**Chapter Twenty-Five: The Disappearing Alchemical Dirty Bomb**
Hearing three muffled sounds from deep within the room, as if someone was knocking on the wall, Lu Yi Bei and Jiang Li exchanged silent glances for a few seconds, each nodding slightly at the other, and quickly resumed their previous back-to-back alert stance from when they first entered the studio.
Just as Jiang Li was about to step deeper into the room, Lu Yi Bei suddenly whispered, suppressing her voice, “Wait a moment.”
Jiang Li turned to look at Lu Yi Bei, casting a puzzled glance.
Lu Yi Bei glanced at Jiang Li, then at the painting nearby, which depicted strange eyes, and slightly raised her chin.
[What should we do about this thing? Just leave it like this, and I feel a bit uneasy.]
Jiang Li pondered, [Should we destroy it directly?]
[Isn’t that inappropriate? This ghostly thing seems a bit evil; it might be important evidence. I think it’s better if you take it back for research later.]
[Should we cover it with a white cloth again?]
[Cover it up, and it will still “stare” at us! How eerie!]
Jiang Li rolled her eyes at Lu Yi Bei.
[So what do you want to do?]
Lu Yi Bei cradled her chin, pondering for a moment, and her peripheral vision casually swept over the scattered paint on the ground, an idea sparking in her mind.
[Got it! Let me give it some makeup!]
Just like defeating a magical entity requires magic, the best way to alleviate the discomfort from a painting is to use another painting!
Being watched by strange eyes and being secretly observed by a two-dimensional beautiful girl would definitely provide a completely different experience, right?
[To be honest, I had a period where I actually dreamed of becoming a manga artist, drawing two-dimensional beautiful girls every day. I even practiced drawing for a while, and I’m quite confident in drawing eyes.]
Jiang Li responded, “I guess it’s just drawing eyes? I heard that eyes are what many beginner manga artists are best at; it’s after that…”
With a glance, Lu Yi Bei conveyed a message to Jiang Li through her gaze, indicating a message. She quickly took up the paint palette, squeezed out some paint, and then picked up two brushes to return.
Back in front of the painting with the strange eyes, she quickly draped a white cloth over it, then skillfully painted a pair of almost equally sized eyes of Bai Xiaohua on the white cloth.
If it weren’t for the consideration that the painting still had research value, she would have wanted to modify the original artwork directly.
After assessing her masterpiece, Lu Yi Bei satisfactorily put down the paint palette and turned to Jiang Li, [How do you think I did? Isn’t it great!]
It was proven that no matter how strange something is, as long as it turns into the form of a two-dimensional beautiful girl, it will only be seen as cute.
Meanwhile, Jiang Li pulled her gaze away from the seemingly even stranger substitute and rubbed her slightly swollen brow.
It looked good, but she hoped she wouldn’t have to draw again next time.
Initially, she intended to tell Lu Yi Bei the truth, but seeing Lu Yi Bei engrossed in her “artistic” creation, she felt that revealing the truth might be a bit cruel, so she suppressed her impulse.
However, after fidgeting with it a bit, the discomfort of being gazed at by ghostly eyes did indeed diminish quite a lot, Jiang Li thought.
After dealing with the strange eye painting, the two continued in the direction from which the knocking sound was coming.
Not far into their walk, they unexpectedly discovered that the direction from which the knocking sound was emitted completely coincided with the trajectory of dark red drag marks on the floor, pointing directly towards the innermost bedroom.
Could one of those dark red drag marks belong to the person making the knocking sound?
Was he imprisoned? Was it the painter who confined him, or those who intruded into Han Ye Studio first?
Was there just one person imprisoned, or many?
With numerous questions swirling, the two quickly arrived in front of the door to the innermost bedroom.
It was a very old wooden door, so old that it made one doubt whether it had a history even longer than that of the entire row of small buildings. A rusty, corroded lock hung on the door.
Due to the many years, dirt had accumulated, making it hard to discern its original color. In the cracks of the wood, something viscous seemed to be slowly writhing. Upon closer inspection, it appeared completely still, indistinguishable from ordinary stains.
Stopping in front of the door, Lu Yi Bei gestured for Jiang Li behind her to back away, then raised her diamond-shaped shield in front of her while positioning Xuan Ying Luo Fu across her front.
With a swift motion, the sword fell, quietly cutting through the chains on the door.
As Lu Yi Bei severed the chains, Jiang Li caught the falling heavy lock. They stood in place for a few seconds, seeing that nothing strange rushed out from behind the door, before finally pushing it open.
“Creak—!”
With a light sound reminiscent of a m*an, the door, which seemed ready to fall apart at any moment, slowly creaked open. Accompanied by a gentle breeze stirred by the opening door, a white shadow floated out from within.
Without any hesitation, Jiang Li almost reflexively stepped forward, raising her hand and slashing toward the white shadow. The next moment, the sound of tearing fabric filled her ears.
“Rip—!” A section of white cloth, severed and singed at the ends, slowly fell to the ground next to Lu Yi Bei.
She paused slightly, looking at the torn fabric, then at Jiang Li. With a quick motion, she drew several alchemical dirty bombs from the God Realm Prototype, rolling them into the inky blackness of the bedroom.
With the faint glow from the alchemical dirty bombs illuminating the room, a bizarre scene unfolded before the two.
This bedroom should be the master bedroom; it was spacious, but there was no furniture inside—only thin white cloths hanging from the ceiling, layered and blocking the view.
The white cloth was lightweight, and one could vaguely see that it bore remnants of unwashed stains, oddly reminiscent of the gauze repeatedly used during wartime after a simple wash and dry.
At that moment, the outside was filled with wind and rain, the cold wind seeping through the cracks of the tightly closed window, emitting a low, mournful sound, causing the white cloths to sway while illuminated by the eerie green, indigo, or crimson light of the alchemical dirty bombs, resembling a group of ghosts dancing.
What could they be hiding by hanging so many white cloths?
If someone or something were hiding behind these white cloths, one would hardly notice them right away.
In fact, as long as it stood there behind the white cloth, motionless, we still wouldn’t know of its presence.
As Lu Yi Bei pondered this, her eyes suddenly narrowed, and she tightened her grip on Xuan Ying Luo Fu.
She sensed something unusual!
One, two, eight.
Counting silently in her mind, she turned to Jiang Li and conveyed a message with her gaze.
[One is missing.]
Jiang Li tilted her head, [What is missing?]
[One alchemical dirty bomb is missing; I threw in nine just now, but there are only eight glowing spots now.] Lu Yi Bei responded with her eyes.
Understanding Lu Yi Bei’s message conveyed through her gaze, Jiang Li’s expression instantly became alert, and she subconsciously tightened her grip on her long kn*fe, holding it protectively in front of her.
There could be many reasons for one alchemical dirty bomb to be absent.
For example, it could have suddenly malfunctioned for some reason, or it could have been completely covered by something, or perhaps it was taken by some presence hidden behind the white cloths.
If it’s the last possibility—
“Boom—!”
A loud explosion suddenly erupted, shaking the ground.
A pillar of fire, flickering with electric light, shot up from the center of the bedroom floor, crashing against the ceiling with a muffled sound, releasing an acrid smell of burning protein that spread through the air.
In the next moment, the white cloths in the entire room were engulfed in flames.
Indeed, Lu Yi Bei detonated the missing alchemical dirty bomb.
The simplest way to locate a bomb is to blow it up, right?
If there really was some unfortunate fellow who unwittingly took away that alchemical dirty bomb, it would serve him right to understand that it wasn’t his belong—such a simple principle even children should know.
Interrupted in her thoughts, Jiang Li hurriedly activated her powers, casting [Lesser Punishment: Water Prison] to extinguish the flames igniting the white cloths, then glared at Lu Yi Bei with a dark expression.
She completely did not expect that the ability originally intended for targeting enemies would, in its first use, be used for extinguishing fires.
Seeing waves of muddy currents rushing from the void, controlled by some mysterious power, swirling in the cramped space, Lu Yi Bei’s eyes glinted with surprise. She turned to Jiang Li, wanting to ask her what ability this was when her intense gaze made her heart race.
[Detonating dangerous items in a residential building? Aren’t you afraid the building will collapse?]
[I won’t dare again next time.] Lu Yi Bei shrank back slightly.
Jiang Li shook her head helplessly, [Forget it, let’s go take a look first.]
Seeing Jiang Li’s gaze, Lu Yi Bei came back to her senses and recalled that the explosion of the alchemical dirty bomb originated from below.
Following the direction of the rising column of flame, she saw, as expected, a charred hole in the center of the room.
Gazing at the opening, Lu Yi Bei nodded thoughtfully.
Those white cloths were probably there to cover up the existence of this hole?
While contemplating, she drew nearer for a look. Surrounding the hole was a layer of charred, viscous substance that was difficult to distinguish in its original state, peeling away.
It seemed that the alchemical dirty bomb had dropped into the hole without making a sound, likely because of these viscous substances?
And the smell of burnt protein—was it the flesh and bl**d of something?
Peering a little deeper, she could vaguely see the cracked cement walls revealed after the burnt viscous substance fell away, along with a section of a twisted and deformed ladder.
A basement? Or perhaps it’s connected to some air raid shelter, Jiang Li thought.
From the wartime era to the sixties and seventies, Shancheng had undergone two very special periods during which its people excavated a large number of air raid shelters.
These intricate air raid shelters had formed the unique status of Shancheng, where magnificent skyscrapers stood above, while hidden below lay a mysterious underground world.
Therefore, whether this possible entrance leading to the underground world of Shancheng was discovered and utilized by someone accidentally or was originally present, it all made sense.
After a brief analysis, Jiang Li shifted her gaze away from the hole and looked up at Lu Yi Bei, [Shall we go down and take a look?]
Lu Yi Bei hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
The hole leading underground wasn’t particularly deep, with a drop of about twenty meters; however, as the ladder had been damaged in the explosion and the situation below was unknown, the two descended slowly, taking five minutes to reach the bottom of the large hole.
Just as their feet hit the ground, Lu Yi Bei raised the alchemical dirty bomb, looking down at her feet and frowning.
Illuminated by the ghostly blue glow of the alchemical dirty bomb, she saw that the ground was covered with a layer of damp, hair-like substance, its texture similar to the carpet laid beneath the artworks in the working area, but much thicker.
Stepping on it, she could feel a slight rebound, akin to stepping on flesh.
The space below the large hole was narrow, with only a passage large enough for two people to walk side by side, creating an odd illusion as if they were standing in the digestive tract of some giant creature.
A strange, foul odor lingered in the air, seemingly brewing some ominous implication.
“Thud—thud—!”
Just as the two assessed their surroundings in the dreadful environment, hurried footsteps echoed. Following the sound, near the end of the passage ahead, a shadow flashed by.
