3: Chapter 3 Malice Detection

After finishing his meal, Nie Ning used the excuse of going to the restroom to leap out of the restaurant window when no one was looking.

Since 'Malice Perception' had been warning him, he naturally wanted to see what exactly was going wrong.

But as soon as Nie Ning rounded the corner of the alley, he saw a crowd gathered there, and could even faintly see Guards among them.

At this sight, Nie Ning frowned slightly.

After a moment's thought, he stepped forward to investigate.

Peering through the gaps in the crowd, he saw a person in tattered clothes lying on the ground; he looked like a local Beggar.

From the conversations of the onlookers, it could be heard that the person was likely dead.

'Something's not right!'

Nie Ning immediately sensed something abnormal.

Because the target of 'Malice Perception' actually turned out to be a corpse!

Even though Nie Ning was already standing near the corpse, that inexplicable malice still had not dissipated!

After some thought, Nie Ning squeezed into the crowd.

The corpse was a middle-aged man with a pale face and a body swollen as if it had been soaked in water; other than that, there was nothing else unusual.

From this perspective, the cause of death was unknown, and the body had likely been dumped in water after death.

But who would do such a pointless thing?

To dump it on the street after soaking it in water—could the perpetrator have some kind of perverted hobby?

"This Beggar usually begs for food around here. I was wondering why I didn't see him at noon; it turns out he died here."

"It's a bit strange. I just saw him begging at the door this morning. Can a body get this swollen in just half a day?"

"Exactly. And his clothes are dry; the killer even had the leisure to change his clothes."

"But are there any ponds nearby?"

"..."

The onlookers exchanged comments one after another.

The speakers were careless, but the listener was attentive.

Nie Ning carefully examined the corpse and found that, just as the crowd said, the clothes were dry and the hair was fluffy and disheveled; it didn't look at all like someone who had fallen into water.

Furthermore, that malice was still present, which left Nie Ning somewhat puzzled. Could it be that 'Malice Perception' was malfunctioning?

"Stop looking, stop looking. Everyone disperse."

A Guard took out a white cloth to cover the body and then began to disperse the onlookers.

As a world that had entered the age of electricity, all kinds of cases would be handed over to the local Guard Hall for investigation.

Moreover, with the appearance of firearms, ordinary people were no longer as fearful of Transcendents as before; conventional Transcendents still fell under the jurisdiction of the Guard Hall.

Now, the strange appearance of this corpse was likely caused by a Transcendent, and it seemed it wasn't caused by an ordinary one.

Just then, Norma appeared on the opposite side, staring at Nie Ning with an unfriendly expression.

Nie Ning returned a kind smile, but Norma just snorted coldly and turned to leave.

Seeing this, Nie Ning shrugged.

It wasn't the first time Norma had been displeased with him; it had always been this way. Nie Ning was long used to it and didn't bother to deal with her.

Taking one last look at the corpse on the ground, Nie Ning eventually decided that 'Malice Perception' must have failed and turned to return through the restaurant's front door.

Due to the nearby death, Lilith and the others didn't stay long in the restaurant after finding out; they quickly concluded the gathering and went home.

...

Night.

Nie Ning lay on a straw mat with his eyes closed, resting.

Suddenly, an inexplicable malice enveloped Nie Ning.

Sensing that something was wrong, Nie Ning abruptly opened his eyes.

"Where did another petty thief come from? Don't these people sleep?"

Thinking about the events of last night and today, Nie Ning complained in a low voice, feeling somewhat helpless.

However, since Lilith's safety was at stake, Nie Ning naturally couldn't let her fall into danger. After all, she was his savior, and besides, such kind and simple people were rare.

Getting up to open the door, Nie Ning couldn't help but frown.

Outside the door, a light mist drifted around, making it impossible to see the situation outside clearly for a moment.

"When did it get foggy?" Nie Ning's face showed a look of doubt.

Not only that, but unlike the usual direction of 'Malice Perception', this time the malice was actually coming from all directions!

Nie Ning looked out the door, his eyebrows raised slightly. "They really have some nerve. To go to such great lengths, could the Prit Family be hiding some kind of treasure?"

Thinking of this, Nie Ning returned to the room and pulled out a knight sword from the woodpile in the corner.

The knight sword's scabbard was simple and ancient, with some exquisite patterns carved on it.

It wasn't the first time someone had targeted the Hervis Family, so Nie Ning had collected quite a few trophies; the exquisite knight sword in his hand was one of them.

After taking the sword, Nie Ning immediately stepped into the mist and walked quickly toward Lilith's room.

...

After walking several hundred meters, Nie Ning sensed something was wrong and instinctively stopped.

He had walked this path no less than hundreds of times. Ahead should be a pavilion for resting, less than a hundred meters from the woodshed. Why hadn't he reached it yet?

As a fairly large family, the Hervis Family had long been using luxuries like electric lights.

Nie Ning looked around and finally looked straight ahead.

Although obscured by the mist, dots of light could vaguely be seen in the distance.

He tentatively tried to approach the lights, but no matter which way Nie Ning walked, he couldn't get any closer to them.

"What's the situation?"

For a moment, Nie Ning was somewhat confused.

Not only that, but for some reason, Nie Ning felt there was something wrong with the mist; it seemed the malice was all coming from the surrounding gray mist.

"Something's wrong!"

Nie Ning frowned, alertly observing his surroundings.

But the surroundings were all shrouded in mist, and apart from the vague points of light, nothing could be seen at all.

After a moment of contemplation, Nie Ning closed his eyes and concentrated his mind to perceive the source of the malice.

Although the surrounding mist severely affected 'Malice Perception', Nie Ning still managed to capture a relatively strong malice.

'Found it!'

Nie Ning looked toward his lower right behind him, then gripped his sword and quickly moved toward the source of the malice.

But after walking several hundred meters, Nie Ning came to a boundary wall.

Seeing this, Nie Ning couldn't help but widen his eyes.

"Not in the manor?"

And that malice was not only not in the manor, it seemed to be a considerable distance away from it.

For a moment, Nie Ning was also a bit dazed.

A terrorist attack?

It wasn't impossible.

These days, there were many people resentful of society, especially since the invention of gunpowder, which had led to various indiscriminate attack incidents.

However, why would the Malice Perception come from all directions?

Thinking of this, Nie Ning prepared to go out and investigate, and incidentally find an opportunity to try out his newly obtained 'Assisting Evil'.

...

At this time, the city streets were dark and quiet, and only the blurred outlines of buildings could be seen under the shroud of mist.

Nie Ning swept through several streets and finally stopped in front of a four-story building.

Lerdas Hotel.

Looking at the familiar hotel before him, Nie Ning's eyebrows raised slightly, and he couldn't help but think of the Beggar who died today.

"It's a bit strange; what kind of thing's malice can spread this far?"

For a moment, Nie Ning was somewhat puzzled.

...