Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 88 Bloodshed and Dawn
A text prompt from the Reincarnation System appeared in Jiang Jin's left eye:

"Reincarnator Jiang Jin, you have completed the mission [Ghost Eye Yang Jian's Wish] and received the reward."

Reward 1: You will have three chances to summon Ghost Eye Yang Jian in all future Horror Dungeon Trials.
Reward 2: Obtain one supernatural item, the [Coffin Nail] (already stored in your Reincarnator Watch).
Should we return now? Yes/No

Jiang Jin frowned slightly.

The lack of an extra reward of resentment crystals surprised him somewhat, but then he realized that obtaining resentment crystal fragments was indeed much easier in this world, so the system's judgment was reasonable.

“Liu Yan,” Jiang Jin looked at Liu Yan and asked, “How are you going to go back now? The Reincarnators will still make things difficult for you because of Liu Wenqiang’s death.”

Liu Yan replied, "I have some things to take care of. After leaving this instance, I'll go to another place to handle some matters. Once I'm done, I should be able to resolve the issues arising from Liu Wenqiang's death."

She touched the strap of his watch with her fingertip: "Check it every day at five o'clock in the afternoon. I will put a letter inside. You can also write to me. Anyway, the storage spaces of our watches are connected."

Jiang Jin suddenly grabbed her wrist: "What is it that you have to handle all by yourself? Can't I help you?"

He stroked the wedding ring on the other person's ring finger. After all, they were already husband and wife. Wouldn't it be better to act together?
"There are some things you can't know for now. There are many things about meme contamination that are beyond your imagination, Jiang Jin. Don't worry, one day I will tell you everything, especially what happened with that photo of Jin Lanlan. Remember! Take off your wedding ring when you get back! Don't tell anyone about our relationship! Not even you... not even your brother or your parents! Countless reincarnators want to capture me and bring me back. After all, the number of sorcerers is too small. They may still use you as a breakthrough to find me, and they may even secretly monitor you and your family. If you tell them, it will only be detrimental to them."

Jiang Jin felt a pang of sadness: "Then you must send me a letter on time."

"Will do."

Then, Jiang Jin glanced at Yang Jian beside him and said, "Yang Jian, we will meet again in the future. This time, I have to say goodbye for now."

"Hey, where...where are you going?"

Then, Jiang Jin stared at Liu Yan for a moment, selected "Yes", and disappeared.

At the same time, in Qingtan Residential Area.

A layer of gray mist shrouded the area around Qingtan residential community, like an invisible barrier separating the inside from the outside.

The iron fence of the community was already rusted and covered with dark red vines. The leaves of those vines twitched slightly, as if some living thing was breathing.

Jin Shumei, the priestess and reincarnator of the Bloody Team, and Long Cang, the vice leader and a sorcerer, walked in the community.

Kim Suk-mi, a Korean woman, was wearing a traditional hanbok with densely embroidered symbols on the lapel.

Deputy Regiment Commander Long Cang stretched his neck slightly and turned his head strangely from side to side.

At that moment, he sensed the heavy resentment in the air.

“Many people have died here.” Long Cang’s voice was hoarse, with a distinctive Southeast Asian accent. “The ghosts… are very hungry.”

Long Cang's real name is Cangchai Wongsaiwi, and he is Thai. He and his nephew illegally immigrated to China, where meme pollution is relatively well controlled. To better integrate into the country, they both adopted Chinese names, using the dragon, a Chinese totem, as their surname. He came this time to protect Jin Shumei.

The two arrived at the center of the community. Jin Shumei took out a palm-sized black wooden shrine from the Reincarnator's Watch. The surface of the shrine was carved with dense runes, and there was a faint blood color flowing in them.

She placed the shrine on the ground, bit her fingertip, and dripped a drop of blood onto the top of the shrine.

Blood seeped into the wood grain, and a faint "click" sound came from inside the shrine, as if some kind of mechanism had been triggered.

Then, she placed the broken Wu Qin soul into the shrine.

"With blood as the catalyst, with souls as the sacrifice." Kim Suk-mi formed hand seals and chanted softly, "Tracing back through time, recreating the vanished shadows."

Dark red mist seeped from the cracks in the shrine, spreading across the ground and gradually outlining a blurry scene—it was early this morning when Wu Qin secretly infiltrated the Qingtan residential area, but the image remained unclear.

Cold sweat beaded on Kim Suk-mi's forehead. Her SAN value was slowly decreasing. The scene before her eyes began to distort, and whispers echoed in her ears, like countless ghosts whispering among themselves.

At this moment, Long Cang also made a hand seal and chanted an incantation. Then, a red line appeared around his neck, and then... his entire head actually detached from his body and floated up!

His head spun in the air, watching over Kim Sook-mi below, protecting her! His body, however, remained standing straight, completely unharmed!
"Just...hold on a little longer..." Kim Suk-mi gritted her teeth, trying to make the flashback clearer.

The beads of blood seeping from under her fingernails were floating upwards against gravity.

however--

"boom!"

The shrine suddenly exploded, sending wood chips flying everywhere!
Jin Shumei let out a muffled groan, and a trickle of blood spilled from the corner of her mouth.

Long Cang's head flew to her side in an instant, looking around warily.

"Damn it!" she suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood and said, "I still have to take it back to the Reincarnation Camp to repair it!"

"Failed?" Long Cang frowned.

“No…not a complete failure.” Kim Suk-mi gasped, raising her hand to wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth. “I caught a glimpse of…a soul aura.”

She closed her eyes and focused her mind, recalling the sensation she had just experienced.

Long Cang's head sneered: "How can you find out how Wu Qin died, or get the Soul Refining Jar and the Resentment Crystal with just this little bit of soul aura?"

The Bloody Team only had eight Resentment Shards in total, while Wu Qin alone had four, which was half of the team's total!
Suddenly, Kim Suk-mi saw a man and a woman walking out of an apartment building not far away.

The man wore a gray Taoist robe, with five-emperor coins and a Bagua mirror hanging from his waist; the woman wore a plain white cheongsam, with red string bells tied around her wrists. "Yu Tianlun? Xu Yinqiu?" Jin Shumei narrowed her eyes, stepped forward, and said, "Gentlemen, it's been a long time. Mr. Yu, now that you've left Chenxi, would you consider joining our Bloodstained Team?"

Now Jin Shumei understands why the Chenxi team entered Qingtan Community yesterday—it was for these two people. Although the imperial court prohibits illegal activities within the quarantine zone, everyone knows… it's practically very difficult to supervise and completely prevent them.

The man and woman in front of them were Yu Tianlun, the former leader of the Dawn team, and Xu Yinqiu, the former team doctor of the Dawn team.

Now, this former leader has been demoted due to his reduced strength, and most of his trusted confidants have died. Therefore, he has been expelled from the Dawn Team by his wife, the current leader of the Dawn Team.

“I’m sorry,” Yu Tianlun politely declined, “Thank you for your kind invitation, Miss Jin, but I have already decided to start my own business.”

"My leader has always admired you. Even if you don't join, would you like to visit the Dingyou camp so that our Bloody Team can show you some hospitality?"

Yu Tianlun's pupils suddenly contracted.

Xu Yinqiu, who was standing next to him, immediately pressed down on the brocade pouch at his waist.

“Miss Jin’s ‘Shrine Rewinding Technique’ has improved again.” Yu Tianlun suddenly chuckled, raised the sleeve of his Taoist robe to reveal three talismans inside, “I am now just a Level 3 Shaman, how can I be worthy of being Blood Lord’s guest.”

Jin Shumei stepped forward again, swaying her hips as she did so, and said, "Former Commander Yu, you've got quite the airs, haven't you? Chenxi is always looking to take your life. Only by joining my Bloody Team can we protect you, so don't be ungrateful!"

She deliberately emphasized the word "former" in "former regimental commander".

Xu Yinqiu's bell suddenly rang on its own without any wind.

As her fingers flew across the keyboard, she coldly glanced at the suspended heads of Jin Shumei and Long Cang, ready for battle at any moment.

"Enough!" Long Cang's head suddenly spun 360 degrees. "Everyone has their own ambitions. Since Commander Yu insists on starting his own business, we can't force him. But I want to ask you a question: do you know how the Soul-Seizing Master Wu Qin died?"

If the Morning Light team chased these two into the Qingtan residential area, it's not impossible that Wu Qin's death was related to them.

Yu Tianlun coldly watched the two of them playing good cop and bad cop, protecting Xu Yinqiu behind them, and said, "We two just came out of the horror dungeon and don't know anything about ruthlessness or compassion. You two can do whatever you want here, I won't interfere. But please don't stop us from leaving Qingtan Community and returning to the Samsara Camp."

Long Cang licked his lips with his scarlet tongue and said, "Alright, please go ahead, and have a safe journey."

Outside the window, the fog in Qingtan residential area suddenly thickened. Faint, shrill screams came from downstairs, and the four people tensed up at the same time.

They all knew that in this cursed neighborhood, all sorts of horrors were constantly unfolding...

……

As Yu Tianlun and Xu Yinqiu walked out of the rusted iron gate of Qingtan Community, three camouflage-painted military armored vehicles were parked in the distance, their searchlights casting pale beams of light through the fog.

"Commander Yu!" An officer wearing a tactical vest quickly approached. "Headquarters has sent word that a private residence has been prepared for you at Camp Yihai."

The red string bell on Xu Yinqiu's wrist trembled slightly—these soldiers were not carrying ordinary pistols on their waists, but psionic weapons engraved with runes.

"Lieutenant Chen, you're too kind," Yu Tianlun said with a smile, peeking out from his Taoist robe. "I, Yu Tianlun, will never forget the kindness of the imperial court."

The officer immediately straightened his back and saluted: "You're joking. Commander Yu, back then you led the Dawn Team to fight and prevent the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts from affecting the real world. The officials of the court still often mention it."

"It's nothing to mention, it's all what I should do."

As the armored vehicle's engine roared to life, Yu Tianlun looked out the window through the bulletproof glass.

He knew that the seemingly decorative Bagua patterns on the interior walls of the carriage were actually high-level formations.

“Speaking of which…” the officer casually handed over the tablet computer, “early this morning, an interesting new reincarnator appeared in Qingtan Community. He was a policeman, and he was also sent to Yihai Camp.”

"A police reincarnator? What's so interesting about that?"

"Does Commander Yu know about Liu Yan, the new sorcerer who went missing a few days ago?"

"I know, she's a sorcerer, and a very rare female sorcerer at that."

"I later found out that the policeman was Liu Yan's ex-boyfriend."

"Really? He was also at the Yihai camp?"

After witnessing the power of Gu magic in a terrifying Miao region instance, Yu Tianlun dreamed of recruiting a real Gu master.

Ex-boyfriend? Couples break up and get back together all the time; no one can really say for sure.

Now that he has left Dawn and started his own sect, if he could recruit this sorcerer...

"What's the name of that newly reincarnated person?"

“His name is Jiang Jin, Jiang as in Jiang Ziya, and Jin as in ashes.”

Yu Tianlun smiled immediately.

"Alright! I'll pay him a visit when we get to the Yihai camp!"

　Yu Tianlun is the character who plays the leader of the alliance, driving a Gundam drunk late at night. Everyone, give him a round of applause!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)