This entry is suspicious.

Thirty minutes later.

News of the terrorist attack in Qinghe City spread rapidly across major media platforms in the Tianhuan Federation.

Today is the annual National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao). Although public attention to the Gaokao has gradually declined in recent years, a large number of netizens are still on the front lines of online discussions. With the help of these people, the news quickly spread through short video platforms, chat groups, forums and other channels, and became a trending topic on the entire internet in less than an hour.

Subsequently, media platforms from multiple countries, including the Immortal Martial Empire, Thousand Islands, Nanfeng, and Free Port, reported on the matter.

A storm of public opinion has swept across the internet, and it is foreseeable that it will continue for a long time.

……

In the hospital ward, Song Ci slowly woke up.

She stared at the unfamiliar ceiling, blinked slowly, and her consciousness returned like a tide, her senses returning.

There was no weakness, pain, or discomfort; the body's energy and blood were abundant, and the injury had completely disappeared.

The severed right arm has also fully recovered.

"I survived?"

The last memory flashed through Song Ci's mind.

She forcefully used her unskilled explosive power, sacrificing her right arm to blast apart a monster whose head was split open like a flower of blood and flesh.

Then everything went black, and she lost consciousness.

When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in this hospital room.

"You're awake. The sex reassignment surgery was successful. You're a girl now."

A familiar voice came from the side, lazy and with a hint of smug mockery.

Song Ci rolled her eyes at Zhou Ran: "I am a girl, okay?"

"Here you go." Zhou Ran used a fork to pick up a piece of cut apple and fed it to her.

Song Ci chewed on an apple and asked indistinctly, "Did you save me?"

"Ming Shu and I will split it 50/50." Zhou Ran forked another piece of apple and put it in his mouth.

If he hadn't carried Song Ci away, Song Ci would have been killed by the wandering monster before Ming Shu could send a distress signal.

"What about Ming Shu? How is she?" Song Ci asked.

It's going to work right now.

Zhou Ran pointed to her right eye with her fork and sighed sincerely, "I didn't realize she was so ruthless. To get rid of the eerie presence, she actually gouged out her own eye."

He gouged out his own eyes... Song Ci was stunned, unable to imagine what Ming Shu had gone through to make such a crazy choice.

"How are you?" she asked again.

"They are all internal injuries. They will be fine after a few days of treatment and rest."

"You killed that sorcerer?"

"Strictly speaking, I didn't kill him; he died from a bizarre resurrection."

Zhou Ran explained the incident to Song Ci.

The response department and the counter-terrorism department had already questioned and investigated him, so he could repeat the same story with ease.

According to his description, the nameless man was already in poor condition, which is why he was able to hold his own against him with his cultivation at the Enlightenment stage. However, as the battle progressed, the strange energy within the nameless man's body began to resurface out of control, forcing him to release the [Long Journey] spell to buy time.

But it was all in vain. The nameless man's bizarre resurgence was unavoidable, and he eventually died. The two bizarre creatures within his body merged, giving birth to a brand new bizarre creature, the Nightmare.

The Nightmare uses mirrors to replicate itself, increasing its terror and disrupting the balance of eerie forces, thus breaking through the spatial blockade of the [Long Road] and reviving this forbidden object.

He then took advantage of the bizarre confrontation to escape from the monitoring room.

The security cameras inside the haunted house had already been covered up and modified by the nameless man using strange powers, and the battle that later took place in the monitoring room completely destroyed the monitoring system.

Without surveillance, he, as the person involved, can say whatever he wants, as long as the logic is sound.

After listening to Zhou Ran's description, Song Ci seemed to be processing the information, and remained silent for a while before speaking: "You are incredibly lucky to have survived."

"I'm not the only lucky one, it's the three of us."

Zhou Ran sighed: "You probably don't know, but all the tourists who entered the haunted house after nine o'clock died, about 130 of them. In the end, not a single staff member was left. Only the three of us survived."

The guy who initially decided to give a five-star review is gone too.

More than a hundred families lost their loved ones just like that, and this was only the appetizer of the terrorist attack. If no one had stopped the anonymous perpetrator, who knows how this incident would have turned out.

I'm afraid tens of thousands of people will really die.

Demonic elements... no wonder everyone wants to kill them!

Thinking of this, Zhou Ran couldn't help but feel a little doubtful.

He killed the nameless man, saving countless lives, yet the Book of Fate only granted him two chances to draw a prize.

In other words, he only resolved two bloody incidents, corresponding to the death calamities that befell Ming Shu and Song Ci respectively.

Logically speaking, the group of tourists about to enter the haunted house should also have the "Death Tribulation" entry on them. Since I prevented their deaths, I should be qualified to draw the corresponding entry.

However, the Book of Fate did not include them.

Zhou Ran repeatedly pondered the logic: "Does the Book of Fate seem to have a certain range of judgment, and must it be connected to me in some way?"

When they first encountered the Stoppers in that alley, all three thugs had blood-red entries appearing on their bodies. They had met a few times before and had some kind of relationship.

Later at the Mingzhu Hotel, Fang Beichen, Li Feng, and others were teammates, needless to say.

And then this time...

"So, people I've never met, or those with whom I haven't yet developed a relationship, are not within the scope of the Book of Fate's judgment?"

Zhou Ran could only make this guess for now.

"What are you thinking about?" Song Ci asked, noticing his thoughtful expression.

"I was thinking about an organization that the anonymous person mentioned called the Cult of God. Have you heard of it?" Zhou Ran asked casually.

Song Ci thought for a moment and shook her head: "Never heard of it. It might be some kind of demonic sect. Why don't you go ask Uncle Wei?"

Zhou Ran had only given Song Ci a perfunctory answer, but after hearing what Song Ci said, he became interested in asking her for advice.

The cult... this organization seemed very unusual to him.

Because the Nameless One possesses too many supernatural entities, and the supernatural entities he controls and the forbidden items he owns are all carefully combined.

When encountering an enemy that cannot be defeated, activate the "Long Road" to create an abnormal space, trapping the person. Then, use the bizarre ability to hack into electronic devices and block magical fluctuations to prevent the trapped person from even sending out a distress signal, leaving them helpless and desperate.

However, the nameless person can use the mirror's strange ability to travel through the mirror's surface to escape directly from the room and come and go freely.

They can even call in reinforcements for a group fight.

This combination of techniques is truly the most insidious of all.

In the monitoring room, Zhou Ran originally intended to use the "Lucky Hand" to steal the "Long Road" directly, but after seeing the nameless man take out the mirror, he gave up the idea.

Because he feared that the Nameless One might react violently and use the mirror to travel and cause trouble for Song Ci and Ming Shu, he chose to use the Exquisite Heart to cause the Nameless One to fall into a bizarre resurrection, thus completely severing his ability to control the bizarre.

Only he, possessing the Book of Fate, could have two ways to break the deadlock. Those without the ability to break the deadlock would likely only be able to watch helplessly as they were slowly dragged down to their deaths.

Zhou Ran would never believe that no one helped the Nameless Man with his matching abilities. There are all sorts of strange abilities, so how could the Nameless Man have such a high degree of matching?

Furthermore, the eerie creatures released by the anonymous person in the haunted house all possessed the ability to split and replicate, clearly indicating that they were carefully selected.

All signs indicate that the force behind the nameless man is no ordinary demonic organization.

……

Wei Si is dealing with a strange incident outside and can't get away for the time being, so he doesn't have time to come over.

Zhou Ran thought for a moment, then edited a short message and sent it over, saying that he had some questions he wanted to ask, but it was inconvenient to discuss them over the phone, and it would be best to talk in person.

After sending the text message, he turned his attention to something else.

—It's time for the lucky draw!

Following her usual routine, Zhou Ran first went back to her ward to take a shower, changed into clean clothes, and then lit an incense stick and placed it on her bedside table.

Bathing, changing clothes, burning incense... there are mystical powers in this world, so the rituals should be elaborated upon, because they might actually work.

After completing the entire process, Zhou Ran lay down on the bed, closed his eyes, clasped his hands together in his mind, rubbed them together like a fly, and activated the lottery of the Book of Fate with great anticipation.

A flash of light.

Two brand-new entries appeared before my eyes.

[Speed: Speed ​​increased three times, but strength reduced three times.]

[Spell Critical Strike: Your spells deal double damage, but your mana cost is doubled.]

"Hmm... are 'powerful' and 'fast' from the same series of terms?"

Zhou Ran pondered. The "Strength" attribute increases strength by three times and decreases speed by three times, while "Rapid" is the opposite, increasing speed and decreasing strength. Could there be other attributes that increase defense but decrease attack, or increase attack but decrease defense?

This series is quite interesting; I wonder if there are any other series.

He then looked at the second entry.

[Spell Critical Strike]

"This entry is also good. It doubles the power of spells and magical abilities, and the damage is higher. As for doubling the mana consumption, that's not a problem. You can directly connect an external spiritual energy reactor, so it's not a big issue."

In conclusion, Zhou Ran was quite satisfied with both of these attributes; one improved mobility, and the other enhanced output, both of which would be of great help in future battles.

He immediately looked at the personal information on the Book of Fate.

[Already possessed the following attributes: Exquisite Heart, Eye of Truth, Might, Speed, Reverse Scale, Blissful Pain, Six Desires Demon Arm, Wealth-Attracting Hand, Spell Critical Strike]

[Life Line: 87]

There are already nine entries. With a little more effort, I can accumulate 13 more life runes, and then the next entry will appear!

……

Two hours later.

Wei Si arrived at Zhou Ran's hospital room.

"Uncle Wei, how's the situation?" Zhou Ran greeted him familiarly, and the way he addressed him naturally changed from Captain Wei to Uncle Wei.

"All the strange occurrences that had infiltrated the city have been resolved, the situation has calmed down, and follow-up investigations are underway."

Wei Si found a chair and sat down, looking at Zhou Ran: "What's the problem?"

Zhou Ran considered for a moment and said, "It's like this, the strange creatures that the nameless man controls and the forbidden objects he possesses are all carefully matched. He mentioned that he is a member of the cult, so I want to learn about this cult. They seem to know a lot about strange creatures."

Wei Si suddenly fell into a long silence. He didn't speak, but just stared at Zhou Ran quietly, his gaze deep, as if he was weighing something.

Zhou Ran felt a little uneasy under his gaze and couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Could it be that Uncle Wei has a grudge against the Divine Cult? No, that can't be right. I didn't hide this from him. Uncle Wei should have known about it from the intelligence already."

After a long silence, Wei Si finally spoke, but he only let out a helpless sigh.

"I didn't want to tell you this. As a high school student, your main task should be to cultivate your skills properly. Besides, you're still young and shouldn't be involved in these things. But you always seem to run into them. Maybe it's fate."

"You keep running into them?" Zhou Ran was taken aback.

"The human skin-like monster you encountered a while ago was created by members of the Divine Cult. Going back further, in the Pearl Hotel incident, the monster in the hands of the Celestial Selection Organization was also provided by the Divine Cult."

Wei Si's words left Zhou Ran somewhat bewildered. He had unknowingly come into contact with the cult so many times.

"I've reviewed the information about this haunted house incident. The anonymous person wasn't lying about some things."

After a moment of contemplation, Wei Si solemnly said, "The Lord of the Other Shore is not a fictional evil god created by the demonic path, but a real threat. You can consider it as... the source of the strangeness."

A bizarre... root cause...

Zhou Ran was stunned for a while before he could process the news. Then he heard Wei Si continue, "It's not just the federal government. The governments of all countries, including the Immortal Martial Empire and Thousand Islands, have jointly concealed the existence of the Lord of the Other Shore. This is not to enslave the people, nor to cover up anything shameful. It's because if this news were made public, it would trigger uncontrollable consequences."

Wei Si's expression and tone grew increasingly serious: "The more people know about the Lord of the Other Shore, the clearer its perception of this world becomes."

"What exactly happened during the cataclysmic upheaval six hundred years ago is unknown to later generations, but what is certain is that the Lord of the Other Shore also participated in that great battle, and it successfully invaded our world. The various strange occurrences we see today are the best proof of that."

"The long period later known as the Dark Hundred Years was born from its influence. For a full hundred years, chaos and disorder shrouded the land, eeriness roamed freely, and humanity lived in endless fear, like frightened birds."

"It wasn't until later, when someone severed the connection between the Lord of the Other Shore and this world, that the hundred years of darkness were finally ended, allowing humanity to develop anew."

"But that person is not recorded in history. No one knows who he is, there is no statue, no tombstone, not even a single word left behind, as if he was deliberately erased from everyone's memory."

Zhou Ran opened her mouth unconsciously, completely stunned.

"And the cult of gods..." Wei Si's tone suddenly turned cold, "...is that group of traitors who worshipped the Lord of the Other Shore during the dark hundred years!"