After leaving the psychiatric hospital, Luo Wei was ready to rush straight to the Lower District.
But just at that moment,
He happened to encounter the fully armed Holy Edict Knight Order passing by the front of the hospital. Judging by the direction they were heading, it seemed they shared the same destination as him.
"Brother, they look so strange!" Helena exclaimed, pointing at the knights.
She had seen members of the Knight Order before, but the attire of these knights was unusually peculiar.
Luo Wei had also noticed this. Each knight was cloaked in a heavy hood and wore a mask with a long beak, resembling a bird's face. The mask was bizarre, with only the eyes protected by transparent glass, making it appear completely sealed.
As these bird-masked figures emerged from the thick fog, they looked like grotesque demons, so terrifying that even the escaped lunatics were frightened, letting out terrified screams.
Luo Wei found the mask somewhat familiar, reminiscent of the attire worn by plague doctors during the Middle Ages.
Evelyn, who had mostly recovered by now, observed the marching knights with a sigh.
"Even the old equipment used to combat the Black Death over a century ago has been dug out..."
"Does this mask actually work?" Helena was most concerned about this. "Should we try to get a few for ourselves?"
Evelyn shook her head. "Honestly, I don’t know. But..."
She glanced thoughtfully at Luo Wei. "Given how heavily the Knight Order is prepared, do they already know someone is deliberately spreading poison?"
As the three stood at the entrance discussing this, two members of the Knight Order slowly approached. Luo Wei heard a familiar voice.
"What are you all doing here?"
Although the speaker also wore a bird mask, obscuring his face, Luo Wei could still recognize him as the Third Prince.
The three of them remained silent and vigilant, not responding.
The Third Prince looked at Luo Wei, then glanced at the Bedlam Psychiatric Hospital behind him, and suddenly realized,
"Weren’t you locked up in there? What, did you escape during the chaos?"
He immediately sneered and waved his hand. "Men, seize these escaped lunatics!"
A group of knights immediately rushed over from the ranks.
Evelyn looked at him in exasperation. "Do you have nothing better to do? Instead of rushing to the Lower District to deal with the emergency, you’re wasting time picking on us?"
Luo Wei, seeing the knights about to take action, was equally speechless.
However, he knew that the Third Prince wasn’t just causing trouble for no reason—this was targeted at Ophelia.
After the incident at the manor, the Third Prince must have already considered Luo Wei as one of Ophelia’s people, and someone of high standing at that.
As the knights closed in and drew their weapons, Evelyn’s palms began to glow with a crimson light, and Helena tensed up, her tentacles ready to strike.
But just as the two sides were about to clash,
A black carriage sped over and stopped between the two groups.
As the carriage came to a halt, it deliberately swerved, splattering mud and dust all over the Third Prince and his men.
The Third Prince immediately turned angrily toward the person stepping out of the black carriage.
"Luo Wei!"
It was Ophelia. As soon as she saw Luo Wei, she hurried over.
"Why are you here?" Luo Wei asked in surprise, noticing that Ophelia looked travel-worn.
"I should be asking you that!" she chided, lightly punching his chest. "I told you to stay at the manor—it’s the safest place! Why didn’t you listen? Do you know how dangerous it is outside right now?"
Luo Wei smiled and nodded, then pointed to his scarf. "I know..."
Ophelia glared at him. "What good is that thing?"
With that, she called for Caroline, who brought out several bird masks identical to those worn by the Third Prince’s men.
Luo Wei glanced at the knights and whispered to her, "You and the Knight Order are both prepared with these. Does that mean the higher-ups already know what’s happening in the Lower District?"
Ophelia shook her head. "The city council is always a step behind. By the time they react, the whole city might already be dead. I knew something was wrong with this fog thanks to Caroline. You know her—she’s a pharmaceutical expert."
Luo Wei glanced at Caroline and nodded. Her skill in concocting potions was indeed impressive—he had experienced it firsthand when she repeatedly hypnotized him.
After distributing the bird masks to Helena and Evelyn, Luo Wei looked at Ophelia with gratitude.
"Since that’s the case, come with me to the Lower District."
Her arrival was timely—he needed all the help he could get right now.
"I knew you were heading there, so I rushed over," Ophelia replied with a smile. "I didn’t expect to run into you beforehand. What a coincidence."
As the two conversed, the Third Prince, who had been staring intently at Ophelia, could no longer contain his shock.
Seeing how intimate the two looked, this man wasn’t just her subordinate—he was...
"Hey, Fifth Sister," the Third Prince said mockingly. "Aren’t you going to reintroduce this Mr. Luo Wei by your side?"
To his surprise, Ophelia completely ignored him, treating him as if he were invisible.
There was nothing more infuriating than being utterly ignored, especially for someone like the Third Prince.
Behind his mask, his expression turned cold.
"Let’s go," Ophelia said, turning toward her carriage.
Luo Wei glanced at the Third Prince, who stood rooted in place, then nodded to Ophelia.
"Right, no time to waste."
Once everyone boarded the black carriage, it quickly left the scene, leaving behind the Third Prince, whose expression shifted between anger and frustration.
"Your Highness..." his subordinate said, bowing his head.
"We need to hurry over there," the Third Prince said, glancing at his subordinate. "We can’t let Fifth Sister take all the credit for this."
"Yes."
...
The carriage raced toward the Lower District, which, though close to the city center, was located in a lower-lying area.
Inside the carriage, Luo Wei fiddled with the bird mask. To be honest, he was skeptical of its effectiveness.
While it was indeed tightly sealed, complete with intake and exhaust valves, the filter inside the mask’s beak was filled with...
Various fragrant herbs, lavender, and spices.
It didn’t look like a gas mask—more like a stench mask.
Then again, this world hadn’t invented chemical warfare, so the concept of a modern gas mask didn’t exist. This was still a primitive version, and it was debatable how effective it had been against the Black Death back then.
"You think this thing is useless?" Ophelia asked curiously, looking at Luo Wei.
Luo Wei nodded but still put on the mask.
He considered modifying it to turn it into a proper gas mask, but there was no time left.
The carriage had already arrived at the Lower District of Saint Callen, weaving through the chaotic, narrow alleyways of the slum. The haphazardly built illegal structures blocked what little light there was, making it as dark as night even during the day. Combined with the heavy fog, visibility was extremely poor.
Luo Wei looked out the window. This place, already a den of filth and chaos, was even more disorderly than he had imagined.
The air reeked of blood. Corpses, gunfire, and cries were everywhere, along with raging fires.
While some semblance of order still existed in the upper parts of the city, the Lower District had descended into complete lawlessness.
As the carriage headed toward the reported gathering place of the cultists, a mission prompt suddenly appeared.
[Chapter Two: The Wiggenhorst Incident (Finale)]
[Head to the Lower District, disrupt the ritual to summon the evil god, and put an end to the city’s spreading chaos.]
[Rewards: +20 to any attribute; +1 Low-level Talent; +1 Mid-level Item; +1 Fixed High-level Item]
Luo Wei’s eyes widened. The rewards for this mission were exceptionally generous.
Of course, the generous reward also implied the daunting difficulty of the task.
Preventing the descent of an evil god, and possibly even confronting Him directly—could their group really accomplish such a feat?
Luo Wei looked at everyone silently gazing back at him, his heart growing heavier by the moment.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
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...
