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墨書 Inktalez
Gravekeeper
The manor was vast; it must have been an inheritance, passed down from ancestors. Due to the peculiarities of the British system, even though it was now capitalist, the reforms had not been thorough, and remnants of the monarchy still lingered. Some prominent families retained lands granted by the former royalty. This Avery Manor was likely one of those estates, a legacy that had persisted through generations, indeed a considerable asset.
Mona was familiar with the place, guiding me through the garden as she whispered, “It should be something that happened in the backyard. The front is just grapevines and such; the living quarters are in the back.”
I nodded in acknowledgment.
The night was illuminated by moonlight, and a chill hung in the air.
I shivered slightly at my Shoulder.
A heavy stench of decay wafted from the backyard.
I halted in my tracks.
An eerie presence continued to rise around us.
From a distance, I could see that the large house in the back was already enveloped in Ghostly Energy.
“What’s wrong?” Mona asked.
I shook my head. “We’re not going there; let’s retreat.”
“Why?” Mona questioned, puzzled. “You’re a Chinese Taoist. I thought you were quite powerful.”
“Much stronger than I imagined!” I pointed toward the backyard. “Mona, we need to go back. Let’s wait for daylight. Right now, I might not survive if I go in alone, and bringing you along would be even more dangerous. We should retreat.”
"Is it really that powerful?" Mona asked, a hint of reluctance in her voice. "But can Bai really find the results?"
"Yes!" I replied. "It will be a bit difficult, but it can be done. Your life is at stake; if you don't leave, I will." I started to walk out.
At that moment, a loud explosion echoed from the backyard, followed by a rapid series of gunshots!
"What’s going on?" I looked at Mona.
Her expression changed; under the moonlight, she was indeed beautiful, but this was not the time to admire her looks.
"It should be other groups joining forces to search for clues," Mona said. "There are reports that the Ming Police Station is going to abandon this competition. Eight people have already died, putting a lot of pressure on the police department. They will stop the rewards, so I suspect these people are trying to break into the backyard overnight to investigate for clues."
"They're really a bunch of reckless people," I shook my head. "Forget it, Mona, let's go back."
Mona seemed somewhat unwilling and grabbed my arm. "Alright, Chinese Taoist, even though I'm not happy about it, I think it's best to listen to you now."
"That's the smartest choice," I said.
As soon as I finished speaking, I saw someone stumbling out of the backyard. The person was running fast and covered in blood. However, just a few dozen meters out, a series of bullets struck his legs, and he fell to the ground with a thud.
A tall Black man over six feet came out, dragging a massive steel knife behind him. He stepped forward slowly until he stood in front of the injured man.
"Hey, Jack! Hey! Don’t kill me; I'm your brother, Jack! Wake up!" the man on the ground shouted loudly.
The man called Jack completely ignored him and swung the steel knife down towards the man's neck.
With a soft pop, his head exploded and flew far away.
Mona and I immediately crouched in the bushes, watching the scene from a distance of several meters.
Mona whispered, "What on earth is happening? That guy is really strong; he's one of the toughest in our group. Why would he start slaughtering his own teammates?"
"He's gone mad," I replied.
At that moment, a voice suddenly shouted in Chinese from the backyard, "What the hell! Daozhang, what's wrong? Daozhang, come this way, hurry!"
Hearing the voice, Black Jack immediately turned and headed toward the backyard.
I paused for a moment after hearing that shout, then suddenly stood up and exclaimed, "What the hell! It's Wen Yan!"
"What happened?" Mona asked, not understanding my Chinese or what the person had just shouted.
But I understood clearly; that shout was in Mandarin and unmistakably came from Wen Yan. It seemed he had become obsessed with money and dared to barge in here at night! Moreover, it appeared he was bringing along some kind of Daoist priest!
Damn it!
Wasn't this guy supposed to be dealing with something at home? He had even handed me that suit case earlier, claiming there was an urgent matter at home and asking for my help.
Now it turned out he was here in England to make that one million pounds! No wonder he didn't have time to deal with anything after taking on that case.
I couldn't hesitate any longer. I turned to Mona and said, "Mona, there's a buddy of mine inside. I need to go save him. You..."
"I'll help you, let's go together," Mona said. "Of course, if we get the Bonus, it's all mine."
"Deal."
At this point, Mona still hadn't forgotten about the Bonus distribution; I was impressed by her focus.
We rushed inside together. I held the Azure Thunder Staff in my left hand and a Glock in my right. At this moment, I couldn't care less about the Ghostly Energy; saving Wen Yan was my priority.
The backyard was an independent courtyard, a place for the owner to live, somewhat similar to a traditional Chinese siheyuan. There were several houses within the courtyard, surrounded by walls that formed a secluded space.
As we burst through the courtyard gate, we were met with a scene of chaos and carnage!
Among the ten teams participating in this bounty competition, over fifty people had joined. Aside from the eight who had already died, nearly forty remained in this courtyard. On the ground lay a dozen corpses, dismembered and gruesome.
Mona took a deep breath at the sight. "What should we do?"
I didn't have time to think about that; all I could focus on was rescuing Wen Yan and ensuring he didn't die here.
I scanned the area and spotted Wen Yan hiding behind a large stone tablet. It seemed his leg was injured; he lay there unable to move.
Bullets whizzed through the courtyard as Black Jack swung his large blade, hunting for humans to kill. Some were taking advantage of the chaos to shoot their competitors, while others were completely lost in the mayhem, firing at anyone they saw.
"What on earth is happening?" Mona asked, stunned.
"It's Ghostly Energy and curses," I explained. "Curses can drive a person insane, like Black Jack over there. If someone is possessed by Ghostly Energy, it's even more dangerous—they lose all sense of recognition and can't be killed easily. Plus, there are some Servants here—zombies—it's chaotic. We need to rescue my friend first, then retreat. Tomorrow morning, you and I will come back to investigate."
"Alright!" At this moment, Mona realized the severity of the situation. She no longer thought about any bonuses and could only follow my lead.
I dashed towards Wen Yan.
"Watch out!" Suddenly, Mona charged forward from behind, grabbing me and rolling us both onto the ground.
"Bang bang bang..."
A series of bullets struck the ground where I had just been standing.
"Are these people insane? Can't they see I'm a normal person?" I cursed inwardly. The ones firing earlier were clearly normal, as neither the mentally ill nor those possessed by Ghostly Energy could shoot with such precision.
Mona pulled me behind a square sundial, and bullets ricocheted off it, sending sparks flying.
At that moment, Black Jack approached us, dragging a large knife. I picked up my Glock and aimed for Jack's head.
"Bang!"
At close range, the bullet's impact was significant, causing Jack to stagger. He fell to the ground but quickly got back up and continued toward us.
"Bang bang..."
Mona fired repeatedly, shattering what remained of Jack's head. Yet, despite losing his head, he still advanced toward us.
Mona's expression changed.
I said, "This guy has already been overtaken by resentment and turned into a zombie. Shoot his knees to make him unable to walk."
When Mona heard this, she pulled out her gun. Without even aiming, she fired two shots, and Jack immediately dropped to his knees. However, like a headless knight, he continued to crawl toward us.
"Run!"
Mona grabbed my arm and pulled me to run from behind the bushes.
"Tap tap tap..."
Another round of gunfire rang out.
Clearly, someone was targeting us; as soon as we showed ourselves, that person would shoot.
We hid behind a large tree. The area behind the tree was spacious enough for Mona to press tightly against me. We huddled together, concealed by the trunk.
"That guy is too despicable!" I exclaimed.
Mona looked at me; we were so close that my mouth was almost touching her nose, which made it clear just how tall she was.
Mona said, "The one shooting should be Hegel."
"What Hegel?" I asked.
Mona squinted her eyes and replied, "For this bounty, there are a total of ten teams that successfully applied to participate. You should know that there were thousands of applicants at the time, with hundreds of teams competing. In the end, only our ten teams made it to the final competition. Among us ten teams, the others had either seven or five members; only Hegel and I are acting alone. Generally speaking, those who operate alone are either assassins or thieves. That guy must have come from an assassin background; he came here with ill intentions for the competition. Hmph!"
I was taken aback.
Mona bent down, lifted her foot, and pulled out a Black Dagger from her boot. She slightly raised her head, looked into my eyes, and said, "Daoist, you wait here. I'll go take care of that Hegel first. Given how many people have died in this courtyard, I estimate that half of them were at his hands."
As I looked at Mona, I was certain this woman had an extraordinary background.
I swallowed hard and said, "Well, even though I'm a Daoist, I'm not too shabby myself. It's too dangerous for you to go alone. Let me join you; I'll distract him while you take him out from another direction. It's just too risky for one person."
Mona paused for a moment, her gaze focused on me.
We locked eyes.
Suddenly, I felt a bit embarrassed. I awkwardly chuckled and said, "Hey, don’t look at me like that; I might get shy."
Mona leaned in and kissed me on the lips.
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