Ancient Whisperer
After cleaning up the mess in the "Ghostly Ancient Town," Jiang Yu returned to the silent, endless corridor lined with doors. He habitually pulled out the parchment list he always carried with him.
On the list, the status of "Netherworld Ancient Town" has changed to "Settled (Core Contract Absorbed)". Unlike before when it was simply marked "Settled", this time there is a parenthetical note. The more significant change is that the list itself seems to have become more solid, and the material seems to have a very faint, warm luster, like an ancient jade that has been played with for many years.
As Jiang Yu's gaze fell upon the newly absorbed entry for "Netherworld Ancient Town," a faint, chaotic whisper and painful howl echoed through his senses—the final groans of the ancient town before its century-old resentment was purified. But deep within this noise, he detected a strange, higher-level fluctuation.
This fluctuation was cold and viscous, carrying an indifferent detachment that looked down upon all living beings, completely different from the resentment inherent in the ancient town itself, stemming from human love, hate, and grudges. It was more like a... brand, a "mark" forcibly injected, used for pollution and control.
Jiang Yu closed his eyes, concentrated, and tried to trace the source of this unusual fluctuation. In a daze, he seemed to see an extremely brief scene:
In a chaotic backdrop beyond description, composed of countless distorted rules and shattered spacetime, a blurry, indescribable, enormous shadow is injecting a wisp of dark purple, writhing energy—like a living thing—into a newly formed sphere of light representing the "resentment of the ancient town." Upon the injection of the dark purple energy, the core of that sphere of light is rapidly corrupted, manifesting the nascent form of the corrupted City God.
The scene abruptly ended.
Jiang Yu opened his eyes, his pupils slightly contracted. He understood. The corruption of the Netherworld Ancient Town was not a natural occurrence, but rather the work of someone behind the scenes, artificially catalyzing and distorting the beliefs and resentments there, creating that deformed "tenant".
This discovery brought to mind the anomalies of the previous instances:
Why does the librarian of the Lost Library happen to possess the seemingly useless "Collection of Pan-Dimensional Comedy"? Does that book also conceal some kind of information?
Why is the conductor of the Undead Train, whose collective resentment can so consistently form regular replicas? Is there a mastermind behind this?
Even the seemingly simple-minded Blood Axe in the beginning, wasn't the collapse of his instance a bit too "complete"?
These seemingly independent cases of rent arrears appear to be connected by a hidden thread. This thread points to a hidden entity behind the scenes, capable of interfering with or even "creating" the boss of the instance.
Is the Supreme God's "escape" related to this entity behind the scenes? Did he leave because he sensed a threat, or... was he forced to leave?
The list vibrated slightly, pulling Jiang Yu back to reality. He sensed that after absorbing the core contract of the "Netherworld Ancient Town," the list seemed to have unlocked some kind of directional function. It was no longer just passively recording, but had begun to subtly guide him to the next location where the "rent was overdue" the longest and which might contain the most clues.
On the list, a name that was originally dim is now faintly glowing, radiating an ominous aura:
"Abyssal Sacrifice Grounds - Ancient Whisperers"
Debt term: 23 years
The name, and the outstanding debt period far exceeding that of other instances, foreshadowed immense danger. However, the faint lurking from the list, and the "contaminated" scene just witnessed, suggested that this place might hold crucial information about the mastermind behind it all, or even the whereabouts of the main god.
Jiang Yu stared at the name, her fingers unconsciously stroking the hilt of the machete.
It seems impossible to collect rent peacefully now. The mess left by God is far from simple.
He put away the list and turned his gaze to the deeper darkness of the corridor. The portals there were older and more twisted, and the aura they exuded made the surrounding space and time ripple slightly.
Next destination: Abyss Sacrifice Site.
But before that, he needed to make some preparations. Dealing with several difficult tenants in succession, especially using his "landlord privileges" to sever the karmic ties of the ancient town, hadn't been without its drawbacks. Moreover, he felt that the list was still "digesting" the contractual energy it had just absorbed, and it would take some time before it could provide clearer guidance.
Jiang Yu turned around and walked towards an inconspicuous recess in the corridor, without any signboard—a safe spot left by the God of War, a small space where one could rest temporarily and undisturbed.
He needed some time to piece together the clues, regain his energy, and then meet with the "Ancient Whisperer" who owed rent for twenty-three years and might be directly related to the disappearance of the God.
The safe zone wasn't a luxurious residence, just a bare, empty white room, no more than ten square meters in size. It was completely isolated from the outside world, a place of absolute silence. For Jiang Yu, who had just experienced the intense mental pollution of the Netherworld Ancient Town, this was a rare opportunity to catch her breath.
He sat down against the wall, placed the cleaver across his lap, and closed his eyes to regulate his breathing. The list lay beside him, emitting a soft glow, seemingly slowly "digesting" the core of the contract from the corrupted city god.
In this extreme silence, some deeply buried fragments of memory are more likely to surface.
Several years ago, the Supreme God, while eating some kind of snack from another dimension (which looked like a screaming jelly) without any regard for appearances, said to Jiang Yu, who was tidying up the bookshelf:
"Xiaoyu, tell me, what's the thing you're most afraid of when you're a landlord?"
Jiang Yu didn't even turn her head at the time: "I'm afraid the tenant will default on the rent."
"Wrong!" The main god crunched on his jelly. "It's because I'm afraid the bad landlord next door will come to your property and undermine your business, or even... try to take over your entire building!"
At the time, Jiang Yu took it as just another pointless remark from the main god and didn't pay it any mind. Now, looking back, it might have been a subtle reminder.
The night before the Supreme God "ran away" was unusually quiet. Unusually, he didn't indulge in any entertainment, but instead gazed at the emptiness outside the window (if the ever-changing starry sky could be considered an outside window), for a long time before finally patting Jiang Yu on the shoulder:
"This building is now in your hands. I've taught you the rules, and I'm leaving the machete with you. If you encounter anyone unreasonable, don't hold back. If you encounter... anything that feels off, be on your guard. Remember, you are the messenger here, representing me. You need to be confident."
At the time, Jiang Yu thought that having "confidence" meant being able to do whatever you wanted. Now he understands a bit more that this "confidence" might also include calmness and judgment when facing unknown conspiracies.
Just as Jiang Yu was lost in her memories, the machete on her lap suddenly trembled slightly, emitting a barely audible hum. At the same time, the list beside her suddenly shone brightly.
Jiang Yu immediately opened her eyes. The words "Abyssal Sacrifice Site - Ancient Whisperers" on the list shone brightly, and below them, a new, even more ancient and obscure annotation slowly appeared:
"Warning: High-risk extraterrestrial contamination traces detected. The target tenant, 'Ancient Whisperer,' is suspected of being deeply corrupted; status: out of control. Its very existence poses a serious threat to the building's stability."
Recommendation: Handle this as a priority.
“External divine corruption…” Jiang Yu repeated the word softly. This confirmed the strange, high-level fluctuations he had sensed in the Netherworld Ancient Town. There really was an external force involved.
"Status: Out of Control..." This means that this "Ancient Whisperer" may no longer be a simple rent owing entity, but has become a hidden danger that needs to be "cleaned up." The Supreme God sent him to "collect rent," but didn't specify what to do if the tenant became a "virus" that needed to be eliminated.
But the list's "recommendation" is clear: prioritize it.
Jiang Yu stood up and stretched her wrists. The break was over.
It seems this is no longer a simple matter of collecting rent, but a "house disinfection" operation, and may even be the first direct confrontation with that "bad landlord next door".
He picked up the list and the machete and stepped out of the safe zone. The chilling atmosphere of the endless corridor enveloped him once more.
The objective is clear: the Abyss Sacrifice Site.
Objective: To clear out the out-of-control tenants and try to find out who is behind it.
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