Mystery Paradise: Wishing Power Demon

Meanwhile, Chaoyang, Zhou Zhi, and Kokomoqi had arrived at the beach cave as well.

After nine o’clock in the evening, the excavation work would come to a pause, not because Bariff was unwilling to run three shifts, but because the gang guarding the place needed rest. Through the assistant’s memories, they knew that all the guards would leave the cave at this time and seal the cave entrance, letting the workers rest in the stuffy and damp cave. After intensive physical labor, directly sleeping on the wet and slippery ground that lacked even beds, those with slightly poorer physical health could suffer from hypothermia or even fall into an eternal sleep without realizing it. And the first thing the guards did upon entering the cave each morning was to remove the corpses and replace them with new diggers.

The company wasn’t unaware of the consequences of such practices; they did it because keeping all the workers confined in the cave made them easier to manage.

"Is this distance okay?" Chaoyang whispered.

"Hmm... Invisibility Technique doesn’t use much energy, leave it to Yu," Kokomoqi stretched out her hand and patted each of their chests. Soon after, they discovered their bodies had become transparent like flowing water.

"Amazing... this magic is just too cool!" Zhou Zhi clicked his tongue in wonder.

"Of course, magic is a miracle," the Magic Goddess nodded her head in satisfaction, seemingly quite pleased with the Chosen One’s compliments, "So, we’ll meet at the entrance."

"Let’s go," Chaoyang linked up with Zhou Zhi’s field of vision, "Follow the sound of my footsteps closely."

Even for Bariff, visiting the cave at this time would seem quite strange, not to mention crossing the gang’s fortified camp, which would undeniably startle many people. Therefore, the project manager’s identity was not very convenient to use at this moment. While Chaoyang was pondering how to sneak into the cave without anyone knowing, Kokomoqi offered her own plan.

As it turned out, Invisibility Technique indeed saved them a lot of trouble.

Chaoyang and Zhou Zhi passed through the camp’s iron fences as if no one else existed, passed by one dozing guard after another, until they reached the entrance of the cave without any response from anyone. Naturally, there were guards here too, but none of them were at the door; instead, they were all huddled on the grass patch beside the cave, sound asleep. In their view, the door was locked from the outside and the laborers inside the cave couldn’t possibly escape. As long as the brothers on the outer perimeter didn’t sound the alarm, those on the inside could sleep without worry.

Kokomoqi, on the other hand, descended from the sky and landed at the entrance—flying consumed even less energy for her than being invisible.

"I’ll open the door," Chaoyang took out Bariff’s key, easily unlocked the door, let the Magic Goddess and Zhou Zhi in, then carefully closed the door behind them, "You can cancel the invisibility now."

Zhou Zhi took out a torch he had prepared in advance and lit it, illuminating the ground beneath. "So they were all brought here to work, huh? The air is really filthy."

"Because the ventilating fans are only operated during the day," Chaoyang also lit his own torch and led the way—he had been here once before, so it was familiar territory. "If you see Zhang Zhiyuan again, will you recognize him?"

"No problem, I remember his face. But... what if it’s not Brother Zhang?" At this critical moment, Zhou Zhi began to feel somewhat unsure.

"The worst outcome is simply a wasted trip," Chaoyang was relatively optimistic; he had found Kokomoqi through a set pattern of locations, which proved this theory to be feasible.

In this unfamiliar era, having one more person on your side equated to having additional strength.

The three had walked less than a hundred meters when Chaoyang whispered softly, "Huh."

’Someone is tailing us.’

’Who?’ Zhou Zhi suppressed the urge to turn his head and check, responding through his consciousness.

’I don’t know. There are two people hiding in the side passages.’

As Chaoyang’s wishing power grew, the range of his Eye of Lingxi’s perception recovered somewhat; he could sense the presence of people moving in those dark, deep passages behind them, but like a fleeting glimpse, it wasn’t possible to track them continuously like an Angel.

His judgment was that the two people had immediately left their original position upon discovering them, and now, finding the other party would certainly not be an easy task.

"Should we keep moving forward?"

"Of course, we stick to our plan regardless of changes." After saying this, Chaoyang gestured to Kokomoqi, leaning in to whisper something in her ear. She nodded, then disappeared from their view.

"She will support us from the shadows."

To be honest, Chaoyang was also very curious about who might be tailing him. The gang’s guards had long since withdrawn from the area, and the workers exhausted from a day’s digging would surely just want to collapse into sleep by now. Could it be that a third party was hidden within the cave?

A quarter of an hour later, they finally arrived at the bottom of the cave.

The air here was even more polluted, permeated with the odor of excrement. Only two or three of the oil lamps hanging on the wall were still burning, casting an unusually dim light over the place. About a dozen people were lying haphazardly on the ground, using their clothes as padding and huddling close together to fend off the cold and dampness of the late night. The cave was eerily quiet, with only the occasional moan of pain to be heard.

"How come there are only a dozen? Didn’t you say there were hundreds of workers here?" Zhou Zhi walked softly forward, beginning to examine their appearances.

"They must have dispersed into the branching tunnels of the cave. Searching like this won’t work; I’d better call all the workers over." After some thought, Chaoyang decided to ring the assembly bell. Although Bariff’s face might cause panic among them, searching tunnel by tunnel for people was not very practical. Moreover, with the uncertain identity of the stalker from before, recklessly entering could lead to additional danger.

The assembly bell was located next to the metal wall. Bariff had decreed that the bell would be rung three times in the morning, and anyone who failed to show up after three rings would be subjected to ten lashes. For the workers in the cave, it was practically a death knell.

However, before Chaoyang could reach the bell, a flurry of footsteps suddenly came from the cave entrance!

Almost at the same moment, the people sleeping on the ground jumped to their feet, one diving at Zhou Zhi to hold her tightly and quickly moving her away from Chaoyang. More than a dozen others fetched shovels and hammers from beneath their clothing and pointed them at Chaoyang!

"My God... it’s Bariff!"

"The murderer!?"

With the help of the torchlight, these people finally got a clear view of Chaoyang. Fear and panic flashed across their faces, and the hands holding their "weapons" began to tremble.

"Don’t be afraid! If you don’t resist, you’re no different from lambs waiting to be slaughtered, and you will surely die in the end! But dying for the struggle at least makes the company taste fear!" someone shouted loudly.

At his call, the morale of the crowd was temporarily steadied.

"Should we take action? Yu is ready with an area-of-effect magic spell," the low whisper of Kokomoqi came from behind.

"No need, they are not our enemies," Chaoyang said, turning towards the voice. He saw the shout had come from a young man, who, with seven or eight others, walked out from the exit tunnel, blocking Chaoyang’s way back.

"He... he’s the one who was with Anthony!" Although her mouth was covered, Zhou Zhi managed to communicate this thought to Chaoyang with her consciousness.

"If none of you dare to make a move, then I’ll be the first one!" The young man picked up a shovel and steadily approached. "I had wanted to recruit more people and prepare for a few more days, but since a big fish has come to us, it’s not a loss to act ahead of schedule!"

Chaoyang, with a composed expression, summoned a contract and handed it to him, speaking with a voice filled with compassion and pity, "It’s time to return to Paradise, child."