“Creak…”
The old wooden door opened with an ear-piercing sliding and scraping sound. Immediately after, the interior of the Ding room fell into Wang Ping’s view.
It was exactly as he expected.
In the dim corner of the room stood the remains of a fire. Inside it were charred, blackened bone fragments that had long since burned out, with brown bloodstains scattered all around.
Clearly, Lin Sheng had been very successful as a human.
At the very least, regarding the 【Unpardonable Sinner】 in the Ding room, he hadn’t wasted a single bit, nor had he chosen to eat him raw and uncleanly. He had even started a fire.
Using the other person’s bones.
In the truest sense of the phrase, ‘taken from a person, used on a person.’ The resentful malevolent qi permeating the entire room was also mostly concentrated on that burned-out fire.
“This changes things entirely…”
Wang Ping’s expression was grave. Simply having one’s food stolen and starving to death was certainly despairing and generated resentful malevolent qi, but it was still within a normal range.
However, being eaten alive by someone—that was an entirely different story. Not only for the deceased, but for Lin Sheng who committed the act, it was an immense torment. This would also generate resentful malevolent qi upon his death, and the total amount would likely be several times greater than Wang Ping’s initial estimate.
In other words… it’s enough to give birth to a demon.
In the immortal sects, demons were merely tools for cultivators. They weren’t considered anything formidable and usually needed to be deployed in swarms and coordinated with formations to possess any real might.
However, in Great Shun, things were entirely different.
After all, formless and intangible demons didn’t fear blades or spears. Attacks targeting the soul were essentially true damage to martial artists, leaving them with no means of defense.
Is this the objective of Xu Bingzheng and the Imperial Academy?
Wang Ping frowned deeply. Situations similar to the Lin family mansion were definitely not isolated. Was Xu Bingzheng trying to use this method to cultivate an army of demons?
To use against martial artists?
It sounded plausible, but Wang Ping still felt something was off. The reason was simple—compared to that objective, the Imperial Academy’s methods were too clumsy.
At the very least, if it were him, he would never concentrate the entire operation in a single Longxing County. It was far too conspicuous and easily noticeable. But if it were dispersed across the eight circuits, twenty-four prefectures, three hundred and sixty commanderies, and thousands of county towns in Great Shun, who would notice anything amiss?
At this thought, Wang Ping reached a conclusion:
Cultivating demons should just be a prelude, one of the preliminary preparations. The Imperial Academy must need these demons to achieve an even more crucial objective.
Then the question arose.
Would the Imperial Academy expend so much effort to achieve an objective… and entrust it entirely to a mere County Magistrate Xu Bingzheng, a Titled Martial Master?
Something wasn’t right!
Putting himself in their shoes, Wang Ping felt that if they were truly planning something massive, they would need at least a martial grandmaster holding the fort to be reliable. A Titled Martial Master wasn’t high-tier enough.
Furthermore, even among Titled Martial Masters, both Xu Bingzheng and Li Yiran were severely lacking in strength and couldn’t serve the purpose of suppressing variables.
So there were only two possibilities.
Either his deduction was wrong and this matter wasn’t actually that important to the Imperial Academy, or the person truly masterminding this operation hadn’t made a move yet…
…Not good!
In an instant, alarm bells rang furiously in Wang Ping’s mind: If the true mastermind learns of all the things I’ve done, they will definitely view me as a thorn in their side.
They will definitely kill me!
…
Outside Longxing County town.
Within a mountain forest, hidden by dense layers of trees, a crudely constructed temporary altar could be faintly seen. On the altar stood a straw man.
Below the altar, Yan Weichuan, Commander of the 【Scout Battalion】, felt his scalp tingle. Even though the temperature had warmed up over the past two days, right now he felt a chill piercing straight into his marrow. The cold wind howled past his ears. Although he saw nothing but empty space, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was floating around him.
This is far too eerie!
No wonder the higher-ups always say to avoid contact with these Extraordinaries as much as possible.
Yan Weichuan swallowed hard, then looked toward the altar. Below the straw man, two figures with deathly pale faces were performing a grand ceremony of kneeling and kowtowing.
At first glance, both appeared to be vibrant, flesh-and-blood living humans.
However, in the eyes of a true martial arts expert, neither of them had a pulse, nor the sound of blood flowing. Their deathly pale skin also exuded a sense of frailty.
Especially their facial expressions—although they were lifelike and even shifted like those of living people, upon closer inspection of the finest details, their expressions were incredibly stiff. They were like a perfectly painted picture: capable of passing for the real thing, but ultimately an unmoving, dead object.
Life and death, movement and stillness.
This extreme sense of contradiction and juxtaposition even caused Yan Weichuan to feel a physiological discomfort, prompting him to involuntarily distance himself further from the two.
Paper figure resurrection—it could truly be called an unparalleled, miraculous art… But looking at the two of them, Yan Weichuan couldn’t help but doubt: Are they really Xu Bingzheng and Li Yiran?
Was his decision to stay here right or wrong?
At this thought, Yan Weichuan finally felt a trace of regret. But at this point, he couldn’t turn back. He could only follow this path to the bitter end.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Three kneelings and nine kowtows. After the grand ceremony, one person held a hammer and the other a nail, striking it forcefully into the top of the straw man’s head, producing a resounding clang.
Almost simultaneously.
“…Hmm?”
In Longxing County, in front of the Lin family mansion, Wang Ping’s main body suddenly swayed. An inexplicable drowsiness surfaced in his mind, but vanished completely in an instant.
It all happened too fast.
So fast that Wang Ping only felt he had been absent-minded for a fraction of a second, not noticing anything amiss. If it were before, he likely wouldn’t have felt the slightest suspicion.
Now, however, he was instantly on high alert: I have long since cultivated Spiritual Consciousness and possess the divine intent of a martial artist. How could I suddenly become absent-minded?
There was a problem! Something wasn’t right!
At this thought, Wang Ping immediately circulated his spiritual sense at full capacity, inspecting his own condition. But to his horror—he found nothing.
Crap. Wang Ping gritted his teeth inwardly.
Failing to find a problem only meant the problem was exceptionally severe!
Could it be some sort of strange art?
Wang Ping took a deep breath. The panic deep in his eyes rapidly settled. His consciousness sank into the Morgue. The glowing 【Otherworldly Heavenly Demon】 was his greatest source of confidence.
It’s fine. Even if I die, I can resurrect.
In a split second, Wang Ping had sorted out his thoughts: I can give up this life, but I can’t give it up for nothing. I must maximize its utility value.
First, I need to figure out the enemy’s methods.
I can’t step into the same trap twice. Before I die, I must figure out exactly what kind of strange art this is, what its effects are, and how to defend against it.
Second, I need to continue investigating.
Based on past experience, my next resurrection will likely still be tied to Longxing County. Since that’s the case, investigating is highly meaningful.
The secret of the Lin family mansion has not yet been fully uncovered, and it concerns the Imperial Academy’s grand endeavor in Longxing County. If I can investigate it thoroughly, it will provide new ideas and directions for my subsequent resurrection. Otherwise, I’ll just be crossing the river by feeling the stones, easily spinning in circles and struggling to make a breakthrough.
Lastly, martial arts.
Wang Ping opened and closed his palm, feeling the magnificent, immense power circulating within his body. This was the signature technique buff derived from the perfect-grade 【Thirteen Grand Protectors Body-Tempering Art】.
He had used 【A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold】 to take it out on loan.
I must strive to pay off the loan before I die. Otherwise, keeping this hanging over me means I can’t loan new things, which severely impacts my persona as a loan-taking peerless genius.
Having made up his mind, Wang Ping immediately turned around.
With his objectives set, the next step was action. The investigation could be handled by the paper figure double, but the remaining two tasks required his main body to work personally.
…
The Lin family mansion.
After momentarily freezing, the paper figure Wang Ping reopened his eyes. He didn’t know when the crisis would arrive, so until then, he had to race against time.
“This room…”
Looking around the Ding room, Wang Ping began searching for clues—but to say “searching” was an overstatement. Clues were everywhere, literally carved into the walls of the room.
It was a dense array of monologues, laments, and sighs.
The strokes were upright and forceful. Wang Ping recognized this handwriting.
“It’s Lin Sheng.”
This was another form of a diary. Judging by the fluency of the writing, the tool he used to carve the characters was likely a prized blade that could slice through iron like mud.
Soon, Wang Ping found the earliest writing.
It was located near the doorway of the Ding room, just below the threshold. One could imagine Lin Sheng sitting on the threshold while carving this line.
【I am hungry.】
【That condemned prisoner… what was his name again? Oh right, Zhu Wu. He’s hiding in the corner of the wall, looking at me with a face full of terror. It’s truly laughable.】
【When I threw that case file in his face, he vehemently denied it at first. After I exposed him, he flew into a rage from shame and actually tried to attack me. After I beat him to a pulp, he knelt on the ground, weeping bitterly and begging for mercy. So he was afraid of death too, even though he had already killed three people.】
【He shouldn’t be alive.】
The writing here became somewhat scattered: 【Alright… I admit I am making excuses. I’m getting hungrier and hungrier. I’m even starting to smell it.】
【That condemned prisoner… he really smells so good.】
【I really want to take a bite. I can even hear the sound of blood flowing inside him. It sounds like a babbling brook, making one want to drink deeply from it.】
【But this is wrong.】
【He may deserve to die, even by a thousand cuts, but he shouldn’t die like this.】
【Xu Bingzheng, that dog official just wants to see this exact scene. I cannot let him have his way. I must hold on. I can definitely hold on…】
【But I am really so hungry.】
【So hungry.】
【So hungry.】
【So hungry!】
The further down it went, the messier the handwriting became.
Simultaneously, the location of the carvings shifted—from below the threshold, to near the table and chairs, to the center of the room—getting closer and closer to a certain spot in the corner.
By the end, it devolved into a stretch of meaningless drawings.
Wang Ping frowned. Following the writing, he finally stood before that pile of burned-out skeletal remains. He sighed softly, then brushed all the ashes aside.
Beneath the fire pit was the final line Lin Sheng left in this room. The writing had regained its clarity, but it no longer possessed its initial upright and forceful nature. Instead, it appeared fragmented and incredibly weak. The person writing this line was likely trembling uncontrollably, which was reflected in the script:
【I couldn’t hold back.】
Looking at the four characters beneath the fire pit, Wang Ping shook his head, though he didn’t find it surprising. After all, he had personally experienced a similar sensation of hunger.
【Thief of Life】.
This bizarre technique obtained from the immortal sect caused him to frequently crave the life force and primal qi of others. Therefore, he knew very well that this wasn’t something one could simply endure by willing it.
Especially when provided with an ample “excuse,” enduring became even more arduous.
“A condemned prisoner, an unpardonable murderer—as an excuse, it truly couldn’t be more ample. Rather than saying he couldn’t hold back, it was only natural that Lin Sheng didn’t hold back.”
The problem was what came after.
“The Ding room was merely the first step to push Lin Sheng into crossing his bottom line. After all, if a murderer is edible, what about a human trafficker? And what about a swindler?”
A bottom line is lowered step by step precisely like this.
“That’s why the four rooms held four types of people…” Wang Ping felt a bone-piercing chill, profoundly sensing the mind of Xu Bingzheng, who had laid out this scheme.
Venomous, shrewd, and cruel.
What was even more horrifying was that none of this stemmed from any deep-seated hatred or grudge between Xu Bingzheng and Lin Sheng. It was entirely for a much simpler purpose.
He needs a demon.
And so, to nurture a demon, both Lin Sheng and the people in those four rooms were viewed by him as tools, fully realizing their value as human sacrifices.
Thinking of this, Wang Ping couldn’t help but sigh softly.
Exiting the Ding room and arriving before the door of the Bing room, Wang Ping lowered his eyes and immediately spotted a passage of messy writing carved into the floor tiles in front of the door.
【I was eliminating a menace for the people.】
【This Zhu Wu was a condemned prisoner to begin with, guilty beyond pardon. Furthermore, while I was trying hard to endure, he actually thought about taking my life. It’s clear his evil nature hasn’t changed.】
【He deserved to die!】
【Regardless, I am not hungry anymore. Everything stops here…】
“…”
Wang Ping shook his head. He read the wavering resolve in this messy writing. Lin Sheng had already broken his vow, and the feeling of having his hunger satisfied was now etched into his memory.
Once you have eaten your fill, enduring hunger only becomes more difficult.
Stop here?
Impossible. The outcome would only be an escalation.
“Creak…”
Pushing open the second door, the scene inside the Bing room entered Wang Ping’s view. And the very first thing that appeared before his eyes was a line written on the doorframe:
【I’m hungry again.】