I was just fishing, how did I become a Great Old One?

Jianghai City, late at night.

An autumn rain had just stopped, leaving the roads slippery and reflecting the neon lights. A light mist hung in the air, but it didn't seem to come from the sea; rather, it appeared to be seeping from the city's sewers and dark alleyways.

At a secluded bus stop not far from Jianghai University, Jiang Xiaoyu was hunched over, anxiously looking at her watch.

"Why hasn't a car come yet... It's so late, I can't even get a taxi."

She studied too late at the library today and missed the last school bus. She wanted to call her brother, but then she thought he must be very tired from "fishing" these past few days, so she didn't want to bother him.

Just then, two beams of pale white headlights slowly approached from a distance.

It was an old-looking bus, painted black, without a license plate, except for an electronic screen on the top of the front that displayed the bright red "Route 444".

"Route 444? Does Jianghai City have this bus route?"

Jiang Xiaoyu was a little confused, but the wind was too cold at the moment, so she didn't have time to think about it and waved.

"laugh--"

The bus stopped at the station, its air valve emitting a sigh-like sound. The doors slowly opened, and a cold draft blew out of the bus, carrying a smell that resembled burnt plastic and...formaldehyde.

Jiang Xiaoyu hesitated for a moment, but still stepped forward.

The carriage was dark, with the lights flickering on and off. The driver was a man in a uniform and a peaked cap, the brim pulled low so that his face was obscured, only his pale chin was visible.

A few people were scattered on the bus, all with their heads down, motionless and silent.

"Um... Master, shall we go to Yulong Bay?" Jiang Xiaoyu asked.

The driver didn't speak, he just nodded stiffly.

Jiang Xiaoyu found a seat by the window, but felt a little uneasy. The air conditioning in the car was blasting, like being in a freezer.

She had barely sat down when a strong wave of drowsiness washed over her. The drowsiness came on very strangely, as if someone had forcibly closed her eyelids.

"So sleepy..."

Jiang Xiaoyu leaned against the car window, half asleep.

The moment she fell asleep, the atmosphere in the carriage changed.

Those "passengers" who had been looking down all raised their heads at once.

That's not a person.

Some had half their faces rotten, some had empty eye sockets, and some had their tongues sticking out long.

This is a [Ghost Bus] (Class C Anomaly)!

It is a means of transportation connecting the mortal world and the underworld, specifically used to guide lost souls in the dead of night, or... kidnap the living.

"Hehehe... an excellent offering..."

The driver slowly turned his head, revealing a face without features, only a long, vertical mouth.

"Take her back...and offer her to the Lord of the Abyss...that fisherman's sister...hehehe..."

The black fog around the vehicle grew thicker and thicker, and the wheels that were originally driving on the asphalt road gradually became illusory, as if they were about to drive into another space.

……

Meanwhile, a few kilometers away.

"Boom—!!!"

A massive, armored black Unimog off-road truck was speeding down the highway.

Jiang Li held the steering wheel with one hand and a half-eaten hamburger in the other, humming a little tune.

"Today is a good day~ May all your wishes come true~"

In the passenger seat, Big Yellow was leaning against the window, its mouth wide open, its tongue flapping like a propeller, drool flying everywhere.

In the huge refrigerated cabinet at the back of the carriage, there was a batch of "expired seafood" (actually several deep-sea octopuses that died fighting for territory) that Jiang Li had just bought at a low price from the night market, which he planned to take back to make takoyaki.

"I wonder if Xiaoyu is asleep. Why was her phone off when I called earlier?"

Jiang Li glanced at his phone, his brow furrowing slightly. "This girl, is her phone dead?"

He originally planned to visit his sister at school on the way, but the dormitory supervisor said she hadn't returned to her room.

"Where can we go so late at night?"

Just then, Big Yellow suddenly pulled its head back and let out a low growl at the fog in front of it.

"Woof! Woof woof!" (Master! There's something dirty up ahead! It smells off!)

"Um?"

Jiang Li followed Da Huang's gaze.

On the empty road ahead, a black bus was swaying and wobbling along.

The car looked very strange. It was clearly moving, but you couldn't hear the engine, and the wheels didn't touch the ground; it was as if it was floating.

Most importantly, Jiang Li's eyes, which had been "enhanced by the abyss" (although he thought it was just good eyesight), saw Jiang Xiaoyu sleeping soundly by the window through the car window at a glance!

"Holy crap! Those are small fish?!"

Jiang Li nearly crushed the hamburger in her hand.

"Where is she going in this beat-up car so late at night?"

He was about to honk his horn when he noticed the bus suddenly swerve and crash directly into a solid wall on the side of the road!

In Jiang Li's view (filter activated), he saw that the car was about to illegally enter an "unopened tunnel".

That is actually a spiritual rift leading to the "inner world"!

"Damn it! Is this driver drunk? That's a wall! Is he trying to take my sister and commit suicide?!"

Jiang Li instantly flew into a rage.

Road rage erupted on the spot!

"You dare touch my sister? I'll run you over, you bastard!"

Jiang Li suddenly slammed the accelerator to the floor.

"boom--!!!"

Unimog's engine, enhanced by the Abyss Heart, roared like a beast.

This steel behemoth, weighing several tons, resembled an enraged rhinoceros, its front end raised high, blue ghostly flames spewing from its exhaust pipe, as it madly rammed into the ghost bus!

……

On the ghost bus.

The driver was humming a ghostly tune with smug satisfaction, preparing to cross the rift in the spirit world and return to collect his reward.

Suddenly, it sensed a chilling murderous aura coming from behind.

When it looked in the rearview mirror, it was so frightened that its face contorted in horror.

A black, steel behemoth, with golden lightning crackling from its roof (the lingering pressure of the [Pillar of Stars]) and a menacing ram (a safety bar welded by Jiang Li himself) hanging from its front, was hurtling towards them at 180 kilometers per hour with a devastating force!

Inside the driver's seat of the vehicle sat a human with glowing red eyes and a ferocious expression, who was roaring something.

That's...that man! The man who treats the abyss like a cafeteria!

"Run! Run!!!"

The ghosts inside the car all screamed, and the originally eerie and terrifying ghost car instantly turned into chaos.

The driver frantically pressed the accelerator, trying to accelerate into the crevice.

But the Unimog was too fast!

This car has not only undergone mechanical modifications, but also, because it has been parked in the "Thunder Domain" of Villa No. 13 for a long time, its body has long been tempered by the lightning element into a "semi-divine artifact", which has a fatal restraining effect on spirits!

"Die, you bastard!!!"

Jiang Li roared and jerked the steering wheel.

"Bang!!!"

A deafening roar.

The Unimog's heavy safety bar slammed squarely into the rear of the ghost bus.

"Sizzle—Boom!"

Golden lightning erupted instantly, like high-voltage electricity puncturing an insulator.

The ghost bus let out a piercing scream (its entire body structure groaned), and its entire rear end was smashed to pieces, turning into a cloud of black smoke.

The car lost its balance, tumbled several times in the air, and finally crashed heavily into the roadside green belt, breaking several trees.

The newly opened rift in the spirit world was also directly dispersed by this violent energy.

"Squeak—"

Jiang Li slammed on the brakes, and the Unimog came to a smooth stop.

He kicked open the car door, grabbed the steel pipe (the Holy Sword of Physics) he always carried, and charged down with murderous intent.

"Big Yellow! Surround them! Don't let a single one escape!"

"Woof!"

Big Yellow couldn't hold back any longer. He transformed into a streak of light and set up a spacetime barrier around the bus, completely blocking out the group of wandering ghosts.

……

In the green belt, the ghost bus has returned to its original form—a dilapidated, rusty scrapped vehicle with expired talismans pasted on its body.

The vengeful ghost passengers were climbing out of the train windows, some with broken arms, some missing legs (due to damaged souls), all crying and screaming for their parents.

"That's too brutal...that's too brutal..."

"Is this a human or a ghost? How come it's even fiercer than us?"

As soon as they crawled out, they saw a pair of big feet wearing flip-flops stopped in front of them.

Looking up from the legs, you see Jiang Li's face, which looks particularly sinister under the car headlights.

"Run? Where to run?"

Jiang Li weighed the steel pipe in his hand, his tone icy.

"Unlicensed driving, illegal operation, and even human trafficking? What kind of illegal taxi gang are you?"

In his eyes, these vengeful ghosts, missing limbs and other limbs, were just a group of human traffickers who had been crippled.

"Big...Big Brother! It's a misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding!"

The faceless driver crawled over shakily, trying to explain.

"You've got a misunderstanding, my foot!"

Jiang Li struck it on the head with a steel pipe.

"Snapped!"

The driver's ghostly body was almost shattered, and a piece of his head was dented in.

"Where did that energy you had when you slammed your head against the wall? Weren't you pretty arrogant? Trying to take my sister down with you?"

Jiang Li grew angrier the more she thought about it, and ended up giving the driver a good beating.

"I'll teach you to drive an unlicensed taxi! I'll teach you to not watch where you're going! I'll teach you to traffic female college students!"

Each strike carried the power of the [Spirit Shattering] rule.

The driver was beaten until he screamed and howled, all his resentment was beaten away, and he finally shrank into a ball, only the size of a palm, trembling.

The other vengeful ghosts, witnessing this scene, were terrified and tried to scatter and flee.

"Woof!"

Big Yellow stood guard nearby, opened its big mouth, and swallowed the fastest ones one by one.

"Don't eat it all! Leave some alive!"

Jiang Li exclaimed, "We still need to find out who's behind this!"

He walked to the side of the carriage and looked inside.

Jiang Xiaoyu was lying on the seat, still fast asleep, and even turned over, seemingly unaffected by the car accident.

This was also thanks to the [Abyss Protection] that Jiang Li left on her, which formed a protective shield at the moment of impact, preventing her from losing even a single hair.

"This girl has a really big heart."

Jiang Li breathed a sigh of relief, took his younger sister out, and put her in his car.

Then, he turned around, looked at the group of monsters on the ground who were beaten half to death, and took out the [Screaming Magic Pot] from his pocket (which he now carries with him as a storage container).

"Get inside, all of you!"

Jiang Li opened the jar lid. "Go inside and reflect on your actions! Anyone who dares to come out, I'll feed them to the dogs!"

The vengeful ghosts looked at the jar that reeked of pickled cabbage and echoed with the screams of their kind. Although they were extremely unwilling, seeing Big Yellow drooling beside them and Jiang Li carrying a steel pipe, they could only turn into black smoke with tears in their eyes and enter the jar.

"That's more like it."

Jiang Li put the lid on and shook it. "I'll add some seasoning to the pickled cowpeas when I get back. I heard that pickled vegetables taste better in environments with heavy yin energy."

……

After dealing with these unlicensed taxi drivers, Jiang Li was about to get into his car and go home.

Suddenly, a sinister laugh came from the manhole cover next to them.

"Hehehe... Indeed impressive."

"No wonder he's the one who made even the bishop suffer a crushing defeat."

The manhole cover was slowly moved away.

A figure covered in mud and emitting a foul stench crawled out.

It's that man with the bird-beak mask—Crow!

However, at this moment, he was holding a still-beating black heart in his hand, and surrounded by several blood crows formed from filthy blood.

Bloodborne Raven (C+ Rank)

He did not run away as he had last time, because this time he brought with him the gift of the Lord.

"Jiang Li, you have disrupted the sacrificial ceremony and dishonored the gods. Today is your death day!"

The raven held its heart aloft, its eyes gleaming with madness. "Come forth! From the abyss..."

"Bang!"

A gunshot rang out.

Before the crow could finish speaking, a hole appeared in its head.

He stared blankly ahead.

Jiang Li was holding an exaggerated silver pistol with smoke still coming from the muzzle (a psionic burst gun he had gotten from Fatty Wang, which he thought was a toy made from a lighter).

"You talk too much nonsense."

Jiang Li blew on the muzzle of the gun. "In the middle of the night, instead of sleeping, you crawl out of the sewer to scare people? Don't you know I have a bad temper when I wake up?"

"You... lack martial ethics..."

The crow swayed and then fell into the sewer with a thud.

The black heart rolled out of his hand.

Jiang Li walked over and picked up the heart.

"Huh? This is pig's heart? Why is it black? It's spoiled!"

He squeezed it. "It feels pretty bouncy. Oh well, I'll take it back for Big Yellow to kick around with."

rhubarb:"……"

Master, that's the Heart of Corruption! It's a highly poisonous substance that can contaminate an entire water source!

Oh well, I'm immune to all poisons anyway, so let them kick me.

Jiang Li tossed the heart to Da Huang, got into the car, and started the engine.

"Go home! Go to sleep!"

The Unimog roared away, leaving behind a scene of devastation and crows lying dead in the sewers, their eyes wide open in dismay.

And shortly after Jiang Li left.

The black water gushed out of that sewer opening once again.

A giant eye emerged from the water, staring intently at the taillights of the departing car.

"Good...very good..."

"You not only destroyed my ritual, but you also killed my messenger..."

"Since you refuse to submit, then... destroy me."

"The gates of the abyss are about to open... This time, I will descend upon it myself!"

As the sound faded, the black water receded.

But in a corner of Jianghai City, subtle cracks began to appear in the space.

That's... a sign that a large restricted area of ​​Grade B or higher is about to form!