Chapter 137: Evil

The next morning, in an underground exchange in another city.

A middle-aged man in a black robe sat motionless on a chair, slightly tilting his head, his eyes dull and lifeless, as if he had lost his soul.

The camera pulled back to reveal several young Asian men and women standing before the man, while on the floor around them lay a pile of black-robed figures sprawled haphazardly.

Their bruised and swollen faces clearly showed they had just been brutally beaten.

"This is a problem—his memories contain no information about Fan Haixin's whereabouts."

Zhan Lan lowered her index and middle fingers from her temples and looked at Wu Xian, her expression slightly resigned: "This intelligence organization knows some details about the dark world and is aware that Fan Haixin comes from the Church's Holy Knights Order, a demon hunter."

"But out of fear of the Church, the organization has never thoroughly investigated the Holy Knights' members; they only know that a week ago, several murders occurred in Berlin, seemingly linked to Fan Haixin… As for where he went afterward, they're unclear."

"So what do we do? Should we go to Berlin now, or head straight to Romania and wait for the female lead?"

Hearing Zhan Lan's words, the other Zhongzhou Team members exchanged glances. Zheng Zha suddenly had an idea and offered what seemed like a plausible suggestion, but Wu Xian immediately rejected it.

"Waiting for the rabbit to come to the stump is correct, but in the movie, Fan Haixin went to the female lead only after dealing with Dr. Jekyll in Paris, on the Church's orders."

"But what if that happens years from now? Are we supposed to wait there for years?"

Wu Xian spread his hands: "Don't forget, Dracula's castle is also in the same territory where the female lead lives. If we wait that long, we'll likely have already confronted Dracula—why bother looking for Fan Haixin then?"

"Hah… haha, yeah, that makes sense."

Zheng Zha awkwardly scratched his head, then glanced sheepishly at Xiao Dingdang… no, at Chu Xuan, his eyes filled with anticipation.

"Actually, we don't need to go through all that trouble. We have two other ways to ensure we find Fan Haixin—or rather, make him come to us."

Sensing Zheng Zha's gaze, Chu Xuan adjusted his glasses and said:

"First, we go directly to the Vatican and request the Church's high command to assign Fan Haixin to assist us in fighting Dracula. This is the most direct and straightforward method."

"But it carries significant risk—it might draw the attention of Heaven. Though the Master God forged our identities, appearing right under their noses is still too dangerous, so unless absolutely necessary, I don't recommend this approach."

Hearing this, the others nodded thoughtfully. Wu Xian seemed to realize something and suddenly gave Chu Xuan a peculiar look, probing:

"Let me guess—your second method is for us to pose as powerful dark creatures, go around committing atrocities, attract the Church's attention, and make them send Fan Haixin, the powerful demon hunter, to deal with us. That way, we can meet him."

"Not everyone needs to play the role of a dark creature."

Chu Xuan nodded in agreement, then glanced at the clueless Zheng Zha and said calmly: "Only Zheng Zha or Li Xiaoyi is needed—they're a vampire and a demon respectively, so they're essentially playing themselves."

"The rest of us can pretend to be wild exorcists who intervene to help Fan Haixin, earning his trust through joint combat."

"Huh?! Again me?"

Zheng Zha's face twisted in discomfort as he recalled the previous time in the *Ju-On* world, when he and Wu Xian performed their fake falling-out scene.

Instantly, his toes tingled as if he wanted to dig out a Vatican from the ground. He waved his hand decisively: "Forget it—I'm a terrible actor. I couldn't even fool Gaya. Fan Haixin won't believe me. Let Xiaoyi do it."

"Don't make me laugh. At least you have some acting experience. Xiaoyi's a complete newbie. If he acts, he'll crack up laughing—how could he fool anyone?"

Wu Xian rolled his eyes. Seeing Zheng Zha still hesitating, he added: "Besides, Fan Haixin's strength is still unknown. What if Xiaoyi can't handle him and gets seriously injured? Can you live with that?"

"Uh… fine, I'll do it then—but if I mess it up, don't blame me."

Zheng Zha had no reply, only nodded with a bitter smile.

There was nothing to be done—such was the nature of the bleeding heart.

"Don't rush into playing dark creatures yet."

After Zheng Zha agreed to become the bait, a bright flash of white light passed over Chu Xuan's glasses.

"There's still time before the plot begins, and the Master God hasn't set a deadline for the main quest. If so, we might as well use this window to do something else."

"You mean… trigger other side quests?"

Hearing Chu Xuan's next words, Wu Xian quickly understood, his eyes brightening.

"Exactly."

Chu Xuan: "According to the movie's setting, this is a stitched-together world. Besides Count Dracula, it includes elements from other monster novels—Dr. Jekyll, Frankenstein's monster. If we can find these creatures and eliminate them all, we'll gain plenty of side quests and reward points."

"Moreover, once the number of dark creatures drops significantly, when Zheng Zha makes a high-profile appearance as a vampire, the Church will notice him immediately and be far more likely to send Fan Haixin. It also sets up a good foundation for our eventual confrontation with Dracula."

"That's a good idea."

Zhan Lan smiled along: "The intelligence I just obtained includes plenty of information on dark creatures and their usual haunts—perfect for this."

"Excellent. Then it's settled."

Saying this, Wu Xian turned to Zheng Zha, clapped him on the shoulder, and grinned: "As the only evil-stopper in our reincarnation team, seeing this world shrouded in darkness, how can the Zhongzhou Team stand idly by? We must act immediately—eradicate these innately evil dark creatures and restore a bright, beautiful future for the masses… Right, Lord Vampire?"

Zheng Zha: "…"

Uh… is it too late to switch actors?

(End of Chapter)