowers preserved for too long. ¡°Shit!¡± Aimee rushed to the side of some officers who were lying on the floor and checked on them - the fog and mist from the corners seemed to have some similar effects on them, though at a slower pace and thus a lesser degree for now. But Aimee could easily see that the skins on the officers had started to dry up just like the lilies, their hair had started to become grey and fall off. And when Aimee looked up at Mr. Night Owl, she found that the cat was halfway across the room and was looking back at her at the entrance of the aisle to the evidence room.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Okay there.¡± Aimee had started to suspect that this Mr. Night Owl might not be as malicious as she thought, so she looked around and carefully followed him down the aisle, and then into the evidence room. Inside the evidence room, AImee saw Jason, who was sitting on the ground in a meditative pose, with a passed out officer by his side inside of a silver circle on the ground. Jason¡¯s body was coated in a layer of silver energy, which seemed to be serving some kind of protection purpose. Mr. Night Owl walked around in the room, and then hopped onto one of the shelves and started pushing random things off of it. In the limbo, Jason rounded up all the remaining officers in the first floor, and drew two silver circles on the floor around them while they constructed barriers to blockade themselves from hostile entities like the leech monsters. ¡°Alright, Mr. Lin, what else can we do?¡± the sergeant, who was the highest ranking officer still alive in this limbo, asked Jason: ¡°What are you going to do?¡± ¡°I am going to find the source of power in the limbo, and I am going to find the ¡®tunnels¡¯ for you to get out. After that, I am going to shut it down as peacefully as possible.¡± Jason said: ¡°You just have to stay alive.¡± ¡°Is there a way to break out directly?¡± the sergeant asked. ¡°Not that easy, I¡¯m afraid.¡± Jason shook his head: ¡°I could create a ¡®hole¡¯ for you to slip back into your bodies, but that''s like open up a hole at the end of the peanut jar when your hand is stuck inside - you could technically get your hand out, but the jar is still attached to your wrist and your arm. So I will need to find the right ¡®tunnel¡¯ that you came through, break it down or enlarge it, and you can get your hands out. ¡± ¡°I volunteer. I will go with you.¡± one of the uniformed officers said. ¡°I will go as well.¡± a detective wearing a canvas jacket stood up and said: ¡°Please, Mr. Lin, let us help.¡± Jason sighed after a short moment of thought: ¡°Yes, sure, I could use the help. Come with me.¡± Jason closed his two palms, focused his minds for a while and conjured out two suits of body armor and three walkie talkies. He then handed these equipment to the sergeant and the two officers: ¡°The body armors and walkie talkies are fueled by my power, so no worries about using it. And if any of you is getting weak, let me know and stop using the weapons, got it?!¡± ¡°Got it.¡± When Jason and the two officers walked to the staircase, they found that there were flights of stairs leading both upwards and downwards. ¡°This is wrong, we don¡¯t have stairs leading down.¡± the detective wearing a canvas jacket said: ¡°We do have a basement, but we need to access it from another flight of stairs - these¡­ just shouldn¡¯t be here.¡± ¡°Let me do a basic test.¡± Jason nodded and thought for a while, then conjured a silver compass on his hand. After Jason blew on the compass, the needle in it started spinning. After around twenty rotations, the needle stabilized and pointed at the stairs leading to places below the first floor. Chapter 454 ¡°Downstairs it is.¡± Jason took a long breath and headed first down the stairs. ¡°Okay, Mr. Lin, what do we expect to see down there? More of those monsters?¡± the detective asked: ¡°Or different kinds of monsters or creatures?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Jason shook his head as he walked over to the corner and slowly turned around - there were only further stairs down: ¡°But keep your eyes open, and also, let me know if you even smell something weird. Because this limbo, in essence, is basically a realm of the mind and illusions, so there is a chance that you will see things from your personal nightmares and childhood trauma.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± the uniformed officer nodded: ¡°Now - what kind of nightmare or trauma are we talking about? Clowns? Clowns with balloons?¡± When this uniformed officer finished his sentence, a strange moving sound came from below as if there were some heavy things like desks or sofas being moved around. ¡°Oh god, did I just cause my fears to manifest?¡± ¡°Maybe, but no worries, it¡¯s actually a thing.¡± Jason nodded at the uniformed officer and the detective wearing a canvas jacket: ¡°Follow me, and don¡¯t fall behind, call out to me if you see, hear or smell anything ...¡± ¡°I smell something.¡± before Jason finished his sentence, the detective wearing a canvas jacket raised her hand: ¡°It¡¯s like - like some kind of hazelnut coffee.¡± ¡°Shit, I smell it too.¡± the uniformed officer said with a frown: ¡°It¡¯s like the brew captain used to bring to the precinct.¡± ¡°Okay, something might be targeting you. ¡± Jason nodded: ¡°Come closer.¡± The tree continued down the stairs in a close formation with at least one person watching their back as they walked. Before long, they came down to the ¡°floor¡± below - which turned out to be the same as the first floor of the precinct in terms of layout and positions of the furniture. The only difference was the dim lighting, as far as Jason could tell, as well as the emptiness and the tidiness - everything looked eerily well put together, not even one chair or one coffee was misplaced. ¡°Tell me again, what you see, what you hear and what you smell.¡± Jason narrowed his eyes and said. ¡°It¡¯s the first floor of the precinct.¡± the uniformed officer said: ¡°With nobody here - the lightings are kinda - ¡±The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Wait, say it to the walkie talkie. Tell me if anything stands out to you.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± the uniformed officer pressed the button on the silver walkie talkie and started speaking through it: ¡°This is the first floor of the precinct, it¡¯s a little dark. No one is here and the whole place is quite empty - the place is a bit of a mess though. Umm, I can still smell the hazelnut coffee, it seems to come from the captain¡¯s office ¡­ and oh, the light seems to be flickering.¡± ¡°Okay. What about you, detective?¡± ¡°Is it my turn? Okay...¡± the detective wearing a canvas jacket took a strange look at the uniformed officer: ¡°It¡¯s the first floor of the precinct, the lighting is a little weird - parts of it are bright but parts of it are really dark but I can¡¯t see the light bulbs lighting up - and I can still smell the hazelnut coffee.¡± ¡°Hazelnut coffee? The kind your captain used to bring to the precinct?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± the uniformed officer and detective answered. Jason¡¯s eyes lit up in silver as his left hand struck at the air in front of both the uniform officer and the detective in claw shape. When his fingers clenched tight, a small trace of light yellow air appeared in the space enclosed by his fingers. ¡°Found you, fucker!¡± Jason thrust his pen-spear at the direction of an office across the room and unleashed a beam of silver energy from the tip of the spear. Round cracks appeared out of thin air in front of all three of them, just like what would happen to a thick glass struck by a bullet. The sight of the precinct in each of their eyes also cracked up, just like the silver screen being torn apart while the movie was still projecting, none of the chairs, the desks, the coffee mugs seemed to be affected by the clash between the silver energy beam and the invisible ¡°window¡± in the air, just that the vision of them was shattered. ¡°Boom!¡± the ¡°window¡± was finally completely broken into pieces when Jason pushed the beam of silver energy forward and through the facade. An empty room appeared in front of them as the vision of the ¡°precinct¡± crumbled around them. Inside the room standing in front of them, was a humanoid monster with a wide, asymmetrical face, long neck and an asymmetrical body with the right half with long limbs and the left half with much shorter ones. The face of the monster consisted of two different emotions: the half that was in a state of joy or euphoria was on the side of the body with short limbs, and the half in a state of sadness and despair was on the side of the longer limbs. The monster¡¯s short left arm had a whip that seemed to be made of some kind of spiky spine in its hand, and the long arm had a heavy curved sword with five metal rings on its back and ridge. Just when the illusion crumbled, the monster swung its short left arm at all three of them who came down the stairs. Jason pushed forward and raised his pen-spear to block the spine whip, and with an ear-piercing loud screech, he was pushed back a few steps by the sheer force in the whip strike. The silver pen-spear, which was a manifestation of his actual weapon in the real world, was damaged for the first time - the part with which Jason used to block the whip attack was cracked by the impact of the whip. But before he could even examine the damage to his weapon, the monster lunged at Jason with the sword held high. The five metal rings on the back of the sword made a tormenting sound as the monster swung the sword down. Jason raised his pen-spear once again at the sword, while also conjuring a silver bubble shield attempting to defend the two officers as well as himself from the attack. This time, it was him that wound up on the receiving end of a shadow attack - the monster¡¯s sword split into three shadows as it cut through the air and struck the pen-spear as well as the silver bubble shield in three different angles. ¡°Crash!¡± the bubble shield burst, and the silver pen-spear was shattered with its broken shards shooting out in different directions like it was made of glass. The detective wearing a canvas jacket and the uniformed officer were sent back by the shockwave from the bursted bubble shield as well as a spell cast by Jason at the last minute, their silver body armor blocked all of the silver shards from the shattered pen-spear. But Jason himself was not so lucky - the detective was horrified to see that a sharp shard was protruding from his right eye, and silver blood was running down from his face. Chapter 455 When Aimee was shuffling through a bunch of files and collected evidence on the shelf on which Mr. Night Owl was standing, she heard a cracking sound coming from Jason, who was sitting behind her on the ground in a meditative pose. When she turned around and checked on him she found that Jason¡¯s right eye seemed to be injured by something - a crack appeared across his right eye socket, through which blood was slowly seeping and flowing, even though nothing had touched him. ¡°Shit! Jason!¡± Aimee tried to wipe away the blood dripping from Jason¡¯s face, but the blood just wouldn¡¯t stop flowing from the crack. So after a short moment of hesitation, she decided to try her very simple healing spell on him. ¡°Hiss!¡± Mr. Night Owl hissed at Aimee once again when she was preparing her healing spell, as if he was rushing her. ¡°Just give me a minute! I want to help him!¡± Aimee said with both her hands raised and palms facing Jason, after a short chant, a ball of gentle blue light appeared in the air and slowly floated towards the crack on Jason¡¯s right eye. The spell did not do much, for the crack on Jason¡¯s right eye still remained and did not close even one bit. Aimee grunted and was about to try again, but a box was thrown over by Mr. Night Owl and hit her on the head. ¡°Important things first, goddammit!¡± Mr. Night Owl opened his mouth and spoke in an agitated female voice: ¡°He¡¯s fighting on the other side! Now do your part!¡± ¡°What the ... You can talk?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, Nekomatas can talk, yeah, breaking news.¡± Mr. Night Owl hissed again and said: ¡°Maybe you can gossip about it on your phone things later. Now we need to find the things that are providing fuel for the nightmares!¡± ¡°What kind of things?¡± Aimee took one more look at Jason, it seemed to her that the bleeding on his eyes had stopped: ¡°Do you know what we should be looking for?¡± Didn¡¯t your mentor teach you about Living Nightmares?¡± Mr. Night Owl looked around and said: ¡°What is it that you mages call it? Right, limbos?¡± ¡°Not about the things that are fueling them. What kind of things are we talking about!?¡±If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Anything, anything that could be used to collect and channel the fears, despair and nightmares.¡± Mr. Night Owl started looking at some other things from the shelf: ¡°This Living Nightmare is something different, so anything suspicious could be ...¡± ¡°Wait wait wait!¡± Aimee found a very worn and dirty notebook from one of the boxes placed inside of a ziploc bag, and as she opened it and flipped through the pages, she found that the notebook had a lot of drawings of different symbols on its pages, the styles of which seemed quite familiar to her. She was uncertain at first, so she put the notebook in front of Mr. Night Owl: ¡°Could this be? These are just symbols ¡­ I think I saw this kind of symbols somewhere else...¡± Mr. Night Owl sniffed the notebook, then said: ¡°Someone in an unstable state drew the symbols on this notebook, destroy it!¡± Aimee tried to rip the notebook apart, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not tear even one page from the notebook. ¡°Use your magic, dammit!¡± Aimee put the notebook down on the desk behind her and raised her ice scimitar on held by her right hand. ------------------------------------------------- ¡°Mr. Lin!¡± ¡°Are you okay?!¡± the two officers raised their silver guns at the humanoid monster wielding a large sword and a whip made of spine and called out to Jason: ¡°Your ¡­ your eye!¡± ¡°Shut up and stand back!¡± Jason wiped the blood off from his face, then ripped the shard out from his right eye - maybe it was because he was in the limbo, the pain was sharp and grueling and there was no adrenaline pumping through his body to numb it, which made him sweat all over his body, something he did not think was possible until now. Jason cast an Internal Fortification spell on himself, which would not stop the bleeding right away, but should help him heal fast, even in a limbo. Then, he held the shard covered in his blood in his right hand, and another pen-spear appeared in his hand. ¡°Similar power ¡­ similar power ...¡± the humanoid monster tilted its head left and right while waving its giant sword and spine whip in the air while mumbling in a voice that was at times low-pitched and at times high, then started slowly walking towards Jason: ¡°Smells different ¡­ smells different ¡­ stronger ¡­ but weaker? No matter, no matter ¡­ ¡± ¡°Stand back and go back. I¡¯ll hold him here.¡± Jason conjured another silver pen-spear on his left hand, only this pen-spear had a curved tip and edge. The two officers held their guns at the monster and started slowly backing away, but before Jason could make sure that they went back up the stairs, the monster launched another attack at Jason with its giant sword. The five metal rings at the back of the sword rang a tormenting and disturbing sound once again, and this time, countless pale and bloodied faces flashed right behind Jason¡¯s eyes: his parents¡¯, his younger brother Mack¡¯s, Laura Jensen¡¯s, Caroline¡¯s, and even Jianmen¡¯s. These faces were crying, moaning and howling, accusing him, blaming him and cursing at him. ¡°Boom!¡± Jason raised both of his silver pen-spears in a cross to block the monster¡¯s sword, the spears got shattered once more and he was sent flying back and rolled on the ground. But before the monster could attack him again, he rolled back and launched himself at the monster with two newly conjured silver pen spears. ¡°Ting!¡± the tip of the spear in his left hand was blocked and entangled by the monster¡¯s spine whip as Jason was swinging it from above aiming at the monster¡¯s head. But the tip just fell right off and towards the ground. Jason¡¯s right leg curled back as the spear tip fell, and his right kick landed on the stump of the spear tip. Like an arrow fired upwards at point blank range, the spear tip shot right at the monster¡¯s waist. Chapter 456 The monster did not see this sudden attack coming, but it was fast enough to move the sword right in front of itself, only with the edge of the sword facing forward. When the head of the silver spear clashed into the sharp edge of the blade, it got sliced into two smaller halves, one shooting at the monster¡¯s waist, and one half shooting at the monster¡¯s foot. ¡°Crack!¡± Jason forcefully burst his silver energy spear in front of him to shoot out several silver shards against the monster just like pellets from a shotgun. The monster took a few steps back from the impact of the two halves of the tip of his spear, and the exploded shards from Jason¡¯s spear. The sharp shards got embedded inside the monster¡¯s body, which also made it bleed in some kind of shimmering blue liquid. ¡°This is similar. This is similar.¡± the monster readied its pose once again, then both halves of its face became smiley and it raised its weapons again: ¡°This is dangerous¡­ This is very dangerous ¡­ But exciting! But exciting! We shall have him! We will have him!¡± ¡°Have this!¡± Jason jabbed the pen-spear in his right hand down into the ground, and at the same time he conjured a silver energy ball on his left hand and threw it at the monster. In the midair, the silver energy ball grew several spikes that looked like actual tips of spears, then the spikes grew longer and sharper. And finally, the spikes became short spears launching at the monster in a flurry, while the silver energy ball disappeared halfway through its trajectory. ¡°Ah!¡± the humanoid monster swung its short arm and the spine whip spun and curled in the air, accurately knocking all the short spears out of the air and shattering them into pieces of shards all over the floor: ¡°Come with me! We shall have you!¡± The monster swung his sword at Jason once again, and unleashed an energy blade with the shape of half of a crescent which left a thin fissure in the ground on which it traveled. Jason raised his left hand at the incoming energy blade, and a silver ball of energy that looked like it was made of several layers of scales and shells shot out of his left palm. The silver energy ball expanded into a layered globe in the air when it came close to the energy blade, and when it came into direct contact with the energy blade, it absorbed the impact and dispersed it across the entirety of the silver globe. All the silver scales and shells on the globe splintered out from the impact, many of which cracked, crumbled and turned to countless much smaller pieces and even little grains of silver sand, almost completely blocking the view of Jason. The monster¡¯s body burst through the temporary wall of silver sand and shards in the air, with his smile turned completely upside down and his sword raised up high glowing in a pale blue light.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Come with me! ¡± the monster cried as it swung the sword down, aiming at Jason¡¯s head. While Jason finally took the pen-spear in his right hand out from the ground and swung it right against the sword. The pen-spear was glowing in pale blue light as well, just like the monster¡¯s sword. ¡°Ting!¡± the sword and the silver pen-spear made a loud sound of two hard pieces of metal crashing into each other. The shock and vibration from the clash created a powerful shockwave that pushed both Jason and the monster away. And this time, Jason¡¯s weapon did not break. ------------------------------------ Caroline clenched her teeth so hard, that she felt as if she was about to crack them at any moment. This was partially because of the claw attack with great force she was trying to fend off from the female lycan with silvery white fur, and partially because of the ear piercingly high pitched sound the claws made when they scratched on the surface of her shield. A tail covered with dark purple hairs that were hardened and sharp like razors and spear tips flailed at Caroline¡¯s back for another time, and once again, Caroline had to raise her battle axe in an attempt to block it because her left arm was occupied trying to block and push back against the other lycan. The dark red-violet moon¡¯s light seemed to have not only healed the injuries dealt by Caroline to these two wolves, it also seemed to have greatly strengthened their speed, their physical power and their endurance. They even seemed to have gained resistance to the direct attacks or hindrance spells dished out by Caroline. Caroline¡¯s situation was made worse by the fact that two groups of quite powerful individuals were fighting in a not so far away place - the lycans seemed to have boosted their power tremendously by conjuring the dark red-violet moon, while the group fighting them utilized many artifacts and even summoning spells to aid them. And on the other hand, Caroline was trying her best to defend this particular corner where some parts of a civilian apartment complex building still stood, when Detective Kuhn and Thomas were still inside trying to get some of the civilians out. ¡°Boom!¡± the wolf with silvery white fur hopped to the side and spit out a condensed ball of energy at Caroline at almost point blank range. The explosion almost sent Caroline through the base of the apartment complex building. But she forced herself to stop midway and absorb all of the shock by herself so that she did not cause any more damage to the building¡¯s foundation and further endanger the remaining people in the building. Showing no intention whatsoever to give her any room to breathe, the wolf with the dark purple fur lunged at Caroline from her right side, aiming at her battle axe. The dark purple energy she used to speed herself up was in full throttle and it created several sonic booms in the air in the span of her very short distance charge. Caroline roared, with blood coming out of the corner of her mouth from pushing her Xuanli into overdrive, and swung her battle axe up in the form of a rising slash. A tornado glowing orange and red from the inside with tens of mini wind blades and a fiery core appeared in front of her. The wolf with dark purple hair was too fast and too close to change course and was instantly blown to the side by the turbulence, the wind blades inside left a number of cuts of different depth on her body, and her body crashed into the road and dirt several yards away from Caroline. A giant mantis with a translucent grey body that might have come over through one of the portals conjured by someone fighting the lycans glided through the sky and flew towards some of the civilians that were too slow or too scared to make it very far, with its sharp front claws ready to attack. Caroline¡¯s spinning battle axe shot through the air, striking the giant mantis just in time and at just the right angle to shatter its entire body. This move saved quite a few civilians¡¯ lives, but it also left Caroline¡¯s right side wide open, and the wolf with silvery white fur took the opportunity without much hesitation. Caroline could almost hear her bones crack as she tried to block another bite attack from this giant wolf¡¯s head using only her bare right arm. If she wasn¡¯t fighting gritting her teeth, she probably would have screamed in extreme agony. Chapter 457 After looking around in the room, Thomas and Detective Kuhn found two corners on which they could push on a pillar that was crushing down on a table, under which a woman and her two children were trapped. ¡°On three! One ¡­ two ¡­ three!¡± Detective Kuhn and Thomas pushed together, the pillar, which weighed easily over a few hundred pounds, was gradually lifted, revealing the almost completely crushed table below. ¡°Alright! Can you come out?¡± Thomas was grunting due to his overexerting his power, the majority of the weight was handled by him. He was still undergoing the process of body tempering, and as of now, he was already a few times stronger than the average adult man. but when trying to lift a pillar this size up high enough so that the people trapped underneath could escape still required him to give his all. ¡°No! Not yet!¡± the mother cried out but with hope in her voice: ¡°Just a little bit more!¡± ¡°Thomas, push it towards me!¡± Detective Kuhn looked under the pillar and said: ¡°Then we can flip it over and away from the table!¡± ¡°Okay! On three!¡± Thomas put his left shoulder against the pillar: ¡°One, two, three!¡± Thomas pushed while Detective Kuhn pulled and then pushed from the side, the pillar rolled over to the right and fell onto the ground while Detective Kuhn jumped to the side to get away from it. ¡°Miss? Are you okay?¡± Thomas took a short moment to catch his breath, then he lifted the table and asked. ¡°I¡¯m okay! Just get my children out first!¡± the woman trapped under the tap had a few cuts on her forehead and shoulders and the wounds were bleeding all over the place, but she still pushed her two crying children out from under the table. ¡°Okay, we¡¯ve got them now, come on out Miss!¡± Thomas held each child with one hand, slowly passed them to Detective Kuhn, then lifted the table with his left arm and extended his right arm towards the wounded mother. The woman clenched her teeth and pushed herself forward to grab onto Thomas¡¯ right arm. With another count of three, Thomas pulled the woman out - even though her legs were scratched in the process and started bleeding again.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Okay, we¡¯ve gotta deal with this wound and get you outta here!¡± ¡°Boom! Boom!¡± two more explosions occurred in places some distance away while Thomas and Detective Kuhn were carrying the mother and her two children out of the apartment complex building. And just when Thomas looked back at Caroline, he saw that Caroline had tossed out her orange and red translucent battle axe, slicing a pale grey mantis monster into pieces, but she was also ambushed by a giant wolf with silvery white fur the very next moment. Caroline was able to block the wolf with silvery white fur with her glowing right arm, but her arm was also clenched by the wolf¡¯s mouth. ¡°Send them away! I¡¯m going to help her!¡± Thomas said to Detective Kuhn when they approached Detective Kuhn¡¯s car: ¡°Go! Go!¡± ¡°Be careful! I¡¯ll be back as soon as possible!¡± Detective Kuhn nodded. Thomas turned back and picked up his phone - turned out he was still on hold after calling Josephine Wong and then being redirected to another station trying to connect him with a team member. Caroline screamed in pain when her right amr was struck by another tail attack from the wolf with dark purple fur, and she exploded her Xuanli fully around her and from her meridians, creating a fiery shockwave with thousands of wind blades and thin, condensed and incredibly fast streams of jetted air inside to push the two wolves away. But the damage done to her was done - Thomas watched in fear and fury when the wolf with silvery white fur swallowed Caroline¡¯s broken right arm. ¡°You fucking bitch!¡± Thomas shouted at the top of his lungs and pushed both of his hands forward. A fiery arrow shot out from a vortex of fire in front of him, aiming at the wolf with silvery white fur. The wolf roared with a mouth full of blood and unleashed an explosive shockwave, but the fire arrow was only slowly weakened by the shockwave¡¯s crush, and it landed right on the right side of the wolf¡¯s face. Caroline tapped a few meridian points on her right chest and right shoulder with her left hand attempting to stop the bleeding from her broken arm. This was a technique taught by Jianmen to stop bleeding from the body, but it was not enough - the blood flow was minimized, but the wound of a broken arm was too severe for the bleeding to be stopped this way. Thomas¡¯ furious attack blinded one eye of the wolf with silvery white fur. This made the wolf with dark purple fur switch targets and lunged against him instead. And exhausted from the powerful spell he just cast, Thomas was not able to even detect, much less evade the attack. ¡°Bang!¡± all Thomas could see and hear was that a purple shadow rushed to the place in front of him, and the shadow of a spinning orange and red shield was thrown at him and collided with the purple shadow in midair. The energy explosion threw Thomas back onto the ground, and the wolf with dark purple fur bashed into the ground by a spinning and flying shield. After throwing her shield away, Caroline concentrated her Xuanli on her left palm, then she placed her hand on the stump of her broken arm. Another scream, of pain, of fury and of determination, Caroline drank up all of her wine from her flask after charring her wound to stop the bleeding completely. Then she raised her left arm in the air, her battle axe and shield lifted from the ground at the same time and flew towards her. These two weapons became smaller in size when flying towards Caroline and merged into one single translucent ball inside Caroline¡¯s left palm. A translucent orange and red gauntlet appeared on Caroline¡¯s left hand, with a small round shield at the back of her wrist, and a sharp sword-like blade extending forward from the back of her hand. A rush of clarity came from the depths of Caroline¡¯s mind, as if she just had an epiphany of sorts. Her entire body felt lighter, and the time seemed to be flowing slower around her - just that she was not sure if it was because of her lost arm and adrenaline, or because of some other reasons. Chapter 458 ¡°Thomas! Go!¡± the flames shrouding Caroline¡¯s body burned brighter as she turned to Thomas and said: ¡°Keep calling them and find backup!¡± ¡°Okay! But...¡± Thomas stood up once again and was about to cast another spell at the wolf with dark purple fur, yet when the spell completed he found that he had lost his target - the wolf was gone from where she was. A whimpering sound came from behind Thomas all of a sudden, when Thomas looked back, he found that Caroline was standing behind him facing left, while the wolf with dark purple fur was lying on the ground with a dislocated jaw and a long cut on its left front leg, panting and choking up blood. The wolf with silvery white fur howled, then charged at both Thomas and Caroline. Caroline moved to the front of Thomas with a string of after images behind her and charged at the charging wolf head on with a rapidly intensifying wall of wind around her. And since Thomas was watching from behind, he noticed the three bright flames that were floating above Caroline¡¯s two shoulders and her head - those were the mythical ¡°three lanterns¡± of a human body, and their manifestation could only mean that the person with whom they were attached was pushing their power to the very limit. ¡°Boom!¡± at the very last moment, Caroline stomped on the ground and shifted her position to the side, the blade on her gauntlet swung up as she spun in midair and sliced through the wolf¡¯s right front leg, before she launched a powerful kick against the wolf¡¯s waist. ¡°Die!¡± Caroline yelled when the wolf with silvery white fur tumbled on the ground and lunged towards this very lycan who rid her of her right arm with her gauntlet held up high and the blade on her gauntlet lit up. The wolf tried to raise her left front leg to defend herself but the blade still sliced through her defences and sunk into her chest. ¡°Stop!¡± before Caroline could plunge the blade through the wolf¡¯s heart, she heard a female voice coming from the side. When she looked back, she found a woman with purple hair had her claw on Thomas¡¯ neck: ¡°Stop! Or I¡¯ll twist your friend¡¯s neck.¡± ¡°Finish it, Caroline, don¡¯t worry about me!¡± Thomas said.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°SHE is my friend, and I¡¯ll tear this pitiful amateur apart right in front of you.¡± the woman with dark purple hair clenched her claw tighter and dug her claws at Thomas¡¯ waist deeper: ¡°Let her go now!¡± Caroline grunted and sighed, then slowly pulled away from the wolf with silvery white fur, now without both of her front claws and one eye burnt into a bloody hole. ¡°Caroline, I don¡¯t think she¡¯s gonna honor her word.¡± Thomas said: ¡°Just do it!¡± ¡°Stop!¡± the woman with dark purple fur clenched tighter: ¡°Remove your weapon! Let her go now!¡± Caroline lowered her left arm, and the gauntlet fell from her hand. But the moment the gauntlet touched the ground, the wolf with silvery white fur sprung up from the ground and opened her jaw, aiming at Caroline¡¯s head. Thomas grabbed onto the claw of the woman behind her and dragged it across his neck, just like someone would do if they were slitting their own throat. ¡°Poof!¡± a light purple energy bubble appeared around Thomas¡¯ body and pushed the woman with dark purple hair away from him. Then the purple bubble turned into a small portal the instant it saved Thomas from his sacrificial move, and teleported him away from the battlefield. Caroline instantly lowered her body and evaded the bite attack from the wolf with silvery white fur, the gauntlet flew up and attached itself on her left hand just at the right moment. Before either of the wolves could react, Caroline sprung back with her left fist up and her entire body shrouded by a fiery tornado. This full-forced uppercut using a gauntlet with a blade proved to be a gross overkill for even the giant muscular wolf who just swallowed Caroline¡¯s right arm - the blade cut into the wolf¡¯s neck and the momentum of its edge was only barely stifled by the wolf¡¯s neck bone, and then the entire fist bashed into the wolf¡¯s neck, delivering a powerful blunt attack to the target¡¯s neck and lower jaw. ¡°Boom! Crack!¡± the body of the wolf with silvery white fur flew in the air with a giant chunk missing where her neck and head were supposed to be. ¡°Nooo!¡± the woman with dark purple fur screamed and turned into her wolf form. The ground below her feet shook as she launched herself at Caroline in a desperate attempt to get back at Caroline. She was pushing her speed above her normal limit, and in her mind, with this kind of speed, her target with only one arm now should never be able to catch up to her. But she was wrong, when her tail flip aiming at Caroline¡¯s head reached her target, all it hit was an afterimage. And before she could adjust her position in the air, she felt a burning fist in her stomach. A small crater appeared on the ground when Caroline bashed the wolf with dark purple fur into the ground. If not for Caroline retreating much of her force as well as the blade on her gauntlet with the attack, what would be lying on the floor now would be only half a wolf. ¡°Tell me about the deals you are making regarding the blood, and I will spare your life.¡± Caroline said while panting. ¡°You are in no position to ask that.¡± someone appeared behind Caroline and said in a low male voice. When Caroline turned around, all she saw was that a giant wolf with blood red patterns on its fur was lunging at her with its mouth wide open. Chapter 459 ¡°We must have him! We must have him!¡± the humanoid monster swung its sword and spine whip more frantically at Jason trying to strike him down. But somehow, to its worry and concern, the more attacks it dished out, the easier it became for Jason to dodge and block. The throbbing pain from Jason¡¯s right eye was still tormenting him, it was as if someone was jabbing at his brain with a sharp spike, and he could easily imaging his physical body having endured similar injuries in the real world, just that in this limbo the pain was a manifestation of injuries to his mind, spirit and even soul, not a warning sign about his actual physical injuries. But on the other hand, something in Jason was constantly reminding him that he should not give in to the pain, and he should always remain calm and sane, and just like the advice he gave to the officers that were trapped inside this limbo, he needed to focus in order to survive. There were multiple broken shards from his weapon lying on the floor. And having had the reconstructed weapon from the shard that was once in his right eye poked into the ground for a long enough time, he was able to infuse the ground around him with his power of mind and will as well as some Xuanli, which created some sort of ¡°friendly soil¡± in the area, where he could more easily detect and strategically deflect the enemy¡¯s moves, while at the same time, observe the energy signature of the enemy and the limbo itself as well as the energy flow in the environment. Swiftly shifting from side to side, Jason drew a silver symbol in the air and struck it with a palm, six silver chains emerged from the symbol and enclosed upon the humanoid monster from six different angles. The monster swung its spin whip in the air like a ribbon, an invisible force field appeared in the air which caused four of the chains to be pulled into the circle formed by the spine whip and eventually curled into a ball without tangling anything. The other two chains wrapped around the longer arm of the monster and temporarily restrained its movements. Then with a snap of Jason¡¯s fingers, silver spikes grew out from all six of the chains, and the two that wrapped around the monster¡¯s arm just locked themselves in place. ¡°Come with me!¡± the monster let out a hoarse scream and pulled his longer arm with brute force trying to break free from the two silver chains. The silver symbol collapsed from this push, the two six chains were removed from their anchor point, and the monster itself lunged at Jason again with the sword aiming at Jason¡¯s shoulder and neck: ¡°Come with me!¡± A shield appeared in Jason¡¯s left hand, and he pushed the shield upwards at the incoming sword. The brute force of the sword broke about one third of the shield as they clashed, but Jason was able to parry the strike upwards and make it barely miss his head. With the shield broken and his position pushed back by the strike, Jason flipped in the air, lowered his body in the process and tossed his pen-spear on his right hand at the stomach of the monster. The monster retrieved its shorter arm, dragging the spine whip along and tried to block the pen-spear. The tip of the pen-spear got into contact with the handle of the spine whip and made an ear-piercing scratching sound. This changed the course of the pen-spear and it only left a long cut on its waist.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Fuck!¡± Jason cursed in anger and distress, and the tail end of the spine whip flailed down like the actual tail of a snake and lashed him to the ground. ¡°Come with me!¡± the monster¡¯s face turned all smiley and was about to charge at Jason. ¡°Back off! Back off!¡± the sound of gun fire occurred in the empty room, the detective wearing a canvas jacket and the uniformed officer Jason thought he sent up the stairs a while ago came back with their guns blazing. The humanoid monster had to stop midway and defend itself from the energy bullets using both its sword and its whip. ¡°What are you doing?! Go!¡± Jason coughed some silver blood and yelled at the two officers. The two officers did not flinch and kept on roaring and firing at the monster, their figures quickly started to get pale and even flickering like holograms losing their power source. ¡°The One despises you! You are not welcome! ¡± the monster conjured an armor of fog around its body and flailed its spine whip at the two officers. Jason tried to conjure a silver wall in front of them, but that did not do much besides introducing a momentary delay to the motion of the spine whip and allowing each of the officers to open fire one more time. Immeasurable wrath and hate filled Jason¡¯s heart like never before when the figures of the two officers were turned to glowing pieces like shattered glass sculptures. And seemingly instinctually, he slammed both his palms on the ground, and released two pulses of energy shockwaves. The shattered shards from his broken spear all floated up into the air, and each of them slowly grew and changed into the shapes of pen-spears in the process. The humanoid monster turned around raising its sword after killing the two officers, its pale energy gathered around the sword and building up to a powerful attack. But just as it was about to swing the sword down, a loud cracking sound exploded from above, and a long and smooth crack appeared both in the ceiling and wall of the room and the monster¡¯s body. Some kind of mist started seeping out from the crack, and the monster stopped his move midway and let out a groan of pain. Jason¡¯s left eye glowed in bright silver light, his left eye socket and parts of the left side of his face cracked up like porcelain due to his power in overdrive. All the silver pen-spears floating in the air all shot towards the monster at the same time from all different angles. The monster tried to defend itself with his sword and the spine whip again, but he could only stop half of the pen-spears, while the others just impaled its body. Jason pushed both of his hands forward and released a vertical crescent-shaped silver energy blade at the monster when half of the pen-spear struck true. The monster tried moving his weapons, but the pen-spears in its body had already locked it in place. When the silver energy blade split the monster completely and cleanly into two halves, Jason sensed an intense gaze of rage was laid upon him. When he looked close at the crumbling room around him, he saw a blurry shadow of a monster face arose from the fallen two halves of the monster. ¡°How dare you! How dare you!¡± an angry voice resounded in Jason¡¯s mind, and he recognized the blurry face - it was the same face of that ugly wooden sculpture monster. With the surrounding crumbling and breaking down, Jason realized that the limbo was breaking down as well - and at a rate that was alarmingly fast. Chapter 460 In the real world not yet fully affected by the crossover limbo, Aimee and Mr. Night Owl were still in the evidence room. When Aimee found the notebook full of weird and arcane symbols and put it down on a desk with her ice scimitar raised in the air, she was still hesitant if she and her amateurish magic could even do what she wanted. ¡°If you¡¯re sure, just do it.¡± Mr. Night Owl hissed and said with narrowed eyes: ¡°The symbols are giving me the creeps, I think you might be onto something.¡± ¡°Okay, one, two...¡± Aimee aimed her scimitar at the notebook, for some reason, she felt that something was trying to stop her, by whispering in her ears, gently and slowly pushing her blade and pulling her arms. ¡°Stop, Aimee. My daughter.¡± just this moment, a familiar voice came from the entrance of the evidence room, and as Aimee turned around, she saw her father standing by the door: ¡°If you damage that book, you¡¯ll hurt me as well.¡± ¡°Dad? What the - ¡± Aimee frowned and indeed stopped for a brief moment, but then she instantly recognized that this was but an illusion and raised her ice scimitar while keeping her eyes on ¡°her father¡±. ¡°Aimee, no!¡± ¡°Aimee¡¯s father¡± choked blood when he saw Aimee raise her scimitar while aiming at the notebook: ¡°Please! Aimee!¡± ¡°Shut up, you¡¯re an illusion!¡± Aimee spoke through her teeth, and swung her scimitar down at the notebook. ¡°Nooo!¡± ¡°Aimee¡¯s father¡± lunged at her while his face turned grey, pale and full of scars and bumps like a diseased old man: ¡°You¡¯re making a mistake!¡± Mr. Night Owl leapt from the shelf right at the old man and delivered a scratch attack right on the old man¡¯s face. The old man backed off and cried in pain, the scratch marks on his face started smoking and dripping in some kind of dark liquid. And at the same time, Aimee¡¯s scimitar landed on the notebook. ¡°Bang!¡± the entire ice blade broke and burst into icy crystal shards in the air, the shock propagated to Aimee¡¯s body and threw her onto the ground on her back. But her blade still left one mark on the notebook - a deep cut that went through a lot of pages, which struck through a lot of the symbols as well. The old man screamed again, because another cup just appeared on his back and it had started to release smoke into the air. Mr. Night Owl ran through the old man¡¯s legs once again and left two other scratch marks on his legs, the jumped onto his back and tried to tear the cut apart.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have done this! You shouldn¡¯t have!¡± the old man¡¯s face started burning in some kind of blue and green flame as he struggled and tried to get rid of the ferocious talking cat on his back: ¡°He will avenge me! He will punish you! He will crush your entire pathetic being, and use it as the fuel and sustenance for him to come back into this world!¡± ¡°Cool story, fucker.¡± Aimee raised the other one of her ice scimitars once and prepared to strike once more. But before she could land another attack, a gush of pale grey smoke jetted out of the cut on the notebook, instantly pushing her away. ¡°Fuck! Fuck!¡± out from the grey smoke, a few tiny skeletons entirely made of grey smoke latched onto her face, right shoulder and right arm and started biting her like aggressive bugs. She had to immediately concentrate her power and create a thin layer of ice on her body and push the tiny smoke skeletons away. While Aimee was occupied, the smoke released from the boom had gathered in the air and formed into the shape of a tree crown - only that the branches were made of disturbingly long and skinny necks, and on the top of the tree crown were bunches of tiny human heads, all with different kinds of exaggerated facial expressions. ¡°Little girl, run!¡± Mr. Night Owl jumped off the struggling old man¡¯s back and said: ¡°Run to your friends!¡± Aimee knew full well she was not able to handle this mini smoke tree made of mini smoke human necks and heads, so she just rushed to the door and knocked the old man to the side, and started rushing towards the room where the other officers were holding up. ¡°It hurts¡­ why does it hurt?¡± ¡°Come with us! It hurts!¡± countless human faces on long skinny necks made entirely of smoke grew out from the walls, ceilings and pillars like cursed mushrooms. ¡°Do not listen to them or get drawn to them!¡± Mr. Night Owl reminded Aimee: ¡°Get back as soon as possible!¡± When they got to the door of the storage room, they saw the shadows of two police officers banging on the door, crying, moaning and begging to be let in. And luckily, Detective Lee adhered to Aimee¡¯s advice and did not budge at all. ¡°Go away!¡± Aimee conjured another pair of ice scimitars in her hands and lunged at the two shadows. The two shadows were creepy and even terrifying, but they were not able to stand up to the ice scimitars in Aimee¡¯s hands. And Aimee was able to repel them with only a few swings. ¡°Detective Lee! Open the door! It¡¯s Aimee!¡± Aimee knocked on the door. But no one answered. ¡°Go in by force.¡± Mr. Night Owl said while shaking away the corrosive tears from the eyes. ¡°Bang!¡± Aimee charged at the door and banged it open using her shoulder. Inside the storage room, all the other officers were handcuffed to chairs and pipes in the wall. Some of them were even bleeding on their heads. And everyone in this room, including Detective Lee, had already passed out on the floor. ¡°Good job, Lee.¡± Aimee closed the door and used a chair to block the entrance, she could see that Detective Lee was the only one not cuffed to anything, which clearly showed that he was the one who cuffed everyone in the room. ¡°Boom!¡± something strong banged on the door, and almost got it open. Aimee had to push the door with her body and try to keep the door closed: ¡°Come on, Jason, we¡¯re at our last straw here.¡± The thing that just banged on the door banged once more, this time with greater force. Aimee had to push back at the door to keep it from coming in, and she could see three pale fingers had already reached through the gap of the door. Just when Mr. Night Owl was about to jump at the entity¡¯s fingers, the entity outside screamed in pain, and its three fingers exploded in the air like they were balloons poked by a needle. Chapter 461 Countless cracking sounds started occurring around the storage room, as well as the entire precinct. Aimee looked around and all she could see was that there were patches of the wall, the ceiling and even the air becoming slightly brighter bit by bit, as if there were a bunch of ¡°filters¡± in the air that were peeling away. Some kind of weight also seemed to be lifted from Aimee¡¯s back and shoulders, and the dim light in the storage room was almost as warm as the sun up high in the clear sky. Detective Lee woke up with a series of hoarse coughs, and when he was helped up by Aimee, the other officers in the storage room also started waking up. ¡°Are we safe now?¡± Detective Lee asked. ¡°Let me go check.¡± Aimee took a look at Mr. Night Owl, who was now back into the size of a normal cat and no longer had the dark tears in the eyes: ¡°Stay here. Lock the door behind me.¡± When Aimee came out of the storage room, she found that many of the officers lying on the floor were also waking up, the smoke and fog on the floor was mostly dissipated. The officers started to wake up one by one, and they stumbled towards each other to hug in celebration with tears running down their faces. ¡°Jason! Jason?¡± Aimee sped up her steps towards the evidence room. ¡°Bang!¡± the door of the evidence room swung open forcefully and banged on the wall, and Jason came out of it with an officer holding him by his arm and shoulder. This officer seemed to have recovered more than Jason, who¡¯s right eye turned grey and pale and seemingly not able to see. ¡°Where¡¯s Detective Parlov and Officer Jain?¡± Jason asked while looking around: ¡°Where are they?¡± ¡°Hold on, hold on.¡± Aimee went over and helped Jason stand straight: ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, I am okay.¡± Jason seemed anxious and worried: ¡°Where are they?¡± A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°They¡¯re¡­ they¡¯re here.¡± one of the uniformed officers came to Jason¡¯s side and told him in a trembling voice. The detective and the uniformed officer were on the ground, with calm facial expressions on their faces. They were still breathing, but Jason could easily tell that they would probably never wake up. Jason¡¯s body fell onto the ground so fast, that neither the uniformed officer or Aimee was able to catch him. Tears filled up both his eyes and started dripping down, the exhaustion from the fight seemed to have finally caught up with him, and his heart and stomach instantly tightened. ¡°Look, man, you did the best you could.¡± one of the officers standing nearby tried to console Jason: ¡°They were swallowed by that monster before you even found us. There¡¯s nothing you could do.¡± ¡°Wait, what?!¡± ¡°Captain!¡± just this moment, a detective came down from the third floor and ran to the captain: ¡°The perps in holding ¡­ I think you should see this.¡± Jason looked at the detective, and after a short moment of hesitation, he followed the captain and the detective up through the stairs with Aimee and Detective Lee and a mostly black cat with small patches of white fur. According to the captain, the overflow holding room on the third floor was used to hold especially violent or deranged suspects before they were fully booked or processed. And before they even stepped into the third floor, all of them smelled blood and other foul things in the air. ¡°Fucking hell...¡± even the captain covered his nose when he looked into the holding room - inside the room there were around ten people in there, all of whom were lying on the ground in the same condition as other officers who lost their lives in the limbo, except for one - one of the perps with lots of tattoos on his skin was sliced cleanly in half from the middle of his body, and his internal organs were all over the place on the ground: ¡°What did this? Who...¡± ¡°I think I did it.¡± Jason said with a frown on his face: ¡°The thing that created the limbo - I killed it this way. And what happens in crossover limbos can physically affect the real world as well - so I think this might just be it - or him - in the real world.¡± ¡°We found him wandering the streets, carrying a severed human hand.¡± the captain said: ¡°The only thing we have on him is a partial fingerprint, but that print was collected in another crime scene about six-seven decades ago, so we sorta ruled out the theory that they¡¯re the same person. Now? Now we¡¯re not so sure.¡± ¡°I need to bring him with me.¡± Jason turned to the captain and said: ¡°This guy - this guy¡¯s not human.¡± ¡°I - um - we need to think about this...¡± the captain was still hesitant. ¡°Meow.¡± the black cat walked over between the captain¡¯s feet and purred in a soft tone. ¡°But - I mean - did you just say this guy¡¯s not human?¡± the captain rubbed his temples and said: ¡°You know what? We can¡¯t process a non-human perp. It¡¯s just way above our pay grade. Can you let me know what you find out about him when you¡¯re done?¡± ¡°Sure. Sure.¡± Jason and Aimee both took a quick look at the black cat. ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± a female voice resounded in Jason¡¯s ears. Just this moment, the captain¡¯s phone rang. The captain picked up, and after a short while, he put down the phone and held it to Jason: ¡°Yeah, sorry, this person says he needs to talk to you.¡± Chapter 462 On Caroline¡¯s side, just when she thought she was about to get bitten by another wolf, a thin layer energy shield made of lightning energy appeared right in front of her like a charged wire. The giant wolf was electrocuted when its mouth touched the energy shield and was thus thrown back on its feet. ¡°Thomas called. What happened?¡± a gentle voice with a British accent asked from behind, and as Caroline turned around, she saw a tall elder mage in a blue robe appeared behind her. ¡°Self-defense, these fuckers are fighting in a civilian area.¡± Caroline recognized the elder mage - he was someone from Josephine Wong¡¯s team, people just called him ¡°Blue¡± or ¡°Master Blue¡±. ¡°I see.¡± Blue floated in the air and looked at the site with a frown on his face: ¡°This kind of trouble, at this time¡­ Okay, young miss, where do you wanna go?¡± ¡°I want to go back to Xianshi Inn.¡± Caroline knelt down on the ground from the pain on her broken arm - now that the battle was over and her adrenaline was wearing off, the grueling pain started kicking in: ¡°But please, Master Blue, would you kindly check on the civilians if it¡¯s not too much trouble?¡± ¡°Unfortunately, I can¡¯t check on all of them. Because the fight that¡¯s going on - it¡¯s more than I can handle.¡± Master Blue descended from the air and said: ¡°That apartment building is empty now - there¡¯s a few civilians who are buried under some of the debris, but they¡¯re already gone.¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± the wolf spoke in a hoarse male voice while staring at Blue: ¡°This human is ours to claim, she killed one of ours.¡± ¡°They attacked me, and I defended myself.¡± Caroline stared at the wolf: ¡°The one who died took my arm, and this one tried to kill my friend.¡± Then she turned and looked at Blue: ¡°That¡¯s Thomas, by the way.¡± ¡°I understand now.¡± Blue nodded and said to the wolf: ¡°Now, I don¡¯t know who your pack leader is, but I am going to take her, and her prisoner away.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t get to decide that.¡± the wolf came closer with his back hunched up and teeth out of his mouth: ¡°That ¡®prisoner¡¯ is one of us.¡± ¡°The girl acted in self defense. And it¡¯s her prisoner to keep.¡± Blue said with a gentle voice: ¡°And you shall be held accountable for your actions here. The Division will make sure of it.¡±This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°We don¡¯t fear the Division.¡± the wolf barked and said. ¡°Yeah, but you should.¡± Blue said while raising his arms, and a piece of bright blue cloud started forming in the sky above him: ¡°I may not be able to stop you loathsome scum from fighting here in a civilian world, in clear violation of all kinds of general statutes regarding maintaining the relationship with the civilian world. But I can and I will make this call. This girl comes with me, as does her prisoner.¡± The wolf lunged at Blue without a warning, but a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and blasted it away, while Blue conjured a blue portal behind himself. Caroline and the seriously injured woman with dark purple fur were sent through the portal by a gentle blue force, the Blue stepped into the portal with them. The portal opened right inside the lounge of Xianshi Inn, and Blue almost fell down on the ground when he stepped out. ¡°Caroline! And ¡­ Mr. Blue?¡± Rash rushed over and held both Caroline and Blue up: ¡°What happened? And who is this ¡­ wolf woman?¡± ¡°Lock her up in a separate room.¡± Caroline said: ¡°And Rash, is the bath free now?¡± ¡°No, but I¡¯ll make room for you. Master Blue, there¡¯s wine and tea in the kitchen, please help yourself.¡± Rash immediately ran towards the diner and disappeared behind the door. Then after a few seconds, he came back into the lounge: ¡°Okay, Caroline, I vacated the room and prepped the tub, but I¡¯m not sure if it will be able to heal you - I arranged the tub to full healing mode - I¡¯m just not sure.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve gotta try.¡± Caroline rushed towards the door, and before she went in, she looked back at Blue and said: ¡°Thank you, Master Blue.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it.¡± Blue was sitting on the ground, panting and taking one deep breath after another. The female lycan was now fully in her human form lying on the floor of the lounge - a woman with dark purple hair. Blood was coming out of her mouth, because the blow to the waist injured many of her internal organs, and injured her spine so much that she couldn¡¯t feel her legs. ¡°Where ¡­ where am I?¡± the woman asked. ¡°This is Xianshi Inn.¡± a male voice came from the entrance, and in came a man and a woman, both with dirty clothes. ¡°My Inn.¡± ¡°Ms. Wong.¡± Blue struggled to stand up and gently bowed toward the two that came in: ¡°Mr. Yu. How was the site? ¡± ¡°Not good.¡± Josephine Wong sighed: ¡°A giant clustered malice was there, and it had infected some ancient artifacts. We dealt with it, but we couldn¡¯t find anything too useful - but another riddle to solve.¡± Then she took out a shining crystal shard: ¡°Another relic, with coded information. Maybe this is related to the first one, but maybe not.¡± ¡°What about Tze Cha?¡± ¡°He should be in a food coma right now.¡± Jianmen sniffed in the air and asked: ¡°This is ¡­ did either of my students come back?¡± ¡°Yes, Caroline.¡± Blue answered: ¡°She¡¯s in the room with the bathtub. Thomas came back earlier, sounds like his mortality scapegoat was triggered and it teleported him back to a locked room with no exit.¡± ¡°Yeah, I will let my student out while you check on yours.¡± Josephine Wong let out a wry smile and said: ¡°And Blue, please stay for a cup of coffee, or tea, or whatever you¡¯d like.¡± ¡°How about those tea with milk and chewy sticky rice balls in it?¡± Blue asked: ¡°The young people seem to love it.¡± ¡°The ingredients¡¯ all there. Just a few minutes.¡± Jianmen snapped his fingers at the kitchen before he went into the diner and disappeared behind the door: ¡°And Rash, take a break if you¡¯d like, thank you for taking extra shifts.¡± Chapter 463 ¡°Caroline, are you in there?¡± Jianmen ruffled and straightened his clothes a little with one hand while carrying a tray on which a teapot, a bottle of wine and a cup, and knocked on the door to the underground room: ¡°May I come in?¡± ¡°Yes ¡­ yes please!¡± Caroline was lying in the bathtub filled with warm water fully clothed and almost fell asleep, and she rubbed her face with her left hand before replying to Jianmen. ¡°Hey, welcome back.¡± Jianmen walked over and placed the tray on the side of the bathtub: ¡°I brought you tea, and wine, whichever you like. Have some and you should feel better soon.¡± ¡°Will I - will this heal?¡± Caroline looked at her right shoulder. ¡°Short answer, yes, and fully without a scar. That is, if you prefer to not have a scar.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°And first, let me apologize for not being there - I got caught in an unfortunate situation, where any outside communication would put me and everyone around me in severe danger. We actually arranged backups for you - but they had to leave their post because of some emergencies with the Division.¡± ¡°It¡¯s - it¡¯s okay.¡± Caroline picked up the wine and took a huge gulp from it: ¡°I - I felt like I learned a lot in the battle. And I¡¯m just super glad that this nasty wound won¡¯t last. I mean, I -¡± ¡°You charred your own wound to prevent bleeding out.¡± Jianmen nodded with the same smile on his face: ¡°It¡¯s a wise and daring choice to make. And turned out to be probably the only right one.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s Jason? Did he come back yet?¡± ¡°He should be back soon.¡± Jianmen adjusted his back on the wall and said: ¡°How are you feeling? Does your arm still hurt?¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°A little, yet, but it¡¯s much better now.¡± Caroline sighed: ¡°But also - somehow I felt - more powerful. The lycan I brought back with me, I was having a really hard time following her movements initially. But after losing my arm, somehow I felt like I¡¯ve become a lot faster, and stronger as well. At first I thought it was adrenaline and losing one arm made me lighter, but my Xuanli also felt different somehow.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because, well - ¡± Jianmen took out his own flask and made a toast: ¡°Congratulations on passing your third tribulation. You¡¯re now officially a cultivator of the fourth layer.¡± ¡°What? Why?¡± Caroline¡¯s eyes opened wide in surprise and awe: ¡°I thought tribulations will require - I don¡¯t know, some kind of thunder, earthquake and - and maybe lightning.¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the standard tribulation.¡± Jianmen laughed gently: ¡°But there¡¯s other kinds of tribulations - especially for those of you with the kind of gifts granted to you by the Will. If you think about it, what even is a tribulation? What is it other than a set of trials through which you have to push yourself using all your might and will power? And the fight you just went through definitely qualified for that, just a little atypical. For example, I know someone who was in your similar situation, and one of their tribulations was literally playing music to a giant lake for nine days nonstop to enchant and bless the water without using any Xuanli. Their arms were all swollen and their fingers were bleeding after the fact. Till this day I still don¡¯t know how they even got the idea that this was their tribulation, and how the hell that was even an option for tribulations.¡± ¡°Okay - I think that kinda makes sense.¡± Caroline nodded and finished the entire bottle of wine in one chug: ¡°And I can kinda see it now - even if I got a hold of you, you wouldn¡¯t be able to help me - it¡¯s my tribulation, my fight, and my obstacles to deal with.¡± ¡°Get some rest, Caroline.¡± Jianmen flicked the empty wine bottle with his finger, and it was just fully refilled, then he waved his hand at one of the cupboards, a thick light yellow candle floated out of it with a gentle flame and landed on the table beside the bathtub: ¡°We¡¯ll keep your prisoner in a room and keep her alive. We¡¯ll leave the questioning to you when you¡¯re ready.¡± ¡°Thank you, Boss.¡± ¡°Is she gonna be okay?¡± when Jianmen came out of the room, Thomas had woken up and came back into the lounge, and Detective Kuhn had already come to the inn after escorting the civilians to safety and helping them settle down for the moment. ¡°She¡¯s gonna be fine.¡± Jianmen nodded and pulled out a wooden wheelchair from behind the reception¡¯s desk and sat on it: ¡°What about you? Thomas, you look exhausted. And Detective Kuhn, we meet again. How do you feel about the supernatural now?¡± ¡°Huh, what?¡± ¡°You probably don¡¯t remember me, but you handled my arrest several years back.¡± Jianmen chuckled as he looked to the entrance of the inn, where he saw that Jason was about to come in with Aimee and Detective Lee. Chapter 464 ¡°What the hell? I arrested you before?¡± Detective Kuhn asked. ¡°No, your old partner arrested me, because he caught me in an unfortunate situation.¡± Jianmen chuckled and rolled towards the diner on his wooden and barely functioning looking wheelchair: ¡°But don¡¯t worry, five years in prison is not that much for me. Plus I also got my forged identity legitimized, and I don¡¯t really care about the trouble.¡± ¡°Oh ¡­ okay, my apologies.¡± Detective Kuhn scratched his head: ¡°May I know what you were arrested for?¡± ¡°Aggravated assault, for beating a bunch of sadistic cultists.¡± Jianmen opened up the fridge and took out a clay bottle of rice wine and picked up another teapot being warmed on top of a boiler: ¡°Now if you¡¯ll excuse me, my student needs me now.¡± When Jianmen rolled towards the entrance, Jason was also brought in by Detective Lee and Aimee. To Detective Kuhn and Thomas, he did not seem to be seriously injured, but mostly just exhausted. But to Jianmen, he could tell that the injuries Jason sustained was on par with that Caroline endured - only that his injuries were only partially manifested physically. Right now, Jason appeared to be in some kind of shocked state, his eyes were still and not moving with the right eye becoming all grey and pale, his face was expressionless, and he was barely walking on his own. ¡°Mr. Yu, I think he needs help.¡± Aimee said to Jianmen, with a black cat standing on her right shoulder: ¡°We were in a crossover limbo, Jason fought off a monster inside of it and got a lot of the police officers out safely. But I think he might be too exhausted from whatever kind of fight he went through.¡± ¡°Just sit on the floor for now.¡± Jianmen handed the clay bottle to Jason: ¡°Drink, finish all of this, then finish the tea.¡± ¡°Yes, boss.¡± Jason¡¯s response was a bit robotic, but was still sensible and clear. With one gulp after the other, Jason drank the whole clay bottle of rice wine up, with only a little spill. Then he robotically took the teapot from Jianmen¡¯s hand, and started drinking it right from the teapot¡¯s mouth, even though the mouth was still steaming. ¡°Woah. Slow down there.¡± Detective Lee wanted to stop Jason for fear of him burning his mouth and food pipe, but Thomas and Aimee stopped him.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, even a normal bullet from a gun fired at point blank couldn¡¯t kill this guy.¡± Aimee shook her head and said. After finishing the tea, Jason¡¯s eyes finally started moving again, and his right eye started bleeding through his right pupil and his right eye socket. After a brief moment, Jason started coughing, and was finally fully himself: ¡°Woah, Boss, what - what happened?¡± ¡°You were in a crossover limbo, and you saved more than half a precinct.¡± Aimee asked with a frown on her face: ¡°And you tried to collect the body of a perp and a notebook. Then you almost fainted when someone from the Division wants to talk to you. Don¡¯t you ¡­ you don¡¯t remember? ¡± ¡°I - I can vaguely remember NOW that you mentioned it.¡± Jason rubbed his temples with a heavy frown and said: ¡°I just feel like I was on some kind of autopilot mode after I got out of the limbo.¡± ¡°Come with me to the basement.¡± Jianmen nodded and started rolling towards the basement: ¡°Normal methods of healing won¡¯t be able to heal this. Caroline¡¯s using the tub, so we will need to find another way to heal you.¡± Aimee, Thomas and the two detectives couldn¡¯t help but follow Jianmen and Jason to the basement. Something told them if they went down with the master and the student they would have a chance to witness something wonderful. There were stairs leading down to the basement, but Jianmen¡¯s wheelchair just glided through without any up and down like it was hovering on the ground. When he rolled into the basement, he clapped his hands three times, and some stone panels on the ground rose up and formed a stone bed that was roughly the size of a twin-sized bed and with the height that was roughly to the waist of Jason. On the side of the stone bed facing Jianmen and the others that came in, there was a symmetrical array carved on it that looked like a lotus flower ¡°Get on, head this way, feet that way.¡± Jianmen said to Jason: ¡°Lie down and relax. Tell me how you¡¯re feeling.¡± ¡°I feel better now, thanks Boss.¡± Jason lied on the stone bed and sighed: ¡°Did I just go through some kind of special tribulation?¡± ¡°So it seems.¡± Jianmen asked with a smile: ¡°And how are you feeling? Your eye still hurts?¡± ¡°No - it¡¯s better now. I can see with it again. And my Xuanli changed, it¡¯s denser, and somehow the elemental properties are less obvious and more ¡®neutral¡¯, I guess this is what the manuals call the phase of shaping my unique Xuanli?¡± Jason closed his left eye for a brief moment and said: ¡°But - I still have a headache, and I still have this feeling that - like my body just feels strange like it¡¯s not truly mine.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because of the injuries to your mind and soul. You¡¯ll feel better after a good long sleep.¡± Jianmen put his right hand on the lotus array and activated it. Fine, soft and silvery green sand came out from the bed and started to bury Jason¡¯s body in it. ¡°Oh right, boss, before I forgot.¡± Jason felt that eyelids were getting heavier, and he took a broken notebook from his pocket: ¡°This is from a perp we found at the SJPD precinct. He¡¯s the one controlling the crossover limbo. We did bring him back, did we?¡± ¡°No, sorry Jason.¡± Aimee shook her head and sighed: ¡°You fainted, and an officer from Division said they would take care of him.¡± ¡°Thank you Jason, no worries, I¡¯ll talk to someone about the guy.¡± Jianmen took the broken notebook and flipped through the pages, and his smile gradually disappeared. ¡°We can go back and bring the body over if you¡¯d like.¡± Aimee said to Jianmen from behind: ¡°Jason cocooned it with his spell, but I think it¡¯d be better if you can take a look ¡­ if it is convenient for you.¡± ¡°He¡¯s a little dead though.¡± Detective Lee cringed and said: ¡°He¡¯s sliced in half from the middle, like a - like a sandwich bun.¡± Chapter 465 Jianmen looked back at Jason and was about to ask Jason one more question, but Jason had already fallen asleep, with the silvery green sand covering his body, with only his face exposed. ¡°Let¡¯s go outside, and let¡¯s have a chat.¡± Jianmen said to the other four individuals in the basement and said: ¡°Let Jason rest for now.¡± ¡°Okay, sir.¡± Aimee gently tapped Thomas and Detective Lee on their shoulders and said: ¡°We - I think we¡¯re gonna need some rest as well.¡± ¡°Would you mind telling me about what you just went through first? I wanna know what my students have done, and Josephine is gonna wanna know about it as well.¡± Jianmen said as he was rolling out of the basement¡¯s door. ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± Thomas sighed and said. ¡°Wait, you told us that your mentor¡¯s name is Ms.Wong.¡± when they were heading out of the basement behind Jianmen, Detective Kuhn asked Aimee and Thomas: ¡°And her name is Josephine - so that means...¡± ¡°Yeah, her full name¡¯s Josephine Wong.¡± Aimee shrugged: ¡°THAT Josephine Wong.¡± ¡°Huh, hmm, okay.¡± Detective Lee appeared quite shocked: ¡°I - I mean, why, why would a sorceress of a few hundred years of age want to be in the movie business? And to be an action star, no less?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a part of her ¡®Trial of Red Dust¡¯, which just means going through parts of the normal life of a civilian.¡± Jianmen answered while he opened the door to the fridge and started taking food and drinks out: ¡°It¡¯s something that accomplished power wielders and practitioners do - when they¡¯ve reached a certain level, they could start to get drowned in the pursuit of power, or just the possession of it. The Trials of Red Dust can help one become more grounded, and help the power wielders gain more insight into the truth of power and order of the universe. But in Josephine¡¯s case, it did not work as expected. Please, sit down and have some drink and food if you¡¯d like.¡± ¡°I - I would very much like to know how that works, and how many powerful wizards and sorceresses are doing that right now.¡± Detective Lee said after sitting down at a table with the others. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Oh, not many I¡¯m afraid. Just consider the world you knew before, how many powerful people were willing to go and experience the life of a commoner for a prolonged period of time?¡± Jianmen smiled as he took two pots from the table beside him: ¡°If rice and plum wine is not your thing, have some tea or coffee. And Aimee, that little feline friend of yours, I¡¯m sure she would want something as well?¡± ¡°Plum wine sounds nice.¡± Mr. Night Owl hopped onto the table and sat at the corner close to Aimee. Both the detectives stared at the talking cat while she combed her own hair just like a regular cat. All four of them, the two detectives, Thomas and Aimee then proceeded to tell Jianmen what happened to them and the two students of Jianmen in the past day - it was a thrilling experience, even for Aimee and Thomas. For Aimee, it was her first time being inside of an actual limbo outside of the lectures she had with Josephine Wong and at the Grant Academy, and it was a crossover limbo no less. For Thomas, it was his first time facing lycans with the proper powers to fight back - he still remembered that fateful encounter that sent him and Aimee into the hospital, which then led to them becoming Josephine Wong¡¯s students. ¡°Okay. It makes sense.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°Aimee, Thomas, please accept my sincere gratitude for helping my students through these tribulations of theirs. They would have been in much worse shapes if you were not there. And my apologies for things to have turned out this way - sometimes tribulations could be very - very atypical.¡± ¡°But I thought for tribulations people cannot accept help from the outside?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°Technically yes, unless these ones who provided the help are part of the tribulations.¡± Jianmen sighed and snapped his fingers in the air, and a small hologram of a bald headed man wearing simple clothes facing a lightning tribulation appeared in the air: ¡°A tribulation is a trial, where the individual¡¯s abilities and will are put to the test. I¡¯m sure you would understand, some aspects of a person¡¯s abilities and willpower are not manifested when alone, but when with others, either confronting them, standing beside them, or fighting along with them. ¡°And I¡¯m sure you can see the parallel between the abilities of my students and the tribulations they went through. Caroline¡¯s head-strong, direct and she does well in physical combat, so her tribulation was an actual battle against the lycan mafia. Jason¡¯s calm, slightly shy and likes to think and combat with illusions and in creative ways, so his tribulation is a fight in the limbo, against an actual conduit of an evil - well, an evil entity.¡± ¡°Wait - this - this seemed really unfair, and kinda fucked up.¡± Detective Kuhn raised his hand: ¡°The officers at my precinct, the civilians who lost their lives because some werewolf mafia decided to have a turf war against some other magic users, their lives are all for a test?¡± ¡°No, but it IS unfair. ¡± Jianmen looked Detective Kuhn right in the eye and said: ¡°Just like an actual civilian gang war outbreak, or a terrorist deciding to target a police station - they would have still happened, and fate, destiny, or whatever you wanna call it, puts my students in that place at that time, pushing them to do the ¡®right¡¯ thing, and giving them a reward if they did it right. I know what you¡¯re thinking, but I didn¡¯t make the rules, no one you know or I know made the rules.¡± ¡°Just think of the times humans ¡®fixed¡¯ their pets so that they would be less troublesome at home and have a supposedly better life, even though most of the time they end up mateless and childless.¡± Mr. Night Owl said in a slightly sarcastic tone: ¡°The decision is made ¡®for their own good¡¯.¡± ¡°Sir? Not helping.¡± Thomas put down his cup of coffee. ¡°Wasn¡¯t trying to.¡± Jianmen sighed and shook his head: ¡°I am only offering an explanation. There can be no justification.¡± Chapter 466 ¡°What about this notebook? And the symbols on it? Jason said that they were some kind of magical symbols to fuel and maintain the limbo. Do they mean anything special?¡± sensing that the atmosphere was getting too tense, Aimee asked another question hoping to bring light to their confusion as well as change the subject to a less cruel one. ¡°They¡¯re ¡®words¡¯. Words that are blessed by a go - I mean mysteriously powerful entity. You can imagine someone became so powerful that they created a new language for themselves.¡± Jianmen had to tune down the information load in his explanation because Detective Kuhn and Detective Lee, though having drunk his tea and coffee and gained some temporary ¡°boost¡±, were still civilians: ¡°It¡¯s basically the same as some of the symbols you could see from horror movies that involve occult symbols that conjure demons or spirits. I suspect this was brought into the precinct with some kind of intention of collecting negative energy, just like the two men that were captured were doing.¡± ¡°But Jason said that he heard someone cursing at him as if he foiled some kind of plan, who could want this kind of negative energy?¡± Aimee asked: ¡°And what could that kind of energy be used for? ¡± ¡°Like Jason had told you, grudge is a kind of energy that can be used in curses and nefarious spells, including but not limited to the conjuring of actual evil spirits or even demons.¡± Jianmen waved his right hand in the air, the hologram of the bald man against lightning turned to an array with the head of a demon at the center: ¡°And in your case, your instincts are correct, the symbol of the Bleeding Daggers left at one of the Drainer crime scenes does match the symbol in this notebook, in fact, they basically came from the same vocabulary. We have yet to tell if the grudge collectors were under the command of the same ¡­ entity.¡± ¡°Something still isn¡¯t feeling right for me - ¡± Thomas asked with a frown: ¡°The lycans and the vampires work under one high broker in the Exalted Bondsmen, right? I don¡¯t remember any connections between them, the lycans and the Bleeding Daggers cult. For now we can be sure that the Drainer should just be some kind of sick operation run by the vampires and lycans. And what does that have to do with the men who came to collect the grudge? There¡¯s a lot of disconnect here.¡± ¡°The underground world is much more complex than just the high brokers. ¡± Jianmen shrugged: ¡°For example, Bleeding Daggers, from what I¡¯ve learned from Josephine and the latest findings of her team, has a lot of vampire members as well - not all vampires belong to the same tribe, or even subscribe to the same social structures. Also, different sects and tribes of vampires practice very different magic as well. But I wouldn¡¯t put it past the Bleeding Daggers to have some kind of deal with the other vampires, where one group collects the blood from the victims and the other collects the grudge from them. But there¡¯s one problem though. ¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Which is?¡± Aimee and Thomas asked at the same time. ¡°You may have heard that two groups of high brokers in the Exalted Bondsmen are having a war. And Bleeding Daggers were a part of a coven that has been cooperating with another high broker, the one with whom the High Brokers of Vampires and Lycans was fighting against.¡± Jianmen tapped the table and said: ¡°This means that someone¡¯s doing some double dealing under the table here - and I am just not sure who. It¡¯s quite dangerous for anyone in that world to do this.¡± ¡°Maybe think bigger.¡± Mr. Night Owl said when she finished her little disk of plum wine, as she pushed the little disk forward for a refill: ¡°I was in that limbo as well - you know, we Nekomatas have really high tolerance against all kinds of mental and will magic. We are quite immune to the effects of limbos, even limbos created by very powerful magic. But this one - this one¡¯s different, it¡¯s as if some high level being had directed his will into it and was trying to suck all the minds away from all of those humans and even me.¡± ¡°Mmm, I think I know the one.¡± Jianmen slided the disk back and thought for a short moment: ¡°But I don¡¯t think that bastard can recover this soon. I think I left quite a mark on him last time we met.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, a lot of times crazy nut jobs willing to sacrifice their families for the voices in their head can put out quite the juice.¡± Mr. Night Owl licked her paws when Jianmen was filling her disk: ¡°Your power is very impressive, but it is not dependent on faith, fervor or zealotry. If it is, you might know some shortcuts to a speedy recovery.¡± ¡°Fair, fair.¡± Jianmen scratched his head and said: ¡°And I suppose, with a willing conduit, they can appear much more powerful.¡± ¡°Wait - what are you talking about?¡± Detective Lee asked: ¡°It¡¯s like you¡¯re referencing something ¡­ something bigger?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Mr. Night Owl and Jianmen answered at the same time, and Mr. Night Owl rolled her eyes just like a human: ¡°And this discussion could be much smoother if you weren¡¯t here as puny little humans.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°The weight of knowledge.¡± Aimee shook her head: ¡°Would you excuse us, detectives? We can take some notes and relay the information to you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine. I think we¡¯ve heard enough anyway.¡± Detective Kuhn stood up and shook his head: ¡°Lee, I¡¯m gonna head back and check in with people at the precinct, you coming with me?¡± ¡°I¡¯d advise you to take a break first.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°You just drank the coffee and tea, it would just take you a few minutes. Especially you Detective Lee, you were under the influence of a limbo.¡± ¡°No¡­¡± Detective Lee also stood up: ¡°I think we¡¯ve gotta head back...¡± But before he could reach the door to the diner, he fell down onto an air bubble and almost hit the ground. ¡°I insist.¡± Jianmen sighed and gave Detective Kuhn a key: ¡°Trust me, it will literally be a few minutes for you. Take a break.¡± Chapter 467 Just when Detective Kuhn was walking to a room on the second floor with Detective Lee floating in the air beside him, Rash came in from the back with Snowball on his shoulder and knocked on the door of the diner: ¡°Mr. Yu? Are you finished?¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯re taking a break, what¡¯s up?¡± Jianmen asked: ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you to take a break? I see you¡¯ve bonded with Snowball.¡± ¡°Yeah, I was waiting for the right time to tell you this.¡± Rash stroked the fur on Snowball¡¯s body and said: ¡°There¡¯s uh - there are three spies.¡± ¡°Spies?¡± both Aimee and Thomas were surprised: ¡°What spies? What do they want?¡± ¡°Well, my killer BBQ recipe?¡± Jianmen shrugged, then turned to Rash: ¡°Did they say anything? They didn¡¯t die right?¡± ¡°No, but they were under the influence of some kind of gag curse. It¡¯s pretty crafty, it even binds the thought of important information. When I asked them who they worked for, they were either not able to understand, or they couldn¡¯t answer.¡± Rash shook his head and said: ¡°They couldn¡¯t tell me anything useful, and I am no good with intricate curses like this - I¡¯d lift it if I could, but I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll just influence their memories.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll check on them later.¡± Jianmen sighed: ¡°Wait, did they say something about a codex?¡± ¡°They did say something beginning with ¡®co¡¯, but nothing more.¡± ¡°Alright, sounds interesting enough.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°Thank you, Rash.¡± ¡°No problem.¡± Rash also nodded while stroking Snowball: ¡°Let me know if you need me. I¡¯ll be at your farm, the relatives are having a barbeque party, so I thought I¡¯d join them with Snowball...¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Alright, have a good time.¡± Jianmen waved Rash goodbye, then turned back to Aimee and Thomas: ¡°Okay, since Josephine is not here. Do you have any questions for me? I know you¡¯ve been through tough battles yourself and you must have just as many questions.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ where do I start?¡± Thomas scratched his nose and ears: ¡°Well ...¡± ¡°For starters, what¡¯s a Nekomata?¡± Aimee looked at Mr. Night Owl, who was all curled up at the corner of the table and yawning. ¡°Nekomata is a kind of cat daimon, or cat fairy.¡± Jianmen took a look at Mr. Night Owl, and started answering after confirming that she did not want to answer the question herself: ¡°It¡¯s commonly believed that they originated from Japan. You know the common legend that cats are ¡®half-in-half-out¡¯ and can cross over from our world to the nether world? It¡¯s generally from the interactions with Nekomatas. They have incredible control over the magic of the mind, and the ability to communicate with paranormal beings, even a little bit of precognition. They¡¯re relatively weak on combat magic though, which is why they tend to stick together.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Aimee wanted to pet Mr. Night Owl, but then she just retreated her hand for fear of offending her: ¡°They seem friendly.¡± ¡°They generally are.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°You can ask Jason about it, he¡¯s got into contact with them before.¡± ¡°Okay, here¡¯s my question.¡± after struggling for a while, Thomas finally raised his hand and asked: ¡°You just mentioned that Jason and Caroline had gone through a special tribulation, can that still happen in the future? And if so, how often does that happen? What should we do in preparation for our own tribulation?¡± ¡°Well, you were trained in the arts of mages, so I cannot tell you that in detail.¡± Jianmen sighed and answered with a smile: ¡°But the common thing you should do, is that you wanna make sure you have mastered all the fundamental knowledge of your art - don¡¯t be those bad students who just sleep through theoretical classes and copy others¡¯ assignment answers. You don¡¯t have to be a theoretician or anything, just be sure you are familiar with the basics.¡± ¡°Ah, okay.¡± Thomas shrugged and looked at Aimee: ¡°At least we know that you¡¯ve got that covered.¡± ¡°Can you give us some tips for combatting vampires and lycans?¡± Aimee ignored Thomas with a roll of her eyes and asked after a short moment of thought: ¡°From what I¡¯ve heard from Thomas, they seemed to be much stronger than I imagined - I still remember how powerless I was when I faced those vampires when we were still detectives. I thought after some training we¡¯d be ready to hold our own against them. But - but I am still unsure.¡± Jianmen sighed again, this was the first real question the brother and sister asked him today, and no doubt it was one that was truly concerning to them now that they faced the past adversaries once again and witnessed their existence and the damage they could unleash on normal humans. ¡°For that, I¡¯ll give you a layered question: first, there is no shortcut - they are just two groups of non-human beings, with their magic and their strengths and witnesses, so becoming stronger is the one answer to it all; and second, there are definitely tactics you can use to have some advantage - here.¡± He then handed a wooden card to Aimee: ¡°I have some manuals in the library. Find them and you would have all the tips and advice that I could give.¡± Chapter 468 ¡°Hey, do I know you?¡± while Jianmen was buying some Dim Sum from a roadside stand in a small shop located somewhere in the Greater Los Angeles area, the old woman behind the stand asked Jianmen while handing him a box: ¡°I felt like I saw you before.¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°I lived here many years ago, until I ran into some trouble and had to leave for the pris - I mean somewhere up North.¡± ¡°Oh, do they have authentic Dim Sums like this in the north?¡± the owner of the shop, an old man wearing a white tank top and with some scars on his arms came out from the kitchen and asked with a smile. ¡°They do, but it¡¯s hard to find.¡± Jianmen smiled and split his wood chopsticks with a light cracking sound: ¡°How long have you been here?¡± ¡°Oh, at least fifteen years.¡± the owner laughed out loud and said: ¡°My wife and I moved here when we saved up enough from working in our old place. When I was young I was in a lot of trouble, but later decided and said: ¡®this is not the life for me¡¯, so I just worked super hard and got out of there with my granddad¡¯s cookbook. You know?¡± ¡°Nice, and this does taste like family.¡± Jianmen smiled. ¡°Wait, are you sure we¡¯ve never met before?¡± the old woman asked again then looked at her husband beside her: ¡°Yewei, have we met this gentleman before? I feel like we¡¯ve met before.¡± ¡°Yeah, I think I remember you.¡± the old man stared at Jianmen for a while, then nodded: ¡°You used to buy a lot of dumplings from us, didn''t you? I haven¡¯t seen you for a long time, where have you been?¡± ¡°That must be it.¡± Jianmen nodded and decided not to bring up the past: ¡°Thank you again, I¡¯ll come back after dealing with some business.¡± ¡°Alright, come again!¡± the old woman waved Jianmen goodbye, even though she was still not convinced of the answer given by Jianmen: ¡°Honey, you¡¯re sure you don¡¯t remember him? I feel like I know him?¡± The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Why does it matter Angie? As long as he buys a lot of food, I¡¯m happy.¡± the old man gave his wife a kiss on the head and went back into the kitchen. It took Jianmen about ten minutes to reach his next destination - it was the ruins of a brick house near the road of an almost completely deserted town. There was almost no traffic on the road here, which made him feel that his camouflage spell that made it look like he was riding on a single-person electric car was a bit of a waste. But when he reached the ruin of the brick house, surrounded by metal fences that were more than an adult¡¯s height, he found that there were four people around that ruin, taking pictures and recording videos from outside of the fences. ¡°What¡¯s happening here?¡± Jianmen went over and asked a young man with dyed blonde hair on the top of his head holding an actual film camera. ¡°Hello, we¡¯re not doing anything.¡± the young man seemed surprised that there would be others here: ¡°We¡¯re just here to uh - here to check out an urban legend.¡± ¡°Urban legend? What urban legend?¡± ¡°Wait, you didn¡¯t know, and yet you came here?¡± a young man with long hair hanging over his shoulder came over, and said to Jianmen: ¡°This is the house that can never be fixed.¡± ¡°I am just new here and I am checking out the neighborhood.¡± Jianmen asked: ¡°What¡¯s the house that can never be fixed?¡± ¡°Well, shit. You shouldn¡¯t have.¡± the young man holding the camera said: ¡°This part of town is basically a ghost town, almost everyone left.¡± ¡°Anyway, I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve heard this, but people have tried and failed to rebuild this house three times.¡± the young man with the long hair said: ¡°And what¡¯s freaky about this place, is that everytime it fall due to whatever reason, it always looks the same.¡± ¡°Huh? Can you elaborate?¡± ¡°Check this out, it¡¯s hard to explain.¡± a third young man came over and showed Jianmen his phone. On his phone screen, there were four pictures of the ruins, all taken from roughly the roughly the same angle. And it was quite easy to tell that they were taken at different times, one before the rebuild attempts and each of the three after each rebuild, yet the ruins all looked eerily similar, even though it was quite obvious different materials were used to rebuild the house at each time: ¡°Creepy, huh? Doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s brick, wood or concrete, it always falls down the same way with the same look.¡± ¡°Yeah - and concerningly so.¡± Jianmen frowned: ¡°How long are you going to be here? I want to go in and take a look.¡± ¡°Woah, sir, you won¡¯t want to do that...¡± a young man tried to stop Jianmen, but all of their phones started ringing at the same time. ¡°Hello, mom? What? He did WHAT to my model? Alright I¡¯m coming back.¡± ¡°Hey, I¡¯m here at the house. What? How could he eat my homework? He¡¯s a dog!¡± All four of the young men near the house were called away by some seemingly important business, leaving Jianmen in front of the house. Jianmen tapped at the lock on the fence, and it just clicked open. Jianmen carefully rolled his wooden wheelchair down a short slope to the ruins of the house. This house was the same way he remembered, when he crawled out from underneath with a hand missing. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s have another chat, whatever your name is.¡± Jianmen took a deep breath before lowering his body and lifted some of the debris around him to make way to the basement. Chapter 469 Jianmen recognized instantly what caused the multiple rebuild attempts of this house to fail - it was partially because of the cheap materials used by those who tried, but more importantly, it was because of the ¡°memory¡± of this place. Just as Jason and Caroline and Jianmen himself had encountered before, a lot of times, when an incident involving the use or collision of super power such as magic or Xuanli was used, it would leave an ¡°imprint¡± on the time and space where this incident happened. The stronger the powers used, the clearer the imprint, which would form into a piece of memory in this space and time. In relatively rare occasions, the memory will have its own influence on the world. And when this happened, sometimes it would trigger memory replays of past events, sometimes invisible forces would occur within the area that would ¡°push¡± the current environment in the direction of the past image. The latter was the case here, and the fact that all rebuilt houses on top of this ruin always fell back into its old shape was proof of this effect being present. When Jianmen was here many decades ago, he battled against a fallen god, drove it back temporarily to its original plane, then lost a hand while battling against a believer of this fallen god, who stumbled upon a scroll with karmic pollutants trapped inside. The way down the basement was quite rough for any normal human on a wheelchair, but it was so much so for Jianmen, he just pushed a small wooden lever on the side of his left armrest, and the wooden wheelchair just became more shock resistant and his chair wouldn¡¯t shake as much when the wheels fell down and clashed the ground from uneven grounds. Though the entire building above the ground had collapsed entirely, the basement was mostly intact, just that the ceiling was broken allowing Jianmen to enter directly, and Jianmen immediately felt the presence of a stronger energy field, emitted by the ¡°memory¡± of this place. ¡°Now, where can I reach you¡­?¡± Jianmen rolled around in the basement as well as the hidden room underneath the first basement room, and finally settled on a corner directly beneath the broken and collapsed fireplace on the first floor. ¡°Fireside chat it is.¡± Jianmen raised his hand, the broken fireplace just fell down through the roof once again to the corner before him, then he raised his left hand, and threw a small ball of orange and golden flame into the fireplace.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. There were a few pieces of wood inside the fireplace already, so Jianmen did not have to find fuel for his fire. And when the flames were ignited inside the fireplace, Jianmen took out a few folded paper sigils and threw all but one into the fire, then he opened up the final one and stuck it to the top of the fireplace. The orange and golden flames turned into a vortex inside the fireplace, and the opened paper sigil started slowly burning from the lower end. While waiting, Jianmen took out his own flask and took a gulp, right before placing a small jade bottle in front of the fireplace. ¡°You¡­ it¡¯s you!¡± before long a hoarse voice came from the vortex, and before Jianmen could answer, a pale long spike shot out from the center of the orange and golden vortex, aiming right at Jianmen¡¯s face. ¡°Ching!¡± Jianmen tilted his head sideways and caught the spike with his bare fingers, and he just grabbed onto it with a firm grip as it seemed to be a part of whatever entity from the other side of the vortex. The entity on the other side tried to retrieve the spike, but Jianmen had locked his wooden wheelchair in place, himself in the wooden wheelchair and refused to just simply let go: ¡°You know, ugly faces, or whatever your name is, I could just close this fucking portal now and make a nasty sword out of your limb. I¡¯d bet it¡¯s worth quite a lot of money.¡± The entity roared with anger and tried to pull its limb back or attack Jianmen once again. But the vortex was only so wide and it allowed only one of these spikes to go through, and Jianmen¡¯s grip was quite unwavering and it was not able to pull it back, so it was just like a frustrated monkey with its hand trapped in a jar. ¡°Now, calm down, stop trying to attack me, so we can talk.¡± Jianmen said. ¡°You have my word, mortal. I¡¯ll let you live, for now.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Jianmen let go of the spike, and let the entity take it back. Then a small stream of smoke came from the center of the vortex, and formed into the shape of a wide head with several faces on it. ¡°What do you come to me for, mortal?¡± ¡°I am here to ask you if you would like to make a deal with me.¡± Jianmen said: ¡°A deal sworn with True Words, and thus bound by the laws of the universe. I came with a small sample of what I am willing to offer in the deal, in exchange for your contributions in an upcoming fight.¡± ¡°How DARE you take me for some low level daimon that would just descend into your petty mortal battlefield at a price?! How dare...¡± ¡°Check on the quality of that ¡®price¡¯ first.¡± Jianmen had started to lose patience as the opened paper sigil was almost halfway burnt, and he threw the small jade bottle into the center of the vortex. The entity on the other side went silent, and wouldn¡¯t reply for a while. ¡°What, do you need help examining that as well? I thought you¡¯re pretty sharp with the conduit crap you just pulled?¡± ¡°Where have you found this?¡± the entity asked after a long pause. ¡°That¡¯s none of your concern. The important takeaway is that there¡¯s more where it came from, and you can have enough to heal your wound from your fall a little, and let you off your believers¡¯ souls for a while.¡± Chapter470 ¡°I guess all I can take from you is that you will need to think about it? Even though you know full well the price I can offer.¡± after a short but very heated exchange, Jianmen looked up at the paper sigil he stuck onto the top of the fireplace, and found that he only had less than half a minute¡¯s time: ¡°Are you that cautious, that you are only willing to do petty and unsavory deeds like collecting souls through your conduits and sacrificing your own believers and followers, but not engage in a fight against those who may have a lot to do with your fall in the first place?¡± ¡°That is because you are asking me to fight against the very beings that are capable of felling Gods!¡± the entity at the other side of the vortex answered with anger: ¡°And yet you provided no proof that you have a plan!¡± ¡°The plan is not to be shared with you unless you agree to the terms and are willing to swear with True Words.¡± Jianmen sighed and said: ¡°Alright, give me a name to communicate with you. I am not going to do this again.¡± ¡°Hoztang, it is the name I used in your realm.¡± the entity answered, just when the paper sigil was finally burnt up and the orange and golden vortex disappeared. ¡°You fucking coward.¡± Jianmen cursed under his breath. During the short exchange, Jianmen also asked a few probing questions about Hoztang¡¯s activities on this world, in the name of ¡°understanding its situation¡±, and Hoztang was actually slightly proud of his dealings on earth with his believers and conduits, even though Jianmen was quite clear in his line of questioning that he did not approve of them. It also mentioned, quite flauntingly, that it had dealings with rivaling groups on earth in exchange for sacrifices and offerings of energy. And now that Jianmen knew about the name of this fallen god, a few dots had connected for him. The Coven of Crows, the relatively unknown coven to Jianmen, whose members tried to break into the site infested by malice he and Josephine Wong visited earlier had some dealings with Hoztang, according to Tze Cha. Yet it also had direct dealings with Bleeding Daggers, a faction of players that according to what he heard Josephine Wong was no way on good terms with the Coven of Crows. Double dealing with two parties at war, something could get someone court-marshalled should they dare try to pull that in the civilian world, yet it turned out perfectly reasonable for this fallen god. If Jianmen did not have to conserve his energy and power and speed up his recovery, he would try to do a sneaky divination on Hoztang behind its back to see if its had its hands, or rather tentacles and spikes, in other parts of the world as well.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it When he got out from under the ruins and debris of this house, Jianmen saw that the black cat that came to his inn with Aimee was standing on the side of the road licking her paw. ¡°What brings you here?¡± Jianmen asked: ¡°Aren¡¯t you having a rest at my inn?¡± ¡°So you HAVE seen my sister. That scent she left wouldn¡¯t lie to me.¡± the black cat answered in a voice that was very similar to that of Mr. Night Owl¡¯s, with only minor differences: ¡°My name is Katherine Akahoshi, as you can tell, I am a Nekomata. I am Christina¡¯s older sister. Since you¡¯ve met her and know where she is, can you bring me to her? Our family called for her and she¡¯s gone out for way too long.¡± ¡°Um¡­ sure.¡± Jianmen thought for only a short moment, as he did not sense ill will from this Nekomata, she also looked and sensed very similar to Mr. Night Owl, and just like Mr. Night Owl, she was much older than he was: ¡°I thought you had ways to track each other? Especially those related by blood.¡± ¡°She¡¯s gone out of her way to hide her tracks.¡± the black cat looked at Jianmen with sharp eyes: ¡°And we need to find her, now.¡± ¡°Okay. But bear in mind that she¡¯s technically a guest in my inn now.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°Convince her to go with you if you can, no harm can be inflicted upon my guests while they¡¯re in my inn, no forced removals unless I or other co-owners say so.¡± ¡°... I understand.¡± the black cat narrowed her eyes for a short moment and said: ¡°She will not be harmed.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Jianmen put down his hands and put them onto two symbols on the side of the wheels of his wheelchair, and his wheelchair started lightning up and shooting out small bolts of lightning, ¡°Come on up, grab something.¡± ¡°A simple portal would do, why the movie reenactment?¡± Katherine hopped onto the left armrest of Jianmen¡¯s chair and stabilized her position with her magic. ¡°Well, that would be no fun.¡± Jianmen laughed out loud and rolled towards the road outside of the fence with great speed, the wheels of his wheelchair left two trails of flames. And after a flash, they just disappeared after a blinding flash of light and electric bolts. Jianmen and Katherine reappeared just outside of Xianshi Inn. And when Jianmen rolled through the front door, Katherine jumped onto the ground and instantly found the black cat who was sleeping on the reception¡¯s desk. ¡°Christina!¡± Katherine yelled at Mr. Night Owl. Mr. Night Owl opened her eyes, jumped in the air as if she saw something really scary, and ran out from the backdoor. Katherine let out an angry and frustrated meow, then ran out the backdoor as well, passing by Rash. ¡°Another cat fairy?¡± Rash chuckled and looked back at the two cats running around in the garden and parking lot. ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s the older sister.¡± Jianmen rolled to the reception¡¯s desk: ¡°How¡¯s the spies?¡± ¡°They¡¯re all awake now.¡± Rash answered: ¡°The other two were quite unfriendly, so it¡¯s going to be a tough chat.¡± ¡°Hmm, leave that to me then. I have some new questions to ask them.¡± Chapter 471 ¡°Dammit, Natalie, just tell us what you have told them. What the hell are you even worried about?¡± locked inside of their own room Carmen questioned Natalie with a harsh and even slightly threatening tone: ¡°They haven¡¯t put a gag curse on you have they?¡± ¡°No they haven¡¯t. It¡¯s just - I really can''t, okay?¡± Natalie curled up in her bed with tears in her eyes: ¡°We just should have never come here! And we should have never tried to steal from the owner or spy on him. We¡¯ve made a big mistake.¡± ¡°A mistake would be to not try.¡± Carmen said: ¡°You know and we know that the codex is mostly likely here, and not somewhere inside a Division vault. Imagine what our rewards would be, if we not only reported to Lady Vyn about its location but actually brought it back to her. Aren¡¯t you a little tired of the hand-me-down spell books and second rated materials for experiment? Aren¡¯t you even a little tired of being stuck in the third tier?¡± ¡°We cannot advance unless we make some truly substantial contributions.¡± Kate said from the side: ¡°We would still have a chance to make this right - to get out of here. But we cannot unless you tell us everything you told them.¡± ¡°Nothing ¡­ nothing major.¡± Natalie sniffled: ¡°The gag curse is still in place here. But they know that we¡¯re spies now, and that you weren¡¯t just looking around touring the place.¡± ¡°What did they do to you?¡± Kate laid her hand on Natalie¡¯s shoulder in an attempt to comfort and console her: ¡°They didn¡¯t ¡­ they didn¡¯t use force to make you talk right?¡± ¡°No...¡± Natalie shook her head, then she turned to Kate: ¡°And we¡¯re not getting outta here.¡± ¡°Why? They can¡¯t keep us here forever!¡± Carmen said: ¡°Just be ready to break out! Come on, Kate, we¡¯ve gotta be ready. They made a horrible mistake not placing restraining spells on us.¡± ¡°How strong is the receptionist?¡± Kate asked Natalie with a frown: ¡°If we work together and we have the element of surprise, do you think we can subdue him?¡± ¡°No.¡± Natalie shook her head, and the lock on their door to their room clicked, someone was about to come in. Carmen and Kate jumped from the positions, their spells and magical artifacts completely ready to strike. But when the door swung open and a man on a wheelchair appeared behind the door, their spells and artifacts instantly lost all of their energy and power, as if something just ¡°scooped¡± their energy away out of nowhere.Stolen story; please report. ¡°What the - ¡± ¡°Fuck!¡± ¡°Hello there, unfriendly spies, and Ms. Natalie.¡± the man came into the room with a smile: ¡°Don¡¯t bother trying that again - unless you would like to contribute more to the running and maintenance of my inn. What you just did will be keeping the lights in the inn on for ¡­ a couple more minutes. ¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± Carmen reached behind her waist and asked. ¡°My name is Jianmen, or you can call me Mr. Yu. I am the owner of ¡­ ¡± the man smiled, but Carmen did not give him a chance and just threw a knife at him. The knife¡¯s trajectory curved up as if something was attracting it from above, and it banged on a high position of the wall behind Jianmen, then bounced on the ceiling and flew back at Carmen. Before Carmen could even move her body to attempt to evade, the knife just hit her on her left shoulder, with the tip of its blade sunk into her skin and muscle, while the entirety of the knife just stood straight like a birthday candle on a cake, or a car¡¯s side-view mirror. ¡°Oh geez...¡± Carmen trembled and almost fell onto the ground due to fear-induced paralysis: ¡°Kate - the antidote, now!¡± ¡°No need. ¡± Jianmen snapped his fingers and then the knife just jumped out of the wound, and Carmen started bleeding from her shoulder - though the wound did not appear to be serious at all. Kate rushed to Carmen¡¯s side and tore off a part of the clothing on Carmen¡¯s shoulder, the wound was bleeding fresh red blood, but there were no dark patches, no abnormal swollen tissues or any other sign of poison near the wound. Kate fed Carmen a couple of pills, then took out a small bottle of ointment and rubbed it on the wound: ¡°I don¡¯t understand - I thought it¡¯s coated - ¡± ¡°One of the rules of my inn: no toxic shit inside the inn, unless you¡¯re intentionally using it on yourself.¡± Jianmen chuckled and said: ¡°Normally guests won''t get hurt either. But you¡¯re not exactly guests, so a lesson could be taught.¡± ¡°What do you want?¡± Kate watched as the ointment took effect and Carmen¡¯s wound healed up: ¡°And who are you?¡± ¡°I told you, I am the owner of this inn.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°And you could leave, unharmed and with everything you brought here with you, minus a few days¡¯ room charges of course, if you could tell me everything - what you came here for, who your employer is.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t, we¡¯re under a gag curse.¡± Carmen grabbed her left shoulder and said. ¡°And our families are held by our employer. You know what would happen if we talked.¡± Kate said. ¡°I can help you with the first thing.¡± Jianmen pulled three dolls made of dried grass and small rattan branches out from his pocket: ¡°I was told that the gag curse was placed on your throat and in your head, but not fully attached to your soul, right?¡± ¡°What?¡± Carmen and Kate asked at the same time. ¡°Yes.¡± Natalie answered after wiping her eyes and nose: ¡°It¡¯s done via a mixture of blood from some snakes, toads and a concoction from some herbs - I don¡¯t know what the exact ingredients are, because they never told us. But I can tell it does not bind the soul.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, sorry, just out of caution, old habit.¡± Jianmen chuckled, then placed the three dolls on the nightstand near Kate¡¯s bed: ¡°Okay, now, all I need is just a drop of your blood on one of these dolls.¡± ¡°No!¡± Carmen refused right away: ¡°Don¡¯t even think about - ¡± Natalie jumped over, and dripped a drop of her blood from the tip of her left index finger. Chapter 472 ¡°Natalie!¡± ¡°You wimpy bitch!¡± Kate and Carmen immediately yelled at Natalie, and tried to charge at her. But an invisible force field appeared before them and stopped them midway. No matter how hard they tried, they could not push even one inch forward. ¡°Carmen, Kate, sorry. But I¡¯ve got to do this.¡± Natalie said to her teammates with tears on her face: ¡°There was just no other way. ¡± ¡°Kate, you don¡¯t know if he¡¯s capable of what he claims.¡± Kate still tried to talk Natalie out of it: ¡°And think of your family, and your friends, we don¡¯t know what¡¯s gonna happen to them if they know that this curse is removed - ¡± ¡°And I don¡¯t know what would happen to them if we come back empty handed either.¡± Natalie said: ¡°I¡¯ve made my choice, I am willing to take a gamble. We all know that there is no end to this - Lady Vyn wouldn¡¯t even trust her own blood, why would she spare us any trust?¡± Both Carmen and Kate looked at Natalie in shock, as she just disclosed the name of their employer, without suffering any consequences from the gag curse. ¡°And they won¡¯t find out. Even if you tell me the darkest secret you know.¡± Jianmen interjected as he took the doll on which Natalie dropped her blood and placed it inside a hidden safe in the wall which none of the three spies saw before: ¡°All I am doing is move the curse to a scapegoat - this doll, unless this doll can somehow talk or think, and someone was stupid enough to break the curse on a doll, then the one who placed the curses on you would not notice a thing.¡± ¡°Yes, you say that but we can¡¯t know that!¡± Kate said: ¡°We don¡¯t even know you.¡± ¡°You know this inn, you know you can¡¯t do anything to hurt me or my guests. And if I¡¯d like, you probably will spend the entirety of your lives in those layered illusions until such time comes that you are no longer yourselves.¡± Jianmen said: ¡°And you know I don¡¯t have any intention to hurt you.¡± ¡°But that is because you want information from us.¡± Kate said: ¡°About Lady - about our employer.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°Partially true, but you did come and try to spy in my inn first.¡± Jianmen scoffed: ¡°What do you expect? A thank you note and a fruit basket?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll tell you.¡± Natalie said to Jianmen in a soft, exhausted but stern voice: ¡°I feel like the curse is no more - I¡¯ll tell you. But I have one request.¡± ¡°Name it. I¡¯ll try.¡± ¡°I want your help, saving my family from the shackles.¡± Natalie wiped her eyes and looked Jianmen right in the eyes: ¡°If you could do that, I promise I¡¯ll tell you everything.¡± ¡°That will depend on the information you can provide. I can¡¯t promise you anything. For I am but myself and two of my students. I can¡¯t order anyone into battle against a High Broker of the Exalter Bondsmen.¡± Jianmen frowned. ¡°I know - but I think you¡¯re gonna want to.¡± Natalie nodded, and was in no way surprised at Jianmen¡¯s refusal to give her a definitive answer. ¡°Natalie, do you know what you¡¯re doing?!¡± Carmen spoke through her teeth from the other side of the room: ¡°You are betraying our employer! The one who led a group to kill at least a hundred mages and sorcerers, even when she was abandoned by magic ...¡± Before she could say anything more, the gag curse started taking effect and she started coughing, wheezing and even choking. This effect was obviously quite powerful, because she fell onto the ground even when Kate was by her side trying to help her hold her body up. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, your transgressions happen here and will stay here, which includes the fact that you just spilled a bunch of personal histories about your boss, or bosses.¡± Jianmen sighed then smiled: ¡°Alright, Ms. Natalie, if you¡¯d like, let¡¯s go talk someplace quieter, warmer, and - safer.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Natalie hopped out of the bed and went to the door to their room. Before she left with Jianmen, she turned back and took a look at her former teammates, then went straight out the door. ¡°Natalie!¡± Kate tried to call out to Natalie one more time. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡± Carmen screamed and banged on the invisible wall formed by the forcefield with her fists: ¡°Natalie! Think long and hard about what you¡¯re doing! You cannot betray us, you cannot betray her!¡± ¡°Now, if you two are willing to talk. Just let me know, I¡¯ll leave these two dolls here.¡± Jianmen pointed at the two remaining grass and rattan dolls left on the nightstand. ¡°What will happen to them?¡± Natalie asked: ¡°Are you - are you going to hurt them?¡± ¡°I will hold her until our deals are fulfilled.¡± Jianmen led the way by rolling down an aisle and found a room that was quite close to the room before: ¡°How¡¯s this room? The interior design is similar to the one back there.¡± ¡°O - okay.¡± ¡°Do you want any food before we begin?¡± when Natalie settled inside the spacious room with only one bed, one bath and a balcony. ¡°I¡¯d like some tea, thanks.¡± Natalie sat on the sofa near the coffee table and pulled a blanket to cover herself: ¡°And - if it is possible, can you tell me a brief history of this inn as well? Doesn¡¯t have to be right now. I¡¯m just curious...¡± Chapter 473 ¡°My employer is Lady Vyn, her full name is Lucias Vyn. She¡¯s one of the six High Brokers of the Exalted Bondsmen.¡± after finishing two cups of tea, Natalie finally felt the warmth and courage to tell Jianmen in a calm voice: ¡°She¡¯s very old, even by magic wielder standards. But the thing is, she¡¯s not a magic wielder - at least not one by common definition. No one I know has ever seen her use magic. And the few times I¡¯ve met her up close, I was never able to sense any hint of magical power - no magical energy field, no magical energy signature - nothing.¡± ¡°I see. So that¡¯s what ¡®she was abandoned by magic¡¯ means.¡± Jianmen nodded and refilled Natalie¡¯s cup with tea: ¡°But she¡¯s a High Broker of the Exalted Bondsmen, if she doesn¡¯t have any sort of power, she wouldn¡¯t be able to hold that position.¡± ¡°It¡¯s because of her family, the Vyn family.¡± Natalie said: ¡°The Vyn family has a lot of connections, and she has control over a - a really deadly assassin force. Though she was not known for her magic wielding abilities, she was very feared for her experience and knowledge in training deadly assassins.¡± ¡°The Vyn family - that does sound familiar.¡± Jianmen narrowed his eyes: ¡°Do they have connections to people at the Grant Academy?¡± ¡°Yes, yes they do.¡± Natalie sighed: ¡°And they have a very important member from her family there. I just don¡¯t know who.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, I think I may have an idea.¡± Jianmen waved his hand in an attempt to tell Natalie not to worry: ¡°Do you happen to know what her full name was before? Or just the family name.¡± Natalie stared at Jianmen and asked: ¡°So ¡­ so you knew?¡± ¡°No, I just kinda figured it out. It¡¯s kinda funny, my students kinda did a research paper on her.¡± Jianmen chuckled: ¡°And it was a pretty good paper, with decent detective and academic work. I would imagine for people like her, being born inside the magical world but did not have a noticeable affinity to magic would face a lot of hardships. And I can certainly imagine the kind of horror it would bring when you managed to pull off a series of murders. Which logically leads to the conclusion that ¡®Vyn¡¯ is not her real family name.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Hellinger. Nobody told me that, I just sorta - figured it out myself.¡± Natalie sniffled and wiped her nose with a piece of tissue: ¡°You¡¯re the first one I¡¯ve ever told. Oh god...¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Hellinger...¡± Jianmen paused for a short moment: ¡°That family¡¯s line was broken a couple of decades ago, is it not?¡± ¡°Yes. Due to a lot of mysterious circumstances. But to me, Lady Vyn probably has a lot of things to do with that.¡± Natalie answered: ¡°It was a cursed family - they had a lot of very talented and very powerful mages or just general power wielders - before the civilians had the word ¡®superpower¡¯, but on the other hand a huge portion of their family was born with below mediocre or even absolutely no magical talents. ¡± ¡°And you think that Lady Vyn was one of those unlucky ones.¡± Jianmen nodded. ¡°I think so - she did not hide the fact that she has no affinity to magic, nor did she hide the fact that she orchestrated those murders. Since, well, the family line was broken many years ago, and the investigation into the culprits of the murders has stopped due to the killers¡¯ inactivity.¡± ¡°Okay. Fair enough.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°Then tell me about this codex you are trying to find. What is it? What does it decode or solve?¡± ¡°I - I actually don¡¯t know much about the details of what it is or what it does.¡± Natalie stammered: ¡°You need to understand - we just know that it¡¯s important and Lady Vyn was determined to find it. She sent out several groups already, but - ¡± ¡°Just tell me everything you know.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°If you have your speculations or theories, tell me those as well.¡± Natalie proceeded to tell Jianmen everything she knew, she theoried and speculated. It turned out, before the incident at the Grant Academy happened, Lady Vyn had already started looking into the whereabouts of the codex. And finally, she was able to find that it was put somewhere in the Grant Academy library - it was presumed that it was crafted by magic but did not serve any specific magical purpose, so it was placed there as an item of exhibition inside the library¡¯s mini-museum. After Lady Vyn found out about it, it was also during a time right when the contaminated material incident of the Grant Academy became serious and was facing a lockdown. So with a slew of careful orchestrations and manipulations using her connections in the Grant Academy, she installed the two external investigators, who were there to investigate in name only, but to collect the codex. According to Natalie, when the codex fell into the hands of two audit students with civilian backgrounds and later kind of ¡°disappeared¡±, the whole family and core crew witnessed fury and wrath from Lady Vyn unlike anything they saw before. Thus, multiple groups of people were sent out, some were sent to infiltrate the Grant Academy again to see if it was still there during the escape, some were sent to infiltrate different departments of the Division because there were rumors circulating that the Division had got the codex. And this team of three was one of the ¡°just in case¡± teams, where their purpose was to check on the places where the audit students had stayed at before and report back if they had any clues or findings. And the fact that Xianshi Inn was apparently magical but not widely known as such just made it much more likely that the codex was actually here instead of anywhere else. It was all thanks to Carmen, the sorceress in red and the leader of the team, who insisted that they should investigate and try to find the codex themselves instead of reporting back immediately. Chapter 474 ¡°What can you tell me about the story of the Night Wolf?¡± Jianmen was quite satisfied with the answer provided by Natalie regarding the reason they came and their motivation: ¡°I can actually tell you this. We have the codex and it is hidden in a safe place. But we¡¯re currently having a little trouble deciphering its secret. We were able to find out about this poem: ¡®Blessed be the blood of meek, cherished be the tome of old. Vengeance shall be cold and sweet, beware, my child, of the Night Wolf¡¯s teeth.¡¯ Does that mean anything to you?¡± ¡°Night Wolf¡¯s teeth - those are the reference to the children¡¯s tale right?¡± Natalie asked: ¡°A cold and sweet - that¡¯s - that¡¯s probably a Hellinger family thing.¡± ¡°Oh, is it? Please elaborate.¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s one of the stories frequently told in the Hellinger family.¡± Natalie sighed and said: ¡°It¡¯s not that original - it¡¯s about a trick for hunters used to hunt wolves in cold places - basically they place the knife in frozen cow or pig blood and make a ¡®blood icicle¡¯ with it, and the blade is buried inside. The wolf would come and lick the frozen blood from the blade like it was a treat or a frozen meal. And as time goes by its tongue will get numb but it will get addicted to the sweet cow blood, so much so that it doesn¡¯t even notice that the cow blood is gone already and it¡¯s effectively licking its own blood because the blade had sliced its own tongue. Eventually, the wolf would become weak due to blood loss and become an easy prey for the hunter. The Hellinger family actually call this story the story of ¡®Cold and sweet¡¯ in some of their familial history records.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jianmen thought for a short while, and he recorded the findings with his mind into a note placed in his personal library: ¡°So - it could be a theory that this is not a poem of encouragement or incitement, but one of caution?¡± ¡°Well - it would appear so.¡± Natalie wiped her eyes and said: ¡°What - what are you planning to do with it?¡± ¡°I actually don¡¯t plan to do anything with it.¡± Jianmen sighed and said: ¡°Believe me, I don¡¯t want my students involved in this whole mess. If your employer had asked, I think they would be surprised at how reasonable and personable my students are and it would probably be a smaller price to pay. But after this whole thing they pulled, I¡¯m more inclined to keep it or even destroy it now. I might even go out of my way to sabotage ¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°O - okay.¡± Natalie was speechless for a brief moment: ¡°Aren¡¯t you curious on what the codex is?¡± ¡°Yes. But there are more important businesses at hand.¡± Jianmen said: ¡°Now, I guess my final question for you now - did your employer cause the contaminated material incident at the Grant Academy? If not, does she have anything to do with it?¡± ¡°No - no, I don¡¯t think she caused it. At least as far as I know, she was surprised - pleasantly surprised that it happened.¡± Natalie shook her head: ¡°There are many groups of spies and undercover agents in the Grant Academy, there was a balance among these players, so - ¡± ¡°So the pre existing players would not disturb the balance willy nilly.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°Understood. Thank you Natalie for your answer. Now take a break, enjoy the inn. I will discuss this with my students and associates.¡± ¡°Wait!¡± Natalie raised her voice as Jianmen turned around and was ready to leave: ¡°What - what about saving my family? You did say that you are willing to sabotage Lady Vyn¡¯s plans right? Saving us and our families from her hold will definitely achieve that. Plus, I am the most junior member of the team, Kate and Carmen have been under her employment for much longer. If you could prove to them that you have the ability and the sincerity to do as you promised, they will be more willing to tell you the things they know.¡± ¡°I suppose so. But are your families held in the same place?¡± Jianmen asked. ¡°No - at least I don¡¯t think so, why?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that make breaking your family out more dangerous for theirs?¡± Jianmen asked with a smile: ¡°If I broke yours out, and Lady Vyn were well aware that your team disappeared here when you¡¯re on your mission, couldn¡¯t she just connect the dots?¡± ¡°I - I haven¡¯t thought of that...¡± ¡°Well, and my answer is still the one I told you, I will discuss it with others. ¡± Jianmen shook his head and decided not to call Natalie out on her obviously dishonest answer: ¡°Like I said - starting a war against a high broker is no small deal. And we have way more important businesses at hand. But I can promise you this - I will give you an answer shortly.¡± When Jianmen closed the door and left the room, he did not end up in the aisle to which the door was connected physically, instead, he appeared in the lounge of the inn, as he sensed that a piece of paper mail was delivered onto the front desk. ¡°To: Jianmen Yu, From: Dolores Brooke, James Atkinson.¡± Chapter 475 As Fubei Li continued to read the documents and books provided to him by his temporary caretaker, a Fog Dweller taking the shape of an octopus, he gradually realized a couple of things that he had not known before. First, the history after the rapture of the void turned out to be much more bloody and brutal than he previously thought - he did not get to know much about how well the different groups of voidborns coexist before the rupture, specifically the groups like Depth Dwellers, Fog Dwellers, Elementals and some other he did not have very good human concepts to describe, all with quite different physical appearances, different powers and even different lifespans. But after the rupture, their one shared realm became broken into several smaller realms, and their places of worship, their artifacts, their documents of knowledge, even their important buildings and monuments were either destroyed or drift other realms and spaces (which they later called the ¡°Gaps¡±). Wars that spanned across millennia broke out, and there was endless bloodshed until they could come into an agreement, and they utilized what was left of the once vast Edgelands as a central point of negotiation and diplomacy. Even till today, the groups still had conflicts that involved use of forces from time to time. Second, the ¡°it¡± that Perketta mentioned to him when they were fighting Creatures of the Gaps, at first he thought it was something that the voidborns that were born pre-rupture had because the rupture made ¡°it¡± disappeared. But as the lore and records showed, that voidborns without ¡°it¡± actually existed before the rupture, and the number of them became more and more as the time came closer and closer to the time when it happened. Therefore, Jianmen had the theory that ¡°it¡± was some kind of blessing, either given by the entirety of the void, or something that existed before the rupture, it was probably slowly losing its power and was entirely lost or destroyed during it. And given his understanding of blessings, if the later voidborns were not able to figure out what ¡°it¡± was, it was probably something that was too unusual and powerful on a probably cosmic level that it escaped the understanding of less powerful entities. And for more powerful beings, mainly those who had lived till through the pre-rupture periods, it was probably too heavy for them to share with anyone. And third, and the least surprising, was that Fog Dwellers and Depth Dwellers indeed came from the same ancestor, but their paths diverged as time went on. Same thing happened to some of the Elementals, for example, the Elemental of Heat produced several different lineages, including Fire, Lava and Plasma elementals. This and the second point brought some suspicion in Jianmen¡¯s mind, that whether Xyn, the first one to have ascended to Godhood from the void, was anything like the current day voidborns at all.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Hey, sorry, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d caught your name?¡± Jianmen asked the Fog Dweller in the shape of an octopus. ¡°My name is Kyra-Lexorial.¡± the Fog Dweller answered: ¡°You can just call me Kyra, or Kyle - this seems to be a popular way of forming human names when my peers go into the human realm.¡± ¡°Thanks, Kyra, I was wondering if you could answer a question for me.¡± Fubei Li said: ¡°I think I asked for some records on your first god, but I haven¡¯t seen anything specific from the records you brought me. Is there any more? Preferably more detailed?¡± ¡°For those records, actually I will need to wait for the approval of the elders.¡± Kyra answered: ¡°Because those contain more sensitive information and are generally restricted to members of our council or officers with certain ranks. I will let you know when I receive an update.¡± ¡°Alright. Thank you.¡± Fubei Li laid back into the pool and was about to take another break. ¡°Mr. Li, are you awake?¡± just this moment, the voice of Dave came from the side. ¡°Yeah, yeah. Just finished reading.¡± Fubei Li sat up from the pool: ¡°How are you doing? Haven¡¯t seen you since the battle.¡± ¡°Good. We didn¡¯t sustain any serious injuries. And Perketta was also recovering and would be able to go into action soon, almost all thanks to you. ¡± Dave knelt down by the pool: ¡°How are you doing? I¡¯m not sure how effective the healing pool of Fog Dwellers can be to you.¡± ¡°Pretty effective.¡± Jianmen nodded and took a look at Xyankor standing by Dave: ¡°Xyankor, why so glum? No good news?¡± ¡°No.¡± Xyankor sighed: ¡°Even though we detected that the new voidborn should be somewhere near, we still could not find any traces of it. We¡¯ve tasked multiple teams to scout around more distant corners of the Fog Dwellers¡¯ realm, but we¡¯re not hopeful.¡± ¡°So we¡¯ve decided to come back to you.¡± Dave smiled: ¡°You are one of the most knowledgeable and insightful entities I know, so I was wondering if you have any ideas or theories.¡± ¡°Actually I do, and you¡¯re not gonna like it.¡± Fubei Li sighed: ¡°I am not sure if this information made it to your ears - but I¡¯m afraid the place from which the Creatures of the Gaps came from is another realm you might have to check - it¡¯s a pretty young realm.¡± ¡°Fuck. I know. We heard.¡± Xyankor let out a long sigh. ¡°But how do you suppose we go there? It is the realm of the creatures, by no means a friendly territory.¡± Dave asked. ¡°Well, do you have some of the creatures in captivity?¡± Jianmen asked: ¡°I suppose we could wear their shells.¡± ¡°Are you even sure it will work?¡± ¡°No. But we could give it a try when we have another invasion. Or we could go beyond the edge of this realm and find out.¡± ¡°... unfortunately, that¡¯s the best idea so far.¡± Xyankor sat down by the pool. Chapter 476 In the ruins of a temple inside a remote realm, surrounded by a tall wall of energy storm and restless silvery blue energy as if it was under thousands and thousands of meters of sea water, an energy vortex appeared in the space between two old and worn stone pillars, and before long, it became a portal with bright blue edges. Professor Atkinson and his assistant Dolores Brooke came out from the portal, and right after they landed safely in the internal area of the ruins, the portal was destroyed in a rather ungraceful manner, and even caused a small explosion in the air. This was the temple both the professor and Dolores had been researching for a number of years, but what they learned in those years trying to date the ruins and the buildings, transcribing the words and symbols from the inner rooms under the main temple building using special tablets was like a small pamphlet to an encyclopedia compared to what they had learned in the past few weeks with the blessings of Xyn and both in the Edgelands and in the Grant Academy Library. When they reflected on this experience, the irony was clear to both of them. Last time they were ¡°here¡±, they were kind of summoned by Xyn and were here only in minds but not in flesh, the fallen god and the self proclaimed first voidborn to have ascended to Godhood and the original owner of this temple who was now locked in a room under the main temple trying to recover from his fall. And now, with the tacit approval of Xyn, they came here to revisit their site of excavation, hoping to find something new. Now, armed with the blessed ability to read the actual original texts and scriptures of the ancient voidborns, both Professor Atkinson and Dolores couldn¡¯t help but shiver when they stepped into the gate of the underground temple. It was partially because they were nervous of what the writings and drawings on the wall would tell them, and partially because they were worried about the weight of the knowledge, and of course, about what they would confirm for them. ¡°Okay, here goes.¡± Dolores let out a long exhale with her eyes closed, then opened her eyes wide to start rereading the texts they had already transcribed. They did try to read the transcript they had from the special templates, yet similar to their previous attempts prior to making the deal with Xyn, they found that there was quite a lot of information missing or incomplete, it¡¯s just now they actually knew why - the meaning of the scriptures could only be fully understood only with specific energy fields around them, in specific spatial positions to create some kind of cognitive resonance.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°... the void was vast, barren and dangerous ever since the voidborns first became self aware. They struggled, they fought with their bare intuitive power, they willed, and they became. And rose from its families, peers, friends, enemies and strangers, was Xyn. Blessed with the gift of healing, mending and give blessings for others to be anew from the moment it becomes self aware, Xyn rose through the thickest dirt, hottest fire, the most crushing of lightning and strongest wind to the heavens and tame the entire void with its unwavering will and undying love and care for its brethren...¡± ¡° ¡­ from the deepest and emptiest depths of the void, Xyn anchored and stabilized the inhabitable realms for its brethren and its people, providing them with shelter, sustenance and space for the civilizations to grow and mature.¡± Professor Atkinson was reading the scriptures from another angle: ¡°Acting on its deepest love and sympathies for the voidborns and plights the normal had to face in their lives, Xyn, with its vast power and piercing insight into the true nature of the universe, found the springs of knowledge, vitality, knowledge and blessing from the center of the void, and used them to bless the voidborns through generations and generations, giving them easier and less weighted access to the most valuable knowledge of the universe, and less trying routes of ascension to greater power and to immortality ...¡± Professor Atkinson had to take a short break when reading this - though they already had the blessings from the Spring of Knowledge, which would lessen the effects of certain weighted knowledge about Xyn and the voidborns on them, this information was still hard to read through in just one sitting. On the other side, Dolores fell on her back and almost hit her head on the floor due to exhaustion. She had to lay down for now and was not able to get up. ¡°The symbolism of the hand, the drip from the stalactite - I think I understand them now.¡± Professor Atkinson: ¡°It¡¯s a kind of blessing Xyn placed on the voidborns, and it¡¯s actually harvested from the void itself. This¡­ this explains a lot.¡± ¡°And I just became more confused...¡± Dolores said while panting and trying to catch her breath: ¡°Most specifically about Xyn himself - he was blessed with the power to heal and even revive voidborns - and if I understand it correctly - he even had the power to just create life from nonlife at one point even before ascending to godhood? How - how is that even possible?¡± ¡°The springs.¡± Professor Atkinson said: ¡°The scriptures here mentioned that he harvested some kind of springs from the depths of the void and blessed the voidborns with them. I don¡¯t think they¡¯re talking about the springs in Edgelands, I think they mean...¡± ¡°... the liquid dropped from that stalactite - which became something having to do with voidborns including elementals.¡± Dolores nodded: ¡°Which was obviously draining for the environment, or the void, in this case.¡± ¡°So - ¡± Professor Atkinson sat up and rubbed his eyes: ¡°Is it a stretch to assume, that the actual descendants of him would be someone with the same gift?¡± Chapter 477 Professor Atkinson and Dolores spent the next two weeks in the underground temple, reading through all the remaining scriptures written on the walls and trying to make sense of them. The information stopped being very useful after the first few days, because just like many spiritual scriptures of worship, they mostly just described the greatness and glory of the god and called for the worship of the followers, and with some decrees and commandments detailing the desired and forbidden deeds for the believers. And combining this information, with the information they gathered from the Spring of Knowledge, the archives from the Edgelands as well as lore records from the Grant Academy collected by past travelers to the Edgelands and elemental realms, the professor and Dolores were able to deduce that Xyn, being the first of the voidborns to have ascended to Godhood, was extremely special, or in the scriptures¡¯ words: ¡°blessed¡± because he had the gift of tapping into a source of ¡°blessings¡± from the void, of which he later tried to harvest more and more in order to share this gift with other voidborns. The ¡°blessings¡±, whatever they were, were apparently crucial to the stability of the void, and the overharvesting of them was one of the most important and substantial reasons for the rupture, and in turn the fall of Xyn, an actual God, and apparently quite a powerful one. Even after years and years of research, neither Professor Atkinson nor Dolores could say they know very much about Godfalls, for one, this was an area of very heavy knowledge, and for two, there were very limited records, relics or sites of them. They were the elephant graveyards of magical excavation. In fact, this temple of Xyn was the biggest site of Godfall that had ever been found in the history of the Grant Academy and perhaps even the entire world. Yet, not much resources and organizational efforts were put into its excavation due to many reasons, including but not limited to the limited practical usage of the knowledge and how little information can be dug up compared to the vast amount of resources that needed to be invested. Right now, both the Professor and Dolores found themselves at the cusp of their biggest breakthrough, but they were not able to share it with the others just yet, because this breakthrough came from the their attempt to fulfill their contractual obligation to find Xyn¡¯s descendant, they were allowed to keep this knowledge, but it is not fully theirs until the descendant was found.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. At this point, their findings had already diverged quite a bit from their task. But as they progressed, they seemed to have discovered more and more about the nature of the void, and how the void was torn apart in the rupture. Still, they had very little clue on how they could possibly locate the descendant. ¡°We¡¯ve been to the edgelands already. But ¡­ that wasn¡¯t helpful at all.¡± Dolores took a bite from a piece of the ¡°elemental bread¡± they purchased from edgelands: ¡°Gosh, I hope Lin¡¯Er doesn¡¯t take too much heat from what happened.¡± ¡°They are reasonable, they should know that we mere humans would never possess that kind of power to damage their ancient artifacts.¡± Professor Atkinson shook his head as he flipped through some of the books he brought here: ¡°Hmm ¡­ wait - I couldn¡¯t help but wonder: is it possible that Xyn¡¯s descendant isn¡¯t born like the other voidborns at all? Xyn himself is a special one, and the way the elementals are born, they look just¡­ just kinda formulaic.¡± ¡°What I was thinking was - what if the descendant was created?¡± Dolores said: ¡°Xyn¡¯s special, and I think the descendant would be as well. What if - I mean what if, the descendant was actually created?¡± ¡°I - I am not sure I understand your point.¡± ¡°Yeah yeah yeah what I was thinking was - last time we saw Xyn - he was in the shape of one of its avatars. ¡± Dolores pointed at one of the relief sculptures at one corner of the underground temple: ¡°This form is his form of the judge and truth seeker. There¡¯s also the avatar of the healer and, and creator - ¡± ¡°But if that avatar survived - wouldn¡¯t Xyn know?¡± Professor Atkinson scratched his jaw and asked. ¡°Yes, maybe. But remember what Mr. Yu told us - the more independent the avatar, the longer the distance, the harder it is to keep different avatars in sync in terms of knowledge and experience.¡± Dolores stood up and started pacing around: ¡°What if the rupture tore apart the void, and also forced the different avatars of Xyn to be scattered?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a solid idea. ¡± Professor Atkinson stood up as well: ¡°Let¡¯s ask.¡± ¡°What? Ask directly? Wouldn¡¯t that be very sensitive?¡± ¡°But ¡­ I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a better way.¡± Chapter 478 To the surprise of both Professor Atkinson and Dolores, they were not met with any kind of hostility or even hesitation when they asked Xyn their questions about his fall - in fact, he was strangely open. ¡°It pained me to have discovered that I, out of every possible reason that I could think of, am the one true reason for the desolation of the void.¡± Xyn¡¯s voice usually didn¡¯t show much emotion, but somehow when he said these words to the professor and Dolores they could tell there was a sense of regret and desire to restitute: ¡°But I am no god to dwell in the past, and I too shall look forward and restore the order. ¡°And here is the answer to your question: yes, the rupture did cause almost irreparable damage to me, and it is beyond possible, even plausible that without my knowledge, the different avatars of me were separated by the great forces that tore me apart and had our connections broken. I have yet to understand the full implications of the situation should it be exactly as you theorized. Now that you have had the blessings offered to you by a Spring of Knowledge, though nowhere near what they were supposed to be, I can open up the lower levels of this temple for you. As I am bound to this place, and because of the access to knowledge, I hope the information and knowledge you may find below will help you accomplish your task.¡± And as the professor and Dolores walked down the stairs where they used to face attacks from invisible forces, which would force them out, they were finally able to see fully what was roaming in the air - these were shadowy creatures made of fog in all kinds of different shapes and sizes, each with slightly different colors and shades, and some kind of glowing energy cores inside of them. These creatures floated and ¡°swam¡± in the air as if they were fish in water, and some of them even got quite close to Professor Atkinson and Dolores - both of them tried to touch these creatures at one point or another, but their hands just went straight through, as if these creatures were just holograms. ¡°They used to be my most devout believers, my priests, my preachers, and my bishops.¡± Xyn explained to both Professor Atkinson and Dolores, ¡°They were also severely injured during the rupture, now they are neither dead or alive - they are something in between, fragments of souls and minds of their former existence. They had some basic instincts that could drive them to certain actions, but they could no longer act in any proactive way.¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Why are they - why are they like this?¡± Dolores asked. ¡°It is my doing, my burden to bear.¡± Xyn answered with a very human-like sigh: ¡°Through their devoutness and zeal, they bound their souls and essences to me, not just me, but the whole me and the core of my being. It was my reward, out of my hubris. And when I fell, their souls were broken, just like me. I survived, for my avatars could inherit what was left of my will and my mind. But they were not gods, they could not endure the weight and process of having their minds, consciousness and souls separated and split.¡± ¡°Oh god, I¡¯m so sorry.¡± ¡°They are bound to me by faith, and I to them. I would have no chance of starting over or even coming back to where I was before my ascension if I don¡¯t put them at rest. They were once the pillars of my kingdom, the central conduits of the power of faith that once flowed through me and the core of my Godhood. Now they¡¯re my shackles and chains.¡± This admission was heavy, both Professor Atkinson and Dolores felt at that moment both the burden of the knowledge, and the same kind of regret and remorse Xyn was feeling. ¡°These structures underground - are they some kind of warehouse?¡± when they reached the bottom of the stairs behind the stone gates, Professor Atkinson asked while pointing at a few of the still remaining stone rooms with some kind of broken arrays on the centers of the floor. ¡°No, they are prisons.¡± Xyn answered: ¡°These were the prison rooms in which we held those who have committed the more serious sins. Some were sentenced to be left there for eons to reflect on their sins and to repent.¡± ¡°But the prisoners - what happened after the rupture?¡± Dolores gasped lightly. ¡°Most of them perished. The rest became unaccounted for.¡± Xyn said: ¡°When I fell and this temple sank, I and my believers lost control over this prison as well. When I finally woke up, I felt the lost souls that once belonged to some of the prisoners.¡± ¡°What else do you remember from your fall?¡± Professor Atkinson asked: ¡°If it was indeed another avatar of you that created your descendant, then knowing where they are would help.¡± ¡°I have been trying to find those pieces of my memory back for all this time. But still there was very limited information I could gather. And it was thanks to the memory that you saw in the Spring of Knowledge that I could piece a lot together.¡± Xyn answered: ¡°For one, my misappropriation of the blessings of the void, draining the stabilizing power from the void. For another, the presence of dark power in the piece of memory you saw - I now remember how it was facing it.¡± ¡°What is it? Is it still present?¡± Dolores asked: ¡°That kind of dark power - where does it come from? Is it still present somewhere?¡± ¡°Defilers.¡± Xyn spoke with both fear and grudge: ¡°The vultures of broken order and flow of karma, the corruptors of all beings. And more terrifyingly, the ones that could break a God¡¯s dominion even in his own kingdom.¡± Chapter 479 Both Professor Atkinson and Dolores felt as if a big muscular hand just grabbed their hearts and stomachs and started tugging - as researchers, they no doubt had heard of the name before. In fact, they knew much more about these beings than the absolute majority of their peers and colleagues from the Grand Academy. Xyn¡¯s description matched what they had learned about the defilers, and more - from their own research, they were fully aware of the fact the defilers were somewhat like some kind of demons from civilian folktales, that the traces of defilers were almost always there whenever there was a catastrophe of sorts. Wherever they went, disaster, carnage and absolute chaos always followed. And when they were gone, they left nothing but abject ruin and destruction. There were many spots and places in the universe, about which rumors and tales of horror were shared and told through whispers and murmurs, where not even one of the brave and daring visitors came back - at least came back as themselves. They were powerful, they were the most unclean, even malice, or even actual beings with some kind of demonic characteristics were adverse to them and would not stand to be among them. It had been pretty frequently mentioned that they had been present at various sites of godfalls as well, though these documentations were mostly deduced from the presence of defilers¡¯ traces left in normal ¡°sightings¡± in the sites of godfalls. But never had they imagined that these defilers were able to fell gods. For such a powerful and somewhat mysterious being, it would have stood to reason that any knowledge about them and their deeds be weighted. But somehow, beside the initial shock ¡°We know about defiliers, but how come - how did they even do that?¡± Professor Atkinson asked. ¡°That is for all beings who would like order in their world and their universe to find out.¡± Xyn said after a short moment of silence: ¡°I couldn¡¯t remember what kind of power they wielded, I couldn¡¯t even remember what kind of spells, curses or even attacks they hurled at me. All I remember was the pressure, the threatening and terrifying aura around them, and how easy they deflected my attacks, my decrees within my own kingdom and even my most powerful assaults originating from the very essence of my Godhood. My touch, my torches, my spears and my swords were easily corrupted and shattered in front of them. And thanks to you and what you have seen in the depths of the Spring of Knowledge, I now remember the powerlessness and helplessness I felt before I fell.¡±Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Another piece of seemingly terribly weighted information, yet besides from the tension in the air, neither Professor Atkinson nor Dolores sensed any burden of knowledge placed on them. Even if they were blessed by the Spring of Knowledge, the very spring of energy, insights and blessings harvested by Xyn the first god of the void, this feeling of weightless information felt somewhat strange for them. ¡°Why is this knowledge not weighted?¡± Dolores asked, while looking at Professor Atkinson: ¡°This - this information seems like they should be very, very heavy. But - but I don¡¯t feel the weight at all.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t feel it either.¡± Professor Atkinson said then looked up at the blob of fog that was Xyn: ¡°I don¡¯t get it.¡± ¡°This is¡­ curious, to say the least. The weight of knowledge is a nature of the very fabrics of which this universe consists.¡± Xyn said as he shrunk his size and descended from above and became a floating four-armed being - it had no eyes, but somehow when he turned his face towards both Professor Atkinson and Dolores: ¡°And it applies to everything - this is the first time that I¡¯ve seen it.¡± ¡°Wait, did you know about them before you became god?¡± Dolores asked with a frown. ¡°I knew about them long before - but the thing is, when I first became aware, I was already more powerful than other voidborns. And I¡¯ve rarely, if ever, felt the weight of knowledge.¡± Xyn floated before Professor Atkinson and Dolores and led them to a more spacious room with an almost dried up fountain at the center. ¡°What is this?¡± Professor Atkinson and Dolores asked at the same time. ¡°The Spring of Repentance - the last spring I harvested myself and still have in my possession, due to very lucky circumstances.¡± Xyn sighed: ¡°Come closer, if you would like you can try your luck with this spring, but I would advise caution. I cannot touch it, due to the wounds I still have today from my fall. I will aid you should you be curious to try - and I would be deeply indebted to you, if you¡¯d agree to share the knowledge you gain from it.¡± ¡°What does it do?¡± Dolores almost reached her hand into the small pool of transparent liquid at the bottom of the fountain, but she retrieved her hand in a slightly scared manner and asked. ¡°My decrees, my gospel, and the promises I once made to all of my believers and my heir.¡± Chapter 480 ¡°Professor, Dolores, nice to see you here.¡± inside the lounge of Xianshi Inn, Jianmen on a wheelchair welcomed two new visitors in, Professor Atkinson and Dolores. ¡°Mr. Yu, nice to have finally met you in person.¡± Professor Atkinson extended his hand to Jianmen and the two shared a firm handshake: ¡°What happened? And I haven¡¯t seen your avatar - I meant Mr. Lun Wang.¡± ¡°Oh, he had to go back into hibernation. He spent the last drop of his power dealing with some trash.¡± Jianmen chuckled and pointed to the diner and said: ¡°What do you want for drinks? Tea? Coffee? I recommend coffee, they¡¯re a special kind cultivated by the one and only Josephine Wong and roasted with my best roaster, it¡¯ll give you just the right kind of kicks without making you all jittery.¡± ¡°Thank you, that sounds lovely.¡± Professor Atkinson sat down by one of the tables in the diner. ¡°What about matcha cake? Can I have some?¡± Dolores asked with her hand raised while she was looking around at the interior of the inn: ¡°Unbelievable, I can¡¯t believe I¡¯ve never come here before - how many planes of space have you stacked inside this small space?¡± ¡°Around a hundred of them, enough for around a thousand guests and the highest floor will still be the third floor - most of them were actually never used.¡± Jianmen smiled and snapped his fingers, a coffee pot started brewing, then he rolled to the fridge and took out a fresh and uncut matcha cake: ¡°Actually technically you¡¯ve been here before Dolores, your mother stayed here for a few days while she was pregnant with you.¡± ¡°Hmm, really? I¡¯ve never heard her mentioning that.¡± Dolores took the plate handed over to her by Jianmen with a small piece of matcha cake on. ¡°It¡¯s probably no big deal. ¡± Jianmen picked up the coffee pot and poured three mugs of coffee for the guests and himself: ¡°So what brings you here? Did that mutual acquaintance of ours give you any more riddles to solve?¡± ¡°Christina! What the hell happened to your teeth?!¡± just this moment, they heard an angry female voice coming from outside the diner: ¡°Did you eat some random garbage again?¡±Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Get off! Get off!¡± another female voice similar to the one before protested: ¡°It¡¯s none of your business! ¡± ¡°Hey, ladies?¡± Jianmen rolled to the entrance of the diner and talked to the two black cats fighting on the ground: ¡°We¡¯re trying to have a conversation here - and there are civilian guests in the inn, so could you ¡­¡± ¡°Yes! You heard that Katherine?!¡± the black cat who was pinned down with her mouth forced open jumped into the garden at the back: ¡°Don¡¯t disturb the guests! And I am not leaving! You can just take my vote if you have to!¡± ¡°Christina, it¡¯s not that simple!¡± the other black cat jumped into the garden and started chasing her younger sister around in the garden. ¡°Sorry about that.¡± Jianmen closed the door to the diner and came back to the table. ¡°Are those Nekomatas?¡± Professor Atkinson asked. ¡°Yes, and I offered one of them free indefinite stay because she helped Jason with a major tribulation.¡± Jianmen chuckled: ¡°If you can catch up to them, I believe they¡¯re quite friendly and are willing to chat. So - where were we?¡± Professor Atkinson and Dolores proceeded to tell Jianmen about their experience at the edgelands, and they also tried their best to detail everything they saw from the Spring of Knowledge, as well as the information they collected from Xyn¡¯s temple. The fact that Xyn was the one responsible for his own fall, as well as the rupture of the void and indirectly the creation of what were known as the Elemental Realm and the realms of Fog Dwellers and Depth Dwellers, was quite a surprise to Jianmen as well - for when he first met Xyn, he could tell that Xyn was no ordinary God, but he had never thought that he would be responsible for the complete breakdown of a whole realm. But in the end it did make sense - Xyn was the first one to have ascended to Godhood from the void, and he undoubtedly had a deep connection to the void. What was more - Xyn was the first God level being Jianmen knew that had survived the fall in this good a condition - before Xyn, all the other fallen gods he encountered were all weakened to a point where there was practically no way to return to their former glory. Hoztang, another fallen god he was quite familiar with, had gone to the deep end and started using various unsavory means in attempts to recover its power, but even with those, it was nowhere near the level of Xyn. Jianmen even suspected, if Hoztang had shown itself to individuals like Josephine Wong, Nameless, Pei, Blue or even mostly physical fighters like Alexander or Vivian from Josephine Wong¡¯s team, it would be well within the realms of possibility that it end up slayed by these individuals. Because neither Professor Atkinson and Dolores nor was able to see or sense anything useful for their mission of locating Xyn¡¯s descendant from the Spring of Repentance at the bottom of the temple, Xyn gave them blessings and tokens for their passage into the edgelands again - two almost invisible tattoos on their left forearms. They were hesitant to go back, because of what happened with the Spring of Knowledge when they were there, which made the elementals stationed in the edgelands become not as friendly to them. ¡°Thank you for sharing this knowledge with me. I really appreciate it.¡± Jianmen let out a long exhale: ¡°These are some groundbreaking findings - just find the friggin¡¯ descendant, and you¡¯ll never have to worry about funding ever again.¡± Professor Atkinson and Dolores exchanged looks, then laughed resignedly at the same time. ¡°Wait, I have a question.¡± Jianmen refilled the coffee mugs for the two guests: ¡°Did Xyn tell you what he was before his ascension to Godhood?¡± Chapter 481 Both Professor Atkinson and Dolores went silent when they heard this question - they did have a very fragmented piece of this information, which they gathered from coming into contact with the Spring of Repentance - it was revealed through a series of random flashes of images in their heads, the weight of which stunted them for a few hours before they could even move again. ¡°Yes - but the information is really, really heavy, and random, and incoherent.¡± Dolores asked with concern in her eyes and voice: ¡°Are you sure? You looked - still in recovery. If we¡¯re not careful.¡± ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t worry, I have my own way of handling knowledge. ¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°Thank you for your consideration. Now, lay it on me.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Professor Atkinson exchanged looks with Dolores, then said: ¡°Let us try - we actually can¡¯t make good sense of it - we saw different things, but like Dolores just said, the information is very random and incoherent. We saw different things, Dolores, do you want to go first?¡± ¡°Sure - let me, let me try..¡± Dolores drank up all the coffee in her mug, took a deep breath and said: ¡°Here¡¯s what I saw: I saw a giant hand - a bit like the one I saw in the vision down below the Spring of Knowledge, but I could feel some kind of warmth around me - it¡¯s not directly radiating from the hand but somehow I know it came from it. And there was also this breeze of cool air blowing through my ears and to my face. I then saw a moving image of some kind of cosmic system, with stars, planets and asteroids and even several remote galaxies. Hrm, whoa - that was easier than I expected. Is it the coffee?¡± ¡°It might have helped.¡± Jianmen nodded with a slight frown: ¡°And these images and sensations, you sensed them after touching the ¡®Spring of Repentance¡¯?¡± ¡°What I first saw was a lake, connected to a river, inside of which flowed crystal blue liquid - it¡¯s definitely not water, but some other things. And in the lake, I could see living creatures with glowing bodies, not that dissimilar to the bodies of the elementals we met in the edgelands.¡± Professor Atkinson also finished his whole mug of coffee and said to Jianmen slowly, as if he was trying to come up with the most detailed description he could: ¡°There were strangely shaped trees around the lake, like they were made of moving crystals and rocks. Then I felt that I landed upon a mountainous high land with blue icy glaciers and red hot lava flowing through the ridges, I saw a giant eye in the sky, staring down at everything. There were lava flows, rocks and even crumbled boulders of ice that floated up to the sky, defying gravity. This time the whole land was barren and reeked of emptiness and despair.¡±Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Interesting.¡± Jianmen nodded while frowning harder: ¡°What are your theories about these visions you had?¡± ¡°It¡¯s his kingdom.¡± both Dolores and Professor Atkinson answered at the same time. ¡°It¡¯s a vision of what his kingdom looked like.¡± Dolores continued: ¡°We figured it¡¯s the only reason we could think of that these very small and incoherent pieces of information would weigh so much. But - ¡± ¡°But we¡¯re still not very sure.¡± Professor Atkinson scratched his head: ¡°Because something is not connecting - I vaguely remember something about God¡¯s kingdoms, which doesn¡¯t fit here.¡± ¡°Yes, it doesn¡¯t really fit. Because information about Gods¡¯ kingdoms is usually low in weight.¡± Jianmen nodded and picked up the coffee pot: ¡°More coffee?¡± ¡°Yes! Yes, this is the piece that doesn¡¯t connect.¡± Professor Atkinson slammed his hand on the table: ¡°Ouch, sorry - ¡± ¡°How come? It¡¯s information about gods, no?¡± Dolores asked and pushed her mug gently forward. ¡°Yes. But gods¡¯ kingdoms are also their ¡®heavens¡¯, they¡¯re places of happiness, companionship, ascension and the entrance of which is a reward for those faithful and those who sacrificed for their belief. ¡± Jianmen filled up Dolores¡¯ mug: ¡°If that information is weighted, they would have a hard time attracting believers.¡± ¡°Hmm - I see.¡± Dolores was silent for a brief moment, then sighed. ¡°So what could it be?¡± Professor Atkinson also gently pushed his coffee mug forward and wanted a refill. ¡°That I don¡¯t know yet. But I suspect something about the true nature of Xyn himself.¡± Jianmen gave the professor a refill, then put the coffee pot back on to the counter and let the coffee ground auto-fill and auto-brew: ¡°Did he say anything to you?¡± ¡°No. ¡± Dolores answered: ¡°He said that he needed to rest so he just disappeared.¡± ¡°Understandable.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°Sorry I couldn¡¯t be more helpful. But I think I may need to have more information instead. I should be getting something from Fubei Li soon, he¡¯s a bit late this time. I will let you know when I have something. What¡¯s your next step plan?¡± ¡°No, no, you¡¯ve helped a lot already, we really appreciate it. ¡± Professor Atkinson shook his head: ¡°We¡¯ll probably go back to the academy and spend more time in the archives next. Because of what happened, I think it¡¯s wise to wait a bit of time before we go back. ¡± ¡°I also have some documents and records about the elemental realm in my library, you¡¯re welcome to go and have a look.¡± Jianmen shrugged and said: ¡°Some are actually relatively rare, I bought them from one of the temps that used to work here. Even the Grant Academy doesn¡¯t have everything I have - at least I think so.¡± ¡°That - that would be wonderful, thank you!¡± Dolores¡¯ face lit up. Chapter 482 Alone and inside the basement, Jianmen was sitting on the ground in front of the altar, surrounded by several folded pieces of paper sigils and with his wooden wheelchair beside him, in a meditation pose. There were several lit candles placed around him, as well as two incense burners placed on the two front corners of the altar. At the centre of the altar were the sacrifices - a whole white fish caught from the creek inside his farm, a knot made with dried grass and rattan, and a small blue gem. Jianmen chanted a spell, one syllable at a time and with different lengths of pauses in between in a low voice. As he continued his chanting, the sacrifices at the center of the altar started burning in orange and golden flames. The incense sticks in the burners shortened slowly as the sacrifices became consumed by the flames, the smoke from which did not rise to the space above. But instead, it coiled around the center of the altar like snakes, forming into a small smoke ¡°vortex¡± with orange and golden flames in the middle. Cracking sounds came from the sacrifices just like things burning inside a normal fire. When the flame reached its highest, Jianmen tossed three bronze coins into the fire and blew a stream of air towards the flames. The flames reached a new height, then died down as if they were sucked away by something at their roots. Jianmen pushed the ground with both his hands to launch himself onto the wheelchair, then he rolled towards the altar to pick up the three red hot bronze coins. The sacrifices were all completely burnt down and all that was left was ashes. When Jianmen held the coins in his right hand and slowly clenched his fist, thousands of different images and pieces of memory replayed in his head: these were the memories from Fubei Li from the past few months - when he sent Fubei Li, one of his more independant avatars to aid Dave and Xyankor on their quest to find the new voidborn in a few millennia, his arrangement for Fubei Li was that they would ¡°synchronize¡± their memories and findings every two weeks to a month. But somehow, after the first time, Fubei Li did not manage to connect again - up until now. From the memories, Jianmen finally knew the reason why there was no contact for this long - Fubei Li followed Dave and Xyankor into the realm of Fog Dwellers, which was an immensely remote plane, one that Jianmen had very little knowledge about. And shortly after going into the realm of Fog Dwellers, he joined in on a fight to help the Fog Dwellers defend their realm against a wave of invasion of ¡°creatures of the gaps¡± and was thus injured in the fight. As of now, he was trying to recover his wounds in a healing pool while reading everything he can get his hands on, trying to understand the realm and Fog Dwellers more.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Aside from the much appreciated knowledge on the history, nature and culture of the Fog Dwellers, the memories did bring Jianmen something of a surprise - that the creatures of the gaps, a kind of beings with similarities to elementals he had never heard of before, actually came from a newly discovered young realm. A few thoughts crossed Jianmen¡¯s mind as he pondered upon the new information and knowledge Fubei Li gathered from the realm of the Fog Dwellers. All of this information may seem like not that much for the Depth Dwellers or Fog Dwellers, or any relatively high tier elementals or other voidborns, but for an outsider like him and Professor Atkinson and Dolores, this was completely new and could actually answer many of their questions. And on the other hand, the information gathered by Professor Atkinson and Dolores, thanks to the contract they had with Xyn, was also a precious piece of information, which apparently not many voidborns still knew - a lot of the evidence and records were lost during the rupture and in the subsequent chaotic ages of the different realms, and those who knew till this, had either retreated into seclusive lives, or had chosen not to tell until the right time comes, or just buried their memories deep like the almost immortal Depth Dwellers. ¡°Shit.¡± a theory regarding Xyn¡¯s nature formed in Jianmen¡¯s head, one that he intended to share with Professor Atkinson and Dolores, but he then decided to wait - until he could confirm that this theory had some concrete proof or at least indirect evidence. If he had the chance, he would like to ask Xyn himself about this theory, yet he was worried that the answer could be too heavy to handle right now - it would definitely require that he be in much better shape to be able to bear the weight of this knowledge. If his theory was correct, then it would mean that there was no surprise that Xyn was the first one from the void to have ascended to Godhood. It could even be the case, that he was meant to be the first God. Jianmen rolled himself out of the basement and into his room. Then with a snap of his finger, three heavy looking thick books appeared in the air right in front of him, all of their pages opened up and the pages started turning by themselves while surrounding Jianmen. ¡°Mr. Yu?¡± Rash¡¯s voice came from his door: ¡°Ms. Wong is here.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, tell her I¡¯ll be there in a minute, I am in the middle of something.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Rash said through the door: ¡°Oh, also Natalie asked for your answer again - what should I tell her?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell her anything yet. I¡¯ll give her the answer myself when I have it.¡± Chapter 483 Inside of her secret meeting place - a spacious underground room with a round table with several desks and a metal vase at the center, in which one and only one tall flower with seven almost entirely transparent petals was placed, Lady Vyn, or Lucias Vyn, was standing by the round table marvelling at the flower with a glass of glowing green wine in her glass. The door to the room opened, and the young woman that was almost always by her side came into the room, taking three individuals with her: the first one was a man wearing a facemask covering his upper face and had tattoos on his lower jaw; the second one was a woman with shoulder length hair in a suit of tight dark clothes and boots made of some matte fabric, and a robe on the outside; the final one was a short, bald and generally speaking unimpressive looking man in a stereotypical working class white shirt, khaki pants and cheap shoes. ¡°Thank you and welcome back, my agents.¡± Lady Vyn smiled at the three individuals and extended her hand at the table: ¡°Please, have a seat, we have all the best food waiting for you.¡± The short and bald man in the most normal clothes sat down without saying anything, and he took out a piece of cloth handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his bald spot when he settled into his seat, as if just this short walk had tired him out. ¡°I could smell it from miles away. It¡¯d better taste as good as it smells.¡± the man wearing a facemask sat down and said. ¡°Is this the blossom of the Crystal Lake?¡± the woman in tight clothes and a robe asked Lady Vyn when she sat down: ¡°It looks different ¡­ How many years?¡± ¡°Yes and no, it¡¯s picked from a mutated strand. One that we picked from the side of the Fire Pit¡± Lady Vyn smiled and sat down with the three agents: ¡°Good eyes, from what I¡¯ve been told, this one has all the normal properties, and is more effective as well. And different from the others, they had hard petals and they actually radiate their effect into the air as long as they are soaked in the water from the crystal lake. So much more useful and for general purposes.¡± ¡°No wonder our favorite shapeshifter is sweating like a pig here.¡± the man wearing a facemask looked at the short and bald man: ¡°You okay there man? You wanna head out for a bit while we eat?¡± ¡°No no. It¡¯s fine. ¡± the short and bald man wiped his face with his handkerchief: ¡°I am nothing but adaptable. I actually quite like this form - it just reminds me of the feebleness of human life, it brings back childhood memories.¡± This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Food is here.¡± the young woman opened the door, and four waiters with their eyes covered by pieces of dark cloth came in, each holding a tray. Though blindfolded, all four servers navitated the room without a hitch. All four of them placed the plates on their trays right in front of all four people sitting around the table, and gently lifted the lids. Lady Vyn had a piece of fish filet with some garnish and asparagus, the man wearing a mask had a piece of steak that was topped with a piece of butter; the woman in tight clothes and a robe had a bowl of noodles with thin slices of beef inside; and the short and bald man had a hamburger, some fries and a fogging sundae. ¡°Now, I hope all the food is prepared to your liking.¡± Lady Vyn smiled at all three agents: ¡°Let¡¯s eat.¡± Before she started to eat, Lady Vyn picked a petal off the flower at the center of the table, sliced it in two halves and placed the two pieces onto the garnish. ¡°Have some, if you¡¯d like. There are six petals now. I¡¯m old, so one for me would be enough.¡± Lady Vyn told her agents. The female agent picked a petal, then crushed it with her fingers and sprinkled it into her noodle. The bald and short man also picked a petal, and put it inside his burger, while the man wearing a facemask just put the petal he picked directly into his mouth. The female agent in tight clothes and a robe and the man wearing a facemask immediately started coughing and smoking from their mouth and even nose after they ate their petals, but the short and bald man and Lady Vyn just had to clear their throat gently. ¡°This is some good stuff, whoo!¡± the man wearing a facemask said, his lower face all turned red and droplets of sweat appeared on his cheek: ¡°Fucking hell! I could really taste the fire pit.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s sweating like a pig now, huh?¡± the short and bald man chuckled while coughing: ¡°Lady Vyn, thank you for the treat. Much appreciated.¡± ¡°Thank you. It¡¯s the least I can do.¡± Lady Vyn smiled and sliced her fish filet into tiny pieces. The four finished their main course in just about ten minutes, then, the same four servers came in blindfolded and handed everyone their drinks and dessert. ¡°Now. Let¡¯s talk about business.¡± Lady Vyn took a sip from her shot glass and said: ¡°What have you got for me? Do you have the codex with you?¡± ¡°No, unfortunately.¡± the man wearing a facemask and the woman in tight clothes looked at each other, then it was the short and bald man who started talking: ¡°In fact, we found documents from the Department of Dark Artifact stating that they had the vault prepared for it, but it was never delivered to them. We also checked the vault - it¡¯s not there.¡± ¡°But you know where it is?¡± Lady Vyn asked. ¡°We are able to deduce a few locations where it might be. And we have agents covering all of them. ¡± the short and bald man sighed: ¡°Not all of them have returned, but from the intel brought back by those who did, we could rule out a few.¡± ¡°What else? This is hardly anything - ¡± ¡°We¡¯ve got you this.¡± the woman in tight clothes reached into an inner pocket on her robe and took out a metal box. ¡°What is this?¡± Lady Vyn took the box slided to her by the female agent, opened it and saw only a small piece of light yellow rock enclosed in a smaller and transparent crystal case with runes and symbols carved on its surface: ¡°I don¡¯t remember asking for this.¡± ¡°An alternative to what you were seeking from the Hellinger Castle.¡± the short and bald man said: ¡°A Stone of Negation, one of three that were in the possession of the authorities, and the only one held by the Division.¡± Chapter 484 The room temperature seemed to have dropped by a few degrees when the short and bald man said what he said. Lady Vyn¡¯s eyes narrowed and her hand holding her shot glass froze in midair£º¡°How did you know?¡± ¡°I have walked this earth much longer than you, and I have heard of the deep secret hidden deep inside the Hellinger Castle.¡± the short and bald man shook his head and said: ¡°Though I am not sure why and how so much about this place has been so well hidden, but I HAVE heard things. ¡± ¡°And? What do you know?¡± Lady Vyn asked: ¡°What do you presume I want?¡± ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t dare assume what you want. ¡± the short bald man took a look at his fellow agents - who looked both curious and confused at the same time: ¡°But I think - being a High Broker of the Exalted Bondsmen, you must have access to information that we normal actors could only dream of. So this stone, being as powerful and heavily guarded as it is - I can¡¯t imagine that you do not have an idea of what it could do.¡± ¡°Blaven, Clarcy, can you give us a minute?¡± Lady Vyn put down her shot glass and said to the other two agents: ¡°And yes, feel free to take the vase with you.¡± The other two agents stood up, the man wearing a facemask tried to grab the vase, but he found that the female agent had already had it in her hand. And following the lead of the young woman who was almost always by Lady Vyn¡¯s side, they went out of the room and closed the door. ¡°Now, Master Unnamed, give me a reason not to reprimand you for prying into my secret.¡± Lady Vyn said in a clear and calm voice. ¡°How about the fact that I have uncomparable knowledge on how to use this stone, and how to use it effectively.¡± the short and bald man moved his neck and shoulders and he grew by a few inches: ¡°Now, also to warn you, there are more than a handful of people in this world that know about the secrets buried in the Hellinger Castle. The moment your goal of finding that codex was exposed, people will try to beat you to it. I don¡¯t think I need to remind you who that might be, and I am lucky to have come into contact with someone who once worked for your enemies.¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Quite convincing. What else?¡± Lady Vyn asked: ¡°And I don¡¯t suppose you had an encounter with the two-faced witch Summers herself?¡± ¡°No, but someone from her organization that was once stationed in the Grant Academy.¡± Master Unnamed smiled: ¡°Oh, the things they knew about, you¡¯d better be quick, or they¡¯ll find it and try to take what is rightfully yours. I don¡¯t think you have much defense around it, do you?¡± ¡°... no.¡± Lady Vyn sighed: ¡°Thank you, I really appreciate it if you¡¯ll keep this between us.¡± ¡°No problem, what are long time partners for?¡± Master Unnamed was no longer in his short bald man shape, now he was a tall, muscular man with three eyes - with an additional eye up on his forehead which was currently closed. ¡°Now, I want to find the actual codex, now.¡± Lady Vyn finished all the concentrated medicinal wine in her shot glass: ¡°You said you know where it could be. Now, I want you to check the place out, find it out, by any means necessary.¡± ¡°Okay. But you¡¯d need an emergency plan, just in case we couldn¡¯t find it.¡± Master Unnamed nodded. ¡°Why? You¡¯re not confident you will get it?¡± ¡°All I am saying is that there¡¯s more than just us and the other High Brokers in this race.¡± Master Unnamed shook his head: ¡°You¡¯ll have to excuse me, for the memory I ingested about this information is very fuzzy and scrambled - that poor guy must be scared shitless by it. But we have a very powerful player out there, if we¡¯re not careful he might play against us.¡± ¡°Who is this player?¡± Lady Vyn asked: ¡°And what kind of power level are we talking about?¡± ¡°Unknown.¡± Master Unnamed said: ¡°But he almost took down Timothy Durbin - if not for the mortality scapegoat Timothy Durbin had, he would be completely dead, and we¡¯d be off a major pain in the ass.¡± ¡°That¡¯s powerful, but doesn¡¯t sound totally worrisome.¡± Lady Vyn said: ¡°With careful preparation and some setup, many could have done that. I could do it, mortality scapegoats or not.¡± ¡°That player fought him face to face, when Timothy¡¯s fully charged in his power, and with only one blow.¡± ¡°Okay, then gather as much information about him as possible before you act. Be careful. But do be fast.¡± ¡°Understood, I will take my team immediately. ¡± ¡°Four days.¡± Lady Vyn said: ¡°You have four days. With or without the codex, we will depart and venture into my family castle. Brute forcing the riddle would be sub-optimal, but I am still a Hellinger - if anyone can solve it, it¡¯s gonna be me.¡± Chapter 485 ¡°Lady Vyn, it¡¯s your brother. It seems urgent.¡± mere moments after sending off Master Unnamed, the young woman who was waiting outside of the meeting room handed a small tablet to Lady Vyn. ¡°Thank you.¡± Lady Vyn sighed: ¡°No need to wait for me. I¡¯ll call when I need you.¡± The young woman nodded and bowed before she closed the door and went away. Lady Vyn proceeded to sit down by the round table and turned on the tabley. ¡°So it is true, you ARE trying to change our plans and doing the very things we promised we would never do.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn from the Grant Academy appeared on the screen of the tablet: ¡°May I know why, sister?¡± ¡°Legacy.¡± Lady Vyn answered in a tired voice and almost one word at a time: ¡°I want to have a legacy. Brother, I don¡¯t know what you think of this, I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve come to this stage in your life where you¡¯d start to think about this. But I have seen my end coming - there¡¯s nothing I can do to stop it. So I want to have a legacy - and honestly, I couldn¡¯t think of a better way to do it. If you could, please let me know.¡± ¡°What do you mean ¡®Legacy¡¯?¡± Assistant Professor Vyn asked with a frown. ¡°I meant what I said.¡± ¡°You and I both know that is not possible. That¡¯s settled the minute we swore with True Words vowing the end of the Hellinger line.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn said in a cold voice: ¡°The chains from the Realm of Oblivion had already bound our souls - you can¡¯t go back on that choice. WE can¡¯t go back.¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°Not by any normal means.¡± Lady Vyn shook her head: ¡°But it is possible. You and I both know about the secret buried deep in the Hellinger Castle. And not just anything behind that wall of riddles, I meant the Crown Jewel of the research done by the most blessed of the Hellingers. The one could break even the toughest of chains.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s why you need the codex, you need it to get through the wall.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn sighed: ¡°But we don¡¯t know that it exists. We don¡¯t know that it¡¯s not further guarded. For all we know, the notes were only plans, blueprints or even exaggerations of what they had. The Hellingers were not exactly known for their modesty and their awareness of their flaws. All of this effort, sacrificing your men for this slim possibility of you wanting to break away from the vows we took?¡± ¡°Why? What do I have to lose?¡± Lady Vyn asked: ¡°What do WE have to lose? Brother - after all these years, hasn¡¯t the taste of vengeance lost its kick? I am tired - of us living in the past and still in the shadows of Hellinger. I haven¡¯t forgotten our vow - I still want the Hellinger line to end and the curse or blessing to stop existing. But I want MY line now, I want OUR line. I don¡¯t want the name Vyn to end when I shed this cursed shell and marched towards the light. I want us to matter, and our stories be whispered and heard.¡± ¡°What have you seen?¡± Assistant Professor Vyn stared at Lady Vyn for almost one full minute, before he asked. ¡°My end. Our end.¡± Lady Vyn answered: ¡°And the nothingness is - terrifying.¡± ¡°... when?¡± ¡°In four days. With or without the codex.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t brute force the riddle alone - well, I know you CAN, but you shouldn¡¯t, ever. And the other players wouldn¡¯t want to miss out either. I¡¯ll bring all my men, and you shouldn¡¯t move alone.¡± ¡°Thank you, brother.¡± ¡°How is it going with the war?¡± Assistant Professor asked after letting out a long sigh: ¡°Whatever your plans are, you¡¯d better find a way to handle them quickly and prepare a devastating blow. The sabotage of their blood bank to destabilize their supply is a nice touch, but it¡¯s not going to do much if they can reorganize their operations. ¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I might be facing two players at the same time, but we still have the upperhand in terms of manpower.¡± Lady Vyn said: ¡°Also, I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve heard. Beverly Winters has not appeared for quite a while, which makes the rumor that her power is fading more true.¡± ¡°Even so, don¡¯t underestimate Soren Lupei - though the lycans and vampires are dwindling in numbers, nobody is going to easily win an all out war against them.¡± ¡°That you don¡¯t need to worry about.¡± Lady Vyn said with a smile: ¡°I can take care of Winters. She thought hiding from me is going to buy her time, but I know much, much more about her operation than she¡¯s realized. ¡± Chapter 486 ¡°How¡¯s the best liaison from the Division California has ever had?¡± inside of his farm, Jianmen found Josephine Wong sitting by a creek with her feet dipped in the water, her purple outer robe placed on the side, revealing her inner tank top that was just like that of a sporty young woman, and a few bottles on the side - all of which used to hold the plum wine that was served in the inn. ¡°Drunk, and not happy.¡± Josephine Wong turned her head to Jianmen, her face slightly red, and her words were slurring a little, indicating that she was indeed drunk, which was rare for her because for a mage her age, and her level of power, she¡¯d never get drunk unless it was a really powerful wine, or that she wanted to get drunk: ¡°How¡¯s your, your uh, ¡®research¡¯?¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re really drunk, you wanna clear your head up a little?¡± Jianmen struggled off his wheelchair and sat down by the creek with Josephine Wong and dipped his feet in the water as well. The fishes in the creek, though some ferocious and even dangerous looking, all chose to swim around their feet and dared not even think about taking a bite. ¡°No, no. I needed this.¡± Josephine Wong laid back with only her left arm supporting her body and her right hand holding a bottle of plum wine: ¡°You know, I¡¯ve been keeping my head clear for quite a while now. Maybe too long, and I want to, for once, do something maybe a little stupid.¡± ¡°Your action movies are kinda stupid.¡± Jianmen chuckled. ¡°Hey!¡± Josephine Wong kicked Jianmen¡¯s left foot underwater: ¡°You told me to try being an actress for my Trial of Red Dust. Those are on you!¡± ¡°Well, in that case I was lying, you were great.¡± Jianmen laughed out loud: ¡°Not as great as your being a mage, but still, as a spy, as a superheroine, and as an evil witch with white hair, you were absolutely stunning. Just, you know, a little too pretty for complicated and layered roles.¡± ¡°And now as a lousy liaison, who can¡¯t even rally a troop to fight the actual embodiment of evil.¡± Josephine Wong sighed and looked up: ¡°My team will be with me, of course, and you will be there. But that¡¯s about all I¡¯ve got.¡±The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°The Security Council turned down your plea? Even with the relic?¡± Jianmen frowned. ¡°Yep, unfortunately, because there¡¯s no one they can connect that relic to. They rather have me flipping through the list of connected contractors to continue cleaning up and rebuilding San Francisco, or create some kind of task force targeting the civil war amongst High Brokers - and maybe even facilitate the mission to find other potential High Brokers.¡± ¡°Well, at least they¡¯re trying to do SOMETHING useful. What did they say?¡± ¡°They need more evidence, because it is an indefinite threat, and they don¡¯t want to consider allocating any resources until I can find concrete proof that the defilers and desolators are really heading towards us.¡± ¡°Well, the thing is, this kind of evidence is always indirect - until they actually show up.¡± Jianmen said with a heavy frown: ¡°Yes we can technically quote omens and disrupted energy fields as precursors for their arrival, but that¡¯s very easily missed or misinterpreted.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, I know that.¡± Josephine Wong said, shaking her head: ¡°I¡¯ve also sent word to the Grant Academy, hopefully at least Tony and Glenda will get back to me. But they¡¯ve been caught up in the clean up work at the academy - that unknown monster emerging from the tunnel under the hunting ground has kept them very busy.¡± ¡°Okay. ¡± Jianmen sighed: ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be with me, right?¡± after a short moment of silence, Josephine Wong turned to Jianmen and asked. ¡°Yes. Every step of the way.¡± Jianmen smiled, gently raised his hand and almost held Josephine Wong¡¯s hand. But he still pulled back at the last moment. ¡°Then stay with me for a while. I don¡¯t know what to do.¡± Josephine Wong turned and looked at the places afar, where the families of Jason, Caroline and the Chavers were having a music party at a tall magical bazaar, surrounded by dancing magical deers, monkeys and birds. ¡°Well, I have a suggestion.¡± Jianmen thought for a while and said: ¡°Not that I¡¯m trying to be the ¡®let me tell you how to fix it¡¯ guy, but I propose we do a thing, where we can blow off some steam, help you with your leverage in negotiating resource with the Security Council, and also helped me a little bit. You can bring your apprentice or your students if you¡¯d like, but it could be a bit dangerous for the detectives.¡± ¡°An outing event, huh?¡± Josephine Wong chuckled: ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re in good condition to go out?¡± ¡°I can just sit on the sideline while you have a good time. So maybe I won¡¯t be doing as much.¡± Jianmen said with a bright smile on his face: ¡°And maybe you¡¯ll find something new, I can¡¯t guarantee anything but an exciting time. ¡± ¡°Sounds intriguing.¡± Josephine Wong finished the whole bottle of plum wine in her hand: ¡°One more question before we go - what do you mean it will help you a little bit?¡± Chapter 487 An old and almost broken-looking car stopped on the side of a street in a small town with fairly densely distributed buildings, beside a tree with crooked branches and dark green leaves. The streets were dirty, the weather was cold, and the air reeked of some kind of rotting smell combined with a ¡°spicy¡± scent, which made it quite an annoying and unpleasant place for normal people to be around. ¡°This smell is definitely a nice touch.¡± Josephine Wong got out of the car, dressed in a civilian T-shirt with the Chinese phrase ¡°I love Tofu¡± written on it, a pair of jeans, combat boots and a pair of extra dark sunglasses: ¡°This looks like the right neighborhood I would use. And it seems we are under surveillance already.¡± ¡°See? What did I tell you?¡± Jianmen got out of the driver¡¯s seat, also with a pair of sunglasses on his face and adjusted his worn canvas jacket and his T-shirt with a Shiba Inu logo on his chest: ¡°I did a quick divination on this place - the defences are not that hard to break, even our students can do what we¡¯re about to do with some careful planning.¡± ¡°Hmm, what about potential hidden powerhouses stationed here that cloaked themselves?¡± ¡°I suspected we might have at least one here. That¡¯s why we¡¯re here, aren¡¯t we?¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°And don¡¯t forget, stealth is still key, primary objective first. But, don¡¯t forget to have fun.¡± ¡°Sometimes your reactions to things are so relatable that I forgot you used to be a god.¡± Josephine Wong chuckled, shaking her head and closed the car door: ¡°I mean, lives are still at stake.¡± ¡°Welp.¡± Jianmen adjusted his sunglasses and said: ¡°I promised to try. I didn¡¯t promise that it would be done perfectly as she would¡¯ve expected. And what¡¯s that saying about snitches? They get switches?¡± ¡°Stitches.¡± Josephine Wong almost laughed out loud, gently clutched her pink purse and extended her hand towards Jianmen. Jianmen took Josephine Wong¡¯s arm, and they walked down the road from where Jianmen parked down the street. The distinct smell was present throughout the whole area, and it stuck to both their clothes like it was from vaporized oil in the air. But neither paid much attention, and they just kept walking, while pretending to be bothered by it.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. The entire neighborhood was full of old but classic looking buildings that were seemingly built with bricks and concrete, instead of commonly used wood. The streets and roads were quite dirty and uneven, one could see stains everywhere on the roads and the walls around. This rough and rundown look, combined with the bad and cloudy weather, the smell, and the narrow streets where there was basically no place to park, had made the entire town quite unwelcoming. But from the looks of the local residents, they didn¡¯t seem to mind it at all. ¡°Hello?¡± Jianmen and Josephine Wong went inside of a small motel with an almost entirely broken billboard and doors that looked barely functional, and Jianmen asked the old man standing behind a counter reading a stained newspaper with a crooked eye and a horrifying scar on his bald head in a nervous tone: ¡°We need some help. I - I was wondering if there¡¯s a mechanic shop somewhere nearby?¡± ¡°No.¡± the old man took a brief look at Jianmen and said. ¡°Please, our car broke down - ¡± "No." the old man said and sucked his teeth, making a loud and unpleasant sound. ¡°Hi, excuse me, Mister.¡± Josephine Wong laid down a 5 dollar bill on the counter and said: ¡°We really need some help. Our piece of crap car broke down by the side of the road, and we tried calling our insurance but they said it will take them hours.¡± ¡°Rooms are 25 dollars per night.¡± the old man pointed at a wooden board on the side. ¡°Okay, then we¡¯d like a room.¡± Josephine Wong put three more bills on the counter, making it 30 dollars: ¡°And keep the change.¡± The old man stared at both Jianmen and Josephine Wong for a short while, long enough to make any unsuspecting civilian uncomfortable and creeped out, before sliding the bills down into a drawer: ¡°No, ain¡¯t no mechanic shops around here. If your car broke down in this fucking town, you¡¯re shit outta luck.¡± ¡°Then can you at least tell us where to rent a car?¡± Josephine Wong took a look at Jianmen then her phone, and said. ¡°You can go across the street and ask Jimbo.¡± the old man said: ¡°He might have a car you can use. But it¡¯s gonna cost ya.¡± ¡°Alright, thank you.¡± Josephine Wong said and tried to drag Jianmen away. ¡°Wait.¡± the old man stopped them. ¡°Huh?¡± Jianmen turned back looking worried and even a little frightened. ¡°Your keys, Room 313. We don¡¯t have any rooms on the first two floors.¡± the old man tossed a key with a cracked and slightly greasy plastic keychain onto the counter and said. ¡°Thank ¡­ thank you.¡± Jianmen took the keychain and went out with Josephine Wong. ¡°Alright, I owe you a drink now.¡± halfway across the street, Josephine Wong said to Jianmen with her mind: ¡°Looks like the ¡®Overly Needed Influencer¡¯ persona is not necessary. How¡¯d you know they would let us stay?¡± ¡°We¡¯re civilians to them.¡± Jianmen replied: ¡°If we¡¯re power wielders - then they will more likely try to shoo us away to prevent us from finding out anything. But since we¡¯re civilians, I¡¯d imagine they would be less cautious and would not hesitate to torment us for a bit, or even try something nastier.¡± ¡°So, Jimbo¡¯s car¡¯s gonna be really expensive, isn¡¯t it?¡± Chapter 488 ¡°Two thousand dollars for this car?! Are you kidding me?!¡± inside an old, smelly pawn shop with sticky floors and moldy walls, Jianmen¡¯s loud yell could be heard by almost the entire street: ¡°This car can barely drive!¡± ¡°That¡¯s the price you¡¯re gonna get. This one¡¯s been here for years, and I¡¯ve been taking good care of her - if you can¡¯t take the price, I have some bicycles with training wheels some dipshit father pawned for some quick cash and never returned. I¡¯ll give you those for a hundred, how ¡®bout that?¡± the overweight man with a grossly under-groomed beard and mustache said to Jianmen and Josephine Wong with food crumbs and droplets of beer on his facial hair: ¡°You won¡¯t find nothing like what I have here anywhere in this freaking town. And, uh, trust me, you don¡¯t wanna spend too much time in this place if you¡¯re not from here.¡± ¡°What the hell does that mean?¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay, dear.¡± Josephine Wong patted Jianmen on his chest and said, like a real girlfriend trying to calm her boyfriend: ¡°We don¡¯t have that much cash with us. Do you take credit cards? Or do you accept mobile payments?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not taking none of that nerdy techy mumble-jumble. I only take green I can see and count with my own damn fingers.¡± the overweight man took a gulp of beer while laughing in a gloating manner, beer spewed from his mouth and dripped from his beard and his already stained shirt: ¡°A¡¯ight, I¡¯m in a very generous mood. So tell you what, my offer can stay here for another day or two while you get the cash.¡± Jianmen did not say anything and just turned around and burst out of the door, acting like he was indeed upset. ¡°So now what? ¡± Josephine Wong asked: ¡°When does that part about us blowing off steam start? This place is really giving me a ¡®it better be gone or renovated¡¯ feeling.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We can start tonight.¡± Jianmen replied: ¡°Our room is 313, no way in hell the rooms on the first and second floors are empty. So I think, remember this is just my theory, if they¡¯re trying to torment us, they will no doubt try to trick us into one of those rooms and torment us using illusion or nightmares.¡± ¡°Hmm, you think so?¡± Josephine Wong held onto Jianmen¡¯s left arm and said: ¡°I think they will probably try to use illusions trying to scare us out of our room instead. And where do you think that girl¡¯s family is held?¡± ¡°Oh I already know that, they¡¯re in a dungeon, under Jimbo¡¯s Pawn Shop.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°We just need them to focus on tormenting someone, while we go into the dungeon and find the family, and maybe a few more other hostages.¡± ¡°That¡¯s very¡­ very considerate of you.¡± Josephine Wong sighed again as she looked down on the dirty floor ahead of them.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it At night, thinking they were acting in total secrecy, Jimbo, the owner of the pawn shop, Karl, the old man with one crooked eye behind the counter of the motel, Madeline and Trent, the old couple running a small grocery store a few minutes¡¯ walk up the street, and Vincent, their supervisor, the most well dressed of the lot and the Town¡¯s mayor all gathered together inside of a clean, cozy and spacious room with drinks and luxury food placed on an L shaped table in the corner, and several screens showing live footage of Jianmen and Josephine Wong¡¯s room from various angles, all from magically hidden cameras. ¡°What¡¯s the story this time?¡± Vincent the mayor asked as he stuffed a biscuit topped with caviar into his mouth: ¡°Stranded young couple?¡± ¡°Yeah, stupid boyfriend and hot girlfriend.¡± Karl said: ¡°Don¡¯t know how they got here, don¡¯t care. Their fucking car broke down - as it would.¡± All the people in the room started laughing. ¡°Are we cutting them loose or are we keeping them?¡± Trent asked. ¡°Oh, Trent, Madeline is sitting right there.¡± Jimbo laughed as he drank his red wine directly from the bottle: ¡°I thought brunette¡¯s not your type!?¡± ¡°Shut the fuck up, Jimbo.¡± Trent flinched in pain as Madeline pinched his belly fat: ¡°Ouch! Madeline, baby, I would never! I¡¯m just asking if we want to keep some pets around, you know, for the show.¡± ¡°Even if we are keeping them for the show, we¡¯ll need to fix her face.¡± Madeline stared at a screen showing the footage from the bathroom, where Josephine Wong was washing her face in a thin and tight T-shirt: ¡°And her ¡­. her everything.¡± ¡°Oh whoo.¡± Karl laughed and said: ¡°Never seen Madeline so pissed before, and for a really good reason.¡± ¡°She¡¯s about to shower. ¡± Vincent also had his eyes fixated on the screen depicting the bathroom. ¡°Oh, come on, come on, come on!¡± Jimbo yelled as droplets of red wine spilled on his shirt as Josephine Wong found some towers and put them on the rack near the shower and was ready to lift her shirt: ¡°Come on baby, show us the goods!¡± ¡°You fucking pigs!¡± Madeline cursed and clapped her hands, banging the metal rings on her fingers together. The shadow of a pale, thin and severely wounded woman appeared in the bathroom mirror just in front of Josephine Wong. Josephine Wong instantly jolted backwards screaming and fell into the shower, almost banging her head on the metal handle bar on the wall. This commotion brough Jianmen into the bathroom, and he helped Josephine Wong up and brought her back out of the bedroom and onto the bed. Aside from Trent, all the other men in the room groaned and complained as things developed this way. ¡°Fuck me, Madeline, I knew inviting you was a fucking mistake!¡± Karl grabbed a large piece of steak from the table and made himself a steak sandwich while shaking his head. ¡°We have internet here, if you¡¯re so goddamn thirsty just go watch porn like you would every day!¡± Madeline said loudly: ¡°Focus!¡± ¡°Come on, Madeline, let people have fun.¡± Vincent as he picked up a cocktail and ate the olive first: ¡°You and Trent have each other, but we don¡¯t have anyone here! We¡¯re bored and want some actions every now and then!¡± ¡°You can always go on the frontline and fight the lycans and blood suckers.¡± Madeline stared right back at all the other men staring at her. ¡°Alright! You used your turn already, no more for you unless we all have our turns!¡± Jimbo said, shaking his wine bottle: ¡°And I am saving mine until I¡¯ve seen some action! Who¡¯s with me!?¡± ¡°Yeah right Jimbo!¡± Karl laughed out loud: ¡°I¡¯m with you!¡± Yet unbeknownst to them, the footage they were seeing, were actually scripted and programmed performances done by a meticulous but not too difficult spell, which means there would be enough close calls to keep them engaged but never any actual ¡°action¡±. And at the same time the real Jianmen and Josephine Wong had already found a secret trap door to the dungeon under an old wooden cabinet with a ten thousand dollar price tag. Chapter 489 It was a dungeon, but it was a really nice looking dungeon. Jianmen and Josephine Wong could see the metal bars and doors with magical symbols engraved on them and even active defensive and fortifying arrays on the ceiling, which were no doubt here for the imprisonment of all the hostages and families of the agents under the employment of Lady Vyn. But on the other hand, the rooms behind bars and metal doors seemed quite comfortable - they were not like the rooms in Xianshi Inn with some rooms as spacious as castles or mansions, but they still seemed cozy enough like a big tent or a bazaar with all the necessary furniture and magical air conditioning to not make the ¡°guests¡± feel too much like prisoners. ¡°Look for this symbol.¡± Jianmen showed Josephine Wong a small piece of paper: ¡°It should be written on the door or the wall.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go left, you go right.¡± Josephine Wong took a look at the piece of paper and nodded. Both of them were under the protection of a specifically crafted and casted cloaking spell, aiming to counter all of the surveillance spells in this place. Right now unless they started causing a ruckus or started breaking things, none of the people that ran this town could notice them. The dungeon underneath Jimbo¡¯s Pawn Shop was built like a big maze, with intentionally identical exterior, decorations, lights and even patterns on the wall. Both Jianmen and Josephine Wong also noticed on their own that the ways the bricks were placed on the ground were meticulously arranged so that they not only looked the same as the arrangements in other spots, they also composed a larger and grander pattern where they became a barely noticeable confusion and disorientation array, where if the intruder was not careful they would easily get lost. It was no doubt designed by someone who really knew what they were doing. But that didn¡¯t matter right now, for one, the intruders were careful and did their homework, not to mention that they were not ordinary power wielders; and for two, the place was not very well maintained and was functioning at a low energy mode, which also greatly limited the effectiveness of these arrays. Jianmen rushed down one of the walkways floating in the air just inches above the ground. With the dim lighting in the walkway, the orange light from the torches and magical lights on the walls barely lighting the environment up, if anyone should look outside of the metal door or through the metal bars they would have mistaken him for a ghost, which was actually a reaction he kind of wanted to trigger from the hostages here. But unfortunately, all the way here not even one prisoner noticed him - everyone locked in seemed to be mostly either minding their business in the back of their rooms/cells, or they were visibly under the influence of either alcohol or drugs, that they were mostly non-responsive even when Jianmen got intentionally close to them. Along the way, Jianmen also spent some time inspecting the different cells/rooms and sometimes the people inside. Whenever he saw someone he felt that could be useful in creating chaos here, he would place two folded paper sigils on the floor in front of the metal gates or bars. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Found it.¡± Josephine Wong said to Jianmen remotely from almost the other side of the dungeon: ¡°Here, at my position.¡± ¡°On my way.¡± Jianmen left a small folded paper sigil at the corner and changed course to head to Josephine Wong¡¯s place. With the co-location spell they had between each other, both Jianmen and Josephine Wong were aware of each other¡¯s locations all the time. Which also rendered the confusion and disorientation effect of the arrays here meaningless. The cell/room where Natalie¡¯s family were held was behind metal bars, with barely any symbols carved on them or the walls around so it looked like they were not prisoners of high threat levels. ¡°Let¡¯s break out some other prisoners first?¡± Josephine Wong pointed at some other cells around: ¡°Snitch or not, we¡¯ve gotta protect our informant to the best of our abilities.¡± ¡°Yes, of course. I made preparations, just like you.¡± Jianmen looked at the direction from which Josephine Wong came, and he saw purple paper flowers placed in front of different rooms and cells as well. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡± Josephine Wong snapped her fingers, and some of the paper flowers were instantly lit up in purple flames. When coming into contact with the purple light released by the purple flames, the metal gates and bars with symbols carved on them started smoking and loosening, and shortly, the gates and bars themselves became corroded and rusted as if they just went through thousands of years of time in a mere instant. ¡°You¡¯re just too graceful.¡± Jianmen chuckled and clapped his hands: ¡°Now I feel like a troglodyte.¡± ¡°Boom!¡± ¡°Boom!¡± a couple of low explosive sounds resounded in the dungeon, and later came the loud clunks of metal hitting the floor. ¡°As long as the job gets done.¡± Josephine Wong smiled, raised her right leg and kicked the bars in front of her. ¡°Bang!¡± the metal door shattered like glass with just one kick, and they could hear the scuffles inside, presumably due to the people in this room scrambling for cover and not understanding what was going on. Jianmen and Josephine Wong burst into the room - this cell was like a small condo with a balcony, but the scenery outside was just an empty pit painted blue and with some trees, floors and birds drawn on the walls to fake a view. ¡°Who are you?!¡± an old man held a dull kitchen knife in his hand, with an old woman, a young boy and a teenage girl behind him: ¡°What do you want?¡± Josephine Wong snapped her fingers again and conjured a magical bubble covering the entire cell: ¡°Are you the family of Natalie, Natalie Brown?¡± Chapter 490 ¡°Who¡¯s asking?¡± the old man¡¯s hand and voice were both trembling, but he still stood firm between Josephine Wong and those behind him. Jianmen took a look at Josephine Wong and stood back to observe the changes in the environment as well as every other prisoner in this dungeon. ¡°Someone who¡¯s here to bust you out, and take you to Natalie Brown.¡± Josephine Wong extended her hand to them and spoke with a soft and low voice: ¡°Come with me if you wanna live.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s Natalie, what¡¯s going on?¡± the old woman came forward and asked. ¡°You¡¯re her mother, I assume?¡± Josephine Wong looked at the old woman: ¡°She¡¯s in a safe place with us. She agreed to cooperate with us in exchange for breaking you out and taking you to her. Come with us.¡± ¡°They¡¯re coming back from the motel.¡± Jianmen reminded Josephine Wong from behind: ¡°I¡¯ll go find some others to take back.¡± ¡°Come with us.¡± seeing that Natalie¡¯s family were still very hesitant, Josephine Wong insisted: ¡°Look, if we want to hurt you, we¡¯d done that already, okay? She¡¯s safe with us - but she¡¯s worried about you. And she won¡¯t be truly safe if she knew that you¡¯re still out here as hostages.¡± ¡°What¡¯s her pass code?¡± just this moment, the young boy asked: ¡°She has a pass code for us. If she really sent you, she would have told you this.¡± ¡°Red Bean Cake.¡± Jianmen answered: ¡°She told me if you have questions, just say Red Bean Cake.¡± ¡°It¡¯s true.¡± the young boy¡¯s eyes sparkled as he turned to the old man and the old woman. ¡°Come on.¡± Josephine Wong gave each one of them a purple paper flower: ¡°Activate this when you feel that you might get attacked. You shouldn¡¯t need them, but just in case. And before we go, we¡¯ll need a tiny bit of your blood.¡± ¡°Come on! You wanna fucking die or what? Come with me if you want to have a chance of survival¡­ no! I don¡¯t fucking care if you bring your cupcake!¡± outside of this one cell, Jianmen was randomly selecting people from this dungeon to take with him.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Even though they managed to break down the locks and barriers to at least fifty cells in this dungeon, only less than one third of them were in a state where they could or even wanted to leave - most of them just started randomly wandering around as if they were still under the influence of some kind of disorientation spell or drug. And for the few of them who could respond to Jianmen¡¯s invitation, many of whom declined, either out of fear for Lady Vyn, or for fear of facing the unknown out there having been locked in this place for too long. ¡°Okay, but how are we gonna get outta here?¡± the old man asked: ¡°The exit will be guarded, and this place has a locking array to prevent portals from being constructed...¡± ¡°No worries, we will find our way out.¡± Josephine Wong sensed the energy fields briefly and said: ¡°If not, we can forcefully create one, but it¡¯s gonna take some preparation.¡± ¡°I think they¡¯re on their way here.¡± Jianmen brought three sickly looking men in broken clothes of different colors and one woman in cartoonishly thick clothes with him and told Josephine Wong: ¡°Let¡¯s go, maybe we will have time to bring more out later.¡± Both Josephine Wong and Jianmen led the people they took from the underground dungeon to the entrance through which they came in. But by the time they got there, they saw three individuals on their way in and with different kinds of magical weapons in their hands. One of them was Jimbo, the man who owned and ran the Pawn Shop, and the other two were an old man and an old woman, who they saw when they passed by a small grocery store on their way into this town. ¡°What the - ¡± ¡°How - ¡± ¡°Fuck!¡± Before any of the three individuals could react, Josephine Wong charged at all three of them with a string of afterimages behind her. Jimbo was only able to raise his hand holding a curved short sword before he was kicked in the stomach, then chest, and finally face and his body was sent into the air with the curved short sword flying off his hand. The old woman yelled out a spell and tried to point her dark red crooked twig of a wand at Josephine Wong but her wrist and forearm was grabbed by Josephine Wong and had her aim misdirected - a bolt of pale white energy shot out from the tip of her wand and hit the old man beside her instead, which threw him onto the wall on his side, leaving marks of splattered blood on the wall and knocking him completely unconscious. ¡°You fucking bit - ¡± the old woman was about to scream and curse but was cut off by a karate chop to the side of her neck and knocked her out as well. Jimbo crawled up and tried to launch another attack, but Josephine Wong just launched a fist strike from a distance and a giant bolt of light blue energy crashed into Jimbo¡¯s body like a small car and almost embedded him into the brick wall behind him. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡± Josephine Wong adjusted her hair and said to Jianmen and all those following them. ¡°Boom!¡± the trap door under Jimbo¡¯s Pawn Shop was blown open by a powerful energy blast from below, and a total of ten people emerged from the hole where it once was. ¡°Okay, when you get out of the portal, go into the inn, someone will be there to bring you to your rooms.¡± Josephine Wong swung her right arm from high to low and opened up a portal giving off purple and blue light on her right side: ¡°Go, now!¡± Natalie¡¯s family did not hesitate and went into the portal as fast as they could, the people Jianmen found, on the other hand, needed some convincing and even shoving. Chapter 491 Before the last few hostages from the dungeon taken by Jianmen completely disappeared into the portal, Jimbo¡¯s Pawn Shop was leveled in mere seconds by a powerful tornado. Josephine Wong raised her two arms and conjured a light blue wall of energy around them and blocked off the destructive power of the tornado. With the entire pawn shop gone, Josephine Wong and Jianmen saw the man who ran the motel in which they stayed, and another man whom they never met before standing right outside, staring at them with weapons in their hands. The man who ran the motel had a barbed wooden bat stained with blood, while the other man, someone who actually wore a suit and had a pair of glasses on his face had a long and grim looking scythe with several arcane symbols engraved on the handle as well as the blade. ¡°Who are you?¡± the man with a pair of glasses asked Josephine Wong and Jianmen while they pushed the last of the hostages into the portal while gently pushing his glasses upward: ¡°Who do you work for?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how to answer that. Why don¡¯t you take a guess?¡± Josephine Wong smiled and adjusted her bracelet, and a long metal stave with relief sculptures of dragon, tiger, phoenix and a monster that was a hybrid of tortoise and serpent appeared in her right hand. Neither Jianmen nor Josephine Wong used any camouflaging spell to cloak what they looked like while they were here. Instead, they used some other much more meticulous spells and artifacts to alter their energy signatures and the external appearance of their power, and Josephine Wong even took on a completely different fighting style. This was because looks of power wielders, especially magic, as one would expect, were extremely easy to fake, which meant that for stealth and sabotage operations, almost no one would be expected to be using their real looks. Energy signatures and fighting styles were another story. ¡°Boom! Boom boom boom ¡­ ¡± an explosion occurred beneath the ground, it was another wave of Jianmen and Josephine Wong¡¯s earlier doing at work - the extra purple paper flowers and folded paper sigils they left behind placed at the central part of the underground array exploded and critically damaged many parts of the underground array. This weakened the containment of the dungeon even more, as many of the prisoners locked underground started breaking free from their cells and some of them even started attacking the inner perimeters trying to break out.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°Do you even know what you¡¯re doing?¡± the man who ran the motel tried to charge at both Jianmen and Josephine Wong, but was stopped by the man in a suit and had a scythe in his hand: ¡°These are not just innocent people, these are ¡­ ¡± ¡°You have us to worry about, and they¡¯re still your concern, are they not?¡± Jianmen scoffed and said: ¡°Did Lucias Vyn give you this talking point? Or did you come up with it on your own?¡± ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have uttered her name like that.¡± the man wearing a suit stared at Jianmen: ¡°I don¡¯t care who you think you are and who you work for, it¡¯s very very unwise to behave in such a brash way.¡± ¡°Says the leader of a group of peeping Toms.¡± Jianmen laughed out loud and played with a spinning ice shard with his fingers: ¡°Are we doing this or not?¡± The man in a suit sighed and shook his head, then almost without warning, he charged at Jianmen with his scythed raised and glowing in purple light. But before he could even reach Jianmen, Josephine Wong rushed before Jianmen with her metal stave jabbing forward at the man in a suit. A loud clunk exploded as the stave clashed with the scythe. The collision between the light blue and purple energy on the two weapons caused an explosion that pushed both Josephine Wong and the man away. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± the man who ran the motel charged at Josephine Wong from behind, his body now releasing dark red smoke, his body had grown to almost twice his previous size and his muscles became layered and bulging like he came right out of an anime. Almost all of his clothes were torn up to shreds as a result of this change in size, including his pants. The barbed bat also grew to almost three times the previous size, signifying that it was no ordinary makeshift weapon. Josephine Wong turned around and spun her metal stave, the man charging at her from behind tried to swing his barbed at her but his bat was instantly deflected and ended up hitting the ground. A car tire sized crater appeared on the solid concrete ground with splinters flying everywhere as a result. Josephine Wong¡¯s metal stave turned around her neck and delivered a blow to the man¡¯s head on the right side of his face with the other end. The light blue energy on the stave exploded and cracked the man¡¯s right face and almost the entire right side of his jawbone. The man wearing a suit stabilized his position after clashing with Josephine Wong, then he adjusted his glasses and lunged at Jianmen once again. This time, he let out a loud and high pitched scream while he was still in midair. A purple shockwave swept through the ground between him and Jianmen and almost reached Jianmen¡¯s position in an instant. Also coming with this purple energy wave was an attack of the mind and spirit. If it was any lesser opponent, they would have fallen into delusion and confusion. But Jianmen just pushed his hand sideways to unleash two gushes of strong wind and propelled himself just outside of the range of this purple energy wave. When this man in a suit swung his scythe down at Jianmen once again attempting to release an energy attack at him, Josephine Wong charged at him from the side once again with her metal stave swinging upwards from below aiming at his wrists. ¡°Clunk!¡± the man had to pull back his scythe to guard against the metal stave. After the two weapons collided for another time, the man rode the impact backwards and landed several feet away. Chapter 492 ¡°The Stave Art of Divine Beasts.¡± the man wearing a suit and a pair of glasses pushed his glasses up again and asked: ¡°This is an art practiced by the monks of the Temple of Meditating Vajra. But they don¡¯t take in women as disciples, where did you learn this from?¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you take another guess?¡± Josephine Wong responded with a wide smile and took a peek at the man who ran the motel, who crawled up from the ground with one third of his face completely smashed in: ¡°You know I am not gonna tell you.¡± The man stayed silent for a while, then raised his scythe and buried the tip into his teammate¡¯s right shoulder. The tall and muscular man with a barbed bat in his hand groaned in discomfort, but his face slowly grew back to what it was. ¡°Blood magic.¡± Jianmen nodded and said: ¡°And wielding a scythe, not a common combination, nor is it something easy to master. I think we can figure out who you are if we look close enough. The question is why you are working for Lucias Vyn - as far as I know, she¡¯s not known to possess any remarkable magical abilities.¡± ¡°And you would be wrong.¡± the man wielding a scythe and readied his battle pose once again: ¡°And what is the deal with you two? Are you just a bystander and an observer, while she¡¯s the warrior?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, take a guess?¡± Jianmen also responded with a smile. The muscular man with a barbed bat let out a hoarse and powerful roar, sharp and white spikes grew out from the bat, more blood of abnormally high temperature was pumped into his extremities, which made his muscles bulge even bigger and smoke coming out of his pores even thicker and smellier. Then he raised this bat up high and swung it down aiming at the ground in front of him. ¡°Boom!¡± a powerful shockwave exploded from the point of contact, a wall of dirt, rocks and thousands of sharp spikes inside appeared right in front of the man and crashed towards the direction of Josephine Wong and Jianmen like a tidal wave. The man wielding a scythe immediately followed the wall of dirt closely and when the wall of dirt almost reached the position of Josephine Wong and Jianmen, he swung his scythe horizontally and released a fully charged purple energy blade.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! The purple energy blade cut the wall of dirt from the middle and shot towards the rest of the town almost without any hindrance. But just when it was about to reach the outside area of Jimbo¡¯s Pawn Shop, something struck it from below and caused it to change course - its trajectory got diverted upwards and shot towards the sky instead. Part of the roofings of one of the taller buildings on the side of Jimbo¡¯s Pawn Shop got sliced off by the ascending purple energy blade. Josephine Wong¡¯s metal stave crashed through the wall of dirt, creating a large gap on it and swung down aiming right at the head of the man wielding a scythe. ¡°Bang!¡± the man was unprepared and had to raise his scythe to prevent himself from getting a debilitating blow, but the force and impact from the stave just pushed him down and brought him to his knees. Then the metal stave retreated, and Josephine Wong changed the direction of her stave and swung it from below using the other end. The tip of Josephine Wong¡¯s metal stave struck true at the lower side of the scythes¡¯ handle. This hit caused the man wielding the scythe to fly up and almost lost the scythe. ¡°Ahh! Die!¡± before Josephine Wong could follow up on her attack, the muscular man charged at her and started swinging his barbed bat frantically without any form, tact or strategy. Josephine Wong immediately backed away, and after a short moment of charging, she thrust her metal stave forward at the muscular man¡¯s chest, her light blue energy concentrated at the tip forming into the shape of a spear tip. ¡°Crack!¡± the upper part of the muscular man¡¯s barbed bat was completely shattered by the strike, the splinters and spikes from the bat just exploded towards his face, neck and chest. What also shot at the muscular man¡¯s upper body was the escaped energy from Josephine Wong¡¯s attack colliding with the barbed bat. The muscular man let out a painful cry as he flew backwards, one could almost see more than a few completely see-through holes on his chest and neck. The man wielding a scythe had no time to adjust his glasses this time, as he pushed himself and conjured up much more power than he¡¯d normally feel comfortable doing. His entire body started glowing in purple light, and the suit he was wearing slowly became more fitting and grew into the shape of a full body armor. On his chest, it was a symbol of a cracked and broken shield, and on the back of his gauntlets, there were the same symbols of scythes on them. ¡°My oh my. A Hellinger.¡± Josephine Wong twirled his metal stave and said. ¡°Need help?¡± Jianmen asked from the side. ¡°Maybe containing the collateral damage.¡± Josephine Wong¡¯s eyes glowed in light blue, and as she waved her stave, a thin wall of light blue energy formed around her and Jianmen could even see the shadow of a dragon flying around her. ¡°Duly noted.¡± Jianmen looked around and saw that some normal civilians that were living in this town had started to go outside. He then rubbed his two hands together and conjured a grey energy ball between his palms. Then the next minute, he threw the grey energy ball into the sky, which then exploded and released a high pitched screech that was almost unbearable to normal human ears. The civilians on the streets then quickly went back to their own living places and hid inside. Josephine Wong and the man wielding a scythe charged at each other, with their weapons held high. Chapter 493 ¡°Bang!¡± ¡°Ting!¡± ¡°Ting!¡± three loud clashes of metal exploded in the air, it was due to three clashes of weapons between Josephine Wong and the man in a full suit of armor and wielding a scythe. After the final clash, Josephine Wong was sent flying back and barely landed on her feet. While on the other hand the man wielding a scythe slid back on the ground leaving two lines of marks from his shoes in front of him. The blade of the scythe was damaged in the direct collisions and one could see a few cracks along the edges. On the other hand, the metal stave of Josephine Wong was also damaged, as Josephine Wong could see two very deep cuts on the stave, if it took on any more hits on the same place, it would be cut in two or three pieces. ¡°Looks like weapons wise he has it better.¡± Jianmen stood on the side and said: ¡°Be careful.¡± ¡°Yeah I can tell.¡± Josephine Wong let out a bright smile while sweat was dripping down her face, and even though her hands were shaking, she still held onto the metal stave tight and steady. This man, if Josephine Wong and Jianmen were not wrong, would be the powerhouse that was stationed here as an overseer, and the rest of the power wielders that were defeated by Josephine Wong were the guards of this place. This would make it so that all but one individual with supernatural powers in this town would have been handled. But out of caution, Jianmen was still paying attention to the surrounding area, because if it was him that was in charge of setting up the defences of this place, he would have had a few assassins stationed here just for situations like this. ¡°Bang!¡± the metal stave and the scythe collided once again, while their respective wielders were swinging them at full force, this time, the shining blade of the scythe cut through the stave, and the tip of the stave flew off. Josephine Wong had to lower and curl back her body in order to avoid being struck in the face by the scythe, and she spun her body slightly in the air and jabbed the stave¡¯s sharp broken end at the man¡¯s chest. Another loud bang from clashes of metal came out, the sharp end left a small puncture hole on the man¡¯s chest piece, and a tiny stream of concentrated energy penetrated the defences through the hole and impaled the man¡¯s chest. One grey shadow shot out from a townhouse building nearby and shot at Josephine Wong while Josephine Wong leapt back from this successful strike and tried to gather herself. It was a person in full cloak with a long and thin wrist blade on their right forearm, and as they closed in on Josephine Wong, they readied the wrist blade and prepared to stick the wrist blade somewhere in Josephine Wong¡¯s back.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Another shadow shot towards Josephine Wong¡¯s back at a much higher speed, Jianmen appeared behind Josephine Wong, facing the fully cloaked individual. When the individual extended the wrist blade forward, Jianmen raised his right arm and caught the blade with his middle and index fingers. The completely cloaked individual looked up at Jianmen through a long strip of hardened plastic that was transparent on only one side. But even with the full enchanted cloak and a tight body fitting armor hiding their physique, Jianmen could still see through the face mask and recognize the identity of this assassin - it was not a man nor a woman, but a humanoid creature completely made of long, scaly, wiggling and winding worms, with two curled up black worms with dozens of legs faking as eyes, and a ¡°mouth¡± with several centipedes as ¡°tongues¡±. The worms that made up this creature¡¯s body were functioning both as exoskeletons and muscles of the creature. This creature assassin swung its left arm at Jianmen with a curved dagger coated with poison in its hand. But Jianmen was able to catch the blade instantly, again with his middle and index fingers. The cloth covering the creature assassin¡¯s mouth tore from the middle and revealed its ¡°mouth¡±, unleashing its centipede tongues at Jianmen¡¯s face. Jianmen blew through his mouth and a stream of orange and golden fire shot at the centipedes. The centipedes screamed as their bodies were engulfed by the flames and were completely consumed in just an instant. The stream of fire flooded into the creature assassin¡¯s mouth, its throat, its chest and then exploded from inside and blasted through all of the moving worms like hundreds of thousands of bolts of orange and golden lightning. ¡°Boom!¡± the assassin exploded from almost every fiber and every tissue inside of its body and the ashes, cinders and rags scattered everywhere. Jianmen turned his right hand and flipped his fingers, the dagger from the creature assassin shot downwards and nailed one long-bodied lizard with night legs and severely burnt scales and skin to the ground. Though stuck on a snake, the poison coated on the dagger took effect fairly quickly - Jianmen watched as the snake twitched and struggled and slowly became numb, limb then fell to the ground. ¡°What a pitiful form of existence.¡± Jianmen picked up the now lifeless snake, inside which was once a very tormented soul - a barely sentient fragment of a human soul, bound by some kind of twisted magic into this vessel: ¡°Who did this to you?¡± A thin stream of light blue energy emerged from the dead snake and flowed onto Jianmen¡¯s fingers, and along with it, a small piece of memory entered into Jianmen¡¯s mind. This was once a witch, a young and talented witch, full of power and potential. But her last minutes were spent bound to a throne - a throne she once admired and worshipped, with her entire being being sucked away by a lamp over her head. She managed to break free at the very last moment, but she fell when she stumbled out of a portal of her escape and never woke up again. Chapter 494 ¡°Clank!¡± after another heavy clash, Josephine Wong¡¯s metal stave was sliced in half, and the blade of the scythe cut off a lock of her hair as well as ripped a hole on her shirt. The man wearing a suit of armor and wielding a scythe laughed and pressed on with his attack, though the last strike from Josephine Wong had punctured his lungs and he was wheezing with his laughter. ¡°You will die now! You WILL DIE!¡± the man jabbed his scythe at Josephine Wong, then swiped right when Josephine Wong dodged this attack and bashed Josephine Wong to the side. After this successful strike, he lunged at Josephine Wong with the blade tip of his scythe aiming at Josephine Wong¡¯s chest, prepared to skewer his opponent. Josephine Wong crossed the two halves of her metal stave and blocked the blade of the scythe, then she unleashed a full forced kick at the side of the blade and jumped to the side. The man turned and swung his scythe around aiming at Josephine Wong¡¯s neck and shoulder. Josephine Wong lowered her body once again to barely evade the attack, then she threw the broken stave on her left hand at the man¡¯s chest. The half a stave spun along its central axis while it flew in the air like a bullet out of a rifle. The man shoved his left hand in front of his chest and conjured a purple energy shield to guard the one punctured hole in his armor. The sound of a large size bullet bouncing off a hard surface exploded from the impact of the half a stave onto the man¡¯s armored hand. The stave was thrown with immeasurable force and infused with a tremendous amount of Josephine Wong¡¯s magical energy, but the man¡¯s armor and energy shield were just enough to absorb the absolute majority of the power from this attack. Thus the half a stave bounced off from the man¡¯s hand, with several broken pieces of armor from the back of the man¡¯s hand. Josephine Wong¡¯s left hand turned to claw shape and grabbed the man¡¯s right hand by the wrist. The she pulled herself forward into the man¡¯s arms with the other half of her metal stave in her hand. And like with a short sword or a dagger, she jammed the half a metal stave into the man¡¯s now bare hand, and through his hand into the hole on the chest armor and into the man¡¯s chest. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The man gasped as he fell down on the ground on his back as he felt the cold metal stave plunged into his chest, breaking two of his rib bones and only mere inches away from his heart. But Josephine Wong did not push the broken stave down, and she proceeded to use the Dragon Claw move she learned from Nameless to disarm and dislocate the man¡¯s right arm, while pinning him down on the ground with the broken metal stave. ¡°What do you want?¡± the man asked, wheezing in his breath. ¡°Information.¡± Josephine Wong said: ¡°As the overseer of this place, you have much more insight into the internal operation of Lucias Vyn¡¯s syndicate. If you¡¯re willing to talk, she doesn¡¯t have to know that you have failed here, and more importantly, you can still live. I would imagine for a Hellinger, you¡¯d like to continue living instead of perishing like the many before you.¡± The man scoffed: ¡°You know nothing. I will not tell you anything. I will not betray her.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Josephine Wong asked with a smile while jamming the half a stave slightly deeper: ¡°Even if I tell you that I would not hesitate to end you here? ¡± ¡°Again, you know nothing.¡± the man laughed out loud: ¡°I will not betray her. I will NEVER!¡± ¡°So it¡¯s indeed true.¡± Josephine Wong pulled the half a stave from the man¡¯s chest and stood up: ¡°That Lucias Vyn was once a Hellinger. Thanks for confirming that.¡± The man immediately went silent and closed his eyes. Jianmen went to his side and struck his chest with a palm strike. The armor the man was wearing instantly cracked and crumbled from the strike, and the bleeding from the hole on his chest had stopped. Then, Jianmen tapped several pressure points on the man¡¯s body and placed a suppression spell on the man directly through the hole on his chest and around his heart. ¡°Let¡¯s take him back to your place.¡± Josephine Wong sat down on the floor beside Jianmen and said: ¡°I have a lot of questions for him.¡± ¡°I¡¯d imagine.¡± Jianmen smiled and looked up: ¡°But, just a second.¡± Josephine Wong looked up at the sky with him, and after a few seconds, Jianmen¡¯s right hand turned into claw shape and extended into the air with lightning speed. An orange and purple claw shot from his arm and caught something in the air right above the man who was lying on the floor. It was a ferocious looking black snake with two wings and a long scorpion tail, whose body was made of some kind of black and smoke-like energy. And as Jianmen clenched his hand, the orange and golden energy claw crushed the snake completely and burned the rest of its existence into a puff of smoke. ¡°Now we can go, with no delivery entity for curses behind us.¡± Jianmen smiled. Chapter 495 Back at Xianshi Inn, Natalie Brown, the ex-agent that once worked for Lady Vyn, finally got to meet her family locked up and held hostage by her former employer. For anyone else, this would be a warm and emotional reunion scene, but just not for Natalie Brown¡¯s own father, Herman Brown, a mage with limited power due to his injuries from when he was young, but well traveled and experienced to know that such a sweet reward did not come without a price. ¡°What have you offered to them?¡± after holding his daughter long and hard for a long minute, Herman Brown asked Natalie after wiping his tears away. ¡°Information.¡± Natalie smiled with tears still running down her face: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, dad, I am prepared to make this deal. I had to, I had no choice, for I¡¯ve failed the quest I was sent here for. If I should return, not only will I be punished, you will suffer as a consequence as well. So this is the choice I made.¡± ¡°Are you sure they¡¯re trustworthy?¡± Herman Brown asked: ¡°How are you sure they¡¯re not just another Vyn-Hellinger family?¡± ¡°You¡¯re here, are you not?¡± Natalie held her younger brother and sister in her arms and smiled: ¡°They could¡¯ve just led me on, they could¡¯ve kept both of us in the dark until they¡¯ve forced almost every piece of information out of me. Looks like I bet on the right choice.¡± ¡°My dear sweet Nat, I¡¯m so happy.¡± Natalie¡¯s mother could not stop crying: ¡°I am so, so proud of you.¡± Just this moment, someone knocked on the door to Natalie¡¯s room, and the voice of Rash came through the door: ¡°Ms. Brown, I brought tea and coffee for your family. They are on the house per Mr. Yu¡¯s orders.¡± ¡°Thank you very much Rash, can you leave it at the door? I will grab it in a minute.¡± Natalie cleared her throat and said.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°No problem. Mr. Yu told me to tell you that it¡¯s better while it''s still hot. It will also cleanse the toxins that were forced upon your family. Also he told me to tell you that you should drink it while you¡¯re close to the bathroom.¡± ¡°Toxins?¡± Natalie immediately sat straight and took a careful look at her parents and her younger siblings: ¡°What - are you poisoned?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m afraid so.¡± Herman Brown answered: ¡°You didn¡¯t think Lucias Vyn would just be keeping us there out of the kindness of her heart without a few extra insurance policies? ¡± ¡°I¡¯m cold...¡± just this minute, Natalie¡¯s younger brother grabbed some blanket off Natalie¡¯s bed and started shivering. ¡°Shit!¡± Natalie placed the back of her hand on her younger brother¡¯s forehead - he was burning up, and for some unknown reason, tiny dark veins started popping up on his neck, his face and his hand. She jumped off her bed onto the ground bare footed, rushed to the door and grabbed the tray placed on the floor with a teapot, a coffee pot, several cups and a bowl of random bite sized bakeries and snacks on it. She poured some tea into one cup and gave it to her younger brother, who then immediately drank it up like it was a cup of sweet soft drink. ¡°Thank you, Nat, I ...¡± Natalie¡¯s younger brother¡¯s shivering instantly got better, but before he could express his gratitude, his facial emotion changed drastically as if some sudden feelings of disgust and discomfort just stirred inside him and he leaned over to the side of the bed and started vomiting onto the carpet. ¡°Oh MY GOD!¡± Natalie¡¯s younger sister was startled by this violent reaction from just one cup of tea: ¡°What the hell?!¡± Natalie immediately put her hand onto his younger brother¡¯s back and used her magic trying to soothe him and to see what was going on with him - it turned out that he was not only having a reaction to the tea, but also to something that had been in his body for quite a while - the toxins Rash just mentioned, which was now being drained from him through vomit. ¡°Go, go to the bathroom and drink the tea.¡± Natalie turned back and said to the rest of her family: ¡°This tea is indeed detoxifying him, go, now!¡± In just a few seconds, all but one of the reunited family of Browns were vomiting from the tea. When Natalie¡¯s younger brother leaned back with a slightly traumatized look on his face, Natalie felt his forehead once again, and found that his temperature had gone back to normal, he was no longer shivering. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Natalie asked, still concerned but mostly relieved. ¡°Hungry - like I¡¯ve never eaten in weeks.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll ask for some cake. They have good cake here, you are going to love it.¡± Natalie gave his younger brother a hug. Chapter 496 ¡°So, um, care to tell me a little bit about yourself?¡± inside of one of the rooms arranged for the people taken back to Xianshi Inn from Lady Vyn¡¯s dungeon, Jianmen asked a thin, bald, slightly sickly looking man with pale ashy skin, broken and grey fingernails, bags under his eyes and eating a piece of bread like he had been starving for weeks and weeks. ¡°My - my name is Sanders.¡± the man looked at Jianmen, his pupils were dilated, his irises had tiny cracks and stains and Jianmen could tell that his eyes had been this way for quite a while since whatever toxin or drugs he had been forced to ingest had left quite a mark on him: ¡°I - I was once Lucias Vyn¡¯s contact for the Grant Academy Hunting Ground.¡± ¡°Hmm, really?¡± Jianmen nodded with pleasant surprise: ¡°And why were you locked up in that dungeon?¡± ¡°¡®Cause I fucked up.¡± the man coughed when he tried to swallow a bite that was too big: ¡°I was tasked with kicking a small competitor out of the ring, but I failed. And as a punishment I was sentenced to be there for five years.¡± ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be not that long, would it? ¡± Jianmen poured the man some tea: ¡°What made you wanna come with me here?¡± ¡°My sentence was almost ten years ago.¡± Sanders shook his head and took the tea cup from Jianmen¡¯s hand, drank it up and started pounding his chest to let the tea wash the bread down: ¡°As you can imagine, the dungeon, the prison was run by those guys, and they don¡¯t tend to keep track of the dates. And plus, they enjoy the fact that they have our lives held in their hands.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Jianmen smiled. ¡°Oh, I know my life¡¯s also in your hands.¡± Sanders sighed and said: ¡°But I figured - since they don¡¯t have anything or anyone I cared for in their custody, I might as well jump on a chance of change, and maybe revenge? I don¡¯t know man, you could¡¯ve killed those power-tripping scum. But you held back, for some unknown fucking reason.¡± ¡°Tell me about what you did for Lady Vyn in the Grant Academy.¡± Jianmen laid back in his chair and said: ¡°Then, maybe we can do something similar for you to what we did for another former employee of Lucias Vyn.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have families held hostage.¡± Sanders shook his head: ¡°But I do want something.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Name it.¡± ¡°I want to be free.¡± Sanders took another big bite of the bread: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t be your problem. I have my plans of revenge, which I cannot put in motion if I am stuck here. Your place is nice and all, but it¡¯s not MY place.¡± ¡°Talk then.¡± Jianmen clenched his left hand in the air and a bottle of wine appeared in his palm and he just handed it to the man: ¡°If your information is valuable, we¡¯ll send you off with a nice dinner, not just bread.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Sanders took the wine with a smile: ¡°I trust that someone of your caliber wouldn''t lie to a nobody like me.¡± Jianmen waited as the man finished half a bottle with a long gulp. Then after a comfortable ¡°aahh¡± and wiping the corner of his mouth clean with his sleeve, Sanders said: ¡°First, how many groups do you think have spies in the Grant Academy?¡± ¡°More than two, as far as I know. Neither of which I care for.¡± ¡°Oh, that would be very, very wrong. When I was there, there were at least four.¡± Sanders chuckled: ¡°One group is us, we had someone higher up who organized our plans and covered for our activities. What we did for the most part was copy and transcribe books that were in the restricted sections of the library. We occasionally traffic some materials in and out. The other group is the group of Carol Summers, they had their own thing going on, from what I know they are more into recruiting the students there, and they were also in the business of trafficking controlled materials. Then there¡¯s the Division, they have recruiting agents and people who gather information, and of course the occasional sabotage missions of other people¡¯s hard work. And this new group I was supposed to kick out was still small when I was there, they were very into trafficking and concocting controlled materials and were actually really good at it. ¡± ¡°Concocting controlled materials? Tell me more.¡± ¡°You know the hunting ground? Used by both students and faculty members?¡± Sanders took another sip of wine: ¡°It¡¯s actually one of the biggest waste of space I have ever seen. Maybe it¡¯s just because the Grant Academy can afford to squander its potential. But, to put it simply, it¡¯s basically a mega realm with stacked planes, spaces and thus smaller realms, where through a single entry point you can access more than a dozen small interconnected realms without actually knowing it. And since these realms are vacant most of the time, knowing the right people will get you access to the reservation schedules of the realms, and with a handsome price you can actually grow a lot of things in those realms, and harvest them for all sorts of uses.¡± ¡°So you had some hunting ground rangers on your payroll.¡± ¡°We had a few. And we paid for their time and their stock, and if we¡¯re lucky we can get an actual slot for a period of time. We didn¡¯t own these rangers, so when a new group comes in, they will be competing for the rangers¡¯ time and available slots for harvest.¡± ¡°And what do you and the corrupt rangers usually cultivate in those realms?¡± ¡°Controlled or even forbidden plants, mushrooms, hallucinogenic fungi, sometimes even actual small live animals with weaponization usages like small Swamp Serpents and Heart Ripper Toads.¡± Sanders nodded and said: ¡°And there¡¯s also a whole black market in the academy for those things.¡± ¡°How did you manage to evade the administration? Didn¡¯t they pay any attention?¡± ¡°Are you really that naive?¡± Sanders scoffed: ¡°You know how much academy professors make? How hard is it to get funding for research sometimes?¡± Chapter 497 Grant Academy. The operations to clean up the aftermath of the fight against the shape shifting monster that emerged from the underground tunnel of the hunting ground were not going too well - the corrosive and corruptive substance left by the monster seemed to have not only corroded a lot of the different parts of the academy buildings and environment, it also seemed to have been soaked into the areas it touched, making them reek of a pungent smell like some kind of foul marinade. During their break, Professor Tony Barnes, Glenda Grimes, Professor Dorothea Clarkson gathered inside the hospital room in which Professor Kapur was staying. Professor Kapur was recovering from her ¡°fortunate¡± injury - after a few days of excruciating pain, and several weeks of slow physical therapy sessions, combined with ample supply of revitalizing medication, she was finally able to do a little bit of walking. Though she was still unable to walk for long, or run, she was still in a much better condition than before. ¡°Looks like it won¡¯t be long before you are free from the wheelchair.¡± Professor Barnes smiled at Professor Kapur: ¡°That¡¯s good, that¡¯s really good.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Professor Kapur sighed and sat back on her bed: ¡°Sadly my experience cannot be generalized easily, I can¡¯t wait to get back to research and see if I can take a crack at it. It¡¯s painful, but I¡¯ve gotta say many would rather endure temporary pain in exchange for their ability to walk and run back.¡± ¡°Let me know if you¡¯d like help with that, Professor.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson chuckled: ¡°We will find the best research talents to join your team.¡± ¡°Thank you, Dorothea.¡± Professor Kapur smiled and nodded: ¡°Now, should we discuss the matters at hand? How long do you have?¡± ¡°As long as you¡¯d like us to stay, Professor.¡± Glenda Grimes smiled. ¡°That was very kind, but I wouldn¡¯t wanna keep you for too long. ¡± Professor Kapur picked up a book by her bed and put it on her lap: ¡°Josephine Wong told me everything already. And I would like to say, I am quite concerned. But I am not a member of the administration, so the decision¡¯s on you. I am here purely for your consult.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°To be honest, I just think it is way too alarmist.¡± Dorothea Clarkson sighed and leaned into the corner of the room: ¡°I understand the concern, that a defiler had somehow been under the infamous Clearwater Municipal Hospital for all this time, and the Division had somehow extracted a piece of relic from under it, created by someone we had almost no idea about. But that doesn¡¯t mean that we are in any immediate danger of being under attack from the defilers. I am all for being prepared, but right now we have much more urgent things to worry about, like tracking down that beast and destroying it.¡± ¡°I think we should enlist ourselves and work with her to devise a plan.¡± Professor Barnes shook his head: ¡°From what we know about defilers, there¡¯s practically no way to track them or time their arrival or advances. All we can do is just be aware and be ready. If they had really come for us, at least we would have a plan instead of facing off against them completely unprepared.¡± ¡°If they had started targeting our realm, we would be hearing about chaotic energy fields and bad omens already. ¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson said. ¡°But, haven¡¯ we already been hearing about them constantly already?¡± Professor Barnes said: ¡°Take the beast and the tunnel in which it dwelled as examples - that was as bad an omen as it gets, and that kind of dimensional tunnel was very likely itself a byproduct of chaotic or disturbed energy fields. And right under our noses.¡± ¡°Those were pre-existing, they had been there way before the resurfacing of this defiler.¡± ¡°Time doesn¡¯t matter, or at least is not as important.¡± Glenda Grimes sighed and said: ¡°Defilers can¡¯t and don¡¯t move across planes like us or other sentient beings, their movements have a certain unpredictability when it comes to the spatial and chronological coordinates because of their very nature. They could have started to target our realm right now, but the omens and chaotic energy fields might have started years or decades before.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true. But don¡¯t you think this argument defeats itself? ¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson shook her head: ¡°We¡¯d have no way of knowing whether they¡¯re omens and disturbed energy fields due to the defilers targeting our realm, or are we just having shit luck. I¡¯d not live in constant fear and distress.¡± ¡°Point taken. Which is why I propose we meet with Josephine, face to face and hear her case.¡± Glenda Grimes took a look at Professor Barnes then Professor Kapur: ¡°Tony, I can see your concern as well. We don¡¯t want to expose ourselves to this kind of risk, especially when we know that a defiler has been here already.¡± ¡°Are you sure we¡¯d be meeting Josephine? Or will we be meeting her and that special friend of hers?¡± Dorothea Clarkson scoffed. ¡°That¡¯s a bit unfair, Dorothea. She did not reach out to us because he told her to.¡± Professor Kapur gently tapped the cover of her book with her fingers: ¡°I know you don¡¯t trust him or his intentions. I have my doubts about him as well, but at least have some faith in her.¡± ¡°I like him.¡± Professor Tony Barnes shrugged: ¡°I have no objections to meeting him.¡± ¡°But take my advice with a grain of salt. For I still AM indebted to him.¡± Professor Kapur laid back on her bed: ¡°Debt that I probably could never pay back. I¡¯ll suggest this - if you¡¯re concerned, at least have a face to face meeting with her. I think Josephine deserves as much.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Glenda Grimes nodded and turned to Dorothea Clarkson: ¡°There¡¯s no harm in that, right?¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll make an appointment with her. Hope her secretary will let her know in time.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson shrugged. Professor Kapur chuckled while shaking her head. Chapter 498 ¡°How are you, Agent Bozeman?¡± when Professor Tony Barnes came into the special secret prison holding the agent who tried stealing from the academy and framing a couple of audit students, and worst of all, tried murdering Professor Kapur. This was also the reason that neither of the Headmasters and Headmistress Professor Dorothea Clarkson had any reservations on their treatment of the agent. Agent Bozeman raised his head from his weary shoulders, his face was wrinkled like an old man, and his eyes were bloodshot as if he had not slept for days and weeks. He sighed and lowered his head again. ¡°I get it, you¡¯re tired. I would be if I was in your place.¡± Professor Barnes sat down in front of the metal cage and said: ¡°And lucky you, we¡¯re able to put a stop to the toxin that was in your body without actually having to operate on you or giving you your power back. It cost us a whole lotta expensive medicines and potions. I guess that we can say you owe us one. Which makes me wonder, why are you serving her, this Lady Vyn? I just heard from a friend of ours, that she had kept a whole bunch of hostages in her dungeon and pumped them full of toxins and drugs to keep them at bay. What does she have on you? Is your family locked up somewhere as well?¡± Agent Bozemen sniffled and coughed, but still did not answer. ¡°You know, I for one, am quite simple and not that worldly. I am especially not very familiar with all the customs and politics of dealing with civilians and glorified merchants and mercenaries. So before the day before yesterday, I knew only that there was this group called Exalted Bondsmen, and that there were these ¡®High Brokers¡¯ in charge of handling requests and organizing the forces. But after some reading and research, and some intel gathering, I found that this world is indeed very small. For example, did you know that Lady Vyn, aside from being one of these ¡®High Brokers¡¯ and a crime lord in the civilian world and ¡®Mama Reaper¡¯ in the underground mercenary rings, is also a Hellinger?¡± Agent Bozemen¡¯s arms and shoulders twitched, then he looked up and finally opened his mouth: ¡°How did you know?¡± ¡°Oh, you CAN talk, huh?¡± Professor Tony Barnes chuckled: ¡°And seems like a big secret as well. I felt like I needed to send my friend a fruit basket. And you know what? They just gave us their permission to spread the word that we are the ones who found this out. And guess who we found that out from?¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°What - how could you!?¡± Agent Bozeman stared at Professor Tony Barnes and spoke through his teeth: ¡°This won¡¯t work! She knows I will never betray her!¡± ¡°But that¡¯s not what we gathered from you.¡± Professor Barnes leaned in slightly and asked: ¡°I can tell that you fear her, but there was not much respect. And from the fact that she holds the families of her employees in a fucking dungeon speaks volumes about her ruling styles, doesn¡¯t it? To someone who rules in fear, suspicion and paranoia is the default, while loyalty is seen as ruses or idiocy. So whatever she has on you, you¡¯re just lucky it¡¯s not been used up to this point.¡± ¡°Does this bring you joy?¡± Agent Bozeman asked: ¡°Seeing that I am held here with my life laid bare and raw in your hands, which you can crush like a bug at any second? Is that what you¡¯re trying to do here?¡± ¡°I understand why you feel this way and presume this of us. Being accustomed to the rule of fear can do that to a person. It¡¯s not your fault.¡± Tony Barnes shook his head: ¡°And trust me on this, the answer is - you might be somewhat right. This is not because we¡¯d enjoy it if it was anyone, we enjoy it because you tried to murder our dear mentor. But on the other hand, though we don¡¯t care about you, we would still hate to see you destroyed by a few horribly bad choices you made. If you are willing to help us, then we can do you a favor like my friend did to one of their captives who once worked for Lady Vyn: they rescued her family from a dungeon and reunited them. We could do the same for you, as long as you talk. You know what we want to know already: tell us everything about your mission here, and what you know about the circulation of the contaminated materials that plagued our school¡± Agent Bozeman went silent and did not respond. ¡°Well, you think about it.¡± Professor stood up: ¡°But don¡¯t take too long, you know time is not on your side - the information you hold right now will lose value, while your situation gets worse by the second.¡± ¡°I want out of these shackles.¡± Agent Bozeman said all of a sudden: ¡°And I want to be out of this cage, and I want food.¡± ¡°Best I can do is the shackles and food.¡± Professor Barnes smiled: ¡°But the cage - like we told you many times before, it¡¯s for both your protection and ours. In this cage, the gag curse won¡¯t take effect, and even if you reveal the information you¡¯re not supposed to, you won''t be smited.¡± Agent Bozeman let out a long sigh, as Professor Barnes walked out of the room. ¡°Professor.¡± Professor Barnes¡¯ assistant came to his side: ¡°Headmistress Clarkson wanted to meet you, she said she just received some critical intelligence.¡± ¡°Okay, did she say what about? And where?¡± ¡°The hospital, with Professor Kapur.¡± the assistant said, shaking his head: ¡°But she didn¡¯t say what about. It sounded really urgent though.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯m on my way.¡± Chapter 499 When Professor Barnes entered the hospital, he found that Professor Randall Collins, headmaster of the Anderson House was there with Professor Dorothea Clarkson and Glenda Grimes. Also sitting at the corner of the room was the current head of Campus Security, Mr. Benjamin Flake, a kind, laid back and even slightly unmotivated looking man in a long white robe with light blue linings. ¡°What¡¯s the intel? And why are we gathered here?¡± Professor Barnes asked. ¡°Because of the kind of information that I received, I can¡¯t really use any other place to debrief to you without raising suspicions.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson said: ¡°And almost all of us here have contributed to making this room secure. It¡¯d make perfect sense.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sorry, I thought you guys already had it, so I decided to just sit back and let you do it.¡± Benjamin Flake yawned and raised his hand: ¡°But let me know if you want to fortify it more.¡± ¡°Okay, Dorothea, let¡¯s hear it.¡± Professor Kapur sighed and said: ¡°The longer all of you stay here, the more people are going to get suspicious, which will totally defeat the purpose of meeting here.¡± ¡°Sorry, Professor. ¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson took out a scroll from her robe, then with a wave of her hand, the scroll turned into multiple identical ones, just enough for everyone in the room: ¡°This is a recording of someone who came to me this morning. This person, whose identity I will not disclose right now, came asking for shelter from harm and offered important intelligence in exchange. Now, don¡¯t ask me why they came to me and not anyone else in this room, I would not answer that. And I tested the testimony to the best of my abilities, so I believe this person is being truthful.¡± ¡°This is quite a long testimony.¡± Benjamin Flake opened the scroll, took a quick look and asked with a lazy voice and tone: ¡°You¡¯ve recorded quite a lot of details. Can you give us a quick summary, please? I am not good at reading, which is why I am just a security guard.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m gonna do right now, Mr. Flake.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson squeezed out a smile and said, then she turned to everyone: ¡°Okay, everyone, please keep this in this room. The scrolls will be locked once you open them and can only be opened by yourself. ¡°As you all know, there are quite a lot of spies in the academy, and the administration all knew about their presence, and for quite a while, there was this fragile but tacit agreement that they are allowed to operate in this campus as long as they abide by certain rules. But the circulation of contaminated materials which led to an academy wise lockdown had brought these arrangements into question. But, since Headmasters and Headmistress are typically barred from knowing too much detail about these arrangements, we were put into a very passive and difficult position. All of us had the same suspicion that this was the doing of some of the spies, but instead of launching an investigation ourselves, Principal Hawke decided to outsource and he ended up trusting the wrong parties.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Professor Barnes and Professor Collins launched their investigation, and I had launched mine. We were all able to find different things that were wrong, but what was still missing was something that connects our findings to the whole picture. ¡°And this informant that came to me actually had some of the information that we needed. This is because, they were once a spy, serving one of the newer groups that had infiltrated the academy. And the group they belonged to was once very active in the academy as well. But ever since what happened, they started getting hunted and systematically wiped out, since the balance amongst different groups had been broken, and there were no checks against the actions of the stronger and older groups.¡± ¡°What was this particular group of spies doing in our academy?¡± Professor Barnes asked. ¡°Cultivating Kekugora Mushrooms using our student hunting grounds, and coordinating the trafficking of Kandera Wyvern bones, in and out of the academy grounds.¡± ¡°What!?¡± ¡°Shit!¡± multiple individuals in the current room cursed at almost the same time. ¡°Those are the exact materials that contaminated the materials for fireworks and even other things and even food sources right?¡± Professor Kapur said: ¡°They gave me and my toxicology lab quite a lot of trouble.¡± ¡°Exactly. ¡± Professor Dorothea nodded: ¡°But those are highly sought after materials, especially the Kekugora Mushrooms that are cultivated in our student hunting ground - apparently some of the rangers involved were skimming the materials sold to the academy and using them as some kind of special fertilizers. And apparently, if one were to treat the Kandera Wyvern bones with grounded Kekugora Mushrooms mixed with some other material, it will quadruple the value.¡± ¡°So it would not make sense to actually spread it, unless for a very very good reason.¡± Professor Randall Collins nodded and said: ¡°I had the same question as well, these materials are toxic, but they are far from the best toxins for sabotage or assassinations, nor are they the easiest to conceal or use. Plus, we had multiple incidents of exposure and poisoning, and some of which were indeed very severe. But the incidents of exposure were mostly relatively minor at first, and then it got more and more severe. If the materials were indeed circulated due to mere contamination, the more severe ones should be popping up first.¡± ¡°Yes, you hit the nail on the head.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson snapped her fingers: ¡°According to my informant - it¡¯s because the incidents were indeed initially due to the circulation of contaminated material, but it was mostly small dosages due to them being spread thin. The more serious ones were intentional sabotages from rival groups of the spies, in order to muddy the water and frame them.¡± ¡°Which means, this informant¡¯s group was responsible for the initial circulation?¡± Professor Barnes asked. ¡°Yes. And apparently, it was an accident.¡± Chapter 500 This was a young man, with the name of Eric Partizan, whose major was Xen magic, just like the famous Josephine Wong, and with a minor in the study of Flow Magic, with the properties of ¡°Force¡±. And at this time, it was a conventional late night at the Grant Academy. He tried to avoid any contact with the students or the faculty members of the academy, even though he was here as a research student and would have ample reason to be out and about in the campus, especially near the grocery stores on campus and the places where licensed merchants could be, as the dates and rules for the next Firework Festival had just been announced, and a lot of students were reasonably excited and active. ¡°Pss!¡± at a dark corner, a tall blonde young man in dark and form-fitting leather armor and a young girl with brown hair wearing a metallic grey half face mask covering only the upper half of her face waved at him: ¡°Here!¡± These two were Igor Vankov, a knight in training in the academy, and Ailyn Shrier, a relatively rare bow mage with specialty in ice and wind magic. They were Eric¡¯s teammates who had been with him since the day he arrived at the academy. Others just thought they were simply close friends, in actuality, they were also his cohorts in his operational role here at the Grant Academy, arranged by a yet publicly unknown group. The purpose of their operation? Bribe the dirty rangers, reserve the rangers¡¯ time and resources or even dedicated spots of cultivation and harvesting, extract valuable materials and find a way to bring them out of the academy and to their handler, who went by the name Mason. ¡°We have a problem.¡± Ailyn Shrier said to Eric Partizan: ¡°I was just told by the rangers that the harvest from our designated slot was not ready.¡± ¡°But it should be. It was already given more time than needed.¡± Eric Partizan said with a heavy frown on his face: ¡°Are they trying to skim us?¡± ¡°No, but I just heard from people familiar with Rush and Cage, it sounded like they were planning on a new shipment out of nowhere, to impress their employer.¡± Igor Vankov said with his arms crossed: ¡°They¡¯re not skimming us, they¡¯re selling our reserve to a higher bidder.¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Fuck these scum.¡± Eric Partizan huffed and paced around for around half a minute to calm his boiling blood and raging thoughts, then he asked with a slightly shaky voice: ¡°We can¡¯t take this, we¡¯ve gotta show them we¡¯re not to be messed with. We¡¯ve gotta get it back and teach them a fucking lesson. When is this shipment of this you said?¡± ¡°In a few hours.¡± Igor Vankov said: ¡°As far as I can tell, no one¡¯s entered into our lot yet, so the harvest is still there. But if they¡¯re gonna get it, they¡¯re gonna do it sometime very soon.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s why you told me to be armed.¡± Eric Partizan nodded and said: ¡°Let¡¯s go to the entrance of the hunting ground. Whenever they come out, we take it back.¡± Igor Vankov nodded and started heading towards the student hunting ground. Eric Partizan cast his signature obscuration spell on the whole team, cloaking all of them in a thin layer of shadowy energy, which made all of them invisible to the naked eye, and at the same time masking the majority of the team¡¯s energy signature. Thus while under the cloak of this spell, they would be invisible and unnoticeable to almost everyone, unless there was a high level power wielder nearby. ¡°What are you gonna tell Mason?¡± Ailyn Shrier asked: ¡°If we go into an armed conflict with the underlings of an assistant professor and Lady Vyn, there would be consequences not only from them but from Mason.¡± ¡°I¡¯m gonna tell him exactly what happened. We didn¡¯t start this shit. They¡¯ve crossed the fucking line when they started taking our shit.¡± Eric Partizan said, ¡°And I don¡¯t think he¡¯d disapprove. If the higher ups don¡¯t want conflicts with Lady Vyn, then they wouldn¡¯t put us here treading on her territory.¡± ¡°Mason did not tell us not to engage.¡± Igor Vankov said: ¡°We¡¯d just have to be careful.¡± ¡°Okay, so what¡¯s the plan?¡± Ailyn Shrier sighed and asked: ¡°Can¡¯t say we¡¯re careful if we don¡¯t even have a plan.¡± ¡°I have my portable confusion array scrolls with me. We can put that to good use.¡± Eric Partizan said as the team slowed down because they had reached the entrance of the student hunting ground. ¡°Okay, but there will still be ways for them to know that it is us that take their shipment. By plan, I don¡¯t mean we just go and grab it and forget about the rest.¡± Ailyn Shrier said in a low voice: ¡°Mason is not the one stationed here, nor does he handle the day to day conflicts and battles. He¡¯s just our handler, and he would throw us under the bus if he needs to.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s - let¡¯s just plan for the part where we take back our shipment.¡± Everything in front of Eric Partizan¡¯s eyes, or in this case, in front of Professor Barnes¡¯ eyes started to get blurry - per Professor Barnes¡¯ knowledge and experience, this was mostly because the original owner of this very piece of memory got emotional when recollecting this part of the memory. ¡°Okay, bad plan, my dude.¡± Professor Barnes put down the scroll from Professor Dorothea Clarkson, took a gulp from his alcohol bottle, then he started reading through the piece of memory recorded in the scroll again: ¡°Bad plan.¡± Chapter 501 The team of Eric Partizan, Ailyn Shrier and Igor Vankov waited by the entrance of the student hunting ground for about an hour, and they finally saw the ones they were waiting for - one student, one junior researcher, and one teaching assistant. These were of course, their public personas and profiles they had when infiltrating the academy. Their official identities were actually spies from the famous, or in this case infamous Vyn crime syndicate, which was something not known to many. Katrina, the teaching assistant with straight long black hair in a civilian style suit, was the leader of the team, and according to Eric Partizan¡¯s memory, she was also a recruiting agent for the Lady Vyn¡¯s team; Lia, the student, some sort of water magic protege, was a core member of Lady Vyn¡¯s team and possibly the member of a coven; Gregory, the junior researcher, the medicine and toxicology expert, who was here probably for the purpose of verifying the quality of product. The team of three shook hands with the ranger that was in charge. They chatted for a while and then another ranger came to the entrance and with a very normal and even mundane looking brown paper bag with the badge of the academy printed on the forefront - the kind of bag that was commonly used by the academy to transport all kinds of non essential things, from books, to food, to random non-toxic and non-radiating magical materials. The team of three took the humble brown paper bag, finished their exchange of pleasantries and were about to be on their way. ¡°Okay.¡± Eric Partizan infused his magical energy into a medallion in his hand, and activated the portable confusion array he placed around the entrance. The portable confusion array scroll activated, and without the team of three noticing anything, an almost completely transparent light purple energy bubble covered a whole area in which they were in. The information they received from the environment started getting distorted, and gradually, their cognitive functions were slowed and thus their reaction time became much longer than they previously thought. Their actions were also slowed due to a similar effect, and right now, if one was to take a look at them, they would be walking in slow motion like in the movies. ¡°Go!¡± Eric Partizan said to Igor Vankov, and they both rushed out from their hiding place and charged towards the team of three that worked for Lady Vyn. Ailyn Shrier, as the bow mage of the team, had an enchanted arrow on her short bow aimed at the team of three and was ready to cover for them just in case something went wrong or there was someone hiding in the shadows covering for their target.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The effects of the confusion array was strong due to the meticulousness of the scroll, but it was also quite easy to shake off as Eric Partizan used only the portable scroll to conjure it without any preparation or added powerful materials at all. If their target noticed something was wrong, it would only take them a couple of mind clearing spells to break out of their confused state and illusion. Eric Partizan and Igor Vankov rushed to the side of their rival team member who was holding the paper bag. Eric Partizan had a restraining spell ready and the moment he got close enough he just slammed his hands onto the ground and the rival team of three were all locked in their places and put in chains by purple energy chains and ropes. Igor Vankov took the brown paper bag with his left hand, then raised his right hand in the air and released a blinding bright flash of white light. ¡°Fuck! ¡± ¡°Who is it!¡± ¡°Shit! My eyes!¡± There seemed to be no one covering for the rival team of three, so Ailyn Shrier rushed out of her hiding place and tried to catch up to her teammates. ¡°You, Partizan!¡± Katrina instantly broke out of her confused state. But Eric Partizan did not look back to check how long it took them to break out of his restraining spell. The images were getting blurry again, it seemed that Eric Partizan was getting emotional again during this part of his memory. Professor Barnes could sense that the emotions stirred up here were mainly anger and regret, with a little touch of sadness. Just when Eric Partizan and his team was about to reach a dark corner inside of the campus, he sensed that a dangerous attack was shooting at his back from behind. So he immediately used his flow magic to push him to the side then rolled on the ground. A sharp fiery energy spear stuck into the ground just slightly before his previous position. If he kept on going, the energy spear would have impaled him. ¡°Fuck! Katrina, did you just aim for my life?¡± Eric Partizan continued his way forward, but still turned back and asked. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have taken what¡¯s not yours!¡± Katrina conjured four more fiery energy spears and with a loud roar she hurled all of them at Eric Partizan¡¯s team: ¡°How fucking dare you!¡± ¡°Bang!¡± Ailyn Shrier shifted to the side, turned around and her bow string made a loud sound as she fired a bright light red energy arrow at Katrina. ¡°Boom!¡± the energy arrow exploded midway between Eric¡¯s team and Katrina, dozens of fireballs shot out in a cone direction at Katrina like pellets from a shotgun. Katrina¡¯s figure shifted left and right in the gaps between the fireballs, smoothly dodging all of the incoming attacks. Lia and Gregory also broke out of the restraining spell, and they both rushed after the team of Eric following the lead of Katrina. Ailyn Shrier unleashed a lightning arrow at Katrina while she was just out of the range of the fireball attacks. This time the attack was much faster and the angle was much more difficult to dodge, and Katrina had to block it using a magical shield she conjured using her enchanted gloves. Chapter 502 Another loud boom erupted, the lightning arrow exploded and forked into a few lightning bolts. The shockwave from the explosion pushed Katrina back a few steps. On the other hand, Lia closed in while on Eric¡¯s team of three while she was sliding on the ground like she was skating. When Eric paid closer attention, he noticed that Lia was sliding on a strip of thin ice that grew in front of her as she slid forward. ¡°Leave the package, or you¡¯re dead!¡± Lia raised her voice as a long and thin sword of ice appeared in her hand: ¡°Leave it, now!¡± ¡°You fucking wish!¡± Igor Vankov clenched his left fist, then turned back and unleashed a full forced punch with his left fist. The bright white power of his concentrated and became that of a shadow of a giant fist, launched right at Lia. Lia swung her thin ice sword at the shadow fist, and an even thinner crescent shaped ice energy blade was released right at it. The ice energy blade and the shadow fist collided into each other, and both of them exploded, and splinters of ice shards and fragments of bright white energy were scattered into almost every direction. Lia hopped and floated to the side like she was in a figure skating competition, and then thrust her ice sword forward. An icy white energy line shot out from the tip of the ice sword, and impaled Igor Vankov¡¯s shoulder like a high speed bullet of extremely small caliber. ¡°Fuck!¡± Igor Vankov cursed and he immediately backed off, but the thin energy line had already left a see-through hole on his shoulder. What was more horrifying to Eric Partizan was that the hole did not bleed, its surroundings just went dark, frosty and hardened, just like what would have happened if one had suffered from really severe frostbite. ¡°If you don¡¯t stop, the next target¡¯s gonna be your worthless stinky little heart!¡± Lia¡¯s voice resounded in Eric Partizan¡¯s ears. The images got more blurry and shaky, Professor Barnes could sense the regret and anger intensified. But since this was just a replay of past memory, Eric Partizan just kept going as he had intended at the moment, and he dragged Igor Vankov by his side, while calling out to Ailyn Shrier to follow him into the ¡°safe house¡± they just decided less than half an hour ago. With a blurry and shaky vision, Eric Partizan cast a spell in front of him. The effect of this spell was to create a temporary confusion energy field that could disorient and slow all individuals inside. Then, he reached into his own pocket and took out a hollow metal ball with patterns of flowers and cloud carved on it and a small piece of round purple gem inside and tossed it at Lia and Katrina.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. The metal ball was an expensive one off artifact Eric Partizan acquired quite a while back, one that he had saved for all this time waiting for only the opportune moment. And right now, this seemed like an opportune moment. ¡°Crack!¡± the gem inside the metal ball cracked up then exploded. The metal casing on the outside was instantly turned into hundreds of small pieces with the exact same shapes and sizes. After exploding, the round purple gem turned into a big patch of purple fog in the area. And with the effect of the purple fog, Eric Partizan¡¯s confusion spell was intensified exponentially. Katrina and Lia were not prepared, and were instantly caught in the effects of it. ¡°Kill them!¡± Eric Partizan yelled at Aily Shrier: ¡°Kill them, Ailyn!¡± Ailyn Shrier had already pulled her bow and readied another attack. But she hesitated, presumably because she knew very well that even though rivalries and even armed conflicts were not that uncommon between different groups of spies in the Grant Academy, it was unheard of that any of them would dare to actually commit murder, or at least not this publicly. This short moment of hesitation proved quite critical, as Gregory had caught up to them and nailed a blow dart onto Ailyn Shrier¡¯s left shoulder. The blow dart was coated with some kind of hardening and sharpening spell, so that even though Ailyn Shrier was wearing a layer of mesh armor, the dart still went through all of her defenses and pierced her skin and flesh. The wound was only skin deep, but the poison it carried had already started to take effect. Ailyn Shrier¡¯s left arm had lost almost all strength in mere moments, and had to retreat along with her two teammates. ¡°Stop there!¡± Eric Partizan raised his hands and yelled at Gregory: ¡°If you dare take another step, I will activate the explosives in the mist, and your team will be blown to fucking pieces!¡± Gregory was an expert in medicine and toxicology, but he was no schemer or someone with a lot of street smarts, as he actually believed what Eric Partizan told him. This then gave Eric Partizan a chance to flee the scene and head for their ¡°safe house¡±. On their way, Eric Partizan removed the dart from Ailyn Shrier¡¯s left shoulder, and he had put a simple healing spell on Igor Vankov¡¯s puncture wound with a sign of severe frostbite. ¡°Fucking hell.¡± the effect of the healing spell brought back the sensation of the shoulder area around Igor Vankov¡¯s wound, and he couldn¡¯t help but groan: ¡°Lia, that fucking bitch. I think she really meant it when she said she¡¯d aim for my heart.¡± ¡°Even they wouldn¡¯t want to cross that line like this.¡± Eric Partizan said: ¡°Let¡¯s regroup in the safe house. We¡¯ve got the shipment already. Contact Mason and arrange a drop.¡± ¡°I - I think I¡¯m gonna need some antidote.¡± Ailyn Shrier swallowed a pill from her pouch, which, as Eric Partizan remembered, was a general purpose antitoxin. Sweat was running down her face, and her skin was turning red: ¡°I don¡¯t think what I have is gonna cut it.¡± ¡°Hang in there, we have everything in the safe house.¡± Chapter 503 The ¡°safe house¡± of Eric Partizan and his team, was actually just a humble warehouse used by several of the academy¡¯s grocery stores and even traveling merchants to store some inexpensive and non-toxic goods. The gates were made of wood with metal edges and slightly heavy for a civilian, and they had two locks that were just enchanted to the lowest degree. For Eric Partizan, picking this lock using his Xen magic was but a piece of cake. Right now there were a lot of buckets in this warehouse, which made them feel somewhat cramped in. None of his team had checked the status of this ¡°safe house¡± recently for it was not a very defensible place and had relatively high foot traffic. And also there could be situations like it was today, where the buckets containing materials which they presumed were stored here for the firework festival and competition were taking up most of the room. When they shut the gates, Ailyn Shrier almost passed out on the floor, sweating and short of breath. Eric Partizan immediately cast a healing spell on her, and the spell seemed to have somehow exacerbated the effects of the poison. ¡°This seemed to be a poison in the circulation system, you cannot use normal healing spells.¡± Igor Vankov did a check on Ailyn Shrier¡¯s forehead, neck pulses and wrist pulses and said: ¡°We need something to slow the spread of the toxin.¡± ¡°Use the Ice Hornet Honey Drops, then cut both of my wrists.¡± Ailyn Shrier said to Eric Partizan in a weak voice: ¡°It will cleanse my blood flow and let me bleed it out.¡± Ice Hornet Honey Drops was made off exactly what its name suggested, concentrated and with a few other ingredients added to prevent the concentrated ice magical energy in the honey from acting too quickly and damaging people¡¯s blood vessels and internal organs. Eric Partizan nodded, then he waved his hand at the floor and released a purple energy wave, and a piece of the floorboard lit up in purple light, from a small symbol marked on it. Then he lifted the floorboard up, took out a metal box from under it and took out a small transparent bottle with some thick light blue liquid inside. Eric Partizan rushed to Ailyn Shrier¡¯s side, opened the bottle and dripped three drops of the thick light blue liquid into her mouth and both of her nostrils. ¡°Igor, Check what¡¯s inside.¡± Eric Partizan threw the paper bag to Igor Vankov: ¡°Make sure our thing¡¯s are there. And contact Mason while you¡¯re at it.¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Ailyn Shrier¡¯s body shivered as the droplets of Ice Hornet Honey Drops took effect, and the surface temperature of her body lowered significantly as if she was about to be frozen. Eric Partizan created an energy knife using his magical power, then slit the wrist of Ailyn Shrier. Her blood started slowly pouring out, and in her blood he could see some tiny and shining particles inside, these were the crystals formed by the honey drops when cleansing the toxins. On the other hand, Igor Vankov took out three heavily wrapped plastic bags which were themselves wrapped in pieces of big leaves from inside the paper bag. At this point, Igor Vankov would not dare to open the plastic wraps again, he just used his magic and let his power go through the wraps to test and see what it was. ¡°One bag of dried ground Kekugora mushroom. One bag of Kandera Wyvern bones, feels particularly high density, might be tail bones. One bag of ground Swamp Serpent teeth.¡± Igor Vankov then said to Eric Partizan. ¡°What the fuck - only one of them is ours.¡± Eric Partizan cast a spell on Ailyn Shrier¡¯s wrists when he realized her condition was getting better to prevent her from bleeding out: ¡°And who the fuck in their right mind would bring Kandera Wyvern bones in?! What the hell were they thinking?¡± Just this moment, the detection spell Eric Partizan left on their way here was triggered, and he could sense that the team of three that was pursuing them were closing in. ¡°Which is a reason why they would be willing to actually kill.¡± Igor Vankov said with a stern and concerned voice: ¡°They must be planning something really really big.¡± ¡°They¡¯re closing in on us.¡± Eric Partizan watched as Ailyn Shrier slowly regained consciousness from the effect of both the toxins from the blow dart and the Ice Hornet Honey Drops: ¡°We cannot bring these things with us. Hide them - hide them in these buckets! And then we sneak outta here!¡± ¡°Why? Shouldn¡¯t we hand them over to Mason?¡± Igor Vankov asked. ¡°They¡¯re willing to kill for these. So if they catch any of us with things on us, we¡¯d be dead. But if we don¡¯t have it, we still have a chance to live.¡± Eric Partizan answered: ¡°Fuck! Never thought they would be this dangerous - we¡¯re clearly outgunned here.¡± Igor Vankov thought for a brief moment then sighed: ¡°Okay.¡± He hid the three plastic bags in three buckets that were holding the special gunpowder for creating enchanted fireworks, and tried to put the lids back exactly like they were before. ¡°What happened?¡± Ailyn Shrier gasped and woke up: ¡°Where am I?!¡± ¡°Shhh - we¡¯re in the warehouse.¡± Eric Partizan immediately said: ¡°We¡¯ve gotta go. ¡± ¡°Bang!¡± the gates were busted open, the gush of wind and shockwave knocked many of the buckets over, and some were even damaged and started leaking the dark, coarse-grained and oily looking gunpower all over the floor. But the team of Katrina, Lia and Gregory were late, as Eric Partizan and his team had already left the warehouse through a tunnel only they knew existed. Breaking out of the memory flashback, Professor Barnes now had a clear understanding of what had caused the circulation of the contaminated materials - the oily look of the gunpowder was because the grains were treated with a kind of oil that had special affinity to almost all kinds of magical energy, which would make the gunpowder easier to enchant and thus allowed even students with minimal grasp of magical enchantment to craft fireworks that would have beautiful and flashy explosions. But on the other hand, the oil was also highly soluble to many kinds of plastics. Plus, the normal process of dispensing gunpower, as far as Professor Barnes knew, required the venders to mix the contents of many buckets and ground them down to finer grains so that they would be easier to use. A procedure which, in this very situation, made everything worse. Chapter 504 ¡°Ailyn Shrier, real name unknown, a student of the Martin House during her fifth year, exposed to a lethal dose of Kandera Wyvern tailbone powder mixed with Kekugora spores, had been showing no signs of life the second day she was in the academy hospital. Healers called it around one and a half weeks ago.¡± back in Professor Kapur¡¯s room at the Grant Academy Hospital, Benjamin Flake, the head of campus security read from a pile of files in his hand: ¡°Igor Vankov, real name unknown, a student of the Hellbruck House during his seventh year, found injured after the breakout of that shapeshifting creature, his wounds were from various weapons and human spells and he¡¯s shown symptoms of toxins in his body as well, he¡¯s still in the hospital under protective watch. But his injuries were too severe and there is no way to tell when he¡¯ll wake up.¡± ¡°What about the others? The students in his memory? The ones working for Lady Vyn?¡± Professor Randall Collins, the Headmaster of the Anderson House asked. ¡°Katrina Bloomberg, eighth year student of the Martin House; Lia Vyn, second year student of the Martin House and Gregory Hanson, fifth year student of the Anderson House. ¡± Benjamin Flake shook his head: ¡°All of those names are in the missing students list.¡± ¡°Vyn ¡­ any relationship with this lady Vyn?¡± Glenda Grimes asked, then she looked at Professor Dorothea Clarkson: ¡°What about Assistant Professor Vyn? Do we have a reason to be concerned?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a name, Grimes.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson shook her head and replied with a hardened and cold voice, showing that she did not want to continue this line of conversation. Professor Barnes tried to back Glenda Grimes up: ¡°Vyn is not a common name, and we did find something suspicious about his cohorts and his doing...¡± ¡°Then come back to me when you have concrete proof that we can take a careful look at. I will NOT let you subject one of my best students and researchers to this kind of baseless accusation.¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough.¡± Professor Kapur gently raised her voice: ¡°This is not productive. Let¡¯s get back to the students - or the spies sent by this ¡­ this Lady Vyn. Do we have any idea on where they could be?¡± ¡°No, but from the look of their dormitories, it looked like they left by their own will, but in a hurry.¡± Benjamin Flake sighed and answered: ¡°We are running analysis on every little piece of evidence we found, but don¡¯t get your hopes up. Try to break that prisoner slash agent of yours, there might be better intelligence from that route.¡±Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Can we know where this Eric Partizan is now?¡± Professor Barnes asked. ¡°He¡¯s somewhere safe, under my protection. I¡¯ll share with you once he feels safe enough with me.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson said: ¡°Apparently, he has more information he¡¯s not shared with me. For example, as a Xen magic user, he apparently knows a lot about the operations different groups had been running in the academy. All he¡¯s told me so far is that he wants a deal and full protection. And he¡¯s quite paranoid of my revealing where he is to anyone.¡± ¡°And that remains the same, yeah?¡± Professor Barnes asked: ¡°And can I ask you to keep this information with you, and only share it with members here in this room when he¡¯s ready?¡± ¡°Yes. Save your worries and concerns, it¡¯s not the first time I handle sensitive information.¡± ¡°So, what¡¯s next?¡± Professor Randall Collins sighed and asked: ¡°We¡¯re not here to grill each other on our abilities and commitment to keep things private, okay? We need plans for actions. Tony, you¡¯ve been spending quite a lot of time with that prisoner, what have you found out?¡± ¡°Something about the tunnel.¡± Professor Barnes sighed and said: ¡°He¡¯s still trying to milk this as much as possible, or that he did not trust the cage¡¯s ability to block off the effects of the gag curse. The tunnel was apparently a re-fashioned crack from the stacked planes we have in the student hunting ground. It¡¯s far from stable and behaves like a tunneling space across the planes between the hunting ground and some remote realm on a remote planet, the name and coordinates of which only certain high level handlers have access to. He doesn¡¯t know where that creature came from, he just knows that it¡¯s been there for quite a while. And to maintain that tunnel¡¯s stability as well as keeping that creature stable and dormant, these groups need to continuously pump energy stones into it. The creature needs to feed, and the tunnel¡¯s stabilizing array needs an energy source.¡± ¡°Lauren Biggins.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson and Professor Randall Collins said at the same time. ¡°Yes, exactly.¡± Professor Barnes looked at Benjamin Flake: ¡°And speaker of whom, where are we at tracing her?¡± ¡°She¡¯s alive, that I¡¯m sure.¡± Benjamin Flake stretched and said: ¡°But she¡¯s been hidden.¡± ¡°You mean ¡­ she¡¯s hiding?¡± Professor Kapur asked. ¡°No, she¡¯s hidden.¡± Benjamin Flake shook his head: ¡°By someone other than herself. From what we could tell from the effect of the tracing spell placed on her when she escaped - she as a member of the administration knows how to disable it completely and cleanly because she was one of the architects of that array. But she didn¡¯t do so. Instead we detected a lot of very faint indications that something general purpose and powerful is at play here - someone had her, and they¡¯re hiding her. And we don¡¯t wanna poke too hard - ¡± ¡°Because they might notice your attempts.¡± Professor Barnes nodded. ¡°Bingo.¡± ¡°But we¡¯re running out of time.¡± Glenda Grimes said with a heavy frown: ¡°The effect of that tracing spell fades really quickly.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Benjamin Flake smiled: ¡°But, apparently she¡¯s also keeping it alive. Interesting, huh?¡± ¡°Which means she¡¯s kept by a hostile force.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson said: ¡°Can you find out where she is roughly? Even just a general location or coordinates.¡± ¡°Trying that. But it¡¯s tricky, and we will need an expert.¡± Chapter 505 Somewhere on the edge of downtown Ventura, an almost completely empty indoor shopping center with dirty glass ceilings covered in dust, dried leaves and spots of grey, dark green and black spots of bird poop. The stores and shops in this shopping center inside the shopping center also seemed deserted, all the workers in them were all taking naps, watching their phones, or even just straight up doing drugs behind the counters or in their break rooms. ¡°Boom!¡± something seemed to have exploded from a distance, and the ground shook. Some goods placed on high shelves were shaken, and some of them even fell onto the ground. A few glass bottles of soft drink shattered when they hit the hard floor and the overly sugary drinks just spilled everywhere. ¡°Fuck!¡± the clerk behind the counter was playing on his phone, and he almost fell off his chair when it happened: ¡°Fucking piece of shit! God! What the fu - ¡± Just when this clerk was about to pick up some cleaning supplies to clean the mess, another remote explosion occurred, and the ground shook along with it. This time, it seemed to have become more violent. ¡°Boom!¡± before any of the people in this deserted shopping center could react, another explosion occurred right under the central dried up fountain. The fountain was thrown straight into the sky as if it was just some random object placed on top of the lid of a boiling kettle. A few human figures rushed out from the whole underground, tearing the hole even bigger and sending debris of cement, bricks and burning and smoking rocks everywhere. ¡°Go! Go!¡± one of the figures that rushed out was a man with many tattoos all over his body, but now he had a few grevious wounds on his chest and arms, one could even see his forearm bones through some of them: ¡°Head back! Headback!¡± The other two figures that came out were a half man half beast whose body was covered in brown fur and bristle and a young woman in a suit of dark leather armor wielding a long one handed sword and a short one, with her eyes gently glowing and flickering. The half man half beast also had many severe wounds on his body, but those were being healed at an elevated rate. The young woman, on the other hand, only had a few small scratches and cuts on her body. ¡°Use the portal scroll!¡± the half man half beast yelled in a low voice: ¡°Or we¡¯ll just die here!¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Bang bang bang bang!¡± someone hiding in the corners holding a Division-issued enchanted gun opened fire on the three figures that emerged from the hole on the ground. The young woman seemed to have seen this attack coming just mere moments before, and with her body lighting up in dark red, she leapt to the side. Two of the four bullets just barely missed her body, one of which hit the half man half beast, and the other just flew into an old toy store in the back. The half man half beast was blasted away with his right arm almost completely blown off. ¡°I will need a moment!¡± the young woman raised her voice, and she used the long one handed sword of hers to unleash a dark red energy bolt at the man in full black tactical gear. The man raised his left hand and conjured a round energy shield from an artifact on his wrist, but that energy bolt just turned into a spinning energy saw blade and sliced right through the energy shield and the man¡¯s body. ¡°You will not get away this time!¡± a team of four figures in dark cloak and face coverings burst out from underground surrounding the team of the young woman and her two injured teammates: ¡°Emilia Corin! Your time is up!¡± ¡°You will NOT!¡± the tattooed man raised both his arms and struck the air above him, grey and shadowy energy exploded and two shadow serpents appeared out of thin air and lunged at the figures in cloaks around them. One of the figures in cloaks jumped and left a string of afterimages behind him. A curved blade with the rough length of an adult man¡¯s whole arm sliced through the tattooed man¡¯s right shoulder and severed his entire right arm. ¡°Fuck you!¡± the tattooed man cursed in fear, but still commanded the two shadow snakes to lunge at his enemies. Two of the figures in cloak tried constructing an energy shield to block off the attacks of the two shadow snakes, and another figure in cloak just lunged at Emilia Corin with a wrist blade extended from her right arm and a handful of tiny sharp blades in her left hand. ¡°Bang!¡± the two shadow snakes collided with the energy shields put up by the two figures in defensive positions. Some kind of energy wave still seeped through the energy shield and struck the two figures from inside of their very bodies. These two figures in cloaks were thus thrown back on their backs and started bleeding through their eyes, ears and nostrils. ¡°Psssh...¡± the sound of liquid gushing into the air appeared, it was the tattooed man who just lost his head, at the hands of the cloaked figure wielding a curved sword, and blood was gushing into the air from his cleanly cut neck. Emilia Corin swung her shorter sword at the cloaked figure charging at her and unleashed two crescent shaped dark red energy blades at the opponent. The cloaked figure swung her wrist blade while shifting to the side. The two dark red energy blades were deflected and ended up destroying three shops behind her, and her momentum was only momentarily halted. The cloaked figure flailed her left arm through the air, and a batch of six tiny sharp blades were hurled at Emilia Corin aiming at her face, her chest and legs. Emilia Corin¡¯s eyes glowed, her skin around her eye sockets cracked up and started bleeding, and her dark leather armor lit up in dark red as she rolled on the ground in an attempt to evade the tiny blades. Chapter 506 The half man half beast leapt towards the figure in cloaking that just killed the tattooed man with his claws fully extended and his fangs fully revealed. The figure in cloak turned around and charged at this opponent, and the curved sword swung at the opponent¡¯s neck through a winding trajectory. The half man half beast raised his right arm to defend his own neck and after a loud dud and the gush of blood, the half man half beast managed to block the blade with the bones in his forearm. The curved blade, which cut through the tattooed man¡¯s neck bone like a hot knife through butter, was not able to do any damage to the bone. ¡°Now, try again?¡± the half man half beast let out a gnarly laugh as he grabbed the cloaked figure¡¯s arm holding the curved sword. The cloaked figure gasped and inhaled sharply in pain as the half man half beast ripped his entire arm off, but his scream did not go on for long, for the half man half beast had already tossed his severed arm off and tore his head away from his shoulders. ¡°Where¡¯s the fucking portal, Corin?¡± the half man half beast looked to the direction of Emilia Corin and asked. ¡°Ting ting ting!¡± Emilia Corin swung both her swords and parried four out of six of another wave of the tiny sharp blades from the cloaked figure targeting her, but at the same time two of the sharp blades struck her in her abdomen and leg. The tiny sharp blade that landed on her abdomen winded up falling onto the ground with its momentum absorbed by the dark leather armor, while the one that struck Emilia Corin¡¯s leg got embedded in her skin and muscle. ¡°One fucking minute!¡± Emilia Corin removed the tiny blade immediately, but she could already feel the poison seeping into her blood streams: ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, give me some fucking help here!¡± The cloaked figure¡¯s body flickered and then her one figure turned into five, and all five of them charged at Emilia Corin from five different directions at the same moment. Emilia Corin¡¯s pushed herself once again, and the golden and red light from her eyes flashed like a warning light. And the cloaked figure, for a very brief moment, felt that even though her clones were barely distinguishable from herself both from an external appearance perspective and from the radiated energy signature perspective, she couldn¡¯t help but feel that her attack would be seen through and countered.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. But she was in no position to retreat or back down, and she just continued with her charge, with her wrist blade raised and her power infused inside and concentrated on the edge of her blade, ready to slice through even the thickest armor. Emilia Corin stumbled backwards, her overexerting her power had dried up her meridians, numbed her limbs and muscles, and more apparently, led to profuse bleeding through the corners of her eyes, her nostrils and the cracks around her eye sockets. But still, she infused every last drop of her power into her swords, and when the five figures came close to her, she thrust her longer sword forward. A dark red energy blade shot from the tip of her sword, and pierced through the left chest of the second figure on the left. The other four figures dissipated into the air as they got even closer to Emilia Corin, but not before all of their wrist blades struck Emilia Corin on her shoulders, her back and her left arm. Though these were only clones from energy, they still left some mark on Emilia Corin¡¯s body, and even quite a grievous wound on the back of her left arm. ¡°How...¡± the cloaked figure choked blood, which even seeped through her mask, and when she raised her arm, in an attempt at a final strike, her head was removed from her shoulders by the half man half beast. ¡°How ¡®bout now?¡± the half man half beast licked her palm and sucked on the tips of his blood stained fingers, panting and blowing two streams of steam from his nose: ¡°How¡¯s that portal going?¡± ¡°Here. You know how to use it right?¡± Emilia Corin could hardly raise her own arm, and the scroll she took from her pocket just fell onto the ground. The half man and half beast picked the scroll up, then slowly tore it open. Apparently the scroll needs some specific magical energy trick to open, and it was taking him quite a bit of effort just to open it correctly. A portal with light yellow edges appeared in the space beside Emilia Corin and the half man half beast. The half man half beast extended his hand and picked Emilia Corin up, then walked into the portal carrying her on his shoulder. When the two came out from the exit of the portal, both of them fell onto a smooth, reflective marble ground inside a spacious room underground with an altar in front of them. Several guns and enchanted weapons were instantly pointed at them the moment they touched the ground. ¡°Why here?¡± a young woman called off the people on guard, then gently raised both her hands to help the two up: ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°The other portal scrolls were disrupted, we lost two men just from the disruptive spells they prepared.¡± the half man half beast said: ¡°We¡¯re lucky, please tell Ms. Summers, the mercs from Bitch Reaper were targeting this precious little apprentice of hers.¡± ¡°Emila? Are you alright?¡± the young woman took a look at Emilia Corin, and found that she seemed to have passed out, her face cracked up and almost entirely covered in blood: ¡°Find the healers, now!¡± ¡°They knew what they were doing, they had preparations for almost all of us.¡± the half man half beast said: ¡°And it worked - we¡¯re the only ones left. Hell, if I didn¡¯t have my new bones, I would¡¯ve not made it too. You guys have a fucking spy among you.¡± Chapter 507 ¡°How is she?¡± Carol Summers came into a room where there was a big bed with a wooden frame and a whole piece of light green crystal as the base. On the bed lay Emilia Corin, the de facto apprentice of Carol Summers. ¡°She¡¯s not waking up anytime soon.¡± the main healer in charge sighed and shook her head: ¡°Overexertion of her magical power, as well as the power of her gift has put a heavy toll on her body. Her meridians all over her body had some kind of tearing wounds or lacerations. She won¡¯t die, but it¡¯s going to take a lot of work to fix her. Even if she wakes up, even if we are able to make sure that the effects are not permanent, it¡¯s going to take her perhaps years to recover.¡± ¡°What about her gift? Is it damaged? Has she lost it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s too early to tell, but I¡¯m not optimistic about it.¡± the healer turned back and took a look at Emilia Corin: ¡°Like I told you before, the gift seemed to be mostly bound to her soul, if we¡¯re not really really careful, she¡¯s gonna lose it. Then all of the work we did would be for naught.¡± ¡°Okay, keep me posted.¡± Carol Summers walked around the bed and examined Emilia Corin¡¯s conditions carefully, and it turned out the main healer was not lying, in fact, she was putting it in a generous and optimistic way: both the body and soul of this apprentice of hers was falling apart, and with all her experience and knowledge, there was probably indeed no way to heal her: ¡°Dig into my medicine cabinet if needed, and let me know what you need.¡± ¡°We¡¯re compiling a list for the medicines that we will need.¡± the main healer said: ¡°And there are some other things we could name but there¡¯s probably no easy way to obtain. For example, to revert the deep and unforgiving damage to her meridians and her mind, we could only think of using the Dew of the Half Moon.¡± ¡°Dew of the Half Moon?¡± Carol Summers frowned and tried to confirm with the main healer: ¡°Is it absolutely required?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the best hope we¡¯ve got.¡± the main healer answered: ¡°We¡¯re trying to use some recipe of a specific concoction we stole from the Grant Academy, and we will be listing the ingredients in the list as well. It¡¯s an attempt at replacing the Dew of the Half Moon, but from the manual we have it¡¯s not where the original researchers would like it to be.¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°And I would imagine that the ingredients would be heavily controlled or even restricted?¡± ¡°Yes. And a lot of them are hard to come by regardless of their restricted status. They mainly come from Realm Green Rock, there are some other sources, but they¡¯re equally rare.¡± Carol Summers let out a long sigh, then said after a long moment of silence: ¡°... do whatever you need to do. At least, make sure that her gift is not going to be lost.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± the main healer hesitated for a short moment and asked: ¡°This kind of gift, it¡¯s going to bring great tolls on whoever that owns it. It¡¯s not something that mere humans could wield ...¡± ¡°That¡¯s not your concern.¡± Carol Summers cut the main healer off, turned around and started walking out of the room: ¡°Get that list ready as soon as possible, before the end of today. And we shall see to it that the medicines and ingredients be prepared.¡± ¡°Yes, Ms. Summers.¡± the main healer nodded and said. ¡°Where are we on who this spy could be?¡± when her maid, who was also her assistant and the main trainer of Emilia Corin, reported back to Carol Summers to inform her that her guest was ready, she asked. ¡°We¡¯re trying to narrow the range down for now.¡± the maid answered: ¡°And it¡¯s very possible that it¡¯s among our ranks instead of Soren Lupei¡¯s, since if it is someone amongst the lycans or vampires they shouldn¡¯t know how important Emilia is. But judging from the fact that they don¡¯t actually know what Emilia¡¯s gift is, it¡¯s not someone from the most inner circle.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s about less than eight people.¡± ¡°Five, and we¡¯re trying to check their routes and contacts, we will have something very soon.¡± ¡°Which is good news for us, since they won''t know about, much less leak any information to our dear Mama Reaper about what we¡¯re about to do tomorrow.¡± ¡°Speaker of which, Soren Lupei and his team, are here with some ¡­ additional help.¡± ¡°Additional help?¡± Carol Summers frowned, and then she came into the meeting place where Soren Lupei and his team were waiting for her appearance: ¡°Soren, you¡¯re here early.¡± ¡°Hey, Carol, always nice to see you.¡± Soren Lupei stood up with the rest of his team, then gently bowed. ¡°So, I counted two more individuals for your team.¡± Carol Summers looked around in the room and said to Soren Lupei in a low voice up close: ¡°You should know that this is not going to change the split I am willing to offer you. Sixty percent is already the maximum I am willing to give.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they¡¯re just here as additional help. They have experience dealing with Lucias Vyn¡¯s crew. They battled some of their best power wielders when guarding our plant. Now they¡¯re hungering for revenge.¡± ¡°Good.¡± Carol Summers nodded: ¡°I trust that your team is fully prepared and everyone is briefed already about our plan? It¡¯s a deserted castle, but most of the protection mechanisms should still be in place.¡± ¡°Everyone is fully aware of the challenges they will face and the risk they are taking.¡± ¡°Good, the blessing arrays will be ready soon, as are your temporary rooms. Everything you asked for should be prepared already. And we leave tomorrow at first light.¡± Chapter 508 While their enemies were on the move, Lucias Vyn, accompanied by some of her elite forces, arrived at an old and deserted stone bastion in a patch of dark and foggy woods, a ¡°mutual zone¡± set up both by the forces of Lucias Vyn, and the Coven of the Crows as a place for meetings and negotiations. ¡°Lady Marza O¡¯Gul.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn from the academy nodded in acknowledgement of the arrival of the woman they came here to meet, who was also accompanied by her elite forces - and someone they were somewhat surprised to see: ¡°And Miss. Camile Jensen, what a surprise.¡± ¡°Of several guests we have recently, Camile was the smartest, wisest and most resourceful.¡± Marza O¡¯Gul, the woman wearing half a mask answered with a smile: ¡°Her days at the Academy are now officially over, and she made the right choice of joining our ranks and becoming a Crow. She¡¯s here as one of my loyal sisters. I trust that you¡¯d understand that, Assistant Professor?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn waved his hand at some cloaked men standing behind him with wooden and metal boxes in their hands. These cloaked men came forward, and laid down the boxes on the stone table at the center of the room. Then with a snap of Assistant Professor Vyn¡¯s fingers, the boxes drifted gently towards the side of the Coven of Crows. Lady Marza O¡¯Gul clapped her hands, then all of the boxes opened up, and several witches behind her, including Camile Jensen, went ahead and started examining the contents of the boxes. The contents of the boxes varied, among them were darkened bones of some unknown beast, a branch of a tree whose bark was almost entirely dark red and with a few black marks in lightning-like patterns, a pile of red crystals, a scale of some unknown animal, and even the head and the right claw of a lycan, preserved in separate crystal jars with arcane symbols carved on them. The box examined by Camile Jensen was a short sword, still sheathed and with a small part of the blade exposed. The short sword¡¯s grip was made of a kind of heavy red wood, but it was also wrapped in thin and spiked dried rattans, which meant that if one was to use it, their hand would be wounded and blood would drip onto the grip. The guard on the sword was made of a piece of asymmetrically shaped bone - it was mostly light yellow, but with long strings of red in it as if some veins were sealed into this piece of bone when it was being processed. She used a gentle and non-intrusive but meticulous spell to examine the exposed blade of the sword - due to the very nature of the sword, it was not to be unsheathed unless it was about to be used. The blade turned out to be made from not one piece, but thousands and thousands of tiny grains of metal, each of the grains had one microscopic symbol carved on it. There were in total six different symbols, and the grains with different symbols were stacked up into a unique pattern that facilitated the intended use of the sword and put together through some intricate means.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°The Blade of Fade is of exceptional quality, and carefully forged. From what I understand, it was also made with the right materials.¡± Camile Jensen came back to Lady Marza O¡¯Gul¡¯s side and whispered to her: ¡°Effects wise, I have never seen it used, so I can¡¯t tell.¡± ¡°I have the pleasure of seeing it in use.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn was paying attention to Camile Jensen, and as if he just heard the words she just whispered, he said in a plain but stern voice: ¡°It was not a pleasant sight to behold, but it gets the job done. You should have seen the man¡¯s face as he and his mortality scapegoat were both turned to shreds at the same time.¡± ¡°But what kind?¡± Lady Marza O¡¯Gul asked. ¡°All flesh bound, most of the time bound and even soul bound if used by the right hands.¡± Lucias Vyn answered: ¡°But remember, the right hands. It¡¯s not gonna be my problem if some stupid little kid cut her fingers by it and got sucked dry while ruining this every precious blade.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it will be well kept and secured.¡± Lady Marza O¡¯Gul said as the witches responsible for examining the boxes returned to her side and whispered their reports to her: ¡°Okay, thank you. I believe none of my examiners had any concerns on the quality of your offerings, which means that we as a group have seen your sincerity and genuineness. Allow me to express my appreciation on behalf of my sisters.¡± ¡°If you and your sisters are happy with our offerings, may I presume that our deal is finalized?¡± Assistant Professor Vyn asked. ¡°Yes.¡± Lady Marza O¡¯Gul nodded: ¡°Our elite team will be on your side when you march into the Hellinger Castle, led by me in person. Just remember your promises - you will do your best to remove the obstacles that exist in the castle. It¡¯d be a tragic mistake if we end up having to face both the alliance of Beverly Winters, Soren Lupei AND the memories and legacies of YOUR family.¡± ¡°My sister and I are still Hellingers.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn said: ¡°And, since today is just as good as any, you¡¯ll find that we are not the last of the line.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Lady Marza O¡¯Gul smiled: ¡°I can¡¯t wait.¡± Chapter 509 After the brief exchange of pleasantries and promises of alliance, Assistant Professor Vyn signaled to the cloaked men standing behind him. These men immediately brought along some projection devices and put them at the edge of the table. Then, Assistant Professor Vyn clapped his hands, and all the devices lit up, and a slowly rotating hologram of a castle appeared in the air above the table at the center of the room. ¡°This is the most detailed schematics we have gathered through all these years.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn said to everyone in the room: ¡°You can see there are grey spots and grey areas in the hologram, they are the areas with which we have only limited or no information about. So, avoid these areas at all cost, don¡¯t even venture into them unless absolutely necessary.¡± ¡°There¡¯s quite a lot of them.¡± Lady Marza O¡¯Gul said with a frown on her face. ¡°Even if the Hellinger family is what it used to be decades ago, there wouldn¡¯t be many that know more about the castle than us.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn said: ¡°The Hellinger Castle was not meant to be familiar for every member. In fact, we used to have three elders, who are the three elected members of the three main branches of the family. These three elders would have total control over one part of the castle, and only the Patriarch or Matriarch of the family would have control over the entire castle.¡± ¡°My brother and I were in different branches, even though we have the same parents.¡± Lucias Vyn continued: ¡°It¡¯s what the Hellingers do - the ones that displayed affinity to magic or other types of useful talents, will be assigned to two particular branches, while the others with less than mediocre talents, or no talents, will be assigned to the biggest but weakest and most despised branch, and were raised with scarce, if any, resources and we are the civilian cash cows and bridge builders for the family. And yes, that rumor you heard about the Hellinger Family is true - we¡¯re a family of either extreme talents, and barely useful or noticeable talents. And I, was deemed to be the lowest of the lows, an individual with absolutely no talent, well, maybe aside from the fact that I could occasionally see ghosts.¡± ¡°And yet here you are.¡± Lady Marza O¡¯Gul smiled: ¡°So, the two major parts of the castle that were lit up more than the others, that¡¯s the area of the branches you were in?¡± ¡°Yes, precisely.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn said, as he paused the rotation of the hologram to highlight two major parts of the castle from top to bottom, which included one tall tower, the majority of one wide side of the castle: ¡°And fortunate for us, we don¡¯t need to know anything about the third area - we just need to use the two areas. The reason is each of the three parts has its cellar space, and each of the cellar spaces has a gate towards the final underground armory and artifact warehouse only accessible by the elders or the head of the family, inside which is the artifact we¡¯re looking for, with no names but clearly documented usages. But a series of travesties befell the Hellinger family, for better or for worse, most of those who knew about it were either dead or just straight up missing.¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°And how are we getting into it?¡± Lady Marza O¡¯Gul asked: ¡°There are two routes into it, which means there will be two gates for us to break through.¡± ¡°And we will be entering the underground armory through both of the gates.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn said, waving his hand at the hologram and the images of two keys appeared right above the figure of the castle: ¡°We acquired the keys a long time ago, and at least one of them will work. Don¡¯t worry, if one of them doesn¡¯t, there is a tunnel between the two areas so the one with the broken key would be able to find their way to the opened gate. ¡± ¡°What if neither works?¡± ¡°They will work.¡± Lucias Vyn said with a stern voice. ¡°And after entering the armory, we will be faced with the hardest gate to break through - a specifically crafted rune gate that one Hellinger, the most talented and accomplished Hellinger in the family history crafted to guard his proudest creation, the unnamed artifact.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn continued: ¡°If everything went according to plan, there would be minimal challenges standing between us and the artifact.¡± ¡°Where do you foresee we will have to resort to force?¡± Lady Marza O¡¯Gul asked. ¡°Well, obviously, one thing is that we know that Beverly Winters and Soren Lupei might be there, they could be earlier than us, they could be later. We shall know when we are close or inside the castle.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn answered: ¡°As Hellingers we have a connection with the castle, and we can see more than any naked eye can when we are close. And the potential source of challenge is the guardians, I am talking about the gargoyles, sculpture beasts and clay warriors. The detection arrays underneath the castle were damaged when the family fell apart, which means that there¡¯s a chance some of the defense mechanisms would target us as well. The other is that rumor has it that after the castle became deserted, beasts and foul creatures have taken over some parts of the castle.¡± ¡°And according to our scouts, these are the potential areas where dangerous creatures might have taken over.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn waved his hand again, and a few of the areas on the castle hologram lit up in red, which included parts of the patches of land on both sides of the main road to the main gate of the castle, some parts of the underground cellars, some parts of the spaces on the top of the watchtowers, and many rooms that were close to the exterior of the castle. ¡°What kind of beasts or creatures are we talking about?¡± ¡°The higher up places Shadow Bats, Plague Moths. The lower places, Swamp Serpents, mutated Black Widows, and various plants whose names we didn¡¯t care to know about.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn sighed and said: ¡°Most of them are territorial, so as long as we are careful, we¡¯re okay.¡± Chapter 510 Inside of a giant plant with several buildings torn down, roads mostly ruined and with the surrounding areas blocked off, a group of agents from the Division were busy collecting everything they could from the site. Not too far from here was an area with some civilian houses and a collapsed apartment complex, and there was another group of agents there, collecting some other information and evidence. ¡°Is this what you expected when you joined us?¡± Agent Jill walked to the side of Agent Manzene, formerly known as Lady Mazene, a semi-famous medium in California high end circles: ¡°How you¡¯re holding up?¡± ¡°I¡¯m okay.¡± Agent Manzene smiled and let out a slightly distressed sigh: ¡°Feeling a little too old to be a newbie and doing grunt work. But I¡¯ll manage.¡± ¡°Trust me, scrubbing vampire and lycan blood and brains from the walls gets old really quick.¡± Agent Hall walked over and chuckled: ¡°Let me know if you need to sit for a moment there, Gloria, there¡¯s still a lot to go around.¡± ¡°Thank you! I¡¯ll do it when I need to.¡± Agent Manzene wiped off some sweat from her forehead and said: ¡°Yeah, a few months ago I was still a medium who bullshits for money, who knew one day I could be scrubbing vampire and lycan blood off a deserted plant¡¯s floor?¡± ¡°Welp, according to my parents, it¡¯s one of the best ways to introduce you to how cruel and unforgiving this world can be.¡± Agent Jill chuckled and shook her head: ¡°And then I ended up scrubbing decade old blood and dried slime from haunted houses and sites for two weeks.¡± ¡°Really? Have you learned anything?¡± Agent Hall almost laughed out loud as he put a small sample of the blood from the ground on a cart, and proceeded to another place to continue scrubbing. ¡°Well, I got to know first hand some of the most gruesome killings done by vengeful spirits and even returned ghouls.¡± Agent Jill knelt on the floor and started scrubbing a small spot of particularly dark blood. ¡°And what happened here could even top that.¡± just this minute, Pei came into the room with a thermal jar in her hands: ¡°Agents, I just sealed the contaminated spots and machines in the other room and cleansed the entire area, can you go in and log them when you¡¯re done here?¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Machines?¡± Agent Manzene looked up: ¡°There¡¯s machines here?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a plant is it not?¡± Pei sat down on a small wooden chair and took a sip from her thermal jar: ¡°I didn¡¯t let you into the other room because it¡¯s not safe for any of you to go in directly - there was a lot of residual energy beyond your pay grade.¡± ¡°Lycans and vampires did that?¡± Agent Hall and Agent Manzene asked at the same time. ¡°They can perform magic, just like the rest of us.¡± Pei answered: ¡°Though typically they have different affinities than us.¡± Agent Manzene went into the other room with the other agents after they had collected samples from all of the individual spots of blood and other bodily fluids spread around in this room. Pei seemed to be relatively well rested when they were done, and went along with them. The other room seemed to be some kind of bizarre and unholy combination of technology and occult ritualistic decorations and artifacts: there was some heavy machinery for sanding, smoothening and even forging metallic tools and weapons, and there were several altars of different sizes with different relief sculptures and symbols carved on them, some of which were damaged or even completely broken, and some of them were mostly intact. At the corner of the room were four giant metal boxes, three of which were completely empty and the last one still had some dark blocks with a metallic shine left in it. Agent Manzene looked up at the tall ceiling and the walls, and aside from the cracks, dark burn marks and splashes of dried liquid, she could see complex symbols made of metal inserted into them, forming into several arrays of different sizes and complexities. It seemed to be the case that there were things hanging from the ceiling, but were removed when the lycans and vampires that occupied this place went away. There were countless broken pieces of machines and even altars on the floor, and more spots of blood and bodily fluids. One the two carts inside the room, they could see some plastic bags with severed fingers, tails, tones and pieces of bones inside. ¡°So¡­ this Lady Vyn did indeed do quite a lot of damage to the operations of the lycans and vampires.¡± Agent Manzene looked around and said: ¡°I¡­ I felt the presence of intense grudge, hatred and despair, what was used in this fight?¡± ¡°This was an arms manufacturing plant, run by the lycans, vampires and some others.¡± Pei said: ¡°From what I could tell, this is probably a joint operation by Soren Lupei and Carol Summers, two High Brokers of the Exalted Bondsmen. It¡¯s actually quite simple - the enchanted rituals here required a lot of blood and livestocks for sacrifices, literally blood sacrifices, and who else has better access to blood and livestocks than vampires and lycans? And the methods of enchantment - they¡¯re vile, dark and cruel, which totally fits the M.O of Carol Summers.¡± ¡°And what kind of weapons were being forged here?¡± Agent Hall asked as he examined the blocks with a metallic shine still in the metal box: ¡°What is this? Looks like some kind of metal...¡± ¡°Just iron, iron with a specific composition, preserved in wax made by the oil from Dark Amber Trees and Ointment of Mother and Child.¡± Pei shook her head and said. ¡°What is Ointment of Mother and Child ...¡± seeing that Agent Hall and Agent Jill both showed a disgusted and horrified look and got away from the metal boxes, Agent Manzene asked and stepped away with them. Chapter 511 ¡°... so after the mother and the child are buried separately, you¡¯d need to re-open the graves the first night, and put a copper nail through each of the heads of the corpse.¡± though Agent Jill was scared off by the black blocks in the metal box, she showed a somewhat strange and disturbing enthusiasm in explaining the lores behind terribly evil artifacts: ¡°And on the third day, you¡¯d need to go and dig up the bodies, sit the mother straight, place the baby back into the mother¡¯s arms, then start kowtowing to the bodies. Now, since they died of birthing dystocia, there was some kind of twisted bond between them...¡± ¡°Stop, stop, I don¡¯t wanna know.¡± Agent Manzene immediately waved her hands and shook her head: ¡°Let¡¯s just get to logging these things.¡± ¡°Well, Manzene, you should start to get used to these kinds of things, especially when you are dealing with matters of malice and dark energy in general.¡± Pei found a cozy corner and sat down by it: ¡°But still, Jill, be careful when talking to someone who has recently joined the team. Not many could handle the gritty truths of this line of work, we don¡¯t want our turnover rate to grow any higher.¡± ¡°Welp. Luckily we still have the best therapists.¡± Agent Hall shook his head. ¡°But, who would use such an evil thing? And what the heck can it even be used for?¡± Agent Manzene shivered a little and asked: ¡°Should I be feeling kind of¡­ happy that this place is gone?¡± ¡°That depends on what your experience with evil is, and what kind of darkness you could have handled.¡± Pei took out a half-knitted hand glove and started knitting: ¡°From what I could tell, and from what I learned dealing with the ones that sabotaged this place, they are nowhere near benign by any standards, and worse in many aspects. Have you looked into the history of the Exalted Bondsmen?¡± ¡°Umm...¡± Agent Manzene hesitated: ¡°Not in detail yet, I just skimmed through the brief version from the official archives.¡± ¡°Well, that brochure left out a lot of crucial things and simplified the matters too much.¡± Agent Hall said: ¡°And it doesn¡¯t describe enough details about some of the High Brokers. It only shows the basic shit.¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°So, the elemental broker and the ¡®Depth Dweller¡¯ broker, they¡¯re actually real?¡± Agent Manzene asked with her eyes open widely: ¡°My god, I was a bit too nervous to ask. I wonder why we haven¡¯t heard that much about them.¡± ¡°Yes, because, and they¡¯re the less troublesome ones.¡± Pei adjusted her position on her wooden chair: ¡°What you¡¯re seeing here is the doing of the three most nasty ones. Soren Lupei, the de facto leader of the biggest lycan pack in this region, also the spokesman for the alliance between several lycan packs and vampire tribes; Carol Summers, who once had another name, and once a marginal member of the infamous Coven of Crows, now the leader of her own Coven and practitioner of some of the darkest of dark arts. Take a look at some of the marks on the wall and on the ground, they¡¯re left there by dark energy, and yes, they¡¯re created by both sides.¡± ¡°I can sorta understand.¡± Agent Manzene sighed as she picked up a piece of bone fragment from underneath a broken machine, marked its position on the ground and put it inside a plastic bag: ¡°I was almost hired to do some hex jobs by some actresses in Hollywood several times, those petty divas are perfectly willing to cast the nastiest curses even if it cost a whole bunch of money.¡± ¡°So why is this war happening anyway?¡± Agent Jill asked as she put some labels on the samples she just collected: ¡°They¡¯re at peace for that long, and Lucias Vyn and Carol Summers seem like they would get along - they¡¯re both evil nasty bitches.¡± ¡°Probably precisely because they¡¯re so alike.¡± Agent Hall used a long metal clamp to pick up the black blocks and put them inside of a specialized silver metal container with symbols carved all over its exterior: ¡°Dark arts always have resource issues.¡± ¡°It all started with the incident at the Grant Academy, they were not on the best of terms before but their conflict never escalated to this level either. Allegedly they were fighting for a piece of artifact that could tip the balance of power not just between the two groups but also the power balance among the High Brokers. Before that there used to be some sort of tacit agreement between the two groups, the alliance of Carol Summers and Soren Lupei, and the crime syndicate of Lucias Vyn.¡± Pei sighed and said: ¡°Their M.O was that Carol Summers¡¯ members, vampires and lycans take the blood, and Lucias Vyn¡¯s dark practitioners collect the grudge. It¡¯s a whole underground business cycle, hundreds if not thousands of poor young people die at their hands each year. But now the war has bled into the streets like this, who knows how many innocent people will die because of this...¡± ¡°Shit!¡± Agent Hall jolted to the side and fell onto the ground when all the others in the room became silent: ¡°Holy fuck! I should not have tried to listen - holy shit¡­ all those voices - I¡¯ve only heard something like this in San Francisco - ¡± ¡°Hey, Pei.¡± just this moment, a tall, buff, bearded man in a rugged looking tight shirt came into the room and said: ¡°There¡¯s something I¡¯d like your opinion on, can you come over to the other side when you¡¯re done here?¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± Pei stood up: ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Some kind of - well, some kind of pile of flesh that seemed to be the result of a curse. From what I can tell it belongs to a young lycan.¡± Alexander, another member of Josephine Wong¡¯s core team thought for a short moment and said: ¡°And also, the pack that was there left something in their den, I think you''d have experience dealing with it.¡± Chapter 512 ¡°Well, that is not a great way to die.¡± when faced with a pile of hardened melted flesh that reeked of a foul smell, Agent Hall covered his mouth and nose and said: ¡°What the hell did this?¡± ¡°The melted flesh smells of poison, consistent with the residual poison used in the attack on the plant.¡± Pei knelt down on one knee and poked a metal needle into the pile of melted flesh, then sighed and said: ¡°Looks like someone trying to deliver a message. Makes sense to me, because the forces that invaded the plant did try their best to conceal everything that was happening inside the plant to avoid facing reinforcements. But looks like this individual made it here to deliver the message but just not in time to be saved.¡± ¡°My first intuition was that this was the effect of a lycan pushing himself to the limit by literally burning their blood and spirit to temporarily block off the effects of poisons, curses and even sealing wounds to stop major wounds from bleeding. But if one is not in a good condition, then this will burn you alive, or in this case melt your entire body.¡± Alexander shook his head: ¡°It¡¯s not some high end trick, but it''s not something one should try lightly. I tried it once, and my muscles became pudding and it took me three months to recover.¡± ¡°I see. So that¡¯s where the explosive residual energy came from.¡± Pei nodded and stood straight up with Alexander¡¯s help: ¡°But anything weird about it?¡± ¡°Did you sense a curse from it?¡± Alexander ignored the weird looks Agent Manzene, Agent Hall and and Agent Jill gave him, the reason was quite simple: as a lycan working for the Division, his presence was not a common occurrence to anyone. ¡°Yes, but I just thought it was the - the blood boiling thing you just mentioned?¡± Pei looked at Alexander with her left eyebrow raised: ¡°Was it not the case?¡± ¡°No. The trick does share some similarities with curses, but not like that, and it shouldn¡¯t have burnt the entire body down like this.¡± Alexander said: ¡°Now, I¡¯m no expert with curses - but I kinda feel like this curse was meant - specifically for lycans. And it¡¯s definitely not one of the common ones that are designed against lycans.¡± ¡°It¡¯s definitely quite uncommon. I can¡¯t tell anything obvious from the residual energy, and it could very well be because of the residual energy from this blood burning trick, but - ¡± Pei thought for a moment and said: ¡°But at least from the initial sense of it, it¡¯s new to me as well. But I am going to need a full energy signature to have a full conclusion.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Understood. Thank you.¡± Alexander let out a long exhale and said: ¡°I¡¯ll let my pack know that there might be a new curse against us and watch out for it, especially when dealing with people that are under the employments of Lucias Vyn and her cohorts. And ¡­ can we trouble you to figure out wards and cures for this curse when we are able to find some better samples?¡± ¡°Of course - just let me know.¡± Pei smiled: ¡°Now, what¡¯s the other thing you would like me to look at?¡± ¡°Please follow me.¡± Alexander moved past the melted flesh on the ground and walked down a flight of stairs leading to the cellars of the half collapsed room. Agents Hall, Jill and Manzene followed, and the minute they came into the staircase they encountered a smell consisting of sweat, medicinal herbs, charcoal and metal, and the air seemed to have grown thicker, making it harder for them to breathe. The cellar was more spacious than all of the rooms in the house above combined, and it had an incomplete set of tools to prime and complete the finishing touches of weapons. In the corner of the room lay a giant metal bucket, inside which were many weapons that seemed to be either unfinished or ruined. There were also some agents in this cellar, and they were picking these weapons out one by one, labelling them, placing them in special cloths with shining linings and sealing them using specialized enchanted ribbons and wax. ¡°These are not semi finished products, these are products that are almost done, but somehow got ruined at the last moment.¡± Alexander showed Pei and her agents the weapons and said: ¡°Now, lycans don¡¯t typically use weapons like swords and pikes like some of the ones we have here, and I know that vampires aren¡¯t very fond of swords either. So - these are not for the lycans and vampires only, it could be something meant for the general forces in the bigger alliance - but ...¡± ¡°But they don¡¯t feel like weapons.¡± Pei frowned as she took a close look at a mace with spikes on its head, and with a grip that also had some small metal bumps on it, which would make it quite nasty to actually wield: ¡°These are not enchanted like they¡¯re weapons - they¡¯re more like - ¡± ¡°Just some random magical tool?¡± Alexander asked: ¡°That¡¯s what I got from them.¡± ¡°I was going to say they feel like - like keys or lock picks, array breakers, even.¡± Pei said: ¡°And apparently quite an intricate magical key, yet with these crude materials.¡± ¡°Iron?¡± Agent Manzene asked. ¡°Yes, iron.¡± Pei nodded at the agent handling the mace, signaling to him that he could wrap it and take it away: ¡°Did you cleanse these weapons?¡± ¡°We sure did.¡± Alexander said: ¡°You were busy over there, so I had to call in a disciple of Master Nameless to help us. He spent four hours here cleansing the cursed malice and dark energy of this cellar, and you just missed him.¡± ¡°Did he spend a lot of time on these weapons?¡± Pei asked. ¡°Seemed to be so. But he did not say what made these weapons the way they were. I didn¡¯t have the heart to ask because he almost passed out.¡± Alexander asked: ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°We found some iron blocks coated in the Ointment of Mother and Child over there. And looks like we just found the place for the finishing touches. But it''s strange that these are not actually weapons.¡± Chapter 513 One early morning, Jianmen woke up from his session of deep meditation. He then tapped his two legs to get a feel of them - it seemed that after drinking a combination of potions, taking long meditation and visualization sessions and spending time in his own room with healing incense and his own healing bath had done him a lot of good - right now, he was finally in a condition where he could walk around without drinking the dark oil that would suppress both his power along with his injuries. Before he got off from his cushion and was about to proceed with his day and plans, he did a quick check on the statuses of his students - Caroline seemed to still be in her room after her right arm grew back just a few days earlier, it was expected, because losing an arm and then getting it back would take some time to get used to, especially for a power wielder who just passed a tribulation recently; and Jason was finally about to wake up from his long sleep - getting stuck for a long time in a crossover limbo created by a conduit of a fallen god and fighting the spectral projection of the twisted body and soul of the conduit would be a heavy burden for anyone, especially for a young cultivator with affinity to the Power of Mind and Will like Jason. To prepare for a new lecture for both of his students after all this time, Jianmen went into the kitchen, pulled a fresh, whole, long and ugly fish with spikes on its body from the fridge and started prepping it. This was a fish he caught from the deeper parts of his lake near his own farm, quite toxic, but fresh if prepared in the correct way. And there was also this saying when he was in his old cultivation clan: a powerful and immensely potent potion is just barely one hair¡¯s width away from poison. What he had in mind was a special fish and seafood congee with various seafood and thinly sliced filet of this fish, topped with gently boiled fish liver, which would be a suitable dish for cultivators who just endured serious injuries and passed their tribulations. After around one hour and twenty minutes, Jason came out from the basement, still wearing the same clothes he was wearing as the day he fell asleep on the stone bed. Following the smell of the congee, coffee and tea, he came into the diner. ¡°Ugh, my head¡­ Boss, how long was I out?¡± Jason rubbed his eyes and asked. ¡°Per normal flow of time, about ten days, but per the flow of time in the basement, about a month.¡± Jianmen answered while he was in the kitchen finishing up his stir fry: ¡°How are you feeling?¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°Like I just woke with from a crazy hangover.¡± Jason sat down rubbing his temples: ¡°Which, of course, is what I heard what hangovers would feel like - I¡¯ve never - ¡± ¡°Yeah, your night life in college doesn¡¯t really concern me.¡± Jianmen smiled and laid the dish on the table with the big bowl of congee: ¡°Maybe leave it for some family time with your parents and Mack, they¡¯re having fun, but they still want to see you. But here, I just called Caroline, and let¡¯s have a meal, before your first session after you both made it to the fourth layer.¡± ¡°Hey, nice to see you after all these days.¡± Caroline came into the diner wearing her usual pants, combat boots and leather jacket, and moving and stretching her right arm : ¡°My arm still feels weird, Jason, how about you?¡± ¡°Headache.¡± Jason shook his head and chuckled wrily: ¡°Have you tried punching something with your arm?¡± ¡°Good idea, sit there and don¡¯t move.¡± Caroline raised her right arm as she sat down beside Jason. ¡°What do you want to drink? Tea? Coffee?¡± Jianmen asked his students as he came out of the kitchen wiping his hands. ¡°Tea.¡± ¡°Coffee.¡± Caroline and Jason answered at the same time. ¡°Okay.¡± Jianmen picked two tall mugs and poured each of his students their requested drink: ¡°Try the congee first, the tea and coffee are kinda strong, it could ruin the fish and seafood congee.¡± ¡°The fish is not seafood?¡± Caroline shrugged and asked with a smile. ¡°That fish is from my lake on my farm. So no.¡± Jianmen sat down and poured himself a cup of coffee: ¡°Just have some and be sure to savor it.¡± ¡°Mmm, the fish kinda¡­ numbed my tongue.¡± Jason finished all the congee in his bowl with one gulp and said. ¡°That¡¯s because of some leftover toxins.¡± Jianmen smiled. ¡°Toxins?¡± Caroline¡¯s hand holding a spoon froze in the air. ¡°A very small dosage of it, and processed. Think chocolate, coffee and spicy food.¡± Jianmen answered: ¡°Shouldn¡¯t cause any harm to you, since you are officially cultivators of the fourth layer now.¡± ¡°Yay.¡± Caroline smiled and continued with her congee: ¡°Does that mean we can learn to fly now?¡± ¡°What else do you think your next session is for?¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°I¡¯ll tell you about the theories first, and some of the safety precautions as well. And when you¡¯ve fully recovered, you can try them at the back.¡± ¡°Mmm, can¡¯t wait.¡± neither Caroline nor Jason realized that they were actually starving for food until they had some, and without saying much, both of them just gorged themselves on the food on the table. ¡°Want more?¡± it did not take long for the two students to finish everything on the table, while Jianmen just sat on the side and watched them enjoy: ¡°There¡¯s more if you need.¡± ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± Jason put down his bowl and let out a satisfied exhale. ¡°Yeah, me too.¡± Caroline nodded, then looked at her right hand: ¡°My hand is tingling¡­ this means that I am healing right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Jianmen¡¯s facial emotion became slightly more serious, as he straightened up his body: ¡°Now, before we proceed, Jason, I would like to express my apologies to you.¡± Chapter 514 ¡°A - apologies? ¡± Jason was stunted for a moment, then he asked with a confused frown: ¡°For what?¡± ¡°For - well, let me lay this out first - ¡± Jianmen sighed and sat back slightly: ¡°When you came back, there were some traces of energy that remained on you, and the angry voice you mentioned. I didn¡¯t tell you a lot about it since you needed the rest. But now that you are out, and you are on the fourth tier, I think you are more than ready for this piece of information ...¡± ¡°He¡¯s some kind of evil god, isn¡¯t he?¡± Jason scratched his head and asked. ¡°Hmm, so I don¡¯t have to tell you.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°Well done. How did you know?¡± ¡°Well, we both saw you fight that evil shadow in the sky in San Francisco.. There was something about ¡­ you know, Godhood that you just cannot quite forget once you encountered it.¡± Caroline chuckled: ¡°Am I right, Jason?¡± ¡°Yeah, half right.¡± Jason shook his head: ¡°The other half was that when I heard the void, I got a strange feeling about the one who conveyed the voice to me - not exactly the feeling you gave us when we saw you fight that shadow, but something that was similarly - well, mysterious.¡± ¡°That is the feeling of ¡®Dao¡¯, or ¡®path¡¯, something you will need to find one for yourself someday.¡± Jianmen answered: ¡°But we can continue with the Godhood lesson another day - what I would like to express to you, Jason, is that I did something I should have told you before.¡± ¡°What?¡± Jason sat back on his chair, he stayed silent for about half a minute, then asked: ¡°You went and contacted him, didn¡¯t you? And if I understood the situation correctly, you wanted to pull him on our side, when that ¡®war¡¯ comes. Am I right?¡± Caroline was slightly surprised, but then she realized that this theory actually made quite a lot of sense - strategic wise. ¡°Yes, that is indeed what I did.¡± Jianmen sighed and nodded at Jason: ¡°And I am sorry for that. I am going to tell you that I would do it again, but I should have told you.¡±A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Jason signed, took a deep breath and looked up, then he asked with a calm but repressed voice: ¡°Did he agree? Is he gonna be on our side?¡± ¡°That fucking coward of a god hasn¡¯t got back to me yet.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°So I am assuming no. And the more I got to know about her, the less faith I have in any potential alliance with him. So, if he came back to me with a yes, I would just keep him around but treat him as a betrayal risk and a spy.¡± ¡°Okay, okay, good, good. I wouldn¡¯t trust anyone like that.¡± Jason let out a long exhale in relief, then he looked Jianmen straight in the eyes and asked: ¡°And Boss, please be frank with me - if I want to kill him, which tier should I be on?¡± ¡°If you want to beat him to a pulp, you just need to be on the fifth tier. Hell, you can probably beat him once you¡¯ve stabilized your power and maybe gained a little progress, and you are not within his realm or kingdom. This bastard has surprisingly not recovered that much from the last time I dealt with him.¡± Jianmen answered: ¡°But killing a god is not that easy, even a fallen God whose conduit you sliced in half like a sandwich bun in the crossover limbo. It¡¯s something to do with Godhood, even a broken Godhood. But I can teach you how to actually destroy Godhood if you really intend to learn. It¡¯s not some kind of forbidden knowledge, but it¡¯s still heavy stuff.¡± ¡°Okay, Boss, thanks for telling me that. We¡¯re good. And I totally understand, you need allies.¡± Jason nodded: ¡°I want to learn that someday, and I want to destroy him someday. Or at least bash him back into his hole.¡± ¡°Woah, Jason getting hard.¡± Caroline joked: ¡°Can I sign up for that class too, Boss?¡± ¡°Okay, god killing lessons it is.¡± Jianmen laughed in relief: ¡°But you¡¯re gonna have to cultivate harder, because those are only okay for you to take when you¡¯re one tier higher. Alright? Don¡¯t be hasty with the nastier arts of cultivation.¡± ¡°So, Boss.¡± Caroline poured herself some more tea: ¡°Who¡¯s this evil fallen god? And what¡¯s with this ¡®fallen¡¯ business?¡± ¡°Godfalls, THE mystery of millenia.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°I don¡¯t have that answer - yet. But I think it¡¯s safe and prudent to let you know that this is something that happens - Gods, and powerful power wielders, including cultivators, can sometimes fall from power due to unknown circumstances. And this particular god, a really treacherous and cowardly one at that, his name is Hoztang. And apparently, he likes to pull stuff like inspiring his believers to run cults and have his believers do a lot of his dirty work for him. He even had a lot of dealings with lycans and vampires as far as I know. And just like fate, I found out that I have actually encountered him before, thanks to the notebook you had in your pocket, Jason.¡± ¡°Holy - it¡¯s the same god you brought down in that story of yours?¡± Caroline almost laughed out loud: ¡°Ain¡¯t that just funny.¡± ¡°Yeah. He¡¯s still operating here, after I sent him packing last time.¡± Jianmen said: ¡°I was pretty weak back then, so it looks like I didn¡¯t do enough damage to scare him away. And Jason, that main boss - I mean the big bad guy from that crossover limbo, was his conduit. And conduits are like a special kind of zealot, who have opened their minds and souls completely to the will and decree of the gods. The fight you had, was not just with the man given the fallen god¡¯s power, you actually fought a small part of the god himself.¡± Chapter 515 On the lawn at the back of the inn, where both Jason and Caroline used to take their medicinal baths, Jianmen stood in front of his two students with his signature bamboo stick. ¡°Where¡¯s Aimee and Thomas again? I thought this was a joint session?¡± Caroline looked around and asked. ¡°It is a joint session, but you will start earlier, so that you will have more time to practice.¡± Jianmen tapped the ground with his bamboo stick and said: ¡°Now, I trust that your powers are stabilized enough - or at least stable enough to learn to fly. It¡¯s still a little too early for the detectives, so they can come in later, so can they can spend more time dealing with the aftermath of lycans and vampires and helping their police friends.¡± ¡°Alright! Flying!¡± Caroline rubbed her hands together and said: ¡°What should we do?¡± ¡°Okay, from what you have learned about your powers, what have you thought about?¡± Jianmen said: ¡°And don¡¯t go low concept only or be overly practical. Caroline?¡± ¡°So, my Xuanli is fire and wind, which - well, kind of a cliche combo for flying.¡± Caroline said: ¡°Shooting flames or strong wind from my palms and the soles of my feet, that¡¯s what I tried. I was able to float for a few seconds. But I think I¡¯m gonna need a new pair of boots.¡± ¡°That¡¯s very intuitive, and very pop culture, have you tried anything else?¡± ¡°Yeah, I was thinking about using some kind of airflow or strong wind to lift myself up.¡± Caroline thought for a brief moment and said: ¡°But that seemed to be even more destructive than shooting flames and strong gushes of air.¡± ¡°I see, and what about you? Jason?¡± ¡°I - well, aside from directly exploding my Xuanli to create air jets like Caroline tried, at first I was thinking that I would construct some kind of metal wings, or maybe construct a jetpack with some extra strong propellers inside.¡± Jason scratched his head and answered: ¡°But if you¡¯re thinking about high concept - I was thinking something anti-gravity, or something magnetic, since my elemental affinities are metal and earth. I was feeling that if I looked into it I could find a way to do it. But this kind of method will be dependent on the presence of earth or a magnetic field, so probably not going to be useful everywhere.¡±This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Hmm. Keep those thoughts in mind, and pay attention¡± Jianmen nodded, then he raised his right leg, as if he was about to step on an invisible chair or platform, and when he put his leg down, the sole of his right foot seemed to have stepped onto a thin but sturdy enough surface created by energy that appeared in the air. Then he ¡°walked up ¡± a few steps and elevated himself up in the air while still maintaining a standing composure: ¡°Now, look at what I am doing, can you tell me what kind of trick I just used?¡± ¡°You¡¯re standing on a construct.¡± Jason immediately pointed out. ¡°Yes, but a simple construct would still fall to the ground due to gravity.¡± Jianmen answered with a smile. ¡°Your construct seemed to be connected to the air around you.¡± Caroline¡¯s eyes glowed in light green: ¡°Interesting: I can see that there are a bunch of tiny energy threads connecting this thin energy cardboard you created to the air around you, and each of the energy threads is pulling on a patch of air.¡± ¡°Exactly, very good.¡± Jianmen deconstructed his construct and landed on the ground: ¡°So, as cultivators of the fourth layer, you already have enough understanding of and experience with the basic usage and some of the fundamental properties of your Xuanli. What you will need to improve on, your understanding of how they could connect to the world and environment around you. ¡°Caroline, you are correct in calling the flight techniques you used with wind and fire energy cliche, but cliches are there because it is convenient and ready to use, so you should definitely experiment with that route and see if you can master it or find something else about it. Since you¡¯re already able to float, this means that you¡¯re off to a good start. The training rooms under this inn will be made spacious and empty, so feel free to try without the concern of disturbing others. But as you noticed, they tend to be quite disturbing to the environment and not very good in terms of stealiness. ¡°Jason, your high concept approach is a step in the right direction, and something a lot of cultivators start to think about when they are at the fifth layer. Keep that in mind when you try. But on the other hand, you may find diving head first into this approach might not be a good way to start flying tomorrow, and you may not have the right idea on where to start first. So, think about what I just did, and see if you can find something from it.¡± ¡°Uhh, boss?¡± Jason raised his hand. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°The energy threads you just used to connect to the air around you, are they techniques we can use?¡± ¡°Of course, it¡¯s a very typical trick for cultivators of the fourth tier.¡± Jianmen waved his hand in the air, a thin energy wall appeared on his right and his hand bumped into the wall and made a ¡°thud¡± sound: ¡°Think about it this way - when you¡¯re a power wielder of a certain caliber, the most convenient media with which you can channel your power is no longer just limited to your actual body, but also the space you occupy. This means that the air around you, the space around you, the ground on which you stand, can all be yours to command, just like your very eyes, ears, nose and limbs. ¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­ ¡± Jason scratched his jaw and thought for a while: ¡°Is this where the ¡®kingdom of god¡¯ comes from?¡± ¡°Very good, Jason.¡± Jianmen almost laughed out loud: ¡°Very good. But before you ponder about Godhood, start practicing here now, and let me see what you can do.¡± Chapter 516 ¡°Tap! Tap!¡± Jianmen¡¯s humble bamboo stick struck both of Aimee¡¯s icy scimitars on the sides of the blades and hit them out of Aimee¡¯s hands. ¡°Okay, take a break.¡± Jianmen nodded at Aimee, stepped back from the ring he drew on the ground, and said to Thomas: ¡°Thomas, you¡¯re up.¡± ¡°Wait, I think I can do one more round.¡± Aimee struggled up and said: ¡°Just one more.¡± ¡°No.¡± Jianmen said with a stern tone, shaking his head: ¡°From what I could tell from your form and your style, you haven¡¯t grasped the key points of this kind of fighting. So instead of bumping your head at this wall time and time again, take some time to reflect and think.¡± ¡°But...¡± ¡°Moderation, young Aimee, moderation.¡± Jianmen waved his bamboo stick and a gentle force sent Aimee out of the ring: ¡°I know that you are in a hurry, but be patient. Don¡¯t worry, the time in other parts of the world will have only been a minute or two even if we spent the full day here.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, sis, just take a break, you¡¯re not gonna be able to beat down on vampire hordes just after one session.¡± Thomas patted Aimee on her shoulder, then took out two normal looking dark grey handguns and stepped into the ring: ¡°So¡­ how is this gonna work? Will you be using that stick Mr. Yu?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Jianmen turned back at Jason and Caroline, who were still trying to stay in the air for a long period of time using their own ways - Caroline was trying a combination of surrounding herself with a tornado and using fire from her palms to control the direction in which she floated; while Jason created a metallic looking jetpack with spinning turbo fans inside and was trying his best to get better control of it: ¡°Same rules: try to hit me, and avoid being hit by me.¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Alright, here we go.¡± Thomas took a deep breath, then started firing at Jianmen using his handguns. These handguns were modified versions of the standard-issued energy pistols from the Division, which would allow the wielders to infuse their energy into the weapon, and with the help of the arrays carved on the handles and inside the gun, fire energy bullets that could reach a pretty far range with pinpoint accuracy. Jianmen waved his bamboo stick like a sword with an insignificant weight and long a long blade, the energy bullets were parried away one by one as he was closing in on Thomas. Thomas leapt back and stopped his shooting for a brief moment with the muzzles of his handguns glowing in orange and red. Then the next moment, his two handguns blasted out two batches of fiery energy pellets like shotguns. But Jianmen had already seen through his tactic, and also leapt back and to the side, while swinging his bamboo stick along a wavy course. Three energy pellets were caught by his bamboo stick, and then slung back towards Thomas. Thomas gasped and had to jump to the side, but one of the energy pellets still hit him on his left shoulder. ¡°Fuck!¡± Thomas cursed as he fell to the ground, but he was able to immediately roll to the side like he would in a real battle. ¡°Again.¡± Jianmen twirled his bamboo stick like a sword: ¡°Good use of the explosive power and the properties of your gun. And nice battle instincts. But try to be more flowy and less fiery with your energy.¡± ¡°Yeah, the thing is, I am not sure how that is though?¡± Thomas stood up and said: ¡°I asked Caroline...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t read too much into Caroline¡¯s experiences.¡± Jianmen interrupted Thomas: ¡°Caroline¡¯s power is fire, a kind of unique fire but fire nonetheless, her experiences may help you but they will also mislead you. Fire and the flow of burning and combustion are similar but they one crucial difference - and Aimee, this also applies to your power as well - fire and ice are states, while the flow of burning and freezing are processes - to wield flow magic right, you need to think in a slightly more abstract way than elemental magic wielders.¡± ¡°Yeah, this is kinda what I¡¯ve been having trouble with.¡± Thomas took a look at his handguns and said: ¡°Abstract thinking isn¡¯t really my forte.¡± ¡°And I would encourage you to stop with that kind of thinking.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°You¡¯re magic wielders now, and the ability to think in abstract ways is pretty much a required ability if you want to be far along on this path. You might think: ¡®Well, there are knights and fighters, how about I become one of them?¡¯ But the truth is, the best fighters and knights are no way less able to ask and ponder upon important and deep questions about the power they wield as well as the world. Don¡¯t let the stereotypes circulated amongst the students of the Grant Academy taint your perceptions.¡± ¡°Yeah, Thomas.¡± Aimee faked a criticising tone on the side: ¡°Time to get reading, get your grades up!¡± ¡°Alright, alright.¡± Thomas shook his head a few times then readied his handguns: ¡°Again!¡± Chapter 517 After a technically long day of training for both Jianmen¡¯s and Josephine Wong¡¯s students, they were finally able to sit down in the diner and have a feast. Jianmen cooked all the dishes using food harvested from his own farm, which include fish, venison, steak, boar chops, a lot of vegetables and different mushrooms, served with tea, coffee, rice wine and plum wine. Rash came into the diner to steal some food from the dishes, then went back out to the lounge to continue eating and watching videos on his newly acquired smart phone with Snowball on his shoulder. In the back of the inn, the Nekomata sisters Katherine and Christina Akahoshi were still having a fight and negotiation, but they were arguing with each other in their own language - to anyone else, it sounded just like they were angrily meowing at each other. ¡°There haven¡¯t been a lot of guests recently, tough days for business Boss?¡± Caroline asked as she was sipping on her tea: ¡°You know, not that I think you need to worry about the money.¡± ¡°No, I am just limiting how much civilian business we are handling right now.¡± Jianmen smiled as he took the cake out from the oven: ¡°As you know, we ARE preparing for war.¡± The entire diner went silent, then Thomas raised his hand as if he was a student during a lesson: ¡°So, Mr. Yu, I have this question about this upcoming WAR ...¡± ¡°Yes, what about it?¡± Jianmen sliced the green and light brown matcha cake into several thin pieces with a normal knife, without using any Xuanli or special tricks, just normal cake cutting with normal techniques and normal tools. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve - we¡¯ve asked Ms. Wong a couple of times about it, but we were not able to get the clear answers yet. We were wondering, since we recently officially made it to ¡®the second tier¡¯ and have been making a decent amount of progress on our mastery at magic, could you share more information with us?¡± Aimee exchanged looks with Thomas, took a few seconds to formulate her thoughts and said: ¡°We already know that it will be against the defilers - but we don¡¯t know when they will come, do we. And could you let us know what kind of preparations you are doing?¡± ¡°Well, to put it simply, we¡¯re trying to gather enough forces.¡± Jianmen sighed: ¡°But as you already know, the world of the power wielders is not unified. In fact, it is pretty much the opposite to what one could call unified. So, what Josephine Wong was trying on her end was to utilize her position as the liaison of the Division in this area and try to rally forces as well as get support from the Security Council of the Division, and on my end, I¡¯ve been spending a lot of time making this Inn battle ready, collecting materials and weapons to fight this war, and trying to make deals with various powerful entities and see if they could join us on this fight. So far, we have mixed results.¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°And ¡­ we¡¯re going to be in this war, aren¡¯t we?¡± Jason asked while playing with the food on his plate. ¡°Honestly, I had hoped that you wouldn''t have to fight it directly.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°It should have been our burden. But I¡¯d be lying if I said that you have the choice to stay out of it. Unless you have the ability to move away from this part of the universe and settle somewhere else, you can¡¯t run from it. The defilers are coming, and we have to prepare for the worst.¡± ¡°Well, that does kinda make this Bleeding Daggers and vampire slash lycan business into perspective. ¡± Aimee said with a wry smile: ¡°It¡¯s like fighting a shoplifter while a tsunami is about to tear down the whole city.¡± ¡°Yes, but fighting injustice, however small, is still important.¡± Jianmen responded by refilling Aimee¡¯s coffee: ¡°Also, you¡¯d probably want to know that the business with the vampires, lycans, the cult of Bleeding Daggers and the forces under the employment of the High Brokers of the Exalted Bondsmen is going to help the Josephine Wong in her endeavor trying to gain more resources and support from the Division, thus giving us more room to prepare for the war.¡± ¡°But wouldn¡¯t our time be better spent if we spent more time training? Using that time speedup array?¡± Thomas asked: ¡°Jason and Caroline are already really capable fighting-wise. But Aimee and I are still - you know, in need of a lot of training.¡± ¡°Normal training has diminishing returns, and the closer you are to the next milestone, the smaller the gains are, which is why both Josephine and I would like you to continue doing what you¡¯re doing and do what you are planning to do, unless, of course, you want to do nothing and wait for the world to end. ¡± Jianmen laid back on his chair and said: ¡°So, Aimee, that¡¯s a long answer to your question. What I would still like to say is that I am glad and proud that you are trying to do the right thing, and you are attempting to find your own way forward. Don¡¯t worry yourself about the fate of the entire universe into inaction, just do right by what you can.¡± ¡°Okay, another question, Boss.¡± Jason poured himself a bowlful of fish soup: ¡°What happened to the ¡®codex¡¯? I asked because I am still one useful artifact short from the Grant Academy.¡± ¡°Oh well.¡± Jianmen scratched his head with slight embarrassment: ¡°Priorities got in the way. But we¡¯ll spend more time looking into it, because it¡¯s enough to attract spies into our inn.¡± ¡°Woah, spies?¡± Aimee¡¯s eyes opened wide: ¡°When? How?¡± Jianmen was about to answer, but Josephine Wong¡¯s voice resounded in his ears, urging him to come to her side - this was a direct channel of communication they established between themselves, of which they agreed to only use when the situation called for it. ¡°Sorry, kids. Something urgent has come up.¡± Jianmen stood up and nodded at the four students at the table: ¡°Just take the afternoon off, make sure your phones are charged and call me when you need me.¡± ¡°What happened?¡± Caroline and Aimee asked at the same time. ¡°I don¡¯t know yet, but I will let you know if it concerns you.¡± Chapter 518 Somewhere deep underground, just outside of a collapsed laboratory to which they came weeks ago, Jianmen awaited with Josephine Wong, Vivian, Nameless and some other agents of the Division. The entire underground laboratory was vibrating faintly, and a kind of special energy wave was radiating from somewhere deep in the laboratory. On the outside in front of the people that were waiting, there were various arrays placed around and ready to be activated to restrain and even attack anyone or anything that was about to come out. ¡°Talk about one hell of a food coma.¡± Jianmen chuckled and said: ¡°All those stereotypes about dragons, turns out at least one of them is true huh?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just glad that you are in the mood to joke. ¡± Josephine Wong sighed and shook her head. The vibration slowly grew stronger and stronger, and as time went by even the rock ceiling started cracking, and small pieces of dirt and stone started falling from above. The energy waves grew strong with the vibration, and Jianmen could sense that something did awake from behind the stone gates and was coming their way. The stone gates creaked as they were slowly opened from the inside, and from behind came a man in a dark robe with dust all over his body. A cloud of dark smoke surrounded him, and when some of the agents¡¯ eyes were fixated on the dark smoke, they began hearing all kinds of whispers, moans and cries in their ears. ¡°Stop looking at the smoke, stop paying attention to it.¡± Nameless waved his hands and released an aura around him that covered all of the agents around him, and helped them to stay focused, maintain a stable state of mind and guard their spirits against temptations and confusions coming from the smoke. ¡°Welcome back, Tze Cha. How¡¯s the break, and how¡¯s the malice?¡± Jianmen asked. ¡°Very tasty, and a well deserved break for me.¡± the man laughed and flipped his robe back, revealing his eyes, both intact, and both seemed to be in good condition: ¡°You know what? I can see from both now, ain¡¯t this a good time?¡± ¡°Well, I am glad that you enjoyed your time there.¡± Josephine Wong stepped forward and said: ¡°And according to our deal, the place will be ours. And as a courtesy, how about sharing with us what else you have found back there?¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The man let out a long and dry laugh: ¡°Oh, I found something after consuming around half of the malice here, and lucky for me and for us, there¡¯s no scary Godkiller-Worldbreaker hidden inside.¡± Just by stating this, some of the Division agents immediately felt intense pressure on their mind and bodies. Nameless immediately chanted a silent mantra and helped the agents fight off the effects of the weighted knowledge. Luckily, this piece of knowledge did not seem to be as heavy as it could have been, possibly due to Tze Cha¡¯s using of nicknames and the information¡¯s being related to defilers. ¡°But, I am still curious.¡± Tze Cha¡¯s eyes glowed in dark red light as he looked at Josephine Wong and Jianmen: ¡°About a couple of things - one, how confident you are in handling whatever secrets that were buried beneath this thick malice, and how they connect to that nasty bastard suppressed under that god awful shit hole of a hospital; two, how capable you are in holding me accountable to the terms of our agreement; and last but not least, what kind of entity you are, Mr. Yu? Are you a human? Are you a voidborn? Are you some other kind of humanoid creature, a daimon, a materialized spirit? Or are you a god or a god level creature, like the one the dead witches in there signed their souls to, or like me?¡± ¡°Quite a lot of self boast there, Two-Eyes.¡± Jianmen snapped his fingers and blocked off the last few sentences uttered by Tze Cha to protect the less powerful Division agents, and he sighed: ¡°I figured you¡¯d still be cautious. But I guess the malice here was indeed nutritious enough to warrant this kind of confidence.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re still the same, after all this time since that realm, still holdin back and hiding yourself like a sneaky snake.¡± Tze Cha put his palms together, the slowly pulled them apart, a short sword with a straight black double-edged blade appeared in his hand. The next moment, he lunged forward at Jianmen, holding this short sword in his hand and thrusting it at Jianmen¡¯s face. ¡°Ting!¡± a crisp sound of metallic collision and a shockwave exploded from the contact point between Tze Cha¡¯s short sword, and Jianmen¡¯s meat cleaver. Josephine Wong and Vivian¡¯s hair were disturbed, and Nameless¡¯ robes flapped with the strong gust of wind from the shockwave. It was the side of Jianmen¡¯s cleaver that blocked the jab attack from the short sword, and even after this powerful clash, neither the short sword or Jianmen¡¯s meat cleaver had shown any dent or damage. Vivian and Nameless stepped forward at the same time, ready to fight, but were stopped by Josephine Wong. Tze Cha¡¯s eyes stared into Jianmen¡¯s, releasing a strong, invasive probing power trying to dig deep into Jianmen¡¯s identity, his life experiences and even his mind and deepest thoughts. Jianmen¡¯s eyes gently glowed in orange and golden in response, and instead of directly blocking Tze Cha¡¯s probing attempt, he decided to show Tze Cha a piece of his mental image, of something that he actually enjoyed. It was a moment that barely lasted a second, after which Tze Cha backed off after a short but sharp gasp. ¡°Who is that man?¡± Tze Cha asked with his eyes narrowed: ¡°How dare he speak such things about the Gods!?¡± ¡°A standup comedian.¡± Jianmen shrugged with a cunning smile: ¡°A really good one, too bad he died a few years ago.¡± ¡°... what is that? ¡± ¡°You should spend more time in the human world and just try to blend in as one of them. It¡¯d do you a lot of good.¡± Jianmen chuckled: ¡°Now, what did you find?¡± Tze Cha stared at Jianmen for a few seconds, then took a deep look at Josephine Wong, and finally relented a glowing piece of light blue crystal. ¡°Another relic.¡± Josephine Wong and Nameless said at the same time. Chapter 519 ¡°... and then I was like: ¡®what the hell, mam? I¡¯m just here to pick up some toothpaste and canned fish for my freaking cat, okay? I don¡¯t have the time to learn about your God or how much he loves me. My cat¡¯s gonna eat this fucking can up, disappear, maybe break my new favorite mug while looking me in the eyes and ruin my sofa - and, and I¡¯m here telling you dick jokes and stories about my asshole cat - so, he doesn¡¯t care about me enough to steer me in any directions. Between that guy with a crooked eye who can just sleep and make more money in one night than I can ever make in my entire fucking life, and that skinny kid born in a puddle of shit water and already have AIDS when he¡¯s born, my life is pretty insignificant, alright?¡¯¡± With the narration of an angry sounding man and the gasps and laughter from an audience in the background, Tze Cha actually saw the image of a tranquil sky in the morning. The winds were blowing, the grass and tree were moving from the flow of the wind, and clouds were slowly moving in the sky, with their shadows cast onto the ground. ¡°... and to be kinda sorta brutally honest - the more I watch TV and listen to the hot blondes in tight short skirts talking about random shit, the more I feel that, I like the other Gods better! Yeah! If I were more of an asshole, I¡¯d tell the lady: ¡®Sorry lady, your God is kinda annoying! Okay? Oh, what¡¯s that? I don¡¯t know, maybe he¡¯s too much of a try hard and a bummer! Maybe I like the good old days where Gods who - you know, who fuck!¡¯ Like that bearded dude with the lightning hands, big fucking horn dog, who kinda fucks everything that moves, and have fucking kids with a whole bunch of fucking things. That¡¯s more like a god I could be down with, you know? I may or may not worship the fucking dude, I may or may not pray to him, depending on what kinds of kinds of things he fucked last night - ¡± As the words of the angry sounding man became more and more disrespectful, a sudden change took place in the image before Tze Cha¡¯s ¡°eyes¡± - several thick bolts of completely black lightning shot across the tranquil sky. Dark red and smoky trails that looked like bleeding wounds of the sky were left by the black lightning bolts, and as Tze Cha¡¯s focus was placed on those tracks, he started to see some destructive dark energy seeping through. The duration in which Tze Cha stared into Jianmen¡¯s eyes was very short, and he was not able to see anything more. Not that he would like to try to peek longer anyway, since he had figured out almost at the first instant that he did not pierce through Jianmen¡¯s defences, and Jianmen was just showing him a piece of information that he was willing to share.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. The message Jianmen tried to convey to him was received and understood as well - Tze Cha, given his status and his unique position and identity as the last living member of the Omen Dragons, had already some suspicion on the what Josephine Wong and her team were after ever since what happened at Clearwater Municipal Hospital, and all the image did was confirm his suspicion. ¡°To be honest, and no offence, Tze Cha, I¡¯m a little surprised.¡± Josephine Wong said as she took the relic from Tze Cha. ¡°It¡¯s my gesture of goodwill.¡± Tze Cha blew through his nose gently and said: ¡°Looks like whether I like it or not, we are going to work with each other for the foreseeable future - if we could even have a future, that is.¡± ¡°So, you know what we¡¯re trying to do.¡± Josephine Wong gave Jianmen a grateful look, then said: ¡°And we are very grateful.¡± ¡°Only because I am bound here by my oath and covenant. And that there is no escape from them now.¡± Tze Cha nodded, then took out two dark claws and handed them to Jianmen and Josephine Wong: ¡°Now, our terms haven¡¯t changed - if you need my help, I will get paid. If they find me first, I will lead them to the fight. If they find you, I will be there.¡± ¡°A wise and courageous choice.¡± Jianmen extended his right hand and prepared for a handshake. ¡°The claw is a signature of a deal, just take it.¡± Tze Cha put a claw in Jianmen¡¯s hand: ¡°Touch claws just means we¡¯re about to duel in my tradition.¡± ¡°Ah, sorry.¡± Jianmen retracted his hand and put the dark claw in his shirt pocket: ¡°Definitely not gonna do that here.¡± ¡°How many have you recruited?¡± Tze Cha asked. ¡°I¡¯d say we have a good chance to win.¡± Jianmen smiled and said. ¡°Well, try harder.¡± Tze Cha swung his hand at the space behind him and created a crack in the space: ¡°I¡¯ll be taking some time to rest. Do not wake me unless the situation warrants it.¡± ¡°Have a good rest.¡± Jianmen and Josephine Wong both waved Tze Cha goodbye. ¡°Remind me again, what did he mean by him being bound here by his oath and covenant?¡± Josephine Wong let out a long exhale of relief and turned to Jianmen. ¡°Gods¡¯ contracts, I assume that¡¯s what he meant.¡± Jianmen told Josephine Wong through a secret energy tunnel so that only Nameless and Vivian could hear his voice: ¡°It¡¯s indeed interesting - that means that he has some contracts with other people that we don¡¯t know about, and defilers could actually do something with those contracts?¡± Chapter 520 Inside of Josephine Wong¡¯s office in a secret building owned by the Division, which was located inside of a realm that was close to an undersea volcano in the middle of the pacific ocean, Josephine Wong and all the core members of her team, along with Jianmen, gathered around as they gently floated the two pieces of relic in the air and pushed them gradually together. The relics shone in gentle but increasingly bright blue light as they got closer and closer to each other. Though their shape did not exactly match, when they got close to each other, they shifted in shapes and sizes and fitted with each other like two pieces of a puzzle. When they merged into each other, the gaps between them disappeared completely - the two pieces of relic had become one. But from the external shape of it, it looked like there was still one piece missing. ¡°Well, at least we¡¯re right, they indeed belonged to the same person.¡± Pei sighed and put down her half-knitted scarf: ¡°But looks like we have one more piece left, which means, unfortunately for everybody, that we have one more of those horrible sites waiting for us.¡± ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t recommend we take another trip any day soon.¡± Vivian shook her head: ¡°And I''m not saying this because I¡¯m scared from our last visit - it just doesn¡¯t feel right to me. We¡¯ll need more preparation.¡± ¡°This monk agrees with Ms. Vivian.¡± Nameless said: ¡°Last time was dangerous - too dangerous, actually, and with Tze Cha going into rest, this monk senses that greater danger awaits us should we proceed to find the next piece. Last time, the statues of the evil Buddhas gave this monk a really bad feeling, and deep in the archives and ancient libraries did this monk dive. If this monk is not mistaken - they were the creation of a group of fanatic, crazed and deranged zealots of old, who were also the believers of some dark creed and the creatures of some of the darkest scriptures in the past centuries. The statues were presumed lost a long time ago and had no records or traces of appearance for almost a century, and never has this monk imagined that I would see them there in an underground lab that was conducting experiments about malice.¡± ¡°Which brings up a question - who is this mysterious mage?¡± Blue asked with a confused frown on his face: ¡°Really curiously, even the records stored inside our highest clearance archives and are missing a lot of what I presume to be pretty critical information on the operations undergoing in Clearwater Municipal Hospital. That kind of clustered malice would not survive naturally so there must have been a maintainer, and the maintainer would have to be a really, really powerful wielder with almost unmatched levels of willpower. Yet, we have almost nothing on this individual or their records. Yes, it would be possible for someone that was - well, unorthodox and unethical and discreet to take over a civilian hospital to run experiments without almost anyone in positions of power noticing. But to pull off two sites like this and similar levels of clustered malice? It¡¯s quite unimaginable to have that kind of cover up.¡±This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°I¡¯d try to go and check on some non-human records, but that¡¯s gonna take me some time.¡± Alexander yawned and said: ¡°Now, can someone light this relic up and see what can be read? That 3D hologram we had with no tell on how to read is just too tiring for me.¡± ¡°Patience, the code patterns might have changed.¡± Blue took out a round lens with some patterns carved on the surface and a metal ring around, then he placed it onto the probe of a giant machine behind everyone. All individuals in the room stepped to the side as Blue and Alexander pulled the machine forward with its probe facing the newly merged together relic. Then, Nameless and Pei put two refined energy stones into the machine, and several beams of light with different and shifting colors were released onto the relic. Then shortly after the relic were shone upon, a hologram appeared in the air, not that dissimilar to the hologram discovered by the team prior, but only bigger in scale, complexity and had more details. ¡°A map.¡± Jianmen, Blue and Josephine Wong spoke at the same time. ¡°Map? What kind of map?¡± Vivian asked. ¡°They are Maykor¡¯s Coordinates.¡± Blue explained: ¡°Similar informational matrix used in the Maykor¡¯s Sights. This is still a part of the information, but I think we can still narrow it down to a rough area.¡± ¡°Yeah, what Master Blue said.¡± Jianmen chuckled and pointed at one lower corner of the hologram: ¡°Also, there¡¯s literally a ¡®You are here¡¯ symbol right here.¡± ¡°Interesting - does this mean this very thing can perform dimensional location?¡± Pei focused on the symbol with a frown on her face: ¡°A little unsafe to have around, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°No worries, all the dimensional location signals of this realm are routed and masked, this location would be that of a completely barren and empty realm nearby.¡± Blue said: ¡°But - if I¡¯m reading this correctly, the destination to which it¡¯s pointing doesn¡¯t need us narrowing down - it¡¯s clearly marked already.¡± ¡°Okay. Find out what this place is.¡± Josephine Wong nodded and said: ¡°And as usual, keep this information in this room. I don¡¯t want to share any of it with other departments, not even the security council. Not until they have the whole security issue fixed.¡± ¡°Security issue?¡± Jianmen immediately asked: ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°That, um - this is not exactly the kind of information we can share - ¡± Pei hesitated. ¡°A fucking Stone of Negation was stolen.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head: ¡°They just told us that before we came in. Believe it or not, they narrowed down the time of the crime to a window of two days. Two, fucking, days.¡± ¡°That¡¯s really, really bad. Do they have an idea who did it?¡± Jianmen asked with a heavy frown. Chapter 521 ¡°No, unfortunately we don¡¯t have any clues on who, and as far as we know, we don¡¯t even know how they did it.¡± Josephine Wong sighed: ¡°I believe the Division has one lead - the mage who was in charge of forging the safebox of the stone was missing, we assume it was the doing of whoever did it.¡± ¡°This is something of grave importance - if anyone should use it lightly without caution, hell, if anyone tried to use it at all, the end result could be catastrophic - it could break the flows and chains of karma and that - ¡± Jianmen shook his head as he was about to exit Josephine Wong¡¯s office with the rest of her crew: ¡° - I would really like to help if needed - this could very well be the closest to horrifying danger we have ever been.¡± ¡°I can assure you that the Division is right on top of it.¡± just this moment, a familiar voice came from the side. Everyone that came out of Josephine Wong¡¯s office looked towards the direction where the voice came from, and it was none other than Tamil Brooke, will a few individuals under his employment. ¡°Tamil Brooke, fancy seeing you here.¡± Josephine Wong greeted the man with a dry voice: ¡°To what do we owe the ¡­ your presence?¡± ¡°Doing what your friend here is eager to do, but in a more professional and less brute force manner.¡± Tamil Brooke chuckled and took a peek at Jianmen: ¡°And this time, it is not some theoretical and high in the air energy theory, we¡¯re dealing with an actual crime of consequences.¡± ¡°So, the commissioner put you in charge?¡± Josephine Wong asked. ¡°No, no, that would be wildly inappropriate, would it?¡± Tamil Brooke said: ¡°He is still considering the right one for the job, and I am just here to offer an educated opinion on who will be better suited for the job, and I will be the official consultant when the right person is in charge. Oh, and, I am terribly sorry that I was not able to recommend you for the job, because I know that you are overburdened with fighting the unnamed terror that may or may not hit us.¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Thank you for the consideration.¡± Josephine Wong sighed: ¡°But please, Mr. Brooke, I will still greatly appreciate it if you could keep me in the loop, the authority of a liaison is not much, but I¡¯m confident we could provide enough value to your investigation.¡± ¡°Thank you, that is very kind and ... wise of you.¡± Tamil Brooke seemed surprised at Josephine Wong¡¯s attitude: ¡°But then again, it¡¯s not my investigation. It¡¯s not anyone¡¯s investigation yet. I believe the commissioner will have his decision ready soon.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s hope soon is indeed soon.¡± Josephine Wong nodded. ¡°... you shouldn¡¯t worry.¡± Tamil Brooke thought for a brief moment and said: ¡°Even with the safebox sabotaged, the stone itself has several layers of seals placed by different mages preventing anyone unauthorized from using it. And the mages are all in protective custody now. Even for the best of saboteurs, it should take them quite a while to break the seals without rendering the stone unusable. The people who were in charge of keeping it weren¡¯t idiots.¡± Josephine Wong let out an exhale: ¡°Thank you, this is reassuring to hear. But still, we need to find it as soon as possible.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll try our best.¡± Tamil Brooke nodded and just went straight away. ¡°Well, he¡¯s less of a stuck up prick than usual.¡± Vivian emerged from behind Nameless and Blue: ¡°What¡¯s happened to him?¡± ¡°I think he¡¯s just kinda shocked that our dear Ms. Wong is not being a pri - I mean unpleasant to him like she usually is.¡± Pei sighed with a smile: ¡°So what¡¯s the plan, Josephine?¡± ¡°The plan will be as we discussed - Jianmen, we head out in an hour; Alexander, Pei, continue with the investigation on those sites. Blue, continue looking into the relic; Nameless, let me know as soon as possible when your artifacts are ready, it¡¯s good that we¡¯re slightly ahead of schedule, but we could use the extra buffer for other things. Vivian, get back to your intel gathering, and take extra notes about the possible locations of the stone, and the one who crafted that safebox.¡± ¡°And who is that again?¡± Vivian asked, scratching her head: ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m not familiar with Division personnel files.¡± ¡°I am, not, sure - actually.¡± it took Josephine Wong a few seconds to answer: ¡°Blue, can you help me out here?¡± ¡°Hmm, it¡¯s not exactly public information, so I will need to look into it as well.¡± Blue chuckled, embarrassed: ¡°Let me get back to you?¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll be on my way.¡± Jianmen raised his hand and was about to conjure a portal: ¡°Did you call the detectives?¡± ¡°Wait wait wait!¡± Josephine Wong grabbed Jianmen¡¯s arm: ¡°You can¡¯t create a portal here, it¡¯s forbidden, and you will break the signal insulation.¡± ¡°Geez, I¡¯m sorry, I was just a bit caught up - ¡± Jianmen put down his arm and started walking towards the exit of the building, where the official portal lay: ¡°- caught up, you know, in my thoughts?¡± ¡°Good luck with the council meeting.¡± Blue and Pei said to Josephine Wong at the same time. Chapter 522 ¡°Alright, chop chop.¡± standing in front of the front gate of Xianshi Inn, Jianmen rushed his students and Josephine Wong¡¯s at the same time: ¡°Time to go back to school, boys and girls!¡± ¡°Alright Boss, I¡¯m ready now.¡± Caroline did a final check on her weapons, her clothes and her light luggage, then stepped into the purple SUV, driven by the same driver that once drove them to the Grant Academy - Garret Peyton. ¡°When will Ms. Wong meet us at the Grant Academy?¡± Thomas asked as he double checked the newly reforged handguns then put them back to the holsters. ¡°Her meeting¡¯s running long, there''s no way to tell. But she will come to the academy first thing after the meeting.¡± Jianmen sighed, pointing at four small boxes made of red wood: ¡°Now, before we leave, these are for you, some basics Josephine and I prepared for you for getting back to the academy - some sigils, some general purpose sustenance, medicine and antidote in case someone tried to pull something dirty, and some other things. All things are labeled, so be sure to get familiar with everything when you get a chance.¡± ¡°So is that - like a common thing in the Division?¡± when the SUV started driving, Caroline asked Jianmen: ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound so¡­ well, efficient.¡± ¡°Unfortunately, bureaucracy can still be found and is quite common, yes. But it depends on what you do, who you work with and work for, there¡¯s the good work, there¡¯s the busy work, and there¡¯s the work no one should be doing but some people are doing anyway.¡± Jianmen shrugged and looked out the window from the bar-like interior space in the back of the purple SUV: ¡°And - I think Josephine Wong should have told you this before - if you want to have some interesting dealings or do some work with decent pay, you can try becoming a Division contractor.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I see...¡± Caroline nodded and started thinking in silence. ¡°Listen, Caroline.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°I think I know what you¡¯re thinking - joining the Division, or just being a contractor, it¡¯s not the most glamorous choice in the world, but it¡¯s not a bad one either. And I¡¯d trust that if you joined the right team and were among the right people, such as a group like Josephine¡¯s team, you would get to make a lot of contributions and make a real difference in this world.¡± ¡°Something tells me, Mr. Yu, that you are the type - I mean you are not a fan of the authorities.¡± Thomas chuckled and said: ¡°And that explains why not many people know about you.¡± ¡°Yeah, fame is not really my thing. Believe it or not, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s Josephine¡¯s thing either - she just happens to be in those positions because of different reasons.¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°But she¡¯s literally an action movie star?¡± Aimee shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s called the Trial of Red Dust, something you will need to try one day.¡± Jianmen picked up a bottle of wine from the mini fridge beside him and took out a glass: ¡°It¡¯s something I really recommend, it could tame your heart and temper your will, and at the same time deepen your understanding of the world. Wine?¡± ¡°I¡¯d love some, thanks!¡± Jason raised his hand, and when he took a half filled glass from Jianmen, he asked Caroline: ¡°So, you¡¯re really already thinking about your career options?¡± ¡°Yeah, sure. Why not?¡± Caroline also took a glass from Jianmen: ¡°No offense, Boss, but being a student and occasional keeper of your inn is not really what I want to do for the next few decades - ¡± ¡°Nono, I completely understand.¡± Jianmen shook his head with a smile: ¡°And I wasn¡¯t exactly expecting you to work in the inn forever. You¡¯re welcome to, but you know our agreements don¡¯t include anything about how your careers are gonna be. You can open an inn right next to mine, even. Have you thought about this, Jason? What do you wanna do when you grow up in cultivator years?¡± ¡°Woah Boss, putting me on the spot there.¡± Jason leaned back while the others chuckled and laughed: ¡°I - I don¡¯t know yet. But I kinda want to become a weaponsmith - it¡¯s kinda cliche for someone with metal and earth power, but it¡¯s kinda what I¡¯m into right now.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Jianman laid back and sipped his wine: ¡°That I can teach you. You¡¯re gonna learn some basics anyways, as cultivators you will be maintaining your own weapons in the future, but yeah, I can include some advanced material in the curriculum.¡± ¡°What about you, detectives?¡± Jason looked at Aimee and Thomas: ¡°You¡¯re technically more adult than us - well, at least me. I don¡¯t even know how old Caroline is - she could be a hundred.¡± After what he said, he immediately jumped to the side to avoid getting hit by Caroline. ¡°Well, we still have that promise we have to Ms. Wong - so we will be joining her forces to serve for a while.¡± Aimee nodded and said: ¡°Not that I¡¯m complaining - it¡¯s definitely going to be a lot of detective work and action - I just hope we¡¯ll be ready as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t rush it - the grasp of magic could not be rushed, and it takes time, effort, and in your cases, a lot of reading and inspiration as well.¡± Jianmen smiled. ¡°We¡¯re close to the jump point.¡± Garret Peyton said to everyone : ¡°We should be into the tunneling space very soon, ETA twenty minutes.¡± ¡°So, twenty minutes.¡± Jianmen finished his glass of wine: ¡°You know all the things you can and cannot talk about, right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And you all know what you¡¯ll need to do?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s just relax, and get back to school for a quick test.¡± Jianmen smiled and started looking out the window. ¡°It¡¯s nothing, it¡¯s just a quick final, right?¡± Aimee let out a long exhale and asked: ¡°Since they just decided to pull this all of a sudden, it¡¯s not gonna be that hard, right?¡± ¡°Sis, stop worrying - you¡¯re the nerd of the family, you¡¯ve remembered crap that¡¯s not even on the list of potential subjects.¡± Thomas laughed out loud: ¡°And you can always retake it, it¡¯s not like any professor is gonna give you a hard time after everything that happened.¡± ¡°Yeah, no pressure.¡± Garret Peyton said from the driver¡¯s room: ¡°If you are to fail, you would¡¯ve failed a long time ago during the semester. Most of the time finals are just formality tests about the basics. The important thing is to basically shut the hell up about the codex and everything, I believe there¡¯s a similar concept in civilian society.¡± ¡°Yes there is.¡± Aimee chuckled nervously: ¡°Believe me, WE are fully aware.¡± Chapter 523 ¡°Greetings, welcome to the Grant Academy.¡± the person who greeted everyone on the wide, spacious and still kind of exquisite looking Anderson Plaza even with all the dark and irregular holes almost everywhere in sight, was a girl in green robe wearing a green brooch, and someone Jason and Caroline both knew - Tonya Evergreen, their guide when they first came to the academy. ¡°Hello Tonya.¡± Jason and Caroline both greeted Tonya back. ¡°Hey Tonya.¡± Garret Peyton extended his hand at Tonya, and Tonya gave him a gentle shake: ¡°How¡¯s it going here?¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re the second group for the special finals, and so far so good!¡± Tonya smiled at everyone, and took a nod at Jianmen: ¡°This must be the famed Mr. Yu, pleasure to make your acquaintance. The headmasters and Headmistress Clarkson are waiting for you. It seems that Ms. Josephine Wong is not with you, when can we expect her to be with us?¡± ¡°It may take a bit, maybe one or two hours. You know how the Division meetings can drag on and on, especially with a bunch of old farts with tons of experience but zero ounce of grit or wit. But our meeting¡¯s still in three hours right?¡± Jianmen nodde and asked. ¡°Alright, then let¡¯s get settled first. Do you want to check out your places to stay, or do you want to have some food first?¡± Tonya clapped her hands and asked with a bright smile: ¡°And, please don¡¯t mind the holes on the ground, and the fact that we will have to walk to places - the battle that took place have caused a lot of damages to the academy buildings, and we are still in the process of fixing everything.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know a pretty handy fixer - I mean handyman.¡± Jianmen chuckled as he followed Tonya along with the team, including Garret Peyton himself: ¡°He lives and operates somewhere in San Jose, and makes good matcha cakes, and from what I¡¯ve heard, his prices are very very fair.¡± ¡°Well, Mr. Yu, since you¡¯re here to meet with many members of the administration, I¡¯m sure you can impress them in person and they will definitely give you a contract.¡± Tonya laughed and asked the team again: ¡°Now, to your places to stay or some food first?¡± ¡°Our rooms first.¡± Aimee had a quick exchange with Thomas, Jason and Caroline, then got back to Tonya: ¡°We¡¯d like to lay down our luggages first, then we can go out for food.¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s go.¡± Tonya turned around and started leading the way. Their places to stay were the same places where Caroline and Jason stayed when they were here earlier - the living quarters of audit students, the place with the most fantastical flare out of all the living quarters, with hundreds and hundreds of floating ¡°bubbles¡± that were actually mini-realms in which the students can stay. ¡°Ah, isn¡¯t this an interesting piece of creation with space magic?¡± Jianmen took a look at the whole ¡°tree¡± of bubbles with a facial expression of interest and appreciation: ¡°Very inspired work here. And nice use of obscuration and coordination arrays. The information matrix must have taken quite some ingeniousness.¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± Tonya smiled: ¡°This is the design of a big team, consisting of members of all three houses. One could say it¡¯s one of the best designed and built artifacts in the academy. It¡¯s just pure luck that it was not heavily damaged during that heinous and bloody fight against the ghastly shapeshifting monster. So, everyone, I will wait here for you while you place your luggages and straighten up your rooms.¡± After Caroline, Jason, Aimee and Thomas got into their rooms and straightened everything out, they took out the red wood boxes, took out several folded paper sigils made with a kind of special parchment-like paper with gold and silver patterns on them into the corners of their rooms, not the entire living quarters, but only their bedrooms in which they put their luggage and they would rest. It only took everyone a few minutes, no more than ten, to be done with their rooms. After this, everyone followed Tonya to the diner, which had a few freshly patched holes on the roof and the sides of the walls. ¡°Alright, distinguished guests, in order to support our students during the finals, the diners will be open twenty four hours per day, and it includes almost every kind of cuisine that could be found in medium to large populations of the world. And our cooks are fantastic, you will definitely find authentic and refined food here so that finding a good meal won¡¯t be a part of your problems.¡± Tonya showed everyone the interior of the Diner: ¡°The finals take two days, after which you will have to go home. But please feel free to enjoy everything here while you are here.¡± ¡°Holy - they even have Szechuan Food!¡± Jason took a look at the wooden menus hanging on the walls: ¡°Let me try that Drool Chicken.¡± ¡°Now, that is all of my time with you on this short guide - but feel free to ask me for help anytime.¡± Tonya gently bowed towards everyone and said: ¡°Now, before I return to my post, do you have any questions for me?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m good.¡± ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°Alright, bon appetit, and good luck with the finals!¡± Halfway into their meal with food from five different cuisines around the world, Josephine Wong came into the diner following another guide. ¡°So, how¡¯d it go?¡± noticing that Josephine Wong seemed more relaxed and relieved than she had been for the past few days when she sat down, Jianmen asked. ¡°Official permission to act and prepare for this war with some Division resources.¡± Josephine Wong picked up a loaf of bread and said: ¡°Not much, but still nice. And some more agents and forces under my command, believe it or not, thanks to the last minute findings on that new relic. They¡¯re not exactly here to help us fight the war, and more here to investigate and potentially fight Lucias Vyn, Carol Summers and Soren Lupei, but hey, manpower is manpower.¡± ¡°And they¡¯ll tattle on you if you don¡¯t fully convince or fool them that what you¡¯ll be doing is necessary and in compliance?¡± Jianmen poured Josephine Wong a cup of tea. ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± Josephine Wong swallowed a piece of bread and said: ¡°But, who the fuck cares right now?¡± Chapter 524 After a hearty meal, the team split into two groups: Josephine Wong would bring Jianmen and Garret Peyton along to her meeting with Headmasters Randall Collins and Barnes, and Headmistress Dorothea Clarkson as well as Glenda Grimes and Professor Kapur, Josephine Wong¡¯s mentor for many years; while all four of the students would take a short break, before they would start to take their finals. Aside from the pretense of their meeting - that they were visiting as concerned tutors and ¡°primary trainers¡± of these students and would like to communicate to the headmasters and headmistress regarding the students¡¯ grades and training results, the place they will be meeting was quite unconventional as well - as they would be meeting in the hospital room of Professor Kapur, since the professor was still in recovery after being attacked by the two spies that infiltrated the academy and masqueraded as investigative agents for almost a full semester. ¡°Greetings.¡± Jianmen waved his hand at everyone in the hospital room when he came in behind Josephine Wong: ¡°It¡¯s been a while, and sorry that our reunion after all this time would be under such depressing circumstances. And just like I told our guide, I know a contractor that¡¯s willing to do some good work fixing the place up for some very fair prices and a promise not to over charge on anything.¡± ¡°Thank you Mr. Yu, but I¡¯m afraid at this stage any changes to our budgetary plans would require a lot of procedural work and would be a painful process for anyone.¡± Headmistress Dorothea Clarkson cut everyone else off before they could respond: ¡°Let¡¯s get right into it, shall we?¡± ¡°She¡¯s right, the academy¡¯s budgeting and funding process is not the friendliest procedure in the world, not to mention the fact that they¡¯re missing some really important funding committee members, along with more than half of the emergency energy stone reserves.¡± Josephine Wong looked at Jianmen and shrugged. ¡°Alright, alright, it¡¯s no time for this kind of argument.¡± Professor Kapur shook her head: ¡°Josephine, Mr. Yu, and Garret, thank you for coming. Everyone in this room has read through the report you gave us. But still, we have some questions for you, and be assured that the information you shared with us will not leave this room.¡± ¡°Good, happy to answer anything. I¡¯ll try to provide the answer in the fullest detail to my knowledge.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m here for moral support and add to anything you¡¯d like.¡± Jianmen gave a thumbs up to everyone.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°Okay, here¡¯s my first concern - from all we know about defilers - how would you know that they would be coming at us, targeting us at our timeline and not some other places, and perhaps in the past?¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson asked. ¡°We have no idea on what will happen if they targeted a time that¡¯s in our past, and if they did, there¡¯s nothing we can do about it.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head: ¡°And - this is our speculation, targeting a time that was in our past would cost them a lot of extra energy, considering it is already extremely difficult for them to travel through worlds and planes, so it would be most convenient for them to target our realm, with our current timeline.¡± ¡°And this is judging from the fact that you encountered one such defiler somehow buried under the Clearwater Municipal Hospital?¡± Professor Randall Collins asked: ¡°For all we know, Defilers just don¡¯t have a very definitive pattern of behavior, well, aside from being accompanied by destruction, darkness and despair. But that¡¯s only correlation.¡± ¡°But we do know that in most of the records about their appearances and their doing, they act in hordes.¡± Josephine Wong snapped her fingers, and a hologram of some ancient records and images appeared in the air in front of her: ¡°And after checking through the records we have, we have come to the conclusion that the one that we encountered was a scout - something that will lead to a greater invasion of Defilers. And - I¡¯m just gonna say this without any offense or disrespect by spilling weighted knowledge flat like this, we have a firm belief that they tend to exploit travesties that are so terrible, that they disturbed the basic order of the world, which would explain the correlation with great horrors of the world. Very condensed clustered malice, like what we¡¯ve found under the municipal hospital, could be a reason that Defiler was there. Which means there was a hole in the order of the world where the hospital is, and the day we fought it, it force opened a portal, which means there is another new wound on top of the old one.¡± ¡°... which means the rest of the horde will come following the scout and targeting the wounds.¡± Professor Randall Collins said: ¡°This makes sense. And I think I can agree with you on your theory about the wounds to the order of the world. But I do have this question, and I mean it in the most respectful way possible: is the recent theft of the piece of Stone of Negation from the keep of the Division gonna make things worse and timeline more urgent?¡± The hospital room immediately went completely silent, and almost everyone¡¯s eyes fixated on Josephine Wong. ¡°So, word travels fast.¡± Josephine Wong smiled and shook her head: ¡°Yes, it is. And I¡¯m not going to deny or defend it. It¡¯s a shit situation, and it¡¯s nobody else¡¯s fault but the Divisions. But we do have a problem at hand, and we have very limited resources and manpower, which is why I am here.¡± ¡°Alright, good, as long as we¡¯re being honest.¡± Professor Randall Collins exchanged looks with both Professor Barnes and Professor Dorothea Clarkson. ¡°What, do you have something you wanna tell me?¡± Josephine Wong took a look at the three heads of the three houses of the academy. Professor Barnes tried to explain: ¡°It¡¯s probably nothing, but - ¡± ¡°From the intelligence you gave us, we looked into every remaining member of the academy faculty.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson stepped forward and said: ¡°One of my assistant professors went AWOL. Due to our being at an incredibly sensitive time, we did a full check on his history and profiles. And yes, Assistant Professor Vyn is a member of the Vyn crime syndicate, and as anyone could see, very possibly a remaining member of the Hellinger family.¡± Chapter 525 ¡°And what¡¯s so important or special about his being a member of the Hellinger family?¡± Josephine Wong asked with a frown: ¡°And ¡­ actually while we¡¯re on that, what¡¯s so concerning about the Hellinger family?¡± ¡°How much do you know now?¡± Professor Barnes asked: ¡°Anything in the Division¡¯s information archive?¡± ¡°Just the basics for now that are already public or semi public information - affinity to magic regarding the mind and spirit, curses, and even training unconventional power wielders into powerful and deadly magic wielders, might as well call it an online encyclopedia understanding.¡± Josephine Wong sighed and said: ¡°The classified documents take time to get access, and I am still waiting in the queue.¡± ¡°For one, the unnamed serial murderer decades back, one about whom your students wrote a very nice paper, was almost sure to be a Hellinger, and one that was on the ¡®less talented¡¯ branch of the family.¡± Professor Kapur said in a gentle voice: ¡°Which, though there exists a very limited amount of records to paint a full picture, led to a full on high scale street justice slash kangaroo court witch hunt. Several big magical families, half of which have several members lost to the unnamed serial murderer, launched a coordinated attack against the Hellinger family. This attack almost completely wiped out the entire Hellinger name. And at least up until recently, not many have heard about a real survivor of Hellinger.¡± All of Professor Kapur¡¯s former students started looking at Professor Kapur with weird and concerned looks on their faces. ¡°What? I¡¯ve been here for months and I have a lot of time!¡± Professor Kapur laid her hands out and said: ¡°And you know as a senior and tenured professor, I can access almost everything right?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s just we never knew you¡¯re interested in crime history.¡± Glenda Grimes shrugged and chuckled. Stolen story; please report. ¡°No, I was not. I just read them as a form of entertainment.¡± ¡°And, I¡¯m sorry I am still not sure what this has to do with the war we¡¯re about to face?¡± Jianmen asked. ¡°There has always been one very interesting rumor about the Hellinger family, which had been circulating in the world of high magical society for quite some time.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson said: ¡°Some of their most talented and sophisticated mages had come together and forged a really powerful artifact, one thing that¡¯s said to even possess the power to reshape worlds or slay gods. Exaggerations, of course, but still, no one should take the Hellingers lightly. Those who did paid heavily.¡± ¡°If such an artifact existed, then the use of it could have caused a disturbance strong enough to open up a wound in our realm of the world and make it easier for the defilers to come. But if I¡¯m understanding this correctly, they didn¡¯t use it when they were under attack?¡± Jianmen asked, frowning. ¡°Apparently not. If they did, or if the thing really possessed the power they claimed, then they might have survived, or even won.¡± Professor Barnes shrugged: ¡°Which means, the artifact¡¯s still there, and the so called ¡®codex¡¯ - ¡± ¡°Yikes.¡± Jianmen shook his head. ¡°So, all I¡¯m hearing is that you have agreed to join me and lend us your forces. Provided that I help you with capturing this Assistant Professor and prevent the artifact from being found and used by the Vyn syndicate?¡± Josephine Wong asked with a cunning smile on her face. ¡°Yes. And IF this artifact was indeed not used and is still somewhere, one might reason it would be somewhere inside the Hellinger Castle, which was not found for all this time after the battle due to one of the defence mechanisms in it being triggered when the battle was almost finished.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson said: ¡°And as you could imagine, if they do get that artifact, it will be a problem for many, the Division included.¡± ¡°Okay, but the codex is still in our hands.¡± Josephine Wong asked with her eyes narrowed: ¡°When did this assistant professor go AWOL?¡± ¡°By our estimation, around a week ago.¡± Glenda Grimes said: ¡°Which is quite a long time for them, they may have already found it.¡± ¡°Okay, good news for you, I think we may have the coordinates to the Hellinger Castle.¡± Josephine Wong sighed: ¡°Are you prepared to go? Do you have a team on standby?¡± ¡°We have an emergency response team. But it¡¯s gonna take some time to assemble everyone.¡± Professor Barnes sighed: ¡°A few of them are not in the academy right now, as they were sent out to capture some fugitives.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Josephine Wong went silent and started thinking, then after half a minute she said: ¡°If we¡¯re going to go into the castle, then Jianmen, I would like you to come with us. We will need to send our students home, and I will need to find some members of my team as well.¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°But what about the finals?¡± Chapter 526 The evening of the day when Jianmen took the students to the Grant Academy, Rash once again took over the Inn watching duty. And since Jianmen had been controlling the rate of reservations coming in and had blocked off all of the civilian traffic, the workload would be extremely light, if there was anything at all. ¡°Hello.¡± just when Rash was sitting behind the reception¡¯s desk watching a video with Snowball on his shoulder, a plain looking middle-aged man in a knight¡¯s robe came in: ¡°I have a reservation for a three day stay, starting today.¡± ¡°Alright, are you Mr ¡­ Ben?¡± Rash checked on the records of reservations and found one entry out of three that would start from today: ¡°For a premium room with a view, a quiet meditation chamber, and a medicinal bath, healing materials not included?¡± ¡°Yes, that would be me.¡± ¡°Alright, Mr. Ben.¡± Rash reached into the drawer and took out a bronze key attached to a red wooden tag: ¡°Enjoy, and premium room reservations come with one free serving of our drinks and snacks each day, here¡¯s our drink and snack menu. What would you like for drinks and snacks for today?¡± ¡°Umm - I¡¯ll have a bottle of Snowy Rose Petal Wine, and some Blue Sparkling Wine Crunch.¡± Mr. Ben took a quick look at the fine paper menu handed to him and answered: ¡°Can I just take them up myself? I want to do some meditation and don¡¯t want to get disturbed.¡± ¡°Sure, just give me a minute.¡± Rash jumped off from the back of the reception¡¯s desk and headed into the kitchen. While Mr. Ben was waiting for Rash to prepare his food, he took the time to look around the lounge and took a deep look into the diner. This was something a lot of power wielders, especially those with affinity to magic and knowledge of and experience with energy fields and related theories would do when they visited the inn for the first time. ¡°Here, sorry for the wait.¡± Rash took out a tall transparent bottle with light pink liquid inside, and a wide glass containing six glistening light blue balls of ice, placed them onto a wooden tray and : ¡°Snowy Rose Petal Wine, Blue Sparkling Wine Crunch, all preserved in the best temperature, and you would have freezers in your room, if you want you could store these in there.¡±Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Thank you.¡± Mr. Ben held the tray in his hands without even a bit of shaking, took another look at the lounge one more time before turning around and started walking up the stairs. While Mr. Ben was walking up, a young woman wearing a civilian style cartoon T-shirt and a pair of jeans was walking down, with a teenage girl and two young boys behind her. ¡°Really? That¡¯s really awesome!¡± one young boy said to the other: ¡°I wish I had a magical aunt like you do, then we would¡¯ve known about magic earlier, and maybe we can get some magical gifts!¡± ¡°Yeah, but it was very scary.¡± the other young boy said with a bright smile: ¡°I almost got caught by a wolf man, and those ghostly people were all trying to attack my aunt. Wooo, I don¡¯t want to go through it ever again.¡± ¡°But your aunt does sound super cool, Alex.¡± the young woman smiled and she gently pulled the two young boys to the side to make way for the incoming Mr. Ben: ¡°So she works here? I¡¯m looking forward to meeting her some day.¡± ¡°Yeah! Yeah!¡± Alex laughed: ¡°She said she would need to go take a test, and then she will be back. Let¡¯s get together and have a party!¡± The young woman was just about to acknowledge this invitation, but she sensed that the middle aged man going up the stairs facing her was looking at her so she turned towards him. The moment the middle aged man noticed that the young woman was looking his way, he turned and started looking ahead. ¡°Ms. Brown, good afternoon, what can I help you with?¡± when the young woman got to the first floor with the teenage girl and two young boys, Rash asked. ¡°Yeah, I was just thinking if I could take a walk around the inn with the boys and my sister.¡± Natalie Brown asked: ¡°We¡¯re not going to walk far, just the space and streets around the inn, is that okay?¡± ¡°Yes, technically the streets around this inn are also parts of the inn, so feel free to stroll around.¡± Rash answered: ¡°But, you won¡¯t be able to - I mean you shouldn¡¯t go beyond the borderlines - it¡¯s sealed off by the same kind of spells and arrays that are protecting this place.¡± ¡°Understood, thank you.¡± Natalie Brown nodded, and feeling grateful that Rash was kind enough to not mention the fact that she was basically a prisoner here, then she hesitated and asked Rash with a low voice: ¡°Hey Rash, can I ask you a question? Who was that man?¡± ¡°He¡¯s a guest, a Mr. Ben.¡± Rash answered: ¡°But that¡¯s all I can tell you. Why?¡± ¡°He just feels - a little familiar.¡± Natalie Brown thought for a brief moment, then said to the boys and her younger sister: ¡°Hey guys, let¡¯s go back, shall we? I¡¯m feeling a little sick - can we just get some cake and go back to watch TV?¡± ¡°Oh, are you okay?¡± Natalie Brown¡¯s younger brother asked. ¡°Yeah, yeah, just feeling a little dizzy and chilly, must be a cold from the other day.¡± Natalie Brown feigned dizziness and put up a slightly sickly look: ¡°Let¡¯s get back, hey, Rash, can I have some chocolate cake?¡± ¡°On it.¡± Rash stood up and headed into the diner again. Meanwhile, when the middle aged man went into his room, he took out a small piece of paper and wrote a name on it: ¡°Natalie Brown.¡± But when he folded the piece of paper into a paper plane and tossed it out of the balcony, he found that the paper plane just circled back and landed right by his side. Chapter 527 The middle aged man frowned as he picked the paper plane up, then he infused it with more of his power and tossed it out again. The paper plane did not even fly an inch further this time before returning to his side. Some kind of spell stopped the paper plane from reaching outside of a certain range from the rooms of this inn. The middle aged man examined his paper plane, and he suppressed the idea of going to the receptionist ¡°Rash¡± to ask about it - the energy remnant on the tip and wings of the paper plane was not very significant, but experienced power wielder as he was, he could tell what the paper plane was sent back because a kind of a very meticulously crafted information protection array, and the name Natalie Brown was being protected. It was unclear to him how strong the array was or if he could work around it, so he decided not to even try and would like to try some other way - he could either trick Natalie Brown into giving him consent to reveal to others the information about her, or better, he could bring Natalie Brown back, maybe along with the rest of her team and her family members. There was no intelligence or any other sort of tell on why Natalie Brown¡¯s team did not report back to Lady Vyn or respond to any of their attempts at making contact. But from the sight of her hanging around with random civilians staying in this inn, it was easy to deduce that she somehow defected and stayed, and possibly in exchange, the Division, or whoever it was that had connections to this very inn went ahead and rescued her family from the place where her family members were held. Thinking of this, the middle aged man decided to look around in his room - he could tell that the inn was built with incredible art of magical architecture. And unlike other magical buildings with a lot of flare and shine that would scream powerful builders and insightful designers, this place was mostly very plain, humble and comfortable, with just enough hints of the finer arts behind for those who could appreciate them to marvel at. After some thinking and planning, this middle aged man decided that it would be prudent of him to go around and to find the room where Natalie Brown was staying, and maybe find more information from there.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Unfortunately for him, he just sensed that his last encounter with Natalie Brown might have alerted her - she hadn''t met him before, though when he was wearing a different look. Yet for shapeshifters like him, there was still something that would remain on him even when he shifted to another completely different look - and that would be the ¡°observant aura¡± around him, which would function like a ¡°scanner¡± of sorts that allow him to copy the look and even energy signature of almost any subject he came into contact with closely. And if he, or any other shapeshifters were to be in the presence of other power wielders that had high affinities to energy signatures and energy fields, this aura could be a faint tell of who and what they actually were. ¡°Natalie Brown ...¡± this middle aged man opened up some of the documents he brought with him and found the short profile he had on the team that came here before him: ¡°... junior member just recently out of probation, medium high potential of making it to senior, specialties include energy field detection and array construction, fuck.¡± On Natalie Brown¡¯s side - though she had gradually adjusted to the life of being a prisoner in this inn with the assurance that her safety will be ensured to the best of the abilities of the owner of this inn, she was still on alert about how the forces of Lady Vyn would come for her. Her younger brother had already made a friend while he was here, and she was happy for him. But her younger teenage sister, due to the lack of peers here and any other meaningful human contact, was beginning to get grumpy and lonely. But just when she was about to bring the younger ones out for a walk and get some fresh air actually outside of her prison, she walked past this unknown middle aged man. She had seen the face of this man before, but when she walked past him, she could feel that there was something quite familiar and maybe frightening about him, which was the reason that she had to cancel the plan to go for a walk at the last minute by faking some discomfort and come back to their room. This decision made the younger ones a little unhappy, especially her younger teenage sister, but she did not have the heart to tell them what she felt; for one, she did not feel certain about her worries and fear at all, and for two, she did not want to make her younger sister and brother feel even more unsafe. Later in the night, less than five minutes after sending Alex back to the much more luxurious looking room where he and his father were staying, Natalie Brown heard a knock on the door. ¡°Who is it?¡± ¡°Hey, Natalie, I think I¡¯ve forgotten my phone.¡± it was Alex¡¯s voice: ¡°Can I go in and see if I can find it?¡± ¡°Hmm, sure! Just give me a second.¡± Natalie gave her younger sister a hug and went for the door. Chapter 528 When Natalie Brown opened the door, he felt a strange tingling feeling on the backs of her hands, her shoulders and the back of her hand. But before she could ask Alex on the other side of the door a quick question to confirm that it really was him, a tiny hand grabbed onto the edge of the door, and after a forceful push, ¡°Alex¡± barged into the room, knocking Natalie Brown back and almost fell onto the ground. ¡°Natalie Brown.¡± the ¡°Alex¡± outside at the door to the room slowly started to shed his hair, his skin and even his clothes, which almost instantly turned into thin cracked shells and dust. He also grew to a bigger size, and out of the husk of his former smaller form, out walked the middle aged man whom Natalie just met earlier today. ¡°Who are you ?¡± Natalie Brown raised her arms and two spinning orbs with porcelain exterior shells and light green linings and engraved symbols appeared in the space in front of her palms: ¡°Did Lady Vyn send you?¡± ¡°As a matter of fact, she did. You might have heard of me, they call me ¡®Unnamed¡¯.¡± the middle aged man smiled and said with a cold smile on his face as he shook off the dust on his clothes: ¡°I could commend you for almost recognizing me earlier, but too bad, soft spots for kids kinda clouded your judgment and dulled your senses. Seeing that you have two younger siblings, I could totally understand. ¡± ¡°You¡¯ll never!¡± Natalie Brown pushed her arms forward, and the two spinning orbs with porcelain shells opened from the middle and released a flurry of energy bolts into the air, which then changed course and shot towards the middle aged man. The middle aged man waved his hand, and those energy bolts were bashed into tiny energy sparks in the air. ¡°Are you kidding? Using this non lethal toy of a weapon on me?¡± the middle aged man sneered: ¡°What, betraying Lady Vyn and the one who raised you from a life of mediocrity and powerlessness only earned you this?¡± Natalie Brown trembled as she held her younger sister and brother behind her, feeling kind of lucky that her parents were touring the ¡°garden¡± in the inn: ¡°What do you want? Leave my family out of this!¡± ¡°Betrayal has its consequences.¡± the middle aged man raised his right hand, holding a short blood red blade made entirely of crystal in his hand: ¡°I don¡¯t think you have the position to make any demands.¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°Excuse me, but no fighting in the rooms.¡± a humble and calm voice came from behind the middle aged man: ¡°If you want to spar, we have some sparring rooms, but no fighting in the inn rooms.¡± ¡°Rash! Help! He¡¯s trying to kidnap us!¡± Natalie Brown¡¯s younger sister yelled from behind her. ¡°Is that so?¡± Rash took a look at the back of the middle aged man: ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t let you do that either. All guests could only leave on their own accord or get evicted if they violate the rules.¡± ¡°Well, then I¡¯m really sorry.¡± the middle aged man shook his head, then turned around and tossed the blade at Rash with full force. ¡°Watch out!¡± The blade sliced through the air while glowing in red light, causing a few minor sonic booms in the air and left a trail of smoke behind. Rash instantly flailed his left arm in front of him and caught the blade in mid air. The blade continued to glow, and the red light seeped into his left hand like some kind of liquid. ¡°Let go! Let go of it!¡± Natalie Brown screamed as the red glow completely seeped through Rash¡¯s entire left arm. ¡°Boom!¡± Rash¡¯s entire left arm went up in bright red flames and scattered around the floor like a block of cinder. Yet strangely, Rash did not appear to be in any pain at all, and when the middle aged man was lunging at him, he raised his right arm and put up a kung fu stance. ¡°Die!¡± the middle aged man took out another blade on his left hand, this time the blade was made entirely of green crystal. But before he could stab Rash with it like he thought, Rash¡¯s right hand already bent to an unnatural angle and grabbed his left wrist. The next moment, Rash turned and swung the middle aged man towards the back, and the middle aged man was thrown out of the room. ¡°Stay in there and don¡¯t come out!¡± Rash shouted at Natalie Brown and closed the door. ¡°Boom!¡± the middle aged man unleashed a full forced kick at Rash, with his leg and feet both lit up in pale grey flames. Rash was sent flying through the hallway and rolled on the ground, but he stood right up after dusting his shoulder - his shirt wals almost halfway burnt, but he did not sustain any injuries. ¡°What are you?!¡± the middle aged man narrowed his eyes, then his body started growing in size - four spider-like claws with tiny shiny bristles protruded out from his rib, his two legs became long and changed to a structure like that of dogs¡¯ hindlegs, and his two hands became two front claws with a pointy tip, a sharp edge, and special joints that looked like that of mantis shrimps¡¯ front claws. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, I¡¯ll deal with you first!¡± when he uttered these words, the voice seemed to have come from his throat and not his mouth, for he no longer had one mouth, because his face just split in half, revealing it to be two sideways jaws with razor sharp teeth inside. But when he was charging at Rash, he noticed that the ¡°man¡± he was charging at was also not he seemed - a tall shadow was cast unto him, and it was the shadow of a giant sea creature, with dozens of tentacles flailing around his body. ¡°What¡­ are¡­ you?¡± the middle aged man stared at the human faces on the sea creature¡¯s body. He couldn¡¯t help but panicked, stopped his charging and tried to turn back. But before he could attempt to escape, two winding and tentacles lashed him on his shoulder and two of his spider-like claws, injecting him with doses of paralyzing toxins. Chapter 529 Unnamed had not felt this kind of fear and dread for a long time, at least not since he became a part of the Vyn crime syndicate. There were indeed some moments where he felt that he could have been in danger of getting hurt or even facing his mortality, but still, none compared to this very moment where he had to face this jellyfish looking monster, with human faces on his body displaying various extreme human emotions. It was not just because of the immense power he sensed this monster possessed, it was also the sheer negative energy radiating from it. He had a lot of experience fighting with and against power wielders with this kind of aura, but none could come close to this kind of sheer raw negative energy. Sensing that the paralyzing toxin was creeping through his body from the multiple points of contact, Unnamed, while backing off from the monster as fast as he could, had to cut off his two spider-like claws on his side that were lashed by the tentacles to prevent the toxins directly injected into them from spreading to other parts of his body. His shoulder also started rapidly growing outwards like a protruding mutation, in an attempt to push the toxins away and thus slow their spread. Unnamed¡¯s actual mouth, located at the center of his ¡°face¡±, opened up, and with a hoarse and throaty scream, four streams of colorful liquid squirt out of the tips of four of the fangs aiming at the jellyfish monster, who, just a few seconds ago, was still a calm and slim looking receptionist. The jellyfish monster let out a deep roar, and the hallway instantly became wider and longer - the doors to rooms on boths sides were ¡°pulled¡± so far away from them that Unnamed felt as if he was in the center of a sports stadium and the rooms were the audience on their seats. An especially enormous tentacle extended forward to the space between Unnamed and the jellyfish monster. The four streams of liquid splashed onto the tentacle, and within mere moments melted through the exterior of the tentacle and started burning through the interior of it. But before Unnamed could react, the tentacle was cut off just like he did the spider-like claws, and even before the tentacle hit the ground, two more tentacles with shiny, hardened and sharp tips shot at him from two directions like spears with chains behind them. Unnamed swung his other two claws at the two tentacles in an attempt to block them, but they were shattered like brittle glass the moment they made contact, and the two tentacles with sharp and hardened tips just proceeded to impale him through his rib cage and shoulder. Sharp and hard teeths popped out from the tips of the tentacles and locked into the flesh and bones of Unnamed, and the two tentacles started retracting and pulling Unnamed towards the jellyfish monster. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Ahhh!¡± Unnamed screamed in pain, his rib cage grew wide and to the sides, pushing the puncture wounds of the tentacles away from the center part of his body, and the lower part of his body curled upwards and grew into a shield before him, blocking the sight of the jellyfish monster. Then the next moment, Unnamed¡¯s head and neck curled back, so far so that his spine actually broke away from his rib cage and his lower parts of his body. The jellyfish monster shot another two tentacles at Unnamed, but the rapidly growing and hardening shield from his body blocked and deflected these attacks. Unnamed¡¯s grew several pairs of bony legs from two sides of his short spine, and started crawling away from the jellyfish monster, leaving the major chunk of his body expanding and growing behind, acting as a block of cover. ¡°Bang!¡± the body left by Unnamed exploded from inside and shot out thousands of sharp shrapnels of bones, toxic pieces of flesh as well as corrosive bodily fluids. But an energy bubble appeared around it and contained everything inside. The jellyfish monster flew over the energy bubble in pursuit of Unnamed, and even though the hallway had grown much wider and longer, Unnamed¡¯s fast moving little bony legs and the gushes of wind he surrounded kept releasing from the end of his spine pushed him to the position of the staircase. And with all his bony legs unleashing a forceful push, Unnamed leapt over the handrails of the stairs and was about to dive directly towards the entrance of the inn. The jellyfish monster shot one of its tentacles into the air and through a small miniature portal, and it appeared in a space beside the entrance of the inn. While Unnamed was still in the air, he saw that a tentacle appeared in the general direction towards which he was heading, and it picked up a fish tank with nothing but liquid and some decorative rocks inside. When Unnamed saw the tentacle tossing the fish tank at him, he had no choice but to extend and grow his two front legs from his short spine and cross them before him to brace for impact. Alas, there was no impact, instead, he felt that his whole body was drenched in some thick and dense liquid. The liquid was full of all sorts of negative human emotions, and just by being in its presence, he could feel those emotions¡¯ effect slowly creeping up to him. Unnamed screamed and tried to break the wall from inside the fishtank, but he was not able to leave even a scratch on it. Chapter 530 When Professor Atkinson and Dolores finally emerged from the underground library of Jianmen, they looked like they had pulled several all-nighters like civilian college students before the finals. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re out.¡± Rash was in the diner brewing a pot of tea and a pot of coffee with Snowball on his shoulder: ¡°Would you like some tea? Some coffee? Or some wine?¡± ¡°How long has it been?¡± Dolores ruffled and took a gentle brush of her hair using only her right hand: ¡°Ugh - I feel like we spent the whole day and a whole night just reading.¡± ¡°It¡¯s actually been several days. I haven¡¯t been counting, it¡¯s more than two so I can say ¡®several¡¯.¡± Rash poured himself a cup of coffee mixed with tea, then took a sip: ¡°Ugh, so 7.5 - 2.5 isn¡¯t a good ratio either. I don¡¯t recommend this, do you still want drinks?¡± ¡°It¡¯s been several days?¡± Professor Atkinson yawned and smelled his clothes: ¡°I think I need a shower. Rash, can we have some food?¡± ¡°Sure, I can deliver the food to your rooms. But we only have reheated food though since Mr. Yu is not here.¡± ¡°Where is he?¡± Dolores asked. ¡°He went away with Ms. Wong, some business with the Division.¡± Rash shrugged: ¡°I didn¡¯t ask. Your human businesses are just so complicated.¡± ¡°Yeah. Understood.¡± Professor Atkinson stretched and said: ¡°Thank you Rash, can you tell Mr. Yu that we are very grateful for his hospitality? We have to get going soon - we just had a discussion, and we think we¡¯re ready to go back to the elemental realm.¡± ¡°Sure, you can use the platform in the parking lot - Mr. Yu asked me to tell you that you are approved to use it.¡± Rash nodded and said. After long and comfortable baths, both the professor and Dolores came out of their rooms and headed towards the parking lot. They already saw the tall stone bastion / castle protruding from the center of the parking lot when they came in, but it just felt slightly different now - it was as if the bastion ¡°grew¡± a little since the last time they saw it. There was a round platform with symbols carved into the stone panels around it, and a few words and symbols made of metal embedded into the platform itself. There were two baskets with lids made of wood and bamboo placed on the side of the platform, but there was nothing on it indicating what they were for.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Hey! Wait!¡± just this moment, Rash rushed out from the lounge: ¡°Before you go, take the two baskets with you!¡± ¡°Okay¡­ thanks.¡± Dolores picked up one wooden basket, opened its lid and saw bamboo and wooden containers stacked together with paper sigils pasted on the tops: ¡°What are these?¡± ¡°Food, placed in - uh ...¡± Rash seemed to be having trouble remembering exact words: ¡°... let me see ¡­ something resistant containers, they will keep the food fresh and intact even when you travel through portals.¡± ¡°Turbulence resistant?¡± Professor Atkinson asked. ¡°Yeah yeah yeah, exactly!¡± Rash snapped his finger and said: ¡°He also told me to tell you that the food in the elemental realm tends not to be very good, so he would like to pack you something in case you find yourself in a food desert.¡± ¡°Thank you, Rash, and please relay our gratitude for Mr. Yu as well.¡± Dolores closed the lid and nodded at Rash. Professor Atkinson and Dolores took out the badge given to them by the Elemental Lord Paulo Chang, and started conjuring a portal where they stood. The platform glowed in many colors as they tried, energy that was dispersed in the space around came gathering around them, making the process much smoother and easier. And without much, if any, effort, the portal to edgelands was opened. A beam of light descended from the space and landed onto a corner of the edgelands, many elementals raised their heads, eyes or sensory tentacles at the direction from which the beam of light came, intending to take a close look at who came. A half human female, half dear elemental with shining electric and fire energy surrounding her body hopped to the site where the beam of light landed, where she found the two humans she was tasked to guide last time. ¡°Lin¡¯Er. Nice to see you again.¡± Professor Atkinson gently bowed. ¡°Professor Atkinson, Dolores.¡± Lin¡¯Er responded with a slight bow: ¡°Welcome back, hope your time away was relaxing and productive.¡± ¡°Hey, Lin¡¯Er.¡± Dolores noticed that other elementals started to gather around them, whispering to each other in various elemental languages, most of which she could not understand but for a few bad words: ¡°Uhhh, how''s it going here? I see your friends are still upset about the spring, huh?¡± ¡°Back off!¡± Lin¡¯Er turned around and said to other elementals in a stern voice: ¡°They are not to be touched or met with any hostility! Do any of you want to face the wrath of Lord Chang?!¡± The elementals backed off, but a lot of them still had their ¡°eyes¡± on the two humans. ¡°How could I explain to them that it¡¯s not our fault?¡± Professor Atkinson asked: ¡°The Spring of Knowledge burst from the depths of the bottom, something else caused it - ¡± ¡°They will understand.¡± Lin¡¯Er shook her head: ¡°But they will need time.¡± ¡°Well.¡± Dolores responded with a wry smile: ¡°Hope they don¡¯t take too long, because we¡¯re going to come here many times in the future - ¡± Before Dolores could finish, the edgelands shook as if it was enduring a high scale earthquake. Before the shaking stopped or even displayed any sign of subsiding, the sound of thunder crack exploded from above. When Dolores and Professor Atkinson looked up, they saw a giant energy vortex spinning in the space above the edgelands. Hundreds of bolts of lightning of different colors shot out from the vortex, and they could sense the immense power within the vortex even from afar. ¡°What the fuck is that?¡± Dolores asked. A pale beam of light shot from the vortex, striking right down at the edgelands. Chapter 531 An iridescent and transparent energy dome appeared above the edgelands like a shield. But when the beam of light struck the dome, the dome seemed to have only held for a very short moment before giving way to it. The beam of light got thinner after penetrating the dome, and for some reason its trajectory changed as well - it was now targeting the tallest building on the edgelands - the Bastion of Gwai-Mon. ¡°Crack!¡± the entirety of the Bastion of Gwai-Mon shook and smoked like it was struck by a bolt of lightning. And some kind of strange energy wave was released from the position of the strike. A lot of elementals screamed and tried to run away from the Bastion of Gwai-Mon. But some high ranking elemental officials were running or flying towards it. ¡°Dolores.¡± Professor Atkinson called out to his assistant, while holding a dark orb with shimmering spots of light on it. ¡°This is - this is the first time it reacts to anything.¡± Dolores¡¯ eyes opened wide at the orb, which was a ¡°locator¡± or ¡°map¡± of Xyn¡¯s descendant, which was given to them by Xyn himself: ¡°But - what? Why?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go and see.¡± Professor Atkinson pointed at Lin¡¯Er, who started hopping towards the Bastion and said. ¡°What are you following me for? This could be dangerous!¡± Lin¡¯Er warned the professor and his assistant when she realized they were following her on her way to the Bastion of Gwai-Mon, which was just struck by the beam of light, which was something that had never happened before: ¡°Not even we know what was going on, this is something completely new and unknown. If something happens, I won¡¯t be able to help or protect you!¡± ¡°It could be related to our mission here.¡± Professor Atkinson answered with a stern voice: ¡°For quite a while, this is the first time we¡¯ve got an actual hint of a clue.¡± ¡°Yes! Which is why we simply can¡¯t back down from this.¡± Dolores also said: ¡°Sorry we can¡¯t tell you why or what it is, but we cannot miss this! And don¡¯t worry, we can handle ourselves!¡± ¡°Alright! Then follow me closely!¡± Lin¡¯Er sighed. The structure and body of the entire bastion was still shaking, even though the beam of light had already subsided. As Dolores and Professor Atkinson followed Lin¡¯Er through the bridge and gate into the interior of the bastion, they felt that the vibration was coming from one particular direction - somewhere above and on their right.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The elemental officials started swarming to the source of the vibration, some of them flew, some of them scaled up, some of them just ran up the walls and through them. Lin¡¯Er extended her left arm forward at the corner between one of the walls and the ceiling, a hole opened up, just enough for both the professor and Dolores to fly through and land on the upper floor. Following the aftershock of a loud boom, Professor Atkinson and Dolores ran through a long and winding hallway with different directions of gravity pull, and into a spacious room with a long stone table at the center, a high ceiling and only one window - from the looks of the room, there could be more, but a giant hole with a portal inside was where they would have been. The elemental officials stared at the portal and started murmuring, anyone with even the slightest tactical common sense would know that this would be a terrible breach of security and extremely dangerous for a bastion, yet none of them attempted to attack or seal this portal. And the reason for this was simple: all of those in the room could sense an extremely powerful being was right behind this portal, and it was just there seemingly to serve as a warning and deterrence against any rash attacks or actions against the portal. Before long, two translucent light green tentacles with the ends wrapped together like two human hands came out of the portal. As the two tentacles unwrapped, a completely white toad-like creature appeared - it was sitting on the two tentacles, in a crystal shell that was shaped like a tight fitted armor, with its two eyes scanning the room and the individuals in it. Professor Atkinson took a peek at the dark orb - the shimmering light seemed to have concentrated at the positions facing in the general direction of the portal and the tentacles. The completely white toad-like creature opened its mouth, and started speaking in an ancient tongue. To the utter surprise of Professor Atkinson and Dolores - they could understand every word of what the toad-like creature is saying. ¡°To all the voidborns present and listening - this is not a declaration of war. This is the declaration of connection, we, the lost and forgotten tribe, are only here to claim our rightful place among you, and to connect ourselves to this bastion and the edgelands, thus allowing us to enter into the neutral ground. We come in peace and prosperity, but we are not afraid of conflict or war and we will defend ourselves should we have to.¡± ¡°This is outrageous!¡± one elemental official of fire and earth yelled in his native elemental language and charged at the two tentacles and the toad-like creature, swinging his maul made of lava and burning rocks at the portal. But the maul was stopped midway by one of the tentacles, and then the elemental official of fire and earth was tossed to the side along with it. ¡°We would like to state this fact loud and clear: we come in peace and prosperity, but we are not afraid of conflict or war, and we will defend ourselves should we have to.¡± the toad-like creature repeated. The elemental official that was tossed aside and unharmed was clearly one of the more powerful ones in the room, and thus no other elemental official was willing to try again. The next moment, the toad-like creature had its eyes fixated on Professor Atkinson and Dolores. And without saying anything, the two tentacles shot at them and wrapped around their waists. Both Professor Atkinson and Dolores felt a forceful pull on their waists as well as a powerful seal from the tentacles, and almost completely helplessly, they were pulled into the portal as it closed right before the elemental officials. Chapter 532 Thick layers of liquid released by the tentacles creeped all over Professor Atkinson and Dolores¡¯ bodies and completely enclosed them from the outside. The liquid somehow allowed them to breathe in it, but it also sealed off their magical powers and rendered them powerless. It did not appear to be completely hostile or malicious, however, since the liquid also seemed to be serving as protective layers as they were dragged through an unstable spacial tunnel behind the portal. The completely white toad-like creature that came with the tentacles was also enclosed in a blob of the same liquid, while staring at them with its eyes. When the professor and Dolores looked at the toad-like creature, they couldn¡¯t help but feel mocked and carefully examined and probed at the same time. Both the professor and Dolores could tell that the frog was not any kind of strong or powerful entity, but instead, a minor spirit - something that was mostly known to be weak and almost driven into extinction. The creature with the two tentacles, however, was something that could bring nightmares to children and even some adults - it was an enormous floating creature with hundreds if not thousands of tentacles in the higher sky with its tentacles extended towards at different directions, and a big, droopy and slowly moving stomach on the lower part of the body. ¡°Do not worry. It¡¯s just that it¡¯s of the utmost importance that we find you and you come with us.¡± the toad-like creature opened its mouth and spoke in English. ¡°Wait, you speak English? How come?¡± Professor Atkinson asked, also noticing that he could speak just as freely when completely enclosed inside these liquid blobs. ¡°It¡¯s not a hard skill to learn, and it¡¯s not a secretive language either.¡± the toad-like creature responded: ¡°Now, please stay still, The One has been expecting you.¡± ¡°The One?¡± Dolores asked. ¡°You¡¯ll meet her soon.¡± just when the toad-like creature was about to answer more, they had already reached the end of the spacial tunnel. The blobs of liquid moved downwards and became two giant floating mattresses between them and the vast ground that occurred below.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Professor Atkinson and Dolores tried using their magic to decelerate their descent onto the ground - and it worked. The elemental and other kinds of magical energy was abundant in the air, though slightly chaotic, which made their spells only marginally less easy than they would be in the professor and Dolores¡¯ normal environment. Far beneath them was a giant stone plaza with a temple at the center, which also had a gigantic diameter and was surrounded by a sea that was constantly changing in color as the waves flowed by. There were two suns up in the sky with the same bright orange color, one big and one small, and the bigger one seemed to be rotating around the smaller one. There were many small floating islands in the air around them, the bottoms of which were made of crystals of different colors, and the tops were all shaped and had small buildings, altars and pillars of light on them. Both Professor Atkinson and Dolores recognized almost instantly that the ground, the plaza, the pillars and ruins below them - they had a very similar layout to that of the giant plaza where the temple of Xyn was located. There were similar wide and straight pathways to a distant temple that was located at the center of the giant plaza - the most obvious difference was that it was floating in the air, and somehow it looked like a lot of parts of its upper structure were destroyed. ¡°Professor, look at the pillars that are still standing - ¡± Dolores¡¯ eyes opened wide and said to Professor Atkinson: ¡°They¡¯re in the positions of the destroyed pillars in the other temple.¡± Professor Atkinson glanced over the buildings and ruins below, and he could see what Dolores was referring to - a large part of the plaza below was basically the same design and structure as the plaza of Xyn¡¯s temple, the pillars that were standing below were at a lot of the spots of completely broken pillars in the other plaza which they visited many times before; and the pillars that remained in the other temple, were in the spots of broken pillars below. And combined with the fact that the temple back at Xyn¡¯s was mostly underground while the temple of this place was floating in the air, they were getting a sense that there was some kind of special connection between this place and Xyn. ¡°I think this - this is probably owned by an avatar of Xyn.¡± Dolores said as she landed on the pathway below: ¡°Only that - Xyn¡¯s place was much smaller because of the energy walls surrounding the entire place.¡± ¡°Or, is this Xyn an avatar of mine?¡± a gentle female voice resounded in the ears of both the professor and Dolores: ¡°Come to the temple, I¡¯ve been expecting you.¡± ¡°What the hell is happening here ...¡± Professor Atkinson took out the dark orb, and then found that the shimmering lights were jumping all over its surface, pointing to every direction possible. ¡°The One will have answers to your questions.¡± the toad-like creature said: ¡°Please proceed. It¡¯s impolite to keep The One waiting.¡± Professor Atkinson and Dolores took a look at the toad-like creature, the proceeded to head for the temple. ¡°And to answer your questions - yes, I am a minor spirit born here.¡± the toad-like creature told them from behind. Chapter 533 ¡°Alright, you¡¯re ready for cosplay?¡± standing in front of a closed gate made of thick stones with foggy patterns on the surface, Fubei Li asked Xyankor, Dave and Perketta with a smile. Fubei Li was Jianmen¡¯s avatar, therefore technically a non-elemental being; Dave and Xyankor were Depth Dwellers, and Perketta was a Fog Dweller deputy, which meant that none of them were creatures of the gaps, and they would definitely be noticed and very possibly hunted when they went through the stone gate. This was the very reason that they would need to go into the several emptied out and carefully processed husks of creatures of the gaps before they go. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Perketta¡¯s wings were severely damaged in the battle against the invasion of the creatures of the gaps, one that brought them these husks, so she made the tough decision to cut them off completely and regrow them later - something that beings made of flesh and bones could not do easily. ¡°It¡¯s something some humans do - they dress up and go to conventions ...¡± Fubeil Li tried to explain, but it seemed to have confused Perketta even more: ¡°Alright, maybe I can explain it in detail later.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s better to experience than be explained to.¡± Dave laughed and shrugged: ¡°I remember the time when I went to my first convention - it¡¯s kind of a bummer man, nobody recognized the character I was going for.¡± ¡°Alright alright, it¡¯s time to go, before we have another invasion.¡± Xyankor shook his head and stepped into the husk beside him. The husk automatically rose up and covered his whole body inside, and gradually adjusted the transparency of the body to cover up Xyankor¡¯s presence inside. His husk was that of a light blue creature that looked like a belt fish with two front claws and razor sharp fins on its back, as were the other three husks that were going to be used by the team - these were members of the relatively less violent and destructive creatures of the gaps during the invasion, the theory behind which were that since they were big in numbers and less violent, it would be easier for them to blend in. When all four members of the team finished ¡°dressing up¡±, the Fog Dwellers in charge of the stone gates infused their power into the two seals on the side, and the gates opened up and revealed a bright light blue energy vortex inside. All four individuals wearing the husks jumped into the vortex one at a time, after which the two Fog Dwellers immediately shut the gates to prevent anything from coming out.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. All four of the infiltrating team brought with them a special artifact - the fail-safe that will theoretically open emergency portals and send them back to the realm of the Fog Dwellers when triggered - theoretically, because they were never actually tested, which was because no one had ever been to this previously unknown and young realm from which the creatures of the gaps came. The exit of the portal led them to a giant ¡°tube¡± made of floating rocks, dirt and crystals. On the inner surface of the ¡°tube¡±, there were patches of dirt soft and fertile enough for vegetation to grow. Thus they could see small forests, and grasslands all around them. There were thousands of creatures that were either floating in the space at the center of the ¡°tube¡±, and there were even more that were inhabiting the walls of the ¡°tube¡± just like normal animals living on plains and mountains. There were clouds of luminous gas floating in the tube, providing lighting for the entire environment, which made the journey of the team easier. The husks they wore were quite convincing - as they ¡°swam¡± across the internal space of the ¡°tube¡± and passed by a lot of other creatures of the gaps, none of which had any kind of unnatural reactions to their presence. They were traveling in a one-two-one formation, where Xyankor and Dave were at the front and back respectively, and Fubei Li and Perketta were in the middle travelling side by side. This also seemed to be the common formation in which the actual creatures they tried to impersonate traveled. ¡°This tube seems to be a mini-realm, and the other end is some sort of jump point to nearby realms.¡± Xyankor said to the other members of the team: ¡°Be careful. The locator did pick up some very very weak signal, it¡¯s not clear where it could be or if it was a wrong reading, but at least it¡¯s something.¡± The ¡°locator¡± was an artifact Xyankor and Dave crafted with the help of the Fog Dwellers, which would serve as a detector of the energy waves and ripples released by voidborns. It could detect the presence of Depth Dwellers and Fog Dwellers from a far distance away, and it should be able to detect the new voidborn if it was going to be like other voidborns. ¡°I thought it would be more intense, since the predators were so ferocious when they were in our realm.¡± Perketta said: ¡°But things are just so calm here.¡± ¡°These seem to be all preys, so don¡¯t let your guard down.¡± Fubei Li looked around from inside the belt fish creature husk and said: ¡°We all know what the predators look like, things could turn sideways the moment they appear.¡± The clouds of luminous gas rolled and tumbled in the space, at times cracking out thunder and lightning like clouds of the human world, and at times shooting out beams of light at the walls of the ¡°tube¡±, infusing the rocks, dirt and crystals with traces of energy. When they were almost one quarter of the entire length of the ¡°tube¡± away from the other side of the ¡°tube¡±, a soft and gentle beam of light came from the empty space outside of the ¡°tube¡±, and within the gentle beam of light, the shadow of a tall and slightly humanoid creature started to emerge. The team of four stopped, because all of them recognized instantly that this shadow came for them - they did not know what gave them away, just that it did. ¡°Welcome.¡± the shadow said to all of them, the message was delivered to them in their own native languages through telepathic means: ¡°You have a lot of questions, and I have some answers to them. Follow me.¡± Chapter 534 At this point, there was nothing any of them could do but follow the shadow into the bright golden portal shaped like a tall ivory gate. As a matter of caution, they all had their emergency escape artifact ready, just in case this shadow was not friendly. When they came through the gate-shaped portal, Fubei Li immediately recognized what lay in front of them - Xyn¡¯s temple, or, a place that had a great deal of resemblance to Xyn¡¯s temple. This place had the exact same general layout as Xyn¡¯s temple and the plaza outside, and it had a floating temple at exactly the same location as Xyn¡¯s underground temple. Being an avatar of Jianmen, Fubei Li had a lot of the knowledge Jianmen had, though at times not the latest findings. And at this very moment, he had a sudden feeling that it would be beneficial for him and the entire team of four if he had a ¡°sync¡± of knowledge with Jianmen, and so he did. Fubei Li¡¯s power of mind and will concentrated and extended into the vast space and void, like slim, winding and long tentacles or moving threads, his power of mind and will connected with Jianmen¡¯s in a completely different plane of space, and a small orb of orange and golden shine shot through the interior of the tentacles from the position of Jianmen and towards the position of Fubei Li. In just a matter of a few minutes, a piece of knowledge and theory from Jianmen was pushed to Fubei Li, just when he was about to walk on a flight of floating stairs towards the floating temple, following the team and the shadow in front of them. ¡°What happened?¡± Dave noticed that Fubei Li just had a brief moment of silence and slight disorientation, so he came over and asked: ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Nothing, nothing, just had a big information dump.¡± Fubei Li grabbed onto Dave¡¯s shoulder to remain on his feet and responded with a grateful smile: ¡°Thank you. But I¡¯ll feel better soon.¡± ¡°Yeah, hopefully we¡¯re all gonna feel better in a minute.¡± Perketta said. The sound of stones and metal moving came when the shadow floated into the stone walls of the floating temple. The walls did not appear to have any kind of entrance or exit from the outside, but when the shadow went into them, the walls opened up, and a giant hall appeared behind the entrance.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. The hall was wide and high, from the looks of it, it seemed to Fubei Li that this entire temple only had this very one room. It had several pillars at the corners, and just like the underground temple of Xyn, they had relief sculptures of different monsters/creatures on them. There was a giant throne at one end of the hall, and the ceiling of the room was a dome with arcane paintings on it. A ball of light was floating above the throne, and when the team of four came into the hall, the ball of light expanded in size and changed in shape, and gradually manifested into the shape of a beautiful woman in a long silky dress, with four eyes on her face, four arms, a head of long, golden and wavy hair. ¡°Welcome, my visitors.¡± the four-eyed woman opened her arms at them as a gesture of welcome, and in front of them, four stone tables rose from the ground, a stone cup and a stone bowl appeared on each of them, and then in just a few moments, fruits and berries of different sizes and colors appeared in the stone bowl and some kind of light green liquid appeared in the stone cup: ¡°You are the first ever visitors to this realm and to this place. Please forgive me for bringing you here unannounced, into my very own temple.¡± ¡°So, I guess that¡¯s how you found us.¡± Fubei Li picked up the stone cup and took a gentle sip: ¡°This is very sweet ¡­ and bubbly! This reminds me of that famous gamer drink - what¡¯s it called? Hills ...¡± ¡°Wait, I don¡¯t understand what you just said. How did we get noticed? What do you mean?¡± Xyankor asked. ¡°She¡¯s Xyn, or, at least, an avatar of Xyn.¡± Fubei Li said while he picked some fruits from the stone bowl and put them in his mouth - the sweet and fresh fruits seemed to possessed some healing power, which would be quite useful for him because his body was still healing from the wounds it suffered from the battle against the invasion of the creatures of the gaps: ¡°And I have some dealings and contracts with Xyn, and it seems that my agreement with Xyn has left a mark on me which can be picked up by his avatars. Quite a sneaky trick he pulled, I¡¯m impressed.¡± ¡°Exactly. Thank you.¡± the woman with four eyes smiled: ¡°You can¡¯t survive a Godfall without a few tricks in the arsenal.¡± Dave and Xyankor was sitting down, and when they heard the acknowledgement of Fubei Li¡¯s inference of the woman¡¯s identity, they immediately stood up and bowed down on the floor towards her. ¡°It¡¯s an honor to meet you. Glorious, just and loving Creator.¡± Perketta was just eating the fruit when this happened, and was flustered by what happened - Fubei Li was sitting and facing the woman calmly with a smile, while Dave and Xyankor were bowing. After a quick moment of thought, she jumped from her seat and bowed towards the woman as well. ¡°Get up. It¡¯s okay, you¡¯re the guest here.¡± the woman said with a gentle voice. ¡°Thank you, creator.¡± Perketta, Dave and Xyankor went back to their seats while Fubei Li finished his drink. ¡°Speaking of Creator.¡± Fubei Li put down his stone cup: ¡°Are you the creator Avatar?¡± ¡°Very astute. I can see now why I chose you as the bearer of such an important covenant.¡± the woman smiled: ¡°And which one offered you this covenant?¡± ¡°Judge and Truth Seeker.¡± ¡°Hah, good, the one I need the most right now.¡± Chapter 535 ¡°As you can see, this is my temple, and unfortunately, it is broken.¡± the woman with four eyes said as she pointed at the walls around: ¡°And the reason for this brokenness is a terrifying and simple one: Godfall. I can see that you two still have some traces of my blessing in you, so I think you should know a thing or two about it.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Xyankor nodded: ¡°But it¡¯s a part of the ancient knowledge pool of our kind buried deep in the void, and it¡¯s an area only a few of us are willing to have with us all the time.¡± ¡°A wise choice.¡± the woman nodded: ¡°No need to worry about what might come when you¡¯re at the top - just focus on getting there first.¡± ¡°Your greatness.¡± Perketta asked hesitantly: ¡°May I know what this ¡®blessing¡¯ is? For millennia, we¡¯ve been wondering what the shattering of the original void had stripped from us. And then we encountered the creatures of the gaps and found that some of them had the ability to rob others of it - but still, we couldn¡¯t figure out what it is.¡± ¡°A fair question, young one.¡± the woman with four eyes sighed: ¡°The answer is simply - the inspiration and revelation of what you don¡¯t know - the easier access to the unknown.¡± ¡°I - I don¡¯t understand ...¡± ¡°There is knowledge in this world you know, there¡¯s knowledge you don¡¯t know, there¡¯s knowledge you know that you don¡¯t know, and there¡¯s knowledge that you don¡¯t even know that you don¡¯t know.¡± Fubei Li picked up a transparent berry and threw it in his mouth: ¡°Just knowing what you don¡¯t know is a huge step in one¡¯s progression of knowledge - no wonder the blessings of the void were over tapped. You basically just granted all voidborns a path to true immortality, and let the void bear the weight of knowledge itself.¡± ¡°Is there such a thing though? True immortality?¡± the woman with four eyes did not respond: ¡°How many Gods have fallen since the beginning of all beings? How many actually survived?¡± ¡°So let me take a guess.¡± Fubei Li shook his head: ¡°This realm - you as the Creator created it, and apparently using your temple as the core and center. The creatures that keep invading the realms of the other voidborns and elementals, they are created by you as well?¡±Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°You¡¯re half right.¡± the woman with four eyes chuckled: ¡°I did create these creatures - but I am only the Creator, not the shaper of morals or cognition, that¡¯s the duty of the Judge and Truth Seeker. ¡± Fubei Li took a look at the three voidborns that came with him, who appeared to be not under any kind of distress or pressure, probably due to the fruit and drink served by the woman with four eyes. ¡°But why?¡± Perketta sounded like she was trying to suppress her negative emotions when she voiced her question: ¡°If you¡¯re the Creator, the one who created so much - can¡¯t you stop them from invading our realms? They have been travelling to different realms of different voidborns and elementals and wreaking havoc everywhere - ¡± ¡°I sent them.¡± the woman with four eyes cut Perketta off. ¡°Okay.¡± Perketta¡¯s voice started shaking: ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because I had to.¡± the woman with four eyes answered: ¡°For a lot of reasons, one of which, I assume, is the one that led you here. ¡± ¡°But all of those casualties, I¡¯m not even a voidborn and I can relate to their loss - I think they¡¯d want an answer with more details.¡± Fubei Li said while sipping his drink. ¡°Is ¡®I had to¡¯ not enough?¡± the woman with four eyes looked at the three voidborns: ¡°I survived the fall, and due to my injuries, I¡¯ve been in intermittent sleep and had not been able to do much. Not too long ago, I woke up, and what do you know, I found myself and this very kingdom of mine inside this newly formed realm. And thus, I¡¯ve noticed that there was something big happening to me, to the realms that were once the whole void, and to this very realm. I had to find the other parts of me, and combine our powers to protect the new sprout of hope. So, I had to send them out, to collect the traces of blessings I used to hand out without caution or care, and to find a way to connect to my other avatars. When matters of this importance are at stake, the lives of individual beings of the void shall not stop me.¡± This simple answer left everyone before the woman with four eyes silent. Perketta seemed like she was about to stand up, but she was stopped by both Xyankor and Dave. Fubei Li sighed, and finished his drink once again. Shortly after he placed his empty cup on the table before him, it was filled up with the same drink. ¡°And this new sprout of hope - its¡¯ the new voidborn? An actual voidborn, like us?¡± Dave asked. ¡°It¡¯s a part of it.¡± the woman with four eyes said, nodding: ¡°But you should know, it is not leaving with you to your realms.¡± The room went silent again, then Xyankor asked: ¡°May we know why? And can we see it?¡± ¡°Because I deem it proper. And because it is not like you, it¡¯s the first of a new line with a better connection to me and blessed by me, they are set out to inherit this realm, and will stay out of the petty squabbles of your tribes.¡± the woman with four eyes said: ¡°But yes, you can see it.¡± She waved her hand in the air, and a small portal appeared right above her. After a few seconds, two tentacles came through the portal, holding a small and white toad-like creature. Fubei Li¡¯s eyes narrowed - this creature did not appear to possess any sort of special power, it is by almost every measure, just a minor spirit. Chapter 536 After getting a chance to see the white toad-like creature and confirming that it is indeed the voidborn they had been searching for, Dave, Xyankor and Perketta were sent out of the temple while Fubei Li was asked to stay - the woman with four eyes insisted that she has something to discuss with Fubei Li, which would be a private matter and inappropriate for others to be present. ¡°So, what do you think they¡¯re discussing in there?¡± Dave tried to lighten everyone¡¯s mood and asked semi-jokingly: ¡°Maybe trading the recipe for the drink or ways to cultivate the fruit?¡± ¡°Or maybe how we¡¯re unable to live a peaceful life because of this very new realm.¡± Perketta said: ¡°I - I think I¡¯ve heard enough - this journey has been nothing but disappointing. I¡¯m just glad we haven¡¯t spent too much time.¡± ¡°Well, at least we saw the new voidborn in ages.¡± Xyankor lay on the ground beside the floating temple and said: ¡°And more importantly, we know that it is safe. So there¡¯s that. Come to think of it, I am actually kinda glad the new voidborn is neither a Depth Dweller nor a Fog Dweller - it¡¯s an increasingly more worrisome world we live in.¡± ¡°Now that we¡¯re clear on what the blessing of our creator actually is, do you still want the relic?¡± Dave looked Perketta in the ¡°eyes¡± and asked: ¡°It¡¯s definitely not what you think it is - and even if it COULD bring you the blessings - ¡± ¡°We¡¯d still take it.¡± Perketta shook her head: ¡°Even if it is not what we think, we would still like a chance - our numbers are dwindling, and our kind is in trouble. We HAVE TO try.¡± Inside the floating temple, Fubei Li finished up the drink from the stone cup once more, and asked: ¡°Now that they¡¯re not here, can you entertain a theory of mine - and feel free to correct me if I¡¯m wrong - that you, or should I say Xyn, the original Xyn, was no normal, common God. You were a living realm, or the core of a realm, aren¡¯t you? Otherwise, no one, not even a full-fledged God, could tap into the essence of knowledge of a vast realm like you did. You almost made the entire void your kingdom, and thus all voidborns of the past, present and future will be your believer and follower. And the blessings you gave them, they were basically invitations for voidborns to your bishops, your pope, and even one day to be you.¡± The woman with four eyes smiled and gently clapped her hands, then said: ¡°You are very close - I WAS a living realm before my ascension to Godhood, and not just any realm, the very core to the void. And it was only a matter of chance, that I became sentient.¡± ¡°No wonder, so it is almost expected that you became God.¡± Fubei Li nodded with a wry smile: ¡°What was a path of struggle, pain and even oblivion was nothing but the natural process of growth for you.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°If you¡¯re calling me lucky, you¡¯d be mistaken. I became God because I was meant to be, which made me reckless.¡± the woman with four eyes said: ¡°Look how bad I failed.¡± ¡°My condolences. But you¡¯re still alive, so you still have a chance to regroup and fix things.¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s not my destiny, not any more.¡± the woman with four eyes floated towards Fubei Li and said: ¡°You came from a realm with the beings called humans, so I must ask you this - did I - did my avatar that gave you this contract entrust another contract to two humans? Two young beings of your kind?¡± ¡°I was just about to get to that.¡± Fubei Li chuckled: ¡°But how did you know?¡± ¡°Mere moments ago, I sensed some lost artifacts of mine being detected by a spring of my creation and blessing.¡± the woman with four eyes sat in the air before Fubei Li: ¡°I tried to reach out to it and establish a connection, but the different realms were so far apart and the connections between that realm and this was so broken, I was not able to. And in a moment of rush, I might have used too much power trying to force my way in, and might have damaged that very spring of mine.¡± ¡°The Spring of Knowledge in the edgelands. Yes, I was aware of what happened, but glad to know why.¡± Fubei Li nodded: ¡°And I¡¯m sure they would be glad to know that they didn¡¯t cause it to blow up.¡± ¡°What are the terms of the contract?¡± ¡°To help you find your descendant.¡± Fubei Li put down the cup and picked up a bright red berry: ¡°I guess that avatar was onto something here, wasn¡¯t he?¡± ¡°That is on longer necessary.¡± the woman sighed and turned back: ¡°I got the rough idea of what I promised them. And I will grant them what I¡¯ve promised, if I could meet them.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± Fubei Li gently tilted his head: ¡°The creatures of this place, they¡¯re not ALL created by you, are they?¡± ¡°No they¡¯re not. I helped. But I can¡¯t take all the credit.¡± ¡°And the one who takes the other credit - was it created by you? Or was it developed naturally, like you?¡± Fubei Li hesitated for a few seconds and decided to cut to the chase: ¡°It is YOUR DESCENDANT, is it?¡± ¡°It is, and it isn¡¯t.¡± the woman with four eyes said. ¡°Please elaborate?¡± ¡°As I told you, I¡¯ve been in intermittent sleep due to my injuries. And whenever I am awake, I try my best to find other pieces of myself and establish connections with them. But those attempts prove to be almost completely futile - through the ages I was only able to find some very small pieces, all of which I used to heal myself and rebuild this place - until the last time I tried.¡± the woman with four eyes spoke slowly: ¡°Last time I tried, I found this very realm. It has a good affinity to my power and my kingdom, and it is quite stable and ¡­ familiar, so I decided to move my kingdom here. ¡°But just when I was making preparations for the move, I noticed that this realm has a core, and not just any other kinds of core - it¡¯s a core that resonated with me. So out of curiosity - I reached out to it. And what did I find? A living core of a realm, and a small living realm itself. Just like I once was. And what¡¯s more, I could sense that it had absorbed some pieces of me from the fall, and had consumed them completely. And I mean truly completely, to a state that I could not extract anything from it even if I tried.¡± Fubei Li nodded - slivers of a God, though often possessing immense power and at times could be used by normal beings or even absorbed by them. But to absorb them completely, it would take extra affinity and special connection to the God itself, which would make it beyond likely that Professor Atkinson and Dolores could declare their search over if they came here. Chapter 537 ¡°Now, it should be my turn to ask questions.¡± the woman with four eyes lowered her body to sit on the other side of the stone table facing Fubei Li. ¡°Sure, go ahead. ¡± ¡°How is my other avatar - the Judge and Truth Seeker?¡± ¡°He¡¯s doing okay, but he and his temple were tossed into a realm that was close to us but had a really rough environment, which grossly limited his ability to reach out.¡± Fubei Li sighed: ¡°Also, he seemed to have endured a lot of injuries and is still spending a lot of energy to stabilize his condition.¡± The woman with four eyes shook her head just like a normal human would: ¡°It¡¯s only expected. At the very last minute, he was the one who split from me, and faced the enemies that were destroying my kingdom - he¡¯s lucky just to be alive and not extinguished like the rest of my kingdom. Do you have the ability to help him, or bring me to him?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± Fubei Li thought for a moment, then refused: ¡°If we concentrated all our energy and resources, maybe we could do something. By ¡®we¡¯ I meant my team, my friends and I. But the thing is, the defilers are marching at our gates, and we want to save every last bit of power we can in preparation for the war.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want you to. It¡¯s in no way a fair deal.¡± the woman with four eyes said: ¡°But sounds to me I would need to connect with the Judge and Truth Seeker soon, and we can begin our healing and the future. I would like your help. I don¡¯t know what the Judge and Truth Seeker offered you, but I am willing to offer you a contract to help me reconnect with him. Just let me know your price.¡± ¡°Unfortunately it¡¯s not that easy for me to actually do anything about it. ¡± Fubei Li shook his head while thinking: ¡°But, it should not be impossible. What if I help you establish a connection to the edgelands? It is the place where the two humans bearing the contracts to find your descendant will be visiting. If you create a connection with it, you will be able to connect through them, won''t you?¡± ¡°But since you have been to the edgelands, and you are bearing a contract with him, why not do it through yourself?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because of what I am willing to offer to you to serve my part of this contract, and what I am about to ask of you.¡± Fubei Li sighed and said: ¡°I¡¯ve the luck and honor to visit the Bastion of Gwai-Mon and to examine this very intersection of different spacial tunnels and the gateways to different realms of different tribes of voidborns. And I think I know a thing or two about creating a new door and a pathway. You¡¯ll need Muto, don¡¯t you?¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Yes, that and a coordinate.¡± the woman stared at Fubei Li with all four of her eyes: ¡°And don¡¯t tell me that you actually have any of that with you?¡± Around half an hour after being sent out of the temple, Dave, Xyankor and Perketta saw Fubei Li walking out of it, holding a piece of blue crystal shard and a small translucent white crystal ball in his hand. ¡°So?¡± Dave asked Fubei Li. ¡°This is for you.¡± Fubei Li handed the translucent white crystal ball to Dave: ¡°It¡¯s a short message from the first voidborn, you can take it back and report to your people, letting them know that the first voidborn in eons will be here safe and sound in this very young realm. And that they shouldn¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Xyankor let out a long sigh: ¡°I guess it¡¯s for the best. Let¡¯s head back then?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t be coming with you.¡± Fubei Li shook his head and handed the blue crystal shard to Dave: ¡°Dave, please take this back to the inn and to me. This shard contains all the information I¡¯ve gathered on our trip, and the information about my new agreement with Lady Creator Xyn here.¡± ¡°Why are you staying?¡± Xyankor and Perketta asked at the same time. ¡°An agreement has been reached between us, and I will be here to fulfill my end of the deal.¡± Fubei Li answered with a smile: ¡°It¡¯s been a pleasure and an honor working and fighting with you. Come visit my inn when you want to visit the human world, I can give you a big friends and family discount.¡± ¡°I will see to it that this will be safely delivered.¡± Dave put the crystal shard into his pocket and bowed slightly towards Fubei Li. ¡°It¡¯s been a pleasure, Mr. Yu.¡± Xyankor bowed along with Dave. ¡°Thank you for all the help.¡± Perketta showed Fubei Li a Fog Dweller military goodbye gesture. ¡°Before we do this, I have to ask you, are you sure?¡± When Fubei Li went back into the floating temple, the woman with four eyes was standing beside a giant pyramid-shaped three-dimensional array made of colorful rocks with symbols engraved on them: ¡°This is a lot, even for someone like you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s my mission. I wasn¡¯t planning on returning in one piece anyway.¡± Fubei Li smiled and hopped onto the tip of the pyramid-shaped array: ¡°All I¡¯ll need is some rest and maybe one more business trip to the edgelands. Compared to that, peace amongst the elemental realms and a more stabilized, stronger you is a great bargain.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad you think that.¡± The woman with four eyes laid her hands on the pyramid-shaped array: ¡°Here we go.¡± The array lit up in different colors, and a layer of energy shell started growing from the bottom towards the tip. Fubei Li¡¯s entire body glowed in orange and golden light, then the light gradually retreated from his extremities towards his forehead. Before long, the orange and golden energy concentrated into a small condensed orb and left Fubei Li¡¯s body entirely. His body turned pale, grey and lifeless after this, and started to change in shape into that of a giant almost completely transparent drill bit. ¡°Careful there. It took a whole lotta effort to make Muto this flexible and moldable.¡± the orange and golden energy orb said to the woman with a gentle voice: ¡°And maybe buffer your power a little, you don¡¯t want to destroy the edgelands.¡± ¡°Easier said than done.¡± the woman with four eyes smiled, then infused the array with more of her power. The drill bit started spinning, and shortly, it was launched into the sky through an open hole on the ceiling. Thunder-like cracking sound exploded from the sky above the floating temple, when Dave, Xyankor and Perketta looked back, they saw a pale beam of light shooting upwards from the top of the floating temple into an energy vortex. And for a brief moment, they felt that some kind of spacial barrier was broken between this realm and their respective realms, and if they want and really try, they could just summon a portal to travel back. Chapter 538 In the early hours before the actual dawn on the day when they were about to depart on the invasion of the Hellinger Castle, Carol Summers went for a quick visit to Emilia Corin, who was still in the healer¡¯s room and in a coma. After confirming that Emilia Corin¡¯s condition was stable and her progress of recovery was on track and there was no signs of her extremely rare gift being lost due to her excess use of it and injuries, Carol Summers went back to a secret room under her mansion, with a glass jar containing thick dark liquid inside in her hands. Inside this secret room, there was an altar made of dark red amber at the center of the room, and in the four corners, there were four small statues of claws, also made of the same dark red amber pointing at the altar. Beneath the altar, there was a giant circle drawn with a kind of dark green ink. Carol Summers knelt on both knees before the altar, and slowly and carefully placed the glass jar onto the top of the altar. When she started chanting a spell, the altar started glowing in an unsettling crimson color, the dark thick liquid in the glass jar started getting slowly consumed. Lighted spots of different colors of energy appeared on the top of the altar, then flowed down along the exterior of the altar and along some of the linings on the ground connecting the base of the altar to the statues in the corner. As the glowing energy spots moved towards the statues, the statues lit up in the same crimson glow as well. When the glass jar became almost completely empty, dark flames and smoke came up from the upper surface of the altar. From the smoke, a vague shadow of a creature with two glowing eyes, a long and winding neck and a long face and wide mouth appeared. ¡°This better be important.¡± the creature said. ¡°Your mightiness, I requested this meeting to inquire help from you, and for it I have payment already prepared. I really believe you will like it.¡± Carol Summers said while still kneeling down.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Speak. And remember the terms.¡± ¡°Of course, your mightiness.¡± Carol Summers sat up straight and said: ¡°I would like to purchase a shed scale or claw from you. And I make this request with the utmost respect - I would like to make a shield - it would not be a long-living one, I just need it for an upcoming fight. If I survive it, I will personally see to it getting properly disposed of.¡± ¡°That would be permissible.¡± the shadow said: ¡°And from what are you attempting to defend?¡± ¡°A human, with the name Lucias Vyn.¡± Carol Summers said: ¡°She¡¯s a member of the once very powerful and influential Hellinger family...¡± ¡°... and now she¡¯s conspiring with the followers of Hoztang, I know.¡± The shadow said: ¡°You shall have what you asked for. And IF you win this fight against them, I want her head on this very altar, along with the heads of that coven that follow Hoztang. Bring this with you, you will know how to use it.¡± After a slow nod, a piece of thick scale surrounded by dark energy smoke flew out from the dark smoke, along with a small dagger with a stone handle and a curved black blade that had a lot of forged patterns on both sides and even the edge. When Carol Summers held the curved black dagger in her hand, a short visual message flashed before her eyes and she instantly knew how to use this dagger properly, and what she needed to do if she was to use it - she needed to inflict tremendous pain on the believers of Hoztang, then kill them with one shot through a jab at the back of their necks. ¡°May I know what their heads are good for?¡± Carol Summers placed the dagger into her pocket and asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think as you are now you are able to endure the weight of the knowledge.¡± the shadow said: ¡°But to put it simply - if you ever make it to Hoztang¡¯s, or even my level, don¡¯t recruit followers or believers if you can¡¯t brainwash them.¡± ¡°... understood.¡± Carol Summers nodded: ¡°My sincerest gratitude, your mightiness.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s everything, I shall go back to my slumber.¡± the shadow said: ¡°You¡¯ve been a good client, Beverly Winters. The heads you bring back will be great installments for getting your name back.¡± ¡°Thank you very much, your mightiness.¡± Carol Summers nodded and stood up: ¡°And, congratulations on your recovery. ¡± The dark shadow let out a hoarse laughter, then it said: ¡°That¡¯s why I like you, young Ms. Winters, which is why I gave you a fresh scale. Just another reminder that you remain your good will when trading with me, two eyes do see much, much more than one.¡± Chapter 539 For a deserted castle, the Hellinger Castle did not look anything like the stereotype: the sky was clear and blue with white fluffy clouds floating around, the grass around the perimeter of the castle was green and gave off a fresh smell, and the castle itself looked clean and bright on the outside. The castle itself was located in a small and hidden realm that was very close to the earth, but was always positioned on the back side of the earth so that it stayed in the shadows. There was another magical artifact placed on a small asteroid in space rotating around the sun, which would absorb the sunlight radiated from the sun and transported the light to this very realm, acting as a source of light. The walls and towers in the building was created using a special kind of stone material with a high concentration of metal, which was then treated with one specific kind of magical fire before shaping. After the construction of the castle was finished, reinforcement and coating the exterior with a kind of mineral oil created by the Hellingers¡¯ own recipe had become a regular maintenance operation, which was often carried out by a group that consisted mainly of the Hellinger family members that were deemed insufficiently talented, since it involved mostly tedious busy work. Assistant Professor Vyn was not one of this branch, but he volunteered to do the work every time. On the other hand Lucias Vyn, who was deemed powerless and almost completely talentless, also volunteered every time. This gave them a lot of chances to work together and socialize as brother and sister. And it was also due to these experiences, they got the chance to learn and understand more about the castle than almost anyone in the family at the time. Now, standing outside of the outer ward in front of the metal fence gate were the teams of both Lucias Vyn and Lady Marza O¡¯Gul. Lucias Vyn brought a few dozen individuals under her employment, a lot of which were wearing all kinds of face covering; while Lady Marza O¡¯Gul brought along some of the most loyal and elite witches from her coven. ¡°That¡¯s an interesting story and all.¡± Lady Marza O¡¯Gul asked with a wide smile, even her face mask covering half of her face was not able to cover it: ¡°But I wonder - how did you get the nickname ¡®Mama Reaper¡¯?¡± ¡°Through brushing with death, of course.¡± Lucias Vyn answered without even turning: ¡°One time, this piece of shit little brat tried to take a present of mine. I fought tooth and nails to hold onto it, and in the struggle, I was kicked in the stomach and back for god knows how many times. I died for a few minutes, until a family healer brought me back. But like they said, sometimes life and death triggers your inner potential.¡±You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°What was this important gift?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a single petal from the blossom of the Crystal Lake, enclosed inside a hand-made ball of amber.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn said: ¡°I gave it to her as a present. Aside from the usual internal power calming and growth-inspiring properties, it is also said to have the power to help one find their hidden potential. And as a matter of fact, it did work.¡± ¡°The area is clear, should be safe to enter.¡± just this moment, the head of the scouts came back and said to Assistant Professor Vyn: ¡°Like you ordered, we didn¡¯t enter or disturb anything.¡± ¡°The area is clear, just like we predicted.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn turned back and said to his and Lucias Vyn¡¯s team, and the team led by Lady Marza O¡¯Gul: ¡°Now, I am going to open the gate. Be prepared.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn stepped forward towards the metal gate, took out a small dagger to slash two crossing wounds on it, and then extended his right arm forward with his palm facing the metal fence gate. A shining bright blue symbol appeared before his palm, and a symbol that was the mirror reflection of it appeared on the central seal of the metal fence gate. The sound of gears turning came from the central seal of the fence gate, then after a small puff of smoke, the metal fence gate opened, not by swinging towards both sides, but by the metal bars and plates gradually retreating back to the positions of their hinges. When the gates opened, the color of the sky and the clouds changed color: the sky became dark blue like it was close to night time, and the clouds had become blood red. If one paid close attention to the sky and the cloud, they would see that there were dark cracks in the sky, and the clouds were much thicker than they looked before, and there were shapes of crying and screaming human faces on the surface. The building of the castle also revealed its true look: broken walls everywhere, a lot of places were cracked up, some of the tall towers were even completely missing. ¡°Even after death, the Hellingers are vain.¡± Lucias Vyn scoffed as she followed Assistant Professor Vyn through the gates and into outer ward. ¡°Stay in the central pathway behind me. Don¡¯t touch anything. Don¡¯t fixate your eyes on anything for too long.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn said to everyone coming through the gate: ¡°If you triggered anything, you would put everyone in danger. Remember, we are Hellingers, we know the way, but we can¡¯t save you if you ticked off something dangerous.¡± Camile Jensen walked in behind Lady Marza O¡¯Gul, and she still couldn¡¯t help but look around her: there was burnt dirt, strange and even creepy looking vegetation, patches of charred land and debris from the tower and ruins of the smaller buildings surrounding the castle everywhere. On their left, there was a swamp with several different colors of tar that was still bubbling, and on their right there was a broken building like the entrance to an underground mausoleum, standing in front of which was a tree with no leaves but many blood red flowers on its branches. ¡°Tears in the wind, tears in the wind. Mama¡¯s crying and there¡¯s tears in the wind...¡± when Camile Jensen walked closer to the main gate to the inner ward and the castle building itself, she heard some faint voices of children singing in the air: ¡°Daddy asked: ¡®why¡¯d you cry?¡¯ And Mama said: ¡®My stumps hurt my love, can¡¯t you just end me? ...¡¯¡± Chapter 540 ¡°Lady.¡± Camile Jensen came up to Lady Marza O¡¯Gul and whispered to this woman wearing a face mask covering half her face: ¡°The songs in the air...¡± ¡°I noticed, just stop listening.¡± Lady Marza O¡¯Gul shook her head: ¡°It¡¯s the protection array from the castle itself. They¡¯re meant to confuse and terrorize those who came in uninvited. The Hellingers were known to be experts at it. So be careful, the theoretical things you learn about terrorizing magic, and the control of dark energy like rot and malice in the Grant Academy will be severely outdated here.¡± ¡°No, not just that.¡± Camile Jensen said: ¡°I get this feeling that there¡¯s something in the song, and it seems like it¡¯s trying to break out, somehow.¡± ¡°Voice Wraiths, or to be precise, Spirit of Melody.¡± Lady Marza O¡¯Gul hesitated for a short moment: ¡°Good job noticing it.¡± Then she turned around to the witches following her and delivered a short message: ¡°Focus on yourselves, and don¡¯t be shaken by the songs.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Lady O¡¯Gul.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn said from a remote distance: ¡°Just stick to what we told you, and your crew will be fine. Unless, of course, there are some amongst your crew harboring ill will against the Hellinger Family and the Castle, then it can¡¯t be helped.¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± Lady Marza O¡¯Gul narrowed her eyes: ¡°Just lead the way and find our way in. I don¡¯t think it will be good for anyone to linger in this place for long, even for you and your crew.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯re almost there.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn turned around and said as he led the team to a place in front of the gates of the inner ward. The inner ward was built with thick stones and bricks, and had several metal places with relief sculptures of demons, monsters and morbid ghosts layered on them. The gates were completely made of metal and had a height of around three adult men, and on its both sides there were two statues that were around two adult men¡¯s height. Just by looking at them, Camile Jensen got the feeling that if they acted in any way inappropriate the two statues would just lunge from their positions and start attacking them.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Assistant Professor Vyn got down on his right knee and extended his right arm forward. The slashed wounds on his right palm started dripping blood. The droplets of blood did not reach the ground when they fell, instead they floated towards the gate and the two statues and were instantly absorbed on contact. ¡°My child ¡­. my child¡­ my child ...¡± faint voices from many different voices came from every direction and flowed towards Assistant Professor Vyn like streams in a turbulent river. The gate opened from the middle, and the torches in the interior lit up in orange, green and blue flames. What appeared before the team was the rest of the pathway towards the front gate of the castle itself, which also started to slowly open. ¡°Crack!¡± A loud explosion of tens, if not hundreds of thunder strikes came from the distant sky. When everyone aside from Assistant Professor Vyn looked back, they saw a giant crack of space glowing in dark blue appeared in the sky. ¡°Summers is here.¡± Lucias Vyn said: ¡°Earlier than we thought. Let¡¯s get in and trigger the defence.¡± Just this moment, two men wearing face masks in Lucias Vyn¡¯s team, and one witch from Lady Marza O¡¯Gul¡¯s team started shaking, laughing and even dancing clumsily. And right in front of everyone, they began to sing uncontrollably in high voices and bad pitches: ¡°Tears in the wind, tears in the wind. Mama¡¯s ¡­ crying ... and there¡¯s tears in the wind¡­ Daddy asked: ¡®why¡¯ ...¡± The emotions on Lucias Vyn and Assistant Professor Vyn¡¯s faces turned stern and terrible. The other members of their respective teams immediately backed off from them and watched these individuals twiched, their eyes rolled up, their faces turned pale and full of dark veins, and their mouth opened wider and wider - even to extents that were impossible for humans; their eyes was sucked into their skull, and before long they all stopped breathing and collapsed onto the ground like three skin sacks. A pair of hands appeared from within these individuals¡¯ mouths and grabbed onto the edges of their mouths. Then the hands pushed outwards, these mouths opened even wider, the skins, muscles, ligaments and bones cracked and broken from the violent expansion. Shortly after the sudden outburst of weird behavior, three infants covered in blood and dark green slime with abnormally big eyes and only the upper halves of their bodies crawled out from their mouths and throats. At the end of each of their bodies, there were a couple of long and winding tubes and veins attached to a beating heart. ¡°Looks like we found the traitors among us.¡± Lucias Vyn smiled when faced with the stares of horror and anger from the other individuals present: ¡°Now, let¡¯s proceed.¡± When the team continued on their way, the three bloody infants attached to beating hearts crawled with them from behind, and were avoided by everyone. The singing voices finally completely died down when the team entered the main hall of the castle building and the front gate shut behind them. Camile Jensen let out a sigh of relief in secret, just like many members of her team. ¡°Poof¡± flames of orange, green and blue lit up in a chandelier above them, and the entirety of the interior was shown to all members of the team. Chapter 541 What everyone of this team could tell right of the moment, was that this main hall they were now in was definitely once a glorious and luxurious place: the ceiling was high up above, and the chandelier above them was floating at a distance above them, controlled by some enchanted bricks on the walls; and along the walls, there were stairs leading to different entrances and doorways, some of which were simple doorways connected to hallways, and some were obviously stone and metal tablets that were once functioning long-running portals. There were tall and wide hallways connecting to the bigger side halls in front of them and on both sides, from the looks of them, the two side halls on the left and right were there for meetings or leisure, because there were some irreparably damaged tables, sofas and armchairs in them. The side hall in front of them was empty and had nothing but debris in it, and they could see some doors and gates that were broken down. Everywhere they could see, there were cracks, holes and patches of broken or even completely torn down walls, which clearly told them that there was a grave battle that happened here. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve heard it from rumors and whispers amongst various people. But none compared to being here and seeing it for myself.¡± Lady Marza O¡¯Gul¡¯s eyes flashed in silver light, using her own gift, with the aid of a little convenient spell, she could see the shadows of the battle. She could see more if she wanted, but something told her that probing the history of this place right now would be a foolish choice. ¡°You¡¯ll get a chance to see more of this place once we¡¯re done.¡± Lucias Vyn took a deep breath: ¡°Let¡¯s set the defences up and head for the vault.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn took a look around, seemingly trying to figure out which way they should go next. Then after around half a minute, he pointed at one of the doors located at a high up position on the wall in front of them and to the left: ¡°That one should be it.¡± ¡°Are you not sure?¡± Lady Marza O¡¯Gul asked. ¡°Things looked different last time when we were here, as you could imagine.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn shook his head: ¡°But I recognize it now, it¡¯s that one.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn did find the right door - when the team went through it, they found themselves in a small room with paintings and statues hanging on the wall, just like an art exhibition chamber. There were some magical lights on the wall to provide lighting, and on the innermost wall, there was a giant metallic insignia on the wall, with three shiny gems socketed in three places - one green, one orange and one blue. Assistant Professor Vyn went ahead and took out the gem that was glowing in blue, Lucias Vyn went and took the one glowing in green, and then a completely masked up figure from their team walked forward and picked up the gem that was glowing in orange.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Camile Jensen nodded as the metal Helling Family insignia opened up from the center and became the entrance of a dark tunnel. There was only very limited lighting in the tunnel, but the tunnel did seem to grow wider the deeper it went. ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!¡± The sound of explosions came from places just outside the inner ward - it seemed that the team of Carol Summers had already breached the defences of the outer ward. It was somewhat expected, because right now the only defences active of this place were the defence array on the outside, which, though pretty effective but could be easily figured out and thus guarded against. As the team of Lucias Vyn and Lady Marza O¡¯Gul walked out of the tunnel, they reached an underground hall shaped like a dome, with murals drawn on the entire dome ceiling, and the ground had a giant map of the entire castle painted all over it. On the spots where the castle¡¯s inner ward was displayed, there were a few dozen red dots blinking and moving; and on another spot where the inner rooms of the castle were depicted, there were a few dozen white spots, one orange, one blue and one green concentrated at one place. Assistant Professor Vyn took out a small metal scepter and raised it up pointing at the ceiling, and after a low chant, the scepter was sucked up towards a hole at the center of the ceiling. ¡°Ching!¡± the metal scepter fit into the hole perfectly, an energy wave was released from the center of the dome, and everyone in the room could felt that something in the castle itself was activated - which would be the castle¡¯s defence mechanisms. ¡°Boom!¡± this entire room shook as if it was attacked directly. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Lady Marza O¡¯Gul asked. ¡°We don¡¯t know.¡± Lucias Vyn exchanged looks with Assistant Professor Vyn and said while shaking her head: ¡°I¡¯ve told you, even we don¡¯t know all the secrets to this castle.¡± ¡°Boom!¡± The room just shook once more, and then a giant crack appeared on the dome. Very small traces of dark smoke started seeping in through this crack, and all individuals in the room could instantly feel a slight chilling feeling running down their spine. A hidden stone door appeared just on top of this crack, and it fell down on the ground, cracking into several pieces. ¡°We need to leave.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn and Lady Marza O¡¯Gul said at the same time. Assistant Professor Vyn extended his hand in one direction, then a metal door appeared on the wall, but this metal door seemed to have endured a lot of damage, with all the tears, punctures and dents on its body. ¡°Where does this lead to? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re just picked a door without thinking through.¡± Lady Marza O¡¯Gul asked impatiently with a raised voice. ¡°This leads to the armory - through which we could get to the vault.¡± Lucias Vyn answered, with an equally impatient voice. Chapter 542 Camile Jensen remembered the information shared with her regarding the armory - it was one of the biggest rooms and probably the most damaged in the battle. Neither Assistant Professor Vyn nor Lucias Vyn had been there for quite a long while, so the intelligence provided would likely be very outdated. Behind the metal door was a wide and slippery tunnel, and Assistant Professor Vyn headed first and slid down the tunnel holding Lucias Vyn¡¯s hand, none of the members of the team had any time to complain, and they proceeded to slide down the tunnel one by one. The steepness of the tunnel and the fact that it took all of them quite a while to reach the bottom indicated to everyone that the armory was somewhere deep underground. When Camile Jensen got out from the other end of the tunnel, she found herself in an underground bunker, with a ceiling that was roughly around six or seven floors tall at the lowest part, and more than fifteen floors tall at the highest. The place was barely lit up by sparsely distributed magical lights and torches hanging from the ceiling and on the walls. But even with these sources of light, the visibility was still quite terrible - they could barely see anything outside of 30 feet (around 10 meters). This was no simple giant empty hall like the ones to house aircrafts, space shuttles or giant monsters. But instead, even though severely damaged, there remained a lot of structures in this underground armory - there were floating platforms in the air, spacious balconies and wide bridges on the walls and barely functioning or recognizable stairs made of floating stone tablets and wood panels or just carved on the wall leading to different positions of the entire hall, with some underground defence towers and bunkers placed at different positions, acting as a defence system from within. It was a masterfully built underground structure with intricate internal designs, the debris all over the floor and the uneven ground from the damage this place took from the battle long time ago did not take that away. ¡°The entrance to the vault is beneath the central bunker.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn pointed forward and said: ¡°It¡¯s not far, but as you can see, this place is heavily damaged. And it had connections to different parts of the entire castle, so we¡¯re not sure what awaits us in the shadows. Everyone on high alert.¡± The team started to move forward, ignoring the booms and cracks coming from the tunnel through which they arrived at this armory. Judging from the fact that they could barely feel the vibrations or shakings from the room they were just in, this armory had pretty good insulation from the impact from other places.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. The team formed into three groups, and each of them went ahead in a straight line from different angles. Camile Jensen was assigned to the group on the left, and was right behind Lady Marza O¡¯Gul. The team in the middle was led by Assistant Professor Vyn and Lucias Vyn; while the team on the right was led by the other Hellinger who was completely masked up and covered by a suit of black cloth armor. Before they proceeded, all of the team cast spells to conceal noise and energy waves on themselves and each other to ensure maximum stealthiness in their moves. It took around five minutes for them to get visual on the central bunker Assistant Professor Vyn was talking about - it was a dome-shaped bunker that was about two storeys high, with shooting holes near the top, but it was mostly destroyed and seemed like it was lucky to be standing in place without collapsing. ¡°Crack...¡±a small stone moving sound came from the darkness beyond, which seemed like something had stepped on some loose or fragile debris. All members of the team immediately knelt down on the ground while keeping their eyes open and forward and their weapons and spells ready. Triples by triples, glowing eyes opened up in a distance before them and some in places around them. These eyes were distributed in the same manner: the two eyes on the side were glowing in green-ish blue with black pupils, and the eyes in the middle were long and thin while standing vertically, and they were glowing in purple with dark red pupils. ¡°Nightmare Bat-wolves.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Nightmare Bat-wolves.¡± messages were delivered from the members in front to the members at the rear: ¡°Ready your anti-confusion spell gears.¡± The anti-confusion spell gears were pairs of goggles with a silver shine on one lens and a dark blue shine on the other. After putting her goggles on and activating them, Camile Jensen felt that there was a slight dim in her vision and there were foggy auras around all the objects in her view. Nightmare Bat-wolves, one of the potential dangerous and hostile creatures they knew they could encounter before they came here - they were a mostly nocturnal social magical beast, which had the ability to glide using wings on their backs, and the ability to cast confusion and illusion spells with the eyes at the centers of their foreheads. Being a librarian of the Grant Academy and a member of the famous and influential Jensen family, Camile Jensen was well-read enough to know about the appearances and habits of a lot of magical beasts in the world, especially the dangerous ones. And after realizing that they were facing a herd of Nightmare Bat-wolves, she immediately kept her eyes low, tried to peek at them only through side eyes and to avoid direct eye contact with the eyes. But even so, she noticed something unusual right away. ¡°Lady, they looked¡­ bigger than normal.¡± Camile Jensen whispered to Lady Marza O¡¯Gul. ¡°Are they now?¡± Lady Marzar O¡¯Gul looked around then lowered her head: ¡°Looks like this place might just be a tad bit too fertile.¡± Chapter 543 Inside an underground room with no windows and torches hanging on the walls to provide lighting, the selected team of Carol Summers and Soren Lupei stood before a round metal gate. On the ground between them and the metal gate was a shiny socket made of golden alloy and decorated with three blue gems. Standing beside the metal gate were two full suits of knight armor, one with a sword sheathed on the side and the other had a metal lance. Carol Summers extended her right hand at the armor with a sword, the sword immediately flew over to her hand. A low chant was uttered by Carol Summers, and the sword started emitting electricity sparks while glowing in blue. Then, Carol Summers came forward and jammed the sword into the golden socket on the ground. ¡°Crack!¡± ¡°Boom!¡± The metal gate was shaken by a jolt of energy, and slowly rotated open from the middle. Behind the metal gate was a dark and empty space. When one focused on the space, they would be able to see that there were flickering stars at a distance, and occasionally there were colorful bubbles with miniature sceneries, landmarks or even buildings inside floating by. Carol Summers extended her left hand at the armor with a lance and grabbed it firmly in hand. Chanting a spell in a voice that was gradually getting louder, the physical lance with a metal tip, wooden shaft and metal rings along the shaft with small gems socketed on them slowly turned into a lance of pale white energy. Then after a grunt, she threw the energy lance at the empty space behind the metal gate. The energy lance pierced into the dark and empty space, leaving a pale white trail also made of energy. Before long, the energy lance exploded and tore a hole in the distant space. A shockwave was released by the explosion, and expanded along the pale white energy trail, the vague and ethereal looking rail became solidified when the shockwave blew through, which then became a full-fledged tunnel connected to the frame of the metal gate. ¡°Found it.¡± Carol Summers took a look at the tunnel and she could see the green grass, the blue sky and a magnificent castle in the distance: ¡°Interesting look - it¡¯s almost the same as the picture on that book cover many years ago.¡± ¡°Looks very fake.¡± Soren Lupei shook his head: ¡°I know elders in our tribe that had lent their forces to those who were there when it fell - it was damaged and corrupted beyond repair when the Hellinger line was wiped out - well, ALMOST wiped out.¡± Before leading the team into the tunnel, Carol Summers seemed to have felt something and took out three tiny gems from her inner robe pocket: these three gems all cracked up into pieces, and before she could even take a closer look, they crumbled in her hand and into tiny grains of shiny sand.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Well, there goes my spies. I thought they would last longer. Too bad they could only prove us with the coordinates.¡± Carol Summers sighed and let the sand fall onto the ground: ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± The tunnel looked long and winding, but it only took less than a second for one to travel through. And in just around a minute, all members of Carol Summers and Soren Lupei¡¯s team landed on the grass outside of the Hellinger Castle. The moment she came out from the tunnel, Carol Summers sensed some hostility and animosity against her and her team. Having studied a bit about the history of the Hellinger family and the hidden and rarely talked about story of the siege and fall of the Hellinger Castle, she was already expecting something like this would be present - the Hellingers were known to be experts at curses, magic of the mind and will and controlling and utilizing malice as weapon. And after the fall of the castle and the absolute majority of the family members being slain, the last ones standing cast a spell together trying to pull together the collective grudge of the fallen family members as a last hail mary. The spell did not work as intended, and only stalled the invasion forces for a short moment. But unexpectedly, the spell polluted and corrupted the entire castle, so much so that all the families who joined forces for the assault deemed it not worthwhile at all to occupy it or attempt to salvage anything from the ruins. But it was precisely because of this, once one found the right person and offered a right price, just like Carol Summers did, they could acquire information about the battle plans and intelligence utilized by the invasion forces during that disgraceful battle. All she needed to do, was to adjust it for her own purposes. ¡°Alright, everyone, take out your keys.¡± Carol Summers turned around at the teams behind her and said: ¡°It¡¯s time to blend in.¡± Each member of her and Soren Lupei¡¯s team took out a short sword or dagger from their pocket and unsheathed it. The blades of these short swords and daggers were all dark and reeked of dark energy, grudge and malice. Each team member dripped a few droplets of blood onto their blade, and with chills running through the surface of their bodies - cold, dark and gloomy energy clouds shrouded them. ¡°Stay in formation, do not fight unless you have to.¡± Soren Lupei told the lycans and vampires behind him: ¡°Remember, if you break the shroud, the grudge that haunt this place will start to target you - don¡¯t cause us to waste any more energy than we have to.¡± Four cloaked and masked mages came before Carol Summers each with a long scythe on their back and a small metal figurine of a grim reaper in their hands. When they placed the figurines on the ground and released the scythes in the air, the figurines started growing in size to the height of one and a half adult men. These figurines¡¯ bodies became foggy as they grabbed the scythes and wielded them like realm grim reapers would. Then seemingly on a mark, the four grim reapers charged at a position on the outer wall of the Hellinger Castle and swung their scythes at the same spot. ¡°Boom!¡± A breach was created by this coordinated and synchronized attack. A high pitched howl came from the sky above, and one cloud changed in shape and shot out hundreds of human and non-human skulls made of mist and fog at the four grim reapers from below. Chapter 544 Like a horde of piranhas, the human and non-human skulls made of mist and fog tore into the bodies of the grim reapers whose bodies were also made of energy mist. One bite at a time, the grim reapers were slimed down to their bones within just the span of no more than half a minute. But this still gave them enough time to deliver a few more strikes against the wall, and when all the grim reapers were torn into pieces and could no longer do anything, there was already a sizable breach on the outer wall for the teams of Carol Summers and Soren Lupei to go in. The four scythes fell on the ground, along with the four grim reaper figurines. The skulls made of mist and fog lingered around for a short moment, before returning to the cloud that released them. ¡°Go, before the breach has the chance to heal.¡± Carol Summers said to all on her side. The two teams rushed towards the breach created by the grim reapers in long formations. The cloaked and masked individuals who released the grim reapers just picked up the scythes and figurines, and started re-charging them with blood red energy stones as well as their own blood. The space between the outer wall and the inner ward was not that wide and the distance was not that long. And when they were not going through the walls, they would need to face the swamps that were in their way, and the trees and even the potential threats coming from the mausoleum. But, according to the battle plan and intelligence acquired by Carol Summers, the straight and easy path behind the main gate was actually the most vicious trap, something that could only be made worse by the unsuccessful spell cast by those last standing Hellingers during the siege. When all members of their teams had come through the breach and came to the space before the swamps, Carol Summers turned back and took a look at the breach through which they came in - it showed a slight sign of self-healing, but in such a slow speed that she felt she would have plenty of time to lead the team through even if she had three or four more teams with her. ¡°Swamps, floating spells ready.¡± Soren Lupei ordered, then after a short moment of hesitation, he added: ¡°Don¡¯t pay attention to the songs, don¡¯t let them affect you. Stay calm.¡± A group of mages came forward and started casting a simple spell onto the bottoms of every team member¡¯s shoes. Then as they proceeded to step onto the surface of the swamps, a thin membrane made of water elemental energy appeared beneath their feet and held their body weight without letting them sink.Stolen story; please report. And it was by using this simple spell, the teams of Carol Summers and Soren Lupei ¡°waded¡± almost half way through the distance between the breech and the inner walls. But just when the individuals leading the way were almost past the position of a tree standing near the swamps, the tree started shaking and letting out moans with dozens if not hundreds of different voices stacked together. A few lycans, mages and warriors from the team immediately went into battle ready poses and were ready to fight. But the very next moment, all of them shivered and their limbs started moving uncontrollably. One lycan looked back at Soren Lupei while clenching his teeth and the corners of his mouth twitching and struggling, as if he was trying to suppress the sudden urges of laughter. He then soon succumbed to whatever influence he was under, and with a weird high pitched voice started singing: ¡°Tears in the wind, tears in the wind. Mama¡¯s crying and there¡¯s tears in the wind...¡± And with every word he sang, his body and face started growing and collapsing at the same time, wolf hair grew along his neck and his chin, but they quickly turned grey and fell off - he tried to turned into a wolf in a desperate attempt to fight off the possession, but something was draining his life forces at such a destructively fast speed that even turning into a wolf and activating the explosive and wild energy in his blood was not helping. Fire shot out from Soren Lupei¡¯s eyes and nostrils as he lunged forward. His hands turned into razor claws with razor sharp nails, and within just the blink of an eye, all of those who were possessed lost their heads had holes drilled through their chests or backs - their hearts were taken out and destroyed. ¡°Voice Wraiths!¡± Carol Summers called out to all members of the teams: ¡°Everyone cover your ears, block out the songs and conceal your minds! Now!¡± But it was still a little too late, just for a brief moment, the urge to fight and avenge the fallen teammates and friends from other team members caused some more individuals to be possessed and started singing. Feeling that they have no choice, a few of the more powerful magic wielders among them broke the shroud and cast a powerful repelling and protective spell together. A light blue energy shockwave was released and swept across the space in every direction. Those in the teams with more acute senses of spirits and wraiths instantly felt that the dangerous unclean entities hidden inside the creepy children¡¯s song itself were temporarily pushed away from them. Carol Summers raised her hands and with a magically fortified voice chanted two syllables: ¡°Doh - Khask!¡± This was but the pronunciation of True Word, and just by the mere mention of it, the unclean entities were frozen, paralyzed and what was more importantly, driven out of the very medium of their existence - voices, and manifested into the air, revealing their forms in the physical world: long, winding transparent beings that shaped like magnified human neurons with long tentacle-like villi floating in the air. Soren Lupei and a few lycans roared at the same time, blood red pillars of fire shot from their mouths at these entities, which then were incinerated completely leaving nothing behind. ¡°Charge forward!¡± Now that the shrounds were broken, Soren Lupei and Carol Summers had to force their attack. The swamps started boiling and bubbling, and the trees started moaning in thousands of different voices, with their branches growing and wailing around like monsters with hundreds of hands and tentacles. Chapter 545 ¡°Deal with them quickly, now!¡± Carol Summers yelled as she reached into her pocket and took out six dark orbs spinning and rotating in the air. The orbs pulsated pale gray energy waves in unison and as Carol Summers pointed her fingers forward, the orbs released streams of pale gray energy at each other, forming different patterns of energy beams if one was to observe from above, and then with each different pattern, a different spell emerged from the space at the center around which they rotated. One tree closest to Carol Summers grew in height as well as width to around twice as high and five to six times as wide with its branches. Then two of its larger branches swung at Carol Summers just like humans delivering swings using their arms. When the branches swept across the space, the tips of the branches became curved, hardened and sharp just like a real monster¡¯s claw. But before this attack could even get close, two spinning energy blades shot by the orbs of Carol Summers shot over and sliced the branches cleanly off. One other tree with thick barks, only a few thick branches and many tree knots on its barks unleashed a beast-like roar, and in a short instant, all of the knots on its barks turned into eyes of different shapes and colors. Then in the next moment, the eyes glowed up in the same colors of light as the retinas, then beams of light shot out from these eyes at the invasion teams led by Soren Lupei and Carol Summers. ¡°Boom!¡± ¡°Boom!¡± ¡°Boom!¡± The beams of light released by the tree with eyes on its body brought about giant explosions across the swamps, throwing dirt, tar, rocks and broken bodies of humans and lycans into the air. A team of three lycans and two mages rushed to the side of this tree, and one mage unleashed a beam of intense red light at one of the eyes of the eyes of the tree. The beam of red light burnt the eye into a transparent hole on the body of the tree like a powerful laser beam, yet the tree did not even flinch, as it turned two of its eyes on this mage and readied another wave of attack. But the other mage tossed out three red ribbons, these ribbons wrapped around this tree with eyes. Powerful and dangerous as this tree was, it did not have much defense against this kind of restraining magical artifact - as the ribbons quickly grew wider in width and covered up many eyes on the body of the tree without any hindrance. And when the eyes covered by the ribbons lit up and released beams of light trying to blast open the ribbons, the beams detonated prematurely right after the beams of light left from the eyes. The explosions tore several holes into the tree¡¯s body and twisted its body around, incapacitated it in the process. The three lycans lunged forward at the tree when it was too damaged to unleash any other attack, and with their sharp claws and teeth the tree was torn to shreds just in a matter of seconds.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. The swamps bubbled, and from the bubbles and tar, many lotus flowers with a disturbing red-purple color and black lotus roots floated to the surface. The petals of the lotus flowers opened up, and started releasing barely visible purple powder into the air, while the black lotus roots pointed at the members of the invasion team and started shooting condensed tar balls at them. One witch in a red robe with golden linings was hit by three tar balls after releasing a pillar of fire incinerating the tree that tried to attack Carol Summers. Her robe provided some guard against the corrosive properties of the tar. But purely due to the impact the tar balls carried, some tar was splashed on the witch''s face on the right side. The weird feeling of numbness and a slightly tingling sore immediately caused the witch to be alarmed. She used her face covered in protective magic trying to get a sense of the impact of the tar, and was instantly horrified to find that half her right face was almost completely gone, yet she only felt the tingling sore, no obvious pain and no obvious loss of blood. ¡°Be careful of the flowers from the swamps!¡± this witch cast a protective and healing spell on her face and yelled. ¡°Boom! Boom!¡± The four grim reapers appeared once again, and this time, they rushed towards the inner wars and started striking it. This time, the cloud did not release anything at these grim reapers, but instead, a hoarse and groaning howl came from the entrance of the mausoleum as a stream of foul air jetted from it. Carol Summers and Soren Lupei looked at each other, then both rushed to the four grim reapers¡¯ aid. A pale gray beam of energy and a pillar of bright red fire shot at the breach created by the grim reapers at the same time, and the protective energy on the walls faded even more quickly from under the attack of the grim reapers. ¡°Boom!¡± After the attacks from Carol Summers and Soren Lupei, the four grim reapers unleashed another strikem and right after, one of the grim reapers let out a high pitched scream and dissipated into the air, and the figurine at its center shattered into pieces, this was because the cloaked and masked mage that unleashed it was grabbed by a hand attached to an abnormally long bony arm from behind and was then ripped into several pieces, the body parts turned to dust and cracks in mid air, and no blood was spilled. ¡°Aaaah!¡± A warrior wearing a suit of dark green armor and a wolf helmet from Carol Summer¡¯s team roared and swung his battle axe into the pale , slim, tall creature with a humanoid body but two long necks and two malformed heads that crawled out from the mausoleum. The body of this creature was tough and its hide was thick, thus even with a full force the battle axe was only able to bite into its target area for a small bit. The slim pale creature with two long necks and two malformed heads turned around and swung his hand at the warrior. The warrior tried to jump out of the way, but a numbness in his limbs caused him to act slower than he expected, and with a loud crack he was bashed into one of the swamps. ¡°The inner wall is breached! Get in!¡± Soren Lupei¡¯s voice resounded on the battlefield. Chapter 546 When half the team members that could still fight got into the space behind the inner wall, the mages floated behind the inner walls and started shooting their magical attacks at the moving trees, the swamp lotus flowers and the tall slim two headed and three-headed humanoid monsters crawling out from the mausoleum to cover for their teammates that were behind. ¡°We¡¯re in! Seal the breach!¡± Carol Summers floated above the wall and ordered. ¡°We still have people out there!¡± One of the warriors said, pointing at some straggling warriors and mages that were trying to get to the breach. ¡°They¡¯re gone now. There¡¯s no point.¡± Soren Lupei shook his head: ¡°Seal it!¡± ¡°Seal! Seal!¡± three mages chanted at the same time, and threw small pieces of clay up in the air, which grew to much bigger sizes and patched up the breach from within. Within just a few seconds, the clay hardened and became darker in color. What was more, was that it detected the broken defensive spell that was placed upon the wall, and the energy contained inside started mimicking the energy signatures of the spell. ¡°Let¡¯s do a head count and go in.¡± Carol Summers conjured up a 3D holographic map with her hand into the space above and in front of most of the team members: ¡°You can be at ease, if the information I have is correct, the hardest part of the invasion is over now.¡± ¡°We lost eight.¡± Melkan, Soren Lupei¡¯s trusted lieutenant, reported to Soren Lupei and Carol Summers with a solemn voice. ¡°We lost seven.¡± Carol Summers¡¯ maid, now in a suit of slick blue and black leather armor and carrying two swords, one straight and double-edged while the other was curved and had a spike on its back and single-edged. ¡°When we get back, make sure their families are well taken care of.¡± Carol Summers sighed: ¡°Now let¡¯s proceed.¡± According to the intelligence acquired, the teams of Carol Summers and Soren Lupei will head to a courtyard at the back of the main castle building next, and in which they could find the ruins of a bunker, and under which they could find a tunnel to an underground armory. According to the one who sold her this intelligence, this was the tunnel through which some of the remaining members of the Hellinger family tried to escape, but they were struck down by a team that was out there waiting for them.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. The inner ward of the castle was intentionally isolated from the outer areas, and after the clay was set and merged well into the walls, the tall, slim humanoid monsters and the other moving trees could only wail and bark behind the walls and were not able to get in. The entrance of the tunnel was but a pretty narrow metal door, not at all hidden probably because the last ones who used it were killed the moment they got out and had no time to hide the exit, the width of which would roughly let two adult humans through shoulder to shoulder. The tunnel itself seemed mostly intact even through the battle, and there were still magical lights that still gave off very dim light. Carol Summers conjured up her six spinning orbs, and after the beams from the robs formed a complicated pattern in the air, a single condensed ball of light was projected down the tunnel, serving both as a source of light and a scout to detect what was ahead of them. ¡°Boom!¡± A faint shock emerged somewhere from the center of the castle, and a stream of black smoke rose from the heavily damaged top parts as if some powerful furnace was just kick started. ¡°Your intelligence didn¡¯t mention something like that.¡± Soren Lupei frowned as he looked at the dark smoke: ¡°Sounded like a beast of tremendous size.¡± ¡°Well, it was information from that many decades ago, can¡¯t count on it being right about everything.¡± Carol Summers sighed, then she looked at the entrance of the tunnel and said to everyone: ¡° I will head first. I need a volunteer to go with me.¡± ¡°Ms. Summers, it will be an honor to go with you.¡± Carol Summers¡¯ maid immediately said. ¡°Good. Let¡¯s go.¡± Carol Summers went into the tunnel with her maid. Then Soren Lupei followed them with his lieutenant Melkan, then the rest of the two teams went in in twos. The tunnel was steep and winding, but luckily for Carol Summers, Soren Lupei and their teams, the tunnel was not occupied by anything dangerous, only some tiny snakes and insects, which they quickly disposed of. Carol Summers took back the ball of light when they were close to the exit of the tunnel to avoid their presence being noticed by whatever awaited them on the other side. And just when they were about to get out, they heard some low but rhythmic noises from the exit. ¡°Halt!¡± Carol Summers raised her hand and delivered an order to the rest of the team. ¡°Sounds like animals sleeping.¡± Carol Summers¡¯ maid said: ¡°Let me take a look.¡± ¡°Go, be careful.¡± Carol Summer¡¯s maid slowly crouched forward, and when she reached the edge of the exit, she saw some dim magical light coming from the other side of the underground armory, clearly someone else was in this grand underground armory. There were also a number of beasts of formidable sizes laying around in different places. Carol Summers¡¯ maid could tell that they were giant and slim wolf like creatures with huge wings on their backs, and each had a long tail with hard fur and a pointy hardened tip. Chapter 547 Carol Summers¡¯ maid picked up a small stone from the ground, backed away from where she was and whispered to Carol Summers: ¡°Lucias Vyn and her team are here. They¡¯re on the other side. I also saw a lot of sleeping beasts sleeping in the entire area just outside this exit. ¡± ¡°Then lure them away from our position and we prepare for a strike.¡± Carol Summers nodded and then delivered the report from her maid to the rest of her team using a small message delivering spell: ¡°Everyone stay quiet and wait for a signal.¡± Carol Summers¡¯ maid calmed her breaths, then after a short moment of aiming and concentration, the small stone she picked up was tossed in the air, spinning. And as silently as it could possibly be, the stone landed on an empty space between the remote lights and the horde of sleeping beasts, making a small, but still very clear sound. What was more was that the stone delivered a very noticeable shock through the ground - which made it more certain that the sleeping beasts would sense the stone. And at the same moment, Carol Summers cast a obscuring spell at the exit of the tunnel to block off their sound, their shadows and their energy signatures. The beasts that were closer to the point of impact of the stone were instantly woken up, and their low growls woke up more sleeping beasts. From the looks of their wings, their three eyes of different colors, both Carol Summers, her maid, Soren Lupei and Melkan were able to tell what beasts these were: Nightmare Bat-wolves. ¡°They look - they look bigger than normal?¡± Melkan asked. ¡°Yes indeed. I think it¡¯s probably the environment.¡± Soren Lupei asked: ¡°Carol, you¡¯re more experienced and knowledgeable in this area than I am - Nightmare Bat-wolves can feed on things corrupted by malice or other forms of negative energy and grow in power or even mutate right? But they cannot feed on pure malice or negative energy. I wonder what sustained them in this wretched place?¡± ¡°That¡¯s true. And I don¡¯t have an answer to this question.¡± Carol Summers shook her head: ¡°My first instinct was the bodies of the Hellingers and their livestocks, but those wouldn¡¯t last this long.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Just this moment, almost all of the sleeping beasts woke up, and all of them had their eyes fixated on the direction of the stone, just as Carol Summers and her maid intended, they saw the light used by the team of Lucias Vyn and therefore were made aware of their presence. One Nightmare Bat-wolf of smaller size but darker fur and longer tail howled, and all of the other Nightmare Bat-wolves started enclosing on Lucias Vyn and her team. This gave Carol Summers, Soren Lupei and their team the chance to get out of the tunnel and get into formation on the other side of the underground armory. Some more Nightmare Bat-wolves let out chilling howls as they lunged at the team of Lucias Vyn, and glows of energy attacks appeared on their heads, their front claws and their tails. Beams of fire, lightning and high energy density light shot from her team and at the Nightmare Bat-wolves, so did many other forms of attacks. ¡°According to the intelligence, that powerful artifact was stored somewhere beneath the amory, but it was behind a door only those bearing the Hellinger bloodline could access. So we ready our weapons and wait.¡± Carol Summers while she slowly placed a portable obscuring array on the ground, covering all members of her and Soren Lupei¡¯s team. The forces of Nightmare Bat-wolves were ferocious and lethal to any, yet the team pulled together and led by Lucias Vyn and another witch with a face mask covering half her face was very well organized and prepared. This team gradually pushed forward in their position one step at a time, laying down and blasting away one Nightmare Bat-wolves after another, and their formation still remained mostly unchanged and their pace unhindered. ¡°Their target should be that bunker at the center.¡± Carol Summers¡¯ maid said while holding her swords: ¡°It¡¯s quite clear. That bunker seemed to be mostly intact, I¡¯m worried that if they got in, it would be difficult to drive them out or do anything to them.¡± ¡°I was just thinking the same.¡± Soren Lupei said: ¡°The bat-wolves are a nuisance, but it looks like they can¡¯t do much besides wearing them down a bit; and they won¡¯t be able to do much at all when they get in. And IF they get into it and find it, it¡¯s going to be hard to tell and there won¡¯t be any time for us to step in and stop them from leaving.¡± ¡°Fuck.¡± Carol Summers ticked her tongue and cursed: ¡°Archers and snipers, be ready. Soren, can you handle flanking them? We strike them with the element of surprise and full force, and I¡¯ll handle extracting the information from her. Worst comes to worst, we¡¯d still be rid of one pain in the ass.¡± Just when the teams of Carol Summers and Soren Lupei were going into sneak attack formation, another rumble from the clouds occurred in the sky outside of the range of the castle, and out of the thick clouds and energy vortex, a portal with orange and golden edge appeared. Chapter 548 ¡°What the fuck was that!?¡± Melkan asked Carol Summers with an irritated and slightly frantic tone: ¡°What, the fuck, was that!?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know! Stop asking ME!¡± Carol Summers wiped off some dust off her face and answered: ¡°That kind of move must have a heavy cost! It¡¯s impossible that she can use it again! Just press on with the attack!¡± Around fifteen minutes ago, just when the teams of Lucias Vyn and Lady Marza O¡¯Gul pushed their way through almost halfway across the distance from one entrance to the underground armory to another, and just were meters away from the central bunker, the teams led by Carol Summers and Soren Lupei launched their attacks upon them. Bolts of energy and lightning, scorching fireballs, and beams of light flew first in this wave of attack, followed by enchanted grenades and gas canisters. A transparent magical shield that looked like one side of a glass polyhedron appeared in the space in front of Lucias Vyn and Lady Marza O¡¯Gul¡¯s teams. The shield cracked and shattered on impact, but it also absorbed the majority of the damage from those incoming attacks. The grenades and canisters shot right next to a few of the super powered mercenaries and witches, some of which exploded, and some of which released poison gas into the air. Two individuals at the forefront of the slowly marching team were instantly blown to the side, and a few more other individuals inhaled the poison gas by accident, and lost the ability to fight in a matter of seconds. This caused the hordes of the Nightmare Bat-wolves to tore a hole in their formation, which they had to have some of the fighters in standby push forward to close. But even so, many of the follow up attacks from these newly emerged enemies struck true and caused them more casualties and forced them to back off. ¡°Carol Summers!¡± Lucias Vyn shouted through her teeth: ¡°This deed of insolence will be your last!¡± Several figures in dark cloaks from Lucias Vyn¡¯s team left their positions and went into the darkness, then as the other members of her team launched their counter attack, they hid in the dark and awaited a chance to strike at the most opportune moments. Green fireballs and red lightnings shot back at the position of Carol Summers and Soren Lupei¡¯s forces. Assistant Professor Vyn stepped in front of Lucias Vyn and extended his hands forward, both his hands glowing in bright silver light. ¡°Carol Summers, Soren Lupei!¡± Seeing that Assistant Professor Vyn slowly levitated upwards and his whole body started glowing in bright silver light, two energy swords made of rumbling silver fire appeared in his hands: ¡°I, Matthew Vyn Hellinger, the last son of the Hellinger House, and wielder of the Hellinger Silver Flames, shall smite thee in the Hellinger Name!¡± The minute he finished his last word, the two silver swords of flame shot into the air and disappeared behind two silver gaps.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°A grand wizard! Fuck!¡± Carol Summers¡¯ robe lit up in pale grey light and projected a giant energy shadow of a robed Amazon warrior carrying a sword and a shield: ¡°Soren! Come to my side, harden the shield with me!¡± Without much of a doubt, Soren Lupei leapt to Carol Summers¡¯ side and breathed fire into the shield of the shadow Amazon warrior from below. The fire crawled onto the shield like snakes seeking their places to rest, and formed into several symbols on the shield and a crest on its main face. And the next second, two silver energy swords fell down from above aiming at their heads. ¡°Clank!¡± The two silver energy swords collided with the shadow Amazon warrior¡¯s shield. Within an instant the tips of the energy swords dug into the shield and splashed the energy forming the shield around. The shadow Amazon warrior was knocked down on her knees, but it did not lessen the blow from the two silver energy swords, as they pierced through the shield and continued their way down the body. The two energy swords did not continue on their strike without loss of sharpness or integrity - as they penetrated deeper, the body of the shadow Amazon warrior chipped away its impact and its body bit by bit. ¡°Boom!¡± Carol Summers¡¯ robe exploded into smithereens, leaving her with only a suit of thin grey leather armor on, and the body of the shadow Amazon warrior collapsed towards the positions of the two silver energy swords in a rapid and violent implosion. The two silver energy swords shattered from the pressure and impact, then all of the pieces exploded. All of these explosions released several energy shockwaves that swept through the space in the underground armory, blowing and pushing many members of their teams away, injuring and even debilitating many. Four cloaked figures emerged from the darkness and lunged at Carol Summers and Soren Lupei, each with a dark and twisted blade in their hand. Two lycans lunged forward with their claws burning and fire and smoke coming out of their mouths trying to halt their attempts at sneak attacks, one of whom succeeded in clawing a cloaked figure away, but the other was defeated by taking a jab on the neck by the dark and twisted blade. The lycan fell onto the ground and tried to pull the blade out, but a chilling cold and decrepifying curse instantly stopped his movement and caused his entire body to freeze then shatter and crumble into piles of icy pellets and shards. A curved sword came from the side and decapitated a cloaked figure¡¯s head, then a straight double-edged sword thrust forward and impaled another cloaked figure from the back. But before Carol Summers¡¯ maid could retract her weapons, the body of the cloaked figure she impaled seemed to have grabbed onto her blade, the figure¡¯s head turned 180 degrees and centipedes and snakes burst out of this figure¡¯s face mask and bit her on her forearm. ¡°Shit!¡± Carol Summers¡¯ maid released her power infused into her sword and tore the cloaked figure to shreds, but she could still feel the toxins and curse creeping up her arm: ¡°Be careful Ms. Summers! They have the Blades of Fade!¡± With a loud screech, a warrior dispatched the final cloaked figure using a fiery axe slash, but only after it stabbed another warrior with the dark and twisted blade. Chapter 549 ¡°So it¡¯s true she traded her name away. Carol Summers was not a change of name but a temporary alias.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn landed back on the ground, panting: ¡°If she hadn¡¯t, that strike would¡¯ve killed her and that wretched lycan. FUCK!¡± ¡°No matter.¡± Lucias Vyn took a look at the formation of her and Lady Marza O¡¯Gul¡¯s teams: ¡°We have a window now. Onward! And go inside that bunker!¡± ¡°Go! Now! Before we lose our advantage and our chances!¡± Lady Marza O¡¯Gul tossed a few more magical darts into the air and sliced through a few Nightmare Bat-wolves: ¡°Go!¡± Assistant Professor Vyn grabbed Lucias Vyn by the wrist, called upon two of the battle mages close to him and started gliding through the battlefield in low air towards the central bunker. Three Nightmare Bat-wolves lunged at them from different angles, but just with and hand seal they were blasted away. ¡°Stop them!¡± Carol Summers yelled from a distance at her team. One magic bolt was launched by a cloaked sniper wielding a large crossbow aiming at the neck of Assistant Professor Vyn, but all he did was snapped his finger at the bolt, then a silver energy explosion occurred in midair and redirected the bolt into the waist of a Nightmare Bat-wolf. Then as he waved his hand in the air, a barrage of silver energy swords formed in the air and shot at the individuals from Carol Summers and Soren Lupei¡¯s teams. All of the lycans and mages who tried to come forward were all pushed back, some of which even took the hits and had their limbs or entire body sliced open. ¡°Boom!¡± An explosion of green flames tore through the flurry of silver energy swords, Carol Summers and Soren Lupei lunged forward with the maid and Melkan, with their attacks ready to go. ¡°Go!¡± Assistant Professor cast a spell on Lucias Vyn, pushed her towards the entrance of the bunker, then he crossed his arms in the air and conjured a large silver three-headed energy serpent in front of him. And right at the moment it appeared, the three headed energy serpent blasted beams of energy at every Nightmare Bat-wolf, lycan and Carol Summers¡¯ mage: ¡°Open it now!¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Soren Lupei swung his claws in the air at the beams of energy directed at him and some of the lycans positioned close to him, and at the cost of a few burnt hairs and burn marks on his arms and shoulders he deflected or blocked all of them. Carol Summers launched herself in the air to evade the energy beams and infused her energy into the six orbs, the orbs connected with each other with pale grey energy beams while spinning at a rapid speed, turning into a spinning energy disc. The spinning energy disc flew towards the three headed serpent in a winding trajectory, dodging all the energy beams and energy attacks attempting to strike it down, and eventually struck the serpent in its middle head. The six orbs were pushed to an energy overload the moment they were embedded in the energy serpent¡¯s body and streams of energy started flooding into the internal veins of energy of the energy serpent. And just in a few seconds¡¯ time, the energy serpent shattered as if it was a fragile statue made entirely of glass. The destruction of the construct reflected on the conjurer - Assistant Professor Vyn was thrown on his knees, choking blood. Soren Lupei descended from the sky with his claws burning in fire and ready to tear him apart, but he was able to cast a wind spell to propel him away to the side. While Soren Lupei¡¯s attack tore a big hole on the ground, Carol Summers flew to another angle close to Assistant Professor Vyn, with an energy arrow in her hand ready to launch. But just this moment, Carol Summers and Soren Lupei both heard a painful and angry scream from Lucias Vyn. When Carol Summers couldn¡¯t help but look to the direction where Lucias Vyn was, she only saw a beam of completely black energy shot at her. Death, it was the only thing this dark beam reminded her of. A black dragon scale emerged in thin air in front of Carol Summers and turned into a shield floating between her and the dark beam. The beam collided with the dragon scale shield, and the shield exploded into ashes and smoke, throwing Carol Summers far away like a rag doll and out of the range of the dark beam. The beam itself, however, was redirected to the side due to the dragon scale shield, and it in turn penetrated Soren Lupei¡¯s shoulder. Soren Lupei¡¯s entire body was torn apart from the inside by this beam and all the pieces of him turned to ashes in almost an instant. For a very brief moment Melkan and Carol Summers could see a grey transparent shadow of him being pushed out of his broken flesh and bones, which in the next moment was turned into nothingness as if it never happened. ¡°What the fuck was that!?¡± Melkan asked Carol Summers, who was thrown to a place not that far from him: ¡°What, the fuck, was that!?¡± Almost all of the lycans in the battlefield were stunned where they stood at the sight of the sudden and unexplained demise of Soren Lupei, the legend and one of the strongest leaders of their tribe. This gave the teams of Lady Marza O¡¯Gul and Lucias Vyn a chance to regroup, and Assistant Professor Vyn to get into the underground bunker following Lucias Vyn and shut the metal door behind him. Chapter 550 ¡°Crack!¡± a special magical shield placed upon Lucias Vyn broke, Assistant Professor Vyn immediately cast a spell to place another of this shield on her, but it lasted only a mere moment. ¡°It¡¯s no use, you know why.¡± Lucias Vyn took out a small bottle with some pills inside and poured the entire bottle into her mouth, her eyes were bleeding, her face was sweating and her hands were trembling. There were significantly more wrinkles on her face and her arms, and her movement became slower - it was as if she just aged many years. ¡°Let''s go in.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn sighed: ¡°When you break the riddle, use mine instead.¡± ¡°No I can¡¯t, you¡¯re the last son.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not asking.¡± ¡°... fine. But I get to cut it off and you can¡¯t stop me.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn and Lucias Vyn extended hands at the giant family crest carved on the floor and dripped their blood onto it. The crest shone in silvery blue light, and without opening up at all, the two Hellingers were transported to a chamber below. Though having renounced their Hellinger name, both Lucias Vyn and Assistant Professor Vyn were very familiar with the catalogue of family artifacts, which was a catalogue of family pride and glory. And right now, inside this very chamber were some of the greatest artifacts neither of them had come before, many of the most powerful and intricate artifacts were placed in various enchanted glass or metal boxes. On each of the shelves and small stone platforms on which these boxes were placed, there was a metal plate with words on them, most of which were English, some were in German, French and there were three in other languages not recognized by either Lucias Vyn or Assistant Professor Vyn. ¡°It¡¯s gotta be this one.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn looked around and pointed at a completely black metal box with non-reflective surfaces. Lucias Vyn walked over and took a look at the metal plate. ¡°Blessed be the blood of meek, cherished be the tome of old. Vengeance shall be cold and sweet, beware, my child, of the Night Wolf¡¯s teeth¡±. Lucias Vyn let out a disappointed and spiteful laughter: ¡°What is this, a joke? The key to unlock this most powerful and important of the Hellinger creations, is hidden behind a morality slogan of family unity and a fucking children¡¯s fable?¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°I brought the blood of Flames. Looks like it¡¯s gonna be useful.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn took out a small vial with thick and sticky dark red liquid inside, passing it to Lucias Vyn and extended his hand at her as well: ¡°It¡¯s good that we kept the last bloods of the three branches. Shall we?¡± ¡°Now or never.¡± Lucias Vyn took the vial, grabbed her brother¡¯s hand and looked to the metal box with both her eyes glowing in an ethereal green light. It was a unique gift, one that Assistant Professor Vyn was fully convinced was never documented or even considered as a possibility before, which completely explained the fact that she was assigned to the ¡°talentless¡± branch of the family. He and Lucias Vyn called it The Eye of Fade, named after the signature Hellinger Weapon the Blade of Fade, but much, much more powerful and came with a much greater cost. When activated, Lucias Vyn could do two things: one was to unleash an energy beam of sheer destructive power that could penetrate every kind of defense, even some weaker forms of mortality scapegoat, which never failed to bring complete annihilation to a target, until just a few minutes ago; and the other was what eventually gave her the nickname ¡°Mama Reaper¡±, which was the ability see the ways that could ¡°end¡± a being, be it a life, an artifact, a math function, or a complicated defense array. While Lucias Vyn was staring at the metal box, Assistant Professor Vyn could feel that his life force was slowly being drained away through his hand held by his sister, and he was starting to age as well. But the process did not take long at all - in just a few seconds, Lucias Vyn let go of his hand and stopped the use of her gift. Without saying anything, Lucias Vyn walked up to the metal box, poured the thick liquid from the vial onto the metal box and then dripped her own blood on it. ¡°Let me...¡± ¡°No, yours is not needed.¡± Lucias Vyn sounded like she was trying to suppress her excitement: ¡°It¡¯s already partially broken - it just needs the blood of two branches.¡± ¡°... okay.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn frowned, but decided not to say anything. The metal box opened up, and the smell of burnt metal was released from within. When both of them looked at it, they found that the interior of the metal box was in a strange condition: it was smooth in some places, had signs of air bubbles in some spots and were heavily rusted in other places. A strangely shaped crystal lay inside the box, surrounded by grey ashes. ¡°A relic?¡± Lucias Vyn reached inside the box and picked the crystal up: ¡°What in the world - ¡± The crystal lit up, then a holographic image was projected into the air - it was a male wizard in a ragged robe, with a missing arm and blood on his face. He seemed to be heavily injured when he recorded this message, for when he spoke, he was wheezing and coughing and his voice was barely audible. ¡°My Hellingers, my apologies for this misplaced warning - I - I¡¯ve come to the realization that our research - our attempt at the means of shaping reality through the collective will, or the collective faith or illusion has fallen into a trap of hubris and conceit. Malice, no matter how strong we believe we are, how calculated we try to be, cannot be contained. And the altering of the fabric of the reality, it really is the arts that can only be done by the gods. I - I¡¯ve tried my best to control and contain the malice at the hospital and the temple - but my efforts have been proven to be futile. So here I am, attempting to use the best and greatest of my discovery and creation to correct what could be my worst mistake. For if I do not, the vengeance of the malice will be exact against our entire bloodline. If I should succeed, come find me and I shall impart on you everything about how to recreate this and how to find the sto - ¡± The holographic image cut off, it seemed that the wizard was not able to finish his message. Lucias Vyn¡¯s body fell onto the ground, her fingernails ripped off due to her clawing at the ground with all of her strength. Her screams rocked the entire chamber, and even Assistant Professor Vyn did not know how to console her. Chapter 551 When they were stepping out of the portal, Jianmen, Josephine Wong and Glenda Grimes could easily see the smoking castle not that far away. There was a strange sense of inconsistency in the image, as the castle itself seemed to be completely intact, with all of its splendor and beauty under the bright gentle sun, yet the smoke seemed to have torn a rift in the beautiful image, revealing a dark, cloudy sky with red flares flickering behind the thick clouds. ¡°Now that¡¯s a beautifying spell to behold.¡± Jianmen chuckled when he landed on the ground. ¡°How soon can your Division agents come?¡± Glenda Grimes asked. ¡°My core team are all dealing with their own missions, some of which are quite dangerous, and it will take a while before they can come to us.¡± Josephine Wong sighed: ¡°This is not a good time, we¡¯re simply spread too thin.¡± ¡°What about reinforcements from your central departments and other regional departments?¡± Glenda Grimes asked again: ¡°They should have some kind of quick reaction forces on standby for things like this, no?¡± ¡°The quick reaction forces can only be deployed per the commissioner''s order, if the commissioner¡¯s absent then it would be the deputy commissioner or the security council.¡± Jianmen shrugged: ¡°The name¡¯s kinda ironic now, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°A liaison¡¯s only a liaison, it¡¯s not a position with a lot of power.¡± Josephine Wong sighed: ¡°Let¡¯s wait here for a bit and see if either the Division or the Academy would spare some forces as our reinforcements.¡± Jianmen knelt down to grab some grass and dirt from the ground, then after a quick whiff of the smell of the dirt, he said: ¡°I¡¯m afraid that won¡¯t be an option. This place is about twice as bad as San Francisco right after that incident. And something just stirred the dormant malice up. We¡¯re looking at an immediate implosion or dispersion, unless there¡¯s a maintainer here.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s leave a short message here to instruct them how to follow us. And let¡¯s leave enough trails for them to follow.¡± Josephine Wong said after a short moment of consideration: ¡°How long can the portal hold?¡± ¡°Not too long, but the spacial rift we created could be reopened quite easily, so they could easily create their own portal and find us here.¡± Jianmen stood up and took out a thick but short incense stick like a cigarette butt from a small pouch of his: ¡°Let¡¯s go in. I can sense that this place is full of curses and malice related spells. Be careful and stay by my side. And, I sensed something targeting one¡¯s mind and will behind this gate. So activate your mind guard.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Ready.¡± Glenda Grimes drew her long and green rapier, tapped the pendant on her necklace, and a thin layer of light green energy surrounded her body. Josephine Wong put on her dark purple cloves and two metal rings, one on each index finger and let out a long exhale after kissing both the rings: ¡°Ready.¡± ¡°Woosh!¡± Jianmen lit up the short incense stick and flicked it right at the metal gate in front of them. The incense stick shot right at the metal gate in a straight trajectory leaving a trail of light ashes and sparks behind. An orange and golden fireball rose from the central seal of the gate as the incense stick struck, and a burning hole appeared on it. Melted metal dropped from the hole and onto the ground as the metal gate swung open from the middle. One piece of cloud swirled and changed in shape, then after a wave of thousands of howls and cries, thousands of skulls made of energy fog, mist and cloud poured down on the three of them at the same time. Jianmen waved his left arm, and a broom appeared in his left hand, then he swung the broom back and twisted his body to the right. Then, after a short moment of calm and peace, he swung the broom in the air like a left-handed swordsman would his sword. A wall of wind gushed up the sky from this swing, all the skulls pouring at them were first pushed back up into higher airspace back at the cloud from which they came, then their internal structures became loose, and ten at the final stage of their life cycles, they burst into flames and burnt into light ashes that started slowly and gradually falling down like snow. Josephine Wong and Glenda Grimes marched through the metal gate and on the pathway leading to the doorway of the inner ward. The look of the castle and everything inside the walls of the outer ward just changed - the lighting was no longer bright and, and the castle revealed its true, broken and torn up look. Their energy shields flickered as the morbid song was sung by children¡¯s voices - they could still hear it, but they were instantly aware of the spirit hidden in the song itself. The mind guards they cast on themselves activated as the Voice Wraiths sensed their intent and tried to infest them and blocked them out completely. Glenda Grimes concentrated her power on her rapier, and translucent green energy constructs grew like stalagmites on the blade, forming into strangely shaped teeths and hollow tubes. Then she started swinging her rapier in the air, when the blade of the rapier and the constructs on it sliced through the air, a calming and serene melody like that performed by flutes and ocarinas came from her swinging the blade. Josephine Wong, on the other hand, conjured a purple ocarina in her hand and started playing a duet with Glenda Grimes, the music from Glenda Grimes¡¯ rapier was lighter and faster, while that came from Josephine Wong¡¯s ocarina was slightly deeper and slower. The attacks of the Voice Wraiths became weaker and slower as the melody continued on. When Jianmen caught up to both of them, the attacks had all stopped completely. ¡°Requiem for the Voice Wraiths.¡± Jianmen nodded at Josephine Wong and Glenda Grimes with a smile: ¡°Nice, really kind.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Josephine Wong put down her ocarina and pointed at the four slim, giant two-headed and three-headed humanoid monsters trying to attack a spot on the wall of the inner ward along with some moving trees: ¡°What do you think that is?¡± ¡°I guess someone didn¡¯t knock.¡± Chapter 552 Though confident that they could handle the slim humanoid monster with multiple heads, they made the choice that they shouldn¡¯t have to challenge them or attract their attention. All three of them sneaked to the front of the metal gates of the inner ward through the poison gas and the flowers from the swamps, and this time Jianmen did not use an incense stick, instead, he took out two folded paper sigils, stuck them on the gap between the gates, then conjured his meat cleaver. ¡°I thought you¡¯re gonna do some high magic lock picking, but it always ends up with the big sword huh?¡± Josephine Wong chuckled. ¡°Yeah, who needs the small lockpick tools when you¡¯ve got a big sword?¡± Jianmen chanted a few words, then placed the cleaver¡¯s edge upon the sigils, then gently knocked on the spine of the blade. ¡°Tzzzk¡± flares, spark and smoke came from the thin gap between the gates as if someone just used a welding tool on the metal gates. And after a few seconds, the gates slowly swung open, making a high pitched metal scratching sound. ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s be quick.¡± Jianmen nodded. Just when the team of three were about to enter the inner ward through the now open gates, one of the giant, slim humanoid monsters with three heads turned around and looked to the position of the metal gates. Then, it proceeded to the position of the metal gates, and found the team of three walking towards the front gate of the main castle building. The three heads on the humanoid monster¡¯s body let out a loud screech at the same time, and it burst through the gates and lunged at them from behind, its arms extended forward trying to grab Glenda Grimes and Jianmen, the eyes on all three heads lit up in a pale blue light, its crooked teeth exposed and its tongues twirling in their ugly foul mouths as if it was about to bite down on a human body like a hamburger. Neither of the hands of the humanoid monster was able to grab onto anything, as its middle head had a close contact with the sole of Jianmen¡¯s right shoe, its middle forehead, to be precise. The middle forehead caved in, its middle neck was curved backwards and the skin on its middle throat was ripped apart from how violent the motion was. The monster¡¯s body was thrown back by the kick and it tumbled on the ground, then a crescent shaped orange and golden energy blade was released by the swing of Jianmen¡¯s meat cleaver shot at its three necks. The monster raised its two arms trying to block this attack, but the energy blade just sliced through them before it separated the three heads from the shoulder.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°Clank!¡± ¡°Clank!¡± ¡°Clank!¡± Just like a stereotypical magical castle in movies, some metal statues and empty armors walked away from the positions on the walls and the pillars and started charging at them with their weapons raised and pointed. ¡°Oh God, how cliche¡¯.¡± Jianmen sighed. ¡°It must be still trendy when they built it.¡± Josephine Wong smiled. Glenda Grimes jabbed her rapier forward, and a green energy blade shot from the tip of her sword aiming at one of the moving armors¡¯ face. The energy blade pierced through the helmet entirely and knocked it off from the shoulder. But the armor still continued its charge with its poleaxe in its gauntlets aiming at her. ¡°Looks like the energy core is not in the helmet.¡± Jianmen leapt to the side, kicked one of the charging armors on the left greave and tripped it onto the floor. The helmet banged on the ground and rolled on the floor, but the armor still climbed up and tried to attack Jianmen with its great sword. ¡°Go! Ignore them!¡± Josephine Wong bypassed a stone statue and an armor and continued her way towards the main gate. ¡°You go! I¡¯ll handle them.¡± Jianmen said to Glenda Grimes as he kicked the helmetless armor in the cuirass, then grabbed its greatsword by the blade and bashed its right shoulder with the pommel: ¡°Go! Break in or find the traces of the others!¡± Glenda Grimes nodded: ¡°Be careful!¡± Then she surrounded herself with an intense wall of wind and launched herself at the front gate of the main castle building without looking back. Jianmen threw the greatsword at a stone statue with a human body and an eagle head, the long blade impaled the chest armor right at the spot of the Hellinger family crest. The energy infused on the blade rushed into that statue¡¯s body and exploded from the inside, blowing it to thousands of pieces. An armor charged at Jianmen with a long spear and a forked brutal spearhead, while a stone statue with a lion head and a horse body leapt in the air with its spiked stone maul held up high. Jianmen stepped to the side with the meat cleaver in his hand, the armor tried to adjust the direction of its spear but it was not able to as Jianmen had already grabbed onto the front part of the spear shaft. Then Jianmen kicked the armor in its right greave, making it lose its center of gravity and then threw the armor up in the air right at the stone statue. ¡°Bang!¡± The stone statue had to use its stone maul to bash the armor from the side in an attempt to move it out of its way. But Jianmen had already swung his cleaver from low to high from his position on the ground. After a flash of orange and golden light, the statue and the armor were sliced up from the center, then exploded into smithereens. Two gargoyle statues lunged at Jianmen from the sky, but Jianmen just picked up an armor¡¯s greatsword from the ground and tossed it in the air. Then he bashed the pommel using his meat cleaver, launching it into the air. The greatsword split into two halves from the central axis, each half aiming at one gargoyle statue. The two statues did not get a chance to dodge at all, and were impaled in the air. Jianmen turned around and took a look at the broken pieces around him and he noticed that the shredded armors and stone statues were moving on the ground as if they were alive, and piece by piece, they started growing back to their former shapes. Chapter 553 Jianmen watched as the pieces came together from different places and stuck themselves together, and before any of the statues or armors could get back to their former shape, he just stomped on them to break them apart again. But they just kept coming back into shape. ¡°Hmm.¡± Jianmen picked up one of the pieces of armor with his left hand and put it in front of his eyes. There was a gentle force pulling it towards the ground, but it was still held in place by Jianmen¡¯s hand. Then, Jianmen stepped to the side and moved the piece to a different position, and felt that the force was pulling from a slightly different direction, but it was obvious that the position the force was pulling the piece towards was still the same. Just this moment, a stone statue grew roughly back into its former shape and lunged at Jianmen from behind, but was smacked in the head and turned into pieces again. Jianmen gently pushed his right index finger at the space between the piece of armor and the position it was being pulled towards, and with his Xuanli concentrated on the tip of his finger, a thin and almost completely transparent energy thread was picked out by this finger. After discovering this energy thread, Jianmen quickly memorized the energy signature of this thread and infused his eyes with Xuanli. In an instant, he could see that there were countless energy threads like this connected to the pieces of the statues and the armors together, and even when they became whole like they were before, there were still many threads wrapped around different parts inside them seemingly serving as a means to control their movement. And the other ends of the threads were all connected to the ground, and when Jianmen kicked one of the statues to the corner of the wall, he could see that there were threads extending from the wall as well. ¡°The gate¡¯s open.¡± Josephine Wong¡¯s voice resounded in Jianmen¡¯s ears. ¡°On my way.¡± Jianmen bashed another armor into pieces, then placed a small folded paper sigil inside its hollow body. When he reached the open gate of the main building, the paper sigil released a golden flame and engulfed the entire armor from the inside. This time, the metal materials that made the armor were melted out of shape and the pieces that it consisted of all stopped moving, and all the energy threads connected to it that were invisible to the naked eye caught on fire as well. One could see there were very small sparks released from the burning armor, all of which moved towards the nearest surface of ground or wall in the area. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Do you know where it could be stored right now?¡± Jianmen asked when he got to Josephine Wong and Glenda Grimes¡¯ side and closed the gates behind him. ¡°From the information about the Hellinger Family on Division records, they had a secret armory of some sort. But we¡¯ll have to find it first. There¡¯s no information on where it is.¡± Josephine Wong sighed and said. ¡°I have very limited knowledge about this actual castle itself, unfortunately. I know more about their deeds and history but it doesn''t look too helpful right now .¡± Glenda Grimes said: ¡°But if I have to guess, I¡¯d say it¡¯s somewhere underground. Since they are quite an old fashioned family when it comes to lifestyles and prefered arts. And this looks like a classic rich family castle.¡± ¡°Let me try a movement tracing spell, no guarantee that it will work though.¡± Josephine Wong put her hands together and let her fingers crossed and got into a praying-like pose. Then she opened her hands and a light purple mist was released from her palms. The mist formed into a single stream and curled around in the air for a few circles, then it rose up and slowly flowed towards one of the doors on a higher position of the interior wall. ¡°Signal¡¯s kinda weak, but I found it.¡± Josephine Wong chuckled. ¡°In this environment? With this much negative energy around?¡± Glenda Grimes scraped some very small stone dust off from the ground using her rapier, took a good look at it and said: ¡°It must not be that long ago.¡± ¡°Agreed. Let¡¯s hurry.¡± Josephine Wong nodded as they heard the banging on the metal gate behind them. All three of them flew up to the door on the wall and followed the trail of the purple mist down a pathway. But before they could get anywhere, they found that the structures of pathways and tunnels disappeared in a short distance front of them, and what lay before them was an empty space with a debris and broken internal structures in the background - it was as if the entire building was hollowed out from the inside by some kind of destructive creature that inhabited it. ¡°Shh¡­¡± Josephine Wong slowed down her steps. ¡°I can¡¯t sense anything.¡± Glenda Grimes shook her head. ¡°Exactly. This is why it worries me.¡± Josephine Wong narrowed her eyes and turned to Jianmen: ¡°Can you sense anything? Any spells you can use?¡± ¡°Not really. And not without making our presence known, unfortunately.¡± Jianmen slowly ran his right hand in the air as if he was feeling the texture of the air, but with a frown on his face: ¡°How about good old fashioned night vision goggles?¡± ¡°Good idea.¡± Josephine Wong twirled her fingers and constructed three pairs of simple goggles from thin air and dispensed it to the other two teammates. With these goggles on, they could see the thermal layout of the environment as well as the empty space that lay before them. These were not simply magical constructs that mimicked the functionalities of the civilian night vision goggles, but had enhanced abilities to pick up the fluctuations in background energy signatures as well. Also, the goggles were tuned in such a way that the difference in temperature be shown more distinctively so that they could pick up more signals than normal night vision goggles would. There were no obvious signs of anything dangerous in the empty space, aside from one thing - a long string of stripes at the bottom of the space, that had slightly different colors in the vision of the thermal goggles. Chapter 554 ¡°That pulsating thing doesn¡¯t seem right. Be careful.¡± Jianmen frowned as he went closer to the edge of the broken pathway and looked down with caution: ¡°The whole space is completely demolished, seemingly from bottom up, but strangely there was very little traces of energy signatures left.¡± ¡°The obvious explanation is that whatever the thing is, it has blended into the environment very well, that its energy signature is basically the same as the environment¡¯s.¡± Glenda Grimes shook her head. ¡°Or, it could be the other way around, its power is so strong, and it has polluted the environment so much that the energy signature of the environment is actually its.¡± Josephine Wong gently scraped some dirt from the broken walls on the side: ¡°Too bad, the signal became too weak to pick up.¡± ¡°I think that might be it.¡± Glenda Grimes looked around at the empty space in front of them, then pointed at a specific position slightly above them on the other side of the empty space, and a little bit to the right. Jianmen looked over at the spot at which Glenda Grimes was pointing, it was a spot with a lot more dents and cracks than other spots, where there was a torn up metal gate with what looked like a Hellinger family insignia carved on it. Judging from the way it was torn, it looked like something forced its way through it. ¡°Great find.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°Now we just gotta figure out how to get there.¡± ¡°We need a cloak.¡± Josephine Wong conjured a tiny purple dagger and peeled off a small piece from the wall: ¡°Now, I am going to try to mimic this energy signature, Glenda, Jianmen, can you help me conceal my energy signature when I craft the spell?¡± ¡°No problem.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± With Glenda Grimes and Jianmen standing beside her to help her conceal the energy signature when she cast the spell, Josephine Wong pulled out a piece of parchment and started drawing an array. With less than five minutes, she completed the array with the small piece of wall placed at the center. ¡°Okay, get ready.¡± Josephine Wong took a deep breath and placed her right hand on the array, then started slowly infusing her power into the parchment. When the array was fully activated, a soft layer of transparent light purple energy shroud surrounded all three of them, and to everything else, they now display a similar energy signature as the walls and floorboards of this very castle.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Next, all three of them flew towards the torn metal gate, and with Jianmen leading the way, they went into the tunnel behind it. The tunnel initially went somewhere horizontal and had an exit to somewhere seemingly on the same level, then it went downwards and even went below the ground level. The deeper they went, the rougher and more damaged the interior of the tunnel became. When they got to the final exit, they found themselves in an underground hall with a dome. There was a foul smell in this hall, and there were splashes of thick liquid all over the ground and the broken walls. In some spots, the thick and almost solidified liquid pools were actually so thick that they looked like stumps of broken pillars or altars from far away. ¡°Some kind of fight happened here.¡± Jianmen took a look around and said: ¡°But there are no bodies around, so I can¡¯t say for sure ¡­¡± ¡°Crack!¡± Just this moment, some of the dried up and solidified pools of thick liquid cracked up, and there seemed to be some creatures being cocooned inside trying to get out. ¡°There¡¯s a door there.¡± Jianmen pointed forward with his jaw at a metal door with a lot of dents and cracks on it, while holding his meat cleaver and his broom in his hands: ¡°Go and check it out. If you can¡¯t open it without resorting to force, then we should probably leave right away.¡± While Josephine Wong and Glenda Grimes rushed to the metal door, Jianmen examined those dried up and solidified pools of thick liquid and tried to take a peek at the things that were buried underneath. These were not corporeal creatures, instead, they were shadows of people, possibly the members of the Hellinger family that were long gone. And not just any kind of shadows made of energy, but shadows that Jianmen recognized to be the kind that usually come with the replay of memory, only more concrete, and more lively. ¡°The glory of Hellinger¡­¡± a wizard with a gruesome scar on his face said to Jianmen, when ¡°he¡± found that Jianmen was looking at him: ¡°... the glory of Hellinger ¡­ shall never fade¡­¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Jianmen retracted his meat cleaver, and extended his hand at the shadow of the shadow wizard¡¯s forehead: ¡°It faded a long time ago.¡± ¡°The glory of Hellinger ¡­¡± the shadow struggled and spoke through his teeth: ¡°shall NEVER fade!¡± When Jianmen¡¯s fingers came into contact with the shadow wizard¡¯s forehead, a small piece of information flashed before his eyes. The last stand of the Hellingers, the less than twenty of the remaining members of the Hellinger family that were in the castle, who locked themselves inside a small chamber with fortified walls with no escape. Out of desperation and insanity, they cast a horrible experimental spell on themselves. And from this ¡°Holy fucking shit, cursing yourselves and binding your souls to the bloodline?¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°How conceited about your own bloodline were you?¡± ¡°This door¡¯s blocked from behind, we can¡¯t open it. ¡± Josephine Wong told Jianmen: ¡°But I just picked up some more signals, they went through this door.¡± ¡°Wait.¡± Jianmen stood up: ¡°Test your blood. See if anything¡¯s changed or different, or weird.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Just do it. ¡± Jianmen dripped a droplet of his blood in the air: ¡°The Hellingers - before they fell completely, the last remaining ones here cast a curse using nothing but themselves, binding their souls to the very concept of Hellinger bloodline. If I understood it correctly, anyone who¡¯s not a Hellinger will be affected by this curse should they dare step into this place.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Nothing weird to me.¡± Chapter 555 Jianmen thought for a brief moment, then took two paper sigils out and handed each to his two teammates: ¡°Take these and keep them on you nonetheless - the curse could have worn off over the years, but - just to be on the safe side.¡± ¡°Should we leave? What are those?¡± Glenda Grimes took the paper sigil, put it in her inner robe pocket and asked. ¡°Memories of the last group of Hellingers, who turned their very souls and minds into a curse and bound themselves to the Hellinger Bloodline.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°I don¡¯t think it ended up working as they expected. And from what I can tell these shadows are not a threat to us right now. But the thing is there¡¯s still danger here. And if we want to keep going, we¡¯re gonna have to find a way to go forward without making too much noise.¡± ¡°Why? What are you worried about besides the thing that hollowed out the structures?¡± Josephine Wong asked: ¡°I¡¯ve swept the room with my detection spells already, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s here.¡± ¡°Maybe, maybe not.¡± Jianmen scratched his jaw while thinking: ¡°How about this, you go ahead but try to be quiet, let me worry about¡­ well what I¡¯m worried about.¡± ¡°Understood, we¡¯ll try to keep it down.¡± Glenda Grimes chuckled and nodded: ¡°Josephine, can you help me here with a wind saw?¡± ¡°On it.¡± Josephine Wong came to the door with Glenda Grimes. Glenda Grimes put her rapier back in the sheath, then conjured a short and wide wind blade with high speed air flow around the edges, and with Josephine Wong¡¯s input, there were tiny saw teeth appearing on the edges travelling with the air flow as well. After just a few minutes, Glenda Grimes had a very efficient saw in her hand with the basic mechanics similar to that of a chainsaw. And with additional enchantments from Glenda Grimes and Josephine Wong, it also had the ability to crush and burn defense arrays on even hardened surfaces, while the potential disturbance it could cause to the environment would be minimized to the smallest extent possible. Jianmen wandered around in the hall, looking around as well as keeping his attention on the shadows being buried below the solidified thick liquid - some of which were almost halfway out, while some others were still struggling. Jianmen thought about annihilating them on the spot, but considering the connection these shadows had with the castle and the intricate and unpredictable mechanics of the curse, he decided he should refrain from attempting so. While walking around, Jianmen was also trying to recall some old books he read while he was still in his clan from the other world - curses like these were uncommon even in his previous world of cultivation, for a very simple reason: bloodlines were complicated things to lay a curse or a blessing on. With the basic knowledge of modern biology and genetics, he knew that the curse could be laid on things like the genetic characteristics. But even so, crafting a curse to ¡°detect¡± this kind of details would take a huge amount of work. And for people of decades or even hundreds of years ago, it could only be more difficult. He could imagine it being simpler for smaller families and a clearly defined family tree and living members to ¡°pass down¡± the blessing or curse. But for a bigger family, it would be an easy mistake to make that blessing or curse into a curse of simply good will or ill will towards the family; or in a worse and more complicated case, making it a faith based/dependent construct of the pure power of mind and will, which would be something borderlining on the power Gods, and nothing that should be tried lightly.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Glenda Grimes and Josephine Wong continued with their wind saw and were almost done carving a hole in the metal door. And from the gaps, they could see some fallen debris blocking their way. There was a defense array placed on the back of the metal door, but their wind saw cut through it with only minimal hindrance. Jianmen watched as the shadow of a Hellinger pulled almost three quarters of her body out of the solidified thick liquid. ¡°The glory! Of the Hellinger!¡± This shadow seemed to be almost completely unhinged, her only one eye was bulging out and her right eye socket, while the thread ends from her stained and broken eye patch was gently flapping around: ¡°Shall! Never! Fade!¡± Then she let out a high pitched scream. ¡°Gulp¡­¡± The sound of dark liquid came from above, and Jianmen could see a giant ball of liquid slowly seeping into the hall from the ceiling. ¡°Motherfucker. How far along are we?¡± Jianmen asked Josephine Wong and Glenda Grimes. ¡°Just half a minute, what now?¡± Josephine Wong answered but did not look back. ¡°This is probably the worst case scenario.¡± Jianmen backed off to the position of his two teammates and said: ¡°The curse mutated and has become some kind of living, possibly parasitic being. You ever watched that movie where the victims of a haunted house become a part of it? It¡¯s like that.¡± ¡°Can you hold it off?¡± Glenda Grimes grunted: ¡°We¡¯re almost there! Just a bit!¡± ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll try.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°It looks like it¡¯s just woken up, so I¡¯ll give you five seconds more than I would¡¯ve.¡± A gentle clank came from the metal door, both Glenda Grimes and Josephine Wong finally finished their carving on the metal door - they were able to remove a small piece from it, making a hole big enough for one person to go through just by lowering the body a little. ¡°Okay, we¡¯ve got it! We need to go!¡± Josephine Wong said. ¡°You go first, someone needs to stall this thing for now.¡± The ball of liquid dripped onto the ground, covering the shadow that was just about to get out. The lowermost portion of the ball of liquid started solidifying, serving as another thick crust to imprison the shadow, while the other liquid stayed in place and its surface rippled as if something within it was vibrating. Then from inside the liquid, a tall, pale human skeleton walked out, something in its eye sockets was glowing, orange on the left and blue on the right. ¡°Who dares enter the Hellinger Castle?¡± The skeleton asked with a hoarse voice. ¡°Hellinger Castle? I thought this was the Vyn castle.¡± Jianmen shrugged but kept his meat cleaver and broom ready. The skeleton roared then lunged at Jianmen, but when he was about to make it halfway, something deep underground exploded, and several bolts of completely dark lightning pierced through the ground and impaled the skeleton. ¡°Ah! No!¡± The skeleton only managed to say a few words before being exploded into smithereens. ¡°Fuck fuck fuck fuck¡­¡± Jianmen sensed the energy signature from the dark lightning and decided to run towards the metal door: ¡°Josephine! Glenda! Come back out! We¡¯ve gotta leave right now!¡± Chapter 556 ¡°I do not accept this. I will not.¡± After wailing on the ground for a short moment, Lucias Vyn reached inside her robe with her trembling right arm and took out a small box. ¡°Lucias, don¡¯t.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn walked up and laid his hand on Lucias Vyn¡¯s shoulder: ¡°Let¡¯s head back. We will find another way. Let¡¯s bury Winters here as well before we leave.¡± ¡°NO!¡± Lucias Vyn yelled: ¡°You don¡¯t understand - I don¡¯t have time to go back. I don¡¯t - I simply don¡¯t.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°If I walk out of here. I will die.¡± Lucias Vyn took out a small metal box, with black and blue threads wrapped around it and had a very intricate and complex array carved on its lid and a different but similarly complex array carved on its back: ¡°I saw it.¡± ¡°Then I will go out and wipe them all out, just give me a few minutes to rest.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn said. ¡°No, I will die either way. You have studied this gift of mine for a very long time, you know how it works.¡± Lucias Vyn sighed: ¡°My end - is just walking out of that door. It bears no relevance whether there¡¯s any enemy or friends outside.¡± ¡°There must be another way.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn knelt beside Lucias Vyn and said: ¡°Please, Lucias.¡± ¡°Matthew. Thank you.¡± Lucias Vyn smiled while clenching the metal box, her blood slowly flowed out of her fingers and palm and onto the metal box, along with small streams of her power: ¡°You¡¯re right. The other way is right here, in my hand.¡± ¡°Poof.¡± The metal box glowed in a pale white light, then completely became dust and ash. ¡°What did you do?¡± Assistant Professor Vyn stood up and looked around. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°I asked - no, I demanded that our deals with that entity be concluded.¡± Lucias Vyn looked at the ash and dust and in her hand, confused: ¡°But - ¡± ¡°Something changed.¡± Assistant Professor Vyn looked up at the ceiling and took some time to sense and feel the energy signature around them: ¡°But I can¡¯t tell what¡­¡± The ground started shaking, and the walls around them started flickering - yes, flickering, as if they were in a movie and the movie footage player was glitching and the colors and pixels were jumping around. And then after a flash of light, the chamber they were in disappeared, and both of them were pushed to different areas in the underground armory. The chamber did not disappear, but it was because the entire underground bunker shifted in position, same as Lucias Vyn and Assistant Professor Vyn - they were somehow transported to the edge of the underground armory. Lucias Vyn was transported to the position just behind the teams of Carol Summers and Soren Lupei, while Assistant Professor Vyn was transported to the position near the center of the battle, while Lady Marza O¡¯Gul was battling a team of three witches from Carol Summers¡¯ team. ¡°Did you get it?¡± Lady Marza O¡¯Gul seemed to be struggling a bit, but not under too much pressure: ¡°Did you get the sword?¡± ¡°The sword?¡± Assistant Professor Vyn asked. ¡°Did you get the sword or not!? Can we leave now?¡± Lady Marza O¡¯Gul asked again, with frustration: ¡°Answer me, God dammit!¡± ¡°We ¡­¡± Just when Assistant Professor Vyn was about to answer, everything around him flickered and shifted again, this time he found himself in a different position, and he was standing beside none other than Carol Summers, who was fighting - Soren Lupei and his lycan and vampire gang. ¡°What the fuck are you waiting for, Vyn?!¡± Carol Summers turned to him and shouted: ¡°Get into that fucking bunker!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Assistant Professor Vyn was just about to attack, but was confused again. ¡°It¡¯s the end of the filthy line of Hellingers!¡± Lady Marza O¡¯Gul appeared in the air with a giant ball of lightning above her: ¡°Die with your wretched castle!¡± Assistant Professor Vyn immediately got into a defense stance and readied his counter and defense spells, but was still very confused as to why and how Marza O¡¯Gul was attacking him while Carol Summers was rambling about a ¡°sword¡±. But the next moment, a crack in space appeared right in front of him, and within a very short span of time the crack expanded to everywhere around him. Then all the sight of everything crumbled around him, as if he was in a maze surrounded by screens playing videos made of glass. When everything around him crumbled, all he saw was Lucias Vyn lying on something in front of him, and with nothing but darkness around her. Assistant Professor Vyn tried to rush forward to the side of his sister, but he was unable to move even a finger. Then, he saw that some parts of Lucias Vyn¡¯s body started turning into dust and small pieces of cracked crystals. And at the same time, he felt that he was losing the feeling of his legs and fingers as well. There was nothing he could do to stop the feeling, or a lack of feeling from spreading across his body. And when it creeped over the position of his heart, he felt that some connection he had with a powerful entity whose name he dared not mention lightly was broken. ¡°What did you do?¡± An angry voice reached Assistant Professor Vyn, just the mere sound seemed to have shocked his soul and mind to the core. But he could not answer anything, for the lack of feeling had reached his face and brain, and in less than one second, his thoughts ended. Chapter 557 ¡°Protect the bunker! Protect the bunker!¡± With Lucias Vyn and Assistant Professor Vyn in the bunker and the door locked, Lady Marza O¡¯Gul became the one in charge: ¡°Push them back! Push them back!¡± The devastating hit delivered by Lucias Vyn onto the leaders of their enemies - Soren Lupei and Carol Summers gave them a big window of chaos and disarray for them to exploit, and Lady Marza O¡¯Gul did not waste even one second of it. Carol Summers was knocked far away from where she was one she tried to ambush Lucias Vyn and her brother, even though some special artifact of hers saved her from the fate of Soren Lupei, she still seemed to be shocked and shaken, and as a long time enemy of hers, Lady Marza O¡¯Gul could not help but had her eyes fixated on the figure of Carol Summers, and had readied a specifically asked for Blade of Fade, enchanted by Lucias Vyn herself and forged by her most trusted weapon smiths, along with a spell in her right sleeve. Just when Carol Summers retreated to the middle position of her and Soren Lupei¡¯s teams, two figures in cloak lunged from the shadows behind her with their own Blades of Fade in their hands. ¡°Crack!¡± Some kind of passive protective artifact of Carol Summers triggered, and a dome shaped energy shield appeared around her, the two cloaked figures bumped into them while charging like running into a wall, and then they were blasted away by two shots of pale grey fire released from her hands. Just at the very moment the dome shaped energy shield appeared, Lady Marza O¡¯Gul launched her attack - the special Blade of Fade provided to her by Lucias Vyn was coated in a thin layer of shadowy energy and cruised around the ground in ankle-high airand creeped towards Carol Summers like a dedicated snake. While her Blade of Fade was on its way, Lady Marza O¡¯Gul released three metal artifacts shaped like vajras, and with her chanting of a long spell, the tips of those artifacts shot out three beams of red, yellow and blue energy at Carol Summers. ¡°Carol Summers!¡± Lady Marza O¡¯Gul yelled with an amplified voice while she was floating in the air: ¡°Today will be your doom! ¡± Carol Summers looked up at Lady Marza O¡¯Gul and activated her shield once again to guard herself against the attacks. The three energy beams of three different colors were quite powerful, even though she was maintaining her shield at almost full force, the field still cracked up in many places from the strikes.Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Die! Die!¡± Lady Marza O¡¯Gul feigned a reckless and furious rage as she pushed her artifacts to release waves and waves of attack, pinning Carol Summers at the same place. ¡°Melkan! Tell your forces to aim for her!¡± Carol Summers sensed there was some hidden tactic against her and she immediately shouted at the lieutenant of Soren Lupei. Just when the Blade of Fade launched by Lady Marza O¡¯Gul crawled past a few of the witches and warriors of Carol Summers and was just a few meters away from Carol Summers, an energy wave was released from the underground bunker. And the next moment, hundreds, if not thousands bolts of dark lightning shot from the underground bunker, tearing the entire bunker into shreds. The absolute majority of these dark lightning bolts shot at the different places of this castle, and some of them shot at some members of Lucias Vyn and Assistant Professor Vyn¡¯s teams. And one bolt of dark lightning crossed over the space, piercing through several vampires and warriors and struck at a blade that was creeping towards Carol Summers. And amongst the team of Lucias Vyn, the cloaked figure who held the gem while they were in the room of the insignia door was struck by the dark lightning and was ripped apart - his face covering was blown away, and his head dropped onto the ground, cracking up completely like it was made of fragile porcelain. The figure¡¯s body, however, turned out to be made of worms, scorpions and snakes, and reeked of a foul scorched smell after being destroyed by the lightning. Before anyone could decipher what was going on, the cries and moans of thousands of voices came from almost every angle. And it was at this moment, both Carol Summers and Lady Marza O¡¯Gul noticed that the teleportation and portal disruption array underneath the Hellinger Castle was somehow deactivated, along with some other defense arrays that serve as barriers preventing people in this castle from using portals. While everyone in the underground armory was stunned and too scared and worried to act, the entire castle started shaking. After a few seconds, the sources of moans and cries were heard closing in on this very location. ¡°This is bad. We should leave!¡± Lady Marza O¡¯Gul sensed that the Blade of Fade she launched was completely destroyed by that bolt of dark lightning, but she had no time to feel disgruntled about the loss of opportunity, as she felt that the voices coming their way would be something they could not handle: ¡°All magic wielders, portals, now!¡± The two forces that were just at war less than a minute ago backed off from the area of battle. The magic wielders of each started conjuring portals for them to escape. Lady Marza O¡¯Gul took a look at Carol Summers before she backed into her portal, and Carol Summers was looking at her as well. ¡°Boom! Boom boom boom boom ¡­ ¡± a series of explosions came from above, shaking the underground armory some more and the very fabric of space had become fragile and unstable. ¡°Go! Leave now!¡± Carol Summers urged her team and Soren Lupei¡¯s team before entering into the portal of her own. Just this moment, a huge beam of orange and golden energy descended from above through the ceiling and swallowed the entire bunker. A huge shockwave exploded from the center of the underground bunker, and both Carol Summers and Lady Marza O¡¯Gul were thrown through their own portals. Chapter 558 ¡°Josephine! Glenda! Come back out! We¡¯ve gotta leave right now!¡± Jianmen yelled as he ran to the metal door. And while he was running, a gentle, shimmering glow started forming around his body. Though gentle and harmless looking, the darkness, dirt and even the solidified dark liquid around him on the ground and walls seemed to be turning into smoke and dust when touched by the light. ¡°Boom!¡± Something exploded from underground and shook the entire hall. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Josephine Wong and Glenda Grimes stopped proceeding through the tunnel behind the metal door and asked Jianmen: ¡°Was that you?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s something else.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°We¡¯ve gotta go, now.¡± ¡°Your aura - what - what did you do?¡± Josephine Wong looked at Jianmen up and down with a worried look: ¡°You used one of the tokens? Why? I thought you needed them for your way ¡­¡± ¡°There¡¯ll be plenty of time to collect more. Now, we¡¯ve gotta leave.¡± Jianmen raised his meat cleaver, which was glowing in an orange and golden light, then he swung it down and struck the ground. ¡°Ting!¡± A few slivers of stone flew off from the point of impact between the meat cleaver and the ground, Jianmen¡¯s Xuanli shot into the ground, but did not do much damage to the structure of the building around them at all. After around one second, there was a small explosion somewhere deep underground, and a few of the protective arrays of this castle were disabled, including the ones that functioned as disruption and barrier against any magic that creates portals or any other teleportation gateways. ¡°Okay, time to go.¡± Josephine Wong waved her hand and started conjuring a portal: ¡°Let¡¯s get back to your inn first.¡± ¡°No, get back to the academy first.¡± Jianmen said as his eyes glowed in orange and golden light as well: ¡°And tell everyone, the timeline with which the Defilers would be at our doorstep just got expedited. Somebody used a Stone of Negation, if you sensed that strangeness in the energy fields all around, that¡¯s because there¡¯s a fucking hole in the very fabric of the universe and the entire reality.¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Okay.¡± Josephine Wong asked as she completed the special portal connected to the Anderson Plaza of the Grant Academy, something only ones with permissions from the Grant Academy administrations and enough power could do: ¡°How long do we have?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try my best to buy everyone two days.¡± Jianmen sighed and rushed Josephine Wong: ¡°Go!¡± After making sure that Josephine Wong and Glenda Grimes reached the Grant Academy safely. Jianmen closed the portal for Josephine Wong, knelt down where he was and started chanting a long spell. As the chant went on, a pre-recorded message of his started resounding in Xianshi Inn: ¡°Dear extinguished guests of Xianshi Inn, we are facing a catastrophe of worldly proportions, therefore we won¡¯t be able to serve you as an inn. In the next ten minutes, you will be transported to your places of safety. If you have provided this information when you made the reservation, you will be transported there. If you haven¡¯t, you will have time to provide this information by dropping it in any readable form into the mailbox close to you. If you choose to stay, you will be automatically transported into the safety bunker and you will no longer be able to leave at will.¡± At the same time, the tower at the top of the bunker started to glow, an intense flame was released by the tip of the tower, and a golden liquid rose up from beneath the bunker and flowed towards the tower¡¯s tip via various troughs carved on the exterior of the bunker and the tower. When the liquid reached the tip of the tower, the flames became brighter and more intense, and within just a few seconds, a blinding beam of orange and golden energy shot from the tip of the tower and into the sky above. A giant portal with orange and golden edges opened up in the sky in a distance not that far above the top of the tower, redirecting the beam of energy to a spot in the sky right above the Hellinger Castle. ¡°Boom boom boom¡­¡± the thick and dark liquid flowing inside the Hellinger Castle exploded and turned into ash and small pieces of stone when they came into contact with the energy beam, while the beam itself just pierced through the entire castle like hot knife through butter. The orange and golden beam of energy was finally stopped, by a dark orb with pale grey energy exterior at the center of where the underground bunker was. The dark orb shook violently and jumped around like a high energy marble, but the beam of energy had locked it in place and prevented it from leaving the position or expanding. One could see that as long as the beam of energy was not exhausted, the dark orb would not be able to escape or change in size. When the ten minutes passed, almost all guests in Xianshi Inn were transported away, and the few that stayed were sent to the safety bunker just as announced. A short moment later, the bunker in the parking lot started floating towards the sky, along with the beam of energy and the portal above. Before long, the bunker was completely separated from the inn¡¯s parking lot. Then with a flicker of the entire body of the bunker, it traveled to a completely different realm, along with the beam of energy as well as the portal. Chapter 559 It was a sunny day at the Grant Academy, the weather was warm, and one could feel the cool breezes blowing by from time to time when walking around the campus. But at this time there were hardly any students around in the campus, and the reason was simple: it was the time of the finals, and due to the incidents that happened not too long ago, all the students here were here for their finals, and right now it was just a little over halfway through most of the examinations and tests. ¡°Alright, next up - Ms. Caroline Baker, please come in.¡± A middle aged woman came out of a closed up chamber near the student training ground and spoke with a raised voice to the students waiting outside: ¡°Ms. Caroline Baker, please come in.¡± ¡°Here.¡± Caroline raised her hand and came into the room. The door was closed behind her just like the previous students, and three teachers from the academy were sitting in front of Caroline behind a long table. In front of the teacher sitting in the middle was a small china jar. Caroline could recognize one of the three teachers, because she substituted for one of her courses¡¯ Professor for two sessions. The chamber was pretty empty, and aside from the table, there was a separate small side room blocked off by a wall of transparent glass. Inside this side room, there was a hanger attached to the ceiling close to one side, and a long metal pole protruding from the other side of the wall. ¡°Alright, Ms. Baker, please come forward and take a marble from this jar. It will tell you what you should do as your construct. You have fifteen minutes to present to us your construct. You can take more time if needed, but it¡¯s going to take points away from your final result.¡± The middle aged woman said to Caroline: ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous, it¡¯s not gonna be anything out of the ordinary.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Caroline went ahead and grabbed a marble from the jar, and when she raised it in front of her to take a look, the marble lit up and projected an English word in the air: ¡°Armor¡±. ¡°Looks like you¡¯re going to make an armor piece.¡± The teacher sitting in the middle smiled with her right hand extended towards the side room: ¡°Okay, it¡¯s a more complicated piece, so you don¡¯t have to worry about crafting a whole suit of armor. The basic requirements will be as follows: one, you will need to craft at least one armor piece, be it a chest plate, a gauntlet, one single greave, or a shoulder pad, or even a ring mail. We will judge it by the complexity of design and its strength. For the test of strength, we will launch a series of standard test strikes from that standardized test equipment against it. Any questions?¡± ¡°Um¡­ no questions.¡± ¡°Alright, you may proceed. ¡± The teacher sitting in the middle nodded at Caroline: ¡°Also, just a reminder, don¡¯t take too much time thinking about what you want to craft.¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Caroline nodded and took a deep breath, then she started concentrating her Xuanli on her hands. And in her mind, she began to remind herself of the lessons she learned from Jianmen and discussions she had with Jason, who was clearly better at making constructs, and not just because of the nature of his Xuanli. ¡°You see, Caroline, to make a construct is not so simple as to say putting your Xuanli into a shape. It will need to stay that way, so it has to ¡®understand¡¯ what you want it to do. Your Xuanli should be an extension of your thoughts and carry some of your ideas with it, just like - just like programming, no?¡± This was Jason¡¯s tip. ¡°Caroline, you have a good instinctual understanding of your Xuanli. Fire? It burns, and if it burns too fast, it explodes, and if it burns slowly, it heals. And win? It blows, it circles and it enriches. And one mistake I see you make often when making constructs is that you try way too hard to force your power into a shape and way of your liking, but that¡¯s a very sub-optimal way of using your dynamic and explosive power. You should tell your power what to do and let it get to work. Don¡¯t micromanage.¡± This was Jianmen¡¯s suggestion. The power of wind and fire concentrated around Caroline¡¯s hands, and as she infused her power of mind and will into the power, they gradually took shape and turned into a pair of gauntlets on her hand. The fire energy formed into the metallic plates on the backs of the positions for hands and fingers, while the wind energy formed into a softer layer for the palm and the finger sockets. Two simple circles were carved into the backhand sides of the gauntlets, which would function as simple defense arrays that can be activated on demand. It took just about thirteen to fourteen minutes for Caroline to finish the gauntlets and hand them to the teachers. The teachers passed them around, examined them from different angles and even tried them on for a few minutes. ¡°Alright, Ms. Baker. Your gauntlets are quite comfortable, the energy structure is very stable. For the purpose of the test, you only need one. But you actually crafted a pair with similar qualities, so we¡¯ll take that into account.¡± The teacher sitting on the left said: ¡°Now, we will put them to the tests.¡± ¡°Go ahead.¡± Caroline was quite happy with the quality of her gauntlets so she nodded with a smile on her face. The two gauntlets were placed inside the side room and on the hanger. After the teachers sealed off the side room. The tip of the long metal pole started lighting up in light blue. ¡°Bang!¡± An energy blade shot from the tip of the long metal pole against the gauntlets, which just bounced to the side upon impact. The gauntlets flickered and shook, but there was no visible sign of damage. ¡°Okay, they did very well in the first strike!¡± The teacher sitting in the middle said: ¡°No observable damage to the structure. On with the next tests.¡± The metal pole ended up releasing five more energy blades against Caroline¡¯s gauntlets each with increased strength, all of which were blocked or deflected, and one of the gauntlets ended up taking most of the damage and was closed to being completely shattered, while the other one was missing the armor on three fingers. ¡°Very good! Very good.¡± After the test, the teacher sitting in the middle stood up and extended her hand towards Caroline: ¡°Congratulations, Miss Baker. You did very well in this test.¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± Caroline let out an exhale of relief, then shook all three teachers¡¯ hands. ¡°Ms. Caroline Baker?¡± When Caroline walked out of the chamber, a faculty member was already waiting for her outside: ¡°You have a message. It¡¯s from Mr. Jianmen Yu.¡± ¡°A message?¡± Caroline asked: ¡°What was it?¡± ¡°Here.¡± The faculty member handed her two envelopes: ¡°The other one¡¯s for Mr. Jason Lin, Mr. Yu told me that if I couldn¡¯t find either of you I could entrust the delivery to one of you. ¡± ¡°Alright - thanks¡­¡± Caroline took the envelopes and opened the one addressed to her, confused. Chapter 560 Before they came here, Jianmen gave Caroline, Jason, Aimee and Thomas each a simple artifact crafted into shapes they felt comfortable with, and with a very simple functionality: allowing them to find each other more easily. This proved handy when the messenger that delivered the message, and Caroline was able to find Jason in a quiet corner somewhere at the back of the main building of Grant Academy. The circumstances and timing were not very good, however; or they could be very good, depending on the perspective - when Caroline came to the corner, she found that Jason was not the only one in this discreet corner, along there with him was none other than Laura Jensen, whose face seemed smushed together with Jason¡¯s from where Caroline was. ¡°Cough, hrm.¡± Caroline had to fake clear her throat to make herself noticed. ¡°Oh, Caroline.¡± Jason gently lifted his face off from Laura Jensen¡¯s and turned to Caroline: ¡°So you¡¯re done with your test?¡± ¡°And apparently you¡¯re done with yours.¡± Caroline raised her eyebrows and waved at the girl in Jason¡¯s arms: ¡°Hi Laura, really sorry about that. But uh - I¡¯m here to deliver a message from Boss.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine, we still have the rest of the day.¡± Laura Jensen chuckled and patted Jason on the chest: ¡°It¡¯s just good to see fresh faces after staying here for too long.¡± ¡°Thanks Caroline.¡± Jason shook his head and took the envelope handed to him: ¡°What¡¯s it about?¡± ¡°Something about getting back to the inn as early as possible, and where to find our latest weapon.¡± Caroline shrugged. ¡°Woah.¡± Laura Jensen looked at Caroline then Jason: ¡°You¡¯re about to leave? You just got here. I thought you¡¯d stay here for a while.¡± ¡°... huh.¡± Jason opened his envelope and took out a small piece of paper with nothing written on it - but the message was delivered to his mind nonetheless the moment he touched it: ¡°Interesting - this is definitely not a good vibe.¡± The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°What? What¡¯s it said?¡± Laura Jensen asked. ¡°Boss told us to come back to the inn by ourselves when we¡¯re done, the earlier the better.¡± Jason closed the envelope and put it into his shirt pocket, shaking his head: ¡°He said that he was about to do something with Ms. Wong, and he had a bad feeling about things so it¡¯s best to get back to safety. And he left us some homework.¡± ¡°Okay¡­¡± Laura Jensen sighed: ¡°Well ¡­ I ¡­¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have to leave right away.¡± Caroline immediately said: ¡°The academy here is safe enough, I mean we have the headmasters here right, plus we¡¯ve come here fully prepared. So we could stay for one or two days. Don¡¯t we Jason? ¡± ¡°Yeah, but Boss ¡­¡± Jason was about to say something but was stopped by Caroline¡¯s raised eyebrows: ¡°Well, yeah, I mean I can do the spell practices here. Aimee and Thomas still have more tests to finish right? Since they¡¯re fully enrolled students, they have more rounds of tests. Let¡¯s stay for a bit.¡± ¡°Thank you Caroline.¡± Laura Jensen chuckled and held Jason¡¯s arm: ¡°Let¡¯s go and grab a bite, shall we? God, I feel a little cooped up here.¡± ¡°Well, if you don¡¯t mind. Let¡¯s go, the tests made me hungry as well.¡± Caroline shrugged. ¡°So, Laura, why¡¯d you say you feel cooped up here?¡± At the diner, Jason asked as he brought over some drinks for everyone at the table: ¡°Didn¡¯t you go home after what happened?¡± ¡°Yeah, no.¡± Laura Jensen cut off a piece of steak in her plate and put it in her mouth: ¡°I stopped wanting to go home some time back. Come to think of it, it was right after we met during the student duel.¡± ¡°Oh, if I may ask, what happened?¡± Caroline laid down her fork. ¡°Well, uhmm¡­¡± Laura Jensen hesitated: ¡°You guys know that I don¡¯t approve of the way the duel was started and arranged right?¡± ¡°Mm-hm, but you don¡¯t need to explain that, I kinda know that already.¡± Jason joked, which earned him a smack on his left arm from Laura Jensen. ¡°That¡¯s just one of my plights with my family, the last straw on the camel¡¯s back, if you will.¡± Laura Jensen shook her head: ¡°As you can tell, manners and honor are not the core ideals we Jensens pass down to the younger generation. They are there as core family values in theory, but not many actually have it, much less teach them. And just before this very semester, I¡¯ve noticed that my family has ¡­ things.¡± ¡°Well, what kind of things?¡± Jason asked: ¡°Secret weapons under their beds? Or civilian video game consoles as their sources of guilty pleasure?¡± ¡°Haha, no, but that would¡¯ve been great.¡± Laura Jensen chuckled and gave Jason a side hug, then started speaking after a long hesitation: ¡°Well, I guess now is as good a time as any - I won¡¯t bore you with the details, but I found that, my family, had some artifacts in their secret collection connected to some very dark things that happened in the past - it¡¯s - it¡¯s like murder along with a mob of pitchfork holding mobs, if I can reference it in civilian terms. It¡¯s not even that long ago - and when I asked them about these artifacts, they were very hesitant and dodgy, which made me wonder if my very own family actually had any part in the terrible thing that happened. And ¡­ I just don¡¯t know how I can face them.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m so sorry.¡± Jason and Caroline said at the same time. ¡°Well, yeah, it¡¯s okay.¡± Laura Jensen sighed and scoffed at herself: ¡°Learning to face the dirt that came with your name, I guess that¡¯s a rite of passage of some kind, huh?¡± Just this moment, a small bracelet on Caroline¡¯s wrist, and Jason¡¯s phone started buzzing. Chapter 561 ¡°Something wrong? Laura Jensen asked. ¡°Yeah, we have to go to our living quarters.¡± Jason took a look at his phone, it was actually not his phone, but his phone case. ¡°Someone came inside our living quarters without permission.¡± Caroline shook her head and checked her jeans pocket to make sure that her translucent crystal ball that would turn into her weapons were still there: ¡°These fucking spies - I can¡¯t believe they¡¯re actually still here.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll come with you.¡± Laura Jensen stood up with Jason and Caroline. ¡°Nonono, it¡¯s okay you don¡¯t have to.¡± Jason immediately attempted to refuse: ¡°It¡¯s way too dangerous.¡± ¡°Hey! Hey! Don¡¯t forget how we met!¡± Laura Jensen pointed at Jason with her finger and responded with a stern tone: ¡°I bet if we do a rematch, I can kick your ass this time. I¡¯m going with you, and then we can come back and finish our meal together. Deal?¡± ¡°Bring her, Jason.¡± Caroline shrugged: ¡°If you¡¯re about to be in each other¡¯s world.¡± ¡°Alright, come.¡± Jason said as he conjured a spell to dump the leftovers and put the trays and plates to the rack. The three of them headed back to the big tree of spacial bubbles where the living quarters of audit students were located. Jason held Laura Jensen by the hand while extending his hand at the tree, and Caroline extended hers all by herself. The next moment, their bodies turned into beams of light and were absorbed by the tree. When Jason and Laura Jensen appeared in Jason¡¯s own living quarter - a small cottage by a small pound and a small forest nearby. Jason whipped out his silver pen-spear, while Laura Jensen conjured a short sword with long winding patterns carved on both sides of the blade.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Jason headed first into the cottage with Laura Jensen following him, and when they got inside, they saw a male student hunting ground ranger completely entangled by vines and rattan extending from the walls. These vines and rattan were obviously enchanted, so they not only restrained the physical movements of the ranger, but also suppressed all of his magical or superpower abilities. One particularly thick vine wrapped around the mouth area of the ranger, preventing him from speaking or even making a sound. ¡°Looks like weapons are not needed.¡± Jason still pointed his silver pen-spear forward as he approached the ranger and lifted the vine that was covering this intruder¡¯s mouth: ¡°Speak, who are you? Why are you here? Who are you working for?¡± ¡°I ¡­ I ¡­¡± the ranger struggled, his eyes and his cheeks twitched, his lips trembled as if something was messing with his mind: ¡°I¡­ My ¡­ My name is Edward Bloom. I - I came here because we have the suspicion that you or Caroline Baker still have the codex connected to the Hellinger Castle with you. And if you don¡¯t, I was supposed to get the information out of you.¡± ¡°Wait, did you say Hellinger Castle?¡± Laura Jensen¡¯s eyes widened, then she turned to Jason: ¡°Did you know about this?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve heard about this Hellinger name mentioned by Boss and Ms. Wong before we came here, I just didn¡¯t pay much attention to it.¡± Jason frowned: ¡°What? Is it important enough for them to come after us like this?¡± ¡°You have no idea, don¡¯t you?¡± The ranger scoffed and shook his head, then went off in some sort of frantic rant: ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have taken it from the artifact archive, you shouldn¡¯t have kept it for yourself and you should have given it to us instead of going behind the administration like a coward. You have NO idea who you¡¯re dealing with, and you should have kept yourself out of it!¡± ¡°Yeah, well, sorry I¡¯m just skittish that way.¡± Jason scoffed back and said: ¡°Now, who do you work for again? And WHY does your employer want the codex?¡± ¡°I - I don¡¯t know who I was working for.¡± The ranger struggled a bit and then succumbed to the influence of the vines: ¡°I just know that his name is Mason. I know that he wants the codex, or at least the information about where it could be, who it was given to and under whose care it is right now.¡± ¡°What is this codex anyway?¡± Jason asked while gently holding Laura Jensen¡¯s arm: ¡°What did this ¡®Mason¡¯ say it was?¡± ¡°I - I -¡± the ranger started to struggle again: ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± ¡°So what the fuck is with that angry rant about me not knowing stuff, huh?¡± Jason shrugged: ¡°Do you at least know what this ¡®Mason¡¯ looks like?¡± ¡°I - I don¡¯t know.¡± The ranger was stumped and began stammering: ¡°I - I just thought I¡¯d sound more intimidating so you¡¯ll let me go.¡± ¡°Yeah, no, not gonna happen buddy. In fact, after that fucking rant I¡¯m even less willing to let your ass go. Laura, you have some questions for him before we hand him to the academy?¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± Laura Jensen hugged Jason from the side then stepped forward: ¡°What¡¯s with the Hellinger family, why now? What does your employer, this ¡®Mason¡¯, want?¡± ¡°Something - something about a business opportunity ¡­ I¡¯m not sure. He doesn¡¯t tell us that much¡­¡± Jason sat on the side and let out a long sigh after hearing this answer. ¡°What kind of business opportunity? And what¡¯s in it for you?¡± Chapter 562 When they came back and met at the diner after escorting the spies they found trapped in their rooms to the academy¡¯s security department, Jason, Caroline and Laura went back to the diner and were about to continue with their meal. ¡°Mason? You¡¯ve got the people working for the same guy?¡± Caroline asked while tearing up a small piece of bread on her plate: ¡°Any idea who this guy is? I don¡¯t recall hearing about anyone with this name.¡± ¡°Same here.¡± Jason nodded then turned to Laura Jensen, who seemed to be very quiet and had a lot on her mind: ¡°Laura, what about you? Do you know anything about this ¡®Mason¡¯ guy?¡± ¡°Huh? Sorry - I wasn¡¯t paying full attention.¡± Lauran Jensen seemed startled by the question, then she apologized and asked: ¡°What was your question?¡± ¡°Are you okay? You seemed pretty occupied and ¡­ worried.¡± Jason held Laura Jensen by the shoulder and asked: ¡°Is this about the Hellinger thing?¡± ¡°Shh!¡± Laura Jensen immediately made a ¡°shush¡± gesture: ¡°Don¡¯t talk about this name this loudly! It¡¯s kinda taboo!¡± ¡°Taboo? Why?¡± Caroline raised her eyebrows: ¡°Sounds juicy as hell, please tell me more.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s just call it ¡®that family¡¯. You know, so that we don¡¯t get weird eyes around here.¡± Laura Jensen looked around and said with a lowered voice: ¡°And - you know that thing I told you about my family, the connection to something unsavory? Many ¡®prestigious¡¯ families who have students attending here, or people working for the academy also have their own connections to what happened. ¡± ¡°Wait a minute, speaking of which - am I crazy? Or are you being watched and followed?¡± Jason looked around and asked with a frown and lowered voice: ¡°I saw some of the same people hanging around here in different places, which is kinda abnormal. If they were watching me or Caroline, we¡¯d feel it. Plus I can¡¯t think of any reasons they should be watching us like that.¡± ¡°Oh, that, unfortunately, yes. Because of the whole - you know, Camile, one of my older cousins, turning out to be a spy incident, and a multi-agent if you could believe it.¡± Laura Jensen sighed: ¡°Distant as the relationship may be, it still puts a lot of suspicion on us Jensens. Most members of my family escaped and went home during the battle against that monster, and the rest of us were stuck here for now. And to make things worse, because of what she did, all of the Jensens are under some kind of surveillance, while our family negotiates with the academy about the terms of our release.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°That sounds awfully invasive.¡± Jason frowned. ¡°Yeah, yeah, if you learn about the history of the academy then you won¡¯t be surprised.¡± Laura Jensen laid out her hands and said: ¡°But - to get back to what we were saying about ¡®that family¡¯ - it¡¯s a dark incident that not many of us don¡¯t talk about. And by ¡®us¡¯ I mean those of us who grew up in this part of the magical world. Because that family used to be very influential, wealthy and powerful, then one day, due to some reason that was still kept secret to many, multiple other powerful and wealthy families conspired together and formed an alliance, then they launched an all out assault on that family, completely wiping that family out from existence. From the little information I heard, it was a brutal and bloody act, the families that took part in that assault sustained a lot of losses as well. There was a wave of ¡®abnormal deaths¡¯ among some of the older generation of mages and wizards a few decades back, my theory is that¡¯s related to the injuries, sickness and curses those who went there brought back with them.¡± ¡°Let me guess - the family was wiped out, and many of its possessions and riches were divvied up and collected by those families.¡± Caroline sighed: ¡°And that¡¯s what you found in your family collection.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Laura Jensen sighed and laid back in her chair: ¡°Now you know. And - I didn¡¯t know that this ¡®codex¡¯ that brought you so much trouble was connected to the Hellingers. If only we knew earlier.¡± ¡°But you shouldn¡¯t feel guilty about this - sounds like something the older generations of your family did.¡± Jason said, in an attempt to lighten Laura Jensen¡¯s mood: ¡°You haven¡¯t done anything wrong. And the fact that you are feeling concerned about the connection says a lot about your character.¡± ¡°Thanks Jason.¡± Laura Jensen smiled. ¡°So, Laura, can you tell me a little more about you? Since I heard about you from Jason, and I would really like to know you better, in person. ¡± Caroline felt that the topics were a bit too heavy and decided to segue to another. Jason nodded at Caroline and gave her a thumb up without letting Laura Jensen see it. ¡°Hehe, and thank you as well, Caroline.¡± Laura Jensen shook her head: ¡°Well, where to start? I like researching arrays, I like to play duel and spar, and I have spent a few years in Europe, interestingly, auditing in different magical academies there.¡± ¡°Oh! Cool! How are the European academies?¡± Jason immediately asked: ¡°Are they like the ones depicted in the movies?¡± ¡°Well, not all of them. But magical castles are a common theme, if you think the castle of the Hellbruck House and Martin House are impressive, you should take a look at their castles.¡± Laura Jensen answered with a bright smile: ¡°One of them literally built their castle on the flat bottom of a floating rock, and everything was hanging from above, connected by wires and magical threads, even the entire castle building. They built an array at the base to alleviate the buildit¡¯s weight and to prevent people from accidentally falling down.¡± ¡°That sounds¡­ very expensive.¡± Jason scratched his jaw. ¡°Ha, as it turns out, not as expensive as you might think. They used some very neat tricks of space magic and earth magic to minimize the gravity, thus saving the cost of levitating arrays to keep the castle building floating.¡± Right at this very moment, a portal with purple and light blue edges occurred on the now heavily damaged Anderson Plaza of the Grant Academy, and through which came Josephine Wong and Glenda Grimes. Chapter 563 Within just a matter of seconds after the arrival of Josephine Wong and Glenda Grimes, the sky above the academy turned dark red, and a low buzzing sound was released from above and propagated throughout all parts of the academy. ¡°Holy - what¡¯s that?¡± Sensing there was some kind of ominous indication in that sound, and that the sky had become dark, Jason immediately stood up and asked. ¡°That¡¯s the fate detection array of the academy.¡± Laura Jensen also stood up with a heavy frown on her face: ¡°It¡¯s one of the most meticulous inventions of the founders of the academy. It taps into the flow of time to detect the general direction of ¡®fate¡¯ concerning the academy. And if there should be any signs of great peril or disaster, it would show warnings like this.¡± ¡°Yeah, I think it¡¯s Boss.¡± Caroline also stood up: ¡°He did say he had a bad feeling about what he and Ms. Wong were about to do. I wonder if we should go back right now.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s possible. If I remember correctly, when this kind of alert is triggered, the academy administration will declare a state of emergency and will probably issue a temporary lockdown of entrance and exit.¡± Laura Jensen sighed: ¡°Then they will decide on other measures. We should wait here for a while, until the administration has made a decision.¡± ¡°Okay. Is it gonna be long?¡± Jason took out his phone: ¡°Should we call Boss?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s wait for him to contact us - if he¡¯s doing something important, our calling him would only bring him trouble.¡± Caroline thought for a short moment, then sat back down: ¡°I have a feeling that he will contact us when he¡¯s done. There¡¯s no use acting blindly.¡± ¡°Hmm, makes sense. Let¡¯s wait.¡± Jason sighed and sat down along with Caroline and Laura Jensen: ¡°If we can¡¯t go back right now, there¡¯s no need to rush to anything. Let¡¯s finish the food, and we can meet up with the detectives when they¡¯re done with their tests.¡± ¡°Speaking of tests, how are you feeling with your finals?¡± Caroline asked Laura Jensen: ¡°You are a full time student here right? I wonder what your test subjects are?¡± ¡°Yeah, well, it¡¯s not that difficult or different from yours - when I was here for the first year.¡± Laura Jensen chuckled: ¡°It¡¯s already my fourth year here - so my finals are just some papers and project reports, for which I have prepared the whole year, and all I need to do today is defend it and answer questions about it in front of a few professors.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°So, it¡¯s like a dissertation defense, we have that in the civilian world as well.¡± Jason smiled and asked: ¡°What are your topics?¡± ¡°Yeah, nothing special, just some replication research in energy field theory, combined with some experiment reports on construct crafting. And the bigger and longer report I have was about the use of illusion arrays and combining it with the replay of memories - it¡¯s kind of a new field of research, relatively speaking.¡± Laura Jensen shook off the worries in her head, then tried to explain to Jason and Caroline: ¡°Jason, I remember you are quite good at illusion spells and arrays, but I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve come into contact with memory imprints in areas spaces and things¡­¡± ¡°I think I¡¯ve encountered those before.¡± Jason nodded: ¡°But it¡¯s not in an area per se, more like - it¡¯s pieces of memories that make up a whole timeline in a small space, and when you trigger them you can sort of let them play in unison and they become some kind of holographic footage.¡± ¡°Exactly, that¡¯s one very typical kind of memory in things and spaces.¡± Laura Jensen snapped her fingers and said: ¡°And, sometimes if a piece of memory is ¡®strong¡¯ and ¡®powerful¡¯ enough, it will be recorded in the very space where it happened. For example, ghost ships, or the sightings of the shadows of ancient battles in some remote and deserted areas. And this new area of research is somewhat based on the observation of the properties of this kind of memories, and how it can display different things based on different triggers, and if given a well crafted, complicated trigger, the memory can even display information in a much more detailed way.¡± ¡°Wait, tell me more.¡± Jason immediately recalled the memory replay he saw when investigating the crime scene with Aimee and Detective Lee: ¡°What kind of well crafted trigger? Using what method?¡± ¡°Well, with illusions.¡± Laura Jensen appeared surprised, but then proceeded with a bright smile: ¡°It¡¯s like hypnosis, but instead of hypnotizing a living individual, you find out something about the very memory you¡¯re trying to look into and dig into it following the trail of emotions or thoughts. And unlike the mind of humans or other sentient beings with brains that could do tricks to make up memories, the memories themselves tend not to fill in voids with unrelated or false information, so you¡¯ll have less worries about things being inaccurate. It can still be misleading though, because most of these memories are still based on the presence of sentient minds, and thus they carry the emotions and biases of those minds with them.¡± ¡°And what are some applications of these researches? ¡± Jason nodded and took a sip of his drink. ¡°Well, forensics and excavations.¡± Laura Jensen shrugged: ¡°And of course, it presents a way to deal with malice as well, especially the kind of strong malice that could render a place ¡®haunted¡¯. There are some studies indicating that by applying some kind of influence of positive emotion, malice can dissolve in a much safer way than our normal practices could make it.¡± ¡°Oh, god.¡± Caroline and Jason said at the same time. ¡°What? What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Well, nothing - it¡¯s just - ¡± Caroline stammered and was struggling a bit to find the right words: ¡° - that kind of sounds like loving the evil guy to be good.¡± ¡°And it¡¯s not to discredit these researches.¡± Jason immediately barged in: ¡°It¡¯s just this sounds very new and - and different!¡± ¡°That may be, but - ¡± Laura Jensen was just about to say something, before a loud announcement from a strange female voice broadcasted into the diner cut her off. ¡°All students and faculty members of the Grant Academy, all students and faculty members of the Grant Academy, this is this Vice Principal. We just received a report of some clear and impending danger to the academy. This is why I, as acting principal of the academy, will be declaring a state of emergency, and issuing an order of evacuation, effective immediately¡­¡± Chapter 564 ¡°... and I would request that all the students and faculty members report immediately to your point of contact, your head teachers or department heads and managers. In the meantime, all departures from the academy without official approval will be banned. Audit students, please report to the nearest house or department. I apologize for the abruptness of this order on behalf of the academy, and I thank you for your understanding and cooperation.¡± ¡°Evacuation order? Does that mean we have to head back?¡± While others in the diner started chattering and complaining, Jason asked Caroline and Laura Jensen with a frown: ¡°I wonder what - we will need to meet up with the detectives, and - Laura, where will you go?¡± ¡°I - I don¡¯t know.¡± Laura Jensen sat back on her chair, seeming as if someone just drained all of her energy: ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± ¡°Ms. Laura Jensen?¡± Just this moment, one female mage sitting beside a table on the side, who was found to be present somehow both times they came to the diner, came to their table: ¡°My name is Cassidy, I am a member of the security team of the academy. Can you come with us?¡± ¡°Wait, isn¡¯t it now the time to evacuate?¡± Jason squatted before Laura Jensen, sitting between her and the female mage, then asked: ¡°Why is she coming with you? What for? ¡± ¡°In accordance with the order from the academy administration to combat espionage activities and infiltration that had caused the academy great harm, many individuals including Laura Jensen have been put onto a persons of interest list. And it is also per the bylaws of the academy that during times like this when we are in a state of emergency, the academy security team will have authority to detain persons of interest and escort them to holding places to await further action and process.¡± The female mage with the name Cassidy said: ¡°Now please step aside, Mr.Lin, we are following orders and procedures.¡± ¡°Jason, it¡¯s fine.¡± Laura Jensen sighed and said: ¡°I suppose this is what happens - call it karma, or anything else.¡± ¡°Yeah, but this is not fair, is it?¡± Caroline stood up and asked: ¡°What is she guilty of? And where are you going to hold her?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry Ms. Baker, but we don¡¯t answer to you.¡± Cassidy shook her head and stared at Jason as several other mages came forward and surrounded the table: ¡°Please step aside, Mr. Lin, or you could face consequences from the academy and it could impact your status here as an audit student.¡±A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Jason, really.¡± Laura Jensen laid her hands on Jason¡¯s shoulders: ¡°I - I¡¯ll go with them.¡± ¡°Just a second please.¡± At this moment, the voice of Josephine Wong came from the side: ¡°According to the academy bylaws, the holding of persons of interest during times of state of emergency can still be delegated to authorized holding facilities, right? In fact, if I recall correctly, it is specifically stated that the persons of interest have the right to choose their holding facility, for they are still presumed innocent at this stage.¡± ¡°Ms. Wong.¡± The mages surrounded the table nodded at Josephine Wong and made way for her. But Cassidy still insisted: ¡°We are carrying out orders from the acting principal to keep an eye out for persons of high interest of espionage - ¡± ¡°Yeah I know, and I fully understand it¡¯s your job. But in case you don¡¯t know, these two here are the ones who captured a lot of the spies sent by Camile Jensen.¡± Josephine Wong nodded and said: ¡°And, even if Ms. Laura Jensen here is a high person of interest, unless you are about to charge her with anything, she IS a person of interest only. And I happen to know of an authorized holding facility, which would make both you and our hero students here comfortable.¡± Cassidy looked around at Josephine Wong and then Jason and Caroline, then took a final look at Laura Jensen and relented with a sigh: ¡°Fine, and which holding facility are you talking about?¡± ¡°Xianshi Inn, technically geographically located in San Jose, California.¡± Josephine Wong nodded and said: ¡°I understand if you haven¡¯t heard of it, because it¡¯s fairly new. In fact it¡¯s just officialized this morning. You can check with the headmasters and your head of security.¡± ¡°Understood, one moment please while I confirm.¡± Cassidy nodded and walked to the side. ¡°I take it that you are willing to go to this place for now?¡± Josephine Wong walked to the side of Jason and Laura Jensen: ¡°It¡¯s okay if you prefer another place - I¡¯m just suggesting and letting you know that you do have a choice.¡± ¡°Thank you very much Ms. Wong.¡± Laura Jensen let out a long sigh: ¡°And yeah, from what I¡¯ve heard about this inn, I can¡¯t imagine a better place to be held than that.¡± ¡°And don¡¯t forget I work there.¡± Jason chuckled and held Laura Jensen by the shoulder: ¡°Thank you very much Ms. Wong.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. But we¡¯ve gotta go right away.¡± Josephine Wong sighed and said: ¡°Let¡¯s head back right after, there''s a situation I will need to let you in on. And Laura, you¡¯d better know this as well.¡± ¡°Alright, I just confirmed with Mr. Flake, this Xianshi Inn is indeed a newly authorized holding place, signed off by all three headmasters and Mr. Flake himself.¡± Cassidy came back and said: ¡°Then, I¡¯ll trust that we can leave Ms. Laura Jensen in your custody, and that you are fully aware of the terms and guidelines of the holding of persons of interest?¡± ¡°Sure, you bet.¡± Josephine Wong nodded: ¡°Thank you for your hard work, Cassidy.¡± ¡°Ms.Wong.¡± Cassidy waved her hand at the other mages, and walked away from the table. ¡°So, what happened?¡± Caroline asked: ¡°Where¡¯s Boss?¡± Chapter 565 ¡°Come with me.¡± Josephine Wong sighed and said: ¡°Let¡¯s meet with Thomas and Aimee first. Maybe you can fill them in on the rest when you¡¯re back to safety. Since I don¡¯t really have the heart to tell you everything twice. But what I can tell you now is that it will take him a while before he can get back to us. And even when he¡¯s back, we won¡¯t have a lot of time.¡± ¡°Okay, that sounds¡­ not good.¡± Caroline scratched her nose and said: ¡°Was it due to the important thing he mentioned in his message?¡± ¡°What do you mean we won¡¯t have a lot of time?¡± Jason asked as he stepped on a floating purple energy plate conjured by Josephine Wong to traverse the academy ground: ¡°Boss - he¡¯s not doing something THAT dangerous is he?¡± ¡°Sometimes the danger just arises and those powerful enough just need to step up.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head: ¡°Now tell me, since I just heard from the headmasters that you have indeed caught spies trying to pry your rooms, how much do you know about the Hellingers?¡± ¡°Umm - not that much, but a lot more than before thanks to Laura, why does this name keep popping up?¡± Jason asked. At this moment, Josephine Wong had already taken them to the place where Aimee and Thomas were taking their finals tests, and all five students headed towards Anderson Plaza on the purple energy plate with Josephine Wong. And along their way, Josephine Wong quickly shared with them what she and Jianmen did today - after a quick discussion about what needed to be done, they headed towards the Hellinger Castle to stop a potentially really dangerous artifact from being taken by a group of the Hellinger remnants. But they ended up finding that they might be too late, and the suspicion they had that the ¡°artifact¡± the Hellingers had in their possession being related to a powerful substance in the world called Stone of Negation might just be true, and that it was unfortunately used inappropriately, which resulted in the very fabric of reality and this world being torn, and the defilers they were warned about could just be utilizing it to get into this world. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°I - I - I don¡¯t understand - how could the Hellingers possess such a thing?¡± It was Laura Jensen¡¯s first time hearing about this, and to no one¡¯s surprise she was stunned and was almost rendered speechless: ¡°If this was the case, how could they have lost during that - that incident?¡± ¡°Beats me. If it were me, I would¡¯ve used it when it was clear that my family had no chance of surviving the battle. But it¡¯s not important right now.¡± Josephine Wong got off the purple energy plate when they got to Anderson Plaza: ¡°Get back to the inn, Jianmen told me he could buy us two days, so - I¡¯d make good use of these two days.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Aimee and Caroline asked at the same time. ¡°It just means, take full advantage of these two days that Jianmen will be buying us.¡± Josephine Wong sighed as she started conjuring a portal with special shining purple and bright light edges: ¡°We have mobilized as many forces as we could, and I will try to mobilize some more and get more resources for the war - the defilers are coming, and it¡¯s not gonna be a good day for anyone. In fact, omens would have started to show everywhere.¡± ¡°But - how could I help?¡± Jason thought for a brief moment and asked: ¡°I still have my promise to Boss I have yet to fulfill.¡± ¡°Me too. Please let me know how I could help.¡± Caroline said. ¡°The basement, he had prepared a kit for both of you.¡± Caroline looked at Jason and Caroline with a smile: ¡°He did pick the right students, I¡¯m proud. I¡¯m sure he¡¯d feel the same way as me.¡± Then she turned to Aimee and Thomas: ¡°And detectives, I have prepared a kit for you as well. And I would give you the same advice: make these two days count for you.¡± ¡°Ms. Wong, this is gonna be the end of days isn¡¯t it?¡± Thomas asked with a trembling voice. ¡°Maybe it is, maybe not.¡± Josephine Wong finished the portal and stepped to the side: ¡°Like I said, make these two days count.¡± ¡°What - what can we do?¡± Aimee¡¯s eyes became red: ¡°What can we do to help?¡± Josephine Wong thought for a short moment, then sighed: ¡°Don¡¯t feel burdened to do anything - we came to this world much earlier than you, we have more time to harness power, position and resources, and it should just be us that hang onto the sky as it falls. Younger power wielders like you are the future, and just like any civilized society would do, we do not send our future into war. Now, go.¡± When they stepped out of the portal, they were right in front of the Xianshi Inn, where Rash was there waiting for them. But there something was very different: the streets around the inn were all gone, and all they could see were endless empty spaces with stars shining from great distances. ¡°Welcome back Misters. and Misses.¡± Rash gently bowed to them: ¡°Please don¡¯t mind the change of scenery, you will still be able to go wherever you want, just that you might need to use your power to do it. And cars no longer work.¡± Chapter 566 ¡°Caroline/Jason, if you¡¯re listening to this message, that means something that I¡¯ve been worried about has finally come true - that someone from this very world has abused a Stone of Negation, or something similar, and we might be looking at a critical time, where hopefully the most powerful individuals of our world would start to form an alliance against the darkness that¡¯s surely to come. ¡°And if you¡¯re listening to this message, it means that I have made the decision to not include you in this war, and you are to stay behind. I completely understand that you may feel distrusted and disappointed. But you must understand this, that this war that will be upon us is not something you can join yet. Leave it to us, those who are old and have had their time in this world, and have faith. ¡°I don¡¯t know how much time you have before the war starts, I¡¯d imagine a couple of days at max. My advice to you would be to make it count. During this phase, the flow of time in some areas of the inn will be increased, and the places of your families will be fortified to the maximum level. You have my permission to use everything in the inn, beside entering the fortress from the parking lot. Make these days count, and be careful, for I probably won¡¯t be there to help you now. ¡°May you have the courage and fortitude to handle everything this world throws at you. For you are the future, and all we old-timers can do, is to ensure that you have the chance and room to go on.¡± This was the message left for Caroline and Jason from Jianmen in their kit stashed in a compartment under a floor tile. Inside of each of their boxes was a new weapon orb for each of them - Caroline¡¯s was one that was translucent, with colors of orange, red and a little light green, while Jason¡¯s was in a dark silvery grey color; a plain looking wooden card, and a small scroll. Both Caroline and Jason knew exactly what the items were for the moment they touched them - the weapon orbs could turn into any weapon of their choice according to their will, and at the same time served as a transporting anchor which allowed them to teleport instantly back to the inn at the cost of their Xuanli, the more Xuanli they use, the more they can bring back, and if it was just themselves it would practically cost nothing; the wooden cards were time bound mortality scapegoats; and last but not least the small scrolls were lists of spells and tricks that were useful but Jianmen did not have the chance to teach them yet.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Jason sighed as he took all items inside his kit and put the empty back to where it was, then he exchanged looks with Caroline, neither of them said anything. ¡°Hey, what was it?¡± When Jason came out of the basement, Laura Jensen came up to him and asked. ¡°Weapons and some other stuff.¡± Jason let out a long exhale and held the hands of Laura Jensen: ¡°And a message, basically telling us that we¡¯re not going to join the war. Because, well, we¡¯re apparently too young and too weak.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s¡­ kinda good, right?¡± Laura Jensen was silent for a moment: ¡°You still have time. This is a war against the defilers, after all. That means you have time, to - to spend it with your families, and friends.¡± ¡°But if they fell, then we¡¯ll be next, so it doesn''t make too much of a difference.¡± Caroline banged her fist on the wall: ¡°I - I just don¡¯t know about this.¡± ¡°Come.¡± After pondering for half a minute, Jason grabbed Laura Jensen by the hand and started walking upstairs. ¡°Where are we going?¡± ¡°It¡¯s still early, but now is as good a time as any - let me introduce you to my family.¡± Caroline shook her head with a smile as Jason ¡°dragged¡± Laura Jensen to an impromptu meeting with his family, then she went into the kitchen and started looking for something to eat and drink. The moment she went into the diner, she felt that a lot of things were different - she felt that if she wanted to, she could see all of the planes of space stacked together around her, and if she would like to she could travel to or interact with any of them. And just by a quick look at the fridge and cupboards, she could see all the food and drink stored in there, and if she wanted she could take anything out and knew what their effects were. Partial ownership of the inn, this seemed to be, something Caroline imagined and wondered about having from time to time. And now she had it, all the wonders it presented did not seem to excite her one bit. With a tray full of food and drinks on it, Caroline walked upstairs and headed towards the room her brother and nephew were staying in. With just a thought in her mind, the stairs and the floor seemed to move by themselves and it took only a few seconds for her to reach the door to the room. ¡°Aunt Caroline!¡± Alex answered the door with cheers. Chapter 567 ¡°So how are things? Caroline?¡± Kane, Caroline¡¯s brother, asked Caroline while sitting under a tree beside a lake in the yard of their room, with a rough and crude looking fishing rod made of simple wood and a long thread with metallic shine in his hand: ¡°Can we go out now? Don¡¯t take this the wrong way - this room and this inn, they are both very very - well, how do I put this eloquently, magical. But it¡¯s not the real world out there - in here it¡¯s peaceful and joyous, too much so at times.¡± ¡°What, bounty hunter afraid of losing his touch?¡± Caroline chuckled as she watched Alex throw a fishing net at the lake and wait for fish to fall into the snare. ¡°Yeah, that, and if we stayed here any longer Alex would be missing school.¡± Kane laughed gently and said: ¡°And if Barbara knows, it¡¯s gonna be a whole lotta trouble.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You will be able to go out soon.¡± Caroline hesitated for a long while, then said to Kane, hard as she tried, her voice was still trembling: ¡°Soon, either way.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Kane noticed that Caroline seemed off, so he leaned in and asked: ¡°You¡¯re upset about something, what is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s - it¡¯s uh, complicated. It¡¯s just a lot, for me.¡± Caroline wiped off the tears from the corners of her eyes and said: ¡°I can¡¯t exactly tell you, but something bad could happen soon, and I am just not sure I am prepared, if I am cut out for all of this at all.¡± ¡°Hmm, I may not know what you¡¯re talking about, but I kinda get it, the sentiment, I mean.¡± Kane held Caroline¡¯s hand and said: ¡°Did I ever tell you the story of that mayor¡¯s wife?¡± ¡°Yeah, I kinda heard it once, or twelve times.¡± Caroline giggled then sighed: ¡°But this time it¡¯s different, it¡¯s not some political situation you can wager your way through, or a legal situation you can consult your lawyer friend and try to find a loophole or two to squeeze yourself out - it¡¯s something big, and really dangerous, there¡¯s practically no way to stop it, and the worst part is that I can¡¯t do anything, all I can do is sit on the sideline and wait for it to over. There¡¯s a chance it will not be terrible, but there¡¯s also a chance that it will be very very bad.¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°So, why worry about it?¡± Kane shrugged. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°If you can¡¯t do anything about it, then why be worried?¡± Kane shook his head: ¡°I know how you feel, but there¡¯s some relief in the feeling that you cannot do anything. If it was bound to happen and you can¡¯t do anything about it. Then you don¡¯t have any reason to worry. Why worry if shit¡¯s about to hit the fan? Just buy more fucking towels! No towel? Then just close your eyes and protect your nose and mouth.¡± ¡°That - you know that¡¯s an attitude I¡¯ve never condoned.¡± Caroline couldn¡¯t help but start laughing: ¡°And for that I envy you.¡± ¡°Aunt Caroline, you look worried.¡± Just this moment, Alex came to their side and said: ¡°You want to catch some fish with me?¡± ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± Caroline let Alex grab her by the hand and drag her to the side of the lake: ¡°What are you trying to catch?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what it¡¯s called. But it¡¯s pretty.¡± Alex answered: ¡°Dad told me we should keep him, but I just put him back.¡± ¡°Oh, so what¡¯s the point of catching him?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°I - I don¡¯t know. I just like it when I get to see him, and it feels like we¡¯re friends.¡± Alex stared at the water and said: ¡°And I asked Rash to make me a soft net, so that I don¡¯t hurt him if I¡¯m not careful.¡± ¡°Kid likes fishing, just not in the traditional sense.¡± Kane laughed and said. ¡°It¡¯s good, be proud of who you are and what you like.¡± Caroline smiled while slowly and gently stroking Alex¡¯s hair. ¡°Captain Wonderia says, it¡¯s an implied duty of us to make the world better with our actions, however little it may be.¡± Alex looked up at Caroline and said: ¡°I just don¡¯t wanna hurt him.¡± ¡°Captain Wonderia? Who is that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a pretty vintage superhero cartoon for kids we found on the TV.¡± Kane explained: ¡°We haven¡¯t heard of it before, the same goes for a bunch of other programs I¡¯ve never heard of.¡± ¡°Huh, that might be because of Boss.¡± Caroline shook her head and chuckled: ¡°He¡¯s got ¡­ well very particular taste. But at least I hope the programs he put in there are PG?¡± ¡°Oh yeah, all family friendly, kid friendly type of shows, barely any raunch in them.¡± Kane looked Caroline in the eye: ¡°Believe me, I tried.¡± ¡°What¡¯s ¡®raunch¡¯?¡± Alex asked while retrieving the fishnet he just cast. ¡°It¡¯s bad stuff, like cigarettes and alcohol.¡± Caroline answered with a smile: ¡°When you¡¯re older you¡¯ll understand.¡± ¡°Anyway, if this is such a big bad thing, what will your boss do? If he''s as powerful as you make him out to be, I assume he would be at the forefront?¡± ¡°Oh, he is, and he made the decision to not let me and Jason join him. Because it¡¯s dangerous, and because ¡®we¡¯re the future¡¯.¡± ¡°Sheesh, what a jerk.¡± Kane lay back and said. ¡°You know, you don¡¯t have to - ¡± ¡°I know.¡± Chapter 568 ¡°So - Laura, how¡¯d you know my brother Jason? And how long have you been dating?¡± Sitting in a spacious and comfortable tent near the forest in the ¡°farm¡± hidden under the garden at the back of the inn, Mack asked Laura with a gossip loving smile. ¡°It¡¯s been a couple of months, not long but not short either. We met at the Grant Academy. I enrolled as a regular student and have been there for a few years, while Jason was an audit student.¡± Lauran Jensen smiled as she helped the family slowly rotate the barbeque rack with a giant fish on it: ¡°It¡¯s actually a pretty messed up story - at least in the beginning - one of my younger cousins, who was also one of those overly proud ones with bully-ish tendencies challenged Jason and his friends for a duel. Then I was dragged into it because of some familial duty clauses.¡± ¡°Duel? Why do you have duels in an academy?¡± Jason¡¯s father asked: ¡°I thought this was the magical engineering school, Jason?!¡± ¡°Yeah, well, there are self defense courses as well, because people can use magic to do bad stuff as well. So you¡¯ve gotta be prepared. ¡± Jason chuckled as he tried to come up with a good excuse to cover things up, while giving Laura Jensen the look of him asking for help. ¡°That¡¯s true, actually only some of the students take more battle oriented courses.¡± Laura Jensen chuckled and said: ¡°My courses consist mainly of the ones related to arrays and energy theories, and Jason and I end up in some of those courses together ¡­¡± ¡°Which is like - electrical engineering and computer science.¡± Jason nodded immediately: ¡°I also take some courses in alchemy and basics of enchanted materialogy, which are like chemistry and - basics of materialogy.¡± ¡°Hey, Jason, we¡¯re not stupid, alright?¡± Jason¡¯s mother shook her head: ¡°We know full well that you did not learn martial arts just for exercise, and you did not go to the Grant Academy to become a magical engineer.¡± ¡°Geez, mom, why?¡± Jason put his palm on his face. Laura Jensen couldn¡¯t help but laugh harder. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Jason, we¡¯ve accepted that you¡¯re a cultivator now.¡± Jason¡¯s father laughed out loud as well: ¡°And we know you¡¯re not going to be an engineer. When cultivation and magic are real, why fixate on anything that would provide you with a stable life and income?¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Wow Dad, didn¡¯t know you could even come to terms with this.¡± Mack shrugged: ¡°I guess I could seriously consider going into the field of creative writing - ¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get carried away, Mack.¡± Jason¡¯s mother immediately said: ¡°There are still things that we would not approve of. Actors or comedians? That seems more okay now.¡± ¡°Aaaanyway, Laura, what happened after the duel?¡± Mack immediately changed the topic: ¡°It¡¯s a group duel right? Jason mentioned it to me once or twice, but what happened exactly? You know, from your point of view?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know what he told you. But he was indeed pretty good.¡± Laura Jensen patted Jason on the shoulder and said: ¡°In fact, he defeated me, though my heart wasn¡¯t in it because I did not like the way the duel was started and I was very angry and frustrated with how my cousin was acting. After that we met each other in an arrays club, and it just started from there.¡± ¡°Arrays club?¡± Mack laughed and looked at his parents: ¡°Mom, Dad, he¡¯s still a geek, just not an engineer.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, want me to show you my weapon again?¡± Jason shook his head: ¡°It¡¯s a geek¡¯s dream, I think they already know.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard of the word ¡®geek¡¯, but what does that mean?¡± Laura Jensen looked at Jason and asked: ¡°I vaguely remember that it is sometimes used in derogatory ways, but somehow it¡¯s gained a positive meaning?¡± ¡°Hmm, I¡¯m not sure either. I think overall it just means people who are passionate about things like comics, fantasy stories and video games.¡± Jason scratched his head. ¡°Okay, son. It¡¯s wonderful that you are here visiting us, and with such a wonderful girlfriend.¡± Jason¡¯s mother took a sip of her tea, then asked with a smile on her face and asked in Mandarin: ¡°What happened? Are you unhappy about something?¡± Jason¡¯s eyes instantly turned red, but he still shook it off: ¡°No, it¡¯s fine mom, don¡¯t worry about me.¡± ¡°Oh, son. You can tell us.¡± Jason¡¯s father softened his voice and said: ¡°I know we had our troubles, but I still want you to share with us.¡± Laura Jensen saw Jason¡¯s change in emotion and was about to help him explain: ¡°Actually¡­¡± ¡°NO! No, it¡¯s fine.¡± Jason grabbed Laura Jensen¡¯s hand and said: ¡°It¡¯s fine, I was just upset about something, but it¡¯s better now, nothing we can¡¯t solve. Just remember, our Boss is very very powerful, he¡¯ll help me.¡± ¡°That¡¯s nice to hear. We¡¯re relieved. But we¡¯d still like to advise you that you should not put too much burden and stress on yourself.¡± Jason¡¯s father sighed and said: ¡°And how about coming to visit more often? So that we don¡¯t recognize that something was bothering you everytime.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, of course, Dad.¡± Jason chuckled and said. ¡°Fish is done, we¡¯re good to go!¡± Laura Jensen picked the fish up from the fire and put it on the metal plate set on the side. ¡°Alright!¡± Jason rubbed his hand, then conjured two long and thin knives in his hands: ¡°Let me slice it up.¡± Everyone watched as Jason sliced the well roasted fish up into many pieces and put the pieces onto stone plates. ¡°You¡¯ll be alright. I don¡¯t understand your choice. But I¡¯m just glad to be here with you.¡± Laura Jensen¡¯s voice resounded in Jason¡¯s ears. ¡°Sorry about that.¡± Jason delivered his response through magical means without letting his family hear it: ¡°But I just don¡¯t want them to worry. I¡¯ll stand with them if it gets bad. But if Boss fixes it without anyone noticing, then there will be no reason to drop this information on them.¡± Chapter 569 After spending a few hours¡¯ time with Alex and Kane, Caroline came out of their room and used her partial owner privilege to teleport herself to the underground library, where she was surprised to find Jason and Laura Jensen. ¡°So you¡¯re here as well?¡± Caroline chuckled: ¡°What brought you here?¡± ¡°Trying to find a way to help Boss, even if we can¡¯t join the war directly.¡± Jason shrugged: ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°Essentially the same.¡± Caroline nodded: ¡°Some superhero named Captain Wonderia got it inside Alex¡¯s head that no matter how small we are, we could still try to make this world a better place.¡± ¡°Huh, never heard of this superhero.¡± Jason smiled: ¡°Something in the room TV?¡± ¡°Yeah exactly.¡± Caroline started walking towards the inner part of the library: ¡°So, what are you hoping to find here?¡± ¡°Just some books about the Defilers and if there¡¯s any way we can fight them - Wait, that¡¯s restricted, we¡¯re only at the 4th layer, I don¡¯t think Boss will allow us to go in there.¡± Jason put down the book in his hand. ¡°I know. But he¡¯s not here, I don¡¯t imagine knowledge about Defilers would be low tier and not restricted.¡± Caroline went into the deeper part of the underground library and started browsing the books one by one. Jason sighed and looked at Laura, then stood up and said: ¡°Okay, looks like the books we¡¯ve found so far aren¡¯t telling us much anyway.¡± ¡°Huh, told ya.¡± Laura Jensen patted Jason on the back and jumped up with him. ¡°Looks like a lot of spell books and manuals.¡± Caroline swept through one bookshelf from top to bottom and said: ¡°I wonder what spells could help us - here, ¡®Advanced Cultivation Techniques and Signs¡¯.¡± ¡°I think if you¡¯re going to go against ancient evils like the Defilers, you¡¯d probably want to find some historical records. Not sure if your boss has it here?¡± Laura Jensen started browsing through another shelf and said: ¡°I don¡¯t know much about these things either, but I do know there are some research papers and old tomes about ancient evils in my family¡¯s library, and some of them have mentioned Defilers, just not a lot of details.¡±Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Okay.¡± Jason nodded, then he raised his head and said to the ceiling: ¡°Historical records please.¡± The slightly high pitched creaking sound of wooden furniture sliding across the ground came from the side, and one tall bookshelf with three sides came from somewhere deeper in the library. One side of this shelf was all scrolls, while the other two sides had a lot of books and tomes with different covers and even completely different media on it - some of which were even stone tablets or turtle shells. ¡°Uh-Oh.¡± Jason went forward and sensed the books and other various media of information placed on the shelf: ¡°These are not books for you to read. These are Records of Aspects.¡± ¡°Huh, that¡¯s gonna be a loot box of information.¡± Caroline shook her head. ¡°What - um, what are Records of Aspects?¡± Laura Jensen raised her hand and asked: ¡°Pretty sure we don¡¯t use that name on anything.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a kind of memory, which can be replayed, transcribed or even info-dumped into one¡¯s mind directly. But it works best if you immerse yourself in it and experience the information from the narrator¡¯s perspective.¡± Jason sighed: ¡°Well, this is probably going to take a bit of effort - let me see: find me the ones with information regarding the Defilers!¡± The bookshelf with three sides shook a bit, and still stayed in place. ¡°So querying doesn¡¯t work.¡± Jason scratched his head. ¡°Or did it work, but all of these records have information regarding the Defilers.¡± Laura Jensen walked to the bookshelf and looked at all the records closely but with caution: ¡°Do you know if there¡¯s a summary of what kind of information each of these contains?¡± ¡°Okay, let me try.¡± Jason¡¯s eyes glowed up in silver as he looked at the records on the bookshelf: ¡°Boss has put some kind of basic information restriction on these records. They don¡¯t seem super complicated, I¡¯d take it that he wanted us to crack them someday when we¡¯re ready.¡± ¡°Sounds like Boss.¡± Caroline shrugged. Jason took a deep breath, then extended his right hand at some of the items on the bookshelf to try to read some surface level information about the knowledge that was stored in those artifacts. Within seconds, whispers from different voices in various different languages started appearing in his ears. Though he did not speak many of these languages, he could still understand most of them, for most of the items of record bearing these information came with the enchantment enabling them to convey information to the listener directly though the mind. ¡° ¡­ it is through a long hard process of meditation and self conjured tribulation, that I was able to peek through the shrouds around the entrance of the abyss, and see the corruptive creatures lurking below ¡­¡± ¡°... the blinding shines of the stars shall not hinder the eyes of the seeker, and the nature of the gods and their kingdoms is revealed to me ¡­¡± ¡° ¡­ the burning of the sky and the collapse of the sun showed me that the darkness should be repelled by unconventional means¡­¡± ¡° ¡­ the existence of Godhood itself is a dangerous luxury - it places the command of order itself into the holds of sentient and very fallible beings, the very beings that should have adhered to the decrees of order ¡­¡± ¡°... the kingdoms of Gods, in many ways, are parts of the Gods and their Godhood, in fact, the kingdoms are more the representation and aspect of Godhood than the Gods themselves - they are solidified, concentrated constructs of order, with the most dense concentration at the center and less so around the edges; the more concentrated the order is, the more powerful the Godhood tends to be ¡­¡± ¡°Woah!¡± Jason immediately retreated his hand and looked at the bookshelf with a worried look on his face. ¡°What? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Laura Jensen asked. ¡°I just heard some very very heavy knowledge. So I cut the connection to not hurt myself.¡± Jason rubbed his shoulders and checked his own body and mind: ¡°But somehow - I don¡¯t feel anything.¡± Chapter 570 ¡°... and it is precisely under the assumption that Godhoods are the clusters and ¡®knots¡¯ of order and being in the universe, my fellows and I ventured into the depths of knowledge and insanity about the world without order - the corners of the world where nothing is conceivable and everything can be and can be not. ¡°And there we saw but one small chip of the tip of the iceberg of horribleness and terror. The absence of order meant that our tools, our magical and physical measures with which we observe the world, our cognition and even our minds stopped working the moment they encountered actual absolute chaos. ¡°The absence of order, as we could conclude, meant the absence of anything meaningful or conceivable, and as humans with sentience and conscience, without any morals or concepts of good, bad, functional or dysfunctional. It¡¯s emptier than the void, yet it¡¯s denser and darker than the greatest dark hole. ¡°Having realized these, it has become much more puzzling to me and my fellows how Defilers, being destructive and corrosive as they might be, could even exist. It has long been documented and remembered that Defilers and Desolators loathe order and crave chaos. Yet existence in itself is a product of order, one could even argue it is the core and foundation of order, more profound than Godhood, energy fields or waves. ¡°... ¡°After the long, arduous and painful process of experimenting, experiencing and putting our limits to the test, one common thing we found was that strong will, determination, and steadfast intent, no matter from what kind of it comes from, has enabled my fellows and I to navigate through the insanity and boundless delirium and come out still ourselves. There were many a time where we looked back, we still have no idea how we managed to pull ourselves out. We know not why and how our stubborn clinging to our last grain of sanity and our desperate pleas to survive had pushed some of the darkness and chaos away. But we were infinitely grateful and hopeful that it did, before it provided us with a theory that could prove useful for those that will come after us: that the Defilers are not the unstoppable force that we once thought they were. For they are, still deeply rooted in our collective minds and cognition, bringer of destruction and collapse of order. And the theory is actually quite simple: the fortitude of the sentient beings, the fortitude of the will of the self aware hardens the order of the world, making it even harder for the Defilers to travel through the worlds and act in them as long as they are not yet fully consumed by chaos. And since we know that Defilers follow the rifts and cracks of the fabric of the world and the order that exists in it, one course of action would be to mend the wounds done unto the world, through whatever means by whatever entities.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°It is my humble and possibly naively hopeful observation and conclusion, that only through strong wills can people and civilizations survive the presence and onslaught of these creatures. May this be of help to you.¡± The clouds and flames cleared around Jason, Caroline and Laura Jensen, same as the shadow of the narrator walking through the desolated sceneries projected from a stone tome. ¡°Okay. No weight.¡± Jason took a deep breath and looked around at Laura Jensen and Caroline: ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Not that I could tell.¡± Both responded with negative answers. ¡°Which is¡­ kinda worrying to me.¡± Laura Jensen hesitantly said: ¡°If I remember correctly, the weight of knowledge is enforced by the fabric of the world and reality - so ¡­¡± ¡°But if the fabric of reality is really torn apart, I think we should be able to feel it.¡± Jason frowned and said: ¡°At the very least, there should be some signs.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that serious either, it should be something else. Isn¡¯t there some kind of protective array or trick about the energy field that could lessen the weight of knowledge? With the structures and enchantments placed in this inn by Boss, wouldn¡¯t that be a possibility?¡± Caroline looked at Laura Jensen. ¡°In theory, yes. But no array could remove the weight entirely, as the weight ultimately rests on the gainer of knowledge, so you should still be able to feel a small portion of it.¡± Laura Jensen shook her head. ¡°Then it¡¯s probably something else - I might even suspect it¡¯s some kind of defence mechanism from the world, because IF the Defilers are coming, then there would be immensely beneficial to any beings in the world to be able to gain as much knowledge as possible in order to defend the order.¡± Jason nodded: ¡°Just like how all knowledge about the universe and reality itself is weighted, but everything about the nature of Defilers does not have any weight.¡± ¡°So what now?¡± Caroline stretched and asked. ¡°Godhoods are the knots and clusters of order.¡± Jason pondered on this phrase used by the narrator of the record they just watched: ¡°¡®Knots and clusters¡­¡¯ I wonder if dealing with bad deeds done by evil gods will help us - ¡± ¡°You know, I¡¯m just gonna ask about it.¡± Laura Jensen shrugged and said: ¡°Other than your boss, who else you have interacted with has Godhood? Does Rash have it?¡± ¡°Nah I don¡¯t think so, my brother asked him once before, and he said no.¡± Caroline shook her head: ¡°But Jason - I think you - ¡± ¡°Yeah I know. ¡± Jason nodded and looked Caroline and Laura Jensen in the eyes: ¡°I think the best place to start will be to go to that SJPD precinct again. I want to look into that notebook and that statue. We¡¯ll have to contact Aimee and Thomas. Laura, do you want to come with us?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh! Sure sure! Of course.¡± Laura Jensen seemed surprised by the question, but soon she answered with a smile: ¡°There¡¯s nothing for me to do here anyway. And I¡¯m glad I could help.¡± ¡°Okay, I have some bones to pick with vampires and lycans as well. Let¡¯s find the detectives.¡± Caroline smiled and nodded: ¡°I think they¡¯re in the inn as well.¡± Chapter 571 ¡°Call me when you need my help.¡± Standing in front of the entrance to the SJPD precinct in which they got stuck last time, Jason told Caroline and Thomas: ¡°I can sorta conjure a portal now, I don¡¯t think I can fit a person through it, but I can toss you some sigils and medicines and other stuff through it.¡± ¡°Yes, and you be careful as well. Call me if you need backup.¡± Caroline shook hands with Jason: ¡°Good luck taking on a God, huh? Be very careful.¡± ¡°You too, good luck with the lycans and vampires.¡± Jason chuckled and nodded at Thomas. After waving Caroline and Thomas goodbye, Jason went back into the precinct, where one female detective with dark hair in a dark blue suit was there waiting for him. ¡°Mr. Lin, Ms Chaver. I¡¯m Detective Vandez.¡± The female detective extended her hand at Jason and Aimee: ¡°I¡¯m assigned by the Captain to assist you in this particular case.¡± ¡°Thank you detective.¡± Aimee nodded and shook Detective Vandez¡¯s hand. ¡°Thank you, and this is Laura, she¡¯s here as an expert consultant as well.¡± Jason shook the detective¡¯s hand while pointing at Laura Jensen on his side: ¡°Hope that¡¯s okay - she¡¯s also had a ton of experience dealing with similar situations.¡± ¡°Of course, we could use more help.¡± Detective Vandez also shook hands with Laura Jensen: ¡°So, where would you want to start?¡± ¡°The body of the conduit.¡± Jason immediately said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry - I¡¯m not - ¡± ¡°The perp who got sliced in half like a hotdog bun.¡± Aimee said. ¡°Oh, luckily that body¡¯s still held here - our captain tried to get it moved to somewhere else but was ordered from some higher up people to keep it sealed here in our forensics lab.¡± Detective Vandez sighed: ¡°And everyone¡¯s kinda avoiding the entire lab right now, even our forensic scientists and techs. From what I¡¯ve heard, if we can get a sign off from qualified experts we could finally get rid of it. Are you qualified experts?¡±Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°Qualified by whom?¡± Jason asked as he followed Detective Vandez: ¡°What have you heard about the body? If anything I¡¯m pretty sure we shouldn¡¯t keep it here.¡± ¡°Not much. At this point any information would help a great deal. Our officers are getting impatient - we appreciate your help and we know that this kind of - things is out of our hands just like what happened at San Francisco. But we do need some communication to let us know what was going on.¡± Detective Vandez led them to a dusty and messy underground area to the front of a shut door with police tapes over the handle and the lock. ¡°Sure, I don¡¯t know what I can tell you either, but I¡¯ll try to keep you in the loop. Just don¡¯t tell me to ¡®speak English¡¯.¡± Jason chuckled as Detective Vandez peeled open the police tape and opened up the door. A gush of cold and slightly smelly wind came out the moment the door opened, to Detective Vandez, it carried just a moldy and dusty smell, but to Jason, Laura Jensen and Aimee, it carried a special pungent stench that that seemed to combine the smell of rotten flesh, dried blood and old tar. ¡°That does not seem good.¡± Laura Jensen covered her mouth and nose: ¡°What kind of fallen god is this?¡± ¡°Boss didn¡¯t tell me, I didn¡¯t get a chance to ask.¡± Jason shook his head as he helped Detective Vandez open up an apparently new and temporary body freezer placed on the side and pulled out the body of an individual with a technically unknown identity onto a metal table at the center of the room. Aimee flipped open the switch to the light of the room, and everyone could see that this entire room was indeed left empty and deserted for a while without anyone doing the upkeep. The body was grey and somewhat green in a couple of places, the body was neatly and smoothly sliced open from the middle, the cut spanning from the top of his head to his crotch area was deep enough to reach the spine, and even in the spine area. The internal organs of the body were still inside, though they seemed dried up, grey, dark green and shriveled. On the limbs of the body, there were markings of strange scratches, small puncture wounds, and most visible of all, dark markings of veins and small cracks like those on old rocks. ¡°Where do all these wounds and marks come from?¡± Laura Jensen came to the side of the central metal table and asked: ¡°These are really - I mean really REALLY bad.¡± ¡°According to the forensic report done by our expert, who was taking a vacation at the time of the incident, they occured the second day of the examination.¡± Detective Vandez took a noteboard from under the metal table and handed it to Jason: ¡°The officers and techs that handled the body did not note these markings, so they occurred some time after. And also, some officers who were not here the day of the incident that came near the room reported that they have been having nightmares.¡± ¡°Here.¡± Jason ripped a piece of blank paper from the board and drew a simple sigil on it and handed it to Detective Vandez: ¡°This should help. But let us know if you still experienced something. Laura, what do you see?¡± ¡°Knowledge scars.¡± Laura Jensen gently pried open a crack on the body¡¯s right leg: ¡°Look.¡± When Jason and Aimee looked into the crack, they could see burnt flesh and bones, as well as some small shiny grains of unknown substance and origin sprinkled around the insides of the wounds. ¡°Could it be from being the conduit itself?¡± Jason asked with a frown. ¡°Not very likely.¡± Laura Jensen and Aimee said at the same time. ¡°Being a conduit places the bulk of the weight of the knowledge on the god itself.¡± Laura Jensen sighed and answered: ¡°It¡¯s one of those ¡®conveniences¡¯ of being a conduit.¡± ¡°And also because conduits would become the body of the Gods themselves.¡± Aimee said with her voice slightly trembling: ¡°At least, that¡¯s what I read from the books in the library - back at the inn.¡± Chapter 572 ¡°What are you talking about? What god?¡± Detective Vandez asked as Jason, Laura Jensen and Aimee proceeded to examine the body. ¡°The thing that caused the incident, it¡¯s a fallen god, at least that¡¯s what I¡¯m told..¡± Aimee immediately answered, but then she realized something and looked to Detective Vandez. ¡°What? Did I say something?¡± Detective Vandez appeared confused. ¡°No. It¡¯s just - normally this kind of information cannot be spilled easily.¡± Aimee shook her head, then asked: ¡°Hey, sorry I didn¡¯t get a chance to ask this - are you gifted?¡± ¡°Gifted? Meaning - having superpowers like you?¡± Detective Vandez appeared slightly confused at first, then shook her head: ¡°Not that I know of - unless you have some way to tell?¡± ¡°I - I actually don¡¯t, sorry.¡± Aimee sighed: ¡°It¡¯s just - the information I just told you, be careful with it and don¡¯t tell just anyone, okay?¡± ¡°Sure, no problem. But I would still like some clarification - what does a god have to do with this? And what¡¯s a ¡®fallen¡¯ god? Does it mean he¡¯s dead?¡± ¡°No, but he fell from his godhood, he lost it, and he was trying to regain his strength through his conduits.¡± Jason picked up some of the shiny grains embedded inside the body¡¯s wounds using a pair of tweezers he conjured using his Xuanli: ¡°I haven¡¯t seen this before, can we use a classification array?¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± Laura Jensen reached into her purse and took out a scroll. She then found an empty and relatively tidy spot and laid the scroll open there, revealing a complicated array drawn on it with lines tied to a number of small squares of different colors at the edge of the scroll. Jason then placed the tiny grains he collected from the wounds into the circle at the center of the array. Laura Jensen infused the array with her power, then array lit up, a transparent energy dome appeared covering the center of the array on which the grains were placed, and a few dozens of small streams of energy current started circling inside the dome, deconstructing the grains to smaller particles and carrying them around as they flowed inside the dome. ¡°Well - we have a small centrifuge over there - ¡± Detective Vandez appeared confused as she watched the array work.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Thanks.¡± Laura Jensen chuckled: ¡°But it¡¯s not gonna work for this - this is very probably energy constructs, meaning that they could have very different mass and density even when they¡¯re made of the same substance. And this array could distinguish the basic energy signatures of the materials being examined and sort them out through various different measures.¡± After around one minute, the energy currents stopped, and all the smaller particles were dispersed and funneled through the thin energy tunes formed along the lines to the colored squares on the edge of the scroll. When the energy currents completely died down, five of the squares lit up - dark red, light blue, light yellow, dark green and dark purple. ¡°Okay - what do we have here - ¡± Laura Jensen read along the notes and markings along the edge of the scroll: ¡°Dark red - means blood, no surprise there; light blue - crystalized energy constructs with no strong elemental properties or affinities other than water; light yellow - particles imprinted with strong markings of power of mind and will; dark green - decayed flesh, again, no surprise; dark purple - indication of Xen magic or darker magical energy. And - oh!¡± A square with a vortex of red, blue and green drawn on it shimmered in a dim light. And Jason leaned back and sighed after reading the notes beside the square. ¡°Traces of essence burn - indication of burning of life force, essence of magical abilities or even one¡¯s soul.¡± Aimee read the text with a lower and lower voice. ¡°Which means that fucking fallen god tapped him dry in your fight, probably destroying any traces that could lead us to him. ¡± Laura Jensen sighed: ¡°To be honest, for the first time seeing a conduit in the flesh, this kinda sucks.¡± ¡°Let me try something.¡± Jason took a deep breath and said: ¡°It¡¯s a spell I asked Boss to teach me. He told me to be careful with it, but this could be as good a time as any.¡± ¡°What? What spell is it?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we move to a more empty space when you try?¡± Laura Jensen asked. ¡°This spell has a greater chance to succeed if we are in the same space as the place where the conduit dies. But we should probably evacuate the precinct first.¡± Jason conjured his silver pen-spear and drew a symbol above, which then turned into a bubble shield covering up almost the entire room: ¡°Detective Vandez, can you ask the officers to leave the building for a quick while?¡± ¡°O - okay, but what should I tell them?¡± ¡°Crack!¡± Before any of the three power wielders at the scene could answer, the body seemed to have some kind of reaction to Jason¡¯s spell - it¡¯s neck leaned forward slightly and its shoulders twisted and expanded, seeming like it was trying to get up. Detective Vandez almost jumped and screamed, while instinctually standing in front of Aimee and Laura Jensen ready to draw her gun. ¡°What the fuck? You didn¡¯t cast the spell right?¡± Laura Jensen readied attack spells on both her hands. ¡°No I did not, all I did was conjure the dome.¡± Jason shook his head. ¡°Ready your mind blocks, this sucker could try to pull us into limbos!¡± Aimee shook both her hands, and streams of light blue energy came from inside her sleeves and formed two ice scimitars in her hands. ¡°It¡¯s you ¡­ it¡¯s you!¡± A weak but hoarse voice came from the opened belly of the body as it sat up like a rag doll with a speaker embedded in the abdomen area: ¡°It¡¯s you! You are responsible for this - you should pay for this!¡± The body sat up straight on the metal table, with the slicing wound at the center wide open, and at the stomach area, Jason could see a wide face made of rotten and wrinkled flesh - when he took a closer look, it seemed to him that the body¡¯s stomach had turn into the face somehow. Chapter 573 ¡°What is that?! What the fuck is that!?¡± Detective Vandez had her gun pointed at the belly of the body: ¡°Is it alive? Is it possessed?¡± ¡°Possessed, possibly.¡± Laura Jensen chanted a quick spell in her mind and enchanted Detective Vandez¡¯s gun: ¡°Careful, leave it to us. You go and warn the others, tell them to evacuate the building.¡± ¡°On it.¡± Detective Vandez nodded and tried to open the door and get out - but the door wouldn''t open. ¡°Fuck, already?¡± Aimee tried nudging on the door, and she could feel some kind of sticky and rubbery energy had sealed the door shut: ¡°Alright, stand back, I¡¯m gonna cut this open for you.¡± ¡°You are responsible - my pain, my anguish, my regret, my POWER! You are responsible! And you shall be mine!¡± The rotten flesh face grew bigger, more detailed and fiercer looking, pulling in and merging more of the body¡¯s internal organs, flesh and even some ribs and other bones in the process. ¡°Why don¡¯t you try, leather face?¡± Jason¡¯s body glowed in silver light as he pulled back his pen-spear by his right side and readied for a strike, while his left hand conjured a silver tower shield: ¡°I cut your fucking conduit in half, and I will come for you next.¡± The body screeched from the face in the belly, its head shrunk and got pulled into the chest cavity and dissolved like a pill in warm water. During this process, the body¡¯s arms and legs all grew longer and somehow more muscular like a mutated monster from science fiction movies. The next moment, it leapt from the metal table like a giant ugly four-legged spider, and the nails on its fingers and toes pointing right at Jason. Jason backstepped but pushed his left arm forward, some parts of his silver tower shield turned into three silver energy spears shooting right at the body¡¯s chest and belly. The body¡¯s shoulders and left waist were penetrated by the silver energy spears, while its right foot landed a strike on Jason¡¯s silver tower shield. A deafening scratching sound appeared, the sharp and black nails on the body¡¯s right foot toes left four transparent scratches, if it was able to exert any more force it might just do some damage to Jason¡¯s wrist and arm. But the momentum from the three silver energy spears had pushed it back. The face made of rotten flesh and melted bones at the belly of the body shot out from the abdomen cavity of the body, and just like a snapping turtle head, it curled it¡¯s ¡°neck¡± and opened its mouth wide trying to bypass the blockade of the tower shield and bite at Jason¡¯s shoulder. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Laura Jensen tossed out her spell right at the moment the head shot out of the body¡¯s belly cavity, two thin layers of energy walls connected from the upper part appeared in the air right in front of the head. ¡°Crack! Crack!¡± The two energy walls were pierced by the head and its neck in just the blink of an eye, and the next instant, an electric shock was delivered through the neck and head from the two energy walls, which caused it to twitch while in midair and its attack to be temporarily stopped. Jason infused his Xuanli into his pen-spear and swung it at the head protruding from the body. ¡°Bang!¡± A shockwave exploded from the point of impact, both Jason and Laura Jensen got instantly pushed back from their positions while the body rolled on the metal table and onto the corner desk of the room. ¡°Ching!¡±Aimee¡¯s scimitar left a deep cut on the door, but when she retrieved her weapon and was about to strike again, some dark black goo emerged from the cut and the area around it and formed some kind of filling on it. Laura Jensen¡¯s both hands lit up in different colors, and as she made different hand signs with her hands, energy bolts shot out from them aiming at the body. The body flailed its limbs on the desk, against the wall and in the air, which allowed it to dodge some of the energy bolts while sustaining the damage from others. The head from the body screeched again and a transparent shockwave shot from its mouth and throat. Jason felt a quick blur of his visions, but his mental block activated immediately and enabled him to shake off the attempt by the body trying to pull him into a limbo. The silver energy dome created by Jason earlier made a ringing and buzzing sound, then it cracked up all over the place. Under the influence of the shockwave, Detective Vandez gasped and her whole body twitched. The next second she lost her balance and almost fell to the ground. Aimee felt a sharp headache and sudden dizziness, but she remained conscious and functional to catch the detective before she hit the ground. Jason wielded his pen-spear and wrote the Chinese character of ¡°entrap¡± in the air, then the character turned into a few dozen tiny energy hooks with chains and shot at the body and wrapped all over its limbs and many body parts. And with its left arm and both of its legs wounded by Laura Jensen¡¯s attacks, it was not able to put up much of a fight against them. ¡°You seem weaker, you scum.¡± Jason lunged at the chained up body and jabbed his pen-spear at the head from the abdomen. Helping him with his attack, was Laura Jensen with a swiftly chanted binding spell trying to lock the body in its place and suppress its power. The head tried to screech again, but the sharp tip of the pen-spear jammed right into its jaw, and with it a stream of energy flooded right into its throat and small internal body. ¡°Boom!¡± The body was blown apart from inside into hundreds if not thousands of pieces that splattered all over the room. ¡°Crack!¡± The door to the room sprung open with several deep cuts and cracks on the handle. ¡°Are you okay? Detective?¡± Aimee held Detective Vandez in her arms, who was shaking like she was in an extremely cold environment or having a seizure. Laura Jensen rushed to Aimee and Detective Vandez¡¯s side to examine the detective, and just when Jason was about to do the same, he had a tingling feeling that a faint shadow was breezing past him. And without any hesitation, he concentrated his Xuanli and his power of mind and will on his left arm and grabbed at the air in front of him. A silver shadow of a hand and an arm shot from his left hand and grabbed a faint shadow from the air. Sensing that he had really grabbed something, Jason strengthened his grasp with an additional spell cast from his pen-spear in his right hand and turned the silver shadow hand into a bubble with a thick and transparent wall. Inside the silver bubble, Jason was able to see the shadow of a double headed centipede-like creature struggling frantically inside trying to break out. And with the silver energy bubble blocking all influence this shadow could bring to the external world, Detective Vandez¡¯s condition immediately began to improve. Chapter 574 ¡°If I had to guess, this would be the ¡®seed¡¯ of conduit.¡± Laura Jensen examined the heavily enchanted glass in which they placed the silver energy bubble that held the shadow two headed centipede creature: ¡°So what we just saw was, you know, an ¡®offline copy¡¯, instead of a ¡®live feed¡¯. And your defeating and killing the conduit clearly upsets it, enough to forcefully come back to life again and try to attack you.¡± ¡°Well, if it was, I¡¯m not even sure we could handle it.¡± Jason shrugged: ¡°But this is good, at least we could say that the precinct is cleansed and safe now.¡± ¡°Wait, what do you mean by your killing the conduit?¡± Detective Vandez, who was conscious now and drinking a mug of hot tea, asked with a confused look on her face.: ¡°The captain said you saved everyone and broke them out of the - limbo thing. But he did not mention - ¡± ¡°Yeah, to be fair I was not in the right state of mind - ¡± Jason sighed as he put another layer of sealing spell on the jar: ¡°Long story short - the one who created the limbo, or the one central medium the fallen god created the limbo through, or with, was this conduit, and inside that limbo, it manifested before me, and I fought and defeated it. ¡± ¡°Oh, so you were the one who sliced him open like this.¡± Laura Jensen continued with her examination of Laura Jensen¡¯s pulses, heart rate and pupils and responded with a ¡°sheesh¡± facial expression: ¡°What did the manifestation look like in the limbo, a giant obnoxious evil bagel?¡± ¡°A human-shaped monster, who seemed to be controlling the limbo from its core, and that giant obnoxious evil bagel blinded my eye.¡± Jason shook his head, then looked to Detective Vandez and explained: ¡°And when I slew it, the limbo started to crumble, and when we got out safely, I found out that some perp in the holding cell was dead along with the rest of the inmates, but this one¡¯s sliced open from the center, the same way I defeated the monster in the limbo.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying, this - conduit, thing.¡± Detective Vandez rubbed her temples using her thumb and middle finger from left hand: ¡°It¡¯s the one that created the limbo?¡± ¡°Maybe, maybe not.¡± Jason said: ¡°Earlier that day when I came here, I sensed something wrong coming from the evidence room, and apparently your officers had logged a small statue connected to that fallen god into evidence, right around the same time where that perp was being held - ¡± ¡°So it¡¯s connected.¡± Aimee and Detective Vandez said at the same time.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Or planned.¡± Laura Jensen looked into Detective Vandez¡¯s pupils: ¡°I don¡¯t have too much knowledge about that fallen god - any theories on what it wants with the people here?¡± ¡°Souls, spirits, pain and suffering.¡± Jason wrote two paper sigils using two pieces of document papers scattered on the ground: ¡°Apparently it¡¯s that scum¡¯s power source.¡± ¡°Okay, to be honest, not that surprising.¡± Laura Jensen sighed and patted Detective Vandez on the shoulder: ¡°You should be good, if you still feel weird, or have really bad nightmares, just contact Jason.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Detective Vandez continued rubbing her temples: ¡°What - what¡¯s next?¡± Just this moment, Jason¡¯s phone rang, and it was Caroline. ¡ª------------ ¡°So, where to first?¡± When the car drove away from the entrance of Xianshi Inn, Thomas asked Caroline. ¡°I haven¡¯t been following up much, you are the detective, so you lead.¡± Caroline shook her head and chuckled: ¡°And you are the student of THE Josephine Wong, you have more access to this kind of intelligence than I do.¡± ¡°Alright, fair, fair.¡± Thomas smiled and shrugged: ¡°Then we go to that bar you leveled first, then that factory and apartment complex, then we go to a field office of the Division, Ms. Wong told me that there are some documents prepped for us to aid us in our investigation.¡± ¡°Good. Go.¡± Caroline nodded: ¡°Can you brief me on what you¡¯ve learned? What¡¯s up with lycans and vampires, and what kind of connections do they have with the cult of Bleeding Daggers?¡± ¡°Ah, so you DO know something.¡± Thomas turned left then stopped at a red light: ¡°Well, what I¡¯ve heard is the most common theory is that Bleeding Daggers, being one of the OG supernatural cult slash gangs, has many members that are not human - it might be some of the less popular sections of the lycans and vampires - the ¡®Impure Bloods¡¯.¡± ¡°And these ¡®Impure Bloods¡¯ would be those that are not pure blood lycans or vampires?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°Kinda cliche¡¯ isn¡¯t it?¡± The light turned green, and Thomas accelerated and drove through the intersection before them, the shadow of a thick piece of cloud moved along with the car and blocked off a lot of the sunlight that could have been enjoyed by the two: ¡°When I get into the files and dossier Ms. Wong gave me, I could not shake off the feeling that the whole vampire and lycan society just functions like human gangs, in many ways more prejudicial, more bloodline obsessed and more terribly violent and gruesome, because it is harder to kill them.¡± ¡°Well, I could imagine so. How many gang members would lump your arm off and swallow it?¡± Caroline looked at the side of Thomas¡¯ face and smiled. ¡°Huh, not many.¡± Thomas took a look at Caroline and said: ¡°But I haven¡¯t heard of any law enforcement officers or agents badass enough to destroy a perp with one arm either.¡± ¡°Crack!¡± A sudden thunder crack lit up the sky, after which, small pieces of hail started dropping from the sky. ¡°Fuck, I just got it washed and polished.¡± Thomas cursed as he turned on the windshield wiper to wipe off the ice flakes in front of him. ¡°Hey, Thomas, I was wondering¡­¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°I was wondering, do you wanna grab a coffee when this is over?¡± ¡°Well, didn¡¯t we just have coffee at the inn ¡­ oh, I mean yeah! I¡¯d love to!¡± Chapter 575 ¡°Mr. Chaver, Ms. Baker, thank you for coming.¡± An agent wearing a grey suit with a pair of silver earbuds in his ears came and greeted Caroline and Thomas at the site of a former bar lycan and vampires, which was leveled by Caroline during a fight. Just like some other sites, the clean up, media coverup and quarantine was left to the agents of the Division. ¡°I am Agent Hall, I work for Ms. Wong.¡± ¡°Hi Agent Hall, how¡¯s it going?¡± Thomas shook hands with the agent, they met before while he was digging into the history of this very bar, and the related intels about the organization and M.Os of the vampires and lycans. ¡°We did have some interesting findings that you may want to take a look at, per Ms. Wong¡¯s order, all the related information has been organized and we will share some copies with you.¡± Agent Hall led them into the ring of police tapes and to an exposed cellar area at the center of the site: ¡°And some of them will be thanks to you, if you hadn¡¯t brought this place completely down, we wouldn¡¯t even get a chance to dig deep under it. Because as you can imagine, our department¡¯s kinda lacking in personnel that could pass as either lycans or vampires.¡± ¡°What about that guy - that ¡­ Alexander guy?¡± Caroline asked as she followed agent Hall into the cellar, where she could see many storage rooms with different internal decorations and shelves and racks with different sizes, heights and widths, and many different items that were placed on them: ¡°He¡¯s a lycan right?¡± ¡°Mr. Alexander was indeed a lycan, and he was once a member of a small clan, known for producing highly otherwise gifted lycans. But none of them could be a spy or be undercover, for there is a distinct scent from the members of that clan, which could be instantly recognized by other lycans and vampires.¡± Agent Hall led Caroline and Thomas into a side room, where there was a table covered by a clean grey table cloth, and had some documents and small items on it. There were other agents of the Division in the cellar cataloguing different items and removing items from the shelves and crates carefully and slowly. ¡°Okay, so what do we have?¡± Thomas took a folder handed to him by Agent Hall and asked: ¡°This bar is some kind of underground illegal substance dealing site, no? And did the half-succubus bartender say anything useful?¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°The ledger she tried to get her hands on contains coded information on other dealers of the entire ring, we were able to decipher some, and we are already planning on moving on some of them. And more importantly, these rings don¡¯t just traffic and deal blood vials spiked with drugs, these rings also dabble in weapons and magical artifact trading.¡± Agent Hall handed Caroline another folder, which contained mostly pictures attached to records handwritten on thick enchanted parchments: ¡°These are additional transcripts from some of our experts on lease - they examined some of the artifacts that were stored here and wrote down their findings.¡± Caroline took out one of the record - it was one about a curved sword, and according to the one who examined it, this sword had dull edges, which meant that it was not made for close quarter combat, and the arrays carved on the hilt and both sides of the spine of the blade indicated that this blade should be used to fit into a larger array or enchanted structure. ¡°This ¡®larger structure¡¯ that could fit the enchanted blades - have you found what it could be?¡± Caroline flipped over a page and asked. ¡°No we have not, but we¡¯ve been searching for it.¡± Agent Hall sighed: ¡°All the examiners were busy, so we were not able to schedule someone to visit this site on time - we would¡¯ve been able to, but most of them are assigned to the factory site, where the fight broke out and we¡¯ve uncovered a lot more things and, thanks to you.¡± ¡°Okay, we will be heading there next. ¡± Thomas looked through a few more pages of the documents he was handed: ¡°Wait - there¡¯s bodies here? Did you find anything about the bodies?¡± ¡°Yeah, here.¡± Agent Hall extended his hand to another room on the side with a locked metal door that was also sealed with some kind of magic: ¡°Let me show you some of them.¡± ¡°What - you still keep them here?¡± ¡°We kinda had to.¡± Agent Hall led the way and unlocked the metal door using an enchanted glowing key fob. Gears turned inside the metal door, and slowly it swung open. Behind the metal door was a spacious room with a completely round floor plan, with a giant circle covering the entire perfectly round floor. There was nothing on the floor beside six metal plates placed on six critical nodes inside the circle, inside which one could see black burnt marks left by wax or oil. But what caught the eyes of both Thomas and Caroline, were the six corpses that were somehow embedded into the walls - the walls submerged most parts of these bodies like sand or water, while leaving enough parts exposed to show that these bodies were contorted and tied up. From the conditions of the walls they could see that the bodies had been there for quite a while, but none of the bodies showed any sign of decay or rot. ¡°We consulted with Master Nameless and Ms. Pei, both of them advised against moving these bodies without preparation and caution.¡± Agent Hall said: ¡°I believe Ms. Pei is working on this, but I was informed that you should see this as well.¡± Chapter 576 ¡°Well, this is not what I was expecting to find under a freaking bar - did you run DNA match on them?¡± Thomas walked into the room, while still paying attention to the array on the ground and avoiding the lines and nodes inside. ¡°We did, but none found in any databases.¡± Agent Hall said: ¡°We found out what species they were though. Out of the six of them, three were human, one lycan, one vampire, and one shapeshifter - an ancient shapeshifter at that, something that hasn¡¯t been sighted or appeared in any historical record for about a few decades.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not familiar with shapeshifters, we should ask Jason and Aimee, and maybe Laura since they¡¯re the booksmart type. Did they say what this room is for? ¡± Caroline concentrated her powers on her eyes and cast a true sight spell to look around the room, then she focused her sight on the ceiling - in which she found another array made of metal embedded. There were six small metal lanterns hanging not far from the ceiling, each of which corresponded to the metal plates on the ground. At the center of the array above, there was one single reflective metal plate with some linings and patterns around the edge. ¡°Fuck, a mirror? In this kind of setting?¡± ¡°What? Oh - yeah.¡± Agent Hall looked up at the metal mirror with a hint of fear on his face and adjusted his earbuds: ¡°Please be careful if you want to examine it or probe it - it has some sort of reactive curse cast on it - Ms. Pei and Master Nameless had cleansed it, but it¡¯s still - a little disturbing.¡± ¡°What¡¯s in these plates?¡± Thomas knelt down by one of the metal plates and tried to examine the burnt substance at the bottom: ¡°From the texture - it looks like some kind of oil or wax?¡± ¡°Oil, and traces of human DNA. Our suspicion was that it¡¯s oil made of human - ¡± Agent Hall shook his head and adjusted his earbuds once more: ¡°From what we could tell from the ledger and the information provided by the half succubus, this room is reserved for some high level crew members only and is off limits to most of the people who ran this bar. It has something to do with some operations being conducted by some unknown higher ups.¡± ¡°And these higher ups, any idea on who they are?¡± Caroline looked around for a ladder, but there was none in sight so she asked Agent Hall while walking towards the door: ¡°Agent Hall, do you have anything around here that I can stand on? I want to take a look at those lanterns.¡± The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Oh, wait wait wait don¡¯t! there¡¯s this thing in this room - you can¡¯t use ladders or anything in here.¡± Agent Hall immediately stood between Caroline and the door: ¡°The first agent that tried almost lost his head, luckily he had a protective suit so he just lost his palm. So, we banned all the ladders and chairs and - everything from entering this room.¡± ¡°I thought this room was already cleansed?¡± Caroline asked with a frown. ¡°Yes, but - ¡± Agent Hall scratched his nose and then his face, and finally answered after a sigh: ¡°Okay, first - let me explain a little - I have this gift with hearing, okay? Apparently it¡¯s a relatively rare strand from a not-so-rare general category, basically, I can hear the flow of energy, and, and - after Ms. Pei and Master Nameless cleansed it due to some agents getting injured in this room, I stopped hearing this creepy energy flow for a while. But - but just earlier today, I started hearing things from this room again - it¡¯s not the same, but similar kind of flow of energy and power. I was wondering if I should report it, because we¡¯re so understaffed - ¡± ¡°There¡¯s indeed something wrong with this room, I can¡¯t tell what it is but I can tell it¡¯s there.¡± Caroline nodded: ¡°Now, tell me, how did it hurt the last agent who tried to stand on a ladder?¡± ¡°Um, he stood on a chair, and tried to peek into one of the metal lanterns and pick some samples of any substance that might have been left inside.¡± Agent Hall pointed at a position on his left side: ¡°Then, some kind of energy blade just swept through the space, like that laser beam from that - that movie, you know? And he immediately ducked and tried to block the blade, and it just sliced through his forearm. ¡± ¡°Okay, did you see where that blade came from?¡± Caroline looked at the round ceiling, and when she focused she saw a very thin, barely noticeable line running across all directions at a certain height: ¡°And what elemental properties did this blade possess?¡± ¡°It came from that direction, but it was too quick so nobody noticed what kind of elemental properties it had.¡± ¡°Okay, only one way to see for ourselves.¡± Caroline nodded at Thomas: ¡°Thomas, can you lift me up?¡± ¡°Wait, me?¡± Thomas was stunned for a brief moment, then he came to the same conclusion as Caroline: ¡°Sure!¡± After intense training, Thomas and Aimee, just like Jason and Caroline but to a lesser extent, had already gained superhuman strength without them noticing as much, while their body weight had not grown much. With Thomas merely kneeling down and extending his arms, it was enough for Caroline to stand on his horizontally placed forearms just like a stool or a chair. When Caroline tried to examine the metal lanterns from Thomas¡¯ arms, she could see some kind of dark red ashes or tar inside of the lantern, and there were traces of burnt candle wicks, which indicated that these lanterns were indeed used traditionally with some kind of candles inside. With a True Sight spell active, Caroline could see that there were traces of some kind of dark and cold energy remaining on the lanterns, especially on the inside. Not only that, she could also see that there were traces of the same energy along the metal chains that attached these lanterns to the ceiling, and eventually, these traces led to the metal mirror at the center. ¡°Caroline.¡± Just this moment, someone whispered to her, and it sounded just like Caroline herself - to be precise, it sounded like her voice being replayed from somewhere close to her, and not like the voice she would hear when she was talking. Chapter 577 ¡°So? What do you see?¡± Thomas asked. ¡°Shhh¡­ I heard something.¡± Caroline did a shush gesture and said. Agent Hall and Thomas immediately went silent and looked around, waiting for some kind of sound, but hard as they tried, they could only hear the sound of other agents working in the other rooms or the sounds from the street. ¡°Did you hear someone calling my name?¡± Caroline asked: ¡°And she sounds just like me - it¡¯s like a whisper.¡± ¡°No.¡± Thomas and Agent Hall answered at the same time, shaking their heads. ¡°I DID hear some abnormal energy flows.¡± Agent Hall took a look at Thomas and the ceiling: ¡°I think your standing tall here definitely triggered something in this room. Please be careful.¡± Before she could respond, Caroline heard another call to her name from behind her. When she turned around, she felt that a thin energy blade made off the same dark energy remaining in the lanterns was launched from the thin line near the ceiling aiming right at her neck. But she was no ordinary Division agent, and before the energy blade could even reach her, she already reached out with her right hand, in an attempt to actually grab it. When Caroline¡¯s fingers and palm came into contact with the energy blade, it produced a sound similar to that made by a broken glass. The energy blade was shattered on impact, with broken pieces flying around her and hitting the walls around. As the energy blade was completely demolished, one of the six bodies embedded in the walls, the one that was right beneath the position from which the energy blade shot out, let out a hoarse and throaty cry. The next second, the walls around the body cracked up a bit, exposing slightly more parts of the body. ¡°What happened?¡± Seeing that Caroline had already stepped down from his forearms, Thomas asked. ¡°The energy blade, it tried to attack me.¡± Caroline rubbed her hands together, like she was playing with marbles or play dough: ¡°It did not succeed, and I grabbed a small piece of it.¡± ¡°Really? Can we see it?¡± Thomas asked. Caroline relaxed her palm, and showed a curled up ball of energy construct - it was like a small ball of wet paper, with the edges of the original paper somehow painted red. And on the outside, they could see a mostly transparent orange and red membrane of energy, acting as a seal to suppress the construct and keep it in place and not dissipate.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°Can you hold for a second? I need to get my earbuds to filter it.¡± Agent Hall started tapping and adjusting his earbuds, and after a few seconds he said to Caroline: ¡°Sorry, Ms. Baker, can you provide a small sample of the spell you just used? I need a sample to filter out the flow of your energy - oh, right, thanks!¡± With Caroline¡¯s help, Agent Hall quickly found the ¡°sound¡± that was emitted by the curled up energy blade fragment. And then, he started using the special equipment assigned to him by the Division, combined with his ability to hear the flow of energy to record the ¡°sound signatures¡± into his tablet. ¡°This is - pretty disturbing.¡± When Agent Hall opened a software and began using it to analyze the sound signature records, a very complicated wave graph with at least six or seven lights of different colors was shown on the screen. ¡°Right - what are we looking at?¡± Thomas asked. ¡°It¡¯s a similar kind of energy signature that almost killed Phil, the other agent.¡± Agent Hall said, shaking his head: ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened - there¡¯s no way it could regain power right? We¡¯ve sealed off the perimeter, both Ms. Pei and Master Nameless cleansed the entire room themselves, and checked that there was no connected external energy source that could refuel it. And uh - there¡¯s a little bit of difference, let me see - ¡± ¡°Unless, there¡¯s a hidden line somewhere.¡± Caroline looked up at the metal mirror at the center of the ceiling, then the six bodies embedded in the walls, one of which just cracked, possibly due to Caroline grabbing and cracking the energy blade. ¡°Did any of the examiners say anything else about this room?¡± Thomas sighed and looked around at the bodies and asked. ¡°Oh, they haven¡¯t come to examine the room yet. ¡± Agent Hall scoffed: ¡°We¡¯re another one or two weeks in the queue. San Francisco is still the top priority right now, and plus we have some very high profile gang violence cases. We have a theory that they serve as some kind of knots and nodes in this array, but - do you think they are the power source as well?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know - I couldn¡¯t see or sense anything obvious from them. And I - gosh I should have paid more attention in the arrays and circles lectures.¡± Caroline rubbed her temples and said: ¡°What else can you see on this graph?¡± ¡°Ms. Wong is really having a hard time getting the resources from the Division now, huh?¡± Thomas leaned closer to the body whose walls around it cracked up and said: ¡°How could that be even after so much she¡¯s done for the Division?¡± ¡°You were a civilian law enforcement officer right?¡± Agent Hall shook his head with a wry smile then zoomed in on the graph: ¡°You think things are different when the supernatural is involved? ¡± ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t say that in front of others.¡± Caroline kept her eyes on the graph shown on Agent Hall¡¯s tablet: ¡°Come on! Focus, what else can you see from this graph?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I was just a little distracted - ¡± Agent Hall tapped the tablet a few more times and some kind of filter was applied to the graph, then some red lines connecting to different dots on the graph: ¡°Here it is - you see the red lines?¡± ¡°Yeah? What? I am not familiar with this app, can you explain to me?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°The lines connecting to the different parts of the graph showed - well, you know, this entire graph showed the sound wave representation of an energy signature. You see, energy signatures are static, just like your fingerprint, but through some very interesting algorithms, this app transforms them into a wave representation, the X Axis here is the calculated weighted metric of the energy¡¯s elemental properties as well as affinities to some other properties, and the Y Axis here is the signature¡¯s strength, with an amplification exponent.¡± ¡°Okay, I understood some of that, but not all, can you summarize?¡± ¡°In short - according to this graph, the energy signature radiated from the graph had some very interesting changes ever since the last time, before the cleansing.¡± Agent Hall looked up and said: ¡°The variations, if you can believe it, seemed to have come from the tainting from energy transfusion and piping magic - something that used to be relatively common several decades ago before the invention of insulation spells and artifacts.¡± ¡°And?¡± Thomas peeled off a small piece of the wall from nearby the body he was examining and asked: ¡°I thought you guys shut this place down completely and made sure there was no connected energy source?¡± ¡°There¡¯s apparently an unconventional one.¡± Caroline pointed at the metal mirror above. Chapter 578 ¡°... the array was protecting the external power source, and that mirror itself is connected to the energy source, and it is fueling everything inside. The proof is the same kind of traces of energy I just saw up there - there are trails of energy coming from the mirror and into the lanterns.¡± Caroline explained her theory to Agent Hall and Thomas: ¡°The only difficulty I have is I am not sure how the energy is transmitted here.¡± ¡°It really makes sense. We wouldn¡¯t have noticed it because we didn¡¯t get a chance to stand up there to look at everything.¡± After thinking for a second, Agent Hall looked up at the mirror and said: ¡°Ms. Pei and Master Nameless were not able to spend a lot of time here, so they might not have noticed it. And after they cleansed the entire room, it¡¯s even harder to see this, until today the energy started flowing again. I wonder what happened today - ¡± ¡°Ugh - did Ms. Wong tell you anything?¡± Caroline and Thomas exchanged looks, then Thomas asked. ¡°No, why?¡± Thomas was about to answer: ¡°Well, there¡¯s something quite - ¡± ¡°Nothing! Nothing for now! We were just wondering what you might have heard.¡± Caroline immediately stopped Thomas from spilling the information about defilers and what they might be bringing unto this world: ¡°Regardless, Agent Hall, I think that if we destroyed this mirror, we might be able to stop the energy from refueling here.¡± ¡°Or we can use this as a chance to learn something about this room, and this potential energy pipe or network that¡¯s refueling whatever it is that¡¯s in this room..¡± Thomas was confused for a moment, but went with Caroline¡¯s choice of not letting out the news about the defilers: ¡°Of course, that is assuming that we have time and it is safe to do. What do you think, agent?¡± Agent Hall went silent, pacing in the room and scratching his jaw and nose as he considered both options proposed by Caroline and Thomas. During this time, Thomas had already peeled off another piece from the wall and wrapped it inside of a small cloth pouch he got from Xianshi Inn, which was made with materials that could withstand most corrosive substances and materials. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°Well now, do you have anything to detect the composition of the walls?¡± Thomas raised the cloth pouch and asked. ¡°We have a simple enchanted centrifuge out there.¡± Agent Hall came out from his thoughts and said: ¡°But we did that already, we can give you a report on the profile of the walls - what do you expect to find?¡± ¡°To be honest? Multiple strains of energy, specifically, this energy and Caroline¡¯s, maybe even a little bit of ours.¡± Thomas scratched the back of his head: ¡°Look, I might not be super familiar with arrays, but this whole setup kinda gives me the vibes, that these six bodies are some sort of energy relay. If that is the case, then Caroline just breaking the energy attack and thus cracking the wall would leave obvious traces of her energy. And if it contains our energy, then it would mean something a little bit more disturbing - ¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying this could be a sacrifice room? One that sucks the energy from those inside, especially those that are dead or gravely injured?¡± Caroline slightly narrowed her eyes. ¡°Could be, not to divulge too much information from classified cases, but when I was still a detective, I once took a look at some photos from cult crime scenes - they had some similar traits.¡± ¡°That is our theory as well, but we don¡¯t have that kind of device or artifacts here - hang on, let me find the other pair of headphones I have.¡± Agent Hall rushed out of the room. When Agent Hall came back, he brought a pair of comically big headphones connected to a laptop which was also connected to a heavy looking small black metal box and a small external touchpad with him. Then he placed the pieces of the walls collected by Thomas into the black metal box, laid his fingers on the touchpad and activated the box. Some kind of mechanism was activated inside and the sound signals released by the pieces inside, and the signal was somehow sent through the headphones, received by Agent Hall and then processed by him, then pumped into the laptop, which then showed a detailed breakdown of different energy signatures. ¡°Well what¡¯s the difference between this and your tablet?¡± Thomas asked. ¡°This one takes several hours to charge, and once charged it can only last for a bit over one hour.¡± Agent Hall sighed: ¡°Mostly because of this insulation and amplification box.¡± Shortly, a graph popped up on the screen, similar to the previous graph on Agent Hall¡¯s tablet, but looks much more detailed. And from the graph, Carol saw lines that represented her energy signature, and from the numbers on the side of the graph, it was pretty obvious that the signature was strong, an indication that it was also new. ¡°Nice, confirmed her energy was here.¡± Thomas stared at the screen: ¡°What about ours?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll need samples of your energy signature, but hangon.¡± Agent Hall typed on the keyboard to bring up and zoom in on some other graphs: ¡°Yep, that¡¯s my energy signature. It¡¯s very weak. but I haven¡¯t been in this room for a few days, so it''s a bit hard to tell. Now, Thomas, just infuse your power into something and put it in this box so I can collect some samples.¡± Chapter 579 When the graph of Thomas¡¯ energy signature showed up on the screen and Agent Hall pulled up the graph of the energy signatures of the pieces of wall, all three members present could easily tell that there was a presence of Thomas¡¯ energy signature in the walls. ¡°So this IS a sacrifice room.¡± Thomas looked around: ¡°And our energy is being siphoned through these six bodies, all of us. Maybe the thing or the one being sacrificed would be sucked at a faster rate?¡± ¡°Sounds like what we¡¯re seeing.¡± Caroline nodded then looked up: ¡°And if I¡¯m right, that mirror would be the - what do you call it, the interface? The terminal?¡± ¡°Whatever it is, it¡¯s some kind of bi-directional gateway for the energy to pass through.¡± Thomas said: ¡°Which means that whatever¡¯s on the other side, it could also receive energy from this place, and it can pump some energy this way. It¡¯s a network of sorts, it seems? ¡± ¡°And if we could find something about the network, we could find out where the other locations are.¡± Agent Hall clapped his hands and said: ¡°Nice, this is super nice - we¡¯ve been having trouble locating other places like this - and I don¡¯t mean just dispensing stations and locations of restricted and illegal materials like drug-processed human blood and others. Assuming other locations connected to here through mirrors are also using similar fronts as covers, then find other locations of sacrifice, then we find the other dispensing stations.¡± ¡°You know what? Let¡¯s perform a sacrifice then.¡± Caroline thought for a brief moment then asked. ¡°What?!¡± Thomas and Agent Hall asked with great surprise at the same time. ¡°No, not humans or any other things, like a fish, or a chicken.¡± Caroline shook her head: ¡°Assuming that this room will take the energy from the sacrifice and transmit it to somewhere, I assume that if we do this we could use a spell to color and trace the energy. What¡¯s that technique called again - luminescence tracking?¡± ¡°I - I¡¯m not sure, does that work?¡± Agent Hall looked at Caroline then Thomas. ¡°I assume if there is some kind of energy filtering mechanism, it could block our spell.¡± Thomas answered, thinking: ¡°But you just said that the energy transmission mechanism is old here? If I remember correctly, means to prevent this kind of tracing weren¡¯t invented until at least eight to ten years ago so it¡¯s definitely newer. Let¡¯s give it a try then. Where do we find some live chicken or live fish around here?¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°There¡¯s a Chinese supermarket around here, so at least you can find some fish there.¡± Caroline shrugged. After around 20 minutes, Caroline and Thomas came back from the supermarket with three fish, one lobster and one dungeness crab, all of which were in plastic bags. When Agent Hall saw what they had in their hands, his eyes kept twitching as if he just saw something very ridiculous but he was trying to suppress his judgment. ¡°Sorry, they didn¡¯t have chicken, so we bought all the different live things they have.¡± Caroline shrugged and told Agent Hall: ¡°I don¡¯t know what the different kinds of lives are worth in this equation, so I guess we will have to proceed by trial and error.¡± ¡°Okay - how do you wanna try?¡± Agent Hall stood on the side as Caroline laid out the fish on the ground and cast a simple binding spell to keep them in place. ¡°I figured we just do it quickly?¡± Thomas shrugged. ¡°What if the array requires some kind of torture?¡± Caroline frowned as she conjured a translucent orange and red kitchen knife in her hand: ¡°That - I don¡¯t think I can do that.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll figure it out then. But for now just try it quickly and humanely.¡± Thomas shook his head. ¡°Alright, we have our other team members on standby, and I couldn¡¯t reach anyone higher up for now.¡± Agent Hall came in and was about to close the metal door: ¡°I think you should proceed, but be very careful.¡± ¡°Thank you, agent. Are you gonna stay here?¡± Thomas cast a protective spell on himself and then activated his mind block: ¡°If yes, then we¡¯ll need to prep you.¡± ¡°Yes, please.¡± ¡°Sure, relax and don¡¯t resist.¡± Caroline went to Agent Hall¡¯s side and placed her hand on his left shoulder. Her Xuanli flowed into his body and temporarily fortified his defenses against curses, ability to absorb and endure shock and puncture attacks, and helped him pull up a basic mind block as well. ¡°I feel - warm. Thank you Ms. Baker. What is it?¡± Agent Hall nodded and adjusted his earbuds. ¡°Flames of Resilience, think of it as a blessing to increase your resistance to outside harm and curses.¡± Caroline then knelt beside the three fish and took a look at Thomas who was holding a silvery grey handgun and a short one hand shotgun in his hands: ¡°Alright, Thomas, get ready. But don¡¯t shoot carelessly, okay?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you can count on me.¡± Thomas nodded - his task was to defend Caroline and Agent Hall should something unexpected occur, because Caroline had to perform the sacrifice as well as pay close attention to the effects of the spell she cast, and to lead them on where the energy flowed when it left the room and this very site. ¡°Alright, agent, if we succeed, we¡¯ll need to head out as fast as possible to follow it.¡± Caroline nodded at Agent Hall, then raised the translucent orange and red knife. Agent Hall nodded back, then closed the door. ¡°Alright, fishy. You won¡¯t die in vain.¡± Caroline double checked the spell she cast on the three fish on the floor at the center of the array, then swung the knife down. A clean cut ran through the neck area of all three fish and separated their heads from their bodies. Their ends of tails flapped around, but their bodies were still kept in place, as well as their heads. Nothing happened for a short while, while the fish tails were still flapping, and just when Caroline was about to get closer to check if there was anything wrong with the spell, light grey and light orange fog arose from the cuts of on the three fish¡¯s heads and bodies and floated upwards towards the six lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Chapter 580 Nothing dangerous happened, just the gray and light orange fog separated into six streams, all of which slowly went into the six lanterns above. Then they seemed to form into thin streams of energy and flowed from the lanterns upwards through the chains that attached them to the ceiling. The array on the ceiling lit up in a gentle silvery light, then Caroline could feel that the streams of energy flowed through some hidden pipes or tubes buried inside the walls into the six bodies embedded in the walls. ¡°The energy went into the bodies.¡± Caroline stood up and said: ¡°Watch out.¡± But it turned out there was nothing to watch out for, the six streams of energy were condensed, lightly purified as they traveled through the meridians of the six bodies and were turned into six tiny energy balls. The energy balls were then released into the air through the bodies¡¯ mouths and flew directly at the metal mirror at the center of the ceiling. And to Caroline¡¯s relief, even when condensed, the balls of energy still contained enough of her energy from the tracing spell that allowed her to continue to feel their presence and location. ¡°Nice, I think we¡¯re on.¡± Caroline nodded at Agent Hall: ¡°Prepare to go.¡± When the metal mirror absorbed the energy balls, the energy of one of them broke down and was dispersed into the walls of the room, while the energy of others merged together, forming into a single blob. The next moment, Caroline felt that her connection to her energy was greatly weakened, it was as if the energy was suddenly moved into a distance place, or - ¡°It¡¯s dumped into some kind of space magic tunnel.¡± Caroline figured it out almost at an instant: ¡°And it¡¯s moving - come on! Follow me or I¡¯m gonna lose track of it!¡± All three of them rushed outside of the room, the entire underground site and towards an official-looking black jeep with black paint, big wheels and the engine running and an agent at the driver¡¯s seat. ¡°Drive forward! Oh, then turn left!¡± Caroline jumped into the passenger seat and yelled. The agent immediately jammed his foot against the gas pedal, the black jeep jumped from where it was parked and onto the road. Then with a violent turn of the steering wheel, the jeep made a hard left turn, almost tossing Thomas and Agent Hall out of the back window.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°You¡¯ll have to excuse Agent Beckman and his driving here, he¡¯s new and excited to get into any action.¡± When the jeep stabilized, Agent Hall pulled himself from Thomas¡¯ left shoulder and said: ¡°Try to not bump into other cars and make us lose track, huh?¡± ¡°Okay, right turn!¡± Caroline did not respond to Agent Hall¡¯s snark, and just pointed at the direction where she felt the presence of her energy. ¡°Where is it? Where is this energy line?¡± Thomas noticed that Caroline was constantly looking up, so he decided to ask. ¡°It¡¯s actually up there - around the height of a telephone pole.¡± Caroline pointed outside the window: ¡°I don¡¯t know what it is - I can¡¯t see through it, but it¡¯s definitely some kind of energy tunnel.¡± ¡°Space magic you say?¡± Agent Beckman giggled as he swirled through the stream of traffic: ¡°Oh my!¡± ¡°Eyes on the road Beckman!¡± Agent Hall checked his guns and his watch with a wireless radio embedded: ¡°I¡¯ve notified the other teams nearby, and they should be able to back us up soon. Our team dispatch will try to contact Ms. Wong¡¯s core team - Master Nameless, Master Blue, Ms. Pei ¡­ whoever, they should be here with us any minute.¡± Caroline looked back and exchanged looks with Thomas, then she threw Thomas her phone: ¡°Call Jason, it¡¯s a blessed line.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the code?¡± Thomas was faced with the smart phone unlock screen, and he just instantly tried the first number he could think of: ¡°Okay, nevermind, I¡¯m in.¡± ¡°Birthday? Those are super unsecure lock codes though, just barely more secure than only ones or zeroes.¡± Agent Beckman chuckled: ¡°Okay, which direction next?¡± ¡°Just keep going - it appears to be going straight.¡± Caroline smiled and shook her head. ¡°Hi, Jason! ¡­ Yeah, sorry it¡¯s Thomas, Caroline¡¯s busy, we need your help¡­ okay, glad to hear you¡¯re okay, I¡¯ll share with you our location¡­ We¡¯re still on the move, but just head to our current location and we will send you an updated location when we¡¯re there¡­ yes it¡¯s probably gonna be battle related ¡­ no, please don¡¯t get SJPD involved, it¡¯s above their pay grade ¡­ Alright, thank you!¡± The black jeep kept straight as Caroline commended, and for around five to six minutes there was no change of route. And it seemed that while driving, Agent Beckman was also operating some kind of device with his left hand. And along the way, the sky was getting darker and darker - due to the thicker and thicker cloud that was gathering in the sky. And from a distance, they could see a giant pillar of dark cloud slowly being formed and rotating in the high air. ¡°What - what¡¯s that?¡± Thomas asked: ¡°It¡¯s a bit dangerous while driving isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s that or we have to run into red lights. I don¡¯t know about you, but it kinda slows me down!¡± Agent Beckman laughed out loud: ¡°Too bad this thing only has a limited range.¡± ¡°If we continue straight ahead - there¡¯s a restaurant named ¡®Ouyang¡¯s Cafe¡¯.¡± Agent Hall checked his phone and said: ¡°Oh god, please let it not be.¡± ¡°It¡¯s slowing down.¡± Caroline said: ¡°Slow down a bit, we don¡¯t wanna crash right into its destination. Agent Hall, how¡¯s that back up coming along?¡± ¡°No responses yet.¡± Agent Hall shook his head. ¡°Crack!¡± An extremely bright thunder exploded from the dark pillar of cloud, and after around ten seconds, the still loud sound reached their car. ¡°Jason just texted saying they¡¯re closing in on us.¡± Thomas told Caroline. ¡°Tell him to be discreet when approaching us.¡± Chapter 581 ¡°Okay, so what¡¯s new?¡± When Jason, Laura Jensen and Aimee appeared from under a cloaking spell, it startled both Agent Hall and Agent Beckman who were waiting behind a corner on the street, also under some cloaking spells. ¡°Geez! How did you find us!?¡± Agent Hall asked: ¡°I didn¡¯t hear you coming at all!¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s my favorite cloaking spell, it obscures sounds as well, even the energy signatures that we radiate.¡± Laura smiled: ¡°Plus, this place has a lot of noise, so - ¡± ¡°No, I mean, I didn¡¯t HEAR you at all, and my ability is all about hearing the flow of energy.¡± Agent Hall shook his head: ¡°But I didn¡¯t hear anything when you came.¡± ¡°Ah, it¡¯s because the spell lowers the energy radiation.¡± Laura Jensen nodded: ¡°And we¡¯re at a place with some really chaotic energy fields around, so it¡¯s understandable.¡± ¡°So you¡¯ve never gotten to know about energy field theories?¡± Aimee smiled and patted Agent Hall on his shoulder. ¡°Alright, stop with the good student talk and help us out here.¡± Caroline chuckled, pointing forward at a three story house with a very strange design that combined classic western structure and Chinese exterior decorations and signs, which was still closed: ¡°There, you see that Chinese restaurant?¡± ¡°¡®Ouyang¡¯s Cafe¡¯? Oh yeah, I¡¯ve ordered from there before.¡± Jason narrowed his eyes: ¡°But - that¡¯s a really weird looking building for a Chinese restaurant. And that¡¯s where your spell led you to?¡± ¡°Yes, it got absorbed by something underneath.¡± Caroline nodded: ¡°And Jason - if you don¡¯t mind, can you make us some binoculars?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Jason clapped his hands and conjured four pairs of silver mini binoculars from thin air. The two agents each took one, and Aimee and Thomas each took one as well.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I just pulled up the history of that building. ¡± Agent Hall said: ¡°Public history, of course, so that we wouldn¡¯t trigger any alarms - and it said that the building used to be a church, and it was abandoned for a long time after a local gas leak and fire incident. It was then left in the local government¡¯s care, but then due to a couple of financially hard years, they sold it to the owner of this restaurant under certain conditions of preservation and maintenance - so the core integrity of the structure must remain, but the owner can put on extra decorations as long as they don¡¯t damage the building itself.¡± ¡°Okay, I just notified people from higher up, and they would be checking the other locations out.¡± Agent Beckman put his phone back into his pocket and said: ¡°Thank you, treating the locations of these sites as nodes to a bigger array is a really ingenious call.¡± ¡°And what are those places?¡± Caroline¡¯s right palm remained on the ground, unmoved since even before Jason got here: ¡°Can we check the other suspected places as well?¡± ¡°Checking right now.¡± Agent Hall operated on his phone. ¡°Wait - do you have VPN on your phone?¡± Jason stopped Agent Hall and asked. ¡°All Division issued phones do, why?¡± Agent Beckman asked. ¡°I might be overly cautious - but switch to different regional IPs when you check out the information for different sites.¡± Jason said: ¡°And make sure that you¡¯re not using a publicly known gateway IP, huh?¡± ¡°For a non-engineer, you sure have a knack for tech precautions.¡± Laura Jensen chuckled. ¡°Yeah - I just have a bad feeling about just randomly checking that information out.¡± Jason shook his head: ¡°Call it an intuition or something.¡± ¡°It¡¯s open!¡± Aimee said. ¡°Okay - the guy that opened the door sure looks kinda weird - very hairy, and hairy in a strange way.¡± Thomas said while turning his silver binoculars to zoom in further: ¡°Aimee, does that guy look weirdly hairy? I don¡¯t want to go into stereotypes, but - ¡± ¡°His eyes just flashed yellow-ish green, that¡¯s something.¡± Aimee nodded. ¡°Ugh, sharp and dirty nails.¡± Caroline shook her head and lifted her palm from the ground: ¡°Okay - by rough estimation - the pool of energy should be two or three levels beneath the ground floor, this means that we will have to go down there if we wanna check it out.¡± ¡°Sure, I¡¯m all for it, but how?¡± Jason nodded: ¡°What¡¯s the plan?¡± ¡°Wait, this Szechuan Drool Chicken, do you cook with cage free chicken, or do you cook it with chicken legs?¡± Five minutes later, Jason was sitting in Ouyang¡¯s Cafe and asking a waiter in Mandarin. ¡°Sorry, we cook it with chicken legs and chicken wings.¡± The waiter, who looked Chinese but spoke with a heavy non-native accent, shrugged: ¡°We - uh, our customers are mostly foreigners.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like a Naples Spaghetti with special meat sauce.¡± Caroline smiled and spoke with an accented Mandarin: ¡°Sorry, my Mandarin is not good, I just started - ¡± ¡°I¡¯d like a Hainan Chicken Rice.¡± Thomas put down his menu. ¡°Me too, and a milk tea.¡± Aimee sighed and said. Agent Beckman and Agent Hall ordered by pointing at pictures on the rugged menu. Chapter 582 Lights of different colors flashed, stayed stable for a short period, then pulsated, and then flashed again; all the while, the pieces of memory of different parts of Emilia Corin¡¯s life replayed around her - the time she stormed into the mansion of one of the higher ups of her family with a team of borrowed fighters behind, who was technically one of her uncles; the time she time she led a small team of her own, with some borrowed forces from Carol Summers and burst into the ¡°Sacred Hall¡± of the Corin family, carrying the head of one of the elders of the family with her; the time she found she was betrayed by some of her most trusted friends and - others, and she had to escape from her usual hiding place, activated a diversion plan of hers originally prepared for a tactical strike just to redirect those that would have followed her and hunted her down; and finally, the blurry but familiar image of the face of a short haired girl, whose name she could not recall even though she tried, flashed before her eyes, and from a jolt of pain radiating from the back of her head, Emilia Corin woke up. The room she was in was very dim, with candles of different colors burning around her and the scent of mild incense filled the entire room. She was in loose pajama-like clothes made of soft cotton, and as far as she could tell, they were not enchanted. When she tried to move her head to look around, she found that she was tied to a giant round bed, lying on a duvet with the patterns of an array painted on it. There were two IV drips attached to her arms, in which she could see some light greenish blue liquid. And facing the foot of the bed was a table, on which a bronze colored metal bowl was placed. She could not see what the bowl contained, but as she looked around, she felt it more and more that she was in a somewhat hostile environment, and whoever tied her to this bed did not mean her any goodwill. Emilia Corin grabbed onto the cloth bindings that were tied around her wrists to the bedposts, then she tried her best to concentrate her power on her fingernails to cut through the cloth. Luckily, though the cloth bindings were sturdy, they did not seem to be fully enchanted to withstand the kind of cutting energy she was using. After around five minutes, she finally cut through the bindings and freed her arms. She immediately sat up, removed the needles in her arm and tore up the bindings on her legs. Just this moment, the door to the room opened and a healer in a white coat holding a bottle of medicine entered the room. Emilia Corin immediately jumped to the side and grabbed a candle holder still with the candle on in her hand. ¡°You¡¯re awake.¡± The healer sighed and nodded at Emilia Corin: ¡°A bit earlier than I planned, but¡­ good.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°What happened?¡± Emilia Corin asked, still holding the candle holder while rubbing her temples with the other hand trying to deal with her throbbing migraine: ¡°What did you do to me?¡± ¡°You were injured in the fight, and you drained yourself by overusing your gift.¡± The healer sat down on the bed and said: ¡°Ms. Summers ordered me to heal you, and bring back your powers as much as possible. It seems to me, that you are recovering quite well.¡± ¡°What¡¯s in that IV drip? ¡± Emilia Corin coughed and looked over to the metal bowl, all she saw was some kind of blood red thick liquid: ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a healing and soothing solution, it can help you recover your power and gift, it also helps to numb the pain.¡± The healer put the bottle of liquid on the bedside table and raised her arms: ¡°And the thing in the bowl will be used to hollow you out.¡± ¡°Hollow me out? What do you mean?¡± ¡°A recipe stolen from Lucias Vyn¡¯s syndicate and perfected by Ms. Summers herself, it will remove your consciousness and the core of your soul, while leaving small traces of energy in your body to prevent your body from deteriorating without it.¡± The healer let out a long sigh and answered. Emilia Corin moved over to the side of the bed and pulled the IV bag to her and started sucking on the IV fluid as she felt the pain in her body growing, she had a question in mind but she was not able to ask. ¡°I decided to tell you this, because - I cannot.¡± The healer wiped the corners of her eyes with her fingers, but then she just started sobbing: ¡°I cannot do it anymore - ¡± ¡°Do you know where the portal scrolls are?¡± Drinking the fluid did not appear to be as effective as taking it in through the veins, Emilia Corin had to drink up the rest of the bag just to be able to talk. ¡°Her - here.¡± The healer reached into her pouch and took out a small piece of folded up, rugged looking parchment: ¡°It¡¯s not untraceable, but it will get you out of here.¡± ¡°Medicines?¡± Emilia Corin took another unopened IV bag on the shelf beside the bed and asked, clenching her teeth. ¡°This¡¯ll be it.¡± The healer pointed at the bottle she brought in with her: ¡°It¡¯s the healing solution only, the numbing agent is there on the shelf, tiny blue bottles. But - you have to watch the dosage - ¡± With time being the highest priority, Emilia Corin took as much as she could, including a small pair of scissors and was ready to leave the room. ¡°Are you just gonna stay here?¡± When she was at the door, Emilia Corin looked back at the sobbing healer and asked. ¡°I - I can¡¯t leave, my family - ¡± ¡°I understand - ¡± Emilia Corin thought for a while, then walked to the healer¡¯s side: ¡°And I¡¯m sorry.¡± Before the healer could say anything, she felt a sharp cold object pierced through her left chest, went between her ribs and punctured her heart. Tears poured down her face, as the blood started to gush out of her wound and painted her coat red. ¡°Thank you.¡± Chapter 583 A portal with purple and red edges opened up at a barely noticeable corner behind an old house with somewhat European design, a large yard and tall metal fences and police tapes somewhere in the suburbs of San Jose, California. The whole portal was flickering, shaking and its edges kept changing shape, indicating that its structure and integrity was weak, brittle and unstable. After a few seconds, Emilia Corin, still wearing her cotton robes and carrying a bag loaded with medical supplies with her, was thrown out of it by a violent force. Emilia Corin grunted and slowly stood up on the grass with her hand on the small tree beside her. She had to drink some more liquid from the IV bag and take a few pills from a tiny blue porcelain bottle in the process, so that she could still control the muscles in her legs and keep her brain from sending out wrong signals to her limbs and making her lose balance. ¡°Fuck.¡± Emilia Corin cursed and stumbled to the backdoor of the house. Turning the knobs on the door did not work, and she escaped in a hurry so she did not have her keys with her, so she had to conjure her power again and concentrate it on the lock. After a few tries, she was finally able to pick the lock using her powers and got into the house without triggering any alarms. The interior of the house was mostly as she remembered - shot up, bullet holes all over the place, and dust and broken glasses, porcelain and bricks were scattered around the corner. She could see that someone cleaned up the house and removed some of the things that were on the floor and on the wall last time she was here: blood, dead bodies of some of her former family members and help, some were loyal to her, while others had betrayed her in an unexpected turn of event, and one particular, was the girl that flashed before her eyes before she woke up in the mansion owned by Carol Summers, her ¡°mentor¡±, who she had always suspected might have been suspiciously good to her. But it was as if she just woke up from a dream - she could remember a lot of the details about the girl: her smile, her usual clothing style, her favorite food, her favorite movie, her cat, but she just could not remember her name, though it just seemed to be right on the tip of Emilia Corin¡¯s tongue.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Looking around, Emilia Corin tried to find anything in her sight that could maybe jolt her memory. But everywhere she looked, everything of value that she remembered had been taken away, presumably by other members of the family. She had a housekeeper while she was the de facto mistress of this very house whose sole responsibility was to keep the house taken care of and items of value be accounted for, but he was missing the day everything changed for her, so all she could say was he probably betrayed her as well. The fatigue and pain seemed to have sneaked up on her once again, and she had to take a few more pills and drink up the rest of the liquid from her final IV bag, as she stumbled across the guest room of the house and toward the fireplace below the red brick chimney. Her memory did not fail her this time, the hidden metal door was indeed there, below a movable brick panel covered in several layers of burnt wood and ashes. When she squeezed herself through the hidden metal door, she was faced with the charcoaled face of a completely burnt body. And as she went completely into the room, she found that the cozy furniture and semi-luxurious decoration were lost in some kind of fire as well - now all that was left in the room, was the burnt remains of everything she remembered. Emilia Corin used up almost the last bit of her energy to close the metal door and push the handle beside the door to rearrange the ashes and wood that served as cover for the metal door, then she almost rolled down the stairs, bringing down the burnt body along with her. A pin and a barely recognizable ring rolled on the ground when the body fell and crashed against the brick floor covered with ashes, dust and charcoaled pieces of the wooden furniture. Emilia Corin reached towards these two items, as she felt that they looked quite familiar. The pin was made of gold and jade, and the ring had a plain design but had some engravings on it - these were the items worn by the housekeeper. Then, she pulled some pieces of clothing from the body, and found out that they were made of the same material of the housekeeper¡¯s favorite robe. ¡°Okay¡­ okay¡­¡± Emilia Corin found the corner in the underground room where she could feel most of the sunlight redirected into this hidden room through some hidden structures in the chimney, pulled over a half burnt blanket and a piece of the carpet to make herself comfortable, and curled up in the corner like a wounded animal. The pain was still radiating through every inch of her body, but so was the extreme fatigue and dizziness. After a short while, she simply could no longer keep her eyes open. The girl¡¯s name did not come to her. Chapter 584 After sending Josephine Wong and Glenda Grimes off, Jianmen immediately conjured up his meat cleaver and his rattan broom, then with his body glowing in gradually brighter orange and golden light, he leapt upwards, breaking through all the ceilings and walls above him and into the sky above. At this point, the facade around the Hellinger Castle was completely blown away, the grim and dark clouds floating above now showed their true appearances: that they were just many faces of fog and smog piled up together, and the sky had several great completely dark cracks like that of a completely broken mirror spanning across the whole visible space. Cold and strong winds howled as pale ashes flew, and sparks of flame seemed to just randomly ignite and die down in the air. The aura around him grew, as the energy he obtained from ¡°redeeming¡± the white crystals slowly seeped into his body, his bones and his meridians and resurfaced around him. The crystals he had stored in the boxes in the inn¡¯s basement, were ¡°tokens¡± he got from cleansing the karmic pollutants, swallowing the direct aftermath of utilizing that kind of power, injuring himself in the process. And with the energy he was getting now, the old wounds on his body were starting to heal. For the first time since he came to this world, he felt the same kind of unease when he was creating the portal that was supposed to lead him to his home - the feeling of the tear of karmic chains and fabric of the world being ripped apart. The beam of energy shot down from a portal up in the sky was not one that was intended for attack, but one intended to trap and seal the tear itself, to prevent it from growing and expanding. But just like he told Josephine Wong and Glenda Grimes, he wouldn¡¯t be able to buy everyone much time. The beam of energy would dry out in no more than one and a half days due to his limited supply of the fuel - a concoction he spent a few years trying to perfect but was not able to due to his injuries, and he would have to find another way to keep the tear in place for as long as possible. ¡°Boom! Boom! Boom!¡± Many parts of the Hellinger Castle exploded, and several streams of dark red liquid flowed from the holes of the castle building. Jianmen could easily see the shapes of people being trapped in these streams of liquid as they moved intertwined in the air, some merging together and some just kept on flowing and getting into some kind of dynamic equilibrium, where the streams kept flowing but the external shapes of them didn¡¯t change. The streams that merged together, on the other hand, formed into the shape of a giant human head, with two completely dark eyes giving off a pale glow, and around twenty hands attached to the neck area of the head by long arms formed by the dark red liquid. The texture shown on the face, the arms and the hands were like other constructs of dark red liquid - the streams of liquid continued flowing, yet the overall shape did not change.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°Who are you!? You do not belong here!¡± The head spoke with the voice of at least a dozen individuals, some higher pitched and some hoarse: ¡°Leave! Or you shall feel the wrath of the Hellinger name!¡± ¡°Someone in this castle did a terrible thing, and it would really be in your best interest not to be a pissy spirit in this place and stay away if you can.¡± Jianmen shook his head, his voice was also slightly echoing even though he was in an open space. ¡°You DON¡¯T BELONG HERE!¡± The face yelled, and several streams of the dark red liquid shot out from the palms of the hands around it aiming at Jianmen. Jianmen swung his broom down and released a concentrated wall of wind, several of the dark red liquid streams were instantly blown off into the air, while one particular stream curled in the air and came right back from behind him and came right at the back of his neck. He then turned around and unleashed an orange and golden energy blade against this energy stream. The energy blade cut into the liquid stream, vaporizing every drop it came into contact with and moving up against the stream. Two of the hands jolted towards Jianmen in an attempt to pull off a sneak attack. Jianmen immediately turned around and struck the two hands with his meat cleaver almost at the same time. Similar orange and golden energy blades were released and sliced the two hands open and vaporized almost all of the liquid that made up the hands. The speed of these two energy blades consumed and moved against the origins of the two hands were so fast, the head had to cut off the now barely noticeable arms. The head moaned and cried in pain and fury, then four hands floating around it turned their palms against Jianmen with their centers lighting up. But before they could unleash any attacks, Jianmen pointed the broom forward, and four bolts of lightning shot across the distance between him and the hands, landing right at the centers of the palms. The explosive energy eviscerated the four hands and parts of the arms to which they were attached. The very next moment, Jianmen had already closed the distance between him and the head, and the head¡¯s two dark and slightly glowing eyes were fixated on the meat cleaver, which was already several times its former size and had the same destructive orange and golden energy glow on its edge. ¡°Stop! Please!¡± The head begged. The edge of the meat cleaver cut into the forehead, and the orange and golden energy gushed inside through the wound and instantly propagated throughout the entirety of the head, forming into thousands of tiny energy seals locking down many nodes of energy that formed the head. Chapter 585 ¡°I don¡¯t want to waste my energy on anything other than what I will be doing. Destroying you brings me no benefit or joy, and I¡¯d rather you do yourself and your bloodline a favor.¡± Jianmen kept the blade of his meat cleaver embedded in the forehead of the dark red liquid head: ¡°I don¡¯t care what you did to all the others who came here, I don¡¯t care what made you, and I don¡¯t care what you as a living curse are set out to do. Just shut up and listen, can you do that?¡± The dark red liquid head became silent, seeming like it was considering Jianmen¡¯s demands. ¡°Now if you don¡¯t have anything else to say, I¡¯ll let you know what would happen next - ¡± Jianmen drew his meat cleaver back inch by inch and said with a stern tone: ¡°Whoever did that thing down in this wretched castle of yours, it tore a hole in the fabric of reality itself, and it endangered the world with it. And I just came here for a rumored very destructive weapon owned by your family. The connection is just too coincidental for me to ignore. Now, being a curse that is attached to a bloodline and conjured at this very castle, you are going to be rooted here. And therefore, you are going to be the first barrier standing between this world and the destructive beings on the other side of the hole. You will perish, and your castle will be no more, but I can offer you this: I will make sure that the bloodline you are conjured here to protect lives on, as long as I live.¡± ¡°You have no place to offer me that, or anything for that matter.¡± The head responded with a hoarse voice: ¡°I am here to safeguard the Hellinger bloodline, and I shall not be subjected to any demand. NONE SHALL COMMAND ME!¡± With this head screaming out the last few words in extreme anger and hatred, Jianmen for a brief moment felt that his hold on the internal structures of the head was slightly shaken, which was somewhat odd because even though the new energy he gained was not able to bring him to his full power and potential, he still possessed the level of power that could rival some younger and less experienced full-fletched actual gods. And the spell he used was cast with some power that was only usable by the gods as well, and in normal circumstances, this kind of beings would not be able to even influence the spell, not to mention shake it. Similar things happened earlier while he was countering the attacks from this head - a very small trace of power seemed to have seeped into his broom and his meat cleaver, temporarily causing a little bit of damage to his weapons. He did not pay too much attention at the time and attributed it to his power still in recovery, but right this moment, it was pretty clear to him that it could be some other reason. And while Jianmen¡¯s thoughts went away for a briefest of moments, an energy vortex appeared higher up in the sky, and within it, a chaotic and unstable portal appeared. When Jianmen looked up, he saw a winged humanoid being, whose exterior was covered in a substance that looked like cracked coal burning in blue flame and had four dark blue eyes on his head. This being looked around and sent out its power of mind and will to scan the whole realm in which the Hellinger Castle resided, a completely rude and untoward behavior of someone of Jianmen¡¯s level in his previous world.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°I an Durkahn Kaksar, Lord of Night Terror and Sleeplessness.¡± The being announced his entrance with a voice so loud, dreadful and obnoxious that the currently suppressed tear in reality showed little signs of unstability: ¡°I¡¯ve come here to collect the flesh, minds and souls of two humans who offered me their legacy and memory - ¡± ¡°Shut the fuck up!¡± Jianmen tossed the dark red liquid head onto the ground, making a huge crater in the process, and lunged at that being in the sky. Durkahn Kaksar was obviously not expecting to encounter anyone or anything of similar levels of power when it came to this realm, and with Jianmen¡¯s meat cleaver closing in, it conjured two ring blades with three curved spikes at the far end in the formation and shapes of a three-pronged claw and crossed them in front of its body to guard itself. ¡°Crack!¡± The two ring blades were made of some kind of heavy and hardened stone with a thin layer of bone as their internal skeletons, it was just a great horror and shock to Durkahn Kaksar that Jianmen found out about it this way - through the pieces of the blades flying through the sky. Durkahn Kaksar tried to defend itself by using the two wings that were made of millions of tiny pieces of high density lints and crystals, but neither of them were fast enough to stop the head of a humble looking rattan broom from hitting its face. As Durkahn Kaksar fell towards the ground, pieces of its exterior body, like debris from a falling meteor, broke off from it and scattered into the sky, burning and turning into ashes in the process. ¡°Who are you - ¡± Durkahn Kaksar stopped himself from falling before it reached the ground and tried to utter a question, but before it could finish the sentence, the sharp tip of the meat cleaver had already dug into its forehead, at the center of its four eyes, and merely hair widths of distance away from its energy core - its sole connection to its godhood, without which, this avatar of its would be no more and it would endure an unimaginable loss. ¡°Declaring your name at a rift of reality and abusing your influence as a god, someone didn¡¯t pay attention during the godhood orientation.¡± Jianmen¡¯s eyes glowed in warm but terrifying orange and golden light: ¡°Name your business here, and LEAVE!¡± ¡°I - I came here for two humans that offered their legacy to me, and - and they broke their covenant with me.¡± Durkahn Kaksar answered as it tried to avoid the tip of the blade, which could instantly destroy its avatar and possibly even itself if the wielder wanted to: ¡°Lucias Vyn, Matthew Vyn, former members of a human family named Hellinger - they swore on True Words and to the Will, that their bloodline shall end with them, in exchange for knowledge and long life.¡± ¡°And how is that kind of covenant broken?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know - it was just - broken, almost without any kind of warning. It¡¯s as if the Will loosened its grip - ¡± Chapter 586 ¡°¡®Almost¡¯ without any warning?¡± Jianmen narrowed his eyes and pushed the meat cleaver a hair width deeper: ¡°What warning signs did you see?¡± ¡°It¡¯s it¡¯s it¡¯s - it¡¯s a plea! Her plea!¡± Durkahn Kaksar immediately answered: ¡°She once pleaded to me that she would like to offer anything else to have her option of leaving a legacy back. But I refused, and I enforced our covenant after this. I did not expect her to go to this kind of length to break it, if she would just stack more as offering - ¡± ¡°I see. ¡± Jianmen thought for a brief moment, then he scoffed: ¡°Well, looks like you are going to get involved no matter what. For it¡¯s your deal that prompted this tear and rift in the world, and it¡¯s the breaking of your deal that introduced the breakage - believe or not, the first target of the Defilers that were just lining up and sharpening their swords behind that tear would be you.¡± ¡°Defilers!? I don¡¯t believe you!¡± Durkahn Kaksar shivered for one slightest of moments, but then shouted at Jianmen: ¡°It¡¯s not possible!¡± ¡°How long have you got your hands on this godhood of yours, huh? How much have you ventured into the depth of the knowledge of the world without indulging your false sense of grandeur and wisdom? How deep have you looked into the frailty of the world and the universe that formed the paradoxical nature of godhood itself?¡± Jianmen raised his voice while pointing at the Hellinger Castle base: ¡°It¡¯s not a fruit for you to pick or a prize for you to win. It¡¯s a badge of your alliance with the Will and your responsibility to it. The breakage of order is literally right in front of you, yet you are so blind and impotent to not see it?¡± Durkahn Kaksar went silent, for a period of time that was quite long for beings at its and Jianmen¡¯s level, during which he sent a small stream of his power of mind and will towards the underground area of the barely noticeable Hellinger Castle, where it finally sensed the presence of the black orb, and the orange and golden energy that trapped it in its place. ¡°It¡¯s not aiming at me - you are trying to trick me!¡± Durkahn Kaksar was not ready to accept what Jianmen just told it: ¡°Why are you doing this? What do you want?! ¡± ¡°Motherfucker - ¡± Jianmen unleashed a finger strike at Durkahn Kaksar¡¯s neck, delivering enough pain but not to injure it too much: ¡°Listen here you pathetic fuck - I am not you, nor am I someone with a godhood as distasteful as yours. This is bigger than you and me - and like I keep telling you, whether you like it or not, you are in this with the rest of the world. And I¡¯m telling you, you are in it deeper than I am, so once again. Are you going to help me deal with this - you can be just another fallen god thanks to Defilers, or you can join the fight, what say you?¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°You, are, TRYING TO TRICK ME!¡± Durkahn Kaksar yelled once again: ¡°Who are you to tell me - ¡± ¡°Well, then apologies, find me and try to exact your vengeance on me when this is over. ¡±While Durkahn Kaksar was still growling and whining in disbelief, Jianmen¡¯s meat cleaver dug deeper into its forehead, the energy infused on the meat cleaver gushed into its body and instantly isolated the core of energy, cutting it off from its ¡°true self¡±. The body of this cowardly god immediately started to crumble and turn into smaller particles and dust. Jianmen immediately cast another spell and conjured up an orange and golden energy shell to capture the rest of the body, then he started writing and writing in the air with both of his weapons. The energy core and the brokeen body of Durkahn Kaksar, Lord of Night Terror and Sleeplessness, under the effects of the various spells Jianmen cast and the aura radiating from thee orange and golden verses of scripture written in the air, slowly shed their impurities and became extracted, filtered and condensed. The whole process did not take very long for the other beings and entities residing inside and around Hellinger Castle - it was only a matter of a few minutes, no more than ten. Nor was it glamorous or flashy in any way - it was just like the squeezing of a lemon or an orange, the only difference is that the skin and pulp of lemons and oranges would not crumble and dissipate into the air. But for Jianmen, it had already cost him more power and time than he was willing to spend. When Jianmen was done with what he was doing, all the energy collected from the avatar of Durkahn Kaksar was made into a dimly glowing coin radiating a cold blue light. Then he descended to the ground and caught up to the creature he was dealing with initially, the somehow sentient and living curse of the Hellinger Castle. ¡°I have lost quite a bit of patience, so I am going to ask this one time: ¡± Jianmen pinned the head made of dark red liquid to the ground, quite a distance away from where he tossed it to before dealing with the god that intruded to this realm: ¡°I am willing to make this deal really simple: you will be the first barrier against the creatures waiting behind this rift, I will track down the remaining members of the Hellinger family scattered out there. And I will, to the best of my abilities, make sure they will have their fair shot to leave legacy behind. Just tell me, do we have an agreement?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The head said: ¡°But, I would want you to swear, and make a covenant on the level of the gods.¡± ¡°Clever, you heard us.¡± Jianmen nodded with a smile and raised his right hand with his index finger pointing up: ¡°But rest assured, I wouldn¡¯t even offer you this covenant, if I want to stay away from what was about to come. May the Will be my witness - I promise you this, as Jianmen Yu, a cultivator.¡± Orange and golden lighting shot from the vast space and struck Jianmen¡¯s right index finger, a deal was made, sworn before the Will. Without letting the head made of dark red liquid say anything else, Jianmen pressed the dark blue coin onto its forehead. Smoke arose as the head and all the ¡°limbs¡± made of the same dark red liquid started trembling and shaking, while every part of its body slowly expanded and flattened as if they were being molded by an external force into some kind of architectural shape. Chapter 587 ¡°Boom! ¡± A shockwave was released by an explosion that occurred somewhere below the ground on which the Hellinger Castle stood. The already terribly broken castle was officially wiped away from existence, one could not even find an undamaged brick or tile from the building even if they tried. At the center of the giant crater created by the explosion, was a small dome of energy that was made of dark red and dark blue energy, with an opening on top of just the right size allowing a beam of orange and golden energy to come through and keep an unstable dark orb in place and keep it from expanding. The shockwave also propagated upwards and reached all the clouds and smog in the air in no time. With the cries and moanings of thousands of voices, the clouds made of distorted faces were instantly reduced to thin traces of vapor and ashes. The dim sky seemed to be lit up just for a brief moment, but then it went back to its previous dark red gloomy state. On the relatively flat and even land around the crater, Jianmen circled the crater while waving his meat cleaver and his broom in the air, writing and drawing various symbols, True Words and mini arrays that would end up engraved on the energy dome. The theory behind this dome was something he observed in the Clearwater Municipal Hospital - whoever that mage was, though now that it seemed quite probable he was a Hellinger, it was clear that he actually found a way to suppress a Defiler scout using the massive clustered malice that haunted the hospital. From how things unwinded, the mage seemed to have sacrificed himself to serve as the malice¡¯s maintainer, thus keeping the malice from imploding and serving as a prison for the Defiler Scout. This theory was later somewhat confirmed by what he encountered during the fight against the living curse - the curse cast by the Hellingers in a desperate attempt to drive the invaders off their home, and somehow gained sentience and self consciousness after decades of being here. The power of the curse was no match for his, but when it exerted its will to defy his command, or harm him or to break free, it was able to, even though slightly and barely noticeably, shake and impact Jianmen¡¯s hold on it. It was from having observed this two times did he decide to really try and incorporate the living curse itself into the barrier, instead of just striking a deal with it and asking it to guard against the incoming Defilers - for one, he had no confidence in the living curse¡¯s loyalty anyways, and for two, if the living curse displayed the ability to corrupt the construct of his power, there would be very little guarantee that it wouldn¡¯t try to get out of the deal and possibly damage Jianmen¡¯s ward spell in the process. At this stage, even a little bit of damage to the spell could lead to catastrophic disadvantage on their part.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. It took around two Earth hours for Jianmen to finally finish the entire spell, which created another layer of warding and protection outside of the dark red and dark blue energy dome, which would serve as a buffering mechanism to temporarily create enough pressure on the dark orb when the orange and golden stream of energy inevitably dried out and the dome might not be fully sealed at the time. The glow from Jianmen¡¯s eyes gradually went away and the aura around him dimmed down after he completed the spell due to exhaustion and discomfort from abruptly gaining this much of his powers back, and he had to sit on the ground for a brief moment of rest. The wine from his flask would serve very little use for him now, and drinking it all up only lessened a small part of his feelings of unease. Just by a quick count, he still had three more bigger pieces of white crystals stored in Xianshi Inn¡¯s basement, or the ¡°tokens¡± he gained for cleansing the karmic pollutants out there. The biggest piece he had already reserved for the upcoming fight, and the other two would be put on standby and ready for use whenever he needed, which he was still hoping would not be needed because mending the broken karmic chains when he conjures another portal to go home would probably cost him those two, if not more. After taking about half an hour to rest, Jianmen left an observation spell and an energy anchor in this realm so that he could watch over this place at all times and teleport back should anything occur. With a swing of his meat cleaver, a portal with orange and golden edges appeared before Jianmen. He took a short moment to adjust his clothes, dial back his aura, his external energy signature and sense his own status, then retrieved the meat cleaver and his broom and walked into the portal empty-handed. Chapter 588 ¡°Bang!¡± The pair wooden door with meticulous and subtly sumptuous patterns engraved on both sides and a pair of enchanted silver metal handles to a spacious round meeting room with a roundtable inside and a dome magically enhanced to display the 3-dimensional holographic image of a slowly spinning earth was pushed open, rather forcefully but not violently, and Josephine Wong came in with Glenda Grimes, Blue and Professor Barnes alongside her. ¡°Liaison Josephine Wong, this is a meeting of the Security Council with the Eastern liaisons, you have no business here.¡± The middle aged man standing by the roundtable facing the door, who was also the chairman of the Security Council, greeted Josephine Wong with a heavy frown, his voice shaking and his eyes narrowed: ¡°Please, unless you have some urgent business that requires the council¡¯s attention, leave, as your intrusion is highly unprofessional and not appreciated.¡± ¡°My apologies Mr. Chairman, but this is going to be everyone¡¯s business.¡± Josephine Wong took out a crystal orb and tossed it in the air. The orb flow towards the center of the roundtable, then grew in size and started glowing in the kind of red light one could see from alarms and police cars: ¡°We have a serious situation with the Hellinger Castle, and as you can see, the fate detection Array in the Grant Academy just sounded an alarm. We have a reason to believe that a group of Defilers will be on their way¡± ¡°Ms. Wong, I understand your urgency.¡± A middle aged woman who was also standing when Josephine Wong and the crew came in shook her head: ¡°But we are just discussing about the critically underfunded attempts at developing the Eastern branches of the Division, we could not afford to lose more control over the area to the unqualified - ¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but that kind of development would take months and years of effort. And we only have less than two days of time to prepare for this.¡± Josephine Wong immediately cut the middle aged woman off: ¡°And I am formally making a direct request to the Security Council to mobilize and deploy the fast reaction forces.¡± ¡°And what is the emergency that you deem warrants such a request in such a manner?¡± A young looking warrior wearing a suit of dark green armor asked: ¡°And what do the alarms from this so-called ¡®Fate Detector Array¡¯ mean to us and the council?¡± ¡°The array used deep and powerful magic to tap into the flow of time and space of the world around the academy, and it will sound the alarm if the trend and the general direction of events put the academy¡¯s safety and/or existence in jeopardy.¡± Professor Barnes answered: ¡°The Division had on more than one occasion rented time and usage of it to serve as a tool of detection and divination.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°I am in support of this mobilization request.¡± Just this moment, a female mage wearing a long white silk dress and a thin and exquisite translucent light pink diadem said: ¡°I just received signal from my observatory, they were detecting some seriously disturbing signs in the environmental energy fields in some realms as well, most of which originated from the - the general coordinates of the Hellinger Castle.¡± ¡°What kind of signs are we talking about?¡± The Chairman of the Security Council asked. ¡°Abnormal burst of energy, energy signals indicating instability in time and space, and even signs of elemental energy itself being tainted and withering, something one could only observe when - ¡± ¡°When Godfalls happen.¡± Josephine Wong and the female mage said at the same time. ¡°Doesn''t the Grant Academy have an expert on this? Should we consult him?¡± The middle aged woman smiled and said: ¡°What¡¯s his name? Professor Matkinson? We should schedule a consultation and get back to the developmental issue we as the official governmental body is facing - ¡± ¡°Professor Atkinson is on an excavation and research trip into the Elemental Realms.¡± Glenda Grimes said: ¡°He¡¯s not going to have time to answer or help during a call this urgent.¡± ¡°Well then, I do think it¡¯s better to be cautious - ¡± ¡°I am in favor as well.¡± The young looking warrior in a suit of dark green armor was looking at an artifact that looked like a palm-sized pocket watch: ¡°My watchers observed the same kind of disturbances, though they have yet to pinpoint the origins of these disturbances.¡± ¡°Wait wait wait, how about we dial it down a little?¡± Another middle aged man, who was in a luxurious looking white cloak with golden linings: ¡°These are only signs of some kind of trouble, okay? They¡¯re not clear evidence that we ARE INDEED facing any clear and impending danger, and mobilizing the fast reaction forces is no joke, especially when we are so understaffed and have piles of incidents and disasters in our plate - ¡± ¡°This is a clear danger, we were there in the Hellinger Castle, and we witnessed it. Someone tried to use an undeservingly powerful artifact, and a tear in the world was created, which would be the passageway for the Defilers to come over to our world. We know that at least one Defiler had come here before, and even if it¡¯s a slight indication that they may come again, we have to treat it with the utmost caution and preparedness.¡± Josephine Wong looked around the room and said: ¡°And a fast reaction force will not be enough, we are pleading to everyone here and in the Division, that we must prepare our forces.¡± ¡°I on behalf of the Headmasters of the Grant Academy am here to vouch for Ms. Wong¡¯s account, and to inform the esteemed council that we will be lending a hand to Ms. Wong¡¯s efforts.¡± Professor Barnes stepped up and gave the room a gesture of greeting by placing his right hand on his left chest and bowed. ¡°What about Principal Hawke?¡± The Chairman of the Security Council asked. ¡°He is suspended and under investigation for his negligence in handling the event of circulation of contaminated materials. All three Headmasters and the vice principal have assumed his duty for the time being.¡± ¡°The council will need time to decide.¡± The Chairman went silent for a brief moment, then said: ¡°Council members, I propose an immediate meeting and a quick vote on the authorization of this mobilization request. Liaison Wong, please excuse us.¡± Chapter 589 The meeting took somewhere around 30 minutes, and finally, when the Chairman ordered the room open and welcomed Josephine Wong back into the meeting room, all those that came with her had already left, and she came into the room alone. ¡°Where are your friends and colleagues, Liaison Wong?¡± The middle aged woman asked. ¡°They went back to tend to their own preparations for war, per my request.¡± Josephine Wong nodded: ¡°My apologies for this rash motion. But time is of the utmost essence right now, esteemed council. Even if we have the mobilization authorization of the fast reaction forces, we have only a little bit more than one day¡¯s time to prepare.¡± ¡°The council takes no offense, and we appreciate your caution and tendency too. And now you are going to provide guidance and information to the council on how the fast reaction forces will move and go into this war.¡± The chairman walked away from his chair and laid his hand on the chair¡¯s back: ¡°For we have just reached a conclusion, you have the council¡¯s support and authorization to mobilize the fast reaction forces. You know the process right?¡± ¡°Yes, thank you Mr. Chairman, and council.¡± Josephine Wong let out a long sigh of relief, then nodded and said: ¡°I will initiate the mobilization.¡± ¡°And I will go with you. ¡± The female mage wearing a meticulous diadem stood up and said: ¡°Our church is small, but we believe in doing the right things and maintaining the balance of all things. Tell me how we can help, and we will find you on your battlefield.¡± ¡°I will send some forces as well.¡± The young looking warrior wearing a suit of dark green armor stood up as well: ¡°I have received more worrying signs of things in the world. And if what you said is true, I think we might just have to join forces.¡± ¡°Thank you, Lady Ryleen, Bruj, I will provide you with a coordinate and badges, when you¡¯re ready, teleport to the location, and we can join us.¡± Josephine Wong smiled.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about the case that you are wrong.¡± Just this moment, the middle aged woman said. ¡°I don¡¯t see how that could be the case. But of course, the authorization bears consequences and responsibilities.¡± Josephine Wong let out a quick sigh and asked with a calm and collected voice: ¡°What would you suggest?¡± ¡°If it turns out that our fast reaction forces are mobilized due to false alarm, then it would be grounds for negligence and intentional waste of Division resources.¡± The middle aged woman said: ¡°And should that be the case, I must insist that I have no stock in it happening, I reminded the council that this kind of behavior, combined with deliberately interrupting a Security Council meeting, should be reprimanded.¡± ¡°I object, this is what our emergency clauses are for - when events of high urgency and potentially great negative impact occurred, high ranking members including liaisons should be able to report to the council directly.¡± Lady Ryleen shook her head: ¡°And let¡¯s not forget about the report submitted by Liaison Wong - the resurgence of the Hellingers and the new intelligence about the remaining members of that wretched family trying to reobtain its long lost powerful artifact had already proved useful and insightful. I see no grounds for potential reprimandation.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s hold this discussion off til the next time we convene a meeting.¡± The Chairman said: ¡°For the time being, liaisons you may proceed. Liaison Wong, you are now officially authorized as the commander of the fast reaction forces. Lady Ryleen, as a member of this council, you will be the supervisor of this operation. Please beware: per the Constitution of the Division, all intelligence gathered through the operations performed by the fast reaction forces should be shared with the council. You may proceed.¡± When Josephine Wong sped down the hall of the first floor of the Division Headquarter, she heard different alarms sounding from different directions. ¡°What the hell is happening?¡± Josephine Wong asked. ¡°The disturbances in energy fields are causing abrupt changes in the environment as well, while the magical families are still comfortable in their own realms and enchanted mansions, the civilian world is getting hit by the natural disasters they bring.¡± Bruj sighed and said: ¡°But let¡¯s focus on what we will be doing - Defilers, I read your report on the Clearwater Municipal Hospital, Wong. Don¡¯t take this the wrong way, but how do you plan on defeating a whole horde of them? When you, Master Nameless and Pei and the like couldn¡¯t even do much to one?¡± ¡°Our faith in the tenet of Lox will empower us to fight the breakers of balance and corruptors of peace. But that kind of power cannot be shared lightly.¡± Lady Ryleen said, shaking her head: ¡°My apologies for not being able to provide more help.¡± ¡°My associate Jianmen Yu has a way, it¡¯s costly, but I trust that it will work.¡± Josephine Wong answered with assuredness and certainty: ¡°It will work. I¡¯m sure of it.¡± ¡°My father once told me, dying for a cause is okay, but the important thing is to die fighting and not impaled on a pike naked and armless.¡± Bruj chuckled. Chapter 590 Orange and golden lightning cracked up in the sky of the realm in which the Hellinger Castle resided - the dark colors of the sky gradually lightened up, and into a color of pale gray with some hint of iridescence. And when one looked closely and paid attention while the lighting came from the right angle, they could see that there were faint symbols and words in the distant sky. The horizon beyond the circumference of the land around the castle slowly shrunk as the beam of orange and golden energy continued blasting from the portal and into the crater on the ground. This was also because of the beam of energy, or, because of one of the additional functions built into the array that was unleashing it - the realm was shrinking because it was being ¡°squeezed¡± - the space inside was being condensed, along with the energy fields inside. The purpose for this additional functionality was quite simple, based on Jianmen¡¯s knowledge he gained in the past world and his observation of the basic order of this world: when a realm, which was essentially a small fragment or bubble of space, was condensed, the energy field inside, as well as the order and karmic chains inside became temporarily densified as well, which could take thousands of years for the energy fields and order of the world to get back to normal. And with the energy fields and the order of the world and karmic chains condensed, the movements, powers and abilities of the Defilers would be suppressed and even restrained. Another ¡°side purpose¡± of the array releasing the energy beam and the energy beam itself, was to mend the ¡°cracks¡± around the tear in the fabric of the world itself, so as to further suppress the power of the Defilers and disadvantage them when the actual fights broke out. On the ¡°outer layer¡± of this very realm, a thin membrane of energy was slowly crawling along the ¡°surface¡± of the exterior and gradually covering it up. This energy membrane would serve as a blockage against external attempts at creating a portal into this realm, just like a portal restricting and disruption array, but from the outside of the realm, and with enough power to block the portal attempts from much more powerful entities. Under the light released by the energy beam, and the remote sunlight passed into the realm, the now barren ground around the crater where the Hellinger Castle once was showed a small but very noticeable change in colors - if one lowered their body and took a close look at the ground, they would see small sprouts of grass of various colors, green, red, blue, purple and even completely black, crawling up from below the dirt and started covering the surface of the earth; in some slightly darker corners behind debris and rocks, moss and mushrooms the size of small buttons appeared as well.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Another lightning shot across the sky, a piece of cloud formed from several streams of dense air with moisture spiraling around a common center, and then within minutes, the piece of cloud got dense enough to rain. Raindrops displaying different colors as they fell from the sky and hit the ground - some turned to water like normal raindrops would, some turned into small bumps of dirt and rock, some turned into sparks of electricity or fire, some turned into very tiny black holes, swallowing the surrounding dirt and sands around and then collapsed. ¡°Boom!¡± A mini volcano erupted from a distant corner, releasing iridescent vapor, translucent and shiny dust and shooting blue and green lava up at the sky which later turned into crystals in the air and fell down and scattered around the ground. In the vast empty space and void outside of this realm, a long energy tentacle glowing in serene blue light extended at this realm, covering immeasurable distance in space in mere moments of time, which was already covered with the orange and golden energy membrane. It gently tapped the energy membrane, which rippled and pushed it back by a little like an elastic rubber ball. Just by an extremely short moment of contact, a message from Jianmen was delivered to the tentacle, and the one who sent this very tentacle. ¡°Interesting.¡± Inside of the Creator Avatar¡¯s temple, Xyn, the Judge and Truth Seeker Avatar and the Creator Avatar sat side by side on a crystal throne, slowly controlling their own realms and pushing them to merge together: ¡°The origin of the disturbances seemed to be temporarily dealt with, by someone we know.¡± ¡°Who?¡± Dolores, who was easy transcribing and organizing the documents shared with her and Professor Atkinson, which were the rewards of fulfilling their contract, raised her head with messy under maintained hair from the table and asked. ¡°Is it Mr. Yu?¡± Professor Atkinson also looked up and asked, whose eyes were a bit bloodshot and his face showed clear signs of tiredness. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s him.¡± The Creator and Truth Seeker Avatar said: ¡°And he¡¯s cashing in our end of our deal, and asked me to keep you safe.¡± ¡°Really? What did he say?¡± Dolores let out a bright smile, but then she frowned and asked: ¡°What - what happened?¡± ¡°Yeah, why would we not be safe?¡± Professor Atkinson took a look at Dolores, then asked. ¡°It¡¯s - it¡¯s bad. It¡¯s dangerous, even for me.¡± The Creator Avatar sighed: ¡°But it¡¯s a contract sworn with True Words, so I am going to honor it to the best of my extent. And just to inform you - you will not be able to leave this place, until the issue is resolved.¡± ¡°What is it? Can you tell us?¡± ¡°The Defilers are coming, and I will lead some of my forces into battle.¡± The Judge and Truth Seeker Avatar answered, strangely with a humanly solemn tone. Chapter 591 ¡°Defilers?¡± Professor Atkinson and Dolores asked at the same time with raised voices: ¡°How?!¡± ¡°That I don¡¯t know, and I intend to find out from this friend of yours.¡± The Creator Avatar rose from the throne: ¡°I¡¯d imagine you¡¯d wanna know as well, if you¡¯re not afraid of the weight of this knowledge.¡± ¡°Actually, it seems to me, the knowledge has lost its weight.¡± The Judge and Truth Seeker Avatar looked up and then around: ¡°The disturbances caused by the tear in the world had lifted all weights of knowledge in that realm and nearby realms. Distant as we are, the effects have still reached here.¡± ¡°When - when are you going to find him?¡± Dolores asked. The two avatars of Xyn were both about to answer, but something happened and both of them just looked up, and then looked to the side at the same time. ¡°He¡¯s here.¡± The Creator Avatar said with a light frown on her face: ¡°And something changed about him.¡± ¡°He¡¯s healed himself. Though it is unclear through what means he did so. ¡± The Judge and Truth Seeker Avatar answered: ¡°Let¡¯s invite him in.¡± The Creator Avatar raised one of her right hands to the sky, and then an energy barrier outside of this small realm opened up a small gateway for Jianmen. Then with a flash of orange and golden light, Jianmen appeared in the temple, gently bowing before the throne. ¡°Thank you for meeting me, Xyn.¡± Jianmen said: ¡°Looks like you have received my message. I would have come here to tell you myself, but the disturbances needed to be contained, so I had to stay there for a bit.¡± ¡°The containment will not be permanent, will it?¡± The Creator Avatar asked.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°No. A tear in the fabric of the world cannot be closed by any normal means, not even by god level powers.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°We can only try to stand against the Defilers that would be rushing out from the tear, until the wound on the world heals itself.¡± ¡°How do you know that defilers will be here?¡± The Creator Avatar asked. ¡°A scout was already here once, and before it was destroyed, it called out to its creator. So it is only prudent to assume that they would come should the opportunity arise.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°And I will require your help to stand against them.¡± ¡°How do you expect to fight them? And how do you expect ME to help!? You know full well the forces that led to my fall.¡± The Creator Avatar became visibly agitated: ¡°And you know that I am in no condition to fight anyone or anything of that level. ¡± ¡°Nor would I expect you to be the vanguard or the tip of the spear.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°That would be me - and I have my plans, and I intend to contain the spread for as long as possible, if we are not able to hold them off.¡± ¡°If there is no way to heal the wound to the world, how do you expect to hold them off?¡± The Judge and Truth Seeker Avatar asked: ¡°I trust that you know full well that the population of Defilers is not going to be depleted easily.¡± ¡°Do you remember the kind of energy released by Defilers when you slay them?¡± Jianmen asked. ¡°No, that piece of memory was lost to me, and I had no intention to actually seek it out.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a bit similar to this.¡± Jianmen raised his right hand and flicked his finger, a very miniscule piece of white crystal flew towards the two avatars of Xyn: ¡°Here, additional offering for you, for keeping my colleagues safe here with you.¡± ¡°This - never thought that you, a mortal would - ¡± The Creator Avatar was about to give out a praise, but then realized that the human stood before her was not exactly a mortal: ¡°Well - let me rephrase my question: how did you find this? This should be unimaginably rare, especially for anyone of your previous condition.¡± ¡°Being who and what I am does have its perks, one thing¡¯s to know about the tricks of collecting resources like this.¡± Jianmen smiled: ¡°But you know what this can do - it possesses the energy to heal the order of the world and the fabric of reality. And for gods like you, who are the embodiment of order, it could heal your wound, even if it is the result of a fall.¡± ¡°Which means, the more defilers are slain, the energy will be released, which will in turn heal the tear, created by - what is it, humans?¡± The Creator Avatar sat back into the throne and said: ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you will acquire their forces to fight the Defilers?¡± ¡°Humans are much more resilient and strong willed than you give them credit for.¡± Jianmen looked back at Professor Atkinson and Dolores: ¡°And yes - it is technically their fault, and they will be the ones fighting the threat. ¡± ¡°Wait, I - I¡¯m sorry.¡± Dolores interrupted from behind Jianmen: ¡°This is a lot of information - but are you saying there will be a fight against Defilers?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Jianmen sighed: ¡°But don¡¯t worry, we have, let¡¯s see - a little bit more than one day¡¯s time to prepare. After which, I guess it will be left to fate.¡± Chapter 592 When Jianmen left the temple of Xyn¡¯s Creator Avatar, he left a small metal coin for Xyn, and two wooden coins for Dolores and Professor Atkinson - if anything bad should happen, these would serve as means of temporary protection. After departing from the temple and the realm in which Xyn¡¯s two avatars, Professor Atkinson and Dolores resided, he opened up a portal to the outer range of a realm about which he had known for quite some time but never got a chance to visit. There was a thin gray energy barricade outside this realm, which was occasionally glowing in blood red color. On this barrier, Jianmen could see a lot of markings that looked like they were made from scratchings from sharp claws. They did not seem to be random scratch marks either, but intentional writings with claws instead. ¡°I imagine you did not come here for tea.¡± A man in a dark cloak appeared before Jianmen: ¡°And, uh, congratulations on your speedy recovery. What did you do?¡± ¡°Dived into my drug caskets.¡± Jianmen scoffed: ¡°Still recovering - so if you wanna spar you¡¯re gonna have to wait.¡± ¡°Heh, nice try. I may not be as favored by the Will as you are, but I still have my honor.¡± ¡°Then you know why I am here - if you don¡¯t, then I would seriously doubt the value of leaving you be and letting you have all of that malice in that underground lab.¡± Jianmen shook his head. ¡°Having both eyes does have its benefits, but even if I didn¡¯t have them I could still feel the change in the world.¡± The man lifted the cloak on his head, revealing two eyes glowing in yellow light: ¡°And apparently, it¡¯s humans again.¡± ¡°Yes. And you know why I am here.¡± Jianmen nodded, and flicked his finger, sending a miniscule grain of white crystal to Tze Cha: ¡°As promised. More to come, when the war is over. I trust that you already know about the battle plans?¡±Stolen story; please report. Tze Cha received the grain of white crystal and let out a long and hoarse laughter, after which he said to Jianmen: ¡°You really intend to fight alongside humans? A bunch of low level mortals, that¡¯s your choice of teammate?¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct, and if you could convince those that have dealings with you and receive benefits from you to join our fight, it¡¯d be much appreciated.¡± Jianmen smiled and shook his head: ¡°Of course, they would need to make a temporary allegiance contract, sworn with True Words.¡± ¡°I have some names, but I don¡¯t think your current teammates would work well with them.¡± Tze Cha carefully examined the grain of white crystal in his hand and said: ¡°You partnered with annoying and self righteous do gooders and those who hold the concept of good and bad to too much esteem. And the humans I have contracts with - well, let¡¯s just say, they are more like me and not you. One of them was there at the place when it happened.¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± Jianmen narrowed his eyes: ¡°What did you see?¡± ¡°Stone of Negation being used, by a reckless human.¡± Tze Cha scoffed as he twirled his fingers in the air, and the small grain of white crystal was slowly consumed by a stream of dark blue energy: ¡°It was kinda eye opening, that human¡¯s gift - I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen something like that coming from a lowly mortal race. It¡¯s the vision to see, and the hand to bring the end, it¡¯s ¡­ quite ironic.¡± ¡°What did this person ask for?¡± Jianmen immediately asked. ¡°To get out of a deal she made with an entity - and my palate was kinda tingling at the time when I sensed that entity¡¯s whining through the space.¡± Tze Cha laughed out loud and then shook his head: ¡°It¡¯s a new but minor god, I can sense it.¡± ¡°Your desire for that kind of power is disturbing, and unrealistic. And trust me, it will not end well if your greed is not contained.¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°Didn''t losing one eye teach you anything?¡± ¡°Hehe, for someone who regularly burns himself doing random things around the universe, did you really think you are in a place to tell me this?¡± Tze Cha reached into the inner pockets of his cloak to take out a pale twisted horn and a long, dark sharp nail and throw them to Jianmen: ¡°I no longer have any use for these, here you go. They¡¯re from the ¡®Demon¡¯ whose body, soul and essence I trade my one eye for, and whose contracts with the humans I inherited, one of which is a one of one¡¯s name.¡± Jianmen took the winding horn and the sharp nail then quickly examined them with his Xuanli - these two items still had quite a bit of energy in them, which he could make some good use for setting up traps and artifacts against the Defilers or even blessing and buffing those that would fight against them. What was more interesting, however, was that there were contracts embedded inside - should he accept these two items, he would be inheriting and taking over these contracts - with humans on Earth. ¡°And for a brief moment I thought you are no longer your self-serving self.¡± Jianmen shook his head. ¡°If you plan on dying alongside them, then it¡¯d be reasonable that you take over all of these as well.¡± Tze Cha shrugged and smirked like a greedy merchant who just duped a client: ¡°I am the last of my kind, should this part of the world fall, I don¡¯t want anything left that they could use to trace back to me.¡± Chapter 593 Group by group, individuals recruited and summoned by Josephine Wong and her friends and colleagues at the Division and from the Grant Academy came to a giant hall in Xianshi Inn. They included monks wearing light but meticulously enchanted cassocks while others holding long metal and wooden staves and some had Vajra pestles in the sleeves, exorcists in leather or silk armors with swords and batons, mages, witchers and sorceresses, and last but not least, knights and warriors. On one end of the hall, there was a small platform, on which stood Josephine Wong, Professor Barnes, Professor Dorothea Clarkson, Pei and Nameless. Some other members of Josephine Wong¡¯s team were standing beside the platform, including some members in Division Agents¡¯ uniforms. ¡°When is he gonna come?¡± Professor Barnes walked to Josephine Wong¡¯s side and asked. ¡°Soon. We still have three minutes.¡± Josephine Wong said: ¡°Don¡¯t worry. He¡¯ll be here.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got an awful lot of faith in him.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson shook her head and said: ¡°You know - I can and have accepted the fact that he¡¯s a god walking among us - wounded and all. But - why does he care? He¡¯s a god right? And knowing everything - ¡± ¡°Well, what else can you do?¡± Josephine Wong chuckled, then shrugged: ¡°You can just refuse to accept it, or you can still have doubt in your heart but still hold it in and get on with it. But what would it help in the end?¡± ¡°Hopefully not as some kind of sacrifice?¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson twitched her left eyebrow. ¡°Yeah well, if that is indeed the case I¡¯d better be worth a lot. I better be the fuel that created the next intergalactic overlord.¡± Josephine Wong laughed. ¡°Woosh!¡± Just this moment, a group of warriors, mages and fighters with superpowered gears and a small team of wizards and witches in silk white robes appeared at a corner of the hall. ¡°I thought the Division fast reaction forces were here already?¡± Pei asked. ¡°These are additional support, from two security council members.¡± Josephine Wong smiled and waved at them the leader of the two teams: Lady Ryleen and Bruj.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. An orange and golden beam of light appeared on the platform, and just like a portal, Jianmen walked out from inside. ¡°Well, is this everyone?¡± Jianmen asked, rubbing his temples with a frown on his face. ¡°That should be it, I can¡¯t guarantee there won¡¯t be more coming though.¡± Josephine Wong answered with a bright smile: ¡°After all, it¡¯s the party of a lifetime. I passed out a lot more invitations.¡± ¡°Thank you. Thank you. You¡¯ve done so much.¡± Jianmen smiled and patted Josephine Wong on her left shoulder, then walked up front and said to everyone with an enhanced voice: ¡°Hi everyone. Thank you very much for being here. ¡°Now, you may not know me, but my name is Jianmen Yu, former student of the Clan of the Golden Feather, and I am the owner of Xianshi Inn, which is this place. And it is my honor to be standing here with you. ¡°Now, as all of you are already aware of what kind of threat and enemy we will be facing, I will not attempt to repeat the information. In less than an hour¡¯s time, we will be entering the realm, where the famous Hellinger Family once resided, and where the tear in the world was created. ¡°Defilers are creatures with a thin-waisted pyramid social structure - they have a lot of lower level swarm creatures as their drones; they have a small number of mid level creatures that serve as some kind of middle management tier, those of you who were present during the incident of Clearwater Municipal Hospital, you would have already seen one of that; and finally, there would be a few top tier, which serves like a god and ruler to the rest. ¡°For those of you who know about the municipal hospital and what happened there - I encourage you not to worry. Defilers only appeared to have that kind of power because of the kind of energy they possess - the kind of power that tends to disintegrate order. But I am here with you, and I¡¯d here share with you the two things that will help you battle them and put you on an equal footing with them: the first, is your will - the stronger your will is behind your every attack, the more your attacks hurt; and the second thing, is this - ¡± Josephine Wong¡¯s eyes widened in utter surprise when Jianmen took out two pieces of white crystal and displayed them to everyone in the hall. She wanted to go forward and ask Jianmen, but while she was hesitating whether she should, Jianmen crushed the two pieces of crystal with his hands. ¡°These two crystals are a kind of rare resource that you cannot find in the wild. It takes a lot of effort to obtain them, but they have this really helpful and neat property - they could help us repair order and fight chaos.¡± Jianmen explained to everyone, as the energy released from the crystals slowly filled the room, and under his command, slowly went into everyone¡¯s body and mind as a noticeable warm blessing: ¡°And this I share with you. Once again, I am honored to be standing here with you. Please ready yourselves, the gateway will open in ten minutes. If any of you would like some drinks or cake, please feel free to ask.¡± When the energy released by the crystals reached Jianmen, out of a sudden inspiration, he used his power of mind and will to separate out a small ¡°blob¡± of this energy and sent it away from the hall, and to the coordinates of his and Josephine Wong¡¯s students. ¡°Why?¡± When Jianmen went back to this end of the hall, Josephine Wong came to his side and asked. ¡°Why not?¡± Jianmen shrugged. ¡°But ¡­¡± ¡°No ¡®But¡¯. I¡¯ve made my decision.¡± ¡°Okay, okay - it¡¯s just - I don¡¯t know what to say - ¡± ¡°No need. Just - survive and don¡¯t die, okay?¡± ¡°... you too.¡± Chapter 594 ¡°Rash, thank you for being here as well.¡± Standing in front of a tall marble gate glowing of an ivory light, Jianmen said to Rash standing beside him: ¡°I know you¡¯re still recovering - so be very very careful, okay?¡± ¡°Like I told you before, Mr. Yu, no need to thank me.¡± Rash chuckled and said: ¡°It is the destiny of our kind to die on the trail of absorbing and neutralizing the pollutants of the world. You have already saved me once and gave me another life, and this is the chance to have a more decent death. I can¡¯t see myself missing out on it.¡± ¡°Well, try to stay alive - I could use more of your help when this is all done.¡± Jianmen smiled and raised his arms in the air and faced his palms at the gate. The gate slowly swung open from the middle, and bright but warm and comforting came out through it. The next moment, everyone in the hall landed on a piece of grassland, amongst flowers of different colors and a few trees with weird trunks and wide crowns and had leaves and fruits of various colors. Not far from the position where they landed was a dark red and dark blue energy dome with symbols and words glowing in orange and golden light hovering over a crater. A beam of orange and golden energy was shooting down from a portal in the sky and through the top of the dome into somewhere deep underground. ¡°We don¡¯t have much time, my array containing the tear in the world is running out of power.¡± Jianmen said to everyone: ¡°Everyone, get in your battle formation, and lay down your traps and devices.¡± Everyone around started choosing their positions around the crater, and Jianmen floated up into the sky and started sensing the conditions in the realm. Right now, the beam of energy was already slightly thinner than last time Jianmen was here, this was, aside from the fact that the array powering it was running out of energy, also because the array was damaged in the process of continuing releasing this beam of energy. Just this moment, a loud crack came from the portal through which the beam of energy came, and a giant ripple of energy blew down and struck the dome. All the symbols and words written on the dome¡¯s service flickered, then glowed in brighter color. The wall of the dome started moving, and the energy flow inside sped up. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡± Jianmen immediately told everyone: ¡°The spell was almost completely out of energy. It would switch to a separate mechanism of containment. Everyone, make haste.¡± As the beam of energy slowly grew thinner, the opening at the top of the dome gradually closed up to not leave any room for the things trapped inside the dome to go out. Jianmen concentrated on the position of the dark orb being blasted by the beam - the embodiment of the tear of fabric of reality and karmic chains of the world, with the beam growing weaker, it expanded in size. ¡°Boom!¡± When the beam of energy shrunk past a certain threshold, the dark orb exploded like it was detonated from inside. This created some small disturbance in the dome and the beam of energy, and a temporary disconnect between them. Several tiny beams of completely dark energy shot out from the small gaps at the top of the dome and into different directions above. ¡°Fuck!¡± Jianmen¡¯s figure turned into a stream of orange and golden energy and shot at these dark energy beams trying to intercept them. In the matter of mere moments, Jianmen was able to obliterate all but two of these dark beams of energy. The other two beams escaped Jianmen, and were then blocked and weakened by the energy barrier at the edges of this very realm. Though the barrier on the outer edges of the realm was slowly growing in strength from Jianmen¡¯s spell, it was not strong enough to completely block off these two beams of energy, and thus still let them escape through tiny cracks. ¡°Fuck!¡± Jianmen cursed again, but this was no time to go out and pursue them, as by his estimate, these two beams of energy might contain some relatively weak karmic pollutants or small amounts of weaker Defilers, which would still pose serious threats to the world, just not as dangerous as his leaving the realm and leaving the fighters waiting to face the Defilers head on. ¡°Where are the other forces? When will Tze Cha and other reinforcements be here?¡± Josephine Wong sent a message to Jianmen through magic. ¡°In a bit of time, they needed more time to prepare than us.¡± Jianmen sighed and replied. Just this moment, a portal radiating dark and foul energy appeared in the air beside Jianmen, and a dragon with dark scales, dark horns and claws the length of a bus swam out from it. ¡°Well well.¡± Tze Cha scoffed at the sight of the humans preparing below around the crater: ¡°This is not a lot of humans, is it? I thought you were planning on overwhelming the Defilers with numbers.¡± ¡°No, after some calculation on the resources, this seems to be the way with the highest chances of success.¡± Jianmen shook his head and looked at the traps and devices below: ¡°The blessings I shared with them should be enough for everyone to deliver enough damage to the Defilers, that the world would heal or at least stabilize enough so that no more of them could come through.¡± ¡°Well, I understand your plan. But I still have my reservations.¡± Tze Cha peeked deep into the energy dome, and saw that the dark orb was bouncing around inside, rapidly changing in size and leaving traces of dark energy around: ¡°This is an interestingly powerful barrier, didn¡¯t know that you would get your hands dirty and use malice magic.¡± ¡°Desperate times.¡± Jianmen sighed: ¡°And I did not do it on my own - I sorta had to strike a deal with the infamous family that once owned this place.¡± ¡°It¡¯d be a shame if the godhood of compromises and deals was grabbed by someone else.¡± Tze Cha flew closer to the dome and circled around it. Chapter 595 The dark red and dark blue dome showed cracks on their surface as the dark orb continued to bounce around inside releasing traces of dark energy everywhere. Many of those who were stationed around the edges of the crater could easily see the glowing eyes and shining claws of the creatures released by the orb through the semi-transparent wall of the dome. These dark creatures could serve as the evil enemy swarm in almost every video game or fiction novel in the world - they came in different shapes and sizes, some with asymmetric heads, some with multiple heads, some were headless, and had eyes on different parts of their bodies and limbs. The mages had set down various traps in some of the inner area of the crater and some around it and weapons aiming at the center of the crater. The warriors got into their formations and stations, with archers and shooters in the back and fighters with shields and scepters in front. If one was to look down from higher up, it would be a comically absurd sight to behold - weapons like rocket launchers, cannons and sci-fi looking ray guns with antennas aiming at the position of enemies, while at the same time fighters wielding cold weapons like swords, maces and scepters were standing beside these mixed weaponry along with fighters armed with guns, grenade launchers and other types of advanced tech modern weapons. ¡°So, the other guy is still waiting?¡± Tze Cha asked Jianmen, his tone full of despise and mockery: ¡°What is he planning? Riding in on a white horse with the rising sun behind him?¡± ¡°They will come.¡± Jianmen sighed: ¡°They just need to come from a realm that is further away and much more prone to the influences of the Defilers.¡± The dome cracked up some more, while the fighters on the outskirts of the crater were finishing up their final preparations. ¡°Countdown, sixty seconds.¡± Jianmen announced to everyone, with his left hand raised, and a long energy spear made of some kind of dark metal in his palm. The head of the spear was made with a curved claw, and the body had a long, pulled out and winding horn-like decoration wrapped around the shaft. ¡°When this is done, you¡¯d better show me the blueprint of this spear.¡± Tze Cha started releasing dark smoke around his body - his scales started glowing, his claws, his teeth and his horns were all coated with thin layers of energy.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Okay, here we go.¡± Josephine Wong let out a long exhale. ¡°No worries, just like old times.¡± Glenda Grimes smiled and looked up: ¡°Just didn¡¯t expect the fucking dragon to be on our side though.¡± ¡°And for that I am extremely grateful.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson looked up and then down at the dome: ¡°It¡¯d be better if he had recruited more creatures back at Greenrock though.¡± ¡°But then, considering what we know now, looping more gods here with all their god aura that disrupts reality and order of the world might not be such a good idea.¡± Professor Barnes laughed as he checked his swords once again. On the other side, the monks led by Nameless and the exorcists led by Pei were standing by the mages and witches in silk write Robes led by Lady Ryleen and the fighters and warriors armed with enchanted rifles, grenades and battle vehicles led by Bruj. ¡°Well, isn¡¯t this nice.¡± Bruj chuckled: ¡°Monks, exorcists and members of the Church of Lox, hope we rugged street rats don¡¯t dishonor you.¡± ¡°There is no greater honor than just standing here.¡± Nameless gently bowed to Bruj and Lady Ryleen and said: ¡°This monk is humbled to be alongside you as well.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go out for tea when this is over.¡± Pei smiled. Just this moment, a giant jellyfish with several thick tentacles and hundreds of thousands if not millions of smaller tentacles appeared in the sky on the side of Jianmen. The human faces displaying negative emotions glowed and spun, and many fighters present felt that their worries, their fears, their stress were gracefully lightened, leaving more room in their heart for courage and will to fight. ¡°Countdown, five seconds.¡± Jianmen charged the spear with more and more of his Xuanli: ¡°Five, four, three, two - ¡± ¡°One.¡± The spear turned into a bolt of lightning consisting of black and orange and golden energy and struck the dome at its top. Energy threads descended from the top of the dome, and many parts of the wall of the dome retrieved sideways into the inner skeletons inside. The creatures from inside the dome immediately started rushing out, many of which running and flying into the thin and glowing skeletons and energy threads of the dome and getting sliced in pieces in the process. Tze Cha opened his mouth and a pillar of dark flames shot from his mouth and throat and struck one horde of the creatures that flew out from the top of the energy cage that was once the dome, exploding in mid air and rained dark droplets of fire down on the creatures below. ¡°Boom boom boom!¡± Some traps laid on the inner areas of the crater exploded, and lights of different colors, red, green, blue, yellow and white, shot into the sky, sending the creatures into the sky in pieces. Tens of shadows of long swords made of energy appeared in the formation of the exorcists led by Pei, and they shot up into the sky, stopped at a certain angle and then started shooting more shadows of the swords at the incoming Defilers. The majority of the monks led by Nameless sat where they were and continued to chant the most powerful verses from their scriptures in unison, with several warrior monks guarding the front of their formation with Vajra Pestles and Staves in their hands. The chants produced waves and waves of golden light in the air, and any Defilers that came close to them were instantly smitten with bolts of golden lightning. Chapter 596 With the energy dome gone and replaced with a cage with thin but sharp and burning bars, swarms of creatures of all shapes, sizes and colors flooded out from the dark orb now located at the center of the cage. Many of the creatures were sliced up or injured when they made it out, and small traces of energy released from the corpses and wounds were, just like Jianmen expected, slowly being absorbed by the dim light around the dark orb. ¡°More incoming. Be careful.¡± Jianmen warned everyone as he held a batch of folded paper sigils in his left hand. Currently the outpouring creatures, just like he told everyone, were all low level Defilers, the cannon fodder of the Defiler horde that was trying to flood through the tear of reality. The folded sigils floated away from Jianmen¡¯s hand and started flying around him. Then, one of the paper sigils descended at the position of the dark orb, turned into an orange and golden arrow of light and shot at one of the Defilers that just came out of the dark orb. This Defiler, shaped like a centipede with a forked upper body and thus had three heads, was apparently more powerful than a lot of the rest around it, and the arrow of light struck it right at the section on its body where it forked. ¡°Crack!¡± The arrow of light dug halfway into the centipede Defiler¡¯s body before it shattered, and the lower part of its body was incinerated by a burst of energy. The three heads, however, sprung towards three different directions and tried to get away from further attacks. Two bolts of completely dark lightning shot from Tze Cha¡¯s two eyes, and two of the three heads got blasted into dust by this strike. The third head tried to rush at a small group of mages and witches in silk white robes, the members of the Church of Lox, who, according to Josephine Wong, were a secretive and exclusive religious group who put their faith in a barely intelligible principle ¡°Lox¡± - which was actually a True Word embodying the meaning of ¡°To know and to understand why to know¡±. The leader of the group, Lady Ryleen, simply stepped forward and uttered a word, the centipede head was flattened, turned into many smaller pieces and pulps of sticky flash like it was hit by a swinging heavy hammer or bat, then splattered backwards at the other Defilers. More and more Defilers gushed out of the dark orb, many of whom even piled on each other as they charged against the individuals standing around the crater. And within just less than a minute, the forefront of the wave of Defilers clashed against the lines of defense set up by the humans.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. The forces of humans were all elites of the elites, and though the low level Defilers were many, they were able to hold the lines for now. And it was also at this moment, many of the magical and enchanted weapons brought by them started firing at the positions just outside of the cage hovering over the dark orb, creating explosions, shocks and energy bursts that delivered heavy damage to the horde. ¡°Mid tiers incoming! Mid tiers incoming!¡± More folded paper sigils turned into arrows of light shooting down at different targets inside the streams of Defilers, as Jianmen conjured his rattan broom and swung it at the ground below. A wall of wind was created and crashed down at the ground, many low level flying Defilers were turned into smoke and dust before they could escape into the air. Three winged creatures covered in red and blue scales survived it but they continued their charge at Jianmen even though they showed signs of severe burns and cracks from the attack and there were arrows of light targeting them. Tze Cha rushed forward with his mouth open, two of the creatures were crushed by his teeth and swallowed without a chance, and the final one was captured by his left front claw. The arrows of light circled Tze Cha and flew downwards at the ground in search of other targets. ¡°Don¡¯t take it lightly, Defilers are not like other creatures of malice and dark energy.¡± Jianmen threw a few more folded paper sigils in the air. These paper sigils flew towards several fronts of major clash between the Defilers and the human defense forces, and started radiating a gentle aura that helped the humans recover from injuries and fatigue faster. A giant four-armed ogre like Defiler charged at a group of warriors and knights with a large spiked hammer and a giant curved sword in its hand. Several arrows of light already pierced through its back, its shoulders and its neck, yet it possessed some kind of energy flow slowdown and resistant ability, and it was able to create a small breach in the defenses by bashing two warriors and one knight away. Two magical archers standing behind them landed two strikes on this Defiler¡¯s eyes and blinded it, but it was still able to slice these two archers from their chests and waists using the giant curved sword. This was the first casualties endured by the defense forces, the warriors and knights around charged forward and broke this ogre Defiler¡¯s both legs and the arm swinging the sword with their maces and scepters, then the magic and energy arrows embedded in its body exploded at the same time, tearing it to shreds. Nameless¡¯ body became coated with golden energy as he charged at a mid tier Defiler taking the shape of a giant hairy crab with two front claws of different sizes. The crab Defiler clenched its bigger front claw and shot a stream of dark energy at him, which was easily evaded. The next moment, the metal stave of Nameless swung down at this front claw and shattered it into thousands of pieces. Then another monk rushed to this way and delivered a heavy kick at its belly from below, sending it into the air just in time to be impaled by two arrows of light released by Jianmen. Taking a quick moment to sense the results of this battle, Nameless felt the difference between this very fight and the last encounter he had with the Defiler buried under Clearwater Municipal Hospital - this time, his attacks and moves carried a kind of suppressive power against the Defilers, allowing his hits to connect more with the ¡°actual body¡± of the Defiler, instead of the empty feeling of delivering blows into the air and not striking anything substantial, which meant much more actual damage done. Another Defiler with the lower body of a horse and the upper body of a lobster charged at him again, and he immediately turned around to face it. Chapter 597 A stone giant Defiler appeared from the dark orb like it was an image projected from a hologram projector, its fist thrust up at the top of the energy cage that was still in place and slicing up outpouring Defilers, trying to destroy it. But its fist was sliced into several pieces like an apple by a specialized apple cutter. Then an arrow of light came through the areas between the thin bars and impaled it right on its chest area and its neck, then exploded from inside. The broken stones and rocks from this Defiler¡¯s body were launched all around it, damaging more of its minions and even peers. ¡°What made them take these shapes?¡± Tze Cha came back up into the air after delivering a dive attack that crushed and incinerated dozens of Defilers and had two mid tier Defilers capable of flight following him into the sky. These two mid tier Defilers were in the shape of multi headed, long-necked birds with hairless bat wings and spikes on their backs and long tails made of hundreds of sections. ¡°They sometimes take the shape of their former victims, sometimes they detect the lores and mysteries that inspire fear and desperation in a realm and take those forms.¡± Jianmen dashed from positions to positions in the air, swinging his meat cleavers and his rattan broom, cutting hordes of defilers in the air with orange and golden energy blades and unleashing walls of wind, tornadoes and wind blades that break the formations and momentum of the flying Defilers. There were mages, archers and shooters with enchanted ranged weapons standing on floating platforms shooting their fully charged powerful attacks at other flying Defilers that launched themselves into the air. There were many of them, their attacks were powerful, and they were protected by sturdy, multi-layered protected arrays that could even withstand point blank blasts from large caliber cannons. But when faced with large hordes of defilers, some with razor sharp claws that could slice through steel plates and some with hardened horns and knuckles covered with bones. Several shooters and archers were thrown off their floating platforms from the gruesome blows at them, some of them were lucky enough to be caught by their teammates below in mostly good condition and ready to continue fighting, while most of them were severely injured or even torn to pieces while they were in the air. Tze Cha¡¯s fighting style was quite similar to Jianmen¡¯s - he flew around in the sky like an extremely agile and versatile battleship, unleashing devastating energy blasts at all the enemies. Rash, on the other hand, became a mini floating fortress, his tentacles swiftly and fluidly shooting through the air, impaling Defiler after Defiler and cleansing their energy in the process. Many of the fighters around also realized this and gathered around him and attacked from these more advantageous positions as well as help Rash clean up the Defilers he missed.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Hiss!¡± Another mid tier Defiler with the head of a wide-mouth serpent with no teeth but only dangling tentacles and multiple tongues inside emerged from the dark orb and blew a stream of dark smoke at the energy cage. The energy from the cage lit up and burnt the smoke into clean ashes, but the cage itself was corrupted and drained in the process, and its integrity and structure became weakened. Jianmen threw a piece of folded paper sigil into the cage, which upon entering turned into a spinning energy ball with spikes and blades and started cutting and slicing more of the Defilers inside, including the mid tier Defiler with the head of a toothless serpent. This serpent Defiler screeched from the wounds, then its whole body exploded and splashed droplets of his wretched bodily fluids and blood in a wide area, corrupting and corroding the cage, the spinning energy blade, and the robes and body armors of many of the fighters around the crater. Cries and moans of pain came from those who were unfortunately touched by the droplets of this foul and debilitating dark liquid. The ones that got touched by more droplets even had their bodies melted and had their souls and minds sapped away. ¡°Careful!¡± Nameless rushed to the position between Pei and many of the monks, his golden aura expanded and solidified into a golden dome against the droplets of dark liquid coming their way like pellets from a shotgun. The golden dome shook, cracked and crumbled from the droplets of dark liquid, many of which splattered onto Nameless. Thanks to his help, the monks and the exorcists behind him were spared. But the liquid on his skin instantly started to corrupt his hair, his skin and his muscles. ¡°Nameless!¡± Pei shouted and rushed to behind Nameless and delivered a full force palm strike onto Nameless¡¯ back. All of the dark liquid splattered onto Nameless¡¯ body was knocked into the air and fell onto the ground. Nameless clenched his teeth, sat down in a meditation pose and started chanting verses of scriptures. His golden aura was gradually pulled back from the areas around him and turned into streams of energy that filled the holes on his body - half of his chest area, one third of his face, and his entire belly was then covered with golden energy - the parts of him that were just corrupted by the liquid. Pei stood in front of Nameless, in the space between him and the incoming Defiler horde. Her two long swords raised up, and left trails of light green and light blue energy in the air as she swung them like a dance. With this brief moment, another mid tier Defiler shaped like a giant cat snuck through the firing lines of the exorcists¡¯ energy sword attacks and the monks¡¯ golden aura of lightning and lunged at Nameless and Pei. Pei immediately swung the two swords forward, and the trails she drew in the air like floating ribbons immediately wrapped around this cat Defiler¡¯s body and held it up in the air. Three energy swords impaled this cat Defiler before it could attempt to make another move. ¡°Bang!¡± The sound of metal crashing and grinding against each other came from the center of the crater, the energy cage created by Jianmen was finally destroyed. Chapter 598 ¡°Tzk!¡± Jianmen clicked his teeth in frustration as he flew around in the air and witnessed the energy cage crumbled from repeated attempts of corruption and impact by the Defilers - the cage was made from the demon horn and claw given to him by Tze Cha, after agreeing to take over the contracts Tze Cha took over from the demon. He thought the cage would last longer and do more damage to the Defiler horde, yet the breath and blood of that serpent Defiler had done too much corrosive damage to it that it was not able to hold on anymore. A diamond-shaped Defiler with a strange and hypnotic shine rose from the dark orb, and in a single moment, its many surfaces shone some kind of pale gray light at the human forces around the crater. Many of the humans, especially those with a weaker mind block ability and resistance to illusion and mind and soul magic, went into a brief moment of confusion and vertigo, which caused their attacks and defenses to be interrupted. Though the effect was for but a blink of an eye, the Defilers were able to take advantage of it and tore several holes in the lines of defense. Two thick tentacles were launched by Rash towards that diamond-shaped Defiler like chained harpoons and impaled two of its many surfaces without any issue. However, some kind of decaying energy started to spread from its internal space onto the two tentacles. ¡°Poof!¡± Rash immediately cut off its two corrupted tentacles after injecting the venoms stored inside the glands on the tips of the tentacles into the diamond-shaped Defiler. This defiler, though shaped just like an inanimate diamond, started twitching and letting out a high pitched scream, and fell down on the ground and cracked into many tiny pieces. Gray blue smoke arose from its pieces and became absorbed by all the Defilers rushing through the area - this was the residue of Rash¡¯s venom. ¡°Mr. Yu, I need help.¡± Rash said to Jianmen: ¡°That thing¡¯s corrosive power - I wasn¡¯t able to cut them off in time!¡± ¡°One second!¡± Jianmen¡¯s entire body flashed in orange and golden light, leaving an energy afterimage of himself where he was and teleported to the side of Rash. By the time he got to Rash, the same kind of decay energy was spreading through Rash¡¯s body. With his right hand in claw shape, Jianmen plunged his entire right arm into Rash¡¯s body, an energy vortex appeared around his arm, which ¡°attracted¡± the decay energy and led it away. Within moments, he was able to stop the spread, giving Rash enough time to cut off a large chunk of his body to fully stop the spread. Then Jianmen¡¯s right arm lit up in orange and golden flames as he did a throwing move with it - his Xuanli encapsulated the decay energy and wrapped it inside an energy capsule of dozens of layers, trapped it inside and carried it into the sky away from the center of the battle field, slowly neutralizing it in the process.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°This is almost pure energy of anti-being.¡± Rash healed himself slowly and said: ¡°How come? How could anyone or anything control this kind of power?¡± ¡°The Queen Bee, the Alpha, the Grand Defiler.¡± Jianmen checked on his right arm - this healing process left his whole right arm burnt as well, and he needed some time to heal: ¡°Be careful, alright? We need a lot more dead Defilers for the wound to heal.¡± With the diamond Defiler gone, Tze Cha flying from position to position spitting dark flames and devouring large packs of Defilers, and small traces of Rash¡¯s venom slowing and paralyzing other Defilers, the holes in the defenses of humans were gradually mended by the flesh and blood of more human fighters. Large caliber weapons fired up, energy bolts and enchanted rockets were launched into the incoming horde close to the holes in the lines of defense, releasing energy shockwaves that crushed and blew away many of the Defilers that were trying to take advantage of them. ¡°Black hole orbs! Black hole orbs! Aim at the place they come from!¡± Josephine Wong tossed a charged up mind-clearing spell into the air with her trembling and blood-stained arms, helping many human fighters fight off the remnant effects of the pale gray light. Three slim, long and silvery gray missiles were launched by three cars standing at the back of the battlefield. And to cover for this attack, many other vehicles and launchers of missile attacks opened fire in a volley. While the rest of the missile attacks exploded releasing heat, light and shockwave, the three slim missiles disintegrated in the air and popped out six antennas made of different materials. And the next moment, all three missiles imploded from similar positions inside of their structures, creating three blackholes in the air that pulled in dozens of Defilers in an instant, including three mid tier Defilers that just came out of the dark orb. ¡°Come on! Come on!¡± Professor Barnes swung his great sword in the air, the burning energy blade extended from his sword had cut through possibly hundreds of Defilers at this point, and his armor was damaged and even completely broken in some places and his blood was dripping onto the ground, but there were still too many Defilers rushing towards him. ¡°We need more fighters, we need reinforcements.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson coughed and helped Glenda Grimes stand up straight: ¡°They still keep coming.¡± ¡°Where the fuck are the elementals?¡± Glenda Grimes tossed a healing spell and a defense spell onto Professor Barnes and said: ¡°We could use some elementals now!¡± Tze Cha roared in anger as he almost fell onto the ground from his injuries - too many mid-tier Defilers were targeting him and he was getting overwhelmed, and also because he did not listen to Jianmen about not devouring too many Defilers. These are not the usual dark creatures he could easily digest like many of those he had done before, even when he was almost fully healed and received the blessing from Jianmen¡¯s white crystal. ¡°Boom!¡± A giant rainbow-colored portal appeared in the air, and another horde of creatures flooded out from it - these creatures had many different shapes and sizes just like the Defilers, but their colors were much brighter and shiner. ¡°You¡¯re late.¡± Jianmen couldn¡¯t help but say to Xyn with anger. ¡°My apologies - but I had a disagreement.¡± Xyn, now in the form of a four-armed cloaked figure wielding two scythes, one long and one short, said to Jianmen. Chapter 599 While the humans were enduring greater and greater loss, which led to their lines of defense retreating from the edge of the crater, more and more Defilers with the ability of flight rushed at the sky and tried to bypass the humans, Jianmen and Tze Cha and attempted to expand beyond this realm. Yet when they reached the outer edge, they were immediately pushed back by an invisible wall of energy, and were not able to proceed any further. With a quick minute of observation, some of the mid tier Defilers found out that this energy wall around the realm was connected to the humans on the ground, and the two god level creatures fighting them in the air - if they were still alive and remained in this realm, this wall would be much harder to break through. Thus, they circled back and started launching their attacks on their enemies - it¡¯s the living, and the creatures of order, either killing more of them in here or out there, it was the same for them. The opening of a portal and the influx of these special creatures made of energy forced a lot of these Defilers and others that were still coming through the orb to change their strategy again - unlike the humans, these creatures were more ferocious than humans and even most of the Defilers themselves, and they were in greater numbers than the humans. ¡°This is your army? ¡± Jianmen frowned and said: ¡°You are bringing your scraps of creation and not the elite forces.¡± ¡°They will be here. But as you know, my children have a much harder time procreating and leaving legacies behind, therefore, measures have to be taken.¡± Xyn bowed to Jianmen as a signature of apology: ¡°But be assured, they will come.¡± ¡°You and I will talk about this when this is over.¡± Looking at the hordes of creatures of the gaps filling the entire space, swarming even the Defilers, Jianmen shook his head and dived back down into the center of the battlefield. Now that the ratio of numbers had reversed, the humans took the time to breathe and heal their wounded as they retreated back a little from their previous positions. The team of Josephine Wong, Professor Barnes, Professor Dorothea Clarkson and Glenda Grimes temporarily delegated their commanding position to another team and rushed towards one of the positions with the biggest number of casualties and in the most critical danger. Josephine Wong¡¯s blood stained gloves and the rings on her fingers glowed in different colors of light, and at the same time, energy bolts, energy spears and many other forms of ranged attack shot from her hands at the Defilers surrounding a group of almost isolated human soldiers. These energy bolts were not explosive but rather hardened and piercing, and they impaled a great number of Defilers on, leaving them severely damaged and vulnerable if not dead outright. But with each of these attacks, the artifacts used by her drained more and more of her power. As a wielder of Xen magic, battle was never her strong suit, but right now it was no occasion to fixate on specialties and hold back.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Professor Dorothea Clarkson and Glenda Grimes¡¯ spells were much more explosive and aggressive, as they exploded and sprung out energy shrapnels and blades blasting and slicing up every enemy around their centers. ¡°Go! Fall back!¡± Professor Barnes slammed his great sword down and unleashed a crescent-shaped energy slash, cutting through around ten Defilers and relieving a small group of soldiers of the pressure. ¡°Ohm!¡± A loud humming and buzzing sound was released by a humanoid Defiler with around two adult human¡¯s height, two long and slim arms wielding a long poleaxe, and a face with only a wide mouth and five eyes. Some kind of debilitating and panic-inspiring energy field was spread by this sound, and the group of soldiers were paralyzed for a brief moment, enough for this Defiler to slash half of them up into pieces with one swing of its poleaxe. ¡°Fuck you!¡± Professor Barnes struck forward with his left fist, a fiery energy fist shadow shot at this tall humanoid Defiler with five eyes. This Defiler turned around and held its poleaxe up in front of the energy fist shadow, and was only pushed back a few steps by it. Glenda Grimes swung her green rapier in the air, and dozens of green energy blades and spinning stars were unleashed at this Defiler in a volley. This Defiler unleashed another ¡°Ohm¡± howl and charged at Professor Dorothea Clarkson and Glenda Grimes. The soundwave did not cause Josephine Wong¡¯s team much distress or disturbance, but it weakened the integrity of the energy blades shooting at it, so much so that most of the energy blades just bounced right off from its skin and shell, and the rest just stuck on his body like they were piercings or decorations. Professor Dorothea Clarkson thrust her hands forward and conjured two spinning energy saw blades in low air. The humanoid Defiler crashed into them, broke through and continued its charge, ignoring the saw blades that made much more than halfway through both of its tall slim legs. ¡°Ohm!¡± This Defiler howled once again, but this time a thick purple concave energy mirror appeared right in front of its face. The soundwave cracked the energy mirror into pieces, but a lot of it was reflected back at the Defiler, and the destructive and disturbing force was just as effective against others as against itself. The next moment, dark blue and green blood gushed out of this Defiler¡¯s five eye sockets and mouth and it was forced to stop the charge and took a step back. ¡°Clank!¡± Professor Barnes¡¯ greatsword was swung down at this humanoid Defiler¡¯s head, and though it raised its poleaxe at the last minute it could not stop the heavy edge from digging into its thick and slightly elastic skull. ¡°Dumpf!¡± Before this humanoid Defiler could raise its weapon again, Professor Barnes kicked it in the chest with all of his might, sending it flying back into the crater and making it hit one of the small black holes with its back. After some brittle crunching sounds, its upper body was consumed and crushed by it. ¡°Why is he holding back?¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson looked up at Jianmen, panting heavily like she just ran a marathon, and asked. ¡°It¡¯s not time for him to unleash his power yet.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head: ¡°This is our battle.¡± Small traces of shimmering energy arose from the legs of this humanoid Defiler and went into the thin exterior of the dark orb. The exit just got tighter and harder to pass through, for a small and barely intelligible degree. Chapter 600 Jianmen coursed through the sky swinging his weapons around, while paying attention to the status of the dark orb as well as Josephine Wong and her team. He was specifically targeting the more powerful Defilers that came out of the orb, because as of right now, slaying them or even just damaging them would release the most energy that could be absorbed by the tear in the world, while the weaker lower tier ones were being swarmed by the creatures of the gaps, leaving the tired and wounded human fighters time to breathe. Though grossly lacking in power when battling actual Defilers, the creatures of the gaps were able to achieve quite some results with their sheer numbers, as well as their emotionless nature - they had no fear, and they could continue fighting even when the majority of their bodies were destroyed, and what was more was that their bodies were apparently changed somehow by some kind of process, as when they eventually died and faded, their cores would explode, releasing energy shards at all Defilers around them. Xyn joined the fight flying around in this realm and striking, slicing and cutting every mid tier Defiler it came into contact with, which alleviated a lot of Jianmen and Tze Cha¡¯s pressure. But Tze Cha was not as reserved as Jianmen, and he decided he would let Xyn know his resentment, despise and disdain for this god of the void and of all elementals the first time they came face to face. ¡°As a god, this was such a cowardly thing to do.¡± Tze Cha sneered: ¡°Letting the feeble fight and die first, then getting into it only when it is convenient for you? That¡¯s far from godly if you asked me, or anyone.¡± ¡°You have no idea what the presence of Defilers means to a fallen god like me.¡± Xyn responded as he crushed the skull of a mantis-shaped mid tier Defiler with the pummel of his scythe: ¡°They are far more resistant towards the power of gods than to any other form of energy and attacks, which means if I was at the same power level of the humans below, I couldn¡¯t even do half the damage they could do to the Defilers. And what¡¯s worse was that they were able to track the traces of godly power and hunt us down even when we¡¯ve escaped to realms far, far beyond the original positions of contact.¡± ¡°Yeah, arrogance, conceit, some more examples of the vices one would imagine only the lowly mortals possess.¡± Tze Cha flipped his tail and crashed a small group of Defilers coming his way: ¡°Believe me when I tell you, as an Omen Dragon, and a being that was once there to take over a godhood if I wanted to, that I know more than you can ever imagine. ¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Then you would understand why I need to make preparations, when the demand to arm and go to war comes at such a short notice.¡± Xyn answered with a calm tone: ¡°I need to isolate my kingdom, my realm and my children from the potential harms that could befall them if this situation could not be contained.¡± ¡°And yet, these people are here, willing to sacrifice their names, their lives and their existence to mend the world.¡± Jianmen budged in from the side: ¡°We have a war to fight, your arguments and quarrels need to wait. ¡± The next moment, Jianmen threw an orange and golden energy sword down, which impaled a humongous Defiler taking the form of a hydra and was trying to launch an attack on the positions of Josephine Wong¡¯s team. ¡°Crack!¡± An abrupt change in the stability of the energy fields and even space and time occurred, Jianmen looked back at the dark orb, and found that it expanded in size and changed in shape - now it was like a long, dark rip in the thin air, through which a humanoid creature with burning golden eyes was trying to squeeze into this world. ¡°Phase Two.¡± Jianmen sighed and delivered a message to everyone present. The next moment, Jianmen¡¯s whole figure turned into a stream of orange and golden energy and launched itself right at the dark long rip ¡°Ting!¡± A loud crash like that of two pieces of extremely metal exploded from the rip, where Jianmen¡¯s meat cleaver clashed with the palm of the dark humanoid creature. ¡°Long time no see, fucker.¡± Jianmen laughed, and orange and golden light exploded from his left chest; it was so bright that all the Defilers on the battlefield were frozen and turned into ashes in an instant. When the light died down, there were no Defilers in the battle field, Jianmen was nowhere to be seen, and the tear in the world became the dark orb again. ¡°Phase Two! Phase Two!¡± Josephine Wong wiped the corners of her eyes clean, then said to all the human forces present: ¡°Everyone on guard! They will start to come again, unleash everything!¡± ¡°What happened?¡± Professor Barnes looked at Josephine Wong, slightly confused: ¡°I - did I forget something? I feel like something was on my mind - but I can¡¯t seem to grasp it.¡± ¡°You will find out when we survive. But it¡¯s time to face the worst part of this fight.¡± ¡°That fucking crazy, stupid, lunatic.¡± Xyn cursed: ¡°He bet his name on this.¡± ¡°That¡¯s, well, surely one way to isolate.¡± Tze Cha narrowed his eyes and slowly descended in the air: ¡°Come now you old rut, he¡¯s gone now, and the fight¡¯s gonna be a lot harder.¡± Some more Defilers started coming out from the dark orb, this time they were more ferocious, faster and stronger - there was a calm, warm and gentle aura in this realm that would have suppressed their power when they came out, but now it was no longer there. Chapter 601 ¡°Szechuan Drool Chicken.¡± A tall, cold, emotionless waitress came over and basically threw a plate of chicken on the table - on the edge of the plate there was still some frost, and the chicken on it looked like it was several days old and topped with canned spicy sauce. ¡°Well, at least we know for sure that it¡¯s not because of their food that they can afford to continue renting this place.¡± Caroline shook her head and said: ¡°What is this - boiled chicken?¡± ¡°And it¡¯s indeed chicken legs.¡± Jason scraped away some of the sauce from the top, revealing more pieces of chicken underneath. ¡°Okay, we¡¯re probably the only normal customers here. The other two groups seem like just their security staff and waiters taking their break and some customers for other stuff. And it looks like they have security staff everywhere as well.¡± Thomas came back after taking a fake bathroom break: ¡°Their kitchen is on the other side of the bathrooms, and they have some kind of storage room there, watched over by two hidden cameras, so whatever¡¯s inside it must be quite important.¡± ¡°No obvious way to get below?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°No, and I don¡¯t think pulling their blueprint would be easy either.¡± Thomas sighed: ¡°So, I think the only way to do this is to create a distraction I think? We¡¯ll need someone to cause a fuss while others try to sneak in?¡± ¡°No, I think it¡¯d be safer to retreat and wait for more backup.¡± Agent Hall shook his head: ¡°I think I just recognized someone from the profiles - the short man sitting at the corner table wearing red jackets? I think that¡¯s Zack Dooms.¡± ¡°Zack Dooms? What kind of name is that?¡± Jason snickered. The ear of Zack Dooms twitched, and his eyes rose from the cup of tea and fixated on the table at which Jason, Caroline and their group were sitting. ¡°Uh-oh.¡± Laura put down her tea cup. ¡°Fuck, he¡¯s listening to us and he heard.¡± Jason noticed this subtle yet not too subtle move and made a ¡°let¡¯s get out of here¡± gesture: ¡°Mr. Dooms, your beard is very cool, but this Szechuan Drool Chicken is garbage, please use fresh chickens and freshly made sauces next time. If you wanna try it authentically cooked, go to Xianshi Inn in San Jose when we¡¯re open. We¡¯ll be leaving now.¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. But when the group stood up and were about to walk out the front door, the front door was closed by two waitresses wearing qipaos that were too tight and too revealing to be traditional, with combat boots and knives in their hands. ¡°Well, it¡¯s good that we¡¯ve got their attention.¡± Agent Beckman sighed and put his hand on his pistol holster: ¡°Boy I should have stayed in the car.¡± ¡°Well, what¡¯s the problem? ¡± Caroline stepped forward and asked, pointing at the small pile of cash on the table: ¡°We didn¡¯t eat, but we paid - with tips too!¡± ¡°We have Division Agents at my place, we should have treated you with more of a decent welcome, instead of, you know, lousy boiled chicken just barely out of the fridge, topped with expired sauces.¡± Zack Dooms walked behind the group with his henchmen and henchwomen and said: ¡°But the thing is, I wonder why you would need access to our basement, and, uh, let¡¯s not forget the basics: WHAT are you doing here?! SNOOPING AROUND at MY PLACE?!¡± The henchmen and henchwomen growled and revealed their claws, some of them even grew fur and mane on the backs of their necks and their cheeks. ¡°We¡¯re not Division agents.¡± Jason raised his hands in the air and said: ¡°I am a receptionist at an inn.¡± ¡°Yeah, me too.¡± Caroline also raised her hands. ¡°How stupid do you think we are?¡± A large man standing beside Zack Dooms flicked his cigarette butt away and pointed at Agent Hall and Agent Beckman: ¡°The moment you walked in, our men recognized those two - ¡± ¡°Silence!¡± Zack Dooms raised his left hand. ¡°Well, shit - just when I thought we¡¯re gonna hear the good stuff.¡± Thomas sighed: ¡°Spies in the Division, not surprising at all. But hey, who wants some tofu milk tea?¡± This was the code word, and Thomas, Agent Hall, Agent Beckman all took out their guns and started shooting at the lycans around them. Jason waved his hand in the air, and a ring of silver energy appeared around them, slicing the ground on which they stood, while Caroline released a ring of fire around them, forcing the lycans back. Laura made a few hand seals in quick succession and created a few floating energy shields around them, blocking and pushing back at some lycans who attempted to lunge at them from some tricky angles. ¡°Crack!¡± They crumbled and fell to a lower level, bringing them along with it into a giant underground hall with metal plated walls and metal arrays engraved on the floor. Before they fell onto the ground, Jason thrust his arms at the hole he created and unleashed a stream of silver energy at it. The silver stream of energy became a temporary seal on the hole and blocked the lycans from the upper floor from entering. Jason¡¯s both hands became blobs of blurr when he wrote in the air with them, words and symbols made of silver energy were launched into the silver seal, forming into additional buffs and hardening arrays. Laura sent a few floating green energy orbs circling around the metal magic seal, which would serve as an additional layer of defense for the breach on the ceiling. And then she turned around mid air and cast another spell to slow the fall of the piece of ground on which they were standing. ¡°Bang!¡± The ground cracked as they reached the ground, but everyone on it was unscathed. Chapter 602 ¡°Good job, you make a good team.¡± Caroline looked around and instantly locked onto the position of the metal door the lycans can access this underground hall, then she rushed over and melted the keyhole to prevent the lycans from coming in through it. Then she cast a few layers of hardening spell on it as well - not as efficient or meticulous as Jason¡¯s or Laura¡¯s, but would serve for a short while. The hall underneath the restaurant was quite obviously an actual part of this historical building instead of something the owners built for other purposes - the team could see relief sculptures, stone altars, old and vintage style brick floor and marble plates embedded in places for decoration purposes. The apparently new additions here included the metal array made of thin metal plates and threads, some shiny candle holders around the array made of dark red rocks. There were also portions of this metal array that dug into the ground and possibly had parts that ran deeper below. ¡°Thanks. Now, where is your tracing spell?¡± Jason nodded. ¡°It¡¯s somewhere in this room - ¡± Caroline looked around: ¡°But this whole place is muddying the waters for me - I can¡¯t sense its exact location.¡± The lycans continued to roar outside of the metal seal, some of them were also trying to dig through the ground and attempted to enter the room the same way the humans did. Yet Jason and Laura¡¯s spells and arrays not only sealed off the breach they created, they also hardened the ceilings around which made it harder for the lycans to break through. ¡°Jason, can you search for a place to exit? I think I¡¯ve seen this kind of array before.¡± Laura knelt down at the center of the hall and said: ¡°Caroline, I may need your help here. I will try to figure out the internal energy flow of this array, and once we figure it out, you can try to input your energy directly into it and you can find out where it ultimately ends, right?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Jason¡¯s whole body glowed in silver light, and many tiny energy threads were released from his body and expanded in all directions around him like tentacles.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Thomas, watch the door.¡± Aimee nodded at Thomas and said: ¡°Laura, right? Do you need help with this array?¡± ¡°Sure. Can you help me trace this line and this symbol?¡± Laura nodded at Aimee, then pointed at a symbol on her side. ¡°Bang bang bang!¡± The lycans on the other side of the metal magic seal kept on banging and scratching at the seal itself as well as the areas around, and at the same time, so other lycans rushed to the metal door whose keyhole Carolin just melted and began banging on it and growling from behind, shouting all kinds of threats and obscenities. Seeing that the walls around the metal door were getting cracked up, which might become the actual breach points for the lycans, Thomas immediately chanted the only hardening spells he knew but was not too familiar with - an adjusted ¡°fire shield¡± spell, onto the walls around the door. ¡°Any progress? They seemed to be getting close here!¡± Thomas took a step back and away from the back of the door to avoid himself being bashed or his sight being blocked by the door should the lycans break the door down and come through. ¡°Found it! Here!¡± Aimee turned around and pointed at a small gem embedded in the array. ¡°Nice!¡± Laura had locked down two other gems, which formed an obtuse triangle with the gem found by Aimee, indicating that they were only parts of a greater array: ¡°Okay, so that¡¯s three - should be enough for us. Alright, Caroline, all of these three gems, can you infuse your energy into them with equal amounts of energy? And try to make it resonate with your tracing spell?¡± ¡°On it.¡± Caroline lit up three tiny fireballs and pushed them to land on the three gems. The three fireballs were absorbed by the gems in a short instant, and the next moment, Caroline felt that her energy was being funneled to a small tunnel underground and to one end of the underground hall. When Caroline looked to the direction where her energy was being funneled, which was at the exact opposite side of the stone altar, she saw a stone tomb hidden in the shadows with a piece of black cloth neatly placed upon it. Judging from the size of the stone tomb, it was most probably for a child or a miniature animal. ¡°There - you see it?¡± Caroline pointed at the stone tomb: ¡°That tomb.¡± ¡°Tomb?¡± When the others turned to the direction to which Caroline was pointing, they all looked somewhat confused. ¡°What tomb?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°I don¡¯t see a tomb, but I DO sense something there.¡± Jason said with a frown: ¡°And, uh, there seems to be a tunnel under there, which may be the only exit out of here.¡± Chapter 603 Without much hesitation, the team proceeded to the position of the ¡°tomb¡± slowly and with caution. It seemed to be the case that Caroline¡¯s energy flowing and stored inside of the array that was essential to this place allowed her to see the tomb, while others could not see it at all. Even Jason, who arguably had the most acute sense of energy fields amongst those who were present, could only detect a vague presence in that position. ¡°Okay, Caroline, activate your mind block and be extra careful - this kind of vision typically signals something that has to do with mind and spirit magic, even soul magic.¡± After several failed attempts at detecting the ¡°stone tomb¡± Caroline mentioned, Laura warned: ¡°It could be as simple as a really strong illusion magic, or it could be the results of some very arcane spell combining mind and spirit magic and space magic, I do hope it¡¯s not this case.¡± ¡°Well, let me try.¡± Jason nodded, conjured a small silver bead and threw it at the position of the tomb. The silver bead shone as it traveled through the air, hitting something invisible at one end of the room, and then bounced off and rolled on the ground like a marble ball. ¡°It¡¯s there.¡± Jason nodded: ¡°It¡¯s some kind of high level illusion magic or obscuration spells no wonder our senses are being dulled in this place. It¡¯s a - ¡± ¡° - combination illusion array.¡± Laura finished the sentence with Jason: ¡°Good, which means we can lift the illusion without having to deal with the complexities of space magic. ¡± ¡°Bang! Bang!¡± The metal door to the room was dented from impact and was slightly pushed out of its frame, the team could see the claws of the lycans behind breaking through it trying to rip the door out from the wall using this grip. Thomas immediately raised his gun and opened fire at the door, a couple of the enchanted bullets fired from his gun struck the fingers and claws reaching out from the gap between the metal door and the wall. The lycans roared in pain as their fingers were broken off by the bullets and their palms were pierced by the shrapnels. And just a moment later Thomas saw a couple of bloodshot wolf eyes behind the gaps trying to to look through the gaps, and he opened fire again without any hesitation, striking the peeping lycans in the face, possibly blinding them in the process.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. A high-pitched screeching sound came from a small wooden pouch hanging on Laura¡¯s waist when they came closer to the position of the tomb. This startled everyone, especially Jason who was paying close attention to everything in the environment. ¡°What the hell was that?!¡± Thomas asked while reloading his gun. ¡°Shit - this!¡± Laura opened up her pouch and took out a transparent jar with several layers of energy seal and protection spells - everyone could see that there was a centipede-like creature inside frantically jumping around inside and banging its head, its tail and its claws against the jar. ¡°What the fuck is this?!¡± Caroline asked with visible disgust. ¡°This is the remnant of that fallen god, we extracted it from the conduit¡¯s body.¡± Jason answered: ¡°Whatever is inside that tomb, it seemed to have either resonated with it or really excited it.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you put it back in the inn?¡± ¡°We came here right after you called! We didn¡¯t get a chance!¡± ¡°Alright!¡± Aimee and Thomas yelled together: ¡°Focus! Guys!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll seal this one up with additional layers. You continue.¡± Jason slapped his own forehead as a way of apologizing for his mini-freak out and said: ¡°If it doesn¡¯t work, I¡¯ll turn this jar into a grinder.¡± Then he concentrated his Xuanli and hardened the metal door with an additional layer of energy barrier. ¡°Okay, Laura, Aimee, Jason, can you lift the illusion? If not I¡¯ll just blast this fucking tomb open.¡± Caroline nodded and took a deep breath, then conjured out her battle axe and shield and cast a True Sight spell on herself. Her eyes, just like her battle axe and shield, glowed in orange and red. ¡°We don¡¯t have the time, just do it.¡± Jason shook his head and said: ¡°Our barriers will not hold any longer.¡± ¡°Suits me, I¡¯ll be careful.¡± Caroline raised her battle axe, then swung it down, unleashing an orange and red energy slash at the corner of the stone tomb. This was intentional, because in her vision, the corner of the tomb was the thickest part, but it also had a crack on it. When the energy slash clashed into the corner of the tomb, the energy slash split into two parts, each going into the direction of the two surfaces of the tomb. And with a ¡°poof¡± sound, the walls of the stone tomb crumbled and the lid was blown off to the side. This attack also created enough disruption from inside the illusion, and as the lights and shadows twisted and rippled, the crumbled stone tomb and what was inside were revealed to everyone present. It was a dried corpse, of a creature that looked like a four winged bat with black fur. On the chest of the corpse was a symbol that seemed to be branded with iron - a True Word, one that both Jason and Caroline recognized. ¡°... broken deals?¡± Jason frowned. ¡°Or - traitor?¡± Caroline shrugged. The centipede creature inside the jar in Laura¡¯s hand became even more frantic, so much so that the scratch marks inside the jar had started to blur its figure. Chapter 604 ¡°A True Word?¡± Laura looked at Jason. ¡°Yeah, but I¡¯m not sure what it means to be here.¡± Jason shook his head while slowly hardening the jar in his hand, and infusing it with his Xuanli - this was because he was indeed ready to do what he claimed: turning this jar into a blender. ¡°Bang! Bang! Boom!¡± The metal door was finally ripped away from the frame, and the lycans immediately found themselves facing another barrier, which was made with the same kind of silver energy that sealed off the breach in the building. ¡°Where¡¯s the exit?!¡± Aimee asked with a raised voice. ¡°There! Under the base!¡± Jason took a deep breath, and three hardened silver blades came out from both the top of and the bottom of the jar and started spinning in different directions. The centipede-like creature immediately started screeching and struggling to stay at the center part of the jar. But this was to no avail, the spinning silver blades ground its head and tail up piece by piece, turning it into a mixture of thick dark liquid, green and red guts and broken shells. While Caroline, Thomas and Aimee pushed the dried corpse of the four-winged bat creature away to find the base of the stone tomb, the centipede-like creature trapped inside the jar unleashed a final screech and detonated the rest of its body that was still not heavily damaged. ¡°Crack!¡± Pieces of obtuse glass and energy shards flew all over the place, the containment energy seal and array created by Jason and Laura immediately activated and pushed most of the dark liquid and other shredded parts of the centipede-like creature in, but they were not able to stop one tiny and innocuous droplet of especially dark and dense liquid from spewing towards the dried corpse of the four-winged bat creature. ¡°Boom!¡± The breach on the ceiling was finally broken, and three lycans still in human shapes descended from the upper floors into the hall. And seeing that the team of Jason and Caroline were standing beside the torn down stone tomb, they instantly lunged from afar at them without even a moment of hesitation, while cursing and yelling threats. Thomas, Agent Hall and Agent Beckmen opened fire on these three lycans, and all three of them were ready for this kind of attack this time - blood red and dark brown energy shields appeared around their bodies and blocked off all the shots unleashed by them. Though the three continued firing, their bullets just did not have enough stopping or penetrating power to create enough hindrance to them. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Caroline stepped forward from behind and thrust her shield forward, a semi-transparent energy shield covering the entire angle behind the team was conjured in front of her. The three lycans roared and clashed with the energy shield, cracking it in three different directions, and were thrown back by sudden explosions of fire and wind energy from those cracks. Jason conjured up his silver pen-spear and drew in the air, his pen strokes turned into a piece of silver cloud in the matter of a few seconds, and the moment it was completed, it started shooting silver lightning bolts at the lycans - not terrifyingly powerful and destructive, but powerful enough to make them want to avoid being struck and thus disrupting their plans of attack. ¡°Found it!¡± Laura and Aimee¡¯s detection spells glowed up around a piece of rock under the base of the crumbled stone tomb and revealed an irregularly shaped stone tablet. But no matter how they pushed or scratched, the tablet was not moved in any way. ¡°Lifting spell of Horace!¡± Laura nodded at Aimee and said. With both of them casting a basic lifting spell on the stone tablet, it finally floated upwards and revealed a brick tunnel lit by candles hanging on the walls underneath. The smell of mold and dust from this entrance signified that this tunnel had not been used for quite some time. Jason turned back and tossed out a carefully prepared spell he finished just minutes ago - a silver ball of energy flew into the tunnel, serving both as a scout and sensor for potential danger and as a light source. No warning signs so far from the interior of the tunnel. ¡°Agents! Go in!¡± Aimee shouted at Agent Hall and Agent Beckman: ¡°Rush the backups and send everyone available here!¡± ¡°Okay!¡± The two Division agents went into the tunnel without saying or asking anything, because they clearly knew that they would be of no help to anyone fighting the lycans: ¡°Stay safe!¡± Just when the two agents entered the tunnel and Aimee and Thomas were about to call for Caroline, Laura and Jason, a loud chittering sound came from the dried corpse of the four-winged bat creature. ¡°Crack! Bang!¡± The silver energy barrier created by Jason was finally broken down, by none other than Zack Dooms himself. But when the lycans entered the hall, all of them froze where they were, and Jason, Caroline and Laura could barely tell if it was from shock or fear. The corpse of the four-winged bat creature was somehow reanimated and flew into the air, its wing talons glowing in dark metallic shine, two small pale gray flames burning its empty eye sockets serving as eyes. The True Word on the creature¡¯s chest was now smoking and making a sound like that from hot steel making a brand on a livestock. ¡°Fuck!¡± The creature was radiating a kind of terror-inspiring aura, though it had just risen from the ¡°dead¡± and thus had a chaotic energy field and signature, Jason was able to identify its ¡°core¡± with just a quick look: ¡°That fucking fallen god has somehow taken over! Be ready to fight!¡± ¡°And it¡¯s using the energy collected by these fuckers.¡± Caroline¡¯s entire body started burning in orange and red flames and had a wall of wind formed around her: ¡°Looks like you didn¡¯t kill it dead, Jason.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, first time grinding the remnant of a fucking god.¡± Jason¡¯s entire body glowed in a silver light. Laura did not say anything, but she also unleashed her full power while keeping her eyes on both the bat creature and the lycans in this place. Aimee and Thomas took out their flasks ,drank from them then readied themselves for fights - they decided that they should stay and fight instead of going into the tunnel for now. Chapter 605 ¡°The Night Lord - he¡¯s back!¡± One of the female lycans screeched with happiness and almost knelt down on the ground: ¡°He¡¯s back!¡± Whoever this ¡°Night Lord¡± was, it was clearly an entity of worship to these lycans, as the team of Jason and Caroline could tell that many of them were showing similar intentions of kneeling before the reanimated four-winged bat creature. The last drop of essence of the centipede creature, which was the remnant of the fallen god whose conduit was defeated by Jason back at the SJPD precinct, did not seem to have much control over the body of this four-winged bat creature yet, as it flapped its four wings and seemed to be struggling to stay stable in the air and almost bumped into the walls a few times. But this did not stop a few of the lycans that rushed into this hall from kneeling or even laying face down to show their faith in this ¡°Night Lord¡±. ¡°No! Don¡¯t!¡± Zack Dooms raised his voice with a frown on his half wolf half human face: ¡°This is not the Night Lord!¡± Then he turned to Jason and Caroline and the Chavers: ¡°Filthy humans, what did you do?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not important, but the thing is - we should kill this - ¡± Jason shook his head, but before he could finish his sentence, the four-winged bat creature unleashed a low roar, which instantly gave them a really uneasy feeling all over their bodies and sick stomachs. Both Aimee and Thomas coughed and almost fell to the ground, but they still held on and kept their moments of weakness to the minimum. The lycans on the other hand, encountered a completely different situation - the ones that knelt or laid down to show their faith and belief in the ¡°Night Lord¡± glowed in a dim gray blue light, and one by one in rapid succession, their skins sunk into their bodies, their hairs grew gray and fell off and their eyes bulged out as streams of dim blue energy were pulled away from their bodies. For several moments, Jason and Laura could tell that these streams of dim blue energy showed themselves to be some kind of distorted shadows of the lycans. ¡°NOOOO!¡± Zack Dooms yelled in desperation and leapt into the air trying to stop one stream of this energy drained from a female lycan on his side, but the stream just passed through him with minimum hindrance from his body. Caroline and Jason tossed out their spells at the four-winged bat creatures at the same time - Caroline¡¯s spell turned into a condensed energy bolt made of her fire and wind Xuanli, while Jason¡¯s turned into a silver round seal in the air that released a silver shockwave at the streams of dim blue energy. This silver shockwave did what Zack Dooms wanted but could not - it actually interacted with the streams and blasted them backwards, not entirely back to where they came from, but was close enough.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Stand up! This is not the Night Lord! This is an imposter!¡± Zack Dooms carried the female lycan on his side up from her shoulders, which seemed to have helped her pull some of the energy back into her body: ¡°Don¡¯t offer your faith to it! Don¡¯t!¡± The four-winged bat creature screeched and flapped its wings harder than before in an attempt to dodge the bolt of energy fired by Caroline. But its limited control over the body did not help it at all, and the energy bolt still hit it right in the chest. ¡°Boom!¡± A massive explosion was triggered by this attack, and both the team of Jason and Caroline and the lycans were thrown backwards by the shockwave. The four-winged bat creature hit the ceiling from this attack, then fell onto the ground. But in this process, several streams of dim blue energy drained from the worshiping lycans still made it into its mouth. ¡°Bang bang!¡± Both Thomas and Aimee opened fire with their enchanted guns at the four-winged bat creature, but their bullets only left small scratches and tiny puncture holes on the creature¡¯s thick fur and wing membranes. Even the special-issued gun of Thomas tailored to his power was only able to do slightly more but still unimpressive damage than Aimee¡¯s standard-issued gun. ¡°Aaaah!¡± One of the lycans who did not kneel right away and therefore did not get his energy drained yelled in pain, as two of his fellow lycans who got their energy drained lunged at him and bit deep into his neck and left waist with their sharp and somehow poisoned fangs: ¡°Help!¡± ¡°Stop them!¡± Zack Dooms cried in fury and frustration: ¡°Stop them!¡± Laura tossed an energy bolt at the four-winged bat creature, but a gray energy shield appeared right in front of its head and collided with the energy bolt. The energy shield was completely broken in a mere instant, but it did block off most of the explosive power of the energy bolt. The lycans got into a fight of their own, as those among them that had their energy drained and became halfway mummified started attacking the rest of them as if they had been controlled and lost their minds. On the other hand, Jason and Caroline rushed to join in on the attack on the four-winged bat creature, as they could tell that though it was unfamiliar with the body, it was starting to get a hang of it, and the energy it drained from the lycans also seemed to be helping. The four-winged bat creature¡¯s body glowed in an ominous dim blue light, then it shot up into the air and flapped its wings at Caroline and Jason. Four crescent shaped energy blades were released shooting at them, and both of them had to break through using their weapons. ¡°Bang bang bang bang ¡­¡± Thomas and Aimee continued firing but right now the bat creature had already gotten a hold of its energy, and a thin energy wall around it just simply blocked all of the enchanted bullets. ¡°Hehehehehe¡­¡± The four-winged bat creature finally stood up firm on the ground after some struggling: ¡°Finally - a fitting godly body, soaked in energy and drenched in zealous faith.¡± Chapter 606 ¡°Motherfucker - again?!¡± Jason cursed then looked at Caroline: ¡°Be careful, it should still possess some of the abilities of that fallen god, and it seems to have gained powers from this body.¡± ¡°How did you beat it last time?¡± Caroline asked. ¡°We just beat it - it was not that strong when it was inside the perp¡¯s body.¡± Jason activated his True Sight Spell and started observing the energy signature of this four-winged bat creature¡¯s body and aura, attempting to find any potential weaknesses they could exploit. ¡°It¡¯s parasitizing a body that¡¯s not its own, so there must be some kind of incompatibility between them that can be resolved in this short amount of time.¡± Laura thought for a quick moment and said to both Jason and Caroline: ¡°And we just need to force it to use all aspects of its power and it will surely expose these incompatibilities.¡± ¡°Go.¡± Jason nodded, then his body glowed in silver, and his body split into seven, each looking identical and were lunging at the bat creature at the same time from different angles. Caroline¡¯s shield and battle axe lit up in blinding flames, her three ¡°lanterns¡± on the top of her head and her shoulders also burning hot and bright, her body turned into a stream of fire and shot at the bat creature. ¡°Thomas, Aimee, be careful.¡± Caroline and Jason¡¯s attacks were much fiercer than anything that the others in this hall had seen before, including Laura, Aimee and Thomas. The clashes of fire, wind, metal and earth Xuanli cracked up the walls and ceilings of this entire hall, and even Laura felt that it would be prudent of her to stay back for the moment. ¡°Target these zombie lycans.¡± Laura looked around, then said to Thomas and Aimee: ¡°They could give us information on this ¡®Night Lord¡¯ and its body.¡± ¡°On it.¡± Aimee swung her two scimitars and charged at two zombified lycans that were ganging up on an injured and isolated female lycan, who was at the brink of defeat and possibly death. The zombified lycans were in overall smaller numbers at first, but just like their zombified state suggested, they seemed to possess some kind of power to spread the curse or disease, though the mechanism was somewhat different - it seemed to take greater effort from the zombified lycans to actually ¡°convert¡± the other lycans into zombies. One of the turned lycans was held by two zombified lycans with their teeth and claws for more than half a minute before she was turned. And apparently the lycans had noticed this as well, so under the command of Zack Dooms, they shrunk their formation to provide more coverage for their teammates instead of fighting alone like they were doing.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. This of course ended up leaving some lycans who were too far away from the formation center out and facing more zombified lycans alone. And indirectly, this provided a chance to Laura, Aimee and Thomas to aid these lycans in need and launch their attacks at more dispersed zombified lycans. With the wave of a hand, Laura unleashed a flurry of energy bolts at the other zombified lycans coming to surround the isolated female lycan, who were neither aware of nor ready for this kind of ambush, and were instantly blasted to pieces. A zombified lycan with long hair on his back turned around and tried to scratch Aimee after taking a scimitar attack at his left shoulder and losing his left arm. But his right arm was met with the blade of another scimitar and was chopped cleanly off from the elbow, then with a kick in the abdomen, this zombified lycan was thrown to a corner of the hall like a rag doll. Thomas opened fire at another zombified lycan at point blank range. His special-issued shotgun proved overpowered when it came to shooting normal lycan bodies with fully charged pellets, as it only took one shot to tear up this zombified lycan¡¯s body almost completely from the back. Other zombified lycans screeched and chittered, then some of them redirected their attention at Thomas and Aimee and charged at them from different directions. Laura immediately conjured up a few energy barriers to prevent them from being surrounded, and the next moment she used a restraining spell on an injured zombified lycan to keep him on the ground, removing him from the fight but still making sure he was alive. On Jason and Caroline¡¯s side of the room, the four-winged bat creature stood on its two hind legs and protruding bone tail like a bipedal monster, and it was blocking the attacks from the two humans while dishing out its own attacks using its four wings like they were its four arms. In the process, its hind legs kept on growing stronger and longer, its torso gradually became longer and slimmer, and its front two wings gradually retracted the wing membranes and became thicker like actual front legs of beasts instead of just wings of bats. While Jason was unleashing thousands of silver energy spears in cooperation with Caroline to keep up the pressure, one of his silver energy shadows was able to sneak behind the bat creature and unleashed a full force jab at its left wing. The tip of the shadow pen-spear pierced through the energy wall and the wing. The bat creature screamed in frustration and pain, then it whipped its still growing tail at this shadow and dispersed it into tiny silver energy particles, but not before the shadow left a puncture hole on its back. The next moment, a Caroline whose entire body seemed to be engulfed in bright and fierce flames leapt into the air with her battle axe held high. When the battle axe was swung down, the air around her seemed to have caught on fire and its sheer speed created a series of sonic booms. The four-winged bat creature crossed its forearms in the air, preparing to guard itself from the hit - but at almost the last moment, it noticed that the contour of this Caroline¡¯s face and body seemed to have a very discreet silver glimmer. Chapter 607 ¡°Bang!¡± The battle axe attack from this Caroline exploded when it clashed with the bat creature, but it carried a relatively small amount of energy compared to her previous attacks, not to mention compared to how charged and forceful its delivery looked. At almost the same time, a battle axe seemed to have come out of thin air and crashed through the energy wall erected around the bat creature without losing much momentum and struck it right on the left waist. Fur, skin and muscles burned, bones cracked, the bat creature screeched in pain as it was thrown to the side from the impact. The fiery Xuanli gushing into its body through the grevious wound on its waist started burning and charing its internal organs and other parts of its body. The next moment, a sturdy rock appeared right next to the bat creature¡¯s hind legs, tripping it and making it lose balance for an instant. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Jason¡¯s pen-spear swung over from the other side and landed a full forced strike on its right shoulder. ¡°Crack!¡± The sharp blade on the silver pen-spear carved into the flesh and bones of this bat creature, spewing quite a few drops of thick dark liquid that gave off a foul, pungent scent and was releasing gray smoke when exposed to the air. The flames inside the bat creature¡¯s eye socket exploded in size, and it opened its mouth wide to release an explosive shockwave of cold gray energy in fury. The shadows of Jason and Caroline created by Jason cracked and some of them crumbled entirely under the effects of this shockwave, and the two of them were forced back by it and had to halt their attacks. This shockwave also impacted the lycans and the other three from their team - even though they did not suffer the direct blow, the force from the dispersed airwaves from the shock still disrupted their movements. This shockwave was not only meant to stop the attacks of Caroline and Jason, it also had some effects on the things buried underneath the floor of this hall. Jason pushed his True Sight spell harder and tried to look beyond the mere surface of the ground - there he saw it, tens of bodies buried underground, circulating energy as if they were batteries that had similar signatures to the bat creature. And right now, these bodies were activated and started to crawl up from their chambers. ¡°Crack!¡± ¡°Crack!¡± Various hands popped out from the ground, and a lot of these bodies that were originally buried underneath this underground hall came into the hall as their zombified selves. These bodies were not just humans or lycans, they included vampires and even some humanoid creatures that were much bigger in size and therefore possessed much more physical strength when they became zombified. The group of lycans were able to hold off and even gain advantage over the zombified lycans before, but the turn of the situation instantly put them in greater danger than the humans.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°What the fuck!?¡± Caroline looked around and cursed: ¡°More of these?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s kill this motherfucker as soon as possible.¡± Jason raised his pen-spear again and readied for another wave of attack: ¡°These zombies are clearly controlled by this bastard. And I¡¯ve got this weird feeling that this fucker could be watching us and could come here anytime. Let¡¯s finish him off as fast as possible.¡± ¡°It¡¯s growing in power, quick!¡± Laura said to Jason and Caroline while conjuring a volley of spells to attack the new reanimated bodies that appeared, aiding Aimee and Thomas in their attempts at fighting back against the forces of this bat creature. ¡°Laura, that lycan you controlled - could you poison him?¡± Jason took a deep breath, then asked Laura via a secret message: ¡°This bat creature could be having some kind of energy circulation with these zombies - ¡± ¡°Poison the stream, I understand.¡± Laura nodded while making hand seals to conjure up more attack and control spells: ¡°Hold on.¡± Jason and Caroline roared and charged at the bat creature once again. This time, just like before, Caroline led the charge attack with a crescent shaped energy blade, and this time, Jason followed up with a lower to upper swing of his pen-spear, shooting several silver shadows of silver energy spear. ¡°Bang!¡± ¡°Bang!¡± The bat creature swung its front legs like humans would their arms trying to defend themselves. The attacks from Caroline and Jason, two humans, proved to be way more devastating than it previously imagined, and its two front legs were seriously shaken by these attacks, especially its right front leg, for its shoulder had already endured being severely injured by Jason previously. The bat creature grunted and flapped its long bony tail at the two humans before it, after some time adapting to and adjusting this body, it managed to concentrate most of the energy inside this body and recreate one of its most powerful weapons: its long, agile, toxic and sharpened tail, which could even slice through the fabric of space and time when it was in full power. ¡°Ting!¡± The sharpened blade of the bat creature¡¯s tail smacked into the shaft of Jason¡¯s silver pen-spear. After a loud clash, Jason was thrown back into the air and tumbled on the ground, with a small chip and some minute cracks on the point of impact. ¡°Hoztang! You fucking coward!¡± Suppressing the sense of awe, distress and terror coming from the mere thought of saying this name out loud at the bat creature¡¯s presence, Jason yelled out the name of the fallen god with an enhanced voice, broadcasting the fallen god¡¯s name to everyone in the hall: ¡°You sorry ass don¡¯t deserve shit! Let alone godhood!¡± The bat creature was just in the middle of redirecting its tail at Caroline, and after hearing its name being uttered, it hesitated for a brief moment, which gave Caroline just the right window to lunge forward with her shield held in front of her and infused with her Xuanli. ¡°Boom!¡± The shield bash struck true without any hindrance, landing at none other spot than the chest area of the bat creature, where the marking of the True Word was. And it was at this time, Laura finished a meticulous spell and cast it onto the zombified lycan contained by her, and forced it to kneel before the bat creature once again. An energy explosion threw Caroline back, almost sending her tumbling on the ground just like Jason. Chapter 608 This was a realm whose landscapes could be the source of nightmares for almost anyone. There were small comets shooting across the tiny space, ruptures in the space that spewed out lava of different colors as if they were volcanoes that came from space instead of land and earth, floating islands in the sky. The directions in which the mountains and vegetation on these floating islands pointed indicated that the direction of gravity force was as chaotic and random as the locations of the islands themselves. If one was to come into this realm, they would notice that there were shadows of creatures, pulled into long and thin ribbons, coursing through the space around the floating mountains as if they were serving as protective wrappings for them. Amongst the many floating islands, there was one that was biggest in size, and one that was surrounded by several ¡°space volcanoes¡±, more ¡°ribbons¡± made of pulled shadows of creatures, and had a thin glimmering aura around it. At the center of this floating island, there was a throne with ample sitting space on its highest mountain, one that seemed to be an amalgamation of sharp, dark and shiny scales instead of rocks and stones. The throne itself was made from hundreds of pieces of bones, seemingly from different creatures and processed using some kind of foul magic. One could find several skulls on this throne if they were to count, all of which had gems embedded inside. On the throne lay a humongous creature with a long centipede-like body with thousands and thousands of sections, several long arms that also had hundreds of sections, spikes and sharp long claws, and a long neck connected to a large flat head with several faces. Hoztang, this was its name when it was still a god, and it was still its name after its unfortunate and regretful fall. Right now, it was playing around with a small piece of white crystal, given to him as a token of goodwill by a wretched human whom it had the misfortune of encountering twice. It could sense the power within this small grain of crystal, and it knew full well how to make use of the energy inside of this crystal - it would help a lot especially relieving it of the pain it always felt and the setbacks it constantly encountered when trying to recover from the wounds from the fall. But the issue was, there was too little of this white crystal, and Hoztang had many pain points it could use this crystal on. Hoztang did not know how to get this crystal, but for an energy source this precious, it was surely not easy. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Just this moment, it sensed that the ¡°seed¡± of his power that was in a dormant state due to its conduit being slain became activated for some reason. Hoztang hesitated once more, due to this particular seed being in the same realm as those wretched humans. After a short moment of deliberation, it decided to split a small portion of its spirit energy and sent it over to the realm to take a look. When its spirit energy located the position of its seed, it found that its seed was now contained inside of a jar under the restraint of several layers of seals, carried by the human who slew its conduit. And at this moment, these humans seemed to have stumbled across a corpse - and one that once belonged to another god - one that had fallen as well, and one that did not survive the fall at all. The completely fallen god¡¯s actual name was forgotten by the world after the fall, and Hoztang just vaguely remembered it as the ¡°Night Lord¡±, and its godhood, was that of Night Terror and Sleeplessness, one that was quite similar to Hoztang¡¯s. The sight of this corpse was no doubt an extremely pleasant surprise for Hoztang, and thus it immediately, without consideration that it might alert the others in the realm about its presence, sent a command to its seed, ordering it to break out of the containment at any cost and to parasitize and take over the body. But just when the spirit energy of Hoztang witnessed its seed breaking out of the sealing spells and arrays and merging into the body of the former ¡°Night Lord¡±, a voice resounded in the very realm in which Hoztang¡¯s main body resided, in its own language as well. ¡°Hoztang ¡­ former Overlord of Despair and Purposelessness.¡± The voice called to Hoztang in a whispering yet provocative voice: ¡°You were supposed to fall. Yet to the remnants of your former glory and kingdom you are still clinging.¡± Hoztang¡¯s long centipede-like body immediately sprung up into attack mode, the many faces on its wide and flat head looked around, trying to locate the source of the voice - it was definitely somewhat familiar, but it was not able to tell where this sense of familiarity came from. A small stream of dark energy seeped into the realm and slowly flowed to the space in front of Hoztang, like a droplet of dark ink into clean water. The stream of energy started taking shape the moment they reached its destination, but Hoztang just launched a full forced attack against it directly with a beam of dark red energy shot from its mouth, without even a moment of hesitation. The beam of energy was struck nothing but air and empty space in its path, and the stream of dark energy just appeared at another place in front of Hoztang, this time in its full form - a creature of roughly two adult humans¡¯ heightl with a hairy crab with dark shells as its lower body, and a bobbit worm with tentacles as its upper body. ¡°Hoztang, former Overlord of Despair and Purposelessness, ¡± The creature said in a calm but mocking voice: ¡°Your clinging to godhood and imbalanced power ends now.¡± Chapter 609 ¡°No!¡± Hoztang cursed at the creature as two of the faces on its flat head shot out shadows of them at the creature. This creature looked like it would have trouble navigating the grounds and spaces just by judging from its appearance, yet it shifted from position to position when faced with Hoztang¡¯s attacks like it was able to teleport from space to space in mere moments. ¡°Boom! Bang! Crack!¡± The floating island shook as the attacks of Hoztang wreaked havoc on its surface - countless energy explosions, heavy impacts from direct and indirect hits from Hoztang¡¯s claws and tail leveled almost half the entire surface in the matter of a few Earth minutes. Hoztang had almost no idea on what this creature was, but the familiar aura this unimposing chimera of a creature radiated and its presence brought about a worrying feeling, one that made it decide this creature shall be destroyed as soon as possible through any means necessary. And out of this blind, almost desperate, rage, Hoztang¡¯s attacks just kept on going, bringing more destruction to this realm in a matter of minutes than it had been for the last few decades or even centuries. ¡°Is that all? Is that all?¡± The creature kept on teasing Hoztang as it shifted closer and closer to Hoztang, yet barely making any actual attempt at attacking Hoztang. But Hoztang, in a state of pure anger and hot headedness, did not realize the obvious unnatural signs surrounding this creature. ¡°The Overlord of Despair and Purposelessness, you are not as powerful as your godhood suggested, and you are pretty far from what the markings you left on the body of the Will implied - you are weak, you are slow, you are foolish, and you clearly don¡¯t have as much control over your kingdom as you claimed yourself to be.¡± ¡°Your insolence will not be tolerated!¡± Hoztang roared and released a huge energy wave sweeping through the entire area. This kind of wide area attack finally worked to an extent, the creature conjured up a dark energy bubble shield around its body to block off the impact and influence of the shockwave. Seeing that this move forced the insolent creature out of its pattern of shifting, teleporting and thus dodging its attacks, Hoztang immediately unleashed a few more energy shockwaves in a attempt to lock the creature in place, and at the same time, it let out a high pitched scream into the vast space beyond, utilizing some of what was left of its residual power from godhood against this creature. Bolts of dark lightning sparked out of the thin air and rained down at the creature who was hiding inside its dark energy bubble shield. But just when Hoztang thought it would finally see the destruction of this half crab half worm creature¡¯s destruction, this creature¡¯s two front claws and all of its tentacles rose up and extended at the bolts of dark lightning.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The next moment, the dark lightning bolts Hoztang conjured were ¡°grabbed¡± by the creature as if they were just ribbons or rags that were blown its way by the wind. And as this creature pulled back its tentacles and front claws back with an excited and satisfied laughter, the very fabrics of time, space and reality inside this realm also received a violent shake - this was not enough to tear a hole in reality like Lady Vyn did activating a Stone of Negation, but it was enough to caused an immeasurable wave of impact spreading across the entire realm, which was all that was left of Hoztang¡¯s kingdom. ¡°You¡­!¡± Hoztang finally came to the realization of what this creature was, and why its voice and presence reeked of a terrifying familiarity. But it was too late, as the dark lightning bolts, conjured with great effort using the power of godhood, were somehow not only useless against this Defiler, but also became critical threads their target could pull to disassemble and take apart Hoztang¡¯s entire kingdom. The biggest floating island of this realm instantly cracked up from inside, then burst into millions of tiny pieces. ¡°Always daring and willing to use your godhood like this, Hoztang! Always willing to enact your will, no matter the cost!¡± The Defiler laughed out loud as the pieces of the islands exploded into the space all around like sparks from an extra explosive firework: ¡°Come! Strike me once again! This time it will work!¡± Hoztang¡¯s giant body shrunk as it sped away from the position of the Defiler - fear and despair now filled its mind, which caused it to instantly lose the will to fight. At this moment, the only thought it had was to escape and avoid actually falling for good. A flash of dark light appeared right in front of Hoztang, the Defiler teleported to a position in front of it with its front claws and tentacles infused with horrifying dark energy. ¡°Bang!¡± Hoztang blocked a hit with its long tail, and it was thrown into the other direction without it due to it being completely shattered. ¡°Overlord of Despair and Purposelessness! You disappoint me!¡± The Defiler continued its attack at Hoztang with beyond godly speed: ¡°You have disgraced your godhood!¡± Hoztang roared again in desperation, seeing that it no longer had any chance to escape, it dished out the last hail mary it could think of - just like this Defiler said, it was used to doing things its way no matter the cost. The tiny grain of white crystal melted and was pulled into the shape of a tiny blade, then additional layers of energy were coated onto it, hiding its energy signature and glow. The next moment, a condensed dark energy blade shot at the Defiler as it closed in on Hoztang. This Defiler extended its two front claws and attempted to grab it just like it did the dark lightning conjured from Hoztang¡¯s godhood energy. But this energy blade just sliced through its two front claws and the middle part of its body like a hot knife through butter. Two streams of corrosive white and golden energy seeped into the wounds on the two pieces of the Defiler¡¯s body. The Defiler screamed in pain, then stopped its pursuit and cut off more from its upper body to stop the spread of the while and golden energy from reaching its head. Hoztang roared again, conjuring a portal at a distance in front of it in an attempt to escape. And its destination? The last time and place it found a seed of its essence. Chapter 610 After taking an axe attack on the chest, the bat creature had another grevious wound on its body through which thick dark liquid was seeping out. During the brief moment of contact, Caroline¡¯s Xuanli gushed into the chest cavity of the bat creature and began to do more damage from inside. The bat creature took many steps backwards and put its wings forward as temporary shields to defend itself from further attacks, and at the same time tried to focus its energy and power on its chest area trying to mend the wound. From the presence of the spirit energy from its main body, it sensed that all it needed to do right now was to hold on and its main body would reveal itself, make a connection and take it ¡°home¡±. Jason got up from the ground, lunged forward and roared as he thrust his pen-spear at the bat creature¡¯s leg, which was not shielded by its wings at the moment. The tip of his pen-spear punctured a clean hole on the bat creature¡¯s right leg. The bat creature swung its right wing to the side like a cleaver in retaliation, which collided with the shaft of Jason¡¯s pen-spear, knocking him back and prevented him from doing any more damage by pushing the tip of his pen-spear deeper. Yet, Jason¡¯s Xuanli had already entered into the bat creature¡¯s body - small pellets of sharpened metal and stone spikes began coursing inside of its body, damaging its veins and internal organs along their paths. In an attempt to gather more energy to heal itself, the bat creature took a deep breath through its mouth, and all the zombified lycans began moaning at the same time, because more streams of the dim blue energy surfaced from their bodies and were inhaled by the bat creature. And the zombified lycan that was restrained by Laura¡¯s energy seals and restraining spells was drained especially hard, possibly due to the fact that this lycan was restrained during the fight and hardly endured any harm or damage. ¡°I am watching this place!¡± The bat creature spoke through its teeth: ¡°When I come here with my full glory and power, you shall be treated with the harshest torture in this world! I, as the Overlord of Despair and Purposelessness, shall let all of you set your eyes on the face of true horror!¡± ¡°What?!¡± Some lycans fighting alongside Zack Dooms let out gasps of disbelief. ¡°Who are you!?¡± Zack Dooms gave his teammates a ¡°were you even paying attention¡± look, then asked as he and a few members of his team took the opportunity to tear through a few of the zombified lycans: ¡°Where is the Night Lord!?¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°That poor sod fell.¡± The bat creature laughed out loud: ¡°Her godhood, now belongs to someone else. But still, thank you for keeping this body in such a good condition. When I descend upon your pitiful world, I shall grant you better chances of joining me in my kingdom¡­¡± Before the bat creature could finish its sentence, it seemed to have gargled, and its wings and limbs started trembling and shaking, and its power seemed to have become unstable. ¡°Cool spirit poison.¡± Jason raised his silver pen-spear and said to Laura. ¡°It¡¯s - a bit too effective?¡± Laura responded with uncertainty: ¡°It¡¯s a spell I¡¯m unfamiliar with, but I''ve never heard of it being this effective -¡± At this moment, the bat creature had its two front claws holding its neck and the wound on its chest, just like a human choking and having a heart attack. ¡°Cover me.¡± Caroline said to Jason and Laura, then her body turned into a string of afterimages as she leapt at the bat creature. And this time with a green aura around her and the edge on her battle axe glowing in light green. The bat creature roared in an attempt to intimidate and deter Caroline. But it did not stop her at all, and with the blink of an eye, the bat creature¡¯s head, along with most of its neck and a small piece of its right shoulder was removed from its body. Right after the battle axe reached the end of its trajectory, she unleashed a fist strike with her left hand at the neck and shoulder wound on the bat creature¡¯s body. ¡°Boom!¡± The body was blown to thousands of pieces of burnt charcoal from inside. The shockwave from the explosion pushed its head to slide on the ground towards one corner of the hall, the dim flames inside its eye sockets still burning. Jason lunged at the head, the tip of his pen-spear widened and became encapsulated with layers and layers of thick rock and clay into the shape of a giant hammer. The head of the bat creature opened its mouth, seemingly attempting to say something, yet its being completely crushed by a stone hammer with a long silver pole stopped it from happening. This time Jason had absolutely no intention of keeping it alive for later questioning, and he finally let out an exhale of relief as he sensed that the disturbing presence that parasitized this bat creature¡¯s body was rapidly losing its vitality. A sudden loud cry came from somewhere near the ceiling and a small energy explosion occurred. But nothing else came of it. ¡°A portal?¡± Laura and Jason asked at the same time. ¡°Now it¡¯s DEAD dead, right?¡± Caroline took a few deep breaths to finally stabilize herself - just like Jason and Laura, she did not get hurt or injured during the fight, but pushing herself like she did was nothing but exhausting. The zombified lycans fell down onto the floor and started twitching, a few of them stopped moving after a short while, while others calmed down and were only taking shallow breaths. ¡°It¡¯s up to you now, Mr. Dooms,¡± Caroline said: ¡°You wanna keep on what we were doing?¡± Chapter 611 ¡°So, this is the place you decided where you should fall.¡± The Grand Defiler, the one that led the horde into this realm, and whose projected shadow was destroyed by Jianmen during the incident at Clearwater Municipal Hospital, said to Jianmen as he turned into a human shape from his former form of a cloud of dark mist. ¡°Or, this is where I shall fell you.¡± Jianmen twirled his rattan broom and his meat cleaver in his hands: ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I think even YOU can be felled.¡± ¡°I am not going to dignify that with an answer.¡± The Grand Defiler¡¯s body turned more detailed, and he turned into the shape of Jianmen, just that the skin tone was slightly darker and the features were in a reverse manner like Jianmen was looking at himself from a dimmed mirror. They were inside of an empty, spacious room whose interior space was a perfect cube, all surfaces inside were made of bricks that were laid in an orderly manner with no uneven spots at all. At each of the eight corners of this room, a polished white crystal was embedded in there, radiating warm white light, and a gentle but firm and sturdy energy field. All of the eight pieces of crystal were in sync, creating a spacial and karmic seal that locked this entire room off and isolated it almost completely from the outside world. It was an orphaned realm, separated from the rest of the universe and without great effort from Jianmen one could not simply go in or out. ¡°And you really believe that without you out there, those humans would really stand a chance against my army?¡± The Grand Defiler looked around the room, seemingly just checking out the bricks and structures, his voice still remained the same. ¡°I have faith in them, they will do their job, and I will do mine.¡± Jianmen tilted his head both ways and loosened his muscles and meridians in preparation for battle: ¡°But are you so confident that your army would last long enough to breach their defenses? It¡¯s not just humans, it¡¯s also the swarm of primitive but ferocious creatures from the void.¡± ¡°Xyn, The Living Will of The Void. ¡± The Grand Defiler scoffed: ¡°Oh, what a pity he¡¯s not what he was back then - if only you can see how grand, powerful, glorious, and arrogant he was. Arguably one of the most blessed godhood holders since the dawn of time.¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°And arguably the most powerful one leading this attack.¡± Jianmen smiled. ¡°Oh? But does he even have the will to fight?¡± The Grand Defiler smiled. ¡°We all fall, once or twice before.¡± Jianmen shook his head. The Grand Defiler stared at Jianmen for a brief moment, then he let out a gentle laughter: ¡°You¡¯ve fought us before, haven¡¯t you? Before the last time we met, before - before you came to this world.¡± ¡°Yeah, and the manners your kind display and the things your kind do are just really unimpressive.¡± Jianmen shrugged: ¡°You look weaker than the one I fought before though. I don¡¯t really know why, but at least that¡¯s good news to me.¡± ¡°How old do you think this world is?¡± The Grand Defiler took a deep breath like a human, then asked. ¡°A couple of billion years by Earth¡¯s measure, perhaps. It¡¯s really not that polite to ask a lady her exact age.¡± ¡°A lady, huh! You¡¯re funny.¡± The Grand Defiler shook his head and finger at Jianmen: ¡°But yeah, a couple of billion years by the measures of the planet you inhabit. And to us, it¡¯s still very, very young. Which leaves us a lot of time to grow. And by the time this universe comes to an end at our hands, you probably won¡¯t be there to see it.¡± ¡°So, that means you¡¯re cancer.¡± Jianmen nodded. ¡°A gross oversimplification, but yes.¡± The Grand Defiler shrugged and raised his hands: ¡°Now, how do you plan this to end? I suppose there is no way to convince you to join us. And since you have fought us before, you would already know that though the lower ones can be slain, we, the Grand Ones and the originators of what you call Defilers, cannot be felled. You may destroy me if you are so fortunate, but I will be reborn in the abyss and ready to strike again.¡± ¡°Well, at least then I will have a good feeling that I¡¯ve kicked your ass once, and I can do it again.¡± Jianmen smiled, then lunged at the Grand Defiler with his broom and meat cleaver in his hands. The meat cleaver and the rattan broom swung across the air in quick succession, and the Grand Defiler just dodged them with ease, using a similar martial arts style as Jianmen¡¯s own. Jianmen remained unfazed after missing two hits, and taking advantage of his momentum, he unleashed a full force kick at the Grand Defiler. This time, his opponent had to block the attack using his arms and back off riding the impact. While he was in mid air, the Grand Defiler shifted a short distance to back off further. Then as landed on the ground and stood up, he shook his finger at Jianmen once again: ¡°Looks like hard as you tried, there¡¯s still cracks in this near perfect realm of yours. Just to let you know, it¡¯d be harder to fell me now.¡± ¡°Huh. Looks like one needs to go all in if he wants to catch a break.¡± Jianmen narrowed his eyes, then he held his meat cleaver to the loose end of his broom. The thin rattan branches closed in on the meat cleaver like dozens of tiny snakes and wrapped around the handle of the meat cleaver. The blade of the meat cleaver grew longer, wider and slightly more curved. Before long, the broom and the meat cleaver became one, a guandao, with the shaft of the broom as the shaft, and the blade of the meat cleaver as the gruesome looking blade. Chapter 612 Jianmen swung his guandao from lower right to upper left, then swiped right after the Grand Defiler dodged the first attack in an attempt to strike his opponent with the back of the blade. The forceful swipe struck the Grand Defiler on his right shoulder, pushing him towards the right side of Jianmen, and before the Grand Defiler could react, Jianmen¡¯s right foot landed on his chest. ¡°Boom!¡± The Grand Defiler was sent flying through the room and his back banged on the wall behind him. Yet there was still a smile on his face, and he instantly got up from the ground. ¡°You are good. But it takes much more to actually fell me.¡± The Grand Defiler adjusted his clothes like a human and said: ¡°And I must admit - I am no expert in close quarter physical combat, but you are good. Really good. I don¡¯t think any of the gods I encountered before would be able to do what you just did. Why not try lifting your restriction here, come at me with greater power? Or, even with power from your godhood?¡± Jianmen shook his head with a smile: ¡°Too bad, I can¡¯t just change it whenever I want to - as you can see my abilities are limited here as well.¡± ¡°Oh, is that so? I thought you would, like the other gods, make things here more advantageous for you. After all, that¡¯s what gods do, is it not?¡± The Grand Defiler made another fighting pose and said. ¡°Hmm, sadly I am not the type.¡± Jianmen took a deep breath and pointed his guandao at the Grand Defiler: ¡°And - a word of advice, I actually left the humans in that world something to handle your children. So, stall if you¡¯d like, I wouldn¡¯t mind if they manage to close the tear without me.¡± ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t think I would mind that.¡± The Grand Defiler chuckled: ¡°I¡¯ll just open it up again.¡± ¡°Yeah, but how do you even do that, if you can¡¯t even get out of here?¡± Jianmen shook his head: ¡°As you said, I¡¯m very good.¡± ¡°I guess that depends on you then - don¡¯t you want to finish this fight earlier?¡± The Grand Defiler¡¯s voice was nothing but calm, but it was somehow quite hypnotizing and seductive at the same time: ¡°To put yourself in this kind of almost absolute isolation, you must have an anchor if you want to go back at all. What happens if your anchor is destroyed? Killed? Loses its power?¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Then I¡¯ll be stuck here with you then. ¡± Jianmen laughed out loud and said: ¡°Doesn¡¯t sound too bad to be stuck here with the greatest evil in the universe, does it? ¡± ¡°Evil? What are you, a child?¡± The Grand Defiler walked slightly to his right, and Jianmen walked slightly right as well to make sure they were still face to face and had the same distance between them: ¡°We¡¯re not evil, we¡¯re so much beyond the mere petty concept of good versus evil. But if you have to look at it through that lens, we might even be the good guys.¡± ¡°How¡¯s so? Everywhere you go, there¡¯s destruction, there¡¯s death, there¡¯s corruption.¡± Jianmen looked at the Grand Defiler with an earnest look on his face. The Grand Defiler stayed silent for a brief moment, then he laughed out loud, almost losing his composure and compromising his stance. ¡°You¡¯re good. I must commend you for that.¡± The Grand Defiler grew a long beard on his jaw and started stroking it, while nodding at Jianmen like a proud elder/mentor: ¡°But no, I won¡¯t tell you a single thing about how we move and how we choose our targets.¡± ¡°Too bad. Well, we¡¯ve still got time.¡± Jianmen shrugged and retrieved his guandao: ¡°And, uh, just to let you know - if my anchor dies, this place will be shut off completely, with or without me. Even I won¡¯t be able to change anything then. So, should that happen, you better hope you turned your stove off before you left.¡± ¡°Fond of being a martyr, huh?¡± ¡°No one except for my anchor will remember me if I die here, so no.¡± Jianmen let out a bright smile: ¡°What can I tell you? I¡¯m just a jerk.¡± This time it was the Grand Defiler that launched the first attack, a dark, long and slightly curved sword whose edge glowed in dim purple light appeared in his hand. And this forced Jianmen to raise the shaft of his guandao over his head to prevent his head from being sliced up in half. ¡°Ting!¡± A sound of metal clashing together exploded when the edge of the long sword made contact with Jianmen¡¯s guandao shaft. Jianmen was pushed down for a bit, but then he roared and pushed his guandao upward. The Grand Defiler was thrown in the air, and before he landed on the air, Jianmen turned his guandao around and jabbed the blade into the Grand Defiler¡¯s abdomen. Thick, liquid glowing in dim green dripped from the Grand Defiler¡¯s wound and onto the brick ground. The droplets of the liquid quickly turned into light gray smoke shortly after they landed onto the ground. Jianmen kicked the Grand Defiler¡¯s leg and backed off from his previous position, without a moment of hesitation he got into a fighting pose once again: ¡°What, I thought your blood¡¯s gonna be toxic or poisonous? Turns out it¡¯s just thick and - and green.¡± The Grand Defiler did not say anything, and all hints of human-like emotions were wiped from his face. With the long and curved dark sword with purple edge in his hand, he lunged at Jianmen. Chapter 613 Enclosed Realm, this was what Jianmen called this room and all the other facilities that were connected to it from the outside. It was an invention of his and some other cultivators in his previous world. It was still a crude design from a complicated theory at first, from which they could only build various prototypes that could provide a limited range of functionalities of its original vision - a containment unit that could isolate items, entities and even living beings with history from everything from the outside. If fully constructed, this special artifact that was in itself an isolated realm should be able to obscure the things and individuals inside from all the rest of the world - even the traces and memories they left outside in the universe would be temporarily hidden and obscured, as this artifact would retract the karma chains of those that stayed inside. And the imperfections in the prototypes, as Jianmen inferred, was probably the reason that his trip to find home did not go as planned, because in order to lessen the karmic impact of removing oneself from the world, the world traveling array must be activated from inside one of these rooms. The reason for the imperfections was quite simple - they lacked some critical materials that could only form in environments of extremely turbulent and chaotic energy fields, and they did not have a lot of time to find these materials. And when Jianmen finally had the chance and time to start hunting for more of those materials, he was in a state of deep distraught due to the fallouts from a similar war to the one he was fighting right now, and he could not wait even a single moment longer. But things were different here, Jianmen had plenty of time, a realm he discovered with chaotic energy fields all over its internal space, and no obligations other than those he had to himself, so he spent many Earth years continuing what was left of the research. And this room was the product that was closest to the original vision - still had one or two issues that Jianmen would very much like to fix if he had the time, but now was not the time nor place to think about what he could have done to fix it. The close quarter armed fight between Jianmen and the Grand Defiler raged on, as the battle between the alliance of humans and creatures from the gaps and the Defilers continued. Without the presence of Jianmen and the overwhelming aura that suppressed the power of the Defilers he radiated, the horde of creatures from the gaps were facing even more disadvantage when it came to individual power, and its advantage of sheer numbers was beginning to wane. The humans, on the other hand, rejoined the fight after regrouping for a brief moment - everyone of them noticed a significant change of some kind the moment Jianmen disappeared from their sight. Their memories about what had led to this fight became blurry and began not making much sense, and the ¡°special blessing¡± they had in them was somehow strengthened, and in addition to enchanting them and their attacks, it also gave them additional energy, healed a lot of their wounds and injuries, revitalized their energy and relieved their stress from the fights.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Many areas of the realm in which the Hellinger Castle once stood became the grounds of seesaw battle - the Defilers came in waves and waves, and the humans and creatures from the gaps had to change their formation and sometimes fall back in order to counter the Defilers effectively without enduring too much loss. Tze Cha and Xyn, as the only two god-level beings in this fight shouldered most of the burden of confronting the mid-tier Defilers, out of their own reasons, they started to hold less and less back and put more of their power and energy into the fight. This, of course, meant that both of them had endured more injuries from their opponents¡¯ attacks. As the battle continued, Tze Cha¡¯s dragon blood, and the cracks from Xyn¡¯s body were scattered almost everywhere across the battlefield. The tear in the world flickered and shimmered, as more and more energy released by the destroyed Defilers was absorbed by it and just like a wound on a living organism, it was healing by itself as fresh nutrients were coming in. ¡°Bang!¡± Jianmen¡¯s guandao clashed with the Grand Defiler¡¯s long sword for the one hundred and eighth time, Jianmen¡¯s body was pushed down by the momentum and he had to kneel to absorb the shock. But then the next moment, the Grand Defiler shifted his long sword and dished out a side slash aiming at Jianmen¡¯s left arm. Jianmen immediately tilted his guandao shaft and blocked this hit, yet he did not get the chance to guard himself against the kick in the chest. As Jianmen was tumbling on the ground, the Grand Defiler leapt directly at him with the long sword drawn back, and when Jianmen jumped up with the guandao in his hands ready to guard, he thrust the sword forward, aiming directly at Jianmen¡¯s left chest. Jianmen immediately moved to the right, and the blade just pierced through a part of his shirt, and just when the Grand Defiler turned the edge sideways ready to slash him on his side, he twirled the guandao and spun the blade at the Grand Defiler¡¯s chest. Both their attacks landed to a certain extent, as Jianmen got a deep cut on the side of his chest, even his rib bones were slashed and damaged; for the Grand Defiler, the front of his chest got sliced open, with more of his blood dripping down on the ground. ¡°That¡¯s good, another one.¡± The Grand Defiler looked at the new wound on his chest, and other three wounds on other parts of his body, then looked at Jianmen without even a hint of emotion on his face: ¡°But if you keep doing this, you are still going to die first.¡± Jianmen stood up, panting, his clothes had at least a dozen cuts and tears, half of his face was covered in blood because of a cut on his forehead, and there were many others on his shoulders, his chest, his back and some parts on his leg. ¡°Yeah? Well, why so sure you¡¯re not gonna be the one to die?¡± ¡°Because, Mr. Jianmen Yu, dormant contender and presumed holder of the Godhood of Hospitality and Welcoming, we might be god killers, but without the power of godhood, we cannot be killed.¡± Chapter 614 ¡°Alright, next topic, one we don¡¯t seem to discuss enough, Jianmen, what are Godhoods? Or what do you think they are?¡± On the edge of a cliff beside a wide, blue and tranquil lake, Yanyu Shi, the woman whose drawing was still stored in the basement of Xianshi Inn, asked Jianmen while playing with her guqin. As her long and slim fingers stroked the strings, glowing solidified musical notes jumped into the air and became runes that spun around her and rose up to the sky in a helix trajectory. The cloud above absorbed the notes and bounced in the air as if they were dancing with the music; soft and gentle wind blew and birds chirped along with the music. The whole picture, if one was to observe from the side, was like a scene from a beautifully produced musical. ¡°I don¡¯t know, what do you think?¡± Jianmen shrugged as he rotated the fish on a crude wood barbeque rack on the side: ¡°You¡¯re the one about to contend for it.¡± ¡°Which would make what I can tell you even heavier than it usually would.¡± Yanyu Shi smiled and said: ¡°Come on, give it a try, you ever want to contend for one?¡± ¡°I guess - well, I¡¯m okay.¡± Jianmen poked the fish with an iron stick to see if the flesh was softened enough: ¡°Master had a chance to contend for it but he chose not to. Grand Master contended and almost died. And looks like you will have some really stiff competition next year, so yeah, can¡¯t say I am interested.¡± ¡°What if one day the right godhood for you is revealed, and someone really unfit and corrupt is about to get it?¡± ¡°What, there¡¯s gonna be a godhood for barbeque and sweeping ground?¡± ¡°Maybe, there are godhoods for even more obscure ideas.¡± Yanyu Shi shrugged as she continued to play her guqin, the cloud above was now shining in warm golden light, and it seemed to have grown two tiny hands that were waving in the air: ¡°There is a god of sleeping in, at least according to the secret histories recorded by our clan. But no one has heard about this god for millenia.¡± ¡°One shall not be surprised.¡± Jianmen laughed as he picked up the fish from the rack and served it on a plate: ¡°Let me tell you this, if I ever get the godhood of barbeque or sweeping the floor, I¡¯ll make sure all the junior clan members in the world will gain knowledge and experience when sweeping the ground, especially the bathroom, so that they¡¯ll not slack on the job.¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°You still haven¡¯t answered the question, Jianmen. Do you want another forced dancing session? You know as a contender for the godhood of music, I can make you do that.¡± ¡°Alright alright! Fine! You win!¡± Jianmen sprinkled salt and extra chili powder on the fish and shoved it in front of Yanyu Shi: ¡°Let¡¯s hope that I won¡¯t get smited when I answer this honestly: godhoods are a construct of the weakness of the Will and the conceited usurpation of power by human reason.¡± ¡°Crack!¡± An orange and golden bolt of lightning shot through the sky, and the bright and blue sky was painted with its color. The air grew thick, and the energy fields around the lake became active and vibrant. There was a grand and distant humming sound coming from the depths of the universe - a sign of miracle, one that usually signals revelations of truth. Jianmen looked up at the sky, and he immediately tried to stop talking - he tried, but somehow, a powerful and learned cultivator as he was, he seemed to have lost control over his lungs, his throat, his tongue, his lips and even his thoughts. The ideas stuck in his mind from his past studies into karma and the nature of Xuanli and power turned into concrete thoughts in his mind, then were spoken out through his voice. Yanyu Shi stared at Jianmen, her trembling eyes and lips indicating that she was trying to say something or ask Jianmen a question, but she was not able to move or do anything else as well. ¡°The existence of godhood is the result of the evolution of sentient and rational entities, the fruit of existence and being in itself and the act of learning and knowing; the collapse of the veil and fog of ignorance; the touch of fingertips, the handshake, the toast of the world unknown and the known, understood and seeked. Godhoods, like True Words and covenants sworn with them, are evidence of the Will of the Universe relinquishing control to the sentient and rational, and most important of all, named beings born within; They are the burdens of knowledge, power and order placed upon holders of knowledge. They are, in their very nature, nodes, threads, levers, switches, sockets, handles and thrones of power. The holdings of them signal the integration of minds into the Will, and the responsibilities of maintaining order and balance. But the abuse of which, will inevitably bring about the collapse of order and the loss of sentience and reason.¡± When Jianmen finished this long monologue, sweat had already drenched his clothes, and he almost completely lost control of his body. Yanyu Shi caught him before he fell off the edge of the cliff. ¡°Fucking hell.¡± Jianmen wheezed: ¡°Bitch!¡± ¡°Hehe, looks like your only choice is which godhood would be yours, not whether you would have one.¡± Yanyu Shi wiped off the sweat from Jianmen¡¯s forehead with a tired but relieved smile. At present, inside the room made of bricks with shining white crystals in the corner, Jianmen was thrown to a wall and slid down to the corner. He just left another slash wound on the Grand Defiler¡¯s abdomen, spilling some more Defiler blood, but at the cost of a dislocated shoulder and a puncture wound on his left lower waist. Shaking off the flashbacks of his past memory, Jianmen stood up again with the support of his guandao shaft, then he wiped off his own sweat and blood from his forehead. ¡°Come on, this is getting boring, why not at least loosen the restriction a little bit, huh?¡± The Grand Defiler spat on the edge of his sword and wiped it clean with his sleeve: ¡°At least you¡¯ll die a more glorious and shiny death.¡± ¡°No one¡¯s here to witness the fight. I don¡¯t even need brown pants.¡± Jianmen laughed, panting. Chapter 615 The Grand Defiler swung his long sword from his lower right position to upper left in an attempt to break Jianmen¡¯s guard open, and Jianmen had to stomp the ground extra hard and leapt back to avoid his guandao shaft being hit from below. Then as the Grand Defiler was retrieving his long sword, Jianmen rotated the guandao around his neck and swiped at the Grand Defiler¡¯s right shoulder. ¡°Ting!¡± The Grand Defiler extended his left hand over his right shoulder and blocked the guandao¡¯s blade with his palm - a sound of metal clash came from the contact, the Grand Defiler¡¯s hand was pushed back slightly, the metal plate on his palm was sliced through and the edge created a slashing wound on both his palm and his shoulder. ¡°Ha!¡± Jianmen backed off once again, pressing and sliding his guandao along to make the wound deeper: ¡°What happened, big guy? You only landed five strikes on me before I landed this one, so is it me or are you getting tired?¡± ¡°Maybe I just want to make this more interesting for you so you can keep going.¡± The Grand Defiler shook his head, yet his face remained emotionless: ¡°I want to see what kind of reaction from me would make you want to stop this meaningless process.¡± ¡°Hey, I already told you, multiple times, I can do this for a long time.¡± Jianmen spun his guandao in the air and said: ¡°Come at me again, I think I¡¯m starting to figure you out.¡± ¡°And I you.¡± The Grand Defiler suddenly smiled: ¡°Jianmen Yu, dormant contender and presumed holder of the Godhood of Hospitality and Welcoming. You are not willing to offer your name to the Will, that is why you stayed a dormant contender, even though the godhood is right there for your taking. Oh how the differential treatment of beings by the Will makes me laugh, there are some that are willing to slay their friends and loved ones to hold godhood, and there¡¯s you, whom the Will basically begs of your acceptance of this very godhood.¡± ¡°Something like that, and it¡¯s a bit more complicated.¡± Jianmen chuckled, taking the time to catch his breath: ¡°And I think I can tell you this - the business with my name is a bit complicated - it¡¯s just not entirely mine to give anymore.¡± ¡°That¡¯s - impossible.¡± The Grand Defiler appeared confused for the first time: ¡°I have knowledge of all the names of the gods and the prominent contenders for existing godhoods - your name has never been conceded or traded.¡± ¡°Ha, that¡¯s good to know.¡± Jianmen shrugged and laughed out loud: ¡°Boy, if only there was a place to check if my name is held by someone, right?¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Still, very interesting that you mention that.¡± The Grand Defiler ran his left hand along the back of his long sword¡¯s blade, enchanting it with some more of his power: ¡°That means, you were indeed a god before you came to this universe, weren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Busted. But that¡¯s not gonna help you much.¡± Jianmen did the same with his guandao, though in stark contrast with his opponent¡¯s steady move, his hand and arm were shaking in pain and weariness while his blood dripped onto the blade: ¡°Maybe help you take this fight more seriously, huh? ¡± ¡°Maybe, maybe not.¡± The Grand Defiler lunged at Jianmen and unleashed two slashes in quick succession, one was barely dodged by Jianmen and the other was blocked by Jianmen¡¯s guandao shaft. After many rounds of back and forth, there were already many chips and cracks on this guandao¡¯s shaft and blade, yet with Jianmen¡¯s limited amount of Xuanli in this room infused inside, it was still able to hold on for now. ¡°Boom!¡± Jianmen kicked the Grand Defiler in the leg right below the knee, but the Grand Defiler was completely unfazed by it. And the next moment, the Grand Defiler turned his left hand and landed a palm strike on Jianmen¡¯s right chest. This strike almost made Jianmen see stars, he had to take almost a dozen steps and had his back against the wall in order to shed the impact. He could taste the bitterness and sweetness of his own blood in his mouth, but this time there was no time for him to gather himself, as the dark and curved longsword was swung over aiming at his head. ¡°Clank!¡± The blade of the long sword made contact with the wall behind Jianmen as Jianmen lowered his body and thrust the shaft of his guandao forward. The Grand Defiler raised his knee and blocked this attack, but without him noticing it, Jianmen¡¯s left hand let go of the shaft and grabbed his shirt. The next moment, Jianmen pulled back his guandao and rammed his forehead into the Grand Defiler¡¯s nose. While the Grand Defiler was pushed back by this sudden attack, Jianmen jumped up and kicked the Grand Defiler in the groin with full force. The Grand Defiler swung his longsword at Jianmen¡¯s left waist, just in time and place to strike at the guandao shaft at a position with a big chip and some deep cracks. The shaft was sliced into two and the blade continued its way on Jianmen¡¯s left upper arm and his left waist. But unlike the rounds before, Jianmen just ignored this attack on him and continued swinging the front end of the guandao at the defiler. The sound of blade cutting into flesh and bones resounded in the room, Jianmen¡¯s guandao blade cut through the Grand Defiler¡¯s left shoulder, his collar bones, his rib bones and right to the position in his left chest where his heart would be if he had one; on the other hand, the Grand Defiler¡¯s long sword sliced through Jianmen¡¯s left upper arm and into his left chest, just mere inches away from his heart. ¡°Thud¡± Jianmen¡¯s left arm fell on the floor. The Grand Defiler swung his longsword horizontally across Jianmen¡¯s face, blinding his left eye, then he unleashed a kick onto Jianmen¡¯s chest. Jianmen¡¯s body was thrown at the wall once again, this time he had almost no power left in him - he could barely stand up if he wanted to. The Grand Defiler, with a low grunt, pulled out the guandao blade embedded in his body. His body gradually healed as more of his blood dropped on the ground. He walked up to Jianmen with his right hand in a claw shape, knelt down, then thrust his right hand through Jianmen¡¯s left chest. When the Grand Defiler pulled his hand out, he had a small jade medallion with a golden frame in his hand. ¡°Remnant of godhood, guess with all your facade of not caring about the power of godhood, you still can¡¯t let go.¡± Chapter 616 Around the crater on the ground, where the Hellinger Castle once stood, the seesaw battle continued, with more and more bloodshed as each minute went by. The biggest contributor to casualties was the creatures from the gaps, who, although quite powerful individually, seemed to lack the ability to deliver power blows to the Defilers and had to rely on repeated attacks or especially charged ones. The humans, on the other hand, though possessing greater individual powers to wound, incapacitate and slay the Defilers, were decreasing in numbers due to the growing casualties and the lack of new forces joining in on the battle. Right now, the humans on the ground were divided into three groups around the crater - one group was led by Josephine Wong and her former teammates from the Grant Academy; The second was led by Nameless and Pei, with their chanting monks and enchanted sword wielding exorcists with some other combatants alongside them; and the third group was led by Bruj, Lady Ryleen and a man wearing a smooth and hardened mask, now with cracks and spots of blood all over. The sky was filled with flying creatures from the gaps and Defilers who could fly. These creatures crashed into each other, slashed and tore each other apart using their talons, claws and spiked tails and incinerated each other using energy beams. Tze Cha and Xyn were the busiest amongst all of those who were fighting against the Defilers, and the ones probably with the most egregious of injuries and wounds. One could easily lose count of how many Defilers, whether low tier or mid tier, they had disposed of, yet they continued to fight with ferocity and did not show any signs of holding back or worries. ¡°Are the elementals even coming?¡± Professor Barnes, whose body armor had multiple completely broken areas, one missing shoulder plate and his greatsword broken with only two thirds of its length and many chips along the edge. ¡°The waves seemed to have slowed down for a bit, but we couldn;t hold much longer if no more new forces were coming in.¡± ¡°Focus on us!¡± Glenda Grimes raised her voice, still panting with her hands and arms quivering: ¡°The intelligence is true - the more Defilers we slay, the slower and in smaller numbers will they be able to come through that portal - those creatures are attracting much of the forces anyways, we just need to hang on!¡± ¡°We still have one more volley to go. And they¡¯re ready.¡± Josephine Wong told her team after communicating with the crew that manned the enchanted artillery: ¡°We need to wait for the optimal time to use them.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just afraid that there may not be an optimal moment.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson shook her head, her previously meticulously combed hair now in a mess and she had a slash wound on her right cheek that just stopped bleeding: ¡°Don¡¯t you see it? Somehow the waves in which they come have become less obvious, and they seem to be just pouring out constantly. Might be due to the portal they are using being narrowed and their waves are being throttled by it.¡±If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. A loud buzzing sound came from the side of Nameless and Pei, a beam of golden light shot through the sky, and in a short moment, the shadow of a giant buddha wearing a golden and red robe appeared on the battlefield. And right at the center of this shadow Buddha''s forehead, was Nameless, whose heavily injured body was temporarily ¡°patched up¡± by pieces of solidified golden energy. With the chantings of scriptures echoing from within the energy-constructed body of the shadow and the arcane words and symbols made of the same golden energy flowing inside the shadow, the golden shadow buddha unleashed a charged palm strike at the depth of the crater - not at any particular Defiler, but at the dark orb, the portal itself through which the Defilers came. ¡°Boom!¡± The palm of the shadow buddha was shattered upon impact when the palm strike landed true, and tens of tiny cracks rapidly expanded from its broken wrist upward toward its body and its head. But with the control and Nameless and the supply of energy from the chanting monks, who though suffered losses in numbers due to the front lines of defense being breached a couple of times, did not move at all and still maintained in perfect unison with their chants, the body of the shadow buddhe was being repaired slowly but steadily. This palm strike did not do much damage, if any, to the dark orb. But it did release a golden shockwave into the air that swept through almost half of the Defilers on the battlefield, and it seemed to have slowed or even halted the movements of them for a very brief moment. ¡°Just need a quick tuning! This time we can do it!¡± Pei laughed out loud as she drew an energy symbol with her left hand, powering through the excruciating pain from the wound on her right shoulder where her right arm was: ¡°Nameless, use my beads!¡± The group of exorcists behind Pei started making hand seals along with Pei, and within just a few seconds, Pei finished her symbol, and the spells from the exorcists behind her floated forward and merged into it. Pei bit the tip of her tongue, tapping into and conjuring up her energy and power in her mind and soul, then spit a few droplets of blood onto the symbol. The symbol, now coated in a bright red layer of glow, flew towards the golden shadow buddha and became a bracelet of prayer beads that wrapped around its right wrist. ¡°Behold the oath and grand wish of the K?itigarbha, I shall venture into the abyss. My body, my blood, my flesh and my soul are up for the taking, and I shall not rest until there¡¯s no suffering.¡± Nameless chanted a small verse from a scripture of his own thoughts and revelations, then raised his right arm in the air. The golden shadow buddha raised its right arm, with the ring of beads on its wrist and its fingers grabbing some of the beads in its palm. A blinding golden light exploded from the dark orb as the right fist of the buddha made contact with it. A powerful vibration pulsated from it, yet it created no disturbance to those who were fighting against the Defilers. The Defilers, on the other hand, all seemed to be struck with some kind of affliction - the less powerful among them just dropped on the ground and turned into ashes, and the rest had their movements interrupted, seemingly by pain and certain addition of weight and restraint to their bodies and powers. Chapter 617 In the eyes of the humans and the creatures of the gaps, the Defilers they were fighting against all of a sudden had some kind of golden glow around their bodies, and the Defilers in front of them either dropped dead suddenly, or had their abilities limited and their movements restrained. Most of them did not know what happened, nor did they care - because simply, the most important thing right now was to take advantage of this change and slay as many Defilers as possible. But in the eyes of Tze Cha and Xyn, they could clearly see what happened - and they could already tell what was about to happen. The golden shadow of the buddha, instead of simply being a moving construct of energy, also had translucent golden chains connected the backs of the heads of many of the monks and exorcists to the right arm of its right arm. After the fist strike, the translucent golden chains were broken off from the monks and exorcists, and were then ¡°transferred¡± to the orb itself and created a thin membrane around it, with new chains extending out and connecting to all of the Defilers on the battlefield. Even the Defilers that came out from the dark orb after the strike, when they ran or flew through the thin membrane, had a similar chain connected to it. Tze Cha¡¯s two tired and bloodied eyes glowed in a pale, gray light, and he lifted up his head to the sky and let out a high roar. Several bolts of completely black lightning were released from this roar, and a few of the Defilers around him were struck in the faces or backs without even a chance to escape. Almost at the same time, Xyn raised his translucent gray scythe, and slashed it down at one of the mid tier Defiler coming his way. The initial targets of these attacks were incinerated and destroyed right on the spot. But unlike their previous attacks, whose destruction and power just spread out into the air and space around, mostly undirected and in a random fashion, the powers and energy in these attacks became concentrated and was transmitted through the golden chains as if they were electric currents flowing through wires. The attacks were redirected to the thin membrane, then were spread out towards at least a few dozen other mid tier Defilers present. Like fireworks, these mid tier Defilers exploded from within into pieces, spreading their blood and body pieces all over the battlefield. After a successful strike like this, Tze Cha and Xyn exchanged looks - it did not take long or much effort for beings of their level to say pretty much anything to each other, but they still stayed where they were for a very short moment without any agreement beforehand, as a sign of respect for the monks and exorcists. Right now, the chanting monks were still chanting, and the exorcists were still trying their best to unleash as powerful attacks as they could, but at the same time, their bodies was starting to become transparent, starting from their hands and feet, and then it just grew to their torsos. They did not seem to be in pain, nor did they seem to be in distress, if anything they seemed in a hurry to hurl out attacks and expend every last drop of their energy.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°The chains of karma, and their names, it¡¯s really that cruel, isn¡¯t it?¡± Tze Cha asked, in a semi-mocking and semi-revering tone. ¡°They did more than him. And they were willing while aware.¡± Xyn sighed: ¡°At first I did not believe him when he told me that there would be beings, much less humans, who were fully aware of the consequence and were willing to risk and even sacrifice their names and fate for this fight, effectively their chances to proceed to higher positions of this world and leave their legacies in it, I did not believe him.¡± ¡°You were too cynical for it as well?¡± ¡°No - I - I did not believe that they would be willing to do so without a present and guiding god above them.¡± This was but a brief exchange, after which Xyn and Tze Cha continued with their attacks - the chains connecting the Defilers to the thin membrane was the construct of the sacrifice from the humans they once despised - it was a powerful spell constructed from the ¡°repurposed¡± chain of karma and names from the willing monks and exorcists, which effectively chained all the Defilers that came out of the dark orb together, forcing them to share a temporary name, and thus share some of the fate that would befall them. This spell would be effective and somewhat cruel, to any normal entity that might end up on the receiving end. If an entity had a firm grasp on its name, or had its name held by a much more powerful entity, then this spell wouldn¡¯t have much effect on it. But as it seemed to both Tze Cha and Xyn, these Defilers didn¡¯t have names - they didn¡¯t even have paths of their own, which meant that the spell had been casted on a group of targets it would be especially effective against. The portal opened by Xyn continued to spin in its place with a group of powerful creatures of the gaps guarding it, and after a series of quick flashes and flickering, groups of elite fighters in various shapes and sizes rushed out from it and charged at the Defilers with spells and elemental weapons in their hands, claws and tentacles. These are the elite soldiers of the elementals, the Fog Dwellers and even a few Depth Dwellers. ¡°They¡¯re here.¡± The heavily wounded Nameless and Pei standing back to back, with their energy concentrated on their hands, and their bodies slowly fading into nothingness: ¡°Looks like we indeed could stand a chance¡­¡± ¡°What happened?¡± Xyn grabbed Paulo Chang as he was about to rush into battle. ¡°The ones that escaped this realm, they attacked the edgelands.¡± Paulo Chang showed Xyn a glowing wound on his chest and his neck: ¡°Many were injured, some of us fell. But we were able to slay them.¡± A flash of memory almost caused Xyn to loosen his grip, but he quickly gathered himself and said: ¡°And the bridges?¡± ¡°Damaged, but fixable. None broke through.¡± ¡°Good, good¡­ Very good.¡± Chapter 618 The other two groups of human fighters felt something strange happened to their memories and minds - they seemed to have forgotten something, but they could not even begin to grasp what they forgot. There seemed to them to have always been two groups surrounding the crater, and the one corner where there was a big area where there were no humans nor Defilers seemed just like an occurrence of random events. The forces of elementals joined in the fight just at the right time, when all of the Defilers were just either severely hindered in their actions or plain paralyzed, and the humans and majority of the creatures from the gaps in various states of fatigue and tiredness and in need of much time and room to rest, heal and regroup. ¡°Same thing happened again - we need to figure out why.¡± Glenda Grimes looked around as some of the other mages and wizards she and others from Josephine Wong¡¯s team covered for take turn to cover for her: ¡°I don¡¯t like this - ¡± ¡°Look at the battlefield - there¡¯s something quite unnatural about the formation.¡± Professor Barnes was being healed by two healers behind him while he backed off from the front lines for now and let the elemental forces clean up the remainder of the Defilers in front of them: ¡°Look at that area - there¡¯s no way we wouldn¡¯t have another center of defense in that position, we¡¯re trying to stop the Defilers from breaking free from this realm, and not having a group of forces there would not make sense at all. And - if we didn¡¯t have forces there, why wouldn¡¯t there be Defilers? I¡¯d be swarming that angle.¡± ¡°Does anyone remember who or what created the barrier on the outer layer of this realm?¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson panted as she asked, while also receiving aid from the healers: ¡°I was just wondering how long can the barrier hold - if we were not to make it. But no, it seems that this information is hidden from us, by someone or something. I tried, but I just can¡¯t seem to find out anything about it.¡± ¡°Then just save a little energy for what we¡¯re doing.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head as she drank from her flask and directed some healers coming her way to other fighters in need: ¡°At the end of the day, slaying as many Defilers here as possible would go a long way in sealing the tear and save a lot of lives.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson stared at Josephine Wong for a brief moment, then sighed: ¡°I guess you¡¯re right. But I am finding everything out about this when we make it outta here.¡± Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. More Defilers were still coming out from the dark orb, all of whom still had the similar ailments on them, though after a while, the elementals, along with the humans, began to notice that the effects of these suppressive effects were starting to fade. ¡°Josephine, Dorothea, Bruj, tell your folks to ready whatever¡¯s left in your quivers.¡± The voice of Paulo Chang, no in the shape of a giant whose body was made of lightning energy: ¡°Whatever¡¯s got them like this won¡¯t hold for long, so you better give everything you¡¯ve got!¡± ¡°We¡¯ve already given a lot.¡± Lady Ryleen¡¯s voice was calm and collected, but anyone could sense her fury: ¡°Many of us could be here giving their all if the battle did not go as it went.¡± ¡°They attacked our home!¡± A Fog Dweller with broken wings answered Lady¡¯ Ryleen with a stern tone: ¡°There were still those that escaped. And they had all the fury in the world to unleash onto our people, especially our cherished springs and temples.¡± ¡ª----------------------- The collapse of the portal in the air was sudden and clearly involuntary judging by the messy remnants of energy shards and disturbed energy fields, yet both Jason and Caroline couldn¡¯t help but feel that they just prevented something horrible from happening. The remaining body parts of the bat creature on the ground gradually dried up and turned into ashes and grains of broken stone and sand. Zack Dooms stared into Caroline¡¯s eyes for about half a minute, while Laura readied one attack spell on her right hand and a defense spell on her left to cover for Aimee and Thomas, while slowly getting to the position of Caroline and Jason. ¡°Who - what was that?¡± Zack Dooms let out a long sigh and asked. ¡°Hoztang, a fallen god.¡± Jason said, this time he did not sense any feelings of distress or horror from uttering the name: ¡°I don¡¯t know what your Night Lord is, but I¡¯d imagine it¡¯s also a god of some kind? Seems like an awful lot of bad things happening around here have something to do with fallen gods.¡± ¡°Night Lord did not fall, he¡¯s merely asleep.¡± A wounded male lycan with a broken arm said: ¡°He awaits us in his slumber and he will come to us when we¡¯re ready and worthy.¡± ¡°Yeah, whatever.¡± Jason shrugged. This almost made some of the lycans lash out and lunge at him, but they were stopped by Zack Dooms. ¡°And I suppose, all of the sites of sacrifice and offering, you have them for this Night Lord of yours?¡± Caroline shook her head and asked. ¡°It is both our glorious tradition and our duty to honor the Night Lord, with offerings of flesh, blood, even souls.¡± Zack Dooms said: ¡°I wouldn¡¯t expect day dwellers like you to understand.¡± ¡°Surely we don¡¯t.¡± Thomas scoffed. ¡°But I do understand that even humans have their sacred beliefs, and places of worship for those beliefs.¡± Zack Dooms shook his head: ¡°And as an extended courtesy by principle, we would like you to leave - because this place is ours. We are not afraid to defend it even with our lives. But as the leader of this faction, I want no more bloodshed.¡± Caroline looked around and exchanged looks with Jason, Laura, Thomas and Aimee, all of whom seemed to be willing to delegate their decision to her, so she looked at Zack Dooms and nodded: ¡°Fine. We¡¯ll be outta here. But know this - if we find you targeting humans, we¡¯ll come for you.¡± Chapter 619 ¡°Duly noted.¡± Zack Dooms nodded: ¡°Just be warned that we will not stand idly by should you, or your friends at the Division try to hurl baseless accusations at us in an attempt to hurt our brethren - especially if you¡¯re acting pinning the doings of some other players on us. Under the circumstances, we have no choice but to let you go, but don¡¯t ever underestimate our determination to seek vengeance and justice.¡± ¡°Yes, you are definitely famous for being forgiving and graceful.¡± Caroline shook her head and turned to the others: ¡°Looks like we have to go now, I don¡¯t think we¡¯re gonna learn anything new here.¡± ¡°At least we know where all that energy is funneled to.¡± Thomas sighed then shrugged: ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°My bad for bringing that fucking thing here.¡± Jason sighed as he waved his hand and gave everyone a thin silver energy shield as they proceeded to walk out the door to this room and started heading up the winding stairs. While they were still in the staircase tunnel, the stairs, the walls, even the entire underground structure started shaking. The amplitude of the shake was still low, but it seemed to be growing stronger. ¡°Fuck, an earthquake.¡± Jason laid his hands on the wall as well as the stairs below and said: ¡°Let¡¯s head out, NOW!¡± The team started rushing through the staircase as fast as possible. The quakes were getting more frequent, more violent and thus the walls and stairs below seemed to start cracking up. The staircase was about three to four storeys high, and by the time the reached the surface into a walk-in freezer whole pieces of slaughtered butchered and processed livestocks hanging from hooks attached to metal grids on the ceiling, as well as transparent tanks of live fish and crustaceans inside placed at the corners of the room. And with the earthquake ongoing and growing in its force, the livestocks were bumping around and swinging from side to side, while the water in the tanks splashed at the walls and lids of the tanks, causing the fish and the crustaceans inside to be in a state of panic due to their bodies being thrown around and being repeatedly bumped into the tanks themselves.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°These livestocks - don¡¯t they look too - ¡± Thomas pointed at one of the processed bodies close to him, but before he could finish, he was dragged to the door of the freezer by Aimee and Caroline. ¡°Crack!¡± Something seemed to have fallen onto the top of the freezer, and a giant piece of debris penetrated the ceiling. And within the span of a few seconds, it sunk deeper into the freezer. ¡°Go! Go!¡± Jason blasted open the door and said to everyone. Laura headed out of the freezer first, and right after getting out she cast a levitation spell and conjured an energy shield on the crumbing ceiling outside, to prevent the debris from falling on anyone coming out behind her. More cracking sounds came from all around them as they came out from the freezer and found themselves somewhere at the back of the restaurant building - the interior design of the building was simple yet traditional, and everything looked like they once had some level of beauty to them. But now everything was either cracked up or falling off from where they were. ¡°Boom!¡± The entire restaurant building seemed to be hit particularly hard by the earthquake, as its main structure had started splitting apart and almost half of its outer walls crumbled and fell. The ground around the perimeters of the restaurant sunk as if there were deep ditches and cracks underneath the concrete and tar surface. The ground on which the restaurant stood was now somewhat ¡°cut off¡± from the rest of the area due to the sunken ground around, and one could see the broken wires and water pipes in the large cracks. Some of the vehicles parking nearby, including normal cars, SUVs and even one mail delivery truck, were unfortunate enough to be parked either right where the cracks were or near them, and due to the ground shaking fell into the cracks. When Jason and Caroline led their team out of the restaurant building and reached the edge of the cracks, they noticed that there seemed to be something else that caused the entire area of the restaurant building to be ¡°isolated¡± like this - there were traces of energy in the air concentrated around the cracks, indicating that the cracks might not have appeared naturally due to the earthquake. Faint cries, moans, curses and screeches of hundreds if not thousands of voices seemed to be coming from the deeper parts of these cracks, and though they seemed distant and weak at first, they were gradually growing louder and stronger. ¡°The energy pool inside the house - ¡± Caroline looked back at the crumbling restaurant building. ¡°It¡¯s leaking.¡± Jason and Laura said at the same time. Some kind of bubbling, vibrating and glowing iridescent liquid seeped out from the bottom of the cracks, and its level slowly rose, along with the expanding of the cracks and the destruction of the restaurant building. Chapter 620 ¡°Be careful!¡± Jason warned as Aimee and Thomas leapt over the cracks to reach the other side. ¡°We should evacuate the civilians around.¡± Laura took a quick look at the rising iridescent liquid coming from the bottom of the cracks, swallowing debris, broken pipes, and even car tires and cracked windows, and said to the others. But at this time, instead of running away from danger, a lot of people just gathered around the outer perimeters of the cracks around the restaurant building, with their phones and cameras pointing at this building, as if they just discovered a new flashy site of scenery that they could share online. ¡°Go! Get out of here!¡± Jason shouted at the people around the restaurant building as he hopped over the cracks with Caroline: ¡°What the fuck are you doing!? Get outta here!¡± ¡°Yo! What happened? ¡± One yong man with tattoos on his neck got to the side of Thomas, Aimee and Laura: ¡°You guys were in there? Did you see what happened?¡± ¡°Hey! Didn¡¯t we tell you to get outta here?¡± Laura was about to say something, but Thomas stepped forward and said to this young man: ¡°It¡¯s dangerous here! Go! Nothing to see here!¡± ¡°Sheesh, okay!¡± The young man backed off a few steps, but still held his phone up with the camera pointing at the restaurant building: ¡°But - can you see that!? HOLYYYY SHIIIT!¡± Jason and Caroline looked back, and instantly felt that their heads just grew thrice as big - some kind of energy field disruption occurred within the restaurant building, and now it was manifesting in the alterations of airflow, light, space and even gravity - the debris from both inside and outside the building started floating upwards, and cracks appeared in the air as if there was a thin and invisible dome of glass that was damaged and almost completely shattered. ¡°Get outta here!¡± Caroline breathed in, then let out a powerful roar: ¡°Everyone! Evacuate this place! You wanna be the next victims of San Francisco?!¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. This worked only to a small extent, a lot of the people who were already more concerned with their safety immediately fled the scene with every means they had. But still, many people were attracted by this otherworldly sight and some of them even came closer. ¡°Hey! Be careful! Come back here, it¡¯s too dangerous!¡± Just this moment, a girl¡¯s voice came to the attention of Laura, as she looked to the direction from which the voice came, she saw a teenage girl with a backpack, a selfie stick on the outer side of the cracks talking to a teenage boy that just jumped over a narrow part of the cracks to the other side with his phone tied to his wrist, seemingly in an attempt to see what was inside. ¡°What the fuck are you doing!?¡± Laura cursed, and without any hesitation she conjured a spell with her left hand, an orb of energy appeared around the teenage boy and sent him back to where he was - alongside his girlfriend. ¡°Wow!¡± ¡°Woah!¡± ¡°Did you see that?¡± Many people gathered around the area immediately turned their cameras to Laura. ¡°LEAVE!¡± Jason and Caroline roared one more time, a silver and an orange shockwave exploded from them, hitting almost all people around the restaurant building. The effect of the orange shockwave released by Caroline was mostly physical, which formed a wall of warm air that pushed the people back and away from the cracks; Jason¡¯s silver shockwave, on the other hand, had a mainly mental effect: everyone of the people affected by it immediately felt a sense of worry, fear and disgust at the supernatural scenes. With this move, more people turned back and left the scene, but there were still some that remained - the teenage boy and his girlfriend were among them. ¡°Boom!¡± Just when Thomas and Aimee were about to pull out their police routine to drive the rest of the people away, something exploded inside the restaurant building, and a beam of light purple shot up into the sky, bringing countless pieces of debris with it. The glowing iridescent liquid finally reached the surface level and started flowing into the streets. The remaining one and a half dozen people, with their eyes fixated on the purple beam in the sky, did not even feel that their feet were drenched in it. But when the team of Jason and Caroline took a look at them, they instantly found out the unpleasant effect this liquid had on people - especially unpowered civilians. ¡°We have to seal this place off!¡± Jason waved his hand, and a long silver rope wrapped around five people and dragged them into the sky - these people still had their eyes fixated on the purple beam of light in the process, and did not react at all to the actions of Jason. All five of them collaborated and forcefully took these civilians away from the area where the liquid was flowing, this time they finally encountered no resistance at all. But they were already somewhat late - the liquid seemed to have sped up, and more and more areas of the street became covered in it. Vehicles of the Division rushed towards the restaurant with the horns honking and law enforcement lights blaring - the two agents that made it out earlier finally brought reinforcement. Chapter 621 Inside of Hoztang¡¯s realm, right in front of the position in the space where his portal collapsed, Hoztang tried his best to suppress the pain that was coursing through his body like thousands of bolts of lightning, tearing him apart bit by bit from the inside. The ripples of space and time from the portal that failed to come into fruition still lingered, and Hoztang tried to create a portal once again, but the immense pain in his body not only slowed down his reflexes and his movements, it also disrupted the flow of energy inside of his body, which caused his multiple attempts at creating another portal to all fail. ¡°Fuck!¡± Hoztang cursed in his own language, and he tried to focus his mind to create yet another portal as he pushed himself to the limits trying to get away from the Defiler that was chasing him but was injured and temporarily incapacitated by the structure created from the piece of white crystal given to him by that wretched human. At this point, Hoztang was already close to the edge of his very own realm - and he had accepted the fact that should he want to escape without the portal, he would have to go outside of his own realm and kingdom, something he decided he would not do lightly a long time ago. But just this moment, the dark shadow of a ferocious fish with a long spiked tail and two legs with the rough structure of dogs¡¯ hind legs appeared in front of him, right between the edge of Hoztang¡¯s realm and Hoztang, which was also between Hoztang and the position of his portal. This shadow flapped its tail, which landed right on the side of Hoztang¡¯s wide face and sent him crashing towards a small floating island in the air. When Hoztang struggled to raise his head at the Defiler that was floating ¡°above¡± him on this small floating island, he felt that his body was at the brink of disintegration - the pain he was enduring was now exacerbated by the attack he just received. ¡°It¡¯s such a pity.¡± The Defiler said in a gloating and condescending tone: ¡°If you hadn¡¯t lost that large part of yourself, you probably would have succeeded with that portal, and you would have probably made it out alive. Probably.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°How is this possible?¡± Hoztang did not respond to the Defiler¡¯s sneer, but asked a question: ¡°How can you do this? You shouldn¡¯t be able to teleport like that! You shouldn¡¯t - the order of the world binds you! The fabric of the laws of the Will and reality binds you! How - ¡± The Defiler couldn¡¯t wait till Hoztang finish before he bust out laughing, the sound of his laugh sent out ripples and waves through the space and time in this chaotic realm, shaking every floating island, every twisted and crooked tree and grass, every stone and every rock. The ¡°ribbons¡± formed by the pulled out shadows of living creatures around some of the islands weeped even harder, and the ribbons themselves began to show signs of breakage and ruin under the influence of the laughter. ¡°The order of the world? The fabric of the laws of the Will?¡± The Defiler asked, with droplets drool spitting out of his mouth: ¡°Do you think, even for one brief moment, that your realm, your kingdom, still has much of those left? With your every whim, every word, every blessing you gave to your sycophants, every curse you placed on those who defy and disrespect you, the world breaks with them. ¡± ¡°Yeah, I figured - I figured.¡± Hoztang shook his head: ¡°Okay, last question - why target me? Why me?¡± ¡°Oh, Hoztang, why ask the question when you already know the answer?¡± The Defiler slowly descended from the air and got closer to Hoztang: ¡°You were handed the answer the moment you lay your hands on the godhood. You just didn¡¯t think you would actually need to face the consequences, did you? At the very least, when you fell, you could have let it go. But you didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Because that power, that godhood is MINE!¡± Hoztang responded with anger and frustration: ¡°There¡¯s no one more fitting! I will never let another have it!¡± ¡°And here, the Overlord of Despair and Purposelessness is about to expire with the remnant of the past glory and horror he surrounded himself with.¡± The Defiler grew a long claw on its side, shaped just like a foldable blade: ¡°It¡¯s ironic, really, because I - millenia ago, was once in your position, holding the very same godhood as you did. But I chose to give it up.¡± Without a response, Hoztang¡¯s body shot out at least a dozen spikes at the Defiler, but the Defiler¡¯s body just shifted out of the way, and the claw just penetrated Hoztang¡¯s flat head. The entire kingdom and realm shook, cracks in space and time crawled all over the inside of Hoztang¡¯s kingdom. A small orb of light arose from the swiftly crumbling and decaying body of Hoztang and was slowly pulled into an energy vortex. The Defiler stared at the orb, not doing anything to stop it from being pulled away, while its claw was hollowing out the body of Hoztang from the inside by draining the last bit of energy remaining in the body. The orb of light was smaller and weaker than the last time this Defiler saw it, it contained less order, and less power. And even if the Will has it back, it will take a long time to fully heal, or it may never heal at all. Just like father said it would. Chapter 622 ¡°You know - it¡¯s kinda funny.¡± Jianmen, with his left eye blinded, left forearm cleanly severed and his chest ripped open and his heart torn apart, could now only speak in a barely audible wheezing voice : ¡°I - I thought I would never be here, I thought I¡¯d never want to face another Defiler, much less a Grand Defiler. But as it turns out, I kinda wanted this fight, I looked forward to it.¡± ¡°And - I hope I didn¡¯t disappoint. I believe you may have learned more about me and my children than you expected to?¡± The Grand Defiler bowed gently, with his right hand holding the jade amulet tightly. And with a series of cracking sounds, the amulet was crushed into a handful of tiny grains, which then flowed through his finger cracks onto the ground: ¡°There - consider it a favor - now, I will present you with a choice, if you still have the heart to hear it.¡± ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t expect that.¡± Jianmen shook his head, then looked down on his open chest: ¡°And good one.¡± ¡°Thanks, I¡¯ve been around for a looong time, and it helps to pick up a few things.¡± The Grand Defiler sat down in front of Jianmen: ¡°I¡¯ll cut to the chase: where do you think my children come from?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a Mrs. Grand Defiler.¡± ¡°No, and I don¡¯t need one. Humor me this, if YOU are the original breaker of worlds and order, who would make the perfect subordinates to delegate your duties and your work? Think about it, you need to find those that are already familiar with the order of the world - and of course, they should know how to bend or even break the rules, and they should enjoy doing so.¡± ¡°... other gods.¡± Jianmen nodded with a wry smile: ¡°No wonder, I was wondering why you would go for Xyn and fell him, and judging from the reaction I got from that worm Hoztang, your children went after him as well.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that saying of your humans?¡± The Grand Defiler nodded with an approving smile: ¡°Power - ¡± ¡°Yeah I know.¡± Jianmen grunted as he leaned over and picked up a few of the broken grains of his amulet with his right hand, then threw a grain at the Defiler¡¯s face: ¡°And my answer is no. I will not join you. I was a dormant contender for godhood because I wanted no part of it, and I want no part of whatever this is.¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. The Grand Defiler didn¡¯t even blink when the grain hit his face, he stared at Jianmen¡¯s face for a while then sighed: ¡°Too bad, this must be the worst fight I¡¯ve been in. You don¡¯t have godhood, which means the only thing I can get out of it is your body - it¡¯s much much less useful if you¡¯re not willing. And much less fun for you. You know - the process, if you resist, your mind and will won¡¯t fade until the very last moment. And with your room here - I don¡¯t have much power right now, so it¡¯s gonna take very, very, very long.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Jianmen threw another grain at the Grand Defiler¡¯s face, hitting him for another time: ¡°Thanks, but my decision is made.¡± Just when Jianmen was about to throw another grain at him, the Grand Defiler grabbed Jiamen¡¯s right wrist, and a stream of his power seeped into Jianmen¡¯s wrist, and started flowing into his meridians. ¡°Thanks.¡± Jianmen¡¯s forehead was covered in sweat, but he managed to squeeze out one word, before relenting his resistance and letting the Grand Defiler¡¯s power in. The Grand Defiler hesitated for a moment, but then a jolt of pain struck him like a bolt of lightning - something he had not felt in millenia. A white glowing orb appeared in his heart position, the position where Jianmen¡¯s guandao blade was before. ¡°How - what did you do?¡± The Grand Defiler immediately cut off his energy output, stood up and said. Jianmen¡¯s smile was weak, his face was pale - the injuries finally overwhelmed him and he just stopped speaking. His body froze in a laid back and relaxed fashion, as if he just crossed the final item off his bucket list. The Grand Defiler tried to move, but his body was somehow locked in place - it was as if the effects of the room were just amplified by thousands of times. The glowing orb on his left chest continued to spin and slowly, chewing off his body one small piece at a time. It was order - extremely concentrated order, the Grand Defiler finally realized, the room was crafted in such a way that the order inside of it was condensed yet evenly distributed. This was the sole reason that their powers were so limited inside, because both the Grand Defiler and Jianmen were beings of immense power that tapped into the realm of order, being inside of this kind of isolated realm with extremely concentrated order would just cause their abilities to be restrained, just like humans not being able to fight with bare hands and legs effectively underwater. And just like fighting in water, all cuts and punctures will cause water to seep into the wounds, which would be much more troublesome for the Grand Defiler than it was for Jianmen. This meant that the Grand Defiler would have to use his power to resist the inflow of order into his body. The fight that dragged on created multiple chances for the inflow of order into the Grand Defiler¡¯s body. But the straw that broke the camel''s back was the time he used his taxing ability to convert Jianmen - finally, the loss of his power and the accumulation of order in his body broke the equilibrium. ¡°Clever - you mortal, very clever. ¡± The Grand Defiler almost laughed out loud as his body was gradually consumed by the growing, glowing white orb, and the order inside this room finally crushed his body like water pressure from the deep seas crushing a hollow container: ¡°Clever - I guess I¡¯ll remember you when I come again.¡± Chapter 623 Jianmen did not know how long his consciousness faded into the dark, before he all of a sudden found himself near the edge of a cliff over a giant tranquil lake, with cool breeze blowing, trees dancing with the wind, birds chirping and, expectedly but surprisingly, music from guqin playing. There was a woman wearing a thin, white silk robe sitting on the edge of the cliff, with her back facing Jianmen. And when she heard Jianmen awake, she turned around, showing a face of Josephine Wong and said: ¡°You¡¯re awake. Good. I¡¯ve been waiting.¡± Jianmen stood up, rubbed his temples for a short moment, then sighed: ¡°Who the hell do you take me for? Some fucking moron who can¡¯t tell illusion from truth? Drop the facade.¡± ¡°Josephine Wong¡± in the traditional white silk robe and a guqin on her lap smiled: ¡°Nice to see that you are clear in your head. This would make our conversation easier. But first, I could only manifest in front of you this way in forms that you have a certain amount of faith and belief in, it¡¯s a - a limitation, you could say, of my ability to connect with you. The Grand Defiler also functions this way. I can take the form of your students, or Rash, or some others, but I can¡¯t be Jimbo from the shop.¡± Jianmen took another moment to sense everything around and took a careful look at this ¡°Josephine Wong¡± and made sure that this was not an illusion created by the Grand Defiler to trick him: ¡°Okay, what and where is this place? And why are you here?¡± ¡°This is a small realm created by your memories, your thoughts and your dreams. Consider it a limbo in a much more isolated manner. And it is where your room artifact is. ¡± The ¡°Josephine Wong¡± said: ¡°Kudos on the construction of that room, you got closer than anyone else.¡± ¡°But not close enough. Why are you here?¡± ¡°Is one meter away close enough? One centimeter? One millimeter? The thing is, you will never be there, you could only get closer and closer, at greater and greater cost with less and less reward, for a simple reason: you are not me, you are not the Will.¡± ¡°Fascinating story. Why are you here?¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°For someone that frequently calls me a bitch, you are awfully short on patience.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t expect you to understand this - but nobody likes someone who always has others to do their dirty work!¡± ¡°I understand completely. And I am not here to explain myself to you. I am simply here to offer you a deal. And unlike what the Defilers typically do, you can have plenty of time to think it over.¡± ¡°Okay - since you¡¯ve invited me here and presumably saved my life, I will give it a fair consideration.¡± Jianmen sighed: ¡°It¡¯s a godhood thing, right?¡± ¡°The God of Hospitality and Welcoming title suits you, there are other possible candidates, but they are nowhere near where you are.¡± This ¡°Josephine Wong¡± said: ¡°Also, do you know what happens when a god falls completely at the hands of Defilers?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t say I do.¡± Jianmen let out a long sigh and sat down on the ground, playing with the grass: ¡°This is kinda creepy, you know? If you want to connect, you¡¯d better not make the scene something from their deepest memories. It¡¯s really unsettling.¡± ¡°Connections can be made in various ways. Warmth and friendliness is one, fear and show of power is another.¡± This ¡°Josephine Wong¡± smiled: ¡°There¡¯s a saying for humans I find quite true, ¡®Knowledge is power¡¯, right?¡± ¡°I suspect as much, but you should also know, fear and ironfist rarely buys you true royalty.¡± ¡°Agree to disagree.¡± This ¡°Josephine Wong¡± ran her right hand through the strings on the guqin: ¡°But, back to our topic - when a god is slain, the godhood loses some of its power, and a little of its order is lost. I couldn¡¯t care less if it was one god slaying another, because then it¡¯s just a transfer of that order. But when Defilers do it - the order will be lost to chaos.¡± ¡°So why have godhood at all? Why even allow fallible beings to gain control over this kind of power?¡± ¡°Because knowledge means nothing if there¡¯s no mind to acquire it. It¡¯s but the basic laws of knowing, and existing.¡± ¡°Okay. I promise I¡¯ll think it over.¡± Jianmen nodded: ¡°Now if you¡¯ll excuse me, I¡¯d like to get back to my business.¡± ¡°Yes, do think about it.¡± The ¡°Josephine Wong¡± responded with a bright smile: ¡°And, as a - what do you call it - an added bonus, a show of good faith, or an item of bribery, whatever, here¡¯s the contract your human friends submitted.¡± A small scroll flew from ¡°Josephine Wong¡±¡¯s hand, and when Jianmen grabbed it in his hand, he could feel that there¡¯s a lot of familiar names on them - Pei, Nameless, Bruj, and many of the monks, exorcists and individuals with super powers. ¡°They fell.¡± Jianmen sighed. ¡°Yes, and their names would have been lost, if you had lost.¡± The ¡°Josephine Wong¡± placed the guqin on the ground: ¡°But you won, and here I am just in time to capture their names. When you go back, they will have their names back, and they will be remembered.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Consider it a token of my gratitude for slaying the Grand Defiler, even though you did it for your own selfish purpose. And just like gods, but in reverse, when Defilers are slain by agents of order, a little chaos will be lost. Yin and Yang, light and darkness, pretty fascinating, huh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s like the world¡¯s darkest joke.¡± ¡°And don¡¯t thank me yet. ¡± The ¡°Josephine Wong¡± said with a cunning smile: ¡°When you get the time, why don¡¯t you take a look at yourself?¡± Chapter 624 On the battlefield against the Defilers, the casualties of the elementals were piling up along with that of humans - however powerful or elite they were, their powers still seemed limited when faced with what seemed like an endless outpour of Defilers. Several high level human leaders and a few Elemental Lords had fallen, and the rest of the resistance forces were just barely holding on. The inflow of creatures from the gaps stopped being as devastating as they used to - as more creatures came in through the portal, the blessing they received upon entering became thinner, which caused their attacks to have less and less effects on the Defilers, which then in turn accelerated their rate in which they had casualties. Xyn and Tze Cha¡¯s had expended most of their energy at this time, and were now in a more passive fighting mode instead of active - they tried their best to evade and dodge the attacks to avoid any head-on clashes with any of the mid-tier Defilers, and only unleashed sneak attacks that would not hindered their flow of avoiding their enemies. The outer energy seal that closed this realm off, as a result of the turning tide of the battle, cracked more and more due to more of the Defiler horde being able to divert their attention and attacks at it. ¡°Sorry, Jianmen. I am delegating the anchor - I won¡¯t be there when you come back.¡± Josephine Wong took out a small crystal orb with meticulous patterns inside, filling all of its interior space in a three dimensional manner. And then with a trembling voice, she started chanting a spell, which would transfer a mark she willingly accepted before this battle into the crystal orb. Just this moment, a ¡°white hole¡± appeared right above the dark orb from which the Defiler horde came, and waves after waves of orange and golden waves of energy pulsated from it. Both Xyn and Tze Cha could tell instantly, that it was the power of order itself being released from the realm in which Jianmen had locked himself and the Grand Defiler. The low tier Defilers were nowhere near able to withstand this kind of order, and their bodies just crumbled into ashes upon contact. The mid tier Defilers, on the other hand, reacted like normal beings of flesh and blood when touched by strong acid or burning iron, and they flew away screaming and crying while their bodies were being burnt and melted. ¡°He¡¯s alive!¡± Professor Barnes held onto his almost maimed left arm and said: ¡°He did it!¡± ¡°Wait, who¡¯s ¡®he¡¯?¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson asked. ¡°I - I can¡¯t remember.¡± Professor Barnes frowned and hesitated: ¡°Josephine, Glenda, do you know?¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°It seems to be coming back to me now.¡± Glenda Grimes looked at Josephine Wong, who seemed to be wiping her eyes: ¡°Do you know something we don¡¯t? Josephine?¡± ¡°We won.¡± Josephine Wong¡¯s voice was trembling, as she pointed at the dark orb. The dark orb, under the effects of the orange and golden energy waves, started to shrink in size visibly. During the battle, it had already gone down in size by a measurable amount, but as the rate in which it decreased was nowhere near what it was right now. The energy waves swept through more and more Defilers on the battlefield, crushing, incinerating and melting them in the process. The forces of humans and elementals immediately pushed back and launched their counter attack with vengeance and fury. With almost half of the Defilers on the battlefield dead, the rest in panic and their formation in disarray, they were finally able to unleash their attacks without much worry, hindrance or resistance. As the humans and elemental lords got their memories about Jianmen back, so had they begun to remember the names of those that had fallen in battle before. Many of them, when they had the moment to breathe and rest because of the crumbling of the Defilers, broke down and started weeping or crying in pain right on the spot - the sudden hit of the memories of all of those they lost at once proved too much, even for them. ¡°On your feet, humans!¡± Tze Cha roared and said, a red shockwave swept through the entire battlefield: ¡°Mourn your losses later! Take this chance and slay them all!¡± This was a spell of Tze Cha, whose effect and purpose was simple: it pushed those affected to channel their emotion to another avenue, through subliminal messaging and mental manipulation. It was by no means an honorable spell to use, but it worked - the distraught humans and elementals saw red, and started going after the Defilers with a vengeful, even desperate rage. ¡°Fuck you, Tze Cha.¡± Josephine Wong sighed, and immediately started to prepare a mind and spirit calming spell. The waves of order eventually ceased, and at which time, the dark orb had already become barely visible at all. It shook and jumped around in space, as if someone was banging it from behind trying to get out, but only small traces of black smoke were able to come out of it, and nothing else. Josephine Wong¡¯s spell was released into the air when the number of Defilers dwindled to a non-threatening amount, and the fighters in a state of frenzy and berserk started getting clarity in their minds. It only took a few more minutes for the rest of the Defilers to be annihilated, and the energy they released just decreased the size of the dark orb for the last time - right now, it was already at a size that was invisible to the naked eye. ¡°What should we do now?¡± Lady Ryleen, standing near the position of the orb and carrying the body of Bruj in her arms, asked: ¡°The tear is still there.¡± ¡°Leave it to us.¡± Tze Cha and Xyn descended from the sky and answered with weary voices. ¡°This tear, though small, still needs the power of order to repair. And since there¡¯s no more Defilers here, the only way to do it is through the power of godhood.¡± Xyn said: ¡°And we are the only ones with this kind of power.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if we¡¯d feel comfortable with that.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson stepped forward and said: ¡°This is a realm of humans, and it should be left to us.¡± ¡°Worry not, young human. We have no intention of claiming this realm for ourselves. Even if we wanted to, I am not even sure we could.¡± Tze Cha sighed. Chapter 625 ¡°We can take over, if the issue at hand is the need for order.¡± Just this moment, a woman in a blood soaked silk robe came forward: ¡°The Church of Lox is willing to help. The tenets of Lox can help restore order. We just need some time.¡± ¡°And your help will be deeply appreciated.¡± Professor Dorothea Clarkson nodded, then looked at Josephine Wong, who had her eyes fixated on the position of the now microscopic dark orb: ¡°What do you say, Josephine? You¡¯re the liaison who led this battle, it¡¯s your call.¡± ¡°Esteemed Xyn, Tze Cha. I, on behalf of humans, am grateful for your assistance in this battle. And I am sure, the one that made the deal with you would have expressed the same sentiment if he was here.¡± Josephine Wong took a few seconds to collect herself, then she said: ¡°But - this is clearly something we humans need to handle for ourselves - this realm once belonged to a human family, and it would take us time and effort to figure out a proper plan to deal with it.¡± ¡°Make no mistake, I am no righteous Dragon, but I do value honor and valor, which you¡¯ve shown plenty during the fight. But in the name of all that is delicious, I hate politics.¡± Tze Cha sneered and started slowly floating away: ¡°My offer was there just out of respect, so, find me if you change your mind. Josephine Wong, I trust that you know full well what my price is.¡± ¡°I have lived a long life, so though I lived a lot of it in isolation due to my fall, I still know of the tenets and the church of Lox. ¡± Xyn let out a long sigh and said: ¡°Then I trust that your situation will be handled. The Elemental Lords will be in contact with your ambassadors, and we will keep an eye out for the happenings of this realm. Should the tear be opened again, or it showed any signs of anything else coming through it. Be well, humans, for I foresee that your kind and my children will see more of each other in their future.¡± When Tze Cha left, he brought almost half of the remains of the Defilers with him - after the battle, all of those that remained finally had the chance to take a look at the entire battlefield. Different from the humans or elementals, when the Defilers died, their bodies seemed to become ashes and broken shards and debris like that of broken glass statues. Though dead, the bodies of Defilers still gave off a fear and depression inspiring aura and small traces of pungent smell.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The mages of the Church of Lox, led by Lady Ryleen from the Security Council of the Division, gathered around the position of the dark orb and started chanting a spell in unison, which created a transparent multi-faceted crystal of energy to contain the dark orb. The rest of the humans, now assured that the realm was safe, started calling in reinforcements and support to help them collect the bodies of those that fell beside them. Their names became embedded, branded in their minds, and became almost completely unforgettable. ¡°Josephine? What - what are you doing?¡± Professor Barnes tried to pull the body of a human soldier from under a piece of rock when he saw that Josephine Wong seemed to have wandered into the crater to the position of the mages of the Church of Lox. ¡°I - I need a minute, please, as you were.¡± Josephine Wong said with a slightly trembling tone. ¡°Ms. Wong.¡± Lady Ryleen signaled by hand to ask a fellow mage to take over her position, then walked up to Josephine Wong: ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Have - have you seen anyone, or anything appeared somewhere around here?¡± Josephine Wong wiped her eyes and asked. ¡°No - I¡¯m sorry.¡± Lady Ryleen shook her head: ¡°We haven¡¯t seen him.¡± ¡°So you remember him now?¡± ¡°Yes, the memory came back just a few minutes ago.¡± Lady Ryleen nodded: ¡°I think that has something to do with him, right? Otherwise the names would just be lost - well, to be captured by somebody else.¡± ¡°Yes. It¡¯s got to be him.¡± ¡°So, it would make sense that he won, and it would just be a matter of time before he comes back.¡± Lady Ryleen patted Josephine Wong on the shoulder: ¡°So, I am pretty sure, he will come back. He just needs time.¡± ¡°Yes, I suppose so.¡± Josephine Wong sat down on the ground and looked up at the sky: ¡°I suppose so.¡± Just this moment, a young Division agent, in a clean and unspoiled suit ran over to Josephine Wong¡¯s side: ¡°Liaison Wong! Liaison Wong! There¡¯s something you¡¯ve gotta see!¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Josephine Wong let out a long sigh and asked. ¡°Agent Hall and Agent Beckman, they requested a backup just not long ago, and we¡¯re receiving reports of a large-scale incident at a residential area, right at the place they requested backup for.¡± This Division Agent said. Josephine Wong wiped the corners of her eyes with her torn sleeves and stood up: ¡°I¡¯m on it. Who else was there?¡± ¡°Your students, and Miss. Caroline Baker and Mr. Jason Lin, and a young lady named Laura.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be right there, and contact Blue.¡± Josephine Wong said: ¡°Tell him the battle is over, and his team should proceed with all deployments of all disaster recovery strategies. ¡± Chapter 626 A three-layered wall surrounding and enclosing the entire restaurant building stood tall - its inner and outer layer were both made of stones, dirt and sand, and both were rapidly replenishing as growing thicker and taller; the middle layer was made of solid alloy, which was constantly growing in height, density and thickness, and the two flat but rough sides of it allowed the dirt, rock and sand to climb up, so that the entire wall could continue to grow taller, to further contain the rising glowing liquid. Jason¡¯s figure turned to a silver shadow circling around the wall he erected and infusing his Xuanli into it. Floating above the space enclosed by the wall, was Caroline with two pairs of fiery wings, with three orange balls of energy floating around her raining down pillars of fire and vaporizing the liquid to suppress its rise. Many human-shaped creatures made of liquid constantly tried to leap out from its surface and reach the area outside of the wall or attack Caroline, but they were all instantly sliced up and blasted into tiny droplets and smoke. She had yet to know what those shadows could do, or any long term effect the glowing liquid could have on the surrounding area. But her instinct told her, nothing good could come out of it. Outside of the wall, there were vehicles from the Division forming blockades stopping any incoming traffic. Division agents were dispersed around the area, trying their best to evacuate people in this area. And similar to the people whose feet and ankles were touched by the liquid earlier to a certain extent, many people in the area seemed to have fallen into a state of unawareness and unresponsiveness - they just stared at the direction of the restaurant building, not doing anything and not reacting to external stimuli, which would make their evacuation easier, if not for the fact that some kind of paranormal activity had also occurred in the surrounding area, even though it was in broad daylight. ¡°Go!¡± Waving her scimitars in the air and cutting down a solidified figure made of paint and oil, which came out of an old and mass produced oil painting hanging on the wall of an apartment, Aimee yelled at the mother and son hiding at the corner of the kitchen: ¡°Take your son and go! Get outta here! There will be people outside to help you evacuate!¡± ¡°Bang bang bang!¡± Thomas was in the same building, but inside another apartment on a lower floor, the energy pellets from his enchanted shotgun blew off the entire upper body of a ferocious life-sized anime girl figure wielding a fruit knife, sending it tumbling and cracking up all over on the floor of the living room, breaking a cheap looking wooden coffee table in the process. After this, he yelled at the two young men with some bleeding but not lethal slashing wounds on their chests and arms: ¡°Leave now! And get some smaller figures next time!¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Boom!¡± Just right after the two young men left this apartment, a humongous carp whose body was made of a whole piece jade with the colors green, white and red crashed through the ceiling of the apartment Thomas was in, and different from normal decorative jade carps, this jade carp had several layers of sharp teeth in its mouth, its tentacles were soft, moving and had some sharp spikes along its many sections. And just when Thomas aimed his enchanted shotgun at the throat of the jade carp, it roared and released a powerful shockwave and blew Thomas through a wooden wall. ¡°Thomas! Be careful!¡± Aimee leapt through the cracks across the floors and caught up with the tail of the jade carp. ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡± Thomas jumped from the ground and stood with her enchanted in hand and firing at the jade carp¡¯s head. The fiery bullets bounced off the scales of the jade carp and were not able to deliver more damage than a few cracks. ¡°Clank! Clank!¡± Aimee¡¯s scimitar knocked off a few chips on the jade carp¡¯s tail, and the inside of its body was revealed to be just what she expected - it was still jade, though infused with all kinds of chaotic and dark energy. The painful cries of Division agents could be heard coming from other parts of the street and this apartment building - the escaped energy from the restaurant building seemed to have created more powerful monsters than anyone could have imagined. Thomas fired an energy slug from his shotgun at the jade carp¡¯s throat, and it landed right on some small but razor sharp teeth inside its throat. The jade carp growled in pain and wagged its head, one of its tentacles whipped through the air and swept him off his feet and flipped his body in the air. Aimee jumped and did a side flip in the air, while swinging the scimitar in her right hand at the jade tentacle that just threw Thomas on the wall. After a loud clunk sound, the tentacle was broken off. The jade carp, now seemingly in pain, tried to roar once again, but the energy slug seemed to have wounded the inside of its throat, and it coughed and wheezed just like a human with a severe sore throat. This time it was Aimee who let out a roar, as she lunged forward and slammed one of her scimitars at the left eye of the jade carp. The next moment, Aimee was thrown into the ceiling then fell down due to being bumped by the jade carp¡¯s head. Her scimitars fell on the ground, but at least the attack she unleashed completely broke the jade carp¡¯s left eye. ¡°Bang!¡± Just when the jade carp opened its mouth and tried to bite down on Aimee, Thomas jumped out from behind the broken wall, with his eyes glowing in flaming red and fired another charged and powerful energy slug at its mouth. The energy slug exploded right on its upper lip, and broke a large crack on its upper jaw. The head of the jade carp was pushed back and could not finish the bite, but it managed to whip its tentacles in the air, in an attempt to strike Thomas again. ¡°Clank!¡± A hand completely covered in thin but steel-like ice grabbed the tentacle in mid air, it was Aimee, who was now kneeling on the ground with one knee, her entire right arm covered in ice, and her eyes glowing in light blue. Chapter 627 ¡°Aaah!¡± Thomas yelled and opened fire once again, his enchanted pistol jumped into the air due to recoil, and a spinning bullet glowing in blinding red light shot into the mouth of the jade carp while it was struggling to pull its tentacle away from Aimee¡¯s hands. The energy bullet burst from inside the jade carp¡¯s body, then somehow ignited its internal parts, the two sides of its body glowed as it was heated up from inside, like a piece of glass just out of the forge. At the same time, frost and thin pieces of ice grew all around the jade carp¡¯s tentacle, its lips and major parts of its face became covered with frost and ice as well. And during this process, the jade material this carp was made of became crystalized from the inside, and therefore fragile, brittle and easily broken even with very minor impact. Aimee extended her right hand at one of her scimitars on the ground, the scimitar flew off from the ground and made it into her palm. The next moment, she slammed the blade of her scimitar at the face of the jade carp. With a loud crack, the entire head of the fish crumbled into cracks, while the belly of it melted and hot, sticky and smoking liquid poured out from a breach near its tail. With these injuries and destruction to its body, the jade carp still flopped around the ground for a while before it finally stopped moving. Now, inside the vision of the two Chavers, they felt that they could see the flowing of energy, not exactly the particles of energy themselves, but their flows and changes. This was something Josephine Wong told them they would need practice and opportunity in order to achieve - as wielders of flow magic, this would be one of the crucial first steps of their path forward. And with this ability, they could finally deliver enough damage with their spells and bring out their full potential. Just this moment, thin beams of bright golden energy rained down from the sky, even the wooden walls and some concrete parts of the roof and ceilings. These bright golden beams did not pose any danger to Thomas, Aimee or any of the Division agents. But they burned away a lot of the dark and negative energy that was in the air and coated on the walls and buildings. They could hear the cries and moans of the paranormal entities as a result of the occurrence of these energy beams.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Everyone, get as many civilians out as possible!¡± The voice of Laura resounded in the area. In the sky above the restaurant building, a giant golden circle completely made of energy appeared, with Laura at the center. The beams of golden energy were all coming from the golden circle. The energy flow coming from the restaurant building was being suppressed by the pillars of flame and energy attacks released by Caroline and the stone and metal walls created by Jason. But it was still leaking out of the building in almost all directions, including upwards. With the help of the golden circle in the sky, the outpour of the energy was further slowed and even stopped. ¡°Just hold on! We can contain this!¡± Caroline¡¯s entire body was now completely engulfed in flames, and the skin on her arms,legs and face was beginning to show signs of burn and crack from her overexerting herself. Similar signs had also shown on the bodies of Jason - the constant output of Xuanli to maintain and fortify the wall around the building that span through the space both above and under the ground had caused him greater distress than any of his fights before. And his just finishing a tiring fight against a fallen god did not help at all. The danger of the situation was clearly outside of Laura¡¯s expectation as well - before coming back to the inn, she just knew that she would be in a much better place than the holding rooms of the Grant Academy, and she would have more freedom here. But little did she know she would end up following Jason into action like this, taking part in actual fights against unconventional foes like lycan gangs and actual fallen gods. The golden circle in the sky was the most powerful cleansing and evil and darkness suppression spell that she knew of, and right now it was the third time she¡¯d ever used it and first ever she pushed it this far. As the fight to suppress the liquid and evacuate the civilians went on, all five of the students felt a strange sense of ¡°blessing¡± having been placed on them - they felt that their attack spells were doing more damage to their foes, be it the paranormal entities or the liquid itself. If not for this ¡°blessing¡± they had with them, they would probably need much more energy to get the situation under control, and they probably wouldn¡¯t be able to maintain control for this long. The deadlocked situation lasted at least five minutes since the golden circle was completed - none of the students were able to push back the liquid in any substantial way, and the expansion liquid was finally halted. Though, the speed in which they poured out their power meant that they could only contain the liquid for a while and not permanently without reinforcement. But surprisingly, just when Aimee and Thomas cleared out another civilian residential building, the liquid showed a sign of backflow, and all the floating debris from the building started falling back on the ground. This change did not bring anyone joy or relief, however, since all of them could sense that something inside the restaurant building was building up as the liquid flowed back from where it came from. Chapter 628 ¡°This is ¡­ not normal.¡± Laura did not let this moment of supposed ¡°victory¡± loosen her guard: ¡°Hey! Jason! Be careful! Caroline! You as well!¡± ¡°Thomas! Aimee!¡± Caroline took the moment to catch her breath and shouted into the air because she did not know where the Chavers were at the moment: ¡°Continue evacuating everyone! This is not over yet!¡± Jason slowed down his speed and lowered his continuous energy output to the wall he created. But he expanded and projected his power of mind and will outward, in an attempt to pry on what was going on inside of the restaurant building. As far as he could tell, no lycans came out from the building, so it would probably be safe to assume that they were dead due to being trapped inside. The level of the liquid continued to go down, and the cracks that appeared in the air gradually ¡°healed up¡± by themselves. And without Caroline having to do much, less and less shadows came out from the surface of the liquid. ¡°Boom!¡± Something inside the restaurant building exploded, but instead of pushing or throwing anything out, a center of suction force occurred and the entire building caved in in an implosive manner. As the walls and ceilings fell down, Caroline, Laura and Jason all saw and sensed what happened - a flickering and unstable looking energy vortex occurred somewhere underground. Jason immediately realized, that the center of the vortex was at the same position of the collapsed portal, connected to an unknown plane. ¡°On guard! On guard!¡± Having sensed a somewhat familiar but also quite different energy signature coming from the vortex, Jason immediately yelled at everyone in range: ¡°It¡¯s the portal!¡± ¡°Boom!¡± The vortex exploded, and a gigantic worm with a ferocious fish head, dark scales and centipede-like side legs rushed out from the temporary portal created by the explosion. Dark smoke, a cold and fear-inspiring aura, and a string of horse laughter came out along with this horrible creature. ¡°Behold my power and my glory! ¡± The creature¡¯s voice echoed even though there were no walls around: ¡°You miserable puny beings will now be blessed with the chance of marveling at my presence! Taste the scent of fear and hopelessness ¡­¡± Before it could finish the full sentence, a bolt of lightning with the width of a bus shot down from a piece of cloud higher up in the sky and landed right on this worm creature¡¯s back. Dark scales, broken legs and dark tar flew all around the sky, and a giant hole was left on the worm creature¡¯s back.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. But this wound did not last, as the worm creature twitched and turned its body in the air, the wound just healed itself at a visible rate. But right at the next moment, another bolt of lightning descended from the cloud and struck it right on the head, but this time it did not do as much damage, because the worm creature just conjured a thin energy shield above its head and blocked off most of the power from the lightning bolt. The worm creature looked around, then fixated its head in a certain direction - where a male mage in a blue robe was floating in the air with a long crooked looking wooden staff in his hands. And while the worm creature looked, this mage conjured up a ball of lightning and threw it at its head. The worm creature turned its head to the side to dodge this ball of lightning, then curled its body back like a viper, then launched its head at this mage. A purple shadow appeared right from a broken and torn down building below and shot at the worm creature like a bullet. Before the worm creature could react, the purple shadow already conjured a purple energy blade and spiced its head off. And while the main part of its body fell onto the ground, another purple energy blade was released by this purple shadow and it went straight into the worm creature¡¯s head from the wound behind its neck. ¡°Fu - ¡± Before this worm creature could curse, a giant spinning drill bit grew and expanded from inside its head and turned its severed head into tiny pieces of torn flesh and shells that rained down onto the ground below. With the head crushed into minced meat, the other parts of this creature¡¯s body stopped moving as well. The purple shadow and the mage in a blue robe flew toward the restaurant building. The liquid started leaking from the restaurant building again, but the speed in which it flowed had become much slower than before. And with Caroline, Jason and Laura working together, it was immediately reduced to almost nothing. ¡°Good work.¡± Josephine Wong landed on the ground beside Jason: ¡°Your master would be proud of you.¡± ¡°My master - ¡± Jason had a strange memory flashback, as if a piece of memory was removed but then re-inserted into his mind: ¡°Yeah, our master! How is he?!¡± ¡°I - ¡± Josephine Wong tried to find the right word for it, but then she just turned around and flew towards the top of the building: ¡°Go back to the inn, take a rest, have some food - there will be a disaster recovery team to deal with the rest.¡± Jason let out a long exhale, and he almost fell face down onto the ground - his meridians dried up, and his head was ringing and hurting. Caroline was no better, her fingers and arms were in strange shapes, her skins blistered and cracked just like a victim of severe burn damage. Laura was the only one out of the three that still had the ability to walk, so she carried the two of them towards an abandoned vehicle nearby. ¡°Hold on, I¡¯ll drive.¡± Laura kissed Jason on the forehead as she helped Jason and Caroline onto the backseat and said: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I know the way to the inn¡­¡± The scenery flashed around them, the vehicle in which they sat disappeared, and they found themselves at the lounge of Xianshi Inn. ¡°Yeah, I guess we CAN indeed come back whenever we want.¡± Jason laughed out loud on the ground. Chapter 629 ¡°What happened? ¡±When Aimee and Thomas came back to the civilian buildings that were closer to the restaurant building, they found that Jason, Caroline and Laura were nowhere to be seen, so Thomas immediately asked Josephine Wong and Blue. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they¡¯re back at the inn.¡± Josephine Wong waved her hand, signaling the Division agents to head to different areas around her: ¡°How many civilians have you evacuated?¡± ¡°About twenty of them.¡± Thomas thought for a brief moment and said. ¡°We swept almost the entire area, looks like there¡¯s not many people in this area - but there are a lot of things that seemed to become paranormal from the energy.¡± Aimee said: ¡°We encountered plants, paintings, statues and even anime figurines.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Josephine Wong nodded, then asked: ¡°Agent Hall and Agent Beckman reported that you came here because you were tracing the funneling of some sacrificial energy. Any idea how that kind of energy is stored inside that building?¡± ¡°We - we don¡¯t know.¡± Aimee looked at Thomas then hesitated: ¡°We just know that the energy was funneled into a stone tomb, where they stored the body of a powerful being - apparently it¡¯s some kind of god, the lycans called it the ¡®Night Lord¡¯.¡± ¡°Yeah, and apparently they still believed in it.¡± Thomas nodded: ¡°Some of them knelt and apparently prayed to it the moment the body was reactivated. But then it just sucked out their energy and started controlling them.¡± ¡°But it wasn¡¯t their god, was it?¡± Josephine Wong took a look at the body of the worm creature and asked: ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You did good. You¡¯re welcome to stay here and help, but you can go back to the inn if you¡¯d like.¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°I - I want to stay for a bit.¡± Aimee raised her hand like an eager highschool student: ¡°I¡¯ve been here - in this district when I was still a detective. I want to stay and help.¡± ¡°Yeah, me too.¡± Thomas sighed, took a deep breath and took brought out his flask to check if there¡¯s still wine inside - there was not, during the fights against the paranormal entities he had already used them all: ¡°Well, we probably need some drink or food - ¡± Josephine Wong clapped her hands lightly, and both Aimee and Thomsas¡¯ flasks were fully filled: ¡°Thank you, this will be on the house.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s Mr. Yu?¡± While Aimee was taking a deep long gulp of her wine, Thomas took a quick sip and asked. ¡°He uh, he succeeded. He saved us all.¡± Josephine Wong put on a smile but her voice was still trembling: ¡°And we¡¯re still waiting for his message, his signal.¡± ¡°Message and signals of what?¡± Aimee let out a comfortable ¡°aah¡± and asked. ¡°That he¡¯s back with us.¡± Josephine Wong shook her head, handed her two students two temporary badges and started floating away: ¡°Talk to Agent Hall and Agent Beckman, if you want to have a peek into the life of working for or with Division. If you can¡¯t find them, just go and check the surrounding buildings for any remaining civilians.¡± The arrival of Josephine Wong and Blue also meant that many others who worked for the Division had come as well - in just a matter of few minutes, many more vehicles came, as well as a few of the powerful but annoyed or bored looking mages. ¡°Hey! You¡¯re here!¡± Just this moment, Agent Hall ran over to Aimee and Thomas¡¯ side: ¡°Glad you came out okay.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s Agent Beckman?¡± Aimee asked. ¡°He¡¯s with the reinforcements and organizing everything - now that we have some more folks from other branches and divisions here.¡± Agent Hall sighed: ¡°They came a little late, didn¡¯t they?¡± ¡°Well. It¡¯s still help we could appreciate.¡± Thomas shrugged. ¡°Ms. Wong gave us these and told us we can ask you about how we could help.¡± Aimee showed Agent Hall her temporary badge and looked around, noticing that some of the new agents that came seemed to be somehow pushing the agents that came earlier to their aid out of their original position, even though the agents that came here earlier had everything under control. ¡°Oh, well. Good timing, because we are indeed REALLY understaffed.¡± Agent Hall sighed: ¡°But, bad timing, because things are about to get ugly.¡± ¡°Ugly? How? The fight is over?¡± Thomas was confused, but only for a short moment: ¡°Shit - are they for real?¡± ¡°Yeah! But come! There¡¯s still plenty of work to do.¡± Chapter 630 Inside of a white hall, with enough room for around fifty to sixty people. Five rows of seats were placed in front of an aged-looking wooden podium. And behind the podium, there were two exquisite metal bars with gems embedded in its surface, one holding a long, thin sword with symbols engraved on the blade, and the other holding a metal staff. Jason, Laura, Caroline were among those who were in these seats. At the back rows, there also sat Paulo Chang, Dave, and some others who represented the elemental realms and other realms that were related to the original void. ¡°... Nameless, as you could already tell by now, is not his real name.¡± Josephine Wong said with a smile behind the podium: ¡°Just like many of those who have the strongest faith in their tenets and devotion to said faith, he offered his name as a gesture of devotion. This means, I am sure all of you here would know, that their path will stop at a certain stage - the stage of the one who holds your name allows you to. And throughout the years, his faith did not seem to betray him at all. He was stronger every time we saw him reveal his power, and yet he remained the same humble soul we knew from the start. ¡°Pei, on the other hand, still had her real name with her, for she is not that much of a believer. She¡¯s, when it comes down to it, a kind grandma who loved the younglings, her dog and her three cats. She renounced her family name a long time ago due to a disagreement with her family, her guild. And years later, it turned out she was right all along, and she was kind and humble enough to forgive those who excommunicated her from the guild, and be an actual leader, not just a ruler. ¡°Through all those years working with them, I have learned a lot from these two wonderful souls. Nameless, for one, was a wonderful master of teaching staff battle techniques, and Pei was an incomparable mentor on all things having to do with the paranormal, dismantling curses and lifting the grudge and hate that haunts places. And being these incredibly knowledgeable people, Pei and Nameless had quite a few differences. As you know, Nameless was a believer, Pei was not, and one frequent topic of their disagreement was whether faith frees or prisons the mind. And as we got to know more and more about the dark side of the world, as we got chance after chance to take closer looks at the world, their debate had become more and more fierce. They both had very convincing arguments, believe me, I used to be swayed three or four times a day listening to their debate, until I learned to block them out.¡± This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Many in the audience showed smiles on their faces, while others were still wiping tears off their faces. ¡°But eventually they had an agreement - that is, when you bet your name, your path in this world and your very existence on something, you¡¯d better be right. And on that day, on that battlefield, they both came, to fight a battle where, if you did not make it out alive, all of those things would get trapped and would possibly never make it back into the world. ¡°They say, that in one¡¯s lifetime, a person dies twice. The first is when the body dies, and the second is when their name is forgotten. And I would just like to say, Master Nameless, Pei, you live, as long as I do.¡± The two racks were replaced with one, which was holding a long sword - it was the weapon used by Bruj, and Lady Ryleen would be the next one to go up there and say a few words. Just when Josephine Wong found a seat near Aimee and sat down, she sensed a strange but somehow familiar sense of ¡°existence¡± beside her, which caused her to instantly reach out to her left trying to grab something. Her fingers touched something, but it was like a puff of dense air, which provided her fingers with some resistance, but there was still nothing but air. ¡°What happened? Did you feel something?¡± Aimee noticed Josephine Wong¡¯s sudden move, so she decided to ask. ¡°No - I just sensed something.¡± Josephine Wong looked to her left with her eyes glowing in purple - there were signs of energy disturbance there, but she could not tell what those were. What was more puzzling was that this place was heavily guarded, and any external attempts at casting spells in this place would definitely trigger alarms. The memorial service for those who have fallen in the battle went on without any issues. And when Josephine Wong led the students out of the heavily guarded Division building, Jason posed a question to Josephine Wong: ¡°If the battle took place in a place where if you die you cannot carry out your name and your path - how is it that we can still remember these people?¡± ¡°I think that would be your master.¡± Josephine Wong sighed: ¡°He mentioned to me that there might be a chance that if the order in that realm is fixed, and the wound in the fabric of reality is healed in a certain way, the names and paths of all those who sacrificed their could still persevere and they would just - just be ¡®flushed out¡¯ by the outpour of order.¡± ¡°Ms. Wong, you said he won.¡± Caroline sighed: ¡°I was thinking - if he¡¯s still ¡®there¡¯ in that space, could we reach out to him and pull him back to us?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve tried. But that place he created, it was designed specifically to block off all means of communication. He feared that any kind of contact would just be a potential breach the Grand Defiler could take advantage of.¡± ¡°So, all we can do is wait?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid so.¡± ¡°Hey, it¡¯s only been five days.¡± Thomas said, in an attempt to lighten everyone¡¯s mood: ¡°I¡¯m sure he will be back soon.¡± Chapter 631 At the Grant Academy, nothing had come back to normal yet. The repair and restoration of the campus was still ongoing, and with a large number of forces and security staff stationed in the academy not making it back from the fight, the academy had fallen into a state of gravely understaffed and lacking in defenses. At this point, only a few students were here at the academy, they were the student volunteers that stayed in the academy helping the repair and restoration efforts. And aside from the repair and restoration crew and security personnel, not many faculty members were here either. The morale of everyone, as one could easily expect, was quite low. The portal on the Anderson Plaza, the only one that was activated and not blocked by the many security measures, lit up in blue light. After a quick blue flash, Professor Atkinson and Dolores came out, each holding a cloth bag. This time, there was no one there to greet them - under the circumstances, all the staff or student organization members that used to do the greeting were either absent or busy with something else right now. And neither Professor Atkinson nor Dolores cared, they just rushed through the buildings and entered their office. ¡°Should we go and check with Josephine or maybe Mr. Yu?¡± Dolores asked as she put her cloth bag on her desk: ¡°We won, right? We should check if they¡¯re okay.¡± ¡°Yes. We should.¡± Professor Atkinson sighed and rubbed his eyes and temples: ¡°But let¡¯s check with the headmasters - they joined the fight, if they could tell us anything that¡¯d be great.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right. Let¡¯s go.¡± When they made it to the offices of the headmasters, they found that all of them were empty, with a lot of things gone. So they immediately headed to the next office where there were people inside - the academy budgetary office.Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Hey, excuse us.¡± Professor Atkinson knocked on the door frame: ¡°Does anyone know where the headmasters are?¡± ¡°They haven¡¯t come back yet.¡± One of the ladies in the office raised her head above the stacks of files on her desk: ¡°If you do see them, please tell them to come here - there¡¯s a bunch of things I need their eyes on - ¡± ¡°When did they leave?¡± Dolores asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know, maybe two or three days ago?¡± The lady shook her head with impatience and frustration: ¡°Brought a whole bunch of people with them as well.¡± ¡°Okay, thanks.¡± Professor Atkinson frowned and turned to Dolores: ¡°Guess they are still on their way?¡± The two of them waited in the hall for a bit, and finally, Professor Randall Collins came back. ¡°Thomas! Dolores!¡± Professor Randall Collins appeared extremely tired but still somewhat surprised: ¡°I thought you went on some super long excavation trip. But nice to see that both of you are safe.¡± ¡°Randall, where are they? Tony and Dorothea?¡± Professor Atkinson asked. ¡°They went ¡­ somewhere.¡± Professor Randall Collins hesitated for a while, and decided to offer an obviously cover-up answer: ¡°And they need to be gone for a while.¡± ¡°We know about the battle and the Defilers, Headmaster.¡± Dolores budged in: ¡°So you can tell us.¡± ¡°You knew? How?¡± Professor Randall Collins¡¯ eyes opened wide, but then he shook his head: ¡°Never mind, not important - yes, they went for the battle. And I haven¡¯t heard back from them. But since you¡¯re here, we could use your help in fortifying the academy - fingers crossed that they would come back, but if they didn¡¯t, we¡¯d better be prepared.¡± ¡°It¡¯s over, Randall.¡± Professor Atkinson shrugged and sighed: ¡°We won. The Defilers won¡¯t be able to make it into our world.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Professor Randall Collins let out a weak but relieved exhale: ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡± ¡°Yes. We¡¯ll tell you more about it.¡± Professor Atkinson smiled: ¡°We just came back from a shelter after hearing about it.¡± ¡°I - I - I - I, I need a minute.¡± Professor Randall Collins found a chair nearby and sat down on it: ¡°Oh - god, that¡¯s the best news I¡¯ve heard in my entire life.¡± ¡°But we should get into contact with them as soon as possible.¡± Dolores said: ¡°Did they say anything before they left? Something like how to contact them?¡± ¡°Well - they said if they win, we will be able to just contact them via normal means.¡± A tear ran down Professor Randall Collins¡¯ face: ¡°Let¡¯s do it, both Tony and Dorothea brought their blessed communicator with them, let¡¯s try.¡± The communicator inside of Professor Randall Collins¡¯ office was one spinning crystal ball, and under normal circumstances, they would just function like phones with blessed lines. The major advantages communicators of this kind had over phones with blessed lines were that they came with many other enchantments and blessings, which made them much more resilient to disruptions and almost all kinds of signal blockage. The crystal glowed as Professor Randall Collins initiated contact, and after around seven to eight extremely stress-inducing seconds, they heard a tired, wheezing but proud voice of Professor Barnes: ¡°Hey Randall, you called at a perfect time - we won, but we need some more help.¡± Chapter 632 ¡°My Lady - are you sure? Ms. Summers?¡± Inside one of the secret underground bunkers, the maid asked Carol Summers, as twelve of her core team members that came with her proceeded to close the entire bunker down. To her understanding of Carol Summers, or Beverly Winters, circumstances like this she would usually find a way to strike at her other opponents - the forces of her biggest rival High Broker at the Exalted Bondsmen were just decimated, and though her biggest ally¡¯s troops were largely destroyed as well, the majority of her manpower was preserved, which meant that it would be a perfect chance to take over the domains and resources of the opponent. Though something strange must have happened - for the maid could not seem to remember the name of this opponent of hers and Carol Summers¡¯. She only knew, that this opponent¡¯s gone, forever. She cared not how it happened, be it the beam of energy that rained down from the sky, or the weird energy explosion that occurred in the underground bunker at that castle. ¡°Yes.¡± Carol Summers sighed and said: ¡°Prepare the protection array, activate it fully as soon as possible. ¡± ¡°What is happening, my lady?¡± The maid asked: ¡°What is it that you fear or worry about right now?¡± ¡°To be honest, I don¡¯t know.¡± Carol Summers responded with a heavy frown on her face: ¡°That beam of energy - no, something before that, it gave me a very bad feeling. And the sense of me not being in control of what''s in my mind - it deeply concerns me.¡± ¡°What is that, exactly?¡± The maid became more confused: ¡°What troubles you so much that you would just let - let that girl be out there like this? What if our enemies found her first? What if she¡¯s dead?¡± ¡°How much do you know about the beings above us?¡± Carol Summers looked around and double checked that the bunker¡¯s defense array, then she pulled up a tablet and checked on the information displayed: ¡°And not just normally floating in the sky, I mean in a way that one could use to describe the type of existence - ¡± ¡°Like gods?¡± The maid asked: ¡°I think you know my leanings on that, my lady.¡± ¡°No, not just gods. But also demons, or any other beings that are - well, that are off some sort of spectral, celestial or transcendental nature.¡± Carol Summers scroll through the items on her tablet, then sat down and let out a long sigh like she had just done something extremely exhausting: ¡°The lycans and vampires, for example, they have the Night Lord, and the Queen of Blood Moon, and many others entities in whom they hold their faith.¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°... and you, my lady, you have that entity from whose grasp you have been trying to break free.¡± ¡°Slightly different, but similar.¡± Carol Summers stood up and paced around in the limited room inside of this bunker with thick walls: ¡°And that pillar of energy - it just gave me a very similar feeling to when I am in their presence. Either in the presence of the previous one, or the current one - I felt - I felt powerless and small, and that my path could be cut short even with the smallest of transgressions, as long as the one who holds my name wills so.¡± ¡°But, that was not the one.¡± ¡°No it was not.¡± Carol Summers shook her head: ¡°But I can¡¯t help but feel this - this - sense of danger, that something will be coming after me, something COULD come after me, following the thread that was my name, my path, and the unfortunate contract that binds me to that being. I don¡¯t know how it is possible, how it could be done, but - ¡± Carol Summers sat down on the floor and stopped talking, with her face buried in her hands. This posture of hers only remained for a brief moment, however, then she immediately stood up and announced her order: ¡°Activate everything here, the oxygen generator, the isolation shield, and the obscuration array.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The other members of her team were still confused, but they proceeded according to her order nonetheless. ¡°This will give us thirty days at max.¡± Josephine Wong let out a long exhale: ¡°I don¡¯t know if this will be enough - ¡± ¡°Bang!¡± On the morning of the third or fourth or maybe even the fifth day, while everyone in the bunker were still either asleep or in a state of meditation. All those in this bunker were woken, and Carol Summers immediately rushed to the control table at the center of the bunker and tried to examine what caused the disturbance. ¡°Bang!¡± Before anything could show up on the screens, something struck the bunker again, this time they could feel that the strike seemed to have come from below. ¡°How? I thought this place was built on solid rock - ¡± ¡°Bang!¡± Whatever struck the bunker seemed to have moved to the upper side and struck it again. Carol Summers operated on the control panel, and a hidden and one sided skylight slid open, and all the individuals inside the bunker saw a creature on top of the bunker - it had five legs like those of spiders and no body at all, the part of its body to which the five legs were attached was one giant eyeball - with three, then five, then thirteen pupils. ¡°Aha! Found ya!¡± The giant eyeball with thirteen pupils let out a happy, child-like laughter: ¡°Found ya! Why don¡¯t you come out?¡± Before anyone in this underground bunker could answer, this creature slammed one of its legs against the bunker once again, and though there was no visible damage done to the body of the bunker, Carol Summers could tell from the control panel before her that the defense array of it deteriorated by a terrifying extent. ¡°Come out! Come out!¡± The creature laughed some more, as it banged the bunker with its legs, ¡°COME OUT!¡± Chapter 633 ¡°What - what is that?!¡± ¡°What the fuck!?¡± Though well-trained, many of Carol Summers¡¯ team still had slightly panicked reactions to this creature. ¡°Shut up and be on guard.¡± Carol Summers walked to the side to take up weapons stashed inside the walls as the creature banged the ceiling of the bunker over and over again. And in just a few minutes, the alarms inside the bunker started ringing. ¡°The exterior shield was depleted, it¡¯s attacking the structure directly now.¡± One of the team members reported to Carol Summers: ¡°At this rate, it will reach us within just a few minutes.¡± ¡°Prepare the blaster array, aim at it.¡± Carol Summers sighed and said. ¡°But Ms. Summers, at this close a range, we would be right inside the blast radius.¡± ¡°Just do it.¡± Carol Summers stared at the creature¡¯s giant eyeball, and locked ¡°eyes¡± with the pupil that targeted her. Then, after a brief moment, she pointed at three of her team members who were on standby: ¡°You, close your eyes, and try to shut down your hearing. I will give you a signal when you can stop.¡± ¡°Yes, Ms. Summers.¡± The three team members did not know what it was, but they still complied. With these three members closing their eyes and temporarily shutting down their hearing, three pupils disappeared from the creature¡¯s huge eyeball. ¡°Okay.¡± Carol Summers signaled these three team members of hers to open their eyes, then she turned to her maid: ¡°Do we have anything that could stream video to the outside world? Something like a wireless camera outside?¡± ¡°I think we do.¡± The maide nodded: ¡°What are you thinking, Ms. Summers?¡± ¡°That we could have a shot to distract it, even just for a little bit, when we activate the blast array.¡± Carol Summers looked around at the interior of the bunker and said: ¡°Now, prepare the protective shield! You still want to live after we blast this thing right!?¡± You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Just when she announced this command, the skylight cracked up some more, to an extent where they almost could not see anything above the bunker but a giant shadow. The maid was already at a control panel, and she just activated a small program, which started a livestream on several of the social media accounts owned by Carol Summers¡¯ firm, and later when she activated a certain command, these livestreams would be linked to the video feed of the cameras outside of this bunker. She already guessed what these could do, and it would probably bring great horror and even real danger to those who could be watching the livestreams not knowing what they were for, but she did not have the intentions to do anything about it. ¡°Blast array ready.¡± Just this moment, a soft female voice came through the internal loudspeaker. ¡°Blast shields, up.¡± The same female voice announced after a few seconds, when debris and small pieces of rock fell off from the ceiling. ¡°Come out! Come out!¡± The voice of the creature was innocent like a lonely child. Carol Summers stood at the center of the bunker, with the rest of her team surrounding her. Several layers of energy bubble shield glimmered and flickered around them, serving as layers of protection for them from inside the bunker. ¡°Livestream.¡± The maid pressed a button on the control panel remotely using a simple spell. The creature on top of the bunker was just about to unleash another strike at the bunker ceiling, but then it seemed to get distracted by something - possibly the camera, or possibly the energy from the blast array. Before this creature could deliver another strike, a harpoon made of pure white and light golden energy, connected to two chains with the same composition impaled its giant eyeball, along with the ceiling of the bunker, and the energy bubble shield covering Carol Summers and her team and pierced through Carol Summers¡¯ chest. ¡°What the - ¡± ¡°Boom!¡± The blash array was activated, even with some aiming, the explosive energy it released still completely decimated three quarters of the underground bunker. The creature, previously impaled by the harpoon and the chains, did not even get a chance to resist or escape before it was turned into mere ashes and smoke. The formation of Carol Summers and her team remained unchanged from the blast, not even shaken by a little bit. It was as if the shock from the explosion was blocked off or absorbed by an invisible shield. More strangely, not even one single drop of blood came out from Carol Summers¡¯ body, even though the harpoon was buried into her chest, presumably having impaled her heart. ¡°Ms. Summers - Ms. Summers!¡± The maid tried to check on Carol Summers, and immediately realized that she seemed to have gone into some sort of state of paralysis or stasis, so she assumed command and started issuing orders to the team: ¡°Stand guard! Take turns. And fortify the ground around us - I don¡¯t want us buried.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am!¡± ¡°Beverly Winters - I am the new holder of your name, therefore your path forward, your past, your present, and your future.¡± A gentle, and somewhat familiar voice resounded in Carol Summers¡¯ head: ¡°And I am here, offering you two choices of getting your name back and you no longer having to obtain new bodies to hold your soul. I have no use for your loyalty, your allegiance, or your sacrifice. All I need, is for you to make a choice. ¡°First option, you renounce your former self and become anew. Your old name will be burnt, and you will have a new name, a new soul, a new path; ¡°Second option, you atone for your crimes, and you renounce the easy ways out of your blood stained, cursed life. You still have everything, but you shall not rest, until you¡¯ve paid your debt. ¡°Now, what say you?¡± Chapter 634 ¡°You know, sometimes I worry about Ms. Wong.¡± Sitting behind the reception¡¯s desk, Caroline said to Jason and Laura, while she was stroking the ears of Mr. Night Owl, or Christina Akahoshi, the 300 year old Nekomata. ¡°Yeah, me too.¡± Laura sighed and said: ¡°She¡¯s been working non-stop all these days, the thing at that lycan restaurant, the battle, wherever that is, and a bunch of meetings.¡± ¡°And she¡¯s been dodging our questions.¡± Jason stirred his tea and said: ¡°I don¡¯t wanna push her, but I really wanna know the answer - I think things went okay during their battle. Things haven¡¯t really calmed down have they.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll take whatever we can get. The world didn¡¯t end, what¡¯s with a few earthquakes and tsunamis here and there?¡± Caroline shrugged and put out a wry smile: ¡°At least most people are safe. And this place is still here, as safe and as sound as it can be.¡± ¡°Speaking of, how was your date with Thomas?¡± Jason smiled and looked at Caroline. ¡°Aaaand they¡¯re late, why are they always late?¡± Caroline took a look at her watch and completely ignored Jason¡¯s attempt at prying her for gossip. ¡°Oh, come on Caroline, you know my girlfriend already, and you sparred together, and I can¡¯t even ask?¡± ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t even try. You¡¯ll know nothing. You hear me? Nothing!¡± Caroline chuckled. ¡°Gossiping is unbecoming for a man.¡± Laura smacked Jason on the shoulder and giggled. ¡°Well, just trying to connect.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Jason¡¯s joke earned him another smack on the back of his head.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Mr. Lin, Ms. Baker.¡± Just this moment, a group of three, all wearing thick sunglasses and either windbreakers or long jackets came into the inn. ¡°You know, that kind of look already got old about one generation ago.¡± Jason shook his head and put down his tea: ¡°And this is technically still civilian territory.¡± ¡°Yeah, we were not planning on impressing anyone, and this is the civilian clothing that was available to us on a short notice.¡± The man at the front of the group said: ¡°We¡¯re here to check on the holdee and potential witness for the academy investigation.¡± ¡°The holdee has a name.¡± Laura stood up from behind the reception¡¯s desk: ¡°I¡¯m still here.¡± ¡°Ms. Josephine Wong is not here. ¡± A female mage of the group looked around and said: ¡°A watch person is supposed to be here with the holdee, if the holdee is to set foot outside, they must be accompanied by an authorized keeper/watch person of the holding facility.¡± ¡°Yeah, that would be us.¡± Jason and Caroline raised their hands. ¡°Seriously?¡± ¡°As co-owners of this inn, an authorized holding facility, we are therefore authorized keepers and watch persons of this facility and the holdees.¡± Caroline smiled and took a sip of her coffee: ¡°At least, that is according to the bylaws of the academy and your agreement with Mr. Yu. ¡± ¡°She clearly knows how to play this game.¡± A male mage in the team sighed: ¡°But, as a formal process, we will need proof of co-ownership of this facility.¡± ¡°Just read the room.¡± Jason pointed at the ceiling of the lounge. The leader of the three-person group looked up for a short moment, with his eyes glowing in flickering light. Then after three to five seconds he looked down at Caroline and Jason and sighed: ¡°They¡¯re telling the truth - they¡¯re co-owners of this place.¡± ¡°Okay then, guess two birds one fucking stone.¡± The female mage sighed and reached into her long dark red jacket and took out two scrolls: ¡°Here¡¯ your certificates as audit students. Mr. Lin, you passed with honor, the academy would like to include your test essay in the records. Ms. Baker, you passed as well.¡± ¡°No honors? No?¡± Caroline looked at the mages and asked with a hopeful look, but was faced with an emotionless face. ¡°Well, thanks for your cooperation.¡± The three mages sighed, turned back and were ready to leave. ¡°They¡¯re supposed to be students of the owner right?¡± When they were at the door, the female mage asked: ¡°Who the hell is this Jianmen Yu? Seriously. It seems like everywhere I go, I hear his name.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll tell you later. ¡± The mage that led this small group shook his head. Just this moment, a weird energy wave came from behind them. It was two strange ripples of energy, occurring right before Jason and Caroline, and strangely, they felt a gentle pull from the centers of these ripples, not unlike the strange intuitive feeling one could get when one was being stared at from a distance or when their name was being mentioned. Only this feeling was warm, soft and carried a genuine sense of care and concern. ¡°Boss?¡± Caroline and Jason asked at the same time. Chapter 635 Beside the crater where the Hellinger Castle once was, a small, crude and apparently hand-crafted stone tombstone was placed on the ground. Around the tombstone, there were several batches of flowers, small gems with tiny engravings and other kinds of commemorations. ¡°Dear Rash, thank you for your sacrifice and your kindness. Your memory will be with us until the end.¡± These were the words carved on the tombstone. Though the stone itself was crude, the words were beautifully written. A female mage walked by after emerging from a silver portal, and she gently placed a small bouquet of flowers with silver petals that still had droplets of morning dew on them beside the tombstone. After putting a soft kiss on the tombstone and silently delivering a few words of prayers, this female mage proceeded to the group that was in the crater maintaining a magical array that slowly heals the fabric of reality and took over for one of the mages. ¡°Thank you, sister.¡± Lady Ryleen sighed as she left the formation and found a spot around her to sit down: ¡°Anything new from our observatories?¡± ¡°Not much, the ripples in the energy fields were still in the process of settling and finding an equilibrium. There are many occurrences of abnormal natural disasters in the civilian world. And the Division has sent out their forces to deal with them.¡± ¡°Noted.¡± Lady Ryleen nodded and stood up: ¡°Hang in here - let me know what happens, it should be done soon. The last bit of it gets particularly difficult so just be patient. I will check back with you later.¡± ¡°Take your rest, Lady. We will definitely let you know if anything happened.¡± With the other female mage taking over for her, Lady Ryleen finally had the chance to leave the crate - she had not moved her position at all for three days, and all this time, she had been down in the crater maintaining the array, longer than any other members of her church. The first thing she did was walk up to the tombstone left by her sisters and brothers from the Church of Lox, for a giant jellyfish creature with the nickname ¡°Rash¡± that fell in the battle. She still remembered, when a group of Defilers charged at the position of her and fellow church members, this creature extended his many tentacles their way and formed a wall of flesh to block off the Defilers, enduring great injuries in the process.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. The Church of Lox, on the other hand, was able to do very little when Rash faced his mortality - the hordes and hordes of Defilers covered his entire body up like ferocious and blood thirsty ants and leeches. The giant jellyfish body was torn apart in a mere instant, and all of the pieces ripped from it subsequently exploded, wiping out hundreds if not thousands of Defilers in a final moment of fiery glory. When the dust settled, the members from the Church of Lox were only able to find a small marble on the ground that radiated the same kind of energy signature as Rash. So they made a simple tombstone from the rock and buried the marble near the position where it fell. The Church of Lox were not a group that believed in setting up tombs, but for others, they would still do this for those they respected or loved but were not members of the church. ¡°We didn¡¯t have a chance to meet, what a shame.¡± Lady Ryleen stood in front of the tombstone and sighed: ¡°And we didn¡¯t really get a chance to thank you. When this is done, we will ensure that you will be sleeping somewhere you¡¯d feel at home.¡± After a short moment of silence, Lady Ryleen smiled and said: ¡°You know, I¡¯ve heard of entities like you - I heard that most of them, most of you, had absolutely no interest in human affairs. So, I still wonder how and why you are here, and why you are willing to do what you did. But - thank you. I cannot say this enough.¡± Just this moment, a ripple of energy expanded from the position of the last bit of the dark orb. When Lady Ryleen turned back, she saw that the array her sisters and brothers were maintaining was glowing in a silvery white light. ¡°It¡¯s done?¡± ¡°It¡¯s done!¡± ¡°Oh - it¡¯s done!¡± The members of the Church of Lox were pleasantly surprised by this sudden change, and many of them started murmuring and patting each other on the back. Lady Ryleen rushed to the bottom of the crater and took a long hard look at the array and the position of the microscopic dark orb - it was true, the dark orb was no longer there. ¡°We did it.¡± Lady Rylee let out a laughter of relief: ¡°We did it. Good. This is really good.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± A gentle male voice came from the position where the dark orb once was, and a cloud of white mist seemed to have come out of thin air and blew past all members of the Church of Lox. Some of the church members tried to cast spells on this cloud of mist, as they had no idea what or who it was. But Lady Ryleen stopped them immediately, and while the mist lingered around the tombstone of Rash, she asked: ¡°Mr. Yu, is that you?¡± ¡°Thank you, Lady Ryleen the Church of Lox, for your contribution and sacrifice.¡± The mist slowly gained the shape of a man: ¡°Yes, and I am finally able to come back thanks to your continuous effort. I will thank you in person in time, as you can see, I am still not - me. Not yet.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so glad that I could be here. We could help. Please allow us?¡± Chapter 636 It was a bright and sunny day. After two whole days of rain and gloom, the city of San Jose finally had a pleasant change in the weather. The Division agents were still busy dealing with the ruins of what used to be a historical building and a really out of place Chinese restaurant. This entire restaurant building, used by a clan of lycans as a place of worship and energy pool, was turned into a giant sinkhole radiating foul and unstable energy. Which meant that there would be numerous expensive isolation arrays around the building, and the residents of the entire area had to be permanently relocated. Josephine Wong stood in front of the remnants of the walls erected by Jason, staring into the space enclosed within. There were still shadows of people, lycans and ghosts appearing then quickly disappearing inside, even through the walls and layers of isolation array she could still hear their moans, curses and screams. These according to what Pei told her, were very likely the dreams and nightmares of those swallowed by that energy, which were quite many by even a rough count based on the reports of the missing local persons. As the liaison from Division in this area, she had definitely heard of a supposedly godly entity named ¡°Night Lord¡± that the lycans and vampires worship. And logically speaking, just like many other cults and worshiper groups of some kind of demon or evil god, this kind of faith was supported by sacrifice. Normally, making sure that these operations do not happen, or at least not to an unacceptable scale was in part the duty of a liaison and the whole Division, but under the circumstances, there was not much she could do besides suppressing the expansion of this kind of operation as much as possible for as long as possible. When she became a liaison of this area, her predecessor intentionally left out a lot of the core intelligence he was supposed to hand off to her, and there were indications that this petty and somewhat vengeful predecessor had removed or destroyed some core documents when he left. Thus, Josephine Wong had to rebuild a lot of major parts of the intelligence network and reconnect with some of the local vendors and players. But while she was doing this, the players at the Exalted Bondsmen had already covered a lot of their tracks, leaving her without much information or lead to follow up on. During this journey, making deals with Jianmen and seeking his help became a common thing - he was willing to provide a lot of help, as long as she was willing to repay him in some way, either by providing him information, knowledge, or just bartering material. It was delicate and complicated.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Ms. Wong.¡± Just this moment, Agent Beckman came to her: ¡°We just finished the reverse tracing, Ms. and Mister Chaver are ready and they could head to one of the sites of sacrifice - they said they are good to go.¡± ¡°How is Alexander? And Vivian?¡± Josephine Wong thought for a short moment, then asked the agent about the other two members of her team - they were assigned to guard and keep watch on a local Division facility during the battle, in preparation for any unforeseen changes of events. And there it happened, a group of powerful attackers launched an assault on the facility. These attackers did not succeed, but the Division suffered some casualties. ¡°Both insist that they want to join and help, against medical advice.¡± ¡°Put them on standby and have healers look after them while they wait.¡± Josephine Wong thought for a short moment and said: ¡°Brief them later.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Josephine Wong took another hard look at the walls and isolation arrays in front of her and the foul energy that was contained within. Then after a slightly frustrated sigh, she turned and was about to meet with her students and head for their next destination - another site of sacrifice built for the lycans and vampires. A tingling feeling shot from her forehead and across her whole body - something she had not felt for quite a while. It was the feeling of something, or someone trying to find out where she was using the most direct, unsubtle and maybe even inconsiderate means - by doing a divination on her, without even trying to hide the attempt, something very untoward and impolite for power wielders of her level. But the next instant, Josephine Wong could feel a sense of urgency and eagerness from this attempt, with no hint of malice or ill will. It felt more like just a rush of an action, naively passionate almost. ¡°Who is it?¡± Josephine Wong readied her spell for retaliation - even if there was no hint of bad faith, it was still the prudent thing to do: ¡°Reveal yourself and your intentions.¡± ¡°I actually can¡¯t, not directly, not right away.¡± A slightly distorted voice came from the space before her, and slowly, an almost entirely transparent human-shaped shadow appeared: ¡°It appears to be something - something about me.¡± ¡°Jianmen?¡± ¡°Ye - Yes. And I am terribly sorry I can only show up this way.¡± The shadow said, with his posture in a state of unease and wonderment: ¡°Order - too much order seemed to have a side effect of grinding existence down to some of its basic components and concepts. And I - if I were someone born and raised in this world, I¡¯d have a better time. But I¡¯m not - ultimately I am not from here and my existence could be more or less of an abnormally. So I have a question for you, for you are my anchor, please answer me honestly - ¡± ¡°I know what your question is.¡± Josephine Wong¡¯s voice started shaking, and her eyes became red: ¡°The roots to your existence are not here, so you¡¯ll need permanent anchors in this reality. My answer is yes.¡± Her voice grew louder and more stern with every word: ¡°Yes! I want you here. This world needs you; your inn needs you; your students need you. I need you. You, will, stay! If I¡¯m ever so clear: You will stay!¡± The shadow solidified, and for a very short moment, Josephine Wong could see a chain connected to the back of its head lit up and then disappeared. Jianmen checked his body, his mind and his own karmic flow - he had finally made it back to the world, as himself, and not just something that lingered between the lines of existence and nil. The second thing Jianmen does, was pull Josephine Wong into his arms: ¡°And I want to.¡± Chapter 637 ¡°So, I was wondering - what would happen if I said no?¡± Inside the diner of Xianshi Inn, in front of two candles and under dim lights, Josephine Wong asked as Jianmen was finishing the food in the kitchen. ¡°Well, then, I will need to find another way to anchor myself in this world.¡± Jianmen tilted the pan and pushed the stir fry venison onto a meticulous plate: ¡°That is, if I wanted to stay and not drift into the abyss and void, not elemental voice, the true void where even nothingness cannot exist, between worlds. And to do so, I will need to basically accept the offer of taking over the Godhood of Hospitality and Welcoming.¡± ¡°Oh, geez, an offer to become a god, how terrifyingly horrible!¡± Josephine Wong giggled and waved her hands in the air a few times. ¡°It is, if you take into account the fact that my existence was swallowed by the intense order in that room.¡± Jianmen emerged from the kitchen and gently placed the plate on the table: ¡°As sentient beings capable of gaining knowledge and power, our own existence became a sort node, or especially dense droplets of order. And gods, aside from the godhoods they hold, are just this kind of order droplets that are exponentially bigger and denser. And the longer they hold godhood, through the very nature of order itself, they lose more and more of their individuality and become essentially an extension of the Will. Sort of like a brain meld, or mind integration.¡± ¡°And when your existence itself becomes flakey, you are actually in a very fragile state, order-wise. ¡± Josephine Wong nodded as she raised her glass and let Jianmen pour wine into it: ¡°And you will lose yourself, you will not be you. You will be a - a ¡®robo god¡¯.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± Jianmen poured himself a glass of wine and sat down before Josephine Wong. ¡°And I will need to add more to my presents to Lady Ryleen and the Church of Lox.¡± Josephine Wong smiled: ¡°I assume, when you just got out, you were in a much weaker state, without their spells to lock your existence in a seal, you wouldn¡¯t even be able to appear before me.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Yeah.¡± Jianmen shook his head and chuckled: ¡°Just breaking out of the house took a lot out of me - I had to pull on the anchor you bear, and subsequently spread to the others a few times.¡± ¡°So that¡¯s what that was.¡± Josephine Wong lightly bumped her glass against Jianmen¡¯s. ¡°Yeah, sorry about that.¡± Jianmen held onto Josephine Wong¡¯s hand on the table: ¡°And sorry, for everything else.¡± ¡°Eh, no worries.¡± Josephine Wong chuckled: ¡°What¡¯s a few years of waiting for people like us? What about the contracts Tze Cha transferred to you?¡± ¡°I kept them alive and offered all of them a way out. You¡¯d be surprised how many are willing to get into deals with him.¡± Jianmen sighed: ¡°And it seems that our paths were more intertwined than we thought, there¡¯s this young woman ¡­ ¡± ¡°Bang!¡± ¡°Boss! You gotta come take a look ¡­¡± The diner door was pushed open like someone just kicked it open, and in came Jason and Caroline in a hurry. But when they saw the dim light, the candles and the wine, they froze for a short moment. ¡°Oh - I¡¯m - ¡± Caroline stuttered: ¡°I¡¯m sorry ¡­ we didn¡¯t know¡­¡± ¡°Action starlet Josephine Wong seen on a date with a local real estate mogul.¡± Jason let out a dry laugh and said: ¡°Paparazzi¡¯s heads are gonna explode.¡± ¡°Time and place, Jason.¡± Jianmen cleared his throat: ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Rash came back.¡± Caroline said, with a bright smile: ¡°I - I don¡¯t know how.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Josephine Wong put down her glass: ¡°This can wait.¡± When Jianmen and Josephine Wong came out from the diner, they saw a small jellyfish creature floating around in the air in the lounge, and Mr. Night Owl, acting like a curious house cat, was following it along and trying to touch the ribbon-like tentacles. Laura was waiting outside, just watching the jellyfish creature and Mr. Night Owl play. ¡°Oh, god.¡± Josephine Wong covered her mouth with both her hands. ¡°Son of a bitch, it worked huh?¡± Jianmen laughed out loud and walked towards the jellyfish monster to shake ¡°hands¡± with one of its tentacles: ¡°Remember to remind me, get voidbound mortality scapegoats for everyone.¡± The jellyfish creature floated around in the air as if it was excited or happy, or both, and then dived into the empty tank near the entrance. Mr. Night Owl followed it, and started staring at the jellyfish from outside. ¡°So, voidbound mortality scapegoats are that powerful?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Yeah. I suppose so.¡± Jianmen put his left arm around Josephine Wong¡¯s shoulder and sighed: ¡°Its mechanism isn¡¯t really that difficult to grasp, I¡¯ll teach you when you¡¯ve reached Layer Seven.¡± ¡°Spoiler Alert: just don¡¯t sell your names.¡± Josephine Wong chuckled: ¡°It¡¯s like True Words, but to you as an entity and being and not to a concept.¡± Chapter 638 ¡°Tonight is the premier of the long-awaited action and thriller movie the Haunting Crescent, and from the initial polls and reactions from the film critics, it was somewhat of a mixed bag!¡± On the screen of Jason¡¯s tablet placed right in front of both Jason and Laura, the hostess in a red dress said with an exaggerated dramatic tone: ¡°According to some of the critics, it was suspenseful and has good actions. But the inconsistency in tone suggested that the rumors about it having reshoots were likely to be true. ¡°What was a surprise to some of the critics was the screentime of action star Josephine Wong, who hinted recently through social media that she would be going on a hiatus from action movie roles to focus on her other projects. Wong¡¯s role was originally designed to be more of a cameo, but it turned out she was present in more than half of the action scenes! Not that we¡¯re complaining though, because who can get enough of her? Sadly, we may have to wait quite a while to see what her other projects are all about!¡± ¡°Morning!¡± Just this moment, Aimee, Thomas and Caroline walked into the lounge. ¡°Morning, matcha cake and coffee to go?¡± Laura stood up and asked. ¡°Yep. Thanks.¡± Aimee nodded and stood on the side of the reception¡¯s desk: ¡°How¡¯s business?¡± ¡°Slow season.¡± Jason put down his phone and stretched: ¡°How¡¯s work, officers?¡± ¡°We¡¯re still the beat cops of the Division.¡± Thomas sighed and took a look at Caroline: ¡°Caroline¡¯s helping us with some investigation work, but there¡¯s something we think we could use your help on.¡± ¡°It¡¯s array stuff, we have this array that protects a metal box, about this big.¡± Caroline gestured the rough size of said box with her hands and arms: ¡°I can just crush it, but it¡¯s obviously not what we want.¡± ¡°Sure no problem - my shift ends in about ten minutes.¡± Jason nodded. ¡°Wait, my shift is tomorrow.¡± Caroline frowned: ¡°And Boss is out for a few days. Who¡¯s taking the next shift? Rash?¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°I am.¡± The sleeping black cat, Mr. Night Owl, woke up and said: ¡°Surprise. I work here part time now.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s your sister?¡± Aimee asked as she took the coffee and brown bags handed to her by Laura: ¡°Didn¡¯t you have to go home with her?¡± ¡°I went home earlier, so she¡¯s off my back for the moment.¡± Mr. Night Owl yawned and turned into a puff of smoke, then walked out from the smoke as a young woman with shoulder-length hair in a black dress and - cat whiskers on her face. ¡°You - you still have - ¡± Thomas pointed at his own face with his rotating finger. ¡°Yeah, I know, but people like it.¡± Mr. Night Owl tilted her head then turned to Jason: ¡°Jason! You can leave now, and you¡¯ll owe me one.¡± ¡°It¡¯s only 10 minutes, dude.¡± ¡°Whatever.¡± ¡ª-------------------------------------------------- In the edgelands, another birthing ritual was being held, only this time, there were officially invited human guests: scholars like Professor Atkinson and Dolores, and ambassadors from the human realm, sent from a coalition of power wielders. And different from their usual lack of interest in the events, the Depth Dwellers sent two captains with the names of Daekan-Velliander and Xyankor to attend the ritual to show solidarity with other voidborns, or descendants of voidborns, now that their creator was back and reconnected with them with other branches of its creation, it was time to put their internal conflicts on hold for the time being. Beams of gentle light rained down from the sky and lit up the altars, and voidborns of different shapes and sizes started appearing from them. This time, there were no coreless and therefore soulless husks. These new voidborns still didn¡¯t have ¡°it¡± - but most of the individuals present were not concerned - the first ascendant of the voidborn had come back, and ¡°it¡± would surely come back as well. Professor Atkinson and Dolores were the first scholars to visit the edgelands in several decades, and now they were the only ones in recorded history that could come here with the blessings of Xyn to set foot on the edgelands and other elemental realms. And since the new realm, created by the Creator Avatar of Xyn had just been connected to the edgelands, they would be the first humans ever to visit that realm as well. With all of these sudden changes to their access to knowledge about the elemental realms, their stature in the Grant Academy had changed for the better for them. They were not sure of the details yet, but they would assume funding would no longer be an issue for their normal research. Their only worries now? Finding the right medium to transcribe the knowledge they gained. And coming here to barter for Muto, the material used by the elementals to build the Bastion of Gwai-Mon, was an agenda of theirs coming here. ¡°I wonder what Mr. Yu will say about this if he saw it - this new realm.¡± Dolores whispered to Professor Atkinson. ¡°We could ask him to come along when he comes back from that excavation trip.¡± Professor Atkinson shrugged: ¡°I heard he and Josephine found another close-earth realm, not that far from the first temple of Xyn. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s in that realm, but it¡¯s definitely interesting enough for both of them to go at the same time.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Chapter 639 (Finale) Just outside the perimeter of an almost completely undiscovered new realm, one that was hidden for no one knew how long, and was only found due to the abnormalities it caused to the energy waves and ripples that occurred earlier, which were the products of the previously broken fabric of the world. Just like Realm Greenrock, where Josephine Wong and Jianmen first met, this place had very chaotic energy fields, which meant that any spells and enchantments would have limited effects and even could not be cast at all in it; but there were a couple of things slightly different from Realm Greenrock - one of which was that this was not a ¡°planet-style¡± realm, where the realm itself was like a small planet and you could see the whole shape of it as long as you flew high enough. Instead, this was a realm of a single plane - the plane was like an uneven and curved map, with concave and convex spots as far as they could tell. And on the edge of this plane were various dark energy vortexes almost invisible to the naked eye - if one was to go beyond the edge, they might be teleported to some other place or just get shredded by the turbulent energy. ¡°Oh, the work ethic, even when he doesn¡¯t have a fully regrown body.¡± Josephine Wong smiled as Jianmen drew in the air with the meat cleaver of his. A portal glowing of orange and golden light gradually took shape in front of them - this would be the semi-permanent gateway for them and maybe even the subsequent development and excavation personnel to go in and out of this newly discovered realm. ¡°Glad to see your portal crafting technique is unaffected.¡± ¡°My physical fighting abilities are no longer what they were, regrowing my bones, my muscles and tendons needs a lot of time and effort.¡± Jianmen smiled as he tossed in a few finishing touches to the portal: ¡°But crafting a portal is mostly about the mind and will. Plus, what do you think I do to pass the time when I was trapped in that room?¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°I sure hope it¡¯s something that requires more drawing and infusing rather than rubbing.¡± Josephine Wong shrugged and took a look at her phone: ¡°Tony said he couldn¡¯t come, Dorothea the same. So I guess headmasters are busy right now. Glenda can come with us, and she would bring a small team with her.¡± ¡°Good, with more people we could do more.¡± Jianmen raised his rattan broom and brushed a small seal on the side of the portal with it. The portal spewed out a few orange and golden energy sparks and flashed a few times, then it became stable, and through it one could see a plot of land on the other side. There were three rings of energy enclosing the portal that were still flashing and running - they were arrays of calibration, and they just needed some more time. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re okay with this? I mean, the Division and the academy will definitely appreciate the material, but their appreciation is way less valuable and useful.¡± Josephine Wong held Jianmen¡¯s left arm and asked: ¡°You know if you want, you could definitely claim more from this realm. It¡¯s not like anybody else has uses for that ¡®Neutral Stone¡¯ you collect.¡± ¡°And maybe it¡¯s time they learn - we know a lot more about the Defilers now than we did. And these stones are gonna be powerful weapons against them.¡± Jianmen shrugged: ¡°Maybe it¡¯s just time to share this knowledge.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t you worried that it¡¯s just gonna be hogged by a few powerful players and make them more bold and irresponsible when it comes to using world-altering mechanisms like Stone of Negation?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a risk. But what new knowledge and technology doesn¡¯t come with it?¡± Jianmen sighed, then looked Josephine Wong in the eye: ¡°After all, I will be staying here for a very long time, aren¡¯t I?¡± ¡°Ding!¡± The three rings of energy stopped spinning, and the portal itself slowly became solidified - the energy constructs became stone and metal, and a metal gate appeared in the middle, blocking the view on the other side. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Josephine Wong gave Jianmen a peck on the lips. A letter of Thank You! And thus concludes the story of Xianshi Inn! This was a story that was stuck in my mind for a long while, and it was only about more than a year ago did I make the decision to write it out and put it on the internet. This was my first ever completed novel in English, as it was not my first language, and I feel so proud and humbled in the process. To all of my readers, I would like to express my sincere gratitude. Xianshi Inn couldn''t have been a complete story if it weren''t for your support. And special shoutout to my patrons and those who left comments and offered edit suggestions, you encouraged and motivated me to become a better writer. And I will keep on improving my craft, hopefully creating and telling more and more stories that you can enjoy in the process. Thank you very, very much.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. I have completed the Finale around two weeks ago, and since then, I have been laying the ground works for my next novel series - just as you can tell, I like writing stories with multiple lines in parallel, and it could contribute to jarring POV jumps. So the next novel would probably be a series, or a few novels that updates in parallel. Details TBD. The stories of the next novel (series) would be about a fictional city: Poison City, and it will be a "low fantasy" compared to Xianshi Inn, there would be Wuxia and some cultivation elements, but the power levels would be lower and the scale would be smaller. Stay tuned! Finally, one more shameless plug of the kindle ebook: Xianshi Inn is available on Amazon! Search "Xianshi Inn" and you will find it. Thank you all once again, from the bottom of my heart. -Egao Chan