Content

Zhou You glanced at the Bodhisattva out of the corner of his eye.

Its face was hideous, as if it would devour anyone who came near. Beneath its lotus throne lay a sea of wronged souls, and beside its Buddha-body stood a forest of bones.

There was nothing different from before.

So he continued reading.

But after that sentence, the diary suddenly changed tone. It stopped talking about the Bodhisattva and began telling the story of Liu Shang himself and his family.

September 12.

"My wife's condition is getting worse and worse. How should I put it... I don't care whether she lives or dies, but that bitch signed over all her company shares to charity and even wants to build some kind of orphanage... What a joke. After you die, that money will be mine. What right do you have to take my money and waste it on charity?"

September 15.

"I had a huge fight with her. I thought that after all these years together, she'd be able to understand me. Who'd have thought she'd bring up how I married into her family again? Yes, her family gave me my first capital. They supported me when I started my business, and when I failed, I was lucky to get part of her family's inheritance and make a comeback. But what does any of that have to do with me becoming the richest man in this city?"

September 16.

"I took out the poison I used to kill her father back then, but after thinking it over, I put it away again. Things are different now. If I poison her, it'll be easy to get caught."

September 30.

"Some people from one of my companies came to demand their wages again. I've been in a foul mood lately, so I had the security guards break a few of their legs, then threw them all out."

October 3.

"Damn it, how did that reporter catch me?! And he even went and reported it to the station. That bastard wouldn't take a bribe or even show me any respect. Fuck—"

October 10.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it! When you're down on your luck, even water goes down the wrong way. The public-relations mess hasn't even been dealt with yet, and now the company's stock has suddenly plunged. That bitch is on her last legs, yet she still says she wants to hold a board meeting. Maybe I should..."

October 15.

"That person came. He called himself an agent, then brought up the Bodhisattva again... Does that thing really have the power to grant wishes? What? It needs a sacrifice? Perfect! I've got just the right offering!"

October 20.

"My wish really came true!!! The police concluded that my wife had gone missing, and that reporter slipped into the river and drowned. Except for the orphanage, which has already begun site selection and can't be canceled, everything else is mine. It's all mine!"

The brown handwriting stopped for a while here. It seemed that once his wish had come true, Liu Shang had been completely satisfied. After that came a pile of self-praise and nonsense, along with bribes to television stations and senior government officials, interspersed now and then with his exploitation of his employees.

Most of what remained was pointless, so Zhou You skimmed through it and quickly turned to the pages written in blood.

March 1.

"The orphanage has been completed. I made sure they chose the cheapest location, used the worst building materials, and skimped on everything inside. I even cut the meal budget to the bare minimum. They're just a bunch of unwanted brats, after all. Potatoes are good enough for them. Why waste money on them?"

April 12.

"The doctor found that I have the same disease as my wife during my checkup!! Fuck, how is that possible!!!!!"

May 7.

"It got this bad in less than a month, even faster than that bitch... It must be her vengeful spirit, haunting me and trying to get back at me... No, I can't just die like this... Wait, I still have the Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva can save me!"

May 16.

"...Who'd have thought that orphanage I built would come in handy? I secretly brought out a few brats and offered them to the Bodhisattva. Then, over the next few days, my health improved dramatically. It wasn't a complete cure, but at least I was stable. After that, all I had to do was bring another brat over every so often..."

February 24.

"No, I can't keep doing this. So many children have gone missing that the people above are starting to get suspicious. The director won't take my money anymore, either. He even said that if this keeps up, he'll go down with me. What a joke! You're just a dog I raised. Now you think you can rebel against your master?"

March 1.

"I had people burn down that orphanage, along with the staff, the director, the evidence, and the few brats left inside. I wiped them all out in one big fire. Now I don't have to worry about anyone investigating, but where am I supposed to get offerings now? If I don't have any offerings, the Bodhisattva will eat me next..."

March 26.

"The Bodhisattva truly is merciful! It was willing to spare me for a while and even gave me another way. If I meet the conditions, I can have any one of my wishes granted. As for what I want... Of course... eternal life!"

April 11.

"Everything is ready. I deliberately poisoned that peddler and killed him, then dug up the bones of the children who were burned to death back then and buried them at the alley entrance. After that, I killed my daughter, my son, and my most loyal underling, using their corpses to suppress those three temples. Then I got the old woman ghost from that alley to trap the only monk who might be able to stop me. Finally, I had my security company hire an ignorant fool as an offering every day. Now that everything is done, all that's left is to wait for the Bodhisattva to grant me its blessing..."

April 16.

"The Bodhisattva will grant me eternal life tomorrow. I'm about to ascend and become a Buddha. Today is the last day I'll be human. Tomorrow I'll transcend the mortal world and become something far beyond you ordinary people!"

April 17.

"No, no, this isn't right! This isn't the eternal life I imagined! Bodhisattva, you deceived me. He deceived me too. All of you deceived me!!!! Wait, why am I still writing in this diary? Why can't I escape? No, no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no, I don't want to become like this. Please, please, someone kill me, someone kill meeeee!!!!!!"

With that final entry, written entirely in blood and bright red from beginning to end,

the diary came to an end.

The system prompt followed.

"Your night patrol is complete."

"Congratulations, player. You have uncovered the main clues of this instance."

"Instance completion increased."

"You have obtained an additional green talent: Five Viscera Connection."

"Effect: Reduces the negative effects caused by missing internal organs."

"You killed Gui Po, found a Sanhuamiao Temple, and completed the patrol mission before the fourth day. You also fulfilled the peddler's and game-playing objectives without any physical confrontation, and finally wrung the clues to the diary out of the undying Liu Shang."

"The hidden character in this instance—the imprisoned monk, Hui Pu—and the final storyline will now be unlocked for you."

"Please view it during the daytime."

"After previewing the storyline, you may complete this scenario immediately. You do not need to endure the full five days."