Forbidden Zone: Mysterious Garden.
The sky was still shrouded by the canopy of the massive inverted tree.
The garden was dotted with black Guanyin stone statues, each covered in cracks.
The Guanyin statues were in various poses, but all had their eyes closed and downcast, their faces wearing expressions of compassion.
At a certain moment, these Guanyin statues vanished simultaneously.
Along with them, the supernatural plants and flowers at the feet of the Guanyin statues that had been purified were also gone.
In the end, only one Guanyin statue remained, pierced by the branches of the inverted tree and suspended in mid-air.
“Why did Sister leave?”
The grand voice of the Tree of Truth echoed through the garden.
The Guanyin statue did not answer; the cracks on the black stone simply multiplied until it gradually shattered into pieces.
“To suddenly abandon your guard here—aren't you afraid I'll directly invade reality?”
“After being entangled with each other for so many years, I'm actually not quite used to you being gone.”
“I really can't understand what you're trying to do.”
The Tree of Truth continued its incessant babbling.
The Guanyin statue offered no response, simply leaving with resolute finality.
The Tree of Truth acted almost immediately, sending countless roots and branches surging toward the outside world.
...
Bureau headquarters.
All five captains had been recalled.
There were originally nine captains, but with four vacancies currently open, headquarters was in the middle of a selection process.
The five captains who were still alive also had to participate in the evaluation.
“Sitting here is purely for show; we don't have any say at all,” Captain 【Ugly】 grumbled in a low voice.
“The higher-ups have already decided internally, yet they still insisted on dragging me back. Don't they know I'm very busy right now?”
Beside him, a woman spoke sarcastically while admiring her fingernails.
She was Captain 【Mary Sue】.
“Headquarters has absorbed too many new members at once. They not only need us back to hold the fort but also need to maintain a surface illusion of fairness and harmony.”
A middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses spoke, a compassionate smile on his face as he laid bare the truth.
Mary Sue looked up at him, lightly arching an eyebrow.
“Captain Lyu, you've changed quite a bit, haven't you?”
“I haven't seen you smile like that in a long time.”
The middle-aged man adjusted his glasses and said calmly, “People always change.”
“By the way, could you stop constantly holding your hand up? It looks exhausting.”
Mary Sue snorted. “If I don't hold my hand up, how am I supposed to show off my new manicure?”
The middle-aged man praised her sincerely, “It is indeed beautiful. It suits you well.”
Mary Sue lifted her chin, her mood visibly improved.
At that moment in the selection competition, a transcendent had already overpowered the others to reach the final round.
He was a young man, refined and gentle in appearance.
What was horrifying, however, was that he had no hair on the back of his head—only a ghost face.
That ghost face could cause a second personality to emerge, one diametrically opposed to the primary personality, trapping the target in a struggle between the left and right brain.
Furthermore, when he activated his ability, there was no outward sign at all; he disintegrated his enemies from the inside, silently and invisibly.
“That ability is insidious enough, but he's still a bit underqualified to be a captain,” Captain 【Hehuan】 critiqued sharply from the judges' bench.
The other four nodded in agreement.
“The effect of the ability is too one-dimensional.”
Among the transcendents who could become captains, which one wasn't a well-rounded powerhouse capable of both offense and defense?
“He is a representative of the remnants of the elite family forces. He has many followers and has formed a small clique.”
“Headquarters is likely only giving him a captain position to appease those people,” Captain 【Avatar】 spoke up.
“Remnants of the transcendent families? After that person beat them into a scattered mess, headquarters actually didn't take the opportunity to confiscate all their assets?”
“They're probably hard to deal with, and headquarters doesn't want to waste too much time on them.”
“These emerging families have learned from the destruction of the great elite families thirty years ago; they aren't so easily uprooted.”
The captains chatted among themselves.
Hehuan spoke again, “The higher-ups already have Rank 5s now. I wonder when they'll reveal the breakthrough method to us.”
“I currently don't feel any bottleneck at all, but I have no idea how to take the next step.”
“Who doesn't feel the same?” Ghoul's expression was grave.
“How about we go and ask?”
“Don't be impulsive!” Mary Sue immediately spoke up to stop them.
“Word on the grapevine is that someone approached a high-level elder in private to ask about the secret of breaking through to Rank 5.”
“And guess what happened to him in the end?”
Hehuan urged, “Stop being so mysterious and just tell us.”
Mary Sue waved her rainbow-colored nails.
“That man went from being a straight man to a total bottom.”
...
Xiao Zhao was the only living person left at the murder scene.
He took off his blood-stained coat and ran out, stumbling.
There was no panic on his face, only shrewd calculation.
In his current state, he certainly couldn't return directly to the Investigation Bureau.
As an investigator, all the investigative knowledge he usually used to solve cases was now inverted, becoming methods for counter-investigation.
“I'll find a place to hide first to lie low, then I'll cook up a plausible excuse.”
Yue Shi watched Xiao Zhao depart, but did not move to finish him off.
This was a freshly minted villain who would spread even more evil.
As anyone who has killed before knows, killing is addictive.
When malice is disguised as justice enforcing heaven's will, it eventually evolves into a desire to kill anyone who looks unpleasant.
When one's power is insufficient, this bloodlust can still be suppressed.
But once one possesses the ability to strip away others' lives at will, they must rely purely on their conscience for self-restraint.
Yue Shi's existence was meant to break the shackles of morality and conscience.
Once someone fell, it was impossible for them to climb back up.
‘A pity.’
‘Extreme Yin, Extreme Evil, Most Wicked, and Most Dark. I am but one of them.’
Yue Shi felt a slight sense of regret.
Just as he was about to turn and leave, a bright, dark red flame suddenly rose in the distant sky.
When first seen, the flame was still very far away.
A few seconds later, the flame was right before his eyes, descending upon the villa where the murders had just occurred.
This fire seemed to have no heat; the wind and snow passed through the flames without melting at all.
However, the moment Ghost saw that fire, he immediately felt his emotions become exceptionally volatile and irritable.
He hastily closed his eyes and hid behind Yue Shi.
Yue Shi remained standing in the shadows of the corner, the vertical eye on his forehead watching the fire.
“It's the director of the Cuifeng City Investigation Bureau,” Ghost reminded him.
A man stepped out from the flames, his gaze fierce.
He had just received a distress signal from his subordinate, Xiao Zhao, and had rushed over.
As soon as he approached the villa, the scent of blood hit his nose.
“Am I still too late?”
“The blood is still fresh; they died not long ago.”
“Xiao Zhao said someone attacked them, so there should be traces left behind.”
The director only took one look at the scene and did not enter to investigate thoroughly.
Such trivial matters were not part of his job, and he didn't have the time for it now.
The killer had only just left; inspecting the scene was a waste of time. It was better to go and catch the killer directly.
However, no matter how he searched, he couldn't find even a single shred of evidence regarding the “killer.”
He only found the footprints from Xiao Zhao's escape, but those footprints simply vanished after a short distance.
Xiao Zhao had also completely lost contact.
“Damn it, the snow is too heavy; too many traces have been covered up.”
The director stomped his foot viciously, feeling even more irritable than usual.
The surrounding snow was actually sent spiraling into the sky by the force of that single stomp.
Seeing that he truly couldn't find anything, he did not linger at the scene, transforming back into a ball of fire and departing.
Snowflakes continued to fall incessantly.
Five minutes later, a fire ignited at the exact spot where the director had last stood.
He reappeared, his gaze scanning the surroundings inch by inch.
Compared to when he had left, there was only more snow; there were no other changes.
His feint had failed to catch anyone; only then did the director truly depart.
Rate on N.U.
