Chapter 119 Gold Leaf Mansion
Not long ago, Jinye City No. 3 Experimental Primary School.
"I'm taking a day off today. Please help me take care of the garden."
After handing over his work, Gulibo walked out of the school gate with his approved leave note. His tone and expression were not particularly cheerful, like a gloomy little mouse. He nibbled a cucumber to cheer himself up and walked towards the station, flipping through a small, exquisite manual as he walked.
【Seafood Bookstore Staff Material Handbook】
Rating: 3
[Effect: Mark the approximate actions of the subject within a city
You need to prepare a map of the sampling points and enter relevant information. The sampling information is related to the total amount of information entered.
[Comment from the editor of Dudu Otter: Is it that the sentence “Please curb your hobbies and interests during work hours” is difficult to understand or is work your hobby?
If you submit your tomato cultivation log as a research report again next time, I'll plant you upside down in front of the bookstore as a welcoming potted plant.
The map of the small town wasn't difficult to find. Lü Budan had brought a lot of information last night, including the general characteristics of the people involved in the brawl and their locations. This information was enough for it to activate its pitiful trump card—office supplies, to be more precise.
The manual featured a cartoon-style map with several areas circled and corresponding character portraits next to them. Currently, the portraits on the map were moving at varying speeds, with dotted lines marking their paths. The bulletin board on the side of the map displayed lines of small text in chronological order:
-
Talisman Master: Lost three level 3 relics
Let’s skip this unlucky guy and look at the others…
-
Tentacle Trio: Investigating the Mayor
Iceman: Wandering around the hills -
Zanxin Girl: Chasing the Iceman
The five aforementioned avatars are all located in the west, suggesting another encounter. Knowing it was hopeless to approach them early, Gulibo followed the dotted line to an inn, preparing to wait for the trio's arrival...
At this time, the cartoon map refreshed and a new prompt popped up.
-
Talisman Master: Obtained three level 3 relics
“…???”
Gulibo rubbed his eyes, but the line of words still remained stubbornly bright.
This doesn't make sense! While a talisman master's job is to draw talismans, how can they create a level three relic so quickly? A serious Heart Sword cultivator would have to spend a lot of time drawing, and you're only drawing three?
It's also possible that the relic was previously stored in storage equipment, and the manual didn't detect it... But if that's the case, this person's family background is too rich. Why would such a wealthy person come to such a small island to wade into troubled waters?
Gulibo secretly noted this information, intending to discuss it with Shizhong after returning. He searched the map for other people. Dan was parked at a vegetable market, apparently having breakfast; there was also a person marked with a gun, parked at a fork in the road, very close to him...
Very close!
Gulibo looked up, trembling. Standing next to the station was a striking man. He was tall and thin, with long brown hair. He didn't care much about his appearance, and his chin was covered with stubble. This was clearly a street full of civilians, yet he was oblivious to the crowds, wearing a crimson combat uniform and carrying a long, black-covered tube on his back.
He made no attempt to hide his dangerous nature, nor did he care what others thought. When the man's gaze swept over, Gulibo thought he was looking at an eagle from the desert.
"Have you seen the Ice Man, little guy?" asked the long-haired man.
Gulibo nodded frantically, speechless. He quietly closed the booklet, trying to make it look like a small picture book for children. But this little bit of pettiness couldn't be hidden from the long-haired man. He pulled out the booklet and laughed at the contents.
Gulibo felt that this was probably how his life would end.
The man threw the manual back, and Gulbo frantically caught it. Its heart was pounding, its narrow escape from death making it almost cry with joy. However, the man's next words sent it plummeting into the abyss.
"You'll keep the seeds for now... Take good care of them and don't lose them."
Gulbo froze in place, and when he regained consciousness, the sniper Shakes had already gone away.
·
(Communication test. Can you hear me clearly?)
(Hmm. Found something you might like.)
Wu He gave a dry laugh, treating the sniper's words as a joke to lighten the mood. He made a final effort: "As your employer, I still hope you can hold your ground..."
(Let’s stop talking nonsense.)
"Alright, I give up trying to convince you." Wu He sighed. "But I must reiterate, I don't want to make enemies for no reason. This time we're gathering intelligence, so please don't engage in pointless fighting."
(That's hard to say.) Shax sneered. The water truck was parked at the terminal, and outside the window one could see yellow leaves covering the hillside.
The hook he left within the Iceman made it easy to trace its path. The scent of the small animal would reveal the presence of the Stone Seed. Had Wu He stopped at the elementary school, the animal's books would have long since changed hands, and its life would be in jeopardy. But Shax wasn't interested in these details; he focused solely on what mattered to him.
He would never be willing to leave the island if he couldn't figure out the secret behind yesterday's brawl and the eel head with excellent knife skills.
Coincidentally, he happened to know everyone's movements through the manual, as if a shepherd boy hidden in the dark was giving him guidance. Just like the series of encounters yesterday, it was a coincidence.
But Shax was never one for paranoia; he simply used the intelligence. He estimated that the original trio had already reached the mayor's residence, so he took a detour from the east, approaching the hill and ascending the tower for a commanding vantage point. After the maintenance of the Black Pill, the reconnaissance scope mechanically launched, Shax maneuvered the scope like a drone, infiltrating the mountain.
Wu He in the stronghold couldn't help but speak again: (You look absent-minded, as if you are paying attention to something other than the mission.)
Shakes smiled. It was a rare occasion for him to go into a long speech to explain things to an employer he had only just met, because this time it was indeed his fault.
(Have you ever been bitten by a poisonous snake?)
(……No.)
(That is a precious experience. At the moment the snake bites you, the pain and panic are mixed with a hint of luck. You will imagine that the venom seeps into your blood and moves towards your heart like a gray line, as if if you can treat the wound in time, you will have a chance of survival.
But that's not the case. Those thoughts will flash through your mind for a moment, and then suddenly your vision goes black. You then realize that everything is over, and you died the moment it bit you.)
Wu He remained silent. Shax continued to talk to himself: (But the most terrible thing happened after you were lucky enough to be rescued. Of course you wanted revenge and wanted to get back at your loss, but the snake was long gone. You still have the opportunity to encounter many beasts and hunt lions and tigers, but you know that you will never meet that snake again in this life.
So you'll be paranoid, inexplicably anxious and persistent. You'll stare at a rope for ages, carefully following each snake as it moves, as if they harbor a venomous viper beneath their skin. Deep down, you know this is just self-deception; they can't suddenly transform into the enemies they once were. Yet, you persist to the end...
Only after tearing through the illusions that we have created for ourselves can we be willing to return to life.)
After a long silence, Wu He said: (I kind of regret hiring you. I didn't expect you to be so crazy.)
(Killers are all psychopaths.) Shax ended the conversation.
The sniper scope passed through layers of fallen leaves and approached the mansion in the mountains. Shax calmed down and saw that from this angle he could see half of the living room and a corner of the staircase.
The blonde and the strange-eyed creature were standing in the hall, rummaging through documents. A scrap of green clothing brushed against the edge of the stairs. Shax adjusted his position, but there were no windows on the second floor. He observed the two people on the first floor. Judging from the blonde's mouth movements, she was speaking loudly to someone upstairs.
Unfortunately, from this angle he couldn't see the statue in the foyer.
·
"There's no trace of gold leaf! Only that ugly statue!"
Ji Huaisu shouted upstairs, carefully searching the first floor with his shield of light. The layout of this floor was a disaster. There was nowhere to stand in the hall. Scribbled manuscripts were scattered across the floor, and neither the sofa nor the vase was buried in the filthy snow. Only two objects stood out amidst the mountain of manuscripts: one of them was an ugly statue facing the main door.
The statue had a subtle frightening effect when the three men broke into the house. It was made of gray stone, the color of which was high, but its shape was shockingly ugly. Its head was shriveled, its limbs were spindly, and the whole statue stood in front of the door like a dried corpse.
Ji Huaisu and Fan De both sensed a strong elemental force within the statue, but couldn't discern its origin. It simply sat there, unresponsive despite their attacks. Chu Hengkong removed the statue's head and limbs as a precaution, but nothing happened.
After studying it in depth for ten minutes and smashing the statue, the three of them agreed that it might just be an ordinary elemental sandbag. They wondered why Jin Ye would put such a thing in front of his house.
Seeing that nothing was happening on the first floor, Chu Hengkong went upstairs to investigate. With his reflexes, he could tell the difference between upstairs and downstairs, so there was no need to worry about the risk of splitting up within the same room. Meanwhile, Fander's attention was focused on the second object in the hall: a metal desk placed in front of a floor-to-ceiling window, facing the sunlight.
It enthusiastically used its tentacles to rummage through the boxes and cabinets, attempting to find something like a diary. Ji Huaisu casually picked up a manuscript on the ground and discovered that it depicted various strange devices: a torture chair powered by a turbine, a sticky electric paralysis water bed, a metal-bar straitjacket resembling a birdcage...
"Jin Ye must be at least 50 years old this year. He is still doing this at such an old age. He may be old at heart, but he is still young." Ji Huaisu marveled.
"When it comes to research, it's common for things to get more and more perverted. It's a good thing it was Chu Hengkong who went upstairs. He might have opened a door and seen Old Master Jin entertaining himself with a clay golem." Vander was not surprised. "While Old Master Jin is quiet, let's find out his background first... Look at this!"
It pulled a thick notebook from the bottom drawer. Ji Huaisu used his light shield to hit it twice to confirm that no traps had been triggered, then began to read it in the light from the window. In the distance, Shax also received information through his reconnaissance scope and, with some difficulty, read it backwards.
Unfortunately, due to limited vision, they did not see that the ugly statue that was dismantled moved slightly the moment the notebook was opened.
The first page of the notes gets straight to the point. The writer punctured the paper while writing, which is enough to show his excited mood.
"There are taboos buried beneath the ground of this dust island."
(End of this chapter)
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