Eternal Life Begins with Learning

"Wh... wh... what is going on?"

Chu Mu forced himself to stay calm, asking Wu Shuo in a hushed voice.

"I don’t know."

Wu Shuo turned to look into the room and said gravely, "He San and I were right across the hall. We heard a noise and rushed in together. We just saw a black shadow flash toward the cabinet. He San landed a few punches, the cabinet shattered, and the shadow was gone..."

Chu Mu looked at the room across the hall. Their doors faced each other, separated only by a corridor. At such a short distance, it would have taken ten-odd seconds at most from hearing the noise to bursting into the room.

Ten-odd seconds...

The ghastly image of the flayed body surfaced in his mind, impossible to suppress.

No matter how hard Chu Mu tried to compose himself, a chill still ran down his spine. Looked at from any angle, this horrific scene... could no longer be explained by common sense!

"This is already beyond our ability to handle..."

Wu Shuo’s expression was grim. "Let’s wait for the Thousand Households to arrive."

Chu Mu asked tentatively, "Squad Leader, what... do you think this is?"

"This is just too bizarre."

Wu Shuo shook his head, his expression growing even heavier. "That black shadow... I’m certain it was definitely not human!"

"And it absolutely wasn’t a hallucination. I saw it, and He San saw it too..."

Chu Mu fell silent. The current horrific scene was indeed bizarre through and through. In other words, this was no longer something a human could have done!

’Not human... then what could it be?’

’A ghost?’

Suddenly, Chu Mu recalled the tales of ghosts and gods he had heard in the tavern that day.

The location, it seemed, was also one of these places of pleasure and romance.

And the ghastly details, it seemed, also defied logical explanation...

As he thought of this, Chu Mu felt the chill enveloping him grow even colder. He looked around; although people were coming and going, creating a lively scene...

...perhaps it was just psychological, but a single glance gave him an inexplicable sense of gloom.

CLOMP, CLOMP, CLOMP...

Before Chu Mu could think further, hurried footsteps echoed from the top of the stairs. Immediately after, Li Jinghong strode over, flanked by a dozen fully armed Inspectors.

"Thousand Households!"

"Thousand Households!"

Wu Shuo quickly stood up. Chu Mu, along with the other Inspectors present, stood to the sides of the corridor and echoed the greeting.

Li Jinghong scanned the Inspectors present and frowned. "What’s the situation?"

Seeing this, Wu Shuo hurried forward to explain.

After the explanation, a distinct gloominess clouded Li Jinghong’s features. He then followed Wu Shuo’s lead into the room, which could only be described as a hell on earth.

Chu Mu didn’t follow them inside, but he moved a few steps closer to the doorway, watching the actions of Li Jinghong and his men.

It was obvious that after seeing such a bloody scene, Li Jinghong’s expression was anything but pleasant.

"You two, are you certain you came over immediately after hearing the noise?"

Li Jinghong asked in a low voice, looking around the room.

"I swear on my life, there wasn’t the slightest delay."

"Squad Leader He and I were in the room right across the hall. The moment we heard something, we charged over. It only took a few breaths’ time."

At this moment, Wu Shuo couldn’t be bothered with the fact that he’d been caught neglecting his duties to enjoy himself at Fengyue Tower during his shift. He answered quickly.

Li Jinghong clearly didn’t care about that. But his expression, visible to the naked eye, grew significantly uglier in sync with the blood-soaked scene in the room.

Especially when he saw the mangled flesh that Chu Mu had pulled apart, Li Jinghong’s expression turned utterly grim.

But faintly, Chu Mu thought he could also see a trace of deeply hidden... terror in Li Jinghong?

"Drag the body to the street and cremate it on the spot. Seal off Fengyue Tower..."

After a long moment, Li Jinghong finally spoke slowly.

At these words, the Inspectors clearly hesitated. After a moment, Wu Shuo couldn’t help but look at Li Jinghong. "Shouldn’t we notify the deceased’s family first?"

"No need. Cremate it first!"

Li Jinghong’s tone left no room for doubt.

"Yes, sir."

Wu Shuo didn’t dare ask any more questions. Just as he turned to shout for the nearby Inspectors to carry out the order, something strange happened again!

Chu Mu saw it clearly: on the bluish-gray wall, a black halo suddenly appeared.

Immediately after, a black shadow materialized. The shadow then transformed, becoming a ball of black mist that shot directly toward Li Jinghong, enveloping him.

This change was too sudden, too bizarre. The Inspectors present hadn’t even had time to react before the black mist shrouded Li Jinghong.

Next, there was a CRACKLING flash of electric light. The black mist that had enveloped Li Jinghong disintegrated, breaking into twisting black threads that swirled around the room.

"May I ask which senior is present? I am a disciple of the Nanshan Li Family. If I have caused any offense, I beg for your forgiveness..."

At this moment, Li Jinghong had completely lost his usual high-and-mighty demeanor.

His magnificent robes were tattered, his body was covered in bloody marks, and he was sprawled on the ground, his face a mask of terror as he shouted continuously.

"I am a disciple of the Nanshan Li Family..."

"Thousand Households..."

"Thousand Households!"

The Inspectors were horrified, completely at a loss. Some tried to move forward to help Li Jinghong up, others shouted at their surroundings, and still others swung their sabers wildly in the air.

And at this moment, Chu Mu, who had witnessed everything with his own eyes...

...was stunned. Truly and utterly stunned!

’My whole worldview is about to shatter!’

’What did I just see?’

A black shadow turned into black mist, enveloped Li Jinghong, and then with a thunderous CRACKLE, the mist disintegrated, swirling around, clearly preparing to strike again.

’What the hell is this?’

’This whole scene... this can’t be right, can it?’

Before Chu Mu could even process it, an even more horrifying scene unfolded.

The black threads swirling in the room surged once more. But this time, their target wasn’t the terrified, shouting Li Jinghong, but the Inspectors beside him.

The black threads shot out. In the blink of an eye, several Inspectors collapsed to the ground. The sabers they brandished were like phantoms, completely unable to harm the threads in the slightest.

And the fallen Inspectors looked as if they had aged a thousand years in an instant. One second they were living people; the next, they were like dried-up corpses. It was utterly horrifying!

"No, that’s not it..."

Just then, Li Jinghong seemed to realize something. The terror on his face vanished, and he shot to his feet. "Don’t be afraid! Huddle together as close as you can and activate your Qi Blood! This thing is afraid of Qi Blood!"

Hearing Li Jinghong’s words, the Inspectors, who had been scattering in all directions only to be cornered by the swirling black threads, had no choice but to gather in small groups under the threat of death.

Although activating their Qi Blood produced no major visible effect, the black threads that had been slaughtering them at will suddenly acted as if they had encountered a natural predator.

They circled before the small clusters of Inspectors but didn’t advance another inch.

This change undoubtedly let all the Inspectors on scene breathe a huge sigh of relief.

As for Li Jinghong, his earlier terror had completely vanished. As if he had connected the dots, his expression took on an intriguing, thought-provoking look...

...