Chapter 40: Jumping Off the Building
Xia Feng had casually searched for information about the storage device, but unexpectedly stumbled upon a picture that was 80% similar to the "Pingshan pocket watch" among the vast sea of data fragments. It was an unexpected discovery.
Curious, he clicked on the profile of the person who had posted the picture. This user hadn't posted in years, but one of their daily photos caught Xia Feng's attention. The caption read, "Woke up early and had steamed buns." The photo showed a breakfast shop called "Auntie Lu's Steamed Bun Shop," which, judging by the decor, seemed to be located in a slum area.
Soon, he managed to locate the shop.
"Blood Evil Street?"
Xia Feng was taken aback. He had heard that this area had the highest incidence of supernatural events in recent years. Spiritualists committing crimes, evil beasts causing chaos—people died almost every day here. It was a paradise for criminals.
He remembered that during the last Infinite Stone transaction, Mu Qingtong had killed someone on Blood Evil Street and was subsequently chased all the way to Boundless Academy by agents from the Saint Department.
Xia Feng stared at the half-finger-sized black and gold stone on the table, stroking his chin as he fell into deep thought.
Originally, he had planned to pay 20% more and have Mu Qingtong purchase the stone for him. But now, the Infinite Stone in the underground channels had been swept away by what appeared to be a cult. This complicated things.
Xia Feng rubbed his temples, gritting his teeth. If I find out which cult is behind this, I'll rob them blind!
He indulged in a brief, unrealistic fantasy before glancing at the time.
[Activity remaining: 4 days and 8 hours]
Including the remaining 1 gram of InfiniteStone, he had a total of eleven days left. While that seemed like plenty of time, Xia Feng felt an inexplicable sense of urgency.
Although he had a strong intuition that the evil demon heart would be incredibly useful once fully repaired, being bound by it wasn't ideal. He needed a permanent solution!
For example... acquiring a large amount of Infinite Stone?
That way, he could enter the Evil Dragon Space every day to absorb dragons. Xia Feng indulged in another unrealistic dream.
"Whoosh—"
He stood up, carefully placed the remaining Infinite Stone into the Pingshan pocket watch, and covered it. He threw on a coat and hurried out the door.
Dreams were fine, but reality was what mattered.
The Pingshan pocket watch was a device for storing Wuliang Stone. This was the only clue he had related to the stone. He felt he had to visit Auntie Lu's Steamed Bun Shop to investigate.
...
Blood Evil Street wasn't just one street—it was the collective name for 19 streets adjacent to the Final Great Wall.
For unknown reasons, the space in Blood Evil Street was extremely unstable. Evil beasts from the Gray World often broke into the present world, killing or eating people within the area. Bloodshed was a daily occurrence, hence the name.
Getting out of the taxi, Xia Feng looked around at the sparse passersby and the gray-toned, old buildings. An oppressive atmosphere hung in the air.
Not only were the buildings short, only four or five stories high, but even the sky seemed lower and grayer than in other places.
To maintain his anonymity, he found an unmanned corner, donned a black robe, and activated the bronze mask.
Suddenly, a pure white mask covered his face.
"If you're in the arena, you can't do without a disguise. Well, since Mu Qingtong's code name is Red Heart," Xia Feng mused, "I'll go with Spade."
As he thought this, the color and pattern of the mask began to change.
Soon, a black-robed man wearing a red spade mask emerged from the dark corner.
The black-robed man followed the navigation through the intricate alleys. After ten minutes, he finally found the shop in a snack street.
[Auntie Lu's Steamed Bun Shop]
To his surprise, the shop wasn't as deserted as other snack bars. It was crowded and noisy.
The black-robed man walked slowly, hands in his pockets, and noticed people looking up at the sky. He followed their gaze.
"Don't come any closer. If you do, I'll jump."
The voice was calm but slightly immature. A girl in a white dress stood on the tile railing of the fourth-floor rooftop, her black eyes empty.
"Okay, okay! Uncle won't come any closer. Kid, don't be impulsive—" The man was drenched in sweat, raising his hands slightly as he stepped back. "You have your whole life ahead of you. Don't be impulsive. Think about your parents, your family—"
"Parents?" the girl whispered softly.
"Yes, yes! Your parents—how sad they'd be if you died—"
But at that moment, a sharp, loud voice drowned out the man's words, like the roar of a beast before devouring its prey. "Useless brat! If you dare jump, I'll disown you!!"
Everyone turned to see a middle-aged woman, her face twisted in anger. She tried to rush forward but was held back by the crowd.
The girl in the white dress ignored the woman, her gaze fixed on the ground below.
The crowd below was noisy, but they had kindly left an open space. If she landed headfirst, she would die, enduring despair and excruciating pain.
"Is this... the aura of evil?" Xia Feng narrowed his eyes, sensing carefully. He clearly detected an evil presence emanating from the girl.
Seeing that half of the girl's foot was already hanging in the air, Xia Feng didn't move immediately. At the speed of her fall, he could easily catch her.
Moreover, he sensed that there was more than one evil presence here.
Three, to be exact.
Besides the girl, there was another in the crowd on the fourth floor, holding back the middle-aged woman. The third was harder to pinpoint, but it was a hundred times more intense and terrifying than the girl's. It was likely an evil beast hiding in the shadows.
Seeing that the girl hadn't jumped yet, someone in the crowd chuckled.
"Just pretending, tsk~ Kids these days."
"Hey, how can you say that?"
"Don't mention it. These kinds of kids are the worst. They cause trouble over nothing."
"Shouldn't have been born like this, alas~"
The girl clenched her fists.
The noisy, fragmented voices carried all sorts of comments. Though distant and neither loud nor soft, a few mocking words reached her ears clearly.
She slowly moved her right foot forward but then stopped.
"Yes, yes~ That's it. Go forward. Everything you want is ahead—no humiliation, no pain."
In a daze, the seductive murmur in her heart sounded again. A flicker of struggle appeared in her increasingly empty black eyes. Deep down, she knew death was the worst choice.
"You have no conscience—" At that moment, the middle-aged woman, with her husband's help, broke through the crowd and rushed toward the girl. Her panicked, anxious voice was loud and clear. "Get down here, you useless brat! How can you do this to us!"
The girl in the white dress dimmed her eyes and stepped forward!
(End of this chapter)
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