Chapter 57
Chapter 57
Huang Jinsheng kept his gaze from wandering. He shrugged. “What if your device lights up red whether there’s an anomaly or not?”
“Xiuli Palace is already a red-light district, and you’ve brought your own red light. Ha ha ha!”
“You’re quite good-looking. No need to bring a red light. Just come work at Xiuli Palace. I’d definitely ask for you.”
What kind of situation was this? None of the players looked pleased.
In the instances they had entered before, NPCs and anomalies were inextricably linked, doing everything possible to fill the players with fear.
Now it was the outsiders trying to prove the existence of anomalies to the natives, with NPCs challenging them at every turn.
One science-minded gang member even swore aloud. “Are you nuts? All this mystical bullshit… Trying to swindle our boss out of his money?”
Number One took a deep breath. Rather than waste more words proving it, he threatened him directly. “Huang Jinsheng, if I kill you now, do you think Zhao Xiuming will come?”
Huang Jinsheng looked close to breaking. He started to say something, then swallowed it. “I don’t know. Why would he come? I barely know him.”
Number One stood with a cold laugh and pinned Huang Jinsheng to the table. Producing a short knife from somewhere, he placed it beside Huang Jinsheng’s ear and ordered, “Number Three, switch on the device.”
Number Six quietly gathered the little girl into her arms, turned away, and covered the child’s ears.
Huang Jinsheng cried, “He won’t come! Killing me won’t help. He really won’t come. It won’t do any good!”
Number One didn’t believe him. The blade was extremely sharp. With a firm push, he easily cut off Huang Jinsheng’s ear.
Pain struck. Warm blood flowed down, blurring his eyes. Yet Huang Jinsheng didn’t scream. Instead, he threatened them with hatred. “I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you!”
The anomaly detector had been flashing red nonstop since it was switched on. Number One released Huang Jinsheng and said confidently, “It’s here.”
Huang Jinsheng stared darkly at the players present. His breathing grew rapid, and he couldn’t suppress his coughs.
However vigilant the players remained, more than ten minutes passed without anything unusual happening.
It wasn’t just the gang members in the corner. The Longhu Society’s Incense Master laughed aloud. “Do you people actually know what you’re doing? Enough with these foreign gadgets. Granny Snake can burn a paper talisman, put it in water, and make the water change color. This is barely even trying.”
Number Three fiddled with the item. “What’s going on? There’s definitely an anomaly here.”
“Its energy is so powerful we can’t pinpoint it. That means its power covers at least the whole of Xiuli Palace.”
Number One pressed his palm against Huang Jinsheng’s head. A hard gun barrel protruded from what should have been flesh.
Number Six suddenly exclaimed. The little girl in her arms was struggling.
Number Six tried to hold the child’s shoulders. When the little girl stopped moving, the child pointed ahead.
There weren’t many places in Zimu City with a television. Such things weren’t common.
The players didn’t recognize the television either. They looked at the primitive machine with a wooden frame surrounding glass. Things could be stored underneath it, and beside the glass at the top were buttons whose purpose they didn’t know.
The Longhu Society’s Incense Master mocked the miserable Huang Jinsheng. “Is your daughter really an idiot? Look at the state you’re in, and all she cares about is watching television.”
Huang Jinsheng’s eyes trembled faintly. For once, he didn’t respond to the taunt.
His expression became serious, and he changed his tune. “You’re looking for Zhao Xiuming, aren’t you? I know where he is.”
“Your device works very well. There really is an anomaly here.”
“Not many places in Zimu City have been renovated. Xiuli Palace is the only building that’s had construction work these past few years.”
“I do business with the gang bosses. The factory is beneath Xiuli Palace. Zhao Xiuming is there too.”
The Longhu Society’s Incense Master’s expression changed several times, finally settling into indifference.
This time, Number One took out a lie-detection item. He briefly explained how it worked, and sure enough, cold sweat broke out on Huang Jinsheng’s forehead.
The Longhu Society’s Incense Master was astonished. “Really? That little thing is a lie detector? If you’d used it earlier, you could have saved all this trouble.”
Number One couldn’t explain the lie-detection item’s limitations. He wanted to know whether Zhao Xiuming was the instance boss.
But NPCs in an unopened instance had no idea what an instance boss was. Asking whether the anomaly behind Huang Jinsheng was Zhao Xiuming might not yield the answer he wanted either.
Number One decided to try and see how much information he could get. “Huang Jinsheng, there’s an anomaly helping you from behind the scenes. Correct?”
Huang Jinsheng didn’t want to answer, but his mouth moved against his will. “Yes.”
Number One continued. “Is the anomaly helping you Zhao Xiuming?”
Huang Jinsheng’s eyes strained wide, full of resistance. “I don’t know.”
Number One clenched his teeth. The Longhu Society’s Incense Master now treated the players seriously, even warily. “Zhao Xiuming had a different identity each of the two times he appeared. Who knows whether he can change his appearance and his name?”
Number One’s lie-detection item had a time limit, so he hurried on. “Can the anomaly helping you change its appearance and identity?”
Huang Jinsheng’s entire body began shaking. “Yes.”
Recalling the argument in the tea room, Number One kept pressing. “Then did you order Zhao Xiuming to attack the gangs? Why did you tell Liu Wenhe to abduct him?”
Huang Jinsheng’s eyes were wary. “I didn’t tell Zhao Xiuming to kill anyone. As for asking Liu Wenhe to abduct him… I really was interested in him. That’s why I wanted him.”
“When I gave Liu Wenhe the order, I didn’t know Zhao Xiuming had killed anyone from the Longhu Society.”
Had Zhao Xiuming’s beauty really drawn him in?
Number One refused to give up. “What is your relationship with the anomaly helping you?”
Huang Jinsheng’s lips moved faintly. He was trying hard to keep his mouth shut and reveal nothing, but the words escaped beyond his control. “He keeps me.”
“Sometimes he protects me. Sometimes he grants my wishes.”
“But I can’t control him, and he doesn’t always listen to me.”
“He controls me.”
“I don’t understand him at all. Yes, I’ve thought of resisting him. I want complete control over him, to find his weakness. That’s why I looked for masters.”
The more Huang Jinsheng said, the more despairing he became. Fear drained his face white. Finally, without the item’s influence, he began cursing on his own. “What am I worth?”
“What am I worth!”
“You have no idea… how terrifying he is.”
“Someone save me.”
Number One grew interested. “What do you mean? What has he done to you?”
Huang Jinsheng spoke against his will. “The chaos outside is because of the dark green door.”
“You ask what he’s done to me…”
“He tempts me.”
“His very existence is wrong. The factory beneath Xiuli Palace is his breeding ground. Those negative emotions spread through the door to the whole of Zimu City.”
“He’s a devil, a lunatic! What gives him the right to never, ever let me escape!”
Huang Jinsheng’s words were incoherent. He couldn’t explain how he felt about the anomaly behind him. Emotions tangled with confusion and contamination affected him, leaving him constantly struggling against it.