Chapter 100: Communication with the Dead

Must admit, there are differences among peers; the gap between one Otherworld Detective and another is enormous. Some need two shots of medicine just to glance at an evil entity, and their ribs ache when calculating profits later. Others are like the legendary investigators in stories, kicking open the door to the Otherworld and beating the entity inside into submission...

But Little Red Riding Hood soon adjusted her mindset, not holding it against this "Hotel Trio." After all, according to the Special Bureau's assessment (and her own), the three members of this "Hotel" combined couldn't even make up the character for "person," and one of them was likely a high-risk entity. Which decent person compares "Otherworld adaptability" with an entity?

Yu Sheng, however, didn't know why the girl in red suddenly fell silent, pondering something. He simply circled that eerie, terrifying "Sacrificer" once more, trying to discover more clues, and curiously asked again: "So if a human did this, what kind of pervert would they have to be? I can understand breaking in to steal something, since we're essentially here to steal too, but after stealing, why go through with this whole act? What's the point?"

"A sinister religious ritual; the sacrifice was likely the main purpose, and taking the 'Weeper' statue might have just been a side effect," Little Red Riding Hood shook her head. "People who do this are usually certain cultists or extremists. They expect to gain immense power, enlightenment, blessings, or the 'attention' of some eerie existence by sacrificing to the Otherworld. Judging by the powerful mental pollution this 'Sacrificer' has already generated, the person who conducted this 'sacrifice'... was an 'expert'."

"People like that exist?!" Yu Sheng's eyes widened in sudden surprise. "There are actually people who 'follow' the Otherworld, that weird thing?"

"They aren't following the Otherworld, but power and some higher-dimensional things. The Otherworld is just the most convenient path they've found to the extraordinary. Of course, such people exist, and there are quite a few of them," Little Red Riding Hood sighed, revealing another side of the world's truth to Yu Sheng, a novice who knew nothing. "The Holy Hidden Order, the Black Point Group, the Angel Cultists, and those 'Converts' wandering in the Otherworld who may no longer even be considered human—all of them might do such things."

She paused here, her expression becoming somewhat complex: "The Otherworld... many people suffer greatly from it. These borderlands have them, and the world beyond the borderlands has them too. We can save many people, but even more people fall into the... 'other side' of the world before they can be saved, never to return."

"Those who weren't saved yet didn't die either either went mad, were taken away by the groups I mentioned, or completely transformed into something non-human. The various influences within the Otherworld cause massive changes to the human mind. Being tempted by power, bewitched by illusions, controlled by false memories—these are common occurrences."

"Actually, thinking about it, you should know too. With so many bizarre Otherworlds and dangerous entities, after contacting them frequently, it's impossible for everyone to remain mentally firm and uphold humanity forever. There will always be people who take a wrong turn, only..."

"Only?" Yu Sheng was listening intently to this new knowledge. Hearing the other party suddenly stop, he instinctively asked.

"Only that this kind of 'illegal intrusion' is unusual in the borderlands," Little Red Riding Hood's tone grew somewhat heavy. "The entire borderland is monitored by the 'Node Network.' How did the 'intruder' in the museum sneak in unnoticed?"

"Then that's something for the Special Bureau people to worry about. The 'Nodes' were set up by them. If this thing really has a loophole, it'll be a huge mess."

Speaking thus, Yu Sheng shook his head and stepped toward the sacrificial victim on the high platform.

Seeing this action, Little Red Riding Hood immediately cried out: "What are you doing?"

"Let him down," Yu Sheng said naturally. "He's already dead; he shouldn't continue suffering like this. I saw it; I can't just ignore it."

"Beware of the curse! It's best to leave such matters to the Special Bureau's Deep Divers..." Little Red Riding Hood instinctively warned, but stopped mid-sentence and closed her mouth.

The Special Bureau's Deep Divers, fully armed, might not even have higher "resistance" than the man standing right here...

"Do we need to protect the scene?" Yu Sheng turned his head, asking Little Red Riding Hood curiously.

"... Yes," Little Red Riding Hood thought for a moment and nodded. "We'd better not move anything. Let professionals handle this."

"Oh," Yu Sheng felt this made sense and could only sigh regretfully. By now, he had reached the high platform, observed how the iron thorns were wrapped, and found their opening. He was about to grab the non-spiked part and pull down hard, but considering the necessity of "protecting the scene," he let go. After a moment of hesitation, he nodded to the victim kneeling on the platform. "Sorry, brother. I'm not a professional either. Once we get out, I'll report to the J... report to the Special Bureau, and they'll send someone to take you out. Sorry to keep you waiting here a bit longer."

Little Red Riding Hood looked at Yu Sheng with a somewhat strange expression. The latter soon noticed this gaze and turned around: "What's wrong?"

Little Red Riding Hood almost blurted out the thought in her heart, "Didn't expect you to be so humane." But before the words left her mouth, she forced a change: "... Didn't expect you to be so full of human feeling. Too many things go wrong in the Otherworld. Many people get used to it; when they see victims, they just silently mourn in their hearts, then go out and report to the Special Bureau to send corpse collectors to handle it. Few people care as much as you... even talking to the dead."

After she finished speaking, Hu Li beside her frowned slightly: "Then isn't that a bit cold?"

Little Red Riding Hood sighed: "After all, in the Otherworld, often the 'corpse' itself becomes a danger factor. Cases where a victim's body turns into the next perpetrator are not uncommon."

Seeing this, Yu Sheng waved his hand: "No help for it. After all, I'm a newbie; I don't understand this."

As he spoke, his fingertips accidentally brushed against the edge of the platform.

He touched the blood that had almost dried up.

The surroundings fell silent in an instant.

Everything happened in a flash; Yu Sheng didn't realize what was going on at first. He saw Little Red Riding Hood, Erin, and Hu Li suddenly freeze in place. Immediately, everything in the hall rapidly lost its color and became dim and oppressive. A monotonous black, white, and gray covered the entire exhibition hall. In this suddenly still and quiet world, he dazed for two or three seconds, then suddenly heard a faint creaking sound from behind him.

It sounded like stiff joints struggling to twist. Against such a quiet background, this abrupt sound even seemed somewhat grating.

Yu Sheng slowly turned his neck.

The corpse on the display stand, wrapped in iron thorns and bled to death, also slowly turned its neck.

One gradually became terrified; the other was covered in blood.

"Woah—" Yu Sheng instinctively cried out, but he stopped abruptly halfway through the cry because he heard the corpse in front of him speak.

"The one who killed me..." The corpse's lips moved, emitting a hoarse, difficult voice. "The one who killed me is... is..."

Although Yu Sheng still didn't understand the situation before him, hearing this made him nearly panic: "Just say the main point first! Don't worry about grammar!"

Then he saw the corpse suddenly take a breath—

"The ones who killed me were Angel Cultists, two males. One was about 1.7 meters tall, black, fat, short-haired, wearing glasses, in his thirties, with a mole on his forehead. The other was about 1.8 meters tall, very thin, bald, high-bridged nose, in his forties, wearing a silver watch on his left hand. While they were acting, they kept repeating sentences like 'You will help Him descend' and 'Save the Lord from suffering.' They had a heavy Nancheng Wusong River accent. They didn't take the Weeper statue; they just threw it into the corridor opposite. They weren't interested in that; they just came to perform the sacrifice ritual. It hurts so much..."

The corpse spoke a long string of words at an astonishing speed, chattering away, even seeming to bite his tongue once or twice in between. Then, suddenly, the whole body relaxed, lifted its head slightly, looked at the roof of the white hall, and spoke softly and slowly as if murmuring in a dream: "Ah... eternal peace has come to take me..."

He slowly lowered his head, returning to the "Weeper" pose with both hands covering his face, and came to a complete standstill.

Yu Sheng: "..."

He stood there dumbfounded by the platform. The corpse's rapid-fire string of words just now had been so fast that he hadn't even reacted. Seeing the other party suddenly fall silent now, he was completely stunned. Two seconds passed before he couldn't help but speak: "Hey, wait! Can you say that again!?"

The corpse did not respond to him. Instead, the black, white, and gray in the exhibition hall suddenly faded away. Erin, Hu Li, and Little Red Riding Hood, who had just been in a state of stillness, instantly recovered—as if nothing abnormal had ever happened.

And Erin was the first to notice the tiny changes in Yu Sheng's facial expression and the "atmosphere" around him. She looked at Yu Sheng curiously: "Hey? What's wrong? Why so serious all of a sudden?"

Yu Sheng finally snapped out of it. Immediately, he took a breath and turned his head to look at Little Red Riding Hood—

"The killers were Angel Cultists, two men. One was 1.7 meters tall, black, fat, short-haired, wearing glasses, in his thirties, with a mole on his forehead. The other was 1.8 meters tall, thin, bald, high-bridged nose, in his forties, wearing a watch on his left hand. The two kept saying things like 'Help Him descend' and 'Save the Lord from suffering' and the like. I didn't catch it too clearly, but it was roughly that meaning. They had a heavy Nancheng Wudao River or some river accent. The Weeper statue was thrown by them into the opposite corridor... That was close; I almost forgot."

Little Red Riding Hood looked completely confused: "... Huh?"

(End of Chapter)