The comments said I was deeply affectionate, I just added points by using an alternate account.

"Why bother with all that fancy stuff when dealing with this kind of iron lump?"

He walked up to the metal manhole cover, his chest heaving, and the muscles in his arms bulged dramatically, veins bulging beneath his skin.

"I'll open the door for it."

He bent down, gripping the almost non-existent edge of the manhole cover tightly with both hands, gathering all his strength into his arms.

"Get up!"

With a low growl, the veins on his arm bulged as if they were about to burst.

A piercing metallic creaking sound rang out, followed by a loud crack.

The massive alloy manhole cover, weighing several tons and seamlessly integrated with the ground, was forcefully lifted off the ground by him and crashed into the wall in the distance with a loud bang, leaving a deep dent.

A bottomless, pitch-black passage appeared beneath their feet.

A chilling smell of rotting earth rose from the passageway.

The four exchanged glances, and An Changqing nodded first. Then, the group walked down the stone steps inside the passage one by one.

The spiraling stairs seemed endless; after an unknown amount of time, a bright and open space suddenly appeared before me.

The sight before them made everyone stop in their tracks.

The slaughterhouse's underground had been completely hollowed out, revealing a magnificent, breathtaking underground temple.

Countless massive stone pillars, carved with bizarre reliefs, support the towering dome, and the entire space is filled with an ancient and eerie atmosphere.

"What a grand gesture."

Long Ao couldn't help but exclaim, "There's such a strange place hidden underground in Taipei!"

"This doesn't look like it was unearthed later." Su Yuehe looked around, her brows furrowed. "Look at the weathering of these stone pillars and the architectural style. This is more like an ancient site that has existed for a long time, only to be discovered and utilized by Yue Teng."

Chen Guan did not speak; his gaze fell on the huge murals on the walls on both sides of the temple.

The moment Chen Guan saw the style of those murals, that familiar chill rose in his heart once again.

[Here it comes! The Void Lord's exclusive art gallery.]

[This art style is... well, let's just say it's not very good.]

[Coffin Bro is home again.]

Just then, An Changqing's gaze was drawn to the largest mural directly in front of him.

The mural depicts a giant beast curled up in a deep sleep, its body also entwined with countless eerie black lines.

Under his gaze, the tightly closed eyelids of the giant beast in the mural twitched slightly.

An Changqing remained where he was.

The scabbard of the sword he was holding trembled slightly.

Did you see that?

An Changqing turned his head and asked his teammate next to him.

Long Ao tilted his head and leaned closer to the mural.

"What do you see?"

"These paintings have come back to life."

Su Yuehe shook her head: "No, no, it's just a static stone carving."

An Changqing looked away: "It just opened its eyes."

His finger pointed to the location of the giant beast's pupil.

The lines there were indeed somewhat unusual; a thin crack had appeared on the edge of the eyelid that was originally closed.

Chen Guan stood at the very back, looking at the mural, where the black lines were slowly shrinking.

A painting that's still alive?

This wasn't the first time Chen Guan had seen such a painting; a few months earlier, someone had given him a painting depicting a living person.

Could it be related to her?

Chen Guan noted this down. Unfortunately, he didn't have the contact information for the three agencies. In the organization, only his scoundrel superior, Bai Hu, was somewhat familiar with him.

Oh right, if I had to say, I'd also have to include the unaware Suzaku.

Su Yuehe pointed to the huge mural, and An Changqing also walked up to the mural.

He kept his distance and did not reach out to touch her.

"It did move slightly in the corridor just now," An Changqing confirmed. "But now it looks like it's back to normal."

Long Ao stared at the stone carving: "Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

He pointed to the rough stone surface: "This is just ordinary stone."

After saying that, Long Ao threw a punch at the mural. The sound of wind blew as his fist struck the stone wall.

However, surprisingly, there was no sound of impact.

Not even a speck of dust fell.

The moment Long Ao's fist touched the stone wall, it was sucked in by some kind of force.

The black stone carvings trembled slightly as they blocked the attack and absorbed its force.

"What's going on?"

Long Ao withdrew his hand, looking surprised. He gathered his spiritual power again and threw another punch.

The force was greater than before.

But the result remained the same.

The painting remains unchanged.

Yue Teng's laughter echoed all around.

The sound was somewhat harsh.

"Everyone, don't waste your energy." Yue Teng's voice echoed above the factory: "These works cannot be destroyed by fists."

"This is a gift from the Great Sovereign."

Long Ao shouted towards the source of the sound.

"You coward, come out here if you dare, stop talking on the radio."

Yue Teng did not respond to the provocation. The stone pillars began to make noise, objects rubbed against the floor, and the entire underground space vibrated.

"The stone pillar is moving."

An Changqing noticed this as he observed the patterns on the ground: "They are building a maze."

He said to the people behind him, "Everyone, move closer together."

The stone pillars moved extremely fast, weaving among the group, casting huge shadows overhead.

The group was separated by stone pillars. Long Ao looked at the stone pillars blocking his way and tried to punch them to break through the barrier. Before he could finish the movement, the lines of the mural detached from the wall and black energy spread outwards.

Three towering monsters emerged from the painting, exuding a stench of decay. They raised their deformed arms and lunged at Long Ao.

Long Ao could only turn around to deal with it. He smashed the monster's chest with a punch, and the black energy scattered and then gathered in the air.

"It's that kind of unkillable thing."

Long Ao cursed, but he could only continue his attack because he couldn't cut off the black energy controlling the monsters like Chen Guan could.

An Changqing was moved to another open space, with Su Yuehe beside him.

Several villagers appeared before them. These villagers had empty eyes and walked towards An Changqing, waving rust-making tools in their hands.

An Changqing gripped the hilt of the sword, but did not draw it.

These people are living, breathing people, unlike the black-qi monsters that Long Ao encountered; they are essentially just ordinary people.

"Don't hurt them."

An Changqing said to Su Yuehe, "They are being controlled."

Su Yuehe nodded and extended her right hand: "I can restrict their movements."

An Changqing dodged the villagers' attacks and used his sword sheath to parry one of their arms.

"We need to find the source of the control."

An Changqing lowered his voice: "Yue Teng's voice just now came from above."

"The underground space is huge; we have to break through these defenses."

Su Yuehe used the power of order to create a slowing zone, which slowed down the movements of the controlled villagers, who were still moving toward this side.