It was only a few words, but they left Shen Ru with a flood of questions.
The system had already marked the first task as complete, so what he had discovered for that task was an absolute truth within the instance.
Besides rendering players' bodies into corpse oil, the town's residents also devoured their flesh and blood to preserve their youth forever.
Then why had those words been carved into the mayor's desk?
Shen Ru casually leafed through the books on the desk. Most dealt with fantastical subjects, even touching on terms such as immortality and puppets.
Even with the important passages marked, it was still difficult to connect the existing clues through these scattered details.
Shen Ru turned his attention to the disordered bookshelf.
It held many books, most of them about township economic development and systems of governance, but one book at the far right of the second shelf stood out from all the rest.
Its riot of colors caught Shen Ru's attention.
After studying it for a moment, Shen Ru decided to take it out for a look. The instant his fingers touched the edge of the book, he sensed something was wrong.
The book could not be removed-or rather, it could not be pulled outward.
Then what if he thought in reverse and pushed it inward?
Click.
The instant he pressed down, the entire room gave a slight tremor. Then the bookshelf before him slowly parted down the middle, revealing a narrow entrance that could only accommodate one person.
Shen Ru showed no shock or fear. Instead, he let out a soft laugh.
His clear, mellow voice echoed through the secret passage, eventually taking on a chill that made the scalp prickle.
"It seems our mayor has quite a few secrets."
As he spoke, his slender