May 1917, Shanggu City.

“Get out, old man! Our family doesn’t keep idlers, especially a chatterbox like you!”

Along with the scolding of the short, middle-aged woman, a figure was pushed out from the back door of a residence.

It was an elderly man, tall in stature but with a terrifyingly hunched back. His features were proper, but his face was sallow and greenish, and his grizzled hair was disheveled. He wore a faded dark blue long gown, and he looked like an opium addict, as if he could be blown away by a gust of wind.

The hands that pushed him out used a lot of force. He lost his footing for a moment, staggered two or three times, and then fell heavily to the ground.

From afar, rickshaw pullers sped past, pulling their rickshaws through the streets and alleys. The rapidly spinning wheels kicked up muddy water, splashing the old man who hadn't managed to get up yet.

Mud splatters were everywhere: on his face, his beard, his long gown... But he didn't seem to care. Enduring the pain, he struggled to his feet, then dragged his old bones, which seemed about to fall apart, and rushed to the side door that was about to close.

“Wang Ma, wait, Wang Ma!” He desperately gripped the crack in the door, which was not yet wide enough to fit a hand, and shouted at the middle-aged woman behind the door, “The mistress wants to drive me away, and I, this old man, have no objection, after all, I said things I shouldn’t have. But you must help me persuade her well, please don't...”

“Bang—!”

Before the old man could finish speaking, the middle-aged woman behind the door pried his hands away and slammed the door shut.

Staring blankly at the tightly closed side door, the old man was silent for a few seconds, then stretched his neck and shouted the words he hadn't finished, “Please don’t believe the lies of those Braid Army (Braid Army - Qing soldiers), otherwise the family will be ruined...”

“Splash!”

A basin of cold water suddenly splashed over him, washing away the words “and people dead” that the old man hadn't had time to utter, and completely extinguished the last glimmer of light in his eyes.

As if saying goodbye, he gazed for a long time at the large mansion in front of him, which had a history of nearly a hundred years. What appeared before his eyes, however, was the dilapidated thatched hut he had seen three hundred years ago when he first arrived in Jinmen City, and the simply dressed, pure-smiling woman in front of the hut.

“Lianniang, I have repaid your kindness... repaid it...”

He muttered to himself, and without realizing it, the old man's face was already streaked with old tears. And just as he turned to leave, walking out of that alley, which he had walked countless times, for the last time, he was stopped at the alley entrance by a blonde, blue-eyed man dressed in black.

“Tsk tsk, to repay a meal's kindness, you fostered six imperial scholars in one family, protected a clan's peace for three hundred years, and in the end, you're kicked out like an old dog...”

Despite having a foreign face, the man spoke fluent Chinese.

“Heh heh, I didn't expect a dignified Zhongliu God, one of the Five Sacrifices, to fall to such {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} a state?”

“Who are you? What do you want?” The old man looked at the man, his expression numb, “If you want to devour me, then please do! However, don't blame me for not telling you, my power has declined to the point where I can't even condense the core of a urban legend entity. You won't gain any power by devouring me.”

“Devour? No, no, no, you might have misunderstood...” The man shook his head and reached into his clothes to fumble around. “I'm not here to hunt you, but to show you a clear path.”

“A clear path?” The old man's brows furrowed as he looked at the ship ticket handed to him.

“Across the vast ocean, there is a prosperous and powerful country,” the man explained. “Go there! There, you might have a chance to regain your former power.”

He paused, as if to further sway the old man's will, then added, “Anyway, the grudges here are settled, and there's nothing left on this land worth your attachment, is there? Why not try your luck?”

“Don't worry, once you get there, we will help you.”

Hearing this, the old man hesitated for a moment, but ultimately took the ship ticket from the man.

So, a few days later, he boarded that ocean-going steamer and, guided by the stars, arrived in the “New World”...

————

【Archive Number: M191705

Summary: Zhongliu God, Spiritual Energy Fluctuation Level C-

Content: The meaning of Zhongliu as the center. This urban legend was born in the pre-Qin period, related to the sacrificial activities of the Five Sacrifices.

Note: “Baihu Tongyi” records: “What are the Five Sacrifices? They refer to the gate, door, well, stove, and Zhongliu.”

Zhongliu God often appears in the image of a kind-faced old man with a white beard.

Legend has it that he not only blesses the peace of the home and the smooth progress of minor affairs, but also records the detailed death times of every family member he protects. When someone is about to die and the underworld officials come to collect their soul, Zhongliu God will stop them, carefully check the documents, and only allow them to pass after confirming their authenticity, preventing urban legend from impersonating and harming lives.

Such a kind and responsible deity, Zhongliu God was once an important object of worship for the people of Z Country. However, as time went by, his power began to differentiate and weaken, gradually being replaced by the later-born urban legend—the Earth God. By the early Qing Dynasty, he was rarely mentioned by people, with only a small number of people in Xiang and Dian still worshipping him.

In the early 20th century, Zhongliu God briefly appeared in Shanggu City, then disappeared within the borders of Z Country, and was once thought to have completely vanished, until the late 20th century, when a Night Watch agent encountered him on the street while on a mission in Free City.

Reason for Zhongliu God's appearance in M Country: Unknown.

...】

After leaving Vivian's apartment, Lu Yibei walked towards Zhongliu God's residence, recalling the information about Zhongliu God from the data given by Nameless Book in his mind. After reviewing all the general information, he couldn't help but complain, “Xiao Hua, what do you think that guy was after?”

“Wouldn't it have been better to stay in Z Country and live out his twilight years in obscurity until he quietly faded away? Why run to this godforsaken place and suffer? Could it be that he believed some nonsense like ‘the air in M Country is sweet’?”

As he spoke, Lu Yibei took a deep breath.

A pungent smell, a mixture of urine, rotten food, and some unknown chemical gas, surged into his nostrils, hitting his head directly, giving him the illusion of being punched hard in the skull from inside his body by a muscular man.

“Cough, cough, cough, this ♦ is too strong, cough, cough!”

Upon reaching his destination, he walked down the narrow, descending staircase near the subway station and looked at Zhongliu God's residence, his eye twitching.

He had thought Vivian's apartment was one of the most dilapidated places in Free City, but to his surprise, even more dilapidated places were underground...

The long corridor was illuminated by the dim yellow light of sound-activated lamps, with tightly closed doors lining both sides of the corridor.

Buckets full of sewage, mountains of black garbage bags, handcarts filled with cardboard... all sorts of messy things were piled together, making the already narrow corridor appear exceptionally crowded. A pungent smell, even stronger than at the entrance, permeated the corridor.

Seeing such a terrible environment, Lu Yibei subconsciously wanted to leave this dreadful place quickly.

However, driven by the traditional Chinese notion of “since we're already here,” he ultimately pinched his nose, endured the nausea and discomfort, walked through the corridor that resembled a giant rat hole, arrived at Zhongliu God's residence, and knocked on the wooden door covered in tiny cracks.

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“Dong dong—!”

Only two knocks sounded before the knocking abruptly stopped.

Standing still, Lu Yibei frowned as he watched the door open slightly with the knock.

“Not home? Why would he leave without locking the door? Has he become so destitute that there's nothing left for thieves to steal?”

The moment the wooden door opened with the knock, he activated his Spiritual Perception. After sensing, he found no Spiritual Energy fluctuations exceeding D-level in the vicinity, which meant that Zhongliu God was not home.

Hearing Lu Yibei's words, Nanling Yaohua quickly wrote on her small notebook and handed it to him.

【Since the person we're looking for isn't home, let's leave quickly, shall we?】

Although she couldn't smell anything, just the visible “dirtiness and mess” was already unbearable for her.

“Mm.” Lu Yibei nodded. “I think so too, let's go!”

He turned to leave, but just as he was about to depart, a familiar stench, piercing through the pungent air, quietly entered his nostrils.

It was the foul smell of a rotting corpse.

He turned around again, looking at the wooden door covered with fine cracks, slightly ajar. It seemed to have been suddenly endowed with some special magic, urging him to continue exploring.

“Wait a moment, Xiao Hua, I think we should go in and take a look, shouldn't we?”

Hearing this, Nanling Yaohua shook her head, as if her whole body was resisting, and held up her small notebook.

【You go if you want, I'll wait outside for you!】

After reading the writing on the small notebook, Lu Yibei sighed silently, “Alright.”

Then, he pushed the door open and cautiously extended half his body inside.

Then, with just one glance, he quickly retreated, leaning against the doorframe, and retched violently.

“Yue—yue—!”

Seeing Lu Yibei like this, Nanling Yaohua tilted her head, floated to the door crack, and also, mimicking him, extended half her body inside. With just one glance, she retreated, and like Lu Yibei, leaned against the doorframe and began to retch.

Inside that one-room basement rental, a dirty sofa, whose original color was unrecognizable, sat in the center of the living room. An old man, wearing a white undershirt and striped shorts, sat sprawled on it, his right hand holding a pistol with the muzzle in his mouth.

A mixture of brain tissue and blood was splattered across the yellowed wall behind him.

A strong stench filled the entire room, as if it had permeated the walls and become part of the room.

The old man appeared to have been dead for a long time...

His entire body was abnormally bloated, his skin was greenish and swollen to a shiny degree. In several places where rats had gnawed, his flesh had burst open, and foul pus splattered onto the floor.

After leaving the corpse, the pus seemed to maintain some kind of activity, spreading out for a distance like constantly twisting and growing fungal mats, resembling a huge skirt tattered by borers, spread beside the corpse, giving the gruesome corpse a more eerie and mysterious aura.

After dry heaving for a few minutes, Nanling Yaohua, with a resentful expression, held up her small notebook with writing on it to Lu Yibei.

【Why didn't you tell me it was so disgusting inside?】

Why ask? Of course, because if I have to suffer, I can't suffer alone! Lu Yibei muttered to himself, his face expressionless, “I was busy throwing up, didn't have time.”

Nanling Yaohua, “...”

————

Lu Yibei spent nearly half an hour adapting to the uncomfortable sight and stench in the room before finally entering and confirming the deceased's identity.

The deceased was indeed Zhongliu God, who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound using an Alchemy-modified revolver. There were also two spent casings on the floor marked with “#45”.

Lu Yibei had seen them in the data provided by Nameless Book. They were common Spell-solidified bullets in M Country's spiritual energy circles. “#45” represented the Black Night Alliance's standard forty-fifth Spell.

After confirming Zhongliu God's cause of death, he meticulously searched the small one-room apartment again. He found no residual Spiritual Energy fluctuations other than Zhongliu God's, but he did discover a strange small detail.

The appliances, daily necessities, and clothes in Zhongliu God's home all seemed to come from the same company named “Ariel.” Even the uneaten food in the refrigerator bore the same brand.

That brand logo consisted of two equilateral triangles, one red and one yellow, stacked point-to-point, with an Eyeball surrounded by wings drawn in the middle.

This company called “Ariel” has such a pervasive monopoly, and no one is managing it? Lu Yibei thought to himself.

What made him even more curious was that, logically, as a urban legend, Zhongliu God wouldn't need to commit suicide by shooting himself, a method typically used by humans... He could think of more than five ways a urban legend could end its own existence.

【Have you investigated enough? When are we leaving?】

Seeing Lu Yibei standing expressionlessly in the living room of the room, unwilling to leave for a long time, the impatient Nanling Yaohua handed him the small notebook with writing on it.

“Not yet!” Lu Yibei looked at Nanling Yaohua and said, “Something's not right, I'm going to take another look.”

【Look again? Look at what?】 Nanling Yaohua wrote another line of small text.

After reading the writing on the small notebook, Lu Yibei shrugged and pointed to his eyes.

Although the regular on-site investigation procedure was over, he wasn't a regular Night Watch agent!

He also had a pair of special eyes.

He steadied himself, activated the Goddess Beiling Seal, and poured the scorching spiritual energy into his eyes. Along with a strong burning pain that spread from the inside out to his entire Eyeball, the scene in his vision seemed to ignite, and a crimson color filled his sight.

A few seconds later, as the crimson in his vision receded, Lu Yibei's pupils suddenly trembled.

He saw an astonishing scene.

He saw a tall figure in the dimly lit room holding a revolver, aiming it at Zhongliu God, and that figure was none other than the missing Jin Chan Lang, Yu Yinchuan...