Facing an Ancient God for a Year

It was evident that the Baroness still had considerable sway here.

Upon agreeing to Fu Qian’s suggestion, the Priest showed no sign of objection.

And this formidable woman wasted no time, greeting the Priest before promptly leading Fu Qian out of the room.

The two quickly found the team waiting outside, the other four members of the inspection squad.

The squad was composed of three men and one woman, none of whom were very old.

Fu Qian took a moment to observe them and sensed that every one of them was stronger than himself, making up what could be considered an elite squad.

...“I believe you all know this person by now,”

said the Baroness, indicating Fu Qian under the puzzled gazes of the team members.

“As a new member of the Sequence, Fu Qian will be joining us in our operation.”

This…

It was clear that the team members had some reservations about this decision.

However, under the Baroness’s impositional presence, they merely exchanged glances with one another, and no one voiced any objections.

The Baroness went on to introduce the four individuals to Fu Qian in brief.

Through these introductions, it came to be known that the sole female team member, like her, was also a member of the Celestial Sequence, while the other three belonged to the Spire.

“Is there a gender restriction for the Sequences?”

Fu Qian found an opportunity to quietly ask the Baroness.

“For some Sequences there is, such as the Celestial Sequence which only females can awaken to,”

confirmed the Baroness, validating his guess.

At this moment, the group was standing at a murder scene, which was also the investigative target previously mentioned by the Baroness, suspected to be the work of a Discolored One.

The small room was filled with a strong stench of blood.

Blood was spattered everywhere, and a mutilated corpse lay on the ground.

From the distinctive long-sleeved robe, it was clear that the deceased was a nun.

The excessively brutal manner of death made almost everyone frown.

“She must’ve been a church nun.”

“Absolutely heinous!”

Amidst the team’s indignation, the Baroness bent down without a word.

After looking the body over, she tried to pry open the dead woman’s mouth and fished out a shiny object from within the blood.

“A brooch!”

An observant team member recognized it immediately.

“No wonder the mouth of the corpse is slightly deformed.”

“Holding this in her mouth, she must have wanted to leave behind a clue, right?”

“The style is obviously not for a woman.”

…

The team members discussed animatedly, each voicing their opinions.

“Fu Qian, what’s your take?”

After the team had discussed for a bit, the Baroness turned to look at the silent Fu Qian.

Fu Qian instantly felt a number of gazes drilling into him.

Indeed, it was only too normal for his presence, acquired through stylish values, to be questioned!

“Me?”

Fu Qian thought for a moment, then, mimicking the Baroness, stepped forward to look over the body from top to bottom.

Seeing how seriously Fu Qian took the matter, the team members felt a slight sense of approval.

At least he had some courage; someone new might have been scared into wetting themselves at such a scene.

After a minute, Fu Qian stood up and nodded at everyone.

“It must be a homicide.”

I…

Pretending not to notice the circle of exasperated expressions around him, Fu Qian nonchalantly returned to the squad.

He had long passed the age when he sought approval for everything – which, for him, was at the age of ten.

With the body in such a destroyed state, except for the object in the Baroness’s hand, there was hardly any evidence to discern!

While the rest of them were analyzing fervently, he’d been ready to just go through the motions. He hadn’t expected the Baroness to suddenly ask for his opinion.

His instinct told him that her motives were not quite pure, and it seemed she wanted to test whether he truly had amnesia.

“This is indeed a gentleman’s lapel pin, we’ll start by checking the men she was involved with to see if any of them have signs of discoloration.”

A nun had a boyfriend?

“The church does not prohibit nuns from getting married.”

Seeing the question on Fu Qian’s face, the Baroness replied directly.

“In fact, due to the threat of the Discoloration Curse, many people marry at a rather young age.”

“Understood.”

Fu Qian nodded, continuing to act the role of someone with amnesia.

Indeed, the nun really did have a lover. Following the leads, the group quickly found the man’s home.

Unfortunately, the home was wide open with no one to be seen inside at the moment.

“It seems we’ve arrived too late,”

someone said immediately.

The inside of the house was clearly disordered, showing that the owner must have left in a hurry.

“This person is now a major suspect.”

“It’s very likely that the nun discovered signs of discoloration on him, and in fear of being reported, he acted first by killing her and then fled in guilt. Such cases are all too common lately!”

“We’d better issue a warrant quickly, otherwise a Discolored One on the loose could be extremely dangerous.”

Everyone agreed in chorus.

“Not necessarily.”

Seeing that everyone had reached a consensus, and the Baroness did not object, Fu Qian cleared his throat.

Hmm?

When Fu Qian suddenly spoke, the group was taken aback, wondering what he was up to.

They were highly impressed by his recent verdict on the homicide case.

“Who says there’s nobody here?”

Fu Qian took a couple of steps forward.

“It’s clear at a glance; where is there a place to hide a person?”

Someone retorted right away.

A look at your usual cultural life suggests it’s quite impoverished, never influenced by twisted thinking.

Fu Qian glanced at the others.

But it was understandable. After all, they had only given the place a cursory look. The level of industrial development seemed quite backward, and it was highly probable that these people hadn’t been exposed to movies or television.

The significance of a crime scene investigation was far beyond what you could imagine!

“You’re right, this place could be described as obvious at a glance, and at first sight, there doesn’t seem to be anywhere to hide a person.”

“However, if we discard some preconceptions, such as the human body’s shape, we find that there are still some spaces.”

“Normally, the human body has a density slightly greater than water, so an average adult, if bundled up, would roughly take up a space with the dimensions of several tens of centimeters in length, width, and height.”

“And there are places in the room like that. As professionals, don’t we need to check those before declaring there’s no one?”

After saying this, Fu Qian walked over to a red wooden cabinet.

It was a wardrobe, already opened, with only a few disheveled clothes inside.

Such a chest often has a small compartment for storing relatively valuable items.

Fu Qian reached out and pulled it, exposing a compact compartment beneath, which was now stuffed with something white, packed tightly.

Fuck!

Do you see it?

Fu Qian gestured to the shocked crowd, then crouched down to examine it closely.

It looked like a human body, but severely distorted, coiled up inside the chest like a snail.

Even the shape of the skull was no longer discernible, and some parts had even been tied in knots to prevent body fluids from leaking out.

The sight was shockingly grotesque, and a few team members nearby struggled to maintain their composure.

The young lady had already run outside to throw up.

“Looks like it was a rush job. It wasn’t convenient to take the body out to dispose of the evidence, so instead, they ‘handled’ it by hiding it here,”

Fu Qian said, appearing to be the most composed individual there, crouching beside the chest to observe, even going so far as to squeeze it.

“I can’t feel any bones; they don’t seem to be crushed because there’d likely be wounds in such a case. It looks more like the bones inside the body have dissolved.”

“Can the Discoloration Curse cause this kind of effect—eh?”

Fu Qian, having asked halfway, suddenly exclaimed, pulling an oval stone from the cabinet.

“What’s this?”