Chapter 18: Chapter Eighteen: He Is Already Dead

"What are you thinking? If it's not dangerous for Master Xuanzang, then it's not dangerous for you either?"

On the way back, Zhou Zhen'guo comforted Xiao Chu with a sentence: "Young man, you need to be down-to-earth, look to the future, and must not dwell on past gains and losses, understand?"

"Yes, yes."

Xiao Chu replied helplessly.

He understood the reasoning, but his heart ached terribly.

It was just like a year ago, at midnight twelve o'clock playing games, during the promotion match from Bronze to Silver, at the crucial moment of the team fight, he suddenly received a call from his girlfriend.

He decisively chose to abandon his comrades.

As a result, from the other side came the sound of panting and panic: "Wrong number, I accidentally pressed it, I'm out for a night run."

That was the pain when the promotion failed and he was even given a hat.

After that, Xiao Chu became a man who "chose Zhao Xin."

"By the way, this is the information of the organization members, and also the senior personnel; I'll tell you about it later."

Tang Luo, walking in front, stopped and turned around, took out the documents and handed them to the two: "Let's find an opportunity to completely destroy this organization."

Guiding people toward goodness, inspiring others to jointly punish evil and promote good, will also earn the power of merit.

"Master!"

Xiao Chu "trembled his tiger-like body"!

To hell with that wise old man.

From now on in life—at least the basic principle for the remainder of this mission is to cling tightly to Master Xuanzang's thigh and never let go.

"Master, where are we going next?" After receiving and putting away the documents, Xiao Chu leaned close to Tang Luo and asked.

"What do you think?"

Tang Luo asked.

Although back then, when going west, he was his teacher, but actually, Tang Luo had no sense of being a leader.

His daily routine was basically just: "Go west, cultivate, encounter demons and monsters, kill them!"

Simple and brutal, he didn't even need to worry about the direction of progress.

With the little white dragon GPS for precise positioning, there was no need to worry about getting lost or similar problems.

"Master, you decide."

Xiao Chu said, from tonight onward, he would follow Master Xuanzang's lead like a horse following its master's whip.

Tang Luo glanced at Xiao Chu twice.

What's going on?

Where is the "subjective initiative Sun Wukong" from today's daytime?

Such a good kid, how could he just say he's useless and be done with it?

After all, he's not my disciple, so Tang Luo also couldn't be bothered to rekindle Xiao Chu's subjective initiative, and turned to Zhou Zhen'guo asking: "Zhou Shizhu, what do you think?"

"Let's first go to the inn to meet up with the others." Zhou Zhen'guo said, "Both incidents happened at night, and so far we haven't even seen a shadow of the ripper, we're completely in a passive state. I think night will be Jack the Ripper's main stage, so we'd better act and investigate during the day."

"If the situation is wrong, we can even slightly use the organization to force them to jointly investigate Jack the Ripper."

Not relying on external force is also based on the premise that gods and demons walking can "independently" complete tasks.

If it cannot be completed, or if one is themselves faced with great danger.

Only a fool would continue to cling to old ways.

Moreover, this isn't even really a rule at all.

It's merely a choice made to maximize benefits.

Outside the inn facing the street, Xiao Chu pounded on the door: "Boss, boss, open the door!"

Different from the previous inn.

This inn has no small courtyard, just a building facing the street.

Opening the door and entering is the "lobby."

Beside it are some shops.

Although it hasn't been long since nightfall, the surrounding shops have already closed.

All along the way, they only encountered a few people, still hurrying along in groups.

Seeing Tang Luo and the three, they appeared somewhat wary.

The street lamps on the roadside emitted a dim glow.

Although Gran Chang had not issued a curfew order, the small town exuded a feeling of desolation, even deathly stillness.

"Open the door, we've booked three rooms!"

After pounding on the door for a good while, the inside of the inn remained completely silent, no one came to open the door.

This inn couldn't possibly have someone on duty twenty-four hours a day.

But now the time is still before nine o'clock at night.

Generally speaking, at least until midnight, the innkeeper or attendant would go to rest.

They wouldn't rest directly in the first half of the night.

After all, today guests had booked three rooms.

It's normal to close the door to the outside, but Xiao Chu pounding so loudly on the door, even the neighboring and opposite houses had people opening their windows to take a few looks.

Yet there was still no response from inside the inn, and the situation seemed somewhat off.

"Step back."

Tang Luo said, reached out, and directly pushed open the inn's main door.

The lights in the front desk lobby were on.

But there seemed to be a problem; it was flickering wildly.

Causing both Zhou Zhenghuo and Xiao Chu to narrow their eyes, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

There was no one behind the counter.

On the table placed in the corner, a human figure lay prone.

He sat on the chair, face down, his face completely buried in the crook of his arm.

Under the flickering light, one could not discern who this person was; one only felt the figure seemed slightly familiar.

"Looks like Xiao Zhou; how come he's sleeping here?"

Xiao Chu narrowed her eyes to identify him and said.

The person lying prone on the table was not dead.

Rather, he was sleeping prone; the three who entered the inn could all hear clear snoring sounds.

Matching perfectly with the flickering lamp overhead in a "mutual reflection, perfect coordination".

"Probably fell asleep resting here?" Zhou Zhenghuo guessed, stepped a few steps closer, then suddenly reached out his hand.

Sound of metal clashing.

Chains emerged from the ground out of thin air, instantly winding around Xiao Zhou, and fixing him high on the table together with the chair.

"..."

Xiao Chu froze for a moment, then realized it was Zhou Zhenghuo who had acted.

This uncle really likes sneak attacks.

This is normal too; Zhou Zhenghuo's confinement chains are not suited for frontal combat.

So he naturally developed the habit of "speaking half a sentence then suddenly sneak attacking".

If things can be resolved by a sneak attack, why bother fighting?

Inexplicably bound by chains.

Xiao Zhou also woke up, blankly raising his head, scanning all around, only stopping when he saw Tang Luo and the others, looking completely not awake.

His face covered in blood traces made Zhou Zhenghuo and Xiao Chu's expressions turn grave.

"What happened? How did you end up sleeping here? Where are the others? Didn't you hear us knocking just now?"

Zhou Zhenghuo fired questions like a machine gun.

Xiao Zhou seemed not fully awake yet, staring wide-eyed at the three.

Turning a deaf ear to Zhou Zhenghuo's questions.

After a few seconds, he finally opened his mouth, looking like he intended to say something.

Right at this moment.

A gust of Yin-cold wind from unknown origin blew through the entire room.

Bone-piercing cold intent spread out in an instant.

As if a giant freezer had opened, throwing Zhou Zhenghuo and the others inside.

"So cold..."

Xiao Chu instinctively wanted to hug his arms.

This action brought in return a sensation of utter numbness.

He discovered in horror that he had actually lost control of both arms!

Apart from his facial expression still being in a "free state", the rest of his body seemed to have been frozen solid.

Like an insect in amber.

"Ah!"

Xiao Chu let out a silent roar in his heart.

It was terror, and also rage!

Immediately after, a warm current suddenly surged from his chest, flowing through his four limbs and hundred bones.

Dispelling the cold, numb sensation.

Allowing Xiao Chu to regain control of his body.

The protection Tang Luo had blessed on him consuming Merit Power played its role.

Zhou Zhenghuo beside him was the same.

The protection unused at the mental asylum was consumed here.

"The Ripper?!"

The shocked and furious Zhou Zhenghuo roared, looking toward the corridor on the other side.

On the platform at the turn of the upward stairs, a person stood at some unknown time.

Most of his body was hidden in darkness and shadows.

Making it impossible to see his appearance; barely judging by build and bearing, it should be a man.

The cold wind filling the room had just surged like a tide, suppressing Zhou Zhenghuo and the others so they could barely move.

And now, upon this person's appearance, it receded like a tide.

Receding toward the man, as if being reabsorbed into his body.

Zhou Zhenghuo had just finished roaring when he felt a flash of silver light at the corner of his eye.

The man standing on the stair landing seemed weightless, "drifting" sideways.

The silver light brushed past his side.

Piercing into the wall behind him, its tail end trembling continuously, emitting the sound of vibrating metal.

It was a dinner knife.

Before the trembling tail had even stopped, several more streaks of silver light flashed by.

The dining knives on the table beside them were thrown out one after another by Tang Luo.

The man's body moved like a ghostly shadow, appearing light as a feather yet moving with astonishing speed.

It gave people a strange, unsettling feeling that made them want to vomit blood.

He headed toward the stairs to leave.

This was a corridor with a ninety-degree turn.

At the turn's platform, Tang Luo and the others could still see it.

But continuing upward, it was already beyond their field of vision.

The man disappeared from sight, the last streak of silver light whistling past, and everything returned to calm.

Only the light above continued to flicker.

Xiao Chu and Zhou Zhen'guo stood rooted to the spot, unmoving.

Just from his aura or some ability, the two were suppressed like quail, unable to move.

Even after the opponent retreated, how could Xiao Chu and Zhou Zhen'guo dare to pursue?

Moreover, Zhou Zhen'guo had already used up his binding chains beforehand.

His strength was greatly diminished.

Among those present, probably only Master Xuanzang had the ability to give chase.

Tang Luo remained still; Zhou Zhen'guo and Xiao Chu would absolutely not move.

"Master, was that Jack the Ripper just now?" Xiao Chu asked, his right hand nearly covering his eyes.

The flickering light made him feel as if he were about to go blind.

Zhou Zhen'guo walked to a switch on the side, pressed it twice, and unexpectedly restored the light to normal.

"No."

Tang Luo shook his head slightly.

"Master, are you so sure?" Zhou Zhen'guo said.

"If it were Jack the Ripper, we should have completed the mission by now." Tang Luo said.

"Huh?" Xiao Chu and Zhou Zhen'guo were confused.

Tang Luo pointed to a hole in the opposite wall: "The poor monk struck him; he is already dead."

Only then did Zhou Zhen'guo notice a hole at the junction of the wall and ceiling.

That was the trace left by the last dining knife.

"I'll go take a look."

Zhou Zhen'guo still had that bit of courage.

He quickly walked toward the stairs, and immediately afterward, a voice came: "It's Old John!"

At the junction of the stairs and the second floor, there lay a corpse almost split in half.

Struck by the "Xuanzang-style" technique.

It was hard to imagine such a wound could be caused by such a small dining knife.

That dining knife was nailed to the ceiling.

Yet strangely, the corpse had not a drop of blood flowing out.

Zhou Zhen'guo recognized him—this was the Old John they had just met that morning, considered harmless, with inconvenient legs.

Crouching down, Zhou Zhen'guo took off Old John's shoes.

One foot was deformed, whether congenital or from later injury, unknown.

But it could be certain that this was indeed a foot with impaired movement.

With such a foot dragging him down, how fast could he possibly be, no matter how swift?

Yet just moments ago, Old John had displayed ghostly agility.

That deformed foot, like a smiling face, mocked Zhou Zhen'guo and the others for their foolishness and conceit.