Chapter 1: Strange Things

Chapter 1: qi objects

Thick clouds enveloped the city, and the distant, collapsed, and broken buildings still stood crookedly.

The turbid air, carrying a faint stench, filled every corner of the city, and the twilight sun always cast an eerie crimson glow.

Like other places, Tianchang City was a wounded city.

Li Yi, who had just finished his part-time job, was now carrying his belongings and walking down the desolate, dilapidated streets of the Old City.

He skillfully and carefully avoided the puddles on the ground, then quickly slipped into an alley.

The alley branched out in all directions, connecting to various parts of the Old City, and taking the small path saved a lot of time.

“Cough, cough!”

Li Yi, walking to himself, suddenly smelled a putrid stench.

He couldn’t help but cough twice but dared not linger, only quickening his steps to swiftly move away from the area enveloped by the smell.

Because he knew that stench was formed when a person died and their body decomposed.

The lowest class of people in the city were like rats in a gutter; merely maintaining a normal life was already a struggle.

Even when they died, they could only quietly rot and breed maggots in dark corners until the stench became unbearable, at which point they would be discovered and cleared away by the sanitation team.

After all, this world had changed, and even in well-ordered cities, the mortality rate remained high.

“I wonder how my luck will be this time, whether I can get through this.”

Li Yi, only twenty years old, sighed helplessly, a hint of confusion and exhaustion in his eyes, but his gaze quickly firmed up again, and his steps became faster than usual.

Following an address from memory, he passed through the alley and arrived at a residential district several decades old.

The residential district was not large, with only four buildings, which was common in the Old City.

Even though the environment in the Old City was not ideal, it was at least safer than other places, less prone to accidents.

Therefore, the seemingly dilapidated and desolate Old City actually housed many people, who, like ants, gnawed at everything in this city, barely surviving.

Li Yi was one of them.

Wangmen residential district.

“That’s right, this is it.” Li Yi found the location on the address.

However, after he entered the residential district, he found that many people were gathered in the open space in the middle of the residential district.

Among these crowds, he even saw the figure of an investigator.

“Nothing bad happened, did it?” His expression shifted slightly, then he curiously moved closer.

“I heard the resident of Building 4, Apartment 701 died, and it was a terrible death.

Blood flowed into the hallway.

This definitely wasn’t a normal death; it must have been some special accident, otherwise, the investigators wouldn’t come to this broken place.”

“Who lived in Building 4, Apartment 701? I have no impression.

Does anyone know?”

“It was the one with the big wavy hair, dressed very flamboyantly.”

“Oh, now that you mention it, I remember her.

Her name was Liu Li, thirty-two years old, unmarried, and had very large breasts.”

“Ah?”

Upon hearing this, many people nearby immediately looked at him in surprise.

It was a middle-aged man in his thirties, who was now shaking his head, looking utterly emotional.

At this moment, an investigator came down from the stairwell of Building 4, and behind him were several accompanying paramedics.

They were carrying a body bag, which presumably contained Liu Li’s body.

“What’s the situation upstairs?” The lead investigator was Wang Jian, and this Old City area was under his responsibility.

Although the unremarkable Wang Jian was only in his twenties, his eyes were incredibly sharp, seemingly emitting a faint glow in the dim light, causing a strange sense of unease.

“Team Leader Wang, the victim’s body was dismembered into more than a dozen pieces.

The scene was very bloody, but from the current investigation, the victim’s cause of death should be suicide.” Another investigator walked over, his face very solemn, and quietly reported some details from Room 701.

Wang Jian nodded, his expression calm, seemingly accustomed to such situations, as he had encountered even more bizarre incidents.

“Are there any other clues?”

Another investigator said, “A resident across from Room 701 seems to have seen something.”

After speaking, he gestured, and a young man around twenty-five years old was brought over.

“I am Investigator Wang Jian.

Tell me, what did you see in Room 701?” Wang Jian asked.

The young man said nervously, “I, I saw someone walk into Room 701 little by little last night.”

“Little by little?” Wang Jian frowned slightly.

“Are you messing with me?”

“No, absolutely not, that person did indeed walk in little by little,” the young man said with great certainty.

Wang Jian’s face darkened, and he suddenly reached out and grabbed the young man’s neck, then stared coldly into his pupils for a moment before casually tossing him aside.

“Another one who went crazy from cultivation.

Take him away.”

“Yes.”

The young man immediately struggled, “No, I’m not crazy, I’m not crazy.

Someone really did walk into Room 701 little by little.

That person is the murderer.

She didn’t commit suicide, she didn’t commit suicide.

I’m not crazy.

I was cultivating by the door yesterday and saw it clearly.”

But the accompanying staff didn’t waste words and led him out of the residential district.

The middle-aged man watching the commotion shouted, “If the victim Liu Li could be carried out little by little, why can’t the murderer go in little by little to kill someone?

Why do investigators say others are crazy?”

“He’s abnormal, are you abnormal too?” Wang Jian glanced at him.

“Do you want to be taken away too?”

The middle-aged man then immediately spat in the direction of the young man, “This lunatic should be taken away.

I must have been influenced by him just now.

We definitely can’t let this lunatic come back.

Maybe he’s the one who killed Liu Li.”

“I said, Liu Li committed suicide.

This case is closed,” Wang Jian repeated again.

“It seems the suicide case here is just a coincidence and has nothing to do with what I need to do.”

Li Yi, who was watching the commotion, remained silent.

He just quietly carried his bag and left the crowd, walking towards the first building.

This matter had nothing to do with him; he was only here to earn money and didn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble.

“Wangmen residential district, Building 1, Apartment 201.”

Li Yi took a deep breath.

He arrived at this unfamiliar address and then knocked on the old door.

Thump, thump, thump~!

A dull sound echoed in the dim hallway; the surroundings were silent.

After a while.

The old door opened, and yellowed light spilled out, accompanied by a voice from inside.

“Come in.” The voice was very low.

Li Yi, slightly nervous, walked in.

The living room was sparsely furnished: a sofa, a few wooden chairs, and the bedroom doors on both sides were tightly closed.

Under the yellowed light, the space felt somewhat confined.

“Friend, don’t look around, you’re late.

You’re the only one left; the rest of us have been waiting for you.” Several people, both men and women, were sitting on the sofa.

The speaker was a young man wearing a hoodie.

Li Yi didn’t speak, only looking at the person sitting on the chair opposite him.

That person’s body was shrouded in the shadow of the light, and now he slowly raised his head, his eyes exceptionally bright, shimmering with a faint glow, as if containing some special power that made one dare not look directly.

“My name is Crow, and you’re Li Yi, right?

Very young, you look at most in your early twenties.

Tell me, why do you want to take on this dangerous task?” The person who called himself Crow spoke.

His voice was still low, giving off a strange sense of oppression.

Li Yi composed himself, then seriously said, “I need money.”

The man in the hoodie on the sofa behind him chuckled, “Nonsense, who comes here to take on such dangerous jobs if they don’t need money?

Life isn’t worth much these days, and there are plenty of people scrambling to do life-threatening work.”

Li Yi still ignored him and continued to explain, “My parents are ‘the Silent Ones’; they’ve been in a coma for six years.”

“Both parents are ‘the Silent Ones’?

Being able to live for six years means your family has two medical pods.

Even a second-hand medical pod is worth at least a million or more.

You don’t look like you’re short on money.” Crow’s voice turned cold.

“Give me a reasonable explanation; don’t play tricks.”

“The medical pod broke and needs repairs.

The repair cost is fifty thousand, and I can’t afford that much.

I saw someone in the group chat introduce a job that said it would pay one hundred thousand upon completion, so I came to try my luck.” Li Yi’s heart tightened, and he elaborated on his situation again.

Perhaps believing Li Yi’s words, or seeing the unease and urgency in Li Yi’s eyes, his tone changed, and he chuckled softly, “Supporting two Silent Ones for six years, even with some family savings, they would be completely depleted.

And now encountering a medical pod malfunction, in this situation, a sum of money is indeed urgently needed, because without the medical pod’s maintenance, a Silent One cannot live for more than thirty days.

It seems you want to risk it all for your parents.

Very good, filial children like you are rare these days.

Since that’s the case, I’ll give you this opportunity.

Your reason is approved, sit down.”

Seeing this, Li Yi finally breathed a sigh of relief and found a stool next to the sofa to sit down.

“The last person is here. Before we start, if anyone wants to leave, you can go now. I won’t stop you. In ten seconds, I will begin to explain this mission.” Crow’s bright eyes revealed a hint of threat.

Clearly, he was telling them that if they didn’t leave now, it would be impossible to back out later.

In the dim living room, everyone fell silent.

Time passed second by second.

During this time, no one left.

“Very good. It seems you all have reasons to fight for your lives. In that case, I will now officially begin to introduce the mission.” Crow stood up.

At the same time, the tightly shut bedroom door next to him opened, and a man in a suit walked out, immediately locking the main door. Then, like a tall wall, he stood by the entrance to prevent anyone from escaping.

“Crow, don’t waste time. Just tell us what you want us to do. We can’t handle anything too difficult. After all, we just want to make money, not die. Besides, we are all ordinary people without cultivation, so what we can do is very limited.” The man in the hoodie spoke without any tension, just grinning as he said it.

Crow glanced at him, then said, “You better behave.”

The hoodie man shrugged, unconcerned.

What is there to fear for someone who dares to risk their life for money?

The other few people remained silent and did not interrupt Crow at this moment.

Li Yi also just listened quietly. He only hoped that the so-called mission wouldn’t be too dangerous; he still wanted to return alive.

Seeing everyone remain quiet, Crow spoke seriously: “Ten days ago, a building in the Waste District showed some abnormality. Our people went inside to search, and an accident occurred. Several people died, and only two ordinary people who had not cultivated came back alive. One of them went crazy, and one was severely injured and is still in the hospital, barely clinging to half a life.”

“The second time, my partner and I went to that building again to search. My partner unfortunately died there, and only I was lucky enough to escape.”

“But from these two explorations, I obtained two key pieces of information. The first piece of information is that there is a high possibility of a qi object in that building.”

As soon as these words came out, everyone’s eyes widened, revealing an expression of disbelief.

“A qi object? How is that possible? The Waste District has been searched countless times. How could there be a qi object left?” The hoodie man suddenly stood up, his breathing somewhat rapid.

qi objects.

After the Tian Qing Event, these treasures from another world were said to possess the divine power of myths and legends.

Every qi object was priceless.

Countries around the world aggressively and unreasonably reclaimed every qi object, which led to countless qi object battles.

If an ordinary person obtained a qi object and voluntarily handed it over, the cash reward alone would be at least a billion yuan. In addition, they could unconditionally enter Golden Academy, with lifetime exemption from expulsion. As for villas in An Ding District and honorary status, those were just invisible perks that came with it.

However, despite such heavy rewards, there had only been two instances of voluntarily handing over a qi object in the country.

Because in addition to possessing divine power, qi objects could also allow ordinary people to defy fate and embark on a cultivation path far surpassing that of geniuses.

Just by possessing a qi object for a few months, the owner could become extraordinary. If one possessed a qi object for several years, everyone would have to defer to them.

“Don’t draw us a big picture. I don’t believe there’s a qi object in the Old City. The influence of a qi object is at least five kilometers. With such a large area affected, do you think the investigators are just slacking off?” It was a woman who spoke, wearing a slip dress. Her figure was very sexy, but a hint of disdain appeared at the corner of her mouth.

Her words immediately calmed down the others who were still in shock.

“That’s right,” the hoodie man nodded in agreement with the woman’s words. “Hiring someone for 100,000 to find a priceless qi object—how absurd does that sound? If there really was such a thing, would it be our turn to know? This Old City would have been sealed off long ago.”

Li Yi and the remaining people did not speak, just watching quietly.

Crow’s voice remained low: “qi objects also have levels, and there are complete qi objects and incomplete qi objects. The top-tier qi objects are certainly not something people like us can hope for, but if you’re lucky, finding an incomplete qi object or even a qi object fragment is not impossible.”

“The mission for you five is very simple: go into that building and find the item. Even if you can’t bring it out, as long as you confirm its location, I’ll give you 100,000. If you can retrieve it, I’ll give each of you two million.”

“You want us to risk danger to help you find a qi object for just this much money? That’s tough.” The hoodie man suddenly grinned.

“What do you mean? You want to back out?” Crow said.

“No, I mean I want more money.” The hoodie man stared at him.

“Don’t be so greedy, be careful you earn it but don’t live to spend it.” Crow said coldly, his eyes glowing at this moment, like a beast lurking in the darkness.

The hoodie man, however, was not afraid. He said, “Do you dare to make a move? If you kill me, this whole thing falls through. Once investigators are alerted, you’ll suffer an even greater loss. After all, our lives are worthless, but you’re different. You have a bright future and a chance to get close to qi objects. It’s not worth sacrificing everything for a few nobodies.”

He then turned to Li Yi and the others and said, “I’m fighting for everyone’s interests right now. Aren’t you going to say something?”

“This mission is very dangerous. I demand half the deposit upfront, otherwise I’m not going. Who knows if you’ll go back on your word afterwards?” The woman in the slip dress immediately said.

Clearly, with qi objects involved, no one could resist raising their prices.

Li Yi also didn’t want to back down. He said, “I also think the money is a bit too little. Besides paying a 50,000 deposit first, if we find what you want, you’ll have to pay another 100,000. As for retrieving it, we ordinary people are somewhat self-aware; we don’t have that ability.”

As soon as his words fell, a muscular, short-haired, square-faced strongman on the nearby sofa also stood up. His height was slightly exaggerated, nearly two meters, and his head almost touched the ceiling. Although he was an ordinary person, he gave off a very formidable impression.

“You bastard, since you came to me, whether the job gets done or not, I’m taking the money. If you don’t give it, I’ll smash your head with one punch.” The man spoke with a deep, unyielding tone.

The last person was a thin, middle-aged man wearing glasses. He had been silent until now, when he finally spoke: “Crow, is it? Give me all of their money, and I’ll handle this matter. However, after I retrieve what you want, I want a thirty percent cut.”

Crow fell silent instantly.

After a while, he said in a low voice, “I see now, you are all talented individuals, valuing money over your lives. If this wasn’t still a safe zone, I’d really want to slaughter all of you.”

The hoodie man still grinned, the slip-dress woman rolled her eyes dismissively, the tall, burly man snorted in disdain, and the glasses man lowered his head slightly, adjusted his spectacles, and a mysterious smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Only Li Yi seemed to be behaving normally, his eyelid twitching inexplicably, feeling a little uneasy.

But seeing that everyone was unmoved, Crow, after a brief consideration, chose to compromise. After all, finding another group of people would be troublesome, and he didn’t want to prolong the situation; otherwise, once the news leaked, the situation would be beyond his control.

“As Li Yi said, a 50,000 deposit first, and then 100,000 after the job is done. Don’t haggle with me anymore; the matter is settled.”

The others fell silent briefly, apparently accepting the terms.

“You haven’t mentioned the second key piece of information.” The man in the hoodie asked again.

Crow said, “The second key piece of information is that when entering that building, ordinary people encounter less danger. People like me, who have embarked on cultivation, are more likely to be targeted by danger. That’s why I sought out people like you. Don’t waste any more time; let’s leave immediately.”

As he spoke, he gestured to his subordinate guarding the door to open it.

“I have one more question.” Li Yi said.

“Ask quickly if you have any more questions.” Crow said coldly.

“What kind of danger exists in that place you mentioned, that even you cultivators can’t handle?” Li Yi said, “This question is very important, at least so we all know what we’ll be facing later.”

“That building is haunted.” Crow said this and then walked out of the room.

Ghosts?

Everyone froze for a moment, and a spine-chilling coldness surged into their hearts under the yellowing light.