Chapter 394

Chapter 394

I did not know what lay inside the black hole.

Nor did I know whether the Map of the Sin Realm was real.

I only knew the hole was terrifying. Anything that fell inside could never climb back out, at least not anything alive.

“Seventh Master!”

My eyes reddened as I leaned over the edge and screamed desperately.

The hole was so deep that not even an echo returned. It seemed capable of swallowing everything.

“Seventh Master!”

Jin Wuju hurriedly pulled me back. “Brother, calm down! Don’t get excited! You’ll fall!”

I turned toward him, trembling. “Seventh Master fell in. He just fell in!”

“I know!”

“But panic won’t help. We can’t rescue him now. This hole lies beyond our understanding. We know nothing about it!”

Jin Wuju pulled me aside and cautiously looked down.

“My God…”

“How deep is this? Does it truly connect to the Sin Realm…?”

He quickly withdrew.

“Chen Mo, did the hole disappear after you and Seventh Master left last time?”

“No…”

I collapsed onto the floor, numb. “There were sounds… coming from below. We ran.”

Jin Wuju’s eyes widened. “What kind of sounds?”

“Things climbing upward. Many, many things.”

“Did you see them?”

“No…”

After catching my breath, I said, “Listen. The sounds have already started.”

Jin Wuju paused. “I don’t hear anything.”

“Listen carefully…”

He pricked up his ears and leaned closer.

Then the same sounds Seventh Master and I had heard last time rose from the depths.

Jin Wuju’s expression changed instantly. He sprang upright, grabbed me, and ran.

“Seventh Master is still down there…”

“Forget him!” Jin Wuju glared. “We’re still alive! If this truly leads to the Sin Realm, evil ghosts may climb out. Do you want to die?”

“Move!”

He dragged me from the Basement and sprinted out of the villa.

The black hole had clearly terrified him as well. Abandoning his search for the Map of the Sin Realm, he pulled me all the way to the car.

“If the hole disappears, Seventh Master… He’ll never return…”

“I know. Calm down!”

As Jin Wuju drove away, he said, “Remember Mr. Tan’s dreams. His uncle Tan Wannian projected them. If Tan Wannian is inside the Sin Realm, how can he use Dream Projection?”

“We understand too little. Seventh Master may still be saved. First, we must determine whether the map is real, whether it creates the black hole, and whether that hole connects to the Sin Realm. Only then can we rescue him!”

I sat limp and silent.

Jin Wuju drove me home.

Before leaving, he patted my shoulder. “Brother, sleep well. Worry won’t help. Tomorrow, I’ll investigate the Sin Realm and its map. Ask any practitioners you know as well.”
“Then we’ll combine what we learn. Know yourself and your enemy, and you’ll win every battle.”

I nodded without speaking.

He drove away, and I went upstairs.

…

Before dawn the next morning, Song Xiaotian answered my call and came to collect me.

He drove us back to the Tan Family Manor.

Day had broken by the time we arrived.

The estate was chilly in the morning but far brighter and less oppressive than at night.

We still needed flashlights inside the villa.

At the Basement entrance, Song Xiaotian looked nervous. “Does that black hole really exist? What if it suddenly appears again…?”

I thought briefly. “It probably won’t appear in broad daylight. Let’s go in.”

The Basement looked exactly as it had the previous night, without the hole.

Jin Wuju had installed many Climbing Pitons in the wall. I had lacked time to inspect them last night, but now I noticed large sections protruding.

I asked Song Xiaotian to pull them out with a crowbar.

He soon removed every one without effort.

Frowning, he said, “None were properly driven in. The holes are shallow. They look secure, but they couldn’t support a person’s weight.”

“That bastard did it deliberately…”

It was obvious.

Jin Wuju had volunteered to install them, claiming experience in interior renovation.

Now it was clear he had harbored malicious intentions from the beginning.

“Seventh Master didn’t know him, right?” Song Xiaotian asked. “If they had no old grudge, would he try to kill him over one job?”

I shook my head. “He wanted to kill me, too.”

But why had he spared me despite so many opportunities?

Because of the Map of the Sin Realm.

Because of the black hole.

Because I was still useful.

If he had found the map last night, I probably would not have survived.

We pushed the Climbing Pitons back into their holes and left.

Outside the estate, we smoked beside the car.

After a while, I said with certainty, “Jin Wuju works for Qingyuan. At least for now, Du Yunting won’t harm Seventh Master or me, but Qingyuan definitely wants Seventh Master dead. He already tried in Lincheng.”

Song Xiaotian crushed his cigarette and spat. “I shouldn’t have let him leave on your birthday!”

“Investigate Jin Wuju. We still need to confirm his identity.”

Song Xiaotian looked troubled. “An ordinary person would be easy, but Jin Wuju isn’t ordinary. Conventional methods won’t reveal anything useful.”

“Unless I ask my father…”

“Then ask him.”

In the car, Song Xiaotian asked, “What do I tell Meng Yifan and the others if they ask about Seventh Master?”

I thought. “Say you don’t know. If they ask me, I’ll say he went away on business.”