Chapter 167: Subversion

In the surveillance room, Prison Guard Li, driven by curiosity, pulled up Qiao Mu’s case file.

“Such a young girl… How is this possible… Could there be a mistake?”

Muttering to himself, he browsed the electronic file and clicked on a video labeled as key evidence.

The footage shook violently. It was night, with rain pouring down in buckets. Only the occasional lightning in the distance could briefly illuminate the surroundings.

Accompanied by heavy panting and the PIT-PAT of rain hitting the lens, a man’s voice came through first.

“…Viewers, your streamer is putting it all on the line today. I’m taking you to explore this abandoned slaughterhouse where the Midnight Butcher is rumored to haunt. If anything happens to me, remember to dial 444 for me. Wait, is this blood? Holy shit, there are noises inside…”

After a bout of shaking and flickering, the footage stabilized. The camera angle was very low, as if secretly filming while hiding beneath the windowsill of some dilapidated building.

The lens swept past rusted iron hooks and a filthy concrete floor before abruptly locking onto the center of the slaughterhouse.

A pale bolt of lightning tore through the night sky!

In that instant of intense light, the video clearly captured a figure.

A person wearing a black rubber raincoat and rain boots, with the hood pulled up over their head, stood with their back to the camera. They raised an axe high with both hands and ruthlessly chopped down at a woman lying at their feet, whose fate was unknown.

THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!

Even through the screen and the sound of the rain, those dull, terrifying thuds struck straight at Li’s heart.

The footage trembled and blurred violently due to the cameraperson’s fear, but the rising and falling of the axe was captured frame by frame under the strobe-like lightning!

Red liquid splattered outwards under the chopping blade. Li’s stomach churned, and he almost vomited.

Right at that moment, the raincoat-wearing executioner in the video seemed to sense something. The chopping motion halted. Just as another pale bolt of lightning suddenly slashed across the sky, the figure abruptly turned their head.

The footage froze. The lightning precisely illuminated the blood-soaked face beneath the raincoat’s hood.

It was the very same seemingly cowardly and introverted high school sophomore from the file photo—Qiao Mu!

Li gasped, drawing in a sharp breath of cold air. He stiffly shifted his gaze to the open physical case file on the desk.

[Beiling City Abnormal Investigation Bureau Special Case File]

Name: Qiao Mu | Gender: Female | Age: 17 | Identity: Beiling Third Middle School Student

Reason for Detention: Suspected of multiple vicious homicides. Psychiatric evaluation indicates severe antisocial personality disorder and delusional symptoms. Highly dangerous.

Case 1: Beiling Third Middle School serial disappearance case.

Case 2: Longjing District serial disappearance case.

Case 3: Parricide case

Special Explanation: The suspect is suspected to have an accomplice or other Special abilities involving the supernatural. The detaining party is requested to monitor closely and provide relevant reports.

Right at that moment, a humanoid shadow suddenly loomed over him from above, carrying a bone-piercing chill.

Startled, Li whipped around and saw that face.

It was the exact same face as the homicidal maniac in the video. The eyes were calm, yet they carried the exact same bone-chillingly scrutinizing gaze!

Li’s pupils shrank to pinpricks, and his face turned as pale as paper. He immediately reached for the gun at his waist, but he was a step too late. The dark shadow knocked him unconscious with a swift chop to the neck.

…

When Old Zhang returned to the surveillance room from the prison block, he saw a coffee cup dropped on the floor, its contents spilled everywhere.

Li was sitting at the console, staring blankly at a case file, completely unresponsive to his entrance.

“Li?”

Old Zhang walked over and patted Li on the shoulder.

Li violently flinched, looking thoroughly spooked. He gulped before saying, “Old Zhang, you scared the life out of me.”

“What’s wrong?”

Old Zhang took the case file from Li’s hands, glanced at it, and then gestured at the spilled coffee on the floor.

Li scratched his head. “I was a bit shocked by the case file just now and accidentally knocked it over. I haven’t had time to clean it up yet.”

“You’re still too young. Something as small as this scared you? Once you’ve stayed here long enough, you’ll see murderers far more twisted than this little girl!”

Yin Zhen, who was using Blood Mimicry to disguise herself as Prison Guard Li, lowered her eyes. She grabbed a rag to clean up the coffee on the floor. The strong aroma of the coffee was perfect for masking other scents in the air.

She had indeed been shocked by Qiao Mu’s file, even falling into a moment of self-doubt.

But on second thought, she realized she was Yin Zhen, not Qiao Mu.

Moreover, she was a hidden villain. Coming to the Autumn Tomb World and becoming a Character who appeared innocent on the surface but was actually a demon underneath made a lot of sense.

Sheng Yehan and the Black Domain Walkers were all Characters like this in Chi Hai.

Rather than agonizing over whether Qiao Mu was good or bad, she was more interested in figuring out what was going on with the Qiao Mu in the video. What was the deal with that rabbit plushie that had been following Qiao Mu around? What other secrets was Qiao Mu hiding?

These were the things she needed to figure out; they were the factors that could pose a danger to her.

“Have you found the escapee?” Yin Zhen asked Old Zhang.

Old Zhang shook his head. “It’s so bizarre. I have no idea how she escaped her cell. Not only is she nowhere to be found in the prison block, but even the Fierce Ghosts released to track her can’t find her trail. Just now, a Fierce Ghost took the initiative to strike once, but then it came back and stopped moving. It’s highly likely she has already escaped and is no longer inside the prison.”

Yin Zhen’s hands paused slightly. After she successfully activated Blood Mimicry earlier, the yin energy chasing her had indeed disappeared. She wondered if using Blood Mimicry to transform into someone else could block supernatural lock-ons.

“The security team has already notified the people outside to track her down. The two of us just need to keep an eye on the surveillance room.”

Yin Zhen gathered the trash, brewed another cup of coffee for Old Zhang, and then sat down to continue Li’s usual tasks.

Through resonance with Li’s memories, Yin Zhen finally realized that this prison block wasn’t located in a normal prison. It was underground. Furthermore, every time the guards came to work, they boarded a vehicle at a designated location, remained asleep for the entire journey, and would only wake up once they were already inside the prison block.

The Ghost Realm existed within the prison, along with Fierce Ghosts. All prison guards had to wear specially made uniforms and strictly abide by the prison’s duty rules to avoid being attacked by the Fierce Ghosts. Yin Zhen was currently wearing Li’s uniform.

The vast majority of the inmates held here were criminals with mental illnesses.

From another perspective, mentally ill patients were very “pure” individuals. Their minds had veered into certain extremes, which was why they became the way they were. These extremes were exactly the kind of nourishment Fierce Ghosts favored the most.

Working in the prison block was on a one-week rotation. They ate and slept underground and could not leave.

Yin Zhen didn’t have much Luck; Li still had three days left on his rotation before he could leave.

A single blood draw for Blood Mimicry only lasted for one hour, with a maximum limit of no more than 24 hours. She hadn’t killed Li for the time being. Instead, she knocked him out, tied him up, and stuffed him into the bathroom ceiling. This made it convenient for her to draw his blood when her time was almost up, as blood from someone dead for more than 24 hours could not be used for mimicry.

After watching the surveillance monitors with Old Zhang for nearly an hour, Yin Zhen used the excuse of going to the restroom to extract Li’s blood once more using blood silk, maintaining her mimicry.

In about half an hour, Li would be able to temporarily clock out and rest until his afternoon shift.

Yin Zhen had already informed Bai Qiang about her situation a while ago. Just as she was about to return to the surveillance room, Bai Qiang finally replied.

[Heavenly Dao Rewards Diligence]: I know where the prison is located. At exactly seven o’clock, go to a place closest to the surface and wait for my Signal.