The Eldritch Files

Dingxiang Mansion was now a picture of gloom and desolation.

The news of the Drunkard Investigator’s death had been confirmed. The female security guard felt a weight on her heart, unsure of what to do.

As a student of Dingxiang Mansion, even in death, the Drunkard’s body and his residual spirit could reveal many secrets. According to their contract with the Disaster Management Bureau, Dingxiang Mansion had the right to retrieve the body and handle it themselves.

But unexpectedly, the old man showed no interest in any of it. After confirming the Drunkard’s death, he had simply gone to the grand hall, where he sat withered before the copper statue, his head bowed.

When evening came, she went out on her routine patrol. Seeing that three-quarters of the rooms were dark, she couldn’t help but feel a deathly stillness had fallen over Dingxiang Mansion.

She knew all too well that Dingxiang Mansion would likely never be as lively as it was when her senior brother was alive.

The recent events had left her with many questions, but the old man had no intention of explaining, and she didn’t dare to ask. He was acting like a madman, severing all of Dingxiang Mansion’s ties with every other faction.

Scholars, Investigators, even people from Secretary No. 5—they were all gone. And he himself had remained shut away.

’What could possibly frighten an old monster like him, who has lived for nearly two hundred years and broken through the limits of humanity?’

With these thoughts in mind, the female security guard led her people through the grand hall. The final stop on her patrol was, of course, to ask if the old man had any special instructions, even though she knew he seemed interested in nothing at all right now.

She had already planned to return to her room after this last stop, take out the half-bottle of Whiskey from her drawer, and pour one out for the man who loved to drink.

”His body... has it been found?”

Just as the female security guard paused at the doorway, about to leave in silence, the old man in the wheelchair suddenly spoke in a low voice.

His voice was extremely suppressed and ancient, with a metallic hoarseness.

”It’s been found...”

The female security guard answered hastily, ”The Disaster Management Bureau said he died at the hands of a creature codenamed Bai Shi. I’ve seen his body; there are signs of a mysterious substance having been extracted...”

”Burn it.”

The old man in the wheelchair spoke abruptly, uttering just two simple words.

The female security guard’s voice trembled. ”Teacher, you...”

’He raised him, he taught him... And now he won’t even see him one last time?’

”Burning it would be letting him off easy.”

The old man in the wheelchair said in a low voice, ”That defective product killed him, but the defective product is dead now too.”

It took the female security guard a moment to understand what the old man meant. She said quietly, ”The dog’s leash was always around his neck. Since he dared to betray them, it would have been an easy matter for Qinggang to kill him.”

”No.”

The old man slowly shook his head. ”Even if it was a defective product, Qinggang couldn’t have killed it that easily. The Abyssal Laboratory underestimated it. The only thing that could have killed that defective product is...”

The female security guard suddenly realized. ”You mean...”

”VMMMMMM...”

Before she could voice her complete suspicion, a metallic, reverberating hum suddenly rang out in the empty, deathly silent hall.

The sound came without warning. The abrupt, intense sensation seized her entire body, as if she’d been doused with cold water.

The female security guard felt the blood in her veins drop several degrees.

On full alert, she looked up.

Before her eyes was the tall, imposing Living Copper Puppet.

The thing had been standing here all along, and she had seen it countless times, but never before had she felt such a strange and immense aura emanating from the giant Copper Armor Statue.

Within the seams of the Copper Armor, a dark red, coppery blood seemed to flow, making the Copper Armor Statue look as if it had come alive, possessed of a sinister life.

The Rubies on either side of the snake-like head were Flashing with an eerie light, their gazes seeming to fix upon them like real eyes.

Startled by the sudden movement, she subconsciously reached for her weapon.

”Don’t move!”

In that same split second, the old man’s voice suddenly rang in her ear.

A wave of Spiritual Power instantly echoed throughout Dingxiang Mansion. In every area, in every location, all the servants, security guards, gardeners, and butlers were affected by this immense Spiritual Power, frozen in place like wooden chickens.

Even the red tea being poured by a maid had overflowed its cup.

The old man, however, looked up in disbelief, his lips trembling slightly. He gazed at the Living Copper Puppet before him, his eyes filled with the radiant joy of long-awaited surprise.

”It’s here, it’s here...”

He murmured to himself, as if new life had been injected into his aged body. He actually struggled out of his wheelchair and prostrated himself devoutly on the ground, his tone a mixture of joy and terror. ”Gatekeeper Wei Jiming greets the Heir.”

”The Heir...”

The female security guard thought quickly, ’The Heir the old man mentioned before... he’s really here?’

As the dark red copper blood flowed over the Copper Armor Statue, an invisible will looked down upon them from on high. Then, a coppery resonance sounded, weaving together into a cold and majestic voice:

”Speak!”

It was abrupt, just a single word.

The female security guard couldn’t even process it. ’Speak? Speak about what?’

Clearly, the old man didn’t know what to say either. He knelt motionlessly on the ground for only two seconds before suddenly speaking: ”I have sinned!”

”I should not have questioned the Seven Days of Divine Descent, nor should I have doubted the prophecy of the Heir’s arrival...”

”I should not... I should not have listened to their advice and invested in the Disaster Management Bureau!”

”...”

The Living Copper Puppet did not reply. The sinister, copper-colored blood merely flowed across the Copper Armor Statue. Its massive body emitted a reverberating hum of twisting metal as it bent down slightly, as if observing the old man before it from a peculiar angle.

No words were needed. The long silence and scrutiny seemed to represent the will’s attitude.

The old man suddenly clenched his teeth, raised his left hand, and with a CRACK, twisted it off, placing it, bloody, at the feet of the Copper Armor Statue.

He kowtowed again, his forehead touching the ground.

This time, after two seconds of silence, the Copper Armor Statue finally spoke. ”Three things.”

”First, prepare the files on the Abyssal Studio.”

”Second, there’s a person in Qinggang named Bai Senmang. He is not allowed to die!”

”Third, my people will contact you for a task.”

”...”

”Yes!”

The old man didn’t even ask for any reasons or details. Upon hearing the commands, he immediately agreed without a shred of hesitation.

A faint, cold laugh seemed to echo from above. He remained kneeling for a long, long time. Even after he sensed that the will possessing the Living Copper Puppet had departed, he forced himself to kneel for a good while longer before finally, slowly raising his head.

At his advanced age and now missing a hand, his face was exceptionally Pale.

But his face was full of smiles, and he even seemed excited. ”Finally... it has finally come...”

Only the female security guard was baffled. From the moment the Living Copper Puppet in the secret basement began showing signs of activity until now, all the questions that had accumulated in her heart finally compelled her to ask, ”Teacher, why are you acting so terrified?”

”We are the Hidden School, not some Mysterious Organization. We... we’re not supposed to worship Mysterious Powers...”

”...”

This was the first thing every student of the Hidden School learned: The Hidden School does not worship Gods, but is dedicated to dissecting them, studying them, and even succeeding them.

”The Hidden School? A Mysterious Organization?”

But the old man found her words laughable. ”Who made that distinction?”

”Don’t lie to others so much that you end up lying to yourself!”

”...”

As he spoke, he raised his remaining arm, gesturing for the female security guard to help him back into his wheelchair. He then turned his head to look at the pitch-black, sinister, and oppressive courtyard outside, his voice suddenly filled with newfound strength.

Or rather, vitality.

He said in a deep voice, ”Turn on the lights! Open the main gate!”

”We have to let those old geezers in Qinggang know that I’m not dead yet, and Dingxiang Mansion is still alive!”

”...”

Seeing the light practically overflowing from the old man’s eyes, the female security guard felt a little uneasy. ”He... He forgot to say who He would be sending...”

The old man’s smile faded slightly as he said in a low voice, ”That’s not a problem!”

...

...

’Holy shit. This ’Heir’ identity isn’t just useful, it’s a little too useful, isn’t it?’

In the penthouse apartment, Han Su retracted the copper-colored blood, momentarily stunned into silence.

’This attempt wasn’t something I was very confident about. After all, in theory, I can’t really be considered the true ”Heir of Copper”.’

’While I do possess Copper’s Will, I haven’t actually entered the domain of copper. I’m just using the Fishing Song to suppress it. The fact that I could pull off this performance was more thanks to the blood left behind by Bai Shi.’

’It was less about impersonating the Heir and more about seeing if my control over the Living Copper Puppet had increased. And the results were gratifying.’

’My level of control over the Living Copper Puppet has gone up by more than just a notch. And playing the part of the Heir isn’t that hard either...’

’The reverence shown by that mysterious old man from Dingxiang Mansion meant I didn’t even have to ’act’. After all, while I was just trying to understand the meaning behind some of his words, he chopped off an arm for me...’

It was a subtle intuition in that moment that made Han Su decide to say a few more things.

’This old man has at least met that tall, thin woman, and he once watched Bai Shi undergo some kind of trial. He must be in the know, or at least partially informed.’

’I should be able to dig up some information from him.’

’But how I use this Heir identity later to dig up more information, or to do something even bolder, will depend on how far that old man is willing to go to carry out my words...’