"You have to find Deathcurse."
Lord Shenyan spoke up. I nodded as John Chou picked up a mahjong tile, weighing it in his hand.
"I was just messing with you, brother. We've basically figured out the way back, but we need Deathcurse's help. Even after we all gathered, we still couldn't find him. To avoid The Dark Banquet pinning us down again, we have to vanish from their sight. You've met Old Tom—what did he tell you?"
I nodded and started to recount everything that happened these past days, step by step. Yuna Ji and the others came closer, listening intently.
"That bastard Chimei Wangliang—one day, I swear I'll kill him with my own hands. Only then will I be able to let go of this hatred."
Yuna Ji said through gritted teeth.
"Yuna Ji, we can't afford any slip-ups right now. You need to hold back. Don't let your personal vendetta wreck our plan. I know you—you want nothing more than to rush over and cut him down yourself."
Mona Ouyang said coldly.
"Do I?"
Yuna Ji shot back. Mona Ouyang sneered.
"You've been pestering John Chou to teach you how to get into The Dark Banquet's domain for days now."
I glanced around but couldn't find Earthly Soul.
"Where's Earthly Soul?"
"He went to Shadowwood. Needed to confirm something. Brother, you've heard Old Tom mention The Fourth Darkness, right? He went to Shadowwood to check it out."
According to John Chou, the situation is extremely dangerous now. One wrong move and we'll be buried in this darkness. Most of the people in the Arcane Society have already woken up—they sensed the darkness shrinking first.
It's all because of years of research by The Dark Banquet. Their hunger brought The Fourth Darkness, and even they can't control it.
"Those people won't listen. In their minds, all their research is already mature. What they don't realize is, some things can't be fully understood—there's no logic to it at all."
I nodded at John Chou.
"What do you want me to find? Besides Deathcurse."
"The Instinct Stone."
I swallowed in surprise.
"Where could something like that even be? It must be in the hands of the Dark Banquet, right?"
"Go find those native dwellers of the darkness. They should have it. First, we need to use this thing to awaken each of our instincts. Otherwise, we won't be able to stand against them. Shen Yanjun and Ouyang Meng have been observing the residents in the darkness—they're just like you, no intelligence, but you share a lot in common. Maybe you can communicate with them."
I nodded. All I could do was try.
"Brother, you handle these two things first. We'll stay here. After a month, you can enter."
As Yin Chou spoke, he handed me a green seed. I glanced at Basil Bertram—it carried his aura, but Basil didn't look very happy.
"The father-daughter game has gone on long enough, Basil Bertram."
Red Hair muttered, and Basil Bertram immediately glared angrily. Jing Le placed a hand on Basil's shoulder.
"Alright, don't get angry with someone like that. I've already told you, I'm not your daughter. But because of this, I've been really happy—every day, thank you."
Basil Bertram grunted, head down. I smiled helplessly.
"Just plant the seed behind your shop."
Yin Chou said. I was a little confused.
"What if..."
"Don't worry. They've already searched your shop thoroughly. Now they're focused on your house and my old place. They'd never guess the connection between plants and moonlight. Heh."
Seeing Basil Bertram's confident look, I nodded.
Everyone stood at the doorway. I was already tangled up by the roots of some plant, slowly being pulled into the sand.
"I'm counting on you, brother."
Yin Chou said, and I nodded again.
In a daze, I found myself back home and immediately got to work—tore the black plants off the wall, wrapped them up, and rushed to the shop.
Once inside the shop, I opened the door, burned the black plants with fire, then made some food and roasted it. I took the green seed Basil Bertram gave me and buried it behind the cash register, deep in the ground.
I started thinking about where the Death Curse might have gone, but no matter how long I pondered, I couldn't figure it out. Just then, footsteps sounded—the shop door opened. It was the Replicator. He walked in.
"What do you want?"
I asked. The Replicator smiled and replied.
"Hasn't Yin Chou been in touch with you lately?"
"No. Why?"
The Replicator sat down and started eating something, ignoring me. I reached out my hand.
"Pay up."
The Replicator smiled and pulled out some money, placing it on the table.
"Make me something else to eat, Zhang Qingyuan. I'm a guest, right?"
I didn't say much, just took the money and started grilling food. More people in black showed up, wandering the streets.
"Zhang Qingyuan, can I ask you something?"
"What?"
The Replicator walked over, holding a wine glass, and spoke.
"The walls in your storage room are cracked. Did something happen?"
I blinked.
"How would I know? Usually, Ruoxi is the one who handles things there. Are you eating or not? If not, get out."
I snapped. The Replicator sat in the shop, finished all the food, and left. I breathed a sigh of relief. It was almost morning. I planned to restock, then after closing tonight, head to the outskirts of the city—to those trash-filled places—to stake out and try to contact the dwellers of the darkness.
This chapter isn't over yet ^.^, please click next page to continue reading!
Finally, closing time came. I packed up and headed out, wandered the streets for a while, made sure there were no Dark Banquet people around, then went straight to the city outskirts. After drifting over the hills for a while, I saw a lot of trash among the rocks. I found a high spot to hide and crouched down, waiting quietly.
But all night, not a single black humanoid appeared. Early the next morning, I went back.
For the next five days, I staked out every night after closing, but got nothing.
Back at the shop, I checked on the seed. The black plant had broken through the soil and sprouted. I set a chair over it, and since it was morning, I planned to go buy some food.
When I returned to the shop, I saw Chimei Wangliang standing outside.
"Finally back. Thanks for your hard work, Boss Zhang."
I ignored Chimei Wangliang, went inside, and started marinating food.
"Can I have something to eat, Boss Zhang?"
"You're not welcome here."
I said directly, then grabbed a broom and started sweeping right where Chimei Wangliang was sitting, making it clear I wanted him gone.
"Makes sense, Zhang Qingyuan. Facing someone who's tried to kill you more than once, that's a normal reaction. But now everyone's gone. Don't you feel lonely?"
"They'll come back one day. That's all I need to know. Now get out."
Chimei Wangliang sneered and got up, leaving the shop.
"I'll come by later. A guest is a guest."
Sure enough, when business hours started, Chimei Wangliang showed up. I forced myself to serve him, bringing out some food and wine.
"I'm closing up. Can you leave now?"
I looked at Chimei Wangliang, still sitting at the table, untouched wine in front of him.
"If you're looking for the native dwellers of the darkness, go that way tonight. Human trash attracts them, but they've seen plenty of small stuff. Today, some large garbage was dumped over there. Go check it out."
After closing the door, I floated up. Chimei Wangliang waved at me.
"Zhang Qingyuan, if you see Yin Chou, tell him Nightfall wants to work with him. This time it's a fair deal—we'll provide an Instinct Stone to help them break their chains. How about it?"
"Alright, I got it. I'll tell him when I see him—though who knows how many years that'll be."
This time, I didn't lose my temper—instead, I replied to Chimei Wangliang in a relaxed tone.
Following the direction Chimei Wangliang gave me, I floated for a while and saw a lot of large pieces of trash—broken tables, chairs, sofas, and beds.
I found a spot to hide and waited quietly.
As the long night was about to end, I considered heading back. But then I heard a sudden clatter. My eyes widened. It was those black humanoids—and not just one. I glanced over; there were twenty or thirty of them, gathered around the abandoned furniture, making strange noises.
I didn't go over, just kept waiting quietly. It was clear these creatures were very interested in the large trash.
Some of the black humanoids started moving the big trash, carrying it across the rocky ground.
Once they were far enough away, I floated up and kept a safe distance, following them.
Suddenly, I realized they were gone. Eyes wide, I flew over. It was just a normal rocky area—this was where they vanished.
"What the hell is going on?"
I landed in the rocky area. Apart from the wind and piles of debris, there was nothing to see.
Just then, a strange sound came from behind me—like someone laughing.