The female voice was still quite merciful.
Zhu Yan slipped on the sandalwood bracelet, feeling a wave of clarity wash over his mind.
He quickly stowed away the corpses of Wang Lanhua and Li Mei to prevent them from suddenly resurrecting, then found the house keys on the shoe cabinet by the door.
After that, he reverted to his original "Zhu Yan" appearance, released the five uniquely mangled corpses, quickly stepped out, and locked the door behind him with the key.
There were still surveillance cameras in the hallway.
But the cameras couldn't capture "Zhu Yan"!
As for that Chen Zhaoxing and Xu Tongguang, they would just have to figure it out themselves.
Zhu Yan strolled into the emergency stairwell to hide. Not long after, he heard a commotion coming from inside the apartment.
Feng Qiang opened his eyes, locking gazes with Feng Yaozu.
His head felt a bit fuzzy. It took him a few seconds to recall everything that had just happened.
Feng Qiang turned his head to look around, feeling as though it had all been a dream.
He hoped it was all a dream!
"Yao... Yaozu," Feng Qiang said trembling, scanning their surroundings. "I... I dreamed you died. I also dreamed that I..."
"Dad!" Feng Yaozu glared at Feng Qiang in terror, cutting him off.
He looked down at his own chest and abdomen. They had completely caved in, just like... just like those corpses he had seen numerous times, the ones killed by [Telekinesis]!
How could this happen?
On the other side, Wang Lanhua, who had just groggily woken up, threw herself over crying, her face covered in snot and tears.
"Son! I knew you were alive! You didn't die! You didn't die!"
This shout reminded Feng Yaozu of the knife Zhu Yan had plunged into his heart.
His face turned ghastly pale, his mind going completely blank.
He should have been dead.
He should have...
Feng Yuan said, "It's my nephew. It's that nephew of mine!"
She had no strength to say anything more, her haggard face completely twisted.
Wang Lanhua rested her head on Feng Yaozu's chest, only then suddenly realizing that a chunk of her son's chest had caved in.
She let out a startled cry, staring in disbelief at her only son's obviously shattered chest cavity.
Zhu Yan's words were like knives slicing through her brain.
Wang Lanhua suddenly broke down.
Crying, she stood up and grabbed the scattered slices of meat on the table, trying to piece them back together and stuff them into Feng Yaozu's chest.
"Demon! That demon!" Wang Lanhua gagged uncontrollably. "He made me boil the heart! He made me boil the heart!"
Feng Qiang realized something.
He looked at the deathly pale Li Mei, the weeping Wang Lanhua, and Xu Tongguang and Chen Zhaoxing who were unconscious by the table, and suddenly reached out to grab something.
But he grasped nothing. His ability, just like his life, had drained away from his body.
Feng Qiang went mad.
He rushed into the kitchen, grabbed a meat cleaver, and chopped down at Xu Tongguang.
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you all!"
...
In an instant, the crying and screaming from inside the door grew suddenly louder.
Zhu Yan poked his head out curiously, not understanding what exactly was happening.
It seemed like Feng Qiang had died early...?
Because Wang Lanhua had started screaming for her old man like a maniac again, mixed with Feng Yaozu's roars and Feng Yuan's sobs.
Zhu Yan didn't care.
Bored, he counted the time. After about 250, or maybe 300 seconds—
Everything came to an abrupt halt.
Jingling the keys, Zhu Yan pushed the door open and walked back in.
The several people had once again collapsed on the floor in various poses. Xu Tongguang, slumped over the table, had his back hacked into a bloody mess.
The wounds on Feng Qiang's back were even more numerous and deeper; his spine had been severed.
Zhu Yan understood.
This was likely the effect of Xu Tongguang's ability. The guy had kept his ability active, even while unconscious.
However, they were just strangers. Zhu Yan had no reason to save them.
He sighed, raised his hand to store the five corpses back into his ring, stepped out, and pressed the elevator button.
The elevator doors quickly opened, and the sweet female voice rang in his ears once more.
"Congratulations, player."
"Would you like to call the [Monster Tram]?"
"Friendly reminder: As the number of instances increases, the level of the terrifying creatures inside the tram has gotten higher."
"Please do not use the ability [Roleplay]. Please wear your [Demon Cloak] and enjoy your journey."
How thoughtful, Zhu Yan muttered silently in his heart.
He didn't know if it was just an illusion, but ever since the [What's the Time, Mr. Wolf] instance ended, this female voice had been much more polite to him.
Why was that?
Was it because of that [Court of Many Acts]?
The road at the entrance of the apartment building was very narrow. Zhu Yan turned a corner and walked onto the adjacent main road before he saw the round, staring eyes of the [Monster Tram].
He threw on the [Demon Cloak]. The four eyes rolled around, scanning him up and down as usual; then, that massive mouth opened, revealing the red satin tables and chairs inside.
Zhu Yan hopped on.
The [Monster Tram] rumbled away. More than ten seconds later, Zhu Yan heard the faint wail of police sirens from outside.
...
Outside the residential compound.
A police car came to a halt. Several tall individuals dressed in black uniforms jumped out, the four-pointed stars on their epaulets gleaming.
"I really didn't expect that even after joining the [Human Alliance], we'd still have to deal with this crap."
One of them shook his head and quickly activated his ability.
"Be extremely careful. Judging from what the caller said, that family had been crying and screaming, saying something about failing to clear an instance."
"It seems like this time an entire household had their hearts carved out; this family got pulled into an instance."
A colorful halo buzzed as it spread out, enveloping their bodies.
The leader pulled out a silver handgun and spun it. "This is the most clues that wanted criminal has ever left behind."
Another person shook his head, looking exasperated. "When are we going to catch this heart-carving killer? Damn it, it's sickening every time we come here."
"I don't know," the first person said. "I'd actually really like to have his ability. If nothing else, that ability is badass."
The others exchanged glances and chuckled mischievously.
"Don't even think about it. This ability is too fucking disgusting; the higher-ups wouldn't allow such an ability to exist."
"Or, it would only be given to core members to use. Who else would even qualify for it?"
By unspoken agreement, they stopped joking around, swiftly got into formation, and moved quickly and orderly toward the apartment building.
...
The [Monster Tram] wove through the streets and alleys of the [Carnival Paradise]. The mimic sitting opposite Zhu Yan was chattering endlessly at him.
This was still the same mimic that had devoured Zhu Yan's uncle. It seemed to have a particular fondness for this first human skin it had acquired, which made it effortless for Zhu Yan to recognize it.
It hadn't recognized Zhu Yan, but it still simulated an enthusiastic and polite tone for him.
"Oh, Demon, you are only level four!"
"I'm so glad you don't look down on mimics... My goodness, when I took this tram yesterday, a voodoo doll actually insulted me, calling me a piece of ginger cosplaying as braised pork!"
Voo...
Zhu Yan recalled some past events.
Oh no, that wasn't important.
He had stopped this mimic simply to see if he could clear out some of the random junk inside his [Silver Storage Ring].
Inside were a few human skins, which Zhu Yan had picked up after killing the mimics at the [CC Flower Shop] during the [What's the Time, Mr. Wolf] instance.
"I sell human skins," Zhu Yan cut straight to the chase. "But they don't come with memories or anything like that. A doppelganger died in the dungeon, and I picked up a few of its skins."
"Do you want them?"
Sorry everyone, I took a day off in the system yesterday. I was traveling all day and was just too exhausted.
There will be no more missed updates for Zhu Yan's book this month, though I will take one day off next month.
Also, some of you asked if writing a new book will affect the updates for this old one. It won't. The new book exists because I've met way too many bizarre people recently, and I'd honestly get depressed if I didn't write to vent about them. I can easily hammer out 2,000 words of pure ranting in 30 minutes for the new book.
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
