Chapter 2826: The Stand-in Was Seized by the Mountain Bandit's Wife (Chapter 32)

The room storing Ruan Sutong's corpse was in the farthest western corner of the stronghold, rarely visited on ordinary days, and now it was utterly silent.

Before pushing the door open, Jin Chen glanced back at Gu Fanghe and said, 'Wait for me in the courtyard.'

Gu Fanghe frowned, 'This person is strange, I…'

Before he could finish, Jin Chen leaned in and kissed the corner of his lips, 'I know, but he's dead; I just need to verify something.'

Gu Fanghe stared at him for a moment, then nodded.

But he also refused to leave, simply sitting on the stone bench in the courtyard, laying his sword across his knees, thus guarding his beloved's safety.

Jin Chen pushed the door open, then backed out to close it, setting up a soundproof barrier that also prevented spiritual power from leaking.

Even if chaos erupted inside, no sound would be heard outside, and no energy would leak out to disturb the person in the courtyard.

The room was dimly lit, only a little daylight seeping through the small window; Ruan Sutong's corpse was hastily wrapped in a straw mat and thrown on the floor, the bloodstains dried, spreading dark red smudges across the mat.

Jin Chen lowered his gaze, looking at it, but did not act immediately.

Ling Gun Gun poked its head out from Jin Chen's shoulder and whispered, '【Host, this person might know your identity; if so, does he also know the Main God?】'

Jin Chen raised his hand and lightly tapped its little head, '【Go to the Quick Transmigration Bureau and explain this to Bai Ze.】'

Ling Gun Gun clutched its sore head, looking aggrieved, and vanished from Jin Chen's shoulder.

Inside the room, Jin Chen walked to the corpse, crouched down, and reached out to pull aside the straw mat.

Ruan Sutong's face was revealed—pale, stiff, lips bluish, devoid of life.

Yet, strangely, that face resembled his own.

Tsk, how annoying.

Jin Chen stared at that face for a moment, his gaze falling on Ruan Sutong's earlobe, where there was a tiny hole, its edge tinged with faint red, like a minuscule red mole, unnoticeable unless looked at closely.

Jin Chen's eyes darkened slightly.

He raised his hand, gently pressing his palm against the spot over Ruan Sutong's heart.

The wound pierced by a horizontal blade there had stopped bleeding, but the flesh was torn open, revealing the dark red flesh and white bone beneath.

'Come out.'

Jin Chen said softly, and his palm suddenly exerted force.

A near-terrifying surge of spiritual power burst from his palm, poured into the corpse, and forcibly drove out the soul that had not yet fully dissipated!

'Ah!!'

A shrill, mournful wail echoed within the barrier.

A phantom, semi-translucent shape rose from the corpse, struggling and twisting, eventually coalescing into a human form—but not that of Ruan Sutong.

The youth had delicate features, a pale complexion, narrow eyes and thin lips, revealing a spiteful unwillingness.

Jin Chen looked at this unfamiliar face and understood at once.

Indeed, this bastard had deliberately changed faces.

'Who are you?' Jin Chen asked, his voice light yet laden with a domineering pressure.

Ruan Sutong, struggling incessantly in the spiritual power's restraint, lifted his head upon hearing this and glared fiercely at Jin Chen, his eyes brimming with resentful unwillingness and barely concealed fear.

He hissed, his voice sharp and grating, heavy with hatred: 'I've long forgotten what my name was; ever since the Main God punished me with that damn task, I'm no longer myself! Call me what you will… Ruan Sutong? Or some other cat or dog? Whatever you like!'

'I admit it! Punished to do tasks, shuttling through countless small worlds, conquering this, scheming that, performing like an actor in one love‑tragedy after another! I admit it—at least that Main God bastard is worse off than I am! His soul is scattered across the three thousand worlds; he can barely remember who he is! Hahahaha!'

Ruan Sutong burst into manic laughter, his laughter filled with twisted delight, but as he laughed, the laughter suddenly cut off.

'But why should it be so! I carried out the tasks, endured endless torment, yet his Main God's soul is scattered—that's his just deserts! But…'

He fixed his glare on Jin Chen, 'But why? How can you gather his scattered soul bit by bit? When I returned to the Quick Transmigration Bureau and happened to hear this news… do you know how I felt?'

'I'm unwilling! I'm unwilling! I've done so many tasks, suffered so much—why, in the end, can I only watch others reach the pinnacle while I am forever trapped in these lowly small worlds, playing out others' love and hatred!'

Jin Chen, bombarded with this tirade: '……'

Has this person gone mad from doing tasks?

'Don't you have any vacation…'

'Shut up!'

Ruan Sutong, as if finding an outlet, spoke faster and faster, his voice growing more unhinged: 'I too have played a god; in those small worlds, my favorite task was to impersonate a deity!'

'Worshiped by ten thousand, holding sway over life and death, word becomes law—but it's all fake! I'm still controlled by the Heavenly Dao! What's the point? Then…'

Ruan Sutong slowly spread a weird, evil grin: 'Then… I might as well become the god of these three thousand worlds myself!'

'As long as… I can seize the Main God's scattered soul, take his divine power, refine his divinity… I will become a true god, unbound by anything, at which point the Quick Transmigration Bureau, tasks, Heavenly Dao… all will bow beneath my feet!'

Jin Chen: '……'

He wants to steal his wife's soul and position.

That deserves death even more.

He couldn't be bothered to say more, raising his hand to swipe through the air.

Slap!!

Ruan Sutong was sent flying backward by that slap, striking the barrier's wall before bouncing back; his illusory body faded somewhat, nearly dissipating.

He covered his face, staring at Jin Chen in disbelief, 'You… you dare hit me?!'

Jin Chen raised an eyebrow, 'What's it to hit you? A waste who's forgotten his own name also dares to aspire to godhood?'

Ruan Sutong trembled all over, staring at Jin Chen for a while, then suddenly seemed to grasp something.

Extreme fear sometimes breeds even more frenzied thoughts.

'I know you… I've heard of you, you're Jin Chen! The Quick Transmigration Bureau is currently in the spotlight, famed as one of its top task‑takers!'

'You wander through so many small worlds doing these boring tasks—what's the point? Why not… why not come help me!'

Ruan Sutong, nearly insane, tried to sway Jin Chen: 'You're strong—stronger than any task‑taker I've ever seen; you can find the Main God's soul fragments and even reassemble him… this shows you hold the Quick Transmigration Bureau's secret!'

'Help me! Let's work together! Find all his souls, refine his divine power—then we'll share the three thousand worlds as equals! This is far more enjoyable and satisfying than doing tasks, isn't it?!'

He grew more excited as he spoke, as if he had already seen the future, his eyes filled with greedy fervor, trying to move this unfathomable opponent before him.

Jin Chen pressed his lips, almost unable to keep from laughing out loud.

"I know who you are."

Jin Chen slowly said, "Strategy Department, number…… never mind, the number doesn't matter, that fugitive who stole part of the system's permissions and then unlawfully broke away."

"How did the Strategy Department produce such a fool as you, forgetting your original intention and even dreaming of becoming a god?"

The moment his words fell, Jin Chen's spiritual power suddenly burst forth from his whole body.