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

Jiangcheng CBD, Shen's Group headquarters building.

Shen Xingzhou had been sitting in his office for two hours.

The table was covered with blueprints; the site planning scheme for the Jianglan International Culture Museum was entering its final stage.

He took a red pen and drew a circle around the location in the main exhibition hall.

"The Seven-Star Dharma Lamp is placed here, in the center, in its own display case, with a circular visitor flow..."

He muttered to himself while drawing arrows, his eyes full of excitement.

"Bang!"

The office door was suddenly pushed open.

Secretary Xiao Zhou rushed in, her face ashen.

"President Shen!"

Shen Xingzhou didn't raise his head.

"What's the rush? Is the sky falling?"

"almost."

Shen Xingzhou paused, then looked up.

Xiao Zhou handed over the tablet computer, his fingers trembling.

"Our stock price dropped seven points within fifteen minutes of the market opening this morning."

Shen Xingzhou took the tablet from him.

The green candlestick chart plummeted like a waterfall.

"Who?"

"At the same time, three very large short orders were placed from the Hong Kong Island market, plus the mainland market, meaning at least four channels were simultaneously selling our circulating shares."

Xiao Zhou turned to the next page.

"It's not just the stock price; this morning, the bank unilaterally withdrew its 200 million HKD bridge loan from our Hong Kong Island financing. They just took it away without warning."

Shen Xingzhou narrowed his eyes.

"Anything else?"

"Jiangcheng Port detained two batches of our imported equipment. Customs said there were flaws in the procedures, but the legal department just approved those procedures last month, so there couldn't be any problems."

Xiao Zhou swallowed.

"All three upstream supply chains have been disrupted. This morning, raw material suppliers collectively notified us to suspend supply, citing internal adjustments as the reason."

Shen Xingzhou slammed the tablet on the table.

"Multiple lines of action were employed simultaneously, indicating an organized and premeditated operation."

He stood up, the smile completely gone from his eyes.

"Who has such audacity?"

"I checked."

Xiao Zhou wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"The funds have been linked to three layers, and a large portion of the short-selling forces... are from the Qi family."

"The Qi family?"

Shen Xingzhou paused for a second, then sneered.

"Has Qi Zhen gone mad? An attack of this scale will cause him to bleed profusely; is this going to result in a lose-lose situation?"

He paced back and forth a couple of times.

"No, Qi Zhen has been in business for forty years. He's not a gambler. He won't fight a battle he's not sure he can win."

Shen Xingzhou turned around and stared at Xiao Zhou.

"What on earth happened? What grudge or grudge could make him go so far as to injure himself by eight hundred to hurt me by a thousand?"

Xiao Zhou's lips moved slightly.

"Mr. Shen, I've had someone inquire..."

"explain."

"Young Master Qi, Qi Liancheng."

Xiao Zhou's voice was very low.

"He's dead."

Shen Xingzhou froze.

"How did he die?"

"Struck by lightning on the ring road."

Xiao Zhou glanced at him.

"A clear day, a bolt of lightning."

The office was silent for three seconds.

Shen Xingzhou slowly sat back down in his chair.

Then he tilted his head back, looked at the ceiling, and let out a very complex laugh.

"Holy crap."

He rubbed his face.

"Is my brother-in-law... really that awesome?"

Xiao Zhou stood there, not daring to respond.

Shen Xingzhou's mind was racing.

At the tasting event, Qi Liancheng openly provoked people; the gray-robed Taoist's sinister aura, the Nine-Headed Serpent Soul-Devouring Mirror nearly injuring someone, and Qi Liancheng's extremely gloomy face when the third betrothal gift was delivered...

Then, a sudden thunderstorm.

Qiliancheng is dead.

He recalled the eight words his brother-in-law had spoken when the disciples delivered the first betrothal gift.

"Whether I wait or not, the light remains."

Then I remembered the third betrothal gift: the Xuan Tian Dang Mo Stele, which had suppressed evil spirits for six hundred years.

Chen Shidu.

Shen Xingzhou took a deep breath.

"Xiao Zhou, cancel all meetings today."

"Mr. Shen?"

I'm going home.

Shen Xingzhou had already grabbed his coat and headed for the door.

"I need to discuss this with my sister."

He opened the door, then turned back.

"Also, notify the finance and legal departments to be on standby. The Shen family has deep pockets; Qi Zhen can't crush us with money."

"But the root of the problem isn't money."

Shen Xingzhou's gaze darkened.

"It depends on people."

At the same time.

Anping City.

Located 120 kilometers southwest of Jiangcheng, it is a third-tier city with a population of less than 800,000.

The old residential area in the east of the city was built in the 1990s. Most of the tiles on the exterior walls have fallen off, revealing the gray cement underneath.

It's 11 p.m.

Xiao Wang dragged his feet into the apartment building. He had been working overtime until now, and his back was about to break.

The elevator has been broken for three months and no one has fixed it.

He lives on the sixth floor.

As I climbed step by step, the motion-activated lights in the stairwell flickered on and off.

When I reached the corner on the third floor, the lights went out.

"Smack."

Xiao Wang slapped the wall.

The light is off.

"Slap, slap."

"I'll take this damn light apart sooner or later!"

I gritted my teeth, took out my phone, and turned on the flashlight.

The beam of light swept across the stairwell, but nothing seemed amiss.

It's just...cold.

"Holy crap, why is it suddenly so cold!"

Xiao Wang rubbed his arms and quickened his pace uphill.

Fourth floor.

Fifth floor.

The sixth floor.

He took out his keys, opened the door, went inside, and locked the door from the inside.

"call……"

He tossed his bag onto the sofa, didn't turn on the light, and went straight to the bedroom.

I'm so tired, I don't even want to take a shower, I just want to fall asleep as soon as my head hits the

I just lay down.

"Tick-tock".

Xiao Wang opened his eyes.

"Tick-tock".

Something is dripping.

Is the upstairs leaking again?

I reached out and touched the side of the pillow.

It's wet.

Xiao Wang quickly turned over to reach the bedside lamp.

"Smack."

The lights came on.

He saw his own hands.

Red.

A thick, dark red liquid trickled down between his fingers.

Xiao Wang suddenly looked up.

ceiling.

The entire ceiling is seeping blood.

It's not just one or two points, it's the entire surface.

Dark red liquid seeped from the seam between the wall and the ceiling, like a piece of paper soaked through, dripping down one drop at a time.

"What...what is this...?"

He sprang out of bed and took two steps back.

Even the floor under my feet was wet.

He lowered his head in fear.

The floor was covered with hair.

Long, black, wet hair spread out from under the bed like a living net.

"what!"

Xiao Wang turned and ran.

He rushed toward the bedroom door.

The door is gone.

Where the doorway originally led to the living room was, there was only one wall dripping with blood.

"No...that's not right..."

He turned to the window.

The window is still there.

Outside, the city lights are normal, warm lights.

He lunged forward and slammed his hands against the glass.

The glass is ice.

My palm is stuck to the glass and I can't pull it off.

"save……"

Behind me, the hair moved.

It silently climbed up his ankles, calves, and waist.

Cold, like the fingers of a dead person.

Xiao Wang struggled desperately, opening his mouth as wide as possible, but couldn't make a sound.

His hair covered his chest, neck, and chin.

The last strand of hair clung to his eyes.

The world went completely dark.

The table lamp exploded.

The room returned to darkness.

Only the blood on the ceiling continued to drip down, drop by drop.

No one in the entire building heard a sound.

At the same time in Anping City.

underground garage.

A nurse finishing her night shift pushed her electric scooter out, the wheels screeching as they rolled over the puddles.

The fluorescent light tube suddenly started flickering.

One lamp, two lamps, three lamps—starting from the deepest part of the garage, one after another, they went out.

Darkness surged in like a tide.

The nurse quickened her pace.

From the darkness behind me came the sound of a baby crying.

Changhe City.

Chengbei Farmers Market.

At 2 a.m., fishmonger Lao Zhao was cleaning and preparing fish in the seafood area.

The knife fell, and the fish's belly was cut open.

There are no internal organs inside.

It is an eye.

The open, turning eyes of a person looking at him.

Old Zhao's knife clattered to the ground.

The live fish in the tank next to them all floated belly-up.

A human face floated to the surface of the water.

Liangdu City.

funeral parlor.

The surveillance footage from the duty room showed that the door of refrigerator number three was pushed open from the inside.

3:17 a.m.

Criminal Investigation Detachment of Jiangcheng Public Security Bureau.

The alarm system suddenly turned on a red light.

The duty officer jumped up from his chair, staring at the three warning messages that popped up on the screen at the same time.

Anping, Changhe, Liangdu.

Three cities.

His fingers hovered above the keyboard, his face gradually turning pale.

At the very top of the screen, large red characters flashed continuously.

[Level A unsettling fluctuations, triggering alerts in surrounding cities]

The duty officer grabbed the phone.

"Catch Captain Chen!"

"Catch Captain Chen!"