Chapter Ninety-Eight: The Grim Reaper

Phoenix Cry Valley.

As usual, Fan Bei went out each day to cultivate his Mist Armor. That day, however, he intended to go a little farther. He could not keep practicing in the same place forever.

As he passed Hardstone Commerce Guild, he slowed down and casually glanced over, only to see one of the guild’s men tied to a rope, hanging outside the fifth floor and wiping the windows.

The man was a simple-looking fellow, now drenched in sweat as he labored under the lingering late-summer heat to clean the building.

Hardstone Commerce Guild was a six-story structure, its highest point more than twenty meters above the ground. That was hardly low, and to dare wash the windows from the outside took a measure of courage.

Fan Bei was just about to continue on when a shrill cry rang out. He looked up to see the rope around the man suddenly snap, and the whole body plunge from the fifth floor.

A jolt of alarm shot through him. In a flash of thought, he saw that dozens of meters away, beneath the falling man, a thick cushion of mist had appeared.

The man crashed into the mist, not even bouncing once before being caught safely.

From the fifth floor to the ground would have taken at most a second or two. Fan Bei was quite satisfied with his own reaction, but he also felt that something was amiss. He stopped the vehicle and looked around.

By then, the others inside the building had already noticed what happened and were shouting in confusion.

"What happened, Old Liu? You were just washing windows—how did you end up falling?"

"Exactly. It’s only been a few peaceful days, and you’ve already thrown away all your old caution?"

After a while, someone else cried out in horror, "Something’s wrong. That rope looks like it was cut!"

By then, Old Liu had already climbed out of the mist with lingering fear still on his face.

The instant he fell, he had almost believed he was done for.

He had not reacted in time at all. Though he had learned Spirit Armor techniques from the guild master, his aptitude was lacking, he was a bit old, his progress had been slow, and his activation speed was far from quick. There had simply been no time to activate it.

"Which noble expert saved my life, Old Liu begs to thank you with a bow!" he called out in all directions.

Fan Bei had already stopped his vehicle and walked over. With a wave of his hand, the cloudlike cushion of mist vanished at once.

"So it was Lord Fan of the valley who saved me. My deepest thanks," Old Liu said, understanding immediately what had happened, and hurriedly bowed in salute.

Anyone capable of such a feat just now was not among the guild’s own people, and it was not a trick the guild master used either.

"No need. It’s just that what happened today seems rather unusual," Fan Bei said with a shake of his head.

His heart was heavy. He knew very well that if he had not happened to pass by, the man would have been dead or crippled.

That was the fifth floor. Having spiritual cultivation did not mean the body had turned to stone or steel. Without the technique to control spiritual matter, there was almost no way to save oneself.

The reason he felt grim was that he did not believe this was a coincidence. Someone, no, some evil thing, had deliberately put on a display for him.

Not long after, Lin Xiaohong came out. In such a short time, she had already learned the entire story. Lin Xiaolu followed behind her, her face somewhat pale.

"Thank you for your aid, Mr. Fan," she said with tightly furrowed brows, showing no sign of relief. Instead, her expression was grave. "It seems that one has made a personal move."

"I was thinking the same," Fan Bei nodded, then frowned. "But there’s something strange. This is White Silver Commerce Guild territory. Does it dare kill people so casually here?"

By now he knew quite a lot, including the concept of territorial influence, which Lin Xiaohong had told him about.

Every high-level evil being had a certain range of control, within which other beings of the same kind were forbidden to interfere. That was the very basis on which Lin Zhongshi had fled here.

"The rules are rules, but once a rule is made, it is meant to be broken," Lin Xiaohong said, shaking her head. "The one we have offended is extremely ferocious. It will not be bound by such rules."

Fan Bei instantly understood. Breaking the rules only required compensation afterward. To those beings, killing a few people was probably no more than paying three cups of wine.

The evil presence Lin Zhongshi had spoken of before was no fool. It knew full well that after it sent out three people earlier, and after Lin Zhongqing made her move, they had not even held out for two hours. However many more it sent would only be feeding the enemy.

That was why it would break the rules and take the field personally, never resorting to a piecemeal approach.

What had happened just now was only the beginning of terror, a warning to kill the chicken and frighten the monkeys, a prelude to set the mood. What came next would surely be even more vicious.

He himself had said it before: one may spend a thousand days stealing, but never a thousand days guarding against thieves.

Poison, arson, car accidents...

For a vile thing hidden in the spiritual realm, able to conceal itself and interfere with the real world at will, ordinary humans had almost no means of retaliation.

If you could not even find where the enemy was, how could you strike back?

This was the real-world version of Final Destination.

At that thought, he took out the radio and made a call.

Then he had Lin Xiaohong and Steward Huo immediately gather everyone together and concentrate them on a large open area nearby.

Phoenix Cry Valley, together with the commerce guild’s people, numbered nearly a hundred in all. Right then, every one of them looked tense, whispering among themselves.

No one thought Fan Bei was making a fuss over nothing. In the decades of evil-spirit havoc, anyone who had not made a fuss over everything had already long since died.

Fan Bei scanned the surroundings, watching for the next possible source of danger.

Big White stayed closely at his side, and Iron Ball and Little White were both on high alert.

At a time like this, they certainly could not hide in an enclosed place. To say nothing else, if a shift in the earth veins occurred or toxic gas seeped in, many of them would have no choice but to wait for death.

Fortunately, in his previous life he had seen the film Final Destination and many related fan stories, so he knew a bit about precautions. Gathering in an open area was one such measure, and not a bad one.

After all, while disaster might still fall from the sky, at least it could be seen in advance.

Half an hour later, Lin Zhongqing flew over quickly from the air, carrying Lin Zhongshi.

"Put me down. I told you I was driving myself over," Lin Zhongshi said, utterly mortified.

"Driving would have taken hours. Didn’t you know that? When time is tight, how can we afford to waste it?" Lin Zhongqing said with perfect justification, carrying Lin Zhongshi as easily as a chick.

The crowd exchanged looks, and the tense atmosphere abruptly lightened.

Fortunately, Lin Zhongqing still gave her younger brother some face. After setting him down properly, she approached with a solemn expression.

"Mr. Fan, Secretary Lin, did either of you notice anything else just now?" she asked without greeting them, direct and efficient.

Fan Bei did not bother with pleasantries either. He simply described what he had seen, and then called Old Liu over to tell the rest.

After listening, Lin Zhongqing suddenly raised her voice toward the sky.

"Whatever hides its head and tail, if you have the ability, come out and fight me in the open!"

In the air above them, a black colossal claw suddenly appeared, hideous and terrifying enough to chill the blood.

"You foolish woman, foolish brother. You dare defy my will and kill my dependents. You and everyone here must die!" a sinister voice rang out overhead.

At that moment, another mass of cloud and mist appeared in the sky, blocking the giant claw.

"I’ll give you the northern land, all of it. Let me kill these people!"

"Otherwise, don’t dream of developing any stable business world!"

The cloud slowly receded.

Fan Bei felt his heart turn cold. So that was how it was. Just as if someone had killed a pet dog, how many pet owners would truly fight the other party to the death? In the end, it would still be settled with some compensation.

In the eyes of those higher-dimensional beings, humans, no, all life on Earth, were nothing more than pets.

The giant claw was now slowly turning in the air, not in any rush to strike, as if it wanted to thoroughly savor everyone’s despair and fear.