1: Chapter 1: A Desolate Temple and a Ruined Buddha, Terror Resurrected
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Twilight.
The outskirts of Changyang City, on the edge of the old district.
The setting sun, like blood, spilled over a half-collapsed, dilapidated temple on a barren hill, illuminating the mottled red walls until they resembled freshly skinned flesh.
This was the “Rebirth Temple,” where incense offerings had long ceased. Weeds grew rampant all around, and withered vines wrapped around the ruins like dead snakes.
The main hall of the temple was cold and damp.
A broken Buddha statue sat upon a lotus pedestal.
The Buddha statue was only half a person tall. Its gold paint had long peeled off, revealing the gray, rough stone texture beneath.
Half of its shoulder had collapsed, and its face was blurred beyond recognition. Its features seemed to have been deliberately erased by some force, leaving only a rough outline.
Brows lowered, eyes cast down.
Although it had no eyeballs, it gave the illusion that it was “watching” everything in the world.
Lin Chuan was trapped inside this stone body.
“Another day has passed...”
He sighed softly in his heart, his consciousness flowing within the cold stone.
It had been over two months since he arrived in this world.
If he were an ordinary Transmigrator, he might now be making a name for himself in the city or dominating a different realm.
But Lin Chuan was different; he only lived for two and a half days after transmigrating.
His memory flashed back to over two months ago.
He had just arrived in this parallel world of Terror Resurgence. Before he could figure out the situation, he was caught up in a D-Class Supernatural Event.
He immediately sensed that things were going badly.
However, relying on his intense desire to survive, he managed to stall that Strange Entity for two and a half days.
Later, he finally waited for rescue.
However, in less than ten minutes, the Ghost Suppression Department Night Watchmen who came to rescue him were completely wiped out.
Originally, Lin Chuan could have continued to stall the Strange Entity targeting him for a while longer.
But as soon as those Night Watchmen from the Ghost Suppression Department died, the Strange Entities inside their bodies instantly revived... and then, Lin Chuan immediately met his end.
“That's utterly screwed up...”
Thinking of this, Lin Chuan couldn't hold back his frustration.
Fortunately, although he died, he didn't completely die.
After losing his physical body, his consciousness did not dissipate; instead, it transformed into a Strange Entity.
More accurately, he became an F-Class Strange Entity attached to the broken Buddha statue.
[Current State: Strange Entity.]
[Terror Level: F-Class.]
[Current Rule Ability: Blood-Tear Illusionary Realm (Can create terrifying illusions, but has no substantial killing power.)]
[Peeping: Can perceive everything within a hundred-meter radius, including discerning the rule loopholes of other Strange Entities and the soul memories of living people...]
This was Lin Chuan's current Status Panel, and also the Golden Finger he had just awakened.
Over these two months, he couldn't move, couldn't speak, and even his thoughts became slow and cold. His human emotions were gradually being stripped away.
What replaced them were the instincts of a Fierce Ghost... bloodlust, indifference, and greed for the aura of the living.
In this world, Strange Entities are categorized by the government into six levels: A, B, C, D, E, F...
The higher the sequence, the more complete the Strange Entity's killing rules and the wider the scope of its impact!
However, so far, no Strange Entities above C-Class have revived.
It was currently the early stage of the Terror Resurgence.
Most ordinary people were unaware of the existence of 'Strange Entities.'
This information was told to Lin Chuan by a Ghost Suppression Department Night Watchman before he died.
“I must find a way to raise my Terror Level!”
“If I don't evolve, if I don't become stronger...”
“Sooner or later, I will be casually imprisoned by the Supernatural Suppression Department, or devoured by other powerful Strange Entities.”
Lin Chuan's consciousness surged deep within the stone statue.
In this world, although Strange Entities cannot be killed, they can be confined by Golden Containers or devoured by other Strange Entities... Imprisonment means eternal confinement.
Being devoured means losing one's self.
Just then.
Whoosh!!
A gust of cold wind suddenly swept into the dilapidated temple, causing the dry grass on the ground to rustle.
The ruined wooden door let out a grating “creak,” sounding as if it would collapse at any moment.
Suddenly, a disheveled woman stumbled into the main hall.
The woman was covered in mud, her clothes were torn to shreds, and there were several fresh blood streaks on her arms.
Her eyes were cloudy and manic, like a fiend who had just crawled out of hell, yet they held a final sliver of desperate hope.
Plop!
The woman heavily knelt down before the broken Buddha statue, slamming her forehead hard against the dusty bluestone bricks.
“Thump! Thump! Thump!”
The dull sounds of kowtowing echoed through the empty hall; the woman put all her strength into every strike.
After only a few strikes, her forehead was already a bloody mess.
But she seemed oblivious to the pain, muttering hysterically:
“All you gods and deities... Buddha, please manifest... whether you are a god or a ghost...”
“As long as you can help me get revenge... I'll give anything...”
“My Xiaoya... my daughter...”
The woman's voice was hoarse and mournful.
As she kowtowed, and as the intense Resentment in her heart erupted, the Status Panel deep within Lin Chuan's consciousness suddenly flickered.
[Detected intense Resentment and Prayer...]
[Gained Power Of Will: +10.]
The moment the panel information appeared, a warm current materialized out of thin air and surged into Lin Chuan's cold, stone body.
“Hmm?”
Noticing the change on the Status Panel, a hint of joy welled up in Lin Chuan's heart.
After two months, his Status Panel Golden Finger was finally starting to work.
Thinking of this, he used his 360-degree perspective to observe the woman before him from all directions.
According to Lin Chuan's observation, the woman's mind was almost at the point of collapse.
Extreme pain and hatred surged deep within her soul.
To Lin Chuan, these negative emotions were like the most delicious seasoning.
“As long as I can get revenge... whether it's a god or a ghost...”
Lin Chuan repeated the phrase indifferently in his mind.
In desperation, humans are often more terrifying and manic than Strange Entities!!
The woman before him had clearly been pushed to the edge.
Just as Lin Chuan was preparing to further probe her soul.
Bang!
The half-open, already rickety wooden door of the dilapidated temple was violently kicked open, and half the door panel crashed down, raising a cloud of dust.
“You stinking bitch! Run, huh? Let's see where else you can run!”
A crude roar shattered the silence inside the temple.
Soon, three burly men barged in.
The Bearded Man leading them had a fleshy, menacing face, a gold chain as thick as a finger around his neck, a fierce tiger head tattooed on his bare arm, and he carried a blood-stained Steel Pipe.
The two men behind him also looked vicious, their eyes revealing bloodlust!
They were thugs working for the Zhao Family of Changyang City.
In the region of Changyang City, the Zhao Family was paramount.
Whether it was the Magistrates Office, commerce, or even a portion of the Ghost Suppression Department's authority... it was all under the Zhao Family's Control.
Hearing the commotion behind her, the frantic woman kneeling on the ground trembled all over, shrinking into a ball like a startled quail.
But then, she suddenly turned around, staring intently at the three men, her eyes filled with intense Resentment.
“You... you beasts!!”
“Give me Xiaoya back! Give her back to me!!”
Knowing she had nowhere to run, the woman roared, trying to rush forward and fight the three burly men desperately, but due to exhaustion, she stumbled and fell heavily to the ground the moment she stood up.
“Heh, you dare glare at me?”
The leading Bearded Man sneered, strode forward, and stomped on the woman's hand, grinding down hard.
“Ah!” The woman immediately screamed miserably.
“That dead little girl of yours was Blessed by Young Master Zhao's attention, that was her good fortune.” As he spoke, the Bearded Man squatted down, grabbed the woman's hair, and forced her blood-stained face up.
“Too bad she was short-lived and died after just a couple of rounds. You, her mother, don't know your place, insisting on shouting everywhere, which made Young Master Zhao very unhappy.”
“Young Master Zhao said, since you miss your daughter so much, he'll send you down to be reunited with her.”
Saying this, the burly man raised the Steel Pipe in his hand.
The other two thugs lit cigarettes and watched the show; they had done this many times before.
In Changyang City, if the Zhao Family wanted to kill someone and bury them in the wilderness, who would dare interfere?
However.
The instant the burly man prepared to strike.
Drip.
A drop of thick, warm liquid fell from somewhere unknown, landing precisely on the back of his neck.
“Huh? Is this broken temple leaking rain?”
The Bearded Man frowned and reached up to touch it.
His hand came away crimson.
It was blood.
And it was dark red, foul-smelling clotted blood.
“Where did this blood come from?”
The Bearded Man instinctively looked up.
This sight instantly froze the blood in his veins.
He saw that the previously lifeless, broken Great Buddha had somehow “come alive.”
From that blurred stone face, two streams of crimson blood tears were slowly flowing down, sliding along the cheeks, drip, drip... constantly falling.
Although the Buddha statue had no eyes, he could clearly feel lines of sight piercing through the void, fixed intently on him.
A chill originating from the depths of his soul instantly shot from the soles of his feet straight up to his crown.
“Gh... Ghost!!”
Faced with this bizarre scene, the Bearded Man stumbled back several steps in terror, falling onto his backside, and the Steel Pipe clattered out of his hand.
“B-Boss, what's wrong?”
The other two thugs were startled by his reaction, but when they looked in the direction the Bearded Man was pointing, they instantly felt a prickling sensation on their scalps.
In the gloomy temple, the Buddha statue weeping blood tears was facing them directly with its blurred face, appearing extraordinarily sinister.
At this moment, the already faint light around them seemed to grow even dimmer.
The air was filled with a heavy smell of blood, and at the same time, a faint noise arose, as if countless Vengeful Spirits were whispering.