Chapter 1765: Extermination

When He Jing arrived at the sleeping quarters, everything was as deathly silent as usual.

He saw the pool of blood at the entrance and the corpses of officials lying in disarray, and he was slightly stunned... The faces of those officials were filled with extreme terror, and their eyes, which were wide open in death, still held deep confusion.

It seemed that until their deaths, they didn't understand why, even though they had emptied their family wealth and paid double for the embezzled supplies, that person still wanted to exterminate them?

This bewilderment lasted only for a moment before He Jing’s expression returned to its usual calm. He walked to the entrance of the sleeping quarters and exchanged a glance with Eunuch Zuo, who was standing calmly in the pool of blood.

"His Majesty has been waiting for you for a long time," Eunuch Zuo said slowly.

"Hmm."

He Jing nodded and walked straight into the sleeping quarters.

This young registrar of the Taishi Bureau, who didn't even count as an official, was able to come and go freely in the imperial palace, entering the Emperor’s sleeping quarters without even reporting, and walked steadily to the thin curtains...

"He Jing of the Taishi Bureau, pays respects to Your Majesty," he bowed respectfully.

"Speak," the voice sounded again from behind the curtains.

"The Alchemy Association... how is the situation?"

……

"My..."

"My Lord!!"

"The Calamity of Mockery is here!!"

On the corridor of the Taishi Bureau, a subordinate watched the red clouds slaughter their way through the entire Xuanwu Avenue, surging straight toward the Taishi Bureau, so scared that he couldn't even stand steadily.

Brand’s face was also devoid of color. He looked anxiously toward the palace and muttered:

"What is wrong with He Jing..."

"He’s been gone for so long, has he not been able to ask His Majesty to intervene?!"

"Lord Brand!" the exclamation sounded again. "It’s already in front of us!!"

"Shut up! You trash! I can see it!!"

Brand was anxious and angry. He turned his head abruptly and saw a red cloud shrouding the entire Taishi Bureau.

That eerie red cloud was wrapped around the building. No matter which window one looked out of, everything outside was scarlet, and nothing could be seen, which made people’s hair stand on end.

"My Lord, what should we do?!!"

The panicked voice rang in his ears, and Brand’s heart was in chaos. A World-Ending Calamity attacking the Taishi Bureau—let alone him, even if Lord Chong were here, he probably wouldn't have any way to deal with it. With just them, could they counter-kill a World-Ending Calamity?

But if he were to die at the hands of the Calamity of Mockery just like that, how could he be reconciled? He had finally reached this point, was about to take charge of the entire Taishi Bureau, and find the way to eternal life...

Just then, a thought suddenly appeared in his mind.

Brand, like a drowning man grasping at the last straw, turned and rushed toward the basement of the Taishi Bureau!

"My Lord?"

"What are you doing? My Lord!"

The subordinate’s mind was a blank. He subconsciously wanted to chase after him. Just then, a figure in an opera robe walked slowly out of the surging red clouds.

The subordinate saw the person and was frozen in place with fear. Before he could say anything, those ruby-like eyes glanced at him casually...

A red line appeared on his neck.

A terrified head fell to the ground.

The red opera robe withdrew its gaze and walked silently through the dark red Taishi Bureau, like an eerie ghost in a nightmare world...

Behind him, a boy in a black vest was also spat out by the red clouds, stumbling onto the corridor of the Taishi Bureau.

"Where is this..." Li Laide’s expression was somewhat dazed.

From the moment the experts from the major mansions began to besiege Chen Ling and the scene fell into chaos, two red paper tentacles had rolled him and Li Shangfeng into the red clouds.

In a melee of this level, with his and Li Shangfeng’s strength, they would be killed by the aftermath if they were not careful. The red clouds perfectly protected them, and through that eerie eyeball, Li Laide clearly saw everything that happened along the way.

This feeling was very strange, as if... Chen Ling had deliberately let him witness all of this.

"Follow me closely."

Chen Ling left a sentence and disappeared on the spot. The figure in the opera robe seemed to pass directly through the floor and sank into another level.

Li Laide was stunned for a moment, then cursed in his heart and honestly ran down the stairs.

No matter what, he had been dragged into this incident by Chen Ling, from an ordinary wanted criminal to an "accomplice" of a World-Ending Calamity... Without Chen Ling, it would be impossible for him to escape the Chengtian Realm on his own, so he had no choice but to follow Chen Ling closely.

As Li Laide ran through the blood-scented Taishi Bureau, the scene of the red opera robe turning into a World-Ending Calamity surfaced in his mind, and an indescribable feeling surged in his heart.

He...

is actually a Calamity?

How does a Calamity live in the realm like a human?

Doesn't he get discovered, ostracized, questioned, and feared? Doesn't he hate this era like he does?

A World-Ending Calamity... why would he care so much about a pair of human siblings, and why would he shake the entire Chengtian Dynasty for them?

Li Laide seemed to have cleared away some of the fog surrounding Chen Ling, but then, more fog shrouded him. Chen Ling was like a riddle, a riddle that could never be solved.

Li Laide soon reached the next level. A scarlet pool of blood had spread on the floor, and corpses were lying in disarray, each one beheaded... Those blood-stained heads were scattered on the ground, and deep terror still lingered in their eyes.

Creak—Creak—

Li Laide looked in the direction of the sound. On the ceiling by the window hung an exquisitely crafted birdcage. The cage was already soaked in blood, and even the colorful little bird kept inside had been split in half...

Not only killing people, but even birds couldn't escape?

Li Laide’s expression was a bit strange, but when he looked closely, he found that the little bird had no organs inside, only tiny human heads the size of a little finger... This didn't seem to be a normal creature, but an artificial product of alchemy.

Seeing this disgusting bird corpse, Li Laide felt a chill. He realized that Chen Ling was right to do this. This place was the Taishi Bureau; what kind of normal creature could there be?

Just as he was about to leave, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of a round object in the corner of the birdcage...

"...An egg?"

Li Laide’s eyes narrowed. He grabbed the object from the air and held it in his hand.

It was indeed an egg. From the outside, it was no different from an ordinary bird egg, and there was a faint warmth remaining on the surface, as if it hadn't been incubated with care for long...

It seems he also has times when he is negligent... not being thorough or ruthless enough in his work.

Li Laide snorted, grabbed the bird egg, and shook it a few times to scramble the yolk, then smashed it under his feet and stomped on it hard.

Confirming that the thing had completely turned into a puddle of mush, Li Laide hurried to the next level.

……

……

Tomorrow, Erjiu will meet everyone in Xiamen for the book signing of the physical book "I Am Not the Actor God," so I’m taking a day off~~