The wedding was livestreamed by the sister, revealing his identity as a Taoist priest.

Lin Xue quickly swiped her finger across the tablet, projecting several photos onto the large screen.

It was a dark underground pit.

At the bottom of the pit, a three-meter-tall black stone Buddha statue is half-buried.

The Buddha statue is crudely carved, and its facial features are extremely bizarre.

His lips parted into an inhuman arc, as if he were laughing wildly.

Most alarmingly, the Buddha statue's eyes were not closed, but stared intently at the camera.

"What is this?"

Zhao Yue's brows furrowed into a tight knot.

Lin Xue cut out another set of photos.

"This was the first construction team to discover the cavity."

Lin Xue's voice was strained.

There were eight people in total.

Several corpses appeared on the screen.

The manner of their death was extremely gruesome.

The first corpse had its hands tightly gripping its own neck, its nails digging into its flesh, and its eyeballs bulging out.

The second corpse had its skin torn off, revealing a bloody mess of flesh, but its mouth still held the same maniacal laugh as the Buddha statue.

The third corpse was twisted into a pretzel shape, with its bones broken into pieces.

"What about those who didn't die?"

Qin Yuan stared at the screen, his eyes filled with malice.

"Three of them went mad."

Lin Xue cut out a video.

In the video, three workers wearing reflective vests are strapped to a hospital bed with restraints.

They didn't struggle; they just stared blankly at the ceiling, frantically repeating the same sentence.

"Buddha smiled... Buddha smiled..."

The meeting room was so quiet you could hear the air conditioning running.

"Energy Detection Report"

Lin Xue pulled up a data curve.

"The detector detected high-frequency energy fluctuations near the cavity, and the preliminary assessment is Class A."

Another Grade A!

Tonight, Jiangcheng has become a bizarre carnival.

On the other end of the screen, Zhou Ce's face darkened.

"Are you sure this was done by the Nine Infants lineage?"

"It doesn't look like it."

Qin Yuan shook his head.

"The Nine Infants lineage cultivates blood pythons and ghosts, following a sinister path. This Buddha statue exudes an evil will, like a product of some distorted faith."

"No matter who it is."

Zhao Yue grabbed the tactical helmet from the table.

"A-grade energy, with such heavy casualties, we can't just leave it unattended."

Qin Yuan looked at Lin Xue.

"Is the situation under control?"

"The local police have evacuated residents within a three-kilometer radius under the pretext of a gas leak, and a cordon has been set up around the perimeter. Two combat teams from the branch office are already in position."

"Walk."

Qin Yuan turned and walked out.

"Let's go and meet this smiling Buddha."

Zhou Ce called out to him from the screen.

"Old Qin, be careful. If you can't hold out, retreat immediately. The special operations team is already on its way."

Qin Yuan didn't turn around, waved his hand, and strode out of the conference room.

……

Jiangcheng International Airport.

Six o'clock in the morning.

As dawn broke, there were already quite a few passengers on early morning flights in the airport terminal.

Terminal.

Several young people pushing suitcases were scrolling through their phones, discussing the two sacred artifacts of Taoism that had been trending on social media last night.

Suddenly, the automatic doors of the arrival gate slid open to both sides.

A gust of cold wind rushed out of the passage.

Everyone instinctively turned their heads to look at the exit of the passage.

A dark red hue came into view.

Fifty people.

They were all wearing dark red Taoist robes.

Two crossed short swords were embroidered in black thread on the collar and cuffs.

Each person carried two sheathed longswords on their back.

Their steps were synchronized, and they landed silently.

The leader was an elderly man with only one arm.

He walked at the very front, his murderous aura almost solidifying into a tangible form.

Passengers along the way, whether they were on the phone or drinking coffee, were all frozen in place.

Some people unconsciously stepped back, making way for a wide passage.

"Gulp."

A boy wearing a baseball cap swallowed hard, completely unaware that coffee had spilled onto his shoes.

"Who...who is this person?"

A girl next to him frantically pulled out her phone, wanting to take a picture.

But when the camera focused on the one-armed old man, the old man's single eye suddenly glanced at him sideways.

They were about ten meters apart.

The girl felt a sudden jolt in her heart, as if it were being gripped by an icy hand.

The phone fell to the ground with a "thud".

Her face was deathly pale, and she was panting heavily, not even having the courage to pick up her phone.

Fifty Taoist priests in dark red robes walked through the airport terminal without looking to either side.

Until they walked out the door and disappeared from sight.

The temperature in the hall seemed to slowly rise.

"Holy crap..."

I don't know who spoke first.

Immediately afterwards, the entire hall erupted in chaos.

"He's a Taoist priest! He's definitely a Taoist priest!"

"Are you blind! The Taoist priest who delivered the betrothal gifts yesterday was dressed in dark blue and black, with gold and silver embroidery! He looked like a celestial being!"

"Yes, yes, yes! Yesterday it was like gods descending to earth, but today these people... these people look like they've come to wipe out an entire family!"

"It was terrifying. The old man who was leading the group just glanced at me, and I felt like I was half dead."

"Quick, check Weibo! Someone took pictures of it outside!"

Online, the trending topics list was once again ignited.

The list, which was originally dominated by "Chen Shidu", "Double Sacred Artifacts" and "Immortal Betrothal Gifts", suddenly had a new entry appear.

[#Red-Clad Taoist Priest at Jiangcheng Airport#]

Clicking on it leads to a ten-second video.

The video was taken from the taxi waiting area outside the airport.

Fifty Taoist priests in red robes lined up and boarded a row of black buses that had been waiting for a long time.

The movements were clean and efficient, without a single wasted word.

The comment section was refreshing like crazy.

[The colors of the clothes, the scale of the event—it's completely different from yesterday!]

[A heads-up: In Taoism, red robes are not worn lightly. They are either worn for grand rituals or... for bloody killings.]

[Don't scare me, upstairs! These people are carrying two swords; they don't look like they're here to perform a ritual at all!]

The betrothal gifts had just left, and these killing machines have already arrived? What on earth is happening in Jiangcheng?

Is it possible that the people who delivered the betrothal gifts yesterday and the group of people today are in cahoots?

As soon as this comment was posted, a long thread of replies immediately appeared below it.

[This is terrifying to think about!]

[The betrothal gifts have been given; are they clearing the area now?]

Something big is about to happen in Jiangcheng!

……

On the bus.

Lu Chen sat in the first row.

He pulled out his old Nokia phone and glanced at a text message he had just received on the screen.

The message consisted of only one line: an address and four words.

[A hidden Buddha statue was unearthed in the western suburbs of Jiangcheng.]

Lu Chen put away his phone.

"Change course."

Lu Chen's voice was hoarse, like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together.

"Go to the western suburbs new district."

The forty-nine disciples sitting in the back opened their eyes at the same time.

Forty-nine streams of murderous intent exploded within the carriage.

"Chief, weren't we supposed to be investigating the Nine-Headed Serpent lineage?"

A disciple asked.

"The Celestial Master said that in the Jiangcheng area, not a single evil spirit tainted by Yin energy will be spared."

Lu Chen touched the hilt of the sword on his back.

"Let's take this Buddha statue first and use it to consecrate the sword."

……

Construction site of the new district in the western suburbs of Jiangcheng.

Qin Yuan and Zhao Yue's car was parked outside the police cordon.

The two got out of the car.

Ahead lay a huge construction site, with excavators and bulldozers parked in place.

Inside the cordon, more than a dozen fully armed Tian Shu field agents were busily setting up equipment.

"Team Leader Qin."

An agent ran over quickly and saluted.

"The energy fluctuations are still increasing! They're approaching the A+ threshold!"