Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 323 The Bloodstained Truth
The restaurant was set up at a high-end Western restaurant called "Platinum Joy".

The prices here are astonishing. Jiang Jin frowned as he looked at the menu prices. 500 yuan was just the minimum charge. A glass of ordinary imported soda cost nearly 100 yuan. The prices on the drinks menu generally started in the three-digit range, and four-digit prices were not uncommon.

Li Ruofeng was already waiting in the reserved private room. He was wearing an Armani suit, and his Rolex watch was quite expensive. When he saw Jiang Jin, he immediately put on a warm and just-right smile and stood up to greet him: "Director Jiang, it's an honor to have you grace us with your presence amidst your busy schedule! Please have a seat!"

During the meal, Li Ruofeng extended the utmost hospitality, ordering only the restaurant's signature dishes and expensive red wine.

He spoke skillfully, first praising Jiang Jin for his youth and talent, and then seemingly casually mentioning the Li family's connections within the government, his words full of implications of "having more friends means having more options" and "mutual support."

The more Jiang Jin listened, the more he understood, and the more disgusted he became. Li Ruofeng's words could be summarized in one sentence: he hoped that Jiang Jin, this increasingly powerful reincarnator, could become more closely bound to the Li family and become an important pawn in their future power struggle within the imperial court.

He could even sense that if he weren't already married, Li Ruofeng would have loved to "sell" his younger sister, Li Ruoxi, to him on the spot.

That's quite a clever plan!
Jiang Jin sneered inwardly, but he still had to maintain basic politeness on his face.

He glanced at Li Ruoxi beside him, only to see that she was also engrossed in cutting her steak, seemingly a little embarrassed by her brother's explanation, occasionally glancing up at Jiang Jin with an apologetic look.

Throughout the meal, Jiang Jin felt like he was sitting on pins and needles, finding the food utterly tasteless. Even the fine red wine tasted bland in his mouth; he just wanted to end this utilitarian dinner as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, inside the Blood Lord's luxurious villa, a completely different scene unfolded.

The Blood Lord lay languidly in a huge jacuzzi, warm water washing over his powerful body. Inside the tub, two newly recruited female subordinates were attentively serving him.

The scent of Maté and Kateyeva's body after their bath was even more alluring as they used their soft hands and towels to wipe the Blood Lord's back.

The only sounds in the bathroom were the gentle murmur of running water and soft breathing.

Perhaps it was the relaxed atmosphere that lowered her guard. While gently massaging the Blood Lord's shoulder and neck muscles with her fingertips, Matte softly exclaimed in her South American-accented Chinese, "Captain, this place is so nice. Unlike my hometown, which has now become a living hell."

Blood Lord closed his eyes and let out a lazy "Hmm?" from his nose, signaling her to continue.

A flicker of fear crossed Madeleine's eyes, as if recalling a horrific scene: "In Rio, within the contaminated layer, almost every church steeple was adorned with enormous, twisted black crosses. Every evening at seven o'clock sharp, those crosses would ooze thick, dark red, magma-like blood, flowing down the church walls..."

She paused, her voice trembling slightly: "Ordinary life has completely changed. In the market, the chickens and ducks on the stalls have turned into something called 'repentance pigeons' in the pollution layer... Those pigeons are pure white, but... but they have a pair of murky, moving human eyes on their necks! Heaven knows what kind of monsters those are!"

“We also have many terrifying ‘forbidden zones’ there,” Madeleine continued, her voice growing increasingly somber. “For example, the Osaka crater outside Rio, which connects to a terrifying dungeon. To climb it safely, a reincarnator must carry a boulder exactly equal to their own weight, climbing step by step. If someone is lazy or cheats and carries less… they will spontaneously combust from the inside out halfway up the mountain, burning to ashes!”

"Even the angels the children draw... will come to life from the wall in the dead of night, turning into twisted monsters full of sharp teeth, dragging the meme-contaminated patients... into the drawing, and devouring them completely..."

After listening to Madeleine's description, Kateeva sighed softly, a deep weariness and lingering fear appearing on her cold and beautiful face: "Commander, Eastern Europe... is still a nightmare now."

Her voice carried the chilling quality characteristic of Slavs: "In Poland, in the contaminated space... in those vast farmlands, what stands are no longer scarecrows, but 'guardians' dressed in tattered coats with rotten pumpkins hanging from their heads. But they don't scare away birds; if a living person approaches, the pumpkins will split open, revealing compound eyes like insect eggs, and then... people will walk over on their own, becoming part of the fertilizer beneath their feet."

“Furthermore, in Romania, the Transylvanian legend has come true, but it is far more terrifying than the legend itself.” Fear was reflected in Kateeva’s eyes. “Inside the contaminated layer, in the forest, the wolf packs… on the night of the full moon, they stand on their hind legs and howl like prayers. Anyone who hears this sound will be found the next day with their heart ripped out.”

“And then there’s Ukraine,” she shook her head, as if trying to dispel those terrible memories, “In certain sections of the Dnieper River, the water suddenly becomes as heavy as mercury, and huge, pale arms emerge from the riverbed, dragging boats on the surface into an endless abyss…”

Blood Lord listened quietly, his face expressionless, as if those horrific meme disasters were nothing more than distant stories.

"The law of the jungle prevails; only the fittest survive. This is an eternal law, whether in times of peace or in this crumbling world."

His deep voice echoed in the bathroom: "Follow me. As long as you are loyal enough and useful enough, this will be your sanctuary."

His words carried a cold, realistic edge, causing Madeleine and Kateeva to simultaneously lower their heads and respectfully reply, "Yes, Commander." "Commander," Madeleine said in soft, foreign-accented Chinese, "I just saw a child in the garden; everyone calls him 'Young Master'... Is he your son?"

Blood Lord closed his eyes, enjoying the service, and gave a faint "hmm": "He is my adopted son, named Wu Ge."

"Adopted son?" Kateyeva asked with some curiosity.

Blood Lord's voice deepened, carrying a hint of barely perceptible warmth: "His father, Wu Zhiping, is my brother who risked his life for me. From now on, remember that Wu Ge is your young master, and his orders are my orders."

“Wu Zhiping…” Madeleine tilted her head and thought for a moment, then her eyes suddenly lit up. “Ah! I remember now! When Kateyeva and I were serving Lin Zhen, he mentioned him!”

Kateyeva suddenly remembered and chimed in, "Yes! Lin Zhen drank a lot back then and talked a lot. He complained to us that you, Commander, kept pressing Minister Long Mingzhang for the truth about the Wu Zhiping case, which gave Minister Long a headache, fearing that you might actually find something..."

The previously languid Blood Lord suddenly opened his eyes, sat up straight instantly, and splashed water in the process!
This scene startled both Madeleine and Kateyeva.

"What?! Lin Zhen said that?!" Blood Lord's eyes flashed like lightning as he stared intently at Madeleine. "Explain yourself! What exactly happened?!"

Madeleine was startled by his gaze and stammered as she recalled, "He... he said, drunk, that the real culprit behind Wu Zhiping's case... was actually someone... his name was Li something-or-other..."

Kateeva tried to recall, adding, "His name is Li Ruofeng! Yes! Lin Zhen said something... that a female student named Yang Qinglan was killed by this man named Li Ruofeng! At the time, Lin Zhen even boasted that he used his team's spatial abilities to help cover it up. He also said... that Minister Long Mingzhang actually knew the inside story all along!"

These words exploded in his mind like a thunderclap! Blood Lord felt a surge of heat rush to his head!

Wu Zhiping was originally just a teacher who taught a course on meme pollution. He was accused of murdering his female student, Yang Qinglan. Because Yang Qinglan had been caught cheating by Wu Zhiping and severely criticized, the two had a conflict. Wu Zhiping was therefore deemed to have a motive for murder. Coupled with the carefully fabricated "evidence" by the censors, he was ultimately sentenced to death and sent to the Complete Rule Class.

Blood Lord has never given up on finding the truth over the years. Wu Ge chose to become a cursed reincarnator so that he could avenge his father after finding out the real culprit one day!

But Blood Lord never expected the truth to be like this!

Long Mingzhang, the strongest reincarnator in Muxu City, knew about it from the beginning and even sent Lin Zhen to help cover it up!
"Li! Ruo! Feng!" Blood Lord squeezed out the name through gritted teeth, his eyes instantly turning bloodshot, and a violent killing intent spread uncontrollably, as if the temperature of the entire bath had suddenly dropped several degrees!
Madeleine and Kateyeva trembled with fear and huddled to one side.

"Splash!!!" He slammed his fist into the water, creating a huge splash! "I must kill him! Avenge Zhiping!! And those who were involved in covering up and framing him, none of them will escape!"

Enraged, Blood Lord did not hesitate for a moment.

He immediately ordered Jin Shumei to conduct a divination to determine whether Li Ruofeng was the real culprit in the murder of Yang Qinglan!
With a clear goal and direction, Jin Shumei's divination quickly yielded results. The blurry vision displayed in the shrine and the causal lines sensed in her bloodline both clearly pointed to the same conclusion—Li Ruofeng was the murderer of Yang Qinglan!
His grandfather was a high-ranking official in the government. Because of this position, Long Mingzhang found a scapegoat who had a "motive" but no strict alibi—Wu Zhiping!

"Good! Good! Good!" Blood Lord laughed in fury. He now understood that Lin Zhen's assassination attempt was precisely when he once again requested Long Mingzhang to investigate the truth of what happened back then! It was likely that the enticements from the Insect Nest were one aspect of Lin Zhen's assassination attempt, but Long Mingzhang's instructions were also a major factor!
No wonder he dared to openly assassinate me!
However, Blood Lord was unaware that within his room, a tiny, dust-like hunting totem, almost seamlessly integrated with the spatial structure, was operating silently.

This is a surveillance device secretly placed here by Long Mingzhang; it can keenly detect strong killing intent directed at specific targets within its range.

As the Blood Lord's undisguised and surging killing intent towards Li Ruofeng rose, the Hunting Totem immediately transmitted this danger signal...

Long Mingzhang, who was reviewing documents, sensed a warning signal that only he could perceive.

He closed his eyes, sensing the information transmitted back by the totem—the Blood Lord had confirmed Li Ruofeng's identity as the murderer!

Long Mingzhang suddenly opened his eyes, a cold glint and a strong sense of regret flashing in them.

He put down his pen, faced the empty office, and began to mutter to himself: "Blood Lord... if you just stop here, everyone will be fine. But if you insist on investigating to this extent, then I really... can't let you live!"

(End of this chapter)