Chapter 33: The Severed Finger Compass
“… That’s how it is, Gold Horn. This time, I’m only giving you a serious warning, which isn’t excessive, right?”
A spiritual ability criminal died in Yun Kang Psychiatric Hospital, and Gold Horn, the temporary supervisor, is responsible.
Listening to Xing Yuan’s cold voice on the other end of the phone, Gold Horn nodded, “You’re right, Leader. This time I was careless.”
“However, since this matter is suspicious, I’ve temporarily suppressed the disciplinary action. If you can clarify the situation within three days, the serious warning can be reduced to a regular warning.”
“Understood, thank you, Leader! I will do my best!”
“Alright, that’s it for now? Report any developments immediately!”
“Beep—!”
After hanging up the phone, Gold Horn rubbed his face with both hands and then stared deeply at the corner of the wall, falling into thought.
What did he say about being afraid of d*ath? That guy had already planned to commit s*icide from the very beginning!
Whether it was stirring up a riot in prison or persistently trying to escape, it was all a smokescreen to conceal his true intentions.
Stirring up a riot and attempting to escape would make people think he was rebellious and had a strong desire to live, thus lowering their guard against his potential s*icide.
As for the reason behind his s*icide, there should only be two possibilities.
The first is that he possessed some core secrets of the Solar Eclipse Society, which had fallen into the hands of the Siye Society, and sooner or later would be extracted through interrogation. He might as well end it himself to prevent a leak.
You should know that the methods used by the Solar Eclipse Society against traitors who leak secrets are unimaginably cruel.
The second possibility is that he had some contingency plan from the beginning, a way to be reborn after d*ath.
But could he really pull it off?
Even if he had the technical support of the Solar Eclipse Society, the likelihood would still be low, right?
After all, for most beings, aside from those unique spiritual ability users with special spirit patterns, even cataclysm-grade entities struggle with resurrection.
Even urban legends, after being hunted down, take a long time to re-emerge from legend. In a sense, they are no longer the same urban legends.
Perhaps the Solar Eclipse Society had indeed mastered some technique for reviving deceased spiritual ability users. A technical operative like Silver Horn could still vaguely analyze some clues.
But Gold Horn, as a combat-oriented operative, isn’t skilled in analytical investigations like this.
“Knock knock knock—!”
A series of knocks interrupted Gold Horn’s thoughts.
“Come in!”
A member of the Special Action Team pushed the door open and bowed slightly to Gold Horn, saying, “Secretary Qian, An Qing has completed the dissection.”
“Got it, I’ll head over right now!” Gold Horn responded, standing up and leaving the office.
————
To be honest, Yun Kang Psychiatric Hospital is quite terrifying according to common theory.
The psychiatric hospital, situated deep in the mountains, has no way out except for a mountain road, and its underground features several layers of jail-like chambers. Additionally, there are facilities like a morgue, dissection room, interrogation room, and spirit energy organ storage, all available.
If an uninformed civilian accidentally wanders in and sees these facilities, they would likely be terrified enough to seek admission.
When Gold Horn arrived at the small lounge next to the dissection room, An Qing was still wearing the protective gear from the dissection, with bloodstained latex gloves, seriously playing with a conical flask.
At the bottom of the flask was a dark red, fleshy mass that was slowly wriggling, seemingly possessing some vitality.
“Cough cough!” Gold Horn softly cleared his throat to draw An Qing’s attention, inquiring, “How did the dissection turn out, Agent An Qing?”
“Ah, sorry, I was lost in thought for a bit,” An Qing pulled herself together and smiled at Gold Horn, saying, “I’ve carefully confirmed that, purely from a human perspective, Beres indeed shows no signs of life.”
“In other words, we can confirm that he is dead?” Gold Horn’s expression was troubled.
That implies he likely concealed some core secrets of the Solar Eclipse Society and, fearing they would be unearthed through interrogation, committed s*icide out of guilt.
But if that’s the case, to mitigate the disciplinary action, they need to uncover the secrets he possessed.
This is a bit tricky… Gold Horn thought, rubbing his slightly swollen temples.
“No, he’s still alive.”
A cold voice came from outside the lounge, and Gold Horn turned to see Jiang Li entering.
“Although I really don’t want to admit this fact, he is indeed still alive.”
“You…” Gold Horn was taken aback for a moment, then recalled Jiang Li’s connection with Beres and suddenly understood.
The reason the Solar Eclipse Society has become a persistent headache for the Siye Society, aside from its deep-rooted ties and accumulated resources over the years, is primarily due to a series of spiritual research achievements.
Among these, the symbolic Black Sun Totem is one of the most important spiritual research results of the Solar Eclipse Society.
This tattoo, resembling a family mark but not definitively pointing to an urban legend, is a culmination of key features from spirit patterns, family marks, and totem beliefs, researched by the Solar Eclipse Society.
Although the control a practitioner of the Black Sun Totem has over the recipient is nowhere near that of a true family mark, it possesses a strong versatility.
As long as a member of the Solar Eclipse Society learns how to draw the Black Sun Totem, they can apply it to any target.
Even though the success rate of applying it to high-ranking spiritual ability users is low, certain spirit energy items can suppress the efficacy of the Black Sun Totem, but this still provides the Solar Eclipse Society with a more efficient means of member expansion and control compared to other illegal spiritual ability organizations.
The practitioner of the tattoo on Jiang Li’s back is Beres. If he were already dead, her tattoo should have lost its effect.
However, she could clearly feel that the tattoo on her back was still affecting her.
This suggests that Beres could potentially escape through s*icide.
However, even after considering this point, Gold Horn still had one doubt, “But can the Solar Eclipse Society really resurrect the dead?”
“Yes, most urban legends and spiritual ability users cannot be resurrected after d*ath, but…” Jiang Li calmly replied, her peripheral gaze drifting to the conical flask in An Qing’s hand, “But it might be different if blended with the bl**d and flesh of the Inheritance Beast.”
Internal researchers of the Siye Society, through recent data from spiritual ability users and urban legends, have made a bold assumption.
They believe that as nights become longer, some special individuals surpassing their original understanding have begun to emerge among spiritual ability users and urban legends.
High-level urban legends like the Inheritance Beast and Pestilence Taijie, which originated after the nights grew long, are likely to possess capabilities beyond expectation.
Although this hypothesis hasn’t been validated, it doesn’t hinder An Qing from making hypotheses regarding the relationship between the Inheritance Beast and Beres based on such deductions.
Gold Horn followed Jiang Li’s gaze to the fleshy mass in the flask and exclaimed, “Are you saying that the junk body contains the flesh of the Inheritance Beast?!”
“That’s impossible! Before apprehending him and sending him to prison, I extracted bl**d samples for comparison, and there was no sign of Inheritance Beast tissue remaining in his body!”
If they had found remnants of the Inheritance Beast earlier, his danger level would have undoubtedly risen, and he would have been sent to Jin Guan City for trial long ago… Gold Horn added in his mind.
“I also reviewed the bl**d sample comparison data.” An Qing nodded slightly, “He indeed has no residual Inheritance Beast tissue in him, not even this…”
She glanced at the flesh in the conical flask, wrinkling her nose with undisguised disdain.
“When I dissected that guy, although I found that it shared similar external characteristics with the Inheritance Beast’s flesh, the spiritual energy fluctuations didn’t match.”
“Only after Jiang Li’s reminder did I attempt to combine the special substance extracted from the Nightfall Syndrome sample with this thing, and guess what?”
“Could it be that it exhibited characteristics similar to the Inheritance Beast?” Gold Horn ventured.
Jiang Li nodded slightly, affirming Gold Horn’s conjecture, “Exactly!”
“Now…”
An Qing was about to speak when Gold Horn interrupted, “Now I will immediately request the use of the Severed Finger Compass. In five hours, we should be able to locate that junk!”
With that, he hurriedly left the lounge.
The Severed Finger Compass, also known as the “Severed Finger Compass of the Old Destroyer,” is an A-grade spirit energy item, shaped like a large brass compass, with its needle made from the index bone of a mysterious old destroyer’s left hand.
This compass is not used for normal feng shui assessments but can utilize bl**d to locate almost all living creatures.
It is currently stored within the Siye Society in Jin Guan City.
Since Beres is most likely not dead, his bl**d can be used for tracking and locking onto him.
Although using the Severed Finger Compass has severe side effects, the target must be killed after finding them, and their bl**d must be sacrificed to it.
If the target is already dead or if their bl**d cannot complete the sacrifice, the user will suffer a violent backlash.
However, Gold Horn was too preoccupied to worry about that; he only wanted to k*ll Beres, even if he ultimately failed…
Backlash wouldn’t k*ll him, just mess him up for a bit.
Watching Gold Horn leave, An Qing smiled and teased, “It seems this secretary is quite eager to teach that escapee a lesson!”
Jiang Li shot a sidelong glance at An Qing and calmly replied, “That’s a good thing.”
“Exactly!” An Qing agreed, nodding, then stretched her body, “In that case, I should start writing the report.”
The flesh of the Inheritance Beast will lose most of its original characteristics after copying the powers, and once it loses its host, further contact with other fleshes will reactivate it…
This is already a new discovery regarding the abilities of the Inheritance Beast, making it necessary to write the report promptly and upload it to the Siye Society’s archive.
“Alright, notify me when you’re done.” Jiang Li nodded, “I need to start preparing as well.”
With that, she turned and left the lounge.
While Gold Horn rushed back to Jin Guan City, risking backlash from the Severed Finger Compass to track Beres, his application would still need approval, and by the time he returned the bl**d of Beres and locked onto his approximate coordinates, it would take at least four or five hours.
During those four or five hours, the successfully liberated Beres could accomplish many things, such as once again spreading the Nightfall Syndrome in Huacheng.
As the saying goes, “It’s better to be prepared than to be caught off guard.”
Before that, Jiang Li planned to formulate emergency response plans, so if Beres were to pull any tricks, they wouldn’t be caught unprepared like last time.
————
Just as Gold Horn submitted the application for the Severed Finger Compass and hurried back to Jin Guan City with Beres’ bl**d sample.
Deep within a cave hidden in the southwestern mountains, a large metal door sealed with special spell formulas stood before two figures.
A pale, spiritless man and a girl with snow-white rabbit ears paused in the open space in front of the door.
Miss Rabbit stood to the side with her arms crossed, glancing derisively at Shuo E as he continuously infused spirit energy into the metal door, curling her lip.
“After being with you for so long, I’ve already noticed that there should actually be two factions within your Solar Eclipse Society, right? One loyal to the President and the other to the Elders’ Council.”
As she spoke, she looked up at the metallic door in front, with a hint of melancholy in her voice, “Isn’t this whatever Beres, someone from the President’s faction? Why is someone from the Elders’ faction like you helping him?”
“I don’t understand the orders of the Elders’ Council; I only execute them,” Shuo E replied coolly, “The Elders’ Council also stated that since we are all members of the Solar Eclipse Society, it’s our duty to support each other when necessary.”
“The Elders’ Council, the Elders’ Council, it’s all they ever talk about!” Miss Rabbit rolled her eyes in irritation, “When will you think about yourself for once?”
Over the time spent with Shuo E, she realized he was either completing tasks for the Elders’ Council or on his way to do so.
As one of the rare beings who successfully rebelled against her master for the sake of freedom, Miss Rabbit couldn’t understand such a tool-like existence, and even found it a bit intolerable.
She was still around the Solar Eclipse Society because a deal wasn’t completed, but what about Shuo E?
“…” Shuo E glanced at Miss Rabbit in confusion, asking, “Think about myself? The core of urban legends that I need for my daily needs is abundantly supplied by the Elders’ Council. Once my spirit energy level reaches a certain threshold, I can quickly receive spirit pattern upgrades. What more do I need to consider?”
“For instance…” Miss Rabbit’s eyes spun around, “For instance, lifelong matters?”
“Oh, that’s not necessary!” Shuo E flashed a meaningful smile at Miss Rabbit, his crescent-moon-like eyes suggesting “you know what I mean!”
Why is he looking at me like that? Could it be… Miss Rabbit thought, her face suddenly flushing.
“The Elders’ Council said that if I do well, I’ll be assigned a wife in a few years!” Shuo E declared, his face full of pride and anticipation.
Miss Rabbit, “…”
What on earth am I expecting?
What kind of organization are you guys from, assigning wives like that?
Are you objectifying women? Can’t you be serious? I’m so annoyed!
————
Half an hour later.
As Shuo E completed the infusion of energy into the special spell on the metal door and activated the spell using the information left by Beres, the metal door finally opened.
With a loud rumble.
“Boom—!”
Accompanied by the heavy sound of the metal door opening, a vast and pitch-black space appeared before Shuo E and Miss Rabbit, revealing the outlines of some large machinery.
Both of them exchanged glances, bowed their heads slightly in mutual understanding, and formed a protective formation as they walked deeper into the cave.
“Buzz—!” The moment they stepped into the cave, a faint humming filled their ears.
Along the sides of the path hewn from rock, specially-made crystal columns emitted a cold light, stretching all the way to the end of the path and illuminating the entire space.
In the gigantic space, under the massive stalagmites, various murky liquids of different sizes condensed into spherical shapes, floating under the action of the incantations carved on the stalagmites.
In the cold light from the crystal columns, they vaguely saw all sorts of twisted and eerie existences being nurtured inside, some resembling humans or certain animals, while others were completely unrecognizable, merely looking at them invoking both physiological and psychological discomfort.
“That guy is really quite perverted.”
As a fierce urban legend that had previously devoured large numbers of urban legends and potential spiritual ability users, Miss Rabbit couldn’t help but comment upon seeing such a sight.
And she silently thanked her stars that the person responsible for her own experimental modifications was not Beres.
At least that old man had strict requirements regarding the appearance of experimental subjects.
The difference between the two was likely between “usable” and “aesthetically pleasing and usable,” Miss Rabbit thought.
Just then, Shuo E fished out a palm-sized dark golden octahedron from his pocket and infused it with spirit energy.
As the spirit energy activated the dark golden octahedron, Shuo E threw it into the air.
The octahedron floated in midair, vibrating incessantly, and then each face emitted intense golden beams of light, like searchlights, thoroughly scanning every corner of the cave.
Then…
The light gradually faded and began to fall.
Seeing this, Shuo E quickly reached out to catch the dark golden octahedron, tucked it away, and turned to Miss Rabbit, saying, “Let’s go. Beres prepared a clone for himself deep inside.”
“Mm, okay.” Miss Rabbit nodded, but then stepped back a half-step while watching Shuo E’s back, rolling her eyes.
That’s why I can’t stand those old fogies in the Elders’ Council!
They’re clearly coveting whatever research results Beres has, yet they claim that as members of the Solar Eclipse Society, it’s our duty to support each other?
Only a fool like Shuo E would believe their nonsense! Miss Rabbit thought, feeling a sense of fatigue.
