Chapter 15: Setting Off for Running!
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The two members of the investigation team were now intent on locating the little mice used for surveillance and recording within the sacrificial hall. Once found, they could reconstruct the sequence of events from the mouse’s perspective, obtaining firsthand, vivid information about the incident.
By then, even if Yuan Zhu had tried to hide anything, it would be completely exposed.
These underground sacrificial groups often liked to film their rituals for later enjoyment or as successful case studies, which they sold at high prices to other similar organizations. Accumulating such folk spellcasting manuals often gave rise to entirely new cults of dark practitioners.
The everyday leisure pursuits of the Dwelling Spirit people were both rich and thrilling.
Realizing this, Yuan Zhu’s heart sank. He turned to his little sprite and said, “You never thought of this before such an important matter?”
The sprite responded confidently, “I only recently unearthed this information from fragmented memories. I was born less than half a day ago and have never attended a sacrifice, so how could I have known that the locals are so reckless—committing crimes while taking selfies and leaving evidence? But don’t worry, I scanned the hall earlier. There really is a mouse on the ceiling. At the time, I was puzzled and thought it was a sacrificial offering thrown up there.”
Indeed, in the sacrificial ritual, mouse-shaped offerings existed; however, these were entirely different from the “Mouse Surveillance Device” empowered by the divine power of the Fate Mouse King. Though both involved mice as mediums, their essences were unrelated.
In the sprite’s eyes, the mouse hanging from the ceiling was merely an offering knocked askew in the chaos.
Upon hearing this, Yuan Zhu’s heart sank further. “Damn, this is bad. There’s a surveillance device! Won’t my boss’s transformation be exposed? I’m going to take the fall for you.”
“Don’t panic. I have good news. When you activated the Boss template, I used Shadow Manipulation to scan the entire hall, including that mouse. All were corrupted and occupied by polluted energy. Even if it had surveillance functions, it would be distorted and covered by this corruption. To put it in terms you know, it’s like an EMP attack that fried the electronics.”
“Found something!” The young man suddenly exclaimed with excitement.
He rushed to the edge of a wall, accelerated into a leap, ran twice along the wall, and with a powerful kick, vaulted high to tear down a large, sleek-furred mouse from the ceiling edge.
Meanwhile, the middle-aged man held low expectations, taking out a camera and snapping vigorously around the corners, muttering, “Don’t celebrate too early.”
“Huh?”
Before he finished, the young man, inspecting the mouse, furrowed his brow. Then, closing his eyes, he placed his index finger on the mouse’s head, quietly sensing.
Soon, he opened his eyes in disappointment. “It’s corrupted. The mouse’s brain is fried. No useful information can be read.”
With that, he tossed the useless mouse onto the blood-stained floor, unwilling to look further. (The mouse thought: “Hmph! Such a heartless man.”)
“That’s normal. The arrival of evil spirits inevitably radiates onto these mystical creations. These ‘surveillance mice’ aren’t high-end equipment. Besides, biological corpses naturally attract filthy energy, causing mutations. I’ve heard of a very niche ‘electronics school’ that developed more stable monitoring devices with strong anti-interference and anti-corruption properties.”
The young man nodded in recognition. “I know about that, but they require electric power. Installation is complicated, and with the many branches of the thunder-energy system, the cost is high and application scenarios limited. It’s a luxury only nobles can afford. Though because it uses thunder magic, it repels many evils and indeed has excellent anti-corruption and stability.”
Hearing their discussion about electric power and the niche electronics school’s monitoring devices stirred a familiar thrill within Yuan Zhu.
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Ah, it’s overflowing again. More cheese spilling out!
He recalled a chapter in his middle school textbook that introduced the knowledge of electricity on the Dwelling Spirit planet. Strictly speaking, what they called “electric power” was known locally as “Thunder Magic.” It was a dual-natured phenomenon, both physical and deeply metaphysical.
On Earth, the internal combustion engine and electricity marked the advanced second industrial revolution.
On Dwelling Spirit, humans first acquired rapidly decaying magical elements from alien magicians to break free from traditional agrarian civilization; then inherited alien steam technology called the Steam Totem from humans of the Steam Universe, rushing into the steam industrial age.
Eventually, the locals bypassed Earth’s proven path and forged a new route called Elemental Steam, which in turn shattered the budding electrical revolution.
Today, electric power and gasoline-powered vehicles still exist, but traditional internal combustion engines (Earth versions) cannot compete with supernaturally enhanced elemental steam engines and have been phased out.
As for electronic devices, they are caught in fierce competition, squeezed into niche markets, and gradually become part of the Taoist Industrial Thunder Magic industry.
Yuan Zhu remembered the textbook named positive and negative charges as Yin Thunder and Yang Thunder, consistent with Taoist cosmology. Electromagnetic induction was fairly normal, and humans successfully invented direct and alternating current.
At this stage, Thunder Magic aligned with Earth’s electrical knowledge, and basic electric devices were widely promoted across many countries, seemingly heralding an “electric revolution.”
This ordinary current was called “Universal Electric Power,” identical to Earth’s electricity.
However, Dwelling Spirit scholars soon discovered that universal electric power was merely the most basic, primitive, and lowest form of “electricity/thunder.” From a Taoist worldview, ordinary electricity could be further refined by adding new elements (the Five Elements), embedding talismanic formulas (Thunder Magic talismans), or other methods, allowing universal electric power to evolve and transform.
For example, ordinary current could be upgraded to “Five Thunder Orthodox Magic,” “Five Thunder Heretical Magic,” “Divine Thunder Magic,” and so on. Not only did the names change, but the nature of the thunder and lightning itself transformed.
Upon this revelation, top universities and Taoist palaces worldwide began deep research into Thunder Magic. Within a few years, dozens of distinct Thunder Magic schools emerged from traditional electric power.
Each new “thunder” had unique properties and effects, with strong specificity and high authority and rank, yet they were mutually antagonistic. These exotic high-end Thunder Magics could easily absorb and assimilate universal electric power.
As a result, the emerging electric power industry collapsed overnight. Pure universal electric power fragmented into countless specialized Thunder Magic branches. Ordinary electric systems were easily invaded and assimilated by high-level Thunder Magic.
Moreover, conflicts among high-level Thunder Magic made them incompatible, causing the electric power industry to lose its unified foundation and become difficult to promote.
Thus, the world naturally missed the electric age, never developing telephones, mobile phones, or computers. Instead, it spawned closed, small Taoist industrial Thunder Magic systems that could only lay exclusive “Thunder Magic grids” within their own sects.
Thunder Magic devices from system A would instantly burn out motors if powered by system B’s Thunder Magic energy. Want to use Jade Pure Divine Thunder to power my Purple Cloud-brand soy milk maker? Dream on! My Purple Cloud soy milk maker would rather die than yield—it would self-destruct!
...
About half an hour later, as dusk approached, the two investigators completed a thorough search of the manor. After photographing evidence, they carefully wrapped each corrupted sacrificial offering from the hall in special oil paper, numbered them, placed them orderly into a briefcase, and loaded it into the trunk of the vintage car.
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Finally, the middle-aged man packed the “White Feather Wish Society List (parchment)” that Yuan Zhu had found, along with other documents collected from the study and bedroom, ending this round of investigation for the time being.
After confirming everything, the middle-aged man came over to Yuan Zhu. “The investigation phase is over. You need to come with us to the Security Bureau for the next round of tests. Don’t worry, it’s just to check whether your mind has been corrupted by evil spirits and to see if there’s anything hidden inside your body. From my experience, you’ll pass easily.”
“Hmph!” The youth snorted coldly, displeased with the elder’s casual attitude. “Captain, you know this is a major case involving forty deaths. Are we really going to just brush it off?”
The fat man closed his notebook and shrugged helplessly. “What else can we do? Illegal sacrifices don’t have human rights when they die. Besides, your detection device showed very little deviation. According to law enforcement regulations, he’s a victim and harmless. Rest assured, Yuan, once you pass the subsequent tests, you’ll be free.”
At this moment, the little sprite commented in Yuan Zhu’s mind, “This young man is clearly a rookie—an idealistic fool clinging to justice. He no longer hides his hostility toward you, even accusing you of lying and denying your innocence as a sacrificial victim. He’s coming after you! The other, a seasoned veteran, wants no trouble. He appears professional but secretly doubts you and tries to soothe the situation. I think he wants to send you to the police station or somewhere similar. If there’s a hidden danger, they’ll trigger it later.”
The middle-aged fat man stroked his goatee and asked Yuan Zhu, “How do you want to go? Drive your company’s car following me, or take ours directly to the Security Bureau?”
Yuan Zhu thought carefully but couldn’t recall how to operate the local steam car, so he shook his head. “I’ll take your car. Do I need to wear handcuffs?”
“Don’t worry. You’re cooperating, so just sit in the back seat and rest. It’ll take about an hour and a half to get there. I’ll contact your boss about your company’s car.”
Curious, Yuan Zhu asked, “Are you familiar with Firefang?”
“We’ve had good cooperation before. Even the crime scenes we investigate require professionals to clean up afterward.”
“Oh... I see!” Yuan Zhu realized that tomorrow, other colleagues would come here to clean his own crime scene. If he were released early, he might even be assigned to clean up after himself personally.
At 5:40 p.m., Yuan Zhu boarded the police car headed for the Security Bureau, quietly observing the misty, dimly lit forest shadows outside the window.
Quiet, dark, damp, and serene... The empty road showed no pedestrians or vehicles, evoking an eerie sense of driving alone into Silent Hill.
From deep within the forest came occasional chilling howls of wild beasts, adding a further layer of unease.
According to his memories, wandering in the outskirts’ woods at this hour was risky—it was the witching hour. Had he just left a demon lair only to enter another evil nest?
Fortunately, the clattering noise of the old car kept approaching dangers at bay. Gradually, Yuan Zhu closed his eyes and, rocked by the car’s movement, drifted into sleep.