Yunshan County.

Near Wolf Cave.

"Who told you to kill people indiscriminately?" Jiang Zhihen, with his long hair draped over his shoulders, looked grimly at the three calm individuals before him.

Andy from the Norn Group was leisurely operating a computer.

The computer screen floated in front of him, appearing semi-transparent.

Although a collaborator, his attitude towards killing seemed completely different from Jiang Zhihen's.

"Don't be angry, Jiang. That group of people had already touched the edge of the key point, and any further progress might have led to the discovery of evidence. We can't afford to create complications," Andy calmly reassured him.

"But they were from the Security Bureau! Couldn't you have knocked them unconscious and dumped them somewhere far away?" Jiang Zhihen raged.

"Jiang, do you even hear what you're saying?" One of the two assistants beside him, Ados in a white suit, smiled as he adjusted his glasses.

"They are people, living people. Our arrangements cannot afford any mistakes. Besides... this matter was your poor arrangement, so why blame us?" He seemed indifferent.

"Ados is right. I killed them. If you have the guts, you can kill me to pay for their lives," the blue-haired woman, Baila, said coldly.

She was still wearing the same nun's habit. It was as if she hadn't sweated at all these days, had no body odor, and hadn't even dirtied her clothes, remaining as pristine as when she first arrived.

Jiang Zhihen's gaze grew even more sinister as he stared at Baila without saying a word.

Thin streams of silver liquid flowed down his right arm, rapidly forming a rectangular silver briefcase.

"Alright, Jiang, the people are already dead. You should be thinking about how to handle the aftermath. We are friends, people standing together, and shouldn't be so tense," Andy said, extinguishing the computer screen in front of him, allowing it to shrink and condense into a red crystal, which floated back to his right shoulder.

"Also," he paused. "We have a bit of a problem now. Not enough people."

"Not enough? Didn't I already have you send over a hundred people in there? How is that still not enough?" Jiang Zhihen fumed. "The previous prisoners, the local border residents and undocumented immigrants who helped with the routes, the numbers should have been enough long ago!"

"I don't know the reason. But judging from the degree to which the Blue Book is surfacing, it seems to need even more," Andy shook his head slightly. "I suspect that the complete emergence of the Blue Book may mainly require people who can enter the dead corners of Wolf Cave."

"Dead corner people?" Jiang Zhihen frowned.

"Yes. Other ordinary people, even if they die nearby, might have some effect, but it's too weak," Andy nodded.

"The mental fluctuations of dead corner people are stronger; this has been confirmed," Jiang Zhihen replied. He was silent for a moment.

"I will immediately mobilize the surrounding dead corner people to gather, but you must understand that our time is running out. The deaths of the Security Bureau personnel here must be closed quickly, and a perfect explanation must be given; otherwise, if the higher-ups blame us, not only will I not be able to escape, but you won't be able to either!"

"Of course I understand. Rest assured, according to our calculations, the problem can be solved with the consumption of thirty more dead corner people. But as for ordinary people, who knows how many more we'll need," Andy replied.

"Thirty people is too many... this type of group dies quickly and appears slowly..." Jiang Zhihen frowned.

"Let's try it. We'll cooperate to close the case and reduce the impact. But the Nine Luminaries shouldn't pay much attention to dead corner people, right?" Ados smiled. "Anyway, it's normal for people like us to die in some corner at any time." He was also a dead corner person.

"...You're right. I'll issue a transfer order," Jiang Zhihen knew what he meant.

"But, I don't want there to be a next time," he raised a finger and warned Ados.

"Of course, of course..." Ados said with a playful smile.

"Then, what are you going to do with the Security Bureau people?" Jiang Zhihen asked, looking at Andy.

"Simple," Andy smiled. "I checked the data. Among the dead corner people nearby, there's someone called Thug. He's done a lot of things before. You can arrange for Thug and his group to come over, and then pin all the cases on them. Anyway, they're just weeds; it won't matter if they die. No one will care."

"That works too," Jiang Zhihen nodded. "That Thug is indeed lawless; this is a good opportunity to deal with him."

Thug acted erratically; pinning these kinds of things on him wouldn't have to worry about being exposed.

"Do you have a recording of Thug?" Ados asked with a smile.

"Of course." Jiang Zhihen seemed to understand something, and his eyes narrowed as he looked at him.

*

*

*

In the middle of a wide soccer field.

The sky was black, and bright searchlights constantly swept around the field.

Longmendiao stood nervously in the center, looking around.

He was wearing a full set of protective exoskeleton equipment, but at this time and in this place, most of the exoskeleton's functions couldn't be used properly.

Chī!

Suddenly, he flashed to the left, seemingly dodging something.

A sharp cut appeared in the spot where he had been standing, leaving a black scar on the grass of the field.

Chī!

Another faint sound of wind. Longmendiao couldn't dodge in time and was slashed across his thigh, immediately cracking a deep gash in the leg exoskeleton.

Fortunately, it seemed that because it was blocked, the outside of his thigh wasn't injured.

Chī!

Chī!

Chī!!

In an instant, three consecutive sounds of wind flew towards three parts of his body.

Longmendiao had previously relied on his specially trained ability to distinguish sounds in the wind to barely dodge one invisible attack.

Now, with three at the same time, he was completely blind.

'It's over!' He rolled to the left on the spot, hoping to dodge at least one attack with luck.

Pūchī!

In an instant, his left arm was severed from the elbow, blood and exoskeleton armor flying high, forming an arc and smashing to the ground.

Chī!

Another invisible attack flew towards his neck.

'It's over… this time it's really over. Farewell, Tang-jie, farewell, Da Xiong...'

Longmendiao's heart wasn't filled with terror, but with a strange sense of relief.

Too tired.

Every day he lived in fear, afraid that he would wake up not in his room, but in a dead corner.

Earning one day at a time, that was the idea he had always carried.

But now that he was truly at the end, he suddenly felt relaxed.

It was so good not to have to live in fear like before...

Pēng!

Suddenly, a burst of severe pain exploded from his buttocks.

A massive force slammed into his ass, sending him flying out like a bowling ball.

Longmendiao's peaceful state of mind was instantly shattered, and he rolled all the way out, eating a mouthful of dirt.

"Fuck! Who is it!! Won't even let me die properly!?" He barely stabilized himself and looked up.

Hōnglōng!!

In an instant, the ground shook.

In a burst of brilliant, dazzling golden light, a tall monster covered in eyeball-like spheres was held down by Li Cheng Yi's right palm.

The giant hand of the Flowery Scale Clothes slammed heavily on the ground of the field, pressing the monster hard onto the ground, like meat being grilled, sizzling and emitting thick smoke.

After a while, the monster silently dissolved, turning into countless black qi, disappearing into nothing.

Leaving only a huge handprint more than five meters in diameter on the ground.

Li Cheng Yi turned his head and looked at Longmendiao.

"What were you saying just now?"

"I… I said, Big Brother, you are so handsome!!" Longmendiao was stunned, and immediately turned into a smiling face, replying.

"You better make sure you didn't say anything wrong," Li Cheng Yi said expressionlessly.

In fact, he hadn't really intended to kill the monster, but unfortunately, its size was large and its strength was great, causing him to misjudge its ability to withstand.

As a result, he accidentally used too much force.

"Did you collect the clues?"

"Everything's ready!" Longmendiao quickly said, "Big Brother, my hand is broken, it's at your feet, remember to help me pick it up."

Li Cheng Yi picked up the severed arm next to him, and his eyes suddenly blurred and twisted, flashing to...

No, to be precise, the dead corner should be closed.

When the monster inside died, the dead corner would close, waiting for the next opening. However, the next time would be more difficult.

The two returned to the grass on the side of Yongan Garden.

Longmendiao's arm was still bleeding continuously. Da Hei and Xiao Zong, who had been waiting nearby, quickly stepped forward and used hemostatic gel and bandages to stop the bleeding urgently.

Da Xiong used a special container to put the severed hand from Li Cheng Yi into it, preserving it well.

Soon, the surrounding medical personnel came in and took Longmendiao and the severed hand away, heading to Da Xiong's private hospital to reattach the arm.

"The difficulty is getting higher and higher," Li Cheng Yi frowned slightly. "In the time to come, everyone should try not to leave my side."

"I already have some clues. After the premonition, for at least three days, it's unlikely that I'll enter again. Cheng-ge, I need to go to another province; my dead corner's clues are over there," Da Xiong said seriously.

"No problem. Leave me a message if anything happens," Li Cheng Yi nodded.

"I'll go with you," Rainbow Candy said. She had originally been preparing to investigate the Blue Book in Yunshan County, but now that the situation here was urgent, she could only come back to help investigate the dead corner first.

"Good!" Da Xiong hugged Rainbow Candy. "If I'm gone, you must live on alone, even if you take me with you."

"Are you acting in a TV series here?" Rainbow Candy pushed her away with a slap. "Stop saying such unlucky things."

"Da Xiong's dead corner is tentatively named Hot Spring Resort. Longmendiao's dead corner is tentatively named Soccer Field. Everyone help collect information. The characteristics of these two dead corners are very obvious. We're lucky," Li Cheng Yi arranged.

"Indeed, the clues have already been found; we just need to go over there and verify them," Da Xiong nodded.

"I…" Da Hei opened his mouth, wanting to say something.

Suddenly, his body rapidly faded, becoming translucent, like a wriggling jelly, slowly stopping.

Then, in a second, he completely disappeared.

"Here it comes again!" Li Cheng Yi's pupils shrank; this frequency was too fast.

"Everyone move away, I'll go in and help!"

Rainbow Candy and the other two didn't dare to disturb him and quickly moved away, pulling back the distance, watching Li Cheng Yi standing still in place, constantly trying to flash into the dead corner.

But time passed little by little.

Five minutes.

Ten minutes...

Li Cheng Yi still hadn't entered the dead corner.

Pū.

Suddenly, a strange noise came from the place where Da Hei disappeared.

Everyone's eyes turned to look there.

On the grass, a broken tablet computer had appeared out of nowhere in Da Hei's original position.

A large piece of the edge of the computer had been bitten off by something.

"It's elder brother's emergency backup computer...!" Xiao Zong's eyes instantly turned red.

Everyone else understood in an instant.

After entering the dead corner, the person didn't come back, but the thing did. This situation had also happened to other dead corner people.

And none of the people who had this happen to them were still alive.

Everyone present was silent.

A faint sense of sorrow, along with Xiao Zong's cries, slowly spread out.

Watching a familiar person who was just communicating normally a moment ago suddenly disappear in ten minutes.

This feeling...

(End of Chapter)