Chapter 13: The Devil's Message

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Master Huai Su stepped into the room and settled into a chair as soft as cotton. The chamber was unusually bright and spacious, its transparent walls filled with the deep blue of the surrounding seawater. The room’s structure was hemispherical, resembling a pearl submerged in the depths. Lowering his eyelids, Huai Su coughed lightly, revealing the back of his paper fan stained a shocking crimson.

“Ji Qiufeng, are you mad? Your body is in such poor shape, yet you dare to use the Heavenly Eye—aren’t you afraid of frying your eyes to death?”

A faint rustling sounded as a small white snake slithered out from a corner. From its mouth came a fast and urgent female voice, like a young housewife worried sick. Ji Qiufeng raised his hands in surrender. The white snake coiled fiercely around him, hissing and flicking its tongue.

“I didn’t disturb my vital energy, only slightly opened my eyes,” Ji Qiufeng explained with gestures. “At most, I just let a sliver of spirit through.”

The white snake paused in surprise. “Just a sliver of spirit, and he saw the path of transformation?”

“Terrifying, isn’t it?” Ji Qiufeng smiled. “Back when we joined, we had to train at the foot of the mountain for three years, practicing boxing and chanting scriptures day and night. Only then were we qualified to receive the master’s guidance without breaking down. But that child didn’t even need my instruction—he could excavate mysteries from his own breath with just one glance.”

The white snake muttered softly, “Almost like Huai Su himself…”

“Excessive talent is a curse,” Ji Qiufeng shook his head. “Such people are doomed never to be ordinary; their lives inevitably entangle with the currents of fate. His hometown, Dust Island, is a place so secretive it won’t reveal even its roads. Even with such strict defenses, it was still swept into the flow by a summoning accident—it can only be called destiny.”

“Destiny? You’ve never believed in fate,” the little snake scoffed.

“Since the day I found Huai Su, I’ve started to believe,” Ji Qiufeng gazed out at the sea beyond the transparent walls. “I’m pondering that book that brought him here…”

“You actually still remember it?” The snake bumped his head repeatedly. “It’s been two days, and you still haven’t burned that book. I almost thought you were infected by some heresy.”

“You told me before that such mystical things usually only work in the hands of their original owners,” Ji Qiufeng said thoughtfully. “Let’s wait and see if there’s a surprise. I want to see what kind of person this child really is… The situation is bad now; even outsiders’ tendrils want to take advantage.”

“Pathetic joke. No class at all.” The snake turned its head. “I’m going swimming. Don’t go killing yourself.”

After the snake left, the light in the room vanished. Outside the transparent wall, countless transparent eyes opened wide in the deep blue water.

They were illusions of the fantasy demons, not a few but as many as a swarm of fish. Their tentacles stretched wantonly, clinging to the transparent wall with the obsessive persistence of sharks sensing blood. Behind the chaotic dance of these phantoms, a vast and murky iridescence silently spread—some filthy existence was stirring restlessly.

“Go, go,” Ji Qiufeng waved his hand like shooing flies. The shadows outside retreated, as if even demons could feel fear.

At that moment, a clear white light shimmered in the water. A great dragon soared up, chanting as it plunged into the sea. Its roar scattered the phantoms like bubbles, restoring clarity to the water. Yet, the thing coveting the city in the distance remained unscathed, merely withdrawing temporarily.

Ji Qiufeng sank back into the soft chair, exhaling slowly. Blood trickled once again from his lips.

The little snake was overthinking; he would not die, nor could he. This precarious city hung on his life. The day the city lord closed his eyes would be the day Huilong City fell.

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Chu Hengkong returned to his room in a near-dazed state. Whatever Master Huai Su and He An had said before with concern, he hadn’t caught. His mind was filled with strange and magnificent visions—those bizarre and dazzling worlds, those powerful and mysterious beings—they swirled inside his head like an unrelenting storm, driving him almost to scream.

He had to purge it, to extract the information from his mind, or he would never think clearly. When he came to, Chu Hengkong was clutching a pen, scribbling ink onto the blank pages of the Silver-Eyed Great Book. At first, he drew several circular “dots,” then straight “lines” connected these points, and an abstract outline began to emerge beside the dots. The connecting lines formed three separate main branches, all converging at one point at the top. When he lifted the pen, the structure was complete; the points linked by lines resembled the branches and leaves of a giant tree, or a long stairway ascending to heaven.

The Path of Transformation.

Chu Hengkong set down his pen and lay back on the bed. The storm in his mind gradually subsided, the hallucinatory images thinning until they vanished with his breath. It was as if everything he had seen had poured out onto the page, becoming the abstract “road” in ink. What Master Huai said was true—after experiencing this firsthand, no one could doubt it—the miraculous path truly existed, even lying within his grasp.

But drawing the path was useless; he didn’t understand what he had drawn, let alone how to traverse it. He needed to be taught, to learn, to explore—like a child studying a textbook, like an apprentice standing firm in horse stance...

Apprentice...

Chu Hengkong felt a pang of disappointment. All his life, he had faced challenges boldly and never feared the future. He had skills and strength; even in the shadows woven with violence and gunfire, he was a master of his fate. But now, after crossing over, everything was different. Here, he was no longer that invincible killer. His strength was even weaker than that of a young girl.

He allowed himself half a minute to sink into that sense of loss, then asked himself: so what?

It was just another journey to become stronger.

The disappointment was burned away by fighting spirit. Determination and curiosity surged within him. He sat up, energized. He had to seize the time to grow strong. Even within this small Huilong City, there were countless wanted fugitives with Essence Points. The dangers outside the city were unimaginable. Without basic power in hand, how could he hope for a future of life and freedom?

The immediate priority was to obtain detailed information on the Path of Transformation, ideally some technique to advance along it. Consulting those demon-possessed outsiders was likely pointless; even if he extracted knowledge from them by force, it would probably be a maddening “dark path.” The most reliable way was to learn from Master Huai Su, who had openly said that to progress, one needed achievements—capture as many targets as possible. But fugitives wouldn’t surrender themselves easily...

Besides achievements, attitude might matter. Should he hand over the Silver-Eyed Book to show cooperation? But that thing could at least be used as a can opener; without it, all he had left were three pitiful relics... The sticker from today hadn’t even been identified yet...

Chu Hengkong sighed. He had never been good at scheming. He casually opened the Silver-Eyed Great Book, hoping to write some notes like the clever ones to organize his thoughts.

As the book spread open, his gaze froze on a certain page. He clearly remembered that this book had been blank except for the inner pages, but now he saw unfamiliar words.

The strange new text was printed on a blank page marked with a “bookmark.” The silver font was elegant and delicate, yet the format was strangely familiar:

[Sticker-Type Basic Relic – Water Bomb]

[Rating: Low-tier]

[Origin: Senluo Secret Realm – Huilong City]

[Effect: After shaking, produces a single water bomb; hardness varies with emotional intensity]

[Reminiscence: A maddened outsider looted the workshop and encountered a demon called “Self-Deception.” The madness attracting the demon stemmed from the truth he heard in Bize.]

“...”

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Deep in thought, Chu Hengkong realized that even as an outsider newly arrived, he could tell this was a relic appraisal. Compared to Mrs. Ansa’s simple explanation, this book’s appraisal included the additional categories of “Origin” and “Reminiscence.” The Senluo Secret Realm appeared to be the region where Huilong City was located, and the reminiscence seemed to be the previous owner’s experience.

He shook the sticker, and a transparent “pebble” appeared from the blue sticker—exactly as described, a water bomb. The effect seemed reliable; as for the other details...

He’d have to try it out to know.

Flipping to the next page, he placed the Charge Storage Bracelet on the blank page. This time, he witnessed silver liquid seeping from the page, forming fresh text. At the same time, the dry sensation on his tentacle increased; as the text grew, the sticky fluid at the tip inexplicably lessened.

...Could this tentacle actually be a “pen” used for writing?!

Chu Hengkong’s expression grew awkward as he struggled to restrain his wild imagination. The new appraisal was now complete:

[Bracelet-Type Basic Relic – Charge Storage]

...

[Origin: Shura Island – Qianri City]

[Reminiscence: Hugos is a host of the “Impatient” demon. He was in a hurry to pick up the bracelet for his mission but forgot to read the workshop master’s appraisal.]

The original content matched Mrs. Ansa’s appraisal, but the new entry offered more intriguing information. Hugos came to cause trouble with a mission; he couldn’t use the bracelet because of the Impatient demon’s influence... A fool who used the relic once and discarded it—no wonder the “workshop master” only provided one relic.

Chu Hengkong examined the page and the bracelet, uninterested in pondering the appraisal’s mechanism—this world was full of absurdities—but focused on how to use it.

First, he wouldn’t have to visit the workshop for appraisals anymore. Second, if the Silver-Eyed Book’s appraisals were accurate, he could obtain the previous owners’ “information.” Intelligence was always precious; these reminiscences revealed the owners’ motives and some hidden relationships. Now that he had to hunt fugitives, how should he use this book...

Chu Hengkong stared at the silver eye on the cover for several seconds, a smile playing at his lips. A brilliant idea had come to him.

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The next day, early morning.

“Captain Huai Su, are there many unsolved cases in Huilong City?”

“Of course, every city has a ton of these lousy cases... Why do you ask?”

The assassin clutched the great book, smiling brightly like sunshine. “I want to take a look at the Resurrection Corps’ evidence archive.”