Chapter 178: Investigation (3800+ words, five updates, please subscribe!)

The room was silent, save for the occasional rustle of turning pages.

Aaron turned to the last page; the distorted text on the pale paper seemed to carry a strange rhythm, as if trying to unfold another real and insane world for him.

Unfortunately, he had long been intimately familiar with that world, so he felt not a single stir...

"This ancient tome records two entities: one is the 'Great Mother', and the other is the 'Lord of Hidden Corpses'. It uses the language of madness to metaphorically describe the scene where the 'Great Mother' gave birth to the 'Lord of Hidden Corpses', confirming the relationship between these two entities..."

"Although there are some errors, it is still not bad..."

Aaron put away the *Bone Secret Manual*: "For an ordinary person to read it, they would undoubtedly be corrupted by the knowledge within step by step, either going insane or becoming a believer of the 'Great Mother' or the 'Lord of Hidden Corpses'!"

Aaron picked up pen and paper, casually recording the useful content.

After opening the First Primordial Substance, one promotes to a 'Bloodthirsty', which is the foundational profession for all paths of the 'Red' Taoism.

Recently, their squad received a mission to investigate a factory explosion in the suburbs, which made Percy, sitting in the carriage, feel somewhat annoyed; after all, it had been such a short time since the Great Purge, and yet the occult world of Green Forest City had already stirred up such a vicious incident again!

'It seems that rectifying the occult order is imperative. Unfortunately, this is not something a small Captain like me can decide.'

"The explosion time... was roughly three to four days ago. Because it was in the suburbs, there were few witnesses and no clues... It was originally classified as a factory accident, but later, when clearing the ruins, corpses and some supernatural phenomena were discovered, so it was transferred to the Investigation Bureau for investigation..."

'This voice... it's that person! There is no mistake.'

Next to Glamorgan Field, inside the Investigation Bureau, thanks to the help of a magical potion, Percy's body had already recovered. At this moment, he was in his office, solemnly putting on his black uniform and hat, placing talismans, emergency medicines, and his pistol into their respective places, and finally, he solemnly tidied his appearance in the mirror, straightened his hat, and walked out of the office door.

"Besides the initial two Primordial Substances, the secret transmission also contains a ritual called the 'Three-Phase Secret Rite', also known as—the 'Rite of Bone Flesh and Blood'... Through a series of depraved and evil procedures, one offers a large amount of bone, flesh, and blood to the 'Lord of Hidden Corpses'... The author believes that the imagery of blood can represent humanity, while flesh represents the great Spirit World, and bones can serve as a bridge for communication; these are three different aspects... The main purpose of this ritual is to communicate with the 'Lord of Hidden Corpses'. In the Secret History, there have even been cases of receiving gifts and elevating one's Primordial Substance..."

He arrived before a forest and looked at the shadows beneath the canopy; his inspiration was suddenly and violently triggered!

At the same time, he felt a cold wind blow past, and the surrounding environment suddenly became gloomy. The dense, pitch-black color, like graffiti from a painter's brush, obscured the bright scenery around him, suppressing all other colors...

Aaron took his Lingmu design draft and added two more strokes: "Hmm... once the design is finished, I can summon Liliyat and Percy... and release the news. Heh heh, that double-agent will surely be very proactive in this regard... So, I must pretend to leak it unintentionally, as if it were the next key target of the Invisible Cult... Perhaps I should even direct and act out a play?"

So the Lotus Eaters and the Bone Worship Society worship the 'Lord of Hidden Corpses', not the 'Great Mother'!

"Opening the Second Primordial Substance will strengthen the bones, gaining bonuses to strength and defense. Hmm, it feels far worse than Lin's 'Blood Spiller'... If I had encountered a 'Blood Spiller' when I was exploring the Lingmu, it would have been very troublesome..."

"In the latter part of the book, there is some occult knowledge regarding Primordial Substances and promotion... Hmm, I am more certain that it originated from the 'Bone Worship Society'..."

"Jinlai, what is your opinion?"

The ground was scorched black, with huge depressions, and traces of the explosion's spread could be seen everywhere. The pitch-black, smoky color piled up with the factory's wreckage, emitting a scent of decay and rot, carrying a burnt stench.

"Captain, this is the file from the Police Station."

"Hmm!" Percy was noncommittal and stated his judgment: "This place looks very suitable as a location for secret gatherings, and such gatherings usually require trusted locals to organize... They generally wouldn't be attacked unless... it was an outside force... Have our informants scout for news and see if we can obtain relevant intelligence!"

Percy felt his Spirituality being frozen, and death was so close. Just as he was about to sound the alarm at all costs, a calm voice reached his ears: "Eight o'clock tonight, Fire Dragon Bar in the dock area, prepare for a gathering!"

Then, at the Second Primordial Substance, this part of the secret transmission introduced the element of 'Darkness', adding much dark and depraved content, thereby transforming into a 'Bone Blood' who cultivates both 'Darkness' and 'Red'!

This was undoubtedly biased toward the path of the 'Lord of Hidden Corpses'.

Percy watched his subordinates work, while he himself followed his spiritual intuition, pacing around the area, trying to find some missed clues.

November 11th, Wednesday.

As for the inherited occult knowledge, it is merely a small branch of the 'Red' path.

'My concealment, aside from a little selfishness, is actually for the good of the Investigation Bureau... I must continue to go undercover in the Invisible Cult to uncover their secrets...'

"Captain!"

Several team members saw Percy and immediately followed; the group walked out of the Investigation Bureau.

"Heh heh... some of these concepts might be usable for my tomb... Praying to the 'Lord of Hidden Corpses' to get a response of power from the other side? Might as well just pray to the 'Spirit of Falsehood'... Why bother with all that..."

Jinlai rubbed his nose and answered with a guess.

A team member handed a police report to Percy. Percy took the kraft paper envelope, opened the button wrapped with white thread, took out the documents inside, and after browsing through them, his handsome eyebrows furrowed bit by bit.

Percy had some guesses in his heart but did not say them out loud, instead looking at a team member with acne on his face.

Percy sighed helplessly in his heart, took his team members off the carriage, and arrived at the location in the suburbs where the underground gathering had previously been held.

"Captain... um... according to my deduction, it should be an explosion caused by Extraordinary beings from different factions fighting... I found some residual traces of rituals and talismans at the scene... It is said that after the Great Purge, the occult world of Green Forest City has become active once again..."

Percy's pupils constricted, and he felt every pore on his body trembling. The next moment, that icy feeling vanished instantly, and the colors around him returned to normal.

Percy felt as if he had returned to the real world from an oil painting. He scanned his surroundings blankly, discovering that the other investigators were completely unaware of this, looking at him with confused expressions, and his heart sank slowly.

(End of chapter)