I Have Infinite Skill Points-Chapter 549: Going Abroad Until Death

"You..." The black liquid suddenly contorted into an expression of furious anger. "Why would you do such a thing? Don’t you realize this will alert the enemy?"

"I... I am sorry, Master! I was just thinking... Since Buddha Shakyamuni is an enemy of the Master, I couldn’t bear to see his disciples and followers happily celebrating his birthday. So, I sent people to kill one hundred and eight monks as a birthday gift..."

The shadow’s icy gaze fell upon the middle-aged man curled up and shivering on the ground, remaining silent for a long moment. Finally, the shadow spoke indifferently, "You’ve shown some initiative, but let this be the only time. Without my permission, you are not to make any unnecessary moves."

"Yes, thank you for your merciful pardon, Master..."

"The followers you’ve recruited have already caused a stir. Have them all lay low. If they can’t, you will need to act decisively and withdraw early. I’ve told you before that recruiting ordinary people is simply a waste of my power. If we are to recruit, it should be Star Martial Warriors."

"But Star Martial Warriors don’t become disillusioned with the world that easily. They are all brainwashed zealots."

"Aren’t you a Star Martial Warrior too?" As the voice faded, the pitch-black liquid slowly seeped into the idol, which gradually fell silent.

「Elsewhere」

In a cave, a little girl sitting by a campfire suddenly opened her eyes, her gaze chillingly cold.

What an idiot. It seems I should return to Cloud Sea and restart the holy fire soon. As for Suzhou City, let that idiot deal with the humans. I hope you won’t be so foolish this time, you idiot, and buy me some more time.

Xiao Ai’s alarm clock hadn’t yet rung when her phone suddenly blared.

No sooner had Wang Lan answered the phone than Hu Qing’s excited voice came through, "Wang Lan, we’ve found something! We checked Cha Shengming’s QQ account and discovered someone very close to him. The period they’ve known each other matches the time Cha Shengming began to act strangely. And most importantly, this person has been missing for three days."

"Who is it? Have you found him?"

"His name is Jiang Wannian. We’re having the traffic department check surveillance for him. Jiang Wannian is the head chef of Famous City Hotel and a national-level master chef. I’ve just arrived at Jiang Wannian’s house... Wait, Wang Lan, you should come over. UGH—"

Wang Lan, who was brushing his teeth, paused. He looked at his phone, the call now disconnected, a wry smile on his face.

That retching sound clearly meant Hu Qing had seen something far from pleasant. Wang Lan lost any appetite for breakfast. He took to the sky, flying towards the location Hu Qing had shared.

Jiang Wannian was a national-level master chef, a committee member of the Jiang Province Culinary Association, and the undisputed culinary king of Jiang City Grand Hotel. He was undoubtedly wealthy, so it was only natural for his home to be in the Jian Lake Villa Area.

As Wang Lan descended from the sky, he saw rows of guards bent over, vomiting profusely.

"Wang Lan, you’re finally here... Damn it, this is too twisted! This Jiang Wannian... he actually turned his own parents, wife, and children into a Manchu Han Imperial Feast... I... UGH!"

Wang Lan could hardly imagine anyone being so depraved. Or perhaps, after embracing the Ancestor, one’s humanity could be eroded to such an extent.

In the living room, a long banquet table was laden with dozens of exquisitely presented dishes, evidently the work of a high-end chef. However, many days had passed, and the food had spoiled, emitting a strong, rancid smell.

What caught his eye were beautifully arranged platters holding braised feet and roasted meats on the bone. Each dish was a part of a human body. Limbs, ribs, organs—all transformed into what had once been enticingly aromatic delicacies.

"What about Jiang Wannian? Any news at all?" Wang Lan asked as he walked out, struggling to maintain his composure.

"Nothing. He disappeared seven days ago. But he had requested leave from the hotel before that, indicating he intended to be away. Most of the hotel’s kitchen was run by his students; it was rare for Jiang Wannian to cook personally. But when he did, it was usually to entertain very important guests or because he’d been challenged by a peer. We found out that Jiang Wannian loved fishing and had been doing it for over ten years. On the day he took leave, he left the house, soon evaded surveillance cameras, and hadn’t been seen since. Also, look at this!"

Hu Qing took out his phone and showed a photo. It depicted the scene inside Jiang Wannian’s bedroom where, instead of the usual television, an idol stood. This idol closely resembled the Tao Yong idol found in Cha Shengming’s house—perhaps it was even the same one. The only difference was that one was finely crafted and the other was a cartoonish version.

"Jiang Wannian also enshrined this evil idol in his home. This suggests he indeed had contact with Cha Shengming. The two likely met while fishing, and one then led the other astray."

Wang Lan took a deep breath and nodded. "That seems to be the case. But the most important thing now is to figure out what this evil god is, and why ordinary people who worship it gain such uncanny abilities. Whether it’s Exotic Beasts, the Demon Clan, or us humans, our power systems are nearly identical. But Cha Shengming and his ilk seem to belong to a different power system."

BEEP BEEP—

As Wang Lan and Hu Qing were talking, a distant car horn interrupted them. They looked up to see a black car slowly approaching. The car stopped, and Lige and Zhang Yeqiu emerged.

"It seems we’re a step behind," Zhang Yeqiu said with a smile as she approached Wang Lan, then extended a hand to greet Hu Qing amicably.

"Little Qiu, why are you here too? Did you also find Jiang Wannian?"

"Indeed. After rigorous surveillance and tracking, we identified the attacker of Hanyan Temple as Jiang Wannian. He shares certain similarities with Han Cheng; he suffers from a very rare disease called Sikamos Syndrome. The name is a bit of a mouthful, and the syndrome is extremely rare worldwide. Currently, medical science has no effective treatment for it, but the disease isn’t fatal. It’s just excruciatingly painful when it flares up, causing an unbearable, full-body itch. Patients inevitably scratch. The more they scratch, the itchier it becomes, and the itchier it becomes, the more they scratch. Jiang Wannian has been suffering from this for almost a year. I learned from his doctor that Jiang Wannian’s condition was at a critical turning point. Of the twenty-two people in the world with this disease, ten have already died—all by suicide."

"So you’re saying... the disease isn’t fatal, but it can make life worse than death?"

"Once we found this out, we hurried over. It seems you’ve also identified Jiang Wannian through a different channel?"

"How was Jiang Wannian’s relationship with his family?" Wang Lan asked.

"Very harmonious. People familiar with them said they’d never seen them argue. The story this time was that Jiang Wannian took his whole family on an overseas trip. That’s false, isn’t it?"

"Overseas trip? Hah, they’ve left this world!" Hu Qing snorted coldly.

"Then we can be sure: worshipping this evil deity requires a familial sacrifice. Or rather, only after killing one’s kin does the evil deity trust and accept them. And their abilities stack with the number of people they kill, meaning they gain energy through slaughter?"

"Oh, right." Lige suddenly pulled out a photo and handed it to Wang Lan. "This was found in Han Cheng’s abandoned house in his hometown. He was worshipping an evil deity. We’ve looked it up; this evil deity is called the Evil Spirit. Legend says it’s a demon from the Cloud Sea era, later suppressed by Buddha Shakyamuni."

Upon hearing this, Wang Lan’s eyes lit up. His look towards Lige showed she had realized the same thing.

"This connects everything! So, it’s related to the man in the black robe case. Is that man in the black robe still pulling the strings?" Wang Lan said, a look of sudden understanding on his face.

"The man in the black robe? You mean the mastermind behind the Star Martial Art tournament, who then caused the massacre at the museum, killing hundreds, and then vanished without a trace?"

"Exactly, him. If that’s the case, then the so-called Ancestor is the Evil God Demon. Three thousand years ago, the Evil Spirit was suppressed by Buddha Shakyamuni. The vessel for that suppression might be the Demon-restricting Buddha Statue. Yan Tong had a fortuitous encounter in the Cloud Sea space and obtained the Demon-suppressing God Statue that held the Evil Spirit. Perhaps, at that time, the Evil Spirit had already begun to break free but wasn’t completely liberated; maybe it was still within that statue. Then, the man in the black robe appeared, reclaimed the Demon-suppressing God Statue, and released the Evil Spirit. The Evil Spirit then beguiled those in despair, persuading them to worship it and become its slaves. When these people gained power and a semblance of hope, their humanity was completely eradicated, leading them to murder their closest kin. Someone like Jiang Wannian, making dozens of dishes out of his own family... it’s simply horrifying."

"We still have no word on Jiang Wannian, and no further leads from Han Cheng’s side either. The sole condition of being ’desperate with the world’... There are so many people in Suzhou City, and indeed the whole world, living lives of dissatisfaction. It would be too difficult to filter by this criterion alone, wouldn’t it?"

"Han Cheng, Jiang Wannian, Cha Shengming... do they have anything else in common?"

"One was betrayed by his wife, one had a disease that made life worse than death, and one suffered long-term domestic violence? Isn’t the commonality that their lives were a torment?"

"Not quite. Both Han Cheng and Jiang Wannian had terminal illnesses. Moreover, both Han Cheng and Jiang Wannian were instructed by the mastermind to attack temples. They joined this Demon Cult earlier than Cha Shengming. Although Cha Shengming is one of them, he had only just killed his family to receive powers granted by the Ancestor. And he met Jiang Wannian while fishing, so he’s likely Jiang Wannian’s subordinate. What channel did the Evil Spirit initially use to recruit followers?"

"Hospitals!" Hu Qing, Lige, and Zhang Yeqiu exclaimed in unison, their eyes lighting up.

"I’ll have the intelligence department immediately surveil the dozen or so hospitals in Suzhou City and screen terminal illness patients. At the very least, there’s still one person whose identity hasn’t been confirmed: the one who attacked White Horse Temple."

"Understood."

Leaving Jiang Wannian’s home, it was almost noon. Hu Qing put an arm around Wang Lan’s shoulder and said enthusiastically, "Let’s go, lunch is on me."

"The Police Chief’s Hotel?"

"Forget it. I’m sick of the food at the police canteen. I’ve already called Xiaoling; let’s all go out to eat together."

"You’re the one who’s sick of it, not me. Besides, if you and your wife are going out to eat, should I be the third wheel?"

"No, I really want to treat you to a meal; you just saved my life again. Besides, this moment... it reminds me of something."

"Like what?"

"The first time we met, when you treated me to a meal."