"Hello, Senior. It’s me. What can I do for you?"

"Xiuwen, do you have any intel on the Illuminati’s local presence?"

"Oh, come on, Senior. You’re overestimating the efficiency of our backwater office. It’s been almost two months, and aside from putting up a bunch of banners and writing a ton of meeting minutes, those bureaucrats haven’t done a single useful thing! We’re not even sure if there are any rats in the house yet, let alone how many."

Yan Sea was silent on the other end of the line for a moment. Then he spoke.

"I have a piece of intel for you."

"Go on, go on. Hold on... I’m grabbing a notebook to write this down... Okay, go ahead!"

Bu Xiuwen scrambled to find a notebook and pen, clamping the phone between his shoulder and ear.

"May fourth, the day of the high school martial arts tournament. West sector of the second-year competition. In the northwest direction, opposite the ring. A cult member infiltrated to watch the competition."

Bu Xiuwen quickly jotted down the key information in his notebook.

"May fourth... martial arts tournament... west sector... northwest direction..."

"And then? Any distinguishing features? How many of them?"

"That’s it!"

"That’s it?"

Bu Xiuwen stood up from his seat, finding it hard to believe.

"Really? That’s all? Isn’t there anything else?"

Yan Sea’s voice paused.

"Yeah, that’s all!"

"Seriously? This sounds like fake intel. No context, no cause and effect, it’s just so random. Senior, are you sure you haven’t been duped?"

Bu Xiuwen paced back and forth anxiously, tossing the notebook onto his desk. A voice came from the other end of the line.

"The intel’s authenticity is beyond doubt. You guys are in the dark right now anyway, aren’t you? At least this gives you a direction to investigate."

"Fine, Senior. It’s not like we’re busy anyway! I could use something to do."

BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...

"Hello?... He hung up!"

Bu Xiuwen put down the phone and scratched his head. He didn’t get it. ’Where did my old senior get such bizarre intel?’

Before he could think it over, his phone rang again.

"Hello... This is... Okay, I’m on my way."

***

Miss Lanhua lit some incense. With graceful, lotus-like steps, she slowly sat on the edge of the bed. She reached out with a pair of delicate, jade-like hands, the soft pads of her fingers gently pressing on the man’s head.

Her hair fell, stray strands brushing against the man’s cheek, and his breathing immediately grew ragged.

She wore a purple gauze robe, with only a narrow bandeau covering her chest. Whether looking from above or below, one could see the snowy-white peaks and valleys of her bosom.

Driven by instinct, the man couldn’t help but try to lift his head. He wanted to see more, to see more clearly.

Miss Lanhua reached out a finger and pressed it against the man’s forehead, stopping his next move.

Her peripheral vision seemed to catch something, and she suddenly got up and stood by the window.

The man on the massage bed was breathing heavily, his desire stoked. He leaped off the bed in a single bound. Miss Lanhua put up a show of resistance but ultimately yielded, placing her hands on the windowsill. She squinted her eyes as if in enjoyment, letting out soft, delicate gasps.

This was the 25th floor of Jinkai Mansion. The view was excellent. From this position, one could see more than half the county town, including the Martial Arts Administration Bureau and the Public Security Bureau.

Suddenly, Miss Lanhua seemed to see something. Bracing one hand on the windowsill, she grabbed her phone with the other and sent a message.

Di Yunliang took out his phone and looked at the latest message.

"Two vehicles from the Martial Arts Administration Bureau, three from the Public Security Bureau. Deployed urgently, heading south."

He stared at the message, lost in thought. Local security forces were weak and rarely deployed on a large scale. Moreover, the Martial Arts Administration Bureau had gone with them.

’South? ...Unless it’s Beigouya Village.’

After a moment of thought, he dialed Cheng YuanYu’s number.

"There’s still one surveillance camera we haven’t dismantled. The rest has been cleaned up."

"Forget the camera. Immediately erase all your tracks. Go lie low in Dashishi Town for a while. The safe house has enough supplies for a month. Don’t go out without my signal."

"Got it!"

For some reason, Di Yunliang had a bad feeling.

The sharp wail of police sirens shattered the peace of Beigouya Village. The abandoned village had seen quite a few visitors recently.

The scene was already cordoned off with police tape. Wang Jie led Bu Xiuwen inside.

"Mr. Wang, we’ve excavated five bodies—three men, two women. One is a second-realm Martial Artist, and four are ordinary people."

"Based on a rough estimate, the time of death was about a month ago. The deceased were tortured before they died, but we’ll need the medical examiner to run further tests for specifics. We also found signs of recent activity in the abandoned house up ahead, and it looks like a blood sacrifice took place."

"A blood sacrifice?"

Wang Jie’s heart grew heavy. ’It seems this group is past the hiding phase. They’re starting to make their move.’ 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

In the derelict living room, splatters of dried, dark-brown blood were everywhere. An eerie Array was carved into the concrete floor at the center.

As soon as Wang Jie saw the Array, he immediately issued an order.

"All personnel below the second realm of martial arts are to withdraw immediately! Lock down the scene! No entry!"

Ever since receiving information about the Illuminati, he had requested and reviewed numerous case files, learning a great deal about their methods and characteristics.

The reason the Illuminati managed to resurface time and again was the so-called spiritual pollution of the Dark Ash Evil God. For over eight hundred years, its main body had never been found. The higher-ups speculated that it might be hiding in the Exotic Origin Realm.

On the battlefields of the borderlands, people were subtly corrupted every year. The influence then spread silently, causing all sorts of horrific incidents in the heartlands of the Yu Kingdom.

According to research data, items related to the Dark Ash Evil God could trigger the darkest aspects of the human psyche. The used Sacrificial Array before him possessed a similar ability. If ordinary people without the resistance of Qi Blood were to look at it for too long, it could lead to some... unpleasant incidents.

After a moment of thought, Wang Jie issued another order.

"Anyone below the second realm who has already seen the Sacrificial Array, return for psychological intervention and evaluation."

Bu Xiuwen cautiously approached Wang Jie and asked:

"Deputy Chief, is it really that terrifying?"

Wang Jie shot him a glance but didn’t say anything.

He continued, asking a police officer, "How was this place discovered?"

A young female officer answered him. "Sir, at 12:36 PM, we received an emergency call from a villager in the neighboring Xiaoliu Village."

"The caller said his mother went missing the day before yesterday in the afternoon but returned the next day. After she came back, she was mentally unstable and only barely recovered this morning. She kept saying that people had died at her parents’ old home. After some careful questioning, we learned about the anomaly at Beigouya Village, so he called the police."

"What a coincidence."

Wang Jie’s brow furrowed slightly.

"Yes. Our investigation revealed that Li Changle’s mother had an argument with his wife that day and, in a fit of anger, decided to sneak back to her parents’ home. The thing is, the old woman’s memory has been failing for a while. Her family passed away over ten years ago, and her nephews had all moved out of Beigouya Village one after another. But she still remembered the way to Beigouya Village. She made it all the way here before the stench of death suddenly frightened her. She didn’t dare go any further and rushed back home."

"That’s what led to all of this."