Mysterious Artifact

Heavy clouds blanketed the city sky. In the distance, collapsed and ruined skyscrapers still stood crookedly, while murky air tinged with a fishy stench filled every corner of the city. The slanting sunset always carried a hint of eerie crimson.

Like other places, Tianchang City was a wounded city.

Fresh from his part-time job, Li Yi carried his things through the bleak, dilapidated streets of the Old Town District. He deftly and cautiously avoided the puddles filling the potholes, then quickly slipped into an alley.

The alley ran in all directions, connecting the various parts of the Old Town District. Taking the smaller roads saved quite a bit of time.

"Cough, cough!"

Walking along absorbed in his own thoughts, Li Yi suddenly caught a whiff of rotting foulness. He could not help coughing twice, but he did not dare linger. He merely quickened his pace and swiftly left the area shrouded in that stench.

Because he knew that such a smell came from human corpses rotting after death.

The people at the very bottom of the city were like rats in a foul ditch. Just maintaining a normal life was already a struggle. Even after death, they could only quietly rot and breed maggots in some dark corner until the stench became impossible to conceal, at which point the sanitation team would discover and dispose of them.

After all, the world had already changed. Even in cities with good order, the death rate remained extremely high.

"I wonder how my luck will be this time. Can I make it through this hurdle?"

Only twenty years old, Li Yi sighed helplessly inwardly. A trace of confusion and exhaustion showed in his eyes, but his gaze soon hardened again, and his steps quickened beyond their usual pace.

Following an address stored in his memory, he passed through the alley and arrived at a residential area several decades old.

The residential area was not large, containing only four buildings. That was common in the Old Town District.

Although the Old Town District had a poor environment, it was at least somewhat safer than other places and less prone to accidents. Thus, the seemingly dilapidated and desolate district was actually home to many people. Like ants, they gnawed at everything in the city, barely clinging to life. Li Yi was one of them.

Wangmen Residential Area.

"That's right. This is the place." Li Yi found the location listed in the address.

However, after entering the residential area, he discovered that quite a few people had gathered in the open space at its center. In the middle of the crowd, he even saw investigators.

"Nothing happened, did it?" His expression shifted slightly, and he curiously edged closer.

"I heard the resident of Building Four, Room 701, died. It was horrible—the blood flowed all the way into the corridor. That definitely wasn't a normal death. It was probably some kind of special accident. Otherwise, an investigator wouldn't come to this dump."

"Who lives in Building Four, Room 701? I don't remember her at all. Does anyone know her?"

"The one with the big wavy hair and the flashy clothes."

"Oh, now that you mention it, I remember. Her name's Liu Li. She's thirty-two, unmarried, and has a huge chest."

"Huh?"

At those words, quite a few people nearby looked at him in astonishment.

He was a middle-aged man in his thirties. At that moment, he shook his head with an expression of endless emotion.

Just then, an investigator came down the corridor of Building Four. Several sanitation workers followed behind him, carrying a body bag. It presumably contained Liu Li's corpse.

"What's the situation upstairs?" The lead investigator was named Wang Jian, and he was responsible for this part of the Old Town District.

Wang Jian had an ordinary appearance and was only in his twenties, but his eyes were extremely sharp. In dim places, they seemed to emit a faint glow, making people feel inexplicably uneasy.

"Captain Wang, the victim's body was cut into more than a dozen pieces. The scene was extremely bloody, but based on the investigation so far, the cause of death should be... suicide." Another investigator came over, his expression grave as he quietly reported the situation in Room 701.

Wang Jian nodded, his expression calm, as though he had long since grown used to such cases. After all, he had encountered even stranger incidents.

"Are there any other clues?"

The other investigator said, "There's a resident opposite Room 701. He seems to have seen something."

After speaking, he gestured, and a young man of about twenty-five was brought over.

"I'm Investigator Wang Jian. Tell me, what did you see in Room 701?" Wang Jian asked.

The young man said nervously, "I—I saw someone enter Room 701 bit by bit last night."

"Bit by bit?" Wang Jian frowned slightly. "Are you messing with me?"

"No, absolutely not. That person really did walk in bit by bit." The young man spoke with complete certainty.

Wang Jian's expression darkened. He suddenly thrust out his hand and seized the young man by the throat. After coldly studying his pupils, he casually flung him aside. "Another one who cultivated himself crazy. Take him away."

"Yes."

The young man immediately began struggling. "No, I'm not crazy! I'm not crazy! Someone really did walk into Room 701 bit by bit. That person was the murderer! She didn't kill herself, she didn't! There's nothing wrong with me! I was cultivating while lying against the door yesterday. I saw it clearly!"

But the accompanying workers did not waste words. They took him toward the outside of the residential area.

The middle-aged man watching the commotion shouted, "If the victim, Liu Li, could be carried out bit by bit, why couldn't the murderer go in bit by bit to kill her? What gives you investigators the right to call someone crazy?"

"Just because he's abnormal, that means you're normal?" Wang Jian glanced at him. "Do you want to be taken away too?"

The middle-aged man immediately spat in the young man's direction. "That lunatic should be taken away. He must have affected me just now. We absolutely can't let that lunatic come back. For all we know, he's the one who killed Liu Li."

"I told you, Liu Li committed suicide. This case is closed." Wang Jian repeated himself.

"Looks like the suicide case here was just a coincidence. It has nothing to do with what I'm here to do."

Li Yi, who had been watching the commotion, remained silent. He quietly carried his bag away from the crowd and headed toward Building One. This had nothing to do with him. He had only come here to make money and did not want to invite unnecessary trouble.

"Wangmen Residential Area, Building One, Room 201."

Li Yi drew a slight breath, arrived at the unfamiliar address, and knocked on the old door.

Knock, knock, knock~!

The dull sound echoed through the dim corridor. The surroundings were deathly silent.

After a long while.

The old door opened, and yellowish light spilled out. At the same time, a voice came from inside.

"Come in." The voice was extremely low.

Li Yi walked in, looking somewhat nervous.

The living room was sparsely furnished: one sofa and several wooden chairs. The bedroom doors on either side were tightly shut. Under the yellowish light, the space seemed somewhat cramped and oppressive.

"Friend, stop looking around. You're late. You're the only one missing. We've all been waiting for you." Several people sat on the sofa, both men and women. The speaker was a young man wearing a hoodie.

Li Yi said nothing. He merely looked at the person sitting on the chair opposite him.

That person's body was shrouded in the shadow cast by the light. He slowly raised his head, revealing a pair of exceptionally bright eyes that flickered with a faint radiance, as though they contained some special power that made people afraid to look directly at them.

"My name is Old Crow. You're Li Yi, right? You're very young. From the look of you, you're at most a little over twenty. Tell me, why do you want to take on this dangerous mission?" The man calling himself Old Crow spoke. His voice remained low, giving people an inexplicable sense of pressure.

Li Yi steadied himself, then answered seriously, "I'm short of money."

The young man in the hoodie on the sofa behind him snorted with laughter. "What nonsense. Who comes here to take this kind of dangerous job without being short of money? In this day and age, lives aren't worth much. Plenty of people are fighting to sell theirs."

Li Yi still ignored him and continued explaining, "My parents are Silent Ones. They've been asleep for six years."

"Both your parents are Silent Ones? The fact that they've survived six years means your family has two Medical Pods. Even secondhand, a single Medical Pod costs at least a million. You don't look short of money." Old Crow's voice turned cold. "Give me a reasonable explanation. Don't play games."

"The Medical Pod broke and needs repairs. The repairs cost fifty thousand, and I can't come up with that much. I saw someone in the group introducing this job and saying it paid a hundred thousand after completion, so I came to try my luck." Li Yi's heart tightened, and he elaborated on his circumstances.

Perhaps he believed Li Yi, or perhaps he saw the unease and urgency in Li Yi's eyes. His tone shifted, and he gave a soft laugh. "Supporting two Silent Ones for six years would drain even a family with some savings. Then the Medical Pod malfunctioned. In this situation, you really do urgently need money. After all, without a Medical Pod to sustain them, Silent Ones can't survive more than thirty days. Looks like you want to stake everything for your parents. Not bad. Filial sons like you are rare these days. Since that's the case, I'll give you this chance. Your reason passes. Sit down."

Only then did Li Yi relax. He found a stool beside the sofa and sat down.

"The last person is here. Before we begin, anyone who wants to leave can do so now. I won't stop you. In ten seconds, I'll start explaining the mission." A hint of menace showed in Old Crow's bright eyes.

Clearly, he was telling them that if they did not leave now, they would have no chance to regret it later.

In the dim yellow living room, everyone fell silent.

The seconds ticked by.

Not one person left.

"Very good. Looks like every one of you has a reason you have no choice but to risk your life. Since that's the case, I'll officially introduce the mission." Old Crow stood up.

At the same time, the tightly closed bedroom door beside them opened. A man in a suit stepped out, locked the main door, then stood in front of it like a towering wall to prevent anyone from escaping.

"Old Crow, stop wasting time. Hurry up and tell us what you want us to do. We can't handle anything too difficult. We're here to make money, not throw away our lives. Besides, we're all ordinary people who haven't cultivated, so there's only so much we can do." The hoodie-wearing man was not nervous in the slightest. He merely grinned as he spoke.

Old Crow cast him a glance. "Behave yourself."

The hoodie-wearing man shrugged, completely unconcerned.

People willing to risk their lives for money had nothing left to fear.

The others remained silent and did not interrupt Old Crow.

Li Yi listened quietly as well. He only hoped the so-called mission would not be too dangerous. He still wanted to return alive.

Seeing that everyone remained quiet, Old Crow said seriously, "Ten days ago, something strange happened in a building in the Ruined City. Our people went inside to search it, but an accident occurred. Several died. Only two ordinary people who had never cultivated made it back alive. One went insane, while the other was gravely wounded and is still in the hospital, barely clinging to half a life."

"The second time, my partner and I went to search that building again. Unfortunately, my partner died there, and I was the only one lucky enough to escape."

"But from those two investigations, I obtained two crucial pieces of information. The first is that there is very likely a strange object in that building."

At those words, everyone's eyes widened, their faces filled with disbelief.

"A strange object? How is that possible? The Ruined City has been searched countless times. How could a strange object still be there?" The hoodie-wearing man abruptly stood up, breathing somewhat heavily.

A strange object.

After the Skyfall Event, treasures from other worlds were said to possess the miraculous powers of myth and legend.

Every strange object was worth a fortune.

The countries around the world were even more unreasonable, forcefully reclaiming every strange object. Countless strange-object wars had erupted over them.

If an ordinary person obtained a strange object and voluntarily handed it over, the cash reward alone would be at least ten billion. In addition, they could enter Golden Academy unconditionally and would be exempt from expulsion for life. As for a villa in An Ding District and an honorary identity, those were merely attached, invisible benefits.

Yet even under such lavish rewards, there had only been two cases in the country of strange objects being voluntarily surrendered.

That was because strange objects not only possessed miraculous powers, but could also allow ordinary people to defy fate and change their lives, setting them on a cultivation path far beyond that of geniuses.

With a strange object for only a few months, its owner could transcend the ordinary. If they possessed one for several years, everyone would have to watch their expression.

"Stop painting us a pretty picture. I don't believe there's a strange object in the Old Town District. A strange object's influence covers at least five kilometers. An area that large would be affected. Do you take the investigators for fools?" The speaker was a woman in a camisole dress. Her figure was alluring, but a trace of disdain curled at the corner of her mouth.

Her words cooled the others, who had still been immersed in shock.

"She's right. Ten thousand for someone to search for a priceless strange object—why does that sound so absurd? If that thing really existed, would it be our turn to hear about it? The whole Old Town District would have been surrounded long ago." The hoodie-wearing man nodded in agreement with the woman.

Li Yi and the others said nothing, merely watching in silence.

Old Crow's voice remained low. "Strange objects have grades. There are complete strange objects and incomplete ones. The top-grade strange objects are naturally beyond the hopes of people like us, but with enough luck, finding an incomplete strange object or a fragment isn't impossible."

"The mission for you five is simple. Enter that building and find the thing. Even if you can't bring it out, I'll give you a hundred thousand as long as you confirm its location. If you can bring it back, I'll give each of you two million."

"That little money and you want us to risk our lives helping you find a strange object? That's difficult." The hoodie-wearing man suddenly grinned.

"What do you mean? You want to quit?" Old Crow asked.

"No. I mean I want more money." The hoodie-wearing man stared at him.

"Don't be insatiable. Be careful you have a life to earn it with but no life to spend it." Old Crow's voice turned cold. At that moment, his eyes gleamed like a beast lying in wait in the dark of night.

The hoodie-wearing man was not intimidated. He said, "Would you dare attack me? Kill me, and this whole thing falls apart. Once investigators are drawn here, you'll suffer the greater loss. After all, our lives are worthless. You're different—you have a bright future and a chance to come into contact with strange objects. Throwing everything away for a few nobodies wouldn't be worth it."

Then he turned to Li Yi and the others. "I'm fighting for everyone's interests here. Aren't you going to say something?"

"This mission is dangerous. I want half the payment upfront. Otherwise, I'm not going. Who knows whether you'll go back on your word afterward?" The woman in the camisole dress immediately spoke.

Clearly, once strange objects were involved, no one could resist raising their price.

Li Yi did not want to back down either. He said, "I also think the payment is a little low. Besides paying fifty thousand upfront, you should pay another hundred thousand once we find what you want. As for bringing it back, we ordinary people have enough self-awareness to know we don't have that ability."

The moment he finished, a muscular, broad-faced man with a crew cut stood up from the sofa. He was unnaturally tall, nearly two meters, with his head almost touching the ceiling. Though he was an ordinary person, he gave off an unmistakably extraordinary feeling.

"You bastard. Since you came to me, I'm taking the money whether I do the job or not. If you don't pay, I'll smash your head apart with one punch." His voice was heavy, carrying an air that allowed no refusal.

The last person was a bespectacled, slightly gaunt middle-aged man. He had been taciturn until now, but finally spoke. "Old Crow, is it? Give me the money for all four of them. I'll handle this myself. But once I bring back what you want, I want thirty percent."

"..." Old Crow fell silent.

After a long while, he finally said in a low voice, "I see now. Every one of you is a real talent—willing to demand money without caring about your lives. If this were anywhere but a safe zone, I'd really want to butcher all of you."

The hoodie-wearing man continued grinning. The woman in the camisole dress rolled her eyes, unconcerned. The burly, towering man gave a disdainful snort, while the bespectacled man lowered his head slightly, adjusted his lenses, and revealed an inscrutable smile.

Only Li Yi seemed somewhat normal. Yet the corner of his eye twitched inexplicably, and he looked faintly uneasy.

Seeing that no one budged, Old Crow weighed the matter briefly before choosing to compromise. Finding another group would be troublesome, and he did not want to let the matter drag on. If the news leaked, the situation would slip beyond his control.

"Fine, we'll do as Li Yi said. Pay fifty thousand upfront, then another hundred thousand after the job is done. Don't haggle with me anymore. It's settled."

The others fell silent briefly, evidently accepting the terms.

"You still haven't told us the second crucial piece of information." The hoodie-wearing man asked again.

Old Crow said, "The second crucial piece of information is that ordinary people face fewer dangers after entering that building. People like me who have stepped onto the path of cultivation are more likely to attract danger. That's why I sought out people like you. Stop wasting time. We're leaving immediately."

As he spoke, he signaled to the subordinate guarding the door to open it.

"I have one more question," Li Yi said.

"What is it? Hurry up and ask." Old Crow's voice was cold.

"What danger exactly exists in that place—danger even you cultivators couldn't handle?" Li Yi asked. "This question is important. At least we should all understand what we're about to face."

"That building... is haunted." After saying this, Old Crow walked out of the room.

Ghosts?

Everyone froze for a moment. Under the yellowish light, a bone-chilling cold crept into their hearts.