Chapter 378: The Living God

"I... I'll be right back."

Li Shang spoke with difficulty, his emotions still fairly calm.

He hung up the phone and immediately dialed Chang Erbing's number: "Bring people to my house right now, quick!"

Chang Erbing on the other end of the phone heard the urgency in his tone, immediately agreed, hung up the phone, and went to make arrangements.

Although he had only met Feng Mu once, Li Shang had a deep impression of Feng Mu, especially after Chen Yang's charred corpse, and the accidental death case he had just learned about over the phone.

All of this deepened his impression of Feng Mu—unscrupulous, vindictive, lawless, an extremely dangerous madman.

And such a madman suddenly appearing without warning in his own home—how could he not let his imagination run wild?

The car sped through the night, the dashboard's fluorescence casting Li Shang's face in a sickly green.

Tires splashed through standing water, raindrops hammered the car roof urgently, as if sounding an alarm for some unknown thing about to arrive.

Half an hour later, the car stopped downstairs at his home; Li Shang pushed open the car door and quickly walked into the stairwell.

The elevator was too slow, he couldn't wait, so he climbed the stairs directly.

The light in the stairwell was broken; darkness like a thick liquid silently enveloped him.

Only a faint light from outside the window barely allowed him to see the steps beneath his feet.

His shoe soles stepped on the stairs, making a dull sound echoing in the empty stairwell; every step seemed especially heavy, as if beneath his feet was not solid cement but some kind of invisible mud pit.

Finally, he stopped at his home's gate; the security door was tightly locked, the soundproofing was excellent, and inside was unusually quiet, as if... there were no living people inside.

Cold sweat broke out on Li Shang's palm; the slippery feeling made him unconsciously wipe his palm on his pants, trying to steady his emotions.

Li Shang took a deep breath, trying to make his breathing steady, forcing himself to calm down.

The moment his fingers gripped the doorknob, he could clearly feel his heartbeat roaring in his eardrums.

"Bang!"

He pushed the door open violently; the dull sound of impact echoed in the room, carrying an urgency he himself did not notice.

However, what greeted him was not the chaos or danger he imagined—no smell of blood, no corpses, no burnt smell, no headless corpses; everything was surprisingly quiet.

Only the soft light from the living room ceiling lamp and a faint tea fragrance enveloped the entire room in an atmosphere of peaceful times.

Li Shang breathed a little easier; his gaze swept across the living room, only to see Feng Mu sitting on the sofa, expression calm, gaze gentle, like an old friend waiting for the master to return.

"Back?"

His wife saw Li Shang standing at the gate and hurriedly came forward, skillfully taking off his rain-soaked coat.

But Li Shang did not respond; he just stared silently at Feng Mu on the sofa, his eyes cold as frost.

Then he turned to look at his wife and said in a low voice:

"You wait in the bedroom; I have some things to talk to him about."

His wife sensed something was wrong from Li Shang's tone, dared not ask, nodded, and obediently walked into the bedroom and closed the door.

"Captain Li, you're back."

Feng Mu finally spoke; he slowly stood up, nodded slightly, his tone as gentle as if greeting an old friend.

On his face hung that signature gentle smile, faint, carrying a bit of harmless elegance.

Such a smile might make those who don't know him let down their guard, even generate a bit of good impression.

But Li Shang, with the eyes of a Divine Detective, could easily see through it: this smile was nothing but a hypocritical disguise, a carefully carved 【mask】.

Hidden behind it was not warmth, but the cold and deadly cruelty of a hunter.

"Feng Mu," Li Shang said coldly, his eyes slightly narrowed, his voice full of vigilance, "What are you here for? Just you alone?"

Feng Mu still maintained his calm smile, his tone relaxed as if making small talk:

"Captain Li, you're a person of high rank who forgets things; previously Captain Li, with keen insight, cleared my name. Didn't I say long ago that if I had the chance I must thank you in person?"

Feng Mu's tone was unhurried, carrying a composure that made him impossible to read, as if completely ignoring the coldness and vigilance in Li Shang's tone.

And what made Li Shang even more uneasy was—Feng Mu only answered his first question, lightly evading the more important second one.

Just two sentences, and Li Shang felt an indescribable sense of oppression.

His gaze swept outside the window; the rainy night was pitch black as ink, the streetlights' light blurry; who knew how many sinister killing intents hid in the darkness.

"You really are thoughtful."

Li Shang gave a cold laugh, but his gaze quickly swept toward something on the tea table.

On the table sat a black briefcase; the surface was smooth, the case body thick.

Feng Mu noticed his gaze; his smile deepened a bit.

He slowly sat back on the sofa, his fingers lightly tapping the box lid, making a "dong dong" sound.

Then Feng Mu deliberately slowed his movements; his fingers lightly rested on the box clasp, his fingertips exerted a little force, and the box lid slowly opened, revealing a crack.

Golden light spilled from the crack in the box, like an imprisoned god finally finding a crack to escape through.

That light greedily licked every corner of the room, dyeing the white walls into temple gold leaf, gilding the shabby sofa into a throne, even turning the dust floating in the air into golden stardust.

From Mendeleev's Periodic Table of Elements, this was nothing but the metal with atomic number 79, density 19.32 grams per cubic centimeter, melting point 1064.18 degrees Celsius, absolutely cold dead matter.

But in the long river of human history, it was the living god that spanned countless eras, stained with blood, gilded flesh, devoured souls...

Countless believers gave their lives for it, died for it, died without hesitation.

Yes, gold was the true god countless humans worshipped; from ancient times to the present, a faith engraved into human genes since the Ancient Era.

Li Shang looked at those small yellow fish neatly arranged in the box; instantly he felt as if being gazed upon by a god, his soul undergoing unprecedented torment.

The coldness in his pupils melted silently, replaced by a scorching heat of 1064.18 degrees Celsius.

He knew Feng Mu was a dangerous madman, this box of gold was absolutely hot to handle, but the words on the tip of his tongue, he really couldn't spit them out.

Who could refuse letting a god live in their own home?

Even if knowing the god might bring trouble, wasn't offering one's life to a god the believer's wish?

Li Shang gritted his teeth; he with difficulty moved his gaze away from the gold, then looked at Feng Mu, his voice a bit hoarse, as if he had swallowed a small yellow fish:

"What are you doing?"

Feng Mu looked at Li Shang, the smile on his face never changing:

"Captain Li, this is a token of my regard. I have no other demands — I simply want to make friends with you, Captain Li, and gold is the symbol of friendship. It never betrays, never rusts.

This represents my sincere wishes. I hope our friendship can be like gold — unbreakable from the moment it is formed. Do you think that's acceptable?"

(End of Chapter)