Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Mysterious Book

Opening the safe proved to be somewhat laborious. Even though the Black Spear was incredibly sharp, it was ineffective against such thick metal. In the end, it took about half an hour of painstaking effort to finally get the safe open.

“Hiss—what is this?”

Inside the safe, there were three compartments, but only a single item: a square wooden box. Shen Lie took the box out and opened it, immediately letting out a gasp of astonishment.

Within the box was a flower—a white bloom.

Indeed, it was the mysterious white flower that drifted down from the upper reaches of the Red River, capable of replenishing the energy of the mark on Shen Lie’s brow. This was one of the items he most desperately needed. The flower, however, was missing a petal; it seemed Xiao Gang had already used it. As for why the rest was kept, it was impossible to guess. In any case, the flower was now his.

After obtaining the first of these white flowers, Shen Lie had already ordered Li Cheng to send people to the banks of the upper Red River, hoping to uncover the pattern of their appearance. Yet the reports he received told him that the white flower had not appeared again.

The instant he opened the box, a wave of delicate fragrance wafted from the petals, making Shen Lie feel an urge to devour it right then and there. However, the timing was clearly wrong, so he closed the box and set it aside, preparing to continue his search.

Just then, one of Li Cheng’s men rushed up from downstairs, breathless as he arrived at the doorway and said, “Brother Shen, we found something in the basement. Brother Li asked you to come take a look.”

Shen Lie remembered this subordinate was Hu Xiaogang—one of the first men he’d met. Right now, Hu’s complexion was terrible: pale as death, with dry retching noises as though he’d just vomited.

“What’s going on?” Shen Lie asked, eyeing him with suspicion.

“Cough, cough, that Xiao Gang was a real pervert, Brother Shen. You’ll see when you get there. But Sister Zhang had best not go—it’s really not pretty in there. Also, there’s some weird book down there.” Hu Xiaogang’s words were evasive, not giving a clear answer.

“Lead the way,” Shen Lie commanded, not bothering with further questions. He doubted any of them would try to set him up; Li Cheng and his men were now tied to his interests, and betraying him would be self-destruction.

Zhang Jing continued to follow Shen Lie, ignoring Hu Xiaogang’s advice. The three of them quickly reached the first floor and then descended into the basement.

As they reached the bottom of the staircase, a faint scent of blood hit Shen Lie’s nose. He frowned, sensing something grim, but he’d survived months of life-and-death struggle and had two lives on his hands already—he wasn’t overly fazed.

The basement had a door, tightly shut at the moment. Li Cheng and another of his men stood guard. When they saw Shen Lie, they greeted him respectfully, then likewise suggested Zhang Jing wait outside.

“Maybe you should wait out here?” Shen Lie asked, noting Li Cheng’s concern and realizing the situation inside must be unpleasant. He turned to Zhang Jing, but she shook her head, silent but resolute, showing no intention of retreating.

“Open the door,” Shen Lie ordered, seeing her determination.

With a creak, the metal door slowly opened in Li Cheng’s trembling hands, and a powerful, nauseating stench of blood surged from within, making Shen Lie’s face pale. But when he saw what lay inside, his pallor was nothing compared to the shock that followed.

People—nothing but people—naked, both men and women, all chained with iron, forming a ring around the entire basement.

Some of them were likely dead, yet others still showed signs of life, emitting weak moans. The most horrifying detail was that every person had knives of various shapes stuck into their bodies, and beneath each of them was a basin where blood dripped from their wounds, pooling below them. The scene was grotesque and bloody.

In the center of the hall stood a massive circular stone, atop which rested something like a hammer. On the hammer lay a book, and both book, hammer, and stone were drenched in fresh blood, as if someone routinely poured blood over them.

The scene was terrifying and macabre. Shen Lie’s eyes twitched, his stomach roiling—he forced himself to suppress it. Zhang Jing, however, lacked that resilience; at the sight, she began to retch violently and fled the room.

“Is everything alright outside?” Shen Lie asked, inhaling deeply and glancing at Li Cheng.

Li Cheng understood Shen Lie’s concern and hurried to reassure him. “It’s fine. Xiao Gang’s close followers have been contained, and the rest have sworn loyalty to you, Brother Shen. Many of the people here I know, including a few old friends and relatives. With Xiao Gang dead, no one will do anything foolish.”

At first, Li Cheng couldn’t believe Shen Lie had actually killed Xiao Gang, thinking it was mere bluff. But when Shen Lie gave him the location and the body was found, even Xiao Gang’s original followers had to accept the truth, and their respect for Shen Lie grew.

“What’s going on?” Shen Lie asked, looking around at the naked men and women and the bizarre objects in the center. It all seemed to be part of some ritual.

“Well… heh, I’m not really sure. I asked a few of Xiao Gang’s close followers, and they all said this was a forbidden place set up by Xiao Gang, guarded in turns by his brother and sister. But neither of them could explain the reason—they only said Xiao Gang poured blood from people he brought down onto that book every day, and regularly brought in new captives to bleed. No one knows exactly why.”

“I see. Get someone to unchain these people, see if any can be saved, and interrogate Xiao Gang’s brother and sister. Then kill those two, along with Xiao Gang’s close followers. Check the others as well.” Shen Lie did not touch the book, but took a look around at the chained captives. He noticed that all of them, regardless of gender, were young and attractive. Instantly, he understood what had happened, and gave his orders to Li Cheng without expression.

“Understood.” Li Cheng gave Shen Lie a deep look and nodded.

Once Li Cheng’s men had freed the captives and provided clothes, Shen Lie approached the large stone, examined it for a while, and then reached out to take the book from its top.

The book was thin but rigid. After gently wiping off the bloodstains, a vivid illustration emerged.

The cover depicted a massive yellow hammer, wreathed in lightning. At its center was a circular blank space, containing a drop of bright red blood. The drop looked uncannily real—not painted, but almost gleaming.

That was all the cover showed. Inside, the book contained only two pages, densely covered in script, but not in any language Shen Lie recognized. He suspected the characters were not of Earth at all. The back cover bore only a single symbol, its meaning unknown.

Shen Lie turned the book over and over, scrutinizing it, but found nothing more. He realized Xiao Gang’s intent in creating this scene: unable to understand the book, Xiao Gang must have guessed from the cover that it depicted some kind of ritual, so he imitated it with this grotesque altar. Clearly, he had not succeeded.

Stowing the strange book away, Shen Lie quickly left the basement, unable to endure the oppressive atmosphere.

Li Cheng brought over more than a dozen people from the compound, summoning all the able-bodied men—the compound’s elders were more trustworthy, after all.

After coming out of the basement, Li Cheng displayed the ruthlessness of a post-apocalyptic leader: without hesitation, he executed Xiao Gang’s brother and sister outside, along with Xiao Gang’s close followers. The King’s gang was destroyed in an instant.

Most of the captives rescued from the basement were already dead; those still alive were barely hanging on. After being given some clean water and care, only four survived.