Chapter 344: Copper Coin Mask

With a heart full of anxiety, bewilderment, and helplessness, Wang Han left the Baizhou City Law Enforcement Bureau.

Wang Han still remembered Chen Feng's description of the mysterious Forest Cabin; the Forest Cabin did not actually exist anywhere in this world. It seemed to open to people at random, or perhaps it only opened to specific individuals. Like its existence, it was ethereal, as if both void and real, impossible to grasp.

Wang Han did not know how he was supposed to look for it either; he only knew what Department Head Chen Feng had said: the only information he knew was that a deceased Mysterious Investigator had personally searched for the Forest Cabin and had actually found it in Litaishi, but later, other Mysterious Investigators who tried to find it could never locate it in the same spot.

Thus, acting on the idea of treating a dead horse as if it were still alive, Wang Han wanted to set off for Litaishi, hundreds of kilometers away. But who would have thought that before he had even driven his car out of the city, he would suddenly see a dense fog appear before him? Its thickness completely affected the car's speed, and he was even afraid to drive for fear of the risk of an accident.

Wang Han stopped the car and tried honking the horn, but he was soon shocked to discover that the scenery around him seemed to have changed. The bustling city streetscape had vanished, and beneath his feet was no longer a main road; in its place was a forest shrouded in fog and a primitive path. The vehicles that had been driving around him and the pedestrians on the sidewalk had all disappeared, as if he were the only person left between heaven and earth.

Seeing this, Wang Han's body and mind trembled, his spirit shaken. He quickly recalled Department Head Chen Feng's description of the Forest Cabin's environment, and his heart began to race wildly. He thought in shock: Could it be that he had just entered the domain where the Forest Cabin existed? The place that those Mysterious Investigators had searched for in vain—had he found it so easily?

No... it should be said that the Forest Cabin had found him.

This strange intuition echoed deeply in his heart. Thinking of this, Wang Han decided to go and investigate. He wanted to see the legendary Forest Cabin, and he also wanted to beg the omniscient, mysteriously capable shop owner for a way to survive...

Li Hao listened to Wang Han's account just like that. The other man was at times excited and at times panicked, jumping from one extreme to the other; that contradictory and complex emotion was manifested vividly in him.

"So what did you buy from that Forest Cabin?" Li Hao asked.

"I didn't dare to buy anything." Wang Han widened his eyes, shook his head frantically, and said in a low voice, "I rented it."

He then mysteriously opened the backpack he had been hiding against his chest and took out several strings of copper coins... No, Li Hao looked closely and saw it was actually a mask, just strung together with copper coins. The craftsmanship was clearly very impressive to be able to string scattered and bulky copper coins into a mask.

"This is a mask. Does it have any function?" Li Hao looked at the Copper Coin Mask that Wang Han had carefully laid flat on the table. For some reason, he felt a sense of dread just looking at it, making him feel very uneasy.

Wang Han swallowed hard and introduced it to Li Hao: "I asked Lin Laoban, and he told me this is a type of prop used in ancient funeral customs. The coins are cast from bronze and made into a human face to be worn on the face or skull of the deceased, which can protect the deceased from being harassed by evil spirits in the netherworld and allow them to enter reincarnation in peace."

"Something for the dead? That's too ominous." Li Hao was shocked that Wang Han had actually bought such an eerie thing. Looking at the Copper Coin Mask, it had some age to it; it might truly be an old object that had been used.

Was he really not afraid of bad luck from using a dead person's things while still alive?

Because he had just experienced something that went completely against human common sense, Li Hao had already begun to believe that there really existed certain supernatural powers in the world that current science could not explain.

Wang Han gritted his teeth and said: "It can save my life!"

Holding the Copper Coin Mask from the table in his hands, gazing at it as affectionately and sacredly as a holy relic, he put the Copper Coin Mask on his face in front of Li Hao. The heavy copper coins covered half of Wang Han's face, obscuring everything below his eyes. The eyes that remained exposed began to emit a chilling, murderous glint.

Whether it was Wang Han's own poor physical condition or the power of the Copper Coin Mask, Li Hao felt that Wang Han's complexion was terrifyingly pale, white to the point of an unnatural blue, like frozen ice. It was as if the person before him was not a living human, but a cold corpse.

"Xiao Wang, are you alright?" Li Hao asked tentatively, having already quietly gripped his handgun.

"I am fine..." Wang Han said, his breath passing through the gaps and holes of the copper coins, revealing a cold white mist as if the ambient temperature had dropped. "This mask can protect me from the infringement of the Child of Cruelty. At the same time, every copper coin on the mask represents a prison cell. Any abnormal creature that tries to harm me may be dragged into the prison represented by the copper coin by the mask's power."

Hearing Wang Han's clear logic and fluent speech, Li Hao breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that Wang Han's mind had likely not been completely affected by the Copper Coin Mask.

"Such a powerful prop, why didn't you buy it, but chose to rent it instead?" Li Hao asked in confusion. No matter how he thought about it, the pros should outweigh the cons; the benefits of buying it should be greater than renting.

"How could I dare to buy it!?" Wang Han became agitated immediately. "Those who bought items from the Forest Cabin almost none were spared. I suspect this Copper Coin Mask might possess other unknown mysterious powers that could cause serious effects on ordinary humans like us, like Blessings or Curses. Humans cannot withstand such power."

"But this thing, shouldn't you have to carry it with you at all times?" Li Hao asked in return. "How long can you rent it for? If you don't wear this thing, you might be attacked by those potential dangers at any time?"

Li Hao held a pessimistic view; that owner of the Forest Cabin had not actually provided a way to eradicate the abnormal factors on Wang Han, but had given him a prop to temporarily evade danger. When the rental period expired and the power of the Copper Coin Mask reached its limit, how would Wang Han deal with it then?

Wang Han: "I rented it for 100 days. It doesn't matter. As long as I can eliminate that Child of Cruelty that has locked onto me within these 100 days, I can get rid of the abnormal entanglement and live on properly."

Upon hearing this, Li Hao was somewhat stunned, then couldn't help but say with a hint of emotion: "Then you are truly very lucky. I think I know how to help you find that Child of Cruelty."

"Team Leader Li!" Wang Han widened his eyes in excitement, though he did not know how evil his current gaze looked—like a zombie that had died suddenly but could still move—and said excitedly, "Please tell me!"

Li Hao then told Wang Han about his own experience. After hearing Li Hao's special experience, which was no less than his own, he was also amazed.

"I've made up my mind, Team Leader Li. I want to work with that Investigator Li Yuning to solve this related abnormal incident happening in Baizhou City, and save my own life while I'm at it!"