Chapter 790: Home of the Murderer

Jinghai was in chaos. With traces of various factions appearing everywhere, hunting down the Butcher in this situation would be extremely difficult.

The Black-Robed Anchor had chosen to join forces with me. While receiving my help, he had also taken on a share of my troubles. Entering Zhu Li's Dream Realm this time was a gamble—if we failed and alerted the Butcher's other wills, it would escalate into a massive chaotic battle sweeping across the entire city.

When I reached Hongqiao Port, the fire was still spreading. Police cars cordoned off the area, and I could faintly make out a figure standing in the roaring flames.

He stood straight as a javelin, completely out of place with his surroundings. His long hair whipped and danced amid the flames, making him look like a demon crawling straight out of hell.

I swept my Judging Eye over him. His senses were incredibly sharp; he noticed my gaze and looked in my direction.

A burning sensation flared in my inner pocket. The vertebra I had stolen from the coffin trembled slightly, as if something were triggering it.

I backed away, ducking into the shadows without hesitation.

'Uncorrupted Bone! The one causing such a massive commotion is the Uncorrupted Bone!'

I had just left after invoking the Five Ghosts at Hongqiao Port, and now the Uncorrupted Bone had chased me here. Without a doubt, I was its target.

The Uncorrupted Bone possessed terrifying strength. Even when Xu Yan and Lu Jingxiu attacked it together, they could only fight it to a standstill. Although I had broken through to the Ghost Art Fifth Layer, I still might not be its match in a one-on-one fight.

'Ninefold Nether Opening, immortal and imperishable. How am I supposed to deal with a monster like that?'

Explosions rang out one after another, mingling with shouts and screams of terror. Police cars were violently smashed aside. The Uncorrupted Bone was running rampant, showing absolutely no regard for the rules of the mortal world.

'The Uncorrupted Bone contains the souls of both Gu Tongtong and Chen Jiuge. I did Gu Tongtong a favor, but I'm the one who killed Chen Jiuge. Judging by how violently it reacted upon spotting me, Chen Jiuge must be the one in control of the body right now. Only he would harbor such massive hostility toward me.'

It wasn't time for a head-on clash yet. I quietly slipped back. Taking advantage of the Uncorrupted Bone drawing the police's attention, I concealed my aura and attempted to sneak into Hongqiao Port.

The Black-Robed Anchor had chased the White Rose Owner into the inner district, which meant Zhu Li was highly likely hiding in the city center. I couldn't fully trust the Black-Robed Anchor, so I decided to head over and see for myself.

He specialized in the Dream Realm. If he found Zhu Li first and set up a trap within the dream, he might end up dragging me down with him. After all, Black Robe was no kind or righteous soul. Back at the Jianghu Cancer Research Hospital, if the Butcher hadn't intervened, Black Robe would have been the one forcing living people into the trap and using human lives as stepping stones.

Cold and adhering to a profit-above-all-else principle—that was the standard modus operandi for most live show streamers.

The Uncorrupted Bone rampaged through the area, but the police had the backing of Jinghai's experts. Those extraordinary individuals, who typically kept a low profile, now hid in the shadows, pouring all their strength into stopping the Uncorrupted Bone from escaping.

Masked by the roaring flames, glowing talismans and spells continually bombarded the Uncorrupted Bone. It was frantic to chase after me but found itself pinned down for the moment.

'The local Daoists in Jinghai cannot be underestimated. Since they can actually stall the Uncorrupted Bone, it seems I need to reevaluate their strength.' Truth be told, the Uncorrupted Bone had incredibly bad luck. I had released the Five Ghosts at Hongqiao Port earlier, posturing as if I were going to forcibly demolish the port. That commotion alerted the entire city, drawing all of Jinghai's factions straight here.

But what no one expected was that the Black-Robed Anchor would convince me to leave. The local Jinghai forces rushed in only to find their target gone. Instead, they ran right into the Uncorrupted Bone, which had hastily followed my aura, and treated it as the true culprit. It probably still had no idea how it had just inexplicably taken the fall for me.

Walking through the shadows, I actively steered clear of the chaos and quietly slipped into the inner district.

Towering skyscrapers and flashing neon lights greeted me. Separated only by a single port, the two sides presented completely different sceneries.

Cars bustled along the roads, and small groups of young people strolled down the streets with their arms around each other, traveling back and forth between nightclubs and bars. For many people, midnight was merely the start of the nightlife.

Wearing the Good and Evil Asura Mask, I ducked into the shadows of a street corner, pondering, 'Zhu Li is the key to hunting the Butcher. Capturing him is the only way to seize the initiative. But to find his location, I first have to track down the White Rose Owner—that shapeshifting flesh doll.'

I had previously pumped obsession into her body until she physically exploded. Even though her flesh later pieced itself back together, it remained stained with the aura of the Pig Cage Apartments' obsession. As long as she wasn't too far away, I could sense her location.

Part of the reason I had agreed to the Black-Robed Anchor's request to leave on my own accord was precisely because I held this trump card.

I sank my awareness into my sea of consciousness. Floating black threads tugged at my soul, faintly pointing in a certain direction.

Withdrawing from my sea of consciousness, I turned my gaze toward the other side of the city. "Found her."

Jinghai was massive. Even having determined a general direction, finding her would still be incredibly difficult.

The explosions at Hongqiao Port continued to echo as the situation escalated. Police cars were already patrolling the highways to enforce a lockdown, the speakers on their roofs blaring a looped broadcast forbidding anyone from going outside.

'This Uncorrupted Bone really is ferocious.'

With a faint smile, I carefully avoided the security cameras and the patrolling police, making my way toward the other side of the city.

Concealing my aura, it took me a full two hours to find the location I had sensed earlier.

It was hard to imagine that such an undeveloped area still existed within the highly coveted inner district of Jinghai.

Four- and five-story apartment buildings were packed densely together. Massive "Demolish" characters were painted on the surrounding walls, and mounds of construction debris were piled up everywhere. The only road leading inside was blocked off by blue metal sheets.

It was more fitting to call this place a construction site than a residential apartment area.

Walking further in, I saw banners protesting the demolition hanging at the entrance. A joint complaint letter, signed by multiple people, was pasted onto the only remaining iron gate.

'The White Rose Owner has definitely been here.' Probing the obsession again, I was surprised to find that the flesh doll had stopped moving entirely. She seemed to be hiding inside a room in the Apartment Building.

'Has she already been caught by Black Robe? Or is this place a trap?' Looking around, whether at the adjacent construction site or the dilapidated Apartment Building, there wasn't a single living soul in sight. Compared to the bright neon lights surrounding it, this area felt like a bottomless black hole.

Summoning the Fate Ghost, I hid it in my shadow. Its strength hadn't fully recovered yet, so I used my own malevolent yin energy to help it heal while stepping into the residential area.

Continuing inward, I passed through narrow passages filled with scattered construction debris and the nauseating stench of human waste. This area undergoing forced demolition felt like a tumor on the entire city, radiating an oppressive and sickly atmosphere.

Sensing the location of the obsession, I stopped at the entrance of the deepest Apartment Building.

My Judging Eye swept over the area, spotting residual bloodstains on the ground. I touched them with my finger; they had already coagulated.

'These were left at least half an hour ago. Black Robe moves fast.' I walked into the building. The residents on the first and second floors had already moved out, leaving their doors blanketed in dust. On the third floor, a door lock had been violently smashed, and conspicuous bloodstains marked the entrance.

I pulled the door open. The scent of tribute incense hung in the air, and the floor was littered with toilet paper and miscellaneous trash.

The room wasn't large, and the furniture was very simple. After passing through the cramped living room, I entered the inner room. The bedding was casually rolled up on the bed, and the wrinkled sheets were covered with numerous mottled stains. It was obvious that a man and a woman had been getting wild here not too long ago.

That peculiar, pungent scent mixed with the smell of tribute incense, creating an indescribably bizarre atmosphere. The first word that popped into my head was—desecration.

The wooden bed was pressed against the wall. At the foot of the bed sat an offering table that hadn't been cleaned in ages. A few rotting fruits were tossed carelessly into a clay bowl on top of it, alongside several crooked, extinguished sticks of tribute incense.

I turned and walked over to the offering table. Placed between two clay bowls was a black-and-white memorial portrait.

I didn't recognize the person in the portrait. What aroused my curiosity was that the picture inside the frame wasn't a photograph, but a piece of paper cut out from a newspaper.

'Is taking a picture that hard? The dead are the greatest; whoever lived in this room must be out of their mind.' I took apart the frame. The piece of paper inside was already yellowing. I memorized the person's face, though I had absolutely no impression of them. 'Using a picture from a newspaper for a memorial portrait? Then again, it's not like just anyone can make the front page. What exactly did this person do?'