Family portrait

Lu Heng did not rush upstairs.

He stood there, bending down to pick up all the items that had fallen after the BOSS dissipated. When his fingertips touched those things, his palms still trembled slightly from the fierce battle. He stored all the items in his Wristband Space, his movements unhurried, as if he were deliberately using this mechanical action to suppress the fatigue surging in his chest.

Then he sat down cross-legged on the spot.

Close your eyes and practice Starlight Meditation. Your mental energy, like a dried-up stream, gradually gathers and fills up from nothingness under the guidance of meditation. The emptiness from the post-war exhaustion is gradually filled, but the weariness that seeps from the very marrow of your bones cannot be completely dispelled by meditation.

He took out the Flesh Core from the Wristband Space and swallowed it.

The warm energy spread along the meridians, like a warm current flowing into the limbs and bones. The fine tears on the body healed rapidly, the ruptured fascia reconnected, and the accumulated dark blood was gradually dissolved.

Physical energy fully restored. Mental energy fully restored.

Lu Heng opened his eyes and his gaze fell on the Wristband.

The Geothermal Talisman icon has been completely grayed out.

He stared at the gray icon for a long time, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the surface of the Wristband. The Geothermal Talisman that had accompanied him through countless desperate situations and bore the core output in the most critical moments had shattered and perished completely. There was no possibility of repair, no remaining fragments, as if it had never existed.

He remained silent for a moment, suppressing the regret in his chest, and calmly examined his body.

The next second, he paused slightly.

Although the Geothermal Talisman was destroyed, its original high-temperature properties did not disappear—the scalding power seemed to have found a new vessel, subtly merging into his Survival Talent.

Lu Heng slowly raised his hand, tentatively activating his High-Temperature Control.

The temperature of my palm instantly soared.

The heat he felt far surpassed any previous peak, as if something deep within his bloodline had been completely ignited. He casually pressed down on a piece of hard metal fragment beside him, without even exerting any force, and the metal surface quickly softened and deformed under his palm, its edges gleaming with a dark red luster.

Permanent advancement.

Lu Heng withdrew his hand, gripped the Rat King Bone Knife tightly, and turned his gaze to the end of the stairs.

He stepped onto the second floor.

The staircase wasn't long, but with each step, the floorboards beneath his feet emitted a dull groan. There wasn't a breath of wind in the air, yet there was an inexplicable chill, as if something was waiting for him at the end of the stairs, watching him approach step by step with countless unseen eyes.

The moment the door was pushed open, a strong, pungent smell of blood hit the door.

Intense, dull, and nauseating.

Lu Heng's pupils suddenly contracted.

The second floor is not structured like a supermarket at all. It's the Shopkeeper's private area, but what he sees now looks more like a forgotten slaughterhouse.

Sunlight streamed obliquely through the broken window, its rays sliced into several ghastly white beams by the shattered frame, illuminating the dust and dried blood mist suspended in the air. Beyond the beams of light lay heavy shadows, the outlines of the wreckage appearing and disappearing between light and shadow.

The ground was littered with dried, mangled remains, some still curled up, as if they had endured a long and agonizing death. An abandoned chopping board leaned crookedly against the wall, its surface covered with layers of dark brown, aged bloodstains, so many that it was impossible to tell how many. In the corner lay piles of unidentified bone fragments, some as thin as chopsticks, others as large as fists.

Lu Heng's gaze swept over the remains, one, two, three... he couldn't count them all.

He instantly connected the dots to the unidentified meat he'd encountered earlier in the Butcher Area—

It's all human flesh.

A chill ran down his spine and up to the back of his head, Lu Heng's back instantly broke out in a cold sweat. He was thankful that he had never touched those things, and thankful that he had never lingered in that area for even a second longer.

He stood there, looking at the innocent wreckage scattered on the ground, and remained silent for a long time.

Those remains cannot speak, cannot accuse, and will not even leave a name. They are simply processed, cut up, and forgotten, like a pile of useless waste.

Lu Heng activated his advanced High-Temperature Talent.

A scorching heat spread from his palm, not a violent flame, but a slow, silent burning. The remains on the entire second floor turned to ashes in silence, the dried bloodstains evaporated, and the stench of decay was purified. Sunlight shone on the ashes, and the fine powder rose slowly like dust, silently dissipating in the beam of light.

He stood amidst the ashes, silently reciting a phrase in his heart:

Be free.

After all this was done, Lu Heng's deduction was completely confirmed— the Four Great Anomaly were merely the front-line executors, the knives laid out in the open. Only the Shopkeeper himself could have orchestrated such a meticulous, long-term, and systematic scheme to harm people.

He was the sole mastermind behind the scenes.

At the far end of the second floor, there is a closed private office.

The door wasn't locked, as if the Shopkeeper had never imagined anyone would come here.

Lu Heng pushed open the door and entered. There was nothing strange or ambush inside, only a table full of handwritten ledgers and records, neatly stacked and even categorized by year. The light streaming in from the window fell on the pages, and the dense handwriting on the yellowed paper was clearly legible.

He picked up the top document and flipped through it page by page.

The more I looked, the tighter I clenched my teeth.

The Shopkeeper personally crafted the environment for the Four Great Anomaly Objects creatures to harm people, precisely covering up all their flaws. He secretly cleaned up crime scenes, disposed of remains, and erased traces for years, keeping his activities a secret. He meticulously recorded every murder, fraud, human trafficking, and fake drug attack, and even continuously optimized his methods to make his evil deeds more covert and efficient.

He has long kept and nurtured four strange beings, collecting a massive amount of resentment, all in order to achieve his own Supreme Evil Dao.

Lu Heng put down the last document, his knuckles turning white.

He cannot comprehend, nor can he forgive, the systematic, procedural, and meticulous execution of evil deeds.

Hidden in a secret compartment of the desk lies a Nightmare Chest.

Lu Heng directly stored it in the Wristband Space, without activating it for the time being.

Then his gaze fell on the table.

A family photo of the three of them.

The sunlight fell perfectly on the photograph, illuminating every detail: the young Shopkeeper was gently embraced by his mother, his expression warm, as if all the kindness in the world was condensed in that hug. The father stood to one side, his expression stiff and awkward, out of place in the whole scene.

Lu Heng leaned closer for a closer look and discovered a hidden detail—

The portrait of my father is one that was originally cut out and then forcibly reattached. The edges of the pasting are rough and deliberate, like a decision made by someone in extreme contradiction—cut it out, then paste it back; paste it back, then hatefully want to cut it out again.

The mother's image is intact and has not been altered in any way.

The Shopkeeper harbored a deep-seated hatred for his father and wanted to completely erase his existence. But deep in his heart, he clung to a lingering affection and tenderness for his mother.

Even the most heinous madman retains a last vestige of human warmth in his heart.

Lu Heng was unwilling to keep the villain's belongings. He activated his High-Temperature Talent, intending to burn the photograph completely.

Flames licked the edges of the photograph.

Not a single bit damaged.

Lu Heng frowned and increased the output. The intense heat was enough to melt metal, but the photo remained lying quietly on the table, not even a corner curled. Sunlight shone on it, and the surface of the photo even gleamed with a faint, almost warm, sheen.

He was surprised and immediately activated his Appraisal.

The results of the analysis have emerged.

[Relics: The Villain’s Family Portrait]

It has no grade, cannot be destroyed, and cannot be damaged.

Description: The only relic left in the world by a heinous villain, carrying the last bit of emotion and kindness he had left in his life.

Special effect: Creates a fixed area the size of a bedroom where survivors' stamina and mental recovery speed is doubled.

Lu Heng stared at the test results for a long time.

He added the photo to his Wristband.

A villain may commit countless sins and kill many people in his life. In the end, what remains in the world is not the murder weapon or the resentment, but this last bit of fragile warmth.