Cheng Yu looked at the parchment before him. It bore a circular rune containing triangles of irregular sizes, a pentagram, three small circles, and three arcs. Two of the small circles were joined by two arcs, while a separate circle and arc were connected along the line of sight.
Below it was a passage of text.
Hear my call! He in whom all things are one! All-knowing, all-seeing! King of the endless void! Lord of billions of radiances! Star-shifter! Firm foundation! Controller of earthquakes! Conqueror of terror! Creator of pain! Destroyer! Glorious victor! Son of void and chaos! Guardian of the Abyss! God of Primordial Darkness! Lord of dimensions! Mysterious sage! Keeper of secrets! Master of the labyrinth! Master of angles! God of night hawks! Final counsel! Lord of doors! Trail! Almighty Lord of the primordial! Jug Sothos NAFL'FTHAGN!!! Your messengers call upon you!
He couldn't read it. This was awkward... @_@|||||...
He called out inwardly.
(System buddy, I know you know what this says. Hurry up and tell me. What is it?)
For once, the system replied without messing around.
"That design is the big shot's personal symbol. You should have heard of it: the Door Seal, also called the Seal of Yog-Sothoth."
"As for the passage below, it means:"
"Hear my summons! The All-in-One! The all-knowing, all-seeing one! King of the endless void! Lord of billions of radiances! Star-shifter! Firm foundation! Controller of earthquakes! Conqueror of terror! Creator of pain! Destroyer! Glorious victor! Son of void and chaos! Guardian of the Abyss! God of Primordial Darkness! Lord of dimensions! Enigmatic sage! Keeper of secrets! Master of the labyrinth! Master of angles! God of night hawks! Ultimate pinnacle! Lord of doors! Opener of the way! Almighty, eternal Lord of the primordial! Yog-Sothoth NAFL'FTHAGN!!! Your apostle calls upon you!"
"Holy shit!"
Cheng Yu swore outright. This was the big shot's summoning incantation! Huh? Why did it seem a little different?
Cheng Yu looked at Yog.
Yog said softly,
"This comes from a chapter of the Necronomicon, written by a human I took an interest in. He was also one of the few humans to receive my favor. Back then, my avatar Ahtun even fought Nyarlathotep's avatar, the Black Pharaoh Nephren-Ka, over control of that human."
At this, Yog smiled and said,
"The outcome was obvious. Nyarlathotep did me that courtesy."
Cheng Yu swallowed. He hadn't expected this thing to have such an impressive history. The big shot had even gone a round with Nyarlathotep over that man. That honor alone was enough to brag about for ten lifetimes.
The system added,
"I have information on this too. Alhazred. Although he's a little less famous than that Legendary investigator who came later, he was still an absolute badass who glimpsed the light of truth, looked directly upon the big shot and Nyarlathotep, and wrote the Necronomicon."
Cheng Yu blurted out, "Holy shit! He wrote the Necronomicon! And what I'm holding is one of its chapters?!" (ﾟ⊿ﾟ)ﾂ
"That's right, young man. Dare to move?" („ಡωಡ„)
Cheng Yu shook his head furiously. (Wouldn't dare. Wouldn't dare.) (⊙﹏⊙)
Then Yog added,
"This incantation was adapted from the one used to summon me in the previous epoch. The one who answered the original summons was my avatar, Umr at-Tawil. You should have heard that name too."
Cheng Yu stopped dwelling on it and picked up the topic.
"Of course I have. One of your most famous avatars, representing your benevolent side. The other is Aforgomon, who represents your malevolent side."
Yog nodded.
"Yes."
After a brief silence, Cheng Yu spoke again.
"Big shot, when you said you wanted me to practice earlier, you didn't mean..."
Yog nodded, then said,
"What you must practice is drawing the Door Seal without a single flaw within three minutes, then reciting the incantation to summon me with absolutely precise pronunciation."
Yog picked up his teacup and continued,
"Every title in the incantation is an extension of my authority and an embodiment of my duties. You must understand all of them thoroughly."
Cheng Yu's face fell. Apparently, this wasn't just manual labor. It was mental labor too.
Yog smiled mysteriously.
"No need to look like that. In the near future, you'll thank yourself for the effort you put in today. A reminder: the faster you complete the symbol and incantation, the better. Three minutes is the cutoff."
Then Yog continued,
"In the previous epoch, the fastest person to complete the ritual took 1.5 seconds. Later, the people of the infinite multiverse called him the Ancestor of Wizards."
Cheng Yu was dumbfounded. 1.5 seconds? Holy fucking hell. Then he looked at Yog, wanting to say more.
Yog cut him off.
"The system in your head will teach you the pronunciation."
Cheng Yu looked miserable.
"Oh."
After Cheng Yu left, Miss Puppet, who stood behind Yog, spoke.
"Your Eminence, did you just say the Ancestor of Wizards summoned you?"
Yog shook his head.
"No. He summoned Umr."
Then he lifted his teacup and continued,
"Secondly, it was only after summoning Umr that he qualified to become the Ancestor of Wizards."
Miss Puppet fell silent.
Yog took a sip of tea and continued,
"Yes, the very Ancestor of Wizards who broke your people's backs."
Miss Puppet suddenly said,
"Then we could be considered to have lost at Your Eminence's hands."
Yog chuckled.
"No. Your defeat was inevitable. He didn't defeat you because he was the Ancestor of Wizards. Rather, it was by defeating you that he earned that name."
Miss Puppet said nothing more.
Yog continued,
"But ironically, you made it into this epoch, while he perished as the previous epoch fell dormant."
Miss Puppet placed a hand over her chest.
"It was all thanks to Your Eminence's mercy."
Yog shook his head with a laugh.
"It's simply because you're more useful than they are for the next leg of my journey. Besides, bringing you back was much easier than bringing them back."
In the blink of an eye, three months passed.
Lin Mo rarely went home now, because Tang Tang's belly had begun to swell. But he told Le Shuya a lie.
"Shuya, I got in touch with a good business partner a while ago. Sorry I've had to neglect you lately."
Le Shuya replied considerately,
"It's fine. Business comes first right now. Will you be all right on your own?"
Lin Mo hurriedly waved his hands.
"Absolutely, absolutely. I can't keep relying on you forever. It's time I started contributing to the company too."
As he spoke, he held Le Shuya by the shoulders, settled her onto the sofa, and said,
"You should just stay home and enjoy being a good wife and mother."
Le Shuya said pointedly,
"I can manage being a good wife, but you're hardly ever home. How am I supposed to become a mother?"
Lin Mo laughed awkwardly.
"Oh, we're still young. What's wrong with enjoying a few more years of life as a couple?"
Le Shuya said nothing.
Lin Mo stroked her head and said,
"I'm heading out, then. Get some rest early."
Le Shuya nodded. "All right."
After Lin Mo left, Le Shuya sneered.
"You can enjoy life as a couple with a ghost from now on!"
In a city near Jiangcheng.
Inside a villa, Lin Mo gently stroked Tang Tang's belly and asked,
"Well? Do you know whether it's a girl or a boy yet?"
Tang Tang covered her mouth and smiled.
"It's a boy."
Lin Mo's smile grew even wider.
"A son is good. Maybe I'll hand the entire Lin Group over to him one day."
A gleam flashed through Tang Tang's eyes, but she still spoke gently.
"How could you? There's still Sister Shuya. All I want is for him to live safely and happily."
A trace of unease crossed Lin Mo's face, but he continued gently stroking Tang Tang's belly.
Then he looked at Tang Tang with burning eyes.
Tang Tang chided him,
"Behave yourself. The doctor said we can't during this period."
Lin Mo's smile turned a little awkward.
That night, Lin Mo still slept with Tang Tang in his arms.
Until a phone call woke him early the next morning.
Irritated, Lin Mo hung up.
But the phone rang again. Only then did he answer, snapping groggily,
"Who is it?!"
His female secretary was on the other end.
"Mr. Lin, it's me. Something terrible has happened at the company!"
Lin Mo was instantly wide awake. He demanded sharply,
"What happened?"
His secretary replied anxiously,
"People from the Administration for Industry and Commerce came this morning, saying there were problems with our accounts. Then someone reported that all the bars, karaoke clubs, and bathhouses we own had been shut down."
Lin Mo felt his blood pressure shoot up. He asked heavily,
"Where's Ms. Le?"
The voice on the other end remained urgent.
"Ms. Le was taken away by the police."
Lin Mo panicked at once. Le Shuya had always been something like his strategist. Now that his strategist was gone, he had no idea what to do.
He immediately said,
"I'll be right back. Keep them calm for now."
Tang Tang had woken up when the first call came, so she'd heard most of the conversation. She asked a question she already knew the answer to.
"Mo, what's wrong?"
With a dark expression, Lin Mo said,
"Something happened at the company. I'm going back first. Just focus on looking after the baby. I'll handle it."
Tang Tang nodded.
After Lin Mo left, Tang Tang looked at her belly and silently wondered,
If Lin Mo fell from power, what would she do? Her current status depended entirely on this wealthy patron looking after her.
Once Lin Mo fell, wouldn't she be right back where she started?
She had originally hoped she might become her patron's wife, but who knew he'd already gotten married? Luckily, her womb had come through for her.
But now her patron's situation looked grim. Back then, she'd been young and naive, grateful that someone appreciated her. Yet hadn't he only lusted after her body?
The only upside was that he was young, handsome, and rich.
In that case, she probably couldn't keep this child, Tang Tang thought to herself.
Just then, a call from an unfamiliar number came in. After a moment's consideration, Tang Tang answered.
A young man's voice came from the other end.
"Hello, Miss Tang Tang."
Tang Tang assumed it was a paparazzo or something and was about to hang up and block the number.
But the person on the other end continued,
"I'd like to make a deal with you, Miss Tang. I'm willing to offer you more money than you might earn in twenty years."
After a brief silence, Tang Tang asked,
"What do you want?"
The man laughed.
"To show my sincerity, let me pay you a small deposit first."
Then Tang Tang received a notification from her bank. Ten million had been deposited into one of her accounts.
The man continued, "Once it's done, I'm willing to give you two billion."
Tang Tang fell silent. Before Lin Mo's downfall, she might have thought little of that two billion. After all, she was already becoming famous. Money would be easy to earn, even if it took quite some time.
But the problem was that Lin Mo was about to fall.
She asked softly,
"What do I need to do?"
A quiet chuckle came from the other end.
"It's very simple. Take good care of your pregnancy. Also, the child in your belly now belongs to a man named Cheng Yu. Understand?"
Tang Tang froze. That simple? Then she said,
"I understand. Cheng Yu is the father of the child I'm carrying."
The voice on the other end of the phone said,
"Good. Now, call me in a little while, and say this to me over the phone..."
The phone recording ended. Cheng Yu slipped his phone into his trouser pocket, stretched, and walked into the police station in front of him.
Inside the police station, Cheng Yu spotted a familiar face, Le Shuya. She saw him too.
"Oh, Miss Le. What a coincidence."
"Mr. Cheng, what brings you here?"
At Le Shuya's question, Cheng Yu gave a mysterious smile.
"I'm here for the same reason you are."
Just then, the police chief spotted Cheng Yu and laughed heartily.
"Hahaha! Mr. Cheng, long time no see. Do you need us to uphold justice and fight evil again?"
He could hardly have been friendlier. After the last incident involving Wang Long, the higher-ups had decided to promote him before long.
So when he saw Cheng Yu, he instinctively teased him.
Cheng Yu smiled in reply.
"That's right. This time, the evil is no less serious than last time, so I've come specifically to ask you to uphold justice."
The police chief's eyes lit up at that.
Who would have thought? Cheng Yu really is my lucky star!
"Come, come, Mr. Cheng. Let's talk inside."
Cheng Yu shook his head and looked at Le Shuya as he spoke to the police chief.
"I'm here with this young lady."
Before you continue