Chapter 169
She may be eerie, but she’s just a woman, after all, with hands that couldn’t even crush a chicken!
He didn’t notice the faint bruise on her wrist.
In her hand, the blood porcelain bottle flickered ominously, as if ten fingers were clawing at its surface.
He snatched the porcelain bottle and turned to run.
Glancing back, he saw the woman still standing there, smiling at him.
“What a creepy thing…”
Li Qingyang mumbled as he climbed up the safety rope to the kiln opening.
Now he was completely safe.
“Hey, guys, anyone knowledgeable here? Can you help me see if this porcelain bottle opens a door?”
He rubbed his cold hands, which had developed dark spots, and shone his flashlight on the bottle, hoping his viewers could see it more clearly.
Suddenly, ripples appeared on the glaze, and three thousand blood threads danced across the bottle’s surface.
When the barrage of comments exploded, he realized something was wrong—his reflection in the glaze was slowly being swallowed by the porcelain body up to his waist.
“Ha, ha ha ha… Guys, look at this, isn’t this special effect amazing?”
He forced a laugh as he turned the porcelain bottle, but the comments were filled with “Run!!”
Ice cracks spread from his fingertips, and his skin turned a lifeless porcelain white.
The woman in red appeared at the kiln opening, her smile unchanged, but her skin was cracking inch by inch, blood gushing like a spring.
Li Qingyang wanted to scream, but a sharp pain in his throat erupted, and he spat out a mouthful of shattered porcelain shards…
His phone toppled to the ground.
In the last frame, the audience saw Li Qingyang lying on the ground, his body convulsing and shattering.
A pair of porcelain-white feet appeared in the frame.
The red dress swayed gracefully as the woman bent down to pick up a piece of broken porcelain, then turned and vanished into the kiln.
…
…
“In the Mingde era, in Fuliang County, to fire dragon-patterned sacrificial red glaze, the kiln master sealed a hundred young girls in a box as a human sacrifice.
When the kiln was opened, the flesh and blood of the girls melded with the porcelain clay, creating a bizarre rosy hue, and all the porcelain’s inner walls revealed struggling human forms.
These ‘bone china’ were buried deep in the ancient town until they were excavated today. Now, at the porcelain kiln site, a woman in red is hauntingly selling blood porcelain bottles. If you look closely at the glaze’s reflection, you’ll find your own reflection slowly merging with the porcelain body…”
Chen Huai'an shifted his gaze from the information provided by the J Province Demon-Slaying Division to the pale-faced demon slayer across from him and sighed, “Come on, don’t tell me those two generals died like this?
And with the spiritual energy revival, can’t those archaeologists just take a break? Why dig up the ground for no reason?”
“Now look what’s happened.” He clapped his hands and closed the file. “You’ve dug up a big mess; are you happy now?”
…
…
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Chapter 182: Direct Assault
“Don’t insult our archaeological research! Archaeology requires strict preparation, just like a construction site; it’s not just digging anywhere! It’s not just ‘digging up dirt’ as you say!”
“Who are you?” Chen Huai'an finally noticed a young man sitting on the sofa next to the demon slayer.
“I’m a graduate student in archaeology from Z University!”
“Then why didn’t you disappear with the others?”
The young man’s face turned red, and he opened his mouth but couldn’t find the words.
One of the leaders of the J Province Demon-Slaying Division stationed in Jinde Town, the soldier-level demon slayer, Huang Gubei, quickly explained to Chen Huai'an, “This kid went out to meet his girlfriend the day the incident happened, so he escaped a disaster.”
“Well, you should thank your girlfriend properly,” Chen Huai'an chuckled, not angry. “I’m an outsider, so I might not be too careful with my words, but regardless, you did dig up the buried bone china. No matter what preparations you made or how you dug, can you really say you didn’t dig?”
The young man’s lips moved awkwardly, “Well, it’s not exactly ‘digging up dirt’…”
“Alright, alright, keep talking and I’ll bury you in the dirt!” Chen Huai'an’s expression darkened, and the pressure in the entire conference room dropped by three points.
The young man wanted to say something but caught the electric spark in Chen Huai'an’s eyes and instantly shut his mouth.
He was just an ordinary carbon-based graduate student; why would he argue with a bunch of superhumans…
No matter how much he said, they wouldn’t understand; let’s just call it digging.
“In any case, that’s the situation.” Huang Gubei sighed, his brow furrowed with worry. “If we don’t take action soon, I fear more residents will mysteriously disappear. We’ve already lost two generals without a trace, and we had no choice but to request support.”
“How many reinforcements have arrived?” Chen Huai'an asked.
“Only Miss Lin among the generals.” Huang Gubei cautiously glanced at Chen Huai'an, biting his lip, hesitating for a moment. “I heard you just took office as the governor of the C Province Demon-Slaying Division. Have you… reached the general level?”
Xiang Xiaoyuan shifted her gaze to count the leaves outside the window, while Zhao Ying lowered her head to stare at her toes.
Chen Huai'an’s rank was soldier-level A.
They wanted to promote Chen Huai'an to general and had already submitted his recommendation materials along with the governor’s appointment letter.
Unfortunately, the headquarters simply wouldn’t acknowledge it…
“Of course, I’m at the general level.” Chen Huai'an pointed at Lin Chen. “Miss Lin can attest to that.”
Lin Chen was momentarily stunned, frowning, “What do you mean I can attest? Are you a general…”
Before she could finish, the crackling sound of electricity interrupted her.
All the hair in the conference room stood on end due to static electricity.
Lin Chen stared blankly at the man sitting across from her.
He was smiling, holding a writhing lightning snake, with sparks of electricity leaping up to half a meter high.
“Miss Lin, I haven’t unleashed my full power yet. How about I do it now?”
“Y-you…” Lin Chen clenched her fists, her teeth grinding, but feeling the overwhelming aura from Chen Huai'an, she backed down, not just backing down but feeling alarmed. Back at the C Province Demon-Slaying Division, when Chen Huai'an said he wanted to spar with her, his aura was only half of what it was now.
What does this mean?
It means that the Chen Huai'an who made her heart race was only planning to use fifty percent of his strength!
If he unleashed his full power, wouldn’t he turn her into ashes with a single strike?!
She forced a smile at Huang Gubei, her tone stiff, “Ah, yes, yes, that’s right. Governor Chen is already a general, and a particularly strong one at that; it’s just that the headquarters hasn’t approved it yet.”
Since she couldn’t win, she might as well elevate him, the higher he was raised, the harder he would fall.
Lin Chen looked up at Chen Huai'an, a charming smile on her lips, but her piercing gaze was like two knives with hooks: “Am I right, Governor Chen?”
“You’re absolutely right.” Chen Huai'an nodded seriously, stating the facts, “Your cousin and your uncle are both useless.”
Lin Chen: “???”
Xiang Xiaoyuan/Zhao Ying: “…”
Huang Gubei didn’t notice the tension between Lin Chen and Chen Huai'an. Hearing Chen Huai'an speak so confidently, he felt reassured about the unusual events in Jinde Town. Even if only the C Province general support came, so what?
A confident general was worth five ordinary ones.
“Now let’s talk about the compensation.” Chen Huai'an straightened up, clearing his throat. “Since two useless generals have already died, this incident must escalate to the general level. As the reinforcements, I demand all the benefits from this unusual event—not just the bounty but also material resources.”
“Rest assured!” Huang Gubei replied eagerly. “The merits from handling a general-level incident are more than enough for you to exchange for any resources at headquarters, and you might even get a ticket to challenge the Kunlun Immortal Palace’s stone steps.”
The Immortal Palace stone steps? What’s that about…
Chen Huai'an curled his lip, tapping his fingers on the coffee table. “I just want the money.”
“Money?!”
“Exactly.”
Huang Gubei was stunned.
The resources from headquarters attracted countless demon slayers, even drawing the attention of revivalists from other countries.
And this peculiar governor only wanted money?
Looking at Chen Huai'an’s determined and greedy eyes, Huang Gubei nodded.
“As long as you can quell this unusual incident, you can name your price within our division’s limits.”
…
At five in the afternoon, as the sun struggled to linger on the horizon.
Chen Huai'an had led his team to the vicinity of the bone china site.
“Captain Zhao, what’s the procedure for our Demon-Slaying Division when handling a case?”
Chen Huai'an gazed intently at the abandoned kiln caves on the mountainside.
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