The Eldritch Files

Tailing the Crystal Skull member from a distance, Han Su left the banquet hall, passed through a series of corridors, and descended several flights of stairs.

When he finally saw the person enter a room, he didn’t dare take a risk. He immediately recited the Fishing Song and followed while invisible.

But as soon as he rounded the corner, he immediately felt his Spiritual Power draining rapidly.

A quick glance revealed six people standing in the corridor.

Furthest down the hall, one person held an instrument with wires connected to a camera, as if they were disabling something.

And directly facing him were three members of the Crystal Skull Organization, staring fixedly ahead. If he’d been the slightest bit careless, he would have been spotted.

A chill ran down his spine. Seeing a nearby door ajar, he quietly slipped inside.

’Maybe it’s because I’ve escaped from the Ancient Castle so many times, but for my first time doing this sort of sneaky tracking, I’m surprisingly good at it.’

’Looks like my experience in the Ancient Castle didn’t just make me a Master of Memory Search, but a master of infiltration, too?’

The room was a lounge of some sort. It was empty, and Han Su relaxed slightly. But his Spiritual Power was almost depleted, so he could only hold his breath and wait patiently.

But just then, he faintly heard a voice from an inner room complaining, ”Why is it bleeding again?”

”Who on earth hurt you? This wound... it doesn’t look like it’ll ever heal!”

”The competition is just a week away! In your current state, you’re far from perfect. Your chances of winning the Empress title are less than ten percent. What kind of job was it that made you pay such a high price?”

”...”

It was clear she was on the verge of a breakdown; her voice was almost a shout.

Han Su’s heart skipped a beat as he listened. ’Wei Lan is injured? It couldn’t be because of me, could it?’

A cheerful voice replied to the outburst. Wei Lan sounded as if she didn’t care much. ”I was never perfect to begin with. I have a scar on my forehead.”

”How is that the same?”

The first voice yelled back, ”That scar is tiny; you can’t see it if you don’t look closely. But now you have a wound on your face that’s constantly bleeding!”

”What kind of beauty queen goes on stage covered in blood?”

”You know how important this competition is. It decides whether you can become a true member of the Queen’s Organization. If you want to become the Empress, you must be perfect. Even if you’re not perfect yourself, you must strive to be, to imitate perfection!”

”...”

As Han Su listened, his curiosity grew. He had already guessed Wei Lan’s identity wasn’t simple. ’So their line of work is actually part of a Mysterious Organization?’

As he was mulling this over, he heard Miss Wei Lan laugh and say, ”The damage is done, so let’s drop it.”

”Someone’s listening outside. Go see who it is.”

”...”

A chill went through Han Su. ’I was just catching my breath here. I haven’t made the slightest sound or even moved a single step, yet she still detected me?’

He silently recited the Fishing Song again, vanished, and quickly left the room.

Just as he left the room, the inner door was pushed open. The assistant glanced out with a puzzled look.

”There’s no one here.”

”Are you just saying that to change the subject?”

Hearing this, Wei Lan just smiled without replying. She poked her head out for a look, and after confirming no one was there, she chuckled. ”It wouldn’t be strange for anyone to appear anywhere in Dingxiang Mansion today. Bring me the clothes I need to change into.”

”The extra-large one... the one that can hide my figure.”

”...”

”...”

Han Su moved through the shadows. Back in the corridor, he saw that the members of the Crystal Skull Organization were gone.

A quick scan confirmed there were only two doors in the corridor.

One door led back toward the banquet hall. The other was a room, not very large and simple at a glance, with no obvious signs of a secret door.

’A hidden area?’

That wasn’t a problem for him. After checking that no one was around, he raised his hand and covered his left eye.

As he focused his Spiritual Power on his right eye, it throbbed with a faint pain. The scene before him developed severe double vision.

The overlapping images then slowly pulled apart, like two paintings stacked on top of each other sliding away to reveal what was underneath. On the once-blank wall, an expensive-looking wooden door had appeared.

’This ’ordinary’ ability of my right eye, when used well, is no worse than my left hand’s...’

He reached out and tried the door. He was relieved to find it wasn’t locked—or rather, that someone had already opened it.

’Just because I can find this door doesn’t mean I have the ability to open it.’

He stepped slowly inside. The space beyond the door opened up into another extremely quiet area. Cameras on the ceiling were pointed this way and that, their intersecting lines of sight leaving almost no blind spots.

However, all the cameras had been shut down; their little red lights were off.

Nevertheless, Han Su proceeded with caution, only moving forward quietly while he was invisible.

Before long, he saw two servants lying unconscious on the carpet. It must have been the work of the Crystal Skull members.

’It seems they really don’t kill without reason.’

’The Crystal Skull people are quite capable...’

Han Su remained vigilant, advancing cautiously. He passed through two doors and a corridor, finally arriving before an open secret door. Inside, it was pitch-black.

Judging by the distance he’d traveled, he had to be deep inside Dingxiang Mansion. The objective was surely just ahead.

So, he found a blind spot, rested for a moment, then recited the Fishing Song again and strode through the open secret door.

He descended the stairs. Just as he was about to reach the bottom, he suddenly felt his Spiritual Power plummet. He knew instantly that he had entered someone’s line of sight.

He quickly glanced around, found a thick column, and hid behind it. After waiting quietly for a few seconds, he peeked out.

That single glance made his heart pound, his gaze hardening.

Below the stairs was what looked like a high-tech platform. Five or six people in assorted outfits were standing next to it.

Two people stood with their backs to the others, positioned on either side of the stairs to watch for intruders. The other four were further inside, their positioning vaguely resembling the six-point interdiction formation of the Disaster Management Bureau.

A crystalline light shone from all of their eyes. ’Is that what it looks like when their Mysterious Power is kept constantly active?’

And sitting squarely on the platform was the very Mechanical Fragment Han Su had seen in the photograph.

’I found it without even trying. It’s really here?’

Seeing the Mechanical Fragment, Han Su’s heart couldn’t help but race.

But he remained outwardly calm and continued to observe, looking for an escape route he could use after grabbing the Mechanical Fragment.

He shouldn’t have looked. The moment he did, it was as if a shock ran through his entire body. A scalp-numbing sensation instantly washed over him, and he almost made a sound.

The storage room was very small and didn’t contain many items.

Right beside the platform holding the Mechanical Fragment, a standing Copper Armor Statue was positioned against the wall. Its helm was shaped like a flat-headed cobra, but its torso was exceptionally robust.

The instant he looked at it, Han Su felt the back of his left hand become scalding hot, as if his Spiritual Power was involuntarily gathering there.

Faintly, a bizarre metallic sound rang in his ears, as if some indistinct voice was echoing.

Whether it was due to the shock of the moment, he fell into a daze. It seemed as if the dust-covered Copper Armor Statue slowly raised its head and looked at him.

Its two Ruby eyes at the top emitted an eerie light.

But this all existed only in the daze of that first glance. When he focused his eyes and looked again, he found that everything was normal. The Copper Armor Statue stood quietly, unmoving.

The sound in his ears had just been an auditory hallucination.

Yet the shock in his heart had not faded in the slightest.

’This Copper Armor Statue is actually something I saw on the fifth floor of the Ancient Castle?’

He even examined it carefully for a few moments, not missing a single detail, and finally confirmed his assessment.

There, the corridors had been lined on both sides with dense rows of such Copper Armor Statues. But now, for the first time, he was seeing something from the Ancient Castle appear in reality.

It was as if something from a nightmare had suddenly appeared in reality, bringing with it a feeling that was both oppressive and thrilling.

’Something from the Ancient Castle has appeared here...’

’The connection between Dingxiang Mansion and the Ancient Castle is much deeper than I imagined...’

”...”

While Han Su was lost in thought, trying to calm his racing heart, he saw that the four Crystal Skull members inside were also inspecting the secret room, apparently concerned that the collection here might have something unusual that could interfere with their mission.

When they saw the Copper Armor Statue, the elderly man who seemed to be the leader was visibly surprised and lingered for a moment.

Seeing this, the person next to him asked in a low voice, ”Professor, is there a problem with this armor?”

This question made the others look over as well.

But the elderly Crystal Skull member, addressed as ”Professor,” studied the Copper Armor Statue for a long while before musing, ”It’s a fake.”

He didn’t even phrase it as a question. Instead, he gave a self-deprecating laugh and said, ”I’ve only seen something similar inside the Crystal Brain. If this thing were real, it couldn’t possibly exist here.”

”Heh, this must be the work of those fanatics who worship copper. They probably copied its appearance from ancient records, created a replica as a piece of art, and stored it underground.”

A follower beside him asked curiously, ”Is it very powerful?”

The Professor just smiled faintly and said, ”If this thing were real, it could destroy half of Qinggang City once activated.”

”Qinggang would never allow something like this to be hidden beneath its soil.”

”After all, this is a legendary Divine Weapon, said to have harvested entire races on the battlefields of old ruins. It’s also one of the thirty-two most dangerous weapons in the world—the Living Copper Puppet.”

”Now, let’s get back to our task.”