20: Chapter 20 Asset Divestiture and Risk Hedging

The flashlight beam struggled to carve a trembling path through the thick darkness and malevolent aura, illuminating the nauseating details of the deformed monster.

Dark yellow slime oozed from the gaps in the stitched flesh. Several doll heads were crudely sewn onto its shoulders and chest with black thread, their plastic eyes reflecting a hollow and malicious light under the beam.

The sound of dragging chains echoed in the sealed basement, like the whetstone of death.

"Hee hee... Big brother... you've seen our secret..."

"Stay... let's play hide-and-seek together..."

"Forever... stay here forever..."

The different doll heads whispered in mismatched, childlike voices, their tone sickly sweet and twisted, drilling straight into the marrow of his brain.

The dark purple resentment radiating from the monster was like tentacles, spreading along the light, bringing bone-chilling cold and intense mental pollution—the grievances of imprisoned, twisted children, mixed with some older, more tyrannical evil will.

Lin Yuan's heart hammered, but in this life-or-death moment, his brain instead entered a state of cold clarity. Fear was pushed to a corner, and the instincts for analysis, calculation, and finding a way out took the upper hand.

Fight head-on? He only had the bronze bell and a tiny bit of Power of Faith left. Facing this monster, which had clearly fused the grievances of multiple children and had been strengthened by evil rituals, his chances of winning were slim. Run? The entrance was blocked, and the monster's speed was unknown.

He had to outsmart it.

His gaze swept rapidly across the monster, the altar, and the "mark of conquest" crystal in his arms. The mark was continuously heating up, pointing toward the black wooden tablet on the altar.

The wooden tablet was the key! It was likely a "contract item" or "signal source" that controlled or influenced the monster! Mr. Mo's symbol... Could this monster be Mr. Mo's "work," or the creation of one of his apprentices or collaborators?

If it was a "contract" or "control device," then from a financial perspective, this monster was equivalent to a structured product bound by special clauses and packaged from inferior assets (children's grievances). The wooden tablet was the carrier of those "special clauses."

To "dispose" of this product, he either had to violently "liquidate for breach of contract" (smash it), or... find a loophole in the clauses and perform a "protocol restructuring" or "clause stripping"!

He couldn't manage a violent liquidation. That left only the latter!

"Your game... looks very interesting." Lin Yuan suddenly spoke, his voice deliberately slowed, carrying a tone of curiosity rather than fear. At the same time, he elevated his "Optimization" intent, forming a faint golden glow on his skin to resist the erosion of the resentment, "But is it just hide-and-seek? Are there any more interesting ways to play? For example... 'find yourself'?"

As he spoke, he used his peripheral vision to quickly analyze the expressions and energy fluctuations of the different doll heads on the monster. He noticed that one of the doll heads sewn onto the left shoulder, which had crooked braids, emitted a relatively "purer" resentment, primarily consisting of sadness and fear, while the other heads were mixed with more malice and twisted playfulness.

Perhaps... these stitched-together children's grievances weren't entirely homogeneous? The relatively "purer" one might have been imprisoned more recently, or perhaps it had a stronger will to resist?

"Find... yourself?" The monster's forward steps paused slightly, and several heads simultaneously revealed expressions of confusion, their voices overlapping, "We... are just us..."

"No, I mean," Lin Yuan said, shifting slowly toward the altar while continuing to use a calm, inductive tone, "You've been sewn together, and you can't tell who is who anymore, right? This laugh is yours, that cry is his... how messy. Why don't we play a game, separate 'you,' and see who is the real 'self,' and who is... the 'guest who joined later'?"

He injected a faint "Optimization" intent into his words, emphasizing "separation," "order," and "differentiation." For a monster composed of chaotic aggregation, this was in itself a conceptual disturbance and provocation.

Sure enough, the several heads on the monster simultaneously revealed expressions of pain and confusion, and they began to whisper and argue among themselves:

"I am Xiaomei... I came first..."

"No! I did! You stole my braids!"

"Hee hee... stealing back and forth is the most fun..."

"It hurts... sewn so tight... want to separate..."

The monster's movements stalled, and the dark purple resentment began to surge unstably.

Now! Seizing this moment of chaos, Lin Yuan suddenly fired the specially made copper coins he had been holding—stained with his own blood and cinnabar—toward the black wooden tablet on the altar! At the same time, he rang the bronze bell with all his might. The clear, resonant sound waves, mixed with the intent of "Optimization" and order, were not aimed at the monster, but at the wooden tablet!

He was betting! Betting that the wooden tablet was the control core and that its control logic had loopholes—when the "asset package" (the monster) being controlled experienced internal chaos and "disputes over ownership," the control protocol might generate a brief logical conflict or permission gap!

"Ding!" The copper coins struck the wooden tablet, emitting a crisp sound. The bell's sound waves followed immediately!

The black wooden tablet shuddered violently! The twisted symbol on its surface suddenly lit up with dark red light, but the light flickered unsteadily, as if there were a bad signal!

At the same time, the monster let out a sharp, mixed scream! The stitches on its body actually began to burst open on their own! The dark purple resentment exploded as if it had lost its restraint! The doll heads emitted completely different screams:

"Freedom! Let me go!"

"No! Don't separate! Together! Forever together!"

"Mommy... I'm so scared..."

"Kill! You! Destroy this place!"

The monster's body began to disintegrate, and the different energy clusters of resentment tore at each other, attempting to separate! But this was not an orderly stripping, but a violent implosion! The uncontrolled turbulent energy swept crazily through the basement, whipping up dust and debris, pounding against the walls and the altar!

Lin Yuan was sent flying by a wave of air, his back slamming heavily against the wall, a sweet taste of blood rising in his throat. But he stared fixedly at the altar—under the energy impact, the dark red light on the surface of the black wooden tablet became increasingly unstable, and the lines of the symbol even began to show tiny cracks!

A chance! Destroy it completely!

Lin Yuan gritted his teeth, mobilizing all the remaining approximately 2 points of Power of Faith in his body. He gathered it at his fingertips, mixed it with the blood spilling from his mouth, and drew in the air an extremely simple, yet imbued with the "Optimization" divine office's intent to "remove" and "invalidate" concepts like "contract" and "binding," a rune that he jabbed fiercely toward the cracked wooden tablet!

"In the name of the God of Ruins, by the order of Optimization, I declare this 'twisted contract' invalid! Binding removed, return to your places!"

As the final word "places" fell, the pale golden rune at his fingertip, mixed with blood and Power of Faith, shot into the cracks of the wooden tablet like a bullet!

"Crack—!" The wooden tablet shattered at the sound! It turned into countless black fragments!

"Aooo—!!!" The monster (or rather, those separating clusters of resentment) let out a final, mixed shriek full of relief and pain! Immediately following was a violent energy explosion!

Lin Yuan only had time to curl up, protecting the bronze bell against his chest, before he was smashed hard against the wall by an even more violent shockwave, losing consciousness completely.

...I don't know how long it had been, but Lin Yuan was awakened by the cold sensation on his face.

He opened his eyes with difficulty, finding himself still lying in the dark basement, in pain everywhere, his mouth filled with the taste of blood. The flashlight had rolled not far away, its weak light illuminating the mess.

The altar was completely destroyed, the magic circle wiped away, and most of those tattered rag dolls had turned to ashes. Only two still retained a faint spiritual light, but the children's lingering souls within seemed much calmer, no longer possessing twisted malice.

The monster stitched together from multiple grievances had disappeared. On the ground were scattered several clusters of grayish-white and pale purple light of varying sizes and shades. They drifted slowly, keeping their distance from each other, radiating emotions of sadness, fear, and confusion, but no longer possessing that proactive, evil sense of attack.

The fragments of the black wooden tablet lay scattered on the ground, having lost all spirituality.

And what concerned Lin Yuan the most was that underneath where the wooden tablet had originally been, there was a small piece of charred paper corner, seemingly torn from some notebook.

He struggled to crawl over and picked up the torn page. The handwriting on it was scribbled and twisted, written in some kind of dark red ink (most likely blood):

"...Ninth experiment in creating 'Soul-Guiding Ragdoll'... Fused three portions of fresh grievances from young children, seasoned with 'Blood-Crying Sand' and 'Resentful Mother Vine'... still unstable, prone to backlash... requires an 'anchor object'... The 'Black Rune Wooden Tablet' bestowed by the Master can temporarily integrate them, but it is not a long-term solution... Master says, to create the 'ten thousand infant banner,' one must find a core of 'utmost purity and utmost resentment,' preferably a child's soul born in a Yin year, Yin month, and Yin day, and sacrificed willingly... Next target... shantytown relocation household, only daughter, Eight Characters..."

The handwriting further down was burned away.

Lin Yuan's hand trembled slightly. This torn page confirmed his suspicions—an organized, purposeful evil experiment was being conducted here, with the goal of creating a terrifying evil artifact called the "ten thousand infant banner"! Mr. Mo ("Master") was the mastermind behind the scenes! And Xiao Juan, because of her Eight Characters and family environment (only daughter of a relocation household, easy to create the illusion of "willingness" or force), had become the next scheduled target! That ragdoll that had latched onto her was likely not just a "node," but a screening and marking tool, and perhaps even an evil contract carrier that was slowly eroding her soul to prepare for "voluntary sacrifice"!

He had to go back immediately! Xiao Juan's situation might be more dangerous than he had anticipated! That ragdoll had to be dealt with immediately!

He forced himself to stand up and checked his condition. His injuries were not light, but they were mostly internal injuries and concussions; no bones were broken. His Power of Faith was almost exhausted, and there was another tiny crack on the bronze bell. He put away the torn page and carefully wrapped and secured the relatively calm clusters of children's grievances (all victims) on the ground using specially made soul-soothing talismans—these would need to be super-transcended or resettled later.

Then, he stumbled away from this evil ruin as fast as he could.

By the time he rushed back to Wang Guifen's house, covered in dust and with blood at the corner of his mouth, the sky had turned completely dark.

Wang Guifen heard the knock, and only after checking through the peephole in terror and confirming it was Lin Yuan did she hurriedly open the door.

"Master Lin! You... what happened to you?!" Seeing Lin Yuan's appearance, Wang Guifen was terrified.

"Where is Xiao Juan? Where is that ragdoll?!" Lin Yuan asked urgently.

"In... in the inner room, there hasn't been any movement... the doll is still in the closet..." Wang Guifen pointed toward the bedroom.

Lin Yuan rushed into the bedroom. Xiao Juan was still curled up on the sofa, but her complexion was even more ashen, and the dark red bloodline between her eyebrows had spread to the bridge of her nose! And the locked closet was vibrating slightly, with a "hee hee" chilling, creepy giggle coming from inside!

The ragdoll sensed that the "experimental site" had been destroyed and the control wooden tablet had been ruined, so it might be launching early to forcibly complete the erosion or plundering of Xiao Juan!

"Give me the key! Quick!" Lin Yuan growled.

Wang Guifen handed over the key with trembling hands.

Lin Yuan did not unlock it immediately. He first took out the two relatively calm clusters of children's grievances wrapped in soul-soothing talismans and placed them beside Xiao Juan, attempting to use their lingering, pure childlike aura to attract and soothe the part of Xiao Juan's soul that might have been eroded.

Then, he bit his tongue, spat a mouthful of vital blood into his palm, mixed it with the last remaining trace of Power of Faith, and rapidly drew a complex rune on the closet door—not for exorcism, but for "purification," "tracing the origin," and "contract dissolution"!

"By my blood, trace your origin! By the order of the God of Ruins, I declare this evil contract invalid! Those who bind Xiao Juan's spirit, reveal yourselves!"

After finishing the last stroke, he suddenly unlocked the closet with the key!

"Creeeak—" As soon as the closet door opened a crack, a strong scent of blood and a piercing shriek rushed toward him!

The ragdoll that had been wrapped in talisman paper—the paper on its surface had long since turned to ash! The doll stood up on its own, two points of dark red evil fire burning in its hollow eye sockets, and the "red paint" on its body was now wriggling like a living thing, radiating an evil aura homologous to the bloodline on Xiao Juan's forehead! It opened its threadless mouth and let out a sharp, harsh shriek:

"She is mine! It was voluntary! The contract is done! You destroyed the Master's workshop, you must pay! Pay with your soul!"

Before the words fell, the ragdoll turned into a streak of blood-red light and lunged fiercely at Lin Yuan's face! At the same time, Xiao Juan's body convulsed violently, the bloodline between her eyebrows suddenly brightened, and a faint phantom of Xiao Juan's soul was slowly being pulled out from the top of her head, drifting toward the ragdoll!

In the critical moment, Lin Yuan did not block the ragdoll. Instead, he turned sharply and pressed the rune he had just drawn on his palm, soaked in vital blood and Power of Faith, onto Xiao Juan's forehead, exactly covering that dark red bloodline!

"Xiao Juan! Wake up! That is not your wish! It is lying to you! Think of your mom! Think of the sunshine! Think of what you truly want!"

He roared, pouring all his understanding of "true self," "breaking through illusions," and "returning to the right track" from his "Optimization" intent through the rune and his shouting, forcefully into Xiao Juan's soul, which was being pulled away!

"Mommy..." the phantom of Xiao Juan's soul murmured weakly, struggling.

At the same time, the blood-red light of the ragdoll lunging at Lin Yuan was blocked by the sound waves automatically triggered by the bronze bell he had been keeping ready, emitting a "hissing" burning sound.

"No!!" The ragdoll let out a scream of unwillingness, the evil fire on its body flickering unsteadily.

Lin Yuan felt the dark red bloodline on Xiao Juan's forehead under his palm begin to struggle and twist violently, and then, like ice and snow encountering the sun, it rapidly dissolved! The phantom of Xiao Juan's soul suddenly returned to her body!

"Pfft!" The evil fire on the ragdoll extinguished completely. It fell from the air to the ground like a puppet with cut strings, turning into a pile of ordinary, dirty rags and cotton. Only deep within the cotton, a trace of an extremely weak, curse-filled dark intent remained, but it could no longer cause trouble.

Xiao Juan burst into tears with a "waa," throwing herself into the arms of the already tear-streaked Wang Guifen, who had rushed over.

Lin Yuan sat down on the ground, exhausted, panting heavily, his vision going black in waves. He glanced at the pile of rags on the floor, then at the torn page in his arms.

Mr. Mo... the ten thousand infant banner... a sinister experiment, using children's souls as materials...

This time, he hadn't just solved a commission.

He might have truly stirred up a hornet's nest and completely stood on the opposite side of that mysterious evil cultivator.

But looking at the mother and daughter hugging and crying, he didn't regret it.

It's just that the road ahead would likely require even more caution.

Outside the window, the night was deep.

And in the system interface, the countdown was still ticking away unhurriedly: 24 days, 19 hours, and 03 minutes.

Time was still passing, and it seemed he had gained yet another enemy.