Whispers of the Death God

"Sorry, you said you once killed a wraith. Could you tell me which page of spells you used?"

Tang Qi walked over to the Blonde Young Man, who was caught in self-doubt, kept a polite distance, and asked curiously.

If it had been anyone else, or any other time, the blonde young man named Ryan would have immediately put away the illustrated book in his hands and refused to let anyone peek at it.

In his eyes, this was his guarantee for the future.

Ever since an accident had brought him into contact with the Mysterious World, and he had discovered that the ancient illustrated book left behind by his grandfather contained drawings of all sorts of monsters along with many demon-hunting spells, he had embarked on the path of a bounty hunter.

He had even recruited several fellow "enthusiasts" and formed a team.

By chance, he had used a spell from the illustrated book to destroy a wraith. Not only had he received a large bounty, but he had also successfully given the team some cohesion.

But now, another trial had arrived.

Perhaps Tang Qi's appearance was simply too deceptive, and his respectful distance made him seem likable. Coupled with the fact that everyone was watching and Ryan's thoughts were in turmoil, upon hearing Tang Qi's question, he instinctively began flipping through the book.

The entire illustrated book was actually made by stringing sheets of paper together with something like hemp rope. Its craftsmanship was extremely crude, and the texture of each page rarely repeated. The monsters or ghosts depicted inside were not particularly rare either.

At least, they could be found everywhere in Monster Files.

Very quickly, Ryan flipped to that page.

It was very different from the others. The paper was incredibly thin, nearly transparent.

A Grim Reaper was depicted upon it. A wide black robe enveloped a ghostly body, two red lights gleamed, and a terrifying scythe seemed ready to fall at any moment.

Below the image was a line of exceedingly complex, strange incantation.

"Buzz."

At that moment, a faint glow indeed rose in Tang Qi's eyes.

Curio: Whispers of the Death God.

Status: Torn Page.

Information Fragment One: In ancient times, a lucky yet unfortunate youth accidentally entered a state of suspended death. During his three years of suspended death, he overheard the Death God's whispers time and again. After awakening, he recorded them down, creating an extraordinary masterpiece, Whispers of the Death God.

Information Fragment Two: The youth's actions enraged the Death God. After writing down the final whisper, he was taken away by the Death God. Those whispers were also blurred by the Death God's curse, leaving only a few torn pages behind.

Information Fragment Three: By using the torn pages, one can cultivate the "Medium" profession, but there is a risk of angering the Death God once again.

At first, Tang Qi was startled by the sheer number of Information Fragments flowing through his eyes. But after seeing their contents, he understood.

Generally speaking, the higher a Curio's extraordinary rank, the more Information Fragments it contained.

Of course, this was not absolute. It was merely a minor pattern.

"It is actually a Curio that can allow someone to enter the realm of professionals. And judging by this description, its extraordinary rank must be very high."

"That explains why he could kill a wraith. If a living being heard the Death God's whispers, something bad would happen. But if a not particularly powerful wraith heard them, it would likely have no fate other than death."

"By that logic, this young man truly has the potential to become a medium. Otherwise, he would not have been able to learn Whispers of the Death God."

Tang Qi casually glanced over the incantation on the Torn Page, merely studying it without any intention of cultivating it. He had already offended the Misfortune Witch from another realm and did not wish to provoke some Death God from who knew which plane. Besides, compared to spells, Tang Qi believed that his Furnace Power would inflict far more terrifying damage on wraiths.

These thoughts ended the moment Ryan flipped to that page.

His attention returned to the matter at hand, and the tense, chaotic, terror-filled atmosphere in the auditorium spread once more, trying to envelop Tang Qi as well.

Tang Qi gestured for Ryan to put away the illustrated book, then walked to the center of the auditorium, before the brazier.

Because many herbs, oils, and other substances had been burned inside it, along with that disgusting pus, the brazier now contained a pool of blackish-yellow liquid. It looked revolting, yet it gave off a fragrance so enticing that one could not help swallowing.

And the scent was extremely strong.

Under everyone's astonished gazes, Tang Qi slowly crouched down and lifted the brazier with both hands. As he did so, his voice rang out.

"Moon Wheel Flower, Egg Holding Orchid, thornless grass, Spurge Poison Hemlock Juice, and a human fat solution. When burned together, they indeed release a sweet fragrance deadly to spider-like monsters. But this formula overlooks one possibility."

"This kind of trap can only work on wild monsters. What if the monster hiding within Messer University was... once human?"

"Hiss!"

The moment Tang Qi finished speaking, a commotion erupted in the auditorium. Before anyone could react to the revelation, Tang Qi suddenly took several steps forward and violently splashed the basin of liquid toward a relatively secluded corner of the auditorium.

Two people stood there.

One was a beautiful woman with a slender figure, dressed in professional attire. The other was a powerfully built man with the physique of a bodybuilder.

One was Professor Rick Cassel's assistant, while the other was a school guard.

The moment they saw Tang Qi splash the liquid at them, they instinctively showed terrified expressions. But the female teaching assistant seemed to react quickly. She grabbed the guard, who was about to dodge, then shrieked, "It's fine, we're not—"

"Sizzle, sizzle!"

Before the beautiful teaching assistant could finish, it was as if she had been splashed with powerful acid. A horrifying sound rang out, followed by the skin on her body melting away, like a branding iron plunged into cheese. Yellow, viscous liquid bubbled out.

The guard beside her suffered the same fate.

But before anyone could even begin to feel sympathy, they were stunned by the horrifying sight that appeared in the next instant.

As the teaching assistant and guard screamed, their lower bodies began swelling. Long, thick black hairs grew out, bloated spider abdomens emerged, and their upper bodies began twisting as well. Their beautiful faces became gaping maws and sunken noses, while three ruby-red eyes stained with filth now looked incomparably evil.

"Hiss!"

"Hiss, hiss!"

The two transformed Spider Monsters, all six of their eyes, stared fixedly at Tang Qi.

It was this little thing that had exposed them.

Their first thought was to tear the boy in half and devour him separately.

But as they wailed and looked over, Tang Qi gave them a mysterious smile. Then he stepped aside, revealing Stana behind him, her pistol already raised.

Bang!

Bang!

Accompanied by gunshots, two azure flashes burrowed into the heads of the monsters. Their sturdy skulls became incomparably fragile before the power of the Sea Demon Bullets. Under everyone's gaze, their skullcaps were blown open, and the brains inside exploded.

Their bodies, far stronger than human bodies, also crashed to the ground.

Dead!

Though nobody could believe it, and it all felt like a dream because it had happened so quickly that no one had time to react.

All they had seen was a boy suddenly step forward, explain something, then splash that basin of disgusting yet incredibly fragrant liquid at the female teaching assistant and the head guard. Two Spider Monsters had then appeared, only to be instantly shot in the head and eliminated by the Big Sister Police Chief.

But dead was dead. Corpses did not lie.

Everyone had no choice but to accept it. After standing frozen for a moment, they all cheered at once.