Chapter 6: Taking the Bait

That night, Si Qingxuan got a good night’s sleep again as he had wished, until a ray of morning light woke him up through the curtains.

[Good morning, High Priest.]

[Today is calm and windless, the sky is high and the air is crisp, perfect for going out!]

Si Qingxuan opened his eyes, quietly savoring the bliss of being well-rested, not really wanting to get out of bed.

“…You keep calling me High Priest. What is a High Priest? If I’m the High Priest, does that mean there are others, like kings, sages, and so on?” Si Qingxuan asked.

[High Priest is actually a title of respect, a designation used by beings from other spacetimes when they summon you. This title is like a jewel on a crown; although it has no practical meaning, it can slightly display your power.]

[As for the other ancient gods, they naturally have their own titles of respect. But, if you were to meet them now, I would advise you to take a detour. Because we simply can’t beat them.]

Si Qingxuan: “…Do ancient gods fight as soon as they meet?”

[No, quite the opposite. Usually, they wouldn’t even deign to give the other a glance. But in this spacetime, the few other ancient gods you might encounter happen to be in a hostile state with you… So you must remain hidden and not be discovered by them.]

“…”
‘What the hell, so my social skills are that bad?’

[Therefore, you must be more diligent and at least accumulate some useful imprints to survive. Look, the pages in our library are almost all blank now—and we still have the nerve to call ourselves the Phantom Library. I’m embarrassed for myself.]

Si Qingxuan raised an eyebrow, about to ask something else, but the system started chattering first.

[Stop chatting, you should take a look! The hook you cast yesterday has a fish on it!]

Si Qingxuan’s eyelid twitched.

It was giving him a bit of a headache, but he still picked up the phone from his bedside table for a look and found that the friend request he had sent to the mysterious person yesterday had actually been accepted.

Si Qingxuan quickly contacted the private investigator to prepare to locate him.

After confirming the other party was online, he first tried sending a message.

[Qingxuan Star: Hello.]

The other side was silent for a while.

But soon, the bubble in the chat box showed “Typing…” and then a message appeared.

[A Thousand Faces: Hello. Is your profile picture you?]

Si Qingxuan’s lips curled up.

[Qingxuan Star: Of course it is. I never use other people’s photos as my profile picture. Am I not good-looking enough?]

This time, the other party replied instantly.

[A Thousand Faces: Of course you’re good-looking.]

[A Thousand Faces: But why did you add me as a friend? Did you see my photo somewhere else?]

‘This guy has photos?’

Then Si Qingxuan discovered that the other person’s profile, which was open to friends, did indeed have many photos.

They were all recent selfies, featuring a young man.

He looked to be in his mid-twenties, with a slender build, a gentle and delicate face, and the elegance and composure of a successful person.

Under his gold-rimmed glasses were a pair of amber eyes, as clear and pure as lake water.

Simply put, he looked like a good person.

To add a few more qualifiers, he was a “rich, talented, and cultured” good man.

Such a man was very rare in today’s society, but it seemed not impossible to find.

In short, he was very attractive.

[Qingxuan Star: Are the photos on your profile you?]

[A Thousand Faces: Yes.]

Mysterious person’s physical characteristics, check.

Although it could be fake.

Si Qingxuan had been in constant contact with the private investigator, asking how much longer it would take to dig up the IP address.

The private investigator quickly replied with “It’s done,” so Si Qingxuan didn’t want to get any more entangled with this mysterious person.

After all, the more you say, the more you might slip up.

It wouldn’t be good if he scared the person away.

[A Thousand Faces: Why did you stop talking? Are you not satisfied with my photos?]

Si Qingxuan didn’t expect the other party to be so persistent.

[A Thousand Faces: Why did you add me as a friend?]

It seemed the other party was still wary.

Si Qingxuan’s fingers flew across the screen: [Because I like to collect handsome men in my friend list. I’m happy when I see my list is full of handsome men.]

Actually, there was another explanation for this kind of list, which was a fish pond.

[A Thousand Faces: …]

The other party seemed to have been rendered speechless by him.

Si Qingxuan thought he would delete him, but unexpectedly, he sent another message.

[A Thousand Faces: I didn’t expect us to have the same hobby. Now that you say that, I’m really curious about your list. Are you interested in introducing me? I want to meet more interesting friends like you.]

Si Qingxuan: “…”

‘Is this really Ning Xuelan’s online love interest?’

Their conversation just now was already off the charts with gay vibes, but this person wasn’t scared away and was even climbing up the pole? What, did he not believe Si Qingxuan’s words, or did he really want to use Si Qingxuan as a channel to pick up—no, to meet more good-looking men?

Si Qingxuan casually replied, “You have to pass a test first before you can join us.”

Then he sent over a compressed file.

The other party immediately clicked to receive it, showing he was very impatient.

If the other party opened it, they would find inside a complete set of “National Higher Mathematics Calculus Competition Questions”.

[A Thousand Faces: …Did you send the wrong file?]

[Qingxuan Star: No. My friends are all highly educated elites who wouldn’t be unable to solve university-level calculus problems. So these questions are the only test. As long as you get a passing grade, I’ll introduce you to everyone.]
Finally, he added a word of encouragement, [I believe in you, you can do it.]

After saying that, Si Qingxuan made an excuse that he had an exam and quickly went offline.

After closing the chat app, Si Qingxuan sighed, “I didn’t expect Ning Xuelan’s online love interest to be this kind of person. Truly eye-opening.”

[I think you’re quite eye-opening yourself.] The system’s voice幽幽地吐槽道.

“I was just trying to dispel his worries,” Si Qingxuan said righteously.

[Stop making excuses for yourself. That mysterious netizen is just like his name, truly a man of a thousand faces. He says what people want to hear and what ghosts want to hear.

He was just being so greasy to get close to a handsome guy collector like you!] the system reminded him.

“…Let’s ignore that for now.”

Si Qingxuan waved his hand to pause the topic.

“Now the suspicion on this mysterious person has increased.”

No matter how the other party disguised himself, his obsession and pursuit of “beauty” were almost impossible to hide.

This was extremely consistent with the target selection characteristics of the Phase Ghouls before.

The fish had taken the bait; now it was time to prepare the net.

Si Qingxuan walked to the display cabinet in the living room—after moving, he had also brought over the weapon case containing the Sword of Caligula.

He would take it out from time to time to wipe it.

He was finding this sword more and more pleasing to the eye.

The sword case was too conspicuous and not suitable for carrying around openly, so Si Qingxuan wandered around the room for a while, found a golf club bag, and managed to fit the sword inside.

He slung the golf bag over his shoulder with one hand and was about to go out when he received a message from Lin Chu.

Lin Chu: “How did you sleep last night? No more monsters bothering you, right?”

Si Qingxuan: “Slept very well, feeling refreshed. Just about to go out for some activity, and by the way, to gut a fish.”

Lin Chu: “? You’re going to cook?”

Si Qingxuan didn’t tell Lin Chu that he was going out to fight.

The mysterious person’s address was in Shanze City, adjacent to theirs.

According to the private investigator’s report, the mysterious person lived in a relatively remote industrial area.

Due to the passage of time, the nearby factories and commercial streets had almost all fallen into decline.

The number of people coming and going was relatively small, and the rent for houses was very low.

The other party had rented an entire residential building there.

It came with a basement and a spacious backyard.

It was naturally impossible to walk in through the main entrance, but in the overgrown backyard, there was a fence made of tangled wire.

With a pair of steel shears, one could easily break through the fence.

—Private investigators were just that unscrupulous.

As long as the money was right, they not only helped investigate the mysterious person’s address but even provided the best route to invade the residential building.

Although they had given all the information, they didn’t think Si Qingxuan would do it himself.

Si Qingxuan’s image had always been that of a young master born with a silver spoon in his mouth, who never had to worry about anything.

Not to mention, he was exceptionally handsome, academically successful, and had no hobbies involving illegal activities.

The only time he had used a private investigator to look into someone’s information was to find his missing ex-boyfriend—although he didn’t find him in the end, this was enough to prove that Si Qingxuan was not a dangerous person.

They believed Si Qingxuan would act with discretion.

…But they had guessed everything, except that the current Si Qingxuan didn’t even need steel shears to cut the wire mesh.

He could now tear through the wire mesh with his bare hands.

The kind that didn’t leave a single mark on his hands.

After fusing with Caligula’s imprint, Si Qingxuan’s physical fitness had undergone a radical change.

According to the system, the imprint could only exert about a quarter of the power of “Talent: Judgment”…

Then how strong was the tyrant Caligula back then? Was he a Super Saiyan?

Si Qingxuan walked into the backyard through the gap in the wire mesh.

He looked up and only saw withered yellow weeds that were half a person’s height.

“A backyard that hasn’t been taken care of for ten years wouldn’t grow grass this high,” Si Qingxuan said, frowning slightly as he walked through the blades of grass.

“And it stinks here.”

[Don’t be like that. Maybe the weeds are the most innocent and lovely things in this place. It’s not their fault.]

“What do you mean?” Si Qingxuan asked.

[Take a deep breath and smell carefully—you should still remember the smell of those Phase Ghouls, right? Isn’t it exactly the same as the smell here?]

“…If you’re referring to that rotten stench on them.”

Si Qingxuan’s lips twitched.

It seemed he had indeed come to the right place this time.

He stuck close to the wall, reached the corner, climbed the wall, and went straight up to the balcony on the first floor.

He observed from a corner of the balcony for a long time and found that there was no sound in the house.

The glass window of the balcony was stained with mottled dirt, but with Si Qingxuan’s eyesight, he could clearly see a corner of the room: the floor was covered with all kinds of clothes; a huge floor-to-ceiling mirror was placed next to a table of cosmetics; and there was a dazzling array of men’s accessories.

Closest to the balcony was a watch display case, with rows of watches, most of which were from luxury brands Si Qingxuan could name.

The pale white walls, the dusty light tubes, the dirty windowsills, formed a stark contrast with the glamorous luxury goods inside the house.

Si Qingxuan gently pried open the balcony door, stepped inside, swept his gaze over the watch display case, and commented, “Not bad taste.”

He carried the golf bag in his hand, opened the door, and the red brick steps under his feet extended all the way to the basement.

All the windows that could let in sunlight were sealed.

Si Qingxuan descended the steps and walked into the dark, cement-walled basement.

Si Qingxuan carefully avoided the household items scattered on the floor; they were either broken or covered in dust, in a complete mess.

He continued to walk forward.

In the deepest part of the room, the darkest and coldest place, there was a wall.

Dark red controlled colored lights were randomly wrapped around the rough wall, illuminating a collage of photos.

The subjects in the photos were all different, the only thing they had in common was that each photo was marked with a black marker—some had their lips circled, some had their eyebrows circled, some had their eyes circled.

Si Qingxuan also saw Ning Xuelan, whom he had seen before—her face was marked with a big cross, but the handwriting also circled her entire person.

For some reason, Si Qingxuan understood: Ning Xuelan’s beauty also lay in her snow-white, lustrous skin.

“What are you looking at?”

Suddenly, a soft, feminine voice sounded behind Si Qingxuan.

The voice was as gentle as a babbling brook, but the tone made one’s spine tingle.

Si Qingxuan turned around and saw a man leaning against the wall.

He was wearing a white suit, his jacket folded neatly and draped over his arm, without a single wrinkle.

A strange smile appeared on his delicate, almost perfect face, making his entire face look as if it were covered in a painted skin, with an indescribable sense of falsehood.

It had to be said, he looked exactly the same as in the photos he had posted on his profile.

“A Thousand Faces?” Si Qingxuan asked curiously.

“I know you, ‘Qingxuan Star’,” the other person said with a smile.

“I was really surprised when you took the initiative to find me.”

“How did you find me? Through the information left by Ning Xuelan? Or did you come to my door yourself, for revenge, or for… so-called justice?”

The other person’s eyes widened, and a curve that was either excitement or mockery appeared on his lips.

“No matter which choice, it’s utterly foolish!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the shadow at his feet split into two strands, writhed on the ground for a moment, and instantly transformed into two Phase Ghouls crouching on the ground.

The Phase Ghouls resembled humans, but their limbs were twisted, and their brown, rotten skin clung tightly to their shriveled bodies.

They let out low growls that sounded like a mix of crying and laughing in Si Qingxuan’s direction.

[This is Talent: Ghost Tamer—it can command low-level anomalous creatures to work for it. People who use this talent usually don’t live long.

After all, they are using a human body to control anomalous creatures, so they are bound to suffer a backlash from the ghosts.]

“I don’t care if he suffers a backlash from the ghosts.”

Si Qingxuan brandished his longsword, its cold light glinting menacingly.

“Since he dared to send his little ghosts to take my eyes… he should taste my backlash.”