213: The dead have no voice.

Chapter 213: Dead People Have No Say—Boom!!!

The massive explosion nearly ruptured Chen Mo's eardrums.

The entire basement was shaking, and massive stones kept falling from above.

Dust and smoke swallowed everything in an instant.

A large hole was blasted right through the load-bearing wall.

A surge of foul-smelling groundwater gushed out, instantly dispersing the approaching flames.

"Jump!"

Chen Mo grabbed the dazed Su Qingxue and pushed Ninth Master; the three of them jumped into the pitch-black hole like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

The bone-chillingly cold, filthy water instantly submerged their heads.

This was a tributary of an underground river, and the current was terrifyingly swift.

In the water, Chen Mo gripped Su Qingxue's wrist tightly while his other hand hooked onto the slippery pipe wall, struggling to stabilize his body.

A dull sound of collapsing came from above.

The entire laboratory was sinking.

Hundreds of tons of earth, rock, and concrete completely buried that place filled with evil, screams, and flames.

Wang Daoming's remains, the vengeful spirits of those hundreds of children, and those unspeakable secrets were all sealed thirty meters deep underground.

Only the three of them—Chen Mo and the others—flushed through the rapids like rats in a sewer toward the unknown... Half an hour later.

The outskirts of the city, a sewage outlet.

Splash.

Three figures, looking like mud monkeys, were washed onto the riverbank by the current.

Su Qingxue knelt in the mud, coughing violently, hacking up all the filthy water from her lungs.

Ninth Master lay spread-eagled, gasping for air like a dead fish washed ashore.

Chen Mo was the first to stand up.

He wiped the sludge from his face; he was soaked to the bone, and his wounds had turned pale from the dirty water.

But he couldn't feel the cold.

The heart in his chest was beating extremely steadily and powerfully.

"Is... is this it?" Ninth Master panted. "We took down Wang Daoming's nest, and then what? Where's the evidence? I didn't even have time to copy that video!"

"The evidence is gone."

Su Qingxue looked at the billowing black smoke rising from the direction of the manor in the distance.

That place had turned into a massive sinkhole.

Nothing would be left.

"Even if there were evidence, no one would believe it."

Chen Mo wrung the water out of his clothes. "Since Old Zhang dared to show his face, it means he's not afraid of being investigated. The entire evidence department of the Municipal Bureau is in his hands, and even..."

He didn't continue.

Even at higher levels, they had their people.

"Then what was the point of this trip?" Ninth Master said dejectedly. "Did we risk our lives for nothing?"

"It wasn't for nothing."

Chen Mo touched his chest.

There was a long surgical scar there.

"At least I know who I am."

Chen Mo looked at the moon reflected on the river. "And I know who to kill."

He turned around and looked at his two bedraggled teammates.

"Are you afraid?"

"Afraid of what?" Ninth Master sat up, pulled a pack of soaked cigarettes from his pocket, and threw them on the ground in frustration. "As long as there's money, I'd even dare to bomb the Palace of Hell."

Su Qingxue stood up and tidied her messy long hair.

Though covered in mud, her eyes were brighter than ever.

"I am a police officer," she said. "As long as the criminals are still at large, the case isn't closed."

Chen Mo smiled.

It was the first time he had smiled tonight.

Though the smile carried a scent of blood, it was real.

"Good."

Chen Mo picked up the meat cleaver he had never let go of and washed the blood off it in the river water.

"We need to disappear for a while."

"Where to?"

"Under the lamp's shadow," Chen Mo tucked the cleaver back into his waistband. "Back to the city. Right under Old Zhang's nose."

"The most dangerous place is the safest place?" Ninth Master grinned. "That's a nasty trick. I like it."

Siren sounds drifted from the distance.

A dozen police cars roared toward the ruins of the manor.

But before they arrived, the three dark figures had already disappeared into the vast night.

Tonight, S City lost an underground tycoon.

And gained a group of vengeful ghosts who had crawled back from hell.

For Chen Mo, the real hunt had only just begun.

The voice from the operating room seemed to echo in his ears again.

"The seed has been planted."

Chen Mo touched his beating heart, his eyes cold.

Since it's a seed, let it sprout.

Except what grows will be thorns, poisonous vines that will strangle you all... South City, Funeral Street.

In a paper craft shop named "Wang Sheng Pavilion," the air was filled with the smell of cheap incense and mold.

A dim lightbulb buzzed, illuminating a room full of paper effigies.

These paper figures had bright red cheeks painted on, and in the flickering light and shadows, they seemed to be staring at the three living people in the room.

"Don't move."

Su Qingxue bit down on a roll of gauze, holding a medical suture needle. "There's no anesthetic, so bear with it."

Ninth Master lay face down on a pile of unfinished paper horses, biting a chopstick, his face fat trembling from the pain.

A large chunk of flesh had been grazed off his butt by a stray bullet; that was the final stitch.

"Mmph!!"

Ninth Master's waist jerked violently, then he slumped down like a deflated ball.

"Done."

Su Qingxue snipped the thread, her movements as swift as a field medic's rather than a criminal investigator's.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead and turned to look at Chen Mo, who was sitting in the corner.

Chen Mo was eating sugar.

Not just one or two pieces, but pouring an entire jar of glucose powder directly into his mouth.

White powder clung to the corners of his mouth and fell down his chin onto his black tactical jacket.

He didn't look like he was eating; he looked like he was refueling a machine that was about to stall.

"Eat slower," Su Qingxue handed him a bottle of water. "Be careful not to choke."

Chen Mo ignored her until he had emptied the jar of sugar powder, then he tilted his head back and gulped down some water.

Thump.

The dull roar in his chest finally eased a little.

That nuclear-powered heart was a massive energy consumer.

After that high-intensity slaughter, Chen Mo felt as if every cell in his body was screaming for energy.

"Is this place safe?" Chen Mo crushed the empty jar and tossed it into the trash can.

"Aside from ghosts, no one comes here."

Ninth Master spat out the chopstick, grimacing in pain. "This is one of my old safe houses, registered under a dead man's name. Unless Old Zhang can talk to spirits, he won't find this place."

Chen Mo nodded, his gaze turning toward the old CRT television on the wall.

Ninth Master had turned it on earlier.

Snowflakes flickered on the screen as the S City evening news was being broadcast.

"...At 3:00 PM today, a major gas explosion occurred at a private manor on the outskirts of the city. According to police reports, the manor was an illegal biochemical experimental den..."

The scene switched.

A familiar face wearing gold-rimmed glasses appeared on the screen.

Director Zhang was wearing a crisp police uniform with a white flower pinned to his chest, his expression solemn and sorrowful.

"...I regret to announce that Comrade Chen Mo, a criminal investigation consultant who solved many strange cases in our city's police department, unfortunately encountered an explosion and sacrificed his life heroically while investigating the den."

Su Qingxue's hand, which was packing the medical kit, suddenly froze in mid-air.

"Sacrificed?" She stared at the screen, her knuckles turning white.

Reminder: The website will be updated soon, which may cause reading progress to be lost. Please save your 'Bookshelf' and 'Reading Records' in time (screenshots are recommended). Sorry for any inconvenience!