Chapter 768: Cooperating with the Devil

I had wasted too much time in Uncle Xu's room. I initially figured that since Longchang was so vast, it would take the Security Guard, the Doctor, and the rest of them quite a while to find this place.

But before I could even prepare myself, the Security Guard burst in, leading the monsters from Room Four.

'He probably hasn't noticed me yet, or he wouldn't be wasting his breath on Uncle Xu.' Lifting the edge of the bedsheet with my fingers, I peeked out through the narrow gap.

The situation was grim. With the girl and me hiding under the bed, our lives now rested entirely in Uncle Xu's hands. If he let slip even the slightest hint, we would be trapped in this room by the Red Building Obsessions.

The wooden door slammed violently against the wall. Uncle Xu jolted at the sudden intrusion of the Security Guard's group, but having endured reincarnation in this place for so long, he had seen his fair share of the bizarre. Unfazed, he merely twitched his lips before quickly regaining his composure. "What is Room Four doing here in Room 9's territory?"

"Stop playing dumb." The monster possessed by the Security Guard's obsession was quite short. Retaining only a fraction of a pig's appearance, nearly four-fifths of his body looked exactly like a living human's. Striding to the center of the room, he scanned his surroundings before locking eyes on the space under the bed—the only place in the room large enough to hide someone. "I heard you're planning to serve a child at the dining table tomorrow? How could you do something so cruel?"

The Security Guard lightly patted Uncle Xu's chest with the back of his hand. "Room Four wants to take that girl off your hands. Of course, we won't let you suffer a loss. We'll trade you two adult women for this one little girl."

"If someone from outside Longchang said that, I might actually believe them. But the quilts in Room Four are woven from living people's hair. You're a room full of beasts, and you want..."

"Bang!"

Uncle Xu was brutally knocked to the floor before he could finish. His head smashed right against the edge of the bed, and dark red blood began pooling from the back of his skull.

"Think before you speak." The Security Guard planted his foot on top of Uncle Xu's head. From behind him, two pig-men stepped forward, both significantly more muscular than the average Longchang resident.

"Hey, didn't we have an agreement? No violence. Old Xu is just a guard. We all know he's a stubborn, foul-tempered old man, so why are you stooping to his level?" The head of Room 9, who had spoken with Uncle Xu earlier, stepped forward. He clearly wanted to help Uncle Xu up but didn't dare offend the Security Guard, leaving him standing awkwardly in the middle. "The girl was drawn as tomorrow's food. Naturally, she got scared and ran. Didn't I just take you to check her room? She dismantled the window bars and jumped. Old Xu guards the main door; of course he has no idea where the kid went."

"Has no idea? More like he doesn't want to tell us." The Security Guard ground his foot down harder, crushing Uncle Xu's pig-like face out of shape. "Have you forgotten what you are? You still want to play the savior? What, you're going to save her so she can turn around and eat you later?"

Pinned beneath the man's foot, Uncle Xu's expression shifted several times—something I saw with crystal clarity through the gap in the sheets. The old man wasn't focused on the Security Guard at all. Even with a foot planted on his head, he didn't seem to care in the slightest. The resentment contorting his features was entirely feigned, a fact that only I, out of everyone in the room, could perceive. Beneath that mask, Uncle Xu's blood-blurred eyes were locked squarely on me under the bed. His gaze was perfectly calm, as if he were quietly weighing his options.

The Security Guard delivered a few more vicious kicks before finally stepping aside, relenting to the Room 9 head's continuous pleas.

"Old Xu, don't be a fool. This trade works in our favor." The head of the room hauled Uncle Xu to his feet. "Just tell them whatever you know. You're already at fault for what happened today. Someone from our room even suggested that if we can't find the girl by tomorrow, we should serve you up in her place."

"You pitiful fools. Do you really think you'll even live to see tomorrow?" Uncle Xu muttered. His face was covered in wounds, making him look thoroughly miserable.

The old man was incredibly cunning. It was likely that the Security Guard's beating had just forced his hand, compelling him to make a choice.

He silently raised his head, having perfectly arranged his expression. The icy calm from moments ago had vanished without a trace, replaced by furious indignation. Anyone unaware of his true nature would have sworn he was nothing but a fiercely stubborn old man.

"I'll tell you one last time—I have no idea where that girl went! I'm looking for her too!" Uncle Xu ground his teeth, his eyes blazing. "Shorty, I'll remember this. Sooner or later, I'm going to pay you back for that kick."

"I'm not the type to leave loose ends."

The Security Guard and the two pig-men advanced. Uncle Xu didn't flinch, but the Room 9 head hurriedly threw himself between them. "An extra person searching means extra manpower! Doesn't Room Four want to find that girl as soon as possible? Standing around here is a waste of time. Finding her is what matters!"

His peacemaking eased the tension slightly. The Security Guard muttered a few words to the pig-men flanking him, sweeping his gaze across the room. "Sympathy will only hasten your death. As a beast, drop those distracting thoughts that belong only to humans. I'm telling you this for your own good."

He ignored Uncle Xu and led his companions out the door to search the next room.

"That stubborn temper of yours is going to get you killed one day," the Room 9 head sighed, shaking his head as he followed them out.

Once they were far enough away, Uncle Xu closed the door. He slumped onto the floor, clutching his head. "You can come out now. Those lunatics are gone."

The rage had completely vanished from his face. His voice was utterly calm, giving off the unfathomable feeling of a deep, still pool.

This old man completely redefined my understanding of him. At first, I had been duped by his acting, genuinely believing he was a kind, opinionated, and stubborn old man. But after witnessing that scene, I realized it was all a deliberate facade!

For a bag of frail old bones with absolutely zero physical advantage to survive the brutal, cutthroat environment of Longchang... this man was far from simple.

He had eaten meat too, yet he never put his malice on display. Everyone, including the Old Granny, only remembered his kindness. They all thought that, compared to the other man-eating monsters, he still retained a shred of humanity.

Little did they know, this was precisely his disguise. During his clash with the Red Building Obsessions of Room Four, even while he was being trampled underfoot, he felt no humiliation. Instead, he remained extremely calm, weighing in the chaos whether he should risk offending Room Four to protect me and the girl.

A man like that was terrifying. Next to him, the Room 9 head seemed incredibly naive, single-mindedly speaking up for him. It just went to show how deep this old man's connections ran in Room 9.

Other people's evil was undisguised and worn on the outside, while his evil rotted at the bottom of his heart, taking root in his veins like a poisonous weed.

It was no wonder he was still cast into the Animal Realm after death. Nothing this man did was for atonement, because he had never felt his own sins to begin with. Without sincere repentance, how could there be forgiveness?

Perhaps even now, he didn't believe what he did back then was wrong. Deep down, his mindset was probably: 'When forced into a dead end, so what if I eat my own kind?'

"Those mad dogs in Room Four are restless every day. Longchang has its own rules. Sooner or later, those people will be carved up and eaten by everyone!" Uncle Xu's voice was dark, yet a smile played on his face as blood slid down the bridge of his nose and swirled around the corners of his deformed mouth.

His words carried a hidden depth. He looked at me pointedly. "Am I right, Junsheng?"

I couldn't figure out Uncle Xu's meaning. He seemed to know that the Red Building Obsessions had a way to leave the Animal Realm, but he hadn't chosen to cooperate with them.

After a moment's thought, I decided to be blunt and asked directly, "You've stayed in Longchang for so long, repeating reincarnation every day, so you must have discovered some unusual things, right? For instance, Room Four just now. You seem to have a major problem with them."

"You don't need to test me. I'll tell you plainly: I know what those lunatics are plotting. At first, I was prepared to join them too, but over time, I realized they aren't like me." Uncle Xu wiped the blood from his face and held out both hands—one perfectly clean, the other covered in blood. "Tens of thousands of people died in Longchang back then. Anyone who ate meat was cast into the Animal Realm to be trapped in this place forever. The intertwined resentment and indignation of so many people warped their very natures, turning them into absolute monsters inside and out! But I'm different. I survived the disaster and lived on for over a decade, long since wearing away that initial hatred. I still retain my own thoughts. I am perfectly rational. My mind hasn't been corrupted by Longchang. It's just like these two hands of mine—they look similar on the outside, but they give off a completely different feeling."

Uncle Xu's words were actually very easy to understand. Everyone in Longchang was controlled by obsession; he was the sole exception.

In my view, this wasn't just related to him living an extra decade in the Yang Realm and doing so many good deeds; it also had a certain connection to him seeing the Reincarnation Mirror Fragment with his own eyes.

If he wanted to return to the Yang Realm with the obsessions, he would inevitably have to join them. But given the obsessions' usual way of doing things, they never left any hidden dangers behind, so his self-awareness would very likely be wiped out by them.

Having figured this out, I suddenly saw the light. It was no wonder he had been hesitant earlier.

Once he ended up in the same boat as me, it meant becoming an enemy of the obsessions. His alternative path would be completely cut off.

"Uncle Xu, it won't be long before you realize you just made a very wise decision." With Uncle Xu's help, my situation would drastically improve. As for whether taking someone out of reincarnation who should have been cast into the Animal Realm would incur the wrath of heaven, I hadn't considered it at all. Wang Shi had been in a similar situation to Uncle Xu back then, and I hadn't hesitated at all when taking him off the Death Train.

"Let's hope so." Uncle Xu saw the glimmer in my eyes as he slowly picked himself up off the floor. "My past is very disgraceful, and I admit I only survived the disaster by eating 'meat,' but I hope you won't hold a prejudice against me. After all, my hand was forced back then, and everything I did was solely to survive, just for this most humble plea."