Chapter 36: Ariel’s Eyes
The scene before him was dim and gloomy, shrouded in a fiery halo, as if a documentary was playing, but the images were even more blurred and ethereal.
In a nearly twenty-square-meter oppressive space crammed with clutter, Yu Yinchuan, tall and impeccably dressed, raised a silver revolver with white-gloved right hand, his expression cold and uncharacteristic. In stark contrast stood Zhong Liushen, who was being threatened by the g*n, as if they belonged to two entirely different worlds.
Zhong Liushen was quite old, appearing even older than the portrait in the information; wrinkles piled indiscriminately on his waxy, pale skin, with scabs, abscesses, and even necrosis hiding among the undulating creases.
“Don’t, don’t k*ll me! I don’t know anything, spare me! Aren’t we friends? You know, I’m on the verge of complete extinction…”
He shouted in terror, his exaggeratedly curved back trembling uncontrollably, his thin, frail hands waving incessantly, coupled with his unusually swollen abdomen, making him look like a frog tossed onto a hot iron plate, screaming in pain.
Pitiful and comical.
“Right, haven’t you always been helping me? Help me this time too; let me leave this world with dignity?!”
“Although I want to help you, but…” A flicker of turbulence appeared on Yu Yinchuan’s face, but he quickly returned to indifference. “I’m sorry, my friend, but it’s Lord [God of Wealth]’s order.”
“d*mn!” Upon hearing Yu Yinchuan mention [God of Wealth], Zhong Liushen’s terrified face suddenly took on a venomous hue. “I understand now, I know! He’s worried I’ll expose his dirty secrets with Ariel, so he sent you to k*ll me!”
As a bystander from the “future,” Luxianbei’s heart skipped at those words, his pupils dilating slightly.
Ariel? Isn’t that the name of the company with that strange logo?
How could it be related to the God of Wealth… that Guardian?, Luxianbei thought.
Although he had already gained Cataclysm Grade power through the North Spirit Seal, he still hesitated at the mention of the [God of Wealth], instinctively avoiding directly uttering the name in his mind.
“You talk too much!” Seemingly provoked by Zhong Liushen’s words, Yu Yinchuan stepped forward with a fierce expression and violently pushed Zhong Liushen onto the filthy sofa. He stepped on Zhong Liushen’s chest, ruthlessly shoved the revolver’s barrel into Zhong Liushen’s mouth, then pulled the trigger.
“Bang——!”
The g*n roared, flames spewed from the barrel, and the spirit energy fluctuation triggered by the #45 solidified spell b*llet flashed and vanished.
In an instant, Zhong Liushen’s skull was shattered by the spell b*llet, and a mixture of thick bl**d and brain matter splattered from his broken skull, coating the yellowing wall behind him.
Watching Zhong Liushen’s head explode, Yu Yinchuan waited for a moment, seemingly confirming whether Zhong Liushen was truly dead.
Only when he saw Zhong Liushen’s wide-open eyes, which would never close even in d*ath, as his body slowly leaned backward and slumped onto the sofa, did he step forward, pry open Zhong Liushen’s clenched fist, and place the revolver in his hand, adjusting the barrel’s position and stowing it back in Zhong Liushen’s mouth.
Seeing this, Luxianbei felt a sudden clarity.
If it was him who killed, it made sense for the urban legend to have died from alchemical firearms, right?
In this country where acquiring firearms is hardly any easier than buying a hamburger, shooting oneself is a common method of s*icide. Even if this old corpse were discovered in the future, no one would excessively investigate it. However…
What if there’s some stubborn character who insists on pursuing the matter? Now that I am Yu Yinchuan, and Yu Yinchuan is me, wouldn’t I be framing that guy?, Luxianbei thought with frustration.
Having completed his “killer” task, Yu Yinchuan glanced around and quickly left the dirty, dilapidated underground rental, exuding a vibe of “leaving as if nothing happened, hiding deep in obscurity.”
However, as an observer, Luxianbei sensed that Yu Yinchuan didn’t leave as carefree as he appeared.
Whether it was because he had just killed his “friend,” or because Zhong Liushen had mentioned the Guardian and Ariel’s dirty secrets, Yu Yinchuan left with an unusually heavy expression, pausing briefly as his gaze swept past the strange logos around the rental.
With Yu Yinchuan’s departure, the rental fell into dead silence.
I was wondering why the air in this d*mn place smelled so “inviting”; turns out an ancient urban legend died here… Luxianbei thought disdainfully, watching Zhong Liushen’s corpse gradually rot in the dark space, emitting a sense of Night侵蚀.
He initially thought the scenes he had glimpsed, through his eyes’ special ability, would end here. However, when he closed his eyes, adjusted his state, and reopened them, he was surprised to find the past scenes continuing.
In the dark, oppressive rental, aside from the fungi twisted by the high degree of Night侵蚀, which absorbed Zhong Liushen’s bl**d, and the occasional visits of mice and cockroaches, everything seemed frozen in place.
Yet Luxianbei vaguely sensed a phantom and ethereal power penetrating the invisible barrier, descending into the rental, like a gigantic soft-bodied creature large enough to fill the entire space, writhing and peering out with thousands of eyes.
But… where exactly is it?
Luxianbei wondered, then his gaze unwittingly made contact with the eyes on that old refrigerator.
Those were the eyes printed on the Ariel Corporation logo.
Immediately, he clearly saw the eyes on the logo blinked, or rather, all the eyes surrounded by feathers on the Ariel Corporation logos throughout the rental seemed to blink in unison, their pupils trembling.
In an instant, a jolt of sensation surged up Luxianbei’s spine.
Chilling.
Could it be… that the entity descending into the rental was related to the eyes on the logo?
Luxianbei thought, scanning the “Ariel’s Eyes” hidden throughout the room.
In those eyes, he glimpsed something indescribable, intoxicatingly glamorous, a dizzying allure.
In that moment, he felt as if he possessed all the wealth of the world, capable of anything.
There was nothing he couldn’t achieve; if there was, it was just that he hadn’t “coined” enough!
And just as Luxianbei was about to succumb to the pleasures brought by wealth, the intense pain spreading from his eyes and the chill rising from his heart gradually swept through his limbs, forcibly pulling him back to reality.
Night was falling, and his body was beginning to show signs of transforming into an urban legend…
Fantastic!
Feeling the changes in his body, Luxianbei felt a rush of delight.
He swore that since swallowing the Witch’s Egg, it was the first time he had no desire to interrupt his transformation into an urban legend, and he even felt a bit impatient.
After witnessing Zhong Liushen’s demise, he didn’t want to wear Yu Yinchuan’s disguise any longer.
————
Although Luxianbei, who suddenly became the “God Killer,” wanted to leave the crime scene quickly, the description of Zhong Liushen lingered in his mind, and seeing the tragic end of Zhong Liushen, he slowed his pace.
[What are you dawdling for? Aren’t you supposed to leave?] Seeing Luxianbei stop, Nanling Yaohua raised her small notebook with a puzzled expression.
“Reportedly, Zhong Liushen was once a kind and responsible deity… He should not have died and been left to rot in such a dark place, so…”
[So?] Nanling Yaohua tilted her head, holding her notebook aloft.
“So, how about we burn him?” Luxianbei said expressionlessly. “As the murderer, it’s reasonable for me to destroy the crime scene, right?”
Nanling Yaohua, “…”
──
Ten minutes later.
On the streets of the Free City shrouded in night.
A beautiful woman walked out of the underground entrance, resembling a giant rat hole. She wore a fitted white shirt with her curves slightly accentuated at the collar, a pure black tie slung across her neck, black trousers below, and her light golden hair standing high…
She looked competent and radiated an alluring aura, causing a group of homeless people hiding in the shadows to gaze longingly, their eyes almost turning into substance with desire.
“Phew——!”
After breathing in slightly fresher air, Luxianbei let out a long sigh and turned to Nanling Yaohua floating beside her. “Xiao Hua, I feel like we might be in big trouble.”
Zhong Liushen was murdered by Yu Yinchuan…
Yu Yinchuan mysteriously disappeared…
The unspeakable and sordid secrets between the Guardian and the logo monster…
Combined, these pieces of information led her to some terrifying conjectures.
For example… was there a traitor among the night watch guardians?
If such a speculated were confirmed, wouldn’t that be a colossal problem?
“…”
What the hell is happening?
Wasn’t I just escaping under Yu Yinchuan’s identity, casually helping him deal with a small task?
That b*stard with the Wordless Book, why didn’t he investigate clearly before throwing others into the fray? Is this ™ just trying to put me in a deadlock?
Luxianbei vented in frustration within his heart, but he saw Nanling Yaohua half-jokingly, half-seriously extend her little notebook into her view.
[Although I don’t know what happened, please don’t pull me into this.]
When did she learn such garbage talk? Luxianbei hesitated to say anything, and just then, Nanling Yaohua quickly wrote another line and handed it to her.
[So, what exactly happened?]
“How should I explain it to you?” Luxianbei tilted his head, his peripheral vision gliding toward the nearby 24-hour convenience store, pausing on the gigantic logo printed on its sign.
That logo was indeed Ariel’s Eye…
No wonder it was still open at this hour, completely unafraid of those starving homeless people launching a “zero-dollar purchase” invitation.
With that thing looming, who would dare to cause trouble?
Luxianbei mused, quietly telling Nanling Yaohua, “I need to confirm something.” Then he quickly walked towards the 24-hour convenience store.
He wanted to check if the products sold in that convenience store, like Zhong Liushen’s home, all bore that bizarre logo.
However.
Crossing the empty street and arriving in front of the 24-hour convenience store, before he could enter and confirm the logo on the goods on the shelves, Luxianbei froze in place.
Through the glass door of the convenience store, he saw a wanted notice scrolling on the television inside.
“Yu Yinchuan, a citizen of Z Country, alias [Golden Toad Boy]…”
Luxianbei, “…”
