It was a sultry summer afternoon with dark clouds overhead and sticky moisture floating in the air. The heart-wrenching chirping of cicadas could be heard from the dense shade of the trees.
"What! Someone died again! Okay, I'll go right away! You protect the scene." Zheng Tuanwei hung up the phone with a gloomy face.
"Boss, is it that case again?"
Zheng Tuanwei nodded and said to his subordinates in a concise manner: "Follow me first, and I will explain in detail on the way."
It was the hottest time of summer. Zheng Tuanwei broke out in a sweat almost as soon as he walked out of the police station. He turned on the air conditioner as soon as he got in the car, but the strong cold wind could not dispel the heat in his heart.
Including the person who died today, seven murders have occurred in just three months.
The dead had nothing in common except the way they died.
The victim did not leave behind a complete body. Only flesh was left on the ground. In the middle of a sticky liquid mixed with blood and broken organ fragments, a hideous head lay quietly.
Even a bomb couldn't produce such fine-grained meat. It looked like it had been chopped up with a knife.
This was the first time Zheng Tuanwei had seen such a tragic death scene in his 22 years as a police officer. When he saw it for the first time, he almost vomited bile.
Even the forensic doctor who performed the autopsy vomited so much that he turned pale, and he had nightmares for several nights after returning home.
After a careful search of the crime scene, Zheng Tuanwei and his team discovered a hideous wooden doll and a notebook filled with words that sounded like the ravings of a madman.
The handwriting on the notebook was messy and difficult to read, filled with a large number of indecipherable symbols. Only on the first page of the notebook were two relatively clear sentences left:
【Humans are neither the oldest nor the last masters of this earth. Ordinary living things and materials are not alone in the world. ■■■■■ existed in the past, ■■■■■ exists today, and ■■■■■ will exist forever. 】
[If I go crazy, it is actually God's mercy! May the gods pity this man, who is callous and still sane in the face of the most terrifying God! Come on, while He is still calling us with mercy, go crazy! ]①
Obviously these were just the ravings of a madman, but Zheng Tuanwei couldn't help but tremble when he read them. Goose bumps kept appearing on his skin and his brain ached. Somehow, an intuition stopped him from reading on.
He slammed his notebook shut, his face pale and sweating profusely, as if he had just been pulled out of the water.
...Is this the work of a cult?
Because the crime scene was too bloody and horrifying, and the case itself was too bizarre and dark, the case records were immediately sealed by the authorities, the media was prohibited from reporting on it, and those who knew about it were also given a gag order. The case was treated as an ordinary homicide to the outside world.
But this case is just the beginning.
Over the next three months, five more similar cases occurred, and all the victims were turned into meat paste.
There was no clue as to who had killed them. It was as if they had suddenly exploded into pulp—but there were no bomb fragments or chemicals in their bodies!
After investigation, it was found that the deceased were all fans of Cthulhu mythology. Before their deaths, they all seemed to have mental problems, often experiencing auditory and visual hallucinations, and their personalities changed drastically, and they behaved insanely from time to time.
At first, they were able to block the information, but after a number of similar murders occurred in succession, related rumors had already spread widely. The official blockade instead created the soil for the birth of conspiracy theories. For a time, all kinds of urban legends were widely circulated, the most famous of which was the cult sacrifice theory.
In order to stabilize the people's hearts, the director gave them an ultimatum, ordering them to solve the case within three months.
One month into the three-month deadline, Zheng Tuanwei still had no clues.
There was no trace of the murderer at the scene. It was as if the murderer did not exist at all.
No, the murderer must exist, but they have not found any clues yet! This time, he must catch the murderer and give justice to the victim!
…
When he once again witnessed the flesh paste splattered on the ceiling at the crime scene, Zheng Tuanwei's face was unexpectedly calm. At least this time he just turned a little pale and did not vomit as much as he did the first time.
The first person to discover the scene was the victim's neighbor, who called the police immediately. The police from the police station arrived at the crime scene first. After discovering that this was a mysterious cult murder case that the Criminal Police Brigade was tracking recently, they immediately called Zheng Tuanwei.
Zheng Tuanwei and his men dug up the crime scene thoroughly but did not find any useful clues. The surveillance video did not even show the murderer.
Things once again reached a stalemate.
…
Le Jing quietly walked to Zheng Tuanwei and stood still, staring at the bloody crime scene with his amber eyes without any ripples. In the busy murder scene, no one noticed Le Jing's figure, as if he was a transparent person. Le Jing is indeed a transparent person now.
He glanced at Zheng Tuanwei. The man had a frown on his face, bloodshot eyes, two big dark circles under his eyes, an untidy beard, and a listless expression. It seemed that he had been under a lot of pressure during this period.
Under the order from the superiors to solve the murder case, all the staff of the North City Public Security Bureau have been busy for the past few months. Zheng Tuanwei, as the captain of the criminal police brigade, has no time to investigate the previous case of the missing drug addict.
Those drug addicts are doing very well in infrastructure construction in the other world and are much more motivated than when they were on Earth.
With the joint efforts of the earthlings and the indigenous people, the continent of Mireka finally regained some vitality. Although life was difficult, at least many people could survive.
In another month or two, Le Jing will erase the memories of those people and send them back to Earth.
The crisis on the Mireka continent has been resolved, but the real crisis on Earth has just arrived.
The evil gods in the Cthulhu mythology are about to wake up.
Just like what is said in the Cthulhu mythology written by humans: "In his palace in R'lyeh, the sleeping Cthulhu waits for his dream. When the stars return to their positions, R'lyeh will rise from the bottom of the sea, and the great Cthulhu will wake up."
By then, it will be a real catastrophe for the earth and the real doomsday for mankind.
Before Le Jing returned to Earth, Xingxiu told Le Jing: "It is not the real body of the Old Ones that is about to awaken on Earth. He is just a seed planted by the Old Ones in the past. The real body of the Old Ones exists in a higher plane and space outside the Earth, millions of light years away from the Earth. They are the dark side of the universe and endless madness."
"But once the seeds that break through the soil grow, they will attract the attention of the mother body. Then, the Old Ones will descend on Earth through the passage built by the seeds. By then, no one can stop them."
"...But we can." Le Jing said firmly, looking at Xingxiu with a questioning look, "Didn't you also expel the evil god Nyarlathotep before?"
Xingxiu smiled, but the smile contained endless deep meaning: "Yes, we can."
"This is the only way for us humans to restrain the evil god, and it is also the secret of our civilized rescue team's infinite lifespan and powerful strength."
Xingxiu gently told Le Jing the secret, and this was exactly the purpose of Le Jing's return to Earth.
Le Jing took a deep look at the bloody room, then turned and left without looking back.
All this blood is just a sign that the seeds of the evil god are beginning to sprout.
As fanatical fans of Cthulhu, these people were naturally the first to be eroded by the power of the seeds. Their fear became the feed for the growth of the seeds, so they briefly saw the projection of the evil god from the starry sky.
Many ancient books have warned believers not to look directly at God.
This is a true saying.
The evil gods of Cthulhu are such terrifying and bizarre monsters that humans who face them will either lose their sanity and become lunatics and then be assimilated into deformed monsters, or... with a "bang", they will be turned into meat paste.
In the dark corners that the police have not yet discovered, there must be many humans who have transformed into monsters wandering around. They are the minions of the evil god, the poor creatures who are trapped in chaos and madness for life, and they will also be the key to opening the era of chaos on Earth.
According to Xingxiu's estimation, in about fifty years, the seeds will be fully mature, the Old Ones will descend upon Earth, the end of the world will come, and the world will become a slaughterhouse and meat warehouse for the evil gods.
So Le Jing must speed up the implementation of his plan.
He once died as Le Jing, but is about to be resurrected as Le Jing.
He will be reborn as a human being and grow up.
Only this time, he was destined to live brilliantly and become the rising sun of tomorrow praised by everyone.
He must live a life known to everyone, young and old, and be remembered forever, so that when people mention his name, they are filled with admiration, love and worship.
He wants to be deified in the eyes of people all over the world as a human being.
Only in this way can the positive emotions of humanity be gathered on him, and these pure beliefs are precisely the only magic weapon to fight against evil gods.
The Old Ones represent the ultimate "evil". They are the embodiment of chaos, madness, evil and fear, representing all the dark sides of the world. The only thing that can restrain shadow is light.
Positive emotions belonging to human beings are extremely poisonous to them and are the only natural enemy that can restrain them.
This is also the only reason why human civilization has been able to survive to this day despite the threat of powerful evil gods.
The reason why Xingxiu can expel the evil god Nyarlathotep is because he is the "Glory of Humanity" in that plane. He represents the faith and destiny of all human beings in that plane, so he can use the powerful power of faith to drive away the evil god and save human civilization.
Le Jing's mind once again recalled what Xingxiu had warned him before he left:
"Although in your concept, I was only away for a few months, but in fact, it took me a full ten years to drive Nyarlathotep away."
"I don't know how long it will take you to complete this mission. You only need to know that you only have one chance. Once the mission fails, you will be destroyed along with the human civilization of this plane. Your soul and body will be destroyed, and not a single body will be left."
"Only after you complete this mission can you truly become immortal, and live forever like human civilization."
Two months later.
The wife of China's richest man gave birth to a boy.
When the boy was born, he didn't cry or make a fuss, but instead showed a calm and clear smile.
The kind mother kissed her son's forehead lovingly and said with a smile, "Let's call your nickname Lele."
The author has something to say:
① Excerpted from Howard Phillips Lovecraft's The Dunwich Horror and The Temple
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
